Posted:

21 Aug 2019

Tagged:

B2B PR

Spreckley campaign helps Duff & Phelps become the go-to adviser

The client

Duff & Phelps is the global advisor that protects, restores and maximises value for clients in the areas of valuation, corporate finance, investigations, disputes, cybersecurity, compliance and regulatory matters, and other governance-related issues. The company works with clients across diverse sectors, mitigating risk to assets, operations and people. With Kroll, a division of Duff & Phelps since 2018, the firm has nearly 3,500 professionals in 28 countries around the world.

The goals

Duff & Phelps has a long history of operating in corporate restructuring and insolvency in the UK and is today one of the biggest brands in the market. It has traditionally operated in a number of vertical markets including manufacturing, print, retail, financial services, care homes amongst others.

Spreckley devised a campaign for Duff & Phelps that aimed to position it as an expert in the UK retail sector and therefore become a go-to commentator on the high street. Given the number of recent high profile casualties in the retail sector, Spreckley wanted to position Duff & Phelps as the sector specialist.

The achievements

Freedom of Information

A number of FoI requests were submitted to over 80 local authorities in England and Wales in an attempt to ascertain how many empty shops there were in those councils.  Questions were also asked to identify how much money was being lost to local authorities as a result of store closures.

Detailed analysis

The results pointed to a void rate of just under 16%, with over 85% of councils responding to the request.

Media outreach

With strong and verifiable data Spreckley was able to produce a series of content assets for the media – including campaign press releases, interviews and OpEds.

National and trade

Coverage included nationals such The Telegraph and The Mirror, as well as all the retail trades in one intense week of media relations. This was the most successful vertical campaign Spreckley had conducted to date.

Owned content

The findings also formed an integral part of the firm’s owned content comms strategy with a major article in its corporate online newsletter, Upside.

Industry regulators

As part of the communications programme Spreckley also advised a number of additional stakeholders in the broader market including R3, the insolvency trade body and BEIS, the Department for Enterprise, Innovations and Skills.