Marketing PR & Communications Awards 2015

Marketing, PR & Communications Awards 2015

Ticking All the Right Boxes We got in touch with Storecheck’s CEO Colin Harper about winning Best For Targeted Shopper Marketing - UK and their philosophy behind effective marketing.

www.corp-vis.com

Editor’s Note Welcome to the 2015 Marketing, PR & Communications Awards.

Business is all about building relationships, which is why effective, timely and relevant communication is such a vital cog in any company’s machinery.

Making up every marketing, PR or communications team are dedicated and highly trained individuals who are committed to telling their and their clients’ stories to the world in the most imaginative and effective ways possible.

As companies continue to become more and more globalised, building and maintaining a strong corporate identity opens up new boundaries and presents a huge variety of fresh challenges and opportunities. With this in mind, the 2015 Marketing, PR & Communications Awards highlights those individuals who have kept pace with these myriad transitions and continue to push the boundaries of this ever-expanding business environment.

The prestigious 2015 Marketing, PR & Communications Awards celebrate the key players who work tirelessly to promote, communicate and build relationships for their company and clients.

We go behind the scenes to explore the individuals pulling the strings behind major campaigns and forging new relationships that break down barriers towards further success.

Selecting these winners was no easy task and we take great pride in the fact that the awards covered in the following pages are based on 100% merit and have been handed exclusively to the professionals who are truly exceeding in their industry.

To discover more about this year’s winners and the secrets of their success, read on...

Contents 4. Enigma Marketing Services Limited Best for Marketing Automation Expertise - UK & Most Creative Gaming Campaign - ‘Snow Social Game - SAM Master’ 6. Storecheck Marketing Best for Targeted Shopper Marketing - UK 8. PurpleFox Marketing Most Innovative Full Service Marketing Agency - Berkshire & Award for Innovation in Paid Search Marketing - UK 10. Tally Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Award for Excellence in Lead Generation - India & Best for Product Communication - India 12. Boxed Red Full-Service Marketing Firm of the Year - UK & Award for Innovation in Email Design - UK 15. A Head For PR Most Results Driven PR Agency - UK & Best for Start-Up PR Services - UK 16. Conical Ltd Best for Marketing Outsourcing - UK & Award for Excellence in Flexible Marketing Support - UK 17. KK Communications Best Hospitality PR Agency - London 18. The Union Best Full-Service Marketing Communications Agency - Leeds 19. The Union Sustained Excellence in Brand Market Strategy - UK

Company: Enigma Marketing Services Name: Martin Simcock, Managing Director, Enigma Marketing Services Address: The New Boathouse, Mill Lane, Maidenead, West Berkshire SL6 0AA Telephone: 01628 580058 Web: www.enigma-marketing.co.uk

Best for Marketing Automation Expertise - UK & Most Creative Gaming Campaign - ‘Snow Social Game - SAM Master’

Enigma Marketing Services Limited A B2B tech marketing company, celebrating its 21st birthday.

Enigma is a b2b marketing company that works with technology businesses here in the UK and globally, and our aim is to turn everyday b2b tech marketing initiatives into high-impact, award-winning, results-oriented campaigns. Enigma was set up in 1994, which means we’re celebrating our 21st birthday this year, and over the last 21 years, we’ve made our mark by consistently delivering results that exceed our clients’ expectations to help them achieve long-term, profitable growth.

We do this through a commitment to creative work that delivers results for brand awareness, direct sales, lead generation, channel development and internal communications campaigns. We always challenge ourselves to try harder and be better. There’s no substitute for hard work and we know that we’ll only ever be judged by the results we deliver - which is the way it should be.

And although we take what we do very seriously, we try not to take ourselves too seriously. We pride ourselves on being professional but approachable; efficient but with a very human touch.

One of the biggest challenges anyone in our sector faces is that it is a very competitive and busy market.

Everyone says they’re great at what they do, that they are creative, go the extra mile, are innovators, and always put the customer first. You wouldn’t last long in business if you went round saying the opposite of all those things. But simply saying it doesn’t make it true.

I think the only way to cut through that sort of noise and get noticed is to stand proudly behind the work you do and the relationships you foster with your clients.

We have a net promoter score of 57, for example, which is higher than the industry average. We’re rightly proud of that because not only does it reflect many years of work across all services and sectors, but it’s determined by what our clients actually think about us rather than by what we hope they’ll think.

Despite being pleased and proud about that, I believe it’s really important to make sure you never rest on your laurels. In a market like technology you have to stay on top of new trends; from tools and platforms to social media and the use of mobile devices, the pace of change in the last few years has been incredible.

We decided several years ago that digital was going to be a key area for us, and now we have our own team of developers, Enigma Labs. They’ve got very deep technical skills which we can use to build and support a range of applications and tools for our clients. It’s become a genuine point of differentiation and has meant we’ve been able to demonstrate a level of expertise in new services, such as marketing automation. That’s a great example of how marketing hype risks opening up a gap between customer expectations and agency capabilities. We stress to clients that marketing automation does not mean ‘automated marketing’, despite how it might sound to the uninitiated. Unless you’ve got the right set of skills

to support things like marketing automation you risk leading clients down a dead-end street.

To get the results you need from marketing automation you need a content strategy, you need reliable data analysis, and you need first class technical skills; all capabilities we’ve been carefully building at Enigma over the years.

Appreciating the importance of delivering results is fundamental to all marketing activities and we make it our business to really get under the skin of a client’s business so we can see things from their perspective.

