THE FRESHWATER TECHNOLOGY PORTFOLIO
Press relations
Payment by results – Crydom International
Delivering a PR programme using a ‘payment by results’ remuneration structure
Crydom is a leading manufacturer of solid state relays for diverse markets including oven and temperature control, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) and various panel applications. The company offers the world’s largest range, with more than five million different products, and more than 50% share of its chosen markets.
Based in the UK, Crydom International is responsible for all markets outside US and Canada. Products are sold mainly through distribution catalogues such as Farnell and RS (70%) and also direct to key OEM accounts (30%), using a network of agents throughout Europe.
Crydom International has used
press relations in the past and has achieved good results
in terms of coverage in targeted media and sales leads. Because
of budget constraints, no PR had been conducted for the two
years previous to this programme. Crydom International was
looking for a PR consultancy to kick start its marketing campaign
to maintain and increase their presence in specified UK and
German publications. Freshwater Technology was recommended to
Crydom for its technical expertise and willingness to explore
a ‘payment by results’ (PBR) programme.
Objectives
Strategic objectives
- Increase the volume of sales enquiries
received (direct from magazines, by phone and via the web
site)
- Build Crydom International’s profile in the UK and
Germany
Measurable PR objectives
- Write and distribute 12 new product news releases to agreed
list of target media in the UK and Germany
Payment by results
The idea of a payment by results (PBR) scheme is to set up
a win-win arrangement that gives better, more measurable results
for clients and higher earnings for consultancies. The concept
is that, by focussing resources on clearly defined targets
which link the level of remuneration to the consultancy’s
success, both parties benefit.
In order for a PBR scheme to work effectively, a good level of trust, respect and responsibility between client and consultancy is essential. A list of ‘rights and responsibilities’ for both parties was agreed at the beginning of the relationship. The PBR programme for Crydom International consists of an agreed schedule of work, paid for by a base level fee, expenses and a ‘reward’ scheme based on coverage achieved.
Messages
Crydom International was already known as the number one global
supplier in its markets, as the premium brand and as a technical
innovator with reliable, top of the range products. However
it was felt that the Crydom name in Europe was also associated
with being expensive, remote (US supplier) and inflexible.
Freshwater Technology proposed that the positive
aspects of the brand should be exploited at a local level,
and developed key messages:
- Crydom is the world’s No1 suppler of solid state relays.
- Crydom has a local technical sales contact in most regions,
backed by direct access to global technical sales support.
- Crydom products offer reliable control solutions with excellent
life-cycle value for money.
Target audience(s)
- Design engineers and system integrators working for OEMs
involved in power management / temperature control equipment
- HVAC systems and other panel-mounted control systems using
electromechanical relays
- Target regions were UK and Germany, plus other European
countries eg France, Spain, Italy, Scandinavia
Execution & results
The highly targeted media relations campaign focussed on the
news and feature pages of 34 key technical magazines in Europe:
13 UK, 17 German and four pan-European.
The PBR programme target output was 12 news releases distributed one per month.
In the first 12 months of the programme 33 clippings were recorded in UK and Germany. The 54SCC collected so far amounts to £9,224 AVE (advertising value equivalent).
Regular clippings were achieved in several leading print and online titles such as Electronicstalk, Electropages, Electronics Express Europe and Electronics Weekly. Coverage has also been received in a leading German title, Elektronikpraxis. Placing adverts in these titles would have been a more costly exercise than gaining coverage through PR. The volume of sales leads has increased as a result.
Through the PR programme relationships have been established with key editors and journalists and awareness of Crydom in the media is good. A solid platform has been built on which the opportunities for increasing coverage in the future has increased.
Bruce McEachran, Technical Manager, Crydom International comments, “We are very pleased with the coverage and good quality leads we have received in the last year. Payment by results was a trial concept for both parties and we have been extremely pleased with how it has turned out.”
Rachel Owen, Director, Freshwater Technology says, “Payment by results is a good way to approach remuneration for PR where targets and objectives are very clearly defined. The work we have done with Crydom on product PR in a defined list of magazines is an excellent example; it has worked well for us and our client.”
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