2017
SUMMER
JMLegraph
Celebrity Chef Phil Vickery
demonstrates the sheer brilliance of JML’s latest cooking products [p12]
Also in this edition
Daly Dispatches Our CEO speaks [p03]
L.A.P. D.
Los Angeles Production Diary [p18]
PROJECT PANDORA [p21]
Contents
FEATURES
3 5 14
DALY DISPATCHES
What’s going on these day in the JML world according to Ken Daly
THROUGH THE KEOGH By Brian Keough
A DAY IN THE LIFE… JM-Mel & Natalie
COMPANY UPDATES
7 12 15
PD WORLD
So what else is new in the Product Development pipeline?
BUBBLES & BRUNCH Two amazing products launched with great JML style
8 9 21 23
16 18
BRAND EVANGELISTS
A small but mighty Start Up who want to be the world’s HOTTEST beauty company!
READ MY LIPS! True Lips goes it alone with a ‘brand’ new approach
PROJECT PANDORA The first woman created by the gods!
NEW STARTER Mattew Malin
SUPER MARKETING SWEEP A round-up of all that’s going on in the the marketing department
L.A.P.D. Los Angeles Production Diary
PRODUCTION UPDATE Catherine has had a beautiful baby boy named Montgomery-Peter Flann
JML STORIES
6 7 11 20
NEW FROM JML
HOW TIME FLIES
Sarah Craig: I have recently celebrated my 1st anniversary as a JML employee
INTERNATIONAL Tales from around the world
A LONG TIME AGO, In a cinema far, far away…
SWEET CHARITY Chocolate and treats to raise money for a local cause
22 22 23 23 24
‘BOARD’CASTING
Our enterprising ladies saw an opportunity to promote JML and ‘steamed’ right in!
AWARDS Winners of the night
31 YEARS MARRIED Tony and Elaine
MARIE GETS MARRIED Marie and Adam
TEA WITH KEN AND BRIAN The trolley steams into action
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Ken Daly - Chief Executive Officer
Daly Dispatches There’s a hell of a lot going on right now at JML. It’s all good, and a lot of it is new.
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XCITING DEVELOPMENTS are under way in all aspects of JML’s business, and you’ll be able to read more of the stories that are shaping our wonderful company in this latest edition of The JMLegraph. People are JML’s most important asset and after that it’s product. A lot of talented new people have joined the business over recent weeks and months and together we have what I believe to be a world class team. Especially when you also bear in mind that over 35% of our staff have over ten years’ service, something that should make us very proud. Now we have the incredibly powerful formula of a team with great experience, loyalty and dedication, combined with fresh ideas and a wide range of new expertise that comes with the people who have recently joined us.
we have known for many years to create a brilliant range of pans – truly the best pans you’ll ever use. The packaging, the in-store film, the TV commercials, the media plan and so many other aspects of the project were areas of intense focus. Our superb FST (Field Sales Team) did a spectacular job in getting the best possible displays in the best possible locations in stores. Similarly, digital was given the same passion for delivery with beautiful creative on our website and great attention to SEO and all the other aspects that achieve successful online sales. Now we are beginning to develop the social media strategy and PR including the press launch in May with celebrity chef Phil Vickery.The result of this focus on Copper Stone Pans has been an amazing product with hundreds of five star reviews online. Most importantly we already have 150,000 customers who are delighted PRODUCTS – Developing a constant stream with their pans. We simply made Copper of winning new products is fundamental Stone work, with sheer belief and passion. We simply to JML’s business model. We are investing Copper Stone is one of a number of a new made Copper more into NPD than ever before, expanding breed of products that we are launching. I the team and researching an ever-increasing say ‘new breed’ because they have a number Stone work, number of items. This doesn’t necessarily of qualities that perhaps have not always with sheer mean that we will develop a larger number existed with items we have promoted in the of products, we are focusing on quality not past. belief and quantity and we are beginning to dedicate Firstly, we really, really believe in them. passion. greater resources into individual lines that Our customers will be delighted when we believe can be winners to ensure that we they buy them and they will always make give them the very best chance of success. their ‘everyday easier’. Secondly, they lend We only want to develop products we truly believe in. themselves to becoming long term brands. Yes of course When everyone believes in a project, great things can be we will launch them with the incredibly powerful JML achieved. The perfect example of this is the Copper Stone promotional model. After that however, there is huge Pan range which we launched this spring. Copper Stone potential to gain permanent listings in retail category was an idea that was developed in-house and is unique to space and online. There is also massive scope for social JML. We worked tirelessly with a manufacturing partner media and ongoing PR. July 2017
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satisfied customers
POSSIBLY THE GAME-CHANGING ELEMENT is that these products have global potential. So now, in the case of Copper Stone, we are taking the pans to our 80+ distributors worldwide. Furthermore, we are targeting new distributors in bigger markets such as USA and Japan where traditionally we have struggled to make an impact. If these guys can achieve anything like the success we have had in the UK and Ireland, then the sales numbers could be absolutely eye-watering. JML is a great brand that is held in affection by millions of consumers.
Last year, JML developed a colour-changing lipstick called True Lips. We launched the product through the trials programme and sales results were excellent. However, much like the products from Brand Evangelists, we felt that a marketing strategy was required that was completely different from JML’s core model. We therefore are in the process of setting up JML Cosmetics, a new company that will market JML developed beauty lines, again separately from the main business. True Lips will not have JML branding, instead it will have its own unique identity, with fresh innovative marketing. Again this provides us with another great opportunity to grow the sales of JML Group (read about it on page 9).
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However many of our products should have their own long term brands in their own right. Recently we set up an internal business unit to focus purely on developing our Fast Fit Ironing Board cover brand. The original IBC is getting a makeover with new packaging and a brand new premium version in new designs is about to be launched. We’re targeting permanent ranging in thousands of stores and online to grow sales of this iconic product – after all we have sold over 25 million units since the IBC’s birth 20 years ago. In recent years we have allowed sales of the IBC to slip as we have concentrated on other products. This is all about to change – watch this space!
