Every great business story is usually about some founder seeking to solve a problem that they identified. In other stories, there is a dynamic duo who wanted to try something different and wanted to go far rather than go alone. Today’s Corporate Profile highlights Market Me Consulting Limited and its co-founders Lyndsey McDonnough and Kristina Kerr who have spent the last decade building some of Jamaica’s most iconic brands grounded by the motto ‘Do good work’.

Market Me might be a well-known firm today, but its origins trace back to two different journeys converging into one. McDonnough, a born marketer, had just started out her professional journey with a local distribution firm as a sales representative. This role saw her crafting a compelling story to sway consumers to that company’s brand at a time when it was growing its market share.

However, despite giving 210 per cent in the role and becoming an extension of thae company’s brand, McDonnough was called into a meeting in which she learned her role was going to be made redundant. This left the joyful spark in a state of defeat, something reflected in her tears that day.

Despite this hurdle, she took up her toolkit and built herself a new opportunity. She assisted a small bakery called Sweet Belle with their marketing push at a time when social media was emerging as a new communication channel. This allowed her to remain engaged before she found a new role with another major beverage brand. Though she was grateful for the opportunity to be fully employed again, she managed her expectations so as to not leave herself vulnerable to another surprise in her life.

On the other side of the isle, Kerr had just returned from her New York sojourn in the world of fashion and had begun working at a local media company. While it was a stable role working with different brands, the young marketer began to think of greater ways she could make a splash on the Jamaican landscape. She did not have to wait long until her ‘sister’ came calling about an opportunity on the horizon.

Stephanie Scott, the progenitor of Restaurant Week in Jamaica, had approached McDonnough in early 2012 to seek assistance on crafting the right social media strategy for the event, which would have its eighth staging that November. However, McDonnough’s then role would not allow her to be in the spotlight for such a major event. Faced with this conundrum, she turned to Kerr and asked her if she would be willing to not only assist with the event, but also take a chance and start their own agency together. Kerr obliged and resigned from her role in June 2012 to join her best friend on a new journey that they’d pave from the ground up.

With only their knowledge and solid relationship, the duo got to work on delivering Restaurant Week. Apart from coordinating the social media strategy, they both worked on getting sponsors, media coverage and managing the different events that led up to the event. While some firms get capital to hire staff, rent an office and do anything else to get the job done, the duo spent their days at Copy Cat Jamaica working on graphic designs for the event. Though some would see this as a limitation, it was a learning experience that gave them the insight into running a business and what skills they’d have to grasp before they could hire a team member to do it.

Although Kerr was fully committed from the onset, it took McDonnough some months to officially hand in her resignation and step into the unknown world of entrepreneurship. A friend stepped up to type the letter and pressed send when McDonnough faced that obstacle. Thus, yin and yang were complete.

Fast-forward to November 2012 and Restaurant Week was executed to the highest degree with different business leaders taking note of their work. This led to fashion designer Courtney Washington and other businesses approaching the duo to execute other projects. The validation of their work and increasing interest became the stepping stone for the duo to formalise the business.

While brainstorming a name for the business, they thought back to the conversations they’d had with different people who all asked for the duo to “market me”. With the name in hand, the duo registered Market Me Consulting Limited on February 20, 2013, which was an integrated communications agency. They hired Warren Buckle as their first employee and got to work with both women being co-managing directors.

Market Me’s second major project was the Orchesta of the Americas’ visit to Jamaica. Just like how Restaurant Week was the event that put them on the map, this project became their breakthrough moment as they began to get flooded with referrals. Although the business initially worked on print advertisements, they brought a different flair to the ideation process and proposed memorable campaigns.

“At that time, social media was new in the business sense of professional related marketing. Being able to have brands come to you and look at using those platforms to benefit their business, at a time when it wasn’t fully onboarded by the traditional agencies at the time, it provided an opportunity for something new because they had not necessarily reached that stage in expanding their business services and offerings,” Kerr explained.

