Boost European growth & margins at publishing startup

Strategy, storytelling & sales support
that guarantees success
for disruptor & impact
organisations
Monica Hart portfolio,2023
1

I am a Chartered Marketer & MBA with > 30 years of experience driving organic revenue growth
via effective integrated lifecycle marketing & business development campaigns. Inherently
curious, I have always been interested in innovation & was an early proponent of digital. I led the
team that introduced one of the first e-commerce systems at PhotoDisc, a start-up subsequently
taken over by Getty Images because of its sales success (£1M/day in 2000). I then helped grow
Alamy (from £3K/month EBITDA in 2001 to £4M/month in 2005), now sold to PA Media.
Reflecting my lifelong interest in health & nutrition, I went on to help the NHS save money by
introducing the first interactive symptom checkers & interactive body maps on the NHS Choices
website & developed some of the first social patient communities/healthcare apps at WPP. I also
drove well-being at work/corporate fitness/nutrition programmes ahead of the curve. Additionally, I
successfully introduced digital solutions & marketing into the traditionally slow-moving, highly
regulated agriculture & biotech industries & repositioned DuPont & Cargill as sustainable nutrition
providers through leadership programmes in food safety & human/animal gut health.
In 2016, I was chosen from many 1000s of applicants by LinkedIn & Virgin Media to become a
judge & commercial mentor on Virgin VOOM. I helped both of the winning entries - start-up
MacRebur (uses a patented method to create road asphalt from waste plastic) & growth business
BioBean (was the world’s largest recycler of spent coffee grounds into sustainable bio-products
before lockdown) - with their business plans & pitches. I also acted as a marketing coach for all
six finalists in 2016, supported the 2017 VOOM Tour Bus team & helped select the 2018 finalists.
In addition, I have won awards myself for B2C/B2B website & app design, new product innovation,
website usability & integrated marketing campaigns. I have also achieved top search positions in
competitive businesses such as travel & consumer healthcare with tiny budgets.
Having graduated with distinction on a Fast-Track MBA course, I set up eSeidr (means ‘magic’ in
Norwegian; I am not Scandinavian; I just liked the concept of being a commercial magician!) to
focus on helping ’tech for good’ SMEs focus, fund, find commercial success & future-proof. I
provide fractional, ‘hands-on’ support so customers can get access to a senior-level resource &
coach as/when they need it at affordable rates. I also take on longer-term work on this basis if
required. My mentoring also extends to leisure activities; I am a qualified UK Athletics running
coach & have given my spare time to help engage communities to improve wellbeing/health.
I am based in the UK but work globally; my full background is on LinkedIn.
& how I can help you…
About me
2

Agency/in-house customers
Circulareconomy
• BioBean
• MacRebur
• Reconomy(Valpak)
Health, life sciences,wellbeing
• Barclays’ (staff wellbeing app)
• Bond Digital Health
• British Medical Association
• Cerner Enviva/Oracle Health
• DermaDetect
• Digitalhealth London
• EQL Phio MSK triage &care
• Enteromics
• Fitter Food
• HMR Referrals
• KantarGroup/WPP
• OgilvyHealth/WPP
• Sudler Network /WPP
• Leo Pharma
• LiveSmart
• NHS/DHSC
• Novobind
• Science Entrepreneurs Club
• SkinVision
• SpectroFlow
• Wellthy Therapeutics
• VaGenie
Local community/government
• British Army
• Foundervine
• Local Halo
Advertising, design &media
• Adobe
• Alamy Images/PA Group
• Big Group (MediaRun)
• Blurb/RPI Group
• Clerkswell (was cScape)
• Getty Images/PhotoDisc
• Independent Television
• Inside Edge (Precedent)
• News (ITN Source)
• One GTM (was Mabox)
• Weber Shandwick (FlipsideGroup)
• William Reed BusinessMedia
• Publicis
• WPP
Automotive
• Classic CarStory
• Volkswagen
Beverages
• Hanschell Inniss (Cockspur Rum)
• InBev (Leffe Blonde)
• Heineken (Scottish &Newcastle)
• Pernod Ricard (The Glenlivet)
• William Grant & Sons
(First DrinksBrands)
Consumerelectronics
• Sanyo
• Sony
Human resources
• How am Igoing
• Reed
• Start-upNetwork
Agriculture, biotech &nutrition
• AgroWave
• BPS Technology
• Cargill
• ChainVine
• Corteva Agriscience
• Dairy Crest
• Danisco
• DuPont BioSciences(IFF)
• FitterFood
• FarmTrace
• Me-nu/ Nu Unlimited
• Rebound Technologies
• Tesco
• TraceGenomics
Charities/not-for-profit
• Bernardo’s
• British Red Cross
• Bristol Braille
• British HeartFoundation
• Food Cloud
• National Housing Federation
• RSPCA
• Sustrans
• UNICEF
• World HepatitisAlliance
Education &learning
• British Council
• Edinburgh BusinessSchool
• Hackney Council Education
• Hurtwood House
• Learning Foundation/Magpie
IT &telecommunications
• CGI (was Logica)
• Cable & Wireless
• Liberty/ Virgin
• OliveCommunications
Financialservices/ fintech
• Aviva
• Barclays
• BarclaysWealth
• ChainVine
• Dow Jones
• NatWest Group(RBS)
• TescoBank
• The PensionsRegulator
• UBS
Travel,leisure & visitor
attractions
• Bailey Robinson
• Heathrow Airport Holdings
• Imperial War MuseumGroup
• MeetEngland/VisitEngland
• Opodo
• Tourism Ireland
• RadissonSAS
• The Ultimate TravelCompany
• VisitBritain
Impact organizations
B2B/B2C/B2G
Sport
• Sports Wales
• The Ski Club ofGB
• Roxtons Field Sports
• St Andrews’ Links Golf Club
• Wiltshire &Swindon Sport
Partnership
Otherindustries
3

Portfoliohighlights
Commercial transformation/growth
4

Challenge
Early-stage SaaS start-up DermaDetect had achieved some
success with its patent-pending AI-driven dermatology/skin
toxicity solution in Israel but wanted advice & support on
gaining market access in other parts of the world. They
originally came to eSeidr via a recommendation from eHealth
Ventures when the company was looking at UK market entry.
Solution
Having undertaken macro, meso & micro analysis of possible
markets/segments, developed a direct/white label approach
for less highly regulated markets (South Asian telehealth &
hospital groups with local & global reach of millions & major
Chinese telehealth with 10M local reach). At the same time,
clinical trials were planned in Europe & the US (Fast Track
FDA approval). A retrospective clinical trial was also set up at
Maccabi HMO in Israel to replace the unofficial tests during
the Covid lockdown. US market entry was achieved by piggy-
backing more established innovative players such as Higi &
Science 37. Introductions were also made to the innovation &
licensing teams in leading cancer care organisations &
pharma companies such as AbbVie, Amgen & Hikma.
Success
Bootstrapped the company through its post MVP/seed stage,
growing sales from a loss (-$0.8M) to >$2M in 18 months (with
a forecast of $3.M for 2023) & gross margin from 77% to 86%.
Grant & angel funding has also been achieved to support EU
& US clinical trials in 2023-4.
Growing from loss to profit & improving margins at DermaDetect, 2021- 2023
B2B2C health
5

Challenge
Blurb/RPI’s CEO approached me for help with European market analysis & strategy,
having been my boss at PhotoDisc/Getty. After his appointment, he quickly realised that
25% of Blurb’s self-publishing/POD business was coming from Europe despite no
dedicated sales support & a tiny, virtual European customer service team. He also noted
that a lot of the business was in low-margin consumer sales where the competition was
intense & the modus operandi was a ‘race to the bottom’ with customers shopping around
for the most significant discounts. He wanted recommendations & scenarios for growing
the more lucrative “prosumer” & SME creative business organically working with the US-
based VP of Marketing/Customer Support (also an ex-colleague).
Solution
As little was known about the European customer/prospect base or potential of the
markets generating the most sales, the first step was to conduct triangulated research -
desk to establish top countries & segments, online quantitative & 121 qualitative video
interviews with customers using Blurb professionally. The quantitative & qualitative study
was conducted in the native language of the chosen countries (French, German, Spanish,
Dutch, and English) to ensure the best response. Response rates for customer research
were well above the industry average. Themes for coding were established via the
quantitative analysis & respondents were offered the opportunity to put themselves
forward for the qualitative if they fully completed the online survey.
Success
The research revealed valuable ‘jobs to be done’ information that enabled me to put
forward a business plan & forecast that would double revenues, increase margins &
improve loyalty with only a minimal increase in fixed costs due to offering existing
customer service staff improved training & pay in exchange for more responsibility. The
plan will be rolled out in 2023 following the development of a new website & loyalty plan,
CRM system implementation & product improvements that customers suggested via the
research (including better integrations with another ex-employer, Adobe).
Planning for 200% European growth at Blurb/RPI (publishing software), 2023
B2C & B2B media
6

Challenge
Wiltshire & Swindon Sport (WASP) is one of 43 organisations set up in England to collaborate with
local partners to create an active nation. It operates across three distinct areas with particular needs -
Swindon, Salisbury & the market towns to the north of the county. Swindon is the most diverse part of
Wiltshire & has the highest levels of deprivation &childhood obesity in the county. Three wards in
Swindon were also significantly impacted by COVID-19, which reflects the health inequality, housing
stock & demographics in these areas. Having trained many years ago as a running instructor via
WASP/Sport England (living in Wiltshire at the time), I was always interested in helping address the
significant health inequalities across Wilshire counties. So, when I was approached to mentor the team
on the health & well-being aspects of their planning at a particularly trying time for WASP (just after the
third phase of lockdown in 2021& amid its move over to a registered charity), I jumped at the chance.
Solution
During lockdown, the emphasis was on mentoring staff to improve the organisation’s visibility (including
an improved website & new partnerships with health, equality & youth organisations). In the latter part
of 2022, we worked with the operational team to assemble a new KPI-based, dashboard-driven
business plan that fitted with a post-lockdown Sport England strategy calling for improved governance,
particularly in representing BAME groups & environmental impacts. I made introductions to local NHS
ICS, social prescription bodies & other health/wellbeing organisations. Funding was also sought from
local government & other relevant avenues.
Success
Having won funding from Sport England & Wiltshire Council, WASP has set about addressing health
inequalities in the most deprived areas (including Swindon) with local public health teams, adopting the
NHS’s new Core20Plus5 system, which focuses on cradle-to-grave health improvements in ethnic
groups, particularly women & girls who often avoid exercise for cultural reasons. A Live Longer Better
multigenerational campaign was developed with local volunteers, social enterprises & leisure centres
with activities ranging from school & senior games, Park Yoga and runs, social prescribing, ‘She Can
be Active’ & fitness/friendship clubs for the disabled & elderly. I have moved to Hampshire & so cannot
continue the work at WASP, but I will continue to support local health & wellbeing causes.
Guiding Wiltshire & Swindon Sport (WASP) to win funding /exceed KPIs, 2021 - 2023
B2C &B2B2C sport/charity
7

