Case studies

The VAT Consultancy

We work in an extremely competitive environment and the coverage we have achieved working with Footprint Communications is certainly helping to put us on the map.
John Crawford, MD

The VAT Consultancy is a successful and well-regarded business with a clear offering: specialist advice on VAT matters in a national and international context.  The company needs to punch above its weight. The accountancy sector is dominated by ‘the big four’ practices, significantly larger organisations with a well established media relations effort.  However, the fact that the company solely focuses on VAT and that Managing Director John Crawford has been involved in VAT since its inception in 1973 (and his extensive professional experience includes 19 years working as an inspector for HM Revenue and Customs) provide compelling propositions.

In the summer of 2009 the company won its first major industry award - the Lexis Nexis award for Best Tax Team in a Boutique Firm - and this newfound confidence provided the impetus to call in a PR agency to help maximise this success.

Overview

The VAT Consultancy is a successful and well-regarded business with a clear offering: specialist advice on VAT matters in a national and international context.  Operating out of two offices in the South and South West, the team prides itself on the quality of its fast accurate response levels, based on the skills and experience of its highly qualified team of ex-VAT inspectors.  The company’s client base is wide-ranging including public and private sector organisations, generalist accountancy practices (for whom a hotline advisory service is offered), large corporates and SMEs. 

The VAT Consultancy need to punch above their weight. The accountancy sector is dominated by ‘the big four’ practices, significantly larger organisations with a well established media relations effort.  However, the facts that the company solely focuses on VAT and that Managing Director John Crawford has been involved in VAT since its inception in 1973 (and his extensive professional experience includes 19 years working as an inspector for HM Revenue and Customs) provide compelling propositions.

The company had never used a PR agency before, choosing instead to focus on networking, speaker opportunities and web work to raise awareness of their work and bring in new business. A little local media relations work had been attempted in-house with disappointing results.  In the summer of 2009 the company won its first major industry award - the Lexis Nexis award for Best Tax Team in a Boutique Firm - and this newfound confidence provided the impetus to call in a PR agency to help maximise this success.

What we did

• In order to bring a traditionally dry topic such as VAT to life, we coached Managing Director John Crawford to take on this role as a confident and engaging spokesperson.
• We prepared a media-friendly biography for John (“John Crawford makes VAT fun, approachable and, dare we say it, interesting!”) and used media database Expert Sources to ensure that he was visible for key search terms. 
• Proactive press releases were drafted on a range of topics ranging from new appointments to the impact of VAT on football clubs and expert analysis on the national election and budgets.
• Wide-ranging proactive pitches by telephone and email were conducted.
• Where relevant stories have appeared online or in relevant print media, we jump in and engage with the topic by commenting directly at the bottom of stories, via forums and by letters to editors.
• Footprint provides an ongoing press line for The VAT Consultancy to deal with any incoming requests from the media on their behalf. 
• A press cuttings service was set up on engagement for full accountability and to enable the client to evaluate our results. 
• Footprint attended an internal meeting to deliver a short presentation to help the technical consultants understand the role of PR in helping the company achieve its objectives, and to reach out to them for new news surrounding their work.

The outcome

108 pieces of branded coverage has been achieved since July 2009 in a wide range of print and broadcast media, delivering an OTS of over 61million and a return on investment of 7:1. 

Of particular note, we have achieved considerable success in the broadcast arena with multiple national and regional TV and radio appearances for our spokesperson John Crawford, including live appearances on BBC News24, BBC Breakfast and Points West.  John is currently BBC Radio Solent’s resident tax expert with a weekly live drive time slot.

The media relations effort and resulting coverage has provided fresh impetus for other marketing activities which are led in-house. The creative angles and copy prepared for PR work has enabled frequent and interesting company website updates, topical slants for e-newsletters to the company’s database and importantly, a way to approach and engage in social media for the first time.