Some 200 professional services marketers attended the PM Forum’s 30th annual conference in central London. Kim Tasso joined them.
To mark the 30th Annual PM Forum Conference, we shifted venues to the bright, modern Minster Building in the midst of insurance-land in the City of London. The last hurrah of summer warmth was reflected in the vibrant hot pink, orange and leopard-print outfits studding the delegates’ usual dark business attire.
All marketers were here. From interns in accountancy firms to built environment tendering experts flown in from Canada. Familiar Scottish law firm delegates who had overcome flight delays.
Doyens of brand agencies and internal brand advocates. Much-loved veterans and next-gen digital maestros. Representatives from technology firms – cheerleaders of AI-powered CRM and research-based systems. The early networking buzz meant we were almost late to start.
The 3R model (reputation, relationships and revenue) recurred. The implicit pairing of growth and strategy underpinned most sessions. Simplifying complexity, integrating marketing and ‘lots of little’ were other themes. All nuggets of conference gold.
It was refreshing to see chair Charlotte Green grace the stage to ensure ‘an annual jab of inspiration’. New raffles – with merch, hampers and research prizes – punctuated the gorging of brain food.
Paradox of purpose
Ingrid Brown (Bright Space) showed how hard it is to craft a meaningful purpose statement. Urging us to stretch ‘beyond our why’, she shared fruity language in a brand story video and warnings of ‘guilty of generic’ and ‘the language of same’. Shockingly, only 28% of firms have evidence to support their purpose statements.
She breezed through a powerful case study on access to justice from the law firm David Gray, sharing an elegant model (services, financials, environment, social and governance). Many delegates were relieved she said that not all firms are purpose-led. Phew.
Behavioural science update
Dr Susan Rose, Professor Emerita of Consumer Behaviour at Henley Business School, navigated the loyalty loop in consumers’ decision journeys. She examined information processing in compressed online decision-making. And asked to what extent our experience as digital-first consumers influences the B2B space. Sharing Susskind’s forecasts about technology on The Future of the Professions, she stressed the need to be responsive to goal-oriented consumers.
Fight Club – How important is PSF sector knowledge?
Leor Franks, as referee, ensured a vibrant debate between two professional services marketing heavyweight contenders. Michael Graham (economics consultancy) and Shaendel Hallett (accountancy firm escapee) weighed up a background in professional services against the benefits of other sectors. We’ve all seen hotshots crash and burn, yet we know it’s outsiders that drive disruption.
The judges were divided. And I found myself – like others – re-examining my own biases about out-of-sector experience. Maybe we need the mindset from other sectors but a special skill set to engage and persuade fee earners? Is it about fitting in or buy-in?
Hero of law firm branding
Hailing from the advertising world and with a long association with Jazz FM, Elliot Moss talked about building the brand at lawyers Mishcon de Reya. With growth from 60 to 250 partners, his success was rewarded with partnership.
He shared the firm’s Brixton-based origin story and trailblazing partnerships with media titans the Financial Times, the Economist and Radio 4. We envied his astonishing ROI figures (x6 and x13), top-of-mind statistics and a scorching 75% NPS.
After sharing the Mishcon brand model (purpose, principles and proposition), he urged us to be commercially aware, make friends with the FD and pursue ‘big thoughts and small actions’.
LinkedIn is the place to be for B2B
Her ubiquitous presence on LinkedIn (two million impressions this year) means that we all felt we knew Helen Burness personally. Bless her for a breakout that blended empathy with expertise and raised more than a smile.
Marketers need to be LinkedIn role models if we want our fee earners to play nice on the platform. Profile optimisation and content frameworks were offered as the solution to ‘you can’t talk about everything’. We loved her posting tips and insights into what the algorithm likes. Memorable moments: embrace silent consumers, use camel case and don’t ‘post and ghost’. And those pink Post-its on the wall of LinkedIn pain.
Double act breakouts
Ally Sharp (formerly Big Four) and Ellie Dobner of award-winning thought leadership agency Man Bites Dog shared research into the power of thought leadership:
• 94% C-suite leaders consider content created by business brands weekly
• 77% expect strategic suppliers to challenge them on emerging trends
• 74% always consider thought leadership when buying.
Their amplification and differentiation matrix showed how to move from thought followers, shapers and whisperers to thought makers. They shared shocking data on the extent to which thought leadership is trusted across intelligent brands, with law firms lowest:
• 72% accountants
• 69% technology
• 65% management consultants
• 63% engineers
• 59% financial services
• 53% law firms.
Their five-step model to successful thought leadership (future thinking, a strong core idea, substantial data, aligned to strategy, win engagement) was supported by a 4D process (megatrends, clients, competitors and differentiation). An audience question about the future of search led us to consider a return to when it was more important to generate coverage in other media rather than manage our own.
Yet more valuable research appeared in a customer experience breakout from specialists Anna Lake and Paul Roberts. Delegates raved about the practical help from PM Magazine’s editor Matt Baldwin and regular reporter James Lumley. They proved you could become a better writer in just an hour – with a session on standfirsts, kickers and building out with cats and dogs and pumpkin spiced lattes.
David O’Hearns continued the brand debate. Validatum’s Steph Hogg looked at procurement, pricing and profitability at a session reserved for CMOs.
After chairman Richard Chaplin thanked his team – take a bow (and a bottle) Claire Rason, Larysa Hale, Morag Campbell and Claire Mitchell – we eased into the final keynote.
Probably the world’s most relatable marketer…
Joe Glover, champion of human connection as co-founder of The Marketing Meetup, ended the day on a warm and positive note. With hand-drawn slides and self-effacing honesty, he won everyone’s heart.
He noted the continuation and amplification of 2024 trends – we now face ‘everything at once’ – and shared Salesforce surveys on our top concerns about AI and data showing that smaller businesses get high ROI using performance media. Uncertainty, ‘macro matters to the micro’ and ‘we’re not yet over Covid’ were other themes.
He urged us to choose our narrative (Elon predicting the end of work or coin-operated car parks in Great Yarmouth?), be spiritual (‘short termism is rife’) and tactical.
He touched on Tom Roach’s seven principles of effective marketing communication and Mark Ritson’s framework (diagnosis, strategy and tactics). I loved his comment, ‘ostriches with heads buried in data’. His advice? Be curious, not fearful, make friends with the CFO, keep learning, build brands the old-fashioned way and seek optimism.
He finished with the top concerns of marketers: too much to do/not enough time, not enough space to be creative and hard to concentrate/stay on task. With the most common emotions: Positively challenging, uncertain and stressful.
Thanks to the speakers, sponsors (Cirrom, Bright Space, Vuture, CoreClarity and industry) and organisers for such an enjoyable, entertaining and enlightening day.
We left with connections renewed, brains full, and spirits uplifted.
Kim Tasso, marketing consultant and psychotherapist www.kimtasso.com
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