It’s been a barnstorming last few months for London-headquartered Peregrine Communications with some strong client wins including Acadian Asset Management, Wells Fargo Asset Management, Mirae Asset Global Investments and Rogge Global Partners.
2014 is set to be another stellar year as the firm seeks to cements its reputation in the US through the establishment of a New York office.
“We are the only integrated marketing and communications firm globally that is focused purely on asset management and we now have our team located in both London and New York. Media relations veteran Peter Roche has been appointed Executive Director for our New York business and Account Director Max Hilton will move to New York. We aim to have five people on the ground this year. We are also in negotiations to appoint a high-profile chairman,” confirms Anthony Payne, Founder and Group CEO of Peregrine.
What separates Peregrine apart from its competitors is a move towards providing marketing solutions to clients as opposed to run-of-the-mill PR services.
The second big push this year has been the further development of Peregrine’s content distribution strategy, says Payne: “We are the only firm with an integrated approach and processes with the appropriate team make up and skill sets to implement messaging/content, design and branding as well as digital and traditional media relations.”
“We look at every form of digital communication, for example, email – how does a manager communicate with their clients? – plus the design and development of websites and social media platforms.”
“This is a positive direction for Peregrine. We are producing more in the way of leads and real information for our clients because we are using analytics from MailChimp, Google, LinkedIn, Twitter, HedgePo and Facebook. By having an effective fully-integrated communications strategy we are able to amplify clients’ content reaching a wider targeted external audience and give them granular information on how the strategy is working.”
Critical to the success of this integrated strategy is having the right people. Ermanno Mattio, Partner and Head of Content Research, brings the technical knowledge and specialisation which means Peregrine can help clients develop high quality content that strongly communicates their investment story, their ‘edge’, Alan Pitchforth, Head of Creative who brings a strong design component to the brand strategy; factor in Daniel Jason’s work developing the best ways in which to integrate the brand message across different social media platforms and one gets a sense of how Peregrine is pushing the boundaries.
“Many hedge fund managers fail at the first step. They have not even optimised their mailing software to give immediate feedback as to who is reading their content, and where else it has gone” says Payne, adding: “Our objective is to ensure we have as much measurement as possible, using as much technology as possible, to create a controlled profile for our clients and clearly communicate their differentiated capabilities through thought leadership. If you’re trying to create a brand in the hedge fund industry, it has to be done through thought leadership.”
On winning the award, Payne comments: “Being selected by Hedgeweek’s readers as the best European PR firm for the fourth year running is a great endorsement for us. However, we aren’t resting on our laurels. With our effective content management strategy, and with an office in New York we are now an even more powerful marketing solution for our clients and are excited by what we will be able to achieve this year.”