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Final Year Group Project Report

MN - 3000

By Group 33

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary…………………..………………………………………….…………. 5

Introduction…………………..………………………………………………………………6

Literature Review……………………………………….......………….......7, 8, 9, 10 and 11

Aims and Objectives…………………………………...……………………….………12, 13

Research………………………………..……………………………………………………14

Delivery and Implementation…………………………………..………………………15, 16

Evaluation……….……………….......………………..…………………………...……17, 18

Conclusion………………………………………………...……...………………..………...19

Recommendations...……………………………………..……………………………….…20

References………………………………………......……………………………………….21

Appendices…...……………………………………......…………………….….20, 21, 22, 23

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Executive Summary – Project Report

MJR is a marketing firm who work for Peter Lynn and Partners and manages all of their marketing requirements. They offer a wide range of marketing solutions to complex business problems in the Swansea business district. Its clientele includes small to medium sized businesses looking for creative, customer-tailored marketing content. This project report will cover a literature review, the aims and objectives of the project itself, any research that was carried out to be able to carry out the project, delivery and implementation of the project, an evaluation of the entire project, and recommendations for Peter Lynn and Partners for the future. A list of references will be given at the end of the project as well as a list of Appendices that were used to support the process of this project.

Summary of Literature review

A database is a powerful and important tool of marketing that is used by many firms such as MJR Marketing and Peter Lynn and Partners. The reason firms like these use databases is to create clean, segmented and accurate clientele databases for marketing purposes. These databases allow firms to be able to market their target clientele via e-mail marketing using the up to date data from the databases.

According to Jackson and Wang (1994) databases have experienced a driven growth over the years. It has become a more popular and efficient form of organising and managing client’s information for many firms, marketing firms in particular. There are many types of databases that can be created by businesses some of which include the elemental and complete marketing database, the prospect database and cluster databases. These databases fall into two categories, either passive or active marketing databases.

Summary of project aims and objectives

In summary, our principle aim was achieved as we successfully generated more business for Peter Lynn and Partners. Our secondary aim was also successfully met as we have developed a master database that is concise and relevant.

As a group we cleansed the database of impurities and irrelevant information to leave a segmented and structured database.

The group conducted appropriate primary research for the implementation of the campaign, which has undoubtedly laid the foundations for a successful e-mail marketing campaigns. The e-mail marketing campaigns have been conducted and have returned favourable results.

Summary of delivery

Throughout the course of the project we as a group delivered and implemented a number of key things. Firstly we were able to implement several marketing campaigns for Peter Lynn & Partners. We successfully created a master database which we then managed to clean and finally segment. This master database once cleaned and segmented provided Peter Lynn & Partners with an up to date, and increased potential client list.

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Summary of results

The primary research we conducted as part of our project, which involved identifying the legal needs of various industry sectors, was useful in the creation of leaflets as part of an email marketing campaign. Since the campaign was launched in February, we have seen a relatively positive response with an open email rate of 41.2% for sports clubs and an open email rate of 34.6% for GPs, dentists and vets. Additionally, four sports clubs have approached Peter Lynn & Partners for incorporation.

Summary of success achieved

Within this report we go over the successes we had during the course of this project, firstly we were able to generate new business as well as raising the overall brand awareness of the firm. Together we were able to construct a master database, which was then cleaned and segmented throughout this process. Finally as a group we were able to conduct in depth research on a number of different sectors, which was used to create and implement targeted email marketing campaigns.

Summary of conclusions drawn

As part of the conclusions we have formulated, we have actively increased value to the organisation through increasing the exposure of the brand and generating new business. It is important for each objective to be achieved in a linear fashion as each stage relied of a previous stage to be completed. From our results, we were able to form an opinion on whether we would be tasked with a similar project in the future, as well as whether in the future it is necessary for the organisation to bring in another student group to complete a similar project.

Introduction

The project required us to work with Peter Lynn and Partners on behalf of MJR Marketing, Peter Lynn and Partners is a law firm that was established in 1999. It offers a range of top quality commercial and civil advice to both businesses and people in Swansea. Peter Lynn and Partners has expanded since then, opening offices situated in various locations in Swansea, some of the locations being Swansea city centre, Ponterdawe, Pennarth and Morriston, ("Peter Lynn & Partners | Solicitors & Legal Advisors in Swansea", 2016). The company as a whole has thirty-six members of staff across all offices, eight of those are legal partners and twenty-one members of staff are qualified solicitors and paralegals, who are currently backed by seven support staff. Their job role ensures commitment to securing the best possible outcome for all of their clients.