B2B2C health
Business strategy wins millions of patients direct & via partners for EQL, 2019 - 2020
Challenge
EQL, an early-stage, award-winning digital musculoskeletal (MSK) triage & care
app/SaaS provider, had achieved some success in the UK via white-label partnerships
when we met via the Digital Health London accelerator, where I was a mentor.
However, the team had yet to achieve their original mission to directly empower
patients to help themselves recover & free up healthcare professionals from
unnecessary appointments & administration. Their business partners were tactically
chosen for quick wins rather than strategic gains. They approached me for help with a
business plan that would help them identify &target further customers in the UK
(including the NHS) & partners who could help them market develop into Oceania &
other high-potential territories.
Solution
Two workshops were run with key staff, one to look at the opportunities & threats in the
UK market & define the most compelling segments & micro-segments, the second to
look at targeting & positioning for the most attractive features (e.g., white label for UK
private medical working with NHS, digital therapeutics-style for pharma dealing with
back pain, global corporates, insurance). A plan was then drawn up to reach out to the
most attractive strategic & status UK prospects with an integrated campaign highlighting
that >30% of health appointments were for MSK-related issues, the challenges
associated with delays in treatment & offering the teams a quick solution.
A complete business plan looking at opportunities with selected global prospects &
partners was also drafted. In addition, I guided their PR agency, EyeCatcher, on market
research on positioning & brand aspects.
Success
EQL’s solutions are now rolled out to >30M patients in the UK (55+ trusts via Connect
PhysioNow service including all NHS London ICBs, Nottingham & Birmingham &
Solihull & also Bedford, Greenwich & others via Circle/NHS; direct via NHS Highlands,
all NHS Wales) & available globally via partners such as Circle Harmony, China
Taiping, Aviva, Generali & Spectrum Health.
8

B2C & B2B health
UK market access, Oceania growth & >£1M revenue in 12 months for SkinVision, 2018-19
Challenge
SkinVision, a skin cancer risk assessment app (real-time AI & dermatologist checks
combined) that started life as a website & kiosk before the days of apps (I led the
original successful B2C launch of the solution in Australia & New Zeal& back in
2011-12 for Leo Pharma, also shown in this deck) had achieved success in B2C
sales with 1.2 million users globally, ~180K of whom are in the UK. However, while
some success had been achieved in B2B insurance programmes in continental
Europe, UK B2B success with the NHS & other healthcare partners still needed to be
accomplished. Oceania B2C & B2B sales had also slowed considerably since the
original launch.
Solution
I developed & implemented the UK business plan (including Five Forces competitor
analysis, market attractiveness assessment of segments)), key account &
partnership plans after undertaking triangulated research to determine the best
B2B/B2B2C partners & commercial prospects in public & private healthcare. I
provided advice on regulatory paths & entered the team on the NHS Innovation
Accelerator 2018-19 cohort/ Digital Health London 2019-20, which gave them
access to NHS ICTs/CCGs & cancer units,& GP super clinics. I also introduced
insurance & private healthcare companies (including BUPA, AXA PPP, and
Generali), health-tech/NHS app partners such as LIVI/KRY & charities such as
Macmillan, Melanoma UK & Cancer Research UK). I coached product & marketing
teams on developing competitive value propositions for B2C & B2B &worked with
them to improve SEO, user journeys & social/other media coverage.
Success
Achievements include exceeding one-year contract targets with >£1M business from
essential NHS England trusts (mainly through AHSN/personal contacts) & with key
NHS IT partners and private healthcare companies. New B2C sales in the
UK/Oceania also ~doubled while B2C customer loyalty improved from <30% re-
subscribing to > three quarters (77%) in a year. We also grew the B2C/B2B2C user
base from <1M to >1.8M by 2019 against a KPI of saving >2M lives by 2030.
9

B2C health
Social/other media push supports adoption in UK & beyond for SkinVision, 2019
10

B2B2C health
SkinVision’s evidence-based subscription offering appeals to global partners & NHS, 2019
11

B2B2C biotech/food
Raising revenues/funding through global soil health campaigns at Trace Genomics, 2018-19
Challenge
Trace Genomics launched in 2016, positioned as the ’23 & Me of the soil’ & focused on analysing the
soil microbiome for disease & pest problems with an inexpensive test. Given that plant disease cost
producers in the US alone $220B a year in 2018, this approach seemed to make sense. Having
succeeded in disease indication trials with speciality crops in the US, the company started to think
about developing preventative soil health programmes that would reduce worldwide soil
degradation/erosion. This issue in intensively farmed land cost $400B a year globally at the time and
still hampers carbon sequestering. Trace’s solution has also been proven to quarter the negative
impact of fossil fuels on the environment.
Solution
Quantitative & qualitative research was conducted with key customer/ partner segments, including
farmers, agronomists, agricultural chemical manufacturers, small & large food & beverage brands,
policymakers, activists & academic scientists - asking for their point of view on the relevance of soil
health & its impact not only on the food chain but on the environment. This coincided with the push
to raise money to fund the company’s next development phase. The results showed that large-scale
farmers & food/beverage manufacturers with their own production facilities were increasingly
focusing on the positive impact of healthy soil, not only on the quality of their produce but on the
consumers' health at the end of the supply chain. The global players were also keen to include soil
health in their Corporate Social Responsibility programmes. However, few actively looked at soil
erosion’s environmental or financial knock-on effect.
Success
Having achieved $13M Series A funding, Trace used the insights to inform product line developments,
focusing on soil function indicators for the world’s most important crops. This enabled them to target
companies interested in active soil health programmes successfully. Today, the broadly patented
technology provides insights for > 50 crops grown in > 25 countries worldwide. The team’s positive
drive to slow climate change & improve food security has also led to them being selected as a World
Economic Forum technology partner, gaining a place on AB InBev’s 100 accelerator programme,
winning the global Foodshot Soil Innovation 3.0 & AI/Agtech Innovation awards in 2019 & being
listed year-on-year as a top agri-tech player by the likes of Forbes &Thrive.
12

B2B food/clean energy
Helping Rebound’s cold chain solution achieve $Ms in funding & organic growth, 2019
Challenge
I was first recommended to US-based “clean cold” Rebound
Technologies as a potential helper in securing $5M funding. Following
discussions/a preliminary audit, it was clear that they didn’t have a
business strategy & were wasting valuable resources chasing an
unfocussed list long list of prospects who didn’t have budgetary authority.
Messaging was also centred on features rather than cost, food safety &
‘green’ benefits. To put together an integrated plan for investors & other
important targets, I set about fixing these lacks.
Solution
Following desk & quantitative research, I created a global business plan
with optimum segmentation, targeting & positioning to ensure sales
effectiveness. The plan also recommended partnerships that would
enable Rebound to take advantage of immediate international
opportunities, mainly in the ready meals category, and outlined possible
medium/long-term applications in biotech & pharma. In addition, I
devised a brand essence value propositions per key persona & proposed
a thought leadership programme for me to raise the profile with potential
customers, partners & investors.
Success
Rebound secured its funding in total, met its target for delivery to four
strategic/status customers in 2019 & has since been forging ahead with
planned partnerships. Suggestions were also made for staffing sales &
marketing functions moving forward.
Rebound’s CEO at the time, Kevin Davis, commented, “Monica came
up with a completely different, user-focused way of approaching sales
& marketing that completely changed the way we presented our
solution & has reaped tangible rewards in its first months.”
13

Helping Rebound target & reposition its offering for success, 2019
B2B food/clean energy
14

B2C/B2B health/wellbeing
Focusing on the best routes to achieve maximum profitability for Fitter Food, 2018 - 2019
Challenge
When the team at Fitter Food were referred to me, they were relatively successful, qualified
fitness & nutrition authors (two books published on Paleo diet) & they had a popular
radio/podcast channel plus a D2C subscriber base of >2K that was growing slowly but surely.
However, they needed a strategy & were too busy juggling their various offerings to provide
valuable, differentiated content for their D2C members who were increasingly cancelling their
subscriptions. Their website was also difficult to navigate, the dietary advice offered too
specific & the forum for members was not moderated, so it often became unwieldy.
Solution
I ran a programmatic survey on Facebook for the type of new D2C users they were trying to
recruit and conducted research with existing customers. The feedback was used to redevelop
the existing subscription offering & also add a new set of more personalised, higher-end
programmes, ranging from weekend fitness & nutrition boot camps to 12-week tailored
healthcare & wellbeing programmes supported by virtual & F2F coaching. A new website
back-end was developed to replace the private Facebook area, improving user journeys &
also yielding vital analytics for the Fitter team. Several higher-end wellbeing programmes
were also adapted to work for the B2B market as employee engagement & retention tools.
Success
Keris Marsden, co-owner of Fitter Food, commented, “Our meetings with Monica were
incredibly useful & inspirational. She’s a wealth of knowledge, ideas & resources, & has
helped us expand our reach by focusing our business on what matters most to our various
target segments. Thanks to her, we have differentiated our general D2C offering &
significantly grown sign-ups/loyalty while also picking up lucrative B2B contracts for online
one-to-one & group coaching.”
.
15

