Ecobuild 2013: reflections

There can be no disputing the relevance of ‘energy efficiency’ as a theme central to the construction industry at large.

But as we pursue the business of designing, producing and selling products, materials, systems and technologies that will deliver energy efficiency, do we sometimes get lost in the detail – how often do we pause for reflection?

Is the Green Deal creating or meeting market demand?

There’s a lot riding on the success of the Green Deal. But in the melee of voices explaining, questioning, lambasting and championing, are we confusing the market driver with the vehicle for delivery?

Are we trying to sell a clever new treatment for an ailment that the patient hasn’t yet asked their trusted GP about (they just moan every time they get a twinge), by telling them that the clever new treatment may be really expensive but we can help them to finance it?

In an interesting panel discussion on the opening day of Ecobuild, Rt Hon Ed Davey MP, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, was predictably buoyant about the first few months since the Green Deal’s birth. He spoke about the importance of the ‘energy efficiency market’, not just within the UK marketplace but also as an export market. ‘Green growth’ already accounts for 136,000 jobs in energy efficiency, with a forecast/ambition that this could grow by 5% per year. Broadly, Davey saw the scope for Green Deal to create a market.

Paul King, Chief Executive of the UK Green Building Council (UK-GBC), followed Ed Davey on stage with a positive but more measured tone: ‘Green Deal is not a panacea, it is a finance mechanism’. He spoke about the need for competition, welcoming Nationwide’s alternative funding product for energy efficiency retro-fit projects, and called on the government to develop ‘incentives for the many, not just the few.’ In essence, King presented Green Deal as an opportunity to meet a need, solve a problem, satisfy a market.

As I see it, energy efficiency is a market driver and Green Deal is a vehicle for delivery.

It’s natural that much of our time in recent months has been spent addressing the ‘nuts and bolts’ of what the Green Deal mechanism is, how it works, what’s included, what it will cost, how it will be assessed, and what role each part of the industry will play.

So, Green Deal is here, we’re ready. What next?

The persuasive power of communities

Both Paul King and Ed Davey passionately identified the need for industry to work together with each other, and with government, to deliver Green Deal successfully, but Richard McCarthy, Executive Director of Capita Symonds, struck a real chord when he spoke of ‘neighbourhood’ delivery. He made the point that not enough people understand Green Deal at the moment, and questioned how we could move from focusing on individuals towards neighbourhoods who can support, influence and encourage each other to take action. In doing so, McCarthy brought the customer back into the discussion.

‘Neighbourhoods’ speak of people like us, people we know and trust. They embrace our local tradesmen and the small businesses that are part of our communities; the micro-businesses and installers who will be central to delivering Green Deal. Thinking in terms of neighbourhoods could allow us to bring the customer in closer synergy with those able to meet their energy efficiency needs.

Customer communications

To return to my simplistic health analogy, we’ve developed a complex but effective range of treatments, understood that our ‘patient’ is feeling pain that these treatments can relieve, identified the obstacle of cost and invented a solution. But where’s the trusted family doctor in this scenario? Where’s the mum that says, come on love, time to act? The mate down the pub that tells you his experience and persuades you to take action?

Our challenge is to tune into the needs of customers, understand what energy efficiency means for them, their motivators and drivers, their ‘pain threshold’ and to be ready with the solutions.

The industry has been preparing for Green Deal; preparing to meet market demand for energy efficiency in our homes. We’re ready to go, but are our customers? Are we talking their language, or ours?

Communications will be the next big step in making Green Deal successful, but we should be cautious about focusing too hard on ‘selling’ the Green Deal product, and instead concentrate on helping customers to recognise the remedies we offer for their energy efficiency ailments.

Local installers, contractors and heating engineers are well placed to deliver these messages with trust and credibility, which means that the industry must make a mission of engaging more thoroughly with this key group.

Sarah Bryars
Chief Executive

“The role of imagery has always been central to PR”

That line comes from the recent rising power of images article on PRWeek.com and those ten little words have given me much food for thought over the past few days.

It’s safe to say that images have had a close relationship with many communication disciplines over the years: not just PR, but marketing and advertising too; semiotics has always played an important role in influencing public opinion and reinforcing brand recognition.

In fact, here’s a quick pop quiz to reinforce that point. Take a look at the following images – I’d eat my hat if you didn’t get all of them correct.

