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

Here at Turn Key, we love a good cup of joe. In fact, it would be fair to say we are completely coffee obsessed, so when we got the opportunity to work with a brand new online coffee company, we couldn’t wait to get started!

The is a brand new range of coffee machines and soft coffee pods being sold online at . It’s the brainchild of the team of experts behind Lincoln & York , the third largest coffee roasters in the UK, who recognised the growing market for café-quality coffee at home and decided to go for a piece of it.

The team came to us with a product and a brand, but needed our help to let people know about it! So our PR and social media experts got to work on a consumer PR and social media strategy to spread the word nationwide.

We began with some detailed research into the world of coffee. In the PR world, it’s impossible to promote a brand without understanding it and its industry, so we donned our hairnets for a guided tour of the factory in North Lincolnshire where the Hope & Glory coffee is produced, to fully understand the journey from bean to cup. We then spent weeks testing the machine, tasting the different blends and talking to café owners – it was a tough job but someone had to do it! We even held an internal focus group to gain some valuable consumer perceptions, helping us to pick up the phone to journalists and talk confidently about the products.

Over the last few months, we’ve worked hard (with the help of lots of caffeine!) to secure national consumer coverage, both online and in print. Magazines like Stylist and the Daily Mail Weekend have praised Hope & Glory as the most stylish coffee machine around, while websites including MSN Food and the Financial Times have recognised and recommended it as a café-quality gadget!

As well as sending the machine out across the country to give journalists, bloggers and key influencers a taste of Hope & Glory, we also had the chance to head down to the London Coffee Festival to introduce the brand to thousands of coffee connoisseurs. The machines and pods were both brilliantly well-received with some tweeters saying it was the best they’d tasted during the whole exhibition. We even ran into England rugby player and coffee shop owner, Matt Stevens, who told our very starstruck PR Exec Gina , how much he loved the brightly coloured machine!

Take a look at some of the work we’ve done so far and watch this space for more news soon. Don’t forget to check out the and whilst you’re there give the brand a follow on and too!

Here at TK we’re totally blogsessed, this channel of communication has so many benefits for brands and businesses looking to ramp up their online activity. Our PR Executive, Gina , has blogged about blogging – giving businesses some tips on how to join the blogosphere…

Update regularly

Just as you would with Facebook or Twitter, a blog is a channel that needs to be updated regularly. For most brands, we advise about once a week or three times a month, however this depends completely on who your audience is. Blogs make excellent content for social media and updating regularly will help your website climb the Google rankings

Content is KING

It’s our favourite phrase here at Turn Key, but content really is invaluable. If you get bored writing your blog, the chances are, people will get bored reading it! Make sure you’re writing about relevant topics that are interesting to your readers. Try to keep things varied, put together a rough schedule of blog ideas for each month, although be prepared to post something quickly if you see a story in the news that you have an opinion on.

Integrate key words

SEO can be hard to get your head around, but one of the basics is to try and weave in key words to everything you publish on your website. Blogs are a great way to do this – for example – at Turn Key we may want to include the words; marketing, PR, design, social media, agency, Leeds (see what we did there?) By including keywords strategically and intelligently into your blog and website, you’ll have a better chance of climbing the search engine rankings.

Snap happy

As the old saying goes, a picture tells a thousand words and blog readers don’t want to spend hours scrolling through information. Make sure you keep your blogs brief but include plenty of photographs and visual aids such as infographics and diagrams, a paragraph or two and some well-chosen images will have just the right effect.

Sense the tone

The tone of a blog is different to that of a website page or magazine article. A blog is ‘web log’, an online diary, and this allows bloggers to employ a more personal tone which reflects the voice of the writer or the brand.

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!

We just keep adding to the team here at TK. The latest addition is the very beautiful and very small (for now!) Archie Amos.

Congratulations to our lovely head of PR, Claire Davis, and her partner Ryan. The trio came in last week for the official first hugs session and the combined ‘oooooohhhhh’ from the girls in the office was probably audible three floors down in reception.

So welcome Archie –  show those parents of yours who’s boss!

This week at Turn Key we’re celebrating #CreativeWeekUK , a national awareness initiative sponsored by Adobe that celebrates all things creative.

