“If you attended LawsonClarke’s recent press event, how useful did you find it?”	100% Very Useful or Useful 0% Neither Useful nor Unuseful
“How satisfied are you with the quality of the press release writing?”	93.3%Very Satisfied or Satisfied 6.7%Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied
“When contacting the LawsonClarke press office, how satisfied are you with the overall service including response and the level of product knowledge?”	90.3% Very Satisfied or Satisfied 9.7% Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied

 Additional positive feedback:

 “I received price info and high-res images almost immediately after requesting, very pleased with the service.” Sainsbury’s Magazine

“I have worked with the Lawson Clarke team for many years and have always received a fast and professional service.” SHE Magazine

“Keep up the good work!” Freelance journalist

“Extremely happy with the professional, efficient and friendly service that Lawson Clarke has always supplied over the years.  Long may it continue.” Freelance journalist

If you’d like to improve your brand’s relationship with the press, improve your reputation or discuss any other aspect of your PR communication, just get in touch with us.

Every fortnight, our PR interviews profile an agency head to find out more about their work, their clients and working with the press. Jeremy Clarke, managing director of consumer agency LawsonClarke PR, shares his advice on choosing a PR consultancy and using social media.

About the agency

What areas of PR does the agency specialise in?

LawsonClarke PR is primarily a consumer agency, specialising in automotive, property, home interest and lifestyle, which embraces everything from travel, children’s interests, sport, health & wellbeing. The business was founded in 1981 – 30 years ago this year, and has broadly remained in these market categories, although property has developed strongly as a core pillar over the past five years.

What is special about your agency’s approach to PR?

We have a dedicated team of experienced consultants – not uni-fresh youngsters – who work hard and see things from both the client’s and journalist’s perspective. We know what both parties want to achieve, and aim to meet these requirements quickly, effectively and cost efficiently.

How do you ensure clients get the right coverage in the press?

I believe we have a fairly relaxed approach to how we work with journalists, by working with them rather than bombarding them with material they’re not interested in! We start by targeting the right people – increasingly freelancers, finding out what they want, tailoring our clients’ news and having secured their interest, bending over backwards to meet their timescale and need for interviews/quotes/hi-res images etc.

We say that half the job is about being proactive, the other half reactive which simply means having an effective press office in place to help. Journalists often say they come back to us because they know they’ll get what they want quickly and efficiently, which isn’t the case with many other agencies.

What do you look for in new recruits?

Experience, enthusiasm, commitment and flexibility.

We only field specialist consultants – either with particular market sector experience or communication skills – who get the job done without the fluff and flaff!

About clients

What advice would you give to clients choosing a PR consultancy?

There’s a lot for a client to think about when appointing an agency, and I’ve touched on many of these points in my recent blog post, ‘Choosing a PR consultancy and getting it right’.

While relevant experience, creativity, knowing the press, a successful track record and social media skills are all important, chemistry seems to be the clincher for most enduring client/consultancy relationships. Finding a fair and equitable budget level that meets the expectations of both parties also removes the angst that can scupper a relationship further down the line.

Tell us about the clients you are working with at the moment. What sectors are they in, and how are the campaigns for them going?

Brabantia the housewares brand has been a client for over 20 years, but there’s always something new to talk about. Last year we took them in to social media in a big way, launching @BrabantiaLife on Twitter, a blog, Facebook and Flickr. This year the brand is broadening its offer by moving into casual dining, and we have a major press launch next month at the Good Housekeeping Institute.

Richmond Villages has been a client for several years. The company designs, builds and operates luxury retirement villages. We are profiling the company’s five villages and positioning them for their aspirational lifestyle, and with great success. Coverage in the last week has appeared in key target media such as The Sunday Telegraph, Daily Mail, Daily Express and The Lady.

SsangYong is a Korean car company and has appointed us to help profile the brand in the UK, and launch its new crossover model, the Korando. We have been involved on a ‘soft launch’ of Korando which started with an international press preview in Mallorca, resulting in some extremely positive media coverage, including an unprecedented seven pages in Autocar.

Clients Butler Sherborn, Ecospace, Manningford Croft, and The Bay at Talland keep us busy on the property front. With a wide variety of stories – from million-pound country properties, to eco homes and designer garden offices, we have had a lot of different angles to pitch to the national and consumer property media, and again with spot-on targeted results.

Is there a potential client you’d love to work for?