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150,000
than perhaps the core JML demographic. This gives us a great opportunity to gain additional selling space and incremental revenues without taking resource away from the core JML business (read more about it on page 8).
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Finally, I’d like to say a quick word about Christmas. Yes I know it’s summer and yuletide matters are probably far from our minds. However we have been planning our Christmas promotions for many months. The final details are being signed off as I write.
51% JML OWNED
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IN OTHER EXCITING news, JML has invested in buying a 51% stake in a start-up business called Brand Evangelists. BE are developing innovative health and beauty products with potential to roll out in major retailers in the UK and globally plus, of course, online. BE’s brands will be completely separate from JML. BE will initially be using social media primarily to drive awareness and are targeting younger more fashion conscious consumers
THE KEY POINTS for everyone to note are as follows: 1 - We have a cracking line up of products soon to be revealed 2 - We are putting more money into media than ever before, mainly TV but also digital. The headline is that we shall be spending 23% more on marketing this Christmas compared with last year. In these uncertain times, that is a great piece of news to shout from the rooftops. So tell our customers, your friends and family, loud and proud! I haven’t had the chance to talk about the Grill Circle or the new version of our blockbuster Phoenix Gold iron, or the new edit suites we are building or the massive Microsoft Dynamics project which is going to improve immeasurably the way we run our business. So much is happening and JML is investing in the future of the business in so many ways. From people and products to IT and marketing. It really is a fantastic time to be a part of the organisation so I’d like to say a warm welcome to the new starters and a massive thank you to all the team for their hard work and dedication so far this year.
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Brian Keogh - Chief Sales Officer
Trading in the first quarter of the year was challenging against the backdrop of an uncertain economy in the UK. However, the last couple of months have seen a real turnaround in our sales.
Through the Keogh
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EAR-TO-DATE Direct sales in 2017 have now gone ahead of the same period in 2016 and Retail is clawing back the deficit weekly. ASDA and Wilkos who are our biggest two retail customers are both showing significant year-on-year growth and that is set to continue for the rest of the year. Our International division continues to perform strongly showing good year-on-year growth. The whole team are out working tirelessly to deliver new business opportunities and drive sales across all areas of the business and the work that is going on gives us a really strong platform to build upon in the second half of the year. Product is everything to us and
July 2017
already this year we have launched some big winners - Clever Cutter, Copper Stone Pans, True Touch and Halowave Air Cooker Deluxe have all done great numbers in The UK. Currently we are setting up our P4 promotional line-up in stores and the early signs are that Chillmax pillow is going to be the hottest (or coolest) product of the summer. ASDA sold over 4000 units in the first week of June which bodes very well for when summer kicks in properly. Looking further ahead, we are all very excited for what the rest of the year will bring with many more blockbusting products in the pipeline. We truly believe that this will be our biggest ever Q4 of sales.
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Anniversary
How Time
Flies I have recently celebrated my 1st anniversary as a JML employee, and I can’t believe how quickly the time has passed. by Sarah Craig Senior National Accounts Assistant
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HAVE TO THANK JML for relocating mine, and a few other job roles up to Tyne Dock last year, as it certainly has been a great year. I would not have met the lovely people that I would now call friends as well as colleagues had they not done that. After making the decision to leave my previous job, I went through a brief period of anxiousness, which I guess is probably normal in that situation. I feared that I maybe wouldn’t actually like my new job or that I might not get on with my peers… What if my manager didn’t like me? Luckily, the worry didn’t last long as I was made to feel very welcome by everyone at JML. I think working in an office where six of my colleagues were also new to the business certainly made the transition a lot easier. I spent my first week completing inductions and getting to know the different departments and roles up in Tyne Dock and went out with Mark Watkinson to visit some stores in the local area. MY SECOND WEEK was spent in London where I met Anna (the person I was taking over from), to learn everything she knew about the role. As you can imagine, this could have been a very awkward situation, however, Anna was very pleasant about it. Her training was invaluable, I came away with a notebook full of information and was feeling fairly confident that I was going to be able to do what was expected of me. The next couple of weeks were spent back in Tyne Dock, really getting to grips with the job whilst Anna was just an email or phone call away at JML House. I’d be very surprised if she wasn’t sick of seeing emails from me or seeing my name flash up on her phone as I tried to preempt as many different scenarios as possible, and think of every ‘what if..’ situation, because I knew that it wouldn’t be long before she left and I was ‘on my own’.
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Thankfully, I feel that I have never actually been on my own whilst working here, and never will be. My line managers have been very supportive and clear from day one that they are there to help if/whenever needed. The Account Managers continue to also be very supportive and helpful and were understanding and patient throughout the initial training process. ASSISTING WITH HUGE retail accounts such as Asda, Boots and The Range keeps me on my toes and ensures that I am always kept busy. No day is ever the same in my role and I wouldn’t want it any other way. It requires communication and cooperation with many internal departments as well as maintaining a good working relationship with our contacts within the retailers. Without help and support from all of my colleagues and external retail contacts, the process of taking a product from the initial introduction to the retailer stage, through to the FST setting the promotions up in stores, would be very difficult. THE BIGGEST SUPPORT I have on a daily basis comes from my fellow NAAs, Bex and Lauren. I started to realise quite quickly that we would gel well as a team. We have a great working relationship with each other and with the National Account Managers and we know we can rely on each other. The support of Lauren and Bex has been particularly valuable recently as, just as I was getting used to daily life at JML, I have been thrown in at the deep end again by being involved in the new Dynamics 365 training and development. It almost feels like going back to square one, learning a new way of doing things but it will definitely be worth it for the future of the company and I am excited to see how it all works in the end. I could regale you with Dynamics 365, but I’ll leave that for someone else.
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Tales from around the world with International by Emma Coleman International Account Manager
J ANIE, EMMA AND CRISTINA from JML International visited our biggest customer in Romania. Luckily the sun was shining and we had a go at being news readers, along with some delicious dinners! June will see Cristina celebrating her first anniversary with JML and we couldn’t be happier that she is part of International.
JML In ternatio
This picture was taken in our customer’s brand new studio in Bucharest, it is where they do news bulletins and present programmes.
