Maybe it’s a sign of brighter economic times, maybe it’s a reflection of past experiences with us; whatever it is, I love to see our clients return. And over the last ten years in Fuzion I’ve seen my fair share.
Last September we got a call from the lovely Oonagh Levis and Mary Leahy from Town & Country Hampers, clients we hadn’t worked with since 2011 – but ones that I had fond memories of working with.
As they approached their busiest time of year in the hamper business they contacted us to help push their campaign that little bit further and spread the word that they were celebrating 25 successful years in business. I worked closely with Saidhbh, one of our newer team members on this account, and together we upped the ante in terms of social media activity, as well as securing numerous media competition and profiling opportunities for them.
You can measure column inches, analyse social media statistics, but at the end of the day it’s sales that count for a business like Town & Country Hampers, so we were thrilled when they told us they had their busiest Christmas in years…. Success!
Sometimes we see clients return for a yearly project, the Tour de Munster charity cycle is a great example of this, and that’s a testament to our work and the relationships we build with them. Tour de Munster, led by Paul Sheridan, first teamed up (and that’s what we’ve formed, a team!) with us in its 7th year in 2007, and have worked with us every year since. I was lucky enough to work on this project in the very beginning, and it has been an honour to work on it in some capacity ever since.
Having raised over €2.4 million to date for its various beneficiaries over the last 16 years, this year alone the 600km charity cycle raised €285,655.37 for its beneficiary, the Munster branches of Down Syndrome Ireland (DSI). This was the 7th successive year that DSI benefited from the popular cycle. The hard work and dedication from the cyclists and volunteers is been truly incredible, and I am so proud to say that the work we do in Fuzion contributes in some way to the enduring success of Tour.
Over the last three years I’ve met and been inspired by some of Cork’s best and brightest young entrepreneurs through our work on the Local Enterprise Offices’ regional campaign in the search for Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur. This year saw the largest number of entries to date, and I was thrilled to see so many new faces involved. For me this project gives me the chance to support young business people starting out on their journey who might not ordinarily have the resources to work with a PR company.
Who knows, maybe they could be my “returning clients” in a few years’ time!
Alison O’Brien
Alison O’Brien is an Account Director with Fuzion PR, Marketing & Design, who have offices in Dublin and Cork, Ireland
