SNEAKYPEEKS 15 Years of Volpa ... RRS Crowdfunding Success ... Ground Control to Major Tim ... What Next for the PR industry? ... Digital Marketing Outlook ... Meet Our Team
bUilding ON the FIRST 15 years
cunningly good... PUBLICITY
CREATIVE
DIGITAL
[ 2 ] SNEaKYPEEKS... AT VOLPA
Celebrating 15 Years... Volpa’s Timeline... September 1, 2002: Volpa was born
September 2, 2002: Volpa’s first client Petrotechnics
September 2003: First staff member: Kirsten Lomas. Tricia interviewed her because she said on her CV she was a big fan of Madonna.
September 1, 2007: Volpa turns five
2008: September 1, 2012: Volpa Volpa turns 10 appointed by The Enchanted Forest and St Johns Shopping Centre Volpa joins Facebook
September 2004: Volpa joins LinkedIn
2003: First Office: 2004: Second Office: 2006: Third Office: Riverview House Trinity Gask Atholl Street
2012: Fourth Office: King James VI Business Centre
[ 3 ] SNEaKYPEEKS... AT VOLPA
Lasting Relationships We’ve been working with these guys for... The Enchanted Forest - 10 years St Andrews Aquarium - 8 years The Angus Hotel - 7 years Castlecroft Group - 7 years Miller Hendry - 6 years
Hear us RAR! When you get a RAR listing 10 years in a row, it really is something to shout about. What (you may well ask) is RAR? It’s the national Recommended Agency Register, the UK’s top marketing services suppliers. How is the register put together? Ratings come from brand owners and marketing professionals – the clients themselves.
Fifteen years ago as I sat in my spare bedroom, with my old laptop and my (not terribly smart) mobile phone, I could have never imagined what Volpa has become. From me, myself and I to one of the most fun, brilliant teams I have ever had the privilege to work with in the short space of just 15 years. Add to that a range of absolutely brilliant clients for whom we can really help make an impact and you could say I was chuffed with where we were at by time we celebrated our 15th birthday. But sitting still was never my style. So the first 15 years were the practice run for creating a brand, creating a strong, vibrant culture as well as developing some kick-ass marketing expertise and wisdom under our roof. Next step: the world. We’re actively looking at how technology can bring us closer to more clients, regardless of geographical distance. We want the Volpa magic to spread further and that’s exciting for us as a business. We know we continue to make an impact on our clients’ bottom lines by driving solid growth in their businesses and we are looking forward to extending that impact. Here’s to the first 15 ... and the next!
Tricia Fox
2013 Volpa calls on Alan Cumming to launch The Birks Cinema in Aberfeldy
2014: We hired our first Graphic Designer. Volpa team swells to Five. Volpa manages Royal Visit to The Famous Grouse Experience
2015 Volpa becomes accredited Living Wage employer
December 2016: Volpa expands team to 10 people
What did Volpa do to qualify for a listing? We scored highly on eight separate services including: consumer public relations, copywriting, branding, design, web development and campaign planning.
A Living Wage Commitment In 2015 Volpa became accredited as a Living Wage employer by the Living Wage Foundation, in partnership with the Poverty Alliance. We have pledged a commitment to offering a minimum wage higher than the national average. Tricia Fox, CEO of Volpa commented:
2018: Tricia joins Goldman Sachs’ scale up course and sets our sights on our future growth
September 1, 2017: Volpa turns 15 (11 people, six dogs)
“People are at the heart of what Volpa delivers as a business and I believe it’s important to have a team that are focused on delivering exceptional service, not distracted by how they will make ends meet from month to month.”
[ 4 ] SNEaKYPEEKS... AT OUR RESULTS
Shining a Light on Ten Years of Work Last year, Volpa celebrated 10 successful years at the helm of The Enchanted Forest, now Scotland’s premier sound and light event. Volpa has been instrumental in transforming the one-time small Perthshire event into the top attraction it is today. As specialists in the tourism, hospitality and food and drink sectors, we use our full range of services to promote The Enchanted Forest including public relations, marketing, digital and creative.
Tactics Volpa has used a variety of marketing tools to raise the profile of The Enchanted Forest • Establishing a press night for the event (there wasn’t one before we started)
When Volpa first took over marketing in 2008, the event was relatively small and had very little profile. Most of the media coverage it received was hyper-local and it had won no awards.
• Establishing an expectation that the press night will also be an exclusive preview night for members of the public who participate in various print and digital competitions
Since 2008, the marketing budget for The Enchanted Forest has remained largely the same, but Volpa has used strategic marketing activities to “move the needle”.
• Establishing relationships with key national media and driving coverage in both print and digital editions
Strategy Volpa’s strategy has evolved over the years in response to changes in the event, and is predominantly about driving and increasing the event’s profile. Our strategy this year focused on managing expectations, as our predictive modelling had suggested that the event would sell out before it even opened. Our messaging began in July – as soon as tickets went on public sale.
• Establishing a relationship with Visit Scotland and managing that relationship to drive international coverage for the event • Entering award schemes as a profile raiser and expanding the geographical boundaries of those awards as we continued to win
Results We have gradually increased the profile of the event from being a Perthshire event, to a Scottish event, to being one of the UK’s leading cultural events. The Enchanted Forest is frequently listed as a ‘must see’ event in coverage around the globe, with television crews and photographers coming from all over the world to capture the visual spectacle. The Enchanted Forest reached a worldwide audience when featured in Visit Scotland’s international advertising campaign, and has also appeared in online publications in Germany, the Netherlands, and Canada’s Globe and Mail. An article also appeared in the Trivago and Group Leisure publication and on their website, which has been instrumental in driving coach business to the event. This increase in international profile has been reflected in ticket sales. Enchanted Forest now gets around 6% of bookings from coach tour operators alone. International visitors have grown from 0.97% of audience share in 2014 to 2.72% of audience share in 2017. Growth of audience outside Scotland has grown from 5.17% to 8.24% in the same period. Encouraging visitors to share their Enchanted Forest experience and photographs also helps create demand for tickets. In 2008, word of mouth drove 37% of ticket sales (in real terms 6300 tickets), in 2017 it has driven 49% (35,525 tickets). That’s a 463% increase in tickets sold due to word of mouth – against only a 33% increase in actual budget. As expected, Oir An Uisge sold out four hours before the opening night, with ticket sales topping 73,000. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. More than 10,000 people have signed up to receive early notification of tickets on sale for 2018.
