This month, we chat with Simon Leadbetter from We Are Unchained. Simon is a seasoned marketer with a wealth of experience at all levels, serving as a Virtual CMO, Marketing Mentor, and Trainer, with a background deeply rooted in estate agency. We asked him 8 questions to obtain further insight into the man who is passionate about sustainability, property, and finance.
Simon has recently joined the Lemon and Lime team as a fractional CMO.
Q. Can you tell us about your business and what sets it apart from others in the industry?
A. “I run We Are Unchained. We’re a boutique marketing consultancy that uses powerful data tools to help our clients make better marketing decisions. We also have training with our flagship event, 30 Years of Marketing in A Day, compressing three decades of professional and academic learning into seven hours. Our big difference is that we base our advice on data, not opinion”.
Q. Have you ever noticed anything particularly memorable or impressive while house hunting or attending open houses?
A. “My most memorable experience while house hunting was when I was looking at a place in Notting Hill. I didn’t know the property had been staged; I thought it must have incredibly tasteful and ridiculously tidy owners. We didn’t buy it in the end, as someone else snapped it up at above asking price. It was only in working in the industry and meeting the agent, as they were in the same company, that they mentioned it had been professionally staged and photographed. Beyond that, my most memorable experiences have been in the industry, where I have seen “behind the curtain.” The best agents try to understand the customer and how to maximise the value of a property. It’s not about speed to market but speed to sell. They think about their relationship with the vendor, not just the property transaction”.
Q. Which famous person (dead or alive) would you invite to a dinner party and why?
A. “JRR Tolkien. He was an irascible old chap, but he created my favourite books, and I would have loved to sit and listen to him talk about Middle Earth and his incredible fantasy world”.
Q. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
A. “If it wasn’t so faraway from my wider family, then New Zealand. When I went there in 2010 for six weeks, I often commented it was a unique country of every terrain possible, with sweeping plains, fjords, rainforests, glaciers, and snow-capped mountains crammed into a small nation. Simply beautiful. And I like Kiwis – the people, not the bird or rugby team”.
Q. What’s one talent or skill you’ve always wanted to learn?
A. “I wish I had mastered the piano. I play the piano and can bash out the odd pop tune or movie theme, but I’d love to have mastered it so I could play tunes by ear and for hours. It’s still my therapy after a hard day at work, and our piano sits outside my office”.
Q. What’s the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done?
A. “Jumping out of a plane at 15,000 feet above Lake Taupo in 2010 and landing on a motorway. Spoiler alert: I survived”.
Q. What’s something you hope to accomplish on your bucket list someday?
A. “Go to Machu Picchu via the Inca Trail. At school, I studied The Royal Hunt of the Sun, the 1964 play by Peter Shaffer. It dramatises the conflict between the Inca King Atahuallpa and Spain’s Francisco Pizarro. I have wanted to go to the 15th-century Inca capital ever since”.
Q. What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?
A. “Have strong views but hold them lightly. It was the legendary Stewart Brand, who I heard it from originally. Have confidence in your opinions but be open to different perspectives and be willing to change your mind”. If you require any support with marketing, feel free to reach out to Simon at www.weareunchained.co.uk
