Author: Lindsey Davies

Local agencies work together for smart launch

Posted on July 16, 2013 by

Open Communications and Our Agency, both based at Nostell Priory Estate Yard outside of Wakefield, recently worked together to launch the new smart card brand MCard, which will make travel throughout West Yorkshire easier.

 

The launch, which took place at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, brought together all travel operators from across the region, alongside Metro, to announce plans that will roll out a strategy that will ultimately allow passengers to use a single ticket to access all bus and rail networks using touch based smart enabled technology.

 

The design agency worked with the PR team to create an event that would announce the plans and unveil the MCard brand to key stakeholders, transport operators and media. In addition branded cupcakes and goody bags including umbrellas, nail files, coffee cups and USB sticks were also handed out to mark the occasion.

 

WY TICCO Executive Officer, Richard Harris, said: “The launch of the MCard marks a substantial milestone in our journey and we were really pleased with the outcomes, which were as a result of a genuine team effort. Our Agency and Open Comms worked effectively together to bring about a positive result.”

 

Our Agency Owner, Ian Winterbottom said: “The MCard launch is the culmination of almost a year’s work. We have been keeping the brand under wraps until now, being unable to disclose any details of the project. When it came to collaborating with a PR agency, Open Communications was the perfect partnership. We’ve worked on projects together in the past and being neighbours on the Nostell Estate meant we could ensure confidentiality. The team at Open Comms share our Yorkshire sense of humour and work ethic and we knew we could count on them to deliver the event.”

 

Director at Open Communications, Lindsey Davies said: “This project was an ideal opportunity to show how two teams really can come together to meet with the clients objectives. As we are both based at Nostell Priory it makes perfect sense for us to come together and share our complementary services. We will certainly be working with Our Agency again in the future.”

 

Our Agency pitched against four other creative agencies in 2012 to win the creative project and has been working towards the launch for some 6 months. Founded in 2007, Our Agency has a number of local clients including Sugden’s, one of Wakefield’s most established companies. And it’s not only Yorkshire based organisations who find Our Agency a great team to work with, they have also recently completed projects in Turkey, Azerbaijhan and The Ukrane, proving that a local business can hold its own internationally.

 

Open Communications, the straight talking PR agency, was founded in 2008 by Emma Lupton and Lindsey Davies. The business has grown over recent years with the team working with companies of all sizes from Abdul’s takeaway and diners and Spectrum Community Health through to HARIBO and Pom-Bear.

 

For more details about Our Agency please visit www.our-agency.co.uk and for information about Open Communications please visit www.opencomms.co.uk.

I have a confession…

Posted on July 15, 2013 by

 

I’ve never been to the Great Yorkshire Show. Despite growing up in North Yorkshire and now living in West Yorkshire I have just never got around to it. I do really want to go and think it’s important that we make time to support these events but I just didn’t get around to it.

Last year it was a disaster due to the weather but this year it was glorious sunshine, what better way to spend a day than trying out some local ales and home grown foods, while engaging with some of the many businesses who are based in the Yorkshire region.

I am also particularly interesting in the arts and crafts that are showcased at these events. I love going along to the steam gatherings which take place in Masham and Hunton, near where I’m from. Not only are there cake stalls and the usual vegetable growing competitions but also a massive collective of talents including sewing, wood craft and painting.

I’ve always really wanted to be creative when it comes to crafts and have a sewing machine, but I haven’t spent enough time using it to become any good. I do however want to change that and you never know I could be showcasing my own creations in the future – although I won’t hold my breath!

I am going to make it my mission next year to go to the Great Yorkshire Show. I remember when we were at primary and secondary school it would be accepted and expected that people took time off to go along to the event and I still never managed it!

From the website it looks like it was a huge success and with a waiting list of exhibitors there is no doubt that the many companies that were promoting their wares got great value from it. As some of the largest businesses in the country are based in the county we really should make the effort to support events like this and to champion and shout about the beautiful area we live in.

