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Rosie Hatton is Managing Director of Hatton Marketing, a web marketing agency in Guildford, Surrey which she founded in 2007. |
Franklin D. Roosevelt is not the first person you'd think would inspire someone to enter the world of Marketing. But it was studying for History at O-level that got this month's Marketer of the Month, Rosie Hatton interested in the nature of markets and the power of influence. "I was struck by how Roosevelt managed to motivate a whole nation of people to get going again after the Depression of the 30s," Rosie says on how she got into marketing in the first place.
Rosie went to the University of Greenwich to do a degree in Business Studies. She graduated in 1993 with a Marketing major. "I had looked for a degree course which would nurture my passion for understanding what makes people tick but that would practically guarantee me a job. I thought ‘well, people will always need to sell...' so Marketing presented itself as a practical career choice." She left Greenwich with a 2:1; a year later she completed her CIM Professional Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing, achieving a distinction.
Since then, Rosie's career has been Marketing, and takes in both client and agency sides. Whilst she has worked in an array of industries, "the common theme in all my roles is the quest for a healthy balance between Sales and Marketing," Rosie says. "Everyone - agencies, corporates, SMEs - need to generate sales leads, which Marketing provides. And I went where they needed sales leads."
Rosie's career began client side in 1993 as Marketing Executive at Capscan, a London-based geodemographic software house and progressed within a couple of years to Marketing Manager at sister company, Context Electronic Publishers. "These first jobs taught me that my degree and CIM diploma were very relevant." Rosie says. "The biggest revelation was that in the ‘real world' the hardest module in my degree, Business Strategy, was actually the most relevant. Everything Marketing did had to relate to that. Looking back it all seems rather obvious!"
In 1999, Rosie swapped hats and went agency-side as an account handler at WPP agency, Perspectives Red Cell. There, she worked on prestigious clients, HP and Threshers and grew her integrated skills, eventually becoming Perspectives' own Marketing Manager - on the client side in an agency. "Moving to an agency gave me a chance to work with creative people who saw Concept and Design as having inherent value. This, and the chance to manage multi-million pound campaigns for blue chip accounts, was very refreshing."
Client-side life proved too much of a lure, however, and in 2003, Rosie took up the position of Marketing Services Manager at Cramer; a pivotal new role in a rapidly growing international telecoms software company. "I was like an internal 'agency' - responsible for the management of internal and external suppliers to best express Cramer's strategic and tactical messaging aims. I had responsibility for the delivery of our brand." Rosie was also responsible for driving Cramer's rapidly rising profile at both their own and industry events. She says that one of her most interesting and ‘fulfilling' roles was the planning of international conferences and events for Cramer. "I tried to convince my husband that researching five star hotel venues was a very demanding role," she laughs, "though I'm not sure he believed me."
In 2005, Rosie joined Surrey design agency, Designhive. Her board level appointment was created to help the company be more strategically focused and to bring in more profitable clients. "At last, I got to pull together everything I'd learned, to have a direct effect on the bottom line."
In January 2007, her husband, Tim, who already ran a successful, respected web design business, was crying out for marketing for his clients who needed strategic focus. Rosie made the big decision to leave her ‘proper job' and together, they set up Hatton Marketing.
Hatton Marketing is only 18 months old - but is a profitable company with five employees and a number of trusted Associates. Rosie ensures that Hatton Marketing's clients attract the profitable customers through the right message and positioning. Their rapidly expanding client list is diverse: local SMEs, international corporates and even The Army. The common theme between them is their need for ROI.
"Our clients come to us because they want expert help with generating more sales leads. And our strong website design and web marketing portfolio often means that this is where they might ask for help first," Rosie explains. "But they tell us that it's our CIM credentials, strategic approach and web marketing experience that keep them coming back." |
