Construction PR campaign achieves award success for Jenner
Company
Jenner Group
Sector
Services
The Brief
Jenner is a modern, forward-thinking contractor that is known as being one of the largest and most respected main contractors in Kent and Sussex. Over the past few years their sister company, Park Farm Construction, has delivered the smaller projects, allowing Jenner to focus on delivering the larger and more technically complex projects.
Jenner wanted to raise awareness of their size and technical ability to the marketplace so asked Fabrick to create a PR campaign that would allow them to do this. In particular, they wanted to demonstrate they are now a regional contractor with tier one, national contractor ability to help differentiate them from the competition, especially other local businesses.
The Solution
To help achieve this objective, Fabrick’s PR and media relations team identified a strong and technically challenging project example that they felt (1) presented Jenner with a number of national and community PR opportunities and angles, and (2) would address any misconceptions about Jenner’s large-scale capabilities.
The project, F51, is the world’s first and largest multi-storey skate park. It is a truly unique project that we knew would draw national attention. To target our chosen audiences - end clients and the wider supply chain of consultants and designers – we focused our PR activities on the trade press. Given that these audiences are proven to influence the appointed contractor, we chose to promote Jenner’s collaborations with well-known industry brands and selected credible publications and journalists to achieve this.
A press briefing document was created that provided journalists with a clear overview of the project and provided a hook to help secure coverage. This led to a number of technical features being secured at various stages of the construction of the project. A priority was placed on the genuine editorial led publications, rather than paid for media with a series of on-site interviews arranged.
The completion of the project provided an opportunity to broaden press outside of core construction titles and therefore reach and influence. Jenner and Fabrick collaborated with architects Hollaway Studio and their PR agency on media relations around the official opening of the project. This included coordinating a press event, production of a single press release (referencing all key partners, eliminating the creation of multiple releases) and the creation of a video showcasing the key members of the project team.
Fabrick secured an exclusive first look at the completed project with Building magazine, a priority target publication for Jenner. The feature was published in print as well as online.
The campaign was highly cost effective. By focusing efforts on key press, returns were significantly higher than if a broad approach had been implemented. The success of the campaign was recognised at the 2022 Construction Marketing Awards where it won the Best Use of Press and Public Relations category. This is the second time Fabrick has won this category in the last three years, reflecting the agencies PR strength.
The Results
-
1 Jenner won ‘Best use of Press and Public Relations’ at the 2022 Construction Marketing Awards for our F51 PR campaign.
-
2 Extensive high-quality PR features were secured in Building magazine, The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), Construction Management magazine, Building Engineer, Architecture Today, Concrete magazine and ADF – all prestigious and credible industry publications.
-
3 The PR placed by Fabrick reached an online readership of 237,000 and a print circulation of 61,320. The PR placed as a result of the F51 press event, delivered in collaboration with Hollaway Studio’s PR agency reached an online readership of 540 million and a print circulation of 508,000.
-
4 The PR coverage successfully showcased Jenner’s technical expertise, resources and ability to tackle large-scale, complex projects, positioning them amongst the leading contractors in the UK and enabling clear differentiation between them and their local competitors.
-
5 The quality of the press coverage secured led to Jenner’s target audiences being educated on their technical abilities and addressed any misconceptions the marketplace had about Jenner’s capabilities. Jenner are now firmly aligned with delivering highly technical, large-scale projects worthy of a national tier one contractor - customer research post F51 confirmed perception had changed.
-
6 The national, trade, local and community PR coverage secured has significantly raised Jenner’s profile, resulting in new business opportunities and a two high-value projects being secured. Customer research post F51 has confirmed perceptions have changed.
-
7 Cost savings were generated and relationships strengthened through Fabrick and Jenner working collaboratively with Hollaway studio on the official opening of F51.
-
8 Jenner has been associated with other leading industry providers including Holloway Studios and Ramboll, enhancing their reputation as a leading contractor.
-
9 In Jenner’s hometown of Folkestone, Kent, the national, international and trade press coverage received from the F51 project has also raised the profile of Folkestone and put it firmly on the map for providing world-class sporting facilities. Jenner has played a crucial role in the regeneration of Folkestone.