on the board On the Board HAYLEY BADDILEY, Global Marketing Director at Denby
What is your career background? I’ve basically spent my career marketing food or things to put food on! I started on the United Biscuits Graduate Training Programme in the late 90s working on a number of UB food brands, then moved to Thorntons (where I never missed a tasting session) and to Denby in 2005. After leaving Denby in 2008 to buy and run a couple of small restaurants with my brother, and with a marketing consultancy and a bit of lecturing alongside, I then returned to pots in 2014 and have been in the Denby fold again ever since.
Tell us about the company you work for Denby makes versatile, beautiful and durable ceramics and homewares which are styled by life; we carefully observe real people and real lives to design and craft products which are beautiful as well as functional. Denby is based in the heart of the Derbyshire countryside where it has been hand-crafting ceramics since 1809 using the same seam of clay which was unearthed where the Pottery then located itself all those years ago, and which continues to be used to this day. Denby is a truly inspiring place to work (one of the reasons I was so happy to return for a second time 6 years ago!). The offices are attached to the Pottery itself which is now over 200 years old, so the location is full of history and you feel the essence of the brand and all it has stood for in the fabric and the feel of the building. It sounds like a platitude but it is a genuinely incredible place to be part of and a great privilege to be a part of shaping this important and iconic brand.
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What is a typical day like for you? Marketing and its natural variety and multi-disciplinary tendences means a day is rarely typical, but there are common weekly activities such as the (currently virtual) weekly meetings where I look after marketing across our various markets and channels (direct and through trade partners) so ensuring consistency for the brand and a shared direction is key. Other key elements of the role would be the management of the campaign creative and asset creation with the team across the website, email programmes, social channels, search engine marketing, print / digital advertising and PR for example. I’m also responsible for our ecommerce channel so have a team of ecommerce specialists optimising our platform and creating strong trading plans which are commercial yet remain in line with our vision for the brand as a premium player in the market. And, of course, a key part of the role is working with the Design team on new ideas and concepts.
What is the most rewarding aspect of your job?
Spending time with our talented designers discussing trends and seeing new concepts come to life is a true joy; as an interiors and in particular ceramics fan, reviewing new shapes, textures and glazes on Denby’s legendary stoneware clay and also increasingly on other substrates, is hugely rewarding.
But also seeing campaigns which we
have conceived as a team from the germ of an idea come to life on our channels in stunning visual assets and content and seeing our customers and our consumers engage, react and ultimately buy our products is about as rewarding as it gets in marketing – I love it!
What is the most challenging part of your job?
Ensuring we keep pace with a consumer who is rightly increasingly demanding and discerning and who has been empowered through digital developments and social media channels to be more confident and bold means you can never rest on your laurels – it can feel exhausting sometimes making sure we continue to judge our audiences needs and sentiment in such a way that they continue to find Denby an interesting and relevant brand. Of course that’s also part of the thrill!
What new products have impressed you in the industry?
The speed at which homewares brands recently are embracing the need for more consciously made, sustainable products has been impressive, whether new brands entering this space or older brands evolving their portfolios. Denby has been consciously made since inception really with zero to landfill our on process waste, locally sourced clay, recycling of clay, glazes and water and so on, so whilst new products like this create more players in the sustainable arena for homewares, we obviously welcome the shift in this direction at the same time.
What retailers have impressed you in the industry? I am always in awe of owner-manager businesses who take a dream and turn it into a reality – small and medium independent gift and homewares retailers who put their heart and soul into their selections and customer service. We have so many here in the UK and are in danger of losing them with recent events and with the challenges they face every day. The ones who have adapted quickly with digital solutions, renewed business models and an open-minded approach to the new world certainly get my applause. As do the much larger retailers with much bigger ships to turn and often braver decisions with bigger implications to make – I would pull out John Lewis & Partners in particular here who have shown themselves capable of swift and decisive change and true customer insight, as well as etailers such as Wayfair and home retailers like Dunelm – all demonstrating that the if you put the customer and their needs first, regardless of your existing model, you will be rewarded.
What challenges are suppliers facing? It’s not rare for suppliers in this industry to have to meet challenges, but it’s rare for suppliers to be facing so many at the same time and with such levels of uncertainty that you can never be sure your solutions will remain valid for very long. The pandemic, Brexit, the fast-changing nature of the current retail landscape, consumer uncertainty have all meant the choppy waters of consistent materials supply, import and export implications, continuity and availability of your skilled people, the viability of your retail partners and hitting
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HousewaresLive.net •
twitter.com/Housewaresnews January/February 2021
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