[ 5 ] SNEaKYpeeks... at our results
Bucket Loads of Publicity!! Back in 2016, on a cold January morning, Volpa arrived in Dundee to meet the team from The ARCHIE Foundation to discuss an exciting project coming to the City of Discovery that summer. Little did we know that we were about to embark on an adventure of braw proportions...
The ARCHIE Foundation, a charity that exists to help make a difference to the lives of sick children, had launched a special appeal to help raise the £2 million needed to open a new twin operating surgical suite at Ninewell’s Hospital. To help reach this target, The ARCHIE Foundation launched a unique and innately ‘Dundee’ project that was set to captivate thousands.
The Project The objective was to run the region’s largest ever mass participation public art event. The name of the event? You might have heard it: Oor Wullie’s Bucket Trail. Now, imagine this… 70 beautifully designed, unique and mischievous Oor Wullie sculptures descending upon the streets of Dundee for ten weeks throughout the summer to ‘wreak havoc’ attracting visitors from the city itself and much, much further afield. Then, auction these fabulously vibrant, characterful creations to help hit that important appeal target. This was the early aim of The ARCHIE Foundation – and they asked Volpa to help spread the word. Of course, we were up for the challenge. Each and every one of the sculptures required a sponsor and, in return for our PR services, we had the privilege of sponsoring one of the naughty wee scamps.
The Brief To raise awareness of Oor Wullie’s Bucket Trail and the tireless work of The ARCHIE Foundation both locally and nationally, to help secure sponsors and, in essence, help bring the project to life through its many amazing, magical stories. We developed a plan that cut across multiple media platforms, from TV to social media, which would help strengthen the Bucket Trail’s presence, engage with the public and build momentum to ensure that, when the sculptures came to auction, everybody wanted to get their hands on one. We know how to drive news and feature coverage. It’s our talented PR team’s bread and butter. So, we set out to make some noise about what was set to be an eventful and colourful summer of activity in Scotland’s fourth city.
Launch of the Bucket Trail Fifty-five unique and quite spectacularly designed Oor Wullie sculptures hit the streets of Dundee, with a photocall in City Square and an official launch event with the all-important sponsors and artists. Volpa lined up a busy day of press activity. A mixture of radio, TV and print came along to capture the magic and became increasingly excited about the fun to be had in Dundee over the next 10 weeks.
National Tour As well as there being 55 sculptures dotted around Dundee, 11 went on a national tour, visiting seven major cities across Scotland during the summer. This was a highly effective way to keep the momentum up during the ten weeks generating nationwide interest. We approached each region with a fresh eye, engaging with the press in every city, from Inverness to Glasgow, and arranged photo calls in each city.
Working Closely with Key Partners One of the key partners in the project were Dundee-based publisher DC Thomson, owners of the Oor Wullie brand. We worked closely with the three partnered newspapers, The Evening Telegraph, The Courier and The Sunday Post to help maintain a constant stream of content. There wasn’t a week went by while the Bucket Trail was on that we didn’t have a DCT journalist on the phone to find out the latest. This provided our PR team with a fantastic opportunity to build relationships with editors, journalists and photographers alike. We even had a little fun ourselves in an attempt to encourage other sponsors to create their own stories with their sculptures. We created a fun ‘call-out’ to Astronaut Tim Peake, who had just returned to Earth after his six-month space mission, to come and meet our sponsored our Astro Wullie. It knocked up 14,000 views in a couple of days and, although he didn’t make it through to Dundee to see him, he gave us a nod of approval with a like on Twitter.
After a hugely successful 10-weeks on display around the City of Discovery, next came the crucial auction which saw an incredible £883,000 raised!
[ 6 ] SNEaKYPEEKS... AT our PUBLICITY
The dark art of pitching to the printed press Alison Lowson, Account Manager
Gone are the days when a journalist could spend time researching a story to their satisfaction. With newsrooms under pressure to churn out content 24/7, fact-checked and finelytuned copy is becoming a luxury that the printed press cannot afford. Back in the day, an army of “readers” were employed to scour the paper for factual errors, glaring typos and wrongly captioned photos, before printing. But that era is long gone, and it’s not unusual to see the hallowed pages of the big, national daily papers littered with embarrassing mistakes and so-called “fake news”. It’s no surprise that standards are slipping. In this brave, new digital world, the overworked, underpaid hack isn’t just responsible for filling the paper with quality copy. They need to be a design genius as well – laying out pages, writing headlines and resizing pictures. The toil doesn’t stop there. Every story has to be re-filed and packaged for the website. In some cases, this means briefly tweaking existing copy before uploading the words and images to the web. But, more often than not, it means creating a bespoke video package or photo gallery for the title’s digital offering. Which then had to be linked to the title’s social media with click-bait catchlines to maximise unique users and page views. While extremely bad news for journalists, this state of affairs presents a real opportunity for the well-placed PR professional.