We have worked with major corporates, international brands, public sector clients and SMEs (small and medium size enterprises), and for us, doing satisfying work for appreciative clients who we enjoy working with and for a fair return is the name of the game. It’s certainly not about massaging our egos by representing brand x, y or z.

Which campaign are you most proud of?

Our ongoing work for Brabantia is continually satisfying. As the brand has evolved its product range in line with developing trends in design, food, cooking and casual living, we have adapted our messages and outputs to the media, which has itself evolved by spawning a raft of new consumer titles focusing on theses areas, as well as online.

About you

Do you use social media? If so, how useful do you find it?

I was an early adopter of Twitter and definitely an advocate of social media, or online PR as I prefer to call it. My recent blog post entitled ‘Social media made easy’ is designed to help those not yet using it or who remain unconvinced, and to demonstrate that it’s only a small step on from using e-mail or the internet.

Useful? It’s invaluable, and I use it for keeping current and building relationships; we’ve even been offered work by tweet!

Do you attend networking events? If so, which are you attending soon?

As someone once said to me, “You can’t do PR from behind a desk” – meaning you’ve got to get out there. I try to attend a varied mix of events – professional, sectoral, regional. You never know what you’re going to learn and who you’re going to meet. As a member of the Motor Industry Public Affairs Association www.mippa.com I attend a number of their events which can be training focused (currently on social media), meeting other PRs or journalists.

My next, albeit slightly unusual networking event will be taking my old TR6 sports car on the annual Guild of Motoring Writers classic car trip to France; it’s a great opportunity to catch up with motoring hacks in a relaxed environment without a story pitch being involved!

Extra Information

• LawsonClarke
• Jeremy Clarke

There’s a lot of hype surrounding social media, and for many people, still much confusion.

To help get you started and ensure you get the most out of it, here are a few thoughts and ‘top tips’.

What is it?

Social media – or Online PR – is simply about having a conversation on line.  Both speaking and listening.

Many dismiss it – and especially Facebook as being just for kids, but collectively it is now a highly regarded form of business communication.

The key advance over traditional media communication is that it provides the opportunity for a two-way discussion with your stakeholders, not a one-way broadcast.  Traditionally PRs wrote press releases and spoke to journalists, but now journalists and their readers – your customers, are online, too.

The blogger has also arrived on the scene.  These can be journalists, politicians, opinion formers and pundits, or simply enthusiastic private individuals who write about things that interest them, become authoritative in their chosen subject, and because of what they are saying attract an audience.

The channels?  Many and various but primarily Twitter, Facebook, blogs, YouTube and LinkedIn.

Double click on diagram to expand

Social media is not digital marketing

Social media isn’t about trying to sell you anything.  There isn’t an online shopping basket or PayPal page.  It is all about conversation, reputation and hearing what people think.  Imagine dropping into the pub for a drink or having friends round for a meal.  It’s not long before someone is recommending or deriding a product or service.  Reputations are made or lost based on third party endorsement.  So just ask yourself the question: do you know what’s being said about you, your product or brand online?  And if not, don’t you think you ought to be finding out by listening in?

Much of this relationship building work is what has been achieved by traditional PR for years.  The key difference is that now you can listen and converse directly and immediately.

So what’s the big deal?

Change happens, and arguably as in the case of social media, it now happens extraordinarily quickly.  Getting used to new ideas and new ways of doing things is just part of everyday life.

How did we cope before e-mail?  What business operates without the internet, and who doesn’t use a Blackberry or smart phone?  All have arrived and impacted on life in just a few years.

The way we communicate and do business evolves, and social media is just another new way of talking to your stakeholders, albeit in a very open and potentially global way.

Keep it simple

There are numerous computer tools and smart phone applications (apps) available to help, but to get going, we would recommend using Twitter, possibly Facebook and setting up a blog; YouTube if you can create or have access to relevant video footage, and LinkedIn is useful for professional networking.

Generation Y cut its teeth absorbing significant amounts of information from multiple sources – more so than any previous generation.  There’s less time for in-depth reading and attention levels are diminishing.  The 140 character tweet, images, video clips and web links are now the order of the day.  Short and punchy: just like a good newspaper headline.

Strategy

As with any other business investment decision, you’ll need to think about a few things first.  This will obviously vary if you are representing a company or organisation, or just engaging as an individual:

• Why are you going online?
• What do you want to achieve?  Set some objectives
• Agree who will be the ‘champion’ or spokesperson
• What are you going to talk about?
• What do you want to measure, and how often?

