MeganBrown.co.uk appoints Brandspankin’ to manage media relations

NEWLY launched online gift store MeganBrown.co.uk has appointed Lancashire-based Brandspankin’ to manage media relations and build awareness.

The Shropshire-based business focuses on selling unique and often handmade gift products that are made in Britain - such as natural bath & body products and handmade chocolates, jewellery and homewares.

To date the business has already built an impressive list of suppliers including Savonnerie London, Clifton Cakes, Hurley Burley and Gillian Kyle.

With recent research demonstrating that more than a third of consumers would buy British if it was made easier, Megan Brown's promise of only sourcing unique gifts that are made in Britain is set to benefit millions.

Building awareness around key values, along with driving online traffic and promoting sales were all considerations in appointing an agency.

Megan Brown said: “We’re delighted to have appointed Brandspankin’ to manage PR for us. They are vastly experienced in successfully delivering public relations campaigns and they share our values and commitment to the idea of promoting British design and manufacture.”

Jacqueline Jordan, Director of Brandspankin’, said: “It’s fantastic to be working with MeganBrown.co.uk. They support the British designers and manufacturers who understand the UK market best and are renowned for their creativity and innovation. It’s the perfect site to visit for birthdays, for mother’s day, or just for a beautifully handcrafted indulgence!”

BrandSpankin's October PR & Social Media Marketing Course

We’re pleased to announce that we have confirmed dates for our October PR and social media marketing course. Why not call us now – despite the spending cuts we can still get your place on the course FULLY FUNDED if your business has five or more employees. (Even if you have less than five people, call us anyway – we may still be able to help)

The course will run on consecutive Mondays – the 11th and 18th October from 10am to 4pm. The course will be held at Pendle Enterprise Haven, in Nelson Lancashire.

The BrandSpankin' PR and social media marketing course trains businesses to:-

- Formulate key messages properly
- Write a compelling, "media-ready" press release
- Formulate an objectives-based Comms/Marketing plan that locks marketing activity into your Business Plan
- Understand the requirements of journalists and publication editors
- Use a series of freely available tools to monitor and measure the success of campaigns
- Understand how to optimise and best utilise your presence on social media sites including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube and Foursquare.
- Use a variety of online PR resources to "self-publish" news releases
- Use blogging platforms to "self-publish"
- Massively enhance your online presence - so-called "Digital Asset Optimisation"
- Significantly increase traffic to your website
- Significantly increase return on investment

Attendees also:-

- Have a q/a session with a business journalist
- Have a one-2-one follow up from the course
- Receive presentations from each module of the course
- Receive a "starter-pack" of journalist data and the means to build this for themselves.
- Receive regular updates on new developments that will assist you to stay ahead of your competitors.

ReclaimedBricks.com pays for itself in a fortnight!

Two weeks ago we launched a new website for our client ReclaimedBricks.com. The website generated its first leads within the first hour of going live and within 48 hours had generated a significant order. Today it’s pulled in an order that’s paid for the site!

At BrandSpankin’ our remit is to help our clients build awareness, generate leads and make more money – and what better example of our philosophy in action than the success of ReclaimedBricks.com.

Besides the fact that the ReclaimedBricks.com website looks great, we’ve done quite a bit of search engine optimisation work (SEO), so the website already features highly on Google for searches such as “Reclaimed Bricks”, ”Victorian Bricks” and ”Old Bricks”. Our aim is to build on this good start and use PR and social media marketing to keep building awareness and generating those valuable inbound links!

That way, our client will see a very significant return on their investment and we’ll have built a website that is more than just an electronic brochure – it’s a highly profitable sales channel!

BrandSpankin’ to host Mobile Marketing event

PENDLE marketing business BrandSpankin’ (http://www.brandspankin.co.uk) is set to host a mobile marketing demonstration for east Lancashire businesses that are looking to generate significant footfall and turn passers-by into customers.

The event is to take place in Simonstone, Lancashire on Wednesday 21st April, and will be co-hosted by BrandSpankin’s technology partner, C2-UK. The event is free to attend but places are limited, as there is significant interest in this form of mobile or proximity marketing.
The system operates using mobile handsets that have Bluetooth enabled, allowing businesses to send messages, discount codes and special offers to people who are in the immediate vicinity, allowing businesses to pull in people who might otherwise just pass by.