MJR Marketing is a marketing firm that offers a vast variety of services for both business and people in Swansea, ("MJR Marketing | PR and Branding | Advertising", 2016). They have worked with organisations of all sizes and professions but Peter Lynn and Partners is one of the main firms that MJR Marketing manages the marketing communications for. The

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marketing firm allows businesses and people to access their skills and mainly focuses on developing their clients business.

The project group consisted of five members, Hadia Khan, Gaby Pye, Olly Kirby, Michael and Scott Hennessy. The main reason for the project initially was because of the several challenges that Peter Lynn and Partners identified in their marketing communications for all of their clientele. They found that there was a lot of clustered and unnecessary data in their documents. In the paperwork form of data there was several missing data entries, such as email addresses or telephone numbers were not entered therefore those customers had to be removed. All the data initially was entered onto an electronic version of a database, so that marketing to clients would be easier for Peter Lynn and Partners. Another issue Peter Lynn and Partners identified was that their data was stored on several different platforms of documents; this made it difficult for the organisation to market to all of their clients efficiently and effectively quick enough to see results.

Therefore the project required the group to create a master database. The group was also required to manage the database for the duration of the project, segment and clean it as part of the managing process. It was essential to carry out research in order to develop a series of communication campaigns using the database and Mailchimp as well as develop a communication strategy centred on the database.

The main point of contact for this group project was Liam Reardon who works for MJR Marketing on behalf of Peter Lynn and Partners. The initial agreed meeting point of contact was the Peter Lynn and Partners offices that are situated in the SA1 area of Swansea. That would be the first place the group would visit if any help or support was required, as well as contacting Liam. Our group worked side by side with Liam Reardon of MJR Marketing to ensure that this project was carried out to its best possible outcome.

Literature Review

As previously mentioned, MJR is a marketing firm that offers a wide range of marketing solutions to complex business problems in the Swansea business district. Its clientele includes small to medium sized businesses looking for creative and tailored marketing services. Throughout this project, MJR Marketing has worked in close liaison with Peter Lynn and Partners in order to market their requirements and communications to their clients. As a result of MJR Marketing’s diverse range of products and clientele they can construct, generate and satisfy customer needs effectively and efficiently. Currently, the organisations overriding and primary objective is to grow and expand it’s marketing services in Swansea. It has already begun to meet this aim since tasking this group project with initiating an e-mail marketing campaign in an attempt to create and expand tailored marketing databases.

A database is a powerful application that is used by marketers such as MJR Marketing and law firms such as Peter Lynn and Partners to manage their client’s information. Law firms use a database for its client list, to log marketing efforts, and to manage its many form of

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documents. Once the data is input into a database, it can be managed in a various ways. A firm can sort the information into a range of categories, which makes it easier for marketers to target their clients. Collecting and managing data in law firm cases can usually be a challenge for the legal team therefore databases can play a key role in gathering and filtering information, (Nollkamper, 1994). These documents must be managed and reviewed in a way that allows the team at the law firm to almost immediate access to them. By entering clientele data into databases allows data to be organised and located quickly when required.

According to Jackson and Wang (1994) marketing databases in particular have experienced a sustained dynamic growth over the years. They provide a unique source of information on customer needs, especially for businesses such as Peter Lynn and Partners due to quality and reliability of information required in order for the organisation to design an effective marketing campaign. By analysing customer data, marketers such as MJR marketing who work on behalf of firms such as Peter Lynn and Partners can assess the effectiveness of all the aspects of existing marketing practices, which include strategy, planning, campaign design, implementation of marketing efforts and customer communication, (Jackson and Wang, 1994).

There are two main types of marketing databases, Passive and Active. A passive marketing database involves generating a customer list and then storing this list in the database. Future marketing efforts target the same customers in the list. The database is only a mailing list passively storing information about acquired customers, and has no active influence on the company’s strategic marketing decisions. Passive databases are often used in smaller companies that lack the resources to actively track customers and update databases. Rather these firms periodically purchase third party mailing lists from data vendors. An active database however is a database, in which some operations are automatically executed once a given situation arises, (Kumar & Reinartz, 2012).

Passive and active databases consist of sub-types of databases that support the entry and management of client data, which include, the elemental and complete marketing database, the prospect database and cluster databases.

An elemental and complete marketing database can track all marketing attempts toward a customer. Organisations like MJR Marketing will be able to avoid marketing duplicate, supplemental, and misdirected information. Marketing databases support a wide range of business functions such as advertising and customer service. MJR Marketing uses customer databases as well as prospect databases, customer databases identify and profile the best customers and communicate with these customers to stimulate a response. The information received from the databases allows the organisation to market their products and legal services to specific customer segments to achieve higher new marketing contribution.

