AI Issue 5 2017

42 Acquisition International - May 2017 AppealPR has been established for 19 years and specialises in providing media relations and digital marketing support to professional services firms, particularly in corporate finance, funding, insolvency and deal making. We spoke to the firm’s Paul Snape to find out more about this nice agency and their impressive body of work. s a niche agency, AppealPR have remained focused on the professional services sector and, as one of a handful of specialists outside the capital, this approach has served them well. Throughout the early noughties, they publicised a great many deals on behalf of clients such as DLA Piper, Deloitte, Lloyds Corporate Markets, Begbies Traynor, McInnes Corporate Finance and many other boutique firms. AppealPR’s specialism in the sector took them into the world of insolvency during the financial crisis when the vast majority of deals fell away and there was a rush towards offering restructuring services. They have represented business rescue and recovery specialist Begbies Traynor, insolvency trade body R3 and other advisory firms including Grant Thornton during the period since the 2008 crash. Paul remarks that it is good to see a return to the more positive investment deals, trade sales and MBOs they were routinely publicising in the early 2000s, before telling us more about the firm. “As entrepreneurs ourselves, our strength comes from having a real understanding of finance and business. Having written a business plan for a disruptive publishing venture, TheBusinessDesk. com in 2005, we have more rounded experience than just as a PR agency. We took that proposition through the funding rounds, attracting over £1m of private venture capital. From growing that business rapidly, we gained a real insight into the dynamics of finance that other agencies simply don’t have. Being a PR outfit with a publishing interest also taught us a great deal about how to make the most of Google’s respect for media coverage. We now blend our media relations services with digital work too, maximising search benefits by using what we learned. Company: Appeal PR Ltd Name: Paul Snape Email: [email protected] Web: www.appealpr.com Address: Chatsworth House, 6a Montpellier Street Harrogate, HG1 2TQ UK Phone: +44 (0)1423 56 99 99 An Appealing Line of Work A 1703AI29 “As well as publicising transactions at the very end of a corporate finance process, we are also brought into the deal planning stage by certain clients when they have a mandate to market a business carefully for a trade sale. This more strategic role is very rewarding for us as we understand the impact the correct profile and online references for a business can have on the success of its sale process. Essentially, our role can involve refreshing websites; editing content and messages; and placing up to date, credible media references in key trade and national publications to assist with the sale process. “The enhancements we can make to the reputation and perception of a business can help stimulate competition, deliver results in Reuters and Google searches around carefully targeted phrases and industry terms, and generally improves the market understanding of the business and its momentum at a time when these aspects can have a very real and tangible impact on value.” In this capacity, AppealPR have secured a number of purely lead generation projects where their sole aim is to attract leads for high value professional or financial services firms. This activity might include media relations for a new lender - or developing a search oriented website and generating content to attract organic search results. Paul then expands on this point in his own words. “It also often involves generating content for sponsored LinkedIn campaigns to hook new clients or undertaking AdWords campaigns designed to generate inbound paid contact. “The last ten years has seen a division between marketers and agencies that are adept at maximising the natural digital benefits media relations now brings, and those that have chosen to ignore how Google has impacted our industry. “Fortunately, a great many traditional agencies are still struggling to come to terms with the opportunities that digital and even paid search brings. Meanwhile, we and the others in marketing and PR who immersed themselves in the change from print to online, and who worked to really understand how it was being delivered by publishers, are ahead of the pack - we are now seeing the rewards from this investment.” “Five years is a long time in this sector, especially with the global economy showing such uncertainty.”