What Sam Robinson brings to Simply Brands

In an interview with Simply Brands Business Development Manager, Sam Robinson, he explains his role and how his extensive experience in product management and marketing positions means he’s well-placed to help the company’s drive.

Q. Hi Sam, can you tell us about your new role at Simply Brands and what attracted you to join the team?

A. “My title is business development manager, although as often with that job title, it covers a multitude of areas! In short, I’m here to help grow sales but not just in a ‘scratchpad and pen’ type way – a major part of our ethos is to work with customers in the long-term, helping them to increase their sales and improve their efficiency with our support. That might be through identifying gaps in their ranges, helping to improve their packaging, allowing them to consolidate multiple suppliers into one (ourselves), as well as developing bespoke products and product ranges for our customers.

“This long-term vision and the ability to work proactively was really the key in me deciding I wanted to join the business – day-to-day I am liaising, not only with customers, but internally with our design, marketing, e-commerce and procurement teams, as well as external agencies to deliver what our customers want and need. For me, I think it fits my skills in terms of being able to manage customer accounts, whilst still using a lot of my previous product management and marketing knowledge.”

Q. What’s the history of Simply Brands, and what is its relationship with JRP Distribution given how they are widely perceived to be linked?

A. “Simply was originally created as an ‘own brand’ for JRP Distribution, and to this day JRP remains the exclusive distributor for Simply Auto and Simply Power products in the UK – so, of course, we have a very close working relationship!

“Today, though, Simply Brands is a 100% standalone company with customers in the UK, Europe, USA and Australia. We sell products in Simply packaging, but also a huge proportion of our business is in private label, supplying a multitude of leading brands and high street retailers.

“The business has expanded from the original range, Simply Auto, to now include Simply Living (home and leisure/furniture), Simply Tools, Simply Power (mobile phone chargers and accessories), Simply Sanitize (PPE), Simply Mobility (walking aids and accessories), Simply Promo (branded merchandise) and most recently, Simply Cycling.”

Q. What are Simply Brands’ USPs, and what’s helped to make them successful so far?

A. “I think from a product perspective, the sheer size of the product range has been a huge pull. We’ve over 1,000 SKUs in total and, where relevant, we will cover as wide a range and as many different options as possible with each product, so there is a feel of a ‘one stop’ when it comes to supplying all the accessories that a retailer or factor may need.

“Behind this, undoubtedly one of our biggest strengths lies in the team we have on the ground in the Far East. We have our own offices with 12 members of staff covering sourcing, logistics and quality control. This gives us a huge advantage over many European companies sourcing in the Far East through agents or remotely, as we really have our fingers on the pulse of what is going on and can quickly bring new products to market. We’re able to tightly control QC when it’s our own team going into audit factories and sign-off production on orders. Being able to negotiate and discuss fluently in the local language is a huge benefit for us and helps to speed up negotiations and avoid any crossed wires or ambiguity.

“Another great part of our offering is our UK-based team for product design, marketing and e-commerce. For our private label customers, we can take their brand guidelines – or create a completely new brand for them – and our team here will prepare every aspect of their packaging, cataloguing, product images etc. It means we can offer a complete turnkey solution and allow customers to add additional product ranges or improve their existing ones, but with little effort required from themselves!”