As we look back at 2023, Sharp Minds reflects on winning three awards, becoming finalists at the world’s most recognised PR awards programme, competing with global brands by creating powerful and original thought leadership with a reach of 230 million, moving into new offices to cater for continued growth and being featured on the front cover of SO Magazine.
Never be afraid to ask for help
This year was particularly difficult for some of our clients due to market volatility, the mortgage rate crisis and interest rates. However, we used our experience and the expertise to devise intelligent, cost-effective solutions for our clients. But more than that, we provided strategic counsel, finding and advising on new opportunities, devising plans around specific pain points and market conditions and helping our clients through the impact on their business structure of pursuing different income streams or scaling in a different way.
The degree of creativity that we apply to our marketing and PR strategies meant that we punched above our weight this year. We delivered results for our clients by devising cost-effective, lean strategies so they too punch above their weight, growing their brand reputation and engagement, to generate more – and more valuable – enquiries and improved conversions.
The Power of Thought Leadership: Finalists at the world’s biggest PR awards programme
A brand that invests in thought leadership and does it well will earn trust from its customers and prospects. It can make it easier for companies to engage with customers and prospects, spark new conversations, and ultimately generate new relationships and sales. And as, over time, customers grow to expect insightful information from that company, brand recognition increases and making prospects even more open to being contacted. What’s more, thought leadership can build on existing relationships and brand recognition and become an essential element of a company’s marketing arsenal.
Sharp Mind’s thought leadership this year resulted in one of our proudest achievements since the company was founded. We managed to compete with 2,000 entries from EMEA communication agencies and global brands in 60 countries to become a finalist in the highly regarded SABRE Awards EMEA 2023. After months of hard work researching, creating, designing, and distributing a world-first report, we managed to gain a global audience of more than 230 million people – increasing our client’s website traffic and sales.
Despite only having a modest team of nine people, Sharp Minds found itself in the final amongst some of the world’s leading PR agencies and brands, such as Virgin Atlantic, Unilever, Samsung, Lego, Heineken, Adidas and MasterCard.
The Penn Elcom Global Parcel Theft Report 2022, on behalf of our Hastings client, Penn Elcom, a globally recognised British steel manufacturer, generated more than 82 pieces of key news coverage across four territories, including The Telegraph, Independent, Mail on Sunday, Daily Mail, Good Housekeeping and The Wall Street Journal, reaching a global audience and catapulting Penn Elcom into the international spotlight as a leading expert in secure parcel solutions.
Outstanding Service: Going above and beyond
The Sharp Minds team have been hard at work over the last year. From consistently delivering our client’s ongoing outputs to an exceptionally high standard and going the extra mile to help them achieve their business goals, we won two awards at The Times of Tunbridge Wells Business Awards 2023.
We won ‘Creative Business of the Year’ and ‘Outstanding Business of the Year’, demonstrating the best combination of growth, ambition and quality of management.
Sharp Minds also won the SME News Business Elite Award for the ‘Most Strategic Marketing & PR Agency – South East’. Having been reviewed against so many other strong creative agencies, it is a true reflection of our dedication to our clients and always looking for ways to add value and step outside of the brief.
New offices: Sharp Minds continues to expand after continued growth
This year the Sharp Minds team moved into new premises in Southborough to accommodate the expansions plans of the business. The significantly larger premises have enabled us to scale up our team nimbly by 50% when needed.
Our new offices allowed Sharp Minds to host its first summer party, with more than 60 clients, friends and introducers celebrating our recent office move in our newly refurbished garden. Among the guests were Andrew Mann of Clarity Home and Commercials; Jan Johnson from 55Plus; Amanda Redman of Amanda Redman Financial Planning; Tara de Linde, Angie Pool and Dominika Mazur of Atelier de Linde; Gillian Palmer of The Finance Hub; and Jess Gibson founder of The TN Card.
This year we continued to provide opportunities for apprentices to nurture local talent, as well as returning marketers who are willing to trade a London salary for flexibility and a supportive culture, alongside developing staff to facilitate internal career progression.
SO Magazine: True measure of great communications is integrity
As marketing and PR professionals, we always lay emphasis on integrity while undertaking our professional duties. It is vitally important to work towards gaining and maintaining the trust of clients, the public and colleagues, leading to a positive reputation in the industry.
This year Sharp Minds was featured on the front cover of local media title SO Magazine. In the article Sharp Minds was able to inform readers of our strategy of combining our communications intelligence with integrity. We never sell a service to a client, just because it’s something that we offer; we are completely honest and act with integrity at all times. If we suggest to a client that we think they should be adopting a certain strategy, it’s because we believe it will deliver on their business goals.
It’s been a great year here at Sharp Minds and we are looking forward to the challenges and successes 2024 will bring.
Based in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, Sharp Minds offers brand development, digital marketing, offline marketing, and public relations to businesses across Kent, Sussex, Surrey, and Greater London.
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