about spark & forge marketing
we provide branding, website design, seo, paid ads and digital marketing support for businesses with a specialist focus on rural and farm diversification
We’re not here to “do marketing”.
We’re here to help you grow your business.
Most agencies sell activity: posts, ads, “campaigns”, reports.
That’s not us.
Spark & Forge is a digital marketing agency in Staffordshire working with owner-led businesses, with a strong and growing focus on diversified farms, rural businesses and visitor attractions. If you’ve been burned before, you’re are not alone. Most people come to us after spending money on “marketing” that wasn’t tied to anything measurable: enquiries, bookings, footfall or sales.
We start by asking questions, not pushing services. If we can't see a sensible route to improvement, we'll tell you.
Our Mission
Our mission tis to build marketing set-ups that work while you are busy running the business.
We work with owner-led businesses who want straight answers and steady growth through digital marketing without wasting money.
We focus on what pays back: being found, being chosen and turning interest into bookings and enquiries.
Our Team
Benn Price
Co-Founder / Director
25 years shaping brands that work in the real world.
Benn’s career began in graphic design and has evolved through nearly three decades of creative leadership, strategy and consultancy. He has worked with thousands (probably - he is older than he looks) of organisations - from startups and charities to established brands and national programmes - giving him a deep understanding of how identity systems need to function in the real world.
Blending a designer’s precision with strategic thinking, Benn builds brands that hold their structure and character everywhere they show up: your website, signage, print, socials.
He is the recipient of the Postgraduate Leadership and Impact Award from the University of Staffordshire.
This craft forms the foundation where strong, enduring identities take shape.
Katie Crocker
Co-Founder / Director
Marketing that supports growth (and doesn't create more admin!)
Katie focuses on the practical side. Working on systems and marketing that works alongside running a business day-to-day.
Many organisations struggle under outdated assumptions and scattered effort. Katie helps teams cut through that noise, make confident decisions and build a set up that genuinely support growth (all without living on social media or chasing trends).
If Benn shapes the message and look, Katie make sure it works week to week.
Why Farms and Rural Businesses?
We’re not farmers. We won’t pretend we are.
But we live in Staffordshire and we care about the rural communities around us,. We don’t want good businesses getting left behind because digital feels like a different language. A lot of farms are being pushed to change how they make money. Diversification is now part of farm income.
We bring the digital marketing skills. You bring the farming knowledge.
Our job is to help you get found, get chosen and turn interest into enquiries and bookings without wasting money.
Our Approach
1. We ask Questions
Before anything else, we explore who you are, what you are trying to achieve, what's getting in the way, what it's costing you (time, money, missed bookings) and what success looks like in real numbers.
2. We make a plan
We design a strategic plan for what to do now, what to do later and what to stop doing. This can be a plan that you work with our MOT service or a plan we can work with you to deliver.
3. We Make it REal
Ths might be a better website, better search engine or AI visibility, ads for key periods or a clearer message. We don't build things just to look busy.
4. We Keep Improving or Hand it over cleanly
If we’re working together ongoing, we review what’s working and keep improving it.
If you’re not ready for ongoing support, you still leave with a plan you can use.
Who We Work With
Spark & Forge works with owner-led businesses who want:
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A plan, not random effort
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Marketing that brings enquiries and bookings
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Someone who’ll steer the decisions, not just “do as asked”
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A set-up that improves over time, not a one-off burst
Two common routes we work with:
1) Working farms diversifying on the side
Farm shop, café, glamping, PYO, small attractions where time is tight and spend has to be sensible.
2) Visitor attractions and rural destinations
Established sites with staff and overheads where growth needs planning and moving away from seasonality.
If you want steady growth without wasting money, we should talk.
Our Values in Action
Integrity with Impact
We tell you the truth, even when it's not what you hear. We set expectations early, we agree what "good" looks like and if something won't pay back, we won't recommend it.
Creativity with Purpose
Ideas are only useful if they bring trade. Everything ties back to the goals you want to achieve and we choose the options that work.
Authentic Connection
Good work needs straight conversations. We listen properly, we ask the awkward questions and you'll always know what's happening and why.
And yes - we will make the time to visit when it matters. Wellies on the ground.
Lifelong Learning & Relentless Innovation
Things change. We keep up so you don't get left behind. We test, measure and improve and we ill answer your questions about new technology and what is worth paying attention to.
Radical Respect
We respect your time, your team and your business. We don't do jargon. drama and no question is not worth our time.
Encouragement & Empowerment
We don't want you dependent on an agency. We explain what we are doing in plan English. We give you systems your team can run and we help you make decisions with confidence.
The Next Generation, By Our Side
We work with the University of Staffordshire and emerging designers/marketers through placements and live briefs.
It keeps our work sharp and gives us extra hands when appropriate without lowering standards. Everything is directed and checked properly, and clients benefit from fresh thinking backed by experience.
Looking Ahead
The internet will keep changing. Customer expectations will keep shifting and tech companies will keep moving the goalposts.
The answer isn’t chasing every new thing.
It’s having a brand and marketing set-up that still works when things change and a partner who’ll tell you what matters, what doesn’t and what to do next.
If you’re ready to grow without wasting money, we’re ready to help.