Turn Key Blog. Things we've done and the things we love.

Our PR Senior Account Executive, Gina Reay , discusses Sandals’ recent statement following Katie Price’s very public complaint about her experience at one of its resorts…

I’m secretly obsessed with celebrity gossip, so when I found out that Katie Price had got married for the third time, I practically sprinted to the nearest newsagents to buy a copy of Now magazine. The mag claimed to have exclusive pictures of the matrimony, along with ‘all the gory details’ of events – it did not disappoint and I got my celeb fix for the day.

Later in the week, following the revelations, Katie Price issued a strongly worded complaint to Sandals about her experience at its Royal Bahamian Resort and Spa. Although she chose not to complain through a quick email to the manager or a tweet to its customer service team, no, in true celebrity style, she ranted in her column in The Sun newspaper. “Sandals, my arse” she wrote, “it was more like a smelly old flip-flop” – she then went on to criticise staff for asking if she was a porn star and the resort for not providing her with a private space for her third wedding. Not a great write-up for Sandals!

The high end holiday group were quick to respond however, with a statement that almost made me spill my coffee. You can read the full statement here but these are a few of my favourite quotes…

“Sandals Resorts are surprised by the allegations made by Ms Price. Without an international profile, the resort team were oblivious of Ms Price’s fame and welcomed her with the award-winning service given to all its guests. Once at the resort Ms Price did identify herself to her dedicated Wedding Manager and explained her profile in the UK.”

“The team were thoroughly understanding and accommodating of Ms Price’s request for privacy, offering use of the resort’s private offshore island, Sandals Cay, for her wedding ceremony and the duration of her stay. However, Ms Price declined this offer, and against the Sandals team’s advice opted instead to hold the ceremony on the public beach where she was photographed by paparazzi.”

“Sandals Resorts is disappointed  that Ms Price was not happy with her stay and as a gesture of goodwill are willing to offer her a refund on condition that she does not choose our resorts for any future weddings or stays.”

“Sandals  has been welcoming guests through its doors for over three decades and prides itself on excellent service, award winning product and has one of the highest returning guest rates in the industry.”

It’s not your average corporate statement that’s for sure – Sandals basically accuses Katie of lying, asking her not to return. At first glance, I thought Sandals’ PR team had made a monstrous error, being so outspoken to such an opinionated celebrity surely couldn’t bring any good?

Then I watched the well-worded statement slowly take over the internet and the pure brilliance of it struck. Sandals’ resorts are luxury holidays which cost thousands of pounds per stay – Katie Price isn’t necessarily the type of celebrity endorsement they would want, therefore hitting back at her criticism sends out a clear message.

A few paragraphs of seemingly honest copy has seen the brand mentioned in every women’s weekly and gossip website going and the brand’s values, offerings, key messages and accreditations which are infused have been printed word for word. I think it was a clever PR spin that has certainly seen them come up on top – whose side are you on?

We’re well into January now and 2013 is looking to be a busy one for the creative industry. Our team of design, PR, marketing and digital experts have put their heads together to predict the future trends that will be coming our way this year.

Jude Turner, Head of Digital

“My prediction is that data will become increasingly important – not just what we do with it but how we analyse it.

“As clients become more and more demanding regarding ROI for their marketing spend, we will have to show them how to understand their customers better – using social media, web analytics, email stats and search results – so they can give them more relevant and targeted content and better convert stats into sales!”

Leanne Bayston, PR Account Manager

“The digital sphere is changing the way we consume news and how businesses engage with their audiences. This will continue to evolve in 2013 and PR agencies which don’t embrace this will be left behind.

“We’ve already been working closely with our digital team to develop strategies for our clients. PR will continue to become more about two-way communication and engaging with an audience rather than pushing messages at them.”

Richard Colvill, Creative Director

“I’m starting to see a massive shift of interest into user interface design. This has come about since the iPhone etc and is a great way to showcase attention to detail and to make apps much more appealing. Our designers are all spending more time designing, crafting, shading and texturing user friendly graphics. This is something that all designers are putting their skills to, not just digital designers. These gorgeous buttons and elements are right up our street as they always utilise light and shade along with texture and depth, which is part of our house style.

“A bit of a digi prediction but I’m thinking that all web sites will be as exposed as possible, what I mean by this is that they will have all the options open to the viewer, similar theory to the iPhone. I’m noticing a lot more mosaic, grid and blog style sites. I predict that single page sites which utilise the scroll action only will come in to effect.

“Old-school print techniques have also come back in a big way. Foil blocking is almost a given on print jobs now, everything I see has a foil shine somewhere. I’m predicting that flat foils will start taking the crown. Other traditional print techniques like letterpress are also grabbing the designers spec sheets, with the options of many more colours than foils but still with the seductive impressed depth finish and fluo options.”

