The Marketing Hustle

In this episode of The Marketing Hustle, Lottie interviews Lee Thompson, CMO and Founder of Flash Pack, an award-winning adventure travel company that brings together solo travelers in their 30s and 40s. They discuss the journey of Flash Pack, the challenges they faced, and the lessons they learned. They also talk about the marketing strategies they employed, the disruption they brought to the travel industry, and their plans for future growth. Lee shares his insights on leadership, hiring, and standing out in marketing. 

Takeaways:

• Flash Pack was born out of a unique business idea and grew rapidly through innovative marketing strategies.

• The journey of Flash Pack has been a roller coaster ride, with highs and lows, but they have learned valuable lessons along the way.

• Marketing is not just the responsibility of the marketing team; it should be integrated into every aspect of the business.

• Standing out and being different is crucial in marketing, and candidates should showcase their creativity and unique ideas during interviews.

• Scaling a business in America can be challenging, and seeking advice and insights from others who have gone through a similar experience can be helpful

Chapters

00:00: Introduction and Background

01:00: The Birth of Flash Pack

03:22: The Journey and Getting Stuff Done

06:36: Marketing Challenges and Lessons

13:10; The Roller Coaster of Flash Pack

17:05: Marketing Strategy and Growth

19:00: Leadership and Hiring

22:11: Disrupting the Travel Industry

23:38: Challenges and Future of Flash Pack

25:46: Marketing in America

28:38: Future Growth and Hiring

29:08: Standing Out in Marketing

31:00: Vulnerability and Honesty in Interviews

32:54: Scaling a Business in America

Barney Mauleverer, Co-Founder of Fuel 10k, is sharing his years of knowledge on how you get a business off the ground. 

In this episode, Barney and Lottie discuss the importance of product-market fit, branding, and marketing at the point of purchase. Barney shares lessons learned from failures and the influence of becoming a B Corp. Overall, the conversation highlights the challenges and successes of entrepreneurship and the importance of strategic decision-making. 

Barney also talks about the process of stepping back and how his ego handled the journey. He shares his realisation of being a generalist and the importance of surrounding oneself with specialists. Also explaining the strategy of handing over to a slicker team and creating opportunities for wannabe entrepreneurs.

Takeaways

• Building a successful business takes time and persistence.

• Marketing at the point of purchase can be more effective than traditional advertising.
• Learning from failures and being open to innovation are key to growth.
• Becoming a B Corp can have internal and external benefits for a business. B Corp certification can have a positive influence on a brand and its industry.
• Stepping back and letting go of control is an important part of the entrepreneurial journey.
• Being a generalist and surrounding oneself with specialists can lead to success.

• A strong team can multiply the founder's energy and contribute to the company's success.

Alex, the co-founder and CEO of Dash Drinks, provides insights into Dash's mission-driven approach, creative marketing strategies, and commitment to addressing food waste while also achieving commercial success.

From farming to tackling the government on mandatory food waste reporting for companies. Dash has evolved massively over time, from humble beginnings with basic products and minimum viable products to viral out-of-home campaigns that inadvertently gained attention due to a controversial image. 

Find out how Dash Drinks has made marketing and online sales work for them and helped a start-up go BIG. 

How Volcano Coffee Works pioneered a premium sub-category

Emma Loisel, Co Founder and Chairman of Volcano Coffee Works on how to build a business and change the definition “good coffee”. She talks about launching pods before the market was ready and why your caffeine from the supermarket isn’t what you think it is…

A lot goes into building a brand, we all know that. But we never get to see the many small steps that led to success; the first social campaigns, establishing a tone of voice and the marketing strategies that worked or didn’t. Sure, we might hear about the founding story or the huge campaigns years later that caught our attention. But what about the in between?

In this series Lottie Unwin, Founder of the Copy Club, explores the steps along the way.

The strategies, hustle and hard work that got some of our favourite brands their first 10,000 customers.

Find out more at: thecopyclub.co.uk

ATL media doesn’t drive sales and is prohibitively expensive, right? Tom Lucas at Squadron Media says no. He covers the three most common f*ck ups when brands buy media, how marketers forget who their customer really is and argues that it’s not your creative that needs to change to increase revenue but your media strategy. Hit the subscribe button to not miss an episode.

Reach out on LinkedIn if you’d like to recommend a guest. 

In this episode, we talk to Akin ONAL, the founder of Baby MORI, a leading D2C baby and toddler clothing brand that prioritises the use of organic fabrics and high-quality materials to promote family well-being. Akin's journey to success was far from typical, with a background in engineering, management consulting, and investment banking. But despite the odds, he managed to get his products in the hands of none other than Kim Kardashian herself! Tune in as Akin shares his unconventional path to marketing, the challenges he faced along the way, and the strategies that propelled Baby MORI to the top of the industry. 

