Member Article

North East marketeer launches new venture to rival traditional agency approach

North East marketeer Charlotte McMurray has taken an entrepreneurial leap into self-employment, launching new digital marketing consultancy Cameo Digital.

An experienced professional in the North East marketing sector, Charlotte believes her newly-launched venture offers a better alternative to the traditional agency model through its personalised approach.

The model, explains Charlotte, allows business owners and in-house professionals alike the opportunity to work directly with established senior marketing professionals. Lengthy processes and red tape are removed, allowing clients to have first hand access to senior marketing advice.

One such professional to join the business is Gemma Neesham, who brings 8 years of expertise in SEO gained in agency roles in both Manchester and Newcastle.

Speaking of the enterprise and its approach, Charlotte commented: “Marketing is a craft, not a commodity. It’s best carried out by individuals and small teams, not as a factory process.

“Cameo Digital aims to move away from the commoditised agency approach, and make digital marketing work well at a smaller, more personalised scale.

“Cameo Digital offers an alternative for businesses who, for whatever reason, aren’t getting what they need from the digital marketing agency business model.

“No matter how big your agency retainer, you’ll get a limited amount of time and attention from their best people, no matter what they promise at the pitch.”

Charlotte, who previously held the position of Digital Performance Director at a North East digital agency, continued: “I’m seeing a lot of very experienced agency marketers making the leap into freelancing, and it doesn’t surprise me.

“Freelancing allows good people to do the work they love to a high standard, whilst maintaining a high level of autonomy over their quality of life and work-life balance.

“As a senior agency marketer I was disillusioned with my profession, but as a freelancer I was able to get back to the parts of my job that made me passionate about it in the first place”

Winning new North East clients, Charlotte believes Cameo Digital’s core strength lies in its offer of allowing clients to work directly with the people who make things happen.

However, the budding business owner says she is keen to avoid the foregone conclusion that growth is an absolute necessity of the business, at whatever cost.

Charlotte, who will be speaking at this year’s NE Expo in November, added: “I deliberately don’t have huge growth targets or dreams of acquisition for Cameo.

“I can’t stand the start-up machismo that demands everybody set out to become the next Zuckerberg.

“I want Cameo to succeed, not by posting huge revenue figures, but through an accumulation of small-scale successes that genuinely make things better for businesses, particularly here in the North East.”

Looking to promote your product/service to SME businesses in your region? Find out how Bdaily can help →