During my last 10 years as a newspaper editor, the daily flood of press releases were a lifeline that frequently kept my six weekly papers and companion websites and social media offering ticking over. Admittedly 80% of the releases that poured into my in-box were pure dross (restaurant openings in London; book signings in Perth, Australia; random surveys etc. etc.), but the other 20% were gold dust for the hard-pressed editor faced with filling hundreds of blank pages every week. There was a small, hard-core of agencies – Volpa at the top of my list – that I could rely on to send me great local stories, beautifully written and fact-checked, with a Dropbox link to some fantastic photography. All I had to do was re-write the intro and Bob’s Your Uncle/Fanny’s Your Aunt, I was in business. Since moving from Media Scotland to Volpa in 2017, I’ve learned that many PR people consider pitching to newspaper journalists some kind of “dark art”. But it’s really just common sense.
How to pitch to a newspaper RESEARCH: Read the newspaper and get a feel for the kind of stories they run. No point pitching a restaurant review or a press travel trip to a publication that doesn’t have a features section. COMPETITIONS: If you can’t get coverage in the news/features pages, ask your client to consider a competition. Usually they’ll have to put up a prize valued at £500+ but in return they’ll get at least ¼ page coverage. Most papers have dedicated marketing/competition departments – these are the people to contact in the first instance. ADVERTISING: Weekly newspapers look after their advertisers extremely well (they are an endangered species after all!). If your client agrees a regular spend (even if it’s just a ¼ page, twice a year), then the editor is usually happy to give them “added value” editorial coverage. DEADLINES: Find out when the paper goes to press and DO NOT PHONE and hassle the journalist on deadline. CUTTINGS: Journalists are plagued with PR agencies looking for back copies and PDFs for clients. You might get one if you are a good contact (or if your client is an advertiser), but generally speaking you’ll just annoy a potential contact (particularly if you don’t know if/when the story was published). Instead, phone the customer service number and order a copy. Or, better still, pay for a cuttings agency.
Purr-fect Get Away When Turret the Cat, mouser-in-chief at Glenturret Distillery, went AWOL, we tried not to think the worst. Turns out the moggie fancied a holiday. He had wandered down the road to nearby Crieff Hydro, which also happens to be another of our clients. Knowing how much the world loves a good cat video, we couldn’t let the story go. Armed with a few cat treats and a videographer, we paid a visit to the Hydro and filmed Turret enjoying some R&R in the award-winning resort. Turret was a furry sensation on the Internet. And for our two clients it was the cat’s pyjamas. (P.S. Turret is now safely back home now where he belongs – chasing mice at the centuries-old distillery!)
BE UPFRONT #1: Don’t hide bad news in the last paragraph. It’s the first place a journalist will look. Especially in public sector press releases. BE UPFRONT #2: Don’t use jargon or public sector “double speak” to disguise bad news. Journalists are multi-lingual and know full well that “rationalisation” and “restructuring” mean job losses. IMAGES #1: Unless Justin Bieber/Meghan Markle is involved, it’s unlikely you’ll get a staff photographer to cover your event (especially at the weekend, or after 5pm). To boost your chance of coverage, always attach a great image or video (or both) with your press release. And remember to caption it properly, with a left to right of everyone pictured. IMAGES #2: Bypass the newsdesk entirely and consider pitching to the picture desk (nationals) or staff photographer (weeklies). EMBARGOES: Embargoes are a waste of time. Particularly if the release has been sent out as a blanket mailshot to dailies, weeklies, TV and radio at the same time. Someone ALWAYS breaks the embargo. HOUSE STYLE: All newspapers have a “house style” particularly for dates and numbers. Generally speaking, dates should be written as follows: Friday, May 8. And numbers: one to nine should be written in full, and 10 and above in numerals. Time-pressed journalists hate having to make these changes when cutting and pasting press releases.
[ 7 ] SNEaKYPEEKS... AT our PUBLICITY
All hands on deck as Volpa helps RRS Discovery on a different sort of voyage
“...raising £40,000 through a crowdfunding campaign.” The historic vessel that led Captain Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton on their famed trip of scientific exploration to the Antarctic is now an award-winning visitor attraction in Dundee. But the ship was only built to last ten years when it was launched back in 1901. So, as part of a crucial preservation and maintenance project, she had her masts and rigging removed, repaired and reassembled piece by piece. The work would last seven months and cost £350,000. Dundee Heritage Trust, which runs Discovery along with social history museum Verdant Works, took the bold decision of turning to the public to help fund it, launching a crowdfunding campaign to raise £40,000. Volpa was brought in to both publicise the crowdfunding appeal and to maintain the ship’s profile as a must-see attraction during the winter and spring months – not an easy feat, given that she would be stripped of her masts for all that time. To begin with, our focus was hyper local. We knew that most of the donations would come from Dundonians; this was a ship made in Dundee, and the visitor attraction
We’re not Tim–id... As sponsors of the Oor Wullie Bucket Trail, Volpa set ourself the mission of generating some publicity for our firm and our sculpture, Astro Wullie. Knowing that Tim Peake was imminently returning to our planet, we devised a viral video based on David Bowie’s Space Oddity, which showed Tim Peake lookalikes searching Oor Wullie’s Bucket Trail looking for Astro Wullie. We re-wrote the lyrics of the original song, roped in some favours from GerryBurkeTV to make us sound good, and armed the team with iPhones to film in and around the Bucket Trail in Dundee. With some very fine in-house editing from Shannon, and a tremendous soundtrack, we released the video to the world. Within days it had clocked up over 14,000 views on Facebook, plus views on Twitter and Youtube, as well as a thumbs up from Tim Peake himself. Coverage generated by the video included The Courier, Evening Telegraph, BBC News, and STV national broadcast.
is well loved in the city. We turned donors into stories, from primary schoolers and their bake sales to the pledge made on behalf of a newborn baby. We made sure to encourage corporate giving and overseas donations too with stories that included a donation from an American family with links to the local area. As important as the crowdfunding was, positioning the attraction as a must-visit, despite these naked masts, was just as critical. We pushed out stories on a new, interactive exhibition at the ship and secured an interview in a Sunday national with a children’s author who is also a volunteer on the ship. We kept the momentum up with stories about the repair work, which was carried out by a specialist firm in Gloucester, as well as trade and business press coverage of the ship and the visitor attraction as a whole.
