Latest / Marketing Shed / Behind the Scenes: Which surprising brands do you find at Silverstone?
Transcript
- Warren Fiveash: Rolling pool. Paul Duxbury: Well, good morning, Warren. how are you? Warren Fiveash: Yeah, I'm good. I'm good. I'm good. Feeling a a little bit tired today, but all good. Trying to G myself up for the week and this podcast. Paul Duxbury: Yes. Yes. Yeah, good. I mean this this it's what fantastic weather. England are winning at football, despite you know, complaints about it not being good enough. It's it's good enough for me. so yeah, life is life is is pretty good at the moment, don't you think? Warren Fiveash: It is, yeah, it is quite got nothing to moan about really, have we in r that regard. I must say that's probably part of my reason why I'm tired, 'cause of the World Cup. Because of these late games, boy, they're not with me. Paul Duxbury: Yes. Yes. Yes, that's true. And and I'm guessing you're also tired because of course you had the excitement, as did I, of us meeting face to face to record some marketing shed content. Warren Fiveash: Exactly, exactly. And that was that was fantastic, wasn't it? Yeah, we and we did that in person for the first time, so that's that that was brilliant, wasn't it? And obviously we had to do lots of prep for that. We were on stage at the Bankside Hotel, weren't we? have lots of brilliant other marketers. It was fantastic, wasn't it? Paul Duxbury: Yes. Well, it was good. I mean, the the only the only issue was like a with a lot of these conferences, great agenda, great attendees, great organization, but it's in a hotel basement. I and and this must be hotels, when they're built, they must be like, what do we do with the basement? car park, yeah, tick. I know, let's have a conference venue, and then we can put everybody who wants to be outside. Warren Fiveash: Yeah. So Paul Duxbury: in a windowless room for for for a day. So Warren Fiveash: Ye it's so true. Yeah, that's so true, isn't it? They're always they're always in windowless rooms, aren't they? Those conferences. It's funny. Paul Duxbury: I think so. I think so. But do you remember we we I think we both went to a marketing week session. Maybe it wasn't both of us. But that was brilliant because that was at if I remember correctly, at News International. Warren Fiveash: Yeah, wait. Where was it? Yeah, I I don't think we were both at it, but that was in the where was that? Was in the big bit or embar I was invited to it but I didn't make it. Paul Duxbury: News International, do you remember? Yeah, and overlook the Thames and that's brilliant. And and and you know, it means if the speaker's not brilliant, I mean unlike us obviously, but if the speaker's not brilliant, you can look out the window. But if you're in a conference room, what can you do? You're you're stuffed. Warren Fiveash: Yeah. Yeah. Maybe that would have maybe that would have aided ours then, yeah. But we got we got some good feedback, so it's good. Paul Duxbury: Ha ha ha. Yes, yes, yes. So what have you been up to apart from our debut on stage together at a conference? Warren Fiveash: Well, apart from that and the and the World Cup, lots of stuff with the kids, obviously. That's always keeping me busy and and obviously school holidays next week is coming, so that's good. just just just busy, keeping busy at work to be honest, Paul. So there's lots going on, we've got some big strategy work going on. and I've also been reflecting back on we're kind of eight months into this podcast now and we didn't make much of a sum and dance about it, but we've gone over twenty five thousand views of our content on the channel, which is brilliant, I think. Yeah. Paul Duxbury: Yeah, yeah, love that. Yeah, yeah. That means one person has has watched us twenty five thousand times. Is that right? Warren Fiveash: Refreshing, making sure it's all uploaded and all right. So it's probably probably twenty thousand of those in there. What about you? What have you been up to, Paul? Paul Duxbury: What have I been up to? Well, as you know, I I've I've been enjoying lots of different experiences. It's been a super action-packed, fun July so far. so I've been doing lots of work. most recently I was in Madrid doing some training around the whole world of marketing, you know, from from start to finish. That was a two-day session I did in Madrid. but I've also been hiking in Wales, I've been at a festival in Wales, I've been golfing, and as we've come on to, I've been I've been I was lucky enough to get a silver stone and to Wimbledon as well. So it's been it's been a bit of a blur. Warren Fiveash: Wow. Yeah. All you need is the World Cup. If you went to the World Cup you've had you'd have all three big sporting events. And the opens are world in Scot in Scotland, I think. Paul Duxbury: Yep. Yep. Yeah, but but but remember, A, I don't need to go to the World Cup 'cause it's coming home. And and B, I'm just waiting for the the last place of the open. Somebody will drop out, I'll get the call. So that that's going to complete the quartet. Warren Fiveash: Yeah. Well, you've had you've had an action you should you should diarize and pod your life pod. Should around with you and it was Paul Duxbury: Well, if if I was on social media, that's what I would do. but but but you know, social media has got plenty of people living their best lives. So I I limit mine to to small small groups of people on on WhatsApp who no doubt get tired of my and Strava. If you live on Strava, you'll you'll