Are you ready for your moment in the sun?

I’ve spent the last week cutting the grass in my garden. Yes, it took me a whole week – I don’t even have a large garden. It’s not as simple as pushing a lawnmower up and down – my grass has been neglected since last summer. It’s that long, the rain doesn’t even make it down to the soil– even in a storm! In fact, I was surprised not to find a giant panda hidden in there somewhere, in between the long grass!

I used to laugh at my neighbour when he went out in the winter to cut his grass, trim the hedge and remove the weeds from his garden. I’m not laughing now because while I am tidying up my jungle in the hot weather, he is sitting back in his scenic garden enjoying a drink and soaking up the sun. If I had taken the all-year maintenance approach that he has, I wouldn’t be working so hard on my garden when the sun came out; knowing that by the time I finished everything, winter would be here and I’d have no time to enjoy it!

It’s the same with PR and marketing – it works best when you do it all year round rather than just when the sun comes out. Like my neighbour going out in the winter to tend to his weeds while I stay inside in the warmth, PR is a constant thing and has limited success when only done once for a short space of time. In this scenario, my neighbour represents a business using PR properly.

My neighbour has spent the year maintaining his garden, which in marketing terms means that for the past 12 months he has been building steady PR collateral and gradually getting his business profile raised among his target audience. Even in the winter when he didn’t want to commit to his garden, he went out and did some work on it. Even when he didn’t have time to spend on PR and other things became more important, he still kept that momentum going. Now the summer has arrived and he is sitting back in his beautiful garden and enjoying a drink in the sunshine. The flowers are blooming and he can clearly see the results of his hard work and effort. His business is having its moment in the sun – it is launching a new product, it’s won an award or is celebrating huge growth. Now he capitalises on the PR momentum he has building up for the past year and starts to experience some really huge benefits. People want to know about his moment in the sun because they have been reading about and thinking about his business all year round

Those that have not been tending to their gardens all year round are like businesses that have no PR collateral. When the winter was here it was easy to sit inside and stay warm and laugh at your neighbour as he braved the cold to cut his grass. When other things became more important than PR you did not raise your business’ profile. Now your moment in the sun has arrived and you are only just starting the work – it’s too late. By the time you have finished your garden, winter will be here and you will not have spent a single day relaxing in your garden or enjoying your hard work. When your business has its moment in the sun and you want to let everyone know you have just won an award or enjoyed a record breaking month, it’s really hard work. Nobody knows who you are because you have not been steadily raising your profile so your story is not as interesting to others as it could have been.

It’s a vicious cycle and just like if you want to enjoy your garden in the summer months, if you want to enjoy your business’ moment in the sun then your PR and marketing has to be constant, even when it doesn’t seem so important – to make sure it works when it is important.

I don’t know what you will be doing this winter but I’ll be joining my neighbour, outside in my woollies, cutting the grass in my garden!

A decade in the sun – a reflection of 10 years in the media

It’s not often I write a self-indulgent blog post but it’s not often I celebrate ten years in the media; an industry that is insecure, uncertain and constantly evolving.

It was 2003 when I first stepped into a real newsroom. I was just 14 years old, still at school, still impressionable and even back then, still certain that a career in media was for me. Just a week working voluntarily at The Solihull News confirmed that this was definitely the right career to work in. The pleasure of meeting new people every day, the thrill of being on the end of the phone when someone rang with a breaking story and the excitement that is seeing your name in print for the first time were unforgettable – and this was only the Solihull News! Further voluntary work followed to build up vital experience, before freelance work and later, full time positions on regional newspapers throughout the Midlands, national business titles, a stint in video and online news, a radio flirtation and a leap onto the other side of the fence and the beginning of a career in public relations.

During that time I was made redundant twice, moved city once to find new media opportunities and rose through the ranks from a reporter to an Editor and later, a PR Campaign Manager. Throughout that time I worked in newspapers, magazines, online, video and broadcast. Newspapers were reinvigorated, business was won and new ways of publishing news stories were found.

