PRINTITRESELLER.UK 37 in terms of marketing that Brother provides to its partners. CMO Mike Anderson explained that Brother UK has a 22-strong team that spans channel marketing specialists, category marketing, CRM, content and social media, communications, media and PR, and digital. He also mentioned external agency support and a design studio that can create bespoke campaigns for partners if required. “My message is that we’re not simply a standard vendor in-house marketing team, we are a partner-focused marketing agency,” he stated. Anderson talked partners through Brother’s multi-phase approach to partner marketing from onboarding and planning, to activation, campaign planning and management, through to review. “We dig deep so that we can help you build what you need. We have a ton of resources at your disposal from creative campaigns, research and customer insight, joint events, the BrotherZone portal, through to vertical marketfocused campaigns in a box,” he explained. “We will support you in creating and executing a campaign and then we will review it – see what’s worked and what’s not and then take the best bits and repeat for better results. Whether it’s strategy, execution or advice, we’re at your side.” Why partner with Brother? Reading-based Archway Business Solutions was the first partner to be onboarded under this channel recruitment drive. Managing Director Phil Johnson took to the stage to share his journey and the reasons why he partnered with Brother. His testimonial was compelling, he said: “We felt special, Brother has come alongside me in my business to help develop my sales tools including social media and marketing. Brother want to be world class and they want their partners to be world class so they step in to help. Brother did come at my side; they asked me what I wanted from marketing and said they’d make me my own. I also had an opportunity for a 75 machine deal from Scotland to Brighton; I couldn’t do that on my own but Brother can. As a partner, I can now sell more, quicker, faster and UK-wide.” www.brother.co.uk of volume of devices and number of different locations.” Notably, while Brother’s sweet spot was historically small SMBs who hadn’t yet adopted MPS, it has designed systems around automation that has enabled it to be efficient in multi-site setups. “We can efficiently manage 200 devices in 200 locations, each of which is printing 1,000 pages per month,” Marshall said. Marshall points out that CSP adoption across Europe has been driven by geography: “Southern Europe was an early adopter for example and it continues to grow. Historically, that didn’t feel like a proper fit for Brother UK, but it’s clear with the A3-A4 shift, there is a significant opportunity for mutual growth now. We’d never claim we have the whole lineup and the lowest CPP, but our whole proposition is really strong. At your side is not just a tagline, it’s in our DNA; we will work with a partner the way they want to work and we’re confident that we help them mirror the A3 business model with trusted A4 devices from Brother.” A partnership built on trust Pete Westwood, Head of Specialist Print at Brother UK shared details of what partners can expect from Brother. Key highlights include flexible MPS offerings, four models in the range (two mono and two colour) that are exclusive to this channel, exclusive consumables, competitive pricing, a five-year onsite warranty as standard, and a UK helpdesk. Partners can also benefit from Brother’s service provision or choose to manage service themselves. Speaking of Brother UK’s expertise in MPS, Westwood shared some key stats from FY24/25 which include 29,946 devices under contract, 47,511 supplies shipments, 371,830,915 pages printed and an 87% annual renewal rate. He stressed that this is a partnership built on trust, reinforcing Jones’ earlier point that Brother is a channel-centric business. “We have a team here whose job it is to support our partners, our end-user team will find opportunities for you and help you to win business and we will go on joint visits with you. Partners can also expect bespoke initiatives related to their individual goals, a dedicated account manager, and access to our marketing team.” Comprehensive marketing support One of the key takeaways from the day was the unprecedented support contract and customer relationship and Brother ships automated supplies, and Consumable Support Programme (CSP), where the partner buys through distribution and manages their own DCAs and contracts. “Approximately one-third of Brother devices in the field are under contract,” Jones said, adding: ”Walk-in take-over deals present a huge opportunity, particularly in the SMB sector and we want to make sure that Brother is part of the conversation with our expanding partner base.” He also emphasised that it’s not just A4 printers and MFPs that partners can sell - Brother’s offering is much broader and includes specialised printing solutions and labelling devices. “That extended offering can help partners make sure they’re not leaving money on the table,” he said. MPS expertise Brother has enjoyed considerable success across Europe with its comprehensive MPS offering and is now looking to leverage that experience to increase its market share in the UK. Brother has two distinct approaches to MPS, as Chris Marshall, Commercial Director B2B at Brother Europe explains: “We have our own platform where we manage everything for MPS Essential, Professional, Enterprise, and Partner offerings. There are just under 300,000 devices across Europe connected to that platform. “We don’t expect all partners to put devices on our platform and that’s where CSP comes in, in Europe, we support approximately 400,000 devices that are managed on our partners’ platforms through CSP. I don’t think anyone else is ahead of us in terms PARTNER CONFERENCE Chris Marshall
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