It's always interesting seeing a client's eyes light up when you explain how much sales and marketing collateral can be secured from one piece of work.
Let's take a useful, objective white paper we drafted that could stop property owners and facilities managers making a costly mistake when selecting a building management system.
In this instance, a document created to address a specific issue for several customers formed the basis of a news release that broadened awareness of the white paper's existence, heightened the perception of Honeywell as a reliable and objective authority and generated a number of requests for further information.
We then wrote an article, which was effectively an abridged version of the paper, tailored it for different markets and submitted it for relevant features in targeted - but non-competing - publications.
The next stage will be to turn the original white paper into a presentation, which can be used by the sales team and at future conferences and seminars.
Works Management: Honeywell separates fact from fiction
News and views from possibly the biggest public relations consultancy in the world... well, certainly the largest in Coalville.
Friday, 13 December 2013
Tuesday, 12 November 2013
Having a whale of a time makes a refreshing change
So much of the work we do entails vehicles, buildings and machines of one sort or another - plus photography of the same.
That's why working with the World Cetacean Alliance and the organisers of WhaleFest makes such a refreshing change.
These people are passionate and dynamic about the causes they promote and the projects they are involved in. They support and work for each other as well as themselves. It is easy to get caught up in their enthusiasm for whales and dolphins; to get angry about the plight of cetaceans in captivity; to resolve - as they have done - to do something about the issue and to make the world a better place for all creatures, not just us.
The challenge is to channel that energy into PR activities that will have an impact.
It's an enjoyable, diverse and interesting project, which just goes to show that this business isn't all about the money; there can be other rewards. Plus it's nice to work with these kind of images!
That's why working with the World Cetacean Alliance and the organisers of WhaleFest makes such a refreshing change.
These people are passionate and dynamic about the causes they promote and the projects they are involved in. They support and work for each other as well as themselves. It is easy to get caught up in their enthusiasm for whales and dolphins; to get angry about the plight of cetaceans in captivity; to resolve - as they have done - to do something about the issue and to make the world a better place for all creatures, not just us.
The challenge is to channel that energy into PR activities that will have an impact.
It's an enjoyable, diverse and interesting project, which just goes to show that this business isn't all about the money; there can be other rewards. Plus it's nice to work with these kind of images!
Thursday, 7 November 2013
Neptunus wins gold with London 2012!
Last night at a star studded
awards event, our client Neptunus brought home the Gold for Event and Overlay
Facilities at the International Sports Event Management Awards 2013.
Neptunus was recognised for the many diverse projects that it
successfully delivered at London 2012, all of which helped to enhance the
operations of the world’s biggest sporting event.
Judges said the Neptunus solution demonstrated: “Creativity,
installation and diversification through design and standards as expected of
the world’s biggest sporting event.”
Thursday, 17 October 2013
One lump or two?
Monday sees the launch of our new e-shot campaign and we're expecting some organisations we'd like to work with will have a look at our blog before deciding whether or not to get in touch directly.
If that includes you, then welcome! Hopefully, you like what you've seen. Besides, we do a mean tea or coffee and, with Morrisons two minutes away, wonderful biscuits are always in plentiful supply!
Pick up the phone and give us a call!
If that includes you, then welcome! Hopefully, you like what you've seen. Besides, we do a mean tea or coffee and, with Morrisons two minutes away, wonderful biscuits are always in plentiful supply!
Pick up the phone and give us a call!
Monday, 14 October 2013
Loads to think about
We've been working with Transdek UK, the award winning loading and lifting systems experts, to raise awareness of the supply chain efficiencies double deck vehicle trailers can deliver but ones some business sectors appear to be missing out on.
This is highlighted in an article by the company's managing director that was commissioned and published by Handling & Storage Solutions, both online and in its magazine.
Double decking: lost in translation?
This is highlighted in an article by the company's managing director that was commissioned and published by Handling & Storage Solutions, both online and in its magazine.
Double decking: lost in translation?
Wednesday, 9 October 2013
Work for World Cetacean Alliance starts to bear fruit
Last year's WhaleFest marked the launch of the World Cetacean Alliance - a group of non-government organisations, charities and individuals from around the globe who have the best interests of whales, dolphins and porpoises at heart and who decided they would have more impact working together than they would standing alone.
