What better time than the holiday break to take stock of our businesses, and get ready for the new year? I’ve used the downtime to think about all that 2020 slung at us, and the opportunities that emerged. For my business, it's a name tweak ... and here's why.
At the conclusion of a strategic planning workshop last spring, my client made the slightly unsettling observation that my company name, Auburn Marketing, was not really accurate for my business. I think he actually said it was “a bit of a misnomer”. With some trepidation I asked him to tell me more, and he explained that my services encompass much more than “just marketing”.
This observation made me stop and contemplate the fact that we all have different perspectives on what marketing actually is. For some it’s the brand, visual, media, promotion and communications of products and services – which it is. But to those of us right in amongst it, it also encompasses market analysis, strategic planning, customer segmentation and insights, brand proposition, portfolio and channel planning, product development, customer experience, financial and value chain analysis, supply and demand modelling, project management, budgeting … and so much more.
To me, a market and customer led strategy should be the foundation of any successful business, including my own. The purpose of Auburn Marketing has always been to help kiwi companies find their fame, lift their game and hopefully ease their pain! Since Auburn Marketing’s start in 2017, clients have shown me that they value breadth of expertise and flexibility of services to address their specific needs. With more than 25 years’ experience in businesses large and small, fledgling and mature, B2B and B2C, local and international, I now have a substantial toolbox to dive into to provide services that match a wide variety of client needs. And always delivered with my core values of quality over quantity, courage, empathy and sharing.
To reflect the breadth of services I offer, I have chosen to drop Marketing from my brand name and become Auburn. Simply Auburn.
I’ll continue to offer services across strategy, marketing and innovation, including all of what I outlined above – yes, less can be more, a lot more!
So let’s go 2021 – and I can’t wait to catch up with my clients, current and new, very soon. And if we haven’t met yet and you’re in the mood to clarify your future plans, contact me on 0276333146 or charlotte@auburn.nz.
Happy New Year
Charlotte