Category: News: Company Updates

Promoting expertise to provide effective integrated Marketing Services

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We are delighted to announce the promotion of Michael Bull to the newly created role of Digital Marketing and Integrated Services Director.

brookscomm started 27 years ago as a traditional technology PR Agency, working for a range of clients, often US tech being promoted and sold in Europe. When the ‘dotcom boom’ moved into the ‘dotcom bust’, brookscomm realised it was vital to develop an easy to evolve business with a flexible and constantly learning team.

Fast forward 27 years, 200+ clients and a series of business evolutions to the brookscomm business of today and these realisations are still completely valid.

The business continues to thrive by understanding the evolving needs of its customers. It does this by working with creative, organised, future thinking, commercially focused, marketing integration specialists. These specialists are key to driving the business forward.

Over the years the business has had several key team members who have been pivotal in moving the business to its next self-creation. Michael is one of these team members and we are delighted that he is taking on this new role.”

Michael joined brookscomm in 2016 as interim digital marketing manager. This promotion acknowledges the needs of current customers and the current brookscomm evolution into a full service integrated marketing agency for tech and innovation businesses.

Michael and I have worked with the brookscomm team, to transform the service offering in line with customer needs. Michael has been key in developing this with his entrepreneurial approach and a focus on the needs of customers. Customers today need a great range of integrated marketing and PR services, a website that delivers a rewarding user experience and a  clear sales and marketing strategy. They need an expert at the centre of this pulling in the right elements of marketing and PR and the matching skill sets at the right time. The integrated services director roles at brookscomm provide this expertise.

Michael has seen many changes in his time at brookscomm, both in his role and the way the industry has evolved. Here Michael shares his thoughts on his client achievements, the changes he has witnessed and thoughts for the future of marketing.

Outline some of your best client achievements since joining brookscomm

Image of Michael Bull, brookscomm

“The biggest achievement has been to help Blink, a US-based smart home security camera company, launch and establish themselves in the UK, Germany and France. Over three years we led the EU digital activities, working closely with the global head of sales on strategy and in that time we helped Blink massively grow its online presence, particularly by marketing on Facebook, YouTube and on Amazon. A highlight for me was a promotion on Amazon.co.uk which generated £1m sales in one day. On the strength of the results, Amazon bought Blink and it was a fascinating experience for us to work directly for Amazon.

Other highlights include providing marketing strategy and implementation to a UK Government project to market business recovery courses for small business owners during the Covid lockdown in 2020. Making sure we used channels to market the course, to get the numbers required to sign up for each course deadline, all within budget was a rewarding experience.”

What has been your biggest learning achievement in your time at brookscomm

“I obtained a post-graduate diploma in digital marketing last year, which incorporates Digital Strategy, Customer Experience, Search Marketing, Social Media, Leadership & Management. This has proved very relevant and topical as the requirement from our clients at brookscomm has evolved to include these elements. We’re collaborating with clients and partners at an increasingly more senior level, helping implement tailored strategies, and using the latest insights and tools ensures we can make a significant difference for our clients.”

What changes have you seen in the industry regarding client’s needs and activities

“In my experience, especially since Covid, marketing strategy is increasingly viewed as digital first for clients. With non-digital activities added in as secondary activities so that the marketing plan is less at risk from future pandemics. Covid accelerated digital adoption, especially in respect to consumers, changing the behaviour of how people search and buy online products and services. It’s a case of businesses either adapting to these changes or risk losing market share.

Clients are more aware of the many moving parts that constitute an effective digital strategy and how they can be aligned with their specific objectives. With PR increasingly becoming more digitised, the overlap between the two disciplines is becoming much smaller. Integrated services, combining PR and digital marketing activities, are the way forward, with both marketing and PR measured, and their impact quantified across the business.”

What do you hope to achieve in the future in this role

“I look forward to working with Mandy and the team to further develop the brookscomm business so that we can be part of more success stories for clients, working alongside pioneering people and businesses.”

Ensuring a delivery focused approach to PR and marketing

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We are delighted to announce that we have created a new role, appointing Carys Geer as Client Services Director.

The role of client services director is crucial to our business, as evidenced by our recent smooth switch to whole team remote working. Carys joined brookscomm in 2018 as Project Leader and has key industry experience plus a commitment to exceptional service provisions for our clients.

We caught up with Carys to find out more about the role, what it means to her and how it will benefit brookscomm’s clients.

What does this new role mean for brookscomm? 

Marketing and communications as a practice is continually evolving, changing how we consume and share news with partners, customers, prospects and our peers. As an integrated agency, brookscomm has continued to thrive over the last 25 years by staying agile, anticipating and adapting its services to what its clients need. The Client Services Director role is central to the team, exploring ideas to improve the agency’s future delivery and ensuring outputs are aligned to our clients’ strategic goals. This will enable us to develop our service in a dynamic and forward-thinking way. This is critical when rolling out changes in a business to ensure consistency for both the team and clients.

What does the position mean to you?

