Special effects software manufacturer Quantel is looking to hire a pan
European PR agency for the first time to raise its corporate profile in
an increasingly competitive market.
The company, which is a subsidiary of Carlton Communications and
produces graphics and special effects equipment for TV, video and print
advertising, is known to have approached three hi-tech specialist
agencies to handle an estimated six-figure account.
‘We have a better story to tell at Quantel than is generally known at
the moment,’ claimed head of publicity Roger Thornton. ‘We want to match
our company profile to the high reputation our products have in the
marketplace.’
He added that the winning agency would be expected to devise new PR
campaigns targeted at Quantel’s key markets in the TV, film and printing
industries, focusing in particular on the UK, France, Germany and
Scandinavia.
Thorton declined to give details of agency fees, but conceded that
Quantel was prepared to commit a large slice of its income to pay for a
PR programme. ‘If you pay peanuts you get monkeys,’ he said, ‘and I
don’t want monkeys.’
The company already has an in-house marketing and public relations team
of eight, which will continue to handle a range of corporate activities,
including advertising, events and brochure production.
Quantel, which exports around 80 per cent of its products and makes the
Paintbox imaging system, is facing increasing competition from rivals
such as Avid Technology and Discreet Logic, which created the special
effects software for the movies Apollo 13 and Batman Forever.
