Going Down to Market

^{Katy Pearson, Head of Marketing, Texere Publishing}

The principles of marketing have endured virtually unchanged since the dawn of human trade. At its core, marketing is the art of presenting your product to a broader audience, making them aware of its existence, and thereby increasing the likelihood of them becoming customers.

In ancient times, traders mainly relied on word-of-mouth recommendations and limited geographical mobility, which created natural opportunities for entrepreneurs to exploit. Success was relatively straightforward – a meeting of necessity and quality.

As the decades and centuries rolled by, people became increasingly innovative in their quest to stand out from the competition, adapting their strategies as tools and techniques evolved alongside shifts in human behavior. As a publishing group, it would be wrong of us not to pay homage to the invention of the printing press as early as 1440, allowing for easy distribution of information to greater portions of the population and paving the way for the likes of Texere Publishing to reach the audiences that they do to this day. The mass adoption of the automobile was another, it didn’t take long for billboards to sprout up along highways across Europe and the United States, beaconing a new era in advertising. They were also very popular, with some becoming cultural icons woven into the fabric of society, something that we strive for to this very day, hence the name ‘Texere’ - to weave, to plait or to construct with elaborate care. 

Radio and television have both served as platforms for the best – and worst – corporate attempts to bring products to the masses. And the same rings true in more recent mediums; the internet has been (and still is) a marketing roller coaster, with social media connecting marketers to an immediate reaction – whether positive or (extremely) negative. 

Nevertheless, amidst these waves of change, the strategies that preceded more modern marketing have rarely become obsolete. Advertisements are still found in magazines. Billboards continue to dominate the roadside landscape. Radio advertisements rule the airwaves. And we still encounter slogans adorning the rear of a humble tradesman’s van. But this also means that companies face an increasingly cluttered toolbox when it comes to their own strategy.

Marketing at Texere

Here at Texere – a company supported by so many marketers – it is no different; we must juggle a plethora of options to spread our message, navigating a landscape that appears to shift with the weather. Fortunately, Texere houses a wealth of talent capable of spotting trends and strategies to help our partners and to optimize our own marketing strategy across diverse brands – from the pioneering world of medicine to the technological marvels of analytical science. 

Here, Head of Marketing Katy Pearson explores the highs and lows of what it means to work in marketing:

“I started working at Texere in 2017. At the time, there wasn’t a dedicated marketing team and so I was given the opportunity to implement a marketing strategy not just for Texere as a whole but for each of the individual brands. Since then, the company has gone from strength to strength, the team has grown, and the responsibilities have evolved.

“At Texere, the responsibilities of the marketing team are multi-faceted – not just because of the range of brands we have, but also because of the wide array of products and services we offer. From working on copy for a promotional email to coordinating our presence at a strategic trade show to creating a detailed marketing plan to support a key content initiative such as The Power List, no two days are the same – something that I often jest about during interviews.

“Something that the whole team love and often comment on is that we have the autonomy to make the role our own. We are responsible for the marketing of our own individual brands, which gives us a sense of ownership; we are each able to work on our own initiative whilst also sharing what we learn along the way with each other.

“One of the most significant challenges lies in keeping up with the constantly evolving landscape of marketing technologies. As any marketer knows, the technologies available to us are continually changing and advancing. We are fortunate to work for a company that truly values its employees, investing in their development and encouraging them to continually expand their knowledge. This not only benefits each individual but also contributes to the growth and success of the business as a whole.”