Clearview National March 2019 - Issue 208 | Page 6

PROUD SPONSOR OF INDUSTRY NEWS INDUSTRYNEWS A constant over 15 years of change The glazing industry has seen many changes over the years, but the one constant has been the need to market your business. Purplex, the leading full-service marketing agency, has been helping companies reach their potential for the last 15 years. Managing Director Andrew Scott speaks to Clearview about the company’s growth, and why marketing is more important now than ever before. PURPOSE. PLANNING. EXECUTION. Three simple words that form the acronym ‘Purplex’ and provide the principles that have helped establish the largest marketing agency in the window industry, since 2004. Managing Director Andrew Scott is under no illusion as to the reason why Purplex is leading the way. “Right from the start my aim was to create a world-class marketing agency that partnered with clients for the long-haul, to really understand what they wanted to achieve and help them attain it. While it’s great to work with some of the biggest brands in the industry we’re equally at home rolling our sleeves up and working with a local installer to help them grow. “We took the decision early-on to invest in the business and in the last three years alone we’ve committed over £1million in infrastructure, technology and expertise. It helps that we know the industry better than anyone else, so we can hit the ground running.” Andrew’s background in the industry is well known, but he is perhaps best known for restructuring Cambrian Windows Ltd, a struggling commercial fabricator on the brink of failure. He switched the business from commercial to trade, and the company grew from £1m to over £12m annual revenue in 36 months with 15% net profit. It was subsequently acquired by Masco in one of the industry’s biggest ever M&A deals. ALL UNDER ONE ROOF One of the frustrations that many business owners and marketing managers have is dealing with multiple agencies to coordinate their marketing activity – web designers, digital marketing and lead generation, creative/design, ad agencies, PR and social media, video… the list goes on. 6 » M AR 2019 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M Purplex provides all of these services with a dedicated account manager to act as a single point of contact, supported by a hands-on senior management team with decades of window industry experience. “There is no one-size-fits-all approach at Purplex,” Andy adds. “The strategic marketing objectives of a £100million group are very different to the needs of a local installer. Understanding the end-goals is key, and our team then work with the client to develop the right marketing strategy to deliver results. For some companies, this may be a branding and PR exercise to shape industry opinion or change perceptions, for another it may be a direct marketing or digital strategy to drive sales leads.” ‘an agency who really understands the industry’ Purplex has specialist teams that operate across all marketing channels; from traditional print, TV and radio to digital platforms. It is an official Google Partner with over 30 staff involved in search-engine marketing, display advertising, social media and content. The company even has a dedicated event management team and an in-house video production and photography service. “In reality, most people in business have some knowledge of marketing but working with an agency who really understands the glazing industry and has the expertise and resources in place can accelerate top-line growth and bottom-line profits.” LOOKING AHEAD… It’s been an uncertain time for the glazing industry with Brexit affecting the confidence of some companies to invest for the long- term, while at the same time we’ve seen a furry of mergers and acquisitions as parts of the industry consolidate. Despite this, Purplex has already seen several companies ramp up their marketing plans for 2019 and aiming for serious growth. And according to Andrew, this is not surprising. “Cutting your marketing budget during uncertain times is like putting your brakes on during a race. It simply enables competitors to get ahead and can make it difficult or impossible to catch-up when confidence returns. “Whatever impact Britain leaving the EU has, the demand for windows, doors and other building products will continue. While the demand may fluctuate the companies winning the work will be those maximising their marketing activity while their competitors retrench.” Purplex is certainly following its own advice, with the company ramping up its own investment in 2019 to extend its range of services and explore new markets. www.purplexmarketing.com