stone junction guide to marketing in the slowdown
TRANSCRIPT
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Executive summary 34
How PR has had to respond to changes in publishing
Executive summary 5
Dealing with the national press 57
Colour separations: The growing demand for payment 710
Top tips on taking advantage of the changes 10 12
How PR has had to respond to changes in Internet publishing
and Social Media
Introduction 13 17
Reputation management in chat rooms 18 20
Top ten free Web 2.0 sites for marketing pros 21 27
Case studies
Leading opinion: Toshiba Machines guide to return on
investment in automation 28 29
Trusting the message: Cressall Resistors nearly doubles
in size in one year 29 31
Closing message
It's not a recession yet! Why business should come out
fighting to beat the slowdown. 32 33
About the author 34
.../Table of contents
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et me begin by saying this isnt the first booklet Ive written about marketing in an
economic slowdown. It may not be the last. This is because slowdowns and
recessions happen on a cyclical basis. This remains true even though our current
economic slowdown is partially the result of trends in US sub prime lending, which
one might argue is a discrete element in the global economy, not an indicative factor of overall
health. Nevertheless, you will find that your house is much harder to sell, your energy costs have
increased and your weekly food bill is higher than this time last year. Much more importantly for
B2B marketers, every market survey indicates that your budget is decreasing and the return
expected from it is increasing.
The question is, what should you do about it? As a consumer you can sit tight in your house
before selling, switch your energy provider and make your
weekly shop more efficient. As a business you can do this too;
decreasing your capital expenditure until the bottom line
displays the necessary profit is a legitimate tactic. But as a
marketer you
have
a harder
task.
You
may
well
have
to
continue to produce the same results, in the form of leads and
sales, despite the overall decision to cut spending. In essence,
you are reading this guide because you want to buck the trend,
beat the market and profit despite the downturn. And you may
have to do it without the benefit of a big budget.
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.../Executive summary
,,,/ Is the economic slowdown
effecting your business?
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So, over the next few pages, Im going to present some ideas to save you money on your
marketing spend and some ideas to make that spend more efficient.
I mentioned at the start of my introduction that this isnt the first guide of this kind Ive
produced. Well, in one I put together in 2002, I wrote, Businesses that reduce investment in
marketing lose customers to those that market aggressively. In history, during lean times,
farmers starved rather than eat the crops they needed for the next years seeds. UK industry
should learn from this example when considering marketing budgets. I stand by those words
today.
.../Richard Stone, managing director, Stone Junction, 2008
3
Businesses that reduce investment in marketing lose customers to those that market aggressively. In history, during lean times, farmers starved rather than eat the crops
they needed for the next years seeds. UK industry should learn from this example when considering marketing budgets, Richard Stone.
.../Executive summary
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hen one considers the effect of the economy on publishing over the
last few years, one has to address four primary areas; the trade,
online, regional/local and national media. I will be dealing with the
online press separately, in my next chapter. The changes in that
sector have been so all encompassing since 2000, the year that I regard as the dawn of online
trade publishing for the engineering sector, that it merits a discrete section. In this chapter, I will
first look at approaching the national and regional or local press, then the question of colour
separations in the trade press. I will conclude with a number of top tips for targeting any media,
but ones that will work particularly well with the engineering or technology trade medias.
The national and regional media
I come across a lot of engineering and technology businesses that believe that the national and
regional press isnt a significant target for them. I would argue that this is generally not the case,
although there are always exceptions; very, very small niche businesses might only find this kind
of activity useful for recruitment purposes for example. However, if you decide that you want to
include the nationals and regionals in your PR strategy, there is a big problem to overcome.
This problem was highlighted by Hartmut Pannen, the newly appointed managing director of
Trumpf's UK recently. He told industry Web site ManufacturingTalk that he had toured some 100
UK companies that have sheet metal working shops in early 2008. He said he was astounded by
the innovative equipment in use; also, that much of the equipment seen was (cont. overleaf)
.../Responding to publishing The nationals
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contextualising pieces. However, the crux of the issue is that although the percentage is smaller,
the number is probably higher and the buying power of the readers may well be high; they are
more likely to be board members and senior staff. Depending on your product or service, this can
be either beneficial or disadvantageous. Your argument can also be significant, after all, there are
plenty of products where the buying chain includes both shop floor staff and senior people.
