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Lucky Number 7!

29 June 2018/in PR

We’ve just turned 7 and we’re super excited to be celebrating this milestone. Here are seven things we’re most proud of since we landed:

Technical Marketing & PR is Born

In June 2011, Louise Matthews, landed Technical Marketing & PR. With over 10 years’ experience of working in marketing and PR, as well as strong links to businesses in the construction, engineering, manufacturing and technology sectors, Louise identified a gap in the market for a PR & Marketing business that specialised in creating technical content.

Virtual Marketing Manager Service Launched

Identifying a need in the core sectors for flexible and competitive marketing support, the Virtual Marketing Manager Service was born. Technical Marketing & PR has positioned itself as an agency that can seamlessly integrate with existing marketing teams to provide flexible support, no-nonsense marketing planning and implementation.

Relocation and Rebranding

In 2015, Technical Marketing & PR relocated from its offices in Derby, to Barry in South Wales. Following the relocation, Technical Marketing & PR exhibited at the Introbiz Expo where the new branding was launched, and the company announced it was laying down roots in Wales.

Going for Growth

In 2017, the decision was made to move away from the business model of working with a team of ‘permalancers’ and recruit permanent in-house staff. Though working with ‘permalancers’ had historically worked very well for the business, Louise Matthews, wanted to grow and develop a strong close-knit team in South Wales where she could pass on her experience.

Investing in Marketeers of the Future

In 2018, Technical Marketing & PR has offered paid work experience placements to students, reaching out to Cardiff University and Cardiff Metropolitan University to seek candidates. There is a need for hands on paid work experience placements in the sector and Technical Marketing & PR is keen to provide this wherever possible to give future graduates the experience they need to transition into jobs in the sector.

Sustainable Partnerships

This year marks the 7^th anniversary of the company’s partnership with clients such as Promethean, SIG, ROCKWOOL, Bowden Group and Lumin. These long-standing relationships are testament to the level of service the Technical Marketing & PR team offer.

Looking Forward

Business growth and development continues to be a significant focus for Technical Marketing & PR, the company is expanding the team and investing in staff development to further enhance the range of services it provides. The team are looking forward to strengthening long-standing relationships and welcoming new clients on board.

To celebrate our 7^th birthday, we’ll be doing a series of prize draws over the next few months on social media so make sure you’re following us. If you’d like to pop in for a chat, a cup of tea and maybe some birthday cake, then drop us a message!

Helping a Kenyan Community – Thanks Helen

25 June 2018/in Acting Sustainably, PR

In May, we were proud to be able to send Helen our best wishes as she embarked on her trip to Nakuru in Kenya to support a local school and community. The trip was organised by Derby County Community Trust and African Adventures, but Helen needed to raise funds for the trip through sponsorship and donations. We were proud to be Helen’s main sponsor for a second year in a row.

Upon her return, Helen has shared with us how the trip this year was very different from last year and not what she was expecting. To Helen’s surprise, the children she met last year were in even more of a tired state. This is likely due to a combination of unrest in the region because of elections and the intense weather conditions.

There have been a lot of thunderstorms and flooding in the area which has caused significant problems with roads and infrastructure, especially in the slums. Many families that could afford to move to different areas have done so, leaving behind the poorest families. Despite having so little and living in such poor conditions, Helen told us how it was wonderful to see the families still laughing, and the children still learning and playing.

This year the team spent a lot of their time carrying out maintenance work on the school building. New guttering has been installed, paint work repaired, internal walls plastered, and external walls pointed. The team also raised the perimeter wall by adding two layers of boulders for increased security and fixed a main gate.

Whilst in Nakuru, the team celebrated Madaraka Day – a national holiday – with the children and some of their families. The team prepared a feast with meat, cabbage and chapatis. They built a swing and did lots of drawing and painting with the children, played with balls, bubbles and balloons.

With the funds raised the team managed to buy 92 school jumpers for the children. Although 250 jumpers were ideally needed, every child received something.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank Helen for the amazing work she has done in Kenya again this year. We are in a privileged position to be able to sponsor such a worthwhile cause. Although the living conditions for the children weren’t as expected this year, it reaffirms how important the project is to help the families and children in need.

Syncro Secures Virtual Marketing Service

11 June 2018/in PR

Technical Marketing & PR has been retained to provide virtual marketing manager services to Syncro after successfully supporting the business at the Nursing and Dementia Care Expo in April 2018.

The Cardiff-based marketing and PR agency project managed Syncro’s whole stand presence and communications around the expo, including manufacturer liaison and literature production. Steve Long, Managing Director of Syncro, was impressed with Technical Marketing & PR’s delivery, highlighting the ease of integration into Syncro’s team and their ideas for the expo.

“Technical Marketing & PR have done an excellent job at putting the stand together. Due to their support, I have been relieved from all pressure regarding the expo, which has allowed me to focus on my daily business tasks.”

Louise Matthews, Director of Technical Marketing & PR, concludes: “We are proud of the success that we achieved for Syncro at the Nursing and Dementia Expo, and are looking forward to supporting them moving forward on a more proactive basis. It’s been a real pleasure to watch the business grow from a start-up to the success it is today. We’re proud to be able to help them in the next stage of the journey.”

Syncro is one of the UK’s leading suppliers of fire and security solutions, with Technical Marketing & PR working with them on a project basis since the business launched in 2014.

TMPR Wins Major International Contract

10 April 2018/in PR

Technical Marketing & PR expands services ‘Down Under’

A Cardiff-based PR agency has won a major additional contract with existing client, Promethean – a global education technology company – to deliver the communications campaign which will promote the winners of its Australia and New Zealand Grant initiative throughout the region.