Ten years ago, it was so much easier to work in the media. Today, regional titles like The Solihull News are under constant scrutiny. Budgets for regional newspapers are falling and many well-known community titles are falling with them. People are changing the way they consume news and today, the majority of news is broken on social media as it happens, rather than in next day’s newspaper or that afternoon’s television broadcast. Some titles have kept up, some national newspapers have gone behind pay walls to make some money out of online news, and some regional newspapers have cemented a strong reputation for delivering instant news across social media. Some publications have switched to online video to save on printing costs and some clever trade magazines have started to hide behind separation charges for editorial as advertising becomes sparse.

Life is harder for journalists but it’s getting even more difficult for those trying to get their attention – PRs! These days you really do need to think like a journalist to get success. Your story has to be ground breaking, it has to be topical, and it has to be bringing something new to a reader. Your media has to be more targeted and your media relations solid in order to get your stories told to the right people. Evaluation has also changed. No longer do PRs get excited about the prospect of a big spread in a printed newspaper or magazine. This is still an achievement but just as exciting is getting the top story in a digital e-newsletter, getting your story told on the front page of a website or even having your client tagged in a post on Twitter from someone with thousands of followers.

Not that journalists have it that much easier. They have had to shift their focus to other areas of expertise. These days anybody can do the job of a journalist by setting up and maintaining their own blog so journalists are pushed to find even more interesting stories. Forward features are alive and well and the topics covered by the media in such features are more in depth and interesting than ever before. Reporters are so busy planning these features and learning about social media and digital news that press releases are often being printed verbatim, much to the joy of the PRs that write them. In many ways PR companies are exorcising more control over the news than ever before but they are still unable to do this without the support of journalists and those that print the news- whatever the medium.

Advertising has also changed. While companies used to happily pay hundreds for a half page advert in a local newspaper or trade magazine they now want their money to go further. They want to know who is looking at their advert and they want to see results in the form of new customer at the end of the phone. Who knows who looks and takes notice of an advert in a newspaper or magazine? Nobody – it’s not measurable like an online advert is. Online advertising is fast becoming the norm and publishers are constantly looking for the next best way of offering this service. Everybody is hanging out together on social networking websites and these offer a huge audience for a very small fee – one which can also be budgeted and capped. Print advertising is still a desired service but one that now often comes with online accompaniments.

Anybody who started working on a local newspaper ten years ago and is still holding a similar job has done well. They can certainly count those ten years as an achievement but is it as big an achievement as learning new skills and adapting existing skills in order to stay in the media industry after printed newspapers have died out? Have they enough experience in social media, digital media, video and radio to turn their skills to any job? The media is constantly evolving and nobody can safely guess what’s next for news.
Ten years in the media is a huge achievement but not quite as special, interesting or challenging as the next ten years could be!

This blog post was written by John Edden, Campaign Manager of Bridge PR & Media Services Ltd. John joined Bridge in 2012 after gaining considerable experience working on multiple media platforms throughout the Midlands.

Make 2013 the year to put your business in the spotlight

The first quarter of 2013 has been of the best ever at Bridge after securing five new clients in just four new months. You may have seen in the press news of our biggest ever client win following a successful pitch to independent garage scheme: Trust My Garage. This came amid new contracts with Obsession Salon & Spa, atg airports, BAKER and most recently, logistics company, BDA.

It seems that businesses throughout the UK are starting the year with ambitions of growth and in order to achieve this growth, they are taking a fresh look at their marketing strategy.  Financially, it continues to be a very difficult time to be in business in the UK, but the latest quarterly findings from BDRC Continental’s Business Opinion Omnibus reveal that SMEs continue to remain optimistic about the UK economy, posting a net optimism score of +10% in Q1 2013, more than twice the level seen in the same period last year. This optimism is backed up by the large number of enquiries we have been receiving for our own services so far this year.

