Big on history and philosophy, The Think Tank’s PPC Manager Charlie takes a thoughtful approach to optimising clients’ B2B digital marketing campaigns.
In this latest Meet the Thinkers instalment, he offers an overview of the digital media landscape and shares his advice for overcoming tightening data restrictions.
Hi Charlie! Tell us about your journey before arriving at The Think Tank.
My PPC journey began when I started studying Philosophy at the University of Warwick. Moving from philosophy to digital marketing might seem like a big leap, but it isn’t as unusual as it sounds. A significant strand of philosophy is focused on logical, analytical thinking, which was the part that truly fascinated me – and helped develop skills that were directly transferable to digital marketing.
I spent over six years at a start-up digital marketing agency, working in a small, hands-on team where I gained extensive PPC experience and learned from great mentors. During this time I developed a particular interest in data and analytics, especially Google Analytics. It was exciting to see the direct impact of my ads, with the ability to track revenue generated and dive into the details of performance.
What would you say you’re best at and how do you apply it at The Think Tank?
I love auditing accounts and diagnosing problems. You’ve got all these different metrics and data points that you can use to start to piece together a picture. From there, you can work out what levers you need to pull to bring performance up to where it should be.
It’s very satisfying to make those changes and see, just a few weeks later, an increase in leads or whichever KPI is being tracked. It’s the same when working on a digital strategy – developing a plan that drives results for clients is solving that problem on a bigger scale.
Do you have any campaigns you’ve worked on at The Think Tank that you’re particularly proud of? What made them special?
‘Office Noise’ springs to mind, a continuation of Oscar Acoustics’ ‘Noise Annoys’ campaign. It was one of the first campaigns I got involved on at The Think Tank, and involved generating leads off the back of a whitepaper our team developed.
We effectively deployed the PESO model – that’s paid, earned, shared and owned media – which is something we talk to a lot of prospective clients about. It’s also a genuinely integrated, cross-discipline account that involves the full suite of services we offer as an agency: PR, creative, digital and content.
At many agencies roles can be quite siloed – you’re expected to execute the digital side of campaigns without input on the creative or broader strategic vision. Here, we all work towards the same goal, and that unity is reflected in our results. I’m incredibly proud that our campaign, Noise Annoys, won nine awards in 2024.
What are some of the typical challenges facing our clients nowadays and how do you help clients overcome them?
From a digital perspective, one of the biggest challenges is the perceived decline in the quality and availability of data.
The reasons for this are well known, ranging from stricter GDPR compliance to cookie depreciation, which have significantly reduced the data available in analytics and paid platforms. That obviously gives you less information to play with when you’re looking to optimise campaigns and make informed decisions about budget allocation.
The solution is to be pragmatic with the data available, while planning for the future. That’s why we ensure we’re always at the forefront of best-in-class analytics solutions and leverage the latest tech. The rise of AI-powered analytics and first-party solutions will help reduce our historical reliance on third-party data.
What do you think sets The Think Tank apart from other B2B marketing and PR agencies?
When I joined the company, I immediately felt the sense of a family that genuinely cares for its employees, along with a friendly and welcoming atmosphere.
That sort of thing is crucial because, as an integrated marketing agency, there’s a lot of cross-collaboration between teams. The high-quality campaigns we produce for our clients are a direct reflection of the trust and support in our teamwork and collaboration across the agency.
Finally, to finish on a light note: Who’s your dream dinner party guest?
I’ll cheat and get the duo from The Rest is History, Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland. Commuting in London has been a breeze since I discovered the podcast some years ago.
