About Magenta
Magenta is a built environment specialist. This means the businesses we support are in some way, shape or form linked to property, architecture & design, construction, facilities management, workplace, energy management and support services such as contract catering. It is impossible to focus on the physical environment without considering the impact on (or influence of) the technological, social, and natural environment, so within our client base there is a complementary cross-over into the world of ESG and the EPSS sectors. However, one thing unites every single one of our clients: they are all good businesses doing good things to protect this planet and the people living on it.
Magenta is a built environment specialist. This means the businesses we support are in some way, shape or form linked to property, architecture & design, construction, facilities management, workplace, energy management and support services such as contract catering. It is impossible to focus on the physical environment without considering the impact on (or influence of) the technological, social, and natural environment, so within our client base there is a complementary cross-over into the world of ESG and the EPSS sectors. However, one thing unites every single one of our clients: they are all good businesses doing good things to protect this planet and the people living on it.
We are a B2B consultancy but due to the nature of our specialism, and the proliferation of hybrid working – not to mention the merging worlds of work and play – we run B2C campaigns when key messages are intended for a wider audience. As such, we have excellent relationships with consumer titles, in addition to trade, business, national, and international press and event organisers.
We offer public and media relations; audiovisual content production; content marketing; awards writing; bid writing and proposal design / development; digital marketing (SEO, PPC, social media); event marketing, management, and facilitation; branding and design services; and the full suite of marketing communications, including strategy, crisis management, stakeholder engagement, and internal communications.
Do you want to cut through the noise? Reach your target audience in the most effective and engaging way? Build brand awareness? Become better known and better found? Gain competitive advantage? Attract employees, customers, investors – and keep your existing ones informed, engaged, and happy? We can help.
Magenta is an integrated communications consultancy. We’re specialists, not generalists, with unrivalled industry experience, expertise, and ideas to help your business prosper. The team comprises former inhouse marketing directors, editors, journalists, and awards judges. We have worked on the other side(s), and we know how it all fits together. Our relationships with your target media are second to none. We meet journalists, editors and event producers on a regular basis and consider many friends. We work with associations, institutes, institutions, and other bodies within the built environment. You won’t find a communications consultancy that has as many connections and rich relationships in the industry.
Most of our clients work with us on a retained basis, mainly due to the nature of what we do and the fact that the core activity underpinning most marcomms programmes generates a drip-feed effect with regards to results and ROI, whether that’s brand awareness or increased revenue. There are no silver bullets, and we are good at managing expectations (and exceeding them).
We do work on a project basis, too, when appropriate. Examples include but are not limited to supporting organisations with M&A communications, producing board or ESG reports, writing thought leadership documents, offering bid support and event management.
Yes, we are a small business with modest overheads, so we can offer competitive rates and are open to projects and programmes with smaller budgets so long as they meet our entry level criteria.
Yes, we can either deliver an integrated communications programme or offer specialist support in an area not covered by your inhouse team. We work with our clients in different ways depending on their objectives, messages and target audiences.
We are a small company with an entrepreneurial ethos. But it’s not just what we do that impresses our clients, it’s how we go about it. We are tempered by the humility that comes from constantly seeking to learn and grow. Magenta is dedicated to pushing our industry, and the industries we are connected to, forward in the right way. We work with clients, industry experts and key opinion leaders to understand the biggest challenges today and in the future, bringing them together to share knowledge, insight, and best practice. Some examples of our work in this space include our ‘Good Business’ campaign, ‘People Matters’ series, ‘Building Resilience’ series, and our collaboration with the University of Sussex on a research project exploring the impact of ChatGPT on marketing and communications.
Our purpose is to harness the power of communications to drive social and environmental change. We believe businesses in our sector can make a positive impact on the world. We are committed to working with sustainable and socially responsible organisations which share our values and align with our purpose to use business as a force for good. We seek to inspire others to join us in having the conversations that matter to build a better future. If you feel the same, we will work well together.