There has never been a more important time for businesses to market their products and services. Competition is fierce and the UK economy is proving tough for traders. By investing in specialist marketing support, you can make sure that your business is always ahead of the game and the first name on the lips of potential customers. Here are our top five reasons why you should be proactively marketing your business, and how great PR can help:

1. If nobody knows you exist, how are you going to win new business?

Whatever line of business you are in, one of the biggest challenges remains the same and is crucial to business success – how do I attract new clients and win new business? You can have the best company in the world, but if nobody knows that you exist how are they going to buy from you? PR is all about raising your profile and getting your business in front of the people that matter most, whether that be fellow businesses or consumers. We employ a mix of traditional and digital PR services to help put your company name in front of your target audiences includingarticles in trade press, local consumer press, social media activity and e-marketing. By developing  a robust marketing strategy and taking the care to understand your business and your audience we can make sure that you are getting seen by potential new customers.

2. Get ahead of the competition

Competition in business has never been more fierce and the battle for business remains difficult to win, whatever industry you operate in. PR and marketing can help. If you keep seeing your competitors’ names everywhere then perhaps it is time you looked into doing some PR and marketing of your own?  Why not put your business in the spotlight and be the one that is always being seen!

3. Win the support of your local community

When it comes to success in business, it helps to have your local community on your side. If you don’t already have the support of your local community or you want to strengthen this support, now is the time to join millions of other business in planning some PR and marketing activity. Utilising local press to tell positive stories about how your business is injecting cash or jobs into a local community can be really useful in winning over your local area.

4. Attract commercial partners or investors

These days, the banks are rarely generous when it comes to lending so an alternative source of funding is commercial sponsorship or investment. If potential investors do not know about your business, however, they certainly won’t be investing any money into it any time soon. Trade press can be a really useful way of reaching out to potential investors and letting them know all about your business by sharing some of your success stories.

5. Move into new markets

You have already saturated your existing markets and are looking to branch out somewhere new. PR and marketing is the answer. By employing a mix of traditional and digital PR, you can help create a name for yourself in markets that you have otherwise been missing out on or that you have not yet explored.  Whether your new market is a geographical one, or in different sectors, we can help by targeting your key messages specifically to these audiences.

It is said that the editorial endorsement of PR is so powerful that a page of PR coverage is worth 3-5 times a page of advertising. We have welcomed five clients so far this year with ambitions to grow, attract new business, saturate markets and get ahead of the competition. Join them and give us a call on 02476520025 to discuss where we can take your business with a successful strategic PR and marketing campaign.

Why trade shows still have a role to play in successful manufacturing PR

As a company that specialises in traditional industries like manufacturing, we are often being asked by our clients whether or not trade shows are still worth all the time and money you have to put in when committing to exhibit. For a long time trade shows have attracted a lot of stigma for experiencing drops in visitor numbers, asking for too high an investment for a stand booking and for failing to promote themselves. With reports over the last few years that the UK economy has become even more challenging for businesses to operate in, trade show expenses are ones that have been cut from many company budgets.

However, the manufacturing industry is on the rise. Recent Purchasing Manager Index (PMI) figures for the first quarter of 2013 inched down to 50.8 from a downwardly revised 51.2 in December 2012. That was just short of forecasts for a reading of 51.0 but for a second month running was above the 50 level that separates growth from contraction.

We saw for ourselves last year renewed optimism for manufacturing trade shows in the UK after attending both MACH exhibition and the Advanced Engineering Show at the Birmingham NEC. Both reported record numbers of visitors from all over the world and proved that trade shows can still be effective. So what do we tell our clients when they ask us if the large overheads of trade show exhibiting are justified? We tell them that when exhibiting is a part of your overall PR and marketing strategy then it can be a cost that can easily be recovered through new business.

As Farnborough prepares for the Southern Manufacturing show this week and subcontracting manufacturers prepare for Subcon exhibition in June, how many of these exhibiting businesses have visitors already identified as firms they want to find out more about at these exhibitions? How many exhibitors are visitors not already of?

