Consumers are less loyal than ever before to big brands. They trust newcomers much more. Big brands need to rediscover what made them special in the first place or redefine it for the modern day.
In episode 5 of “Word on the Street” we welcome Dino Myers-Lamptey, Founder of The Barber Shop, a strategy-led Media, Creative & Tech company and member of the UK council of the effie awards celebrating marketing campaigns that challenge thinking and push boundaries.
Katie and Dino discuss:
- Diversity and inclusion on boards
- How brands can actively make a difference with diversity
- Brand communication during uncertain times
- The blend of data disruption and disruptive ideas
- Understanding your customer’s needs and wants
- The conscious consumer trend
- How to attract and win brands as an agency
- Agency size and culture
- Nurturing talent and creativity
- Agency partnerships
Word on the Street is sponsored by Just After Midnight, supporting your websites and applications 24/7. They provide managed cloud, 24hr monitoring and support and DevOps. Get a month free here: https://www.justaftermidnight247.com/street
Links & references
Katie Street: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiestreet/
Street Agency: https://street.agency/
Get in touch: [email protected]
Dino Myers-Lamptey: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dinosaw
The Barber Shop: https://www.wearetbs.com/
Effie awards: https://www.effie.org/
Byron Sharp: How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don’t Know: https://amzn.to/2CPoaef
Episode highlights
“Post-COVID, we’re now dealing with clients more on a consultancy level where their marketing or media spends aren’t what was predicted. And the old word of pivoting and looking at new ways of finding revenue streams and things like that have suddenly become more of a consistent part of the day job.” Dino Myers-Lamptey – 4:07
“We all know the problem that exists not only in our industry, but beyond our industry, in terms of the lack of representation on boards. And it applies to gender as well as it does race. Often the problem is that companies come out on a platform and talk a good game, say, “yes, we care about diversity or equality”. But then their facts and figures don’t show and reflect that in terms of how they’ve actually improved. They don’t back it up.” Dino Myers-Lamptey – 7:06
“Ultimately, unless we make progress at the top, things are never going to change now. So we realised that first and foremost, the primary objective is reflecting what the role models in the company and the people that are leading the company look like.” Dino Myers-Lamptey 9:43
“People care so much more about the purpose of the brands that they’re working with and they don’t want to see you just “slap a rainbow on it.” They want to know what you’re doing, how you are changing your agenda, being more helpful and caring more about your staff and promoting diversity.” Katie Street – 11:14
“The brand’s with greater purpose were much more confident in their decisions about how they navigated and communicated during an uncertain time.” Dino Myers-Lamptey – 15:54
“Consumers suddenly realised the brand’s that were genuine were putting people above everything else and they’re now the ones they want to connect with going forward.” Dino Myers-Lamptey – 16:41
“Many agencies get into the habit of only using themselves to solve problems and don’t realise that actually by having a few different and diverse people in the mix who are also creative it can create an accelerated effect of getting to the right place”. Dino Myers-Lamptey – 18:53
“Often people get so obsessed by their own technology, that they haven’t had that critical eye on it because without a doubt, it’s a very good thing, but if it hasn’t been through that critical assessment, then they probably end up selling it for the wrong reasons.” Dino Myers-Lamptey – 24:37
“It’s about getting the right blend and the right mix for your brand at the right life stage and it’s the metrics that matter.” Dino Myers-Lamptey – 29:33
“They do it by being very purpose driven. Just going “right, we’re going to solve this problem.” And we’re not going to appeal to the whole market at this stage. We’re just going to go after this audience that we know is out there that wants this thing to exist. And then in doing that, they find that they persuade the rest of the audiences around them that “okay, actually is the thing that really matters.” Dino Myers-Lamptey – 30:33
“If you’re front of mind, at the right time, in the right place, then you’ve won them. Essentially. As someone that works in sales and marketing, I am an absolute sucker for being marketed too. I am so easy. I know the science behind it. I know how and why brands are doing what they’re doing. And I still fall for every single time.” Katie Street – 32:29
“Consumers are less loyal than ever before to big brands. They trust newcomers much more. Big brands need to rediscover what made them special in the first place or redefine it for the modern day.”Dino Myers-Lamptey – 39:03
“The problem with the group agency model in terms of how we’re set up, is that it doesn’t allow for collaboration with the best in the market, if they’re not necessarily part of that group solution.” Dino Myers-Lamptey – 46:04
“The most daring and craziest ideas that do really well for brands out there, someone at some point would have said “Hang on a minute, that’s not practical,” or “that’s going to cost too much” or whatever else. And that’s why in agency world, you have the permission to animate those things before they get killed by the client.” Dino Myers-Lamptey – 51:26
“Many people are very good at working from home. But ultimately, industry still has a need to invest in young emerging talent and nurture them into being brilliant” Dino Myers-Lamptey – 55:43
“When businesses get a bit too big, then the marketing department gets that the CMO who is totally detached from the actual marketing department to do the work. And then the CEO is detached from the marketing CMO, to answer the right questions becomes a quite a difficult process.” Dino Myers-Lamptey – 1:01:00