PR in practice

ENGINEERS BUILD A GLOBAL REPUTATION

This designer and manufacturer of non-destructive testing (NDT) equipment is an excellent example of the benefits which a small company can achieve through PR.

Turquoise PR founder Pauline Rawsterne has been advising Phoenix for over a decade. During that time she has produced regular press releases, helped to write technical papers for the trade press, overseen the production of its website and marketing literature, and helped promote the launch its new office in the US.

Phoenix’s ultrasonic systems are used around the world to inspect metals on safety-critical installations such as power stations, oil rigs, petrochemical plant and rail lines. The company produces an off-the-shelf range of inspection equipment, however it is also known for its expertise in devising bespoke systems to overcome the most difficult inspection problems.

Managing director Karl Quirk says: “NDT is a truly international industry and our clients come from all over the world. Pauline has helped us to generate coverage not only in the UK trade press but also in overseas publications, including a key US industry journal. For us, PR has proved a very cost-effective way of showcasing our expertise in front of an international audience.

“It succeeds in generating regular enquiries from companies which read about our projects and realise they have similar requirements. On a wider note, it has helped us to establish a worldwide reputation and to punch above our weight in the marketplace. We have been able to hold our own against larger rivals and grow our market share.”

Turquoise PR now also monitors the company’s website to check visitor numbers and the source of those visitors to see how effective PR is in driving traffic to the site and to improve its visibility before the search engines.

Karl Quirk adds: “It was a leap of faith for a small company to invest in PR but that investment has been more than justified. Over the years we have also found ways of using PR in conjunction with other marketing methods to get the most out of our marketing budget.”

RAISING PROFILE OF EXCELLENCE AWARDS

North of England Excellence (NoEE) is a non-profit body that helps organisations to improve their performance by using the principles of quality management. It also runs the North of England Business Excellence Awards.

In the run-up to the awards ceremony in 2006, NoEE decided to use PR to generate media coverage, and to attract entrants for the following year’s awards as well as experienced consultants or business people to volunteer as award assessors.

Then known as Excellence North West, the organisation was also about to change its name and expand its area to cover the whole of the North and needed to communicate these changes to people who were already familiar with its work and to a new audience in Yorkshire and the North East.

With these aims in mind, Turquoise PR carried out a series of projects targeting regional newspapers and business magazines and also trade publications in target sectors such as housing, local government, manufacturing and engineering, and charities.

PR material was customised for each of these sectors and for each of the different local areas to make it more relevant to journalists and increase the chance of achieving coverage. Journalists were invited to events including the awards ceremony and launch event for the new North of England Excellence and meetings were arranged between key editors and correspondents and NoEE’s chief executive David Teale.

Suzanne House, marketing manager for NoEE, says: “We have trialled different marketing methods and carefully monitored the results, and PR has proved to be good value for money. It has helped us to raise the profile of the annual awards and attract both entrants and assessors. In particular it has been successful in targeting key sectors and raising awareness of our work amongst businesses within these. As a non-profit body we have a limited budget but continue to use PR to get our message across.”

WRITING A WINNING PITCH FOR ARCHITECTS

A leading firm of architects specialising in regeneration and social housing wanted to win more high-profile work by entering for competition bids. The firm was at the forefront of developments and could generate plenty of innovative ideas, and quickly join forces with other partners to create a consortium.

However directors knew from experience that writing and producing entries was a major drain on their time. They also wanted to take a fresh approach, using language and lay-outs that were accessible not just to architects and planners but also to residents and other laypeople who may be represented on the panel.

Pauline Rawsterne was called in to write the bid and oversee the whole bidding process, from the initial meeting between the firm and its partners to thrash out ideas to overseeing production of the final printed documents. This included interviewing each of the partners to gather information, writing this in a consistent style, collecting logos and graphics and ensuring all the partners had the opportunity to proof the final document.

A magazine-style format was used, which allowed the key concepts to be presented in an attractive and easy to read format, while allowing sections for more technical data. The result was a more user-friendly approach which stood out from conventional bid documents and resulted in the firm winning a number of high-profile projects.