Robin Gregson - News
- After the Dragon's Den
- Promoting the Healthy Eating Message
- Marketing a Priority for Forward-Looking Business
- PR Support for UK Bath Manufacturer
- Airborne Archaeology
- High Growth Programme - Free Coaching Support
- Start-Up Support in Lancashire
- Press Day for Capernwray Dive Centre
- Chartered Marketer Status
After the Dragons' Den
I am currently providing coaching support to a number of clients across the North West who need help with their marketing and communications strategies. These include manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and professional services businesses, all of which have taken advantage of a government scheme that can provide match-funded grants of up to £1,000.
One
of these was Yasmin Hussain, founder of the Blackburn based Tri-Namic
Balls, which designs and sells novelty sports balls that can be used as
gifts or as branded promotional items. She worked with me to develop her
own PR and marketing capabilities so that she could capitalise on the
promotional opportunities afforded by her recent appearance on the BBC’s
Dragons’ Den programme (September 19th).
Although Yasmin did not secure the investment she was looking for, the Dragons were very supportive and said that whilst they did not see it as an investment opportunity, the company had the potential to do well. This certainly seems to be the case: the programme aired between 9 and 10pm on the Monday evening and in the space of just two hours, the Tri-Namic website received well over a thousand new visits.
Yasmin
began working with me in June, knowing that her forthcoming appearance
on Dragons’ Den would bring new exposure and marketing opportunities.
In particular, she wanted to develop her understanding of PR and the media
so that she could gain maximum coverage immediately after the programme’s
airing.
Together, we organised a series of one-to-one workshops and in her final session, which was held the day after the programme had aired, Yasmin used her new-found skills and confidence to begin approaching local, regional and national journalists. As a result, she secured widespread coverage in community magazines, business publications and national trade media without spending a penny on advertising.
“The workshops were really helpful, said Yasmin. “I’ve got a lot of new ideas and a much better appreciation of how to engage with journalists. I was delighted by their responses. Every editor I spoke to was really receptive and the first articles started appearing on line within just an hour or two of contacting them. It has definitely helped to raise the Tri-Namic profile and it’s made me increasingly confident about the company’s prospects for the future.”
More details about Tri-Namic Balls can be found at www.trinamicballs.com.
For more information about the availability of government funding for coaching support, please contact me.
Promoting the Healthy Eating Message
I
recently had the opportunity to begin working with a client called Junior
Chefs' Academy, which is based in the Wirral and looking to expand
its activities into Lancashire and beyond. The company does an excellent
job of teaching primary school children about food; which foods are healthy,
where they come from, how to prepare them and so on. Seeing their head
chef Paul Cooper in action is an education in itself and his ability to
hold the attention of a room full of excited young pupils is a rare thing
to behold.
In order to promote the company's work, I worked with the directors to devise and plan a publicity event that would achieve two important objectives. Firstly, it would alert people to the launch of Junior Chefs' Academy's free summer season of workshops in Merseyside and, secondly, it would afford an opportunity to announce the company's readiness to work with Lancashire schools in the forthcoming academic year.
The
event format entailed bringing a VIP audience to witness one of the sessions
in action, and asking the children to prepare and serve a nutritious three
course meal for the visitors. Amongst others, the guests of honour included
the Lord Mayor of Liverpool and the Lady Mayoress; Eustace de Sousa, NHS
Deputy Director of Children's Health; North West Food Ambassador Philippa
James and the talented young chef Luke Thomas, whose ambition it is to
be Britain's youngest Michelin-starred chef.
The
session proved to be a tremendous success, impressing all the VIP guests,
the event sponsors and the parents of the children who participated. It
also achieved its goals in terms of media exposure, securing coverage
on the BBC's North West Tonight programme, in Educate magazine, which
covers the whole of the Merseyside area, and in a variety of other local
and regional media. An excellent video report by Philippa James can be
found on the Lancashire
One website. (Opens in a new window.)
Look out for further news and events as Junior Chefs' Academy continues with its mission to support new culinary talent throughout the region.
Marketing a Priority for Forward-Looking Business
Conditions may be challenging for North West entrepreneurs but a number of far-sighted businesses are clearly taking the view that there is no better time to invest in their brands than when their competitors are reining back on their marketing.
Since the start of 2011, I've seen a pronounced upsurge in interest from clients who are keen to reappraise their marketing strategy, to improve their marketing materials or to boost customer awareness through a variety of marketing communication techniques. Some of my newest clients include an international property investment house, a fast growing building contractor, an economic development and social enterprise consultancy, a structural engineering business, a home improvement franchise, a laboratory equipment manufacturer, an expert witness working in the field of occupational therapy and one of the region's largest and most firmly established gas maintenance companies.
Amongst these and other clients, there is a palpable sense of determination to pursue ambitious strategies for growth and to lead the region's economic recovery from the front. Like a growing number of others, they are adhering to a philosophy that is strongly supported by the Chartered Institute of Marketing's own quantitative and qualitative research, which affirms that "those organisations that increase and hone their marketing spend in a recession are those who emerge strongest when recovery comes."
PR Support for UK Bath Manufacturer
One of my more recent clients is Design and Form - a Lancaster based manufacturer of high quality baths and hydrotherapy systems. Now exporting its products throughout the world, it excels in the production of custom built bath-forms for architects, interior designers and discerning private clients.
In
parallel with its bespoke products, the company also sells more standardised
baths from within its well respected 'Cabuchon' range. These are as popular
with hoteliers, health spas and leisure industry professionals as they
are with home owners, and they are shipped as far afield as as Canada,
Asia and Hawaii.
Given its multifaceted capability, Design and Form is not short of target markets, either in the UK or abroad, so an important early task has been to prioritise effort in order to ensure that the PR activity will yield a significant and rapid return.