If you were lucky enough to attend then let me know what you thought. I have heard some amazing things about the show and hope that in future years I will find the time to go along and experience it for myself.

3D printing, coming to a home near you

Posted on July 10, 2013 by

 

For those of you who read my blog about the Buy Yorkshire Conferenceyou will know that some of the evolutionary technologies discussed at the event really got me thinking about the future, and in particular about the many opportunities for innovation that will be created by 3D printing.

The thoughts from the event were that although these technologies, including 3D print, were great, they were still some way off being given approval for general release, so you will understand my excitement when I find that as reported in The Drum yesterday, Maplin have launched a machine known as the K8200 kit that can be purchased by the general public.

Now, in most instances this is the point where we have to take a step back and remember that although it is available that doesn’t mean that it is affordable however Maplin have said that the machine takes up to 10 hours to construct, which in turns lowers its cost, and can create any plastic model within 30 minutes, fitting to its scale of 20cm3. The idea over time is that children will be playing with this rather than computer games!

Never mind the children, what about agencies? Doesn’t this present the opportunity to be even more creative and to make scale model products to show the client rather than presenting pretty pictures? I’m not sure how realistic this is but it’s got to get you thinking, right?

How exciting would it be to show off your 3D printer by creating unique products for a campaign. I wonder how long it will be before we move on from ‘printing’ with plastic and start to use other materials. Could you 3D print something that was edible on a mass scale for example – now that would be impressive.

It will be interesting to see how many people make the purchase and if the company’s theories are correct. I know what I would be putting on my Christmas list if I had one.

 

Can interactive print really deliver?

Posted on July 9, 2013 by

 

Working with a print and document management company and an international print manager we are always looking for examples of best practice when it comes to direct mail or marketing materials. Not only do we look for good quality imagery and interesting formats but also pieces that go above and beyond to really capture the attention of the audience.

 

Interactive print is a bit of a buzz word within the industry at the moment, with lots of companies recognising the need to integrate digital and print together in order to create the necessary impact, which will encourage the recipient to open the piece and most importantly read it.

 

As QR codes and now AR codes and blippar, plus other apps, become second nature with agencies and consumers it goes without saying that they need to be considered when brands are planning their next marketing campaign, launch or project.

 

What has changed recently is clients attitudes towards apps; long gone are the days where we can test and measure an idea, now is the time that these things have to deliver a return on investment just like everything else. Pretty pictures are all well and good but if your exploding fruit or branded game doesn’t encourage purchase then you have to question what the point was – did it meet with objectives? Probably not.

 

I was really surprised recently when my brother gave me what looked like a hard backed booklet from Auto Trader. He works within this industry and often comments that he receives lots of promotional emails that he just simply doesn’t get chance (nor has the desire) to open and read.

 

As an advertiser with Auto Trader magazine my brother had received this particular piece and thought that it was quite impressive and I have to agree, it is. The concept is simple, it’s a direct mail piece which says ‘Your buyers are online, are you…..?’. When you open the piece there is an image of a smart phone which suddenly comes to life and plays a video showing the benefits to advertising in Auto Trader along with a timeline of how the business has changed over the years.

 

What Auto Trader have managed to do with this piece is to create intrigue, harness interest and engage with the end user, a prospect and a customer, better still they have encouraged both myself and my brother to share the piece and tell others about it, further extending the audience reach.

 

This piece is a real example of how print and digital can work together to make a communication stronger. There is absolutely no way that I would have looked twice at this if it hadn’t been so well executed.

 

I have included a short video of how the piece works as I honestly do think that many marketing agencies could take some learnings from the simple concept through to delivery of this piece.

 

Please do share your own examples of excellent direct marketing and mail campaigns with us. Can anyone top this quirky campaign or have you even seen better examples that you can showcase?

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Have you got the power?

Posted on July 5, 2013 by

It doesn’t matter whether you are the very best widget seller in the world, or that you can make 100 cold calls an hour, if you haven’t got the power then your business simply won’t work. So what is the power? Well, in simple terms it is your reputation.

