A Driven Marketer: Green Flag's Marketing Chief's Career Reflections

Lucy Brooksbank, Green Flag’s marketing chapter lead, is a natural people person. Early in her career, she considered a move into events production, but it was the pull of human behaviour that drew her into marketing.

“It was fast-paced and full of bright, engaging, and fun teams who worked closely together. I get my energy from working with others, so it felt like the perfect environment for me, and I was hooked from that point on,” Brooksbank explains.

She’s spent much of her career in automotive, starting in 2006 as marketing manager at RAC, before joining Churchill in 2011 and rising through the ranks at parent company Direct Line. At Churchill, she led the brand mascot’s latest reinvention, guiding its transformation from real dog to puppet to CGI over the years.

With 16 years at Direct Line, Brooksbank now oversees marketing for Green Flag in her role as chapter lead.

“I love trying to understand customer behaviour, delving into their motivations and translating that into effective marketing strategies and powerful creative that gets noticed and talked about. I’m also known to be quite competitive – from brand campaigns to physical challenges. I like the thrill of a win,” she continues.

Discussing the development of Green Flag's most recent campaign, created with VCCP; Churchill’s nodding dog; agency partnerships; and advice for aspiring marketers, this is Brooksbank’s world, driven by insight, energy, and a love of collaboration.

How/why did you become a marketer? Was it something you always wanted to do? What do you enjoy most about it? 

I studied marketing at university and worked in events and marketing in London part-time in my university holidays, and I loved every second of the marketing work, more so than the events themselves. It was fast-paced and full of bright, engaging and fun teams who worked closely together. I get my energy from working with others, so it felt like the perfect environment for me and I was hooked from that point on. I love trying to understand customer behaviour, delving into their motivations and translating that into effective marketing strategies and powerful creative that gets noticed and talked about. I’m also known to be quite competitive - from brand campaigns to physical challenges - I like the thrill of a win!  

You’ve just launched a campaign for Green Flag - what does that aim to convey about that part of Direct Line as a business? 

Green Flag is a powerful part of our brand portfolio - a breakdown rescue service with a challenger mindset, a unique business model, and standout customer satisfaction. It is also proof that great service does not have to come at a premium.
 
We launched this campaign to put that story front and centre - to show more people what makes Green Flag different, and why it matters. Because more drivers deserve to know there is a smarter way to be rescued.

What was the initial brief, and where did the idea for the campaign come from? 

We are a challenger breakdown rescue brand with a different business model. Unlike competitors, we rely on a network of trusted local breakdown mechanics. That difference makes us more affordable - and often faster, too.
 
Most people do not know that. They assume fewer branded patrol vans means we are not as reliable. Or that our lower prices mean lower standards.

And what inspired ‘Nothing Beats Near’?

We needed to change that perception. To help new customers understand what our existing ones already know: Green Flag can be relied on because we are local. We are nearby. And when you are this nearby, you are fast to the rescue.

Do you share insights and lessons with your marketing peers across Direct Line? If so, how? 

Absolutely, whilst our brands each have their own identity and positioning, we work as one to ensure that the key learnings and insights we have are shared to build upon and fed into future campaigns. The benefit of looking after Direct Line, Churchill, and Green Flag means there is so much opportunity to test and learn without risking performance. Key learnings can then be rolled out across the portfolio. 

It is critical that insights are shared not only within marketing but also to our extended teams, such as our partner agencies and our internal functions, too. If you are the only one who sees the map, do not expect others to find the treasure.

I try to balance how we share work - no one wants an inbox overflowing with long emails and presentations. We have the usual mix of weekly news bulletins, all-hands meetings, spotlight sessions, and lunch and learns. I do not think there are any magic beans, but understanding your audience and finding a meaningful way to share insights is important.

What has been, in your opinion, your boldest move as a marketer? 

I’m proud of everything I have achieved at Direct Line, having worked here for 16 years of my career. Working here has given me the opportunity to work across all brands, all the product areas and to truly make a difference in both the insurance and breakdown markets.

My boldest move must be when we gave our ‘hero’ dog, Churchie, a makeover. We had a challenge to get Churchill back to sustainable and profitable growth. Churchie was the most liked brand icon in the industry, but research suggested Churchie felt old fashioned and stale, so he had a glow up, transforming him into a new CGI format.

The first ever dog in our adverts was a real dog called Lucas, the pet of a colleague, but because he struggled to hold the phone, he had been a puppet for many years. This creatively was very limiting, very expensive and digitisation only exacerbated those problems. Changing his look came after extensive and careful consideration. We did not want to throw the baby out with the bathwater and wanted to keep everything that was great about our lovable icon, so we also worked with a highly regarded semiotician to give an impartial and independent view on what were the semiotics of the traditional Churchie vs the new ‘real CGI’ dog in the context of the brand and our culture. We wanted to ensure the ‘real CGI’ Churchie would positively impact brand meaning.

It was a risk and it generated some attention and comment both positive and negative, but safe to say the results exceeded our expectations. It was my boldest move, but worth it.

What advice would you have for marketers to get the best out of their agency partners?

I have had the pleasure to work with some amazing agencies in both media and creative and consider them a part of our extended team. I am not sure there is a right answer here but for me, it is working collaboratively, being crystal clear on your desired outcomes, be prepared to be challenged and foster an environment where you can have very open and honest conversations. There is no success in isolation, so you all have to be in it to win it.

Is there another campaign or piece of work out there that you've not been involved with that really made you jealous? That made you think, ‘Oh, I wish I'd been involved in that.'?

I’m not sure I get jealous of other work.  I have admired a number of individual pieces of creative and I love looking at the Cannes campaigns and reviewing all the work, but often it is not the output, it is about what goes into it and it is always hard to see what happens under the bonnet. Outside of the industry, people’s eyes glaze over when I tell them that I work in insurance, but it is surprisingly interesting, dynamic and, dare I say it, fun. 

What advice would you give to someone thinking of getting a job in marketing?

Be open minded about where you get your first marketing job, do not think you need to work for a fun glossy brand you like, marketing can be brilliant, stretching, creative and fun in any industry. I would also say focus on the numbers - build your measurement and analytics acumen. Understanding effectiveness is of critical importance in a successful marketing career.