Start slowly

Dip a toe in.  Set up profiles, then watch, listen and learn.  You’ll soon feel ready to join in.

Starting to Tweet

Engage when you feel ready.  As with many things, the more you put into it the more you’ll get out.

Use it to network, to conduct research and find out what people think. It’s also valuable for accessing news, from topics of global importance to what’s happening in your neck of the woods, geographically or professionally.  You can search for any topic.

Trust your instincts

If you understand the basic principles of media communication you’ll be fine.

The same rules apply as for writing a press release.  News is still the number one reason for engaging, so be concise, keep the language simple, direct and to the point, and avoid overt advertising puffs.  If writing corporately, avoid personal views and opinions unless expressed as a statement from the company.

Check what you’re saying

Check spelling and grammar and keep it clean and legal!  The law applies to online just as it does to printed media.

Generate traffic

Make sure you include links to – and from your website, blog, online press office and all social media locations so there’s a virtuous circle. Add hyperlinks to the sign-off of your e-mails, and include the addresses on promotional literature, signage etc.

Double click on diagram to expand

Measurement

You can measure your engagement in a variety of ways, and thereby validate the investment.  This can include:

• Number of hits directed to your website
• Number of followers on Twitter
• Number of Facebook fans or ‘likes’
• Number of customer complaints intercepted and satisfied, especially if you have turned a negative tweeter to a positive advocate
• Number of YouTube viewings
• Number of new bloggers writing positively – qualitative measures are also invaluable

What does it cost?

Here’s the good news – it’s free!  Well it is if you do it yourself.  If you employ a consultant to advise or manage it for you, expect to pay for their time, and only you can put a value on that and decide.

Getting help

Online PR – as with traditional PR, is fundamentally about reputation and relationship management, so a PR consultancy with social media experience or a specialist social media agency is where to head for, not a website designer or online marketing agency.

Just grasp the nettle – Don’t be afraid, you’ll soon be a natural!

Need to know more?

Follow us on Twitter, check out our website lawsonclarke.com or mail Jeremy Clarke at clarke@lawsonclarke.co.uk

©LawsonClarke Ltd

Jeremy Clarke has worked on both sides of the client/consultancy fence, and now as managing director of LawsonClarke PR – one of the longest established PR businesses in the West – shares a few thoughts to help you find the best consultancy for your requirements.

1. Chemistry

While it’s not vital that you become best mates with members of your new PR account team, you will be working closely with them, so it is important that you like the people and enjoy their company.  Don’t underestimate the power of chemistry to get things done.

Top tip

Visit your prospective consultancy’s offices and get a feel for who they are and how they operate.  Check out the culture – will it mesh with your business and the way you like to work?

2. Partnership

Look to find a consultancy you can work with in the long term, even if you only start with an initial project.  You will get the most out of them as their knowledge of your business, its products or services, market sector and media develops.

To get the best work out of your PR consultants – as with any member of your own team – try to make them feel valued and motivated.

Top tip

Regard them as a partner, not just a supplier.  Trust – both ways – is just as important as results, so take them into your confidence.

3. Cost and value

The financial return versus the cost can be difficult to assess, but the value a good consultancy can deliver can be priceless.  Learn to trust their judgement, even when it comes to the budget.  For example, they will know that although good press photography might cost more than a quick snap taken by someone in the office, it could make all the difference in terms of achieving quality coverage.  Not only will a bad photograph be less likely to be used, sending out poor quality materials will undermine your reputation and a journalist’s perception of your brand.

Top tip

Decide on a sensible budget that works for both parties, and remember the adage: ‘pay peanuts and you’ll get monkeys’.

4. Creativity and ideas

Creative people thrive on encouragement – so while new ideas need to be relevant and appropriate, do keep an open mind to their suggestions.  Tap into your consultants’ creativity – they can be an invaluable resource in this area so make time to develop new and different ideas, and don’t stay stuck in the same old rut.

Top tip

Brainstorm!  It’s the perfect way to kick-start new ideas, and by getting away from your usual surroundings, the change of scene will help stimulate right brain thinking!

5. Strategy and implementation

Decide how much thinking you want your new consultancy to do.

By being objective, they should be in a unique position to help you form a strategy, and by contributing to the success of your business on a number of levels, will be far more engaged and committed.

