Sometimes when you’re developing a creative for a campaign, the stars align in terms of subject matter, objectives and, in the case of one of our latest projects at least, the time of year.
Category: News
Categories
Truth, Justice and the American Way
The 2020 US Presidential election was never going to be simple, straightforward or dull.
However, good old Superman’s catchphrase of ‘Truth, Justice and the American Way’ has arguably never been under more threat.
When it comes to measuring the success of a campaign, there can’t be many greater arbiters than an announcement by the Prime Minister.
Some great news to start the month of October! DTW has risen three places to #23 in respected trade website Prolific North’s annual list of Top 50 public relations companies across the north of England.
With the growth of digital channels, we have never consumed as much written content as we do now.
Well written content can resonate with your audience and communicate messages well. But if you don’t get it right, you can switch off your readers.
This morning I joined the first in a series of new ‘Coming out of Covid webinars’, all focused on the impact of Covid-19 on the infrastructure and construction sector.
Today’s topic was a nice easy one to start with…..“With the easing of the lockdown, what is the new normal for construction?”
Hosted by Infrastructure Intelligence (it’s worth signing up to their twice weekly newsletter if you don’t already) it was a really thought-provoking and interesting session.
We heard from Georgia Hughes from Arcadis, Hannah Vickers, Chief Executive of the Association for Consultancy and Engineering, Matt Blackwell from Costain and Mark Coates from Bentley Systems. They each talked about how their organisations are changing for the future.
My key takeaways were:
- The new normal will be very different to the old normal. The changes made in the last ten weeks that will last for ten years and more. Look forwards, not backwards. Embrace digital technology, kids occasionally joining in on Teams calls and expect the unexpected.
- What we build for the future is going to change, as well as how we build it. As a result of Covid-19, local community business hubs, business tourism and bike lanes for rural communities are all going to be in demand moving forward. Processes and finances are being turned on their head as well.
- Take staff and clients with you on the journey – communication is critical. Keep it simple, keep it regular and listen to what people say. Adopting new technology is great, but it’s the people behind it that are going to make our future a success.
Oh, and the technology worked a treat. Well done to Andy Walker and the Infrastructure Intelligence team – looking forward to the next one.
Stay safe.
Thanks for reading
Chris
The team at North East public relations and digital marketing agency DTW is expanding with the addition of three new members of staff to kick-off 2020.
Anthony Doyle, Rebecca Dew and Richard Johnston have all joined the team here at DTW. Based in the Tees Valley, DTW has over 30 years of experience specialising in public relations and digital marketing campaigns.
This expansion comes on the back of a series of successes in securing new clients. There has also been significant growth throughout existing projects across the UK and further afield. We are currently working for organisations like the Law Society of England and Wales, the Financial Conduct Authority and multi-national tolling and mobility solutions provider emovis. We are also proud to be working with several well known local organisations. These include Road Safety GB North East, Middlesbrough & Stockton Mind and Middlesbrough Council.
Anthony Doyle
Anthony joins the team as a Senior Strategist specialising in digital marketing, data analysis, SEO and website development. Anthony is a Teesside native who has worked around the world on a diverse range of projects. He brings a combination of strategic, technical and development expertise to DTW. Anthony will be leading on the development of the DTW’s growing digital offering to clients.
He has 20 years’ experience of working in digital marketing, having led enterprise marketing teams for major multi-national organisations. These include companies such as Frog Education and QS Unisolution, in the software and education sectors.
Rebecca Dew
Rebecca joins us as a Public Relations and Digital Engagement Specialist. Rebecca will be providing media relations, copywriting and social media content services to clients. She has a National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) in Multimedia Journalism and a BA (Hons) in English Language and Linguistics from York St John University.
Richard Johnston
Richard joins us as the lead creative in our growing film and digital content team. Richard previously worked at the prestigious Banff Centre for Arts & Creativity in Canada. He is responsible for all aspects of filming – from storyboarding and planning, to working behind the camera and editing. Richard graduated in 2016 with a BA (Hons) First Class in Film and Television Production from Teesside University.
Strengthening our hugely talented team
Chris Taylor, Managing Director of DTW, said: “Our vision is very simple. It is about creating meaningful campaigns that are world-class, make a difference and help our clients succeed. I’m delighted to welcome Anthony, Rebecca and Richard because they will strengthen our hugely talented team. They are already making a difference to the work we are delivering for our clients.”
