48 company profile
A Thames Valley success set to go global
Now in its 10th full operational year, the company known as Retail Marketing is helping to make a great success of the professional discipline known as retail marketing for clients in the consumer electronics sector, writes John Burbedge
Retail Marketing’s task is to make the right consumers aware of client brands, sited in the right places to maximise sales, and to help clients win the highly competitive instore and online battles in today’s omni- channelled retail marketplaces.
It does this by combining excellent field marketing with astute retail analytics and strategic advice, then adding innovative solutions and attractive consumer experiences.
With the Internet making every consumer an informed electronics product ‘expert’, Retail Marketing’s task has become more difficult, and yet its UK turnover has grown in the past three years from £10 million to £15m to fast-approaching £20m.
Founder, owner and CEO Warren Richmond is rightly proud of his Reading-based multi-award-winning company, but he’s not satisfied yet.
In the next 10 years he aims
to upscale Retail Marketing into a global operation with a £250m turnover and 10,000 staff worldwide.
That’s not some entrepreneurial aspiration. Retail Marketing already carries out work for clients in Europe and the USA. At the end of February, Richmond announced the launch of Retail Marketing’s office in Australia and this month operations begin in South Africa. The company’s challenging objective is by no means ‘in the bag’ . . . but retailers worldwide can expect to see a lot more of Retail Marketing’s red bag logo.
Now 37, Richmond spotted the gap in the market that has become Retail Marketing while doing part-time work as a supermarket product demonstrator – “a role I loved” – and later in his early 20s when a training development manager for Epson – “I thrived on the adrenaline and drive of helping to sell goods.”
He noticed that agency staff brought in to support field-marketing campaigns invariably lacked product knowledge and engagement with their job role objectives. In short, Richmond felt he could put together and train a better agency team himself . . . and did. Consumer electronics giant LG was an early client and has been assisted by Retail Marketing ever since.
Higher standard field marketing teams was
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virtual, geo-demographic and international worlds of retail.
Investment in staff and technology at Retail Marketing has always been self-funded. “I had relatively humble beginnings. I have always understood the need to make ends meet,” said Berkshire born and bred Richmond, while adding: “For me the objective is always 100% to achieve, rather than become richer.” (Retail Marketing is currently financing a charitable project in Tanzania).
Today, Richmond is a respected driving force supported by an empowered head office and in-the-field ‘family’ of more than 400 talented permanent staff (with hundreds more well-trained tactical employees on call to support field activities).
Company commerce (“what we want to achieve”) and culture (“how we want to achieve it”) share equal billing for Richmond. His founding business principles still underpin the company:
• Create a sustainable business
• Understand the client’s business needs; satisfy the individual and corporate customer
Warren Richmond, CEO, Retail Marketing Group
'If you don’t involve and enthuse your staff, you won’t get anywhere in business'
the first enhancement Retail Marketing brought to the consumer electronics retail sector.
Improved data analytics, aligning
customer trends with client activity, came with the development of the company’s bespoke data reporting tool Pulse and employment of “my wizards” as Richmond calls his analytics team.
“When you really start looking at the data, you see the gaps, and opportunities get very interesting.”
Innovation comes naturally. Retail Marketing does things differently.
How many companies of Retail Marketing’s size have an inhouse permanent recruitment team led by a director of employment and engagement, or an innovation manager, or provide walk-in ‘stores’ for virtual retailers, or have a staff leisuretime basketball hoop overlooking their reception?
From its barn conversion headquarters to its interactive pop-up shop windows and innovatory field marketing campaigns staged throughout the UK, Retail Marketing has adopted 21st century solutions to traditional challenges – and is continuing to expand that fresh outlook into the real,
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – APRIL 2015
• Build beneficial brand awareness and reputation
• Ensure staff understand, engage and enjoy what they do.
“If you don’t involve and enthuse your staff, you won’t get anywhere in business,” says Richmond. Which perhaps explains the ‘Times 100 Best Small Company to Work For’ accolade and a similar Thames Valley Business Magazine award in the past year, not forgetting three industry sector ‘Team of the Year’ titles and silver accreditation by Investors in People.
Establishing that successful Retail Marketing culture worldwide will be one of Richmond’s major challenges in coming years – along with stepping back, delegating operational responsibility, and allowing himself more time to develop the business and plan strategically.
A proven force in promoting client brands to their full potential, the Retail Marketing team is now entering a second decade – one in which Retail Marketing is set to reach its full potential too.
Details:
www.retailmarketing.co.uk
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