It's always nice to receive positive feedback from a client, but when the feedback entails your work cropping up in an important new business meeting on the other side of the world then it moves from the "nice, like a good cup of tea" category into one entitled "blimey, we're pretty good at this PR thing, let's hit the town to celebrate".

The client who sent us spinning dizzily towards late night intoxication was none other than Ellis Patents - the global leader in cable cleats.

The exotic location of the meeting was Hong Kong - a former colonial outpost that is now part of China, but still likes its cricket. The new business meeting was apparently highly confidential, but if you put the words "Hong, "Power" and "Kong" in the right order you should be somewhere near the mark.

Anyway to cut a fairly concise story even shorter, here's what happened in one easily digestible sentence

Client walks into a meeting in Hong Kong with the intention of winning the company's business by underscoring the importance of properly tested cable cleats in electrical installations only to be confronted by his own face beaming out from a magazine article all about the importance of properly tested cable cleats in electrical installations.

(actually that was quite a long sentence - sorry).

Anyway, Richard Shaw, the of the aforementioned beaming face and managing director of Ellis Patents, takes up the story:

"Going into a new business meeting anywhere I like to think that myself and my colleagues are prepared for every eventuality, but to walk into a meeting nearly 6,000miles away from home and see my face staring back at me from a magazine on the boardroom table was absolutely staggering."

"I've always been a big advocate of the benefits of PR and this episode clearly shows just how powerful a tool it can be."

Ellis Patents subsequently secured the deal with Hong Kong Power, although we feel this probably had more to do with the skills and experience of Richard and his export sales manager, Tony Conroy, than the global appeal of our article - although it's nice to know it helped. 

And no, it wasn't paid-for advertising. That's proper news for you

www.ellispatents.co.uk