‘Marketing is the science and art of exploring, creating, and delivering value to satisfy the needs of a target market a profit’ Philip Kotler
A company can rarely be successful without a proper marketing strategy. This is not just the responsibility of one department, it is the responsibility of everybody in the company, because everything we do is related to marketing either in a direct or indirect way. Marketing is an overarching definition for advertising, promotion, public relations, publicity and sales.
Biddle & Webb has a well defined marketing strategy which is communicated out via very different platforms: printed and online catalogues, flyers and posters, online slides and banners, newspaper and magazine adverts and editorials, social media and a blog. Each of them require an individual approach and separate targeted message.
I joined Biddle & Webb in autumn 2012 as a graphic designer and a photographer and I have been visualising marketing messages e.g. creating adverts for both printed and online media. All my work is closely connected to almost all other members of staff. Marketing is calculated team work. I need to be constantly aware of new and exciting items which are brought to our auction house in order to communicate out the message in the best way and via appropriate medium to reach clients.
While working at Biddle & Webb I have seen so many beautiful, curious, weird and some just bizarre items. But this is what makes working here so interesting and also very educational, because there is always something new to learn.
One of the items deep in my mind is a Victorian silver castle top vinaigrette by Nathaniel Mills, which was realised £5900 in our auction on 8th May 2014 I still remember photographing it and designing posters, but always wondering how this tiny object could be such a remarkable example of craftsmanship and that people in the middle of 19th Century used this as their everyday item, or that these kind of items even existed.
People constantly bring different items for us to sell at auction and these items keep on mesmerising me. This is what makes marketing at our auction house so appealing. It is not always straight forward, it is often challenging, but that is what makes it so exciting.
I would like to end this post with a quote by Joe Chernov, Vice President of Marketing at InsightSquared: `Good marketing makes the company look smart. Great marketing makes the customer feel smart`.
Jaanika Okk