When running well placed PR and marketing around trade show appearances, businesses can let visitors know of their booked stands and encourage people to approach them during the exhibition. Many trade magazines run extensive features around trade shows a couple of months before the show begins and businesses can capitalise on these features by submitting well placed editorial. Of course, nobody wants to read a news story that says a business is exhibiting at a trade show if that is the only information it reveals and Editors will always spike self indulgent stories. Concentrate on why you are exhibiting and shout about these reasons. Are you using the exhibition to launch a brand new product and offer people demonstrations of how this product works? Are you looking to break into a new market and meet with companies that already operate in these circles of industry? There is a story behind every trade show appearance if you look beneath the surface and it is these stories that the press want to receive.

Of course, if you send out regular newsletters from your company and have good data lists then this is an outlet that you can use to simply say ‘visit us at an exhibition.’ You can have all the bias you want for direct marketing material as it does not need to be instantly newsworthy and unbalanced like press material does.

It’s not just a case of press material though. These days, many trade show exhibitions run their own Twitter accounts and have their own discussion groups on Linkedin. By feeding into these with your own company social media you can help raise awareness of your stand that you have booked at a trade show. Social media channels are often the first places people visit when looking for information on a trade show and content from these social media websites are well picked up by leading online search engines.

Enjoyed a successful trade show? Then visit it again in your PR and marketing planning and start telling your stories of trade show success. If you picked up a new contract at a trade show, that is something worth shouting about or even if you received a record high number of visitors to your stand, people should really know about it! It is stories like this that help convey a positive image of your company and the manufacturing industry as a whole.

The next time you book yourself a stand at a leading trade show, consider what PR and marketing you can do to help publicise your appearance there and make sure you are considering trade show appearances in all of your PR planning. After all, its better to let people know beforehand why you are exhibiting so they can make sure they come and see you than get lost in amongst the long list of exhibitors and remain an unknown company.

Bridge PR & Media Services has developed a unique starter PR package aimed at giving companies appearing at trade shows an opportunity to see for themselves how effective PR and marketing can be around a trade show exhibition at an affordable price. For more information on this package, call us on 02476 520 025 today.

Top five tips for strong media relations

It is quite possible that right at earth’s creation, had Adam been a journalist and Eve a PR Manager, then none of us would exist today. The first two people on earth would also be the last, such is the awkward relationship between PR experts and journalists, according to many stereotypical views. In truth, it’s not like that – it  never could be! Our jobs, responsibilities and interests are too similar and we co-exist to help each other out. Without PR people, journalists would spend an awful lot more time sourcing interesting stories and without journalists, PR experts would have nowhere to tell the stories of their clients.

At Bridge, we pride ourselves on good media relations. Just the other day we had a reputable trade publication call us up, asking for more stories from our clients. We build long-lasting, positive relationships with the media for our clients, investing time in getting to know them, understanding what stories they look for to include in their publication, and working with them to secure valuable coverage for our clients. To many, the way to get a journalist on side is to send them food or wine, or take them out to lunch. It’s not (although it is a nice thing to do) so put away those fancy canapés, put the fancy biscuits back in the tin, cancel your ‘informal’ meeting you had booked with your local newspaper and read our top five tips for strong media relations.

1.       Understand the publication, its audience and its editorial team

Never mind if a client is telling you they want to be seen in a particular publication, unless you find a story from them that is relevant to that publication, it’s not going to happen – and journalists hate nothing more than being given inappropriate stories. Before pitching a story, read through the publications you are approaching and make sure the content suits their topic area, tone and style. Following up on previous topics covered is always a good way to get a journalist interested in your story as it shows that you are paying an interest in their publication.

2.       Engage with journalists away from work

No, we don’t mean invite them out to clubs, get them drunk and make them sign a contract stating that they will publish your client’s story on pain of death. You don’t need to be a stalker to be sociable! Follow journalists on Twitter, connect with them on LinkedIn and respond to the discussions they start. We regularly feed into conversations with journalists on Twitter that they start, just being friendly without pushing any of our stories down their throats. Remember, journalists are human beings too.

3.       Don’t harass journalists

So you’ve sent over a press release to a journalist? Don’t call them up a day later and ask them if they have used it. If they are going to use it, they will – bombarding them with phone calls will only put them off the idea. Would you like it if you bought your weekly shopping from the supermarket and they rang you up a day later and asked if your milk was tasty enough? Then they rang the next day and asked about your bread? You wouldn’t – so don’t do it to journalists.