Ultimately, there are opportunities for national coverage for everyone involved in Manufacturing
listed or not. Its just that they are far more limited now than ever before. It takes a real nose
for them, you have to dig out every column that could cover engineering and address them
persistently. The first step would be to read the top five tips at the end of this article and act on
them consistently.
nce you move from the national and regional media to the trade press,
things change. Immediately you are dealing with a group of journals written
specifically for your sector; so your company becomes more interesting to
them and you have to work less hard to generate coverage. However, the
magazines themselves suffer from the increasing costs of publishing and decreasing advertising
budgets. In times like these, journalists look for the best stories, the most incendiary copy and
the most outrageous opinion pieces to keep the readership high. Sometimes though, it doesnt
seem that this is the case when you are bombarded with requests for payment in exchange for
running your editorial.
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.../Responding to publishing colour separations
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As a public relations junkie, sorry practitioner,
Im often approached by firms who want to
generate publicity for their products or services
but have become tired of issuing press material
only to be confronted by a request for payment
before it is used.
The question of whether or not colour
separations are a good thing is a thorny one.
Readers would give a magazine more credence
and ultimately it would be able to charge higher
rates for its advertising if it didnt publish colour
separations. As a result, it wouldnt then have to
charge colour separations for editorial! However, Im not here to argue with the business case of
individual magazines Im sure they have a better understanding of their business models than I
do. I know,
and
have
worked
for,
plenty
of
businesses
that
use
colour
separations
as
a legitimate
part of their PR strategy, including firms like Megger, WF Electrical and Aerotech.
However, that leaves plenty of businesses out there facing the dilemma of what to do if they
cant get publicity without paying colour separation requests. It may be that they simply cant
afford to pay the colour separations or they might feel that the quality of coverage the seps
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,,,/ Companies question why they put releases out at
all if they are only to met with colour separations?
.../Responding to publishing colour separations
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generate is low, or the response rates are insignificant. Irrespective of reasoning, there are
measures you can take to help your releases attract the attention of journalists not salesmen.
Tips for beating the colour separations trap
Make it interesting: The main reason a journalist will not run the material you send them in
the news or features pages for free is that it isnt interesting enough. The best thing you
can do is make sure that your press releases arent short adverts for your company but
rather news stories you could envisage one of your customers actually reading. If you then
address the right magazine, you have a good chance of being published.
Target the magazine individually: Its much better to generate one really strong piece of
well targeted coverage than several poor quality pieces of badly targeted press. To this end,
read the magazines you want to appear in and make sure the copy you send them is
appropriate to their readership.
Tackle every opportunity in the magazine: You should be producing news for the news
pages, features for the features pages and letters for the letters pages and so on. Dont
simply presume that a press release about your new widget will be perfect for the front
cover. Instead find a home for it in the right part of the right magazine.
Finally, as a caveat, advertise. Most magazines that charge to run editorial do so because
they cant generate enough revenue through advertising. By choosing the right magazines
for your advertising spend, no matter how small it is, you will find that the magazine is
much healthier when you come target it via PR. This doesnt mean that, by advertising, you
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gain the right to appear in the news pages merely that those news pages will still be there
when you have the right story for them!
s we have discussed, the PR landscape has changed. Once upon a time, all you
had to do to get coverage for a technology product was write a press release
and send it to your favourite trade press contacts. Then, bingo, rivers of
coverage would flow in, mountains of media would spring up and you would
have to hire another warehouse to put the sales enquiries in. But trade magazines have grown
increasingly thinner and
more and more pages are
devoted to paid for adver
torial or colour separa
tions. So how, in this
changed landscape should
one continue to generate
coverage? Well, here are
Stone Junctions top tips:
1. MAKE IT SPECIFIC: Ive seen lots of news stories that are relevant to multiple sectors. Take
for instance the launch of a new industrial robot or actuator. It could find a home in the
design, packaging, pharmaceutical, general manufacturing, plastics, electronics, automotive
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.../Responding to publishing Top five tips
.../ Businesses are increasingly looking for
new ways to generate press coverage.
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design, food processing or logistics media. But the vast majority of PR people just put the
story out in one version, making their product look like a jack of all trades and master of
none. Naturally, this will be less interesting to a specialist journalist than something that
specifically address his specialism. It only takes a little effort to produce different versions
of a story for different media.
