What the Past Few Years Have Taught Me About Marketing

Over the past few years, I’ve had the privilege of working across some brilliant brands—including my most recent role at Boots where I’ve recently left after 4.5 years . It’s been a period of rapid change in our industry, and like many marketers, I’ve had to adapt, rethink, and stay open to new ways of doing things.

While every year brings its own challenges and shifts, a few big principles have stood out to me—guiding how I lead teams, shape strategy, and connect with customers. These are the five lessons that have made the biggest difference to how I think and work today.

Be Choiceful — Do Less, But Do It Brilliantly

One of the most valuable things I’ve learned is the importance of focus. As marketers, it’s easy to be pulled in lots of directions—but real impact comes when you’re brave enough to be choiceful.

At Boots, when I arrived we took a close look at what was truly delivering value. That meant stepping away from certain partnerships that, while well-intentioned, weren’t driving the results we needed. For example, we decided to move on from our women’s football sponsorship—not because we didn’t believe in the cause, but because it wasn’t resonating in the way we’d hoped.

Instead, we doubled down on activity that truly connected with our audience—like the Love Island partnership. It allowed us to reach younger consumers in a way that felt current, authentic and culturally relevant, driving real momentum for the brand and real sales growth. It’s also one of the partnerships and media offerings that helped us drive significant growth in our retail media offering (now seen as one of the best retail media networks in Europe).

Start With the Truth — Diagnose Before You Act

When I joined Boots, I made it a priority to listen, learn and understand. The strongest marketing strategies are built not on instinct alone, but on insight—deep, sometimes uncomfortable truths about where your brand really stands.

Through data, research and honest conversations, it became clear that while Boots remained trusted and well-loved, our previous positioning around “Feel Good” didn’t fully reflect the depth of what the brand could offer. The brand needed to do more to show its relevance today.

That clarity led to the creation of a new brand platform: 'With You. For Life'. It was grounded in the reality of our customers’ lives, and designed to show up meaningfully across health, beauty, and wellbeing. It was a commitment to be there for customers in all days - the good and the bad. That clarity of purpose helped us unlock more consistent, compelling storytelling—both in communications and in how we showed up across channels and services.

Break Down the Walls — One Team, One Vision

One of the biggest unlocks for any marketing function is integration. I’ve seen how fragmented teams—working in silos across media, CRM, digital, and content—can lead to inefficiencies, duplication, and missed opportunities.

At Boots, we worked hard to create an integrated marketing team that brought together media, loyalty, CRM, insight and digital into a single, connected operation. That integration helped us deliver campaigns that were joined-up, faster to market, and better aligned with what customers actually wanted. This included in housing CRM, performance marketing, social, content and a number of key pieces of creative work.

The impact of that approach was clear: during my time there, the brand achieved 17 consecutive quarters of market share growth—a testament not just to strong marketing strategy, but to real cross-functional collaboration not just within marketing but with the wider business too. When you get everyone pulling in the same direction, the results speak for themselves.

Put Purpose Into Action — Make Marketing Matter

I’ve always believed that marketing should have meaning. Not just a catchy line in a brand book, but a purpose that comes to life in the real world.

At Boots, purpose wasn’t a veneer—it was something we worked hard to embed into every campaign and customer experience. From championing inclusive health access for women to launching free in-store health MOTs, the focus was always on how we could genuinely help people.

One campaign that still stands out to me was the 'Joy For All' Christmas ad from 2022 featuring a drag queen, developed in partnership with our internal LGBT Pride network. It was a joyful, authentic reflection of the diverse communities we serve—and it was backed up by real commitments across the business, from staff training to in-store inclusion initiatives.

Stay Open — Keep Learning, Keep Evolving

One of the most important things I’ve learned is to stay curious. The world doesn’t stand still, and neither should we. New platforms, new behaviours, new expectations—it all keeps changing, and we need to change with it.

Earlier in my career, I was made redundant from my job at the AA, and while it was a challenging moment, it taught me resilience—and the importance of growth, even through setbacks. That mindset has stuck with me ever since.

I try to foster a culture where teams feel safe to experiment and learn fast. I even took up improv comedy and more recently musical improv - not something I ever expected to do, but it made me a better listener, a better communicator, and a more adaptable leader (but sadly not a better singer!)

The best marketers I’ve worked with aren’t afraid of what they don’t know—they lean into it. That’s where the growth happens.

Final Thought: Lead With Heart

Marketing is ultimately about people. It’s about engaging customers, understanding what matters to them and showing up in a way that’s relevant, human and helpful. And it’s about building and nurturing great teams including the brilliant team of marketers I was lucky enough to work with at Boots for over 4.5 years

If the past few years have taught me anything, it’s that clarity, connection, and care are more important than ever. So be brave in your choices. Stay grounded in truth. Build teams that reflect the world around you. And always, always lead with heart.