The result? A thorough, traditional PR campaign, and a crowdfunding appeal that hit its target early on and one happy client.
[ 8 ] SNEaKYPEEKs... AT our PUBLICITY
Bringing the Spirit of Norway to Scotland
Volpa gained an exciting new international client in March 2017. And it came with its very own tipple to toast our success. At a latitude of 69.39 degrees North, east of Tromso inside the Arctic Circle, Aurora Spirit is the most northerly distillery in the world. Its Bivrost range of alcoholic drinks are handcrafted under the glow of the Northern Lights in a high-tech distillery at the foot of the Lyngen Alps. Volpa brought the media, influential bloggers and the food and drink tradepress together at a launch event at Edinburgh’s Malmaison Hotel, to give Scotland its first taste of this Nordic range. With the Norwegian flag flying proudly above the hotel, the evening included a presentation (and poetry) from the team at Aurora Spirit, Norwegian canapes, Bivrost sponsored race cars, and traditional Sami dress. Norwegian Naval Officer and popular Instagram model, Lasse Matberg, towered over the guests in Viking costume and provided fabulous photo opportunities for guests. Cocktail recipes from Malmaison’s mixologists ensured that everyone got into the Aurora Spirit, and the event was filmed for Norwegian and Scottish television. Volpa’s design team made skilful use of stunning Arctic imagery to create a comprehensive press pack, which was provided to guests along with sample bottles to take home and review. Interest in Scandinavian products and culture was a key trend in 2017 and this, coupled with the unique partnership that Aurora Spirit has built with Scotland’s oldest distillery, The Glenturret, helped Volpa gain excellent coverage for Aurora Spirit in advance of their UK distribution. Aurora Spirit is currently maturing their first run of Bivrost whisky, in small casks provided by the Speyside Cooperage. It will be ready in 2019. For more info visit www.auroraspirit.co.uk
This guy was soooo tall!
[ 9 ] SNEaKYPEEKs... At our PUBLICITY
Nicola pulls a pint - and a press pack
Shaping the future: What next for the PR Industry? Tricia Fox, CEO Our industry has never faced such a plethora of opportunity and risk. It’s an exciting time to be in comms and the future looks like it’s going to ring in the changes. The truth is, over the past decade, technology has developed faster than both agencies or clients, and all of the massively talented people within them, could learn.
L-R: Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, Fergus Clark, Inveralmond Brewery and Pete Wishart, MP
On a sunny Sunday in May, we received a text from our client Inveralmond Beer telling us that the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was visiting. It was to be her first public appearance of the 2017 General Election campaign. Within the hour, Volpa had kicked into action. An emergency meeting outlined a proposed agenda, who would be doing what, and when. Having the First Minister pay you a visit is big. Having it be the first stop-off in a General Election campaign is huge. Being given less than 24 hours to prepare is not only huge, but hugely exciting! There followed a busy day and evening in which speeches were drafted and stats and briefing notes prepared for the FM. The next day, a Monday morning, began with phone conversations with media strategists from the Scottish National Party. Organising any press event requires detail and precise timing, but when it involves the First Minister, there are layers of people to go through, not to mention security personnel to meet. The FM’s visit and tour, the people she met and shook hands with, where she stood for photos – even where her car pulled up and parked – were all scrutinised, revised and discussed. Volpa did what we do best: making sure the press were managed effectively, as well as the FM. That meant that a request to photograph Ms Sturgeon atop a metal staircase peering down a mash tun was swiftly rejected. One glance at her high heels and another at the gappy stairs and we knew we didn’t want to risk an accident, or the wrong photograph appearing in the papers. In the end, the ‘money’ shot was the obvious one: the FM pulling a pint in the brewery’s in-house bar. We made sure she drank one of Inveralmond’s new brews of course - an Edinburgh Pale Ale which had just been launched. It was an image that appeared in all the major and local papers, as well as the evening national news.
Clients have scrabbled around trying to buy in the expertise needed. Thousands of new style niche agencies sprung up, each claiming to be a “full service” agency. And, while our industry has grappled with a lot more providers doing a lot less, recent rises in Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) activity has given me hope. Finally we’re seeing the grass roots movement of someone’s thinking about the client’s needs. We’ve seen trends for PR agencies merging with digital agencies, ad agencies merging with PR agencies and management consultancies snapping up ad agencies. This is, to my mind, where the PR industry has the most opportunity to transform itself. We’re also seeing M&A activity within the media sector. Beleaguered print media have been equally challenged by the mass adoption of digital media. Just this month, media giant DC Thomson (or DCT Media as it has now repositioned itself) bought up Wave 102 giving it broadcasting ability in the Dundee and Perth areas. This horizontal integration will, I believe, become more commonplace as media providers seek to spread the risk and broaden their audiences. Just look at the acquisition activities of Bauer Media and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. Scale matters and media choice is the order of the day. Small is no longer beautiful. It’s back to basics: audiences matter, the bigger the better. In the next five years I predict we will see a prolific shift to an ‘under one roof’ agency concept. M&A activity will increase to fuel that movement. It may be the bigger ad agencies will embark on a shopping spree, snapping up comms agencies offering a different perspective on the world. PR agencies will start to reposition themselves as communications agencies, or integrated agencies, and offer a plethora of services under one roof – with particular emphasis in growing their digital offering. While the term ‘PR’ won’t disappear from the vernacular altogether, ‘PR’ will have to reposition itself as a discipline to something more indicative of how wide ranging it can be in terms of delivery.