Yes, check out our Case Study Book.
Media Relations
Clients trust us to make the best use of their marketing and comms budget, and that isn’t taken for granted here at Magenta. Therefore, it is important that we consultant and inform them as to what is and what isn’t newsworthy from within their business. We always want to give our clients as much bang for their buck. When we identify an angle or a story, we will draft this into a synopsis outlining the feature and speak to a magazine editor explaining why it is suited for their audience. We will also explain what the feature will offer – a case study, professional images, data, etc.
As an example, we recently pitched a synopsis on the concept of the 15-minute city to a leading architecture and design magazine. We positioned our client as a leading authority figure who is proponent of the concept. We teased the editor with a short soundbite too. This resulted in being offered the chance to write 1000 words on the subject for the magazine.
Clients trust us to make the best use of their marketing and comms budget, and that isn’t taken for granted here at Magenta. Therefore, it is important that we consultant and inform them as to what is and what isn’t newsworthy from within their business. We always want to give our clients as much bang for their buck. When we identify an angle or a story, we will draft this into a synopsis outlining the feature and speak to a magazine editor explaining why it is suited for their audience. We will also explain what the feature will offer – a case study, professional images, data, etc.
As an example, we recently pitched a synopsis on the concept of the 15-minute city to a leading architecture and design magazine. We positioned our client as a leading authority figure who is proponent of the concept. We teased the editor with a short soundbite too. This resulted in being offered the chance to write 1000 words on the subject for the magazine.
We are constantly monitoring the news, making us instantly alive to opportunities that break in the media. It’s our prerogative to align our clients with some of the UK’s most high-profile debates, and we have a proven track record of doing just that. We’ve had clients on the front pages of three national newspapers thanks to our reactive press office function.
Let’s say it’s the Spring Budget or the Autumn Statement. Often, policy and legislative changes will be made that impact our clients, their industries, or their customers. We will identify the areas where their comments will be best suited, and we will write these comments for them. It requires a fast turnaround from both us and the client but usually results in high-profile media coverage.
Absolutely not. We are built environment and property experts and have fantastic relationships with editors across this space. However, we also have equally fantastic relationships with tier one national and business journalists. It’s not uncommon for our clients to be featured on Sky News, BBC News, Financial Times, Bloomberg, or the Daily Telegraph.
Quantity and quality of coverage can be influenced by various factors, including the news landscape, industry trends, how much news the client has, what they are willing to say, or even if an article is syndicated, meaning that a publication picks your story up from another magazine. We focus on building strong relationships with media outlets, leveraging our expertise in the built environment, and employing effective communication strategies to enhance the likelihood of positive coverage that impacts the bottom-line for our clients.
This can vary for several reasons. We see PR as a strategic, long-term effort that involves relationship-building, message development, and media engagement. These are just some of the components of a successful PR campaign that evolve as the relationship grows. Earned media coverage takes time, especially if there is minimal existing presence in a market. Relationships take time to build.
It also depends on what the client is willing to say, how they are prepared to say it, and the level of news that comes from the company.
Short-term success is also achievable via pay-to-play options. For example, we might secure you a speaking slot at an industry event. But this might require a fee. We will consult you as to where and when are the most suitable options to pursue this.
We do have a track record of getting clients on the front pages of national newspapers. However, these were long-standing Magenta clients, meaning that we had established relationships with the journalists. We had a firm grasp of packaging our client’s comments and messaging in a way that appealed to the editors. It’s also worth highlighting that we have no say as to when and where the coverage appears. Once it is in the editor’s hands, they will determine what page the coverage will appear, if coverage appears at all.
A successful media relations campaign hinges on clear objectives, establishing targeted audiences, idea generation and compelling storytelling. We will guide you through and share our research and approach, create high-quality press materials, and (if applicable) provide media training for company spokespeople. Building and maintaining relationships with key journalists is crucial, as is tailoring timely and relevant pitches to each outlet. Adaptability, consistency in brand messaging, and integration with social media are also essential for a comprehensive media relations campaign.