What are their pain points, what are their competitors doing, how do we help them keep their customers engaged and motivated – these considerations are all at the heart of what we do, and when wrapped together with the right technical and creative strategies we’ve been able to really delight our clients.

Being able to do all of this, and do it consistently well, wouldn’t be possible without the team here at Enigma.

We want our people to be at their best, so we make sure that’s the way we treat them. We’ve got a real depth to the talent within the agency, and our people have a rich and interesting mix of backgrounds and experience, which all adds to our ability to find creative solutions to our clients’ problems.

It was a genuine surprise to win this award and we’re thrilled about it. It’s easy to be cynical about awards, but when your work is recognised it’s a great feeling. It’s great for the whole company to know they are part of a winning team.

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Marketing PR & Communications Awards 2015 Corporate Vision 5

Company: Storecheck Marketing Name: Colin Harper Email: colin@storecheck.co.uk Address: 4, Ashley House, The Broadway, Farnham Common, SL2 3PQ Telephone: 01753 648800

Best for Targeted Shopper Marketing - UK

Storecheck deliver guaranteed results from the only true cross discipline Shopper Marketing resource in the UK. We spoke to their CEO, Colin Harper about the diverse range of services they provide and how they constantly deliver for their clients.

Our data analytics (retailvitalstatistics.com) shows us exactly where a brand’s core customers are, what they are like, and identifies exactly the core shopper areas where brands need to impose discipline on stores, and gain further distribution. Our shopper marketing arm (Core2Store.com) identifies the best approaches to move more shoppers faster to a purchase. Data analytics also monitors the performance of every activity we recommend, and our performance database allows us to predict very closely the ROI expected.

Our clients are mainly challenger or high growth brands. Brands like Seabrook Crisps, who recently announced a £36 million MBO 4 years after delivering a £1.8 million loss in a declining market. Another is Food Doctor, who are up 150% year on year in a flat market.

From our experience, shopper marketing has to impact equally on the sales discipline, to get more product into the right areas, and marketing, to get standout and mindspace. Many companies are so siloed they cannot contemplate cross discipline insight and measurement. Sales departments are often so focused on price cuts that simple actions costing literally nothing to implement get no airtime at all. One example is for a brand leading tea where sales staff were disinterested in a million pound sales loss from poor retailer implementation.

Meanwhile marketing departments discount the importance of synergy with sales, little realising the importance of building real and virtual distribution (as

prescribed by Ehrenburg) to support advertising and promotion investment . For instance, the couponing campaign for a major cereal company coincided with huge price cuts, and was therefore badly supported by retailers. Asda, as an example, were out of stock right back to the depot. Retail managers complained to the brand and the Head Office about the shopper complaints that resulted.

Products need to be there, and to stand out in core areas more than anywhere else when as few as 15% of stores deliver 50% of sales. This 15% run out of stock faster, and are all sizes of store, not just the largest.

We constantly evaluate the use of new techniques for their shopper relevance both on line and in store.

We work with universities and research companies to track the changes in shopper behaviour, and carry out our own research in areas we believe to need more insight. We recently conducted a major study on showrooming that indicated it was actually to be seriously encouraged. Furthermore, we have developed a trusted brand - Storefriendly™ that delivers information for change within stores.

We give the clients what they need, based on data insights – rather than simply responding to what they may feel they want. We always explain to new members of staff the difference between a feature and a benefit. We use the spiral staircase at the office as an example. It is a design feature with some merit, but try and get a photocopier down it.

In order to establish a benefit we need to work very closely with our shopper and store insights and brand objectives. Anything that does not deliver at all levels, no matter how pretty it may be is simply a feature.

From our perspective, brands will continuously need to look seriously at the way they budget sales and marketing as the declining importance of key retailers makes yesterday’s investment tomorrows unsustainable cost.

We work hard to get the very best for our clients but don’t take ourselves too seriously either, and like to have a sense of humour in what we do. Humour based on puns, or unusual associations – as well as being fun, also help us to look askance at what we do, and come up with the unusual. For two years we ran a weekly 100 word story compendium (Drabble) including staff and clients, with a best of compendium at Christmas.

As for the award, we are very pleased. We owe our success mainly to our clients, who had the faith in our approach – one which cuts across Sales and Marketing boundaries – to build shopper and store support simultaneously.

However, our people come a very close second. In a data rich, fast paced environment they stay on top of opportunity delivering pro-active advice to drive internal decision and retailer insight together.

It is good for the company to be recognised, and a source of justifiable pride for the staff. We hope, as well, it will give confidence to new and prospective clients.

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Marketing PR & Communications Awards 2015 Corporate Vision 7

Name: Louise Bowers Company: PurpleFox Marketing Address: 6a London Road Newbury, Berkshire RG14 1JX Telephone: 01635 48844 Email: contact@purplefox.co.uk

Most Innovative Full Service Marketing Agency - Berkshire & Award for Innovation in Paid Search Marketing - UK

Launching a new business is daunting, but Louise Bowers bravely took the plunge in 2010, and five years later her digital marketing firm is thriving. Starting out with a handful of clients, and working from her home office, she now has premises in London Road, Newbury, and works with household names.

PurpleFox Marketing’s ethos, “innovation to promote and enhance business”, is reflected in the office environment. Bespoke art work representing artists like Jimi Hendrix, stare down offering a daily reminder of true innovators.

