design Archives -

New website goes live for Shine Partnerships Ltd

chris@precisionpr.co.uk — Tue, 07 Jan 2020 16:10:23 +0000

www.shinepartnerships.co.uk created by Precision PR Limited

We’re truly proud to announce the launch of our latest client website project – www.shinepartnerships.co.uk

Manoj Mahtani – Owner/Chief Executive Officer

Shine Partnerships Limited specialises in providing high-quality [CQC Registered] supported living and floating support services for forensic and/or complex needs mental health service users. With 10 houses (and two more about to launch), Shine provides the care needed for tens of people in North London who have experienced mental health problems and are now returning to life in the community.

Designed and built by associate design consultant Dawn Li with project management by Chris Webb, the site also makes extensive use of photographs by the well-known corporate photographer Harry Chambers.

With 28 live pages, plus a news/blog page, this is the biggest single website project carried out so far by Precision. It incorporated 3 separate photoshoots across 10 locations – each requiring careful recording of photo permissions, etc.

The project took considerably longer than the two weeks first envisaged due to complex demands on the client’s diary. However, the results are visually stunning while maintaining a level of brand continuity from the previous (very out of date) site.

Objectives

The campaign objectives for the website are to:

help recruit staff
better and more clearly illustrate Shine’s services to service commissioners
maintain the existing brand investment and develop it further for future use

We also identified the need for simplified on-going maintenance to keep up with the businesses growth plans. And the ability to re-use assets across multiple channels of communication.

The key technical requirements included:

adaptive design for desktop, tablet and mobile
news/blog page for integration with future social media and content marketing campaigns
architecture and technology that allows the client’s staff (none of whom are marketing or IT professionals) to make minor updates and carry out simple maintenance

Built using WordPress with a custom template, the new site meets all three criteria. The final part of the project will be a short training session. This will demonstrate how to post news, make simple amendments and carry out software updates to plugins and other behind-the-scenes elements.

How can we help you?

If your website is in need of a refresh, please call us. We are particularly interested (and skilled at) developing sites for integrated marketing campaigns. We would love to talk to you about how we could do this for your business. Contact us by email or tel: 07432 189149

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How to brand your practice

chris@precisionpr.co.uk — Thu, 18 Jul 2019 13:26:27 +0000

Which supermarket is your dental practice like?

We’ve been working in PR for the dental industry for two years now – you may have seen some of our work with brands such as Pearl Dental Software. During that time we’ve had the privilege to study many dental businesses and practices across the country.

It is fascinating how dental practices are perceived by professionals and patients. This perception derives to a very great extent from the efforts that owners to create ‘a brand’. It is true that all the clever marketing in the world won’t create a great ‘brand’ without any substance, but you can at least set the direction. After that, it’s up to you to create substance by living the values you have ascribed to your brand.

This article offers some ideas on how you might shape your practice brand.

The supermarket test

A simple example of how people think of your dental brand might be to consider which supermarket chain it is most like.

For example:

{my}dentist = Aldi. Low cost, high volume, limited range, no-nonsense and highly efficient
BUPA = Sainsbury’s. A little confused. A reputation for being expensive and luxurious while stacking it high and selling it cheap in places to compete with Aldi
Portman = Waitrose. No compromise, personal, classy and with the flexibility to meet the needs of the local market – so long as they are rich enough to go private
JDRM = Booths. Family owned and run, with great staff involvement and customer loyalty, but very definitely regional.

Open all Hours Arkwright (Ronnie Barker) and Granville (David Jason)

Unfortunately, there are also a lot of ‘Arkwrights’ out there. Open all hours, but providing a great experience for neither patients nor for poor little Granville.

So which one are you? And if you are an Arkwright, will you plod on in the same weary way until Granville grows a pair and sets up his own corner shop down the road?

Analysing the players in detail

{my}dentist

Even though the huge practice portfolio is made up of some very diverse properties, and even though practice sizes vary greatly, {my}dentist has done a fantastic job of creating a unified brand.

{my}dentist – excellent presentation and signage

Their practices are visually crisp. They have a well organised corporate back office and a rational practice/area management structure to take the admin load off clinical and nursing staff. They are efficient and friendly and effective. I will state now that I (Chris) attend a {my}dentist practice, and I drive an hour each way to do so.

However, they can be a little stingy on pay for some staff, and when they have a resource gap it all falls apart. And that is the weakness in their brand. It works better for patients than it does for staff, and they struggle to recruit in some regions as a result.