 

When you think about it PR and marketing aren’t rocket science but what they are is powerful tools that can take your business from good to great. We often speak to businesses who say that they haven’t got the time to manage their communications because they are too busy doing the day job.

 

Thankfully our clients are able to rely on us to make sure that people know all about them and the products and services they offer but what about the others?

 

If you take a step back and think about the purpose of effective business communications – whether digital, written or spoken – the idea is that you give people the information that they need to form an impression. What you need to make sure is that this is the right impression and that you appeal to prospects. In order to do that the fundamental requirement is to be liked.

 

Having a great service is just the start when you work in any organisation what’s more important is that you get on with your clients and you take the time to communicate with them and share your innovations, ideas and successes. Pass them the power.

 

People don’t come knocking on your door just because – they need that push to do so. PR allows a business to manage its reputation, which is questionably the most important asset of any company of any size.

 

As an example if you are scared of flying, as I am, then you wouldn’t be comfortable booking a flight with an airline you had never heard of but if you have seen and even engaged with a brand that you have chosen to soar through the skies at 37,000 feet with you feel more comfortable. The truth is that these businesses invest in PR and marketing, which in turn leads to credibility and trust that means people are more likely to book with them as opposed to an alternative.

 

This principle can be applied to any business of any size.   

 

Take Open Communications, we are not the biggest PR agency but we have a portfolio of fantastic businesses that we work with and this is because when we launched in 2008 we were adamant that we would manage our own PR. Although it sounds strange you would be surprised at how many agencies can’t find the time to communicate with their clients and prospects.

 

As a result of the PR that we do for Open, and the relationships that we have with our clients, 80% of our new business comes from recommendation. We know that through effective communication, which includes the blog, press releases, sponsorship and relationships we are giving our own business the power.

 

The values of our business are relatively simple; what you see is what you get, we are straight talking and we do the job and do it well. All of our clients understand how we work and because we manage our own reputation, as well as that of our customers, we have been able to grow and develop over the last five years.

 

Building relationships is essential to the success of any organisation and that starts with word of mouth, so make sure that when people talk about your business they are conveying your key messages and that you are giving them the power that they need to become your next best advocate.

What is PR?

Posted on June 21, 2013 by

We get asked this question all of the time and the answer is relatively simple; PR is the principle of managing the reputation of a brand or business through the implementation of an effective communications strategy, whether that be online, in print or broadcast.

The very nature of PR means that this top line explanation is woolly at best. It doesn’t really tell you much about what it is that we do – it’s just a sentence that you might find in a book. I’m not a huge fan of jargon or textbook speak so to give you a peek into the life of a PR agency here’s a round-up of what I have been getting up to this week.

An early start on Monday with an email from our international client asking for an update on activity completed. It’s not impossible to work with clients from abroad when you manage a PR agency (even when they are at the other side of the world), as ‘new’ technologies allow you to speak face-to-face making it simpler to communicate as and when required. Unfortunately you can’t change time zones and therefore you have to be awake pretty early to pick up these calls but a little planning solves any potential problems.

The week’s planned activity then starts with the launch of the Bondholder, the Diamond Scheme, an initiative supported by public and private sector organisations in Wakefield, which are hoping to generate a fund that will be used to implement a marketing and communications campaign that will promote the district to local, regional and national audiences.

As we are a trade as well as consumer PR agency, it was then on to some feature writing for a client working within the print sector. They have invested in machinery and therefore we are putting some press materials together that will be sent to trade journalists. Raising the clients profile in trade media means that they are able to shout about their successes and let customers and prospective employees know that they are still a major player within their market.

It’s then down to some social media planning. Like many agencies we manage the social media platforms for some of our clients and this means updating schedules, creating new and exciting ideas and being as creative as we can be with imagery. As imagery is a big driver of social engagement it’s no longer just about the words so we get our heads together and come up with some quirky recipe ideas that will support this particular client during a key seasonal activity we have planned.

