Lawrence & Pierce | Marketing Visions - vision_ix

talking point

You are number six on our mailing list. And we want information. Information about you. About your products, services and target audiences. Information on every verbal, written, digital and financial transaction that could pass between us. You are a number and we want information.

The faceless organisation behind the incarceration and continued haranguing of The Prisoner is never revealed. Could it have been MIS? Or perhaps CRM? Both acronyms have recently gripped the Lawrence & Pierce office and are thirsty for information. However, unlike The Prisoner’s captors, they are helping to strengthen meaningful relationships.

The key to strengthening meaningful relationships with clients - or between clients and their customers and staff - is to appreciate what has not been said.

We are using new, network-based computer systems to better manage information. On a day-to-day level staff are benefiting from being able to access information from a single source. “It’s on the server!” has become a common refrain. And looking at the bigger picture, we can get a clearer view of each client’s profile, with a wealth of information at our fingertips.

New systems help to plan and deliver jobs more effectively. Quote and invoice more accurately. And organise staff time more efficiently. But there are dangers. Companies that become prisoner to the pursuit and storage of information risk reducing clients to numbers and staff to commodities.

Information is only as powerful as the way it is used. Who you are. Your service offering. Your target markets. All of this - and much more - can be stored on a disc, quickly and easily accessible. The key to strengthening meaningful relationships with clients - or between clients and their customers and staff - is to appreciate what has not been said. To pick up on the social cues that, allied with the facts, give a greater understanding of exactly what is needed. Ultimately, we want to deliver communications that reach deep into the minds of the audience.

Despite the turtle-necked cloak of mystery that sometimes shrouds advertising and design, at all stages we need information, both explicit and implicit, to creatively deliver. But how do we do this? That’s the unquantifiable part. What do we mean? It’s what we’re good at. Why? You want information?

We are not a number.

Be seeing you.

Steph Coole A FREE MAN

beyond the brief

BACKGROUND

Pancosma is an international market leader in the supply of palatants, bioactives and flavourings to the animal feed industry. Due to recent acquisitions and product/service developments, the company has reorganised its corporate structure, to maximise the potential for further growth and diversification.

“Instead of being constrained by an overarching group structure, we used the corporate strengths to validate the offerings.”

Regularly pitching against French and German agencies, we have been responsible for developing the Pancosma brand for eight years, helping the Geneva-based business to effectively communicate with staff, clients and suppliers worldwide.

INITIAL BRIEF

To produce a corporate and product campaign and format that would complement the operational change to three divisions.

REVISED AIMS

After consultation, Lawrence & Pierce asked to broaden the brief. It was agreed that a new brand strategy was required to best complement the new business imperatives, internally and to new or existing markets.

APPROACH

We strived to create a strategy that would enable each division to grow in-line with internal targets and react to changing customer demands. Instead of being constrained by an overarching group structure, we used the corporate strengths to validate the offerings. Allied to this, it was critical that we demonstrated how brand heritage could be retained, in a meaningful context.

SOLUTION

The Pancosma brand was refreshed, with key elements adapted to appeal to an international marketplace and build on the heritage associated with the company. The emphasis of the strategy was refocused to concentrate on products, services and their benefits, under the umbrella of the Pancosma name.

ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN

...it gets to the heart of what we do, making animals healthier and happier. And making the business more profitable.”

The strategic shift made it much easier for us to devise a coherent and exciting advertising campaign. A format that enables Pancosma to re-emphasise the core, corporate strengths to an international audience, whilst focusing on product promotion to specific markets, has been the key to a successful campaign. Use of a simple visual device, recognised universally, has helped to maximise message impact across a range of languages and cultures.

COMMUNICATION

A suite of internal communications material, targeting staff, distributors and other partners, has complemented the advertising campaign. We have applied the refreshed brand to the full spectrum of corporate communications, including stationery, literature, the website and brochures.

RESULTS

“What Lawrence & Pierce have equipped us with, is a brand strategy and realisation that makes it simple for us to communicate the benefits of working for and with Pancosma; to staff, customers and industry stakeholders.

“The advertising campaign has made a great impact. It immediately breaks the ice. More than that, it gets to the heart of what we do, making animals healthier and happier. And making the business more profitable.”

Gavin Gavin Raper, Sales & Marketing Director, Pancosma.

in brief

Gammidge Group
Lawrence & Pierce has been working closely with the Gammidge Group, as the footwear designer and distributor restructures its operations. “After proving their creative credentials on the Wrangler account, L&P was top of the directors’ list when it came to communicating the Group changes. They have refreshed the Gammidge and division identities, designed and delivered a fantastic new showroom - which means we can now tailor displays without losing impact - and helped to stage our launch fashion show.”

Louisa Carbery, Marketing Manager for Kingsway Shoes (a division of the Gammidge Group and licence holders of the Wrangler Footwear brand in the UK).

Crisis
Since devising and implementing the Crisis Box campaign - which employed interactive on-street and online tools to challenge audience perceptions of hidden homelessness - Lawrence & Pierce has continued to work with the national homeless charity on a wide range of material. “We need agency help at different levels, depending on the project and our in-house capabilities. From designing a recent blog booklet to providing invaluable strategic, creative and production input on our impact report, L&P are always there when we need them.”

Lucy Maggs, Head of Campaigns & Communications, Crisis.

FirstGroup
Lawrence & Pierce has designed and implemented the new, Yellow School Bus website for First Student, the Yellow School Bus division of FirstGroup. First Student UK is the largest provider of Yellow School Bus services in the UK. In North America First Student America is the second largest commercial school bus operator. “The website relaunched the product and needed to support marketing and sales initiatives which highlighted the benefits of the service and emphasised the products unique selling points. Lawrence & Pierce has achieved this but more importantly, has done so in a way that immediately targets the core, student audience whilst communicating the Group’s commitment to secure school transport services with teachers, local authorities, parents and other key stakeholders.”

Linda Howard, Managing Director for First Yellow School Bus.