Tried and tested. Been there, done that. Why change a winning formula just because it’s not as sexy as social or dynamic as DRTV?

Like a comfy pair of old slippers, you know what you’re getting and you know what you’re doing with email marketing. And it delivers unquestionable results and ROI. That’s why email marketing has never dropped off our most successful client campaigns.

Our award-winning lead nurturing emailers are the proof in the pudding. Our tactical email campaigns helped open doors to FTSE 250 HR Directors and hard-to-reach professionals generating a 23% meeting arrangement rate for Willis Towers Watson. Get in.

While some predicted its demise a few years ago when social media became the new kid on the block, we stayed faithful to our old friend. Email, we never doubted you for a second.

Thanks to the arrival of new technologies, which are making emailers creatively more engaging and technically more timely and personal, email marketing is basking in glory again. Email is enjoying a revival to rival eighties perms and scrunchies (yes they are making a comeback too) making it cool again. So don’t be ashamed to include it on your next marketing plan.

Given return on investment for email increased from an estimated £30.03 for every £1 spent in 2016 to £32.28 in 2017 (source DMA’s Marketer Email Tracker 2018 report) it’s no wonder 86% of marketers say it is ‘important’ or ‘very important’ to their multichannel marketing strategy.

In fact, 73% of marketers rate email as the number one digital channel for ROI, according to a separate study by Marketing Week’s sister brand Econsultancy.

Probably why brands from Virgin Holidays to Cancer Research UK use email at every stage of the customer journey as part of their lead generation and conversion strategies. And why Willis Towers Watson still employ us 10 years on to do their stalwart email campaigns.

We don’t like to gloat or say we told you so. But we told you so. Sometimes the old ones are the best.

Great Britain may not look too great right now and the United Kingdom doesn’t feel very united with anywhere or anything. Everything feels a bit wrong. But then something happens to remind you that sometimes we get it right. So very right.

Year after year, Red Nose day is testament to that. So we may be suffocating in political hot air and drowning in Brexit turbulent waters but over £63 million raised shows that we are still pretty great at giving. And very united when it comes to caring. Pretty awesome in fact. Generous, humble and compassionate, that’s us. Just generally good eggs that have got caught up in the chaos of the battery cage.

So Europe don’t judge us on a blip. A temporary moment of madness that has had far reaching repercussions. We’re still the same deep down. We still love to queue and drink tea and make great period dramas. We’re still, on the whole nice, decent people. And still good to do business with.

Now or never, deal or no deal, Brexit will affect us all. That much is certain. The uncertainty is by when and by how much. This uncertainty has triggered much furore across TV and Twitter. You can scarcely tune into the airwaves, open a newspaper or go for a quiet pint in the pub without the B word making an unwelcome entrance – barging in with its long face and interrupting with its voice of doom.

Thanks to the omnipresent B word, Marketing and PR budget planning is a finger in the air. Marketing directors are throwing their hands up in the air. Brand managers may as well roll a dice. Or put everything on red.  A general atmosphere of unease has infiltrated every boardroom. But amongst the upheaval there is always opportunity.

So get off the bandwagon of Brexit doom and get business buzzing again. Put politics aside and march on following these five steps…

1. Consistency
   Amid the confusion, businesses can help create stability. By communicating that it’s “business as usual” and re-affirming core customer-centric values and commitment to putting the customer’s needs first, brands can become a beacon of light within the bleak world of the uncertain.
2. Clarity
   Confidence in government is dwindling but this can be transformed into an opportunity for business to reaffirm and retain credibility through confident leadership – something that has gone astray in recent times. Be the safe pair of hands that makes decisions, sticks to them and gets the job done.
3. Positivity

Build brand equity and reputation by focusing on confident and optimistic messaging to negate the negativity of news headlines. On line, in press, on TV and via social – be the silver lining, not the cloud.  Nobody likes a killjoy.