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PD World
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There are a number of new, friendly faces in the PD Team since my last update. by Ben Thomas Product Development Director
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ENNY YONG AND ALEXANDRA HRISTOVA have joined to boost the strength of the retail team and Paul Dunne has joined to help develop Direct (infomercial) products. They all bring a wealth of experience with them from their previous roles and they are going to be able to help bring lots of exciting new potential products to the table. I’m sure you will get to meet them and welcome them to the JML family over the coming weeks if you haven’t already had chance to do so. So what else is new in the Product Development pipeline? We have a lot of interesting products currently going into retail trial, with a good mix of brand new JML-developed ideas and 3rd party products that have already proven to be winners in the USA. The new
outdoor toy item I mentioned in the last JMLegraph is due to be filmed in the US and trialled this summer and the Americans seem to love it so we have high hopes there. On the Direct side we have some new irons that we are very excited about and that we think could match the huge success of the Phoenix Gold. Let’s all get steaming! Other upcoming developments include a planned relaunch of an inventor’s portal on the website to allow inventors to easily contact us and upload their product ideas for us to review; the Venice ERA conference where we will meet with all of our 3rd party suppliers to see their latest and greatest products; and a new range of IBCs. Busy but exciting times as always in the crazy world of PD! July 2017
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1. Grill Circle 2. Cosmic Laces 3. Yakkity Yak 4. Star Bra
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Brand Evangelists Who are BE? We are a small but mighty Start Up who want to be the world’s HOTTEST beauty company! Taking stellar science and technology, a dose of delicious design and a BE twist to create mind-blowing beauty products so compelling that we build Tribes of people who cannot help but follow.
Who are we? Duo Mark and Colette (and soon to be a small team) who are ripping up the beauty rulebook one day at a time… Mark (the evangelist) has a vision of building a team of awesome people to build a better World. Ex Science Teacher, Mars and Boots by trade, Mark is inspired by anyone who takes a leap, is obsessed with Pi (you know 3.1415926…) and adores his daughter Grace. Colette (the Beauty junkie) provides the foundation to Mark’s vision, thriving on building brands who captivate the ever elusive beauty consumer. Ex Boots, Liz Earle and WAH Nails, country gal Colette is to be found either renovating her house (urgh!), or recovering in a wine bar!
BE products Today BE is launching white hot beauty products with the support of JML. We have 14 brand concepts (gulp!) and have 3 brands coming to the market in the next 4 months. Our first brand BOMBODY is a bathing range with BOM! An efficacious natural regime, our products serve to tighten and sculpt, providing instant wow with longer term benefits. Our experiential insta-community-led BOMBODY range will be launching this summer into multiple retailers so keep a look out! The fact that this is our jobs makes us LOL as we are just loving what we do as we are doing what we love. We are excited to partner with you guys at JML, so come and say hi (we are in the office most weeks) or pop us an email on anything you want a second opinion on! BE (Mark and Colette)
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July 2017
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IL PS!
True Lips goes it alone with a ‘brand’ new approach.
by Rochelle Piper Product Development Manager
W E ARE EXCITED TO LAUNCH OUR NEW SOCIAL AND DIGITAL PLATFORM FOR TRUE LIPS. Together with the marketing geniuses at Magic Octopus we have established True Lips as a brand in its own right and will be launching the multifaceted ‘We are True Lips’ website within the next few weeks. This young, fresh, new brand will encompass all things ‘lipstick’ and promote the brand’s essence of enhancing individual style and building confidence. The site will launch with our sumptuous True Lips colour changing lipstick with SPF 15 protection. True Lips lipstick is yellow on the stick but, apply to the lips and watch it magically blend with your personal lip chemistry to a reveal a personalised pink for a stunning look that is sure to suit your everyday style as well as jazz up any evening outfit. Packed with Shea Butter and Vitamin E this beautiful lipstick glides on glossy and smooth while conditioning the lips and blending into a lip stain to accentuate your look and make you feel as if you can conquer anything! CONFIDENCE AND IDENTITY ARE AT THE FOREFRONT OF THIS BRAND, not only does the True Lips wow you with a beautiful colour transformation on the lips but we truly believe the entire brand inspires and ignites your personal style, confidence and creativity. Where can you get involved, you ask? The ‘We are True Lips’ style tribe will take you on an engaging and energetic journey starting with the #lipselfie campaign where lucky winners will be invited to a fun-filled photoshoot with celebrity photographer Paul Musso, capturing your confident and vibrant moments wearing True Lips. Continuing the social whirlwind, beauty influencers will be inviting the ‘We are True Lips’ style tribe to tune into ‘Brand Ambassador TV’ on our very own channel 651, engaging the Gen Z’s and all with their fun take on True Lips other funky style tips. July 2017
Unlimited, cool, fresh? Yes! And the fun doesn’t stop there! ‘We are True Lips’ will also be launching a #Sing the Ad campaign where you can shine and get involved in creating the tribes style rhythm by winning a chance to record the brand’s itunes single in a recording studio, watch this space… AS YOU CAN SEE, IT HAS TRULY BEEN A FUN AND CREATIVE COUPLE OF MONTHS. We have seen the transformation of the product with added SPF for that extra layer of protection, we’ve built a distinctive multi-dimensional and interactive marketing strategy and, true to the brand’s essence, we are also passionate about extending our message of care and boosting confidence by teaming up with, and donating a percentage of sales to, the Young Minds charity which is backed by Prince William. The product will be launching at the end of this year and will available in the likes of Boots and Superdrug with conversations well underway with fashion brands such as Topshop, ASOS and New Look. As you can see there is a world of possibilities, so we are very confident in making True Lips a success. JML lippy lovers, we think you’ll agree the project sounds fantastic and we look forward to you joining our ‘We are True Lips’ style tribe!
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Rally around to help fight cancer Two men, one car, four days and a great cause by Rob Isaac Field Sales Executive
On a cold Saturday evening early last December myself and my wife were round a friend’s house watching the Cannonball Run, a film in which Burt Reynolds and co race various vehicles across America.