2. LOOK BEYOND THE MAGAZINE ITSELF: Where else could your press material be used?
Direct to customer social networking sites, Blogs, online newsletters, industry Web sites,
news sites and RSS feeds from your own Web site are amongst the possibilities.
3. TURN NEWS DELIVERY INTO CONTENT CREATION: Once you have eked every ounce of
media coverage out of your material, re purpose it as Web content for your own site,
newsletter content for customers, staff magazine content or email marketing material.
4. GET THE MOST FROM EVERY STORY: Most people look at a single event and see a single
story. Take a product launch for instance you could just knock out a product press
release. However, there might be more there. Was the product developed in response to
legislative demand for instance? If so, there is almost always an opinion piece in there
some where, just waiting to be drawn out. There might be a letters campaign on the
efficacy of that particular piece of legislation or set of regulations. Maybe the product was
developed in an unusual way or by a unique individual? Could there be a story there for
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the design press? Or a regional press release targeting the area the developer came
from? How about profile work for the business press?
5. MEASURE, MEASURE, MEASURE: If I had a pound for every PR tactic Ive seen left half
done when its originator moves on to soon I would be rich. So rich in fact, I would barely
need to write this guide. However, there is a serious point. If you dont measure the
success of an activity, you cant tell if the results are commensurate with the power of the
original idea. Good measurement will tell you if any ideas should be re visited to generate
the extra column inches they deserve.
My last tip is simple invest. A public relations campaign is an investment in the reputation of
your company. As a result, invest your time, the time of your staff if needed and sufficient budget
to make it work. If you are doing it in house but not getting results, maybe its time to hire an
agency. If you are using an agency that isnt getting the results you expect, talk to them about
why its not happening. If its a budgetary issue, you might find a few more agency hours or a
little more
attention
from
you
makes
the
difference.
And,
of
course,
if
it
doesnt,
youve
got
my
phone number.
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knowledge of the product and any factors unique to the commercial sector. To have any
influence through media relations requires some serious thought about how these factors can be
effected by our efforts with the print and online media.
When we decide which media to address with which message, we should consider how the
customer group interacts with that media, if at all. To address the entire spectrum of the decision
we need the print and online media. But each serves a different purpose at a different stage and
requires different tactics and content. This is true not only because some of the people working
on these sites have different agendas but also because the medium on which they publish is
fundamentally different
Today a good campaign has
different pro active and re active
strategies for influencing the
online and print media and in turn
influencing their readers. As its
foundation this involves providing
the right content to attract
professional and influential
non professional communicators
who work in the online media. By
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.../ The way we communicate with the online press is
fundamentally different
.../Responding to the Internet & Social media
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non professional communicators I mean both Bloggers and administrators of genuine online
communities. These online communities could simply be news groups; Engineeringtalks UKEPR
(United Kingdom Engineering Public Relations) community for technology PR practitioners is one
such group. Alternatively, they might be groups of people referring to a single point of informa
tion when making buying decisions. In the food and pharmaceutical industries a good example is
RSSLs (Reading Scientific Services Limited) e mail newsletter service. This appears to be impartial
and doesnt feature extensive news from the company itself, instead focusing on news from the
industries it serves. In doing so it has established itself as a sufficiently influential point of refer
ence that, as a PR person, I am often referred to it by clients who perceive it to be a media outlet
like any other.
As Blogs become more and more influential, particularly over early adopters and visionary cus
tomers, good PROs adapt their techniques to approach Bloggers. A straightforward product press
release isnt going to be all that effective, indeed many Bloggers will regard a traditional elevator
pitch sell in as too professional. Many will not be available during working hours because, for
many, Blogging is a hobby.
Bloggers love their subjects and are inspired by them, so the best way to communicate is with
passion. You need to share the passion and be able to discuss honestly your clients relationship
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As Blogs become more and more influential, particularly over early adopters and visionary customers, good PROs adapt their techniques to approach Bloggers.
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to the rest of the market. If its a technology Blog it helps to provide products for evaluation, just
as one would with a consumer technology magazine. It is also well worth remembering that the
coverage you obtain isnt going to remain at the top of the Blog for long, so it will be of value to
your client to suggest ways of maximising its value while it is there.