4.       Work with journalists strategically

Make sure you give journalists what they want. Trade press often release details of forward features – get yourself a copy and see what topics they are covering throughout the year. Relay it to your client and come up with a suitable story that meets the feature’s needs. Journalists are always looking for stories so make their job easier, and provide for them exactly what they want.

5.       Have patience

Not everything you send to a journalist will be published – that’s just life. Sometimes there is no room, or other stories are just more important. That’s no reason to blacklist them and cross them off your Christmas card list – they are doing their job. You never know, it just might make it to the next issue instead. Journalists work to tight deadlines and often have a lot of work to do and a lot of PR agencies to deal with. No matter how many stories you have that are interesting, you have to remember you are just one of many.

Take advantage of our media relations skills and place your PR and marketing efforts in our capable hands. Call us today on 02476520025 and we can maximise your PR coverage through our media friends.

It’s not who you know, it’s WHAT you know: why thought leadership is important in the digital age

You have probably heard the term thought-leadership before but what exactly does it mean? As marketing increasingly becomes a more social and interactive affair, the term is branded about even more as further online outlets open up, enabling people to share knowledge and information, and position themselves as experts.

A thought leader is somebody who is adept at sharing knowledge and is always sharing new information about their industry. They are respected for their ideas, their values and for sharing these in the public domain, on social networking, blogs, in the press and on marketing material. Many people look at these thought leaders and are instantly impressed by them, but in truth they are not doing anything you cannot do yourself.

Go on then, how do I become a thought leader?

Anybody in business can be a thought leader. If you are involved in a business you will already have extensive knowledge of your industry that you can share with others. If you are a company director, nobody will have more knowledge of your business than you do so nobody can better highlight the changing trends within your industry. By sharing these trends and some of your own experience, you are already setting yourself up as a thought leader and the more best practice you share, the more of an audience you will build up of respectful peers.

But I don’t want to give away all my trade secrets…

You don’t have to. You should already understand the major issues that your customers face every day, the issues that your business faces and key trends in your industry. Write regular blogs, share tips on social media or consider putting some material together for your key trade press. Comment on these trends, relate to your own experiences and inform people of how best to deal with certain issues. It is no coincidence that a lot of business and trade press have ‘Ask The Expert’ columns which give advice to readers. This is the kind of thing that people in business like to read. They like to keep abreast of changing trends in their industry, read about other people’s ideas and read about solutions to existing industry issues.

When becoming a thought leader, think about timeliness and relevance. When do your customers experience their main issues? For example, financial advisors have key months of the year when their audiences need more expert and advice than others, when competing tax returns or when there is a major change in legislation. If you have a solid business strategy, you should also have a timeline of events developing that you can refer to for thought leadership material.

Thought leadership works best when you engage your audiences and invite them to engage with you. Ask them for their thoughts and ideas and invite them to share in your own thought leadership – this is a great way of making new business contacts!

How best do I do this thought leadership thing then?

Writing original material about your business in time consuming, and it takes effort, energy and creativity – but the rewards are worth this time and effort. Thought leadership enables you to raise your profile, increase your credibility and reputation, reach and engage with new audiences, generate leads, and in crease your own knowledge by inviting other to engage with you.

At Bridge, we regularly help our clients to position themselves as thought leaders. Here are our top four tips for effective thought leadership:

1.       Take a strategic approach – Decide which topics, themes and issues you want to talk about and tie these in with your key company messages. Consider some of the key words that you will be using. Remember, people that search the web for these words may well come across your thought leadership material!

2.       Create a content calendar – Decide how often to blog, share best practice on social media or create press material. Tie this in with key dates for your industry and plan your content around these dates. Try to stick with this calendar as well as you can.

3.       Blog – If you are new to thought leadership then blogging is a great place to start. There are so many free tools and applications available on the internet now that businesses have no excuse not to be blogging.  Try to stick to a regime of one blog a week to ensure you consistently have fresh content for industry peers to read.

