Building a community-driven brand through strategic partnership
The client
Northern Affinity is a business community bringing together small business owners across the North of England. But it's more than just another networking group:
"There are enough great networking groups out there. The Northern Affinity is more like a community. Here, you can shift your focus from referrals and the client-hunt conveyor belt, and get real connectedness with the people behind the businesses. You might be surprised at the magic that happens when we really show up for each other."
As a community focused on delivering value both for and between its partners, having a tangible online presence wasn't just about generating leads, it was a core part of the service offered to members.
Launched by Mike Edwards and later taken over by Gemma Edwards, Northern Affinity needed marketing support that would free up time to focus on running the business whilst building the online community partners deserved.
The challenge
Following a drop-off in enquiries, Mike initially reached out to us to inject consistency into Northern Affinity's marketing efforts. But as we dug deeper, we uncovered a more complex challenge. Northern Affinity needed to:
Build greater brand awareness whilst staying true to their community-first values
Generate quality leads and enquiries from the right people, not just anyone
Foster an online community that reflected the warmth and support of their in-person events
Create a promotional space for members to access as part of their partnership benefits
Define and target their ideal partners with clarity
Balance proactive content creation focused on members with reactive engagement on trending topics
Our approach
Chapter one: understanding Northern Affinity
We started where all good partnerships start - by listening.
Through an initial marketing strategy day, we pulled out the objectives of the company, understood the feeling that needed to be created for partners, and built the marketing wish list for the brand.
"It was a really easy process.”
This wasn't about imposing our ideas of what marketing 'should' look like. It was about understanding what Northern Affinity was trying to build and working out how marketing could support that vision.
Thanks to this thorough understanding at the start, we could identify the first area that needed attention: consistent content generation to support the strength of the brand.
"Once Chroma took over, about 6-8 weeks afterwards, enquiries started building back up again because of all the consistency that they had built."
Mike Edwards, Founder
Chapter two: quick wins
Our work started with building up Northern Affinity's social media presence, creating daily content across LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, tailoring everything to fit the requirements and trends of each platform.
We produced multiple forms of content, including support for the Northern Affinity “Chalk It Up” podcast, finding ways to repurpose existing content whilst keeping the marketing presence updated to meet changing member needs.
The goal was to reflect the overall personality and scale of the brand across its digital platforms, enabling more regularity in key elements of the customer journey:
Gathering user-generated content
Collecting testimonials and partner feedback
Elevating media content shared by external organisations and the press
This consistency delivered immediate results. Enquiries started flowing again, and crucially, they were from the right people.
"We get enquiries from the right people. I've not had to say no to anyone for a couple of years now [...] Because we get the right message out here about who we are, it makes a difference."
Mike Edwards
But we knew consistency alone wasn't enough. Once we'd built that foundation, we took a step back to look at the bigger picture.
Chapter three: a period of change
During an exciting period of change for Northern Affinity, we needed to pause and reassess. Through social listening and customer feedback, we realised that what the brand was saying and how it was portraying itself had drifted out of alignment.
The world had changed. Partners' needs had evolved. Northern Affinity needed to evolve with them.
Over several months, we worked with Gemma to build out a completely new marketing strategy. We shaped a clearer understanding of what key stakeholders needed, how to communicate the company's value, built a wishlist of marketing projects to launch, and created a roadmap for making it all happen.
This strategic work resulted in several major milestones:
Key milestone: the rebrand
We partnered with Fliss Lee to deliver a full rebrand based on new brand values and voice that genuinely reflected what Northern Affinity stood for:
Hug thy neighbour - The power of physical togetherness and real-world relationships
Celebrate it all - Every success, no matter how small, is worth celebrating together
Sign me up, Scottie - Being the person who says yes and rallies round
Get back up, and bring someone with you - Rising after setbacks and bringing others along
These weren't just nice words on a page. They became the foundation for everything Northern Affinity communicated and every decision they made about their marketing.
To bring partners along on this journey, we created something unusual: a Brand Funeral and a Brand Shower.
The Brand Funeral let the community say goodbye to what wasn't working anymore. The Brand Shower celebrated what was coming next. These events weren't just clever marketing—they were about including partners in the changes, getting people excited about the next phase, and securing their buy-in.
