Entrepreneur Jo Malone has called on marketers to rely on their instincts at crucial times.
Ms Malone, who founded Jo Malone London and Jo Loves, told the Festival of Marketing that she has cancelled planned product launches at the 11th hour because of a gut feeling that something wasn’t quite right.
Explaining her reasons, she said: “What is in that bottle is so important. It is in your relationship with your consumer for the next ten, 15 years. Don’t get it wrong.”
This, she stated, means that if a marketer feels a sense that any element of a product or its launch is wrong, they should listen and act upon it.
“If your instinct tells you to do something and the rest of your team think you’re wrong, I would say go with your gut, go with your instinct, go and discover; even if it’s wrong,” Ms Malone advised.
She went on to stress that integrity is a crucial element of a successful brand, as organisations should not pretend to be something they are not.
“Be who you are,” she said.
Ms Malone added that when she was first starting out, she did not have a strategy or any proper marketing and advertising.
However, she said her experience in helping her father sell goods on a market stall proved invaluable, helping her understand that “the story and how you sell it is as important as the product itself”.
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