No one ever likes to be thought of as smaller than they actually are. Omega once faced this image problem. A lot of people still considered them a ‘local agency’ when in reality they were becoming one of the big boys. Montpellier’s PR expertise streamlined Omega’s marketing procedures and saw the perception of Omega change radically. This work allowed them to rise to the top of the pile and become a major player in the recruitment industry.
“The tailored mix of PR and marketing communications activities developed and implemented by Montpellier have been one of the most important reasons behind our success. Having previously only dipped into marketing every now and then, we are now immersed in the development of a fully fledged communications culture!”
Alan Beresford - founder of Omega
Omega Resource Group Limited
Re-engineering a niche recruitment brand
Omega Selection Services had been a successful player in the technical engineering recruitment market for eight years. Recognised as an innovator, it still suffered from an image as a ‘local agency’, rather than the serious national player that undoubtedly it was increasingly becoming. Our work with Omega demonstrates how, in a cluttered marketplace, carefully tailored and blended marketing communications stratagem can help turn a regional player into nationally respected niche-focussed service provider.
Omega approached Montpellier with the mandate of helping the directors to shift perceptions towards the reality of the fast expanding recruitment group that it was, and at the same time to sharpen the firm’s sales and marketing procedures in line with the company’s growth objectives.
• Rapidly build a national profile for the business
• Differentiate the Group offering, in tandem with specialist services
• Support business restructuring and strengthen the communication of product
offering to clients
• Create a persona for the business which would make it attractive to potential
partners/acquirers
• Support and protect the company’s lead in provision of international recruitment
solutions to the U.K. market
Montpellier conducted market benchmarking research via trade associations and competitor companies in Omega’s market. It then drew up an 18-month itinerary and proposed action plan, the start point was to be review of the firm’s corporate identity and those of its subordinate business units. Conference and speaker slots were identified, a literature strategy formulated and time-lines for production agreed, a PR programme designed for client sector-focused media initiatives, including aerospace and food manufacturing. Montpellier’s aim was to position Omega as the expert in its field through a series of comment and advice pieces in the recruitment media and appropriate vertical press. Meanwhile, competitor research undertaken had supported the argument for a much more sophisticated web portal, which is now the engine behind Omega’s business processes and importantly a ‘magnet’ for e-marketing and other communications initiatives.
Within six weeks, a new corporate logo was developed for the business and its subordinate business unit, Delta Ltd which operated more in the commodity recruitment market as opposed to the niche technical markets, was re-named Omega Workforce. Discarding an existing brand for the industrial division (Delta) immediately eradicated previous confusion amongst the customer base.
A series of corporate marketing brochures were developed to reflect the company’s new livery, including a suite specifically aimed at Omega’s rapidly expanding client and candidate base in Poland.
It was clear from research that e-marketing would play a vital role for Omega and become a pivotal communications strategy. Montpellier went back to the drawing board and totally revamped the existing web providing additional functionality to enable Omega to go head to head with business competitors and continue to win market share. Moreover, the web offering was tailored to support strategic moves into international labour, with the development of a Polish website, linked to the core web.
Tapping into the unique welfare package Omega has in place for all candidates, Montpellier set up a number of advice articles on recruiting from overseas and the importance of equal opportunities.
Support for the Polish office was enlisted from the British Ambassador in Warsaw and British-Polish Chamber of Commerce, which has since become a key partner in UK sector-focused road-shows in Aberdeen (oil & gas) and latterly at the Imperial War Museum North in Salford (Food Processing). In support of Omega’s sponsorship of one of Poland’s largest recruitment fairs, Montpellier’s team provided turnkey services including exhibition stands and flyers, all of which needed to be designed, written, translated and printed in a short time frame.
The marketing campaigns for Omega Resource Group have propelled the business from a regional recruitment consultancy to a position of national industry spokesman. It has built a profile for the business which allows it to punch well above its weight at a time when the business is embarking upon hugely ambitious expansion programmes.
The creation of strong relationships with key national industry magazine ‘Recruiter’ has led to regular comment and advice pieces including many reactive quotes at the request of the journalists. The national profile has also led to opportunities with high profile documentaries including BBC investigative programme Panorama and extensive national broadcast coverage in Poland. Coverage has been secured on radio and TV, in addition to exposure in Poland, vertical sector media and local press in Scotland, Manchester and back at home-base in Gloucestershire. Aggregate media exposure by AEV has by our conservative estimates, including TV & broadcast, exceeded £250,000 over the past 12 months alone.
As with any owner-managed or SME business, the directors of Omega inevitably had a keen eye on the corporate reputation of their business, as well the company’s perceived standing within the financial and investor community, and accordingly there has needed be recognition for Omega Resource Group on the national stage. Montpellier’s robust counsel encouraged the company down a route which would strengthen the company structure and reflect messages we believed passionately were important for the business – in effect, the companies were created around the brands.
Omega’s decision to re-structure the way its marketing was rolled out, has allowed PR and marketing to help streamline the business processes. More importantly, the company has grown by over 80% this year alone, with turnover topping £13.2 m (from £8m last year) and pre-tax profits growing by 60%, and the client puts that down unequivocally to shift of marketing from being just one business process amongst others to being the vanguard of its company’s activities, where it remains.