B2B2C food/biotech
Farm-to-table automation transforms business/~ doubles margins at Cargill, 2016-18
Challenge
Cargill, a leading food/agriculture company & the largest private US organisation, was facing its
third year of challenging inter-company financial results when I joined in 2016, with an 11%
decline in revenues overall. Results were better in my area (nutrition & health) with a 7% rise.
Still, a combination of mature, poorly differentiated products, fragmented supply chain
processes & ‘hyper-competition’ was driving prices down.
Solution
Triangulated research confirmed that Cargill’s farming customers created a lot of data on animal
& crop health but that none of it was Integrated & consolidated to yield actionable information.
The big data solution we came up with, working in co-creation trials with medium-sized & large
dairy farms in Italy, Spain & the US, not only offered integrated, actionable inventory,
environmental, financial & planning operations information in an easy-to-use format but
benchmarked that information with output from other comparable farms globally. This was made
possible through an exclusive relationship with Dairy Data Warehouse (DDW), whose data
showed the impact of nutrition & environmental factors on the number of calves, growth, health &
milk. In time, data on animal growth factors was collected to provide an even more accurate
picture not only of the animals’ health condition & productivity but also of how this would impact
the prosperity/profitability of the farm by systems such as the Cainthus facial recognition system
(acquired 2018) & also Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. In terms of on-farm
efficiencies in general, intelligent weather sensors sending data in real-time to sprinklers have
also helped farmers cut back on water usage for crop irrigation.
Success
The ‘cows-to-cloud’ strategy allowed farmers to make well-informed, real-time decisions on-farm
management practices. Participating farms in Italy saw a ~12% increase in milk production and
much lower production costs, while Cargill’s high-margin sales in adopting farms have
~doubled (13.5%). Rollouts of similar systems in aquaculture (iQuatic/IQShrimp) & swine
(Agriness) followed with promising initial results. Additional AI, blockchain & robotics innovations
have also been added via partners such as Agricorp to ensure the solution improves global farm-
to-table transparency. At the start of the chain, weather monitoring is on track to save 2.4B
gallons of irrigation water over three years. In addition, blockchain-style systems were added in
2018 to support transparency in Cargill’s commodity businesses, e.g., wheat cocoa.
16

B2B2C food/biotech
Change management/proactive marketing regains market share at DuPont/Danisco, 2013-16
Challenge
Danisco (now IFF), a health & nutrition company, had yet to market itself proactively since its
merger with DuPont in 2011. Despite a move towards “pull marketing” by competitors, its
marketing was almost entirely analogue & success/ROI was not tracked. It was even losing
market share even in areas where it had once led the way, e.g., enzymes. Revenue was
being driven via tactical sales & while lip service was paid to strategic planning, it wasn’t
happening. I joined the company with a brief to manage the introduction of strategic
marketing processes to achieve revenues of £450M by 2020 & improve CAGR to pre-
merger levels.
Solution
After conducting internal & external research, I determined that we needed to regain our
position as a trusted advisor (lost when Danisco merged with DuPont, the latter being
perceived as a chemical company). Macro & meso information enabled me to assess
market share potential; then, workshops were run with the senior leadership team to agree
on strategic priorities & capabilities needed to drive the 4Ps for each goal. Pricing & supply
chain/distribution were covered via special DuPont Marketing Academy training sessions.
Regarding promotion & product, personas, journeys & value propositions were created for
each key customer type & A/B tested with key customers. A new website was built &
integrated ‘pull’ content to meet customer pain points/appeal to partners in the strategic
growth areas was created.
Success
A year-on-year objective benchmarking exercise showed that we had regained a share of
mind in animal health, specifically in enzymes. We also quickly grew the company’s thought
leadership profile in probiotics, a critical strategic priority. Margins on overall revenues were
also improved, up from 8% to 11% in year one, with CAGR rates of 11-14% in important
categories, making the division one of DuPont’s most profitable. Being able to track all
marketing in a closed loop also understand customer preferences & relate marketing
actions directly to the bottom line, making prioritisation easier.
17

B2B2C food/biotech
Developing marketing processes to ensure strategic sales success at DuPont, 2013-16
18

Pull marketing supported by SFDC/Oracle Eloqua drives new/repeat sales at DuPont
Cor
n
B2B2C biotech/food
Key pieces of hero content were created, often with partners & customers (e.g., e-books,
infographics & webinars) & an optimized website built very inexpensively & quickly (for
$35K in three months) to pull in new & existing customers. An online quarterly newsletter,
‘Interactions’, was also set up as research showed customers favoured email as a
channel. A private customer ‘Knowledge Centre’ which doubled up as a staff learning
centre was also developed using Salesforce Community Cloud while Oracle Eloqua was
used for personalized marketing.
19

DuPont’s first LinkedIn showcase page/other optimized content improved SEO & sales
B2B2C food/biotech
Content was promoted via a new LinkedIn Showcase, Facebook, Twitter,
traditional media & other sites to generate awareness & improve search
engine optimization (SEO).
20

B2B/B2C health/biotech
Improving offerings/profitability with 1st global online patient communities at WPP, 2010-13
Challenge
WPP agency, All Global, identified early on that the immediacy & intimacy that social media
delivers is a gift to researchers. Webcam/video diaries, doctor blogs & online community
research were all techniques that All Global started using when the phrase ‘Market Research
Online Community (MROC)’ was not common in pharma. Because the company had solid
and trust-based relationships with stakeholders, their insights were always deep, but using
technology made the process so much more personal. It was also used extensively in
regions where social sharing was more commonplace, e.g., Asia. So, when Martin Sorrell
started to push for investment in digital & I was taken on to help, All Global was already
ahead of others in the Group in its thinking & they just needed pointing in the most profitable
direction.
Solution
I oversaw the development of an online portal area for customers that could be accessed
through a new website. The team started using private YouTube/Facebook rooms,
webcam diaries, observational patient & physician Skype recordings that I had set up
access to via a secure site area, and dashboards for real-time tracking. I also built
relationships with companies like Lumi Technologies, whose mobile patient diary app was
used in many studies & helped shape Kantar’s mHealth products & with doctor/other HCP
networks in China, South Korea & Taiwan. I coached All Global to grow communities via
targeted social media & run D2C patient campaigns with their key healthcare customers.
In addition, social media listening was used to track patient sentiment for brands like
Bayer’s Nexavar (Sorafenib) cancer drug.
Success
Pushing the boundaries of technology to the limits paid dividends with increased sales
(7.4% CAGR, up from 2%,13.2% margin, up from 7%) & markedly improved client
satisfaction ratings. Being able to track analytics also helped the company refine techniques
& do quicker A/B tests. Other WPP agencies adopted all of Global’s best practice online
research. The recommendation for a consistent approach through all WPP/Kantar
companies was finalised when Martin Sorrell departed & all research companies were
consolidated into the Kantar brand (aside from Kantar Health which was taken over by
Cerner in 2021 & is now part of Oracle which acquired Cerner in 2022).
21

Challenge
The UK government wanted to ascertain whether NHS England online communications supported a public with a
broad range of conditions & needs 24/7. Cost savings were also at the front of the Health Secretary’s mind with
the General Election coming up &. It was also spending £123M a year on running NHS Direct; each call was
costing taxpayers 25% more on average than the doctors’ appointments they were supposed to be replacing &
would also often result in worried patients visiting A&E (average cost per visit £111). Working with Accenture, I put
forward a proposal to do the first-ever audit of the entire English NHS online estate, including not only primary &
secondary local care but also ‘central’ sites like NHS Direct & NHS Choices. My findings formed part of a report
that revealed £86M was being spent on the design alone of the >4K sites audited even though only two-thirds
could be described as ‘live’. >50% of the live sites were also poorly designed, with confusing navigation & often
duplicated content. Despite a spend of >£2.7M/year on Google AdWords to improve search engine positions for
these sites, patients interviewed said it was difficult to locate local healthcare information online.
Solution
Adopted recommendations included shutting down redundant sites, replacing NHS Direct with NHS Choices &
optimising Choices as a responsive central hub for NHS England information. The 111 service now in place was
also user-tested, backed up by a new online symptom checker that empowered patients to do the first stage of
non-emergency assessments online. Interactive human figures against whose symptoms could be checked by
clicking on relative body areas were added & search terms used were tracked.
Success
Savings of > 50% were made almost immediately by shutting down redundant sites & merging content. Spend on
pay-per-click was also put on hold in favour of organic optimisation. Ongoing monitoring confirmed that the new
symptom checker service & the consolidation onto NHS Choices saved ~£44M through reductions in avoidable &
unnecessary consultations alone. There were 47M visits to the symptom checker in the first six months;
comprehensive & accessible information & treatment paths on >800 conditions were available at launch, with
conditions covered increasing to 1M in the first year. Additionally, > third (37%) of users reported that it decreased
their use of GP services (& did so appropriately through self-care). Considering the cost per visit/resolution and
spending on the new content, the per-patient average was £0.46, compared positively to the previous £16-50 per
call cost for NHS Direct. The body maps have since been redeveloped as an index on NHS Choices, which
remains a central hub for NHS patients. In the NHS 2010 Annual Report, the then-head of IT at Brent Council,
Dane Wright, commented, “NHS Choices is an absolutely fantastic resource”.
B2C health
1st online audit & NHS Choices build saves £Ms & empowers patients at NHS, 2010-11
22

As well as NHS Choices replacing NHS Direct, integrated communications strategies were put in
place & websites redesigned for Basingstoke & North Hampshire NHS Foundation Trust,
Camden NHS PCT, Croydon NHS PCT, Imperial College Healthcare, Royal Brompton &
Harefield NHS Trust & Royal Berkshire NHS Trust. Engaging stories & ‘real’ online & offline
content from staff & patients, including two-way conversations on social media, helped improve
trust levels. Branding was also consistent while allowing local teams to include locally
appropriate content that would improve optimisation. Feedback from patients/analytics/usability
tracking indicated that the new sites were much more user-friendly than earlier versions, more
accessible & instantly identifiable as ‘NHS’.
Improving brand recognition & online engagement while saving $Ms at NHS Trusts, 2010-11
B2C health
23