The prospect database includes information on non-customers with profiles similar to those of existing customers. MJR Marketing and other similar organisations use the prospect database strategy to design marketing campaigns to target prospects with intent of acquiring them as new customers. MJR Marketing does this after carefully analysing the channels through which the prospects like to receive information e.g. via direct emails or the post.

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Cluster databases include information about small clusters based on geographic reference groups, affinity groups, and lifestyle reference groups, (Kumar and Reinartz, 2012). MJR Marketing uses marketing strategies such as customer, prospect and cluster databases to target specific market groups for their marketing campaigns through e-mail marketing and other marketing campaigns.

According to Tapp, A. (1998), marketing databases are important and can add value to analysis of data in two specific areas. The first area is that of measurement of the data inputted into the database, and the second area is that of segmentation and targeting the data. He believes that it cannot be expressed enough how valuable a customer database is to a segmentation strategy. One of the reasons it is so important is because of the high volume and type of data that is available on a good database, instead of a large variety of different data sets, such as paper documents, information or business cards and contact logs, (Tapp, 1998). The second reason for the databases segmenting value is that once the segments have been created, each customer can be specifically allocated to each relevant group, and then marketed to accordingly. This allows the message to be relevant and personal to each group of clients resulting in a higher rate of response.

A way of businesses ensuring that databases are managed well and that all the information is accurate is by cleaning and segmenting the database. Using the correct procedures to enter data into a database can allow the data to be more efficient and accurate. Once the clientele information is entered into the database, the quality of the data must be verified, which is the process that is often referred to as data cleaning. Organisations can use existing data on files as well as acquiring new data to enter into the databases, one of the main advantages of using existing data entry is that various computer checks can be used to discover data errors early on in the process of entering the data into a database. Computers are usually known to perform repeated tasks quite efficiently and with somewhat complete accuracy, they have an ability that makes them ideal for identifying certain kinds of data errors, (Tatian, 1992).

However some errors can only be discovered manually, although computer authentications can be tremendously valuable in improving the quality of data, they are not an alternative for cautious training and supervision of data entry operators. According to Tatian, P.A. (2012), there are two typical types of data errors, the first data entry errors are the mistakes made while entering data onto a database, these could include mistyping, forgetting a record of data, or entering the same record twice. The second type of error involves inconsistent or missing data, in this case the information was entered correctly from the manual files but some of the data is missing or does not make sense when compared with other information. Recognition of the difference between each of these two types of errors is crucial because both require different methods of correction.

As much as errors should be avoided, they are a common aspect of data entry, although data entry errors can be fixed quite simply by manually checking over the databases and manually correcting mistypes or deleting doubles of data entries, however problems involving inconsistent or missing data can only be resolved by checking with other sources, such as the clients in the case of Peter Lynn and Partners.

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According to Palmer, Cockton & Cooper (2007), Information can only be incorrect when used in a specific situation and the information used in that situation leads to a different outcome to the one expected. Errors in data entry can occur from two possible roots, firstly the data can be incorrect because it was wrong to begin with, correct data was incorrectly recorded or transcribed or the data was correct in the first place but now is out of date. Also wrong data can also occur if the association is inappropriate because of the wrong association has been applied to the correct data, or the right association is applied to incorrect data.

Photo from (Palmer, Cockton, & Cooper, 2007)

The above matrix may help if any aspect of data entry went wrong; checking the data sources for accuracy is necessary if the outcome is not what is expected. Misuse of data or bad expectations of data sources could lead to marketing campaigns being sent out to irrelevant or the “wrong” clients, (Palmer, Cockton, & Cooper, 2007). Firms like MJR Marketing would have wasted their time marketing to clients that no longer use a specific e-mail address or are no longer in need of a legal service.

Although creating marketing databases allowed MJR Marketing to have a segmented and up-to date master database of all Peter Lynn and Partners clients, one of the other main purposes was so that setting up e-mail marketing campaigns became more efficient and effective due to the data being accurate and up to date. According to Lewis, H.G. (Lewis, 2002), e-mail marketing is an advertising medium that will become one of the leading resources for the expanding companies of this day and age, (Lewis, 2002). And due to its fairly low cost, personalisation, and tracking abilities, it will become one of the first choices of direct marketers such as MJR Marketing across all vertical markets.