In my career to date, I’ve experienced a few different agency environments. Finding the balance between successful delivery to clients, advancing the agency from a commercial perspective and investing in a growing team is notoriously difficult. What’s exciting to me is that this role is an opportunity to oversee and maintain this careful balance at brookscomm, working across all facets of the business. The increased focus on business leadership and development is something that really interests me and provides a great progression for my career path. It’s really rewarding to help shape the agency, develop the PR and marketing experts of tomorrow and deliver services that not just meet client objectives, but also wow our clients.

What prompted the introduction of this new role?

The different elements of this role have always existed at brookscomm sitting within different remits in the agency over the years. The creation of this new role reflects our continued commitment to an integrated approach to delivery at brookscomm. We have various specialists across our service areas within the team and so this role oversees the combined expertise, bringing it all together to provide a seamless, valuable service for our clients. Our integrated service, combining various marketing and PR activities, is adding real value to clients’ businesses and we anticipate this area of the business growing considerably, very much supported by the introduction of this role.

Has COVID-19 impacted how this role was designed to look?

Like the rest of the world, we couldn’t have anticipated the significant changes brought on by the coronavirus crisis. And while we’re extremely fortunate that we can continue working and servicing our clients, how we do this looks different to how it did a few months ago. The same is the case for the client services role, however the fundamentals of the position remain the same. Having a client services lead has been critical in transitioning the team to work from home, ensuring that delivery to clients is impacted as little as possible, and ensuring we can run systems and processes virtually for the agency as normal.

What should prospective clients look for when choosing their communications service supplier?

A company should never underestimate the value of a great marketing and PR agency. We’ve found in recent years that companies get more from in an integrated approach to PR and marketing rather than the disciplines operating in isolation, which helps to streamline activities, get better results and measure outcomes more effectively.

The right agency will be so much more than a group of people delivering good results; they will be consultants with great business acumen, partners that have your best interests at heart and will treat your business as if it was their own. That’s always been our approach at brookscomm, which means our clients get so much more from us than what is agreed at the outset of the campaign or contract. It’s no wonder that so many of our client and media contacts have been with us for decades.

Follow brookscomm on Twitter (@PRexpertsUK) or LinkedIn to stay up to date and find out more about our integrated service offering here.

 

Q&A with Carys Waters, our new Project Leader

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We caught up with Carys, one of the newest members of the brookscomm team, to get to know more about her and the role she’s taken on at brookscomm.

What’s your career background?

I’ve worked in PR and communications since 2010 after completing a degree in Communication, Media and Culture at Oxford Brookes. I actually started my PR career here at brookscomm in its former life as Chazbrooks Communications and returned a few months ago. Since then I’ve spent time both in-house and at other PR agencies, predominantly working with technology and B2B companies. The company has grown considerably since I left in 2013 and diversified to provide a wider integrated communications offering. That plus the supportive and flexible culture that has always been in place at brookscomm meant I was keen to return.

What made you want to work in PR?

I think it’s the variety PR offers that appealed to me, and the fact it’s such a people-based industry. You have to wear lots of different hats in PR, as you’re constantly thinking about the stakeholders of the companies you’re working with, the journalist you’re pitching to, the customers or prospects of your clients; the list goes on. It means you learn loads and it’s fast-paced. Plus, the satisfaction of making your clients happy by working together to deliver a campaign or secure high-quality media coverage is hard to beat!

As Project Leader, what does a typical morning entail?

I typically start my day reviewing news online (Twitter, BBC, PR Week, Marketing Week) to understand what’s happening in the world and identifying relevant news for clients or for us as an agency. Then I spend time checking what needs to be achieved that day or week for clients, providing or arranging support across the team to deliver this as necessary. As part of this I also monitor what we’re delivering against any project plans and how results are measured.

What’s the best bit of advice you’ve been given?

It’s a cliché, but my parents have always taught me to trust my gut instinct. I’m not one to be hasty, so I always ponder my decisions (probably more than I should!) but I generally end up going with my initial instinct, and it’s hardly ever failed me.

What is your favourite brand and why?

It’s hard to pick, but I’m a fan of the BBC. I’m always impressed with how it tailors the brand to the channel – radio, TV, online – and maybe it’s because I work in communications, but I often notice how the message is shaped for the audience of that particular channel. I also tend to trust the BBC as a news source and generally find its news coverage reliable.

What news stories have grabbed your attention most in the last year?

I think it has to be anything around the amount of plastic waste we’re producing. It’s horrific how much is being chucked into the oceans and I’m so pleased that programmes like Blue Planet 2 have brought attention to this, so that more people are aware. I’ve been interested to read about a number of big brands boycotting excessive plastic packaging and I hope that continues throughout 2019.

What are you looking forward to most in 2019?

We’re investing more into the brookscomm brand so I’m looking forward to seeing the results of that this year. Working in an agency, I look forward to growing with our clients and helping them to achieve their own communications goals. At brookscomm, the clients we work with are so varied, so that’s always enjoyable. Personally, I’m also getting married, buying a house and have a big birthday in 2019, so there’s lots to be excited about!