B2B media
Transforming loss-maker, Alamy, into a highly profitable market leader, 2001-2005
Challenge
Alamy, an online image library set up to deliver more commission for
amateur photographers & professionals alike, was struggling to make money
when I joined as Company Director in 2001. Despite having a fully online
model, it needed a better-designed commercial website, both from a usability
& search engine optimisation perspective. Being easily found & bookmarked
in a competitive market was a critical priority; for customers, the focus was on
optimising database search & simplifying secure payment paths.
Solution
I worked with a small in-house team to refine e-commerce & database
functions, improve customer journeys/general design & implement organic &
paid SEO/M while coaching others to take this on in time. I concentrated on
an international English site as that was where best sales were anticipated &
resources were tight. I also developed low-cost new business & loyalty offline
& online campaigns with affiliates such as Adobe & Apple, & published a
modern catalogue-type magazine (paper & production were donated free of
charge from sponsors) with online offers. Additionally, global distribution
channels & 24-hour customer service/picture researcher facilities were set up.
Success
The (now redesigned) website, which won an EMMA award in 2002 & was
always designed for mobile and desktop use (one of the first to do this along
with Amazon), had robust and organic SEO for key phrases. Unique website
traffic grew from a few hundred to millions over six months; we increased our
customer base from <100 in 2001 to > 13K by the end of 2004 & grew
EBITDA to ~ £4M a month with repeat buyer rates at 79%. Distribution was
also increased globally through strategic partners & remote staff in the US,
EU & Asia. James West, then CEO (sold to PA Media in 2020), commented,”
Monica took a relatively inexperienced sales & marketing team & transformed
it. She was also a popular & inspirational manager.”
24

B2B/B2C media
1st global ecommerce site leads to $1M a day profit at Getty Images, 1996 - 2000
Challenge
Although PhotoDisc had dabbled with the idea of e-commerce in 1995, the business leaders
were still making the majority of revenues from CD-ROM sales directly & through distributors.
However, they were also losing a lot of money because of operational complexity & logistics. In
1996, the European team won the case for developing pilot e-commerce sites in the UK &
Germany to go global, having researched company & designer requirements (including single
image sales & CD ROM ordering online). As there was no off-the-shelf global e-commerce
technology at this time (Amazon was selling books online but only in the US), CRM systems,
financial & warehousing systems at this time were rudimentary but had to be linked up; this was
a mammoth task & I was leading the effort with the central team in Seattle, US.
Solution
The first site, one of the first e-commerce sites in the world, quickly made money as customers
got used to buying online & realised security was not a threat. The site was enhanced in 1998,
just prior to PhotoDisc being taken over by Getty Images. I helped to merge PhotoDisc material
with content from brands with completely analogue sales models (Tony Stone, Hulton) &
introduce e-commerce gradually for those & other Getty brands, including Image Bank, Allsport,
Telegraph, Liaison, Keystone, National Geographic & the consumer brand, Art.com. Cross-
brand picture research & sales staff had to be trained to support online operations & value
propositions were redefined & rolled out to ensure they didn’t compete against each other.
Success
PhotoDisc made over 50% of its 1998 revenues of $185M in Europe & a large proportion of
that was from single image /video clip sales online. After the merger, Getty’s digital revenues
quickly overtook analogue sales & it became the market leader, today selling >415M assets
online, ranging from images to music & multimedia from thousands of global contributors &
content partners. By the time I left in 2000, an average of 70M images/other media assets were
sold at $1M profit daily. The new site also won numerous awards, including the Cannes
International Advertising Festival "Cyber Lion" award, the 1999 CIO Web Business 50/50 Award
& Revolution accolades for several years in a row.
.
Getty Images site in 2000 with
much more focus on online sales
PhotoDisc commercial site in1996
25
First Getty Images commercial site1999

Portfolio highlights
Membership/community/visitor growth & retention
26

B2C financial services/charity
Boosting UNICEF ‘Young Futures’ volunteer numbers/1st mental health app at Barclays, 2009
Challenge
I was initially part of the team that created a successful intranet for Barclays
called Pulse. They wanted to create ongoing content to reflect Barclay’s
commitment to its work in the community. A starting point for this was a microsite
designed to encourage staff to volunteer to support the ‘Building Young Futures’
programme that UNICEF & Barclays ran together. This programme provided
young people across 14 countries with mentoring, microfinance access & training
to enable them to start their own businesses/gain employment.
Solution
We designed a user interface to ensure that inspirational case studies were central
to the site, making it easy to learn about the inspiring work being done worldwide.
Placing inspiring, heart-warming stories at the heart of the microsite was a key
priority & those were to be mainly illustrative of third-world programmes where the
impact was often most significant. We chose bold photographs that put people at
the heart of the mission & conveyed the effect that the Barclays/UNICEF projects
had on the lives of the people they touched. Ambassadors such as presenter Cat
Deeley, & actress Priyanka Chopra were also featured alongside staff.
Success
Barclays & UNICEF were thrilled with the site & the fact that the number of
volunteers increased significantly after launch. The programme’s successes have
since been recognised in the finance industry’s leading awards & also in the third-
sector space, where UNICEF won the Charity Times’ Corporate National
Partnership of the Year with a Financial Institution & media coverage was also
extensive.
Additional content added to Pulse in 2009 included the first corporate wellbeing &
feedback app aimed at supporting disabled (mentally/physically) Barclays staff
members.
27

B2C sport/community
New membership & ecommerce sales boosted for St Andrew’s Links golf club, 2011
Challenge
St Andrews Links - the ‘home of golf’ where the game was first played >600 years ago &
a favourite for golf enthusiasts - wanted to look & feel like a five-star destination, creating
a visitor experience that started before their in-person visit began & continuing after they
had physically left. Equally, they wanted to engage beginners & non-golfers, visually
demonstrating why they are recognised as a world-class destination. However, while
their offline promotional materials were high quality, their online presence, including an
e-commerce website, was not. The average age of members was also rising & they had
no strategy to monetise their brand with a new generation of Millennial visitors.
Solution
The project, which involved business plan development and a complete website re-
design & build, included an e-commerce shop, mobile app, blog & content coaching
for an in-house team. The new e-commerce website & app offer in-depth details of
all the Links courses, interactive scorecards & hints on how to help users get their
best score. Some of the existing content that celebrated great moments in the history
of golf, including celebrity video content. Users can also keep up to date with the
latest weather conditions (necessary in Scotland!).
Success
The new online channels are still in place today & don’t look at all dated. They also had
the desired effect at launch, with ~2.5K mobile app downloads from potential members
in the first week. Simplified e-commerce quadrupled the club’s revenues & a new back-
end CRM was introduced to keep track of transactions. The site was also awarded a
Drum Award for Digital Industries (DADI) & also a BIMA Leisure & Culture award. St
Andrews Links' Chairman at the time, Euan Loudon, commented, “We believe we have
delivered something truly unique & in keeping with the heritage of St Andrews Links.
This is part of our continued commitment to enhancing every single visitor’s experience
through innovation & excellence, qualities which are steeped in the Links’ history".
28

B2C sport/community
Engaging new participants with help from Welsh ‘sporting elite’ for Sports Wales, 2011
Challenge
With the UK Olympics just a year away, Sports Wales - the Welsh government’s
lead adviser on the nation’s fitness activities - wanted a website that inspired
people to engage in sporting activities. They also wanted to offer Welsh visitors
the tools, resources & functionality necessary to get active, such as equipment &
sports clothing. In addition, they felt it was important to celebrate Wales’s elite
athletes' inspirational success. A site audit uncovered a considerable number of
missed opportunities & generated ideas for developing new features.
Solution
The resulting site, the look & feel of which is still in place today, had an ‘In
Your Area’ mapping feature which displayed every sports facility’s outdoor
sports area, as well as official teams & clubs that could be joined across
Wales. An Elite Performance section was implemented to inspire visitors to
engage in sport before, during & after the Olympics & Commonwealth
Games. An integrated marketing campaign to pull traffic to the site included
social media campaigns on all the main channels & a multi-media ‘What
Moves You’ campaign to engage young women in activity. Digital toolkits for
gyms, leisure centres & bodies receiving grants to support sport (such as
Communities First, Street Games & the Doorstep Sports Club) were also
produced to ensure strong local awareness among target groups.
Success
Adam Fairbank, then Senior Marketing Officer of Sport Wales, commented, “We
wanted to inspire people to take up sport. We also wanted to celebrate Wales’s
sporting success – both in terms of our elite athletes & the work of our partners
in creating accessible opportunities within communities. This site and the various
supporting campaigns have allowed us to boost our relationship with our
audiences & unite a proud sporting nation.”
29

B2C health/community
Driving member retention & growth for the British Medical Association, 2010
Challenge
The British Medical Association (BMA) - the trade union & professional
lobbying body for doctors & medical students in the UK - has >184K members
today (the highest in its history). However, it was around half that amount
when I first met with them over a decade ago. The main challenge was that
their online presence – identified in research as essential in attracting the
junior doctors that comprise a high percentage of their membership - was
poor. NHS changes at the time, which gave younger doctors a higher profile in
the push for fairness, equality, better pay & working conditions that they still
have today, meant that the BMA needed to proactively look at how to improve
engagement of key communities online.
Solution
Working with ex-colleague & web design expert Stewart Adkins, I devised a
five-year blueprint for digital transformation after conducting research on their
behalf. The suggested changes at that stage included a new hub-style
website, improved personalisation of content & enhanced community
engagement, including increased use of video & mobile communication.
Success
Post-launch of the new online presence, analytics showed increased unique
traffic & more robust user engagement on the latest online hub, which was
central to the whole plan. This traffic boost has translated into increased
revenue from repeat membership as doctors see the value. Stuart continued
to work with the BMA, taking on a permanent role there while I joined WPP.
Under his guidance, the BMA continued to take a proactive approach
regarding technology. Today, it is proactively pursuing partnerships with NHS
primary care to test digital innovations with front-line physicians & patients.
Stewart Adkins commented, “Monica brought a wealth of digital & marketing
experience to the BMA project. She is never short of great ideas, is good at
winning stakeholder approval & just gets on to make things happen.”
30

