The team at Forth Communication, helped to raise money for Sport Relief this year in a cycling and rowing race.  The staff at Forth Communication offices in Edinburgh and Bangor raced against each other to see which team completed the distance between the two offices in the quickest time.  At 9am on 5 April the Forth Communication Bike and Boat Race took place!  The Edinburgh Team raced from Edinburgh to Bangor, and the Bangor Team from Bangor to Edinburgh.  Both teams covered 120 miles on a cycling machine and 40 miles on a rowing machine.  A timetable of team cyclists and rowers throughout the day covered the mileage.  The Edinburgh Team completed the rowing in 4 hours 56 minutes and the cycling in 7 hours 1 minute. The Bangor Team completed the rowing in 5 hours 28 minutes and the cycling in 5 hours 45 minutes. Team Bangor won the race! Congratulations to everyone who took part and thank you to everyone that sponsored the teams.  In total the teams raised £637 for Sport Relief. See all the photos and Team news on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ForthCommunication Team members are raising sponsorship money via: www.justgiving.com/ForthCommunication    

Business Development Director, Gordon Drysdale was recently interviewed by Caterer & Hotelkeeper, giving advice and expertise on e-marketing.  To read the on-line article click here. From bespoke e‑mail to TV tickers and recorded messages for callers on hold, there are many ways to improve your marketing mix at little cost. Ross Bentley assesses the options. E‑mail and, to a lesser extent, SMS texts have revolutionised the way operators in the hospitality industry market their business. These electronic communications are not only cheaper than traditional direct mail, they also allow users to react more quickly to changes by sending out promotions, almost at the push of a button. However, according to Gordon Drysdale, business development director at marketing technology provider Forth Communication, more important than the media used is the level of knowledge you have of your customer's preferences. data sources Drysdale says that, for hoteliers who use multiple systems, from their main reservations and property management system to their other associated databases - like the restaurant, spa and golf course - the ability to pull together all these data sources to give complete customer information is essential for marketing purposes. But marketing isn't about simply sending targeted correspondence. In this article, we have highlighted other paths to raising the profile of a business and directing guests to special offers - all using technology to a certain extent. From bespoke recorded phone messages, through television screen messaging via a ticker, to managing TripAdvisor reviews - technology has given marketers many more strings to their bows. opinion – Make the most of e-mail marketing Gordon Drysdale, business development director, Forth CommunicationThere is still a place for direct mail marketing campaigns within the hotel sector, but increasingly hotel marketers are realising the potential of utilising more cost-effective digital marketing channels, such as e‑mail and SMS, to promote special offers to their customer base. The hotels we work with tend to send out traditional direct mailing campaigns three or four times a year on average, to target both individual consumers and corporate clients. By comparison, e‑mail campaigns are run two or three times a month. The most critical advantage of e‑mail over postal mail is the cost element, somewhere between 0.3 and 0.7p per e‑mail, depending on volume. Another advantage of using e‑mail is the speed with which you can set up a campaign. If you have templates set up on your broadcasting system and you have a list of people you wish to contact, then you can have the e‑mail broadcast within seconds. This speed enables hotels to react quickly to fill gaps in bookings for the weekend coming, to offer quick turnaround discounts, or to attempt to cross-sell or upsell. Currently we are seeing a number of hotels selling at a room-only rate but then using e‑mail to upsell. They do this by sending out an automated e‑mail acknowledging guests are due to arrive soon and asking them if they would like to reserve a place for dinner or breakfast, or a round of golf, and so on. Post-stay e‑mails often include follow-up surveys - asking guests about their thoughts on their stay and attempting to glean additional information such as birthday, partner's details or interests (for example, fine dining, romantic breaks, sporting weekends, and so on). These surveys allow hotels to continually monitor their performance and enhance the data they hold on the guests, which can further assist the targeting of future marketing activity. SMS text messages can be just as effective as e‑mail in many of these regards but, obviously, hotels have fewer characters to play with, so the information they send out has to be succinct." Five ways to make the most of marketing ● Ensure data is cleaned and screened● Use as many data sources as possible to build an accurate and complete customer database● Make sure data is segmented appropriately for each marketing communication, so that the right information reaches the right people● Use reporting functions to measure and analyse results and inform future activity● Ensure that you have an intuitive interface which is easy for the guest to use   Caterer & Hotelkeeper - March 2012.pdf (1.91 mb)

It will be a busy year at Forth Communication.   As a result of this, we are now looking for a Data Programmer to join our Data Processing team in Bangor. More details can be found here:   http://www.forthcom.co.uk/Contact/Vacancies/DataProgrammer.aspx  

We have an experienced Part VII team of project, data and production managers available to control and deliver the largest and most complex transfer communications.   If you would like a copy of our Guide to Part VII mailings please contact us for a PDF download.  Alternatively, you can click on the link below.  