Our verdict: 8/10. Feels very efficient. Clever naming. Still working on improvements.

BUPA Dental – Camberwell

BUPA

Having built THE pre-eminent private healthcare brand in the UK, BUPA decided to go into dentistry by buying and extending the Oasis dental business. But we don’t think they realised how different dentistry is to their normal areas of operation. As a result, they are balancing too many diverse staff contracts, and therefore have a lot of unhappy staff – never good for great patient experience.

There is a real conflict between BUPA’s carefully crafted private health image the mix of dental services they offer. As a result, many NHS patients feel like second-class citizens. And we’re sure many potential new NHS patients assume that the BUPA brand means a private only practice.

On the plus side, they have done a good job on the visual elements of the brand and updated many practices with new imagery, decorations and furniture. And they do have that very well know private healthcare reputation to fall back on.

Our verdict: 6/10. The positioning of BUPA’s dental offering is very confused. The BUPA healthcare brand is both helpful to recognition and a hindrance to execution.

Portman Dental and Implant Clinic – Maidenhead

Portman

They are growing organically, and take on new practices after a very careful evaluation process. It’s not about acquisition price; it’s about potential and fit. As such, Portman’s brand is all about consistent high quality.

Portman has also eliminated the conflict that plagues BUPA – they don’t offer NHS treatments. That means they can be 100% focused on offering quality private treatments. And that focus results in happier staff and happier patients.

Our verdict: 7/10. Well thought through positioning reflected across the company’s operations, but not a very visible brand.

JDRM

JDRM recently won an NHS emergency treatment contract in Leicester, and the business has created an impact by keeping it local and concentrated.

They have a real focus on their services. However, because this focus is around a single service in a single area, they have been able to use it as a central point around which they can offer other services: it’s a concentric strategy, not a just a bunch of tangential ideas.

They have also invested sensibly in creating a strong visual image for their seven practices and implemented the latest software to help create a single, integrated business. The software enables them to make savings through shared back office services.

JDRM also take the trouble to exploit PR opportunities (such as case studies by suppliers) to tell professionals about what they do, and so make recruitment easier.

Our verdict: 8/10. Visually exciting. Feels fresh, but also personal and friendly.

So Arkwright, what about a new till?

In Arkwright’s case, a new till and a small van would have made Granville much happier. And in today’s competitive market for dental associates and nurses, having better equipment and systems might well give you an edge. But what can you do about patients?

What do you do to advertise your presence in the area? If patients and potential patients don’t know about you they won’t book appointments.

JDRM Dental Care – invested in creating a strong local presence

Visuals

And when they do come in, what is their first impression? What does your signage look like? Is it reflected in the way your practice is decorated or do you have random colours and mismatched chairs in the waiting room?

Do your documents look like they’ve been printed professionally or at least on a professional office printer, or do they look like they’ve been churned out on one of those Gestetner devices they used to make school teachers suffer?

Do you have a practice logo, and if you do, is it used consistently?

And talking of logos, does yours look like everyone else’s anthropomorphic molar, or is it a bit ‘different’?

Does your business name suggest ‘dentist’ or could it be equally applied to a greengrocer or funeral director?

Online

What does your online presence say about you? Do you know what websites list your practice, let alone what they say about you? Have you created social media channels and then forgotten about them? And when was the last time your own website was updated?

Patient interaction

How do your reception team deal with patients? Do they have the right tools to manage your book (and training in how to use those tools)? How do they sound on the ‘phone? How long do patients have to stand at the reception desk before someone deals with them? How do the reception team deal with the pre-treatment paperwork? And how well do they handle the tricky and uncomfortable process of taking payment?

How we can help

Every single one of these things shapes the perception of your brand, and every single one is in your direct control.

Chris Webb is an Accredited Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) and director of Precision PR Limited with a background in digital imaging technology and all its applications. Cary Cray-Webb is a practising dental nurse with a degree in Fine Art. Our company, Precision PR, has been working in the dental industry since we started in 2017, writing, creating websites, developing social media, web and media strategies.

Chris has nearly 30-years experience in marketing, marcoms, PR and social media, and 35-years experience in IT. Opinions and analogies about the brands discussed are based entirely on our personal observation and experience since, in branding, the perception of others is everything.

