Robyn Exton (she / her)

🪜🪜🪜 | Know your place; the power of an emoji. Afew years ago, in an all staff meeting, our Chief Commercial Officer, Clare Jones, compared business development to a game of Snakes and Ladders. 🐍 | There are plenty of snakes in business — blockers, commercial negotiations, stacked roadmap, legacy technical issues… 🪜 | But there are also ladders — having what3words in the customers local language, being responsive to legal queries, finding a tweet asking a customer to integrate, having coffee in the coffee machine... Clare told us that the whole company can be a ladder and that, in particular, marketing was a key enabler for business development. It resonated deeply. 🙏 | We are a Slack business, with hundreds of channels and thousands of messages flying around daily. We also give each other kudos and thanks for helping each other out. So I started using the ladder emoji on Slack posts whenever the marketing team or individual got a call out. A simple reminder not only to BD but also to the marketing team that we understood our role and ultimately what we are all doing it for. 🦜| Initially is was a single ladder in a sea of thumbs up, dancing parrots and explosions. But over the years more and more people from the team used it to acknowledge the thanks and show appreciation but also understanding. There was another thanks post last week and I went to post the 🪜 emoji only to discover that 20 other people from the marketing had beaten me to it. ⚔️ | There's a tired old narrative about the battle between sales and marketing. But let’s be clear—there is no battle. Sales win every time. Marketing is crucial for BD, whether it's the perfect sales brochure, in app push notification, newsletter, event booth, social meme, TV ad, sizzle film or PR announcing a new partnership. Sure, there are still skirmishes over strategy and priorities. BD doesn't always know best, marketing mostly does 😂, but rest assured, in the pecking order, revenue wins. The ladder emoji is a simple reminder that every effort counts, what’s important in the business and our collective roles to make that happen. Tiny actions, repeated, can lead to significant changes. 🎲🎲

64

8 Comments

Hallelujah Jon Crowley! I have always espoused this philosophy and it's why at The Garden Agency we have one strategy team who are constantly honing and sharpening their knowledge, expertise and experience as broadly as possible so that when they need to get specific, they are armed to do so. In fact, it's in the title. The best #Strategists are great at applying #strategic thinking and analysis to any number of challenges... https://lnkd.in/gYhzdDjQ

19

3 Comments

Day 3 at Cannes Lions has provided some great insights on leveraging systems and tools to scale creativity and innovation. One of the key takeaways is the importance of empowering participation. By shifting roles within brands, we enable everyone to contribute, democratizing creativity and fostering a richer tapestry of ideas and innovation. This may mean designers write copy and copywriters can ideate on designs. And this was really fascinating—a new idea of blending brand consistency with individual creativity. By creating unique versions of a brand while staying true to its core, we can foster a mix of brand and individuality. This approach allows for individual uniqueness while maintaining brand integrity. Finally, the need for careful curation of taste and quality is more important than ever. With the sheer volume of content and visuals being produced, maintaining high standards ensures that quality isn’t sacrificed for quantity. Essentially, moving away from brand standards as a “control mechanism” to creating standards that allow more people to express the brand while maintaining consistency and brand ethos. #CannesLions #CreativityUnleashed #Innovation 💡

13

The sweetness of doing nothing, a meditation teacher shares how embracing periods of doing nothing enhances productivity and well-being. Thank you Dora Kamau for bringing this knowledge to more people via podcasts. If you are like me and have worked for hours without a break to perfect a component across your design system, made plans just to know that you have them, said yes to every social invite with reckless abandon for your own schedule🤣, or felt proud about grinding through the weekend, then the practice of "Il Dolce far Niente" (the sweetness of doing nothing) will replenish you. "Doing nothing can be one of the sweetest things in the world. It can often make you more productive, relaxed, and ready to cherish and savor the things you really want to do." To practice this set aside time where you have "no plan and no agenda, it's about living in the moment relaxing and allowing things to unfold with zero expectations. We often believe that a busy mind is a productive mind or a busy life is a product life, but it's those moments when we are present and connected to the flow and unfolding of life that we find a greater sense of meaning and fulfillment" Thank you Dora for the wisdom and thank you Headspace for expanding meditation content into more areas outside the app. https://lnkd.in/gakutn6d