SEO
SEO stands for search engine optimisation. In a nutshell, SEO will help your website rank higher in search engines for relevant search terms and keywords, ensuring that potential customers find your business. If you don’t work on your SEO, your website will not appear in search results and people will find your competitors instead.
SEO stands for search engine optimisation. In a nutshell, SEO will help your website rank higher in search engines for relevant search terms and keywords, ensuring that potential customers find your business. If you don’t work on your SEO, your website will not appear in search results and people will find your competitors instead.
Broadly speaking, every business needs SEO. When done right, SEO will help increase traffic to your website and increase conversions, whether that’s sales or new business leads. Without SEO, people simply won’t be able to find your business.
There are numerous aspects of SEO and they can be categorised into ‘technical’, ‘content’ and ‘off-page’. Technical SEO includes site speed and functionality, meta titles and descriptions, structured data and site indexing. Content includes keyword research, the quality of content, and E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness). Off-page includes backlinks, reviews and Google Business Profiles. These three areas are all equally important to address in an SEO project.
Magenta offers tiered SEO campaigns to align with your objectives and budgets. We have an experienced team of skilled SEO and digital marketing professionals who will work closely with your team throughout an SEO programme.
SEO is an ongoing discipline. However, once the foundations are in place, programmes can be scaled back. For example, once all technical aspects of a website are up to scratch, it will require minimal supervision. It’s advisable to always maintain a small SEO budget to perform website audits, make any fixes and ensure that all aspects of the programme are meeting SEO best practice.
PPC stands for pay-per-click and involves a business bidding on keywords to appear at the top of search results as a sponsored result. While PPC can be good for a quick fix, keyword budgets can vary and as soon as you stop the campaign your website will no longer appear in the search results. In contract, SEO takes longer to have an impact, but every aspect of the work is benefitting the website in the long term.
Content Marketing
Magenta employs skilled copywriters, including former editors of some of the UK’s leading trade publications. We can talk to your customers in a language they understand while communicating your key messages clearly. We cut through the noise by producing content marketing across a broad range of mediums, such as white papers, emails, reports, guides, tender documents, blogs, video, infographics, press releases, print publications and social media. We regularly deliver content and strategy for a multitude of international and UK-based clients across the built environment sector for both internal and external purposes.
Magenta employs skilled copywriters, including former editors of some of the UK’s leading trade publications. We can talk to your customers in a language they understand while communicating your key messages clearly. We cut through the noise by producing content marketing across a broad range of mediums, such as white papers, emails, reports, guides, tender documents, blogs, video, infographics, press releases, print publications and social media. We regularly deliver content and strategy for a multitude of international and UK-based clients across the built environment sector for both internal and external purposes.
Great content marketing is about communicating with your target market without selling them a specific product or service. Each piece of content must be written as a piece of editorial first. It needs to connect with the audience in an authentic way. A business will have in-house experts with a great deal of knowledge to impart, but they might not always have the time or inclination to produce the content. Our editorial expertise means that Magenta can tease that knowledge out and deliver engaging, editorially sound content that doesn’t lose sight of a client’s key messages.
Good design isn’t just about making content and communications visually attractive. It also plays a crucial role in communicating an organisation’s key messages and bringing the brand to life. What do you want your customers to think about you and how you can support them? It’s all in the design and branding. Magenta takes time to get under the skin of the companies we work with to understand their business, position and audiences. From there, we can establish key objectives and messages, enabling us to craft a clear rationale for how design decisions complement those aims, values and the overall mission.
Increasingly, businesses see the value in video production for their marketing needs. The format can help your organisation get your messages across in a memorable and engaging way. Video is also a great tool for social media as users tend to find the format engaging and are more likely to share them with their networks. Hosting sites like YouTube can be used as a main content hub while videos can be embedded into your website.