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fter a while, the conversation got around to what a great once in a lifetime experience it would be to do something similar. We got out our phones and found a couple of similar things this side of the pond. Most seemed too risky or expensive but then we stumbled on the ‘Two Ball Banger Rally’, a road trip that starts in Northern France then heads south, across the Alps into Italy then along the Mediterranean back through the south of France into Monaco and finishes in Barcelona, all in a car that can cost no more than £567. That’s 1200 miles in 4 days. For next couple of weeks we had several team meetings discussing what type of car we’d like to take. At first we thought maybe something we had as teenager but it turns out cars that we had in our youth and disposed of like crisp packets are now worth a lot more than £567. So the next thought was a cabriolet, Saab, Audi and Mercedes etc, you can get a lot of car for £500 these days. But looking at the photos from previous years these were very popular choices, we wanted to be different. Eventually, eBay unearthed a 1999 Mazda 323f Executive. The paintwork wasn’t to everyone’s taste but underneath was a very well looked after, low mileage engine. For the next few months, the car sat at my parents, untouched but not forgotten as we planned what we were going to do with him (we named it Bernard) and after looking into the cost of accommodation I suggested we just sleep in the car, John, being a bit of an engineer, said “No, how about we sleep ON the car?” Genius! Roll on a weekend of A-Team style cutting, grinding and welding as a frame was built and added to Bernard to take a tent. A quick spray paint and we are almost ready to go. It’s a work in progress. We’re still waiting for my sister to sew together some waterproofed dust sheets and a mini kitchen might be built where the rear seats are. We leave on July 27th, and we thought we’d try and raise some money for charity. So please visit our Just Giving page and give as much as you can thanks. www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Rob-Isaac2
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July 2017
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A long time ago, in a cinema far, far away... We’ve had 40 years of Star Wars, and I. B. (Wan Kenobi) was there at the start. by Ian Benninghton Merchandising Manager
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ORTY? CRIKEY. IMAGINE how I felt when they said ‘We want you to write an article about your love of Star Wars’. So I tried to sum up my enjoyment for these films in one sentence, and here it is: I own more Star Wars T-shirts as a 43-year-old than I did when I was six or seven… Pathetic, right? Embarrassing, right? Oh believe me, I’ve tried to lose interest over time (“Try not. Do or do not; there is no try…” as someone small and green once said) but those pesky geniuses at Lucasfilm kept dragging me back. I even enjoyed most of the much maligned prequel movies. It’s 1977, and I was four years old. My dad, Roy, took me to the cinema in Durham to see George Lucas’ film that everybody had been raving about…. I was hooked. It’s understandable at that age being mesmerised by what
you’d seen on the screen, especially considering that the special effects were groundbreaking. Did you know that Lucasfilm went on to work on classics like ‘Jurassic Park’, or that they also invented the technology that went on to make ‘Toy Story’? Anyway, it was probably mere hours before I was fantasising about flying the Millennium Falcon and taking on Darth Vader in an almighty lightsabre duel. I guess I still am I suppose (again, pathetic)! What it all boils down to though is Lucas’ story. Millions of people enjoy the classic battle of good versus evil, the hero’s journey, his friends, his disjointed family (he kisses his sister for Chewie’s sake!), the romance, the fall and redemption of the anti-hero.... plus a load of cool spaceships, obviously. Lucas stole
bits of Tolkien, Flash Gordon, King Arthur, Merlin and even The Dam Busters. Good plagiarism George! For the initial film (originally intended to be a 9 film arc), it spawned 2 sequels, 3 prequels, a sequel to the sequels, one standalone film, TV series, countless videogames, books, comics & the greatest success story in merchandising history (a professional interest of mine…!). And still the juggernaut continues. In 2005, if George Lucas was a country, he’d have been the 70th richest country on Earth. He went on to sell Lucasfilm to Disney in 2014 for $6billion….! As for today, if I was to say a megalomaniac Sith Lord was hiding his true political aspirations behind his public façade, by threatening the stability of the galaxy with a technological terror (Death Star) you’d think I’d gone mad. Replace the Emperor with Donald Trump, and I might not be far from the truth….!
Three of my favourite bits of Star Wars trivia:
Chewbacca was based on Lucas’ Malamute dog, Indiana (does it ring any bells?), who sat in the passenger’s seat of his car, just like Chewbacca.
The crew of SW used to keep Kenny Baker (the actor inside R2-D2) entertained by sticking pictures of naked ladies inside the dome.
July 2017
You never saw Peter Cushing’s feet on screen as they’d made his costume boots too small, so he had to wear slippers on set.
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Sophie Smithers - Head of Marketing
Two amazing products launched with great JML style: Copper Stone Pans and Grill Circle Can you hear the sizzle?....
show, featuring the famous Marc Gill, and have a chance to live and breathe the product.
The end of April saw the launch of our hugely anticipated Grill Circle show. It was decided that, in order to let JML staff see the first glimpse of this great show we would arrange inaugural viewings, both at JML HQ in Chiswick, and at Tyne Dock. This particular show is special because our hard-working production department, along with Scarpacci Kelly Productions in L.A, have worked around the clock to produce this worldclass infomercial, the first of its kind to be produced in LA by JML. Shaun Tebble provided his world famous sausages for the Tyne Dock screening which were cooked to perfection by Abi and Jane on, of course, a Grill Circle. While down South in Chiswick we had a screening up on the 3rd floor with drinks and nibbles and front row seats for an introduction by Ken. This was as great opportunity for JML staff to really get a feel for how the public can experience this great new
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But the Grill Circle’s launch didn’t stop there… On 23rd May, JML hosted a ‘Bubbles & Brunch’ event with the famous TV chef Phil Vickery from ITV’s This Morning to demonstrate the Grill Circle as well as our other new kitchen super-stars, the Copper Stone Pans. The event was held at the prestigious Good Housekeeping Institute in Central London and was attended by the brightest and best food and lifestye reporters, vloggers and bloggers of the moment, as well as press from all the big publication houses. The event was introduced once again by our own dynamic front man Ken, who wowed the press and quickly established a great rapport with Phil Vickery. Phil went on to cook eight sumptuous recipes, created exclusively for the event, using the Grill Circle and Copper Stone Pans. The emphasis was on quick, tasty, healthy cooking, using no oil or fat, and in no time the room was filled with the most incredible aromas that went towards creating a taste, sight and smell sensation for everybody there and an experience they wouldn’t forget. The food was served for everyone to try, along with a glass of
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Clockwise from top left: Bloggers signing into the event; Phil addressing the crowd; Phil and Ken posing for the photographers; Sophie and Phil going over the menu; Journalists mingling; Phil at work; One of the guests sharing a picture on social media; Pinapple and chili appetisers.
