The latest happenings within The Carrier Group
What’s
INSIDE
BROCHURE DESIGN SUCCESS Top marks from both Waveney and Cotswolds for their 2011 guides
A HIVE OF ACTIVITY
Carrier now home to Modern Beekeepings online distribution When Falmouth TIC flooded, Carrier stepped in to help
CARRIER TO THE RESCUE and much, much more...
www.thecarriergroup.co.uk
02 | GENERAL NEWS
THE TIMES ARE CHANGING – AGAIN! Hello, We have been trading for nearly twenty years and have seen many changes during that time in so many areas – staff, customers, services, systems and so on. And of course one area of major change has been, and continues to be, in the use of the internet and electronic marketing. Whilst there are many clients whose research demonstrates that they have good reason to maintain marketing strategies with an emphasis on traditional print and advertising, even they are apportioning significant amounts of their budgets to their web site developments and electronic marketing. In addition, many clients are examining their consumer databases more thoroughly and when coupling this data with research data empowers them to deliver increasingly targeted and cost-effective marketing. Some of you might not be aware therefore of the ever increasing range of services we provide - we are far more than a call centre, fulfilment and mailing house operation.
Our contact centre provides complex customer contact capabilities, from basic information provision to transactional ordering (hotel bookings, mail order, tickets) and customer complaints. Database management and profiling has become an integral part of our direct marketing provision, enabling clients to become more targeted and cost-effective. Design and print, including holiday guide production, are essential to ensure that the quality, response rates and return on investment are maximised when using direct mail or other forms of communication. A full range of web services are provided, including design, build and hosting of sites, search engine optimisation, e-newsletters, email marketing and online shopping. Mail order fulfilment is a significant growth area for our company, with new clients including overseas businesses who want a cost-effective and efficient UK base, without the need to invest in premises, equipment and staff.
Many thanks to all of our customers for their continued support, and of course all our staff without whom we would not have been as successful as we have!
All the best, Bob
I hope you will take a small amount of time to read through the articles in this newsletter, and see how we continue to move forward and change with the times!
MAIL ORDER ON THE MOVE
MODERN BEEKEEPING
TAKING BEEKEEPING INTO THE 21ST CENTURY Traditional beekeeping in the UK uses wooden hives and the vast majority of beekeepers in the UK use hives which were designed many decades and in some cases a century or more ago.
JOHN LAIDLER despatch
Growing a business out of a hobby is a fairly well-trodden path. In the case of John Laidler, the owner of Carrier Direct Marketing client Modern Beekeeping, the hobby was of course beekeeping. Traditional beekeeping in the UK uses wooden hives and the vast majority of beekeepers in the UK use hives which were designed many decades and in some cases a century or more ago. Wood is of course a natural product and has an inherently Green image but top of the range wooden hives are made of imported Western Red Cedar and are very expensive. In other parts of Northern Europe the position is very different, for example in Denmark today literally 99% of new beehives sold are made of plastic, with many of the 1% sold in wood being to an old design and are bought as garden ornaments.
industry best practice and going to someone who specialised in that kind of work was the best way forward.
Modern Beekeeping began importing polystyrene beehives and other European sourced beekeeping equipment into the UK about five years ago, operating out of a small industrial unit in Kingsbridge, South Devon. The business steadily grew and reached a point where at the start of 2010 they either needed to move to larger premises or look at an alternative strategy for expansion. In 2009 John Laidler had done some consultancy work for Renault Trucks and visited their huge parts distribution facility near Lyon. This visit convinced him that when it came to storage and distribution his own small company was a long way behind
MODERN BEEKEEPING ALSO BENEFITS FROM THE VERY COMPETITIVE RATES FOR SHIPPING THAT CARRIER DIRECT MARKETING HAS NEGOTIATED WITH ITS SUPPLIERS.
Today, Modern Beekeeping is run from a small office in Kingsbridge with all order fulfilment, storage and distribution handled by Carrier Direct Marketing. One of the major advantages of this arrangement is the company only pays for the storage it uses. When they had their own store it had to be paid for whether it was empty or full and given the seasonal nature of beekeeping this was not efficient.
