This Much I Learned: Tesco and BBH unpack an award-winning agency/client relationship

As group brand, proposition and marketing communications director for Tesco, Emma Botton needs to trust her agency to deliver. That the supermarket’s relationship with Marketing Week’s Agency of the Year BBH has lasted for nine years and counting is testament to the strength of the trust been established between the two parties.

In this episode of our podcast series Botton and Karen Martin, UK CEO of BBH, discuss how that trust has been built and sustained.

While phone calls early in the morning or late at night might be an expected part of the relationship, Button and Martin discuss how brutal honesty, clear briefs, shared goals, a ‘couples counsellor’ and a laser focus on putting the customer first are key elements to their success.

In a tenure that has included constant pivots to deal with Covid, high inflation, a cost of living crisis and a relentless customer focus on value, the duo have evolved a number of strategies that allow them to consistently hit high notes and, when things don’t work, to move on quickly and “never blame”.

From breaking taboos to how a brand’s past can inform its present, you can listen to previous episodes of Marketing Week’s This Much I Learned podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud and Spotify.