Mark Palmer, Green & Black’s Global Brand Director, has been talking to Paul Gallagher, Freelance Journalist  about how he helped turn Green & Black’s chocolate from a niche product into an international phenomenon.

Green & Black’s has come a long way since its inception in 1991 by the journalist Josephine Fairley and her partner Craig Sams, an organic foods specialist. The pair were inspired by the taste of the cocoa they savoured on a holiday in Belize. Fairley, a chocoholic, frequently returned from foreign assignments to complain that the dark chocolate she found in other countries was nowhere to be found in the UK. Green & Black’s was soon born.

Mark joined the company in 2001 when he moved from Burger King to become marketing director. At the time, Burger King’s turnover dwarfed Green & Black’s so many people may have questioned his decision to switch companies. But Mark had no doubts, knowing a move to a young, entrepreneurial company, would reap dividends.

“My advice to anyone is to work in a business where you can control your own destiny, somewhere you can be accountable and have an influence. That may involve downsizing companies, like I did, and it’s a real challenge for anyone, but you’ll never look back.”

Mark’s initial two years at Green & Black’s were spent working on a major brand positioning, moving from the chocolate company’s niche of its organic roots to a serious player in the premium confectionary market. By 2004, Green & Black’s turnover had jumped from £4.5m to £20m. His team’s efforts were extraordinary and the hard work was paying off.

As Mark explains: “We didn’t have the advertising budget in the early days so we had to take a long hard look at the product and ask ourselves whether it was as good as it could possibly be. I’d suggest that to every company.

“Many companies think throwing money at something, or having a decent marketing budget, is a short cut to success, but that’s a common mistake. There’s nothing wrong with spending money, but it’s important how you spend it. Ultimately, as with anything, it’s the quality of the product that drives everything. There’s no point in marketing something if it’s inferior.

“We spent a long time studying our target market and basically spent two years almost stalking customer groups. The ‘time poor, food rich group’ was particularly important to us. We wanted to know where these people shop, what they buy, which newspapers do they read. Everyone needs a robust case study.”

Focus groups were vital for Mark in getting public feedback. One early challenge was explaining what “organic” meant as it featured so prominently on the packaging. He also discovered many people didn’t like the packaging and that it was giving off the wrong image.

“We wanted to be known as an affordable luxury. People wanted fancy chocolates without the intimidation of going into a fancy shop so we adapted our packaging to reflect that.”

At the focus groups, some people didn’t even want to put it in their mouths confirming Mark’s idea that a great product was being presented in totally the wrong way. The decision was made to take the chocolate out of the organic aisles and place it among mainstream chocolate to compete on its own.

Good PR helped, with an Observer Food Monthly cover story in May 2006 entitled “How a Green & Black’s chocolate bar rescued the families of Belize from ruin” confirming the company’s stance on ethics and sustainability. This was emphasised when Green & Black’s Maya Gold chocolate became the first product in the UK to carry the fair trade logo.

Observer Food also gave away sample chocolate bars – something it had never done before. That year’s Green & Black’s Easter campaign ran with the slogan “disappoint the kids this Easter”. It was a brave move. But Green & Black’s were not prepared to target consumer groups who did not fit their model and reaped the rewards.

As sales improved, Green & Black’s were in a better position to invest heavily in sampling. In recent years, the company has given away more than five and a half million chocolate bars. “If we have a distinctive taste, then people need to have a chance to try it,” says Mark.

Sampling became a far more powerful tool than advertising.

In 2006, the Independent raved about “the greatest marketing triumph in recent years”. Green & Black’s had “come from nowhere to be the chocolate of choice on the office tea run”.

It took a long time to get there, as Mark, now Global Brand Director overseeing expansion into the USA, New Zealand and Japan, acknowledges: “It took us 7-8 years to get to the level we are at today. We have had a few products that didn’t work out but when we do something new, we try to do it on a small scale so if there are problems, we haven’t lost much time and money on them. So don’t invest too much on a new product, start slow before you build up.”

Today, not only Green & Black’s chocolate bars, but also ice creams, hot drinks, gift chocolates and biscuits, can be found in a wide range of supermarkets, delicatessens, from Harrods to health food stores and sandwich stores such as Pret a Manger, whose founder, Julian Metcalf, Mark considers a business mentor.

“He didn’t spend any money on advertising either so he was a great example of how to build a brand without a big budget. They used their own packaging to optimise their product, just as we then tried to do at Green & Black’s.