The UK has more active mobile contracts than people and over 90 per cent of handsets have Bluetooth functionality – potentially giving businesses unprecedented levels of access to foot fall that they would otherwise miss out on.

“Open rates” for this form of mobile marketing are in the region of 13 per cent, whereas traditional small business marketing techniques such as door drops, direct mail or flyers can typically have as little as a 0.5 per cent response rate.

Julian Jordan, MD of BrandSpankin’ said: “At the event we’ll be demonstrating the ease of use of our mobile marketing solution. Unlike a lot of traditional marketing forms you can really measure the effect of this approach and see an unprecedented return on your marketing budget. This kind of solution makes massive sense for small businesses such as bars, clubs and taxi businesses – but equally larger enterprises like football clubs, supermarkets and concert venues can see huge and immediate responses.”

Businesses interesting in attending should contact BrandSpankin’ on 01282 878 301 or 0161 453 3230.

Asda shoppers get the Doodle bug!

PENDLE creative marketing business BrandSpankin’, has had Colne shoppers doodling for a good cause this week.

Shoppers at Colne’s Asda store took part in Lancashire’s Longest Doodle and supported Pendleside Hospice in the process.

The Doodle is taking shape on a huge stretch of cotton and has had hundreds of people doodling for a good cause. So far the doodle is 130 metres long and filled with the artistic work of hundreds of local people!

Doodlers are also being asked to make a contribution to Pendleside hospice, a charity designed to meet the needs of local people with cancer or life-threatening illnesses.

BrandSpankin’ started the project to promote the regeneration of Lancashire.

Julian Jordan, BrandSpankin's managing director explains: “We believe that creativity generates the ideas that will spawn enterprise and ultimately regeneration. The doodle has already been all over Lancashire and when it’s complete we’ve got plans to roll it down several spectacular Lancashire landmarks.”

Any schools, businesses, or community groups interested in participating in the doodle should call BrandSpankin’ on 01282 878301.

BrandSpankin’ new approach to promoting your business.

PENDLE marketing business BrandSpankin’ (http://www.brandspankin.co.uk) has launched a radical new marketing solution to help east Lancs businesses make more money.

Mobile or proximity marketing operates using mobile handsets that have Bluetooth enabled, allowing business to send messages, discount codes and special offers to people who are in the immediate vicinity, allowing businesses to pull in people who might otherwise just pass by.

The UK has more active mobile contracts than people and over 90 per cent of handsets have Bluetooth functionality – potentially giving businesses unprecedented levels of access to foot fall that they would otherwise miss out on.

“Open rates” for this form of mobile marketing are in the region of 13 per cent, whereas traditional small business marketing techniques such as door drops, direct mail or flyers can typically have as little as a 0.5 per cent response rate.

Julian Jordan, MD of BrandSpankin’ said: “We’ve spent ages trying to source the best mobile marketing solution and we’ve been really impressed with the kit we’ve got. It’s really robust and the reporting it can deliver is superb.”

“Unlike a lot of traditional marketing forms you can really measure the effect of this approach and see an unprecedented return on your marketing budget. This kind of solution makes massive sense for small businesses such as bars, clubs and taxi businesses – but equally larger enterprises like football clubs, supermarkets and concert venues can see huge and immediate responses.”

Social Media and Media Relations courses

BrandSpankin' has just completed the March Social Media and Media Relations course and again we've had some excellent attendees, representing businesses including Daviker Software (www.touchstarccs.co.uk), Weighing Scales Limited (www.weighingscalesltd.co.uk), Function Factory Theatre (www.functionfactorytheatre.co.uk) and Four Seasons Gardening.

Given the popularity of the courses to date (and some of the excellent successes previous attendees are now reporting), we're rolling them out and we'll be considering doing them further afield - with Liverpool and Manchester being possible/likely locations.

To support our efforts, LMA (www.lmaaccountants.com) will be selling spaces on courses from May, as well as managing grant applications for those businesses looking to have their attendees fully funded.

BrandSpankin' PR and Social Media Courses

January saw the start of our PR courses for small businesses. Taking place at Pendle Innovation Centre where BrandSpankin’ is headquartered, we are planning subsequent courses – the next of which will run in March.

