Launching a US brand in the UK

U S-based TopResume was founded in 2014. It is dedicated to providing job seekers with quality career resources and resume-writing at an affordable price. The company had a strong profile in the US, and was regularly name-checked in career-related articles in consumer and national media. In the UK, however, its UK brand TopCV was entirely unknown.

The PR objective

Fourth Day was brought on board to establish the UK profile for TopCV. Specifically, our aims were to:

• Reach job-seekers likely to use CV-writing services
• Build awareness of the TopCV brand among recruiters
• Develop TopCV’s search engine rankings

With the company’s career expert, Amanda Augustine, already established as a ‘go-to’ commentator in the US, our aim was to replicate this success in the UK and to build Amanda’s profile up from scratch on this side of the Atlantic. As Amanda is based in the US, telephone interviews were hard to arrange and face-to-face meetings close to impossible. We therefore used a number of tactics.

1. Comment on topical issues. From paw-ternity leave and equal pay to throwing a sickie or beating the cv-reading robots, we offered Amanda’s views to journalists. Keeping a close eye on the calendar, we pitched stories at appropriate times – such as Blue Monday, Equal Pay Day and even Take Your Dog to Work Day. During the screening of The Apprentice on TV, we secured a weekly slot for Amanda in Real Business magazine, commenting on the latest episode.
2. Advice on workplace matters. As well as commentaries, we placed “top tips” articles by Amanda, offering advice on employment matters as well as on job applications, in both trade and consumer media.
3. Data-driven news. Using statistics from TopCV’s database, we were able to draw highly shareable stories from relating to the recruitment process. These covered a wide range of workplace topics, from the most inappropriate questions experienced by candidates to the selection criteria employed by recruiters.

"It's been a pleasure working with the team at Fourth Day. Their knowledge of the UK media landscape has been instrumental in helping 'Amanda Augustine' and TopCV gain traction in both digital and print media. Their efforts yielded a 72 per cent gain in organic traffic year over year."

Amanda Augustine Career Advice Expert, TopCV