Marketing

In Britain, we’ve a habit of being a bit shy about our birthdays.

As the big day approaches, people start asking us questions like:

“What are you up to for your birthday?”

“Can I get you a present? Is there anything you’d like?”

“Are you having a party this year?”

The answers to these tend to be something along the lines of:

“Oh, nothing special.”

“That’s very kind, but no.”

“No, I don’t want to make a fuss.”

For some reason, we have this ingrained idea that there’s something ‘un-British’ about making a big deal of our own birthdays. Which is odd, because most of us love celebrating other people’s and making a big fuss of them.

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These days, just four in ten new businesses make it through their first five years. So, when you get a firm that has been going from strength to strength for a century, you know it must be doing something right.

One business that’s currently celebrating its 100^th anniversary is Southend estate agent and property specialist, Sorrell. Founded by First World War veteran Harold Sorrell in 1919, the firm has weathered the storms of many recessions and seen the average local house price soar from £450 to over £300,000.

As the company’s centenary approached, Steve Knock – Partner and member of the third generation of his family to serve the firm – decided he needed some help to get the news out into the community.

So, he popped out of his office (the very same one opened by Harold Sorrell) and came to talk to the team at Garda. It was a short journey – our studios are on the same street!  Read More

Never underestimate the power of a fresh perspective.

That’s something that Professor Marc de Leval knows extremely well. In the mid 1990s, he was a physician at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH). At the time there was a high mortality rate for surgery on patients with congenital heart disease.

Professor de Leval realised that a major risk factor was the journey from the operating theatre to the intensive care unit. Mistakes in communication and equipment were much too common. The only problem was that he didn’t know how to improve the situation.

So he decided to get a fresh perspective. How? Read More

A few years ago, I was at a business event where I got talking to the owner of an Essex printing firm.

He’d built his company up over 20 years, employed over 30 people and enjoyed a turnover of well over £3 million. On the face of it, he seemed to be doing extremely well.

So I asked him whether he was optimistic about the future, and was surprised to hear that he wasn’t. He told me that he was worried because his firm was reliant on a small number of high-value contracts. If any one of them decided to take their business elsewhere it would not only mean redundancies, but also price rises – which would make his company less competitive.

I asked the owner what he was doing to attract fresh business. He said that he had recently invested heavily in PR, but it wasn’t getting him results. Read More

If you own a car, you’ll know how difficult it can be to spot when things stop working.

You can drive around for months without noticing a problem. Then, when it’s time for your MOT, you find out that your tyres don’t have enough tread, your front suspension is loose and at least one of your brake lights isn’t working.

It’s a similar story when it comes to marketing your business. It’s easy to fall into the trap of just booking the same advertising year after year. But because there’s no law that says you have to prove your marketing is ‘roadworthy’ every 12 months, the temptation is to not check how it’s performing.

At Garda, we’ve helped many businesses take stock of their marketing and get their sales figures back on the road. We help them measure the return on their existing marketing, negotiate better deals, find new avenues for online and offline promotion, not to mention create opportunities for valuable press coverage.

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Take the Stage founder Amy Burrows is jumping for joy after Garda helped the company double the number of children it helps from 300 to 600 – in a single year!

The new Southend-based production company makes it affordable for performing arts schools to give children the chance to perform at nationally recognised venues.

The brainchild of actress and TV presenter Amy, she not only hopes Takes the Stage will give children much needed opportunities, but that it will help to launch some glittering careers.

However, Amy also knew that she needed help to get the word out to as many people as possible, so she asked Garda to get involved. We worked closely with her over a year to market the event and win valuable PR, as well as designing eye-catching items like event programmes.

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So, you’ve got your marketing objectives identified and your marketing plan ready to go. You’ve got the website, you’ve got your brand guidelines, you’ve got the blog all set up and running.

You’re a walking lesson in Marketing 101 and you’re finally feeling in control of this marketing malarkey. Well done! You’re a Star Pupil and you’ve got a lot further than most!

“So what now?” you’re probably thinking. “How can I ramp it up a notch?”

Firstly, can we just say how much we love people like you?

And secondly, hold on to your hat, because here come four fool-proof ways to help you take your marketing to the next level!

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Does your business have a blog? If not, why not? And if so, are you using it to its fullest potential?

Blogging isn’t just a passing trend. It works.

In fact, a 2015 survey suggested that B2B marketers who use blogs generate up to 67% more leads than those who don’t! That’s huge! So what makes it so effective? And how can you blog to your best advantage? Read More