4.       Outsource your thought leadership – Not all business leaders have the time or the writing skills needed to create frequent thought leadership material. The easiest way to resolve this is to work with a reputable agency to translate your industry knowledge into interesting and engaging copy. An additional benefit of outsourcing is that an agency will be better positioned to place your thought leadership material into publications. At Bridge, we regularly receive requests from Editors and journalists looking for issues-based content.

 

Remember – every business owner has the potential to become a thought leader; you just need to spend the time and effort sharing relevant information to your audiences. We can help with this and if you want to ask us more details about how we can help you to become a thought leader, please do contact us on 02476520025. In the meantime, we look forward to reading your thought leadership pieces….

Helping businesses understand the value of strategy at juicy launch event

From Denise Taylor, managing director

Last week we were delighted to be part of the launch for the Midlands first creative consortium, of which we are a member. The key message of the launch was one that Bridge has advocated for quite some time now:

When done strategically, marketing can have a positive impact on business development, regardless of industry sector!

The event followed recent reports that 70% of CEOs have lost their trust in marketers carried out by Fournaise Marketing Group. In order for CEOs to really experience benefits Warwickshire Creative Fusion promotes the need to make marketing highly targeted, strategic, consistent, and creative.

We met a diverse range of businesses from throughout the UK at the launch, and they all enjoyed the series of linked seminars bases around nine different disciplines of marketing. They covered all aspects of marketing from conceptualising campaigns to making your product go international. I gave a presentation entitled: “The pen is mightier…” which gave tips on mining businesses for great content.

I was happy to present to a full room of delegates who were interested in learning about mining their businesses for good stories.

Key points from my presentation:

• There has been a seismic shift away from traditional print media to digital media. Sales of UK dailies have plunged by 20% in the past five years, however some trade magazines continue to fare reasonably well in sectors like manufacturing, but they also have a digital presence. This has completely revolutionised the PR industry and has opened up many more channels and opportunities for agencies and companies alike – but – it is a case of finding your way through all the noise and chatter.
• Good PR is about the content that exists in your business, and the content you create to tell your story. A survey of over 1300 marketeers by Outbrain on objectives of content marketing:
  • Increase engagement: 52%,
  • Increasing traffic to site: 42%
  • Raising brand awareness: 35%
  • Increased sales: 33%
  • Improved SEO: 31%
• When having an online presence it is all about thought leadership and building reputation and credibility. If you can achieve this, then others will start to talk about your brand and products.
• Building campaigns around issues is creative and creates original content that the press will be interested in.A key tip is to create polls and stories and then your can use this information through a variety of channels. 

We found that attendees left the event with a number of fresh ideas for their marketing campaigns. Cathryn Goodwin, Creative Engagement Officer at Creative Enterprise, founded by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Coventry University said: “I gained some very useful tips about how to tell the story of my organisation, what we do and how we do it, and it was really good to talk to the supportive members of the team about how their skills could help our business and our clients. There was a good mix of people at the launch with a friendly positive vibe. We’re looking forward to dealing with the Fusion members again.”

The overall message from Warwickshire Creative Fusion is that when utilised strategically, the nine key areas of marketing; public relations, video production, design and branding, direct marketing, translation, print, photography, and web development can really deliver an effective return on investment, increase sales, and raise profit margins.

10 Global Social Networks You’ve Never Heard of

In today’s landscape of global business and increased social integration, more and more companies are realising the benefits of expanding into overseas markets. Being able to offer your product or service in different languages, to different cultures, is an important part of a successful international marketing strategy. 

The advent of social networks, over the past decade, have given rise to a huge number of new promotional channels, many of which offer great reward for minimal financial outlay. However, because of the dominance of global giants like Facebook and Twitter, it can sometimes be hard to appreciate the bigger social networking picture.

There are literally thousands of different sites operating in a range of languages all across the globe, and each of them offer a great way to reach potential customers. Factoring social networking into a marketing strategy has become second nature, but social networks are by no means equal wherever you go.

