But here assumption and guess-work abound.  What marketing channels work? . A much deeper approach to marketing can be taken if you know what the customer’s working environment is like, what tasks consume their day, what makes them successful (as an organisation and an individual) and where your products/services fit in. Spring.  As birds migrate north to secure nesting ground, gaggles of marketers flock to secure budget for their marketing plans. The most fruitful of these plans are built on customer insights.  But insights into what exactly? What really matters? MORE >>

Ensuring people feel valued (34% of managers place in top three) and their work life balance (30%) are also felt to play an important role. One fifth will name remuneration (18%) or their work life balance (17%) as the single most important sources of employment happiness. . Base salary and work life balance actually have only a moderate correlation with job satisfaction.  They matter along with a handful of other factors related to working conditions, but are the basics. . People matter. But what’s the secret? First by a significant margin is salary.  MORE >>

We employ 380,000 people worldwide, of whom 43,000 work in the UK and Ireland. They’ve also done a lot of work in their supply chains. If you think about the likes of the Ethical Trading Initiative or SEDEX, which we’re also members of, a lot of the work has been driven by large retailers.  Through a UK and Ireland Diversity and Inclusion Council that was founded in 2008, we’ve been really supporting the agenda through some pretty large pieces of work.  . Sodexo is ultimately a better place to work and a better organisation to have working for you.  . MORE >>

You refer a lot to enterprise marketing in your work.  I know people who work there and who talk about how well the brand is managed throughout the organisation.  Every month David Willan interviews leading experts from the world of marketing and B2B.  This month David spoke with Jaakko Alanko, one of the true doyens of B2B communications. Jaakko shares insights learned during 40 years in marketing, discusses the B2B brands he admires and shares his vision for the future of B2B marketing: the era of the enterprise brand. What are the biggest? Technology enables us to do this. . MORE >>

That’s the theory, but how does it work in practice?  Last week I was invited to join The Network of Aspiring Woman, Birmingham Group.  I was tempted.  After all, “ it’s where networking feels like a party ”.  However, I declined for two reasons.  I live in London.  I’m a man. Clearly the Network’s execution fell short, but their strategy seems smart.  Rather than trying to be all things to all people, they’ve segmented the market and targeted a niche group.  Contrast this with another experience. The call was from a data centre “ specialising in the SME segment ”.  Enjoying this post? MORE >>