In the series Inspired People & Brands, this time we talk with Claudie Godrie [photo], inspired marketer and brand builder at elho. About building a strong brand with a mission, effective campaigns, great challenges, learnings, enthusiasm and more. Claudie, you are Marketing Manager at elho – how did it work out for you? After almost 10 years at Perfetti van Melle in various marketing roles, 7 years as an interim manager at food companies and a foray into the legal profession, I came across elho. The challenge of building a brand and a team, in an organization in transition appealed to me enormously. Not least because of elho’s mission statement “Give room to nature”. This mission is intrinsic to all activities at elho. All this fitted perfectly with my ambition to make a difference together with a team and to contribute to the next steps of elho as a brand and a company. The family business character also appealed to me: short lines of communication with plenty of room for initiative and entrepreneurship and where decisions can be taken quickly. And above all an unbridled ambition to always look ahead and develop new opportunities.
Is elho an inspired brand? What does it show? Sure! It is elho’s mission to surround as many people as possible with greenery and connect with nature. We do this by making beautiful design pots from recycled materials and by continuing to innovate. Everything to make it as easy as possible for people to keep your plants happy and healthy. And precisely because nature is so dear to us, we see it as our responsibility to treat it in a sustainable way. This goes far beyond producing beautiful pots to put your plants in. elho production, for example, is entirely powered by energy from our own windmill in our backyard. And that same backyard is also home to 2 million bees. More than 80% of all raw materials used by elho are recycled and we aim to make 100% of them. Naturally, our products last a long time due to UV and frost protection and are fully recyclable.
What is currently your biggest/best challenge? For me, the challenge lies in building a strong and meaningful brand. Many people have our plant pots at home but awareness of our brand is low and too few people know what our brand stands for. There are so many opportunities to grow. And there are so many opportunities to inspire people to surround themselves with greenery. We see that the impact is extra high with projects where what we strive for is palpable to consumers. For example, we recently introduced the Greenest Canals pot in collaboration with Plastic Whale. This collection was partly made possible by the Amsterdam canals because that’s where the bottle tops used in the pots come from. Fished out of the canals by Plastic Whale and manually processed into pots by us, giving each pot a unique green color and marbled effect.
What are your expectations for the future? This bizarre year required much of everyone’s adaptation and perseverance. In March, just before our peak season, it became clear that many of our outlets worldwide had to close. The situation was uncertain, but we brought a new focus to our marketing activities within 2 weeks. Other areas such as logistics and production also showed great agility . At the same time, there was a huge demand for our products when the stores reopened in the spring. The home and home office became very important and people needed greenery around them even more. We expect the revaluation of our nearby environment and nature to continue. We look forward to inspiring people to get started with greenery in the home and garden themselves. Whether caring for plants, taking cuttings, repotting, creating a green oasis on your patio or growing your own fruits and vegetables. Green around you gives you an energy boost…especially in a bizarre year like this, our purpose proved very relevant.
What personal characteristics help you ? What is the Claudie factor’? I think enthusiasm and energy, especially when I work in a nice environment with people who want to move forward then I go all the way. I get that enthusiasm from coming up with new ideas together. Eventually we peel back the craziest ideas and test them against our goals. Creativity and humor are important. And also being agile and looking for creative solutions that usually make it work. I don’t easily settle for “this can’t be done”.
What was an important learning for you? My most important learning is that if you encounter resistance when you want to introduce a change or choose a new direction, you must not only know where the resistance is, but also where it comes from. You have to be curious about it. So don’t jump straight to the solution but understand each other’s challenges. What is the underlying reason that someone cannot immediately join a change or has a different direction in mind. If you know this, you can think in much more focused solutions and cooperation is often very close. At elho we like to use an inspiring African quote “if you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together”. And it is also my personal experience that cooperation with and involvement of all departments is crucial to successfully build a brand and fulfill the promise to your customers and consumers. And last, but certainly not least: don’t forget to name and share successes, that energizes the team!
Read more about elho? https://www.elho.com/nl/ons-verhaal/ons-verhaal/ —– WerfSelect – for inspired people and brands Companies that make a profit, but with positive impact, are the winners of the future. We call them inspired brands. We bring them into contact with our passionate people: energetic, inspired marketers and sales professionals who also take their social responsibility seriously. Together we make the difference for people and brands, for now and for the future.
