Samantha's Story

Where it started

My Dad is an engineer, and I used to spend some of my holidays helping him at the company he worked at, doing inventory, filing, etc. I even covered their reception one holiday.

At 18, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life (except maybe be a rock star or Hollywood actor). So, I decided to study something I found interesting at university: Ancient History and Archaeology. It's not what you pick if you have already figured out that marketing is what you want to do.

I still wasn't sure what I wanted to do when I left university, but when the temp jobs I was applying for asked for a reference from the engineering firm my Dad used to work for, they called me and offered me a 10-month sales admin job.

While I was there, I realised that there was a lot more marketing communications that could be done, so I just started doing it and found that I really enjoyed it!

However, when that temp job ended, every recruitment agency told me that everyone wanted to get into marketing, but marketing jobs never came in. Then, on the bus back from one of these disappointing conversations, I got a call: "You're not going to believe this, but just after you left, a job at an agency came in." And that is how I got my first permanent job—reception, admin, and promotions coordination at a small agency.

This is where I started to understand the terminology and what made a good brief. It's also where I found an interest in "new media" (I'm old—we call that digital marketing these days), and I decided to learn all about it. When work was slow, I even learned how to use Dreamweaver and ActionScript (again—I'm old). And the work got slower and slower (I think partly because we never offered that "new media" stuff to clients), and after a year, I was made redundant for the first time.

Learning about marketing

After temping for a bit, I got my first client-side role. It meant moving towns, but it was my chance to start developing my career. I was the Marketing Assistant for a construction company. I was under the wing of the Marketing Manager – the brilliant Dani Smallbone. She taught me so much about marketing (not least of which is not just about brochures, ads, and websites). I learned about marketing research, working with designers, copywriting, and how to write a basic marketing plan. After one year there, though, I was made redundant for a second time. The CEO was kind enough to find me another job with another business leader he knew and told me it was temporary. Unfortunately, the business never recovered, so I never did end up going back.

My next job was with another construction company. This one specialises in engineered modern methods of construction, including a building system where the walls have already been installed with insulation, plumbing, and electrics. This time, I was under the wing of another fantastic Marketing Leader – Ieuan Compton. He taught me even more and encouraged me to take on more projects. While I was there, I also started my CIM (Chartered Institute of Marketing) qualifications.

The CIM opened my eyes to what marketing is and how much it encompasses. I was taught all sorts of processes and models that helped me become the strategic marketer that I am today!

About a year into the job, the "Credit Crunch" of 2007 happened. It wasn't a recession (yet), but it did have a huge impact on the construction industry. You can probably already see what was about to happen: I was made redundant AGAIN.

Being made redundant is never fun, but at each stage, it allowed me to leap forward in terms of seniority and pay. These days, it's a lot more accepted that employees sometimes only stay around for a year, but back then, "job hopping" was seen as a red flag. But it's not job hopping if you've been made redundant.

Strategic Marketing

Getting a new job that meant progressing in my career meant moving house again. This time so that I could work at a huge multinational engineering company – SKF. The post credit crunch recession finally hit about one year after I joined, and I was starting to think that I was destined to be made redundant every year – but not this time. I was at SKF for ten years in the end.

While I was there, I finished my CIM qualifications, became a chartered marketer, and really got my teeth into marketing strategy. It was also the first time I became a line manager.

SKF is a matrix organisation with many engineering product lines and target industries. After a few years there, I was the strategic marketing manager for the UK, so there was a lot of strategy to juggle. It was also a fantastic learning experience.

I ran and got involved in many international projects. I also jumped at the chance to be involved whenever new technology was being introduced. I was heavily involved when we first introduced a mass mailing system to keep customers informed (I mentioned I was old, right?), and I was part of the UK team that piloted our first marketing automation tool.

After ten years, however, it was time to move on. For the first time, my other half and I wanted to move somewhere for the love of it, not for my career.

We fell in love with Scotland. Not only was it incredibly beautiful, we were able to improve our quality of life. Houses where we were looking (just outside of Edinburgh), were much better value for money than the East of England. We were able to trade our two-up, two-down mid terrace with a kitchen you couldn't swing a cat in for a four-bed detached with a huge garden for the dog and a kitchen big enough for a separate washer and dryer, a big American fridge freezer and most exciting of all – a dishwasher. We even have a library (OK, it's just part of a covered garage – but it's a room for books, so it still counts).

Labrakita Marketing

Three months after moving up here, I decided that it was time to launch my own business, and after a lot of work, Labrakita Marketing was born in July 2019. The business is named after our rescue dog, Ty. He's a Labrador Akita cross – hence "Labrakita". It's a name that's personal to me, and it also contains the word "lab", which works since my clients run technical businesses.

We are just coming up to the 5th anniversary, and it's been quite a five years! Launching a business in a completely new place to me, and as it turns out, eight months before a global pandemic ground the world to a halt.

The business has evolved with the times and along side my skill set and experience. When I first started out as a sole trader, I "targeted" anything technical or industrial. But that was too broad; I learned to follow my own advice to my smallest clients and niched into the sector I know inside and out – engineering. I also used to take on any work as long as it came under the banner of marketing. Now, we only do strategy and content, and we only do content if a client already has a comprehensive marketing strategy or Labrakita has developed one with them.

We have expanded and contracted, and (fingers crossed – things are looking good right now) we will expand again very soon.

I absolutely love working in the engineering sector. Engineers design solutions to their customers' problems every day. Sometimes ones they didn't even know they had!

What's next?

I have teamed up with Stephen Judge of Bonfire Creative Intelligence to launch B2Be Different. This exciting new venture is aimed at ambitious engineering and B2B manufacturing businesses that want to grow and stand out from the crowd.

Between us and our agencies, we have the combined skills to drive success for Engineering and B2B Manufacturing businesses through a braver and more strategic approach to brand & marketing.

We have already run our first webinar—look out for the next dates and for our first podcast, which is coming soon!

If you would like help with your marketing and making your complex simple, email me at samantha@labrakita.co.uk or call me on 07791 521439.

Author: Samantha Tonge, Managing Director, Labrakita Marketing