Updating the social feeds on twitter and Facebook is a daily task for us and so we manage these accounts, check to make sure all responses have been sent and that the feeds are updated. If necessary we will like, share, retweet or favourite comments and take down any posts which are inappropriate and offensive – thankfully we don’t get too much of this.

We then have a visitor to the office, following the recommendation of another client at Open Communications we have a new business meeting. We are always very humbled (and of course chuffed to bits!) when our clients  recommend us to their contacts. We chat for a good hour and explain how PR works and how it could add value to this particular business. As one size does not fit all in PR some thought has to go in to the audience, media and messaging. We agree to put a proposal together, which will give the contact all of the detail that they need, before we arrange a follow up meeting.

Now, on to something completely different.

We have a full schedule of activity for Pom-Bear, the potato based snack brand, this year and as the consumer PR agency are working hard to make sure the business gets best value from the recommendations we have made in relation to events and sponsorships.

As the brand has just launched a new Zoo themed snack we are touring the country to sample more than 50,000 bags at Wildlife Centres and animal attractions including Dudley Zoo, Marwell Park and Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm.

Lots of planning has gone into each event and we have a programme of activities which run back-to-back. As the lead on this account it’s up to me to manage each event and ensure that everything is running as it should be. As an agency that takes huge pride it the clients that we work with, we prefer to be at the events that we plan. There is nothing worse than leaving things to chance and that simply isn’t the way that we work at Open Communications.

So, it’s off to Dudley. The weather has held off and our gazebo, banners, flags and signs are attracting the crowds in the hundreds. Pom-Bear is on great form and has the children dancing, singing and of course sampling his snacks.

As the events on Wednesday and Thursday are during the morning to early afternoon this means that I have chance to catch up on emails and draft some more copy for a series of clients before starting some research on a project we are looking in to.

Regular calls to the office mean that I don’t miss the team too much, although I’m sure they would prefer that I only call if there’s an emergency – I must work on that!

Media relations is the focus for now. We are managing a press event and launch in a couple of weeks so we need to know how many journalists to expect. I will be calling each to find out if they are available and updating the team accordingly. This is a business based story so means that regional, national, print and broadcast journalists are all invited – it’s a big list!

It will then be a follow up on the recent launch of a new product, which should have consumer journalists munching on some tasty samples from Penn State, the classic American snack brand. I will follow up and find out what they think before updating the team and sending further samples to those that have ‘got lost in the post’.

It will then be on to the next Pom-Bear event, which takes place from 6pm – 10.30pm. It’s more Pom-Bear fun, with competitions, dancing, games and more tasty samples.  Unlike some jobs it’s unlikely when you work in PR that you will have a 9am – 5pm role and I’m no different.

On Saturday it’s off to Gillwell Park for a Beaver Scouts Fun Day. It should be a great event and with more than 6,000 eager young members of the Scouting Association in attendance I’m expecting it’s going to be a busy one.  As sponsor of the Adventure Activity Badge for the Scouts, Pom-Bear will make an appearance and will also host a special trail with prizes to be won.

It’s a varied life when you work in PR and that’s why I enjoy my job so much. Whether we are managing the launch of a business, drafting copy for emailers and website, managing the trade and consumer PR activity for leading brands or engaging with journalists and bloggers no two days are ever the same.

I’m very fortunate to have a supportive (and calming) business partner at Open Comms and for those of you who know Emma you will understand what I mean. Someone once said to me that PR was like spinning plates and at the time I didn’t know what they mean. More than 10 years later I couldn’t agree more but when there are two of you working together it makes life so much easier.

Obviously at Open Communications we also have the wider (and growing) team to call upon and this again means that we have the capacity to manage the PR for leading household brands and smaller local businesses – variety is after all the spice of life.

PR is certainly not for the light-hearted but for those of you who didn’t know what it involves I hope you now have some idea of what it is that we do. Now, I’m off to get some work done – there’s no rest for the wicked you know!

Are we stifling creativity with processes?