In contrast, many other online communities are run as
marketing tools. The two organisations I mentioned above,
Engineeringtalk and RSSL arent charities. They are profit making
companies who, very intelligently, incorporate a community
creation element into their marketing plans. And because the
plan is working, for both of them, it will always be difficult to
convince them to incorporate PR material into it. However,
because it is a marketing plan, offering them something to further
that plan, in the shape of material that is genuinely useful to
their online communities, should be a compelling proposal.
Once we have attracted the journalist, Blogger or community administrator we must ensure our
content is optimised in such a way that it is influential to our two online audiences readers and
search engines. The key to attracting the former is interactivity, either literally, in the form of
downloads, or intellectually, in the form of useful information that will get repeated. The same
research that tells me that 93.2% of buying decisions are researched online also states that 36.8%
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.../Responding to the Internet & Social media
.../ Stone Junction has ad
dressed the online press as a
speciality from day one
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I felt that the right step was to stick my head above the parapet and in the end this was probably
justified.
Another instance arose recently with a client, an online retailer of mobile phones called mPhone.
A poster, on the message boards of the Web site MoneySavingExpert.com, asked whether it was
a good idea to buy from the client. Now, as many of you may know, there is a serious ethical
issue with PR people posting things online about their own customers. At present, its frowned
upon to not disclose who you are and your relationship to the client. There are moves afoot to
introduce European legislation to stop non transparent posting happening at all. So, I duly
reported the posting to my client and left a message, disclosing who I was and pointing the user
to a series of testimonials on the mPhone Web site. It would probably have guaranteed my client
more sales if I had registered a number of different user names and left messages saying how
great the client was. But, it wouldnt have been ethical.
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.../Responding to the Internet & Social media
.../ Most visitors to online chat rooms, forums, Blogs and other sites that accept
comments will now stop and question the motives of the OP (original poster), making
transparency essential for PR professionals
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Ultimately this kind of management is not governed only by the ethics of the person enacting it.
There are moves afoot to have anyone with a commercial interest to disclose their identity when
they appear on Blogs, chat rooms, forums or social networking sites. The move has been
prompted by a number of gaffs made by large UK PR agencies and their clients, which I wont
discuss here. The two examples Ive used here are deliberately low levelthey both illustrate
that fundamental human character traits like bravery, honesty and integrity are the cornerstones
on which online reputation management are built. So, if, like me, you ever feel like shooting your
mouth off online, feel free. Just remember those two basic points.
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.../Responding to the Internet & Social media
.../ For a chat about your PR with Stone Junction, e mail [email protected]
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Web 2.0 is it all worth it?
ne question Im often asked is, is this Web 2.0 and social media lark actually
worth bothering with for a small engineering firm? I think the answer is
that it soon will be. And, for the moment, many of the applications that
have resulted from the Web 2.0 phenomenon certainly are. As youve
probably already guessed, I'm something of a fan of lists, so Ive produced another onemy top
ten favourite Web 2.0 applications. My definition of Web 2.0 here is a site that wouldnt have
been possible had it not been for the mass take up of broadband allowing enhanced services to
be delivered easily. Naturally, Ive focused on usefulness for marketeers. Contentiously, there is
no Digg, Del.ici.ous or any other tagging site in this list!
1. Blogger & Wordpress: I would be the first to concede that number one in my list is actually
two Web sites! However, both serve similar functions. Both sites allow you to build Blogs in
seconds, with Blogger being the best option for someone new to the concept. It features free
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.../Responding to the Internet & Social media
.../ My top ten Web 2.0 sites for marketing professionals
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hosting and domain names (although all the domains will be .blogger.com) and doesn't require
any downloads. In contrast, Wordpress, offers much more functionality but requires external
hosting. The advantage is that you can make your Blog look like a regular Web site, making it
much easier to apply corporate standards. (www.blogger.com and www.wordpress.org.)
Main marketing uses: Creating Blogs, developing online press offices and news rooms,
establishing simple and quick micro sites, creating advertising download centres and putting up
quick and simple crisis management centres.