Below is our list of 10 social networks that you may never even knew existed. This list is just to give you an idea of some of the potential social media marketing platforms available, and will give you a starting point for exploring what’s out there.

1. QZone

China has a few large, home-grown social networking websites, but number one is QZone. Estimated to have over 600 million registered users and over 150 billion photos uploaded, the website boasts one of the most dedicated user bases in social networking.

2. Badoo

A social networking website with an emphasis on dating and meeting new people. Badoo has grown in popularity across Europe over recent years, and is available in 19 different languages. It now has over 160 million registered users, making it one of the largest social networks in the world.

3. Vkontakte

Vkontakte is the most popular social network in the majority of Russian-speaking countries. Originally modelled very closely on Facebook, the website beats out the American giant on its home soil, and now has over 130 million users. Alongside its three official languages (Russian, English and Ukrainian), there are 65 other user-translated language versions.

4. Mixi

Available exclusively in Japanese, Mixi has been regarded as the top social network in Japan for a number of years, despite stiff competition from competitors both local and international. Averaging monthly user numbers of around 15 million, the website is predicted to remain more popular than Facebook and Twitter in its native country.

5. Netlog

This Belgium-based website is particularly popular amongst youth across Europe, and has over 90 million registered users. The site is focused on being both global and local, with a user base split across 40 different languages using localisation technology which personalises their experience.

6. Sonico

Highly popular in South and Central America, and particularly so in its native Argentina, Sonico is a social networking website for the Latin American audience. Available in Spanish, Portuguese and English, Sonico is hoping that inroads into the European market will help add to its 75 million users.

7. Viadeo

Founded in Paris in 2004, Viadeo offers a social network for business minded people. Operating much like Linkedin, the site boasts over 45 million users to date. Despite only being available in a number of different European languages, Viadeo has millions of users all over the world, and has proven popular in South America.

8. Orkut

An early social network attempt by Google, Orkut was regarded as something of a failure on a global scale. It is however, highly popular in Brazil. Only recently overtaken by Facebook in the total user stakes, around 60% of the site’s 33 million users come from Brazil.

9. Xing

Another competitor to Linkedin, Xing offers a business based social networking experience to an estimated 7 million daily visitors. The site has steadily grown since its inception in 2003, acquiring a number of other social networking websites from around Europe along the way, and offers its services in 16 different languages.

10. Zorpia

Started in Hong Kong in 2003, Zorpia now has over 25 million users. One of the few licensed international sites to operate in mainland China, the site is also highly popular in India, where approximately 40% of users are based. An English language version of the site is also growing in popularity.

If you have any further questions about these social networks or any part of the marketing localisation process, please contact a member of Comtec’s customer services team on + 44 (0) 1926 335 681 or email info@comtectranslations.com

 This blog post was written by Sophie Howe, Managing Director, Comtec Translations.

Comtec is a leading translations provider working in partnership with companies and creative agencies, enabling them to communicate effectively in all major languages. Comtec has over 30 years experience in aiding UK companies in international trade and works with a number of leading UK brands. The company invests heavily in the latest technologies to simplify the translation process, combining technical know-how with the expertise of its linguists to deliver translation and localisation projects efficiently, on time and on budget.

For more information about Comtec Translations click here

 

 

Don’t give up the ghost on traditional PR

Print publications have been going through a rapid reincarnation as they turn to digital media. Newsweek magazine is the latest to axe its print edition after 80 years and move to a digital-only format from 2013 onwards. The Guardian is another household name that has recently announced its intention to become totally digital. In addition, social media platforms have completely transformed the way we access news and information.  It seems that the whole PR landscape is changing to digital communications. With this major shift, it is imperative that businesses also incorporate a digital strategy into their PR and marketing.

HOWEVER, this does not mean that traditional PR has died a gruesome death. At Bridge, the digital side of PR is fundamentally supported by the good old fashioned “traditional” approach to PR. In essence, it is all about channelling your message through the right networks and also making the connections directly with your audience. But good PR is more than just channelling your content.  We have always maintained that media relations are central to effective communications, and this is also one of the most traditional approaches to getting your brand known.

