A Golley good news day for business; raising your company profile.

NEWCASTLE-based full service marketing agency Golley Slater is flying the flag for the professional reputation of the PR industry, becoming the first consultancy in the region to gain the industry's professional standard qualification CMS.

The Consultancy Management Standard (CMS) is an independently-audited set of eight tests designed to ensure delivery of professional management, professional performance and measurable return on investment for all of Golley Slater's existing and future clients.

Being awarded the Consultancy Management Standard is an achievement which firmly demonstrates Golley Slater's commitment to best practice, putting the agency amongst a very select group of just 120, out of more than 2,000 public relations firms across the UK, to hold this sought-after kitemark.

Helene Graham, Head of Golley Slater Newcastle said: "The benefits for our clients are measurable, as the standard ensures complete transparency in the service we provide, something the PR industry has often been criticised for not supplying.

"We're constantly striving to add value to our clients' businesses and this development shows we're achieving our goal and delivering results that really make a difference to our clients' bottom line."

As a PRCA accredited agency, Golley Slater offers measurable and creative marketing solutions to meet the needs of its clients. So committed is Golley Slater to offering creative solutions to meet objectives, the company has invested in its own management and evaluation tool - an area which has traditionally been problematic for PR professionals.

Developed in-house by Golley Slater's research and development team; Impact, the new evaluation tool, provides a measurable way of looking at the value of PR in supporting business objectives.

The company understands the importance of effective campaign management and Impact allows the team to measure its own work against a set of pre-agreed objectives. The Impact evaluation tool is unique to the company and involves an array of different methods to establish the success of a campaign.

We measure impact through informal discussion with target journalists, formal research amongst target audiences, media monitoring and the analysis of anecdotal evidence from staff and those who interact with the business/organisation.

Further to this, Golley Slater has developed its own Impact evaluation software. Impact software measures success through the careful analysis of press and broadcast coverage against key messages and objectives agreed with our clients.

This ensures that the type of coverage generated throughout the PR campaign is working for our clients in a positive and meaningful way.

Impact is complemented by Insight, another development from Golley Slater which researches the marketplace to provide information, opinions and customer feedback to the benefit of the company, also helping develop 'insight to inspire' with a truly targeted media campaign.

The targeted research can be used to accurately devise campaigns or generate quality media coverage with news generating industry 'snapshots' or trend barometers.

The Insight tool provides an invaluable opportunity for clients to truly understand the nature of their business and devise an effective media campaign which will support company objectives.

Helene continues: "This is an exciting time as the company continues to identify areas in which we can provide added value across our client portfolio of top regional and national businesses.

"The introduction of Insight and Impact further cements our position within the region and highlights our offering as a trustworthy PRCA accredited agency in the North East.

"Golley Slater is unique in its approach, with a proven ability to demonstrate how effective media and PR campaigns are to a business and in turn providing a real return on investment for our client base."