Posted on June 20, 2013 by

We were recently invited to a Mi Networking event in Leeds and decided that as the focus was about innovations in technology we would go along and see what it was all about. Honestly expecting to hear about the advancements in social media (again) and how it’s imperative to ‘engage’ and ‘share’ with your audience, we were pleasantly surprised to be confronted by Dave Birss.

In order to give you some background, Dave is a creative but that doesn’t really do him justice. He has worked for some of the world’s largest agencies and has written books and created websites and apps more or less in some instances because he could. They are funny, quirky, interesting and in most cases useful – well other than ‘are you an asshat’.

What made him different was his enthusiasm for genuine creativity – not pretty pictures or the latest App that delivers very little but you can watch in 3D! – but real life examples of pushing the boundaries beyond brand.

During the session Dave focused on taking education and creating inspiration. He explained that creativity is stifled with process and I’m inclined to agree. We all get so caught up in systems, processes and procedures that we think in a linear way, without even recognising that we are doing it. This was lesson one for me!

He then went on to explain that if your creative idea doesn’t make a real difference you need to change the way that you are thinking – which is exactly what he did. He shocked me a little by announcing that not every brand needs social media. I thought I was pretty alone with this school of thought but apparently not. He, like me, feels that it’s more important to identify with the consumer behaviours of a product or service before jumping on a bandwagon and that traditional mediums can still deliver excellent results and jaw dropping impact.

Dave kept coming back to the same thing time and time again with the examples that he was showing – ideas, ideas and more ideas. He shared some websites, which some of you may be familiar with but I certainly wasn’t – Kickstarter as an example. This is a site which allows you to showcase an idea in a bid to generate funding. Those who like the idea will purchase the product in order to allow you to invest further in its development. What an amazing concept.

Then there was his thoughts on how in order to create truly integrated campaigns all of the technologies need to work together. Now, this is where it gets interesting. Dave wasn’t suggesting you make a design work across platforms or look pretty on an iPhone but that one concept, creative or theme was used across platforms and performed in a different way to add value to the user. So you could have one campaign with multi-purpose depending on what platform the consumer chose to use. Brilliant!

A lot of what Dave said made perfect sense, although it became frighteningly apparent that his passion for technology goes well beyond that of most people when he started to show individuals who are linking their nervous systems to computers and implanting chips in their bodies to create additional senses – hmmm, I’ll leave that one for now thanks.

As a result of the session we were buzzing and although a lot of what Dave said would fit into the ‘oh, of course’ category, it was a real pleasure to watch and learn about technology from the perspective of a true creative.

For more details about Dave Birss visit:   http://userguidetothecreativemind.com/davebirss/index.html

So thank you Mi Network for inviting us to this event. It was a great opportunity to take some time out and get back to what we are good at; getting excited over ideas, proposals and the brands we work with.

A campaign for the collective good

Posted on June 19, 2013 by

We were pleased to be asked to attend a very special launch this week, which took place at the Hepworth Art Gallery in Wakefield on Monday morning. Along with a room full of business people we were told about a new initiative which will ask businesses to contribute a fixed fee to become part of the Bondholder, the Diamond Scheme.

Taking learnings from Hull, which has successfully implemented a similar campaign for the last ten years, Wakefield will call upon businesses to invest their money in order to create a fund which will then be used to market the city locally, regionally and beyond. As a PR agency based in Wakefield this idea was clearly of great interest to us.

Each company that chooses to take part will receive a series of benefits including marketing materials, access to an online procurement platform and special sector specific networking events and breakfast briefings. Larger companies will also benefit as this could form part of their corporate social responsible due to the very nature of the Scheme.

The reason it is more interesting than ‘just another initiative’ is that the Scheme has been developed by public and private sector business. Not only that but a panel of 12 ambassadors will manage the ‘cash pot’ and decide where the funds should be invested – providing a completely impartial and transparent procurement process.

Needless to say this creates opportunities for Wakefield based companies to support the district, raise its profile beyond the M62 and also encourage investment locally, after all these are the businesses that share a passion for the area and have first class experience of what it has to offer.