We like to think of ourselves as creative experts here at TK Towers! Whether at home or at work, we express our creativity in multiple ways across hundreds of channels; from writing blogs to designing websites, taking photos to baking cakes. In honour of Adobe’s week-long campaign , some of the TK team from our creative, marketing, digital, PR and operations departments are giving you a little insight into their creative thought processes and how they interpret and express creativity!

Paul Hainsworth, Designer

Creativity for me is being imaginative and original and applying that into something visual or tangible. I feel there is no structure, form or process to creativity; it’s not something you do – anyone just can’t sit down and ‘be creative’ – it’s something you are born with and nurture over time, it’s about paying attention to every detail around you, from the moment you wake up to getting into bed at night.

I get inspired by pretty much everything; if I see a piece of advertising that I really like it pushes me to want to do something better or if I see work I feel is poor, I remember the mistakes other people have made and try not to make them in my own design. My ultimate creative hero is Steve Jobs; his vision has given the world some of the most beautiful and amazing never-seen-before products.

Samara Bott, PR Account Manager

I think creativity is anything which evokes some kind of emotion. I can look at a piece of design, a headline or just a passer-by wearing an interesting coat and think how creative he/she has been to grab my attention and subsequently evoke an emotion or response of some kind. Marmite is a brand I’ve always admired for pushing creative boundaries in marketing and PR, the recent Marmarati campaign was fantastic and inspired me to try more new things with social media moving forward.

Other peoples’ creativity inspires me to be creative. My best friend took an incredible photograph whilst travelling in Mongolia and it is still my favourite photograph ever taken! You can learn a lot from the people you associate yourself with; my colleagues inspire my creativity daily, along with a sugary tea to get myself in the zone!

Tess Eaton, Marketing Account Manager

Creativity for me is looking at the world in different ways and noticing interesting things, then passing these onto other people through things that you do. Creativity is about not accepting the ordinary or the usual, but digging around to find something special, more colourful or unusual and looking at life from a different view.

I get inspired by everything; the world around me, other people, things that I see in magazines such as Oh Comely! or sites such as Pinterest , nature, my friends, books, visiting new cities, great independent cafés, restaurants and art galleries.

James Wray, Digital Account Director

I think creativity is the ability to learn, soaking up knowledge from many different sources and across different aspects of life, and then applying this knowledge to the task at hand. It is creating freedom of thought and expression, within a disciplined environment that is your work. As a digital marketing specialist, I express creativity through developing digital marketing strategies, search engine optimisation, exploring web development techniques and delivering marketing campaigns that work. There are so many websites and designs that I feel are rich in creativity, recently I’ve admired http://www.newzealand.com and http://goodsie.com/ .

Music has to be the best form of creativity in my opinion, although I do love Malcolm Gladwell !

Nik Entwistle, Managing Director

I think, no matter what channel in which it is being expressed, creativity is something that makes you go wow! Turn Key is a hub of creativity and we all express it in countless ways. A good environment is key to this process, having the freedom to express your thoughts and opinions without preconceptions or limitations. The team inspires me everyday to be more creative!

Carl Holderness, Junior Designer

For me the studio environment is very important; whether at work or university. Interaction with fellow designers at TK is one of the main aspects of this environment that provides a boost to think conceptually and not stagnate. This social interaction is extended especially as a young designer through the internet, as vast and broad as it is, it is a constantly updated visual reference for what is going on in the world of design. Sites such as the Behance network and showcase a fresh and broad range of creative work by inspiring designers, providing a good talking point in studio.

The recent really caught my attention. It’s an incredible idea in terms of visual and online engagement and leverages Superga’s customer base of creative, technological and social people. As a creative and an avid user of Instagram, I couldn’t wait to get involved in the concept. Needless to say, there were hundreds of entries submitted internationally.

Let me introduce myself, my name is Richard Burgess – or ‘Richy Red Pants’ to everybody in the office. I am a first year PR student at Leeds Metropolitan University and I am the most recent intern to take a seat at one of Turn Key’s sought-after desks.

After working a few days a week from March until May, I was lucky enough to be offered a full month’s work placement with the PR team – something I could not turn down. I never thought I would get an opportunity like this in my first year of university, especially with a company like Turn Key.

Working for Turn Key has been a great experience, not only have I gained some valuable hands-on experience in the world of PR but I enjoyed myself at the same time. When you think of an Intern you’d expect them to handle all the filing, photocopying and the morning bacon sarnie run (which I have done once, but it’s food, you can’t complain). But, I’ve been lucky to get involved in all aspects of PR, working on a range of different accounts.

