How Liontooth Works
- By Lisa Ellison
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- 28 Jul, 2020
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What to expect from working with Liontooth
Liontooth was set-up with the intention of working collaboratively and in partnership with clients. Not all work requires a partnership situation but for others it requires more than a relatively simple transaction. Either way, trust and transparency is paramount to the success of the interaction.
The usual process you could expect from working with Liontooth looks something like this:
After an initial enquiry to Liontooth, we will arrange a meeting, either face to face or via video call, to establish your marketing need and how I can help you meet that.
Following the call I'll go away and consider what I believe will be essential to your business, based on the conversation; what will help strengthen your business's marketing and as a result, strengthen your profits. This can include everything from situational analysis, competitor research, workshops, branding or building a website through to social media content planning, designing marketing materials, stationery and brand revisions.
I'll put together a proposal with costings, broken down by hourly rates. This gives you the opportunity to decide whether to go ahead with the whole proposal or pick and choose what to go ahead with and when.
Giving complete transparency on cost and estimated timings provides full disclosure and allows you the control to ensure you remain within your budget. There is never any pressure to proceed with more than you want, the decision is entirely yours. All I will do is advise on which I believe to be the priority but you are in the position of power and it is your decision how your money is spent.
I never use third party providers which means that once the decision has been made to proceed and timings agreed, turnaround time is minimal and costs will not escalate. Working with a marketing consultant as opposed to a marketing agency, you will only ever have one point of contact and I will have all of the information you need, on the spot. There will be no need to chase for feedback or wait for answers to be gleaned internally.
If this sounds appealing or interesting to you, please feel free to get in touch.
Jamie Laing - before you roll your eyes and scroll on, hear me out. (I know, the photo gave away my cliff hanger!) You may have been one of the 50,000+ people that saw my LinkedIn post last week, very much a throw away passing comment, essentially, to say I drove past Jamie Laing on my way home from the school run whilst he was on his fundraising mission for Children In Need.
I followed the story closely last week, quite hooked on his progress and whether or not he would make it. I'm not a celebrity-obsessed person and I rarely engage with anything celebrities do but last week was different and I'm sure I'm not the only one. I believe that many people didn't know he was even embarking on that challenge until last week - I didn't and I listen to Radio 1 daily! I also believe there's a lot of people that either don't know who Jamie Laing is or do know and don't particularly like him - we can't please everyone!
So, what was it about his fundraising effort that gripped the nation and led to him raising over £2m?! It's all about the story. And *this* is a great example of marketing done well - with an emphasis on storytelling and humanising your brand. His fundraising effort, backed by BBC Radio 1 coverage, provides a perfect case study on the power of storytelling in marketing. His journey emphasised his struggle, determination, vulnerability and honesty and that played a pivotal role in engaging the public emotionally and driving donations. If his personal narrative hadn’t been shared so openly, it’s unlikely that such a significant amount would have been raised.
This is something I've also experienced in fundraising efforts that I've been involved in and it makes all the difference but it takes strength to be vulnerable, and I'll always admire those who found the strength to tell their story (you know who you are 💛).
Here's what we can learn about the value of storytelling in marketing:
Emotional connection drives action : Jamie's story wasn't just about asking for donations; it was about sharing his personal experience and struggles throughout last week. People are more likely to connect with a cause when they can empathise with the storyteller. In marketing, emotional engagement creates a bond between the audience and the brand, making them more likely to engage.
Vulnerability builds trust : By being honest and vulnerable about his efforts and the challenges he faced, Jamie Laing built trust with the Radio 1 listeners. Vulnerability *humanises* a brand. In marketing, being transparent and acknowledging (and addressing!) flaws can enhance credibility and build a stronger, more authentic relationship with consumers.
Narrative creates value : Jamie Laing didn’t just promote an event, he shared a compelling and authentic story about his commitment. In marketing, your story can be the difference betwe en blending in and standing out. Crafting a narrative around your brand or product creates meaning, making it more likely to stick in the minds of consumers.
Great - now how can you implement this in your marketing?
If you have ever worked with me, you'll have heard me going on about the importance of authenticity. This applies to everything from branding to customer service. If a brand is transparent about its processes, challenges and goals, customers are more likely to engage and support it.
Emotion drives engagement - whether it’s a product, service or cause, storytelling can create an emotional connection that compels action.
Consistent storytelling over time, where customers can see growth and commitment, helps keep them invested.
So basically, Jamie Laing’s Children In Need campaign demonstrated that storytelling - driven by vulnerability, determination and honesty, was the key to the level of success in his fundraising last week.
For marketers, it highlights that connecting with people on an emotional level, telling authentic stories and leveraging the right platforms can make all the difference in achieving success.
It can feel difficult to build emotion into corporate marketing but there's ALWAYS room to be human.
Sometimes I'll get a message to my inbox referencing my marketing agency
👀 God no! I'm
not an agency! No
. Sorry, no.
I'm a 1.5-person band. (The other half is my husband who's a silent partner, providing the incredible design skills). I don't want to be thought of as a marketing agency. For me it has connotations of frustration, waiting, chasing, and to be fair, more often than not incredible results but still.
I'm a no-nonsense , to the point communicator .
I like to be efficient and get stuff done and that includes getting results for my clients . I like the fact I'm basically flying solo with this, it's easy. It's straightforward. It's DONE.
Let me give you context and insight...
I have experience with agencies from BOTH sides - I've been the client AND the service provider. Honestly, I had challenges with both. See if anything sounds familiar:
From a client perspective , my biggest frustrations were always...
- The huge bill. Sorry guys, I always found it eye watering even though I wasn't paying!
- Not being able to get hold of my point of contact and waiting whilst others frantically ran around trying to get answers for me.
- I felt bad for (and frustrated about) the person playing piggy in the middle. I couldn't speak to Studio to get answers or explanations about design issues/challenges/restrictions. Information was often lost in transit.
As the service provider , (for me) these were my biggest frustrations...
- There too many systems and processes that got in the way of me just getting on and providing the level of service I wanted to.
- Too many other cogs in the wheel slowing down the process.
- Too many hoops to jump through and restrictions.
