14 years of Ketchup: Our story so far.
We are delighted to be celebrating Ketchup Marketing’s 14th birthday! We have witnessed exciting changes over the years, whilst achieving phenomenal growth.
Let’s start from the beginning of our story…
2009: Ketchup Marketing was founded
Michelle spent four years as a Brand Manager at IBM, managing a campaign budget of £8 million. Following this, she spent three years as a Sales and Marketing Manager at an agency, learning all the skills to equip her for agency life.
It all started in July 2009, when Michelle decided to create her own marketing agency. She was relocating from Cheshire to Leicestershire and it felt like it was the right time.
Many people ask, “Where did the name Ketchup Marketing come from?” After speaking with clients, the feedback was unanimous - the consultancy services offered “complemented” existing businesses, a bit like a saucy condiment on delicious chips. After three weeks in sunny Greece and plenty of pink fizz, the name Ketchup Marketing was created!
The business landscape was different in rural Leicestershire, with businesses favouring traditional marketing activities. Ketchup Marketing’s first-year turnover is now made in only 7 days [talk about growth]!
2010: hello new clients and KetchupProtect
Michelle worked with John from the very beginning after meeting him at IBM. More clients were welcomed on board, with the help of networking.
In 2010, KetchupProtect, our website security solution was launched. With two-factor authentication, brute-force protection and reCAPTCHA as standard, KetchupProtect has strengthened over the years, evolving with technological advances.
2012: Stamford Stone became a client
In 2012, Stamford Stone chose Ketchup Marketing to be its full-service marketing agency. From marketing strategy and website design to event management, the team continues to work on the Stamford Stone and Stamford Stone at Home brands. Recently, Ketchup Marketing managed Stamford Stone’s presence at the 2023 Natural Stone Show. This included everything from stand design to a bespoke brochure and merchandise.
2014: The Melton Mowbray Building Society became a client and we rebranded
In 2014, Ketchup Marketing developed The Melton’s original website. Since then, we have continued to assist with rebrands, website launches, marketing strategy support and much more.
We also decided to do our very own rebrand. We successfully unveiled our new brand identity to the world with a refreshed logo, a new colour palette, and a new website.
2019: the Buckminster office opened and we welcomed Paul
Michelle often drove through Buckminster and admired the offices owned by the Buckminster Estate, promising that “when she has made it”, she will have an office there. In 2019, the dream became a reality, and Ketchup Marketing settled into its new home.
In May 2019, Paul joined Ketchup Marketing as Sales and Operations Director. This was after years of sales management and leadership roles at organisations such as Vodafone, Symantec and AVG. Paul’s presence has enhanced our sales training and sales management services.
In 2019, we transitioned from being a predominately website-led agency to a full-service marketing agency. From marketing strategy to graphic design, our services support our clients to achieve and exceed their business objectives.
2020: our bespoke WordPress theme and the COVID-19 pandemic
In 2020, our [savvy] development team created and launched a bespoke WordPress theme and page builder that allows our clients to manage and control website content with ease.
2020 also marked the start of the coronavirus pandemic, which was a challenging time. At Ketchup Marketing, we offered free support to any business, including free pop-ups and social banners and existing clients pivoted their messaging. This was our biggest growth year, as people began to use suppliers further away from home; we welcomed new clients, including Dufrain and three international clients.
2022: Nottingham office and the large Ketchup rebrand
As we welcomed new members of the team, it became clear that our office needed to expand too! We opened a second office at the Dryden Enterprise Centre (DEC) in Nottingham. After just four weeks, we had to move to a larger office in the same building in line with our [amazing] growth!
During our time at the DEC, we received excellent support and training from Nottingham Trent University including the People Management Development Programme and UpScaler Programme. This helped us to evolve and grow.
After months of hard work, saucy ideas and photoshoots, we had our third Ketchup Marketing rebrand in 2022. We’re very proud of our new brand, logo, website and colour palette - we celebrated with pink fizz and plenty of cake, naturally!
2023: our new Nottingham HQ
As the growth of the team continued, it was time to move into a shiny new office. Located in Nottingham’s Creative Quarter, our new office brings the entire team together with space for meetings with clients.
Fancy a cuppa at our HQ?
What’s in store for the next 14 years?
Recently, the Ketchup Crew got together for our quarterly Strategy Day, where the [top secret] K3tchup Cub3d strategy was unveiled. With exciting and ambitious goals for the future, we look forward to seeing where Ketchup Marketing is in the next 14 years!