B2C sport/community
Attracting new joiners, improving member loyalty & reducing lapses for Ski Club of GB, 2009
Challenge
Falling numbers of new members had led the Ski Club, the oldest (founded initially in 1903) &
largest ski club in Great Britain, to review all of its marketing late in 2009. Although it had 33K
loyal members, membership sign-up via its English language website (the primary means of
joining) had plummeted to just over a fifth of traffic. The Club wanted me to look at ‘quick fixes’
to help regain some ground and to provide plans for a longer-term redesign.
Solution
Basic organic on & off-page optimisation was carried out, e.g., affiliate marketing, content
revision, metadata revision & some fundamental changes to style sheets. I also suggested
limited pay-per-click (PPC) for niche search terms & some 'hero' content. In addition, private
Facebook, YouTube & other social channels were set up globally & content was regularly
updated.
A video stressing the social aspect of membership & that amateurs were as welcome to join
as experienced skiers was also added. In addition, visitors were empowered to share
feedback, advice, views & also raise their own discussion topics.
Success
The Club got to number one on Google for the terms ‘skiing club’, ‘snowboarding club’ &
‘snow reports’ a few weeks after changes had been made, & page one other key terms.
There was a 57.5% increase in visitor numbers year-on-year, 40K visitors a day (up from
~2K), an average of seven pages viewed & conversion of >10%, up from <1%. A site redesign
in 2010 has enabled the team to optimise the site further, include the e-commerce elements
suggested in my report & introduce even more personalised content for registered users.
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) was low, churn reduced considerably in the first six months,
& Average Lifetime Value (ALV) went on an upward trajectory for the first time in years in year
one. Bridget Casey, then Marketing Director Ski Club of GB, commented, ”Monica was great
to work with - very professional. She developed a great proposal & made it happen for us
successfully within next to no budget.”
The Club, now a registered charity, has since successfully added & optimised Freshtracks Ski
Holidays, popular with experienced skiers/snowboarders & amateurs alike.
31

B2B2C social care/community
Improving membership retention & growth for the National Housing Federation (NHF), 2010
Challenge
The NHF - a trade organisation that helps members provide & regenerate homes for around six
million people by winning government & other funding – needed help with its positioning in a
crowded space. Bodies such as the Chartered Institute of Housing were competing for the
member pound & its website (or rather websites, as there were two main ones & many micro-
sites) & other communications vehicles were not helping make a compelling case for members to
stay.
Solution
I led a highly competitive pitch (as part of the team at Precedent) with a strategy focussed
on re-building the website & its e-commerce/member community areas into an engaging,
easy-to-navigate hub as a first step. Having won this, I conducted research with all key
stakeholders, including focus groups, one-to-one interviews, usability workshops, and
offline & online card sorting & agreed on the metrics against which we would work. The
overall aim was to reposition NHF in key stakeholders’ eyes as the definitive voice of social
housing rather than an organisation struggling to lead the way.
Success
The new website - featuring a Papyrus back-end with Alterian handling usability aspects - went
live in 2010 & has since been central to achieving/exceeding the goals we agreed with the NHF
team. Key Performance indicators (KPIs) for the first six months were exceeded, including
improved member engagement (21K to 50K unique visits per month with many more page views
& far fewer early site exits per user) & membership loyalty up from 49% to >70%). In the first year,
there was also a positive upturn in membership numbers (mainly new & lapsed returners) & >300
% growth in renewals, exceeding targets. Revenues from e-commerce in year one accounted for
>75% of total sales, amounting to a 165% increase. In addition, member feedback/sentiment
since the launch has been overwhelmingly positive, not only about the site but also about the
improved value that NHF was offering its members. The then CEO of NHF, David Orr,
commented, “The new strategy, including the online & e-commerce push, has transformed the
organisation & raised its profile not only with members/potential members but with government &
other key stakeholders. We couldn’t have asked for anymore & are very grateful!”
32

B2B2C social care/community
33
Workshops & personas ensure member-friendly web & mobile design at NHF, 2010

B2Ceducation
Helping the British Council improve course sign-ups & create student communities, 2010
Challenge
The International English Language Testing System (IETS) tests the language skills of
international students planning to pursue studies abroad in UK institutions or for immigration
purposes. The British Council, a UK organisation specialising in international cultural &
educational opportunities, is one of three partners providing the test. However, marketing
directed potential test candidates to one of the other provider’s websites. As a result, the British
Council was losing control of the user journey & suffering reduced brand & recognition.
Solution
Two clear but differing objectives were established: first & foremost, persuading first-time users
with no understanding of the test would be vital to them choosing the British Council’s IELTS.
Secondly, the British Council’s study resources & test facilities had to be marketed to users
already familiar with IELTS but not with the British Council’s test. It was vital, too, that any
functional & promotional materials provided were accessible & appealing to audiences with
varying language abilities. With this in mind & having completed user research with the target
groups, a ‘step-by-step’ website navigation structure was created, which built an understanding
of the IELTS system for the novice user & allowed repeat users to navigate straight to advanced
sections. Test reports, detailed wireframes & functional specification documentation were
shared with the British Council team to ensure the new site was delivered against their business
objectives. I collaborated with the internal editorial team to help them create new SEO-friendly
content & edit/optimise>6K existing pieces of existing content. I also provided the team with in-
depth content guidelines for digital and all other branded content.
Success
The resulting website & more recently created app both have highly accessible interfaces &
are used extensively by the 1.5M who now take the test every year via the British Council;
the site also included Google Maps functionality, making it easier for visitors at that time to
find out where to take the test. Reem Akl, then Global IELTS Web/Project Lead at the British
Council, said he was “very impressed with the improvements made within a short time”.
34

B2C/B2B education
Improving revenues from new/post-graduate sign-ups for Edinburgh Business School, 2010
Challenge
Globally, Edinburgh Business School (EBS) is one of the largest providers of post-graduate
business education, with their flagship Masters in Business Administration (MBA), Doctorate
(DBA) & 10 additional Masters study paths. Tuition is offered in 166 countries, across four
languages, with three different ways of studying, including online, for those who want to carry on
with their day job in tandem. The EBS team struggled to get across these points of difference &
needed an innovative platform to sell the significant benefits of their learning philosophy more
widely.
Solution
We (I was leading the project team at Precedent) worked with EBS to deconstruct what they do.
Teasing out each element allowed us to help EBS tell their story in a much more straightforward,
direct & easy-to-grasp manner. We also carried out user testing to ensure that the story resonated
with key groups. A web platform was developed with a journey that answered three principal
questions;
1. What do you want to study?
2. How do you want to study?
3. Where do you want to study?
The new site - built with the Kentico Xperience CMS & featuring Microsoft Dynamics CRM
integration - offered enhanced search & analytics and location-based, personalised promotion
capabilities. A much-improved fees calculator was also added, as this was a proven exit point on
the old site. The site was promoted not only to potential new students - personally & via
companies known to sponsor employee further education - but also to alumni.
Success
In the first few weeks after launch, mobile visits were up >473%; new enquiries increased by ~50%
& unique site visits from the target demographic grew by ~40%. Registrations resulting in new
students also increased by ~40% year-on-year. By connecting both current students and alumni to
their community, EBS gained additional business from former students.
.
35

B2Ceducation
Boosting student intake for Hurtwood House by engaging teenagers/mobilizing alumni, 2010
Challenge
Sixth-form college Hurtwood House, the most expensive public school in the UK,
was facing a shortfall in its future intake due to fallout from the credit crunch. Despite
its reputation as the school for the progeny of rock stars & a haven for creative
teenagers of all abilities, its marketing lacked excitement & interaction. Vast sums of
money were spent on inconsistent, poorly targeted, one-off adverts & an expensive
printed prospectus that needed more engaging recipients.
Solution
A campaign was devised to focus on the actual target market - wealthy teenagers -
centring on digital content that brought its value proposition for them to life.
Facebook, YouTube & other channels, including non-western social media, were set
up to show off the school’s USP- that although it is the number one school for
academic success, students can develop their creative sides, excel at sports & have
great social lives, too. Famous creative alumni - such as Golden Globe-winning
actress Emily Blunt, & Walt Zimmer, a multi-award-winning film producer - were
used as influencers to get the message across that the school was all about creative
& academic results. Organic SEO was also recommended as a first step, with the
website gradually being redesigned with student-created ‘pull’ content such as
videos & podcasts. In addition, different user journeys were designed for students &
parents for the boarding college & the new summer school - opened to enable
children of different ages to take acting & singing lessons while the sixth form college
was closed - had its own optimised website area.
Success
The slightly tweaked designs & social content helped bring the school to life for its
target audience & made it easier for the team to sell the school’s benefits against
competitors. The following year’s intake was so much improved that a waiting list
had to be created for both the central college & the summer school. Analytics
confirmed that a third of the surge in numbers was from overseas students whose
parents signed up after their children viewed online.
36

B2B2C visitor attraction
Personalization captures imagination & wins conference business for Tourism Ireland, 2008
Challenge
Tourism Ireland is the marketing body responsible for marketing the island
of Ireland overseas B2B & B2C. At the time they approached Mabox (where
I was freelancing as a Planning Director), the conference venue business
was notoriously competitive & bookers were flooded with incentives &
promotions. We were asked to help boost business tourism in Ireland
(Northern & the Irish Republic), making the country the leading venue
choice for event/conference organisers.
Solution
We developed a CRM campaign that put each of the ~1K HR/marketing team
recipients at the heart of their very own fairy story. Each chapter took the
protagonist on a personalised journey around key locations in all four corners of
Ireland, based on stated preferences & proximity to air/sea travel. The digitally
printed, watercolour illustrated ‘fairy tale’ book was addressed to them by name
& the text was altered according to preferences they/their companies were
known to have. It contained a link to a micro-site, which took this personalised
approach one step further, with dynamic pricing & other features designed to
improve traction. Emails & social/traditional media completed the ‘pull’.
Success
85% of recipients entered details online to read the story; ~ 90% were
new prospects who viewed more than five pages per visit. There was a
13% increase in inbound enquiries, leading to an 8% increase in
bookings. 10% also wrote specially to commend campaign. Kate
Crossman, Tourism Ireland Project Manager at the time, commented,”
This has been an outstanding campaign representing the brand essence
of Ireland. It has exceeded all objectives set.” The campaign also won an
Institute of Direct Marketing (IDM) Business Performance silver award in
2008 for "Best Direct Creative" & was a 2008 MIMA winner.
37

