Our story on Niddocks discussed in the House of Commons as MPs quiz Minister Ed Vaizey
By Eleanor McGillie
IT’S always good, no matter what sector you work in, when a client gets excellent results because of work which you have done for them.
Last month, MGMPR Ltd worked with one of the world’s leading online marketing companies, Niddocks Ltd, based in The Lizard, Helston in Cornwall.
The company was chosen by Google, out of 14,000 agencies worldwide, to attend the Google Engage All-Stars Summit 2013 at the Google HQ in California – a prestigious summit which only the agencies, who are at the top of their game, are invited to.
MGMPR wrote a Press Release and distributed it to targeted media. The coverage was fantastic, Niddocks gained new clients and there was great hype leading up to their attendance at Google.
On their return, we worked on a follow up Press Release because there was an absolutely fantastic story to tell. While in the Silicon Valley, Rob and Andrea did some tests in different areas and found that in some areas of Silicon Valley, broadband speeds were slower than in Cornwall.
Our story again gained good column inches in key regional daily and weekly publications, online business news platforms as well as getting airtime on BBC. But, it also was picked up in a way in which none of us were expecting.
Yesterday, Ed Vaizey, the UK Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, mentioned the story in the House of Commons when he was being questioned by MPs on the status of broadband speeds for the UK.
Mr Vaizey told MPs that there will be pockets of the UK which will have faster broadband speeds than others.
He was questioned on whether or not he felt his department would meet the urban and rural broadband targets.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Vaizey told MPs: “Rural broadband speeds will increase considerably. We are on target to reach 88 per cent of the country with Superfast Broadband by the end of 2015 and 90 per cent of the country by early 2016. We aim to reach 10,000 homes per month from next month and I expect that pace to continue.
“I was very interested in reading about a couple from Cornwall who went to visit Google in the Silicon Valley. They found that Superfast Broadband speeds in their hotel in the Silicon Valley was slower than in Cornwall – that was rolled out under our programme.”
It’s not every day that a UK Minister picks up a story and mentions it in the House of Commons and, perhaps I am wrong in saying so, you can’t actually put a value on that level of publicity. What we have to applaud is the initiative taken by Rob and Andrea Edlin to carry out the tests they did while they were in an area considered to be the tech hub of the world. Without the findings we would not have been able to craft such a compelling story.
The information is not only useful to Niddocks, their clients and other businesses in Cornwall but, the fact Minister Ed Vaizey deemed it important enough to speak about it in the House of Commons, speaks volumes.
This case study is a perfect example of how it’s so essential for businesses to have confidence in what they do and it also shows the potential which exists when businesses share that confidence with others. There are so many organisations out there who are letting opportunities pass by. Don’t. You just never know who’s listening.
* MGMPR Ltd is a multi-media PR agency which uses brand journalism as a powerful communications tool. We are a team of media law trained communicators who create content which your target audience will want to hear. If you would like us to tell the story of your business call Director Eleanor McGillie on 028 3756 9569 | 07709805379 | email eleanor@mgmpr.co.uk| Public Relations Northern Ireland | Public Relations UK | Brand Journalism Northern Ireland | Brand Journalism UK | Brand Journalism Experts