The company has won in two categories in the 2015 Marketing and PR Communications Awards: ‘Most Innovative Full Service Marketing Award (Berkshire)’ and ‘Most Innovative in Paid Search Marketing (UK)’.

Louise says: “We are so pleased to have won these awards. Being nominated by clients is a real compliment, and to actually win is testament to the work we do. For us, working with our clients is about experience matched with personal service.”

Other companies which started around the same time have since closed their doors. Louise believes her firm stays ahead because she keeps abreast of changing technologies, innovates and focuses on the client.

PurpleFox Marketing is a full service marketing agency. The team has expertise in generating new marketing ideas and unique designs.

Louise says: “I think the basic principles of marketing are the same, but the tactics have changed. People are bombarded with information from the web all the time, so you have to think about the way you develop a social media campaign. We want to help businesses grow.”

The company is pitched towards the corporate market

and looks at the most relevant technology a company can use especially around social media platforms.

Louise explains: “Our innovation comes from our approach to social media. Typically we will integrate with a client’s CRM system. We can then manage their social media campaigns with CRM understanding and marketing technologies.

“Technologies have significantly changed from five years ago, and we can monitor engagement and the profile of target audiences. We now know a lot more about who follows a client, and using platforms like Hootsuite and Sprout Social makes it easier to manage social media streams and CMS for our clients’ websites.”

This is why the right research and advice is critical.

“We understand about creating awareness and building relationships. We concentrate on engagement, and making sure a client uses the right adwords to attract customers, and we store information to remarket that ad another time,” she finishes.

PurpleFox is the invisible but vital link. “Clients use our telemarketing service because when we are on the phone we understand the product we are talking about, and we do our research. All the information is then packaged and given to the client, along with the best route for their sales team to close the deal.”

The culture of the work place is important to Louise.

She uses dedicated freelancers and permanent staff all with different talents. PurpleFox has offered summer internships and work experience, believing in giving something back. Louise adds: “To keep an economy strong, you need to know the people you hire have the right skills. Giving opportunities to students reminds me of the valuable guidance I received from mentors when I began my career.”

Competing against national UK firms, PurpleFox Marketing was a runner up at the UK Social Media Communications Awards 2014, held in London, sharing the awards evening with companies like Birds Eye and Adidas.

The company is also a member of the Direct Marketing Association, and Louise says: “I do not see myself as just a West Berkshire company. This is where I live, but I work on a national level. People need to move away from geography as being a binding demographic.

“PurpleFox is different. Our clients say we are more creative, more intuitive, with real vision. Our product is honed and more polished than other companies. They are impressed with the style of our creative work and we market on a broader scale,” she adds.

Louise sees the near future moving towards one-toone marketing; making sure people are receiving the right messages at the right time.

“I think micro marketing will be big,” she says. “Find-

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ing original content is the challenge. People haven’t got time to read through lengthy text. They need their messages quickly and concisely, for example, through explainer videos.”

The advice is simple. Louise concludes: “Remember your client’s needs; market the messages that are relevant to the organisations you are attracting on their behalf. Be personal, and protect that relationship.”

Marketing PR & Communications Awards 2015 Corporate Vision 9

Company: Tally Solutions Pvt Ltd Name: Jayanthi Sethuraman Email: marketing@tallysolutions.com Web Address: www.tallysolutions.com Address: Tally Solutions Pvt Ltd, No. 23 & 24, AMR Tech Park II B, Hongasandra, Hosur Road, Bangalore – 560068 Telephone: +91 9845325527, +91 80 30682559

Award for Excellence in Lead Generation - India & Best for Product Communication - India

Tally Solutions Pvt. Ltd. is a pioneer in the business software products arena. Since its inception in 1986, Tally’s simple yet powerful products have been revolutionising the way businesses run. Having delivered path breaking technology consistently for more than 28 years, Tally symbolises unmatched innovation and leadership. Today, it caters to millions of users across industries in over 100 countries and continues unchallenged as the industry leader in the enterprise resource planning software domain. We spoke to them to find out more.

Tally’s clients comprise businesses from the manufacturing, trade, retail and services segments. Tally.ERP 9 is the company’s flagship product and caters to the business solutions needs of enterprises worldwide.

Tally.Server 9 is Tally’s offering to growing businesses which are constantly scaling up. In addition to these, Tally Net Subscription is offered as the umbrella of value added services for business connectivity.

The purpose of the company is to make everyone who touches Tally happier. It acts as the guiding light for everything we do – our technology, our policies, our operations and our behaviour. When we constantly strive to make everyone happier, it brings new dimensions to our way of thinking. Our purpose remains the most indispensable part of our actions and helps us continuously add value to people’s lives.

Our flagship product, Tally.ERP 9, has largely spoken for itself. Such is its popularity that references continue to be a sizeable chunk of our sales. We constantly work towards fine tuning our market facing content to appeal to our target audience. We have separate content for different kinds of businesses, chartered accountants and tax professionals. This segmentation in communication has worked very well for us.

In terms of our philosophy, the company stands for simplicity, transparency and openness. Our values include honesty and integrity, power of simplicity, continuous pursuit of excellence, create and define the future and our strength is our people. At Tally, we set our actions against each of these values and this

has gone a long way in building trust and liking with our customers.

With this in mind, we primarily focus on customer experience, continuous development of people and growth of partners. Working on these areas has worked wonders for us and we are sure that others can also benefit from these when it comes to delivering the best. What separates us from our competitors is that we are unique in our space. While there may be other ERP vendors, what sets us apart is simplicity, flexibility and ease of use in our products and solutions.

