What we do and how we do it

Whichever way you look at it, our business is to communicate an agreed set of messages to a defined audience on behalf of our client. The tools we use to do this will depend on a number of factors.

First, we spend considerable time with our client to understand his perspectives and business needs. We like to meet as many personnel as possible to ensure that, whatever we do, we are genuinely representing the client’s business. This time also gives us valuable insight into internal communications practices and needs.

We always like to work as part of the client’s team and initiate and expect frequent voice, email or face to face contact. We work with you rather than for you.

How do we do it?

Here at à propos we deploy the full range of communications tools on behalf of our clients. Case studies, press releases, product launches, photo stories, newsletters and ezines, web development, exhibitions and conferences, interviews and speaker opportunities are all part of our daily agenda.

Case Studies - these are really powerful, particularly when discussing personal or intimate matters. Our work for Johnson & Johnson Medical covers procedures for a number of ‘embarrassing illnesses’ but by finding satisfied patients who are willing to talk to the media about their experience we are able to get the message out to many thousands of people who may still be suffering in silence.

Example

Ethicon Women’s Health & Urology - a division of Johnson & Johnson Medical

Requirement:

Having undertaken a media relations campaign directed to health professionals to promote new types of surgical procedures, à propos was tasked with creating a direct to patient campaign.

Activity:

Promoting a surgical procedure in a way that confers benefit on all parties involved - the manufacturer, the surgeon and his or her hospital and the community at large - is a delicate task. However, we were able to contact - through their surgeons - a number of ladies who had undergone the procedures in question and who were happy to talk about them publicly, via a women’s magazine. As a result we achieved positive coverage for two very different procedures in high circulation weeklies and monthlies, including That’s Life and Essentials.

In the business to business arena the competitive for high quality coverage is fearsome. However, for our client, Fuld & Company, who specialise in the field of competitive intelligence we were able to achieve exactly what the client wanted - but it wasn’t easy!

Fuld works with global companies to help them devise strategy needed to give them the competitive edge.

Requirement:

In February 2007 Fuld’s CEO visited Britain to bring his team together with Fuld in the UK and together they put on a day of ‘war games’ for post MBA students at London Business School. à propos’s daunting task was gain high profile media coverage for the event.

Activity:

The day was a long one and no journalists were prepared to attend the entire event - but - thanks to strong follow-through we gained excellent coverage in the UK’s leading business periodical - The Economist. This led to enquiries from business journalists in other countries and secured full-page coverage in Denmark’s leading business weekly, as well as the Spanish periodical, El Temps.

Press releases

Still one of the major planks of a communications campaign. We write and distribute releases only when we truly have something to say on the client’s behalf. We distribute via email to our own carefully researched lists of journalists as well as, when occasion demands, sending out via a media newswire.

Speaker and interview opportunities

Thanks to careful monitoring of various newswires to which we subscribe, we were able to secure an interview slot for our client on Al Jazeera.

Newsletters and ezines

Always powerful communicators as long as they’re relevant! We produce a bi-monthly ezine directed to 16,000 practice nurses for Ethicon Endo-Surgery. We edit content, source images, and package ready for transmission by a specialist sub contractor.

Want to find out if we can do what you want?

Click here to contact us.

Whatever we do, we do it with one objective. And that is to meet our client’s objectives. On budget. On time.