8

3 Comments

🌟 A Framework of Frameworks: Reflections on Turning 53🌟 As I celebrate my 53rd birthday, I reflect on the journey so far and the path ahead. This year has been a period of profound learning and growth, marked by both timeless truths and rapidly changing realities. In my latest post on the Fast Frameworks substack, I explore: 🔮 Things That Don't Change: The eternal truths that serve as the bedrock of our lives. ⚡ Things That Change Rapidly: The seismic shifts shaping our future. Using various frameworks, I delve into the importance of balance, health, relationships, and the transformative power of AI and other emerging trends. Join me in this journey of reflection and discovery. Let's embrace the constants and adapt to the changes for a fulfilling and prosperous life. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/ecztSi-q #Reflections #PersonalGrowth #AI #LifeLessons #Frameworks #Balance #Change

83

16 Comments

[NEW PODCAST] We sat down with Peter Allinson award-winning designer (the good ones D&AD, Creativepool) and Head of Design at UKTV to discuss AI in the creative industry. We chat about his 'complicated' relationship with AI, whether UKTV are using AI and how they might in the future, how will this affect upcoming designers and the hiring process and much more... It's going out to my newsletter list tomorrow - make sure you are signed up. #aipodcast #ai #DesignandAI

1

2 Comments

"Culture is the new operating system for businesses of the future." - Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft. But just like any other OS — how we work with organizational culture needs to be upgraded. 🚫 And yesterday's approaches to inspiring, defending and scaling positive culture change have proven broadly ineffective (70% fail - McKinsey & Company; 75% deliver poor value and take 2x as long and 2x the money as well - IBM; 25% are successful over the long-term - Forbes). 🚢 They're one-size-fits-all, cumbersome and slow. You need the agility of a speedboat, not an oil tanker. 📈 And yet, those that succeed drive 21% greater profitability (Gallup), 32% better performance (Deloitte) and appeal to the 77% of people who use culture as a decision factor in job applications. 🔥 That's why at Brandpie we've created IGNITE - an agile, pragmatic, effective way to drive innovation in your culture. Using our proprietary VYTALS platform to gain live insight from literally 00s of employees in order to identify the issues that are hindering what your culture can achieve — and then, just as importantly, rapidly deploy interventions to drive real operational and behavioral changes. And then scale the ones that are working best. It's a bottom-up, data-driven, #employeeexperience oriented and FAST approach that drives tangible results and ROI. Find out more here - https://lnkd.in/gRtGKd-D Let's have a conversation.

5

2 Comments

Move from business case to use case. How inclusive brands fuel growth. Barbie shows the way. 👇🏼 Omar Rodríguez-Vilá, PhD, Dionne Nickerson, and Sundar Bharadwaj present compelling data in their HBR article, 'How Inclusive Brands Fuel Growth.' They reveal that inclusive brands unlock new sources of value by meeting the needs of underrecognized customers, a key insight that underscores the importance of our discussion on inclusive marketing. Below are three data points that stood out to me that underscore the significance of inclusive practices in the marketplace: 💡 Barbie's Financial Growth: Barbie revenues increased by 63% from 2015 to 2022, illustrating the financial impact of Mattel's inclusive redesign of the Barbie doll line, which began before the further boost from the Barbie movie. 💡Impact of Perceived Brand Inclusion: Studies conducted over the past two years showed that perceived inclusion significantly affects consumer behavior, with purchase intent among Black customers in the sportswear market increasing from 17% to 40% as perceptions of brand inclusion improved. 💡Diversity Representation in Social Media: The analysis of over 10,000 posts on social platforms by the top 50 U.S. brands revealed that the diversity reflected was comparable to the diversity of the U.S. population 23 years ago, underscoring a prevalent lag in inclusivity in social media marketing. Omar was on stage this morning at #bridge2024, presenting new research showing the effect of perceived diversity and inclusion on purchase intent. I won't steal his thunder, but yeah, it matters. As stated in the Harvard Business Review article summary, "Research shows that in most industries the perception of inclusion can materially change customers' likelihood to purchase and willingness to recommend products and services." As a leader accountable for brand growth, it's crucial to recognize your role in understanding how an inclusive marketing approach can contribute to your company's financial goals. This understanding is not just beneficial but a responsibility to your organization. Link to the article in the comments section. #marketing #leadership #data super{set} WeAreBRIDGE

37

8 Comments

We're ramping up our Chiliz YouTube channel to bring more engaging and educational content about the sports blockchain and crypto space. 🎥✨ We need a nimble video agency that can quickly turn around dynamic, informative crypto content. Here’s what we’re looking for: - Script Writing: Capability to craft compelling narratives around Chiliz and crypto education. - Video Production: Proven expertise in producing high-quality YouTube videos consistently (aiming for one to two videos a week). Got a recommendation? If you've worked with or know an agency or freelancer who fits this description, please drop their names or tag them here. Thanks! 🙏 #Chiliz #Crypto #Video #Content

