You wouldn't necessarily have picked the last 15 months to launch into a new market, given that we have all largely had to do it from our kitchen tables and second bedrooms! In some ways of course, working from home during the pandemic has improved our flexibility to be in front of our clients and be physically (by which we mean virtually!) present, despite the different geographies.
Developing our US business has been extra special, as we are well aware that even in 'normal' times the road from the UK to the US can be difficult for consultancy and agency businesses. For us it has been a natural extension of our UK & European business; our consulting, learning and benchmarking services have resonated on both sides of the pond. It has of course been hard work but well worth the effort to see how we have flourished in a little over a year. The combination of campaign, content and digital skills combined with industry knowledge and existing relationships has been useful in building and sustaining a strong US client base.
We have been fortunate to have been led in this important transition by Gabe Altbach, who guided our development in the US from our Boston office and adeptly established a growing business. An addition to this Boston team has been our Marketing Analyst, Kennedy Lynn.
Originally from Colorado, Kennedy moved to London in 2019 to get her Master's degree in Digital Business, where she concentrated building her skills in data analysis, data visualization and digital marketing best practice. Shortly after getting her degree, she was introduced to the White Marble London team (thanks Charlene Sagoe!) and soon enough found herself as the team's Marketing Analyst, putting her skills to work by diving headfirst into the industry's digital marketing data and building valuable insights.
After getting familiar with the industry, Kennedy decided to relocate to the White Marble Boston office to work with US based clients, gain experience in the US industry and grow White Marble's digital benchmarking service, Beacon.
With demand growing across our existing member firms as well as new firms, we are focused on growing the benchmarking service in the US (in addition to the UK and European data). It brings real data-based benchmarking, objective reporting, and a peer community to discuss best practice, share experiences and challenges.
Led by our new 'Bostonian' Kennedy, we will be rolling out product enhancements regularly over the coming months and launching our US benchmarking community. Stay updated with its progress by following our LinkedIn page for quarterly reports divulging relevant industry marketing insights and best practice for digital marketing efforts.
If you'd like to find out more or would like to request a demo of Beacon, contact us today.