As a company we have been at the forefront of innovation right from our inception. We pioneered accounting on computers in the late ‘80s and have come a long way since. We were the first in India to provide a solution for VAT (Value added tax). Since then we have been constantly striving to deliver unmatched innovation through our products. Much of this has been possible through our partners, customers and our strong equation with industry associations.

When we started off with lead generation activities, we were clear that our goal was to go digital. Our website, social media pages and other digital marketing initiatives contribute significantly towards our overall targets. This has been possible because of consistency in content across mediums, innovation in design and effective targeting. Above all, this has been possible because of a deep and mutually beneficial relationship with our partners and a good understanding of the needs of our customers and businesses in general.

At the present time, the emergence of mobile, information, cloud and social media technologies is creating major shifts in the market, bringing in major disruptions in the way business users and information workers are using information.

Furthermore, senior business executives are increasingly using analytics to address business issues, with growing adoption of performance management and metrics management. Indian enterprises are investing more in business intelligence and information management, with decision makers getting more confident with the emergence of successful big data use case studies in developed markets.

We at Tally have visualised the future of the industry to be a post-windows, post-PC one. Businesses worldwide will experience a connected world, which will be intensely data driven. We see enormous amount of potential in delivering solutions which will fit into such an environment. Much of our present day effort is focused in this direction. A key consideration remains reaching out to all kinds of businesses with our products and solutions and we bank on our 27000+ channel network to do the job for us.

The company is truly honoured to be receiving this accolade from Corporate Vision. We appreciate their constant effort to add value to businesses like ours through their programmes and research. Marketing efforts have gathered significant momentum over time at the company and this recognition is another feather in our cap which reiterates that we are constantly moving in the right direction.

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Marketing PR & Communications Awards 2015 Corporate Vision 11

Company: Boxed Red Marketing Name: Janna Caley, Director Email: info@boxedred.com Web Address: www.boxedred.com Address: 4 Adams Court, Adams Hill, Knutsford WA16 6BA Telephone: 01565 632 112

Full-Service Marketing Firm of the Year - UK & Award for Innovation in Email Design - UK

Boxed Red Boxed Red is a full-service agency that has been delivering creative, digital and strategic marketing solutions with added value since 2009. Their in-house team of strategic project managers, designers, web developers and copywriters have an abundance of skills and experience as well as passion, enthusiasm, drive and a commitment to putting the customer at the heart of everything they do. We spoke to them to find out more about their company and what they believe makes great marketing.

Boxed Red is more than a marketing agency; we are not only focused on deliverables, but also committed to achieving results by placing strategy and a collaborative, client-focused approach at the heart of everything we do, which sets us apart from our competitors.

Each of our integrated campaigns incorporates a range of deliverables from proposition development and branding, to the creative design of brochures and sales tools, to email campaigns, websites and social media support.

From day one, we focused on incorporating customer service into the core of Boxed Red’s business strategy and this is something we insist the team still delivers today, as we believe this is the key to the company’s previous and future success.

Our Unique Approach To help ensure our clients achieve their goals and business success, we are committed to using an integrated approach to marketing. As part of this strategy, we help our customers define their key sales messages and compelling proposition to market, before communicating these messages in an engaging, relevant and consistent manner across the marketing channels most appropriate to their defined target markets.

The main element that sets us apart from our competitors is our commitment to ‘adding value’ on every project. This is our unique proposition that means our clients benefit from free strategic support (for which our competitors charge a substantial fee) to give their marketing communication and business the best chance of success.

We enjoy working with a range of companies across the UK in a number of sectors, specialising in the property, restaurant and leisure industries. Just some of the companies we work with include Barratt Homes, The Real Greek Restaurants, STA Travel, Miller Homes and the Citizens Advice Bureau.

Our talented team collaborate to deliver across the spectrum of marketing communication from strategic planning and proposition development to successful delivery, implementation, monitoring, reporting and reviewing.

out competitor analysis and market research before establishing a plan of strategic, integrated marketing communication to truly engage with the desired target market for Meller Braggins.

The fully integrated, creative campaign generated some of the best results Meller Braggins had ever experienced, with a significant increase in website traffic and enquiries, as well as more social media engagement on the Meller Braggins profiles than ever before.

A Focus on Digital Many of our clients are embracing digital as part of their marketing efforts and we’re proud to have the knowledge and resources to guide them.

We truly believe this approach is the best way to get results from marketing. It’s a tried and tested method that gives us the opportunity to add value throughout the process, driving projects to completion and ultimately success.

One piece of advice would be to pursue the digital platforms that fit with your wider marketing strategy and have the potential to help you achieve your goals.

Whether that’s a website, email marketing SEO or social media, for example.

Although we take pride in everything we do, one project that truly demonstrates the quality of our services was a recent six-week, integrated creative campaign for our estate agent client, Meller Braggins. The campaign was named ‘Best Design/Creative’ at the North East Cheshire Business Awards, and achieved fantastic results for our client.

From our experience, email marketing is a great way to get your messages in front of your target market as part of a wider, integrated campaign. The main challenges are getting the correct messages and the best data.

The success of this campaign was down to our strategic approach from day one, where we carried

We use our own software called RedMail to distribute our clients’ email campaigns and ensure they source data in a responsible way. The biggest challenges for email campaigns are getting the message heard above the rest of the emails sent and received each day.

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It’s vital that the content within the email campaign aligns with the wider integrated marketing campaign to reinforce the messages and spark recognition in the reader.