1. Solidarity
   The worst thing to do in times of chaos is add to it. While the economy may be stagnating and the government might be startled by the headlights, successful brands remain steadfast in their brand strategy and customer communications. Pre and post Brexit Britain doesn’t need any more headless chickens.
2. Empathy
   Many people were shocked by the stay/ go result – but could that be because we got complacent? We felt safe and secure in our European bubble. But every bubble has to pop – the tech bubble, the Facebook bubble, the Love Island bubble.

As marketing professionals, we profess to know our audiences but if the vote taught us anything it’s that we don’t know anyone as well as we should. The only thing predictable about people is that people are unpredictable.

Maybe it’s time to reconnect with customers – ask questions rather than assume we have all the answers. Don’t take them for granted. Remember you’re only one swipe or call away from being replaced by the promise of something bigger and better.

Treat them like it’s a first date. Tell them about your best bits. Reveal what makes you different from the rest and why you are the best person to be in partnership with. Find out what their ex partners did right and wrong. Discover what makes them tick. Understand their short term needs and long term dreams. They may fall head over heels all over again. Or they may tell you some home truths.

As with every break up, there may be tough times ahead but remember that with every hurdle comes an opportunity. Blooming businesses and bold brands will grasp these opportunities with both hands. Just remember to be generous, humble and compassionate while you go about your business. It’s what makes us great and united.

There’s a big bah humbug cloud lurking over our festive skies this year. Threatening to stamp on our Christmas baubles and down all our festive spirit in one gluttonous glug.

The Brexit deal. Or lack of it. Or the uncertainty of it. It is the unwelcome guest at the Christmas dinner table. The unwanted gift under the tree. It’s the Grinch of Christmas 2018.

Love, loathe or indifferent to our PM, it’s the one job I can say I would have thrown my blood, sweat and tears-soaked towel in for by now. I would have waved my soggy surrender flag and limped off to the bliss of a long-haul, open-ticket holiday as far away from Europe as I could possibly get.

Even the flurry of early November Christmas TV ads hasn’t got me dreaming of a white Christmas just yet. So, I for one just want Brexit over and done with so we can get on with over-indulging, over-eating and over-spending just like every other Brexit-less Christmas.

In the meantime, 2019 planning must go on. Whatever the deal or no deal. Marketing budgets have to be allocated and spend on PR planned. We might have to rip it up and start again on 29^thMarch but for now, clients still want innovative but cost-effective creative, clever but concise content, startling but significant social media and futureproof but formidable forecasts.

And that’s what we do best. For telematics, insurance, fleet management and employee benefits to name but a few sectors. Our PR campaigns cut through the clutter of Christmas and get coverage where others don’t. Our creative stands out to engage busy, hard to reach target audiences. Our ideas inspire, innovate and excite clients. Even in the run-up and wind-down to Christmas.

We might not love every aspect of our job but no matter what the brief, we never throw the towel in when the going gets tough or when we get asked to deliver the seemingly impossible.

Some of us get excited by writing informed web copy or technical case studies, others excel at Excel – revelling in seeing the results and ROI roll in, while some get their kicks from concepts that can transcend every element of the marketing mix. Some of our account managers relish the rewards of a well-organised contact or status report while another basks in the chaos of multi-tasking on multi projects for multi clients. We all bring something different to the festive table.

Even the Grinch can’t steal Christmas creativity from Cameron Wells.

But please ‘do one’ Brexit, I want to write my Christmas list without your festive-less fingers tapping on my shoulder telling me to cross off the Mulberry handbag. It’s British so I’m allowed it this year. It’s for my Brexited country. Not for me.

Once we were housewives, then we became stay-at-home mothers, next we gave up on kids and became filofax flapping yuppies. And then we decided we could have it all. Success on the career ladder and the school run could be ours.  The number of working mums has gone up by a million in two decades in England.

Almost three-quarters of mothers with dependent children are now in full- or part-time work according to the Office for National Statistics.

I am one of them.