Carrier Direct Marketing now responds to all internet orders, mail orders and also, using a small group of trained staff, telephone orders. The latter, given the technical nature of many enquiries from beekeepers was a potential risk area but close working between Carrier Direct Marketing and Modern Beekeeping ensures even the most difficult question is quickly answered. “It was an area I was a little concerned
WAVENEY DISTRICT COUNCIL SUNRISE COAST
LOWESTO
A breath of
SPRING,
TOFT | SOUTH WOLD | SOUTH
SUMMER
FT | SOU
THWOLD
fresh air in
, AUTUMN
AND WIN
TER
| SOUTHER
N BROADS
2011
The results have seen a notable financial cost saving, as well as a reduction in the amount of time team members have had to spend on the guide production and the marketing campaign, Carrier Direct Marketing have been understanding to our needs and delivered exactly what we have asked for.
YOUR OFFICIAL GUIDE
to holidays The Sunr on ise Coas
ERN BROAD
t
S GUIDE
FR EE
2011
Autumn/Winter 2010/11
DAY
break
See the sun else at Eas rise before any one t Anglia’ s premie r coastal destination
Box Office 01502 533200 www.marinatheatre.co.uk
YOUR OFFICI AL
Throughout the contract Project Manager Ian Parkington will work alongside the Tourism Department team. The new arrangement has already generated substantial cost savings for Waveney Tourism, matched by the input of additional resources, new expertise and creative input.
East Anglia
LOWES
Our team will also be looking at all aspects of Waveney’s on-line tourism marketing activity; reviewing the website and introducing e-marketing and social media campaigns.
Sunrise C oast
East Anglia‘s
In July Carrier Direct Marketing were appointed by Waveney District Council to carry out much of Waveney’s tourism marketing activity. We have already designed, produced and mailed the new Theatre Programme. Our attention is now focused on marketing the 2011 Sunrise Coast Visitor Guide.
After a number of years of commissioning different elements of our marketing campaign in separate tenders, we decided to combine our Design, Print, Sales, Lead Generation and Distribution into one large tender to drive down costs. Carrier Direct Marketing were subsequently successful in winning the bid for producing all elements of our marketing campaign for 2011 and 2012.
Asa Morrison Resident at the Marina Theatre
Principal Service Manager - Culture, Tourism, Sport and Leisure Development Waveney District Council
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION Customer Maze has completed its first 12 months working with various clients on their search engine optimisation and we’re pleased to report that it’s been a great success! Queen Trap system – an example of an item made up of many parts.
National Hive – an example of a polystyrene beehive assembled.
about when we started”, says John Laidler, “because the staff were clearly not beekeepers and to begin with their knowledge of our products was inevitably limited. However, together we have quickly built up a good store of experience and the standard questions customers ask about sizing clothing or what equipment to buy can be answered immediately by the Carrier staff and the more obscure questions are relayed to my office and either an answer provided or we continue the dialogue with the customer directly.” Typical customers of Modern Beekeeping will order several items at once and each item is itself made up of several parts. “Even just a simple hive is made up of over a dozen separate items and the permutations of hive quantities and configuration are almost endless but Carrier Direct Marketing has been up to the challenge. We have helped and our website now generates a picking list for each order, but identifying the parts in the store and subsequently safely packing them for shipment are not trivial tasks.” Another advantage of the partnership with Carrier Direct Marketing for Modern Beekeeping is it has allowed them to concentrate on promoting and expanding the business, whilst leaving much of the day to day work of order fulfilment and despatch to Carrier Direct Marketing. “I remember”, John says, “ in the early days I was running round trying to answer telephone calls and wrap up parcels all day and this meant I rarely had time to stand back and look where the company was going. I can now spend much more of my time working on our website, looking for new products and promoting the company than we ever could before.”