As for the award, it’s an honour to have even been nominated for this award, particularly as one of our fantastic clients has taken the time out of their day to do so anonymously.

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We are always looking for new ways to improve results for our clients and email communication is a key part of every integrated marketing strategy we implement. This commitment to putting our customers and the success of their business first is what drives Boxed Red, and it’s fantastic that we’ve been recognised for this with a prestigious award.

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Marketing PR & Communications Awards 2015 Corporate Vision 13

What:

We partner with high technology companies to assist in developing intellectual property assets, formulating and executing strategic plans for achieving maximal value for our clients. Our clients have achieved over $1.6 Billion (USD) in market value, either through financing rounds, merger and acquisition, licensing or litigation awards. To achieve this success, we combine professional and technical skills with level-headed business principles and experience. Or practice is devoted to supporting our client’s intellectual property asset development, commercialization and, when necessary, enforcement.

Planning:

The focal point of an intellectual property plan is to secure maximum value for intellectual property assets. This is achieved by first defining the business objectives to be achieved.

Strategy:

Once the IP plan has been identified, a management team, including business, technology and legal expertise, reviews the business objectives, considers the congruence between the plan and the objectives, then pressure tests the plan against identified opportunities to challenge that the intellectual property assets will achieve those objectives. Being dynamic, the plan will be consistently and constantly assessed, revised, and reassessed as new objectives are identified, new opportunities are presented or new challenges arise.

A coherent IP strategy will include IP landscaping to identify and analyze existing IP rights and players in the relevant technology space. The white space opportunities will be identified and an evaluation of the coherence between the IP plan and the white space analysis will be completed. In addition, IP forecasting may be undertaken to predict, based upon a third party’s prior IP behavior, what are the likely IP protection pathways a third party will be pursuing with their IP portfolio. Additionally, licensing and collaborative research and development opportunities may be undertaken, “blue sky” evaluation for next generation products and/or superseding technology and opportunities for developing IP in those areas, freedom-to-operate issues relevant to the pre-commercial products under development to minimize the risk of material liability in litigation should be undertaken and processes for dynamic and real time IP tracking within the technology space, may be implemented.

Who:

Members of the firm have scientific training and regularly work across a spectrum of technologies including pharmaceuticals, medical devices, biotechnology, therapeutics, diagnostics, nanotechnology, organic and inorganic chemistry, biochemistry, materials science, agricultural chemicals, plant breeding, environmental protection systems, semiconductor processing, industrial and medical lasers, computer hardware and software, digital and analog electrical systems, water purification systems, evaporative cooling systems, skin care products, clothing, motor vehicle assemblies and systems, and general mechanical and electrical technologies.

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We combine professional and technical skills with level-headed business principles and experience.

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Address: 1480 Techny Road Northbrook, Illinois 60062 Tel: 847-770-6000 Fax: 847-770-6006

info@RosenbaumIP.com www.rosenbaumip.com

Company: A Head for PR Ltd Name: Jane Adkins Email: jane@aheadforpr.co.uk Web Address: www.aheadforpr.co.uk Address: Copper Beeches, 42 Granville Way, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 4AS Telephone: 01935 813114

Most Results Driven PR Agency - UK & Best for Start-Up PR Services – UK

A Head for PR is a professional and creative South West based public relations service taking a different approach to its customers. In just six years, their client base has expanded to include public sector as well as many private businesses ranging from international companies to start ups. We spoke to them about the growth of their firm and their focus on continuing to develop and innovate their services.

Since our inception, we have seen impressive growth, doubling turnover in the second year and continuing to grow. In the last year A Head for PR gained several prestigious new clients, won double Gold in the national Best for PR Awards, and was a national runner up in the Venus Business Women Awards for best Home-Based business.

Our continued success is because we help businesses get in front of their customers by using creative PR campaigns to secure free editorial coverage across all media channels including national and regional newspapers, consumer and specialist magazines, broadcast and social media. Clients are delighted by the increased level of awareness, and this inevitably leads to more sales.

We have also diversified and broadened the service offering introducing a very cost-effective videography service for small businesses that includes the filming, editing, production and uploading of a short video onto a dedicated YouTube channel which gives the business owner the chance to showcase their products and services. PR is also an essential part of the marketing mix and we work with a range of marketing companies, website designers, social media specialists and creative digital agencies.

es and providing a professionally written press release that is distributed to 10 media contacts (with more available at a small extra charge), for an all-inclusive fee. This has proved to be very popular.

Above all, we noticed that the most important thing is to listen to your client and really understand their business before putting together a workable and affordable PR campaign that gets results.

It is fantastic to be the recipient of not just one but two awards - Most Results Driven PR Agency - UK & Best for Start-Up PR Services – UK and these are the two most important areas for our business. I think it is because I have really focused on producing great results for my clients so they can see the Return on Investment a great, carefully crafted PR campaign can bring. Also it doesn’t have to cost a fortune and I wanted to prove the value of PR by offering the Start Up package for new business. Awards such as these are very important in setting a benchmark so that clients can be discerning in their choices and select a company that has been awarded for excellence.

“

It is fantastic to be the recipient of not just one but two awards - Most Results Driven PR Agency - UK & Best for Start-Up PR Services – UK and these are the two most important areas for our business.