Thought leadership & influencer campaigns
38

Supporting aquaculture sustainability & traceability at Cargill, 2016-18
Challenge
The world’s largest supplier of ground beef & a leader in the production of commodities that are often
unethically &/or unsustainably produced - cocoa, chocolate & palm oil - Cargill has always been keen to
stress its complete commitment to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Having taken over
the EWOS aquaculture brand in 2015 & gained a 3.5% market share mainly in salmon, shrimp & tilapia,
Cargill needed to position themselves against strong competitor Skettering/Nutreco in the push to
sustainably produce 78.6 M tons of seafood by 2020/93.6 mM tons by 2030 (World Bank, 2017). The
challenge was doing this while at the same time publicly stressing its commitment to associated SDGs.
Solution
EWOS had a record as a small, highly sustainable producer, so we moved quickly to ensure that this
favourable positioning was recovered post-merger & that Cargill benefitted by association. As well as
getting involved in initiatives such as the Seafood Task Force, which is helping to address specific
concerns in local fisheries in Thailand, we committed to opening an Asian aqua innovation centre &
producing a yearly report detailing how all aquaculture practices were completely sustainable – from only
sourcing marine ingredients from IFFO RS certified factories right through to waste reduction (70%
recycled) & mitigation of overall environmental impacts including GHG emissions, ecological & carbon
footprints. New technology was shown as playing its part in meeting SDGs like goal 17, “Life Below
Water”, with breakthroughs such as a NIR tracking device that avoided fish loss through poor nutrition,
water pollution & disease, improving stock quality & quantity. Technology is also being used to provide
consumers with ‘sea to sell’ transparency.
Success
Cargill’s sustainability efforts in aquaculture not only won several awards (including the US State
Department Award for Corporate Excellence & a Keystone Policy Center award with Greenpeace) but
also got the trust of fish farmers & helped them make their operations more sustainable. This has
mainly been the case in Asia & also Central America. In these regions, companies like integrated
shrimp producer Seajoy have not only had shrimp nutrition & welfare support from Cargill but also
helped meet the stringent quality, ethical & ‘green’ certifications needed to trade in the US & EU.
B2B2C food/biotech
39

Repositioning DuPont from chemicals company to supporter of healthy nutrition, 2014 -16
Challenge
DuPont was best known as a chemicals company & its food-related divisions -
from Pioneer (now Corteva) dealing with crops to the Nutrition & Health
divisions that grew after a merger with Danisco in 2011 - suffered from this.
Solution
DuPont Nutrition & Health’s association with the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)
helped the company get around this branding issue & get back on its feet after a
drought in 2013. The 2014 Global Food Security Index measured 109 countries
against 28 food security indicators that monitor the ongoing impact of
agriculture investments, collaborations & policies worldwide. Its focus on the
accessibility, affordability & quality/safety of food, as well as transparent
production, were totally in line with those of DuPont’s nutrition & health division
& so they made a great partner. DuPont leadership was also invited to join the
food security conversation with Key Opinion Leaders, including Michelle &
Barack Obama (Milan Expo, 2015, American Food 2.0 area) & Madeleine
Albright (AgriVision 2015), as well as Nestle, the Nature Conservancy, IBM &
others supporting more sustainable food production. In addition, the company
was involved in a healthy nutrition drive around childhood obesity, centred on
geographic areas highlighted as problematic in the Economist Food Security
Index.
.
Success
Research & analytics to 2016, including global sentiment metrics in key
segments, showed that DuPont was less associated with Teflon & hazardous
chemicals, & much more with sustainability messages. In 2015, 62% of search &
development funding allocated by shareholders & other key stakeholders went to
supporting food security, particularly in emerging markets. 2016 & a proposed
merger with Dow sadly saw the Nutrition & Health division break away from the
main company & eventually become part of IFF in 2021.
B2B2C food/biotech
40

B2B2C food/biotech
41
DuPont food security thought leadership push with the Obamas/Madeleine K. Albright, 2015

B2B2C food /biotech
Gut health campaigns for DuPont Americas & Asia yield ~14% CAGR & awards, 2015
Challenge
As an American company, with some of the biggest food producers as its
customers, DuPont was continually facing questions about its stance on the
deployment of in-feed Antibiotic Growth Promoters in the US as well as in high-
use countries like China in monogastric farming. This was mainly due to changing
consumer attitudes following an increasing number of food safety incidents & an
increasing number of AGP bans in US states & early pandemics in Asia. One of
the company’s key strategic objectives was also to grow probiotic sales. Gaining
vet, as well as commercial management support, was critical to this goal.
Solution
Following research with the target market campaigns dispelling myths in gut
health & using probiotics to unlock health benefits ran, backed up with
partnerships with academics & other Key Opinion Leaders (KOL). Supporters
included NGOs, nutrition experts (such as Richard Kottmeyer), academics (e.g.,
Stephen Collett, Clinical Associate Professor, University of Georgia), and major
customers such as McDonald’s, Perdue, Chick Fil A (well known for their ‘No
antibiotics ever ‘ campaign) & Tyson, as well as DuPont’s health experts.
Success
Tactics such as events at key exhibitions like IPPE with leading media like WATT
Agnet & webinars generated >500 quality leads for each event & delivered
excellent “long tail” media coverage in industry & mainstream publications, such
as the New York Times as well as social media (DuPont, DuPont partners &
clients’ Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter & local social media such as China’s Weibo &
WeChat). Banners, e-books, trade & academic press articles, video case studies
& webinars supported an initial drive into poultry, for which DuPont won a Frost &
Sullivan Best Practices award. Similar campaigns followed this in swine health,
again backing up KOLs & customers.
42

2
8
B2B2C food/biotech
Enzyme sustainability campaigns regain no. 1 global position >13% CAGR for DuPont, 2014
43

B2B2C health
Winning market share via diabetes thought leadership in Asia at WPP agencies, 2011-2013
Challenge
Lack of patient compliance & patient education are contributing factors to the
epidemic growth of diabetes in India & China. WPP’s health agencies conducted
annual health & wellness studies in both countries (Kantar Health), had excellent
information on online patient consumption from TNS Digital Life studies & also
offered excellent on-the-ground expertise. However, awareness of the company’s
diabetes research capabilities among local & global pharma companies as a whole
was low, particularly for Kantar Health.
Solution
I worked with the international teams to develop tailored report/consultancy offerings
to help pharma companies educate the most at-risk population. The offerings were
aimed at global & local companies & so the marketing campaigns had to be tailored to
ensure cultural appropriateness. We worked with local medical panels to devise
online & F2F educational campaigns. Articles were published in the Times of India,
Economic Observer (China), Pharma Exec, PM Live, SCRIP, Pharma Marketing, The
Economist & on local & global diabetes blogs, and the Kantar Health blog & e-
newsletter. I achieved keynote speech places at the Economist Healthcare summit in
Asia (& the Kantar Health team appeared on Channel News Asia talking about
diabetes as part of this). The Economist website featured our white paper on Type 2
diabetes in China (based on this research) as a download. The key findings were also
summarised in infographics publicised on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn & local social
media popular at the time, such as Weibo & LINE.
Success
The Kantar Health report was sold for a nominal fee to the key pharmaceutical
companies operating in the worst impacted countries. As a result, the local teams
won several patient studies to embellish the findings. The free supporting content
was downloaded by>1,000, 22% of whom also subsequently enquired. Many of the
three million members of the leading physician network in China – DXY - also
purchased the report after it was featured on its website.
44

B2B health
Positioning WPP’s Kantar Health as global leader in evidence-based oncology, 2010-13
Challenge
Kantar Health’s offerings included a wealth of information on cancer
epidemiology, trends in oncology market access, oncology pipeline
potential & treatment trends that hadn’t been well publicised. It also
employed many excellent oncology experts who were very low
profile, particularly in emerging markets where the need for
expertise was greatest.
Solution
A thought leadership programme was rolled out, which deployed
the company’s global experts to post (ghostwritten by myself & my
team) on social media/blogs against a planned calendar, appear in
webinars (including a series on oncology market access with a
leading global pharmaceutical journal) & give keynote speeches at
conferences (e.g., EPHMRA Asia). An oncology expert blog was
started on a newly launched website (now redesigned), with calls to
action to get free content such as white papers, infographics &
articles. We also formed relationships with leading doctor/medical
professional associations in Asia, the UK & the US & ran oncology
panels with patient groups using preferred channels such as
mobile. In addition, local social media listening was employed in
countries like China, Taiwan & South Korea, where patients were
very active & vocal online.
Success
Metrics showed a significant upswing in registrations &
downloads of oncology content, blog followers & sales
enquiries/conversions, particularly in Asia, the US & the UK.
Positive sentiment metrics & benchmarking also indicated clearly
that we were being rated as oncology research experts.
45

B2Chealth
Saving Oceania’s skin (& lives) for LEO Pharma (became SkinVision, 2015) at WPP, 2011-12
Challenge
Although awareness about skin damage from sun exposure was high among
young Australians, government campaigns were launched to stop over 40-year-
olds from sunbathing without protection & using sunbeds, causing a rising
incidence of sunspots & non-melanoma skin cancers. Pharmaceutical company
LEO, which specialises in dermatological therapies, wanted to raise awareness
of the dangers of skin cancer & the importance of checking moles in an
engaging way alongside the more formal warnings.
Solution
I acted as a strategic planner on the WPP team led by Sudler & Hennessey &
Hill + Knowlton Strategies to develop an integrated health campaign, ‘Know
Your Own Skin’ for LEO pharma. We engaged a celebrity ambassador with
personal experience of sun damage (Australian Ironman & surfing icon Guy
Leech) around whom to conduct a wide-scale, integrated campaign. Elements
included an app & companion website to help users track sun damage in major
cities, & booths at Ironman events & in prominent Australian locations.
Educational campaigns for GPs, nurses & pharmacists involved dermatology &
cancer Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs).
Success
Over a year, there were ~80K+ unique visitors to the website & in one month,
>5K app downloads, placing it in the top five global app downloads. We
reached> 4M through PR alone, including an exclusive interview on leading TV
show Channel 10 News, > 40 radio interviews, targeted print media coverage
including The Daily Telegraph (Australian issue), & extensive magazine
coverage. We also supported the client in creating content for a successful early
social media campaign. In addition, we rolled out an adapted campaign
successfully in New Zealand. The Australian campaign won a PRIME award in
2012 for ‘Best Community programme’. I was also subsequently hired by
SkinVision in 2018 to devise & execute its market access, key account &
partnership plans in key countries.
46