What’s more, with the advent of social media, the bond between images and public relations has grown even stronger. It began with Facebook and Twitter as the sharing sites of choice, but as consumers’ need for simplicity has expanded, so has the number of platforms available with Tumblr, Instagram and Pinterest fast becoming big contenders in the ‘content is king’ boxing-ring.

But “what does this mean for PR practitioners?” I hear you say. It means now is the time to become even savvier when spreading the word - or sharing the picture. We’ve all heard about the rise of the citizen journalist, but what about the rise of the citizen paparazzo? According to The Daily Telegraph Picture Editor, Matthew Fearn, “Ten years ago, The Daily Telegraph received about 5,000 images a day. Now, it can receive up to 50,000 on a busy day”.

This speaks volumes about the public’s need to interact and be a part of the news stories that are generated on a daily basis. PR practitioners need to embrace this and realise the benefits of having an even bigger capability than before to spread awareness about a particular brand or product.

This is something that we at Target PR have taken on board and used as a PR tactic for our client Specsavers in a competition called ‘Life Thru the Lens’. The competition, which has been running for many years, sees both print and online newspapers across the country teaming up with Specsavers to invite members of the public to capture the essence of their hometown - whether it’s the sun shining on a local landmark or simply capturing the local hustle and bustle – entries continue to flood in year on year, with a host of prizes up for grabs for the cream of the crop.

So, as you can see, there is huge room for added authenticity by engaging the public, but the onus is on PR practitioners to provide the credibility while ensuring imagery remains the focal point of this marvellous mix.

Zainab Rahman

Account Executive

P.S. Logo answers: L-R Reebok, Nike, BMW and Levis. I hope I don’t have to eat my hat!

All Roads Lead to Cheltenham

This week Cheltenham will be staging one of the UK’s premier sporting events as the 2013 National Hunt Festival is staged at Prestbury Park, featuring four days of top class racing.

Racing is a great passion of mine, so I’d like to share some fantastic facts, followed by a few nags that may be worth a flutter…

The event attracts around 230,000 spectators generating ticket sales of more than £7 million, with 27 races, offering more than £3m in prize money, culminating with the prestigious Cheltenham Gold Cup on Friday.

The Festival has grown significantly over the years and now generates a staggering £50 million for the local economy. Some of the statistics are quite amazing:

- 5,000 temporary staff are employed
- 10,000 beds in the town are sold each night
- 220,000 pints of Guinness are consumed at the course
- 12,000 people sit down to lunch at the course each day
- 30,000 cars and 2,000 coaches bring people to the course
- Over 600 helicopter landings, making this the busiest temporary airfield in the country
- Over £1m cash is withdrawn from the cash machines on course
- Over £1m passes hands in the betting ring for each race
- Off course, bookmakers take more than £600m on the Festival
- Unknown amounts are gambled in all night poker schools

If this is your first visit to Cheltenham, you may be surprised to find that, unlike other sports events, the crowd is constantly moving from parade ring to the stands, to the bar, to the toilet, to the shops, not necessarily in that order. I suggest you try and take time to go into the centre of the course so you can get up close to the horses jumping a fence and appreciate the speed and bravery of the jockeys. It’s a great vantage point to take in the huge number of people in the stands opposite and to hear the roar when a well-backed horse wins, especially one from Ireland!

The Jockey Club is always looking at ways to develop facilities at the racecourse and they are going to be renovating some of the older stands over the next few years, which is long overdue and a welcome improvement. It will be strange not to see Edward Gillespie at the helm this year, as he stood down after more than 30 years as Chief Executive. His forward thinking and organisation have made such a huge contribution to growing the Festival, making the venue a lot more than ‘just a racecourse’, and a place of which the people of Cheltenham can feel justly proud.

