Innovation – How to keep your brand agile in a rapidly changing market

On the 20^th of January, Hanson Search co-hosted a panel event with sister company The Work Crowd on Innovation – How to keep your brand agile in a rapidly changing market. 

Business challenges aren’t new, but the past few years have seen a number that has meant businesses have had to quickly adapt to survive. We have had Brexit, the continued aftereffects of the global pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and resulting supply chain issues, and the energy crisis as well as more general changes, such as the ever-faster development of technologies and their effect on business and its markets.  

In times of uncertainty, is innovation the business game-changer you need to give your brand the opportunity to find that open blue ocean to swim in?  

If so, what is innovation and how do you find it for your brand? How do you understand where your market is going and what do you need to invest in to ensure that you are there to greet it? 

We heard from our panel of industry experts Jessica Waller, Marketing & Brand Specialist; Emma Young, VP and Head of Global Communications at Bulb; Victoria Biggs, Chief Communications Officer at Motorway and Alex Baverstock, UK Product & Pack Testing Lead at Ipsos. The event was chaired by Alice Weightman, CEO at Hanson Search and co-founder of The Work Crowd.   

Key areas of discussion: 

• What will be the most significant trends that we will see in 2023 
• How will brands react to the continuing consumer pressures with the cost of living crisis and inflationary pressures 
• How to innovate, what to consider, and why 
• Is now the time to invest in marketing and communications  

Feel free to view the recording here for all the insights and key take-aways discussed: 

• Jessica Waller – Marketing & Brand Specialist

Jess has a BA (Hons) in Design & MBA in Marketing and is a NED for a UK-based Arts charity. For over 20 years she has worked for global brands, start-ups and creative agencies in a wide range of industries. Previous experience includes Marketing Director, Head of Brand and Global Innovation Manager. Currently, she is the Client Partner lead for Brilliant Noise Agency delivering marketing capability & Test–Learn–Lead™ experimental programmes for some of the world’s biggest FMCG brands. 

• Emma Young, VP and Head of Global Communications at Bulb

Emma is a corporate affairs director with nearly 20 years’ experience building brands, devising communications strategies and running PR and marketing campaigns for companies including WeWork, The Walt Disney Company and SoundCloud. Her main specialty is strategic communications, reputation management, building media relationships, storytelling, and building and leading strong teams for large multinational brands, start-ups and high growth companies. 

• Victoria Biggs,  Chief Communications Officer at Motorway

Victoria is a strategic communications specialist, experienced in shaping narratives and building reputations for high growth, consumer-facing tech businesses across corporate, consumer and internal communications. Prior to joining Motorway, she was responsible for global communications at Trainline, the world’s leading rail and coach platform, where she led the communications for the company’s successful listing on the London Stock Exchange in 2019 and sat on the executive committee. She has held senior communications roles at eBay and PayPal UK, building the communications functions from the bottom up in both organisations.

• Alex Baverstock, UK Product & Pack Testing Lead at Ipsos

Alex leads Ipsos’ Product & Pack Testing specialisms for the UK. He has over 25 years in the market research industry, with the last decade focusing on helping some of the world’s largest companies develop, optimise, validate and extend the life of their product propositions. Ipsos is the world’s largest product testing partner and one of the largest market research companies in the world.

 About The Work Crowd:

The Work Crowd is a freelance marketplace connecting businesses to the best freelance talent globally across the PR, Communications and Marketing mix. 

The technology is being used to help business build and manage their freelance work force, driving better engagement, centralizing freelance skills and saving recruitment fees!

Hanson Search regularly hosts events and workshops offering structured advice and industry insights on relevant topics. To keep you updated on our news and events, sign up here so that we can stay in touch!