Case Studies

@nker- European PR on an economy ticket

Anker Plc is a provider of electronic point of sale (EPoS) software, systems and services for retailers across Europe. It has over 1,250 employees, 2,000 customers and more than 100,000 installed units under maintenance.The Group is headquartered near Manchester, and operatesdirectly in 11 European countries - the UK, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. Customers include Harrods, Tommy Hilfiger, O2, Intermarché, Décathlon, Carrefour and Legoland. Anker faced the challenge of building, creating and sharing PR and Marketing campaigns across a range of European countries. Amanda Byrne, Group Marketing Manager explains.

Business Background

By the latter part of 2003 Anker realised it needed to co-ordinate its PR and Marketing activities more effectively across Europe. For an organisation employing 1,250 people in 11 different countries, a concerted programme in every country was going to be an extremely expensive marketing cost for which the business could not budget. Group marketing, run by Group Sales & Marketing Director, Steve Butcher, and Group Marketing Manager, Amanda Byrne, set about constructing a PR programme which would enable them to maximise a relatively modest budget.

Amanda Byrne, Group Marketing Manager for Anker explains, “The issues we faced following the Group restructure in terms of PR were significant: We had a weak brand identity and only patchy journalist relationships, which was resulting in a lack of exposure in our key Press. “We needed a more formalised, structured PR campaign which required us both to raise our profile and to standardise messaging across the Group. We researched the market and subsequently invited four specialist PR firms into pitch.”

Selecting an Agency

Byrne continues, “The brief involved coordinating a European-wide programme. However, budgets were very tight and profitability targets needed to be met. Despite this the directors and investors in Anker Group appreciated that the development of the company’s profile as a pan- European supplier was both vital for new business development and also for the future positioning of Anker.

“We needed a more formalised, structured PR campaign which required us both to raise our profile and to standardise messaging across the Group”

“itpr’s approach was more than just about gaining Press coverage – although clearly this was a major factor as they offered us a more integrated approach to PR than most of the other firms we saw in the pitch process. Itpr was very aware of the local issues that could present themselves in a multiregion PR campaign and the campaign plan reflected that. “But perhaps the main reason we chose itpr was their evident enthusiasm. They didn’t just stick to the brief we had provided to play it safe to try and win the business; instead they built on it and explained what they could deliver if given the opportunity. I’m pleased to say that since their engagement, itpr has made a significant and valuable impact to our business.”

Engagement

The agreed goal for the selected PR agency was to facilitate the formation of a cohesive structure to optimise PR communication and control across the four key European Anker operations, in UK, France, Germany and the
Netherlands, which accounts for over 80% of the business. Amanda Byrne outlines how this goal was achieved, “itpr had successfully overseen the complicated task of setting up a PR and Marketing ‘Point of Presence’ (PoP) in each of our four key European offices. This entailed training the marketing representatives fromAnker in each of these countries as the main conduit for itpr to action PR and Marketing activity through. These PoP representatives all have a corresponding itpr support desk function with a native speaking itpr contact for any queries that may arise.

“Communications occur on a daily level between PoP representatives and their relevant itpr account manager. There are also six-weekly face to face review meetings in the UK and then quarterly review meetings in the individual European countries. “itpr also produces a regular bulletin – ‘Anker in the News’ which summarises all the Press coverage across Europe for the preceding two months which helps keeps all stakeholders informed and focused.

“A key factor in obtaining a value for money service was the reuse of all Press material; both case studies and bylined articles are produced centrally by itpr and then translated into local languages as required. Not all material is reusable, but most of it is, and this is important as our budgets are finite. As importantly, it also serves to reinforce the same key messages across different regions. There is now a Group ‘library’ of material that is constantly being updated and is available for use across the region, both in the PR campaign and as sales support literature. “itpr has instilled a professional, thorough approach, and ensured Anker was 'fit for market' by organizing messaging workshops across the regions to determine Anker’s core proposition. As a result of these meetings, for the first time, we were able to communicate to every single employee exactly what Anker does, how it does it and how to describe it in detail to friends, family, business colleagues, partners and customers. “itpr has also brought a great deal of best practice in terms of standardized forms and processes which have helped to capture information more effectively for use in the PR campaign as well as make life easier for our salespeople.”

“Our level of Press coverage in them UK has increased by over 400% since the campaign began”

Press Relations and Coverage

Byrne’s view on the Press coverage gained by itpr is positive, “Our level of Press coverage in the UK has increased by over 400% since the campaign began in January 2004. Other countries such as France and Germany have taken slightly longer to get up and running owing to the more extensive education process required, but even in these regions coverage is up by around 300% since itpr has been engaged. “itpr has been pivotal in Anker beginning to formulate good relationships with key journalists. They organised a media training event for all key executives across Europe, which served to establish the key spokespeople within Anker who are able to comment on industry topics and these spokespeople have subsequently received significant exposure in the Press. We also had a number of one to one briefings with Press at the Euroshop trade show earlier this year which has really made a difference to how the Press perceive us.”

IPO Plans

By Autumn 2004, the coordinated programme was running well. There was excellent traction with the UK Press and material generated in the UK was being reused across all key territories. The business as a whole was also gaining significant momentum and it was decided at Group level to go down the IPO route, with the view to listing on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM (Alternative Investment Market). Byrne explains: “The impact of itpr’s efforts in generating Press coverage was highlighted to the Group at this stage as the positive profile gained in the Press endorsed and supported the IPO to would-be investors. “In addition itpr worked with the CEO and the Sales & Marketing Director to advise and recommend a financial PR firm to work alongside itpr in the flotation process. Anker successfully launched on the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in December 2004.”

Personal Relationships and Outcomes

Byrne concludes, “The itpr team is dynamic, enthusiastic, hardworking and fun to work with. They have put in place a sound operational structure, with PR acting as the fulcrum around which much of our marketing activity occurs. itpr truly feels like an extra department of Anker, with clear channels of communication and the shared goal of enhancing the profile of the business to enable it to grow.”

ENDS

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