About Epitomise
Epitomise was founded by Steve Ward in 2017 to give ambitious SMEs and growing technology and service businesses senior marketing help without the overhead of hiring for it.
In short
Epitomise is a UK marketing consultancy founded by Steve Ward in 2017. It helps ambitious SMEs and growing technology and service businesses improve performance and grow, through strategic marketing planning and advice, mentoring and coaching, and hands-on execution support. Work is practical and commercially focused, and starts with a defined piece of work and an agreed target.
Origins
Working with businesses of very different sizes, the same problem kept appearing. Good companies were not struggling to grow because they lacked potential. They were struggling because they lacked the combination of clarity, focus, leadership direction and best-practice execution that makes potential turn into revenue.
Larger companies buy that combination as a marketing department. Smaller ones usually cannot, so they buy activity instead and hope it adds up. Epitomise exists to give ambitious SMEs and technology and service businesses access to the strategic advice, mentoring and coaching that the larger companies take for granted.
Ways of working
Not as a distant agency that drops in recommendations and disappears. Epitomise works alongside your team as an independent consultancy — senior thinking, practical support, honest advice, and a clear focus on what will make the biggest difference in the real world.
Commercially focused. Practical and methodical. Measured and transparent. Responsive and easy to work with. Built around progress rather than plans. In simple terms: doing the right things, in the right order, in the right way.
What we do
Some clients need strategic support. Others need hands-on help putting plans into action. Many need both, in that order.
Brand, positioning and proposition; customer insight and competitor review; value-based messaging; products, pricing and go-to-market; roadmaps, targets, budgets and the KPIs that make drift visible early.
Strategy & plans →For businesses that do not need a full marketing leadership team but do need experienced guidance: team development, better processes and tools, sharper agency management, and support for people growing into their role.
Mentoring & training →A good plan only matters if it is implemented well. Best-practice execution across the mix, KPI tracking and performance reviews, campaign support and optimisation, and the discipline to keep it consistent.
Campaign delivery →Track record
Steve founded Epitomise in 2017. Before that he spent his career in senior marketing roles at large, mid-sized and small companies, across four related worlds: IT and technology, broadcast and media, test and measurement, and telecoms.
He was Global Chief Marketing Officer of The Vitec Group’s Videocom Division, whose brands included Anton/Bauer, AutoScript, Litepanels, Integrated Microwave Technologies, OConnor, Petrol, Sachtler, The Camera Store, Vinten and Vinten Radamec. Before Vitec: EMEA Marketing Director at Tektronix; Global Marketing Director, and earlier Global Sales Enablement Director, at Siemens Enterprise Communications; Head of UK Marketing at Netcall; and marketing manager for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific at Mitel.
Two things about that history matter to a client rather than to a CV. The first is that it is almost entirely technical products sold to businesses through a mix of direct and partner channels — which is why the case studies below are electronics, IT infrastructure and professional services rather than retail. The second is that the roles ran from marketing manager to global CMO, so the work spans setting the strategy and being the person who then has to make it happen with the budget and the team that actually exist.
Roles held
The more useful thing, though, is the shape of the work Steve takes on now. Every engagement below is named, published in full, and can be checked with the client.
Electronics · EV charging
An annual marketing plan, website content and campaign execution, with ongoing mentoring for Versinetic’s in-house marketing team.
IT infrastructure · Managed IaaS
A refreshed visual identity, sharper messaging and website, and a joint inbound and outbound programme introducing a Microsoft Azure IaaS offering.
Executive coaching
A prioritised growth strategy, then a new website carrying the value messaging and content that goes with it.
What clients say
Have worked with Epitomise for over six years and very happy with the level of service they provide. Our marketing campaigns are providing more enquiries than we can handle. Luckily, they are always available to help tailor the marketing to suit our budget and month to month requirements.Anton Van Der WattDirector · Digital AV · quoted in 2021
Steve is a pleasure to work with. His extensive knowledge of marketing, and specifically in our sector, is impressive, and his structured and inclusive style worked well in getting us all to focus on what really makes the difference. I’d recommend him to anyone who is looking for real strategic advice and guidance that comes with practical and clear deliverables.Cindy PhillipsHead of Marketing · OGL
Steve clearly knows his stuff – his expertise, enthusiasm, fresh ideas and detailed research have helped take our strategic marketing to the next level. Very happy with the fantastic service from Epitomise.Michelle RobinsonMarketing Manager · Versinetic
Engagements
Support is tailored to your needs, priorities and stage of growth. Every engagement is a defined piece of work with an agreed target, scoped by outcome rather than by hours — so a smaller start means a narrower scope, not a smaller share of somebody’s week. A first engagement might be one audience, one launch or one quarter, and it grows only when it has earned the right to.
The work is guided by one framework: Review, Focus, Implement and Optimise. It exists to keep businesses moving with clarity rather than complexity — prioritise honestly, execute properly, and build growth that holds. You can read what happens at each stage, or see the three ways to engage with it.
Because strategic thinking and practitioner experience arrive together. That is what lets a business set the right direction, focus on the right priorities, execute in the right way, and improve performance over time rather than in one burst.
What clients tend to value: senior and experienced support; practical, straightforward advice; commercially focused thinking; guidance on flexible ways of working; and being told the truth quickly when something is not working.
Sectors
Epitomise works with both B2B and B2C organisations. Client work falls into four groups, listed here in the clients’ own vocabulary rather than in general terms — if your business is the one that designs EV charging stations or runs a domiciliary care agency, the general term tells you nothing. Named case studies are linked where there is one to read.
Cybersecurity, IT strategy consulting, digital transformation, cloud and managed IT services, software application development and migration, telematics, analytics, ICT communication solutions, the Internet of Things and Industrial IoT, Industry 4.0, and home technology — including Foundation IT, APPtechnology and TipTop IT.
Design consultancy, hardware and software development with an engineering focus, vehicle and machine electrification, electric vehicle (EV) charging station design, industrial IoT and Industry 4.0 applications, electronic control systems, sustainability, electronic manufacturing and process transformation — including Versinetic and Control Technologies (UK) Ltd.
Employee engagement, customer experience, human resource management, business process consulting, business performance psychology, recruitment, team building, coaching, vendor and agency management, and market research — including Coni Judge and ProStaffing247.
Online medical consultations, physiotherapy, medical exam preparation, domiciliary and social care, personal hygiene and beauty products, national sports organisations, specialist foods, preserved flowers, home art and cleaning services — including Doctorama, Mary Personal Care and Bambooth.
Honest advice, practical support, and a clear focus on what is right for your business. Epitomise will help you identify the right priorities, choose the right approach, and improve performance in a measured and commercially sensible way — communicating clearly, working transparently, and delivering what was agreed to a high standard.
Questions
Epitomise provides senior strategic marketing and business growth support for SMEs and growing businesses — strategy and planning, mentoring, coaching and training, and hands-on marketing execution support.
Ambitious SMEs and growing technology and service businesses that want clearer direction, stronger execution and experienced support alongside their own team.
As a defined piece of work with an agreed target and agreed review points, scoped by outcome rather than by hours. A first engagement can be deliberately narrow, and many clients begin with the Growth Blueprint before deciding whether to go further.
Frequently. The framework is sector-neutral; the published case studies simply show where the experience is deepest. A discovery call is the quickest way to find out whether it fits.
An informal, no-obligation conversation about your business and where Epitomise might help. No deck, no pitch.
Book a discovery call