Marketing specialist follows her heart
Walking the talk about being an honest, community-minded business makes a big difference to customer loyalty and long-term growth, according to the marketing experts at Pinnacle&Co., which very much practises what it preaches.
Pinnacle&Co. was started more than 20 years ago by designer and all-round people person Phillippa Jacobs.
Based in Christchurch, the company works with businesses and government departments to develop and enhance their branding, outreach and social media efforts.
Emphasis is placed on supporting small to medium-sized enterprises, with everything available from logo and brochure creation to website development and blog posts geared for search engine optimisation (SEO).
On a deeper level, though, it is the company culture that will prove decisive, Phillippa says. Otherwise, efforts to connect with customers may ring hollow.
“People do business with people,” she explains. “You need a great website and eye-catching signage but you also need a good culture. It takes effort but when you’re viewed as better people, others will want to do business with you.”
As a full-service marketing, advertising, web design and development agency, Pinnacle&Co. helps organisations form and share their messages across all platforms. This is done in keeping with a long-term strategy that they can also help develop.
But the company’s most obvious point difference is how successfully it implements its own advice for a caring and progressive internal culture. It’s why they have a company dog, Coco, and volunteer so much in the community.
Phillippa, for example, is Lt Governor of Zonta New Zealand and also spends every Monday lunchtime supporting the youth wing of the women’s group, Z Club, at Avonside Girls’ High School. She has previously won a Zonta “50 Women of Achievement Award”, putting her alongside notable recipients including Dame Silvia Cartwright, Helen Clark and Louise Nicholas.
Pinnacle&Co. also partners directly with community groups to support endeavours like Random Acts of Kindness Day, Scouting New Zealand and Endometriosis New Zealand. She Chairs Kiwi business Chicks and gives her time for Business Mentors New Zealand.
“When I started in the 1990s, this was a very male-dominated industry and I did it tough. That’s part of the reason giving back is so important to me now,” Phillippa says.
“It makes us a really nice company to work with,” she adds. “Our team is approachable and down-to-earth but our skill level is up there with the best.”
Phillippa says one of the most common mistakes companies make is trying to do their own marketing to save money.
“We don’t try to save clients money; we try to make them money,” she emphasises.
Pinnacle&Co. has a five-step formula to do this. That formula is kept close to their chests for competitive reasons but it is shared freely with clients.