As part of our work for WhaleFest, we're helping the WCA's members to raise their own profile and that of the umbrella organisation in their own countries. Here are a couple of the early results from New Zealand and South Africa...
As part of our work for WhaleFest, we're helping the WCA's members to raise their own profile and that of the umbrella organisation in their own countries. Here are a couple of the early results from New Zealand and South Africa...
Tuesday, 1 October 2013
Supply and demand
See Neptunus’ Managing
Director April Trasler’s insightful comments in the supply and demand feature
in the October issue of Exhibition Bulletin. Investigating supplier
relationships in the exhibition market, including contract trends emerging in
the industry.
Wednesday, 4 September 2013
Worried about energy costs in your business?
A by-lined article in Modern Building Services for our client Honeywell Building Solutions sets out a cost-effective strategy for significant energy and cost savings. Let an expert pay for the required improvements!
Three foundations for building-control success
Three foundations for building-control success
Tuesday, 27 August 2013
Having a whale of a time!
Delighted to announce we're carrying out a pro bono media relations campaign to promote WhaleFest (www.whale-fest.com), which happens next March in Brighton.
The last event, held at the same venue last year, was an excellent mix of entertainment, exhibition and information, with over 6,000 people visiting over a two-day period. If you fancy a family weekend by the seaside, it's well worth a visit.
More information to follow...
The last event, held at the same venue last year, was an excellent mix of entertainment, exhibition and information, with over 6,000 people visiting over a two-day period. If you fancy a family weekend by the seaside, it's well worth a visit.
More information to follow...
Thursday, 15 August 2013
Top questions posed by your customers re social media
Following on from the top five questions to ask yourself about whether or not to adopt a social media programme, here are eight questions your customers might ask you, should you decide to venture online...
Developing great answers to these are your best chance of developing a successful social media programme.
- Why should I like you on Facebook?
- Why should I follow you on Twitter?
- Why would I value the experience i.e. what would I take away from it?
- Why would I keep coming back over time?
- Why would I keep engaged with you, rather than my real friends?
- Why would I urge other contacts to follow you?
- Why would I spend time in your network rather than keeping my own?
- Why should I care about you, if you don't care about me?
Developing great answers to these are your best chance of developing a successful social media programme.
Thursday, 1 August 2013
The top five questions to ask yourself about social media
If you're thinking of adding social media to your marketing platform, here are five questions you need to answer before making a final decision...
1. What do I hope to achieve by adopting a social media programme?
2. What should the programme consist of?
3. How important is social media to my customer base?
4. How much am I willing to invest in developing and maintaining a social media presence?
5. How am I going to measure the value of the programme?
If you need some help with working out what's best for you, feel free to get in touch.
1. What do I hope to achieve by adopting a social media programme?
2. What should the programme consist of?
3. How important is social media to my customer base?
4. How much am I willing to invest in developing and maintaining a social media presence?
5. How am I going to measure the value of the programme?
If you need some help with working out what's best for you, feel free to get in touch.
A genuine Masterpiece
Have you seen the August issue
of Exhibition Bulletin? Check out page 12, which shows the work Neptunus undertook
for Masterpiece London. They replicated the look of the nearby Chelsea Hospital
using a printed wrap around on the temporary structure they constructed. It’s
hard to distinguish the temporary structure from the real thing!
Monday, 8 July 2013
Technical triumph
It's always a busy time of year but as always we've met the deadlines and our clients' award entries have been signed, sealed and delivered - for now at least!
We'll have to wait until the end of the summer before all the results are announced but we already have one victory under our belt….. Our materials handling client was the worthy winner of a national United Kingdom Warehousing Association Award this month. A technical triumph for all those involved!
We'll have to wait until the end of the summer before all the results are announced but we already have one victory under our belt….. Our materials handling client was the worthy winner of a national United Kingdom Warehousing Association Award this month. A technical triumph for all those involved!
Wednesday, 3 July 2013
10 rules of reputation management
“O, I have lost my reputation! I have lost
the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial.”
Now we’re not
sure we agree with Shakespeare’s Cassio when it comes to bestiality, but he has
a fair point when he talks about the ‘immortal part’ of himself. When
reputation’s gone, it’s gone – as Gerald Ratner knows only too well.
In business,
reputation can mean the difference between success and failure, profit and
loss, work or the dole queue.
So, how do you
keep hold of what you have – and how can you enhance it?
