the specialist integrated marcomms company
Value in construction marketing comes from TALKING TO THE RIGHT PEOPLE.
HELLO COME IN. PLEASE, HAVE A SEAT… COFFEE
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In the 20 odd years I’ve worked in construction industry PR, every new client meeting has started the same way. We always ask clients to tell us about themselves as a business. From then on, they’ve all been completely different. Different needs. Different goals. Different priorities. So the first thing I do is shut up, listen carefully and see how we can help. That way, it’s about their objectives as a business, not our credentials as an agency. Because it’s only by looking at problems from a clients’ point of view that we can start to understand them and start formulating a plan to help.
LG “Milk?
Sugar...?
OK, let’s talk about what we can do for you. Usually, after they’ve told us about themselves, I talk about what we’ve achieved for clients in the past. How we’ve helped them punch above their weight with original, impactful PR campaigns, events and seminars. About our 30-year track record of creating strong relationships with the trade press, our online PR expertise or the consultants and specifiers we work with to gain professional insight and input. Then, on the principle that the best way to win new clients is to do outstanding work for your existing ones, I top up their coffee, offer another custard cream and do what I’m going to do now: Let the work do the talking. David Dailey PR Director
Biscuit?”
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HIGH PROFI STRAIGHT TO THE TOP: BIG RESULTS FROM KEY MEDIA CONTACTS. This is a campaign we’re particularly proud of. It’s for Innovaré Systems, one of the leaders in Structural Insulated Panel (SIP) construction. They didn’t have a huge budget, so we agreed the most effective thing to do was to use our contacts in the key media to create awareness and coverage.
That meant us becoming their ‘in-house’ press office, co-ordinating all their communications with the trade titles, cultivating contacts with industry opinion leaders and establishing Innovaré as an authority on SIP building systems on a leading construction website. The outcome was press coverage far in excess of the overall PR spend, including a number of high profile feature articles. Proof you don’t have to spend big to get big results. Another Hobnob anyone?
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JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT YOU KNEW EVERYTHING THERE WAS TO KNOW ABOUT THE TOILET‌
‌Along comes a toilet that uses greywater from baths and showers to cut water consumption in the home.
Brilliant idea. But so revolutionary it was a job in itself to educate the market (developers, architects and self builders) on how it works and how it could help them achieve level 5 in the Code for Sustainable Homes. Rather than simply telling them about EcoPlay, from clients CME Sanitary Systems, we organised a high profile launch at the BRE Innovation Park to demonstrate this new kind of loo first-hand. Our media contacts helped us attract enough interest for not just one, but two events, both packed with an appreciative audience of trade press representatives.
UCATION
The resulting coverage was everything we could have wished for, with major features in five key publications and over 80 separate articles in the 12 months following the launch.
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BISON MANUFACTURING ON THE ROAD As a journalist and PR professional, my first love is the written word. But there are times when there’s no substitute for getting out there and talking to your customers face to face.
SLG took charge of every last detail, from the venues (including Wembley Stadium) and CPD accreditation for the day’s events, to the refreshments and, of course, the biscuits…
That’s how we came to organise 10 high profile industry seminars on behalf of our client Bison, as part of a campaign to change the way the industry thought about them for good.
With an eye on developments in the market, we timed the tour to coincide with an independent report on the cost advantages and sustainability of concrete floors over metal decking, copies of which were handed out at each event.
HORITATIVE NDUSTRY VOICE
Some lively discussions on Bison’s key product areas quickly followed, allowing company representatives to engage directly with key audiences and drive home the new positioning. As a result, every venue was packed to the rafters with people who came away full of positive things to say about Bison and about its products and services. Something we built on in an intensive follow-up campaign underlining the company’s new role as an authoritative industry voice.
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SAILING AGAINST 100 YEARS OF TRADITION The open sea isn’t somewhere you’d expect to be involved in the debate on plastic versus metal piping. But as one of several client events for Polypipe, our day out on the water provided an enjoyable break from routine for members of the trade press, and a perfect opportunity to sell in the benefits of the Polypipe range of plastic pipes. Our ‘Challenging Tradition’ campaign included not just media events but press packs and feature articles in key publications and national press. Picking up on TV news stories covering the theft of metal piping from building sites, it took security as a central theme (plastic is nothing like as attractive to thieves as metal), along with the benefits of speed, convenience and health and safety.
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Against a century of received engineering wisdom, and in difficult market conditions, our PR programme and a wider marketing campaign together generated a 20% increase in sales, plus a dramatic increase in the number of enquiries from prospective customers.
CHALLEN TRADIT
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DIGGING DEEPER, FLYING HIGHER. Now, I believe you can’t market a product if you don’t know it inside out. So the first thing we did when Polypipe asked us to launch their new Ridgistorm-XL range of large diameter pipes was to send our team on an intensive product training course. Armed with everything there was to know about this versatile plastic pipe for major civils projects, the team then organised a PR campaign that included an overseas press trip for a leading civil engineering magazine, yielding a major feature article and extensive online coverage.
A press launch event at a top London venue also generated some impressive coverage: 12 pages of editorial in key publications. All of which helped Polypipe consolidate their position as a leading force in the water management market.
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IMAGINATIO PUT YOURSELF IN THE PICTURE
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Thanks for taking the time to read our brochure. I hope it’s given you an idea of just what can be achieved with a little imagination and creativity and that you might be interested in meeting up with us for a chat.
If you’d like to get in touch, just call me on 0161 832 5574, or e-mail us at claire.lyall@slgmarketing.com with details of your company, your requirements and your preferred biscuit of choice. Claire Lyall Business Development Manager
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PR clients Bison Manufacturing Gradient InnovarĂŠ John Crane Kirkstone Ltd Polypipe Civils Polypipe Terrain Promat Race Cottam Associates Recticel
Services Market Research Strategic Planning Branding Direct Mail Literature Design Exhibition Design and Management Advertising Website Design On-line Marketing SEO PR Technical and 3D Animation
SLG MARKETING LIMITED John Swift Building 19 Mason Street Manchester M4 5FT Tel: 0161 832 5574 Fax: 0161 833 1072 Email: claire.lyall@slgmarketing.com www.slgmarketing.com
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