“I predict we will see a prolific shift to an ‘under one roof’ agency concept.”
As for those in the industry, it’s absolutely time to go back to school. I predict we’ll see a sharp rise in training and development activity while agencies work hard to upskill their people as quickly as possible. We’ll see job descriptions start to widen too. Students should be throwing themselves into as many multi-media opportunities as they can. The new kid on the block who has mastered the arts of telling a story on screen, in writing and in audio will absolutely have the future advantage. So, back to the future: it sounds exciting, doesn’t it?
See what we’ve been up to at cunninglygood.com
[ 10 ] SNEaKYPEEKS... AT our creative
Upping the game on corporate image When business cost consultants, MDG Group engaged Volpa to transform its corporate image, it came with an open mind and a willingness to try something a bit different. We love it when clients embrace their fun side it’s the perfect opportunity for us to get creative together. We played with the personalities of members of the MDG team, their work on location and the investigative nature of their business to create this colourful ‘Cluedo-inspired’ theme for their brochure and website.
Bullish branding An iconic image of Scotland, this friendly Highland cow welcomes visitors aboard the Cateran Tour bus for adventures through Perthshire and the Angus Glens. The Angus Hotel offers sightseeing bus tours from Blairgowrie, and asked us to create a clear brand to encourage tourists to explore one of Scotland’s Great Trails. It was an opportunity that we were only too happy to grab by the horns.
Mouse the Grouse When The Famous Grouse Experience launched its new website and wanted to focus on driving advance visitor bookings online, we knew that our feline friends were just the chaps to help get the message across. Pulling together footage and existing visuals of the cats to create a new digital campaign that ran across social media channels during the summer months, our fabulous mousers encouraged visitors to use their own mouse to visit the Grouse. And they did so in droves. Online booking increased 15% during the campaign period and average revenue per visitor increased 48% due to add on purchases, for example higher value tour options.
Online booking increased 15% during the campaign period
[ 11 ] SNEaKYPEEKS... AT our creative
Changing the culture of annual reports When we were asked to create the annual report for the organisation at the heart of delivering culture in Perth & Kinross (CPK), we knew that demonstrating impact and engagement would be crucial to our design. Vibrant images from CPK’s range of events and exhibitions, as well as creative and clear infographics helped bring the report to life and illustrate how the organisation connects people, ideas, knowledge and collections. The resulting report is visually appealing, and presents the key content in a way that can be easily read by CPK’s diverse range of stakeholders.
Bring the panto home This charming animated video of a boy and his cat busking around locations in Perth helped boost donations to Perth Theatre’s Transform project. Based loosely on the pantomime Dick Whittington, the story of a boy trying hard to make his fortune encouraged viewers to consider supporting the theatre, either as new audiences, or as sponsors and benefactors. The video was widely shared and attracted over 8,000 views on the Perth Theatre’s Facebook page on the day that it was revealed.
Under my umbrella The Castlecroft Group, which manages Castlecroft Securities, Scotloo, Scotbox, Keepsafe Storage Centres and JKB Investments approached us to look at its branding. The firm wanted to promote the connection between all the businesses and raise its profile. Changing the branding of all five businesses would have been an expensive option, so our solution was to create a clever umbrella identity for The Castlecroft Group, reproducing the bridge element from their familiar logo. This is now used alongside the identity of each established business in all their marketing materials.
Castlecroft
Staying on trend It’s a fact that designers and marketers are always looking for new ways to engage current clients and new customers. With rapid changes in technology, the way we create and define our messages mean that the design landscape is now bigger than we can imagine. Everyone is now far more comfortable with new technology and now expects more. This year will bring many design-led trends to the fore to influence and make all of us interact even more. Here are some examples of what could be big in 2018. Motion Picture Graphics / Cinemagraphs - Bring still images and illustrations to life with subtle motion. This design trend grabs the attention of a user with just a flicker of movement but doesn’t distract them from the main content.
Micro Animations / Illustrated (Hand Drawn) Images - Clever designers are able to put the ‘fun’ into ‘functional’ too. These kind of animations and logo/icon transitions will engage and inform at the same time. Trends will come and go (just like the penchant for beards), and every design job is different, but fundamentals like innovation and learning remain. We all now realise that change is happening so quickly today for everyone but you must trust your own ideas and whatever you do, please, please, please don’t follow trends for trends’ sake. Know that what you’re doing is right for your client and design to brief, but like every good film or book add a twist.
[ 12 ] SNEaKYPEEKS... AT our DIGITAL
Digital marketing outl It isn’t going away, so get on board quick
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Eleanor Mackay, Volpa’s Social Media Guru...
We still come across businesses that haven’t yet truly embraced digital marketing and view it as something ‘not for their customers’. With an increasingly digitally savvy consumer base (I know some grannies who have an Amazon account), companies must review their customer profiles and re-focus their marketing efforts. The customer will become King again in 2018, as algorithms are tweaked to favour truly unique and relevant consumer content.
Understand your audience News flash – not everyone wants what you are selling Figuring out what your product/service is and who will buy it is the crucial first step. Spend a bit of time working out where these consumers are (online) and plan when and how they want to be sold to. Great digital strategies will focus on the customer and make it all about them.
Proper integration The marketing industry love to think it is fully integrated, but the reality is that it is not. Successful strategies will target and reach consumers both online and offline, with consistency of message and a degree of joined up planning and delivery. Although each channel should still have an individual plan and budget, they should form part of the greater digital and marketing strategy and teams should work together. Big businesses have already started buying their ad agencies for this exact reason.