16

1 Comment

The power of a simple, passing comment can be immense. It sounds like this advice resonated with you and your colleagues because it tapped into a core truth: you all have a lot of potential, and your company, DDRE Global, has the capacity to be a launchpad for great things. Here's what might explain why this resonated so deeply: * **Mindset Shift:** It reframed how you see yourselves and your company. Instead of limitations, you saw possibilities. * **Empowerment:** It acknowledged your agency and ability to shape your own success. * **Collective Vision:** It reinforced a sense of shared purpose and potential within DDRE Global. This kind of advice can be a springboard for incredible achievements. It's fantastic that you and your colleagues were open to receiving and embracing it!

1

I'm over the moon to say that I've joined with two beautiful humans to cofound The XP Group. We're a collective of independent but tightly knit companies in the digital and innovation space who love our craft, build with a sense of values, and deliver transformative strategies to our clients in a conscious and ethical way. Really excited for at least a couple of reasons. First, I've really missed working with my own team. I love working with people, and especially building environments where they can flourish. I was lucky enough to do that with an amazing team of 500 when I left EMC Consulting / Conchango (and what a ride and company that was). Now alongside Liam McDowell, Philip Gault and the values-led organisations that join our collective, we're again building something human-centric and special, with an intent to innovate and make a positive difference as we go. Second, the rapid changes in tech, and especially AI, and its potential to do both enormous good and harm means it's an exciting and important time to engage. The need for us to focus on creating positive outcomes from the acceleration and disruption in business, environmental and community models in a responsible and human way is greater than ever. So...... If you're leading a technology consultancy or digital agency, are doing it with a strong sense of ethics and values, are bloody good at what you do, and want some friends to do it with, get in touch. If you're looking to design and deploy new technologies; if you're trying to figure out the impact of the changes they're driving for you; if you've realised that the changes in working that tech offers are an even bigger opportunity (or challenge) than the tech itself, and want some pros and allies to help figure that out and deliver it with you, get in touch. If you've ever worked with me before, and are foolish enough to want to do it again, get in touch.... If you're just intrigued, or want to wish us well, or guffaw at what we're building, get in touch too! Here we go. Looking forward to building this with you Liam and Phil!

121

49 Comments

If you are confused about upcoming legislation and how it will affect you as a retailer, check out Vaayu's Legislation Tracker. It is proving a vital tool to navigate the complex legal landscape and inform stakeholders from brands to journalists. Sign up for monthly updates that cover the major global regulations in play here: https://776.vc/3ydVeJ7

14

I thought I had writers block when writing this but I had to 'shake it off' (other awful dad jokes are available) Seriously, the effect of Ms Swift, alongside other cultural events like the Euros, Olympics and other things all have an effect on how, when and where people travel - which might potentially affect your business! Have a read of this article to get some insights into how you may or may not be able to benefit of these big, game changing events :)

4

I’m starting a new venture — a place where I’ll share super practical insights aimed at helping tech entrepreneurs build thriving brands. You’ll get a lot of the strategic insights we give to our clients, but 100% for free, yep - no strings attached. I feel incredibly privileged to have worked closely with some absolutely amazing entrepreneurs over the past 18 years, some of whom are now running well-known tech unicorns. We’ve tackled some big challenges together, and it was (and still is) a huge learning curve. My promise to you: * Every email will be super practical, full of value and insights. * Complex concepts will be simplified and nicely visualised. * All posts will be short and straight to the point—your time is your biggest asset. * You’ll get a lot of the insights we give to our clients, but 100% for free. * I’ll reply to all DMs. * I won’t swear. In the past few years, I’ve been repeating in my head “F**k the norm. Be bold.” And that’s how the name was born—F*NORM. Even if you’re not sure, give it a try; sign-up takes just 5 seconds, and the first insights will be shared with you next week. One click and you’re in. Link in the comments. 👇

26

7 Comments

During my corporate career, I embraced a bit of mischief by diverting my focus to experiments outside of my day job. Surprisingly, these 'experiments' turned out to be the core drivers of my success. I learned to manage my priorities effectively, which allowed me to find time for these ventures. Today, I am sharing the time-mastery framework that empowered me to balance my priorities while creating the illusion of managing time. If you're looking to optimize your productivity and make the most of your day, check out the framework here: https://lnkd.in/e9tcSZCW

