The NAKED Marketing Company

J—– is  an online computer printer peripherals business – i.e. mostly ink cartridges. Just past start-up, they came to The NAKED Marketing Company for advice on how to make their mark on the marketplace.

Our research showed the peripherals business was dominated by a handful of national names and in addition, in each area, there were several small, independent retailers. In other words, J—– was entering a niche but crowded marketplace.

So, there was a need for J—- to stand out from Day 1 with a value added proposition – something the competition didn’t or couldn’t offer.

In support of this, we talked about how to give the brand a “personality” and an ethos that would be reflected through its corporate identity, communications and customer experience.

J— wanted to be perceived as a national company, but serving a specific local area … but we felt that local businesspeople tended to favour and buy from other local businesspeople, and to this end suggested  1-to-1 direct marketing with targeted businesses.

 

“Some brilliant ideas” – Paul W, owner/manager peripherals business.

 

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Helping re-energise an energy company 

S— supplies bespoke high-end niche energy-saving products. They asked The NAKED Marketing Company to review the design and content of a leaflet they proposed dropping through letter boxes. We were happy to cast an eye over the leaflet and make some suggestions for improvements, but were more concerned with the rationale behind the choice of a leaflet drop as the principle marketing tool. Leafleting is a notoriously inefficient way to attract and acquire new customers – around ½% response rate if you’re lucky – and we felt that leafleting was in any case an inappropriate tool for the market they were in and for the customers they wanted to attract. Instead, we suggested hosting and holding a series of free seminars on reducing energy costs, supported by in-advance advertising and publicity. We felt that the leaflet could be adapted to inform householders of free energy audits being conducted in their area – if they wanted a free and impartial assessment of their energy efficiency, they could leave the leaflet on show in a window and receive a home visit from an energy expert.

 ”Philip gave an extremely thorough evaluation of the marketing environment in which our marketing campaign would be operating and was able to clearly demonstrate to capitalise on our strengths as a business by adopting a range of different marketing techniques. Philip presented us with ideas that had not even occurred to us prior to the meeting and gave realistic, strategic guidance on how to achieve the best results possible. The knowledge gained from meeting Philip was found to be extremely valuable and certainly offered clarity in our complex marketing strategy. Top Qualities: Personable, Expert, Creative.” – Ashley S, energy products

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Making plans for growth

J— is a successful architectural practice, established 11 years ago. New business has traditionally come from referrals and recommendations but the economic downturn has caused this source of new business to significantly reduce, so the company was looking for alternative growth strategies from The NAKED Marketing Company.

We’ll start generating regular publicity to raise company profile, enhance reputation and put the name and brand in front of a wider audience of past, present and possible customers.  In tandem with this, we’ll be producing a regular newsletter in both print and on-line versions to foster client loyalty and longevity and to generate repeat business. We’re also looking at doing some targeted direct mailing

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Snap to it!

D— is a photography busiess that’s recently relocated to the north of England and has an urgent need to establish the business in an area where they have no contacts, no clients, no recognition and no presence. In effect, D— is a start-up business up against established competitors in a sector that has shrunk significantly over the past 10 years.

A free marketing and sales analysis from The NAKED Marketing Company pointed towards diversification and dividing the business into 3, maybe 4, divisions, each of which could target a different marketplace.

We felt that “how to” seminars and alliances with other specific business groups, especially women’s groups, would help establish name, reputation and offering quickly and at low cost. We were also able to suggest making the most of social marketing and direct marketing.

*To arrange a free marketing and sales analysis for YOUR business, email enquiries@thenakedmarketingcompany.com, or call Philip J Gwynne on 07549 153391.

“Some very interesting information which I know will help me, I will certainly learn the way forward with the help from your marketing company. Very good and very useful for my business. Would highly recommend contacting The NAKED Marketing Company” – Chrisdeena E, photography business

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Life coach business commissions Marketing Plan

F— is an independently owned and run life coach business based in Calgary, Canada.With a new book, 30 Days To A Better You about to be published, the company decided this was an ideal time to draw up business growth plans going forward and came to The NAKED Marketing Company for marketing strategies and plans, campaign planning, on line and video.

First step was to take an overview of the business & marketplace as a backcloth to the suggestions and recommendations on:

• Customer acquisition and retention strategies
• Referral marketing
• Events and presentations, including book signings
• Networking online and offline
• Website
• Response mechanisms
• A timetable for delivery over the next 12 months

We were able to suggest some solid marketing and business growth strategies  that can be applied regardless of the current state of the business that are practical, quick and simple to introduce into your business (so that you can start to apply them right away), that require no special training, equipment or software (so that anyone can do it)… and that cost nothing to introduce into the business (apart from a bit of time, effort and energy)

 PS. If you need help/advice on developing a marketing plan for YOUR enterprise, contact us at 07549 153391 Email enquiries@thenakedmarketingcompany.com. Thank you

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Business growth and development help for small IT company

S— is a small, successful IT specialist company that The NAKED Marketing Company is helping with business growth and development strategies.

