Umbrella Design
Umbrella is a retail design consultancy that specialises in helping budding brands achieve retail dominance. Since its launch 25 years ago, owner Mark Fanthorpe and his team have been instrumental in helping companies like Benefit and Bare Escentuals go from the new kids on the block to some of the biggest brands operating in the UK today.
The Challenge
Umbrella knew that it needed to raise its profile if it wanted to grow but didn’t feel it had the content to satisfy the media in the long-term.
“We spoke to a number of PR companies, all of whom wanted to take us down the news route. We didn’t feel that they understood us or what we wanted to achieve,” Mark Fanthorpe, Owner, Umbrella.
The Solution
While we still do the odd press release, the main focus of our work with Umbrella is to share the experience that Mark and his team have gained over the last 20 years and offer advice that helps retail brand owners to overcome the challenges they are facing today. In doing so Mark has built a good reputation as an industry expert and his opinion is regularly covered in the media.
The Result
By focusing on thought leadership rather than news we are not counting column inches but usually pages of coverage.
“Rather than concentrate on news, 9mm got under the skin of Umbrella and enabled us to see our company through the eyes of our customers. They helped me to realise that my experience had value and that people would be interested in what I had to say. Every month we get coverage in a key media and I’m asked to take part in roundtables and speak at conferences attended by our prospects.”
“The coverage has been very influential in new business meetings and in generating new leads into the company,” said Mark.
We are now using the same approach to generate speaking opportunities for Mark at high profile industry events. The response has been astounding. Mark has spoken at the Retail Summit for the last 3 years and has generated close to 20 new business meetings with high street brands.
To date our approach has helped achieve £100,000s in pipeline and closed business.