Top tip

Make it clear how much support you are looking for.  It is worth remembering that if you just use your consultancy to act on a tactical level you’ll not be maximising their full potential, and will miss out on getting real added value.

6. Location

Geography isn’t critical.

It’s the consultancy’s responsibility to be on time for meetings, but in this day and age of instant communication, it is no longer vital that they’re based in your immediate locality.

Top tip

With increasing numbers of journalists working freelance or from home it’s not necessary to have a consultancy based in central London, either – plus selecting a regionally based company will save you money.

7. Decide what you’re looking for

It has been said that some clients spend more time choosing their next car or mobile phone than they do on selecting a consultancy, but it is wise to think carefully about what you want them to achieve.  Draw up a list of PR objectives and requirements and first do your research.

Also look at their client list, the sectors they work in, and ask about professional recognition.

Top tip

Be SMART – make sure your objectives are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound.

8. Managing the pitch

Beware the slick pitch!

It might be a great PowerPoint presentation with all the whistles and bells, but great sales patter needs to be balanced by knowing who’s going to work on the account and how they are going to deliver.  Make sure you’re not just looking at the new business ‘getter’, and ensure the proposed account team is present.  If in doubt, go and see them at their offices; find out who really will be doing the work.

Top tip

Don’t ask too many consultancies to pitch.  From a long list of, say, six choose no more than three.  Any more than that and people will start declining.

Alternatively, visit a few consultancies for a ‘chemistry meeting’ and ask one or more to do some project work.  Find the one that works best and move forward with them.

9. Beware of the procurement process

Most corporates now follow some form of purchasing process and involve procurement or buying specialists.

Remember that you are sourcing soft skills and people, not widgets or materials in bulk, and some of the ‘one size fits all’ purchasing processes simply don’t work.  Some consultancies have had such bad experiences that they now decline to work with companies that make too stringent demands.

Top tip

PR is a people business, and providing the consultancy meets your objectives, trust your intuition.

10. Length of contract

Many large companies insist on a re-pitch every 2 – 3 years.  This can have advantages in terms of getting new ideas, reviewing “who’s out there”, or simply re-focusing your incumbent consultancy.  But a committed agency with several years’ knowledge of your business, sector and media can be doing a great job, and could be easily re-focused – if that’s what’s required – in a more efficient way.

Top tip

Remember, your existing consultancy already has well-established press relationships – something it might take your new agency time to form, so don’t change just for change’s sake.

‘Quick check’ before you approach a consultancy

- why are you looking for a PR consultancy?

- what do you want them to achieve?

- how much involvement are you looking for?

- how long do you want to work with them – a project or programme?

- what size consultancy would suit your needs?

- how much can you afford?

- how well do they promote themselves & communicate what they do?

Questions to ask your prospective consultancy

- what clients do they currently work with?

- how well do they know your target media?

- do they understand social media/online PR?

- can they give examples of best practice/creativity/teamwork/results?

- how long have they been established?

- what is their employee turnover like?

- how long have they worked with their longest standing client?

- what do they know about your business, market sector etc?

- who, and how many people will work on the account?

For further information, contact Jeremy Clarke: clarke@lawsonclarke.co.uk

© LawsonClarke Ltd

Korando on the international press launch in Mallorca

After a seven-year break, LawsonClarke PR is again managing the UK media relations for SsangYong, the Korean automotive brand.

The consultancy was instrumental in launching the Rexton for the previous importer in 2003, and has recently assisted with the international launch in Mallorca of the brand’s first crossover vehicle, the Korando.

Designed in Europe by Giorgetto Giugiaro and on sale in January, the new Korando represents a major step forward for the brand, and allows SsangYong to expand from its core SUV (sport utility vehicle) model range.

Press release, press pack and images available from: http://www.lawsonclarke.com/releases/press-ssangyong.htm

Corporately, the company is in the final stages of confirming its new global partnership with Mahindra & Mahindra of India; announced in August, this is scheduled to be concluded within the next few weeks.

“These are exciting times for the brand and there will be a lot to talk about,” says Paul Williams, managing director of importer, Koelliker UK Ltd, “and we’re delighted to have teamed-up with LawsonClarke to assist us.”

Leading independent consumer motoring website, honestjohn.co.uk, has analysed six months of Twitter data to reveal the car manufacturers that are tweeted about the most, which models are frequently mentioned and which industry figures are the most influential.

The results can be seen at: http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/twitter.