We can help you define your brand, and execute your marketing communications plans. If you would like to discuss how, please get in contact by emailing chris@precisionpr.co.uk or calling 07432 189149.

So let me ask you again? Which supermarket chain is most like your dental business?

Note: All opinions in this article are those of the writers, and are based on nearly 30 years of PR practice and personal observations of the UK dental industry.

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Getting digital marketing right

chris@precisionpr.co.uk — Wed, 12 Dec 2018 17:10:05 +0000

Don’t shout – whisper

Digital PR and marketing apparently provide businesses with some distinct advantages over traditional methods. People will tell you that you can reach a bigger audience. Well, you sort of can, sometimes. But traditional media still has a massive reach.

They will also tell you that, you can more easily reach a better-targeted audience. Well, that’s true also true to an extent. But trade papers are by definition, read by people in the trade, and local papers by people who are local. So so don’t dismiss them as a targetted communications channel.

However, the biggest advantage of digital PR and marketing is ‘trackability’. They allow you to easily find out who you’ve reached and what effect your message has had. And this is the point.

Many people spend a great deal of time and money gathering data about who has seen their online marketing efforts. Some will then spend further time trying to work out what this means. However, the real key to success with digital marketing is continuously responding to the data to build your reputation and improve your marketing activities.

What to do

Tailoring your message to match the market is really difficult. It is too easy to believe that your vision is perfect and become so invested in it that you cannot make adjustments. You can have the best product in the world, but if your audience doesn’t understand what they will gain from buying it, then they won’t.

Success comes from cutting through the noise with a message that addresses the needs of the individual. So if your message doesn’t mean something to that individual it’s just part of the noise.

Let’s face it, you don’t really care if your competitor on the other side of town has a beautifully designed website. What you care about is getting more new customers or patients, and existing ones spending more money with you for premium services.

So work out what you need to do to let people know why they should trust you. In other words, what do they want to hear from you?

Show people that you are the expert in your field. That doesn’t mean just telling them – it means giving them reasons to believe. In other words, tell them something they will find useful.

Show them that you care passionately about your industry and profession. Let them see that you have pride in your work. In other words, demonstrate meaningful innovation and understanding of new developments.

Show them that you care about them. Focus on their needs and look at your business from their perspective. In other words, think how you would react to your message if they were sent to you by a competitor.

Show them others who you have carried out work for. Let them identify with those people and see that you are the right choice for them as well. In other words, put emphasis on testimonials and case studies that explain what you deliver.

And above all, don’t ‘sell’ to them. Digital marketing lets you cut to the sale so easily. But resist the temptation – give them space and time to ‘buy’ from you. In other words, people will only become happy customers or patients if they see real value in the products and services you offer.

In a world of shouting, the clearest sound is sometimes a whisper.

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Once upon a time 3D-Printing was called Rapid Prototyping

chris@precisionpr.co.uk — Wed, 14 Feb 2018 14:04:20 +0000

The democratisation of one-off digital-to-physical things

Once upon a time in a far, far world, people used to make one-off prototypes of planned new products using really exotic stuff and incredibly expensive computer systems. Today, in a small office near you, someone is doing the same thing for a fraction of the cost. And without the need to prepare baths of unpleasant organic chemical compounds. The rise of the 3D-Printer is not a new thing: it’s just got a catchier name and a more user-friendly price tag. So how has it got here, and what exactly does ‘here’ look like?

An introduction to CAD

As a child I had always wanted to be involved in car design and mechanical engineering. As a teenager I was too lazy to get myself through sixth-form and off to university. My career dreams were partially fulfilled by working at Avon County Council Highways & Engineering Department, where I ended-up operating the department’s super-mini computer as it was used to create the designs of what became the Bristol Ring Road and several other major highways schemes. This was my first introduction to Computer Aided Design (CAD).

Roll on a few years and I’m helping show journalists round the Williams F1 team factory. Damon Hill’s Championship-winning car sat in the entrance hall behind the door we’ve just come through. There is science fiction made real in this place.

Ford Duratec engine – modelled in I-DEAS CAD software

Tool paths and Lasers

Back in the 1990s I was learning my trade in PR at the brilliant Insight Marketing and Communications Limited. One of my clients was SDRC (Structural Dynamics Research Corporation). I absolutely loved working on that account. SDRC made 3D-Solid Modelling software for designers.

