Russell Bedford Marketing Meeting July 2021

July 2021

Members from all regions joined for Russell Bedford’s Marketing Meeting which took place online on Monday, 19 July 2021.

Opening the meeting Russell Bedford’s CEO, Stephen Hamlet discussed aligning member’s marketing messaging with the overall global strategy, the network’s vision and mission. Stephen stressed the importance of: “Ensuring that everyone knows what Russell Bedford stands for, why we exist and where we’re going.”

The first session of the meeting, led by Russell Bedford’s Central Office Marketing Team, focused on A walk-through Russell Bedford’s 2021 internal system upgrade. Delegates learned about the recent system upgrades and what they mean for members.

The upgrades include a new focus on demonstrating the service capabilities of Russell Bedford members to help attract potential clients to the Russell Bedford website, an enhancement to member and partner profiles and improvements to the Russell Bedford Directory App, resulting in a much better user experience.

Following the update, delegates heard from marketing representatives around the globe on their marketing initiatives, successful strategies and areas that prove challenging.

Claire Williams, Head of Marketing at Russell Bedford’s London member firm, Lubbock Fine, opened with news of the firm’s rebrand involving developing a new website, which is due to be launched imminently. Claire also told of Lubbock Fine’s very successful customer survey results, where they scored a very impressive net promoter score.

Bruno Celidonio, International Managing Partner at Russell Bedford Brasil, spoke next and shared some of the more successful strategies used in the firm, including weekly webinars, digital advertising and leveraging PR opportunities as much as possible.

Joining from Russell Bedford’s Dublin member firm, Cooney Carey, managing partner, Tony Carey, shared the firm’s marketing strategy. Strong messaging and a clear brand focus are priorities for Cooney Carey whose strategy is heavily focused on understanding what they stand for as a firm before attempting to market to prospects.

Susanna di Fusco, Marketing and Communications at Studio Corno, Russell Bedford’s Milan member, shared the three differentiating components identified by their firm that sets them apart from market competitors. These are that the firm is multidisciplinary, they have an international reach to support their clients and they prioritise innovation and development.

Anton Levytskyi, Sales and Marketing at Zampa Debattista, one of Russell Bedford’s most recent new members in Malta, shared some of the firm’s marketing success stories, including growth in webinar attendance from 50 to 200 attendees. Anton discussed how implementing Facebook ads, LinkedIn events and website tactics led to this growth.

Anton also talked about the challenges surrounding the ongoing ‘recruitment war’ the firm faces in Malta, due to shortages in qualified professionals in the industry, a common theme that ran through the meeting. Most marketing representatives discussed utilising the power of social media to reach potential new recruits; tapping into Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn to share their firms’ culture and energy has become important in plugging the gap.

Alfonso Milla, Russell Bedford Mexico, shared a recent benchmarking exercise carried out by the firm which demonstrated some positive ratings. Alfonso also shared Russell Bedford Mexico’s excellent ranking at number eight in Mexico by the International Accounting Bulletin; expressing how important marketing is in boosting the profile and exposure of the brand throughout the country.

Mariska Krukkert, Marketing and Communications at Boon, in Apeldoorn, Netherlands discussed the main goal of the firm’s marketing strategy for 2021, which was to increase client and employee engagement. Specifically, the firm shifted their focus from being a firm that only sends information to clients and employees, to a firm that additionally seeks interaction with both.

Cara Pyper, Global Head of Marketing at Russell Bedford’s Isle of Man member, Suntera Global, discussed raising the group’s profile following a naming and branding overhaul. Cara talked about the group’s focus on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) during the pandemic. The group has run a number of campaigns in support of their ESG goals, including introducing beach cleans at their Cayman offices and working with local schools to create large fish sculptures using waste plastic.

Heather Kunz, Marketing and Business Development Manager at WBL, Russell Bedford’s Atlanta, USA member talked about the importance of thorough research to support the firm’s campaigns, rather than basing these on assumptions which can often be skewed. Heather also talked about a new pipeline system introduced at the firm to help marketing and business development teams work more effectively, while improving visibility in terms of meeting monthly targets.

Speaking about the meeting, Russell Bedford's marketing and communications manager, Susan Baron said: “The marketing teams of our firms around the globe are a breath of fresh air, consistently going above and beyond, bringing interesting new ideas to the table.”

CEO, Stephen Hamlet added: “There’s so much diversity across the membership, yet with many commonalities. Recruitment continues to be a challenge for several firms and marketing teams are being called upon, more and more, to get the attention of potential new recruits. It’s tough but, by coming together and sharing these challenges, practical solutions and new ideas come to the surface. A huge thank you to all who participated in another excellent meeting!”