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Behind the Business with Dobson Marketing

Bdaily goes behind the business with J Christopher Dobson, Senior Partner at North East-based Dobson Marketing who are experts in client audits with 33 years’ experience in the area.

Can you give a short synopsis of your business?

In the 33 years the business has been in existence Dobson Marketing has worked on a range of interesting challenges – profile raising for a client in Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia; the Hitachi Rail Europe project, Newton Aycliffe, for Merchant Place; the Prince Bishops shopping centre, Durham City (Grosvenor); the 125th anniversary of the St Moritz Tobogganing Club; a wide range of commercial property projects such as Regent Centre, Gosforth, the Peterborough Business Park for Capital & Counties and a number of commercial property specialists (agents, architects, quantity surveyors and developers for example).

This snap-shot of businesses Dobson Marketing has worked for shows a geographical range of interests and some outstanding clients. Service requirements vary from client to client depending on objectives – possibly major exhibitions, costed action plans covering a wide range of promotional activities and comprehensive Marketing & Communications Plans.

Seldom, however, do clients seek the views of their clients and it is these Client Audits that can be highly productive, sometimes changing the course of a business. This is particularly appropriate for the service sector and should appeal to accountants, solicitors and chartered surveyors.

What key challenges has your company recently faced?

There are some good consultancies in the region. We are all working in post-recession circumstances, facing an EU in/out Referendum against a background of some major global issues such as China’s economy. Handling uncertainty is a challenge for businesses. We believe our pro-activity, experience and speed of delivery are our USPs.

What is your biggest achievement over the past 12 months?

Retaining all our most important clients.

What is your most important focus for the coming year, and what do you hope to achieve?

As a media relations specialist, improving results year-on-year is a focus. But developing Client Audits as a much more important business strand for clients is also a current focus. This is a service sector opportunity.

What excites you most about your industry and business?

Getting up and getting on with business in a pro-active way.

What do you wish you’d known when starting out?

Nothing in particular. My move was from the corporate culture of the PLC. Establishing my own business was exceptionally rewarding.

What will be the “next big thing“ in your industry, and how do you plan to handle it?

Without question the increasing development and presence of online media. Watch and learn could well be my motto.

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