Re-focus on ROI A lack of understanding and (proportionally) small digital budgets led to a lack of focus on ROI which diminished the value of digital marketing. 2018 will see a re-focus on this as digital budgets are increased. While financial outlooks are not overly optimistic, digital ad budgets continue to rise at a record rate. This indicates a move towards more activation based marketing as businesses increase direct-response marketing activity due to increased contact direct to consumer. As measurement from digital channels improves, more budget is allocated. Google Attribution is due to launch early in 2018 and will greatly improve digital marketing measurement. Digital marketing departments will require larger budgets as original content production increases. Although video will remain the top media, high quality original photography and sound will continue to deliver favourable results and increase impact.
Back to basics Due to working in a silo, some digital marketers have forgotten the basics. The basics of marketing are the same online as they are offline. Understand your product, your audience and figure out how to connect the two in the most efficient and cost-effective way. A more complete integration of digital teams with more traditional marketing strategists will improve ROI and reduce wastage.
[ 13 ] SNEaKYPEEKS... AT our DIGITAL
The BIG How well do you know social media?
Do you know what network works best for reaching your target audience? And do you know the difference between a streak and a story? If not, give our team a call to find out how we can make an impact with your digital marketing strategy.
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350 Million active users per month 53% of users NEVER post updates. Users spend an average of only 2.7 minutes per day on Twitter.
Making E-Newsletters Work Most businesses now send e-newsletters and it would be fair to say little (or no) impact is generated to the bottom line. This year Volpa sent e-newsletters with a reach over 1.3 million for The Enchanted Forest alone. With a proper strategy, engaging content and a strong commercial call-to-action, customer feedback highlights that 18% of people bought tickets after receiving an e-newsletter (up from 12.5% in previous years), making this the third largest driver of ticket sales behind word of mouth and social media. Maybe give our Head of Digital Kim a call to discuss your e-newsletters on 01738 700132.
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Kim Bauchope, Head of Digital Volpa manages over 30 different client websites, most of these crafted by our own digital department. With a trend toward responsive websites, driven predominantly by Google and their algorithm favouring these in the ranking, Volpa completed a number of new mobile friendly sites over the past year. Here are a few of our faves:
200 Mil li users p on active er mon th Referra ls network from this a re 10% mo likely to re p custom urchase than ers refe rr any oth er netw ed by ork.
The Famous Grouse Experience
Glenturret
100 Million active users per month 45% of all internet users earning more than £75k pa use Linkedin regularly.
Visit Crieff
St Andrews Aquarium
We even had time to re-design our own site – have you checked it out yet?
Keeping the team informed As a communications company, we are always exploring the best ways to keep everyone informed. This year we launched the Volpa Intranet. This works like a website and ensures our team is aware of all developments, company news and has quick and easy access to all relevant documents, policies and procedures. Internal communication has improved considerably and a number of our clients have already requested demonstrations and proposals to have us develop one for them. Want to know more? Give us a call on 01738 658187.
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[ 14 ] SNEaKYPEEKs... AT our TEAM
Meet the Team
Volpa have more than doubled our team in the last 12 months and we’re about to expand even more. Look out, Volpa’s about ...
Tricia Fox, CEO After a stint as a management consultant, entrepreneur Tricia started up Volpa in a spare bedroom of her home in 2002. This ignited the desire to be her own boss, and since that time she has not looked back, with the company continuing to experience tremendous growth, both in terms of client base and staff numbers. In between being the boss, Tricia also manages to hold down other important roles such as being a committee member of the Perthshire Businesswomen’s Network and a fundraising committee member of the ARCHIE Foundation Tayside. Her competitive nature means she loves to win things, clearly evident in the amount of awards Volpa has won over the years. An orchestra double bass player, she loves to perform live music and enjoys the freedom it provides, by giving her the opportunity to focus on one thing without being distracted. She loves her two dogs, Molly and Toby, who inspire her when they approach every day with the same vigour. Once a champion debater, she loves a puzzle and is somewhat obsessed with crime and mystery TV shows which, by her own admission, takes up far too much of her time.
Fraser Kirk, head of publicity Fraser first caught the marketing bug working at his father’s marketing business after leaving school; since that time he has carved out a successful career in the industry and has worked his way up from marketing executive to Head of Publicity at Volpa. Day to day responsibilities include managing and developing the publicity team, managing clients and driving new business. However, he gets most satisfaction from seeing his clients doing well through the strategic and tailored marketing solutions Volpa implements on their behalf.
Linda Allan, PR & marketing executive With a background in arts marketing, Linda has a passion for audience engagement and visitor experience, which comes in useful given the amount of clients Volpa has in the heritage and tourism sector. Linda loves that every day is different and her role as PR and Marketing Executive sees her assisting the publicity team in producing exciting PR stories, creative campaigns and compelling web content. Linda has enjoyed writing from an early age. As a child she wrote and illustrated nature and adventure stories featuring her pets and favourite soft toys. She harbours an ambition to publish a children’s book one day. Linda loves to be creative; she has a spare room stuffed with craft supplies and enjoys needle felting, drawing and painting in her spare time.
Shannon Huntley, graphic designer Having first cut her teeth working as a graphic design intern with Perth College UHI’s marketing team, Shannon is Volpa’s graphic designer, using her creative skills and talents to design materials for clients. A Visual Design and Communication BA Hons degree graduate from Perth College UHI where she won creative industries student of the year award, she gained further experience as visual merchandiser, display assistant and graphic designer at McEwen’s of Perth. She loves the creative freedom that working at Volpa brings, as well as the variety of projects and interesting clients she works with. An Australian by birth, Shannon loves to travel, learning about and experiencing different cultures. A keen photographer, she enjoys spending time outdoors and going on adventures with her family. Counting interior design as one of her hobbies, Shannon enjoys keeping up to speed with the fast paced world of creative design by reading lots of books on the subject, learning about the latest graphic design trends and buying computer arts magazines.