According to the quarterly Direct Marketing Association (www.the-dma.org), the economic impact study, e-mail marketing generally has the highest return on investment (ROI) when it is compared to other forms or marketing. Delivering messages by combining different instruments and various types of media is an effective way to market a business, but organisations will probably find that it is more affordable to lean heavily on a few communication tools where delivering the businesses message results in the highest return, ("DMA - Direct Marketing Association - Data Driven Marketing | thedma.org", 2016).

The reason why MJR Marketing designs e-mail marketing campaigns for the clients of Peter Lynn and Partners is because they believe that todays customer is looking for some key

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intangibles, and email marketing gives the organisation the chance to deliver all of these through one platform of marketing. Some of these intangibles include, focused information, proven value, expertise, relationships and branding.

A step-by-step guide to promote these e-mail marketing campaigns is always effective, and puts a strategy in place. It is evident that It has to be decided where the marketing campaign will be sent out, in this case Peter Lynn and Partners chose to use direct e-mail marketing as a platform for sending out messages through marketing campaigns. E-mail marketing was suitable for the Peter Lynn and Partners as there were high volumes of e-mails given as a form of contact for clients in comparison to home addresses. Secondly, the group was required to carry out research for relevant industry sectors in order to create effective marketing campaigns to target these sectors individually. It was crucial to track the opening percentages of these e-mails, as they would be considered as what recorded the effectiveness of the e-mail marketing campaigns.

According to the ‘The Internet Marketing Academy’ (Email Marketing, 2000) open rates are known as the number of communications an e-mail server gets as a result of a recipient opening an e-mail advertisement. The E-mail Service Provider (also known as ESP) of the firm will be notified when an email has been opened because either the images have been displayed or downloaded in an opened e-mail or the recipient clicked on a link within the e-mail sent to the client. These actions indicate an opened e-mail marketing campaign because the images are stored on the ESP’s server and accessed from the server when e-mails are opened. A link within the e-mail is tracked because any clicks on the links are easily track able. This is one of the main reasons why organisations such as MJR Marketing use images and links into a marketing e-mail as part of an effective e-mail marketing strategy.

For many companies, e-mail marketing campaigns have become one of the main methods for both communicating with their market to reinforce their positioning, for customer acquisition, and for retaining existing clients and building a stronger relationship with them by sending them marketing messages that are personal to them and allow them to feel a valued part of the business.

For various firms such as Peter Lynn and Partners having a marketing firm in place to be able to create effective and segmented databases is important as firms such as MJR Marketing hold a set of expertise to be able to tackle the marketing communication barriers Peter Lynn and Partners face with their clients.

When the group initially started the project with Peter Lynn and Partners, there were several forms of documents with client data on that was scattered within the firm, the legal team gathered all the documents that held client data on for the group to be able to work with MJR Marketing for them to input all the clientele data into one master database.

Aims & Objectives

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Now that Peter Lynn and Partners has been introduced with the relevant background information, the next stage involves assigning objectives relative to what we are ultimately attempting to accomplish by the conclusion of the project.

The Chartered Management Institute (Revised December 2013) exclaims that ‘for objectives to be achieved successfully, it is necessary to identify ones such as improving performance’. This can be intrinsically tied to our main objective, of attempting to generate more business for Peter Lynn and Partners by developing and implementing e-mail marketing campaigns with the necessary foundations to broaden the firm’s exposure to the local market and beyond. Aims and objectives have been integral to the success of the project as they have provided clarity and purpose to all members involved. With a clear scope of focus, members have been more productive and efficient in attempting to meet these goals as everyone is working towards one common purpose. With a common objective integrated in the group, attitudes and approaches to completing objectives were proactive. It can be argued that these goals have acted as a motivational indicator to the group as unity and togetherness have been key drivers of our success.

Our primary and overarching aim was to generate more business for Peter Lynn and Partners. With this objective being the focal point of the project, it occurred to the group that we would naturally achieve various others aims that would only bring additional added value to the organisation. These aims were not specifically set out to be achieved, but can be interpreted as exerted benefits that have been emulated as a result of the progression towards the primary goal. These achievements include a concise understanding of the local business landscape, an enhanced brand image, a stable competitive advantage and long term customer relationship management.

Our secondary aim was to create and develop a master database that once completed, would form the basis for the implementation of our e-mail marketing campaigns. It was critical that this aim was achieved, as without a transparent and segmented database, the campaigns would not reach the full effectiveness that would be required for a perceived successful project. Subsequently, it was essential that segmentation was achieved otherwise we would be appealing to the wrong target audience, which would undermine core marketing values and have a negative impact on operational efficiency.

