Matt Winton has left The Smiley Company to set up Licensing Communications, a marketing agency that focuses on brands and businesses positioned in the food and beverage industries.
The digitally focused agency will not only leverage Winton’s expertise, experience and networks, but also an extensive talent pool of designers, creatives and developers, to help businesses get more from their marketing budgets and help increase sales across all channels.
Winton, the former marketing director at Smiley, was part of a senior management team that oversaw a 55% increase in retail sales of food and beverage products from 2016 to 2017, with unit sales rising by nearly 15 million in the same period. Marketing played a key part in this growth.
Creating Memorable Experiences
Speaking about the new project, Matt Winton said, “The future of modern brand building lies in creating meaningful and memorable experiences, particularly as new shopping behaviours emerge amid the fiercely competitive retail environment today.
"It’s no longer just enough creating products and waiting for consumer purchase intent; you have to go out and make it happen yourself, through a joined up product and marketing strategy.”
Winton added that the brands and businesses "that are innovating through marketing are in most cases punching above their weight and disrupting the dominant players in the food and beverage industry today. It’s about creating a deeper connection between your products, your consumers and your supply chain, through an integrated approach to your marketing.”
Providing Resources
One of the biggest challenges facing the food and beverage industries today is properly resourcing an in-house marketing team. Costs are largely prohibitive and you need a team of experts. That, ultimately, is Winton’s motivation for starting the new business.
“There are not many brands in the space that have the structure, resources and contacts to take their marketing really seriously, and the future of their businesses may depend on taking a much more proactive marketing approach," he said. "That’s really where Licensing Communications can help, by providing a turnkey marketing solution for businesses, at a fraction of the cost of resourcing an in-house team.”
“We have the experience and expertise in food and beverage marketing to help our clients accelerate their marketing goals. From developing packaging concepts and on-pack promotions, advertising and PR campaigns, digital and social content, through to retail activations and experiences, we want to help clients create unforgettable go-to-market strategies that will compliment the excellent products they are already developing.”
For further information on Licensing Communications please contact Matt@licensingcommunications.com
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