What does marketing mean to me? 

After studying Business Management and Marketing at Oxford Brookes University I decided to take some time off to travel and work abroad, getting some amazing opportunities to see the world. I’m now beginning my marketing career with 8 days of work experience at Knapton Wright. I contacted Alex to see if this was something he could help with and he was very kind to take me on at short notice. 2 weeks later, on my first day here I have been tasked with writing an article on what marketing means to me. 

I thought I’d begin answering this question with an example of when I was first impressed by the power of marketing, and the potential it has to elevate a brand and show the world what it’s capable of. I first heard of the ski brand Black Crows when I was 13 years old. Seeing these large bright pink and black skis next to me on the chair lift I was blown away by how much they stood out compared to the traditional graphics of Head, Salomon and Atomic skis commonly seen at the time. Having spent several winters working in the French Alps I have had lots of interaction with the brand, seeing it develop and grow through the years. 

Black Crows are famous for their minimalist graphics with strong contrasting colours and their signature chevron design that features on all their skis, clothing and accessories. The company was founded in 2006 by two pro freeskiers that had “a desire to collide beauty and efficiency into skis.” Black Crows know their target market and exactly what they want. “We create obsessively design-driven objects that are uncompromising in performance and identity for contemporary skiing.” All their marketing is directed by this ethos and their brand image is at the forefront of everything they do. 

Their website is very visually appealing and has lots of content about the story of the company, links to all their films and videos, a shop with all their products, and pages showing all previous designs of skis right back to their first designs and ad campaigns in 2007. The content they produce is some of the best in the skiing world and their films have won many awards. They have always kept a strong focus on their sponsored skiers, their ‘crows’ that feature in their ski films using their skis to perform at the highest levels of freeskiing. I continue to be fascinated with Black Crows to this day, now they have expanded out of their home town of Chamonix and can be seen all around the world. 

Marketing to me is about connecting people to things that they love and need. Whether this is through informing people, engaging people or streamlining their experience.

I like that Black Crows’ marketing informs me of everything they do with their videos and easy to use website. I like that I am engaged by their amazing content on Youtube and social media, and their eye-catching graphics on all their products. Finally, I like that I have only heard good things about Black Crows. The confidence customers have in their products is enormous, and serves the brand very well at marketing the company. Black Crows’ products are not only very visually appealing, they also perform incredibly well.

Another example of marketing that I like is Fred Again, more specifically his social media pages. Fred Again is an electronic musician and producer who rose to fame in 2021, becoming known for adding a unique human feel to electronic music, having previously produced and written songs for many famous artists like Ed Sheeran and Stormzy. Musicians today have a lot of ways they can market themselves and connect with their fans, but there are also so many musicians out there trying to be heard, with around 100,000 new songs released on streaming platforms every day. 

Effective social media marketing can be critical to an artist making a living from their music and rising above the noise, allowing them to connect to their fans that stream their music and buy tickets to their concerts. Fred Again’s social media marketing is characterised by an incredibly honest and authentic view of his life, with a positive spin put on everything he does. In most of his posts he is seen to be laughing and smiling with friends, documenting his life on tour and in the studio. He posts a large amount of video content on Instagram, captioning each video explaining in detail what is happening. Often these videos will show the less glamorous sides of producing and touring, but these are also the more relatable parts for his followers. 

Fred knows that his followers want this authenticity and it compliments the electronic music he is known for which has that human element to it. I believe one of the reasons for Fred’s enormous success is that he markets himself as a real person that lives more or less in the normal world. He is instantly relatable and seems like a nice guy you could get along with. His album covers are all basic photos of him in very public places like taxis and trains, places that everyone instantly relates to. His social media works very well to support this, informing his followers about his life and engaging them with high quality content. 

These are a few examples of marketing that have inspired and impressed me, and hopefully I’ve given a good explanation of why. They’ve helped me to define what marketing means to me and why I want to work in this industry. I’m excited to see what the next few weeks at Knapton Wright hold for me and I’m keen to learn as much as possible!