get a sense of what I've been up to. Warren Fiveash: Right. Right. And what have you been what have you seen this week then, Paul? Paul Duxbury: Well, there's there's there's a couple of things actually. and through through what I've been doing, you can't help but come across brands if you go to these big events. And I've been prompted to to look at a couple of brands quite differently. see what you think. The fur the first brand is Marks and Spencer's. And get guess guess where I came across Marks and Spencer's in my efforts. Warren Fiveash: You w was this spurred by the conference we were at and someone mentioned and S in the round table? Paul Duxbury: No, actually, but but but but you're right, they did. so no, it wasn't then. Where where else might it have been? Warren Fiveash: But you came across them just in everyday life. Paul Duxbury: Yeah, yeah. A an activation, if you like. Warren Fiveash: where have you been Silverston? Yeah. Paul Duxbury: There you go, there you go, you see. And and I I didn't expect to see MS at Silverstone. So so when I was there, I was wandering around, just soaking in the atmosphere. And MS had got very prominent branding around the I don't think it was around the track on you know w that you can see from TV, but on the stands. So if you're a member of the public looking around, a a visitor. Warren Fiveash: Yeah. Paul Duxbury: You would see lots of MS branding. I think they had quite big food offering stalls, I think. and I also think they had some branding on one of the cars. but but I got a lot of MS. And it was surprising for me because I I didn't naturally link MS to Formula One. but Warren Fiveash: Yeah. Paul Duxbury: The closer I looked at it, the more I thought, well, this is this is quite smart because it it seemed to say to me that MS really understood their customers. Because I mean, there's thousands, hundreds of thousands of people there, love Formula One. And when you're at Formula One, it's it's quite a a commitment to go because there's lots of walking around, there's not many creature comforts. The organizers do the best they can, but at the end of the day, you're going to a windy old airfield that's been converted into a Formula One track to see the pinnacle of of motorsport in action, but it's not a great experience. And you're probably thinking, we might get some average food and you know, just just do the best we can. So it must be brilliant as a a punter to turn up and then you've got MS, MS food. So that's that's really nice. and I think also it it it Warren Fiveash: Yeah. Paul Duxbury: Supports the premium positioning for Marks and Spencers as well. because Formula One is is very much premium brands, luxury brands, all the rest of it. so it it they get a bit of you know halo effect, I guess, from that as well. So I thought I thought that MS, let's call it an activation. I know it's a bit of a marketing word, but that MS activity I thought was really well placed and and changed. Warren Fiveash: Yeah. Paul Duxbury: my perceptions a bit about and S I was think I thought, yeah, you know, it's a bit more with it, it's a bit, you know, it's understanding its customers, it's it's c being quite quite brave. Warren Fiveash: Do you think and S have done a really good job the last couple of years of shifting their brand perception and from where they were before, maybe seen as a bit old and fuddy duddy back in the day. But actually they've really moved it on. I think the food side of things has helped but done that with the clothing side and Silverstone's a really good example of how they're trying to take it even a step further, right? So yeah, it's really interesting to see how maybe that you'll see more of that potentially. Paul Duxbury: I think so. So hats off to MS for maybe challenging and certainly changing my perception of their brand. the other brand I had reason to think about and and to look at differently was pigeons. Warren Fiveash: Pigeons Which brand is is this which brand is that? I'm gonna have to ask more about this one. Paul Duxbury: Solution. Well it it it's it's it's not a brand, Warren, it's a species. we're talking Warren Fiveash: you there's a a company called Pigeons which I'd heard of, but yeah. Yeah. Paul Duxbury: No, no, no. We are talking about there probably is a company called Pigeons, but we're talking about your common or garden. I again I should probably rephrase that. We're talking about the magnificent species that is pigeons because I I was at a festival called Veg Out West, which was brilliant, by the way. You should go next year. and I discovered by listening to somebody from a pigeon sanctuary that Warren Fiveash: Yeah. Paul Duxbury: they have terrible brand positioning. Now, if if we if we accept that that brand positioning is what people think about you, whether whether you like it or not, pigeon brand positioning I think is pretty awful because I think famously, I think Ken Livingston called pidgins rats with wings, which is a common common perception. whereas in fact they are highly intelligent Warren Fiveash: Yeah. Yeah. Paul Duxbury: monogamous birds that we have over history we have domesticated pigeons and then abandoned them to look after themselves without you know having having removed the sort of evolutionary instincts they had to to fend for themselves. So we've created this problem of of sort of feral pigeons dependent on Warren Fiveash: Mm-hmm. Paul Duxbury: grain and rubbish to to to to eat. whereas in fact there's a there's