Internal Comms
Employees are the greatest asset of any company and can be a brand’s most loyal advocates. Without employees, there is no business. You want your employees to be engaged, singing from the same hymn sheet and understanding and communicating the messages your organisation is trying to convey, both internally and externally. None of this can happen without effective internal communications. In the face of change, you don’t want to leave any room for misunderstandings.
Employees are the greatest asset of any company and can be a brand’s most loyal advocates. Without employees, there is no business. You want your employees to be engaged, singing from the same hymn sheet and understanding and communicating the messages your organisation is trying to convey, both internally and externally. None of this can happen without effective internal communications. In the face of change, you don’t want to leave any room for misunderstandings.
Communicating with a disperse and diverse workforce is a challenge for many. The key is understanding your audience, knowing what you want to communicate, pinpointing the best way it will be received, and using clear and inclusive language. What works for one division or job role might not work for another. No one size fits all.
Understanding, consistency, facilitating feedback, showing you care, illustrating the impact an employee’s role plays within in the bigger picture of the company, creating supported development routes, reward and recognition, facilitating socialisation and collaboration, sharing the same values. The list is endless, and it’s always a work in progress.
Internal comms is the glue that holds everything together. Often this can be forgotten, and companies focus on their outward communications efforts. This seriously hampers cross selling opportunities, employee retention and fails to keep employees in the know about what is going on in their world of work leading to a disengaged workforce. In the face of change, internal communications play an even greater role.
Improving internal communications always starts with listening and learning. You can only improve if you truly understand how your current strategy is received. Consistency and clear messaging are king, as are a continuous feedback loop and multi-channel approach.
We can help your internal communications no matter how developed they are within your organisation. From strategy to content and delivery, we can work with you to audit your business, fine tune your strategy and create comms that engage your audience.
Unfortunately, there is often a mismatch between how important an organisation thinks communication is and how well it communicates with the people who work for it. We can unpick that too.
Have you got a particular challenge you are trying to address? Get in touch – we’d love to talk more.
Crisis Comms
Scandal sells news – which is why there is an entire sector within the communications industry devoted to crisis and reputation management. A potential crisis includes anything from an accident or dangerous incident on your site to any media enquiry however seemingly innocent. You have a responsibility to limit the damage and safeguard your company’s reputation. It’s crucial that you have a risk management strategy and crisis policy in place, identifying the stakeholders in charge and outlining the steps they need to take.
Scandal sells news – which is why there is an entire sector within the communications industry devoted to crisis and reputation management. A potential crisis includes anything from an accident or dangerous incident on your site to any media enquiry however seemingly innocent. You have a responsibility to limit the damage and safeguard your company’s reputation. It’s crucial that you have a risk management strategy and crisis policy in place, identifying the stakeholders in charge and outlining the steps they need to take.
Once you have identified who’s in charge, there are several factors to consider. What typical media incidents have occurred to date, and how have they been handled? Have your staff been given media training if the media calls? A social media policy is also a good idea. This includes what kind of statements you might make as well as informing staff of the consequences if they post an inflammatory comment on the internet.
It’s important not to speculate. Even if you’re the person in charge, you must not admit liability. Say as little as possible and don’t lie. Journalists might try to rile you, but you should avoid being lured into a blame game. A calm and collected response is always the right one. If you’re unsure in the moment, the best option is to be unavailable for comment until you and your team understand the next steps.
Client Comms
Client comms is simply the art of communicating with clients. That could be in written letters, e-newsletters, in verbal communication or in person communication about company updates, changes, innovations or successes. It is a critical part of client retention.
Client comms is simply the art of communicating with clients. That could be in written letters, e-newsletters, in verbal communication or in person communication about company updates, changes, innovations or successes. It is a critical part of client retention.
Yes, companies often look to communicate success, changes and news to the outside world but forget to communicate it to their customer base. This doesn’t help foster relationships or encourage loyalty.