Rothay Garden Hotel in Grasmere, Cumbria and The Brooklands Hotel in Surrey are just 2 of CML’s clients that have witnessed great improvements with their website’s performance since beginning the optimisation programme. Customer Maze began by evaluating the websites and their search engine rankings, before agreeing priority search phrases with the client. Each website was then fully optimised using these phrases and on-going link building takes place to encourage inbound links from directories and quality websites with a topic relating to websites through monthly PR article submissions and regular monitoring of the priority search phrases. As a result of this ongoing optimisation, Rothay Garden Hotel can now be found in Google’s top 10 rankings for its priority search phrases and has seen its listing improve from not even being in the top 100 rankings for ‘Hotels in the Lake District’ to now appearing 7th in the results for that search phrase. We’ve even got them to No.1 for ‘Hotels in Grasmere’. Brooklands Hotel in Surrey is a new hotel that only opened in March 2010, so it’s great to see such a new website performing this well. The Brooklands Hotel website can now be found in the top 5 rankings for all of its priority ‘Surrey’ search phrases after a standing start in March (new website!). The site now boasts over 15,000 visitors per month and generates over 150 bookings per month via its website. Call Customer Maze on 01904 628034, or visit our website at www.customermaze.com to find out how we could help you to maximise your online position.
www.thecarriergroup.co.uk
04 | NEW CLIENTS / NEW CAMPAIGNS / NEW SERVICES
NWDA TOURISM AWARDS 2010 Customer Maze were commissioned by the Northwest Development Agency for the second year running to conduct the mystery shopping element of their 2010 Regional Tourism Awards. Organised by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), the 2010 England’s Northwest Tourism Awards once again celebrated the best of the region’s tourism sector, providing a showcase for industry best-practice and top-quality tourism businesses in Cumbria, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region and Cheshire.
As part of the judging process, Customer Maze were required to visit or stay overnight with each of the short listed finalists in the following categories: • • • • •
Bed and Breakfasts Small Hotels Large Hotels Small Visitor Attractions Large Visitor Attractions
Detailed reports were provided for each of the finalists in these categories and the overall scores were presented to the judging panel in order to advise and help with the final decisions. Customer Maze were also invited to sit on the judging panel and were involved in the final decision making. Each short listed finalist received a report detailing the on site mystery shop that took place and follow up feedback was provided, where necessary, via telephone, email or visit with the mystery shopping company director.
EMAIL MARKETING
TOURISM BRITISH COLUMBIA Tourism British Columbia is recognised as a leader in tourism marketing and development, responsible for marketing the Super, Natural British Columbia® brand to the world. Since becoming a Crown corporation in June 1997, Tourism BC’s mandate has been to promote development and growth in the tourism industry, to increase revenues and employment throughout British Columbia, and to increase the economic benefits for all British Columbians. Tourism BC works closely with British Columbia’s tourism industry to promote and develop tourism throughout the province and to ensure the continued long-term growth and prosperity of BC’s $9.8 billion industry. Tourism BC markets British Columbia as a preferred travel destination to consumers and the travel industry through a variety of joint marketing and promotional campaigns in countries around the world. Led by a 15-member Board with full management, financial and legal authority, Tourism BC is funded through a percentage of provincial hotel room tax and an annual grant. Linda Shelton TBC instructed us back in September to keep control of their mailing list management to ensure it is clean and up-to date, email reporting to provide our client with detailed statistics to aid decision making in the future and mailing of the final copy. In addition to this we setup preference centre which is an on-line form that allows each recipient to update their subscription details and opt out if they so wish and completed a A/B split testing exercise which successfully came back advising our client which subject line would prove to be most successful.
CROWN PRIDE NATURALS www.crownpride.co.uk
Crown Pride Naturals joined us back in August to provide a mail order service off the back of their website. Crown Pride produce hair care products which are suitable for all curly hair types regardless of your ethnicity, be it Caribbean, African, African-American, Bi-racial, Caucasian, and lots more. Whatever your styling choice; natural, relaxed, perm, colour-treated, afro, braids, twists, dredlocks be re-assured that their natural hair care products will provide the moisture and strength needed for dry, brittle and /or damaged curly hair. Crown Pride Naturals products are made of natural ingredients such as butters, oils, plant derived proteins, honey and its derivatives and herbs. They even went as far as using Eco-certified emulsifiers and surfactants in the majority of their products. Carrier Direct Marketing receive the orders daily by CSV file and produce a packing note to go with the delivery, which is sent by recorded delivery by our warehouse team. In the event a customer has a query on a product or would like some assistance they may contact our contact centre hot line.