a there's a there's an amazing human story I had no idea about, which is that with racing pigeons, the reason they race so effectively is partly because they're they're brilliant fliers. They fly at 90 miles an hour if they want to. But but mainly because they're desperate to get back to their mate And to get back to their source of food, which they've been trained to think only comes from one place, their owner. and so the perception of pigeons as as you know, rats with wings is so far adrift of the reality. it said to me that that one has to absolutely change the story entirely to change beliefs. It's no, you know, it's no good saying well, they're not rats. Warren Fiveash: Yeah. Paul Duxbury: with with wings, but you have to explain the full story of what what lies behind pigeons and and what they do to really change that that belief. So so I was fascinated by that. I thought you might like quite like that juxtaposition of Marx and Spencer's and pigeons and perception change. Warren Fiveash: Perception change, yeah. And this sounds a bit marketing jargon and using cliche phrases, but sort of changing the narrative, I suppose, is it, around pigeons? Is that kind of what we're saying? Paul Duxbury: Well, I think I think I think the marketing lesson is exactly that. I think it's it's that first of all, the perception is what or the brand positioning is what people perceive it to be, whether you like it or not. And if your brand perception is is is a million miles away from where you want it to be, you're probably gonna have to change the story, change the narrative. because just doing what you've always been doing is unlikely to produce different results. Warren Fiveash: Yeah. Mm. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, agree, agree. Yeah, I love that. Love that. It's really interesting. Yeah, and I never thought that about pigeons. And it does give you the view that the reality of where of what the real of what the reality is and what the perception is two completely different things is if you could jump I like that. Very good. Paul Duxbury: Yeah. Yes. Yes. Absolutely. So that that that was that was my those are my observations. That there are there are more, but those are the the two I I I thought I'd share with you. how about you? I know you've been super busy. Has anything you know floated your boat over the last couple of weeks? Warren Fiveash: Yeah. Yeah. Well you know what? I've I l I looked back at our I did a post about this on LinkedIn, I looked back at our first episode of this, compared to now. so I was just gonna talk about the value for marksers you have to be good communicators, don't you? You have to be able to get across a point and argument internally and sometimes externally. So I think, you know It's easy t for us to get hooked on the numbers. I mentioned we've got twenty five thousand views, which is a brilliant bonus for us, isn't it? We you know, we like we love the fact we've got good views. But actually the re one of the real values I've found, and I don't know about you, Paul, is actually watching myself back, which is cringe worthy to start with, 'cause you have to do it through through your fingertips sometimes. But actually the real value in that is that actually I've been able to see each week things to improve on. And most viewers people would notice, but I do. Paul Duxbury: Mm. Warren Fiveash: in regard to your body movements, how you how you get across an argument, the way you structure things, the way you debate with yourself, Paul. and so that for me has been really valuable in my day to day. And I'm not saying everyone should start a podcast. It it it is it is a good thing to do generally just to watch yourself back and see how you can improve. But actually recording yourself, maybe on Teams calls or you know, we're all doing virtual meetings now. There is value in watching those back. To see how you can improve your communication skills, and that's really I think that's a really important part of being a marketer. And actually, to your point about perception, let's keep the theme running. what you think you might be perceived as, and the reality of what you're perceived as. Actually, by watching yourself back, you can actually probably see if there is a difference between what you think and what actually the perception might be by watching yourself. So I think there's real value if you can, and I know it's hard, in watching yourself back and trying to. improve those those comp skills. So that's for me because you know, if we can't communicate effectively that that that limits our our jobs as marketers, right? Internally so and externally. So I think it's really important as marketers with that is a skill that we try to improve on. Paul Duxbury: Sorry, I I didn't I didn't quite get your point there. No, I'm joking, I'm joking. No, your your your communication skills are excellent, Warren. No, I think I think that that that's right. And as you were saying that, I was thinking a bit about my experience with Americans, where I get the sense they're very good at communicating, which I think is because at school they they get encouraged to communicate from quite an early age. Warren Fiveash: Yeah. Hm. Paul Duxbury: And so when you see people in in in roles in in in the working space, they seem incredibly confident and fluent. and and sometimes the argumentation isn't isn't brilliant, but but the the the skill of the communication can can override that. so I think there's there's