Post 4Ds: LONDON Edition // The Return on My 4Ds Investment

How one UK company transformed their business and mindset after spending a day with the VaynerMedia team for the Daily Digital Deep Dive.

The best way for us to talk about what the 4Ds program can do is by showcasing stories of the businesses that have attended. This article focuses on one of our 4Ds Alumni from our most recent session out of our office in London. For anyone on the other side of the pond and throughout Europe who’s wanted access to me and my team or is curious about 4Ds, have a read to hear about a 4Ds Alumni, Paul Gibson’s experience.

Paul Gibson is CEO of Fan Frames the official licensing and eyewear company for many of England’s powerhouse proper football clubs Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, Newcastle, Tottenham, you get the picture. In addition Paul also started Reading123 Monocle Madness and JOIUSS (Launching Soon) based on the white spaces he was seeing in the market for consumer eyewear. While Paul’s primary sales channel has traditionally been retail he’s watched as the internet has shifted consumer behavior and has recognized that brand awareness of his companies would suffer the longer he waited to commit to a social and digital strategy to compliment his retail presence. For any entrepreneur building a business these inflection points always come at pivotal moments and you have the choice to go on offense or on defense. For those who are “on the fence” about “Influencers” or “Facebook Ads” or “Building a Digital Community” or any of the things I speak about in my content I promise you you’re not alone, but I also promise you that ignorance is surely not bliss my friends. Paul is one of the hundreds that has gone through 4Ds and I’m excited to share some of his story. Below we have a Q&A format, if you don’t have time to read the full piece, read through the questions that might be relevant to you, as always I appreciate your time and attention.

WHAT WAS THE MOST VALUABLE PART OF THE 4DS? WHAT SESSION WAS THE MOST BENEFICIAL FOR YOU AND YOUR BUSINESS?

“If I had to choose it would have to be the Paid Media session led by Jeff Nicholson, Chief Media Officer at VaynerMedia.  He’s a true practitioner on the digital media platforms and I enjoyed hearing his backstory about his early days running ads on the Google Adwords platform. The takeaway about starting with the customer first and helping attendees really think through what their sales funnel looks like was very helpful. With all the different media channels out there, it was important for me to gain a fundamental understanding of how a media expert would approach the business problem. Jeff gave me this! The extent to which he cared about each and every person’s business and was able to cross-refer examples and useful pointers was incredible.”

WHAT HAS THE ROI (Return on Investment) OF 4DS BEEN FOR YOU SO FAR?

“A couple of weeks after The 4Ds we decided to drop one of our most expensive licenses. Instantly this saved Fan Frames £100k. Then, within a fortnight, we generated a £120k direct order.  Net-net, this resulted in £220k to invest into our brands as a return on the £10k investment I made in The 4Ds. Now that’s real ROI!”

WAS THERE A KEY TAKEAWAY FROM THE DAY FOR YOU?

“I think I can break this question into two separate areas of impact inspired by Gary’s session, which, for me, tied together all of the thinking during the day…”

1. The day gave me the confidence to go directly to the customer (on social and digital). It gave me the affirmation to go all in on the land grab opportunity of building a brand on the social channels where customers are spending their time and attention.
2. The morale boost the 4Ds has had on me and my employees.  I’ve started the process of growing our team, we recruited 2 new employees immediately; a creative and a marketer. To give these two young people an opportunity to grow means a lot to me. I promoted my head of sales to Editor and Chief. I’m giving my team the required training spanning Amazon, to Facebook, and every platform in between. We’re already seeing the signs of customers engaging with our brand more, building a community and strengthening our brand for the long term.

HOW ARE YOU TACTICALLY EXECUTING WHAT YOU LEARNED IN 4DS?

“A media buy we made as a result of attending The 4Ds that I’m particularly fond of, It was a bit of a test, but the cost of entry was so low I just had to give it a whirl! In summary, I decided to place a Fan Frames branded Snapchat geofilter over Wembley Way for the FA Cup Final. It cost me £32 to buy, in return 147.6k fans saw the filter and 1.5k actually used it. The 4Ds helped make me more aware of underpriced attention such as in this example and where to capitalise on it.”

WHAT ARE YOU MOST EXCITED ABOUT?

“Our latest venture TURTLE SAVERS a re-useable drinking straw brand with the ambition to significantly reduce plastic waste in our oceans.  The impact of the 4Ds gave me the confidence to venture outside of my industry, act on my instincts, create IP before distributing products digitally, and market them socially.  All while retaining complete leverage from the start.”

DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR OTHERS CONSIDERING THE 4DS?

If you feel the world is changing and you want to be at the forefront of your game, then having the knowledge to scale your digital brand on your own is vital. I can highly recommend that, when you are ready, the 4Ds will substantially impact your ability to do this. I loved the experience and feel well equipped to navigate our business through the extraordinary social landscape in front of all of us.

… if you’re interested in learning more about the 4Ds click here to get in touch with someone from my team or click here to purchase a ticket to our session in London on October 3rd. Space is limited to 12 seats for the day.