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Client: NEBS Business Products
Sector: Business services |
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| Challenge |
NEBS Business Products is Canada’s leading small
business solutions provider, with more than 200,000 customers across the
country. To grow its business and extend awareness of the company to a broader
audience of Canadian business owners, NEBS hired Argyle Rowland Communications
in 2001 to develop a public relations program to reach potential customers,
particularly in non-urban centres, and raise brand profile.
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| Strategy |
| Argyle developed an annual Local Business Awards program
to recognize achievements of small businesses and to promote the importance
of the locally-based, small business sector to the Canadian economy. Through
a strategic partnership with the Canadian Community Newspaper Association,
Argyle worked with community newspapers across the country to launch, promote
and implement the program in communities across the country, and ensure
NEBS received full recognition of its sponsorship role. |
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| Tactics |
| Argyle developed an “Awards Promotion Kit”
distributed to Canadian community newspapers to promote participation in
the program. The Local Business Awards Program was presented to local businesses
as a joint community project of the participating newspaper and NEBS. Argyle
developed all editorial and promotional content published by participating
newspapers to support the contest. We also established an independent judging
panel and local winners were selected from each participating community,
and promoted through special sections in each paper during “Small
Business Week” in October. Local winners were then entered into a
regional competition. To leverage the unique regional and local winners
and secure additional media coverage about the awards, Argyle executed a
regional media campaign promoting the NEBS awards program and achievements
on the small business industry. |
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| Results |
| The awards program continues to build the NEBS brand profile
with small business owners across the country. Promotion material about
the Awards program was published during the summer months by all participating
papers – keeping the NEBS brand top-of-mind with existing and potential
customers – and culminating in prominent local coverage of Award winners
in October and November. Regional media outreach to secure additional coverage
about the awards resulted in high-profile stories in such outlets as The
Ottawa Citizen Business TV, The Edmonton Journal, The Ottawa Sun, Alberta
Venture and CBC-FM (PEI).
To date, more than 100 business across Canada have been recognized for
their outstanding business achievements, and more than 50 community papers
in 9 provinces have participated in the program.
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