2. Stock.xchng: If you have ever found yourself trying to find stock images for your Web site,
press releases or brochure without paying a fortune, then you need Stock.xchng. Sadly, like a
number of
the
sites
in
this
list,
it
seems
to
think
that
vowels
are
an
irrelevancy
when
developing
a
brand name (see Flickr, M.gnolia, Frappr). However, its functionality by far outweighs the
annoyance factor of not being able to write the name easily. Thousands of free, or very cheap,
stock images make choosing an illustration easy and cost effective. ( www.sxc.h u.)
Main marketing uses: Finding free stock images, finding very cheap stock images
.../Responding to the Internet & Social media
Sadly, like most Web 2.0 applications, a number of
the sites on this list seem to think that vowels are an
irrelevancy when developing a brand name (see Flickr, M.gnolia, Frappr)!
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3. MailBigFile: A godsend for advertisers and exhibition managers, MailBigFile allows the user
to send large files anywhere in the world easily. Even better, while the uploads can take a while,
the downloads take seconds, making it easy for whoever you are sending the image to. Unlike
the majority of these sites MailBigFile isnt entirely free. Users can send any file up to 100mg for
nothing, but sending a larger file than that requires an
account. That said, the accounts are inexpensive and
good value. (www.mailbigfile.com.)
Main marketing uses: Trafficking advertisements,
sending material to printers and sharing design work
with distributors, integrators and other partners.
4. Google analytics: A great way of adding visitor
tracking functionality to your Web site or Blog for free,
Google Analytics provides an in depth monitoring
facility better than most of those provided by Web design
firms. Ideal for combining with Blogger or Wordpress
(above), the function also works well with Google AdWords and other pay per click campaigns.
Main marketing uses: Web and Blog traffic monitoring . Also useful for monitoring traffic
generated via e mail marketing campaigns.
.../Responding to the Internet & Social media
.../ Mailbigfile users have to go the post
box less frequently. Which is surely a good thing. Unless you need the exercise.
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introduced. As a result, all of your videos tagged widget will come up in Googles search
function when your potential customers type widget. (www.youtube.co.uk.)
Main marketing uses: Free video hosting, viral marketing, improved SEO
8. Flickr: As well as providing a handy photo hosting function, in the same way as Web
shots.com and Photobucket, Flickr can also act as a useful PR tool. Its the most prominent of the
photo hosting sites and, as such, the one most likely to be used by journalists and potential
customers. By ensuring that your profile and images are tagged correctly, you can generate
welcome clickthroughs to your Web site and, potentially, further custom. Furthermore, the
photos can be automatically shared with interested third parties. You can also use Flickr to create
useful online galleries that work in conjunction with your Blooger account. (www.flickr.com.)
Main marketing uses: Photo and advertisement hosting, managing your online profile, PR
.../Responding to the Internet & Social media
.../ For a chat about your PR , e mail [email protected]
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http://www.youtube.co.uk/http://www.youtube.co.uk/http://www.flickr.com/http://www.flickr.com/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.flickr.com/mailto:[email protected]://www.youtube.co.uk/ -
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9. Ning: Ning.com allows its users to create instant online social networks. Like Blogger and
Wordpress, there is a clear opportunity to use Ning.com to create online press offices and
marketing micro sites. However, one might argue that the real benefit could be for companies
whose products are truly cutting edge, IT focused or grounded in an environmental argument. By
creating an information site that gives visitors the opportunity to become members, the host
creates the opportunity for product evangelists to network and share information. The downside
is that Ning sites automatically feature Google AdSense , which provide income for Ning not the
site owner. These can be removed, at a cost of around ten pounds a month. (www.ning.com.)
Main marketing uses: Creating networks of product evangelists, responding to common technical
questions from users, creating online press offices and marketing sites.
10. Vertical Response: My final choice for this list is a entirely profit making venturewith
none of the .org pretences found among the Web 2.0 cognoscenti like Wikipedia and Wordpress.
However, its so useful it demands a mention . Vertical Response allows the user to create and
manage e mail campaigns online and demands little or no experience to use. That said, the best
results are definitely generated by someone with a little bit of graphical nous and some writing
skills. Vertical Response is cheap and cost effective, a rare combination in my experience, and
ideal for an email marketing novice. (www.verticalresponse.co m.)
Main marketing uses: Straightforward email marketing
.../Responding to the Internet & Social media
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Stone Junction has supplied a successful PR campaign in 2008, with coverage appearing in twenty
five different trade publications and on countless industry Web sites. It has also provided graphic
and new media design work for advertising, trade shows and interactive content. This has
included graphics boards for exhibition work, interactive video CDs, a new brochure and a series
of adverts all produced in English and German.