The process undertaken to deliver these objectives was significant and methodical. Initially, all members interpreted secondary data provided to us by the company in the form of business cards, leaflets and a Wills Book. This data was equally dissected into five parts with the intention of having a segmented, concise and accurate database. After many hours of manually inputting information, we had finally developed a master database. Upon completion of the master database, the company has positioned itself appropriately for the implementation of the e-mail marketing campaigns. Moreover, marketing techniques such as targeting, segmentation, and positioning had been appropriately engaged which has supplemented our success for our project.

(Lawlor and Hornyak 2012) explain that SMART Objectives has been an effective mechanism for businesses, labelling it a ‘valuable tool’. Recent academic research by Lawlor

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and Hornyak concluded that teams utilizing the SMART objectives template will outperform teams that do not use the template. Based on this notion, it was critical to develop a range of SMART objectives to ensure there were specific, measureable, attainable, realistic and timely targets to abide too.

The specific and strategic objective that we set was to develop existing and new relationships with clientele across the local and wider area surrounding Swansea. Upon completion of the objective we have achieved a strategic competitive advantage due to the fact we have acquired a specific and targeted database.

In order to assess the effectiveness of our work, it is important we measure the on-going progression towards objectives. For example, we identified a measurement objective entitled ‘MJR Marketing aims to generate 100 new leads from the intended e-mail marketing campaigns’. This goal has allowed us to work quantifiably towards achieving this target.

To make sure the group’s attitude was not farfetched and unrealistic; we set out a series of goals that were considered to be as attainable as possible with regards to achieving the primary objective. There were other constraints external to the project that needed equal attention such as working on other university related work that required a significant amount of time to be dedicated to it also.

In order for the project to be successful, objectives must be relevant and realistic to every member involved. This is important because it can serve as a motivational indictor to allow the group to work more productively. Moreover, it is important to the group for the content to be relevant. The group has studied a range of marketing modules for three years and acquired a deep knowledge and passion for this field. The project presented the group with our first opportunity to see authentic marketing work being implemented in a real business context, which we felt was a very rewarding experience.

Lastly, time management is critical to the project as it provides a timeframe for work deadlines. For example, we aimed to complete the master database by 21st February 2016. This would ensure we were ready for the implementation of the campaigns. Additionally to this, to ensure that effective time management skills were demonstrated, the group organised a structured semester timetable based, to ensure timings were followed and deadlines were met.

To sub conclude this section, the group successfully completed the two main objectives. This has resulted in a positive outcome for both Peter Lynn and Partners and the group. In relation to the primary objective, we have met it with enthusiasm and received a 34% open rate, with 0% business for the first campaign that targeted GP’s, vets and dentists. From the results extracted from Mailchimp, it is important to emphasise that they will be more favourable in the long term. What the results do initially illustrate is that campaign is having a positive effect to some extent, with the opportunity to build on that in the forthcoming months.

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The second campaign targeted at sports clubs brought much more success. Extracted results show 41.2% of the intended recipients opened the attachment, with a further four companies coming forward for incorporation. Achieving this goal positively correlates with our primary objective of generating more business for Peter Lynn and Partners.

Research

We have been conducting primary research as part of the second part of our project to expand the current client list of the master database. We have achieved this by researching various industry sectors, which were illustrated in a table provided to us by the company (see Appendix 1)

For instance, when it came to researching sports clubs in the Swansea area, between the postcodes of SA1 to SA14, we visited the following sites: golfunionwales.org, cricketwales.org.uk, faw.org.uk, yell.com, and welshsports.org.uk. We then compiled contact details, such as the addresses, telephone numbers and emails of the sports clubs, into a master database.

We approached our research of GPs, vets and dentists in a similar fashion, finding similar sites, such as yell.com, useful in identifying and obtaining contact details. These research findings were inputted onto a separate master database to the sports clubs. We segmented our research in order to avoid disorder in the database so information would be easier to identify and obtain. (See appendix 2)

Once we had completed the master database, we began to research the legal needs of each industry sector by searching for specific activities associated with the industry and the potential defence or representation they may require. This was necessary as our research findings were to be used in leaflets which would be sent out to the businesses listed in the master databases we had constructed.

We were not required to conduct any questionnaires or surveys as part of our project. After discussion with our company contact, it was agreed that the Internet would be the most effective way to find the contact details of a large number of businesses quickly. It would have taken a long time to construct and send out questionnaires, as well as allowing time for businesses to respond, if at all.

An email marketing campaign has been sent out at the end of each month since February using the legal needs research for each industry sector of that month. We have conducted research for the months of January and February, which included GPs, sports clubs, vets and dentists. In addition, we have completed our aim of researching the remaining industries for March, April, May and June, which included trades, hospitality and leisure, education, care homes, retailers, manufacturers, online traders and charities.