Working on everything from press release copy to journalist follow ups as well as in-depth research and great social media activity was not all I managed to get involved in. Somehow whilst at Turn Key I have managed to become the handy man in the office, from fixing the printer to dealing with the server as well as feeding the office with cake and organising the Euro 2012 sweepstake with my partner in crime, Leanne Seward.

I have also learnt some very valuable lessons from my time here:

• ‘A company is never plural, refer to them as is not are and its not their . ’
• How to build an effective relationship with the media.
• Always replace the waste toner cartridge don’t try to empty it!
• Never call a journalist on deadline.
• According to Nik Entwistle everybody comments on my fashion sense.
• A hard working team loves cake.
• Radio DJ’s love free food.

Getting thrown in at the deep end has really helped to build my confidence and improve my communication skills, all key elements for a successful career in the PR industry.

I can’t believe my time at Turn Key has finally come to an end, the last few months have flown by and the 8.45am starts were a doddle! I’ve been getting involved in real life PR campaigns and I’ve found that working with the design, digital and marketing teams to bring everything together is really interesting.

Thank you to everyone at Turn Key for such a warm welcome and for having me. I’m sure I will see you all in the future and I trust you won’t all miss me too much. For now, it is summer, sun and a short break at home for me.

Follow me on Twitter:

Ps… I hope the office isn’t too full with all of the magazines I have ordered in for clients.

Last week the TK PR team left the office and took to the road to deliver Thai food to journalists and media contacts courtesy of our new client, authentic Thai restaurant chain, Chaophraya.

Day One

The first stop was Manchester where Account Manager, Samara and our PR Intern, Richard delivered delicious Thai treats to lots of happy media.

Visiting Capital FM, XFM, Real Radio XS, KEY 103 and Urban Life at lunchtime couldn’t have been more perfectly timed – the journalists, presenters and producers we met were like children in a sweet shop as we arrived with a selection of goodies.

The mouth watering dishes were chosen from Chaophraya’s brand new lunch menu and delivered in sample boxes designed by our very own Paul in the TK Studio.

The samples went down a treat and they were enjoyed by all, with tweets from Urban and Capital FM and XFM flowing in with praise for the eaterie. The day was a huge success and it was fantastic to meet the Manchester media.

Day Two

The second day of media drops was another overwhelming success, this time at Chaophraya Leeds, the chain’s flagship restaurant! Samara and Turn Key’s newest recruit, Senior Account Exec, Gina spent the day zooming around in Samara’s ever so stylish convertible Beatle. This time we spent the day delivering Thai treats our friends and contacts on the Leeds media circuit.

Armed with sample boxes filled with Pad Thai, Prawn Toast, Barbeque Spare Ribs and Papaya Salad, our first stop was Capital FM where Hirsty and the Breakfast team got stuck into three courses of oriental delights (as this Twitter image from them shows!)

Following on from this we paid visits to the Yorkshire Business Insider, TheBusinessDesk.com, the Yorkshire Evening Post, BBC Radio Leeds, Radio Aire and Magic FM. The reaction was fantastic as teams welcomed the deliveries and tweeted their delight at the delicious dishes. Many of our journalist friends are now eager to visit the restaurant itself to enjoy the full Chaophraya experience and we look forward to welcoming them!

We were even lucky enough to try the new lunch menu ourselves and definitely give it five out of five! Aroi Mak (very delicious!)

Team PR went above and beyond last week hand delivering custom made pint glasses including an invitation to ‘Beer with Blacks’ – a mini beer festival being held by our client, Leeds-based Blacks Solicitors to introduce its new legal licensing whizz Mark Beedel.

We were lucky enough to enjoy an hour of the glorious sunshine whilst touring the city as we popped in to see some of our favourite journo’s at the Business Desk, YBI, the YP and the YEP.  A welcome, refreshing and mouth-watering surprise for our favourite contacts. Can’t wait to see you there on the 19 ^th … make mine a pint!

See our Creative Director Richard Colvill’s latest shoot for the Porsche Post – the official Porsche magazine. The actual shot has been denied access on the back page of the mag as being too racy. Good thing we pre-emted that and did a few other ideas at the same time.

See the denied shot and behind the scenes below…

Art Direction: Richard Colvill

Photographer: Guy Farrow

Model: Laura Baldwin

H+M: Caroline Shuttleworth