Andrew Binns is a Director at Poke Marketing, a creative advertising agency based in Liverpool.
Binns previously spent 10 years at Rippleffect as Head of Strategy, before being named Senior VP Strategy and Planning at UDG Healthcare off-shoot, Ashfield. He was a director at Havas Lynx before launching Poke Marketing alongside Mark Harrington and Nicola Docking last year.
The Liverpool agency has since gone on to secure clients and work on projects such as a rebrand for Oxford River Cruises and a rebrand for Liverpool Cathedral.
He shared all the lessons he has learnt from his career…
Which single daily habit or practice could you not do without?
I think the LinkedIn app is a fantastic tool that genuinely provides me with content from peers, contemporaries, and people I respect and learn from. A daily review of the posts and articles gives me a good insight into trends, key topics, and aspects of marketing I need to look into. Of course, like all digital platforms there’s utter gibberish on there too, but that can raise a smile so I’ve no issue with that.
What’s been your luckiest break?
I began my marketing career just as digital was shifting from tactical to strategic – so seeing digital beyond a website or an email. I was brought up to use digital as an incredible way to segment audience types, provide contextual, impactful, and empathetic content in an engaging way and analysis real time report. Digital moving from ‘new media’ into a natural part of marketing strategy coincided with my marketing career beginning so that was super lucky.
What’s your best failure?
I remember the agency I was at being fired by Chelsea FC on 22nd December, which was the day of our Liverpool Christmas party. They called me in the morning and asked me to come to London for a key meeting. When I got there, they said they were consolidating all their digital under one AOR, so we were no longer required. But they respected us so much they wanted to tell me this news “whilst looking me in the eye; face to face; man, to man…” Of course, a phone call would have sufficed, and they were quite staggered that I wasn’t hugely appreciative of their magnanimous gesture. But as a failure I’d say this still makes me smile.
What is the best investment you’ve ever made, either financial or time?
I’d say my best personal investment that took a large amount of time and financial commitment would be becoming an accredited COM-B Behaviour Change Framework Practitioner. Understanding people’s beliefs, attitudes, motivations, and barriers to behaving in a desired way is key to any competent marketing. Otherwise, it’s assumptive and based on gut instinct. COM-B gives a great structure, validation and definitions to a marketing strategy and I genuinely cannot imagine developing campaigns without it.
Which book would you recommend others to read and why?
Anyone who knows me is aware of my absolute obsession with David Ogilvy. His innovation, his desire to generate results, clients, his positioning of marketing as an activator of people, his confidence in his own talent aligned with his ethos of surrounding himself with people better than him – all attributes that made him such a great man. So, rather predictably I recommend ‘Confessions of an Advertising Man’ and ‘Ogilvy on Advertising’, but ‘The Unpublished David Ogilvy’ is an incredible read too.
What one piece of advice would you give your 21-year-old self?
It’s the same advice I’d give myself right now. Be a sponge. Learn. Be curious. Ask questions. There are amazing people in our industry and they’re worth listening to.
Who or what has had the single biggest influence on your working life?
The Chartered Institute of Marketing. For a number of reasons. Starting off in marketing, the certificate was essential to allow me to understand the basics of good marketing. It gave me confidence to sit in a room with senior people and hold my own. It was more than a theoretical comfort blanket; it was a guide for someone new to marketing. The Diploma gave me gravitas.
It’s not an easy award to achieve and it gave me a real sense of self belief that I was actually pretty good at what I did. Showing my age now, but being awarded a Fellowship was fantastic as it’s only given to those who have delivered sustained, evolving, and impactful marketing over a significant number of years. And then being voted onto the Board of the CIM was truly an honour and allowed me to help shape the vision and direction of an Institute that had been with me from day one.
Tell us something about you that would surprise people.
Every single day I have doubts. About my life choices, my career, the way I work, the work I do, my behaviour, my ethos, my beliefs. Luckily, I am surrounded by amazing people who validate my thinking; or better still challenge it so it gets better.
How will the COVID crisis change work for the better?
The pandemic gave people an appreciation for people. We are human beings, with feelings, emotions, cares, worries, pride, passions, beliefs. We are not a number, an ID code in a CRM or a persona type. We are individuals and deserve to be treated as such. Marketers are embracing this humanistic approach now.
What does success look like to you?
Enjoying work and enjoying life. Sometimes it’s hard, sometimes it’s annoying, sometimes it’s awesome. Whatever it is, I want to get up in the morning and just enjoy.
