"The Sika management team were extremely accommodating and a comprehensive one - day induction was arranged for the agency at the company's training facilities"

The Sika Group is a globally active company, operating in over fifty countries. It is the largest producer of polyurethane adhesives and sealants in the world, the Sika brand prefixing some of the best known and technologically advanced products of their type. Through its extensive marketing communications activities, the company has achieved an enviable international profile, but there is still room for tactical regional support for pre-defined products. This was the case with Sika Limited, the UK subsidiary based at Welwyn. The Creative Department, with its growing reputation for specialist communication solutions in the architectural, building and building products markets, were called in to discuss the opportunity. It was soon agreed that before a programme of activity could possibly be considered, it was crucial The Creative Department received a thorough grounding in the product areas in question. The Sika management team were extremely accommodating and a comprehensive one - day induction was arranged for the agency at the company's training facilities. The session concentrated on the sales expectations, technical aspects, markets and applications for the Rigid Waterproofing, Elastic Bonding and Façade Sealants product groups, which would be of particular interest to specifiers. A new range of Waterproofer's and Powder's of interest to the Builder's Merchant market was also discussed. All of these areas would benefit from a more integrated approach to selected trade press. Think the plan through in detail Unsurprisingly for such a successful organisation, the Sika approach is methodical, thorough and disciplined. So the next step for the agency was to evaluate the information supplied at the meeting, consider the objectives set and put together a detailed proposal covering a twelve - month period. First, the account team undertook a full analysis of the potential candidate media covering the specifier and builder's merchant markets. This was then matched with a list of forward features relevant to the various Sika products. The newsworthiness of the various products and their applications were then discussed at length and 'graded' according to their potential as detailed case study opportunities, general releases or photo-caption stories. Scheduling and likely coverage levels were then established to ensure that the objectives could be met. Finally fully detailed costings were included and it was back to Welwyn to present the proposals. The proposal was well received and after some inevitable fine - tuning, the programme was set in motion. There is no doubt that the thorough nature of the briefing session and the candid disclosure of the various sales and marketing objectives were invaluable in their contribution to the success of this press campaign. Do you feel that your press relation activity is not as effective as it might be? Or perhaps it is an area that is new to you. Find out if we might add some value. Ask for Lucy Garrett. lucy@creative-department.com To enquire further about this case study please go to our enquiry form.