Forth Communication were appointed in April 2011 to work with The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) on their CommunityForce initiative, part of the RBS and National Westminster Bank Plc (NatWest) Customer Charter - a set of specific service commitments based on customer feedback.CommunityForce was devised as a way to engage and support local communities.  The initiative provided a platform for local charities and community groups to raise awareness of their work, increase volunteering through leveraging skills and expertise from RBS employees and the wider public.  £3 million of financial support was available in the form of £6,000 cash awards, if projects were successful at the local public voting stage.2011 saw 6,882 successful applications (5,813 in England and Wales and a further 1,069 in Scotland). Each project was profiled on the CommunityForce websites, and supporters were given the opportunity to vote for their favourite charities/projects. The CommunityForce campaign was promoted through strategic local radio partnerships, press advertising, direct email campaigns to customers, in RBS/NatWest branches and via social networking.  Once voting closed, over 530,000 votes were counted and 470 charities and the winning projects received a financial reward of £6,000. Winners were selected from across Scotland, England and Wales with a wide variety of charities and groups receiving awards, ranging from animal sanctuaries to youth groups and sports clubs.  One such group was Chilterns MS Centre, providing opportunity for people with multiple sclerosis to get help.So, what role did Forth Communication play in the delivery of CommunityForce 2011?Forth Communication was responsible for a wide variety of tasks relating to this project and worked closely with RBS and NatWest staff to ensure a seamless process.  Namely: Checking charity and project applications against the entry criteria and assisting uploading entries to the CommunityForce websites Dealing with problems and irregularities with applications and working to resolve these Providing the telephone and email helpdesk Copywriting and broadcasting of charity and customer emails Screening and verifying picture and video content as it was uploaded by charities and projects onto the CommunityForce websites Managing the on and off line collation of votes Auditing results of voting against strict guidelines laid down by RBS Group Communicating with applicants on the progress of their application and what to do next Managing the collation and reporting of the award verification and payment process Providing a regular and comprehensive suite of reports Steve Lampshire, Senior Marketing Manager, Community Engagement, at RBS commented:“Forth Communication were integral to the success of this year’s CommunityForce.  We really have found Forth to be superb.  Their highly innovative 'can do' attitude, coupled with their robust delivery, reliability and professionalism has been first class.  Though Forth are first and foremost an agency specialising in customer communications, direct mail, data management and software development, it's fair to say that the breadth and depth of their knowledge has enabled them to problem solve and deliver innovative solutions for challenges outside the scope of their primary business specialism during the life of the CommunityForce project.  The volume of votes increased substantially from last year, and due to Forth’s commitment to the project we were able to deal with this. Key to the success of our relationship with Forth was down to good communication, through regular meetings, and up to date and informed reporting.  We are extremely pleased with the outcomes of the initiative.  We now have informed feedback for the next iteration of the initiative, which will further improve it.  Forth have been a delight to work with from start to finish.”Gordon Drysdale, Business Development Director at Forth Communication, Commented:“This is a new project for Forth and we have thoroughly enjoyed working with the team at RBS on a very worthwhile initiative.  Our expertise and skills in data capture, problem solving and data analysis were very much central to the work of the project.  This combined with good project management, regular communication with RBS and a can do attitude was the foundation on which we base this and all our projects on.    We are delighted that RBS are happy with the service we provided, and that they recognise our contribution to the success of the project.  We are grateful for such an opportunity and hope to work closely with RBS on CommunityForce 2012.”For further details on CommunityForce visit: http://communityforce.natwest.com/ and http://communityforce.rbs.co.uk/ RBS case study.pdf (505.70 kb)