PROFILE: Chris Hinds - Head of Marcoms, Brother

In consumer marketing it's fairly typical to create an audience for a new product. Think cereal bars. Kellog's recognised that some people could not afford the time for breakfast so they created 'breakfast in a bar'. Then Lemsip came along with a flu solution for people who are too busy for sickness: just tip the yellow powder on your tongue for a super productive day wowing the boss with reports.

But surely the B2B market cannot be so easily manipulated – not with the multi-layered DMU and the complete suspension of emotion and compulsion. Or can it? Hardware manufacturer Brother has been on a mission since early 2004 to cultivate the home working market with its 'all-in-one' machines which can print, copy, fax and scan. And marketing has been the driving force with Chris Hinds, head of marcoms, steering this from the core.

The Brother offices are located on Shepley Street in one of Manchester's less glamorous areas – replace images of footballers' mock Tudor mansions with low-rise estates and visions of Selfridges food hall with Aldi, and you get the picture. This is a neighbourhood where interest in current affairs is 'very low', yet it's from here that Brother is challenging – if not already changing – the status quo of where we work.