How to Recruit a Marketing Executive


Cocogreen is a leading brand within the agricultural sector and the world of food production having won The Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade presented by Prince Charles in 2018. Their product is speciality coir substrates that help edible crops to grow such as strawberries and tomatoes. In an ever-growing world, the material obtained from coconuts ensures this is a sustainable and ethical product within food production as it is used in an artificial growing system that uses 30% less water as the crops are only watered when needed. With offices across the globe, in South Africa and Spain to name a few, Cocogreen is a key player to meet the increasing challenge of needing more food to feed an exponential population.

Cocogreen recently became a client of ours as we helped to find them a Senior Marketing Executive to join their growing team in the Manchester Head Office. We spoke with Co-Founder and Group Commercial Director, Thomas Ogden, on what he looks for within a new recruit as he shares some of the values and qualities they as a company look for in a candidate.

What is your role within the business?

I am the Co-Founder and Group Commercial Director of the business therefore being the key decision maker in the recruitment process.

What role will your new Senior Marketing Executive play in your business?

My new recruit will play an active role in the coordination of our Marketing Plan and international expansion strategy as we continue to grow and develop into new territories. The day to day responsibilities of the Senior Marketing Executive will be key day-to-day promotional activity such as in-house PR, newsletters, social and blogs.

How will your new recruit benefit your business?

Time will tell, but we are very excited about what they can bring to the business. Hopefully, they will do a fantastic job of keeping a constantly interesting and engaging presence of our brand in our active markets.

What key skills and experience do you look for when recruiting your new Senior Marketing Executive?

For me, a good attitude, high commitment, and a strong work ethic are vital for a new recruit, somebody who is passionate about their job and you can tell they want to be at work. Followed by this would be the high standard of organisational and practical skills you would associate with a marketing candidate.

What are the important personal qualities you look for when recruiting a Senior Marketing Executive?

First, honesty accompanied by a positive can-do attitude and a likable personality. When somebody is going to be the voice of your brand, I think it’s integral that they share the same values as the brand so they can communicate this effectively in their marketing. I also think being able to overcome challenges in a professional way is very important when looking to recruit a marketing candidate.

What do you look for in a candidate to ensure they will fit and be happy?

We are a company advising on the Northern Powerhouse, leading the idea of Social Mobility, having many charitable projects within our group as well as creating sustainable opportunities for our team members to grow personally in many countries around the world.   We are generous, and we expect the same in return; we believe that in a fast-growing business like ours, only the best people will do well, those with ambition, integrity and professionalism. We spend a large amount of time during recruitment to filter out personality types that will suit our company culture, once that fit is right, we can focus on their skills and experience and adapt the role to fit them.  This means we maintain flexibility during our recruiting process, offering candidates a comfortable environment to start work in.  Over time as the company grows, they grow too – leading to a very low level of staff turnover within our business.

Thank you to Thomas for sharing his method of recruiting a Marketing Executive.

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