Stop Selling, Start Talking: Why Brands Are Losing Customers

Tim (0:00)

It's the Morning Drive at Mira Business FM. Marketing and branding now. Why do some brands only show up when they want you to buy something? In a world of constant marketing and endless notifications, customers want more than sales pitches. We are joined once again by a tactical marketing expert. She's the founder of Plug. She's the brand commander. Lucy Bradley's here to talk about why businesses need to build real relationships with their audiences and not just sell to them.

So hello.

Lucy Bradley (0:34)

Hello.

Tim (0:35)

Nice to see you. I don't want to get to the marketing stuff yet because you have been talking about great success to do with Ballet this morning. Apparently, our most successful video features you.

Lucy Bradley (0:47)

Well, yes, it does. Twelve and a half thousand views across the globe. I think it is. It's continuously growing, right?

Tim (0:56)

Yeah.

Lucy Bradley (0:57)

But I'm getting messages from 75-year-old women across the world who are saying, probably because they like you, because you're that generation.

Tim (1:06)

Thanks very much.

Lucy Bradley (1:07)

And they are all saying, this is wonderful that you've got this great story about Ballet.

I've done it, and yeah, it's just endless. Seriously, it has been endless that people have been messaging.

Tim (1:20)

That's good validation of you as well, because you... I mean, the story is essentially, just to recap, you are a Ballet dancer, but you came to Ballet very late, rather than, you know, as a six-year-old girl, forced to do it by a mother that's going to be slightly over. That wasn't you.

You started recently.

Lucy Bradley (1:36)

I started at 47, forced by my mother.

Tim (1:39)

Yes, I know.

Lucy Bradley (1:40)

At 47, you will go and do Ballet. No, but yeah, you know, I started it, had the passion for it, and I've done all the hard work, but you're now reaping the benefits of my hard work with your most watched video.

Tim (1:55)

That was the plan, a dastardly plan, but we got there. Next world domination, I think.

And so we've talked a number of times with you, and one of the things that we've spent a lot of time talking about is the Save Our Soap campaign. And this is the Camel Soap Factory struggling in the early stages of the conflict and your idea for a marketing campaign was to sell 25,000 barrels of soap. And that would mean, would allow the company to keep the lights on as it were. Survive, yeah. Survive. That happened, that worked, and they're in pretty good shape, I think now. And so kudos to you, and kudos to Stevie at Camel Soap Factory for being brave. Your next thing, you're looking for 10,000 children. So, you know, you take the easy approach to life, don't you?

Lucy Bradley (2:44)

I know. I mean, to give context, I mean, I am a marketeer, but and I work with lots of different types of businesses and people. But every now and again, after the Camel Soap, I thought, oh, wouldn't it be good to have a really good challenge and pitch it to one of my clients? And because it's not enough anymore just to be a marketeer that ticks the box, I've done the calendar, there's the newsletter.

I think you have to be, especially in these economic times, I think in order to stay retained by your clients, I think you've got to be more useful, more valuable. And I know it sounds really mean, but when I meet people in marketing, I often think, I wouldn't hire you. Or when people say, someone said to me last week, oh, we do the same. And I think, no, I don't think we do. But anyway...

Tim (3:40)

That's interesting, because when you meet somebody and you think, and you're trying to sort of pigeonhole them, we all do it. I know we shouldn't do it. And then somebody says, no, I'm in, for example, marketing. And if you're like, oh, never would have put that together.

Lucy Bradley (3:55)

Yes.

Tim (3:56)

That's probably not great. Yeah.

Lucy Bradley (3:58)

Yeah, it's true. But yes, I am looking for 10,000 children.

One of my clients is an Emirati Saudi-owned business called Tititata.

Tim (4:08)

Okay.

Lucy Bradley (4:09)

And it is a dream boat for small children. It's like a museum for kids in Abu Dhabi and Rimor. I'm using my hand to demonstrate the height of the kids.

Tim (4:19)

The height of the children. But yeah, so small to slightly less than small.

Lucy Bradley (4:22)

So the concept is it's learning and discovery sensory. It's not a play center. It's not a place built around equipment. It's built around childhood. The idea is you could literally stick a six-month-old baby in there, one-year-old or two-year-old, and they would figure it out and find their way around. And it's so super safe. It's that kind of calming environment. Everything down to the smells and the noises is all that sensory. But the challenge, so the challenge we've kind of agreed together, and my client is a willing client in the sense that she will listen to my idea. And I've worked with them for over a year now.