The pandemic forced a lot of companies into a sudden rethink of their creative marketing and communications campaigns, but its impact on how the industry operates is likely to be long lasting.

We recently sat down with our client, Jasmine Sampson, Marketing, Communications & Channel Development Manager for IMS Evolve, to hear about what it’s been like to manage a global tech brand through lockdown, what she has learned, and how these experiences have shaped her approach to marketing.

Jasmine, thanks for taking the time to speak to us. Your role covers both the marketing and comms function as well as responsibility for supporting IMS Evolve’s global channel partner strategy. With that in mind, what are some of your biggest challenges you’ve faced over the past few months?

"Trying to stay aligned with the pulse and direction of the company, whilst not being directly surrounded by the operational and business development teams.

"We are having to actively seek new information about project milestones, customer opportunities and product developments to ensure that our marketing messages are completely in line with the quick-paced developments we experience at IMS Evolve. This has been enlightening though as it has taught my team to be more conscientious and more aware of our messaging and the results we are delivering for clients on a daily basis."

How has the marketing function of your business changed in the last three months?

"While the entire company has been working from home, it has become more important than ever to maintain momentum, engagement and interest with our employees, our customers, partners and the market as a whole.

"Our marketing department has continued to support the business development function, but we have also been making a conscious effort to generate interesting content through PR and internal communication activities. We have been doing far less reactive work and much more proactive work which has been a real positive outcome, and we have also found that without the distractions of the office we have been able to really focus on each task and maximise the quality of our output."

What are some of the ways you’ve been able to achieve better marketing results?

"We have been working closer than ever with our wonderful PR team at TUVA to ensure we are consistently creating and publishing interesting and relevant content and amplifying these across all platforms. We are also leveraging new spokespeople and subject matter experts within our business to provide new and varied thought-leadership angles and comments.

"Many of these pieces have been generating fantastic results, especially on LinkedIn, and we have seen real evidence that posting from personal accounts about things people are passionate about generates real organic interest and sparks conversation. We have also been using online survey platforms to gauge whether our internal marketing and communications are proving effective which is helping us to refine our internal comms – something that is exceedingly important now many of us are working from home."

Are there any campaigns outside of your own have caught your eye recently?

"Ive always been a huge fan of Innocent smoothies – both their marketing and their delicious fruity drinks!

"They have the most hilarious twitter and Instagram feeds and don’t take themselves too seriously, whilst also constantly campaigning for good. During lockdown, they ran a postcard campaign, where you could input your details and send a friend a little postcard with a personalised message. The message behind the campaign was the importance of staying in touch and staying connected throughout such a strange disconnected time. I sent a postcard to two of my friends and they are both still pinned to their fridges – I thought it was a charming and effective campaign that made me, my friends, and thousands of others smile."

Based on your experiences, if you could give one bit of advice to other companies right now in building a successful marketing campaign what would it be?

"We are all living through unprecedented times and we’re all having to evolve and adapt…so be brave! If there are marketing tools you’ve wanted to try but haven’t, or statements you’ve wanted to make but felt they were too bold, I think now is the time to just go for it. What we are lacking in normality, we can make up for in creativity!"

To learn more about IMS Evolve and its Communications Campaigns read our case study ‘Cool, Calm and Connected’ here.