The benefits of PR

Whilst in many industries and with many audiences, Advertising is still very successful at prompting a response, in a tight financial climate, PR may be considered to be a more cost effective promotional tool.

Workhouse MD, Mark Jones, here outlines some of the main benefits of PR:
PR shapes the way your customers perceive you.
Endorsement by the media increase your credibility.
PR presents you in the best possible light.
PR achieves cost effective coverage.
On-line PR through newswires boosts SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
On-line PR influences blogs, forums, social media.
PR helps staff morale, helps staff recruitment

Above all it keeps awareness high.

If you would like Workhouse to present a PR proposal to you (free of charge) showing how a PR campaign can specifically help you then please contact us today. 01254 878956.

Crunch busting month

Workhouse Creative Marketing has reported surprisingly strong business with March being the agency’s best single month for three years.

Workhouse MD Mark Jones commented “ Like many businesses our forecasts for this year have been pessimistic but our trading in March has been very good and it’s not because of one big campaign, it’s been good across the board. Other agencies I’ve spoken to have also been very busy recently. Whilst we are very aware that a lot of businesses are affected by the downturn, many seem to be heeding the advice that it pays to keep your profile high during a recession. We have seen a surge in businesses looking to revamp their websites, an increase in e-mail broadcasting, more PR and price-led promotions as clients look to keep their brand in front of their customers in the most cost effective ways. Marketing budgets are often the first to be cut in a downturn, so it’s positive and welcoming news if the creative sector is doing OK.”

Workhouse has also won several new clients recently including Scotts Garden Products, Hampson Aerospace Services, The Wade Group, Triumpha, ETS Business Solutions, GP Plantscapes, Unistage, Waddow Hall, Beeston Manor, CML Alloys, Jewish Womens Aid, North Yorkshire Probation Service and AGS Tech.

Marketing through the crunch

Cutting the luxuries in business depends on your interpretation of a luxury. In the credit crunch more and more essentials are getting misinterpreted for luxuries and are being removed from what is in essence an important survival strategy. Training and Marketing are prime examples of essentials. These budgets are often one of the first to be cut during hard times, but are actually key to ensuring a steady pipeline of business leads. Business cannot rely on existing customers alone.

So many businesses cut their marketing budget along with their Duchy Originals biscuits at meetings, committing potential brand suicide in an economic slowdown. History has shown that those brands who commit to pushing through recession with clear and consistent marketing campaigns emerge as the strongest survivors.

Tim Lindsay, Chief executive of advertising giant TBWA says, “There’s tons of evidence from the last 2 recessions showing that brands which continue to invest in marketing communications during a recession prosper mightily afterwards. The tea market is often cited as an example: PG continued to invest last time round and grew its share. Tetley and Typhoo didn’t, and are much diminished as a consequence.”

Robert Hall, founder of Loft Interiors, which supplies furnishings to buy-to-let landlords says, “It is companies that maintain a strong brand throughout a recession that emerge on the other end far stronger as a consequence. As their competitors melt into the background, businesses that have maintained visibility and credibility can steal market share once that market becomes buoyant again.”

Pepsi and Coke are another example of where handling a recession in the right way can make a huge impact. During the last recession, Pepsi massively increased its marketing during the downturn while Coke decreased its spending on advertising. As a result, Pepsi managed to increase its market share, and has held onto it.

Companies need to get creative. PR can be a cheap way of keeping your company profile high. Networking and online marketing come into their own, as outlay is minimal. With a sprinkling of creativity, the impact can be huge.