Keen as Mustard is a marketing agency that provides strategy, branding, design, web, PR and content services to the data, research and insight industry. Lucy Davison, MD of Mustard, engaged with Rob Da Costa because she wanted to grow her business more rapidly and as the owner/manager felt like she needed a peer to advise, bounce ideas off of and create accountability.
They began working together in 2011 looking at the short, medium and long-term strategy and growth of the business. This included looking at the positioning of Mustard and reaffirming the focus on the research and insight market – where Lucy has a great deal of knowledge and a strong reputation. Rob is a big fan of businesses that have clear niches so whilst there was a temptation to broaden Mustard’s focus, this niche has been significant in building Mustard’s success and reputation.
Lucy commented “Rob’s skill lies in bringing objectivity to the conversation as well as sharing his wealth of knowledge; both whilst running his own agency and his 10-years of coaching experience. He brought not only his experience but a set of practical frameworks that helped move the business forward and focus the senior managers’ time and energy.”
Latterly, Rob supported and encouraged the process of bringing a 2nd Director into the business. This has helped Mustard further solidify, deepen and develop its offering in web development and reporting/presentation design in addition to branding, content and PR services. Bringing Simon on board has also given Lucy another peer in the business to provide support, share the decision-making and create a management team.
With Rob’s support, Lucy has managed to free more of her time up from operational concerns to focus on building the Mustard brand by both speaking at and running industry events.
Today Rob acts as Mustard’s Non-Executive Director, attending and facilitating management meetings and helping shape Mustard’s strategy for growth.
Lucy summed up the support from Rob over the years “Rob has been a trusted advisor and I know he has the best interests of the business at the core of his advice. This means he sometimes asks the tough questions, plays devil’s advocate or is willing to disagree and challenge us. This has helped us move forward with confidence and most importantly, grow the business and the bottom line.”