This is an example of the legal needs for the hospitality industry (see Appendix 3)

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We have so far seen relatively positive results from the first email marketing campaign targeting sports clubs, in the form of email open rates and new businesses directly approaching Peter Lynn & Partners. The outcome of these research findings will be discussed further in the Evaluation section below.

Delivery and Implementation

In October 2015, our group had our initial meeting with Liam Reardon of MJR marketing to discuss the key parts of our project that we were to complete over the course of the academic year. The main factors that we discussed were firstly the support we would receive for creating the databases that were fundamental to the operational effectiveness of Peter Lynn & Partners. We discussed the parameters of when we could work, this project was different to many others due to the fact the data we were handling was sensitive in nature, and the work could not be removed from the office. Due to that we set out a timetable which we organised at that time where it would be appropriate for us to come to the office and work. Lastly we discussed the deadlines for each section of the work that we were to complete. Once the project was discussed we saw, that there was a natural progression from start to finish of our project, where each stage relied on the completion of the previous one.

Upon beginning the project we were presented initially with a large quantity of data which we had to methodically work through and organise. The information that was presented to us was in the form of company logs of current and past clients. Once this data was organised we then inputted this into an excel spread sheet. As well as these logs we were tasked subsequently to input a significant amount of business cards into the aforementioned spread sheet. This was conducted over a period of three weeks, each week we had one slot in which we were able to work in. Each week we were allocated three hours in which to complete work by Peter Lynn & Partners as a result of the 1998 Data Protection Act.

Once this had been achieved, we then spent a further two weeks entering the relevant data manually into a new database which comprised of all the separate databases we had been working on. The reason for this was to create one master database which provided Peter Lynn & Partners with a refreshed and streamlined client list. This proved to be a valuable business asset for Peter Lynn & Partners which we completed in an efficient and professional manner.

Once the master database had been created, the group was then tasked to segment and clean it. What this entails is that we went through the master database and removed any unnecessary or expired data that was not relevant. This unwanted data provided Peter Lynn & Partners with no potential for new business and this was the reason for discarding it. This can be demonstrated for example if a name on the database is found to no longer live at the address stated, then they cannot be targeted by a marketing campaign and so time and resources are being wasted by sending the campaigns out to them. Once the master database was cleaned the operational effectiveness was significantly improved, giving Peter Lynn & Partners a more realistic idea of potential clients.

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The next stage of our project began in January 2016, this stage saw the beginning of our primary research which was conducted in order to expand the client list which we had complied in the master database. This was carried out by separating different trades and professions down into months. By doing this we were able to methodically work through every sector of business in the Swansea area. Once the businesses were identified and allocated months, we researched those segments, using the parameters of SA1-14. These area codes covered the entirety of the Swansea area and massively expanded the reach of Peter Lynn & Partners, meaning that the business had significantly more potential clients. Once they were researched their contact information was also added to the master database. The information that we had collated with regards to the segments was done in accordance to criteria that we had agreed on, that would benefit us and the company in the marketing campaign. An example of this activity would be the Vets, GPs, and Dentists that we researched in the Swansea area. Firstly we identified what practices there were in Swansea, gathering data accordingly. Therefore we researched what legal requirements they might possibly need. Peter Lynn & Partners is a law firm looking to bring in business centred on the utilisation of the solicitors that it has in its employ. This compelled us to research what legal services these professions were likely to require. The results of our extensive research found that these types of practices require defence for example in cases such as negligence. If there were to be a dispute over the quality of the service provided by a dentist then they may require a solicitor to defend them in a court or tribunal. The anticipation that the group had for the campaign is that we would send out campaigns with very relevant and accurate information, specific to the needs of the targeted recipient, rather than a generic leaflet. This was done in the assumption that should an occasion arise that legal aid was required, Peter Lynn & Partners would be in the forefront of the mind of the individual in need. The leaflets that were specific to the trade or profession required a significantly increased amount of work as opposed to a generic leaflet; however the campaigns we sent out gave us the best chance of having businesses make contact.

Due to the research that we conducted, we were able to implement several e-mail marketing campaigns over the duration of our project with varying, but positive results. Throughout this project we have successfully created a master database; we have then cleaned it, and finally implemented a series of successful marketing campaigns on behalf of Peter Lynn & Partners. This process ultimately provided Peter Lynn & Partners with an increased potential client list, and has generated, and is continuing to generate business for the company.