Furthermore, I recognised that many micro businesses are unable to afford the investment required to launch a full PR campaign and so we introduced a PR Start Up service in 2012 targeted at start-up business-

Marketing PR & Communications Awards 2015 Corporate Vision 15

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Company: Conical Name: Steve Bedford Email: sjb@conical.co.uk Web Address: conical.co.uk Address: Harvest House, 37 London Road, St Albans, AL1 1LJ Telephone: 01727 844000

Best for Marketing Outsourcing - UK & Award for Excellence in Flexible Marketing Support - UK

Conical is a marketing agency that specialises in marketing outsourcing, consultancy and design for professional services and B2B clients. Based in St Albans, its team includes former FTSE Marketing & Operations Directors, Former Head of Marketing for a major financial institution and Head of marketing for a Global Association. It has provided judges for the CIM Marketing Excellence Awards and was commissioned to draft a guide on professional services marketing for a Global NGO. We spoke to them to find out more.

We have focused on providing pragmatic marketing management advice and innovative creative support for digital and print. Marketing as a discipline is diversifying and it is hard for organisations to determine what actions will best suit their particular circumstances. We help clients meet their strategic objectives and to get the best return on their marketing investment. Our advice is realistic, and as an outsource provider, we are often responsible for the delivery of our recommendations.

Quality of advice, responsiveness and creativity in design probably sums up our approach. When we are installed on an outsource basis for marketing management or indeed design, we work hard to be seen as part of the clients’ team. We also have a strong community ethos and have helped our clients devise innovative CSR campaigns as well as having initiated several events of our own ranging from music, art through to sporting events.

We are committed to continuous professional development (CPD). We have very strong links with the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) from a CPD perspective and also have links with the CIPR. As an example, we have team members going through post graduate level training in digital marketing.

The sectors that we serve are seeing increased competition from new sources and the entry of some major brand names. This will result in new business models and different forms of service provision. Both our clients and to a certain extent ourselves, will have to adapt business models to anticipate these changes.

We are delighted to be recognised for these awards!

We owe our success to being focused on the sectors we have a real depth of understanding in and also having an incredibly well developed outsourcing service. Our team has an excellent mix of proven capability and innovative creative thinking.

Furthermore, the quality of our team is outstanding for a business of less than 10 people. The depth of resource and knowledge is the match of some of the largest agencies within our particular area of focus.

We operate with low overheads from modest Hertfordshire based offices. This allows us to deliver outstanding value to our clients.

Our culture is one based on being dedicated to client care delivered through a friendly team approach. We are a no-nonsense business where people are expected to take responsibility for their advice and actions.

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We are delighted to be recognised for these awards! We owe our success to being focused on the sectors we have a real depth of understanding in and also having an incredibly well developed outsourcing service.

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Company: KK Communications Name: Katrina Kutchinsky Email: katrina@kkcom.co.uk Web Address: www.kkcom.co.uk Address: 2nd Floor, 14-16 Brewer Street, London W1F 0SQ Telephone: 0207 734 9499

Best Hospitality PR Agency - London

KK Communications are a leading, independent public relations agency working across a range of lifestyle sectors.

Our proven creativity combined with our commitment to increasing revenue for all the brands that we represent, ensures that our clients connect directly with their desired audiences. Whether household names or emerging talents, we create tailored campaigns for every brand we work with, which encompass the entire media spectrum, including print, digital and social media.

What separates us from our competitors is our creativity. We don’t just ask our clients what they’re doing but actively come up with interesting trends/ angles and ideas that will ensure they are in the news.

We constantly scan the news for interesting trends overseas and are always coming up with ideas. I think this helps us because our clients see us in a more proactive role and leading the campaign.

When dealing with clients, I think it’s important to anticipate what is the best strategy for publicising your clients before they ask you, or even know themselves.

I also think in an industry that is often described as full of hyperbole and puff, at KK we always offer honest, critical advice to our clients, often assuming a consultancy role for them. We want our clients businesses to thrive through our work and if we’re on your team, we’ll do the best possible job.

As for the award, I am delighted to have received it and I think a lot of it is down to sheer hard work and a love of what we do. PR is a demanding but rewarding job where you constantly walk a tightrope between what clients and journalists want and you work a lot of evenings so you have to be resilient.

Looking towards the future, I think that a lot of traditional print media is declining and more and more online sites, blogs and social networking sites ensure that news is instant, rather than weeks apart.

Everything moves much faster but also it’s much easier for people to make their names, both bloggers and chefs alike. Gone are the days when chefs had to serve their time in big kitchens, now people can start by selling venison burgers in a street market and within a year be opening up their own restaurant. It’s an exciting time and feels full of possibility.

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I am delighted to have received this award and I think a lot of it is down to sheer hard work and a love of what we do.

Over the past 12 months, we have focused on the hospitality sector with restaurants, bars, events and drinks brands. I think the main challenges have been competition from other agencies, because there are a lot of other great agencies out there and more and more people want to work in the hospitality industry as people continue to be interested in food and drink.

Another big challenge is that starting out you almost can’t compete with the larger, more established agencies as you don’t have the resources. I used to meet people at a top members club to disguise the fact our office was the size of a shoe box! So there’s a lot of smoke and mirrors.

Marketing PR & Communications Awards 2015 Corporate Vision 17

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Company: The Union Advertising Agency (Leeds) Name: Clive Goldstein Email: clive.goldstein@union.co.uk Web Address: www.union.co.uk Address: Union House, 66 Street Lane, Leeds LS8 2DQ Telephone: 0113 266 6050

Best Full-Service Marketing Communications Agency – Leeds

The Union is a full-service brand marketing communications agency which transforms its clients’ businesses by making their brand and its marketing stand out. Based in Leeds we work with clients of all sizes, and in a wide range of industry sectors and markets, and are multi award-winning for our creative output as well as for the effectiveness of our work. Our clients utilise us and view us as an extension of their in-house marketing team, or as their external marketing department (if they don’t have an in-house team).