bubbly, and the buzz in the room was amazing. The bloggers and journalists left with full tummies, an armful of goodies in the form of a goodie bag (containing recipes, pens and a Copper Stone Pan, no less) and heads full of great ideas for their next blog, social post or articleall thanks to those two fabulous products and a little JML magic! We are now working very hard to gain as much coverage from the event as possible. This will come in the form of social media posts, blogs and articles in print. There’s been a huge interest in featuring our products particularly in ‘The Lady Magazine’ and ‘House Beautiful’, and there’s a fantastic video blog from the event by the celebrated
lifestyle vlogger Hedi Hearts (who boasts 156,000 likes!) that we’ve shared on our Facebook page so go and check it out.
Copper Stone Pan Influencers Our Copper Stone Pan influencer campaign is now in full swing. We’ve had some amazing content posted already and it’s gaining a lot of incremental engagement from people across all social media platforms. We currently have five influencers on board with a combined following of 500k potential customers!
July 2017
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l e M M J A Day in the Life of...
A marketing strategist
Friday
Melissa Thomas - Direct Marketing Executive
9:00 am
I read and respond to some emails. If there’s nothing else which needs to be added to my to-do list, I prioritise which tasks are more/ less urgent. Having previously sent over a brief to our Digital Design team, I receive some a-class email creative, which I send across to Force24. Creative received, Force 24, who facilitate our Email Marketing, commence with building our email, and prepare to send our email campaign to our database of customers. Afterwards I refer to our Direct Promotional Calendar, which maps out social posts and promotional emails based on our key product lines for that period. Then I create briefs for any emails or social media creative, and submit them to the Digital Design Team.
10:29am I finish off the last of the day’s briefs, then check emails for any incoming tasks. If nothing else has popped up, I commence with proofing any social copy and creative which our external agency Ewe sends across. Ewe looks after our social platforms, scheduling and posting as well as creating some of the content. I converse with my manager
Sophie about any changes or tweaks which need to be made, and pass our comments back to the agency, as well as sending them any assets (photos, in-house creative, product briefs), they require.
12:10pm How is it already gone 12 already?! I’ve completed all my morning priorities so complete and submit sample request forms, which orders products, usually for our influencers, or competition winners.
1:57pm After grabbing some unreasonably carbheavy lunch, I head back to the office. Check emails once more. I upload any of our latest product videos onto our YouTube channel, browse our social profiles to ensure posts have been posted correctly, and redraft some blog posts for the website’s forthcoming blog section.
3:12pm The dreaded bell of the tea trolley rings through the office. I promise myself I will not have anything more
than a cup of Rooibois…I end up with that, plus three biscuits. Oink.
3:27pm I check Force 24’s progress with the email building, as well as requesting a set of subject lines. Whilst waiting for those, I do some admin like sorting out press clippings so they can be collated into a scrap book. I then save any content from our agency into the relevant Direct Marketing folders.
4:38 pm Myself, Jai and Sophie receive the test emails and proof them before they’re sent to our database. We select the most alluring subject lines designed to enticing our customer database into opening our email, and hopefully clicking through to the website.
5:32pm Providing there’s no copy errors in the emails, and all the links click through to the correct pages, and all over tasks in my diary are ticked off, I glide out of the office feeling invincible. Goodnight JML HQ!
e i l a t Na A Day in the Life of...
An HR administrator
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INCE JOINING JML last August it’s been full speed ahead particularly with the office move to Chiswick Green. I delved straight into recruitment, supporting line managers at HQ. Tyne Dock and Area Sales Managers in the field, making offers of employment to successful candidates. Typically, my day consists of processing new starters and leavers (there have been quite a few), dealing with queries from employees or advising line managers on staff relations, i.e. absence, capability or disciplinary procedures. I can’t say there has a been a quiet time for me or the HR team particularly with the organisation of the Annual Conference which was a huge
Natalie Ratcliffe - HR Administrator
success! Working as part of a team I help support the business through changes. One such change was the introduction of flexi-time for HQ staff, which allows everyone to vary their start and finishing times, promoting a better work life balance. We are always thinking of what we could do better to improve existing practices and welcome fresh ideas or new initiatives. You can bring your suggestions to us in the recently relaunched Engage Meetings. We are currently looking at enhancing staff benefits. Going forward we strive to
create a fantastic culture at JML for everyone and to do this we hope to introduce positivity and energy to engage all of you to help ensure the environment we work in is a happy and healthy one. A great team culture provides the context for the people to deliver their best work. There is a lot more I could go into about what else we do in HR but I wouldn’t want to keep you from working too long. Next time you’re at HQ, make sure you pop in to see us – the HR door is always open to help, advise or simply just to listen.
Production update
by Kristian Gatenby Acting Head of Production
A Peter, Catherine & Baby Montgomery
S I’M SURE YOU’VE noticed, Catherine Campbell has now gone on maternity leave and so I’ve been handed the baton to head up the production department. Catherine has had a beautiful baby boy named Montgomery-Peter Flann and I’m sure he’ll be editing his first infomercial before he can walk. So, as acting Head of Production I’m very pleased to announce that joining the team are Alistair Rankine, as our latest Post Production Manager,
Flavio Carlini, in-house editor, and Darren Francis is an exciting new Producer-Director. So watch this space for some great new innovative ideas and some really top-notch films. We’ve also had a massive overhaul and a huge investment in the edit suites to bring us up to date with the latest, state-of-the-art editing equipment, which we hope will streamline our editing process and keep us at the leading edge of this fast-moving industry.