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Evaluation

Over the course of the project there has been a range of aspects which can either be viewed as a success or a failure. These successes and failures form an evaluation as to whether our actions for Peter Lynn and Partners were able to produce a positive impact for the firm.

There were a few aspects that worked well within our project, the first being our approach to group dynamics. From the start of the project we were able to work effectively as a team in order to complete the tasks set by Peter Lynn and Partners, ultimately demonstrating synergy within the group. This also allowed us to complete the work in accordance with our pre-determined timetable that we agreed during our first meeting. Throughout the duration of the project we did not assign a team leader due to the fact that we all took responsibility for the completion of work throughout the process. This fits in well with Belbin’s team roles theory (Belbincom, 2016) and our own pre-arranged group strategy. Due to the diverse team dynamics present in our group, each team member had various strengths which were used to our advantage throughout this project. A key example would be our ability to develop and utilise a strategy for effective communication. This created an environment whereby natural leaders emerged at various stages throughout the project, rather than a situation where leaders were delegated. This process highlights valuable characteristics of leadership, which enables individuals best suited to a particular task found themselves directing operations.

Despite the majority of aspects working well within our group, we struggled with dividing the group to work on different sections of the project particularly in relation to the academic coursework and practical company based assignments. To increase efficiency throughout the project, on reflection we should have divided the work load between two work parties within the group. A prominent example being when the group was approaching the end of the completion of the master database.

Theoretically had we split the work efforts of the group between finishing the database and the beginning of the marketing campaigns it could have provided us with more tangible results and provided us with the opportunity for deeper analysis of the effectiveness of the email marketing campaign. Consequently the results the results of the campaign could have been judged to a success or a failure, and so earlier corrective action could have been taken.

This assignment consisted of three main objectives, which were set out by the company in the project brief. The first objective was to create, clean and segment a master database which contained all past and current clients of their firm. In terms of this objective we were able to create the master database to a professional and articulate level. The overall assumption of this is that it will then be used by the company for short and long term implications that will benefit Peter Lynn and Partners as an organization.

The process of removing any old and unusable data was beneficial in improving customer acquisition activity. The creation of a prospective client list, as well as an increased

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return on the postal/email campaigns has led to a more operational database. The second objective was conducting research on a number of various industry sectors. The research we were asked to complete was to list the common legal requirements of each sector, respectively. Overall this objective was completed successfully as we were able to provide accurate research on each sector we were given. This research was then utilized into targeting the sectors appropriately. The final objective was to orchestrat the email marketing campaigns, which was achieved by collecting the contact details of related companies within the SA1-14 area and integrating them within our email marketing campaign mailing list.

Our objectives included improving how the firm managed their client’s contact information, thus improving accessibility for the lawyers. Through the process of creating the master database we were able to compile all client information into one easy to access file, available throughout the firm. The second main objective was to effectively bring in new clients to the firm, as well as improving brand awareness among various industries. We completed this objective through implementing the email marketing campaign. This objective was considered to be the main priority as it would have the most lasting effect on the firm, where a planned campaign could be released on a monthly basis from now through to November.

Once the email marketing campaign was initiated, we were able to gather a range of results. The first campaign targeted GP’s, Vets and Dentists which produced an email open rate of 34.6%. The result of this campaign however unfortunately resulted in the generation of no new business for Peter Lynn and Partners. Despite the unfavourable results of this campaign, one benefit we can identify is the increased brand awareness for Peter Lynn and Partners. The second campaign, aimed at sports clubs, received a 41.2% email open rate with four clubs approaching the firm for incorporation. Based on this data, we can conclude the campaign had a significantly positive impact on the firm. Unfortunately, we only have the results for two of the campaigns we have planned to set out, however we would expect to see more clients approaching the firm for incorporation throughout the remainder of the year.

In hindsight, it can be concluded that through our actions there has been various positive impacts on the firm. One of the more significant impacts that can be drawn from the project is contributing additional value to the organisation.

The most beneficial impact is client acquisition therefore allowing the business to improve business liquidity and increased revenue. The company should be able to acquire a greater number of clients through an increased the overall awareness of the firm. Although brand awareness on its own does not hold any financial value for the firm, it provides the necessary foundations to increase market exposure which brings potential for the generation of new business for the company, hence why we consider this impact to be invaluable to Peter Lynn and Partners long term vision.

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Conclusions

In hindsight, it can be concluded that through our actions there has been various positive impacts on the firm. One of the more significant impacts that can be drawn from the project is contributing additional value to the organisation, with the most beneficial impact being client acquisition, therefore improve business liquidity and increase revenue.