And at no. 10 in ‘The Top 20 motor industry influencers’ is…. you guessed it. (Scroll down if you didn’t!)

Their press release continues:

Those car companies that perform well are not just being mentioned on Twitter, but are actively influencing others, with research showing that it’s not just about building up a massive follower base, either. Although some of the most influential people identified through the research have a large follower base, others don’t. The most successful Tweeters influence the influencers, rather than speak to an audience that isn’t listening.

Top of the pile is Toyota’s Head of PR, Scott Brownlee, who used Twitter to great effect earlier in the year to keep owners updated with news of the brake pedal recall, in addition to more traditional forms of communication. Other top tweeters include Silverstone Race Circuit and the Driving Standards Authority – both of which really connect with their audiences.

“Having an authentic voice on Twitter is becoming crucial for any company that wants to actively communicate with those buying and owning its cars,” explained Daniel Harrison, Editor, HonestJohn.co.uk. “Those companies who are engaging with people are those that are leaving a lasting impression on them.

“There has been a lot of research done in the past into what’s causing a buzz on Twitter – in politics for instance. But this is the first time that anyone’s looked into the motor industry – despite its size and importance. At HonestJohn.co.uk we found this lack of insight into motoring tweeters rather strange, so we have compiled the top motor industry tweets.

“This breakdown finally sheds some light as to who and what have captured the imagination on Twitter. But, things change quickly, so we’ll be updating this in coming months”, concluded Daniel Harrison.

The Honestjohn.co.uk analysis has been broken down into three sections:

Most mentioned models
Top 20 motor industry influencers
Most used words in the bios of @_honestjohn followers

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/twitter

**Calculated by analysing the ratio between activity, mentions and re-tweets.

PR people say that because it is all about the written word, it’s rightfully theirs. (And actually I don’t disagree!) Whereas the other lot talk about ‘integrated digital communication’ and ‘understanding the technology’ blah blah, so they should be responsible.

At the recent MIPAA (Motoring Industry Public Affairs Association) Masterclass, Simon Sproule, director, communications at Renault-Nissan Alliance expounded the view that perhaps now was the time to put an end to these turf wars, and for a new profession – a third-way – to steer a path between these warring factions.

He spoke about organisations still largely structured in functional chimneys – or silos – and gave a number of illustrations to ask the question: Is it marketing or is it PR?’

See presentation: http://www.mipaa.com/images/stories/mipaa.sproule.final.pdf

A brand’s involvement at an exhibition, say, is likely to have been led by marketing, had the PR people take over the stand for the first few press days, and then left for the sales people to look after the great unwashed and do their selling bit!

And that seems to be the nub of the problem. Communications – or as I have long preferred to call it, ‘the management of reputation’ – should not be process driven through tightly defined channels, but all-embracing. Neither should it be a top-down function: surely social media has taught us about inclusivity and dialogue, and torn up the rule book of one-way propaganda from organisation to audience?

Let’s just remember that the customer – aka the audience – doesn’t give a toss about any of the ‘mechanics’. All they want is a seamless join between the editorial they’re interested in, the Tweets, the ads, the exhibition stands, the guerrilla marketing stunts, the shop (sorry – retail experience!), how the ‘phones are answered, the brand values and yes – the product as they experience it, right from purchase through to after sales and repairs for the next umpteen years.

For them, whether they’re driving a Polo, sucking a Polo or watching the polo, it’s the totality of the experience – good, indifferent or bad, and from the first to the last encounter; that’s what forms their opinion and perception of a brand’s reputation.

So yes – I agree with Mr Sproule. We need to think beyond the platforms and processes and focus on changing behaviours and opinions. We need to tell a good, coherent and consistent story, and we need to do so in the round – the full 360 degrees. And critically in my view, we need to do all of this from the recipient’s perspective – the customer, rather than at the organisation’s convenience and via a traditional and evidently outmoded structure.

BrabantiaLife blog

BrabantiaLife blog – Twitter – Facebook – Flickr

Brabantia is taking a lead in the housewares industry by embracing social media into its communications. Working with its longstanding PR consultancy, LawsonClarke PR, the brand is launching a combination of coordinated online channels – a blog, Twitter, Facebook and Flickr.

Designed to help communicate with consumers around the globe, the new initiative is intended to help ensure the brand listens to and engages with relevant discussions taking place online.