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Super marketing sweep
Stephen McCreath - Group Marketing Director
A round-up of all that’s going on in the the marketing department
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here does one start? A question probably Kev, Kristian, Sophie, Alistair and myself ask ourselves every single morning before we start our respective working days! There is just so much going on across the Design, Marketing and Production departments – not to mention babies being born nearly at the same rate Ken mentions how “…Copper Stone Pans are the best pans he’s ever used” - that we simply have to just start somewhere and see where we end up!
IN KRISTIAN AND ALISTAIR’S WORLD OF PRODUCTION AND EDITING… Kristian and myself are in full pre-production mode for TWO new original long-form infomercials – Phoenix Copper Pro and Phoenix Gold Free Flight. We will be filming Phoenix Copper Pro once again in Los Angeles with our production team at Capstone. The show is an update of the original Phoenix Gold infomercial but is being produced very much with American and International audiences in mind. In other words, it’s the original PG iron design but with a Copper plate (hence the name change) supported by a show with a far more sales aggressive message including some not too subtle competitor iron-bashing, cool CGI sequences and a massive number of product demonstrations including some rather fun and ambitious ones never tried before in an infomercial. It’s going to be a cool show. PCP is partly being produced for one of our key U.S. Distributor and Product Supplier partners, Ontel to trial during Q4 this year – the potential of which, could be a very real game changer to the business. Once we wrap filming on PCP, we will go straight in to the filming of Phoenix Gold Free Flight in August in the UK. Free Flight is the latest iron from the Phoenix Gold range featuring a cordless iron. This show will once again be
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presented by Mr. PG himself – Kristian Gatenby who is fast becoming the face of 651 following his appearances in the new infomercials we shot earlier this year for Dri Buddi Air and Food Sealer which have recently launched on our Sky Channel 651. These two new productions will mean by the end of August, the business will have produced a total of 6 brand new long-form infomercials – and there is a further two still under consideration to be shot before the year end. That is a serious investment by the business – and – a very clear statement of intent to the industry that JML are proactively investing in new product development and the production of new original long-form TV infomercial films to generate and drive incremental sales via its domestic UK & Ireland and International Retail and DRTV customers. Keeping with Retail, the Production and Editing teams are also producing and turning-around a huge number of new TV Commercials and Retail In-Store Videos for the forthcoming P5 and P6 campaigns. The production values being delivered are a credit to every member of Kristian and Alistair’s teams and a huge thank you goes to Darren, James, Elisa, Cristina, Adam, Sarah, Flavio and Catalin for their creativity and commitment to the cause – we recognise there are some long-hours being put in right now! Relative to this, the team are also developing some creative concepts for the Christmas / P6 campaigns – JMLves anyone? We are also upgrading all Edit Suites in Chiswick HQ. This is a major investment by the business and equally a major undertaking to implement and have fully functional the new state-of-the-art suites before the Summer. The end result will see a massive improvement in both working efficiencies and deliverables. Very exciting!
IN KEV’S WORLD OF DESIGN… In addition to the “day-job” of generating some great and
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innovative product packaging design and artwork plus continuing to support the Online and Marketing teams design requirements, we are currently producing the JML Autumn/Winter 2017 Catalogue for release in September. Furthermore, we are developing a whole new series of TV Promos and Interstitials for Sky 651. During 2016, the channel started to look rather “tired” as a result of having had no new DRTV infomercials launched… no structure to its scheduling… and running old, out-of-date interstitials and promos, none of which made any reference to our Everyday Easier tagline. This year we have made huge inroads to freshening up the main programming content as a result of the new original and 3rd party infomercials which have launched during the first half of the year (Copper Stone Pans, Grill Circle, Hurricane Spin Scrubber, Hollywood Pants etc.). Furthermore, scheduling now concentrates on promoting the major DRTV winners. Ultimately 651 is there to SELL product so we needed to understand and accept that scheduling what viewers want to buy - and not be fearful of high repeat levels of particular shows – is the very essence of successful DRTV promotion. And lastly, we will launch and incorporate into our programming the aforementioned series of new TV Promos and Interstitials in order to freshen up the look, feel and overall viewer engagement on Sky 651. Expect to see them live from August.
AND IN SOPHIE’S WORLD OF MARKETING… You will read elsewhere in this edition of the JMLegraph, Sophie’s hard work in creating and hosting the “JML Bubbles and Bruch Event featuring ITV This Morning’s Phil Vickery” which showcased Copper Stone Pans and Grill Circle products. It is very difficult to measure what makes P.R. and Events such as this a success. The
typical, question – “…how many sales did it generate?” is no longer an appropriate question to ask nor measure success by. Instead, we need to measure success as the sum of the whole especially as the business wants to make product lines such as Copper Stone Pans a BRAND. In that regard, the Bubbles and Brunch event was a success as it has helped re-introduce and re-engage JML with a number of journalists of major magazine publications and furthermore it has helped turn JML on to a huge number of Social Media influencers and bloggers such as Maeve Madden and Hedi Hearts. People like Maeve and Hedi have more followers than many traditional print publications’ circulation numbers therefore it is imperative JML is proactively engaged with them. A lot of follow-up work is now being undertaken by Sophie and the Marketing team to ensure that P.R. aside, the event will ultimately lead to further incremental sales of both products featured in the event. Marketing is also developing a number of product specific and JML Group brand / business strategies. Product Brand Strategies relate to Fast Fit Ironing Board Covers and Copper Stone Pans whilst for the Group, we are developing a Social Media strategy to further strengthen and improve our understanding, output and overall execution and transactional performance via Social Media channels. In closing, there are also a number of other projects which are on the McDeath Things to Do List before the year’s out. I look forward to sharing more about these as and when in subsequent editions of the JMLegraph but for the meantime I can say these include a review of JML’s Brand Guidelines - Retail POS (Point of Sale) materials the implementation of a brand new Database Marketing program – and building a new, modest studio at our Power Road premises.