Lottie and Akin sit down to discuss:

• The importance of learning over testing

• How to ensure repeat customer purchases

• The difference between between relationships and influencers

• Hiring the perfect person for a startup and ensuring the correct cultural fit

Kara Rosen is the Founder and CEO of Plenish, a vision which was sparked by a gap in the market for healthy drinks and juices, once she moved from New York to London in 2012. Kara has gone from working at Condé Nast, to starting her own successful business to now figuring out what the next steps look like and how she can cater for those under-represented in her next venture. 

In this episode, Lottie and Kara sit down to discuss: 

• Kara’s journey into starting her own business and how she began in the creative industry

• How knowing the consumer is key

• Making hard decisions regarding profit or product 

• The personal journey of starting a business

• What it’s like leaving a company you built

• How the second chapter is better than the first

James Mishreki is the founder of Skin + Me, the brand that’s on a mission to build an accessible way for people to achieve their skin goals with powerful personalised skincare. He then went on to found Life Supplies, where he continues to be CEO. 

Within this episode Lottie and James discuss: 

• The importance of investing in brand

• The trial and error involved in customer acquisition  

• Reducing the barrier to entry 

• The story behind the Daily Doser

• Creating a culture driven by customer insights

Nick Paulson Ellis is the Founder and CEO of The Sports Edit, a multi-brand retailer that offers a carefully curated selection of the most stylish and innovative sportswear in the world, all centred around inspiring women to get out there, get sweaty and master their chosen activity. With brands like Alo Yoga, Girlfriend Collective and Hoka, they’re dominating the e-commerce market.

Lottie and Nick sit down to discuss:

• The difference between marketing a brand versus marketing multi-brand 

• Setting up the team in a way that makes KPIs crystal clear

• Working through the pandemic

Emily Kraftman is the Managing Director, UK & Europe of Who Gives a Crap – the toilet paper brand founded in 2012 in Australia after learning that 2.4 billion people don't have access to a toilet (now 2 billion – yay for progress!)

Emily joined the team in January 2022, with 5 years at Deliveroo under her belt, plus years spent in corporate marketing at Nestlé and AB InBev.

In the latest episode of The Marketing Hustle, Lottie and Emily sit down to discuss:

• The transition from corporate marketing to start-up marketing

• The relationship between the global and local team

• Whether or not there's a “right” way to do marketing

• Their approaches to personal development

Alec Mills is the co-founder of sustainable period brand DAME, best known for launching the world’s first reusable tampon applicator in 2018. He co-founded DAME to rewrite the narrative around periods, provide real choice, and improve life for girls and women around the world.

As the Head of Brand, Product and Marketing Alec has been responsible for bringing some game-changing campaigns to life, including the first ever tampon string to be shown on public advertorial, featuring on the side of 200 London buses.

In the latest episode of The Marketing Hustle, Lottie and Alec sit down to discuss…

• The transition from one product to a full, innovative range

• Building authority through authenticity

• Impact marketing

• How to focus on slow and steady growth

Dr Natalie Getreu is the Co-Founder of Hertility, the company that's helping people to take control of their fertility. Using their at-home tests, over 200,000 customers have received advanced insights into their hormones & fertility.

Lottie and Natalie sit down to discuss:

• How to market a product people don’t know they need

• The power of Tone of Voice

• How their marketing has changed over time

• How not to underestimate word of mouth

• What makes a great start-up marketer

Thomas Peham is the VP of Marketing at Storyblok – the platform that makes creating and managing your content in one centralised hub and publishing it to any channel or device seamless.

Lottie and Thomas sit down to discuss:

• His unconventional route into marketing
• Why content is being undervalued by brands
• How to test content
• The secret to running a remote company

Second Nature is a platform that helps people lose weight through behavioural change, rather than dieting and counting calories. They’re now a team of 70, and Chris speaks candidly about his experience as co-founder of a growing business.

Lottie and Chris discuss:

• The effects of running a start-up on creativity
• The all-consuming nature of being a start-up founder
• The power of granular customer segmentation
• Tackling marketing with an engineering mindset
• The downsides of A/B testing

Lottie sits down with Saasha Celestial-One, Co-Founder of Olio – the platform that gives people a hassle-free way to share their surplus food and the household items they no longer have use for. They discuss:

- How Olio defines marketing
- The biggest marketing challenge the Olio team has faced
- Their up-coming rebrand
- Reorienting your North Star
- What makes a remote business work

...and so much more.

A marketers job is so much more than social media.

But we’ve got a bit lost, we’ve forgotten there are marketing opportunities at EVERY touchpoint.

This week, on The Marketing Hustle, we chatted to Doug Franklin, Founder of Penny Black. Doug’s pretty much pulled a whole new digital marketing channel out the hat.