The course covers areas such as understanding your business brand values and propositions to determine your key messages, writing a compelling press release, building a comprehensive communications plan, and using social media to support your PR and marketing efforts.

For our first course we welcomed attendees from Hillendale Land Rover, Anvic Developments, Louvreties, Enterprising Pendle, Coffee Uno and Brooklands Retreat.

Let us know if these courses are of interest – we can help you secure funding to cover your costs!

No really...Happy Christmas!

I love/hate this time of year. Overbearing sentimentality, commercial meltdown, mountains of Chinese manufactured plastic shite that the kids don't really want, hideous food. Then on the upside there's the mulled wine, office parties, the excitement of my kids on Christmas Eve, the Wizard of Oz.

Still, I don't see why we can't get it over in a long weekend then crack on - I've got work to do, you know.

Anyroad up, whatever you're doing - I hope you have a great Christmas and New Year. There...I said it.

Here's the BrandSpankin' Christmas eshot...

http://bit.ly/5n4HGz

Attend our PR Masterclasses

Like many other businesses, BrandSpankin’ has been buffeted by the economic climate over the last year – as you can imagine, Marketing and Public Relations are budgets that are frequently first to be cut. Nevertheless, when we meet people in business in our area they often suggest that they’d be very keen to build more awareness of their business, to generate leads and to be seen to have a higher media profile – whether that’s local & regional, trade and business, online or even national. The sticking point for many is the (perceived) cost of PR – especially when weighed against the measurable benefits.

Therefore, we have been looking at ways we can help businesses get consistent, positive media coverage that communicates who they are, what they do and what they stand for – without incurring significant costs. As such, we are proposing to run a two day course in January – and teach a member of your team the tricks of the trade, so instead of having to retain the services of our business (or a similar one), your business will be capable of generating positive headlines using an in-house resource.

Building awareness for your business in this way, will help you to be ‘front of mind’ when your targets are about to make a ‘buying decision’. Recognition of your business and familiarity with your offerings builds trust amongst prospects and customers alike. And you can convert that trust into winning new business and retaining your existing customers.

A member of your staff can join our PR masterclass – this two day course costs only £199 plus VAT, but there are limited places. Not only will your business then be able to make your message more compelling, you’ll be able to target your message appropriately, write effective press releases, get your story published, use social media to give your story much more traction and you’ll significantly increase traffic to your website. What’s more, we’ll be following up with every participant on the course to ensure that they put their skills to good use - to ensure that you generate positive media coverage (that’s worth more than the cost of the course itself!).

The course will be delivered by our MD, Julian Jordan, who has 20 year’s experience as a journalist, media relations expert and marketer. He has been the Managing Editor of The Asian, Production Editor of Unified Communications and Editor-in-Chief of Information Services Monthly. He has also successfully managed Media Relations for brands such as Vivendi-Universal, Onetel, Your Communications, TouchStar Software, Moonfish and MobileBroadbandSupermarket.co.uk

Here’s what a current client has to say about our media relations services:

“BrandSpankin’ have helped us immensely with our media relations. Now, people are blogging about our service and social media activity has significantly increased our website traffic. Most importantly, we’ve generated coverage in trade and business media, regional media and we’ve been in The Daily Telegraph. Building awareness in this way will help us become the first point of reference when people are looking to purchase mobile broadband.” - Andy Gott - Managing Director, MobileBroadbandSupermarket.co.uk

Our media relations course could similarly be the difference that gives your business vital cut-through and differentiation – positive headlines are potentially just a phone call away!

Give us a call on 01282 878 301 - and here are some more details:-

http://bit.ly/1dgldj

Top tips for marketing your small business...

Or, how to hold your nerve when all around you are losing theirs

A lot of small businesses we come across are often guilty of ad hoq marketing. Sales are down one particular month, so they decide the following month that they’d better “do some marketing”.

You wouldn’t do your books on an ad hoq basis (I hope!) and you wouldn’t turn up at the office on an ad hoq basis – so why would you leave your business development to chance?

Businesses that prosper are always the ones that plan their marketing and consistently communicate their values, products and services to their targets, prospects AND existing customers.