At the time SDRC was the technology leader in the design software market. Most of the F1 Grand Prix teams (and a host of other competition car manufacturers) used their software, proving the point. SDRC software was also used by several manufacturers, including the Ford Motor Company. Take a look at this video to for the Duratec engine, modelled using SDRC software.

Damon Hill – 1996 F1 World Champion driving his Williams FW18

If you want Grand Prix software you pay Grand Prix prices.

Williams was one of the manufacturers using SDRC’s software. Their designers developed solid models which were then used to generate tool-paths for multi-axis milling machines that carved moulds, or else cut components directly from blocks of metal and plastic. If the team needed a part to be redesigned between races it could be modelled, made, shipped and on the car within 72-hours. But the cost was truly incomprehensible – £25k for each UNIX workstation computer and about the same for the software. And that’s just one workstation – Williams had dozens.

For more mainstream products the costs could be scaled back a little, and you might not need a room full of designers if you were making a shower head. But you probably still wanted a prototype to see what it looks like in the flesh, and to gauge reactions from potential buyers. This is where Rapid Prototyping steps up. You could create your model, but instead of a tool-path, you generated the path that a laser might shine on a bath of light-cured epoxy resin. The model would gradually drop into the bath as the laser shone on the surface. After a clean-up and finishing you had a very good approximation of your finished item.

SolidWorks – 3D for the masses ?

The next step to democratisation was the development of solid modelling capability on a much cheaper computer. I was fortunate enough to be part of the team that launched SolidWorks onto the unsuspecting British design community. This delivered many of the same solid modelling features as SDRC but on a Microsoft Windows PC costing a fraction of the price of a UNIX workstation. And the software was cheaper too. True it didn’t have all the clever simulation capabilities for structural testing etc., but do you really need that if you’re making shower heads or vacuum cleaners?

So while SolidWorks started the revolution in terms of computing and software costs, it would still be several years before someone came up with a technology that could turn digital models into cheap physical models. But about ten years ago someone came-up with a way to make models by melting and depositing plastic filament, and someone named it 3D-Printing, and all that changed.

Replacement parts made by Enterprise XD Design – 3D design services

Rapid Prototyping becomes 3D-Printing

There are of course many variations on 3D-Printing, just as there were different processes to create ‘rapid prototypes’. But essentially, they all work by turning a digital model into multiple physical layers that are bonded together. People have created digitally controlled concrete pumps (that only seem to make round buildings, but I’m sure that will change), laser-sintered metal components, and of course the plastic models most people will have seen.

But while hobbyists and video bloggers may have made the most noise about 3D-Printing, a new bread of designers have started offering their services to the public in much the same way that graphic artists and copy shops cater for flat-surface printing needs.

I caught up with one – Trevor Day – to help me get up to speed with the latest thinking. Trevor offers design and build services from his business (Enterprise XD Design) in Essex, a few miles from Precision PR.

“In the last 10-years, 3D-Printing has moved from an arcane art form used purely by professional product designers into something that can be accessed by the general public,” says Trevor. “It has changed from a method of making prototype products and speeding up product testing into a whole range of applications. But while many people will have heard of 3D-Printing, very few understand it or what you can actually do with it.”

Things you can make

“People choose it [3D-Printing] to create limited production runs and one-off items to professional standards of fit and finish. I’ve been asked to recreate unobtainable spare parts, or to make models, souvenirs and gadgets,” says Trevor. “There are only four factors that limit what you can make using 3D-Printing techniques; size, strength, purpose and your imagination. And all four can have effective work-arounds, though some uses are just too difficult to make 3D-Printing a sensible approach.”

The size limitation is changing all the time. Typical low-end hobbyist printers (such as the Da Vinci Junior 3D Printer from Maplin) can print with a single ABS filament within a 15x15x15cm spaces and cost around £300. Trevor’s main printer has multiple filaments and can print up to 20cm wide using a variety of materials. “You need to print some items in sections. You then need a bit of extra thought put in to how to join them,” he says. “But you can also design bigger pieces and have them printed by a 3rd-party. There are several companies offering their services to print items up to 100x100x100cm (one cubic metre) from your design.”

Making it in Metal

Strength again requires a little thought. “3d-Printing builds in layers. Like the grain in a piece of wood, it will have different strength and stiffness along the layers or across the layers,” explains Trevor. “Depending on the purpose of the item this may or may not be a problem. But like working in wood, you can design to use it to your advantage or design around the problem. Sometimes you need to think about the printer path and the direction that the material is deposited. Sometimes it means adding reinforcement, sometimes it’s choice of material and sometimes it means adding a step to the process.”

