Jane Malyon’s use of stealth marketing to take ownership of a market
First Women Exclusives · September 23, 2015
While The English Cream Tea Company may have humble origins, conceived after one elderly lady lamented the fact she couldn’t get down to London for a proper tea anymore, the way in which it has come to dominate its space can be a lesson for everyone. Hunter Ruthven found out more.
Jane Malyon definitely personifies the traditional view of entrepreneurs as being passionate extroverts, driven by a hunger and desire that very few of us can claim to have. As “chief scone gnome” at The English Cream Tea Company, she’s used some remarkable marketing techniques to acquire market share.
From world record attempts to a viral video on English cream tea etiquette, she’s won fans around the world for her offering – which works on the premise that it’s not always possible to visit a great London hotel for high tea.
The English Cream Tea Company provides doorstep delivery of a variety of fresh, chilled afternoon tea hampers or postable English treats like teas, jams, brownies and shortbread.
Looking back to the formation of her company, Malyon had two key obstacles to overcome: convincing her husband that starting up the business was a good idea; and letting Companies House allow her to have The English Cream Tea Company as a name.
“My husband didn’t want me starting another business, so I have him the stationary, logo and completed packaging for his birthday,” she remembered. “I thought that once he saw how lovely it looked he would come around as before he couldn’t visualise it.” Low and behold, she was right – even if the marketing budget was set to zero. More about that later though.
On the Companies House front, the registrar for new companies said Malyon couldn’t have the name, declaring: “How dare you purport to represent the whole country.”
“I said I wasn’t,” Maylon said. Having done all of the printing with that name she had to get creative and was told that if a government minister said ok, she could have it. Getting in contact with the minister for agriculture and fisheries, Malyon was told probably yes – but not for 12 months.
Going back to Companies House for another solution, she was told that if the governing body controlling English cream tea said ok, she’d be fine. Despite at that time there not actually being such a body, a quick bit of creativity from Malyon to create just so was evidence of how she gets round “endless bureaucratic problems”.
My conversation with Malyon then ventured into the ridiculous when she described the other side projects she’s been involved with over the years. Describing herself as a very “creative” person, she nearly bought a decommissioned submarine from the Ministry of Defence for £32,000. With the idea of using it for team building exercises, an extension of the personal coaching she does, Malyon found 31 other interested parties willing to kick in £1,000 each – but was ultimately scuppered by the vast sums it would have taken to store the sub.
None of her business ventures, ranging from The English Cream Tea Company to an events and catering company, has ever had much marketing budget to play with. Some may call it rather fortuitous, but it seems some of Malyon’s biggest successes in this remit have come down to her enigmatic personality and just talking the business up.
“I took a weekend course on growing your business, and of the 20 women I just so happened to sit next to BBC reporter Brenda Emmanus,” she remembered. “When it came to reporting about afternoon tea of the year, she remembered me and managed to wangle me into the piece.”
The video segment, featuring Malyon giving Emmanus tips on tea etiquette and showcasing her own products, brought thousands of hits to her website. On the same weekend, as and a result of the same growing your business course, Malyon and The English Cream Tea Company featured in the British Airways High Life magazine. “That is luck, but luck on its own is not enough as they have to believe in it,” she urged.
Entering every competition under the sun has also proved fruitful for the business woman. Filling out one entry for an entrepreneur of the year accolade, she had trouble completing it on her Mac so phoned up the PR firm putting it on.
“By pure chance I had the opportunity to tell them about my business. In doing that, I came across well and the fellow thought I should win – so I already had the inside track.
“One month before the final, sponsor Prontaprint went into administration. However, the guy I’d been in contact with believed my business deserved recognition so said he knew a person at Woman and Home magazine – and from that I got a four-page spread.”
Malyon genuinely believes there is some kind of smile factor about the company name and offering. Having to pitch for mentoring from motor company Ford, she’s convinced she got it just from her intro.
Bordering on the ridiculous, Malyon even managed to get her website translated into different languages by getting involved with Essex University’s language department.
More tea please
One thing that has constantly supported her efforts in getting The English Cream Tea Company off the ground and succeeding has been the growing patriotism that has stemmed from events including the Queen’s Jubilee, London Olympics, Royal Wedding and subsequent births of Prince George and Princess Charlotte.
“With every one of those, Britishness came to the fore – newspapers wanted British stuff. During the Olympics I had a six-strong TV crew visit from Taiwan,” she said.
By the time it came to Malyon revealing who her business mentor was, I couldn’t be surprised when she said it was Murder She Wrote star Jessica Fletcher. “She is an inspiration to me. She’s always resourceful and I’ve never seen her get in a flap or let people down.”
All this being said, Malyon is not resting on her laurels and expecting to reap the benefits of marketing efforts that may become dated. She’s firmly committed to getting involved with social media platforms such as Pinterest to not only see what everyone else is doing, but also plug her own efforts.
With subscription business models becoming an ever more attractive proposition for consumer-facing companies – see Graze, Cornerstone and Spotify – it appears Malyon is on to a winner.
So, if you’re pressed for time and can’t make it to a posh London hotel for afternoon tea, make sure you give The English Cream Tea Company a try. With a mantra of “make scones not war”, it’s impossible to not like what Malyon has created.
We will be bringing you a First Woman of the Month on a, you guessed it, monthly basis. Showcasing the very best in entrepreneurial and professional talent the female business community has to offer, we hope you find them informative and entertaining. We’ll also be launching a First Company of the Month feature, highlighting businesses which are going above and beyond in promoting and developing their talented female workforces.