It worked.
Key milestone: ConnectUp
With the rebrand in place, we coordinated large-scale ConnectUp events to position Northern Affinity as thought leaders across the region.
These weren't standard networking events. They were carefully designed around two goals:
Bringing new partners into the community
Increasing brand capital and awareness
We built a robust and creative marketing strategy around the events, creating anticipation, driving sign-ups, and ensuring the experience matched Northern Affinity's values.
The results:
135 people attended the ConnectUp event
35 people signed up for partnership trials afterwards
Northern Affinity established itself as a distinctive voice in the Northern business community
But more importantly than the numbers, we'd created events that felt genuinely like Northern Affinity—warm, supportive, and focused on real connection.
The ongoing partnership
Today, our partnership with Northern Affinity continues to evolve. We've built out a new online community platform for both partners and the public, supported by automation for various customer interactions, with a keen focus on giving people the best, simple experience.
We continue to produce content, manage the community platform, and work with Gemma on strategic decisions about where Northern Affinity is heading next.
"Working with Laura is f**king sh*t and I will happily tell you why.
She keeps making progress all the bloody time so that means no dilly-dallying from me. So the fricking marketing plan is working because it's actually being implemented.
She's so damn focused that when I'm spiralling with wacky distracting ideas she holds me to account with our actual goals, so then I'm not able to go off on any irrelevant side quests that prevent me doing what I'm meant to be doing.
She talks about the marketing strategy in the context of the whole business so I'm even doing less irrelevant nonsense across the board.
So I'm basically doing less meaningless crap and being held to account with a strategy that's working. See what I mean?"
Gemma Edwards, Owner
What this partnership demonstrates
Our approach to Northern Affinity wasn't about delivering a set of marketing tactics. It was about embedding ourselves in their business, understanding what they were trying to build, and helping them get there.
When we realised their brand messaging had drifted out of alignment, we didn't just keep producing content. We paused, reassessed, and helped them rebuild their strategy from the ground up.
Strategy adapts with your business
Northern Affinity's needs changed significantly over our partnership—from needing consistency to needing a complete rebrand and repositioning. Our approach changed with them.
This is what sustainable marketing partnership looks like: not a fixed deliverable, but ongoing strategic support that evolves as your business evolves.
Quick wins and long-term vision work together
We didn't make Northern Affinity wait months for results whilst we crafted the perfect strategy. We delivered immediate consistency that got enquiries flowing again, then used that stability as a foundation to build something bigger.
The quick wins funded the strategic thinking. The strategic thinking made the quick wins sustainable.
Marketing works when it's integrated with everything else
As Gemma noted, our work affected more than just her marketing, it influenced decisions across her entire business. That's because we don't treat marketing as separate from the rest of what you're building.
When marketing strategy is integrated with business strategy, everything becomes clearer, more focused, and more effective.
The results
Quantitative outcomes:
Consistent flow of enquiries from the right people
135 attendees at ConnectUp
35 partnership trial sign-ups following event
Sustainable, manageable marketing operations that don't require constant founder attention
Qualitative transformation:
Clear brand identity that genuinely reflects Northern Affinity's values
Marketing that feels like an extension of the community, not a separate function
Strategic clarity that informs business decisions beyond marketing
A partnership that holds the business accountable whilst supporting its growth
"When you think about return on investment, I've got a different view on that. It's not as simple as 'we spent x amount on marketing, you should get y back for that' because, actually, it's part of the service that we offer."
Mike Edwards
What we learned
Every partnership teaches us something. Northern Affinity reinforced what we already believed: the best marketing doesn't shout louder than everyone else, it gets clearer about what you stand for.
When you're building a community, your marketing can't just be about generating leads. It has to be part of the value you deliver. It has to reflect the experience you're creating.
And when things change - when the world shifts, when your business evolves, when your audience's needs develop - your marketing needs to change with it. That requires a partner who's paying attention, not just a vendor delivering a fixed service.
Ready to build a partnership that actually works?
Northern Affinity's story shows what's possible when marketing strategy integrates with business strategy, when quick wins support long-term vision, and when your marketing partner thinks like a business partner.
If you're building something meaningful and want marketing that reflects what you care about, let's talk.
