294: Meet Belvoir Farm's 'storyteller in chief'

"It came as it of a surprise," says Jessica Pinnick about landing her job as Brand Manager for the soft drinks company, Belvoir Farm. "As the best thing often do"

Jessica has been in the role for around a year and describes her job as being about telling the story of the brand.

Belvoir Farm has been around for more than 40 years and is perhaps best-known for its elderflower cordial.

So how did Jessica end up in this fantastic marketing role?

Her career began at Boots, where she joined as an apprentice and went on a development programme.

She says that really helped her decide which direction to take her career in: "I was able to try lots of things until I worked out what I really wanted to do."

Jessica stayed at Boots for nearly ten years, before making the move to Belvoir and says it was the level of creativity required in the role, that really attracted her.

"It's about getting to understand what consumers want and what they're looking for," she tells Elisa Roche in this episode of the Career Conversations podcast series. "This is probably one of the most creative jobs I've ever done."

She see herself as the chief storyteller for the brand and has been integral in the launch of the company's first television advert, which hit screens in July 2022.

Listen to the full episode to learn the difference between product marketing and brand marketing, find out how to get a job like Jessica's, as well as what you can expect to earn, and learn the correct way to pronounce Belvoir.

Jessica Pinnick, Brand Manager, Belvoir Farm

Belvoir Farm is a premium soft drinks brand with sustainability at its heart. The brand is best known for its Elderflower Cordial, which is still produced on the family farm in Leicestershire, using elderflowers handpicked by the local community as it has been for the last 40 years. 

Jessica's role as Brand Manager is to be the guardian and chief storyteller for the brand, bringing to life its amazing brand history, provenance and product quality through creating engaging content, inspiring marketing activation and market leading innovation to ultimately delight customers.

Passionate about the power of brands and captivated by the infamous “here come the girls” Boots TV ads, Jessica began her career with Boots in 2011 where she worked for ten years across its portfolio of brands including Boots own label, partner brands and Soltan sun care. 

She says she is most proud of working on Soltan’s ‘tattooed child’ campaign, designed to raise awareness of the long-term effects of UVA damage. Along with a complete relaunch of the brand look and feel and an award-winning ATL activation plan that resulted in double digit sales growth between 2018-2020 and overtaking key competitors to become the No1 suncare brand in the UK.

Right now, Jessica is excited about the year ahead, which sees the launch of Belvoir Farm’s first brand campaign centred around its unique story and how its dedication to nurturing nature is reflected in the quality of its drinks.