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COMMENTfrom Peter Wynne-James, Chief Executive |
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"I founded MPC thirty-five years ago following 14 years' practical marketing experience covering early training on the London Stock Exchange as well as the export division of a multinational company before joining the sixth largest advertising agency in London. After 9 years I became a director at the age of 29, handling a third of the agency's business with a range of multinational and Government department accounts. At that time in the late fifties, the concept of marketing was only just beginning to filter through from the USA to the UK, with top American agencies poaching UK business by visiting potential clients and offering to handle their sales operations and product development in addition to advertising, ALL WITHIN EXISTING BUDGETS. The economics of marketing appealed to me as after nearly a decade in advertising I was in danger of believing my own message with the realisation that advertising only plays a small part in the success of any product or service - probably no more than 6%. It was also my belief at the time, and still is, that no one can become a successful
marketeer until they have "sold soap" - an expression I use to express effective selling at grass roots level, either over the counter or on the road. |
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So in 1963, having turned down a post in charge of Government advertising for the Army, Navy and Air Force, I practised what I preached by joining the second largest dry cleaning group in the UK (the nearest I could find to soap) as their Marketing Manager as well as Sales Manager in charge of 600 outlets. Dry cleaning is an exacting industry and in all my career this gave the most practical experience in meeting the customer head-on - and realising that the customer is always right. I also had the opportunity of selling to industry and trade unions working for the industrial cleaning division. After becoming Marketing Director and spending 5 years with this company I decided to start MPC in 1968 and by 1970 we had been appointed on a 5-year contract to extend a northern supermarket group to national and Western European status. As a result it has become one of the largest in the UK. We soon became known as the leading exponent of out-of-town shopping in the UK. We also ran a number of seminars in London for manufacturers and retailers, each being attended by 300 - 450 delegates. In the eighties we extended our research to include every known leisure facility in the world, becoming the originators of the Multi-Activity Family Entertainment Centre. During the nineties we expanded our consultancy into the NHS but here we found that there was a conflict between management and profit objectives. My belief for the 21st Century is that companies need to broaden their vision and realise that the success of products and services overseas are not reliant upon exchange rates and the value of the pound but on INNOVATION and DESIGN, which can appeal to the rest of the world. With a wealth of experience of different products and services behind us, we are able to tackle any marketing problem, whatever the industry, as well as advising on the many pitfalls which are hidden within the marketing industry. Business life is full of snakes and ladders, and it is our business to ensure that our clients are kept on the ladders." Peter Wynne-James |
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