The company should be able to acquire a greater number of clients through an increased overall awareness of the firm. Although brand awareness on its own does not hold any financial value for the firm, it provides the necessary foundations to increase market exposure, and maximise potential for the generation of new business.

In conclusion, we believe that our objective of creating and developing a master database of clientele was appropriate in terms of achieving our primary aim of generating more business. However, in an attempt to reach this objective it is critical to understand that without acquiring a master database it would not be possible to implement the campaigns. The primary objective was reliant on the completion of the secondary objective as there needed to be an efficient method to locate client information. It is essential for us to have and clean, segmented database. This coupled with research of legal needs meant that we could easily distribute the campaigns to our intended target audience, hence generating new business for Peter Lynn and Partners.

The group has concluded that each objective was necessary in achieving our final aim. However, due to the manual hours required for the database, it has proven difficult to contact everyone required for the email marketing campaigns. This can be illustrated by attaining less than desirable results at this late stage of the project. Subsequently we haven’t seen any visible or tangible differences in expanding clientele. On reflection if we has started the e-mail marketing campaign earlier and contacted a greater number of potential new clients from the database then we could have adapted our approach to achieve more desirable results.

As a collective, we feel that although we have completed a sustainable master database for the company to use, we would have preferred to do a more marketing based project in line with the modules we have taken an interest throughout our degrees. Feedback from the organisation has suggested that they are satisfied with what we have achieved, but due to the framework we have set in place it would not be necessary for another student group to undertake the activities of the first part of the project, which was data-basing.

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Recommendations

The first main recommendation that we have identified for Peter Lynn and Partners is that they should consistently update the master database. It took us as a group a significant amount of time to initially compile the data however if done regularly in a piecemeal fashion, the database could be updated regularly. The reason for this is that this database when consistently updated provides Peter Lynn and Partners with an up to date client list, meaning the maximum number of potential clients are targeted.

The second recommendation is that although the primary research has been done for the marketing campaigns, it should be regularly redone in order to ensure that recent changes in law, or the profession or trade being targeted is completely catered for by the campaign. Should a certain profession discover a problem that stems from current changes in law, with consistent campaign updates they will be targeted with relevant information which could very possibly generate an increased level of business.

Upon looking into the future, the business could operate reflectively and formulate a system for processing feedback. Upon collecting this feedback the firm could then ustilise this to assess the quality and effectiveness of the past marketing campaigns. This reflective analysis could be used to update the way the new campaigns are formulated and put into practice.

The process is sustainable as it requires very little user input to maintain the client list and to keep the campaigns relevant. Doing work as mentioned previously in a piecemeal type fashion the operational effectiveness could be kept at a consistently high level.

The last recommendation that this group would like to suggest is that the firm could explore other marketing communications channels to enhance the operational effectiveness of campaigns.

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References

1. Peter Lynn & Partners | Solicitors & Legal Advisors in Swansea. (2016). Peterlynnandpartners.co.uk. Retrieved 2 May 2016, from http://www.peterlynnandpartners.co.uk/

2. MJR Marketing | PR and Branding | Advertising. (2016). Mjrmarketing.com. Retrieved 2 May 2016, from http://mjrmarketing.com/

3. Tapp, A. (1998). Principles of direct and database marketing. London: Financial Times.

4. Nollkamper, P. (1994). Fundamentals of law office management. Minneapolis/St. Paul: West Pub. Co.

5. Kumar, V. & Reinartz, W. (2012). Customer Relationship Management. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

6. Lewis, H. (2002). Effective e-mail marketing. New York: AMACOM.7. Tatian, P. (1992). Designing a data entry and verification system. Washington, D.C.:

International Food Policy Research Institute.8. DMA - Direct Marketing Association - Data Driven Marketing | thedma.org. (2016).

thedma.org. Retrieved 2 May 2016, from http://thedma.org/9. The Internet Marketing Academy.,. (2000). Email marketing. BookBooN.com.10. Palmer, R., Cockton, J., & Cooper, G. (2007). Managing marketing. Amsterdam:

Butterworth-Heinemann.11. Journal of Business Strategy, vol 33 no 6 2012, pp40-46.12. Page 259 - Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, volume

39, 201213. Page 260 - Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, volume

39, 201

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Appendices

Appendix 1.

MONTH SECTOR

JANUARY GP Sports Clubs

FEBRUARY Professional Services Sector Dentist Vets

MARCH Trades Hospitality & Leisure

APRIL Education / Spin Out Businesses from HE Nursing Homes / Care Homes

MAY Retailers Manufacturers / Food Manufacturers IT / Online Traders

JUNE Charities / Third Sector

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Appendix 2.

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Appendix 3.

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