Here are what we
believe to be the top ten rules of reputation management…
1. Tell the truth. You don’t want to be known as a liar.
Customers will disappear – and will also talk negatively about you to other
customers and potential customers. Your workforce will never trust you again –
and that’s not good for motivation or, indeed, for staff retention. And as for
journalists… well, the hope will be that they never mention you again, but the
likelihood is that you will be publically lambasted and news of your deceit
will be spread far and wide. Not good, not good at all.
2. Build up goodwill (a.k.a. making allies
in peace time). All
reputations are vulnerable, but if you have spent time and effort in building
yours up during the good times, the more chance you have of surviving the bad.
3. Deliver on your promises. The easiest way to build and keep a good
reputation is to ensure that you deliver what you promise – be that a product
or service of consistently high quality; training and career development
opportunities for staff or even getting back to a journalist when you say you
will.
4. Talk to people. If there’s one thing worse than knowing,
it’s the not knowing. People don’t like to be left in the dark and they hate
surprises – especially in business. If there is an issue that is affecting or
about to affect your operation, talk to the relevant parties. The workforce is
more likely to be onside if it knows the scope of the issue and what needs to
be done; customers will appreciate being kept up to speed so they can take
action within their own business to alleviate any consequences.
Of course, the
above should be the principles of any business. But there will be times when
things within or outside your control have an adverse impact on your activity.
These are the times when your reputation is really on the line. Curiously,
these times also provide opportunities to enhance your reputation.
Business guru
John Nicholls says a crisis gives a business the chance to shine. “If I have two suppliers that are as good as each
other, and one supplier has an issue with deliveries that it overcomes
successfully and with the minimum of fuss, I would be more impressed than I am
with its competitor, who has not yet had a problem,” he says.
So, are you ready
for the crisis that will inevitably happen and threaten your reputation?
5. Plan for the worst. It’s easy to turn a minor crisis into a
major disaster if you don’t know how to handle it. Look at every area of your
operation, ask what could happen that would be damaging to your reputation,
then develop a plan to help you address that issue. To get you started, here
are some of the crises we’ve handled over the last few years. How many could
apply to your business?
- Redundancies
- Site closures / transfer of operations
- Road accidents / deaths and consequent prosecutions
- Site accidents and consequent prosecutions
- Racism
- Theft of stock / security issues
- Loss of customers
- Illegal immigration
- Communicable diseases / management communication
- Customer service issues
- False performance claims
- Subcontractor issues
- Trade union issues
- Business performance issues
- Organisational change
- Product recalls
- Staff assaults
6. Test, rehearse, revise and review. Test every area of your crisis plan
thoroughly. Make sure everyone knows their role and is comfortable with putting
the plan into practice. Keep revising the plan until you are confident that it
will work. Review and update the plan as frequently as is sensible, but never
less than annually.
7. Know your messages. Agree key messages and stick to them. Ensure
that everybody knows them and be certain that they are in every communication
with the outside world.
8. Get buy-in from the top. Somebody in your business has to be in
charge of the crisis plan and they have to be recognised and accepted as such
from the outset. If your managing director is unhappy to follow your lead, the
worst time to find out is when the company’s reputation is on the line. Senior
management must buy into the plan from the outset – and their commitment must
be open and obvious.
9. Select and train your spokespeople. Pick two or three reliable and senior
people within the business to talk on behalf of the organisation; then train
them to make sure they are confident in talking to the media – whether that be
over the phone, face to face, down a microphone or on camera.
10. Know your limitations. If you are not an expert in reputation
management, or if you don’t have the time to devote to the development of a plan,
hire somebody who can help. You would not entrust the company's legal or financial
affairs to a well-meaning amateur. A damaged reputation will kill a company
faster than any court battle or financial crisis.
By the way, following
Othello’s suicide, Cassio ended up becoming Governor of Cyprus – which just
goes to show that things can still turn around, no matter how desperate they
may look.
Monday, 3 June 2013
Double whammy
It’s great to see Neptunus’
work at the London Olympics recognised in the temporary structures feature on
pages 31 – 36 of the June 2013 issue of Access All Areas. There’s a great image
showcasing the London 2012 Megastore that Neptunus built.
In the same issue on pages 6
- 8 Neptunus showed off more blooming marvellous structures at the Royal
Chelsea Flower Show.
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