Brintons set for £300,000 marketing blitz in 2015
Kidderminster-based carpet company Brintons has 'significantly' boosted its marketing budget to £300,000 for this year as it gears up for a series of major new product launches.
The company, which employs around 500 of its 1,400 strong workforce at its sites in Kidderminster and Telford, has also hired two new marketing agencies to promote its business during the year.
The carpet manufacturer, which holds the Royal Warrant, says the £300,000 investment and roster of new agencies for its PR, advertising and social media briefs are intended to help bolster a range of product launches and events. HROC Public Relations has been appointed to handle the commercial PR brief and develop social media channels for the company. MediaCom Birmingham will continue to serve as its retained media planning and buying agency.
Brintons says it will be teaming up with a number of designers, as well as building on existing partnerships throughout 2015 to deliver a schedule of new product launches, as well a commemorating the 50th anniversary of one of its most popular lines.
Sarah Draper, commercial marketing manager for Brintons, said: "This increased spend marks what is going to be an exciting year for the business, and we felt it was important to put forward this increased budget to help make the most of the opportunity we have to make these launches a huge success.
"By bringing on new agencies, and building on our existing relationships, we're confident that our 2015 plans will continue to build on the reputation that we have for design innovation, product excellence, technical expertise and customer focus."
Other agencies that will be supporting the marketing activity throughout the year include consumer agency Pure PR and Getme, a graphic design and website development agency based in Worcestershire.
Brintons, which can trace its history back 230 years, was rescued from the brink of collapse in September 2011 by US private equity firm Carlyle Group in a pre-packaged administration deal.
It's most recently released figures, for the 12 months to the end of September, showed sales down to £68.7 million from £82.1m the year before. But it a recent link-up with House of Fraser has seen its products on display in 38 key stores.
It has developed new ranges and opened a Dubai sales office to service the growing number of hotels in the region Earnings were down to £4.1m from £8.9m a year ago, while reorganisation costs and redundancies widened pre-tax losses to £6.4m from £4.2m the year before.
