Joining forces

Activities don’t have to be carried out alone. In product marketing, companies often come together for the purposes of a mutually beneficial promotion, one which can strengthen the brand values of each product on offer. This can work in business to business public relations as well. In Royal Mail’s case the partner was the promotional Handling Association (PHA). Their need was to heighten the awareness and understanding of this specialist area of response handling and to highlight just how crucial it was to get it right – most importantly to use a professional company, and one, where possible, which was a member of the PHA. From Royal Mail’s point of view it offered a chance to form a closer, mutually beneficial bond with a valuable group of customers and to highlight the vital job they did, one which was becoming increasingly important as more FMCG companies and others came into the market, and boosted the need for effective handling of on-pack promotions which were linked to the building of consumer databases.

A two-year programme was developed. Case studies were created, sponsorships arranged, media opportunities exploited. It was a rock-steady, tried and tested, knocking on doors and creating opportunities programme. But it did work. The number of companies saying they’d use a PHA member for handling work rose by over 10 per cent in the first year alone and the body is now regularly approached for press comment. Media coverage has been positive and strong on the right messages, and handling is now part of the marketing media’s annual agenda.