probably a middle ground like anything, isn't there? It it does feel like in the UK. Warren Fiveash: Yeah. Paul Duxbury: We're a bit reticent about being smooth and being good at at communication. There's a bit of suspicion about good communication, yeah, sort of oily self person. but but done done right and with the right degree of humility and self-awareness, I th I think it's a powerful, a powerful tool. And at the end of the day, if you've got a good idea and you're struggling to get it across. Warren Fiveash: Yeah. Yeah. Paul Duxbury: then then that's a failure and and therefore communication skills are important. Warren Fiveash: Yeah. you're in the when you're in a meeting with the CFO, you know, you communicate the value of marketing effectively, right? So yeah, I'd agree with that. It's the impr interesting point about Americans, you're right, they do they are good communicators and there is something we can take away from that alongside our British kind of humility, I suppose. Paul Duxbury: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, but well done you for doing doing a retrospective. I haven't dared to do that yet, but I I take the point. I think it's a good thing to do. Warren Fiveash: Okay. Give it a go. We weren't all full Paul, we were pretty good still, but I think we've well, I'll let other people be the judge of that maybe. But yeah, we've definitely moved things along, I think. Paul Duxbury: Cool. Cool. Warren Fiveash: Quick stuff. And what you got to this week, Paul? Paul Duxbury: What am I up to this week? So it's a funny one. continuing the theme of of perspective, it feels like I'm looking through both ends of the telescope. on the one hand, I've been asked to give a an organization a webinar on the future of marketing. And as you can imagine, that is quite a a potentially big topic. a fascinating topic, but a big topic. And so I need to get my head around that and and to to to to get into, dare I say, visionary mode, and start to leverage all the visionaries who are out there to get a sense of of what the future of marketing might might look like. But then at the other end of the telescope, I'm I'm just pulling together a much shorter bit of online training. It'll be it'd be a a webinar training. which is about data visualization. And to the point about storytelling, it's it's how can we support good storytelling with visuals that are accurate but also engaging and impactful. So that feels quite sort of microscopic in terms of its focus. so I'm quite enjoying the juxtaposition of those two things. I've used that word twice today. but but the challenge is how do you switch mode? You know, how do you switch mode from you know looking out Warren Fiveash: Yeah. Paul Duxbury: into the distance versus looking you know, very, very close. so perhaps perhaps a tea break between topics might be the way of of dealing with that. I'm not sure. Warren Fiveash: Yeah. Well I look forward to hearing about that. I wonder if you can bring some of that visionary side of things to the next pod about your vision for the future of marketing and we can have debate about where we see it going. Paul Duxbury: Yeah. Yeah, maybe I should. Maybe I should. Well I'll I'll see if I can think of anything first. and then and then and then share it. So yeah, that's that's that's me for the next week, week, two weeks or so. How about you? What's happening in the world of of Warren? Warren Fiveash: Yeah. Well, I'm going away next week on holiday for nine, ten days, so with the family. So actually I'm gonna use it as a period of reflection because I think it has been a busy year and so I've said yes to lots of things and so I've been jam packed weeks, so I'm gonna use it to completely I'm gonna turn off gonna turn off all the emails, switch off completely, reflect a bit and then come back refreshed. Paul Duxbury: So when your family say why while you asleep, you're gonna say, No, no, I I'm I'm reflecting. Yeah. Warren Fiveash: Reflect Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Well you know there's got you got you gotta get you gotta recharge the batteries, Paul. Haven't you? You gotta recharge the batteries. But yeah. Well probably won't get away with asleep. if I'm honest, Paul. Not gonna happen, is it? It's gonna be reflecting while with the kids in the pool. Probably if I Paul Duxbury: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I I think you're right. I think just give your brain a rest and new things will come to mind and old things will percolate a bit and and you'll perhaps have a different perspective on those. but yeah, enjoy it and and have a great break. Warren Fiveash: Yeah. Yeah. hopefully 'cause we go Saturday, hopefully the we're able to watch the World Cup final with England in it on Sunday night. In Spain. It could be you never know, it could be England Spain. But Paul Duxbury: Well, I'm a if that's the case, I'm a winner either way, 'cause I have Spain in one of these what do you call them? You know, syndicate. So not a syndicate, you know. Yeah. Warren Fiveash: That's great. Yeah, yeah. well you're yeah, that that would be you can't lose then, can you? But let's let's see, let's see what happens tonight tomorrow. Paul Duxbury: Fingers are crossed. Warren Fiveash: Yeah, fingers crossed. Come on. Come on, England. Anyways, good good to speak as always, Paul, and look forward to meeting up in a couple of weeks. Paul Duxbury: Likewise, have a great break. Warren Fiveash: Cheers, Paul. Have good one.