LOGO www.tourismbritishcolumbiabeherebc.createsend4.com
despatch
SOUTHPORT, ENGLAND’S CLASSIC RESORT
COTSWOLDS TOURISM
For the second year running Carrier Direct Marketing are pleased to be undertaking the direct mail of the Southport brochure. Southport, England’s Classic Resort, lies on the coast just 20 miles north of Liverpool and is a traditional Victorian seaside town; it is also home to the UK’s oldest iron pier. The direct mail brochure will be landing on doorsteps in early February 2011.
Significant changes are taking place in the marketing of the Cotswolds region.
TOGETHER AGENCY - FOR 2011 Carrier Direct Marketing will be working with the Together Agency on the brochure distribution and fulfilment of the Worthing 2011 guide. Carrier Direct Marketing have worked with Worthing for the past 9 years and are pleased to be entering into this new partnership with the Nottingham based Together Agency.
For 2011, the three existing guides of the Cotswolds, Cheltenham and Gloucester has been combined into one Visitor Guide for the new Cotswolds, Gloucester and Cheltenham Tourism Partnership. To ensure a professional and comprehensive transition Cotswolds Tourism and their partners contracted Carrier Direct Marketing to undertake the entire project from design and advertising solicitation through to final production. The Carrier team have been working alongside the Cotswold Tourism Officers led by Sally Graff and are involved in all aspects of the production from booking-form design to advertising solicitation and proofing.
Cheltenham & Gloucester
The new guide arrived from the printers in December and Carrier will also be undertaking the fulfilment and distribution activity.
Visitor Guide 2011
Your essential guide to places
to stay or visit
www.cotswolds.com
PREMIER COTTAGES
www.bighams.com Bighams produce a ready made range of top quality delicious meals. Charlie Bigham came up with this brand new range specially designed to give couples the chance to steal back some time together. So, turn off the phones, dim the lights, crack open a bottle and enjoy a wonderful night-in over some really lovely food. Carrier completed a personalised Direct Mail in September/October last year to their current database and also printed their personalised envelopes.
HARROGATE HOLIDAY COTTAGES www.harrogateholidays.co.uk Harrogate Holiday Cottages advertise luxurious holiday self-catering accommodation in Harrogate and North Yorkshire. We dispatch their 2011 brochure.
The new 2011 Premier Cottages brochure was delivered in October. This year the brochure has been re-vamped and is even bigger and brighter, reflecting Premier’s continued growth. We have worked with luxury self-catering specialists, Premier Cottages, for over five years. Starting as a simple mailing task our role has evolved into a full service project, including brochure production, direct marketing, focus group research, social media handling and e-marketing. Providing a central marketing hub for a co-operative of over 200 owners has proved a rewarding challenge as Premier Cottages have gone from strength to strength.
DISCOVER NEW ENGLAND New Client from November 2010
We are supplying a brochure line number so that UK & Eire travellers to New England in the USA can request brochure packs. There will be various assorted leaflets in a pack, which Carrier Direct Marketing will be compiling. In addition we will be organising bulk deliveries of stock to European destinations for Tour Operators, as well as to the various Consumer Shows that they attend annually.
ZERO SEVEN Zero Seven are a telecommunication service provider based in Barnstaple, Devon, with clients stretching across the mainland and overseas. www.handpickedcollection.com The Handpicked Collection are a mail order company who sell items which would be given as gifts - bracelets, candles, clothing etc. We are dispatching their catalogue.
We are working on their behalf, calling potential customers with the aim to not only make them aware of the services they can offer, but to book a meeting for the Zero Seven representatives. They are so certain that they save customers money, that if they cannot demonstrate any per annum financial saving, they will give the customer £1,000 by way of compensation for their time!
www.thecarriergroup.co.uk
06 | EVENTS
ISLE OF MAN Carrier Direct Marketing are pleased to be working with Isle of Man Tourism for 2011. Home of the world famous Isle of Man TT, the island is a short hop from England’s North West coast in the Irish Sea. Carrier Direct Marketing will be carrying out the day to day fulfilment, bulk distribution to Tourist Information Centres, direct mail and conversion research. The 2011 guide has just arrived and is crammed full of attractions, events and places to stay.