He added: “We’ve started 2020 with a bang. It’s important for us to invest in quality staff to ensure that we can continue to meet the growing demand from different sectors of the economy.”
DTW is ranked by PR Week as one of the top ten public sector specialist PR agencies in the UK. With these latest additions to the team, we now employ 15 people based in Guisborough, North East England. DTW is an expert digital marketing agency and public relations consultancy alongside film, social media, animation and design.
If you are interested in hearing more about how DTW can help your organisation succeed, get in touch with our team today.
We’ve been doing our bit to recognise talented communicators of the future this month. We’ve sponsored the Public Relations prize at Teesside University’s annual Journalism Awards.
The joint winners of the Public Relations Student of the Year prize – Emma Morton and Ellie Dalton – will each spend a week on work experience at DTW over the next year to give them an insight into working life at a public relations and communications agency in 2019.
It was a pleasure to be invited to the awards evening at the Uni’s Love it Lounge and present Emma and Ellie with their prize. We’re looking forward to seeing them over the next few months and welcoming them to #teamDTW.
It’s important organisations in our industry are involved with initiatives like this. It gives students a chance to shine and learn and helps keep us businesses on our toes as well. In our experience, the ideas, creativity and passion that young graduates bring when working with us is a huge asset to DTW.
And we should know, we’re proud to say we have six Teesside graduates as part of our team. They are specialists in everything from animation and video to marketing strategy, and we’re regularly in and out of the University to chat to students and lecturers about various industry issues and opportunities.
Huge congrats to Emma and Ellie!!
Thanks for reading.
Lorna
We’re proud to say that DTW has again been ranked in the top ten specialist public sector public relations agencies in the UK by leading industry publication PR Week.
We have retained our position of 8th in the 2019 league table, which was published in May 2019. It means we’ve been in the top 10 for the past five years now.
As an agency that is highly skilled and experienced in working with the public sector over a long period of time, this continues to be important recognition for the work we deliver. The public sector – in the UK and elsewhere – has changed phenomenally, but the principles of good communications and PR remain the same.
Getting the basics right
Firstly, you have to understand the communications objectives, make sure you know who your audience is and do the insight and research work. Importantly, this makes sure you understand how your audience feels about the issue you are engaging with them on.
Then it is all about clear, authentic and honest communications – whether you are seeking to generate behaviour change, inform people about new initiatives or seek the views of residents and stakeholders on a new proposal.
Once you have those elements clear, you can think about the tactics, channels and creative themes you need to use for maximum impact.
This approach is relevant for so much more than public sector bodies, and the private sector increasingly needs to adopt it where it is delivering public services.
With the majority of our work focusing on that for membership organisations and private sector led infrastructure and construction developments, our skills and knowledge of the public sector market are proving valuable to our private sector clients.
So if you’ve got a challenging project coming up that you think would benefit from our public sector approach, we’d love you to get in touch.
Thanks for reading
Chris
DTW has signed up to a new scheme all about giving young people from across the Tees Valley a taste of working life to help them become ‘work-ready’ as they set out on their career journey.
Chris Taylor, Managing Director of DTW, said: “We’re always happy to help young people step onto the career ladder and the Tees Valley Careers approach is great. It’s genuinely one of the best and most employer friendly initiatives I have seen.”
The appeal of the Tees Valley Careers scheme is that it isn’t just about offering work experience. For a small business like ours that can be a challenge due to client commitments and logistical challenges, particularly for school age children.
The scheme gives employers options like going into schools and chat to students, take part in mock interview exercises and careers days. We think these can be hugely valuable to young people in our area. The opportunities are all co-ordinated by the Tees Valley Careers team which minimises the ‘hassle factor’. It means employers like DTW can get involved when there are opportunities that fit in with our industry and which work for us.
For young people looking to take their first step into the world of work, anything they can do to engage with employers and gain a better understanding of work situations will really help them in their early careers.
Chris added: “We’re passionate about helping young people as they start out in their career. This is a great initiative that is local to us and something we’re very much looking forward to being involved with.”
You can visit the Tees Valley Careers website to find out more about getting involved.
The Tees Valley Careers scheme is being delivered by the Tees Valley Combined Authority.