I really like this idea and am pleased at last that Wakefield as a collective are getting off their bottom and doing something to raise the profile of the district, after all it has a huge amount to offer.  It will be interesting to see how many businesses come forward to support the initiative and I hope that those who have committed verbally will do so.

As a Wakefield based PR agency we talk a lot in the office about what more could be done to promote the district and we are hoping that the Bondholder, the Diamond Scheme will deliver on its promises to do just that. There is a hub of creative businesses within Wakefield and the five towns and the biggest frustration is that the area has so much potential but doesn’t shout about its success!

As always with things like this there are questions to be answered but at the very least something is happening that could just turn the tables for Wakefield and change perceptions about the city, which after all has a rich cultural, leisure, business and retail offering.

As the agency that supported the launch of this Scheme and secured coverage throughout regional media, we  will be watching this Scheme closely and will provide readers of our blog with updates. I’m hoping that they will be positive and other cities will be using Wakefield as an example of best practice in the months and years to come.

One size doesn’t fit all

Posted on June 14, 2013 by

When you work in PR you quickly recognise that one size does not fit all when it comes to campaign planning. For a start the audience for every client will differ slightly – you can always use less defined targets such as men, women, geographical location or demographic but being more specific means that we are able to meet with the objectives set by the brands we work with.

What is also important is the medium that we choose to engage with. Not every campaign will rely on all channels and I’ve seen a few frightening examples recently where agencies have mismatched the campaign and the medium. Sometimes it’s best to do one thing really well than lots of things badly.

There is a strange attitude within the industry at the moment with some agencies believing that everything needs to be shared across social media channels and I simply don’t agree. There are some campaigns that sit better on radio, or within printed media – not everything has to feature on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest or YouTube to get results and engagement.

It seems to me that agencies are pitching social media as a sexy alternative to other mediums and rather than tailoring a campaign around a preferred medium, ideas are being shoe-horned to fit social channels.
I think it’s time that we all took a step back and went back to basics.

When we work with brands at Open Communications we look at the following; audience, media consumption, ideas, strongest recommendations. Ok, so it’s not brain surgery but if you use the same process you are likely to get a campaign that is fit for purpose and delivers a return on investment, which at the end of the day is what you pay an agency for!

Don’t dismiss the opportunities on your doorstep

Posted on June 10, 2013 by

As you would expect of a PR agency, we are often asked to recommend media channels for brands and businesses when developing campaigns, events and stunts.

Although many agencies would quickly recommend national media with larger audiences (and not surprisingly commanding bigger budgets) we always think about the objectives of that particular activity and how the message will be communicated by our chosen medium.

It is always surprising when businesses and agencies dismiss regional media whether for advertising or editorial opportunities. We term these titles heartland, as they are usually located at the heart of a community where a brand or business is based.

Although many companies believe that the CEO or Managing Director of a business will only read leading trade and national titles it’s fair to say that in our experience that isn’t true. Many leading senior executives will read regional media to find out what is going on in their local area.

What is most frustrating about this situation is when people are dismissive of regional titles to then get excited when they feature in them – it’s one way or another!

We have long been an advocate of regional media and the opportunities that print and broadcast media offer; promotions, competitions, editorial, features, advertorials and of course standard advertising.

Next time you are considering a campaign think about the businesses that are based in your local area. Are they large or small? Would you send the MD of a multi-million pound business packing because he was local? Unlikely, so perhaps the same thought process should go to working and engaging with regional titles and channels.

The beauty of PR is that you don’t have to be restrictive so if your preferred agency dismisses regional media ask them why. If they say people don’t read the papers, listen to the radio stations or watch the local news take this simple test – ask people you meet in everyday life what the last paper, radio station or TV news programme they engaged with was. I bet there is at least 6 out of 10 who will mention a regional title, station or programme then you have your answer.

The truth is that people do read, listen to and watch regional media and as a result this makes them a valid medium for engagement with prospects and customers.