July 2017
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L.A.P.D
Los Angeles Production Diary Filming in the home of ‘cheese’ where they really know their onions! by Kristian Gatenby Acting Head of Production
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aving been involved in Producing infomercials for the past seven years at JML, I like to think that I have a fair idea of how they should be filmed. That being said, I’m always open to learning new ways of doing things and new processes and taking on alternative methods to ensure that we, as a department, deliver the strongest, most powerful messages through films and shows we can in order to generate the most sales because, at the end of the day, that’s what we’re here to do and our efforts have to translate into revenue.
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So who better to learn howe to take our films to the next level than the folks who invented the infomercial? The guys in the United States invented DRTV and they’ve been at the top of that particular game ever since. They are the masters of the sell, the big personalities that work in the world of Shopping Television, the creators of cheese- and who doesn’t love a bit of cheese now and again? Infomercials are a huge business in the States, and whenever we see the big blockbuster productions that seem to break the international market, they all seem to
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Skyline of L.A.
It’s not all a bout work
l party Grill Circle poo
How m any b ur gers we eaten b re ac kstag e??
be American infomercials. So why not learn from the best? Working with Capstone Productions and Scarpaci/Kelly – A production company that have worked closely with the biggest players in the DRTV industry (Beach Body and Guthy-Renker being two DRTV Goliaths), we wanted to use the talent the States have, and create two shows with international appeal that will boost JML’s reputation internationally. Stepping on set for Copperstone Pans I felt like it was my first day all over again! I was overwhelmed by what I was seeing – there was an instant difference to how we set up for filming, and how these guys film. The size of crew was what really hit me – we’re used to having maybe eight people, including Camera Ops and presenters, on set (with the Producer and Production Assistant doing about fifteen different jobs between them). This crew totalled a whopping twenty-five – over three times the size! Whilst this amazed me it also struck how impressed I was with how we are able to film infomercials like we have done in the past, with a significantly reduced crew. We have been filming like this for years and have delivered some pretty impressive infomercials that have generated large sales, like Go Chef, Belvia Bra, Ceracraft and Phoenix Gold, so for me this goes to show how capable we as a department have been over the years. However one thing that we always seemed to struggle with in the UK has been talent, with the exception of Phoenix Gold (I mean that guy really is fantastic, and dashingly handsome to boot)! Whilst we tend to deliver
C e le b rit y s elfie
a quality film, admittedly we do struggle with getting the “cheese” the Americans seem to have in natural abundance. It seems to be in their blood, and something that I was relishing being a part of. For Grill Circle this was no different, and the fact that we had the opportunity to work with the legend that is Marc Gill – a real Pitchman legend, made this even more of a fantastic opportunity that we can take advantage of. Marc has known about JML for some time and was really excited to be working with us for Grill Circle, and from the finished film I really do feel we have a ‘show’ that will be an international success!
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Sweet
Charity
Chocolate and other treats for the JML family, raising money for a local cause Helen, one of our raffle winners
by Abigail Heslop Contact Centre Manager
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TS WELL KNOWN at Tynedock that if you spot Jane and I with raffle tickets you either put your hand in your pocket or run! This year we had the added assistance of Nadia Ahmed so there was no escaping 3 of us! The charity we chose this time was Jessica’s Sarcoma Awareness (jessicas-sarcoma-awareness.com) this was set up by Jessica from Cramlington, Northumberland. Jessica was diagnosed with sarcoma at age 14 and unfortunately passed away shortly after her 18th birthday. Jessica’s parent run the charity in her memory. 10% off all funds raised goes to the Teenage Cancer Trust and 10% to Sarcoma UK, the rest goes to Jessica’s charity and this funds gifts for children who are in hospital, it also helps to fun days out and holidays for these amazing children and their families. Although the charity day itself was on 13th April we stared the fund raising the week before, it’s easier to force more money out of people if you stagger it a little! We had an Easter hamper raffle (who doesn’t like chocolate?! If you say you don’t then I am sorry we can’t be friends. Helen Campbell from Customer Services Judith Fahey, Fleet Manager and Jenn from customer Service won and I am sorry to say we haven’t seen them since,
although sightings have been reported of them covered in chocolate and wrappers appearing on the floor. We also had a raffle with JML prizes and this was a huge success. Nitin was thrilled with his prize of a Flex Core* *Health and Safety warning – Please watch where you stand as Nitin could possibly be on the floor working out. On the day itself we had a buffet and each department donated food and then we also charged them to eat it. Yes, we have all angles covered. We had the lovely Emma Metcalf and Nadia Ahmed who offered their specials skills in nail design and Henna tattoos. Although it did look as though the revolution had started as the female (apart from Mr T, who just for information favours a bright pink polish) population walked around robot like while it all dried. We raised a fantastic £632 for this wonderful cause. Every charity is a worthy cause; however, it was wonderful to be able to help support a local charity this time. Well done to everyone who helped and contributed. Our JML family really is the best. Jessica’s parents were overwhelmed with the generosity from the JML family.
Jane and Abi
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July 2017
Judith and Cherree
JMLegraph
Project Pandora
Patrick Leahy - Chief Financial Officer
Pandora: the first woman created by the gods!
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S YOU ARE AWARE, the company is investing over ÂŁ1m in new systems to improve the way we work and make the company cutting edge in the FMCG market. This is phased into three parts. Phase 1 - is the foundations. This is the Microsoft 365 implementation. This phase is in full swing at that moment. Phase 2 - is the CRM implementation and is currently being scoped. This phase will enable the business to better understand our customers, our markets and communicate with them. Phase 3 - will then layer on cutting edge technology such as AI. The project was named by Wayne as Project Pandora. Pandora was the first woman created by the gods. Read into that as you will. TO DATE ON PHASE 1 there has been 14 people from Seaton Partners (the technical implementation team) and 23 staff from JML working on the project. Both have put in a tremendous amount of effort on this project and continue to do so. Almost 9,500 man hours have been devoted to the project by these people since the start of March this year. There have been some stressful moments as the volume of change the project is bringing is large. But overall, the team has got behind it and are working hard to deliver a system that enhances your working environment. THERE WILL BE PLENTY of more communication to come about the project and all employees will start to test and play with the system from mid July so that come the start of September, when we go live, you will be familiar with it all. Please recognise that your colleagues have put a huge effort into this. They have done this on top of their day job and I personally thank them for their dedication. They are working to make your everyday easier.
