Hey,

It's been busy here at Brand Hackers, not least because we've just welcomed 3 new people to our team. Welcome Jayden & Hannah into the social pod and Will, who joins us as Senior Growth Manager. With more joining across the CRM and social teams in August, we are ready to tackle any problem you throw our way so get in touch if your brand could do with a fresh jolt of expertise.

Calling all Brand Managers 📣

Starting this week with a plug for the Up World Brand Manager Bootcamp which is BACK after popular demand! 

Get the skills, strategy, and confidence to thrive as a startup marketer and skyrocket revenue, and set your career up for success. 

The Good Stuff:

• 12-week programme, starting 3rd September
• Eight live lectures covering brand strategy, marketing planning, creative briefing, ways of working, channel selection, measurement, and career development
• Four technical deep dives with Brand Hackers experts, covering CRM, retail, paid media, and more
• Four group coaching sessions, working through live case studies with experienced marketing coaches
• Eight podcast episodes featuring marketers who are doing the job every day
• Weekly worksheets to reinforce your learning
• Access to a dedicated Slack community
• A ticket to the Up Club Christmas Party to celebrate with the cohort 🎉 

Newsletter subscribers receive 10% off, while Brand Hackers clients enjoy an exclusive 20% discount. 

Give us a shout if you have any questions!

1- opinion

I've just realised that July marks my 5 year anniversary with Brand Hackers 🎉 , so to celebrate, I'm sharing 13 lessons learned from working with over 200+ brands over the past 5 years…

1/ 99% of founders don’t have it figured out AT ALL. Phew!

2/ Early stage brands rarely go tight enough into their niche.

3/ Speaking to your customers is a free superpower.

4/ Not enough brands prioritise speaking to their customers.

5/ 99% of small brands are too timid in their marketing.

6/ The brand & founder story is a free marketing superpower.

7/ Not nearly enough founders use their brand / founder story enough.

8/ Raising money is a 6 month+ commitment that takes focus away from the core business.

9/ Getting profitable is a superpower for small brands.

10/ Not nearly enough founders are doing field sales anymore.

11/ Instagram isn’t nearly as effective a sales channel as IRL.

12/ Most founders could do with getting out of their bubble a bit more.

13/ Being a solo founder is tough!

2 - things to try this week in your marketing

Thing 1 -  Find a banter partner

Our first piece of inspo below covers the the latest football banter between British Airways and Fly Norwegian and it got us thinking - how could you do something similar in your industry?

We've seen a similar sort of thing between the various supermarkets and I think the reason it's so effective is precisely because it's rivals gently ribbing each other, as opposed to brands just bigging each other up (as most collabs are) - it's jarring in a fun way and probably plays into the British sensibility to take the p*ss!

So - have a think and see if there is something in the culture that you and one of your competitors could drum up some fun banter around.

Thing 2 - Give people something to talk about

The best campaigns spark conversation. When creating content, ask yourself: "Would someone send this to a friend?" If the answer is no, it's probably missing that certain je ne sais quoi.

What question are you asking? What unique perspective are you bringing? What statement are you making? Distil it down to just a few words, and create from there.

3 - inspo we've spotted this week

(1/) Football banter takes to the skies.

There's nothing like an international football tournament to act as a neutral playing field for brands to kickstart a conversation, with this playful exchange between British Airways and Fly Norwegian circulating in the Brand Hackers group chat this week.

My only wish - the stakes should've been higher! 😜

(2/) How to enter the conversation

As we recover from a month of some of the worst advertising known to mankind in the form of anything world cup related (the Walker's Beckham/Henry/Carrell one has left me permanently scarred!), it's worth reflecting on some green shoots.

Like this from Waitrose - who effortlessly entered the national conversation in the most Waitrosey way imaginable. No 6 packs of lager and stock up messaging - just a beautifully understated piece of copy using a product that speaks to their target shopper. Simply done, not easy to do, love to see it.

(3/) Guerrilla Stunt at MADFest

Take up space. Make some noise.

Or risk fading into the background.

A moment to be proud of at Brand Hackers HQ as our sister company Up World took a full marching band took to the streets at MADFest, carrying a banner that read: "Don't be a one-man band. Join Up Club."  

A reminder that the best marketing stops you right in your tracks (literally). Round of applause for Jonny, our Head of Growth at Up World, for stealing the show. 

Which got us thinking: where are we playing it small, or too quietly, in other areas? 

That’s it for the week - I'm off to book flights.

✈️,

James

p.s. Wondering what Brand Hackers is?

It’s your answer to a marketing dream team.We build fractional teams that seamlessly slot into ambitious brands to help them scale, fast.

Check out more here.

Hit reply to tell me more about your brand - I like chatting 🤓

p.p.s. If you’re enjoying these newsletters, could you forward it on to ONE person who might get some value from it pretty please?