In this latest edition to my interview series, I sit down and chat with Mark Pickering, creative strategist and APAC business director for Chimney with over 20 years of experience in the brand marketing and advertising industry.
In this interview, we discuss a range of topics from:
- The importance of the right messaging to communicate to your audience
- Reducing fear through preparation
- Video production 3.0 - what is it, and why it’s so important in the production industry
- Does experiential marketing still have a place and what could it potentially look like
- Insights to inform, but creativity is still king
- The ad that resonates with Mark after all these years and why
The great thing about this interview is the fact that the advice and information Mark shares can actually be applied to almost any business from, a business-to-consumer facing (B2C) or even a business-to-business (B2B) scenario.
As a marketer, strategist, executive or business owner within the B2B or B2C space its important to go back to basics when it comes to communication, which was a message that consistently resonated with me throughout the chat.
In addition, there were three other key factors that I wanted to share and expand on.
Watch the whole episode with Mark
Listen to the interview
You can also find the episode and more on:
The importance of context in messaging to humanise your brand
Early in our interview, I touched on the theme of the conversation which was the importance of context in regards to the content being developed for your audience.
- How to do this depends on a number of factors including but not limited to:
- Your brand identity - what does it stand for?
- The flexibility of your brand persona to relate towards your audience
- How relatable is your brand towards corporate and social responsibility?
All of these require an internal shift in driving positive customer experiences or putting customers at the forefront. Some of this requires a large cultural shift, but for others, it can be a simple as leading by example and conducting your own research towards your customers.
Recycle, reuse and recreate your existing assets
It was great for Mark to mention the notion that although the current lockdown as a result of COVID-19 has affected the ability to set up complex shoots for new content, it still doesn’t mean you can’t leverage your existing assets whether or not its video from the edit room floor or imagery variants, the creativity is on the eye of the beholder.
Finally, he mentioned this at the end which was content management will be such an important tool and process for organisations moving forward because the ability to quickly access and make adjustments to publish content into the market that’s relevant to the changing environment will be key in differentiating against your competition.
Brand audit rapid changing consumer behaviours and needs
This brings me to another point that Mark mentioned which was the rapidly changing and developing situation from COVID-19 has had on brands trying to adapt and understand their audience.
And it actually brought a couple of approaches. You can develop quick micro-content to react to the situation or go macro by focussing on the core strengths of your brand, looking at your brand purpose and leveraging your unique selling proposition to differentiate in the market
What is Point of View (POV) Show?
The Point of View business Show highlights business professionals in Asia and around the world to get an understanding on what makes them effective, how they do it and advice to help you grow in Leadership, Branding, Marketing and Sales. Follow the journey and connect with me on LinkedIn.
