Is your company bigger than what you do? Blog from Polaris managing director Ben Pinnington
When creating a marketing campaign, we advise clients to dig deep into why they are in business. Yes, you have a great product or service but what drove you to set up in business? For many business owners and senior managers, we meet it is about so much more than making a living. Successful companies and businesses are able to inspire with a bigger, bolder more powerful message.
What big problem are you trying to solve, what is your ethos, what is the change you want to see in your industry or the world?
Steve Jobs created the’ think different’ campaign for Apple* and championed rebels and misfits like John Lennon, Mohammed Ali and Gandhi. Apple saw ‘genius’ in these people saying: ‘the ones crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do’. This edgy campaign was about more than Apple products of RAM and hard drives. It inspired people with Apple’s philosophy.
Our client the iconic shipbuilder Cammell Laird is similarly inspirational. Yes, it has an incredible history and is exceptional at building and repairing ships. However, in the 11 years we’ve worked with the company, we’ve observed it is the entrepreneurial outlook, and the economic good, the company does that motivates its management team. Cammell Laird has won massive contracts and a raft of awards because it has inspired people with its ethos and achievements. The figures speak for themselves the company has invested £18million in more than 250 apprentices it has generated £350 million for the UK economy since 2013 with 1500 workers directly and indirectly employed at peak times supported by 350 supply chain businesses.
Another of our clients is India’s Hero Cycles the world’s biggest bike manufacturer. And while the bikes are innovatively designed in Manchester, and made in India, the marketing campaign talks about the good the bikes can do. We are running a ‘Fit to Ride’ series of articles in BikesEtc magazine focusing on the health benefits of cycling for the family from defeating stress, heart disease and diabetes to helping bring the family together for quality time.
Speaking personally at Polaris we recently rewrote our website and instead of purely listing our services we explain that running the company is a way of life for us not a job or way to make money. What motivates us is helping our clients grow by working as part of their team, creating that personal chemistry and understanding of their company. Our entrepreneurial ethos is to dream by day, not by night which has helped us become an exporter when naysayers told us we were wasting our time. By exporting we’ve created more opportunities for our clients and we’ve had unforgettable experiences at Royal Palaces in India, vast shipyards in Oman and ship launches in Barcelona, pictured.
So how much more powerful could your publicity, social media, company videos, corporate literature be, by communicating your bold ethos and the greater good you do?
Ben Pinnington
Polaris Media Management Ltd
Managing Director
Website: www.polarismedia.co.uk
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/Ben Pinnington
Email: news@polarismediapr.com
Twitter: @PolarisMedia
* Reading ‘Oversubscribed’ by Daniel Priestley
* Think Different picture copyright Apple