So here’s a few things to consider:

1. Budget accordingly. Things may take longer and cost more than planned. Look at your business plan – how much growth are you anticipating? Plan your marketing activity to meet that objective. Then ask yourself which areas of marketing have worked for you previously (e.g. a specific publication, direct mail, your website) – then direct your budget to those areas.

2. Your marketing will always require tweaks – and some things that you do won’t work. You need to learn along the way what works best for your business (i.e. gives you a return on your investment). The idea that the savvy businesses don’t cut their marketing budget in a recession is a falsehood – if it isn’t delivering, scrap it and focus your limited budget on something that is!

3. Taken together, these two points should illustrate that easy choices aren’t necessarily the best choices. Just because “we’ve always done it this way”, doesn’t mean it’s always going to work – especially as your customers have an increasingly sophisticated understanding of “media and marketing” - let’s face it, things have moved on from the days when we had just four terrestrial TV channels and half a dozen national newspapers – some of your competitors may be about to steal a march on you!

4. There’s an irrational person in your office – ignore this individual at all costs. The world is full of nay-sayers – don’t let them de-motivate you! So what if they hate your website/new logo/brochure/eshot/press release? An uninformed, knee-jerk, gut reaction says nothing about whether or not something is fit-for-purpose!

5. Getting butterflies before you hit send is almost certainly a good thing – it’s good to have a few doubts. That in itself should be sufficient to check, double check, ask a colleague (not the irrational one), even ask a customer. Nothing worse than blundering through something, absolutely convinced you are right – when the chances are, you’re wrong.

6. You’ll never please everyone, so why try? Even if you only please one in a hundred – do you realise how big a market that is?

7. Sticking to a conviction or principle is very laudable. Doing what demand in the marketplace dictates is very profitable. Laudable or profitable...you decide.

8. Marketing is a means to helping your business make more money. Design work conducted for your business should never lose sight of this. Creativity is great, but only if it serves that purpose...I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you’re unlikely to win an award in Cannes...probably best to focus on generating leads and awareness!

9. Is your marketing measurable? Do you track what effect it’s having? Can you say for every £ you spend, you generate £s? There are lots of ways this can be done – it helps you figure out what works and what you should do more.

10. You will make mistakes, but try not to make expensive mistakes. If you’re going to commit to a marketing project that costs, look at what other businesses like yours have done and assess if it’s worked for them. Are there ways you can mitigate against high costs – there is funding and training available for example (call us and we'll let you know about it) - this could offset your costs and enhance your skills and experience.


So there you go! Food for thought, I hope. If there are any points that provoke your interest or, for that matter, raise your blood pressure...let us know.

And, of course, if there’s anything we can do to help you market your business more successfully – get in touch!

http://www.brandspankin.co.uk/

Social Media Revolution

I spoke at an event a couple of weeks ago about networking for new businesses. I thought it would be useful to go beyond 'organic' networking with people and also look at some of the issues raised by networking via social media.

We've had some success with this approach at BrandSpankin' (http://www.brandspankin.co.uk) using the likes of LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook (amongst others!). For example we've quadrupled traffic to iSM (http://www.ismonthly.com) using LinkedIn and we've significantly assisted MobileBroadbandSupermarket (http://www.mobilebroadbandsupermarket.co.uk) already as well as built a number of inbound links, which is great for their SEO strategy.

We've also just put a Facebook group together for Scruples menswear. We produce an annual 60 page magazine for Scruples which is distributed to their database of 4,500+ customers that they've gained over 25 years. You can have a look at last year's magazine here:- http://bit.ly/1wGyPt

Our intention is to carry a piece in the 2009 magazine promoting membership of the Scruples Menswear Facebook group. As the number of members grows it will give them an opportunity to message members with offers and updates on new lines, as well as their made-to-measure service. It's cheaper than direct mailing (given that it's free!) and they can track an immediate response!

Businesses that are in any doubt about digital marketing are overlooking the fact that by going digital, you can hit your targets in context and in location, rather than taking an old fashioned, expensive, and somewhat scattergun approach. As mobile marketing explodes onto the scene in the next year or so, the landscape will change beyiond recognition.

Anyway, if you're not entirely convinced, don't take my word for it - check this out:-

http://bit.ly/zZsGU

Trust4Business

I've just seen the new Trust4Business site - they're our landlords here at Pendle Innovation Centre. The BrandSpankin' office is depicted in the shot on the page I've linked to! The site was done by Door4 - their MD Leon Calverley took the shot of us in action.