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‘Board’casting over the airwaves Our enterprising ladies saw an opportunity to promote JML and ‘steamed’ right in! I will start from the beginning....... I was on my way to work this morning (Serena ) and listening to sun –FM our local radio station and the presenter and news reader were having a conversation about moving house. The news reader had just moved into a new house and the presenter wanted to buy him a gift and asked for a suggestion . He said he would really like an ironing board cover, the presenter then said “JML do ironing board covers ,’JML ironing board cover, one size fits all’” and the conversation carried on .
I then had a light bulb moment. When I came in to work I mentioned the conversation on the radio to Jane Pentelow and suggested we should donate one. She agreed and threw in a Phoenix Gold iron as well.
na &
Sere
Lea
Me and Lea jumped in the car and drove like crazy people to Sun-FM with iron and IBC on board, so excited !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We arrived at the radio station and announced ‘JML is in the building’ with our donation to the news reader . To our shock we were invited into the studio to chat about JML LIVE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did I mention it was LIVE ?(we nearly died LOL) After promoting JML we had our photo taken, and I must say again it was LIVE – This was during rush hour traffic, imagine all the people listening, prime- time, to us promoting JML. Needless to say we are now minor celebrities in the JML circle. WE just wanted to share this with you all out there in JML land, and hope it makes you smile because we’re still beaming about it now!
You can listen to the show...
...using this QRcode or just following this link: goo.gl/s3WLQe Fast forward to 3hrs 26:50 mins
Award
Winners of the Night JML was presented with the award for ‘Best Consumer Orientation’ at this year’s EMMA Awards held at the ERA Europe Annual Conference in Venice.
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HE PRESTIGIOUS AWARDS ceremony took place on the waterfront at the Hilton Molino Stucky hotel and was a glamorous occasion attracting over 200 attendees from all the major European companies in
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the home shopping industry. Our CEO Ken Daly accepted the EMMA award on behalf of the whole company. Ken said afterwards, ‘This award recognises the great work everyone at JML has put in to build the JML brand July 2017
Ben and Ken with the EMMA Award
over 30 years, making us a household name in the UK and a highly trusted family company. Furthermore, it also recognises the great lengths we go to, to ensure that our customers always receive the very best possible service.’
JMLegraph
New Starter
Matthew Malin SS02 Area Another new face in the JML family
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ELLO, I’M MATT age 26 from Telford. I’ve recently joined JML after working as a Team M anager for Welcome Break. I believe the skills I have obtained and learnt through my training, as well as coming from a results driven background and going above and beyond whilst liaising with
Field S a le s E x e cutive
clients will help support and exceed the great results you already have. I’m very excited about this new challenge and becoming part of the JML family. Outside JML I have a 2year old girl who is my world and she is the
reason I push myself to do my best. My partner and I are also hoping to get married next year. I’m a keen football fan and follow Wolves. I look forward to meeting you all at some point.
Anniversary
31 years married...
M Tony and Elaine look so sweet
Y WIFE AND I have just celebrated our 31st wedding anniversary on the 31st of May, photo attached. Elaine my wife is a psychiatric and mental health nurse and I have been one of her biggest challenges over 34 years together, perhaps we should employ her within JML as she has just taken flexible retirement and now only works 2 days a week.
Wedding
Marie gets married and Paris comes to Chiswick! On 20th May, Adam and I tied the knot in France. It was an amazing day, although it was surreal to have all our friends and family in one place. People came from several parts of the world, mainly Australia and the UK. Out of our 85 guests, there were 18 nationalities, so the wedding ceremony was in French, English… and Esperanto.
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e got back to London a week later. On my first Friday back in the office, Adam told me he was taking me out on a surprise night out. He said he would pick me up from work. He arrived at 5.45pm at Chiswick Green, and revealed we needed to catch the tube into town
from Gunnersbury station… strange! As we were on our way to the tube, he apparently was desperate to use the loos and asked if the Gunnersbury pub had toilets – the suspicion got stronger! We walked into the Gunnersbury, only to see a crowd of JMLers dressed as Frenchies, screaming “SURPRISE!”. And what a surprise it was! Sacré bleu!!! Striped tops, berets, red scarves made from Christmas napkins, big moustaches, onion bags… They couldn’t have looked more French if they tried to. And there I was, thinking I had put my French past behind me by giving up my unpronounceable French surname, and becoming Marie Sloan. How wrong I was! French and Aussie flags July 2017
Cristina, Marie and Monica were hanging in the background, which caught the eye of many strangers. We even met an Aussie who was from the neighbouring town of Adam’s hometown. What a small world! We all had great fun, chatting, drinking and dancing to the random live band performing that night. Blast from the past, a couple of old JMLers made an appearance – Andy from Design, and Jess! I found out later on that Vanessa organised the whole event, even though she couldn’t attend the party as she was in Canada!! Merciiiii copine!!!
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• 6. Cryotex Disco • 5. Sonic 3. Chillmax • 4. 11. Mega Over and out • • 10. Footsie • 1. Hurricane • 2. 9. Dutch Glow racle Mitt 8. Grill Circle • • 15. Pan • 16. Mi 7. Chef Station 14. True Touch • 13. Tyne Dock 12. Brian Keogh Pants 18. Hollywood 17. Halowave •
Tea with Ken and Brian The Tea Trolley has become a daily treat at JML Chiswick as she gently steams her way between desks.
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he was captained on her maiden voyage by the very ‘dashing’ Ken and Brian, setting an example to us all in their rather fetching JML pinnies, and brewing up a storm of many and varied flavours of tea and coffee with exotic infusions from around the world… and a few biscuits for those with a sweet tooth and a love of dunking!