Mark Palmer

Mark Palmer is Global Brand Director of Green & Black’s organic chocolate. Since he joined the company, sales have risen from £4m to £40m, driven by a successful repositioning exercise, which took the brand from niche organic to premium everyday chocolate. Green & Black’s became the fastest growing chocolate brand in the UK, leading to its acquisition by Cadbury Schweppes. Mark remained with the company, leading development both at home and abroad.

 

Green & Blacks retain an entrepreneurial approach and rely on instincts, applying common sense instead of figures, when trialing new products. They can bring a product to market in six months instead of the industry norm of twenty one. When Mark joined, the company had achieved 95% market share in the organic sector, but did not even register on overall chocolate sales. Mark changed the marketing proposal from organic to premium and now their approach is to enter existing markets and raise the bar.

 

Mark’s skills have been recognised by the industry and he featured in the Marketing Power 100 for two successive years in his unofficial role as champion of entrepreneurs and small business. The Marketing Society voted him their Marketer Of The Year and Marketing Week readers voted him the third most influential practitioner in the UK.