MAILING WEEKLY DM & DAILY MAIL FOR HIGH STREET & ONLINE RETAILER Direct marketing for high street and online bedroom products supplier, Feather & Black, is an every day event here at Carrier Direct Marketing. Based in Chichester, West Sussex, Feather and Black have 34 stores nationwide and a highly successful online store. Having been a client for over eight years, their stores are supported by regular direct mails: 50 in 2010 - ranging from approximately 2,000 to 50,000 items each time. Their ethos of “beautiful bedroom products at affordable prices” is exemplified not only in store but also at their online store, which also generates the need for daily brochure response handling and fulfilment
DIRECT MAIL DAILY MAIL? Feather & Black enjoy the benefits of both our services. For your own personal quotation call Ali on 01271 336000.
despatch
CORNWALL TOURISM AWARDS
GET YOUR DIRECT MAIL MESSAGE ACROSS Design of direct mail pieces is as vital a factor as any towards its users. We have designers with plenty of experience in these matters ready to lend a hand, provide advice or start from scratch.
The Cornwall Tourism awards were held at St Mellion International Resort on Thursday 7th October to an audience of 300 People, presented by guest presenter Ben Fogle. Representing Carrier Direct Marketing, who sponsored “The Tourist Information Centre of the Year” award, was Fraser Manning, who presented the awards to the following:
RESPONSE HANDLING IS JUST A CALL AWAY
GOLD Bodmin Tourist Information Centre www.bodminlive.com
When you need backup for your direct mail campaign, whether it’s for handling out of hours or overflow calls, we have the team to be your professional ambassadors. Information lines, booking lines, brochure lines, call lines, whatever contact service you need, you can rely on the fact that we have the expertise and the team to deliver.
SILVER Falmouth Tourist Information Centre www.discoverfalmouth.co.uk BRONZE Looe Tourist Information Centre www.visit-southeastcornwall.co.uk www.cornwalltourismawards.com
FALMOUTH TIC Carrier Direct Marketing were appointed at short notice to take all calls for Falmouth Tourist Information, due to a flood at the office. So, with 24 hours notice, we researched maps, attractions, accommodation and websites. We were quick to gain information on dog friendly beaches, seafront car parks and events at the local theatre, as these questions are regularly asked. We researched the main points of interest, including the names of theatres, castles and museums. The transport network is an important part of our research as accessibility to the area is of paramount importance. Using our tried and tested template for research, we were ready to receive the calls within 24 hours. We could send brochures by post or email, advise customers to view www.discoverfalmouth.co.uk, book accommodation and answer any questions, so the customer need never know that the office was “under water”.
Our online team at Carter Communication has continued to grow. Kevin Lapper (1) has joined us as a new Creative Designer and we have also appointed Paul Freeman (2), a Website Developer. With these additional strong skill sets, the team have completed some great projects this year. One of our biggest projects was the design and creation of the 220 adverts for the North Devon & Exmoor 2011 Holiday Destination Guide. Following this the team also designed and printed two horse stud catalogues, and have built further websites, including www.ataction.co.uk and www.farmerbobseggs.co.uk
3
We are seeing increasing orders for email marketing, both through our bespoke service as well as our DIY special! For the first time we have sent more than a total of a million client emails within a year.
A large annual event took place from the 14th - 17th October: The Celebration of Cornish Seafood. During the research that we carried out, we ascertained that locally the event is known as “The Oyster Festival”, so being as transparent as possible this information was invaluable. We collated information on the venues being used, car parking, costs, timetable of events and most importantly, the celebrity chefs attending. We also collated Christmas events information. The office has re-located itself as a walk-in office within the local library, so we are still taking calls as it is unclear when it will be fully up and running. It has been interesting over the last few months learning about Falmouth and we will be sad to say goodbye to Falmouth when their office re-opens fully.
Who will be the next company to be saved by Carrier Direct Marketing from fire, flood or disaster?
