It’s not often I write about my client work. I’m normally too busy doing it rather than producing a blog post about it – however this one struck a particular interest with me.

I met with Dennis Burke of West Country Hygiene in June this year at a networking event, and what I thought was a ‘normal’ hygiene company, actually turned out to be something much more interesting and innovative.

Dennis is the franchisee of South Devon, and was keen to highlight the many benefits of his company, and get his message across.

And it only took a few moments to discover his story was one that is very topical at the moment – plastic pollution.

His business provides cleaning and hygiene products to the trade; mainly hotels, care homes and restaurants.

His uniqueness is that when he provides, for example, washing up liquid to the customer, they use it, but don’t through the container away, instead of potentially going to landfill.

Dennis will collect and clean it, refill with washing up liquid, and reuse the packaging – thus saving plastic waste.

And even when the container reaches its end of life, it’ll get recycled again into another product – which points toward a circular economy.

This ‘refill’ culture is growing rapidly at the moment – with supermarket Waitrose trialling this eco-friendly way of transporting goods. So to hear of a small company delivering this at a local level was refreshing to hear.

My interest in his business is like my philosophy in life. I use items until they break, and when they do, repair them. And when it can’t be repaired, I turn it into something else. And if it’s not good for that, I recycle. So my ears always prick up when I hear about the circular economy.

Research has suggested that the value of moving towards a circular economy in Europe alone is estimated at €1.8 trillion (£1.3 trillion). So I knew Dennis was on to something good.

As to his marketing, no marketing element stands alone now – it all integrates. So when he initially said about looking to push his benefits, I knew that an all encompassing approach was needed.

So we agreed one of my marketing health checks and I set about developing a new strategy.

I looked at all areas of the business and what he was currently doing to promote his services. 

It was clear that he had already made a great success of the business, but to develop it further, key areas needed addressing:

1.Clearer identification of the business:

I’ve already said about the innovative nature of the business and how this helps to sell his services. But these, and other key areas of the business weren’t being highlighted enough.

So a stronger and more defined communications plan was needed, which would provide consistent messaging across all marketing.

2.More engaging marketing:

Dennis has an incredible story to tell, and one that resonates with people across the country. But this story is lacking throughout his marketing. The website, social media and printed material needed to push this message more and drive his value proposition.

3.Introduce new marketing tactics:

New initiatives were suggested to attract his target audience more effectively – including a new CRM system, content marketing, range of PR initiatives, and online advertising.

Lastly:

It was great to be part of Dennis’s journey on developing the business, and hearing about how he is helping businesses to cut plastic pollution.

Steps are now being worked on to introduce the new marketing strategy.

His business will no doubt expand rapidly with the popularity of the circular economy and the need to look after our environment.

And with consumers increasingly looking to buy from companies that embrace an eco-friendly ethos, it also makes good business sense too and helps increase the bottom line.