The overall response has been outstanding, with several hundred promotional CDs despatched to
customers already. Nigel Smith, managing director of TM Robotics said, "The campaign has
dovetailed together very effectively, with both creative ideas and Toshiba Machine's corporate
style working in unison in all of the visual material, while the tactics intended to generate leads
have worked well."
Trusting the message: Cressall Resistors nearly doubles in size in one year
ressall Resistors began work with Stone Junction at the beginning of March
2006. The UK manufacturer of power resistors had an unusual challenge that it
wanted to address through PR.
In February 2006 Cressall had been acquired by Telema SpA of Italy through its British subsidiary TPR
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Resistors. This brought together the UKs two largest resistor technology companies. However, the
two businesses customers appreciated their chosen supplier for different reasons. TPR Resistors
was a small and agile outfit that could bring the best design and integration advice to its customers.
Meanwhile Cressall was a larger firm that was able to offer the advantages that go hand in hand
with a long established business.
The PR challenge was
to assure both sets of
customers that they
would continue to
receive the service they
had come to appreciate
from their chosen
supplier. In addition, as
a result of the two businesses merging,
customers would have access to the best of both worlds. Of course, this needed to be achieved
while also encouraging new sales and compelling potential employees to apply.
The PR campaign was formulated to contain a balance of business news, case studies, face to face
journalist meetings, product news, opinion pieces, letters and features contributions. In addition,
Stone Junction prepared a crisis plan in case to mitigate for any negative publicity and suggested a
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.../Case studies from Stone Junction
.../ Cressall Resistors equipment in use at a high
profile crane application
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course of direct communication with customers to be carried out in house. A measurement metric
was put in place that focused on advertising value equivalent (AVE) as a way of comparing efficacy
month by month and key message measurement. The cornerstone message in the latter part of the
process was the concept of trust between supplier and end user.
A return on investment of 663% was produced in AVE and the cornerstone message appeared 11
times in print media coverage. This included five different full page articles. There were also 32
online clippings, not included in the AVE comparison. By the end of 2006 Cressall Resistors had
outperformed its own financial targets by 14% against budget, with an order book for 2007 that was
up by 37% and a 2006 turnover that was nearly 20% larger than pre merger TPR and Cressall
combined.
30
.../Case studies from Stone Junction
.../ To improve your marketing and PR, in the same way that TM Robotics
and Cressall Resistors have, contact Richard Stone on 020 8699 7743
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It's not a recession yet! Why business should come out fighting to beat the slowdown!
hen the economic odds are stacked up against you, there are really
only two options. The first is to retrench; cut costs wherever you can
and simply outlive the negative economic environment. The second
is to come out fighting, to communicate the benefits you offer and to
win as much sustainable business as possible. Im offering you the chance to do the latter by
requesting a complementary initial PR consultation now.
The PR services offered by Stone
Junction represent a way of
talking to your customers through
a media that they trust. Your
customers all read the trade press,
the local press and the national
media and they are all influenced
by them. In a slow economic
environment, people with
purchasing authority turn to
authoritative sources like these to
help with decision making. If you
31
.../Closing message
.../ Its not a recession just yet, although it may well
become one! The time is right to, prudently, invest in
marketing. Those that do will come out of the slowdown ahead of their competitors.
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About the author
ichard Stone established Stone
Junction, a London based PR and
strategic communications firm, in
2006. His previous experience includes
PR campaigns for SKF, WorldCom, Roche, Arup, CIENA,
AIT Plc and Toshiba Machine. Stone Junction offers the
tactics and techniques to drive sales and lead opinion.
Specialising in engineering, telecoms and information
technology, services include trade, online and national
PR, copy
writing,
email
marketing
and
Web
content
optimisation.
Contact details:
Tel: 020 8699 7743
Mob: 07980 223493
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.stonejunction.co.uk
/Richard Stone managing director Stone Junction 2008
.../Closing message
.../ A
photo
of
me,
taken
a while
ago,
when I was a bit younger and slimmer ;)
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.stonejunction.co.uk/http://www.stonejunction.co.uk/http://www.stonejunction.co.uk/mailto:[email protected]