Client communication can facilitate cross-selling and up-selling opportunities. It also allows you to share good business news, encourage collaboration and get your client to become engaged in your brand. It can demonstrate you are an expert in your field. Companies don’t survive unless they maintain good relationships with their clients.
The most important step is to understand your client base. Making an effort to connect on an emotional level will help you provide more of what’s useful for them. What is going to make their day easier? What’s going to help trouble shoot that problem they’ve been working? What will help them feel closer to your business. Ensuring your own team is briefed and also singing from the same hymn sheet is critical.
Executive Profiling
Executive profiling is a powerful tool to build or improve the reputation of your leadership team. Stakeholders want to hear from individuals to understand the people behind the corporate logo. By improving the profile of senior executives, it humanises the business’s story and helps to establish a connection between audiences and leaders. Creating genuine and personable profiles for key executives delivers a more credible, influential, and trusted face for the business.
Executive profiling is a powerful tool to build or improve the reputation of your leadership team. Stakeholders want to hear from individuals to understand the people behind the corporate logo. By improving the profile of senior executives, it humanises the business’s story and helps to establish a connection between audiences and leaders. Creating genuine and personable profiles for key executives delivers a more credible, influential, and trusted face for the business.
Personality has become a vital part of business reputation. Increasingly, business leaders are under a microscope with every action and comment being scrutinised. As well as leading their companies through challenges and improving business performance, they are expected to articulate their vision and values transparently.
Senior leaders are expected to have an opinion on issues affecting their industry and it’s increasingly important that they participate in relevant conversations. Boards, investors, partners, and employees now want executives to have a voice. Whether it’s ESG, D&I, business challenges or the implications of wider political changes, business leaders need to be seen as shaping the future of their industry.
Values-led communication is now driving bottom-line performance, so it’s essential that your business leaders are part of the conversation.
- Strategic planning & research – We get under the skin of your business to understand what is truly important. We use that knowledge to research the market and identify the stories that will resonate. We shape those stories to compliment your business, your brand and your personality. Your executive team needs to be able to talk about more than business performance and goals. We will help to create content and compelling stories that help them to stand out.
- Training – We work with your business leaders to make sure they are fluent in their storytelling to ensure they can handle tricky interviews, and to give them the tools they need to magnify their own efforts. We will help them communicate in a way that is relatable and engaging, whether that’s through written content, internal presentations, speaking at events, or interviews with key journalists.
- Execution – We get them out there! We identify and secure opportunities for your business leaders to be seen and heard, to engage with the market and to build connections that lead to business results. We will use a variety of tactics and platforms to raise their profile and provide them the opportunity to communicate the stories that matter.
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- Bespoke Messaging – We will create a messaging framework that effectively tells the business story, highlights the executives’ knowledge and expertise, and delivers your narrative in a compelling way.
- Spokesperson Training – We will work with your executives to provide them with the tools they need to handle media interviews, speak at events and maximise networking opportunities.
- Thought Leadership – We will build on agreed messaging, write and place content with key target media and deliver opportunities for your executives to participate in interviews that raise their personal profile and the business profile.
- Social Media – We will audit your executives’ LinkedIn profiles, provide recommendations for maximum impact, and create regular content for them to post and share across the platform. We will identify networks and groups they should participate in and work with them to ensure they are recognisable as a leader on LinkedIn.
- Speaking Opportunities – We will identify the events and speaker platforms that will reach your audience, creating a profile that will ensure your executives can take to the stage. As well as securing the opportunities, we will support them through preparation, rehearsals and on the day.
- Internal – We will work with your executives to help them host internal events, present business news and communicate with your workforce both in good times and through challenges. We will support your leaders to build an authentic connection to the people in the business and ensure your colleagues are kept informed in the right way. Awards – We will identify the awards programmes that matter, highlighting the business and executive strengths, to create compelling entries that deliver the recognition your business leaders deserve.
