Kcom

Though Kcom is an exciting new business, it’s no unreliable start-up. It was created in 2009, through the merge of Affiniti and Kingston Communications, two established businesses within the KCOM Group.

The decision to bring the businesses together was comprehensively researched, and based on customer, shareholder and employee feedback. Then Proctors was tasked with communicating the change, explaining how important it was to the business’s continued success, before gaining employee buy-in across both organisations.

The Proctors response
We approached the challenge with a two-pronged approach: a pre-launch campaign explained the thinking behind the changes; before a launch campaign introduced the new brand.

The pre-launch activity saw us create a teasing look and feel at the new identity without revealing name or logo. Collateral included a sequence of personalised postcards and DM mailers, supported by email. These communications explained the thinking behind changes, dispelling fears and enthusing employees about the positive changes they could look forward to.

The launch activity showcased the new Kcom brand across media including staged personalised emails, DM, bannerstands, ceiling hangers, mugs, pens, fortune cookies and more.

Both campaigns were supported by substantial SharePoint sites for which we created content and design templates to help the in-house team make the most of what can be a challenging programme.

The results
Anecdotally, we hear the brand launch has been a great success – the marketing team received positive feedback from employees across both organisations, and there’s a real buzz of excitement about Kcom’s future.

And half way through the campaign we were delighted to receive an email from Elaine Dainton, Marketing Director at Kcom, saying:

“It’s been rather hectic getting all this out, but it looks good. A really consistent feel to the communications.”