Union has built its reputation and business on clients of all sizes – we work our socks off to help small businesses because we know ourselves how hard it is to break through. We’ve definitely earned our good name by helping big clients and big brand names, as well as smaller regional companies, and transforming their business through clever marketing and brand communications.

We are proud that very big companies trust us with big responsibility and big budgets, and particularly proud that our client relationships stretch over many years.

We must be doing things right. Our biggest client, a giant in the UK national housebuilding and construction industry, vital to the British economy, has entrusted their large national and regional marketing campaigns with us for over 13 years.

Furthermore, we are professionally informal in our internal style, and ruthlessly efficient in our systems. We constantly challenge ourselves to try to find improvements in every area as even marginal differences can have an impact for our clients. Our size and structure means that we cater for clients of all sizes in the same way – and from their feedback it is clear that we outperform all other agencies in the overall service we give our clients.

We’ve remained faithful to offering a full marketing service to our clients, and whilst many utilise us for

only specifically-required services from our full range, our full-service approach gives us a greater depth and opportunity to help clients than many competitor agencies. We find that all clients operate in competitive crowded markets and need help to sharpen their offering and get their messages across.

Union is entering its 15th year in business in Yorkshire, with an enviable national reputation and track record for delivering big results for all of its clients.

We hope to continue and expand upon our success in the future.

We know we are the envy of much bigger agencies, because we are agile, nimble, focussed, competitive, and punch well above our weight, and most importantly because our clients remain loyal and indeed give us more and more because we really understand what we do for them really matters.

In terms of how we work with clients, we are absolutely focused on giving our clients the very best overall service – this includes all aspects of what we do, so we therefore make the biggest impact on their business that any agency can. The greatest accolade is really the fantastic testimonials we receive from our clients.

18 Corporate Vision Marketing PR & Communications Awards 2015

Company: The Union Advertising Agency (Leeds) Name: Clive Goldstein Email: clive.goldstein@union.co.uk Web Address: www.union.co.uk Address: Union House, 66 Street Lane, Leeds LS8 2DQ Telephone: 0113 266 6050

Sustained Excellence in Brand Market Strategy – UK

Our approach has always been brand-centric and strategically-focused, working with businesses of all sizes and in all sectors. Clive Goldstein, Union MD, is a recognised brand expert and an experienced speaker at conferences and events on Brand and Marketing.

their business through clever marketing and brand communications.

From all of our experience of working with clients, it’s clear to us that the focus on brand strategy is a core business need, and is essentially the ability to make what you offer it very clear to the market – we are experts in this.

We are proud that very big companies trust us with big responsibility and big budgets, and particularly proud that our client relationships stretch over many years.

We must be doing things right. Our biggest client, a giant in the UK national housebuilding and construction industry, vital to the British economy, has entrusted their large national and regional marketing campaigns with us for over 13 years.

As for the award, we are delighted with this accolade as it recognises the work we do in brand strategy, brand creation and development, as well as marketing campaign execution. T‑o be recognised in this way for how we really help our clients is a fantastic reward to us as a business and a team of great people.

We know we are the envy of much bigger agencies, because we are agile, nimble, focussed, competitive, and punch well above our weight, and most importantly because our clients remain loyal and indeed give us more and more because we really understand what we do for them really matters.

We take our role as focusing on making the biggest positive impact on our clients’ business that we can. Our case studies prove that we do. Union is entering its 15th year in business in Yorkshire, with an enviable national reputation and track record for delivering big results for all of its clients.

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As for the award, we are delighted with this accolade as it recognises the work we do in brand strategy, brand creation and development, as well as marketing campaign execution.

To be recognised in this way for how we really help our clients is a fantastic reward to us as a business and a team of great people.

Union has built its reputation and business on clients of all sizes – we work our socks off to help small businesses because we know ourselves how hard it is to break through. We’ve definitely earned our good name by helping big clients and big brand names, as well as smaller regional companies, and transforming

Marketing PR & Communications Awards 2015 Corporate Vision 19

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Marketing, PR & Communications Awards 2015

Meet the Winners...

The Big Ideas Collective

Best Full Service Creative Communications Agency - York

MS Copy

Best for Copy Writing- UK & Best for Web Copywriting Services - UK

Leitung Marketing und Public Relations

Best Global Information Centre 2015 & Most Innovative Online Research Portal “EconBiz”

Devahasdin

Best Boutique PR Firm - Australia & Client Choice Award : Best for Return on Investment - Australia

PepperNeck

Website Marketing Agency of the Year - UK & Sustained Excellence in Email Marketing - UK

SKJ Consultants

Best for Business Consultancy - Tunisia

Hand Media

Sustained Excellence in Media Publishing - UK & Best for Print Management Solutions - UK

Opportunity Marketing

Marketing Firm of the Year - West Yorkshire & Best for SME Marketing Strategy - UK

Orbit Couriers S.A.