No article about the Festival would be complete without a few pointers to some winners this week! So here are some long-range selections for all 27 races, that should give you a run for your money:


Tuesday

1.30 - Dodging Bullets
2.05 - Overturn
2.40 - Fruity O’Rooney
3.20 - Rock on Ruby
4.00 - Arabella Boy
4.40 - Quevega (each way alternative Kentford Gray Lady)
5.15 - Shangani

Wednesday

1.30 - Lyreen Legend
2.05 - Taquin de Seuil
2.40 - Unioniste
3.20 - Sprinter Sacre (each way alternative Somersby)
4.00 - Pendra
4.40 - Bordoni
5.15 - Golantilla

Thursday

1.30 - Aupcharlie
2.05 - Seymour Eric
2.40 - Menorah
3.20 - Reve de Sivola
4.00 - Poquelin
4.40 - Frisco Depot

Friday

1.30 - Our Conor
2.05 - Edgardo Sol
2.40 - Conneygree
3.20 (Gold Cup) - Sir Des Champs (each way alternative Captain Chris)
4.00 - Cottage Oak
4.40 - Art Professor
5.15 - Tanks For That

Enjoy!

Colin Spencer
Chairman

The office debate: concentration v collaboration

Working from home – a chance to plough through your ‘to do list’ without distraction or an opportunity to watch daytime TV with your feet up while occasionally responding to an email?

Perhaps Yahoo! considers it to be the latter, after last week circulating a memo to all staff, banning them from working remotely. Unsurprisingly this didn’t go down well with everyone.

In today’s high-tech age when we have super fast broadband, webcams and more mobile devices than you can shake a stick at, it’s never been easier to ‘telecommute’ so why has Yahoo taken such a strong stance? It’s especially perplexing given that they operate in the very sector which has helped create these technologies which have improved flexible working.

They argue that "speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home" and "some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people, and impromptu team meetings."

At the risk of sitting on the fence, I can see both sides. Working in a creative PR agency, we constantly bounce ideas off each other. It’s an integral part of the way we work and something which is far more difficult to achieve when you’re sat at home alone.

However, there is surely an argument for balance? We recently conducted a survey on behalf of our client Saint-Gobain Ecophon which asked 2,000 office workers questions about their working environment. As manufacturers of acoustic ceilings, office design is a topic which is very much front of mind. Almost 80% of those surveyed worked in either an open plan or shared office yet more than half (54%) said that working like that sometimes made it difficult for them to concentrate and do their job.

As Ecophon’s survey illustrates, open plan working is the norm for most people yet there is clearly a need to limit the distraction caused by background noise. Yahoo’s reasoning that speed and quality are sacrificed when working at home can surely be challenged based on the fact that home working is likely to be much quieter.

However, there’s no doubt that open plan working also has its advantages, particularly when it comes to helping promote collaborative working. You simply cannot re-create this kind of environment at home and if you’re struggling with a campaign idea for a new business proposal, having three of four colleagues on hand whose brains you can pick is very valuable.

I can count the number of times I’ve worked from home on one hand but every time I’ve done it I’ve found it productive and worthwhile. Without the distraction of phones constantly ringing or getting drawn in to a conversation about what happened in last night’s episode of Homeland, I was able to concentrate deeper, for longer.

So, will Yahoo’s actions signal the beginning of the end for remote working with other companies following suit? Will their zero tolerance approach make them a less attractive employer? They clearly think it will have a positive effect on their business but I’m not sure taking such a hard line will have the desired effect. In the words of Oscar Wilde, everything in moderation.

Bethan Simkins
Account Manager

Beauty – is it really skin deep?

It seems our quest for eternal youth is stronger than ever.  Or maybe I’ve been content to bury my (frown-lined) head in the sand, avoiding the needle, in the hope that the ageing process will just pass me by.

If this week’s Professional Beauty event (targeting the beauty trade) is an indicator of the shape of things to come – then aesthetic cosmetics is what it’s about.

Nearly half the show was taken up with exhibitors from this field, offering a variety of invasive and non-invasive options to plump, de-line, fill and smooth skin.  ‘New’ procedures offering alternatives to Botox and dermal fillers claim similar results without the rigours of specially qualified administration.

And so it seems that it’s less about miracle creams and more about procedures that provide dramatic results – which was clearly evident among a number of the visitors.  At lunch I sat next to a line free lady who talked me through the benefits of Botox and certainly looked a decade or so younger than me, so perhaps when she introduced me to her 20-something-year-old daughter I shouldn’t have been so surprised.

With such dramatic visible results some would argue PR for this industry should be an easy task – but many (like me) still remain cautious, perhaps a little squeamish and unwilling to part with their hard earned cash – so there’s still some convincing to be done.  But then again, never say never.

Samantha Kandiyali
Director