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| Marketing success for Joanne |
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JOANNE Allday, Managing Director of Showing Off Limited, achieved Chartered Marketer status last month and believes Showing Off is now the only agency in the county offering a ‘Chartered Marketer’. This accolade has been a long time in the making for Joanne, who has been working towards her goal for over five years. She began studying for formal qualifications while managing the marketing department of an international manufacturing company in 2001 and progressed through a Masters degree at Lancaster University. In October 2003, she graduated and obtained an MA in Marketing Management. This enabled her to become a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. By this time, Joanne had been recruited by a top Cumbrian marketing agency to manage projects for clients such as P&O Cruises, Learning and Skills Council and regional tourist boards. This experience helped her match the theories she had learned at university with the practical applications of marketing. To become a Chartered Marketer, you must complete your studies and then commit to ongoing continuing professional development (CPD), of a minimum of 35 hours per year. You must prove two years CPD before being granted the status of Chartered Marketer. But Joanne thinks it was definitely worth all the hard work “I’m absolutely thrilled to be awarded Chartered Marketer Status. I’m not sure my customers will entirely understand what all the fuss is about, but it means a huge amount to me. I was very surprised to find out that there were only three of us in the whole county.” Cumbria’s two other Chartered Marketers are Tom Bell, Enterprise Development Manager at Business Link for Cumbria and Jeff Ziegler, founder of ELakes UK. Jeff said: “I have been Chartered since 2000, and the work involved is significant. Being a Chartered Marketer is a special commitment; Joanne deserves kudos for her efforts to commit to marketing and professional development. With so many consultants, and so few chartered, the difference it makes to the service delivered is significant.” In July 2004, Joanne followed another dream of hers and set up her own marketing agency, memorably named ‘Showing Off’, which was the title of her final dissertation. She prides herself on putting her marketing knowledge to use in helping small and medium-sized businesses across the northwest; giving them access to the same marketing knowledge available to their larger competitors. “I find it a real challenge working with smaller companies as you have to be a lot more creative with the marketing methods you choose. Most SMEs have limited budgets, so every penny counts and you have to monitor returns very carefully. That’s what I enjoy the most. I get a real kick out of helping companies make more money and sometimes I even save them money on their marketing budgets by just spreading out what they spend and not putting all their eggs in one basket" Showing Off provides marketing training and consultancy for a number of organisations throughout the northwest. One of their customers is Lakeside Corporate at YMCA. Their Corporate Director, Ian Woods recently wrote to Joanne saying “A big thank you for your time and support today. We are now in a much stronger position than we were…this time last year. Please be assured that this will not be the last time we make use of your experience." If your company would benefit from marketing advice or training from one of the county’s top professionals, call Joanne now on 01229 580220 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it |
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