56-58 PR:SPN Master pages 12/9/08 23:20 Page 3
spnfeature
sellingnewinstallationsthenthe
distributorsandmanufacturerswill notbe
“IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT
shiftingboxes.Stabilisingyourbusiness
and/orplanningforgrowthisquiteoften
ONCE YOU SET THE PR MACHINE
bestdonewhenothersarepanickingand
losingtheirshirts.
IN MOTION, IT WOULD BE COMPLETE
Thismayseemharshtosomebutisa
Darwinianreality.
FOLLY TO STOP SINCE RETURNS ON A
My variedcareerbeganin themid60’s
attheageof 18workingin aPRofficeand
WELL THOUGHT OUT AND EXECUTED
thenwhenIstartedmyownbusinessin the
poolindustryIdrewon thisexperienceby
CAMPAIGN KEEP ON GIVING
generatingmyfirstclientsviasmalladsin
theSundayTimes’personalcolumn.In
RESULTS, SOMETIMES FOR YEARS”
spiteof budgetrestraintsIknewIhadto
promoteandmarketmyservicesin alwaysknewthepersonattherightdesk.
whicheverwaypossible. Nowtheyoperateon anagencyand
Imadeapointof networkingand freelancebasisandyouneverknowwhoor
makingmyselfknowntocompaniessuch whatpublicationneedstorunthenext
asPeterGeekieLtd,JetstreamLtdandof storyon swimmingpools.
coursetoSPATAmemberswhichovera Iampleasedtosaythatthemedianow
periodof timeresultedin anincreasing comestousthankstoourstrongimage
amountof referrals. andproactiveattitude. Itisimportantto
Recommendationsfromindustrypeers notethatonceyousetthePRmachinein
andsatisfiedclientsareoneof thebest motion,itwouldbecompletefollytostop
sourcesof newbusinessthatexists. sincereturnson awellthoughtoutand
Although we have never had a large executedcampaignkeepon givingresults,
commercial partnership, the one sometimesforyears.
company that always stood out head and To giveaflavourof thefruitsof ourPR
shoulders above all others was and still is programmelabour,ourpoolshave
Golden Coast Ltd, initially driven and featuredon TVincluding“TheSecret
motivated by David Adams who fully Millionaire”,GrandDesignswithKevin
recognised from the beginning the power McCloudandin manymajornationals
of public relations. newspaperssuchastheFinancialTimes,
Idecidedthatwhenthetimewasright SundayTimes,DailyMailandevenThe
LondonSwimmingPoolCompanywould WallStreetJournal.
walkthetrailblazedbyDavidbymaking The magazine coverage only in the
ournameverywidelyknown,notonlyto last 18 months has included the front
theindustrybutmostimportantlydirectly cover of and inside Grand Designs
tothedecisionmakersin ourtarget Magazine, Evening Standard Magazine,
ABOVE: The original story which ran in the
market.Iknewthatthecompanywould London Lite, and in the upmarket interior
August edition of Swimming Pool News that
generated so much interest
notgrowwithoutthisexposureandour and landscaping glossy Homes &
initiativeshaveworkedbeyond Gardens several times. And we must not
BELOW: Tony Line, Managing Director of
expectations,allpartof apredetermined forget the constant features in the two
London Swimming Pool Company
threeyearprogrammewhichisdrawingto industry journals for which we are very BOTTOM: The new look website for
aclosethisyear. grateful indeed.
London Swimming Pool Company
Themaineffortof thefirstphaseof the Itwasgratifyingtoreadthecomment
planinvolvedwinninganumberof industry byJohnGrahamein lastissueof
awardsin 2006,includingSPATA SwimmingPoolNews– “successescanbe
Contractorof theYearandGoldat stunningandin somecasesalmost
ChelseaFlowerShow. priceless.TheLondonSwimmingPool
Thestrategywasnotwithoutrisksince Companytopsthelistwhenitcomesto
someawardsubmissionscommandeda successstoriesalreadythissummer–
considerablefinancialexpense,however, breakingthroughintothenational
theinvestmentpaidoff in theformof a newspaperswithregularity.”
muchraisedcompanyprofilerequiredfor Whenitcomestoadvertising,ourview
thecompanytodevelop. isthatwedonotusethismarketing
ThenextstepentaileddoingPRin- mediumunlessabsolutelynecessaryand
housewhichhasbeenmanagedbya wewillprobablyhavea“neverpayfor
highlycapableladyfromearly2007and advertising”policynextyear.Afivepage
LondonSwimmingPoolCompanymayin fullcoloureditorialinaprestigemagazine
factbetheonlycontractorwithinSPATA oragoodarticleinanewspaperisnot
whocurrentlyruntheirown independent onlyextremelyeffectivepublicity– more
in-houseprogramme. sothanpaidforadvertisingbutitisalso
OurPRisnotaboutreelingoffpress freeofcharge.
releasessincemostofthemareneverread, Ournewlydesignedwebsitenowup
itismoreaboutprovidingwrittenand loadedsinceJunethisyearispivotalinthe
photographicmaterialwithunusualtopics successweenjoyinportrayingourimage
togetthejuicesflowingwiththepress. towhereitneedstogoandisa
Journaliststhesedaysaredifferent fundamentalpartofourPRcampaign.
comparedwithhow theywereinthe60’s ReadinganarticlebyJohnDawesin the
whentheywereinvariablystaffersandyou JuneissueoftheISPEmagazineentitled
Visit our website at www.swimmingpoolnews.co.uk
a174a174a174
OCTOBER 08 swimming pool news 57
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