[This case study was delivered by one of our Fractional CMOs before they joined VCMO.]

The Company.

The Royal Mint is the largest, most prestigious and oldest commercial Mint in the world that sells into over 60 countries across Governments, Retailers, Wholesalers. Its Direct To Consumer Business is now worth over £250million globally. It’s a unique brand and business that has been around for over 800 years.

The Background.

The Royal Mint’s CEO had a mission to reinvent the Royal Mint into a relevant brand that would endure for the next 800 years. There was also the need to move to a digital-led business model. An experienced interim CMO was needed to lead the complete brand and digital transformation strategy, and to add senior experience and support to the Board. In 2018 the Royal Mint made the decision to hire Jonathan McGregor as its interim CMO.

The Marketing Challenge.

In addition to the brand and digital transformation strategy, a restructure of the in-house marketing, ecommerce & IT teams was needed, affecting over 200 people across the respective units. The key objectives were to:

• Develop an overarching brand positioning and communication strategy that communicated the heritage and contemporary nature, the luxury & diversity of the business verticals;
• Increase brand awareness, and support the launch of new multiple new business ventures including a new luxury jewellery business;
• Complete front end & back end redesign of a new website which could support customer acquisition engagement, transactions and servicing across its portfolio of businesses and integrate the appropriate technology;
• Define and implement a group wide CRM Strategy and Solution that would enable Single Customer View and engagement across all of its businesses to drive up cross sale and up-sale;
• Define the appropriate organisational structures, roles & accountabilities for its Marketing, IT and Ecommerce teams to support the re-invention of the Royal Mint in line with the new marketing strategy.

Marketing Transformation.

Provided Leadership and Strategic Insights

Jonathan conducted a 360-degree review of the portfolio businesses marketing channels team capabilities, online experience and brand recognition in the marketplace. He explored possible synergies across six different businesses to identify ideas for an overarching brand proposition. He also collaborated with the CEO and main board team to set out a clear marketing strategy and channel acquisition plan to deliver the CEOs reinvention mission and vision.

Designed and Delivered a Transformational Change Roadmap

In conjunction with relevant business units and internal program management, two strategic programs were set up. Acting as Board sponsor, Jonathan mapped out the digital and brand transformation programs and appropriate governance structures. Key members from cross functional teams were appointed along with a few specialist external resources.  A parallel brand and digital transformational growth roadmap were set out that included:

1. Strategy: Setting out a new marketing strategy to position the Royal Mint master brand as a modern contemporary purveyor of artisan, luxury products and services across its portfolio businesses with a number of key strategic objectives;
2. Business Case: Set out detailed business cases to the Board to win approval for the transformation programmes and ultimately to launch a global brand communications campaign post new brand launch – successfully securing £30million;
3. Procurement: Ran detailed tender invitations to appoint both a brand agency and digital website development agency to work with the internal teams and identify the right CRM system;
4. Brand Development: A comprehensive research program was undertaken with both internal and external stakeholders globally to identify concepts for potential brand development, map out online customer journeys, identify key customer personas and segments across the portfolio businesses;
5. Website transformation: Completely rebuilt the website to support the new brand proposition and integrate the 6 different businesses. This was a very complex project which took over 18 months in total as it included building and/or integrating new ecommerce platform, digital investment trading platform, online ticketing system, live valuation and auction platforms and ultimately a new enterprise CRM system;
6. Operations: Reorganised and redefined the relevant IT, Ecommerce and marketing functions and appointed a new high performing senior marketing and leadership team;
7. CRM: Defined the supporting Group Wide CRM system and operating model to help realise a key commercial strategy set out by the CMO to drive up cross sales, up-sales and Life-Time Value of the customers and enable single customer view.
8. Communications Strategy: Set out and implement a global brand communication program and digital acquisition plan to launch the new website and brand;
9. Distribution Strategy: Managed the set up and launch of the new Royal Mint Luxury Jewellery business and first physical retail shops in London & New York.

Result.

Johnathan’s marketing transformation efforts over a 3-year period helped The Royal Mint achieve:

• Successful launch of “The Royal Mint – The Original Maker" along with a new website that won plaudits and awards from customers, the UK government (both a corporate customer and ultimate owner) and relevant marketing trade bodies;
• Significant growth in online sales revenues across the key businesses - by the end of the 3 year program when Jonathan left an additional £60 million online revenue was delivered;
• Successful launch of global brand TV, press and digital campaigns – a first for the Royal Mint;
• New CRM and campaign management technology implemented and fully operational - and successful implementation of new customer segments and personalised customer engagement programs;
• Successful launch of the new luxury jewellery business and sub-brand which delivered over £2.5 million revenue in its first year.

About VCMO

VCMO helps SMEs and investor-backed portfolio companies with a £2 million or higher turnover that operate without a full-time Chief Marketing Officer. Our Fractional CMOs and tailored services transform marketing potential into a competitive advantage that delivers scalable and predictable growth, increased profits, and enhanced enterprise value.