Brand partners and collaborators
Work with Carl
Brand partnerships, ambassador work, content collaborations and the occasional advisory engagement. The thread running through all of it is the same. I make complicated business stuff feel simple, for people who actually run businesses.
Brand partners and collaborators
I say no to most things. The brief has to make sense for the audience as well as the brand. When it does, here's what working together usually looks like.
Long-form campaigns, ambassador roles, integrated content. Past partners include Mercedes Benz, Vodafone, American Express, Sage, Epson, Intuit, Toptal and the Department for Education.
Written, video, podcast, social. Ghost-free editorial, branded storytelling, thought-leadership pieces. Audience-first, sales-pitch-last.
Selective advisory roles for founders and growing businesses, particularly in franchising, professional services, and small-business-facing tech.
Workshops, summits, original research. The kind of work that lives beyond a single LinkedIn post.
My audience is not the largest. It's the one that actually runs businesses, makes the call, and writes the cheque.
That matters. A million casual followers is a vanity number. A few hundred thousand decision-makers across LinkedIn, Substack, podcast appearances, the books, and the speaking circuit is a commercial asset. That's what you're partnering with.
Another major corporate, another corporate challenge. Sage had a problem in public perception. A legacy brand in the accounting space, but the buzz had been taken by challenger fintechs. Something had to change. Sage's history was built on engagement with the end business owner, and that's exactly what we set out to do.
We worked together on a number of campaigns. The Money Diaries showed the financial reality of running a small business. Blog posts, videos and podcasts gave their audience real advice. All sorts of crazy ideas ensued. Perhaps the craziest being interviewing the cricket teams and Steve Harmison at Trent Bridge as part of The Hundred. A dash of Essex charm never hurt anybody.
Owner-first storytelling in a category usually drowned in jargon.
Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without van drivers. Let's be honest, they're the cogs of our economy, especially when on-time deliveries can make or break the family time.
After a consultancy meeting with the stakeholders at Mercedes, it was clear that direct marketing through more common channels was something they felt they had to do, but wasn't driving engagement or results within the small business community. They wanted to appeal to owners of small fleets. To remind them it's not just a box on wheels.
I was the focus of a broadcast day at Markettiers, with back-to-back interviews from breakfast radio through to the drive home. The angle, driven by Mercedes' Business Barometer survey, was about celebrating the drivers. But I was able to weave in the small business message, and how the fleet management tech behind the dashboard meant even the smallest operators could compete with the likes of DPD on customer service.
Research, message and personality stitched together. Far more effective than the MD coming on to talk about how good the company is. Who'd have known.
American Express had a problem. There was a perception that their Platinum cards were just for corporates. The messaging was focused at corporates. It wasn't a small business brand. That message has changed.
I've worked with American Express on a number of campaigns. A feature in The Times for Shop Small, an initiative encouraging spending with small businesses, let me showcase the small businesses I valued during the pandemic. A series of social videos gave business owners practical, actionable advice. A podcast interview highlighted the plight of small business owners on late payments. Written contributions meant their audience benefited from expert advice. A game show appearance brought a human face to business. And finally, three webinars for their internal teams. Somehow, they hadn't become sick and tired of hearing my voice.
From corporate-only perception to genuine small business credibility.
Brand, audience, what you're trying to achieve. I'll come back honestly. If it's a fit, we'll talk shape and budget. If not, I'll tell you that too.