The campaign has begun with a series of new product launch announcements aimed at UK based design professionals. It will subsequently be developed to include visually impressive photo-features and case studies of successful applications within hotels, private homes and even the occasional yacht...
Further information about Design and Form can be found on the company's website - www.designandform.com or by visiting www.cabuchon.com.
Airborne Archaeology
In the latter half of 2010, I carried out some direct marketing work for a rather unusual client in Cheshire who is making a significant contribution to the world of archaeology through the use of highly advanced unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).
sUAVe
Aerial Photographers is run by Greg Colley - a former computer programmer,
a keen amateur photographer and a licensed pilot. This rare suite of skills
made him ideally qualified to launch his new hi-tech business, which offers
high quality aerial photography to clients across the UK.
Since these small, remotely controlled aircraft can fly at low altitudes and can be launched without the need for pilots, runways or clearance from air traffic controllers, they enable impressive and highly detailed images to be captured quickly, easily, and at a small fraction of the cost associated with photography from conventional aircraft.
In the short time since its launch, sUAVe has been embraced by clients from many different industries. The archaeological sector has been a key market but Greg's services are also proving popular amongst heritage specialists, construction companies and public authorities.
The direct marketing activity has been very successful and Greg is now busy dealing with enquiries throughout the country. For details of some of his latest projects, please visit the sUAVe website.
If you would like to discuss a direct marketing or copywriting project of your own, please contact me.
High Growth Programme - Free Coaching Support
Since 2009, I have been a registered coach on the High Growth Programme - a £10 million business support initiative funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA). The scheme is managed by The Winning Pitch and it provides up to ten days of free coaching support to companies and social enterprises with a significant capacity for expansion.
Under the programme, I have provided free marketing coaching support to companies that range from sole traders to PLCs, and in sectors as diverse as engineering and the performing arts.
At a time when companies' budgets are stretched and managers are coming under increasing pressure to achieve more with fewer resources, the programme has served as an excellent means of securing valuable professional support and advice completely free of charge. Towards the end of 2010, however, the project was substantially curtailed and its eligibility criteria made more restrictive but companies with demonstrable potential for growth may still be able to claim support. More information, including the formal eligibility criteria can be found on the High Growth Programme website.
Start-Up Support in Lancashire
Since 1998, I have been carrying out freelance marketing work for Enterprise4All, a not-for-profit business support organisation that is charged with delivering a variety of regional business support programmes funded by the NWDA.
Enterprise4All
specialises in providing support to under-represented groups such as women
entrepreneurs, people dealing with disabilities, over 50s and people from
minority ethnic backgrounds.
In May 2009, the company hosted the NWDA's 'BME Masterclass' at Preston North End, where business support specialists from across the region gathered to consider examples of best practice in delivering support for minority ethnic groups.
More recently, Enterprise4All was named by NWDA as one of the delivery agencies for the Intensive Start-Up Support programme, through which new businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs can secure free assistance and advice to help them succeed in their critical early stages.
My work is a mixture of in-house work - promoting Enterprise4All and the free support that it can offer to entrepreneurs and fledgling businesses - as well as direct consultancy support for some of those businesses that the company is assisting.
More information about the company and its services can be found on the Enterprise4All website.
Press Day for Capernwray Dive Centre
They
say that you shouldn't mix business with pleasure, but sometimes the opportunity
is hard to turn down. That was the case when an EU funded business support
project on which I was working was extended to cover the far north of
Lancashire.
The project provided free support to small and medium sized businesses in ERDF-funded areas of the county. One of the companies that operates in the area is Capernwray Diving and Leisure - a popular scuba diving venue where I indulge one of my favourite hobbies - so I was keen to offer whatever help I could.
Although it attracts upwards of 37,000 visitors a year, Capernwray is largely unknown outside of the diving community, so I agreed to help the business to organise a series of press visits designed to raise local awareness about the centre. The campaign began with a specially organised press day, when we gave local newspaper and radio journalists a chance to discover scuba diving for themselves.
Chief
instructor Adam Hanlon conducted the proceedings, introducing the journalists
to the equipment, safety procedures and the site itself, before everyone
entered the water and followed Adam on a fascinating underwater tour.
My role was to co-ordinate the press invitations and the dissemination
of information, enabling the reporters to put together their various feature
articles. However, I also took the opportunity to act as underwater photographer
for the event, which made the day as much fun for me as for the journalists
- all of whom said that they had thoroughly enjoyed their visit.
This was the first in a series of media activities, which continued with announcements about the launch of an underwater filming business at the same site. Capernwray is now listed on a number of film makers' directories and has been used as a giant underwater film set by television and film makers.
More about Capernwray can be found here.
Chartered Marketer Status
As
of July 2007, I achieved the status of Chartered Marketer. Earned via
a formal process of continuous professional development, Chartered status
is intended to demonstrate that the holder practises the highest professional
marketing standards by keeping his or her marketing knowledge and skills
current.
The Chartered Institute of Marketing describes it as follows:
"Only The Chartered Institute of Marketing can award Chartered Marketer status to a marketer. We campaign with employers to recognise this status as the benchmark for highly skilled marketers. As a consultant in the marketing arena, Chartered Marketer status can demonstrate ongoing commitment and competency to your clients.
"Many marketers have a relevant marketing qualification, but Chartered Marketers must ensure that they maintain and develop the currency of their marketing skills and knowledge. Chartered Marketer status is an effective measurement of business competency and expertise, which will ultimately contribute to better business performance. It is also a reassurance that the marketer will be ethical, experienced and can demonstrate first class marketing skills to give (clients & employers) improved business advantage."
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All contents copyright 2004-2011 Robin Gregson (MCIM).
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