Cornerstone Vision has helped local businesses reach the South West of England for more than 30 years. Managing Director, Ian Pilkington has been at the helm of the company since 2001. Local business journalist, Al Gibson asked him why the company has been so resilient?
AG: Looking at your Trust Pilot reviews it’s clear Cornerstone has proved to be effective in helping local businesses target the city. How do you help your clients reach new customers and increase their turnover?
Ian Pilkington: Cornerstone Vision is a multi-faceted company, known for our high level of customer service, and I would say we are able to help businesses grow by targeting Plymouth in three main ways.
1. Design and Print – we offer a one-stop service helping clients to fine-tune their messaging and create increased brand awareness;
2. Print Advertising – we publish respected news titles targeting different sectors, including The Plymouth Chronicle and Profile the official magazine of the Devon and Plymouth Chamber of Commerce; and
3. Leaflet Distribution – we can target any part of the city from a small area to the entire catchment area providing advertisers with maximum versatility.
AG: That’s an impressive range of options, but how does an advertiser choose which route to take? And isn’t there a conflict of interest between publications?
Ian Pilkington: Thank you, yes, we are pleased to offer a wide-ranging service and no, there isn’t any conflict of interest as each of these three options reaches different markets in different ways.
AG: So why advertise in the Plymouth Chronicle, instead of doing leaflets or vice versa?
Ian Pilkington: It depends on exactly what you want to achieve and what kind of budget you have. Pound for pound, you will reach more homes with a good-sized advert in The Chronicle. This is in comparison to the production and distribution costs of a leaflet.
The Chronicle is a well-established local brand, which people welcome into their homes and want to read. By advertising in this newspaper, you are associated with a well-respected publication in the city, which gives credibility to your message.
On the flip side, you may choose our leaflet option rather than newspaper advertising. This is because it may suit you better to have a high-quality leaflet printed to reach a particular type of customer. For example, if you’re selling houses, and want to establish yourself as a market leader in top-end properties, then you might go for a leaflet printed on heavier paper or card or have a gloss laminate. A slick brochure or leaflet in your targeted customer’s hands can be a good way to differentiate you.
We’ve got clients who do this three or four times a year, however, it all depends on what kind of product or service you are selling. It’s all about targets. By advertising in The Chronicle, you’ll get into 20 to 24,000 homes per area enabling you to reach a wide swathe of people. Whereas leafleting will enable you to target specific demographics, for example, old properties or new properties, more affluent or less affluent communities depending on what you are selling.
AG: And in terms of the Profile Magazine you publish for the Chamber, does that not compete with the Plymouth Chronicle?
Ian Pilkington: No, not at all, it complements it in fact. Profile is a business-to-business magazine that is mailed to businesses in the Chamber. The Chronicle is mainly a business-to-consumer newspaper and is delivered directly to homes. So different markets.
So there’s not really any competition. In fact, I was with a client yesterday who’s putting a 12-month campaign in the Chronicle. However, they also need to reach the business community. So they are now looking at advertising in Profile Magazine as well as a separate avenue.
Meet Ian Pilkington, MD of Cornerstone Vision
Ian Pilkington believes Plymouth has huge potential, even in difficult times. He encourages advertisers to reach more customers through print and design; advertising in The Chronicle and Profile Magazine and through door-to-door leaflet distribution.
Click to read the bio of Ian Pilkington.
AG: It’s interesting is to hear about the types of clients that use your services, from large corporations to charities through to small businesses and budding entrepreneurs. Tell us a bit more about the clients who use your Plymouth Leaflet Distribution service.
Ian Pilkington: Yes we have a very wide range of clients. We have contracts from national chains with local branches. They tend to do large volumes of leaflets, especially if they’ve got a national budget apportioned to their regional spend. We also serve the local authority as well as politicians during elections. And of course we have many local traders, shops, garages and home improvement companies etc, who use our services.
Home improvement companies will use leaflets or Chronicle adverts, whereas Restaurants and Takeaways who are set on reaching their golden mile will target with leaflets but it’s not exclusively like that. Even in this age of Deliveroo and Just Eat, we find leafleting is more popular than ever. Takeaway food services use us to deliver their menus and the companies that get the best results are those who repeat their distributions. People seem to like to tuck a menu or leaflet in a kitchen drawer until they are ready to use it.
AG: So how important is frequency in the mix of things?
Ian Pilkington: It can make all the difference! Our clients who get the best results repeat their leaflet distribution from time to time. They know what they’re doing. They know it works and that’s why they keep doing it. So frequency can be very useful to keep them at the forefront of people’s minds. Repetition, Reach, Reliability and Reputation describe what we do!
AG: Finally tell us about the different types of material you can distribute in Plymouth.
Ian Pilkington: So, the most common thing we distribute is flyers. These are just flat pieces of paper or card of various sizes whereas leaflets are folded. Folded leaflets are popular, particularly for menus and seem to have greater retention; flyers are kept for a good length of time too, especially if they are printed on durable card, if someone’s got an interest but not an immediate need.
This means some customers will respond even six months after a leaflet drop. We know this because the company tends to call us and place another distribution order when this happens. Brochures can also work very well. The most substantial brochure we ever distributed was from an adult learning agency, which produced a 24-page course guide in full colour. It was like delivering another magazine. Items like this that are durable and storable tend to have high retention.
Find out more about print advertising opportunities in Plymouth through Cornerstone Vision. Or contact our Distribution Team today to discuss your Plymouth leaflet delivery options. You can also download our Leaflet Distribution Media Pack.
Al Gibson
Al Gibson is a skilled journalist and business writer based in Exeter, UK. With a passion for storytelling, Al excels in interviewing business leaders and crafting compelling articles and blogs. He embraces the 'You Ask, We Answer' approach to blogging, coupled with SEO that ticks all the boxes. Al is also the Director at Countdown Creative Ltd, a content creation company that works internationally for diverse clients providing copywriting and editing services.
