I’m planning to have a bit of fun with this.  Every now and again I will comment on something I’ve seen, received or experienced.  Chances are, it will be quite opinionated, hence the title. 

Last week I received a simply addressed letter.  I mean really simply addressed - my name wasn’t on it, the company name wasn’t on it, there was literally just the address.  I assumed it was from a company with which I had no relationship.  How wrong I was!  I opened it and found the letter started ‘Dear Customer’. It was from HSBC, my business bank.  Not only that, but they wanted something from me: it was a questionnaire asking for my very important feedback.  Well, Mr ‘Head of Customer Experience’ at HSBC, here is my feedback - rule number one is address your customers personally.  It’s really not that hard to do.

I founded fraoch marketing in late 2005, so it’s early days for this small consultancy venture, and as with any business plan, I am sure the shape it ultimately takes will not be exactly what I have in mind right now!

In recent weeks I have asked a number of colleagues and clients what fraoch should offer, and the common thread is always the word thinking. I suppose it is the essence of my own personal brand, and is therefore at the core of fraoch too. I have always believed that marketing is essentially applied common sense. The only way to do it better than your competitors is to think about it more: think about the relationship between consumers and your brand; think about your strategic approach; think about your creative approach; and think about how you are going to measure success. Then do it, learn from it, and watch results improve.

We’ll update this front page with news and comment every now and again. In the meantime, enjoy the site, and do get in touch if you would like to know what fraoch thinks about your marketing problem.

Heather McKinlay, January 2006