One such campaign was working with quick service brands on creating an indulgence of their meals by translating an online concept to an offline experience. They also led the push behind CB Group’s Smart Egg campaign, Street Style Cook Up, ATL’s Summer of Tiguan, and worked with one of the largest Junior Market companies on their mass corporate campaign.

With all the business that they were drumming up, Market Me made the big step to their current location at 13 West King’s House Road in early 2014. This pivotal move allowed them to expand their service offerings as they now had an in-house graphic designer which meant they had the ability to produce a wide range of graphics. It also created the space for the team to give other young Jamaicans the chance to learn new skills in the growing digital age.

One such Jamaican was Conran “Timmy” Spence, who used to work in a warehouse before joining Market Me. When asked what skill he wanted to learn, he expressed an interest in working on videos. He travelled to different sets and projects while learning alongside the other team members these skills in shooting and editing videos.

The contribution of all the team members resulted in Market Me becoming a renowned agency in only its first three years of operation. This resulted in 2016 becoming their groundbreaking year as they worked on several national campaigns that touched all facets of Jamaica. One prominent campaign that came out in 2016 was Jamaica Moves, which sought to encourage more Jamaicans to become physically active. This Ministry of Health campaign became a resounding success, so much so that even Market Me’s company culture changed as they all became more active.

By the end of 2019, Market Me was a fully integrated communications agency with almost 20 members of staff, numerous clients across the Jamaican spectrum and an indomitable drive to do more good work. However, that reality took a hard turn in March 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the entire world. As a result, they had to quickly adjust, which meant not only addressing the needs of contracted and permanent team members in the world’s darkest hour, but also rebalancing their portfolio which would have been disrupted by the decline in business activity. Despite this hard reality, Market Me never stopped working as their role became more crucial at a time when their clients had to adapt in how they connected with their clients.

“When COVID hit Jamaica, I think that we’ve always had this relationship where we’re not driven by money; we’re driven by the work. We were given the call saying COVID is in Jamaica, and we immediately went to work. Every minute we’re doing a new graphic, we’re sending out stuff, doing shooting, calling people to get media space. We were focused on getting the job done,” McDonnough added.

In mid-2020, there were a series of enquiries about the work Market Me had with Jamaica Moves, which eventually devolved into political football. While they had done nothing outside of any agreements, the public didn’t get that perspective. As a result, McDonnough retreated during that time and took a break from social media to avoid the toxicity. Meanwhile Kerr, who has had a friendship with McDonnough going back three decades, stepped up to defend the company and pushed forward to service clients and meet deliverables.

Throughout the storm, Timmy Spence continued to wear his Market Me shirt every day, proud to work at the company that changed his life. McDonnough’s family, team and a few unsung heroes sent positive messages daily as she battled the negativity.

Despite this tumultuous time, Market Me came out stronger as all the attention put on them resulted in more people taking note of their work and wanting them to lead their marketing plans. This set the company up for more business in 2021 as new clients came onboard. This was also when Market Me added more services to their portfolio and started to manage larger campaigns both locally and abroad. Market Me’s services range from marketing strategy, event management, digital marketing, public relations, branding, and design and production.

This positive momentum went into full force in 2022 as the company managed several campaigns which included a publicly listed company’s multibillion-dollar equity raise when the Jamaican public didn’t have a clue who they were. These great moments culminated with the company’s tenth anniversary in February 2023 and executing several new projects. As the company heads into 2024, McDonnough and Kerr are working on strengthening key departments as they look to work on a larger portfolio across Jamaica and the region.

Despite all the ups and downs, the team is thankful to the late Stephanie Scott, Brian George, and numerous other clients for trusting them to guide their stories.

“We work with each client to build a plan that is just for you. Each client will have a different experience because each client requires something different to meet their objectives. We are able to achieve some amazing results because we don’t believe in the traditional client and agency relationship. We believe in a partnership built on trust and collaboration,” Kerr closed.