As a business, these traditional approaches should not be seen as dead and buried, or ghosts of the past.

What is it good for?

Local Markets – If you want to sell to a local market then traditional PR is great for getting you in your local press and gaining local business credibility.

Sector specific – We have manufacturing and IT companies who rely on the traditional side of our PR services to get them seen in their industry ‘bibles’. By this we mean the trade magazines that go out to their target audiences. For one client in particular we have achieved over £50,000 worth of coverage in just five months in trade magazines, using the format of traditional PR.

At the start of this year 8.12 million adults had never used the internet. So where are they obtaining their news from?  It would be very short-sighted for companies to write off traditional media communication as it offers companies the potential to reach across new markets and audiences. Traditional PR should be crafted into your marketing strategy alongside all the online activity.

Traditional PR is not dead – it is simply re-incarnating.

For a strategic blend of traditional and digital PR, give us a call today on 02476 520025
Or email us: info@bridgepr.co.uk

Was Coventry watchmaking responsible for the UK engineering industry?

Had there been no watchmaking in Coventry it is likely that there would have been very little in the way of engineering industries at all.

You may consider the above to be a bold statement, but it can be argued that Coventry did not directly experience the influence of the industrial revolution because there was no nearby source of iron ore, no limestone and the coal was deep and had to sourced via mines rather than obtained by opencast methods. It was not until the development of the railway networks in the 1840’s and 1850’s that many town and cities like Coventry were able to readily obtain bulk supplies of iron and steel for use in manufacturing industries.

In the 1600’s a clockmaking and watchmaking industry grew up in Coventry and the reasons for this happening are unclear but it may have been due in part to it’s central position and it is known that a stagecoach run linked London, Coventry and Liverpool which became the three major centres of watchmaking in the UK. There may also have been a Huguenot influence as Coventry had long been a place where immigrants had settled and a number of surnames of French derivation do crop up in watchmaking families.

Coventry did reach a position that it was known to have made at least 50% of all watches being made in England during the 18th and 19th centuries although it is difficult to accurately quantify these figures because many Coventry watchmakers were making movements and even completed watches which were not marked and were sold into the trade.

In 1861 weaving and watchmaking were both in a deep slump, which was in part due to the American civil war, people were starving and soup kitchens were set up. Many people were leaving the city to emigrate and prominent citizens were deeply concerned that the local pool of skilled labour was being diminished. They therefore set up a company (The Coventry Machinists) to manufacture sewing machines and the watchmakers proved adept at this due to the similarity of the work in making gearwheels and assembling drive trains

A nephew of Singer, who was one of the directors of the Coventry Machinists, visited Paris and bought back with him a French “boneshaker” bicycle. this was a rather crude affair but the potential was recognised by James Starley who was a foreman at the company and he developed the machine to be the forerunner of the modern bicycle. It was not long before former watchmakers found themselves making bicycles; this even included former dial painters being employed to paint the fine lines and designs on the cycle frames. Other cycle manufacturers sprang up in Coventry and at one point it was considered to be the cycle manufacturing centre of Europe. The invention of the internal combustion engine soon led to the development of a motor cycle and then motor car industry and entrepreneurs and inventors followed the by now well-trodden path to Coventry.

The Coventry clock and watch industry did survive the 1861 slump and watchmaking continued until the outbreak of the second world war, when the major manufacturers turned their hands to the production of munitions and other military equipment, which was why Coventry was targeted by bombing raids.

The major manufacturer, Rotherhams and Sons was making parts for the automotive trade after the war but did re-commence the making of a range of clocks which were usually given as presentation pieces and this continued until the 1960’s. So there you have it, without watchmaking in Coventry, we could well have gone without engineering overall!

This blog post was written by Coventry Watch Museum. The Coventry Watch Museum Project consists of a group of people, many of whom were born and bred in Coventry, who are seeking to inform people about the history of watchmaking which was so important to the industrial development of the city. The Project is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity.

For more information about Coventry Watch Museum click here