Mike Robinson, Head of Marketing

“With the market still in economic uncertainty, businesses are facing many challenges and making tough calls on budgets. In 2013, clients will no doubt continue to look for value, trust and real partnerships from their agency.

“Brands also need to think smarter about their customers – truly understanding their world is key to communicating effectively. Bringing this insight together with engaging messaging, content and creativity which truly connect people to the essence of your brand, will drive your business forward. So it’s those brands who strive to combine planning, insight and creativity that will no doubt come out top this year.”

Our PR and Social Media Account Manager, Samara , shares her top five tips on how to use social media to benefit your business.

1) Be Selective

With over 900 social media channels whirling around the web, it’s important to select the right channels for your business. Don’t just follow the crowd, take time to understand your audience, identify where they ‘hang out’ online and develop a clear and concise plan of attack – a great campaign is wasted if it’s not targeted at the right people.

2) Patience is a virtue

Gaining thousands of followers, hits or likes doesn’t just happen overnight (unless you’re Justin Bieber!) Take time to understand your market, what they engage with, what gets them excited and then use these insights to create rich and engaging content.

3) Content is KING

Social media is a beast that needs feeding. And now, due to the rise in smartphones and the introduction of 4G, if you don’t push out the right content at the right time, your message will be lost in cyberspace.

A well-managed social media channel is one that is regularly updated with engaging and interesting information. Content will vary from one brand to another, but it’s the interesting stuff that makes people come back for more!

4 ) Nobody likes a social climber

Social media takes no prisoners. Don’t be THAT person who always talks about themselves, listen to your followers so that they continue to engage with you. If you’re seen to be self-promoting it is likely that your followers will start to disengage with you.

If you’re in a position to respond individually to each person, do. This will work wonders for you – the powers of word of mouth are as strong today as they were before the social evolution.

5) Invaluable insights

Unlike some forms of traditional media, social media can be monitored based on a number of factors. Look at your objectives and work out what success means to you. Historically (well, two years ago), success was measured by the amount of ‘followers’ or ‘likes’ a brand had, however this has changed quite significantly, today it’s more about the level of engagement and positive sentiment.

My tip would be to track your tweets and use Facebook’s free insight tool to understand what kind of messages your audience is engaging with. Use these insights to create even more engaging content based on what your audience wants, not what you want!

So we’ve survived the end of the world and 2013 is set to be a busy one here at Turn Key. Before we start a new year of blogging about our client projects, events and antics outside the office, here’s a little look back at 2012 and some big moments at TK.

Last year was packed with change for us, we grew to a whopping 32 staff, welcoming new arrivals to every department (and some new babies for staff as well!). The PR department doubled in size and our expanding team of designers and developers were spilling out of our old HQ.

In July, we moved to the Victoria Foundry in Holbeck. The new office better reflected our creativity and the team began to feel very at home amongst the palm trees, beanbags and foosball table!

In August, we celebrated the summer with our annual away day . We headed to Nero Training near York for a day of Segway racing, raft building and fitness training. We then finished off with a slap up meal and TK awards ceremony at a nearby pub resulting in sore heads and happy memories all round.

As well as moving into a new office and welcoming new staff, we’ve also been lucky enough to start working with some new clients and in more sectors than ever before. There has been a huge variety of work coming through the business, in fact, in one week alone our team found themselves in meetings at a football stadium, a drilling site, a coffee factory and at the HQ of a Dragon’s Den contestant!

We ended 2012 with another memorable TK Christmas party with a special appearance from Father Christmas himself. After we toasted to a fantastic year at Brasserie Forty 4, the team enjoyed a well-deserved break to recharge their batteries for another busy one.

Happy New Year to all our colleagues, clients and contacts!

Following the popularity and success of GO Food’s flagship store in Spitalfields Market, GO has opened its second London store in the hip and trendy area of the city,  Chiswick Park .

In addition to GO’s concept of fresh, convenient, quality food, GO wanted the new store to be reflective of its customers in the modern, urban Chiswick area.

Briefed to design something original and unique, our designers put their Macs to one side and took to the drawing board (literally). They hand-sketched the design (seen below), which was then projected onto the wall and hand drawn by a local London-based illustrator.

The original and contemporary look has been designed to mirror the quirky, cool and edgy environment of the surrounding area. This was really important when it came to creating the right atmosphere and ambience for the venue, whilst creating standout from surrounding competition.

If you’re in the area and fancy a deliciously fresh lunch, pop into GO Chiswick – the Pizza Parma comes highly recommended.