B2C charity/health
Helping the Red Cross improve HIV awareness & testing in China with WPP campaign, 2012
Challenge
By 2010, a lack of HIV awareness & testing in China had resulted in ~74K people
suffering from the disease without treatment, while many more cases were
unidentified or unreported. Having received European Union funding to rectify this
situation, the Red Cross engaged WPP to work with them on a prevention
campaign focussed on educating high-risk groups, including youths, migrant
labourers & homosexuals.
Solution
Research revealed that money was being wasted on training centred on scare
tactics & wasn’t resonating with target groups. We replaced this with a ‘Getting to
Zero’ programme designed to engage & change behaviour with videos, local social
media engagement & thought leadership campaigns on issues like sexually
transmitted infections. Rewards were also offered for attending training, making
positive changes to their lifestyle (e.g., condom use) & spreading the word. We
used venues where gay men tended to congregate & also set up education booths
on the busiest streets in key cities with the latest information on the disease & its
treatment. In addition, we capitalised on positive role models & influencers from
target communities & enlisted government help in engaging hard-to-reach migrant
worker groups.
Success
Metrics showed improved engagement, awareness, information sharing among
peers & personal behavioural changes in at-risk groups. The number of identified
cases increased as awareness grew in the first few months, but mortality rates
dropped dramatically in key cities like Beijing over time. Opinion polls showed that
tolerance of those living with HIV/Aids was also improved as non-sufferers better
understood the condition. As a result of the success & collaborative way of working
with the client to achieve great results, our work was given a Red Cross award for
‘Team Excellence’.
47

B2C charity/health
1st healthy eating app & heart attack ads deliver top results for British Heart Foundation,2010
Challenge
The British Heart Foundation (BHF) wanted a follow-up to their award-winning “Watch Your Own
Heart Attack Campaign”, which had successfully shaved minutes off the time people with symptoms
took to call 999 for > one-third of the target population. They wanted to create a long-tail ‘win’ from
the TV & YouTube campaigns featuring the likes of David Cameron (the UK prime minister at the
time).
Solution
After conducting research with target groups, we agreed on producing a healthy eating programme,
supported by a recipe app aimed at work commuters/others on the move who were already keeping
an eye on their health (e.g., cyclists, runners, gym members) as well as those with ‘at risk’ conditions
such as diabetes, high cholesterol & high blood pressure. The app was the first of its type, enabling
users to search through >130 recipes by medical condition or use the ’Inspire Me’ function if they
wanted to eat more healthily. Further features included the ability to share/e-mail recipes to a friend,
store favourites, rate recipes & create shopping lists of ingredients. We managed to carry the BHF
brand identity through the app by tying it in with the recipe area on their website; the app was
publicised at BHF sporting events, via gyms, health-related Facebook groups & the fitness, nutrition
& wellbeing media. It was also offered on relevant websites, such as the online fitness store Wiggle,
as a download via programmatic ads & as part of the BHF 'Heart Matters' welcome pack for
supporters & patients.
Success
The free app was an instant success, with thousands of downloads & shares, & many positive media
reviews. BHF research at the time showed that it was the only recipe app available with nutritional
search & other features relevant to heart disease. Many who downloaded the app also visited the
BHF YouTube channel to ‘watch their own heart attack’. Victoria Taylor, Senior Dietician at the BHF
at the time, commented, “Heart & circulatory disease is still the UK’s biggest killer, & maintaining a
balanced diet is an important part of keeping the heart healthy. Now, thanks to this app, users can
quickly plan tasty meals that are good for them on their morning commute, during their lunch break,
at the gym, in the supermarket - basically wherever they can get a mobile phone signal."
57
48

B2C charity/animalwelfare
Opening up the dialogue between animal welfare supporters & the UK government, 2009-10
Challenge
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) wanted to stimulate
dialogue between the general public, MPs & electoral candidates before the 2010 UK
General Election. Having worked with Precedent previously on the RSPCA’s main
website & a similar microsite before the European Parliament elections in 2009, they
approached the team for help. I was an experienced lobbyist & leading digital projects
for Precedent at the time, so I took on the job of working out the strategy & managing the
implementation.
Solution
Working with an account director & designer, I devised & implemented a campaign
centring on a microsite which included a timeline of the last 20 years of animal welfare
law, leading up to the Animal Welfare Act 2006 & showing landmark changes. The site
also gave details of the RSPCA's stance on issues like ‘dangerous' dog legislation,
ensuring higher welfare farming & banning wild animals in circuses & animals
in scientific experiments. Users could access an interactive poll, watch videos about the
RSPCA’s history & discuss their views in an online forum. An award-winning campaign
was also devised to pull users to the site & start two-way conversations.
Success
RSPCA parliamentary officer Stacey Frier commented,’ Animal welfare law can
sometimes be a bit of a dry subject, so we wanted a site that got the ideas across in a
modern, interactive way & kept people coming back.’ She added that the campaign did
so well that they decided to keep the microsite up & running. It has been slightly re-
designed recently, but the RSPCA team have maintained, & added to the original
structure as they know it works.
I consequently built a local RSPCA site with Precedent’s Australian team & also
continued to do work with the RSPCA on farm animal welfare when working for DuPont
& Cargill, companies involved in feed production & animal health.
49

B2C/B2G charity/health
Raising awareness of ‘silent killers’ Hepatitis B&C for The World Hepatitis Alliance, 2008-10
Challenge
The World Hepatitis Alliance (WHA) wanted to take viral hepatitis awareness,
advocacy, fundraising & capacity-building to a broader audience than ever before. The
brief was to raise awareness that, at the time, one in 12 people worldwide was living
with either Hepatitis B or C (15 times as many people as were living with HIV) without
knowing it until they triggered severe health issues/death.
Solution
A five-year plan was devised with WHA staff. As part of this, an award-winning ‘Am I
Number 12’ awareness campaign was put together with the PR agency at the time,
Fleishman-Hillard, with me working on the digital/integrated aspects. The initial roll-out
of this campaign involved engaging >200 patient groups & other influencers to promote
the first World Hepatitis Day (dedicated to Nobel Prize winner Dr. Baruch Blumberg,
who did breakthrough research into hepatitis). The campaign, first rolled out in 2008,
spanned viral, social (including customisable blog), web, ambient (including a branded
bus with celebrities participating in testing & distribution of condoms with the ‘Am I
Number 12?' logo on), video & print media, silent discos, fun runs/other sporting
events, concerts & even a wedding between ex-patients. Campaign ‘toolkits’ &
templates in 40 languages were given out to organisers worldwide to facilitate.
Success
The campaign generated >42K significant visits from 137 countries to the
website & >7.65K visits to the YouTube channel in a single day. Rallies & events
in 258 countries secured patient advocacy, government, WHO & corporate
support. WHA/ Fleishman Hillard won gold in the Global Campaign, PR Week
Awards 2009. The day also became an annual event in 2010.
50

B2C health
Proactive stroke/heart attack prevention for ‘at risk’ patients with NHS in Portsmouth, 2008
Challenge
Portsmouth Primary Care Trust (PCT) used the Blood Pressure Association’s
‘Know Your Numbers! Week 2008’ to launch its first campaign, the aim of which
was to encourage residents to get their blood pressure checked free of charge at
'Pressure Stations' run by health professionals. However, the Trust wanted to raise
awareness for its own ‘Vascular Prevention’ & ‘Choosing Health’ programmes, & to
educate defined target groups via integrated marketing campaigns.
Solution
I worked with the Mabox & Portsmouth PCT teams to create a ‘Sort It Portsmouth’
campaign, the main aim of which was to reach at-risk residents who had never had
a test before. Integrated promotions spanned South Coast radio, billboards, bus
stops & community centre advertising. CACI consumer & demographic data was
also used for leaflet drops. Portsmouth Football Club notaries at the time (Peter
Crouch, John Utaka & Glen Johnson) were enlisted to help recruit locals for testing
& to provide a bit of a PR buzz. Health insurance company Vitality also donated
vans & staff to help with the push.
Success
More than 55% of the 1.5K tested were found to have high readings needing
further investigation. Aside from saving lives, this & subsequent campaigns gained
Portsmouth PCT 'innovative' Trust status. The campaign also won the healthcare
category of The Charity Awards 2008. Paul Edmondson-Jones, Portsmouth’s then
Director of Public Health, commented, “High blood pressure is a major cause of
stroke & heart failure which are at the very least reducing quality of life, & in many
cases, causing premature deaths for residents in Portsmouth. ‘Know your
Numbers!’ was the ideal launch pad for the ‘Sort It Portsmouth’ campaign. Being
able to offer a mix of practical, convenient blood pressure checks alongside expert
information & publicity gave us a chance to reach those residents who may not
have otherwise had the opportunity or inclination to know their numbers.” The PCT
is now part of Hampshire & Isle of Wight ICS.
51

Challenge
Hackney Council in East London had a challenging goal to meet - to
increase literacy levels throughout the borough, which were well below the
UK average. The big challenge was getting children for whom English was
not a first language &/or who dismissed reading as being ‘boring’ excited
about books & learning in general.
Solution
The Hackney team worked with designer Greg Bunbury, & myself to
devise the 'Words Unite’ brand & campaign. The brand centred around a
logo & the campaign used a wide variety of typefaces to reflect the range
of ages & ethnicities of children in the Borough. Featuring six-sheet
posters, a launch event with giant games attended by celebrities from
Hackney (including June Sarpong, Baroness Amos & Ruth Rendell), a
content-managed website, PR, cinema/radio ads, leaflets & partner
initiatives, the campaign raised awareness for the cause. A supporting
pack, ‘Knowledge Comes From Within,’ was also given to staff at the
Hackney Learning Trust.
Success
Over the first eight months, the temporary microsite achieved >57K page
views, thousands attended the event & > 80 partner organisations signed
up to help run the programme /campaign. The percentage of pupils
achieving Level 2+ in KS1 reading increased from 72% in 2003 to the
national average of 85% just over two years into the campaign. ‘Words
Unite’ was also a finalist in the 2009 CIPR Excellence Awards Best
Integrated Campaign.
B2Ceducation
Improving children’s literacy levels in the London Borough of Hackney, 2008 -2011
52