The headline from our chat is that the packaging has just got high tech. Realising that personalised digital marketing didn’t need to end the moment a customer makes a purchase, Doug set about creating Penny Black which brings digital personalisation all the way into the hands of the consumer via on-brand, personalised and great-quality inserts.

(This is a sponsored episode. At Copy Club we have a select number of partners. If you see us bigging them up, it’s because we really do believe they offer big value, but they also did kindly pay us which helps us to continue to look after y’all.)

with Founder, Luke Boase

Lucky Saint are an alcohol free beer company, who were at the start of the low/ no revolution. Over the last year they have become HUGE & are icons in the marketing space for really owning the category.

This week I chatted to Luke Boase, Founder of Lucky Saint about how they break rules & honour tradition.

with Griselda Togobo, Founder of Forward Ladies

Forward Ladies is community first. It’s a business driven by a passion to help other women succeed. Since taking over the business in 2014 Griselda has led Forward Ladies to huge success with members worldwide and an online platform for them to connect.

This week Lottie spoke to their Founder, Griselda Togobo about how she built the community one member at a time.

Join the Copy Club: https://thecopyclub.co.uk/

with Founder, Paul Brown.

Bol are driving people to do things differently. With a product that is making an impact in the category, and branding that stands out on shelf BOL have had huge success. We want to hear how the journeys been, how to innovate & how to authentically be a brand with a purpose.

This week Lottie chats to Founder, Paul Brown about building a TV, making difficult decisions & how to build something different.

with Sophia Halberstam, Senior Marketing Manager at This!

THIS is well loved by anyone in FMCG or marketing in general. They’re a brand who aren’t afraid to do something shocking, have done numerous campaigns that have had huge reach and consistently produce comms that put themselves out there.

This week Lottie chats to their Senior Marketing Manager, Sophia Halberstam who has been there since day 1. They discussed being in a business from the early days, creating viral content & how to work in a Founder led business.

This is the final episode of series 1 and for it Lottie chatted to Ilana Lever, Co-Founder of Motley London, who work closely with designers & craftsmen to create beautiful jewellery.

They discussed seeing every situation as an opportunity and how you can gain unbiased market research on the cheap. This is a great pairing with last weeks episode as it came the same week of Motley & HANX's "Screw Love" partnership

We cannot wait to hear what you think.

In this episode, Lottie spoke to Sarah Welsh Founder of Hanx - who make sexual wellness essentials that look good on your bedside table. In a male dominated category, where brands call themselves TROJAN are all about conquest - Hanx are aiming to stand out.

They talked about the similarities of life as a sexual health doctor and building a brand, and how long-standing relationships with your agencies can deliver remarkable results.

In this episode, Lottie spoke to Jody Elphick, Head of Brand at Callally, who are the innovators of period products and are removing the shame from the world of periods.

This week Lottie chats to Jody in the luxury of her garden, so excuse the sounds of nature. They discussed why she doesn't like the term hustle as it implies the joy of pulling something out of nowhere is difficult and the real stats of period products.

Want to know more about the world of marketing? Check us out at thecopyclub.co.uk

In this episode, Lottie speaks to Emmanuel Eribo, Co-Founder of Butterfly Twists, the creators of the fold up shoe and recent Founder of Loci, who create sustainable footwear.

Lottie has known Emmanuel for ages and here they have a good old catch up. They discussed what it is to be a GREAT marketer and the chase for product market fit. When you find it it should be like someone putting two fingers in your nose and are pulling you forward - what an image!

In this episode, Lottie chats with  Andy Walker, Founder of TEAREX - who make fresh teas, crammed with fresh fruits and roots, because the tea category is just a bit... boring.

This was a very timely episode as Andy had recently relaunched with an entirely new sustainable product, using sugar cane tubes that are entirely recyclable. They discussed “how the challenge for FMCG brands is not how you get on the shelf, but how you get off the shelf” (a quote from Thea at Young Foodies) and the difference between coherence and consistency in marketing.

In this episode, Lottie spoke to Jayne Robinson, Head of Brand & Comms at Frame - a chain of gyms on a mission to get more people moving their bodies in ways that makes them FEEL great. It’s a new category - not about performance or six packs, but about FUN.

They discussed Jayne role in protecting the magic of the brand Founders Joan and Pip built and how Frame see MAKING FRIENDS as a marketing strategy.

In this episode, Lottie Unwin speaks to James Routledge, Founder of Sanctus- who provide businesses with mental health support and are the creators of the world's first mental health gym.

They discussed building a brand in a category that, well, doesn’t have any… and “EMPLOYEE MARKETING”, James’ brilliant and very powerful silver bullet.

In this episode, Lottie speaks to Shivraj Bassi, Founder of Innermost - a supplements brand that uses the power of nutrition to craft targeted solutions for your health and fitness needs - across body and mind.

They discussed the importance of a good distribution strategy as a marketing tool & just how true it is that founders see their businesses as their babies.