Eleanor Mackay, social media manager
A one-time gymnast and lover of holidaying, Fraser has his hands full raising a young family; but when he can, enjoys trips to the cinema and live music. Fraser shares his hometown of Dunfermline with 18th Century philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, whom he respects for his commitment to giving away his vast fortune for the benefit of society.
With a background in journalism and PR, Eleanor is Volpa’s social media manager, developing and delivering social media strategies for clients. She loves the challenge of working with social media due to its evolving nature, with something new to learn and implement all the time. A trained videographer, part of Eleanor’s role is creating fun and exciting video content for clients.
Gordon Low, head of creative
Eleanor is a keen runner and is training for her second half marathon, having completed her first one in 2017. She loves spending time with friends and family, and most admires her parents for dedicating their time to making other people’s lives better as they did in their careers as social workers and continue to do in retirement.
Gordon brings a wealth of experience to his role as Head of Creative at Volpa, having run his own business as a graphic designer for 14 years and working as senior graphic designer in the marketing department of Perth College UHI. His talent has been acknowledged over the years, winning the Integrated Marketing Campaign award at Scotland’s College’s Awards 2008, followed by the Creative Star award at the Perthshire Chamber of Commerce 2009 STAR awards, not to mention his contribution to Volpa’s award wins for The Enchanted Forest. At Volpa he gets a buzz from starting a new project, with his role seeing him transform a client brief to branding, campaigns, marketing collateral, exhibition design and video. A self-confessed ‘culture vulture’, he enjoys travelling, going to see quirky foreign films and was once asked to be the official photographer for the visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Perth College UHI! An ex rugby player, Gordon still enjoys watching the game and keeping fit.
Gillian Drummond, account manager A long time journalist and former owner of her own communications consultancy, Gillian is responsible for delivering PR coverage, crisis management and giving strategic communications advice to clients. She loves that no two days are the same at Volpa and enjoys the challenge of finding out clients’ passions and turning that into great publicity. During her time living in the United States she founded a multi-award winning online magazine in Tucson, Arizona, which she ran for several years. Returning to Perthshire after living abroad for 25 years, Gillian is enjoying reconnecting with old friends and spending time with family. She’s usually to be found hanging out with her kids and her dog, second-hand shopping, or at the cinema. A lover of every aspect of film, she wishes she’d studied this at University! She is also a strict grammarian who doesn’t let a stray apostrophe past…ever! Her father is her biggest inspiration who, being a former police officer, continues to give back enormously to his local community.
Kim Bauchope, head of digital Kim started working at Volpa purely in a temporary capacity, but almost five years later she is still with the company and has been promoted to Head of Digital. Kim is responsible for managing the departmental budget, training staff, building and maintaining websites and implementing clients’ social media plans. However, she most loves interacting with clients and helping them to create websites which add significant value to their businesses. Although a big fan of New York and France, where she lived for ten years with her family, Kim is a proud Scot and is happy to spend the rest of her days in Scotland! She loves to keep fit, with running counted among her hobbies and has recently taken up yoga. A proud left handed individual and a good listener, Kim is also a big fan of Bono. He, more than anyone else, has inspired her to find out more about world events.
Rachell Connell, digital marketing apprentice Rachel joined Volpa straight from school as office administrator on a modern apprenticeship scheme and managed to complete her first year of business administration qualifications in just four months! Her efforts were realised in 2017 when she was shortlisted for Apprentice of the Year at The Courier awards. She is now a full time employee and has started a second modern apprenticeship in digital marketing. Rachel loves learning new skills and enjoys seeing projects she is involved with come to life and generate results for clients. A regular at the gym, Rachel is a keen dog lover and is obsessed with Disney films. She loves to travel and attends music festivals and says her biggest inspiration is her dad, who works hard and encourages her to be the best version of herself.
Anna Gunn, PR executive Award-winning magazine editor at DC Thomson and communications specialist at Babcock International, now working as a PR consultant at Volpa. Features writing and editorial planning supremo. Handles our clients’ PR needs with a smile and an enviable amount of calm. Loves: getting juicy coverage for her clients; spending time with her family, including baby George; her noisy cat; craft gin; eating out; a box set; and going to weddings. She rather enjoys attending Disney film premieres too...
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Jennifer Poutney, head of operations Jennifer has travelled all over the world in her twenty year career in project management, working with high profile corporates such as NCR and GE Capital Woodchester. She subsequently ran two of her own businesses, for which she won the Excellence in Ecommerce award at the Perth Chamber of Commerce Business STAR awards in 2015. As Head of Operations at Volpa she is responsible for a team of four, ensuring the smooth running of the office and helping the business grow profitably. She loves the autonomy and variety of her role and working with what she feels is a great, fun team. As mum of a young family, she describes her children as her main passion and enjoys getting involved in school activities and fund raising events at her boys’ school. A lover of gin, her dog Skylar and singing Dolly Parton’s 9-5 on the Karaoke, Jennifer has huge respect for her boss and her ambitious plans for Volpa and for her husband, whom she describes as the loveliest and kindest person she knows.
Jenna Moir, PA to CEO With a background of 15 years in health and safety in the waste management industry, Jenna is now PA to Tricia Fox, Volpa’s Managing Director. Jenna is responsible for Tricia’s diary and emails, organising meetings and accommodation, as well as providing general administrational support to the publicity team. She enjoys the challenge of trying to stay one step ahead of Tricia. Outside work, Jenna likes to keep fit, with running and snowboarding among her hobbies. A one-time marathon runner and fundraiser for charity PKAVS, Jenna is also a fully qualified nail technician. She loves reading, eating out and spending time with her friends and family, including her young daughter Evie. A fan of James Cordon, she admires how he’s been able to transform himself from sitcom actor to being a big showbiz personality across the pond.