205

11 Comments

Here's how we landed a 300K USD contract in our consultancy business. There was a big contract for some work that many of our competitors were bidding for. And here's where brand and reputation really come into effect. These are built up over a long period of time. Too many people are playing the short game and trying to do things too quickly. This can lead you to come across as desperate and erode trust. And no matter how good your marketing, sales, and delivery processes are. Maintaining relationships and your reputation trumps any process over a long period of time. The contract we were bidding on involved some assets that we had consulted on 15 years prior. So, we had prior experience with our client's problems and the solutions we had shared previously. Also, departments and functions were restructuring and merging under the client's main umbrella organization. Things were a bit messy, and not everyone on the client side was up to speed with the project's history. Because we have been in the market for 30+ years and with our prior experience of projects the current client staff were not familiar with. We had an advantage as we were truly positioned as the experts. This led to us already treating the project as if we had won it by advising the client on what they needed to do before the project had even been awarded. By giving value up front, we were seen as the natural choice to move forwards with. When people trust you and get value from you before starting work together. Then, they will follow any logical steps you propose moving forward. The sale is won way before any proposal or formal agreement is drafted. Treat your prospects as if they are already clients by delivering massive value and they will follow any logical steps you propose in the future because they trust you. Skill in sales is only needed if you plan a quick one-time sale. For repeat business and high ticket sales, it's all about relationships. Don't risk a relationship just for a quick sale. It will catch up with you later.

5

2 Comments

🌟 Featured Domain of the Day 🌟 💍 Say "I Do" to the Perfect Domain: married.ie 💍 Are you ready to take your wedding-related business to the next level? Whether you’re planning to start a #wedding planning service, launch a matrimonial blog, or create a comprehensive wedding directory, married.ie is the ideal domain to make your dreams come true! 🌟 Why married.ie is the Perfect Match for Your Business 🌟 1) Perfect for the Wedding Industry: - Planning a wedding is all about details and personalization. With married.ie, your brand can become the go-to destination for all things wedding-related. It’s memorable, easy to spell, and instantly recognizable. 2) Ideal for Wedding Planners: - Help couples navigate their journey to the altar with a domain that says it all. From planning services to vendor directories, married.ie is your gateway to connecting with lovebirds across #Ireland. 3) A Hub for Wedding Inspiration: - Thinking of starting a blog or a social media platform dedicated to wedding ideas, trends, and tips? married.ie provides the perfect platform to share your passion and inspire countless couples. 🚀 What Makes married.ie a Catch? - Memorable & Descriptive: The name immediately conveys what your business is about, making it easy for potential clients to find and remember you. - Trustworthy & Local: As a .ie domain, it reflects your connection to Ireland and adds a layer of trust and credibility to your brand. - Flexible & Versatile: Suitable for a wide range of wedding-related businesses, from services to products, and everything in between. - Short and Powerful: Securing a premium domain like married.ie not only serves as a valuable company asset but also elevates your #brand to an icon in the wedding industry, establishing it as a leading presence in the minds of your customers. 💡 Ready to Make a Commitment to married.ie? Imagine your business flourishing as the go-to place for couples planning their special day. Don’t miss out on this golden opportunity to secure a premium domain that aligns perfectly with the joyous journey of getting married. Why Work with Us? 🔍 Tailored Guidance: We’re here to help you find the domain that perfectly aligns with your vision. 💸 Affiliate Rewards: Know someone who needs a domain? Refer them to us and earn a 20% affiliate reward! 💻 Affordable Excellence: Starting a new venture can be costly. That’s why we offer competitive pricing to help you secure a premium domain like married.ie without breaking the bank. 🔗 Explore Our Domains: https://lnkd.in/eGPZ7_DE If you’re interested in acquiring married.ie or have any questions, feel free to connect with me directly. Let’s make your brand the centerpiece of countless love stories across Ireland! 💖

5

Catch the insightful conversation between Christopher Booth, CEO of Findrs and me as we discuss the unique challenges early-stage startups face on their journey to success. Discover key insights, including the importance of prioritising relationship-building in recruitment, leveraging collaborations with accelerators, and fostering a culture of learning for personal and professional growth within startups. ⚡️ Be sure to watch the full video on our 300Brains YouTube channel and stay informed about the latest tech developments. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/gbh459pX Don't forget to subscribe for updates and notifications whenever a new video is uploaded! #YouTubeVideo #Findrs #300BrainsUK #EarlyStageStartups

16

2 Comments