The first ever Promethean Grant competition was piloted in the UK last year, attracting entries from 250 schools across the country. Pupils were invited to show their creative skills to win a Promethean ActivPanel – an advanced interactive front of class display – with 30 schools being successful in winning the technology for their classrooms.

The success of the campaign has led Promethean to take the Grant global, and Technical Marketing & PR’s successful track record with promoting the UK incarnation has been recognised with the award of the PR brief for Australia and New Zealand. The company is set to manage the communications activity surrounding the winning schools and their creative campaigns.

The Promethean Grant is also returning to the UK in March 2018, with Welsh schools being encouraged to enter after there were no local finalists last year. Stuart Fraser, Promethean’s Head of Wales, said: “We’ve bolstered the support we offer to our customers throughout the region this year and it would be great to see some Welsh schools as winners.”

Gillian Rhodes, Promethean’s Head of Marketing in EMEA and ANZ, said: “Having seen the excellent coverage and exposure the Technical Marketing & PR team secured for the UK Grant over the last 12 months, there was no hesitation in commissioning them to deliver PR support for the ANZ programme.”

Louise Matthews, Director at Technical Marketing & PR, concluded: “This is a really great result for us and testament to the excellent work of our PR team. It’s a fantastic opportunity for us to take our public relations work to a new international level as well as support a great scheme that encourages creativity and technology in schools. This shows that Wales is a great place to come and do business.”

TMPR Expands South Wales Operations

17 November 2017/in PR

David Williams appointed as new Account Executive

Technical Marketing & PR has appointed David Williams as Account Executive, in a brand-new role which marks a decision to expand its team since recently relocating to the Vale of Glamorgan.

David graduated from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism & Media. In his new role, David will be working on key client accounts such as global education technology company Promethean, international supplier of specialist insulation and construction products SIG, and leading stone wool insulation provider ROCKWOOL. “I am really looking forward to this new challenge, in an industry I have a real passion to work in. I am fortunate to be given this opportunity to learn and develop alongside such a great team with a wealth of experience”, explained David.

Louise Matthews, Director of Technical Marketing & PR, commented: “We are thrilled to have David on board. It’s an exciting time for our company as we look to expand, David brings a great sense of ambition and passion to the team, with a real desire to learn. It’s tough for graduates to break into the industry and we are pleased to be able to create this role for the candidate to develop. I have every confidence David is going to be an asset to our team”.

Local Children to Showcase Coding Skills

31 October 2017/in PR

Ysgol Y Ddraig form partnership with local business in coding competition

Year 5 pupils at Ysgol Y Ddraig in Llantwit Major have taken part in a ‘V-Factor’ coding competition to design their very own computer games. The winners are due to present their games at the Introbiz Expo at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena (2^nd November), Wales’ biggest business event. Pioneered by Vale of Glamorgan based Technical Marketing & PR, the children will be joining the team on stand 279 to demonstrate the role of technology and entrepreneurship in the modern business environment.

Rebecca Cadman, Acting Head Teacher at Ysgol Y Ddraig, said: “The competition has been great for the children. They’ve been really excited about the idea of creating the games and its allowed them to relate their learning to coding in the real world. It’s been thoroughly engaging.”

Technical Marketing & PR is due to launch a new Virtual Marketing Manager (VMM) service at the show and will be giving visitors the opportunity to enter a prize draw to win a brand-new 3D virtual reality headset. Visitors will also be able to experience a Google virtual reality environment.

Director of Technical Marketing & PR, Louise Matthews, has commented: “It’s really important to combine business, technology and education. It has been refreshing to see the children so enthusiastic and engaged with the concept from the very start and rewarding that the competition has encouraged pupils to develop their coding skills whilst keeping the world of business in mind.”

For further information please call Technical Marketing & PR on 01446 731180.

The Independent: 1st Digital-Only Newspaper

22 February 2016/in PR

The Independent is set to cease trading as a print edition from March, making the move to “digital only”, a decision that will see many of the current editorial team made redundant, while there will also be 25 new “digital content roles’ made available.

While the news shook both the journalism and PR world, the closure of some of the UK’s best-known print titles is a move which we have seen emerging since newspaper houses try to grapple with the popularity of free news sources online versus their declining sales of print editions.

The notion that “print is dead” is a term that has been bandied around for some time, it’s something I heard almost a decade ago when working with a client who worked in the print industry, way before the likes of the Mail Online grew to the global phenomena it has now become (over 13m people on average read it daily). We have gradually witnessed the end of some of the biggest ‘lads’ magazines including Nuts, Zoo and FHM. All of which were staples of the lad culture back in the 90s, resigned to print heaven.

We have seen The Times adopt a paywall model since 2010, and The Sun follow suit in 2013, before scrapping it in 2015 back to providing free online content. We are even hearing rumours that the Guardian may be trialling paid-for-content that only members can access, although the Chief Exec says, “it’s not a paywall”. These latest rumours have surfaced after news that the Guardian needs to make £54m a year in cuts in order to simply break even, proof that somewhere along the line, something has got to give.

To me it seems like even the global newspaper houses still aren’t sure how to play the decline in print sales while still making a profit from online, and I can see their struggle. We have rapidly moved from a world that relies on the News at Ten and the morning paper to keep us informed, to an information hungry society that demands real-time news, 24/7.

The volume of content on news websites is extraordinary, and the ability of today’s journalists to create a news story from a 140-character celebrity tweet is commendable if not a slightly sad sign of the times. However, from what I can see, the paywalls have shown that consumers are reluctant to pay for accessing this content. News stories are breaking around us at all times and journalists need to be paid, ultimately it seems the publishing houses are in a bit of a pickle.

While I can offer no solutions (sorry about that) I think that it will be interesting to see how the industry continues to develop certainly over the next year. Perhaps the Guardian is onto something with a membership-model, only time will tell.