First off, they need to focus on a “who we are and what we do” exercise that includes employees, customers and stakeholders. This will inform their business plans going forward 1 year, 3 years and 5 years.

They’ve also been hampered by the fact that they “bought” work in the early days, so we’re looking at how they might increase sales, especially into new markets, and through direct marketing initiatives and referral harvesting.

At the same time, we want to preserve and where possible expand upon those areas of business generation that have been “working” so far – networking (*send for FREE guide: How to make networking work for YOU), web development, partner relationships and social media.

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The gasman cometh!

V— is an independent, family-run gas fitting and plumbing business with impressive ambitions for future growth.

The owner/manager has been researching issues around marketing and brand development and has a commitment to turn the business plans into reality, starting soon. However, there isn’t the time, effort, energy, know-how or resources within the business to do so, and a limited budget for marketing and related service, so they turned to The NAKED Marketing Company for some practical assistance.

We saw that there is a clear need to “establish the brand” via past and potential customers. The business needs to be differentiated from the many other rival plumbers and gas-fitters. So, we are recommending direct mail/direct marketing to past and potential customers, including “leaflets” and similar marketing, promotional and handout materials; a regular newsletter, targeted direct mail campaigns + updates and follow-ups at regular intervals.

We also believe the business has an interesting and newsworthy story to tell, so we’re recommending an initial publicity push followed by additional stories approximately every 4-6 months to maintain profile and awareness in front of key target audiences.

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Getting social

A—- is a start-up social enterprise entrepreneur who is constructing an online business-to-business network. He has a 5 year business plan but reckons that the first 2 or 3 years will be critical in acquiring the necessary number of subscribers to make the enterprise financially viable.

He took advantage of a free business consultation from The NAKED Marketing Company. We were able to help with how to identify and attract prospective subscribers and with the kind of online business content that might appeal to them. 

 

Building a better mailer

M— is a specialist building industry training school. Established over 20 years, the company has enjoyed steady growth in revenue, centred almost entirely on serving local authorities and the public sector. But with spending cutbacks hitting their traditional market, the principals were looking to sell into other sectors and asked The NAKED Marketing Company to devise and deliver a direct marketing & mailing strategy that would introduce them and their training courses to private sector property maintenance companies.

The first thing we did was to save them about £2000 in acquiring mailing lists and instead focused the effort on a small number of companies with initial contact calls (to gather information on the relevant person to send information to and whether the company might be receptive to being sent more information), followed by introductory letters and product information, then follow up calls and emails to solicit positive responses.

We took this approach because it cuts out almost entirely the “wasted” costs and efforts of a mass mailout and instead concentrates the subsequent sales effort only on those who have expressed an interest in receiving it.

**(For more about marketing services and customer acquisition and retention programmes, click here)

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Customer touch points

R— provides niche financial services. The owner/manager started the business a couple of years ago, having worked for other companies in the same field. Despite his considerable marketing efforts, he was frustrated at the lack of growth in the business and turned to The NAKED Marketing Company to help find any “holes” in his hard work.

We were quickly able to identify areas where additional customer “touch points” could be introduced. We will also be looking at if and how publicity and public relations could lift the company profile in front of the people he wants as future customers in the geographical area where the company operates.

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Playtime or pay time?

A— is a small niche business, supplying specialist children’s activities for fundraising events mainly at primary schools and a very small number of non-school charities. Established 15 years ago, the business enjoyed a virtual monopoly until the past few years when competitors encroached with rival products. The company wanted to know if there were other reasons for the drop-off in sales and what might be done to prevent it happening. Also, how A— could increase its non-school customer base. The NAKED Marketing Company was able to help with:

• Increasing the frequency of contact to existing and hoped-for customers tied in to customer database segmentation for improved customer acquisition and retention.
• Introducing ways of measuring the effectiveness of individual marketing and sales activities
• Suggestions about how to refresh and renew the product offering.

**To arrange your own business review, please click here.

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Waste not, want not 

A— is a European environmental services company based in Spain and with a heavy presence in the UK where it is best known for its extractive and refractories businesses in support of the construction industries.

