Since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic in the UK, we have seen the full spectrum of the impact on small-medium businesses from our corporate travel provider client and membership organisations which have had to adapt to new restrictions around travel and events, to our toilet roll manufacturer client which has had to meet significantly increased demand as a result of stockpiling.
Family-run, North West-based Nova Tissue was over-run with media enquiries (mainly as a result of the excellent profile we’ve built for them over the last few years on social media and through digital PR) encouraging them to capitalise on the sudden demand for loo roll in the UK. The media were looking for a good news story on how manufacturers of in-demand products were ‘cashing in’ amidst all the negativity across other business sectors. However, we knew that this was neither ethical nor beneficial to the long term reputation of the company.
Instead, we offered up Nova Tissues’ experienced, down-to-earth managing director Khurram as the ‘voice of reason’ to reassure consumers and businesses that, while they and others had the capacity to meet the increased demand, there was no need to stockpile toilet paper and other household goods.
This resulted in coverage on Channel 4 documentary ‘Can our Supermarkets Cope?’, ITV’s ‘This Morning’ and in The Independent and The Daily Mirror. Not only did this give the company huge amounts of exposure as a small UK manufacturer, it also positioned them as a trusted supplier and partner to the many who they have now converted from one-off panic-buyers to long term customers.