And, on a related note, I heard over the weekend that Leon had just become Dad to a baby girl, Emma Rose. Conratulations to Leon and Kat!


http://bit.ly/3ze2uh

MobileBroadbandSupermarket.co.uk appoints Jordan Communications to handle PR strategy

Here's a transcript of a press release we issued on Thursday announcing our new contract win!

MobileBroadbandSupermarket.co.uk, the online comparison service has appointed Jordan Communications (BrandSpankin's parent company) to handle their public relations, as they embark upon a significant growth strategy.

With mobile broadband usage soaring, MobileBroadbandSupermarket.co.uk has been building a reputation as a neutral and transparent consumer champion - even advising some consumers that want to buy a "dongle" that it might not be the right choice for them. So, with the dongle market set for continued growth, MobileBroadbandSupermarket's approach is to educate consumers about the variety of offerings available - not just in terms of price, but also usage limits and levels of service.

Julian Jordan of Jordan Communications added: "We're delighted to be working for MobileBroadbandSupermarket.co.uk. It's a perfect match for our skill sets and experience. We've passionately supported the switching agenda over the years, so to be supporting the efforts of a business that is dedicated to adding clarity to a potentially confusing emerging marketplace is a real coup for us. The beauty of the service is its simplicity and its honesty - not only is it easy to use, if a dongle purchase isn't the best option for your circumstances, they'll tell you so."

Andy Gott, the Managing Director of MobileBroadbandSupermarket.co.uk, said: "The major benefit we deliver to people who want to buy a dongle is that we help them to make a confident buying decision, without doing hours of research first. Therefore, we want to build awareness of our service to enable consumers to make informed decisions about which network is offering the best mobile broadband deal to suit their circumstances. We chose Jordan Communications to drive our strategy forward because they have significant experience in the fields of telecoms, internet and personal finance - especially around the 'switching' agenda.

Mobile connectivity devices, or “dongles” as they are commonly known, are an ideal way for people to stay connected on the move. They are especially useful to business travellers, who may need to get online whilst at the airport or hotel; for students, who need connectivity but may not have a fixed line connection; and also for some people in rural communities, who may not have very good ADSL coverage.


http://www.mobilebroadbandsupermarket.co.uk/

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Lancashire's Longest Doodle!!

This week we set off on our attempt to create Lancashire’s Longest Doodle. Besides the fact that we hope to raise a bit of money for Pendleside Hospice, we want to get people involved in a basic artistic activity – as we think that creativity spawns ideas that can be the bed-rock of regeneration. We’ve seen it happen in London in places like Shoreditch - and we’d love to be part of a process like that in Lancashire and the North West.

The doodle itself is taking shape on a 200 metre length of cotton because we wanted to reference the former economic glories of our area, but our real focus is on future successes! The response so far has been great – and the enthusiasm of the pupils at the two schools we visited last week has been really excellent. We doodled 25 metres in two days last week!

Any schools, businesses or community organisations interested in participating in the doodle should call BrandSpankin’ on 01282 878 301. (http://www.brandspankin.co.uk/)

BrandSpankin’ barometer?

It’s been very quiet on the blog front! In part, that’s because we’ve been so busy of late. I’m not going to be a hostage to fortune and predict green shoots of recovery, but the number of leads we’re generating at the moment is very encouraging. It’s still taking longer to convert leads, but I suppose it’s like the old football cliché – it’s better to be creating chances and not scoring goals, than not creating chances. So what are the implications of all this for you?

Well, I see BrandSpankin’ as a bit of a barometer business in East Lancashire. We deliver marketing services to clients from all sectors and we work for businesses large and small. If the number of leads we’re generating is increasing (probably tenfold month-on-month comparing August with January), then I suspect that it’s a good sign of improvement in the local economy as a whole.

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Enterprising Pendle

I’m excited at the prospects that the Community Enterprise Board presents to the area. Enterprising Pendle, as it’s known is relatively nascent, but we took a big step forward recently with the appointment of Remi Thackrey, as Enterprise Facilitator. He’s a very personable guy and he’s committed to the regeneration of the area, so I’m sure he’ll make a success of it.

