August issue

Headlines

	Summertime and the livin's easy?
	Insurance provider appoints Smart
	Your mission...

Other news

It's never too late to be a media star

Alfred Orbison from Roberts was in the spotlight following a recent interview we set up with the Yorkshire Post. By highlighting 72-year-old Alf’s dedication to his tailoring craft we were able to talk about Robert’s quality waistcoat products and the company’s new outlet in Leeds – gent’s outfitters The Groom.

Sports fans

You could have chosen Ronaldo, Deco or even Henry, but no-one spotted Spanish striker David Villa as top scorer at Euro 2008 (see June's e-newsletter). Villa scored four goals in Spain's first two games – three against Russia and one against Sweden. The prize ball goes into storage until England (or Northern Ireland) qualify for World Cup 2010.

Olympic PR faux pas

'McAmbassador' Carl Lewis shoe-horning McDs into every response to journalists' questions. Embarrassing and did the brand no good.

China admitting that the little girl who sang at the opening ceremony was miming and substituted a less photogenic child. Integrity?

London 2012: Opening Ceremony Idea #1

Paula Radcliffe dressed in a sad clown's outfit, holding a sparkler (Frankie Boyle). Any other ideas?

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Summertime and the livin's easy?

So the song goes, but the ‘livin’ has been far from easy for businesses this summer.

Fuel prices up, the ubiquitous credit crunch and big companies battening the hatches have all heaped pressure on SMEs. However, the canny business person sees this as an opportunity. In tougher times they acknowledge that clients are looking for value, great service and above all, a provider that helps them to get more business.
 

Send a message to your clients

So, while some are banking marketing funds, others are carrying out programmes to great affect and in turn stealing a march on their competitors. You could say that now is the ideal time to stand out from the crowd and talk about what you are doing to benefit clients through investment, promotion or employing the best and brightest people. This sends out a message that you are better placed than your competitors who ‘must’ be struggling.
One such company is MSL Legal Expenses which is not only investing in people, but highlighting that it remains competitive and focussed on its clients' businesses. Another is Solaglas Windowcare which is launching a marketing drive to increase its share of the commercial retail market - offering greater efficiencies and a broader range of added-value services than its rivals.
 

Don't stop marketing your business

Smaller businesses just can’t afford to stop marketing. Their very survival often depends on it. However, as our feature below discusses, juggling the running of the business and servicing existing customers means that working on securing new ones is the ball that often gets dropped. However, affordable help is at hand in the form of Smartstart. Not just PR, but help with every aspect of marketing from branding and e-commerce, to direct mail and design.
 

• Read on: don’t drop the ball on marketing. More >
• A big hand: for small businesses with Smart Start pay-as-you-go PR. More > 
• More features. More >

Call us on 0870 403 6499, email nigel@thesmartagency.co.uk or ask a question. Click here. 

Insurance provider appoints Smart

Cheshire-based MSL Legal Expenses has brought us in to provide PR support as it pushes ahead for national growth. The company, which provides a range of products for insurance brokers and the automotive sector, employs some 200 staff and as a group turned over £14.8m last year.

Nic Edmondson, Legal Services Director at group company Financial and Legal Services cited our broad experience as a decider in the appointment. "We are confident that Smart will help us get our message across to brokers that we are focussed on retaining their business through providing excellent service and value-for-money products," he added.

We will deliver media coverage in regional business and trade press and prepare and manage award submissions to build profile and establish MSL's customer service credentials. 

Your mission...

Produce a corporate publication for 1,000 employees in 13 countries – and courier it to France in six weeks. That’s the task Pace Micro Technology set us recently and one that Smart managed to deliver. Armed with a world time-zones crib sheet we interviewed staff in the US and France to find out what it’s like to work for the leading set-top-box manufacturer. With the great help of our design partner Design Junkie, we came up with a concept, edited and created copy and managed the process from start to finish.