Agricultural and rural business marketing specialist, Jane Craigie Marketing (JCM), has expanded its team with the appointment of two new positions in response to the growing demand for professional communications in the agricultural sector. JCM works with clients including ABP, BASF plc, Harbro, The Oxford Farming Conference, LEAF Open Farm Sunday and, from next month, Soil Association Scotland, has appointed former Head of Communications for Young Farmers, Rebecca Dawes, and consumer PR specialist, Susannah Pate, to support JCM’s PR, marketing, influencer engagement and digital media. The consultancy has also launched a new website to reflect the new team.
Jane Craigie, Rebecca Dawes and Susannah Pate are all graduates of the Scottish Enterprise Rural Leadership Programme, and each combine agricultural backgrounds with careers in communications, marketing and media. Rebecca, who will be leading the company’s digital communications, is the former Communications and Rural Affairs Manager for the Scottish Association of Young Farmers and is Scottish Co-ordinator for LEAF’s Open Farm Sunday, and brings with her a wealth of experience in event management and digital media as well as valuable connections in agricultural circles UK-wide:
“It is exciting to be part of a consultancy so well established within the industry, and I’m really enjoying how JCM is embracing digital and experiential marketing alongside the established marketing and communications core. We are working with a variety of really interesting clients, and using the art of good storytelling across all the digital platforms to support them.”
With a background in consumer PR, working principally with food producers, restaurants and tourism, Susannah, who works as an associate, brings her experience of press relations and storytelling to the consultancy:
“It’s a really interesting time to be working with clients and projects in the changing and progressive rural sector. Working with JCM and its mix of agricultural and rural businesses fits really well with my life on the farm and my previous career in consumer PR.”
From the base in Aberdeenshire and working both UK- and Europe-wide, Jane Craigie Marketing is a marketing and communications consultancy specialising in agriculture, food and the rural economy. Jane, a chartered marketer, started up her own communications and corporate affairs business in 2004 to present a valued marketing resource for land-based industry including livestock, arable, horticulture and equine businesses. JCM clients to date include Agrovista, ABP, BBC Countryfile Live, Cotswold Farm Park, Adam Henson, LEAF’s Open Farm Sunday, The Oxford Farming Conference, Allflex, CropTec Event, LAMMA Event, Interagro, Harbro, RSPB and Scottish Enterprise. Jane, immediate past-Chairman of the British Guild of Agricultural Journalists, says:
“Communications in rural and agricultural industries have become increasingly important, with more competition and consequently a greater need to be heard, and it is not only what is being said, but how it is being said. In such a thriving industry, and I am looking forward to having extra team members to support the work we do and to fulfill our clients’ needs the very best we can and to inject our flair for creativity along the way.”
JCM works with a wide range of associates, all experienced in agriculture, marketing and communications. The team is made up of permanent staff members, Jane Craigie and Rebecca Dawes, and associates include Emma Craigie, Ian Damms, Robert Harris, Susannah Pate, Ewan Pate, Cedric Porter, Paul Spackman, Craig Stephen, Caroline Stocks and Vrin Strohm.
Pictured left to right – Rebecca Dawes, Susannah Pate and Jane Craigie