Voices
Are we leaving men and boys behind?
At Creative Equal’s RISE event, industry leaders consider how to reframe boys and men in marketing
James Meekings
Co-Founder and CMO at Funding Circle
Ben Somerset-How
Client Director Creativebrief
Tom Holmes, creativebrief Founder & Chairman, talks to James Meekings, Co-founder and CMO at Funding Circle and Marketing Academy 2012 alumni.
James started his career as a strategy consultant where he spent 4 years advising companies on proposition development, growth and M&A across a wide range of sectors throughout Europe. After this he spent 12 months working for England 2018, the team bidding for the FIFA World Cup to be hosted in England. Following this, he left the world of employment and launched Funding Circle with 3 friends from University to help solve the problem of falling bank lending to small businesses by allowing small businesses to directly borrow from ordinary people.
Funding Circle launched in 2010 and since then £125m has been lent with Government, local councils, and even universities lending alongside ordinary people.
creativebrief: Why did you choose a career in marketing?
James Meekings: I have always loved understanding how businesses work and how they interact with their customers. I always wanted to start a business and I am passionate about rapidly scaling new customer bases and building brands from scratch. Early stage growth is so exciting to me – success and failure is very clear – and this is what I have chosen to do. It involves marketing but also lots of other parts of a business because it’s all hands on deck!
creativebrief: What do you think makes a successful career in marketing?
James Meekings: Same as what makes a successful career in other areas. For me, it’s about knowing what people expect from you and doing more than that whilst making friends along the way. Too many people don’t continually ask for feedback from people they work with or get advice from people they don’t work with. If you relish getting feedback (both personally and from customers) and act on it you’re on a one way train.
creativebrief: And who is a great example of this?
James Meekings: It’s a stock answer but Richard Branson is the best example that comes to mind when I think of someone who has succeeded by surrounding themselves by great teams and building a collaborative and open culture. And what an unbelievable brand he has created.
creativebrief: What do you think are the main challenges facing marketers today?
James Meekings: Marketing is changing a lot at the moment, that’s for sure! The ways customers interact with businesses is changing due to the pace of technology change and the internet. The marketing funnel models from discovery to purchase are out of date. Now brands have a more involved relationship with their customers and more data to analyse the relationships. So the challenges in understanding multi-device, multi-touchpoint interactions and how to attribute success between all these levers to maximise ROI are huge.
creativebrief: How do you keep up with constant stream of innovation in marketing comms?
James Meekings: I’m not sure I do. I do my best but then there’s something else that pops up! I think it’s about creating a culture within your team of being up to date with, and using, the latest innovations. Add to this a culture of sharing and it’s much easier to keep up to date!
creativebrief: How does this impact your relationship with agencies?
James Meekings: I believe clients should be experts in their industries and agencies should be experts at their subject. So if there is innovation in an industry the client should know and if there is innovation in comms the agency should know.
creativebrief: How do you know if you’re getting the best from your agencies?
James Meekings: When they’re coming to you with ideas and you sit back and think, ‘Amazing insight and approach – we hadn’t thought of doing it like that.’ Agencies are a specialist extension to your team and therefore I believe should be additive beyond being more hours.
creativebrief: Of your recent work, what makes you particularly proud and why?
James Meekings: We’re starting to get much better at telling the stories of our business customers through video. They are such inspiring people and doing great things. We are now bringing this to the fore more and it’s showed some fantastic results. It’s so important for brands to continuously engage with their customers outside of the ‘purchase cycle’ and this has allowed us, as a young business, to start doing this.
creativebrief: How do you think marketers can raise the profile of marketing within their organisations?
James Meekings: By building more bridges to other teams, understanding their needs and showing knowledge of areas outside of marketing. And then conversely by analytically talking about marketing as an investment rather than a cost. Everyone likes an investment which pays off!
creativebrief: Do you see yourself as a generalist or a specialist, does it matter?
James Meekings: Yes I think it does matter. If you see yourself as a specialist others will do too. This means they may share less with you and get you involved less in broader pieces of work. Of course, this may be what you want but if you’re focused on a fast progressing career then it could be viewed as dangerous.
creativebrief partner the Marketing Academy is a non-profit organisation which provides a unique forum for industry leaders, marketing gurus, entrepreneurs and inspirational people volunteer their time to inspire, develop and coach the next generation of future leaders. The Marketing Academy gift a maximum of 30 ‘Scholarships’ each year to the fastest rising stars in the marketing, advertising and communications industries. A team of high profile mentors and coaches develop these stars through a process of mentoring, coaching, networking and personalised learning. 86 mentors, 30 Coaches, 20 Judges, 36 companies and an owl called Merlin all provide their time, resources and knowledge to assist in shaping the minds of our future leaders. Furthermore as a vital part of their curriculum all Scholars volunteer at least one day per year through our Donate28 initiative to work with charities who need bright young marketing minds. For a full list of the individuals involved, see the Sherilyn Shackell interview.
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