When A— submitted an application to build an energy from waste plant in the north of England, The NAKED Marketing Company was asked to develop a stakeholder and community communications programme to keep local people informed about the development and its progress through the planning application process. (See PR services and campaigns)

Applications to build power plants – even “green” ones –tend to be greeted with understandable opposition and concern, and The NAKED Marketing Company has previous experience of developing and delivering information and reassurance through past work with quarrying companies and extraction sites.

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The Chemistry set

R— is a global chemicals manufacturer that places understandable emphasis on health & safety at its chemical plants, for both employees and the surrounding communities. To help managers understand – and “rehearse” for – what to do in the unlikely event of an emergency, The NAKED Marketing Company travelled to the company’s flagship chemical plant in northern France to put the dozen or so management team through a simulated crisis management day, with the emphasis on delivering open, honest and frequent communications, news events and statements.

The NAKED Marketing Company designs, delivers and conducts bespoke crisis news exercises, mostly for larger undertakings in all manner of business sectors, as one of its public relations services.  

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Keep on trucking!

P— is a trucking/logistics business whose costs were rising (e.g. fuel, VAT, vehicle insurance) and whose sales were diminishing) The NAKED Marketing Company was able to offer advice on a direct mail customer acquisition and retention programme (See Marketing services ) supported by occasional profile-lifting publicity in regional and trade press.

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No need to be alarmed

R— is in the business of premises safety and security. It’s been in business for 25 years but has seen a decline in orders in recent years. The company took on a new Operations Director and a head of sales in an effort to halt the decline, but recognised that it lacked in-house marketing expertise.

R— called in The NAKED Marketing Company to put into place some solid strategies that would bring about a long-term improvement. We created a bespoke direct marketing customer acquisition and retention programme http://www.thenakedmarketingcompany.com/about/naked-marketing-services/  and also looked at ways to revive the out-of-date website and make it more attractive and inter-active.

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Restaurant revival

V— is a restaurant on a prominent main road position in a small Yorkshire town. Despite its location, the value of the number of meals served barely covered the running costs of keeping the place open. Also, an upstairs room had recently been refurbished at considerable expense to turn it into an attractive meeting or functions room… but was mostly standing empty and unused.

The young assistant manager turned to The NAKED Marketing Company for suggestions to increase the number of bookings, both in the main restaurant and upstairs.  We suggested ways in which the upstairs room could be promoted as a venue for business and community events, while details of customers in the main restaurant would be retained with their permission, so that they could be informed about exclusive follow-up offers. (See Marketing services)

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Called to the bar

B— is a specialist city centre bar-cum-restaurant. There was a flurry of business when the place first opened about a year ago, but there had been subsequent decline. The owner-manager admitted there were some nights he’d be behind the bar until the early hours in the hope that he’d receive some late night custom.

The business was in danger of going under and the manager – and his wife – were exhausted by working all hours, as well as by the financial strain.

As the business had next to no money to spend on promotion and marketing, The NAKED Marketing Company proposed a number of low cost and no-cost measures to make the place more attractive to visitors and to lift its profile. Taking advantage of the city centre location, we were able to suggest a calendar of drop-in events for passers-by, some strategic alliances with other local businesses, and – perhaps most importantly – a regimen that allowed the manager and his wife to spend less time working for the business.

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Sum thing for accountants

H— is a specialist accountancy firm for whom we put together a calendar of seminars designed to attract new clients and reinforce relationships with existing clients.

Is this IT?

R— is a successful small specialist IT business that has got to it is without really understanding how. The NAKED Marketing Company has beenworking with its principals to reappraise their offer, and who they should make it to.

Copywriting

S— is one of the largest local authorities in the UK. The NAKED Marketing Company is an Approved Supplier of copywriting and proofreading for all of its printed and marketing publications.

Sales & Marketing

T— is a training provider that has been consulting with The NAKED Marketing Company over a number of years to help them with their marketing and sales operations.

Start as you mean to go on

S— is a start-up social enterprise seeking advice about developing their website, and then driving people to it with direct mail and some support publicity/PR.

Make an exhibition of yourself

B— is a niche business in the pharmaceuticals industry. The Chief Executive came on The NAKED Marketing Company’s workshop, Unleash Your Inner Sales Star! and then called us in to review current marketing activities with the newly-appointed marketing person. The main concern was how to take maximum advantage of the company’s first appearance at an international exhibition.

Back to school for Boffins 

H—– is a University in the north of England. The teaching staff includes leading authorities in subjects such as history, geography, sports psychology and social policy. The University wanted to put promote its in-house expertise to the media, particularly TV and radio. So it came to The NAkED Marketing Company to teach the boffins the particular lessons for dealing with media interviews and “putting across” some pretty heavy subjects in a way that’s esasily understood by a mass viewing or listening public.