“Julian called us one day years ago and, because of the manner of our receptionist who didn’t even know who it was, ended up asking us to sell our chocolate bars in 180 of his stores around the country. So it’s vital to make the first point of contact as good as possible as you never know who might be calling.”

This interview and article was commissioned by Inside Business and is copyright protected.

Popularity: 100% [?]

As well as award-winning B2B copywriting, Chapter & Verse also provides public relations and media relations services to clients. A recent commission came from Inside Business, to promote three business conferences in Northampton, Bedford and Milton Keynes. The Bedford event was last week, and below is our post-event release. 

World Cup winner Sir Geoff Hurst told Bedfordshire companies today (Friday 3 October) to be more like football managers and get rid of staff who do not make the grade.

Sir Geoff, who scored a hat-trick for England in the 1966 World Cup final, said not enough companies he dealt with over the years as a businessman were prepared to make sudden changes needed to benefit their business. He also called for highly-rated employees to be better rewarded in the current economic climate.

Speaking at the Inside Ex Bedfordshire Business Conference and Exhibition at Bedford International Athletics Stadium, Sir Geoff, who became an insurance sales manager for 20 years after retiring from football, said: “Just like in sport, it’s important for local businesses to manage their companies well in such tough times. I was a businessman, working for an insurance company for 20 years, but I’ve never seen economic conditions as bad as this. It’s tough for everyone out there.

“I think bosses in Bedfordshire have a big challenge right now. They have to look at every opportunity from a business perspective, reward the people that do well and have a serious think about getting rid of people who do not perform.

“The most important thing about a company is its people – the same as a football team, it’s about honest endeavour. Not many companies look after the good people the way they should.”

Sir Geoff, 66, appeared at the conference for the second year running. He gave away a signed a replica England 1966 World Cup winner’s shirt at the event which raised hundreds of pounds (£534) for Bedford Hospitals Trust.

He said: “I enjoy doing a lot of charity work for hospitals around Cheltenham where I live, and other places like Bedford.

“I played for West Ham against Bedford many years ago in a pre-season match. I was here last year speaking at the business conference for the same charity event so was happy to come back again.”

Mark Palmer, Global Brand Director of Green and Black’s Organic Chocolate also spoke at the event.

He gave plenty of advice to local businesses on how to get the most out of their company having overseen the dramatic rise in sales for Green and Black’s products in the UK. He revealed the company are now rolling out to Japan having already launched in the USA, Canada and New Zealand.

Mark said at the conference: “You have to look long and hard at a particular product or service and ask how much value does it have before you spend money marketing it.

“People think throwing money at something is a short cut to success but it’s a common mistake.

“For smaller businesses like some of the ones here in Bedfordshire today, who don’t have a massive budget, I would say don’t abandon a practical business model. Start small scale and see the reaction to your product before you spend huge sums of money marketing or promoting it.

“Think about who the customers are you are trying to target and don’t be afraid to ignore the groups who are not suited to your product.”

Businesses attending the conference said it was a great opportunity to network with local businesses at a tough time for many.

Sam Dalrymple, sales director of easycopiers said: “Events such as this one in Bedford, and those Inside Ex events at Milton Keynes, are a great way to gain business. We signed another contract this morning and have more than covered the costs of appearing at the conference.

“It’s a good way to show other local businesses what it is your company is capable of and further business relationships.”

Paul Price, the event organiser, said: “The key message at Inside Ex Bedforshire is ‘think local’ – rather than worrying about circumstances globally. If firms in the region think local, they will probably find they can make big savings without compromising on quality, helping themselves and other local firms in the process. For example, firms may until now have sourced their printing services from London without realising there’s a perfectly good printer around the corner.

Jude Cottam, of Bedford Hospitals Charity, being supported by the event, said: “We are very grateful to Inside Business for supporting Bedford Hospitals Charity and to Aerofone for helping sponsor Inside Ex Bedfordshire. The great thing about this charity is that 99.95% of the money we receive goes directly towards what it is supposed to go on – getting state-of-the-art equipment, rather than simply the bog-standard NHS equipment.”
 
Inside Ex Beds, in its first year, is one of three annual Inside Ex events. The others are Inside Ex Milton Keynes, on November 7, and Inside Ex Northampton, which took place on September 18.

Popularity: 98% [?]