The board itself is based on the Sirolli Institute methodology (http://www.sirolli.com/). It appeals to me in many ways, not least because it’s not a prescriptive, top down approach to regeneration, but a grass roots, non-bureaucratic approach, that has a real track record of success.

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Radio Gaga

I’ve done several radio pieces recently – one on BBC Radio 4 and a couple of pieces on BBC Radio Lancashire, which included being co-commentator for the Burnley victory over Manchester United. BBC strictures on impartiality went out of the window when Robbie Blake’s screamer hit the back of the net and I went mental live on the air! It’s a fantastic time to be a Claret at the moment!

The Radio 4 programme I was interviewed for was called ‘Divided Britain’. I think my contribution was there for the purposes of ‘balance’ – at least one person had to be on there who actually loves the area, thinks it’s a good place, full of good people and a worthwhile place to live and work. If the remit of the programme is to focus on problems (and let’s face it there is a clue in the name Divided Britain, which makes it fairly clear they’re not going to trumpet the potential of Nelson as a tourist destination!), then it’s not difficult to find the negatives. My problem with this approach is that it means the tail wags the dog – the lunatic fringe will often get the airtime and we potentially hand the initiative and agenda to Fascists and Fundamentalists.

I’m not suggesting that we ignore the problems that we face, but I do think we are generally hindered by a national media that often characterises the area as full of people who are marginalised, alienated and disenfranchised.

For those of you interested in what Divided Britain had to say, you can hear it again here:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mbm3l

This week Connectivity will launch their "Mobile Directory Service" 118 800. The service is set to be a landmark in the evolution of information services since the derugulation of the old 192 service in the UK. The difference between this service and other 118 directory enquiries services is that it will be giving out personal mobile numbers, having acquired 18 million UK mobile numbers from data brokers etc. On one level it's a great idea and long overdue. However, the obvious question that will be raised is about the protection of people's privacy.

At BrandSpankin' (http://www.brandspankin.co.uk/), we have a close relationship with a US business called Wireless Directory Networks (WDN) - they developed a privacy proposition which squares the circle, in that it allows mobile users to be available whilst not actually giving out their numbers. Below is a link to an interview in Information Services Monthly that I did with Jeff Strunk, WDN's CEO.

http://www.ismonthly.com/features/squaringcircle.asp

http://www.wirelessdirectorynetwork.com/

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Every time we're about to get ahead of ourselves, we check out a bit of Bill Hicks - always a good thing for us Marketeers to be put in our place once in a while...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDW_Hj2K0wo

Last night was the launch party at Press Room - the Bar and Restaurant that is situated in Burnley's historic Mechanics Theatre. Press Room is a BrandSpankin' client - we formulated their brand and have produced most of their sales and marketing collateral. Have a look at some of it here.

http://www.brandspankin.co.uk/our-work-client.php?id=2

Anyway, a great night was had by all - so best wishes to Gavin, Neil and Sam on what we think is going to be a really successful venture.

***

On another note, talk in the office, has been dominated by the ongoing media feeding frenzy and public outrage at the Parliamentary expenses row. We're split as to whether we'd want to provide a 'crisis comms' role to help them dig the way out of the hole. We're all pretty disgusted by it - exemption from capital gains tax is one thing, but why should they gain all that equity from second homes that we're paying for as tax payers?

Our suggestion is that there should be no second home allowance, there should be total transparency (ie: publication of all MPs receipts) and that they should all live in either halls of residence when they're in London - or alternatively, if that's a security issue, they should stay in cheap hotels and then claim legitimate expenses like the rest of us have to do when we are working in London!

BrandSpankin' enters the blogmosphere!

Welcome to the BrandSpankin' Blog for all things connected with Marketing, Graphic Design, Web and Media Relations - all with an East Lancs twang. And just now and then, we might ski 'off-piste' and comment on this, that or the other.

Just a few things for starters:-

- We're keeping our fingers crossed for Burnley who play Reading tonight in the second leg of the Championship play offs. Come on you Clarets.

- Before that we'll be in attendance at the Chamber of Commerce event at Stanley House in Mellor.

In the meantime, I'm just off to try to claim parliamentary expenses on my Prince Albert...

www.brandspankin.co.uk