Alison Lowson, account manager A former regional editor and journalist for more than 30 years, Alison was responsible for Media Scotland’s print titles in Tayside and Stirlingshire, receiving the Newspaper Society’s Weekly Newspaper of the Year Awards on two occasions for her work on the Perthshire Advertiser and Rutherglen Reformer. A regular contributor to national newspapers, TV and radio, she was also launch editor of WM Magazine, a glossy magazine aimed at women in Central Scotland. At Volpa, Alison manages the accounts of clients across a wide range of industries including tourism, food production, entertainment, law and social enterprise. She gets a real buzz when her work has a direct impact on clients’ profits. In her spare time she enjoys walking, ski-ing, motorcycle touring and looking after a small flock of Muscovy ducks which she keeps at her cottage in rural Perthshire. A love of writing is in Alison’s blood, as her father was a former managing director of the Glasgow Herald and Evening Times, having worked his way up from being a copy boy. Under the guise of her alter ego ‘The Lady Who Lunches’, she continues to write restaurant reviews for the Perthshire Advertiser.
Anne Brown, accountant A fully qualified accountant through the CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants), Anne enjoyed a number of accountancy roles before joining Volpa as company accountant. With her last role as company accountant at Investors in People Scotland and prior to that roles with Trainline.com in Edinburgh and London, Anne brings a wealth of experience to her post. Her current focus is setting up financial processes and making efficiencies where she can, coupled with providing all the necessary financial information to the benefit of her colleagues. Anne likes to keep active in her spare time, with paragliding and skydiving two of the more dare devil activities she has enjoyed! These days with her young family, she regularly spends weekends out cycling or at the beach and having just purchased a new motorhome is looking forward to exploring Scotland & the UK further. With a self-confessed weakness for shoes (she owns over 50 pairs), she also appreciates time out from family life and enjoys a night on the town when the opportunities arises.
[ 15 ] SNEaKYPEEKs... At our TEAM
Finding that ‘perfect alternative’ with a modern apprenticeship In December 2016 Rachel Connell joined the Volpa team as a modern apprentice. At the ripe old age of just 19 she was fresh out of school and unsure what direction to head in. We’ll leave it to Rachel to tell you a little about her journey so far...
At the end of 2016, I was given the opportunity to plunge myself into the unfamiliar world of business and surround myself with creative brains, people with big ideas and those with a will to work hard and succeed.
Before starting here at Volpa I was extremely apprehensive about whether this role was for me. When I read over the job description I was almost certain I wouldn’t be able to handle all of the responsibility as it was all very new to me. Thankfully, after a motivational speech from my Dad, he helped me see what a good opportunity it was. A year ago, I had just dropped out of school and was feeling deflated about my career path. One thing I did learn was that classrooms and textbooks were not for me. Now, working at Volpa as an apprentice admin assistant and undertaking level four business and admin, I feel filled with aspiration and direction for the future. Certainly, for me, leaving home at 17 straight from school to do a four-year course at university sounded incredibly daunting. When I left school, I was extremely hesitant of what career I should commit to at an age where I had no experience at all. Having commenced a modern apprenticeship, I have realised it is the perfect combination for me: gaining a qualification; being in a working environment and earning as I go. Why choose an apprenticeship? For me, the experience I am gaining and the opportunities I am being given would, most likely, otherwise pass me by if I was sitting in a University lecture room. Having the chance to work in a real business environment and watch others is something I couldn’t learn whilst doing a full-time course. It is the
perfect alternative, you’re getting a chance and that ‘foot-in-the-door’ you would never have gotten otherwise. I have gained confidence, focus and self-belief. Having been with Volpa for a year, I find myself engrossed in the way a business works and the diverse tasks I am given. Each day I learn something new by observing, listening and, most importantly, doing. One of the many things I enjoy about my apprenticeship is how my work varies. I am never just doing one thing and that’s given me a great understanding of how the different aspects of a business work. I look forward to growing with Volpa in my second apprenticeship year.”
Volpa invests in the next generaion In October 2017 Volpa launched its bid to find two students wishing to benefit from exclusive scholarships through Perth College, part of the University of the Highlands and Islands. The scholarships, designed to help students who are committed to their studies and are keen to develop their skills to reach their full potential, are funded by Perth College Development Trust. Donations are made by entrepreneurial businesses and individuals willing to invest in Scotland’s talent and economic future.
P O ST RESS P
We are supporting two separate scholarships in 2018. The Volpa Creative Design Scholarship, open to any student studying HND or BA (Hons) Visual Design and Communications and Volpa’s Digital Marketing Scholarship, open to any student studying HND Business, which includes marketing within the course. Each student receives £500, to be spent in any way which supports their studies. The scholarships also include 40 hours of invaluable work experience at the agency. We’re absolutely delighted to be able to offer these scholarships, to Brooke and Lucy which reflect our desire to see great talent at grassroots level flourish.
We’re scaling UP Tricia has been selected to take part in the prestigious Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Programme, a four month scale up programme designed to provide leaders of high growth small businesses with high quality, practical education and business support.
L-R: Scott Innes (Perth College UHI course tutor), Fraser Kirk (Head of Publicity at Volpa), Brooke Watson, Lucy Ross, Christiana Margiotti (Perth College UHI course tutor)
Tricia will have access to 100 hours of high quality, practically focused business and management education, through a blend of online and in-person residential sessions. This includes residential learning at Oxford University, some distance learning and will culminate in the creation of a business growth strategy for the agency.
Volpa Rhum Suite King James VI Business Centre Friarton Road Perth PH2 8DY 01738 658187
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