At brookscomm we have over 20 years of PR & marketing expertise and a proven track record of providing an integrated, measurable PR and digital marketing strategy. We can help you boost your business. Email hello@brookscomm.com or call us on 01483 537 890. 

Follow us: Twitter @PRexpertsUK  Linkedin: brookscomm  Facebook: brookscomm Website: www.brookscomm.com

Why there needs to be more young professionals in the workplace

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By Barney Packer, Digital Marketing and Public Relations Intern

 

When they were just 18, young entrepreneurs from New Zealand, Jamie Beaton and Sharndre Kushor set up their first business venture Crimson Education. Crimson Education set out to be a platform that could matchmake students around the world to their perfect university – a great tool, especially for those looking to study abroad.

Taking an idea and turning it into a successful business at such a young age shows that the upcoming generation have something truly exciting to offer. In fact, a 2016 report by BNP Paribas found that, on average, baby boomers launched their first business at age 35, whereas millennials are typically doing it at 27. The youth of today are hungry to achieve!

With Crimson Education now valued at $160m, it begs the question; what exactly is it that young professionals add to the workplace?

Providing new ideas and thoughts

Young professionals’ fresh perspectives are invaluable. Their suggestions should be heard and recognised, even if just for spring boarding. Consider the benefits of having this viewpoint in the office, especially if you’re a business that wants to attract a younger demographic. If you have your own audience in the office, then use them!

Our MD Mandy Brooks says: “The placements we offer bring young energy into the office, which is a great way to share experience, generate new ideas and keep the business fresh and exciting.  With the original founders, myself and Chaz, still an integral part of the company, we have established a wide and diverse, knowledgeable, productive results-based team. Each team member is hugely valued and in turn adds particular value to brookscomm.”

Social media gurus

Growing up in the age of social media means that young professionals can spot opportunities that others might miss. One of the biggest demographic groups for Instagram is males between 18 to 24 years old, meaning that a teenager developing their social media following at such a young age is experience that businesses can benefit from. Young professionals are quick learners with natural marketing skills and are agile enough to move fluidly in the modern world.

A 2017 study into the effects of social media on young professionals’ work productivity found that networking, sharing, and finding social information has a positive impact on professional enhancement, with respondents of the survey stating that social media was a catalyst of the development and growth of their professional careers.

You give them opportunity, they give you loyalty

One thing that many young professionals worry about is the future of their career, and rightly so. They want to move up the ladder, earn money and be proud of their work, so opportunities for them to prove their worth is something they are driven by. Let them demonstrate their skills, while supporting and guiding them, and they will recognise it.

Young professionals who contribute creative and forward-thinking ideas are a key part of the workplace. The skills they offer are essential to any modern company and should be recognised, utilised, and developed across all industries. Collaboration is the key to success.

Over the last two months working here at brookscomm, I have been given the opportunity to apply skills I’ve developed during my university studies and previous work experience. Being supported and comfortable in pitching creative ideas within a healthy work environment has made for a really positive experience, enhancing my productivity, company loyalty and work satisfaction. All of this has enabled me to grow as a professional and deliver improved results.

If you’re interested in an internship opportunity at brookscomm, please drop us an email.

Audience targeting: Walking the ethical tightrope

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AdobeStock_118343721-min (2)Recent news has been dominated by stories which highlight the questionable tactics of some companies, in covertly harvesting user data from social media channels which informs their approach, enables them to target their communications based on profiling and, ultimately, influences opinion.

All of this is especially pertinent as we approach the looming GDPR deadline – in a timeframe where ethics, privacy and data protection are all issues of paramount concern to business.

The brookscomm approach
In our role as trusted counsel to a diverse client-base, we develop and deliver clear messaging to support each client’s value statement and inform their customers’ decision-making. Furthermore, we conduct thorough research to ensure we are targeting end-users and new business prospects as effectively, appropriately and ethically as possible.  This approach enables us to deliver consistency, add maximum value to the audience, whilst attaining optimal reach.
Whether in our PR, marketing or social media execution, our steps toward the most positive outcome are clearly defined and structured:

  1. identify each clients’ target audience/s (WHO do we want to attract?)
  2. determine their reading and influencer touchpoints (WHERE can we reach them?)
  3. develop clear messaging and information which illustrates the value proposition (WHY should they engage?)
  4. provide clear direction, highlighting the call-to-action (HOW do we meet our end-goal? e.g. sales / subscribers / etc in a GDPR compliant process.)

The methods we use to achieve these steps follow a careful and considered ethical pathway, with the utmost care and consideration to ensure compliance, authenticity and integrity – building a sense of trust with our clients and their audiences throughout the journey.

A recent example of this being the counsel we’re currently providing to both US, UK and EU clients on how to ensure that their business communication systems and processes are compliant with the incoming GDPR legislation.

Businesses must always question their data collection methods to meet their governance and compliance responsibilities and respect customer privacy. Hopefully this week’s news will only serve to improve data collection and analysis approaches, protecting the privacy rights of the end-user and strengthening ethical practice within organisations.

Get in touch on 01483 537 890 to discuss how we could help improve your business communications.