After nearly 20 years working long hours in PR across multiple sectors, targeting diverse audiences with carefully crafted messages, managing often challenging client expectations and budgets and continuously reviewing and measuring the success of campaigns, I am now working on my toughest brief.

I am a parent.

My objectives are clear: raise a fine young man who is secure, kind, conscientious and an all-round decent human being.

My budget is a bottomless pit.

My timeframe, a lifetime.

Sounds easy right?

The Return On Investment (ROI) isn’t always evident amidst moaning that he doesn’t have anything to do (ignoring multiple toys), refusal to do homework (three times a week) and a strong willed, entrepreneurial spirit (which isn’t always executed in the best way or easy to manage!).

Now, like all good PRs (Parental Responsibility), I am completely focused on my end goal. My tenacity, while often tested to its limit, will not fail. I remain consistent, committed and target driven.

My approach is often challenged. “X is allowed to play violent video games”, “Y stays up until 10pm”, “Z gets to drink fizzy drinks”.

While taking a ‘me too’ approach could be tempting (and make my life so much easier), I am confident that my tailored tactics will get the right results for my individual audience.

I draw much from my professional career to manage my toughest brief.

I regularly reflect on my campaign; review what is working well and what could work harder; measure my results (often simply a hug) and remain on track with my unique goals and objectives – regardless of the temptation to be a ‘me too’.

As the threat of the dreaded teenage years are not too far in the distant future, I take care to listen to my audience, stay alert to his needs, and craft my messages and methods appropriately to engage, influence and convert.

I am the thought leader in our household.

I’m sometimes guilty of talking at rather than to my audience. I am quick to spot the error of my ways however, in the knowledge that this will not help to build the long-term relationship desired.

The needs, behaviours and expectations of my audience will change over time. Every aspect of my campaign therefore, needs to be continuously monitored, reviewed and adapted accordingly.

Like all good PR campaigns, being a good parent requires clear and consistent messaging, a robust – yet flexible – approach and a long-term commitment.

And a supportive employer.

There’s nothing like attending a milestone birthday to get you talking about the good old days. The days when you walked around a shop with a trolley to buy your food, you faxed insurance renewal forms, the closest thing to hummus was Shipham’s paste and you put a needle on a record to listen to your favourite hairbrush-grabbing track.

Like our shopping and social consumption habits, the world of marketing has changed beyond recognition. I doubt if my children (who will probably think that The Yellow Pages are a has-been pop duo) will ever receive a door drop or read a classified ad.

Once upon a time the budget battle was TV versus print. Today it is digital against traditional. Twitter versus LinkedIn. Alexa or Invoke. Hyper-personalisation and localisation battling influencer-isation. Social against the world.

Credit and loyalty cards were once the business-changing technology for monitoring what customers liked and wanted more of. To ascertain which brands were in and which were on their way out – cast aside like a once coveted rah-rah skirt. Now we have appliances in our homes that we talk to while they listen. And then maybe they share our secrets with who knows, out there, somewhere. Our very own in-house spy.

The rules of marketing have changed. The players are unrecognisable. The targets never stay still. The playing field is a mine field. The joy of winning is short lived. And your loyal fan base has become flighty.

However, the fundamental basics of marketing remain the same today as they were in the good old days of pedal pushers and Look-In. The search for differentiation. The need to understand customer behaviour. The battle for brand supremacy.

The need to win. Whether it be sales or conversion, brand recognition or esteem, number of likes or shares. The need for industry–accredited awards. We all still want a pat on the back. Real or virtual. From the company boardroom or the Facebook chatroom.

So they may have been quite good those old days, but back then you couldn’t offer your 40th birthday party guests 178 brands of gin to wash down their vegan chipotle foam hors d’oeuvres could you?  Now that’s what I call progress. Gordon may disagree.

Had Gordon had a secret spy he may have known that London gin was so last year. He would have known that customers need a rare and exotic blend of berries and the name of their local town on the label for a gin to make it onto their drinks trolley. Yes drinks trolleys are back. Ah the good old days…