>>the highs and lows of a week in the industry

Mark Palmer, marketing director of Green & Black’s, values his job because he feels he has real influence over the company’s direction. “It is rewarding because I am helping to drive the overall fortunes of the company.”

The premium organic chocolate and ice cream maker changed its name from Whole Earth Foods in February following the sale of two brands to Kallo Foods.

Palmer says sales of the Green & Black brand have been increasing rapidly since then and keeping pace with the growth has been demanding.

He illustrates his part in that success by talking through what a recent week entailed: “Monday was based in the office, running through the key priorities for the marketing team in the coming week.

“On Tuesday I had an appointment with Tesco to present our range of gift chocolates for Easter.”

The schedule involved a 7am start and a visit to Cheshunt, but Palmer was back in the office in the afternoon to review weekly sales figures with the senior management team. He finally headed home at about 7pm.

He continues: “I spent Wednesday morning in London,
reviewing our London Underground advertising campaign with our advertising agency Fallon.”

He returned to the office in the afternoon for a meeting with the product development manager, looking at a new range of products, including new ice cream flavours.

“On Thursday,” says Palmer, “I visited Classic FM to look at building the association we have with them through sponsorship. We recently helped sponsor a series of summer concerts organised by the radio station. In the evening, I met with our consumer groups who were taste-testing new products and finally got home at about 11pm.”

He ended the week with a monthly board meeting at the Waterloo offices in London.


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