All-Ireland Marketing awards set standards to

aim for!

As the chair of the judging panel for the All-Ireland Marketing awards (AIMS), Colin Gordon outlines his top four insights on what makes the shortlisted candidates successful

By the time you’ll be reading this, the All-Ireland Marketing awards ceremony will have been held and all the recipients will be celebrating and enjoying their moment in the bright lights.

The AIMS, as they’re called, are the pinnacle of the Irish marketing profession and are a hotly anticipated recognition of one’s advancement in the whole marketing space. The Marketing Institute of Ireland owns and runs the AIMS and they are rightly proud of the status they hold in the general firmament of Irish marketing.

I’ve been lucky enough to have the job of chairing the panels for judging these awards for a second year It seems clichéd, and somewhat trite to say that it’s been a real privilege to act as chair of these panels across 21 categories; all looking to identify what is great in Irish marketing at the moment. But the thing about clichés is that they are true, and if trite means overused, then I’m sorry but I’m guilty as charged.

This year’s AIMS covered more than 110 shortlisted candidates with presenters pitching their cases and facing direct questions from a series of judging experts. Those who were shortlisted represented many sectors, different sizes and ages of organisation; organisations faced by very different challenges and opportunities. And all showed evidence of really good insights and learnings. The shortlisted candidates were judged across four key criteria, each trying to see how marketing worked to understand and direct actions and longer-term business operations.

After seeing and hearing all the presentations I thought it might be useful to set out some of my key learnings. So here are a few of my key takeouts from the two and a half weeks of judging during the month of April of what it takes to be a marketing winner To be clear, I know I am writing this for a predominantly FMCG readership but the takeouts apply nonetheless. I’ve kept the list to four for the sake of brevity. There are so many granular individual takeouts it would be impossible to set them all out - so take the four below as the ‘Top of the AIMS Pops’.

1. Strategy

All the winners - no matter the category, the size of the age of the organisation, or indeed of its ownership structure - were able to identify the challenge or opportunity facing them in a strategic context. They were able to set out a framework for the business challenge or opportunity and deal with it in the context of

COLIN GORDON Marketing Expert

the overall business, not just operate with a hunch or some short-term objective. Rather they have a longer term vision, a guiding principle, or they have key deliverables for the business as an overall entity They’re able to frame the opportunity or challenge facing them in a strategic and competitive context and they have a sound business understanding of what their consumers want. They have a set of objective insights supported by research and strong stakeholder feedback.

Business is marketing and vice versa

Winners were able to identify the difference between designing and running a campaign and seeing real business results - share gains, revenue achievements, new customer acquisition, and so on. Marketing is not campaign management or communications. A comms campaign is most often a tactical device to achieve a strategic objective, and winners will be able to see this distinction. Too often marketers are preoccupied with the doing of a campaign rather than looking at and for the business outcomes.

Results vs targets! Only and always

It was noticeable how often winners were able to identify results, not just as campaign numbers, but as identifiable business results against pre-set targets. This allows the business to be able to identify the return on investment from the particular business initiative or activity or, more precisely, the business activity organised by marketing, and then be able to identify whether or not it’s worth continuing with this activity, increasing it or putting it to one side as a learning not to be repeated.

4. Every day’s a school day

We all know that the market is constantly changing and so too is the consumer With so much change, marketers have to be constantly on alert, to be agile, to be adaptable, to be resilient and above all to be focused on the core strategy of the business. Marketers therefore have to be constantly learning from what they’ve just done or what competitors are doing, how consumers are changing behaviours, what their stakeholders, especially the trade are doing and what they themselves should be doing to maximise the opportunities or best overcome the challenges facing them on a constant basis. Winners in this year’s AIMS were really good at identifying how they would do things differently in a strategic way and/or how marketing is viewed differently in their organisation. In this way, marketing is constantly learning and adapting - and it needs to be able to bring these learnings and its sense of understanding of the marketplace and the consumer back into the business to help revise, improve and drive.

The AIMS strive to lift the standard of marketing throughout Irish business. Each of the winners are worthy and exemplary Their capturing of the takeouts outlined (amongst others) should help all marketers in or out of the FMCG sector After all, marketing is the constant no matter the sector

To win an AIMS award is a huge achievement and one to be celebrated by all winners. I’m just happy to have been involved in witnessing so many great ‘best of’ today’s marketers. ■

‘Marketing is in trouble: How we got here and 10 steps to get us out’ by Colin Gordon is now available to purchase, published by Orpen Press.

To get your hands on a copy, visit the following: www.orpenpress.com

UK: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08M9XY6HF

US: www.amazon.com/dp/B08M9XY6HF

Ireland: Marketing is in trouble eBook by Colin Gordon - 9781786051127.

Rakuten Kobo Ireland - www.kobo.com/ie/en/ ebook/marketing-is-in-trouble

1. Best series you recently watched on a streaming platform?

Yellowjackets - the anticipation of what they do when stranded, the snippets of crazy you get – it’s nail-bitingly, edge-of-your-seat great.

2. Best place for coffee?

There’s an excellent café in Inchicore called Unfiltered. Arguably the best coffee in the city, and even better, extremely knowledgeable and friendly staff.

3. Top movie recommendation?

Anything by Wes Anderson. But if I had to pick one... It’d have to be Fantastic Mr. Fox. I adore foxes, Road Dahl and stop motion!

4. Top spot for a walk?

Foraging in Killiney hill or walking with my family in Glendalough.

5. Top book recommendation?

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher - a great contemporary fantasy and mystery series. There are 17 books in the series and it’s still ongoing. It got me through Covid!

6. Favourite influencer/content creator if you have one?

Aoife McNamara - she’s an up-and-coming fashion designer driven by innovative practices and inspired by Ireland’s wild beauty. I love her creations!

7. Favourite grocery shop?

Asia Market for all the wonderful different flavours and ingredients.

8. Your favourite dish to make at home?

Anything Italian but especially ravioli with seasonal wild garlic pesto.

9. First thing you would do if you were Taoiseach?

Make a Hendrick’s fountain!

10. If you had to live in another country, where would you choose?

Somewhere more affordable with sunBarcelona, Berlin or Canada (already lived there and loved it!)

11. Greatest achievement to date? Completing my Master of Biomedical Science degree and moving to another country by myself.

12. Best website? Punchdrink.com or diffordsguide.com - both are great for trends and inspiration for all things spirits and imbibing related!

13. Do you prefer working from home or in the office/on-site?

I work remotely and travel a lot but love visiting the Richmond Marketing office and seeing my co-workers, hearing about what they are up to and the fun activities they plan!

14. Best piece of advice you ever received? For me, the one that hit me at a time I needed to hear it was – “it’s about the journey not the destination” and “what did I want?”. Both were pivotal and caused me to make the leap and move abroad, which was the best thing I ever did.

15. Biggest fear?

Not reaching my full potential and regretting something.

16. City or beach break?

A city near a beach please!

17. Top restaurant recommendation?

My current favourite is Aperitivo - a gorgeous Italian small plate wine and cocktail bar. A small plate of pasta and mini negroni? Yes please!

18. Who is the last artist/group you saw live? It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Podcastloved it! They’re hilarious.

19. Best customer service you ever received?

In Singapore where a bartender and chef created an amazing chef’s tasting menu paired with cocktails, in a gorgeous tiny speakeasyjust for me and my co-workers.

20. What’s the last compliment you received? I’ve a great smile. ■