Bugatti brake calliper created using a 3D-Printing technique

Selective laser sintering (SLS) is a 3D-Printing method that fuses metal powders together with a laser. Designers increasingly use it for complex automotive and engineering components. For example, Bugatti used the technique recently to make complex brake parts.

Trevor also uses 3D-Printing to make custom jewellery using a range of precious and semi-precious metals. “To do that, I print a wax model and then use a lost-wax mould to cast in the metal.”

That really leaves the last limitation as your imagination. Once you’re past that it’s down to how many finished items you need. But with the cost of materials and printers falling all the time, even the economics of using 3D-Printing to create large numbers of finished items is changing.

Things you can’t make

“Guns. It’s been done, but it’s understandably illegal and it’s dangerous,” explains Trevor. “There are designs for a 3D-Printed single-shot pistol on the internet. However the inherent weaknesses between layers makes them very unpredictable devices. Plastics are not good at containing sudden pressure changes. They are good for ancillary parts such as handles, but you need metal for pressure containers.”

Aerospace Stator Ring – made in one piece – 3T RPD Ltd

The limitations are ultimately the economics – the bigger the item the higher the printing costs, with a flat pretty linear progression for repeats (meaning printing more doesn’t significantly reduce the unit cost) – and human imagination (which might mean a law). Plus a bit of common sense.

“You can certainly overcome most strength problems and size problems,” says Trevor. “It just takes a bit of thought in the design and choice of materials. You might need to find a print agency capable of printing large sizes and using exotic materials. If you need a small number of repeats of your design – simple or complicated – you can do it in 3D-Printing.”

Industrial print consultancies such as 3T RPD Ltd can print large engineering components in metals or a range of plastics. Designers such as Trevor’s Enterprise XD Design can make parts, custom-designed items and even small castings.

So, what next?

That’s hard to say. I’ve been working in this field on and off for 20-years. In some ways it has changed hugely. But you can also view those changes as just an evolution of ideas and the economics of IT. Compared with 20-years ago, 3D-Printing has gained a wider choice of materials and a snazzy new name. In my view, the real change is that it is now a genuinely economic option for a huge range of applications. The only limitation I can see for 3D-Printing is human imagination.

Acknowledgements

I’d like to thank Trevor Day of Enterprise XD Design Limited for his comments and the pages of material I still have for future articles. The Stator Ring picture was taken from 3T RPD Ltd’s website where you can find some fantastic case studies and images of prototypes and finished items made in a variety of plastics and metals. I-DEAS software is now marketed by Siemens as part of their PLM range. SolidWorks is now owned and marketed by Dassault Systems. I could have also mentioned AutoCAD from AutoDESK. I believe that too now has some 3D modelling technology, but SolidWorks was by far the earliest on a Windows platform.

If you would like to discuss PR, marketing communications or case studies in the engineering or design industries, please call us as we’ll be delighted to help.

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New website launched – Heditude 2018

chris@precisionpr.co.uk — Mon, 29 Jan 2018 15:55:20 +0000

Heditude 2018 – website by Precision PR

Heditude 2018

We were recently asked to create a website for Heditude 2018, a local community music festival.

The site took us just over a week from approval of our initial design to launch. This includes managing approvals by the volunteers who run the festival in their spare time.

Pearl Dental Software

We’ve now built three websites (as well as our own) that have each driven sales inquiries for their respective owners. We can produce simply structured text-driven websites, post-driven news based sites, or more complicated brand-critical sites for national organisations, and we’ve also written text for other marcoms agencies for use in their own customer projects.

If you have a website requirement, please get in contact. We will write, project manage or design and build the site you need.

For more information please get in contact.

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Industria Grafica quotes Brian Minards on design

chris@precisionpr.co.uk — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 15:25:58 +0000

Brian Minards

Industria Grafica has quoted Brian Minards, Precision PR’s branding and graphic design associate. Brian discusses the part that graphic design will play at this year’s IPEX 2017 exhibition.

Informa, organisers of IPEX, are keen to show how technologies are making print more relevant. Digital printing is making true personalisation a reality, and providing useful data for on-pack proof-of-purchase promotions. These same technologies mean that designers and printers must work more collaboratively to exploit their capabilities.

What role do you think that design plays in today’s mixed-up-media world, and particularly in your business?

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