Dawn Tomlin (3), as Manager of the team, represented The Carrier Group at the Tourism Managers’ Institute’s Annual Convention in London on a panel of experts for online marketing, alongside Google, New Mind and New Vision. Dawn was praised for being the “best panellist engaging with the audience, relating well to their real issues and questions”. ‘Marketing for the Future with New Media’ was the title of a seminar which Dawn ran at the Tourism Society’s Annual Conference, held at Lords Cricket Ground in June, in conjunction with Andrew French of SOMO Agency, and Peter Varlow of Tourism Connect. www.cartercommunication.co.uk
1
The Carrier Group are pleased to be working with The Adventure Company for 2011. Carrier Direct Marketing will be fulfilling the consumer brochure requests for their Collection, Family Adventures, Worldwide Adventures and Explorer Astronomy Tours brochures. The Adventure Company based in Alton, Hampshire, were established in 1996 as specialists in adventure holidays and have over 135 trips worldwide in their portfolio. Independently minded and passionate about bringing you the best and most authentic experiences, The Adventure Company are backed by a world class travel and leisure company, TUI Travel, so you get the best of both worlds; the security of a big company, with the personal touch you would expect from an independent tour operator. We very much look forward to working with James, Rebecca and team through 2011.
2
“ WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO WORKING WITH THE CARRIER GROUP. WE’RE A SMALL COMPANY, AND THEIR COMPETITIVE PRICES MEAN THAT WE’RE NOT ONLY ABLE TO SAVE ON THE FULFILMENT OF OUR BROCHURE REQUESTS, BUT IT’LL ALSO REVOLUTIONISE THE CURRENT MANUAL PROCESS THAT WE ARE USING – MEANING WE GET OUR BROCHURES IN FRONT OF OUR CUSTOMERS EVEN QUICKER.” Rebecca Pride - Direct Marketing Executive
www.thecarriergroup.co.uk
WELCOME HDS! HDS UK has been a client of the Carrier Group for nearly ten years and has recently changed ownership, with our very own Bob Carter having purchased it from the previous owners. For over 15 years HDS UK ( www.hds-uk.com ) has been supplying incontinence wear and personal health products such as mattress pads, incontinence underwear and chair protectors, offering top brands such as Cosyfeet, Depend, Tena and Abena, all sent through their discreet mail order service.
Bob Carter says:
The day to day running of this company is undertaken by the Carrier Group with Fraser Manning being the designated General Manager. Fraser deals with all aspects of the company’s needs from taking orders over the telephone to searching for new products to be added to the existing portfolio, ensuring the website is up to date as well as stock management. Daily fulfilment is undertaken by the Carrier warehouse team where most items are held in storage. HDS UK has also recently completed a direct mail marketing campaign, with carefully targeted consumer data being purchased from Carriers data partner. The mailer card was designed in-house, printed and mailed – early signs are that web visits and orders have increased as a result of this strategic approach. The Carrier Group are able to manage all of HDS UK’s requirements in-house which ensures great customer service and timely execution of all orders.
SERVICES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
Its good to have a new venture, and at the same time see the direct benefits of outsourcing all customer contact and fulfilment, leaving me time to develop the business and take it to the next level. www.hds-uk.com
Direct mail, distribution and mail order, as delivered by Carrier Direct Marketing has now been augmented by pick and pack and day to day mail fulfilment, the latter attracting significant postage discounts due to our almost unique approach. We offer tourism and leisure project management including destination management resource and guide production as specialities. www.carrierdirectmarketing.co.uk Tel: 01271 336000
Customer Maze as the name suggests, is all about helping you understand your customers offering qualitative and quantitative research. www.customermaze.com Tel: 01904 628034
Carter Communication is at the cutting edge of online marketing offering consultancy and delivery of all our website, e-marketing and SEO services. www.cartercommunication.co.uk Tel: 01271 336250
Westacott Mailing is the team to call if your needs are all about direct mail and fulfilment; be they mail order products or literature, we have the facilities and expertise to deliver. www.westacottmailing.co.uk Tel: 01271 336227
We Take Your Calls offers a range of tailored customer contact centre services from virtual receptionist to information and booking lines. www.wetakeyourcalls.co.uk Tel: 0800 198 1010
Front cover image, ‘Boats in Looe Harbour’, courtesy of Ingrid King photograher/VisitCornwall. If you have a photograph you’d like considered for the next issue please let us know.
www.thecarriergroup.co.uk