In the latest episode of the AANA x B&T Brand Masters podcast, The Iconic’s CMO Jo Robinson explains why she flipped the script on the fast retailer’s previously performance-heavy approach to marketing.
“One of the things that really motivates me about marketing is that I’m a brand builder at heart. I think that comes from my FMCG roots, where it’s all bout brands,” Robinson told hosts Nicolette Briscoe and Tom Fogden.
You can listen to it on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
“When I came to The Iconic over two-and-a-half years ago, it was because this was a brand I have loved since it launched because of everything it stood for: disruption, innovation, it came out of the gates all guns blazing and reframed what retail and e-tail was about at the time.”
However, according to Robinson, the brand had lost its way. In her words, her remit was “putting the defib on the brand”.
However, when marketers are looking to get off the “performance marketing drug,” it requires a difficult weaning period.
“The hardest thing was taking those big risks at times when commercially and financially it’s more risky to do so. I was supported by our exec team,” said Robinson.
“You can keep going on that spiral and keep doing what you’ve been doing but if you’re not getting the results that you need, then you really have to take a step change. We talk all the time at The Iconic about holding hands on some of the bigger risks because you have to do it together. Then you have to know that you made the decision collectively, it isn’t on any one function or individual.”
Robinson is a three-time inductee on B&T’s CMO Power List.