Brabantia Life blog – www.brabantialife.com

The new Brabantia blog – which can be seen at www.brabantialife.com – is presented in an easily accessible lifestyle format, and includes a range of hints, tips and comments on colour, design and domestic life, as well as news and information about Brabantia products.

Intended to be both fun and informative, there are competitions and timely musings on what’s current, and people are encouraged to join in, comment, make suggestions, post pictures and even do some guest blogging.

In fact, guest bloggers have already provided their ‘tip-top tips’ on spring cleaning for busy mums & dads, how to use a dishwasher and keep your glassware sparking, and even offered a clever idea on where to store your replacement bin bags. There have also been posts on the contentious subject of Marmite cereal bars, about sparkling Australian red wine, and this month’s colour for Colour Your Bin.

Twitter – www.twitter.com/brabantialife

The company is tweeting on Twitter as @BrabantiaLife and invites you to come and ‘follow’ what’s being shared and discussed by signing up and joining in.

Facebook – www.facebook.com/brabantialife

There’s a Brabantia fan page on Facebook where news and views are shared, and which is already attracting fans from around the world.

Flickr – www.flickr.com/photos/brabantialife

Finally you can find and post images and videos on Flickr, the useful file sharing site if you ever need a Brabantia image.

Said David Slater, sales director of Brabantia UK: “The communication world is constantly evolving. The internet and social media now give people far more open and participative relationships with their friends, family and colleagues, and this also extends to the products and brands they favour. It’s now about dialogue rather than the one way delivery of marketing messages, and in partnership with LawsonClarke we’re fully engaging with these changes.”

Added Jeremy Clarke, managing director of LawsonClarke PR: “We have seen Brabantia, its products and the media landscape evolve over the 20 years we have worked together, but the speed with which communication has changed in the past 24 months has been unprecedented. It’s very rewarding to see such a well established brand adapt to this new media so quickly.”

The traditional media industry in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) is struggling to cope with digital media and headcount cuts owing to the economic crisis, according to a new survey of senior journalists.

Burson-Marsteller interviewed 115 senior journalists from 27 countries throughout the region for the study.

According to the survey, an enormous numbers of journalists were being put out of work. Eighty-one per cent of respondents said that they were experiencing cost-cutting measures in their editorial teams.

There was broad agreement among the journalists interviewed that the quality and standards of their trade were being diminished. Thirty-four per cent said that internal cost-cutting was the biggest threat to high quality journalism today, while 17 per cent said that digital media was the biggest threat.

There was no consensus, however, about whether the digital revolution taking place in their industry was a positive or negative development. Most agreed that new digital tools had given them unprecedented access to information. However, the increased competition, as well as the de-professionalisation of their trade through citizen journalism, were all cited as serious causes for concern. Twenty-seven per cent of respondents said that blogs had damaged journalism, while 13 per cent said social media sites such as Facebook had also had a detrimental effect.

As one senior French journalist said: ‘The internet makes it much more difficult to distinguish news from noise.’

The majority of journalists surveyed said that PR agencies played an increasingly vital role in their work, either as sources of relevant information, leads for stories, or as conduits to relevant sources. Almost half (47 per cent) said that they dealt with PR agencies more than in previous years, while 28 per cent said they saw agencies as a source of relevant information.

Dennis Landsbert-Noon, chairman of the EMEA media practice, said: ‘As the media industry undergoes these tremendous changes, there is both an onus on us to ensure that our standards remain exemplary, as well as an opportunity for us to use new and exciting digital tools to communicate with traditional journalists as well as a whole new digital and social media landscape.’

http://www.prweek.com/news/rss/995817/Survey-journalists-across-EMEA-reveals-depth-crisis-media-sector/

Autocar Mail

Please reassure Philip Barry (Mail, 10 March) that he’s not showing his age, it’s just that marketing speak has moved on.

In the 1970s it was all about the marque, and people were passionately loyal to the one they drove.

It all started to get confusing with ‘badge engineering’ – a practice turned into an art form by British Leyland – which applied different labels (aka sub-brands) to the same basic product. Remember when an Austin Mini was also a Morris, a Clubman, Wolsey Hornet, Riley Elf or Moke?

While a Skoda, Seat, VW and Audi today might share components and underpinnings, at least the brand differentiation and driving experience is more distinct.

Jeremy Clarke

That’s just what I was thinking as I drove to work in our long-term Seat Exeo estate. Or was it an Audi A4? – TD

Published in Autocar Letters, 24 March 2010