Best Shipping & Communications Firm - Greece

Sonya Cassidy Public Relations

Best Boutique PR & Marketing Consultancy -Northern Ireland & Most Successful Community Relations Campaign - “Rock Surveyors take to the Skies”

Into the Blue Inc

Award for Innovation in Sailing Sponsorships - UK & “SOS UK Launch”

Bean Stalk Marketing

Best for Integrated B2B Marketing Campaigns - UK

The Queens Nursing Institute

Best Healthcare Focused Website - UK

Polar Stern

Best for Sustainable Communications Development - Switzerland & Client Choice Award: Best for Communications Support

20 Corporate Vision Marketing PR & Communications Awards 2015

Flytap

Award for Excellence in Aviation Branding - Portugal & Best for In-House Marketing - Portugal

One Three Four

Award for Innovation in Writer Training - UK

KBA Financial

Best for Business Consultancy Services - UK

Hunt Revenue

Best for Ecommerce Communications - UK

DebsCom Technologies

Recognised Leader in IT Support Services - UK & Best for ITC Services - UK

Consider This UK

Multi-Media Marketing Agency of the Year - UK & Most Innovative Bespoke Online Marketing Portal - “FORM”

Pippin Consultancy

Award for Excellence in Written Communications - UK

PWP

PR Consultancy of the Year - Nottingham

PWP

PR Consultancy of the Year - Nottingham

New York Law School

Award for Excellence in Media Law 2015

Media Insert

Best for Editorial Services - UK & Award for Excellence in PR Research - Surrey

Arthouse Visual Communications

Best in Visual Communications - UK & Most Innovative Online Platform “Tesco Talent”

Red Head Design

Best SME Focused Design Agency - UK & Sustained Excellence in Customer Satisfaction - UK

Where To In Wales

Best Tourist Information Website - Wales

Brand on Shelf

Best Packaging Design Consultancy 2015 - UK

2day Microportals Ltd

Best Online Information Portal - UK

Media Dev

Best B2B Marketing Agency 2015 - France

Tally Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Award for Excellence in Lead Generation - India & Best for Product Communication - India

KK Communications

Best Hospitality PR Agency - London

Corrie D Marketing

Media House

Full-Service Creative Agency of the Year - UK & Award for Excellence in Social Network Media Management - UK Best Media Planning Agency - Lithuania & Most Successful Social Network Campaign - Lithuania

APT Marketing

Award for Excellence in Brand Communications - UK & Award for Innovation in Social Media Strategy - UK

The Union

Sustained Excellence in Brand Market Strategy - UK & Best Full-Service Marketing Communications Agency - Leeds

Pragmatic Marketing

Marketing Training Specialists of the Year - USA & Best for Marketing Product Management Services - USA

The Little Big Voice

Award for Excellence in Food Focused Marketing Campaigns & Best for Trade & Consumer -Facing Campaigns

GPM

Best Security/Technical PR Consultancy - UK & Recognised Leader in Marketing Support - UK

A Head For PR

Most Results Driven PR Agency - UK & Best for Start-Up PR Services - UK

Eze Castle Integration

Best for In-House Marketing Programs - USA & Award for Innovation in IT Marketing Solutions - USA

Serious PR

Best Full-Service PR Agency - UK & Award for Innovation in Custom Built Marketing Strategy - UK

Ducard

Best for Search Engine Marketing - UK & Award for Excellence in Social Media Distribution Services - UK

PurpleFox Marketing

Most Innovative Full Service Marketing Agency Berkshire & Award for Innovation in Paid Search Marketing - UK

2020 Research

Best Full-Service Market Research Consultancy - UK

Conical Ltd

Best for Marketing Outsourcing - UK & Award for Excellence in Flexible Marketing Support - UK

QUESTION & RETAIN

Best Market Research Software - Pulse Check™

Enigma Marketing Services Limited

Mtnl- Sainath Expimpo

Best for Flushing Cistern Marketing - India

Best for Marketing Automaton Expertise - UK & Most Creative Gaming Campaign “Snow Social Game - Sam Master”

Realisation

Award for Excellence in Digital Communications - London & Best for Corporate Digital Signage Networks - UK

Boxed Red

Full-Service Marketing Firm of the Year - UK & Award for Innovation in Email Design - UK

Stone Junction

Technical PR Agency of the Year - UK & Best Electrical Engineering Marketing Campaign - “REO”

Goodwork

Recognised Leader in Social Enterprise - UK & Best for Ethical PR - UK

Allott & Associates Ltd

Best for Food & Drink Marketing - UK

Allott & Associates Ltd

Recognised Leader in B2B PR - UK

Elveden

Award for Excellence in Rural Establishment Marketing - UK

NRS Regulatory Services Ltd

Best Specialist Regulatory Consulting Firm - UK

Marketing Simply

Best Online Marketing Company - UK & Award for Innovation in Ethical Marketing Strategies

Serious PR

Best Full-Service PR Agency - UK & Award for Innovation in Custom Built Marketing Strategy - UK

Sarah Bee Marketing

Best for Affordable PR & Marketing 2015 - UK & Award for Innovation in Market Plan Tactics

Storecheck Marketing

Best for Targeted Shopper Marketing - UK

GPM

Best Security/Technical PR Consultancy - UK & Recognised Leader in Marketing Support - UK

Communication Strategy Group

Best Brand Storytelling Agency 2015 & Sustained Excellence in B2B Marketing - USA

Sarah Ellis

Award for Excellence in Event Management Norfolk & Best for Event Consultancy - Norfolk

Relative Marketing

Best for Media Buying - Bolton & Recognised Leader in Corporate Branding - Bolton

Marketing PR & Communications Awards 2015 Corporate Vision 21