B2B/B2C media
Boosting sales by transforming the perception of stock photography at PhotoDisc,1996-98
Challenge
Early stock photography was always considered the budget choice for
designers - no better than ‘clip art’ or images a child might use to
illustrate homework. Top designers would never readily admit
to using it & this, in turn, led to low use by other desirable targets. After
joining PhotoDisc, the challenge facing me was to convert those
designers & get them thinking of PhotoDisc images as strong art-
directed base material for their award-winning offline & online
campaigns & designs.
Solution
I persuaded several leading designers (e.g., Bowie collaborator
Jonathan Barnbrook) & artists such as Damien Hirst to work with
PhotoDisc images (Damien used our pill & other images in his
Pharmacy restaurant – see top right) & publicised the outcome. I also
published a self-funding magazine that directly took on Creative
Review & other leading design publications. I sold ad space to pay for
the design & got the paper & print free of charge. Piggy-backing with
larger, wealthier companies such as Apple, Internet providers at the
time such as Pipex & brands designers liked, such as Dazed &
Confused, How Magazine, Creative Circle & the D&AD (on their New
Blood Academy, which fostered exciting global talent) drive
awareness. To ensure global reach, I worked with regional staff to
tailor promotions according to cultural & language needs & set up
local partnerships with graphic art associations & media companies.
Success
When PhotoDisc was sold to Getty Images in 1998, the EU/Asia
divisions I worked for made over 50% of its 1998 revenues of $185
million. By 2000, I had integrated > 30 collections under the newly
formed Getty Images brand. Getty was also the market leader,
making $1M every minute in profit.
53

Positioning, branding & ‘pull’marketing
54

Challenge
When I joined Cargill Nutrition & Health (N&H), the company did not follow the same brand
guidelines as the rest of Cargill (‘Thrive’). The brand structure was chaotic, with products from
legacy companies that had been taken over (all with very different brand marks)
presented as go-to-market brands. There were also local variations of these legacy brands &
no formal guidelines as to how they should be presented. In addition, product names changed
depending on whether sales were B2B or B2C & also where the sale was being made, e.g.,
Mazola Oil in the Western world was known as Sweekar Oil in India. This made it difficult for the
local teams to follow the branding correctly & also made it virtually impossible to promote the
company’s portfolio worldwide. Critically, Cargill N&H hadn’t checked with customers & prospects
to see how much impact this situation was having on its stagnant sales.
Solution
I carried out a complete brand audit with my local marketing reports. This included one-to-
one virtual & in-person semi-structured research (with customers, prospects, distributors &
partners) in >20 countries to establish brand perception & identify unmet needs in animal
health, precision farming & supply chain. The first survey of this type in Cargill yielded
significant results, including valuable brand feedback & suggestions around portfolio gaps.
On the branding side, it confirmed that there was a lot of work to be done to improve
recognition, mainly in terms of simplification & fit with the existing ‘Thrive’ guidelines.
Concerning unmet needs, it confirmed that the digital direction of play in the Cargill N&H
solution portfolio was positively in line with pain points & sufficiently differentiated/value-
driven to appeal.
Success
Twelve in-person/video link workshops were held to activate the changes across geographies &
ultimately get feedback on tweaks needed to tweak B2C/B2B value propositions & build brand
templates for local implementation. > 500 senior commercial & marketing team members, &
brand & communications staff participated in the two-day sessions. Spanning four continents, this
effort helped unify the team & get their buy-in. Analytics & cross-company sales audits showed
that customers had widened their range of purchases in the year following the changes.
B2B/B2C food/biotech
Resolving brand confusion improves cross-company sales at Cargill, 2016-2017
55

B2B2C health
New brand positioning inspires team to ‘catalyse’ Kantar Health’s revenue stream, 2011-12
Challenge
Kantar Health had undergone an expensive re-branding exercise with a fellow WPP
company in 2009. However, the company’s key value propositions were still unclear
& staff had not embraced the changes when I joined WPP in 2011. Also, no
research had been undertaken with the company’s key target markets, so little was
known about their content or channel preferences. This was reflected in marketing
that was opportunistic & unmonitored in terms of effectiveness, aside from the
pronounced lack of sales growth.
Solution
Personae & journeys were created after an extensive (in terms of segments &
geography) triangulated research had been undertaken. A content strategy was also
devised, focusing on trackable actions in key differentiating areas. In addition, staff &
business partners were engaged to feed into a ‘brand essence’ exercise & help with
website usability testing. I focused on the word 'catalyst’ given its scientific
connotations in all languages; it also implied that the team could transform a
situation by applying evidence-based research. Freelance designers helped me
create the brand assets & guidelines.
Success
The new branding was rolled out across selected channels via specially selected
content to support message pillars - social media, explainer videos, webinars, an
emerging markets health quiz, e-newsletters, traditional PR & roadshows. To ensure
company-wide buy-in, a working group of global staff was invited to input feedback
that was used along with analytics, sentiment metrics & other KPIs measures to
tweak the new brand campaign elements. A quarterly ‘key catalyst’ competition
(staff nominated by teammates as having made a transformational difference) was
also introduced. Most importantly, customers appreciated the changes in terms of
look, feel & consistent, on-message communication. Lynette Cook, then CEO of
Kantar Health, commented,” The whole team is so completely inspired by the new
branding that it is having a really positive impact on sales. Customers love it, too.
Nice work, Monica & team!”
56

B2B2C health
57
Developing a customer-focused brand essence/positioning for Kantar Health, 2012-13

B2B2C health
New brand positioning/assets bring 'digital difference’ to life at WPP’s All Global, 2013
Challenge
All Global was a family medical research business which WPP bought. The
company retained their personal touch & pioneering spirit despite being part
of a larger company. However, while their existing customers were very
loyal, they needed an acquisition strategy & competition in their sector was
fierce. Their website also needed a total overhaul onto a secure platform
given their pioneering use of private digital research ‘rooms’ on Facebook,
YouTube & local social media sites. Additionally, reports from all research
channels needed to be simplified.
Solution
After several workshops & surveys with branding experts, Rose Design, I
developed personas & a brand essence, then fleshed out positioning &
mission statements. Staff input was sought, customer insights & a social
programme were put in place around the launch of the new materials to
ensure adoption. The new positioning highlighted the company’s innovative
approaches, which yielded better insights & focused on All Global knowing
the industry, & the latest research technologies & methodologies. The
website was also rebuilt with a back-end portal for running panel research &
patient focus groups & for coding/generating comprehensive information
from all channels used.
Success
Tony Burke, then CEO of All Global, commented, “We wouldn’t have got
the branding to the great place it is now without Monica taking the lead &
steering us wisely. Her input & inspiration was crucial, invaluable & very
much appreciated.” All Global was assimilated into Kantar in 2019 & took
on its branding at that point.
58

B2B2C health
59
59
Team & customer buy-in to new branding at WPP’s All Global underlies its success, 2013

B2B2Cmedia
Getting the best value from iconic archive film footage for ITN Source, 2008
Challenge
ITN Source, one of the world's largest film collections, wanted to
promote the re-launch of its online film footage library to creative
professionals internationally, focusing on the most significant
potential markets to start with - the US & UK.
Campaign
Devised directly with ITN Source’s CEO at the time, Sue
Thexton (a connection from my Adobe & Getty days) &
subsequently executed with Mabox, this campaign combined
intrigue & iconic footage. We asked questions, e.g., ‘Who shot
JFK?’, ‘Who released Nelson Mandela?’ & so on, to which the
ultimate answer was ITN Source with a call-to-action to ‘Cut to
ITN Source’. The films were shared virally, posted as banners
on key industry websites & lenticular postcards were sent. A
specially designed micro-site with offers for designers,
producers & other target segments was also launched.
Success
79% of those who received the email visited the website & 49%
of those who received it passed it on. 22.7% of those who
received the postcards also entered their details for the
competition. In addition, click-through rates for the banners were
0.64%, more than double the industry average. The campaign
also won the Best Digital Campaign category in the B2B Awards
& was shortlisted in the 2008 Campaign & Revolution! Awards.
The collection was subsequently sold to my ex-employer, Getty
Images, for a premium price due (the team said) to the
improvement in brand recognition & sales.
60

B2C charity
Improving Barnardo’s revenues by developing new business streams, 2008
Challenge
Child protection charity Barnardo’s commercial arm relied on
creating innovative new products to generate extra revenue from
existing supporters & also draw in new donors. They came to
Mabox, where I was consulting, with a brief to create a new brand
for an existing family travel insurance product that hadn’t achieved
its financial goals.
Solution
I worked with the Mabox & Bernardo’s teams to create a
campaign that conveyed the complete protection that such a
trusted name could give children & families facing adversity.
Using the analogy of very high sun protection cream protection,
Factor 50 was born. The brand was sold online via a launch
micro-site & in Barnardo's stores, promoted via posters, email,
leaflets & social media. A pilot for DRTV was also planned & in
further promotional phases, viral marketing was also used to drive
awareness & sales.
Success
Although the product line has changed since 2008, Factor 50
enjoyed success in a competitive marketplace & achieved the
key goals of upping the level of donations & ‘shop’ revenues.
Anand Shukla, Head of Social Enterprise Services at
Barnardo’s at the time, commented, "The feedback we have
had has been excellent & the commercial success is the icing
on the cake. Thank you!"
61

Teamwork to get results (including getting hands dirty!)
Collaboration highlights
62
62

Boost European growth & margins at publishing startup

Boost European growth & margins at publishing startup

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