James Collinson

Said the following about Joanna Hemmings:

“I would like to nominate Jo for Marketing Person of the Year for leading the complete re-brand of Network Certification Body (NCB). Jo has made the transition from Team Organiser to Communications Manager and taken responsibility for developing and delivering the marketing strategy for NCB, working to drive value through the allocated marketing budget.

NCB’s current branding was based upon its inception in 2012 and had become dated and behind the level of our competitors. Jo took on the challenge of re-branding NCB by first and foremost running a tender process to procure brand development through a creative agency. This work included getting Executive buy-in within NCB and developing the concepts, including a refreshed tone of voice, to deliver a new set of brand guidelines. I was particularly impressed how Jo drove the focus on both external and internal branding to bring our business together behind a common vision, and being able to deliver all this activity to within budget by 15%. This activity completely revolutionised the look, feel and overall impact of NCB branding. Jo also led the delivery of targeted media and recruitment campaigns (leading to successful recruitment of new engineers) within the industry incorporating the new branding, as well as developing a new recognition scheme for our employees. In addition Jo led a project to implement our new website (www.net-cert.co.uk) incorporating the best of our new brand, but also recognising how to target its impact for a digital platform.

And finally but by no means least, Jo led the branding and composition of our bid to provide certification services for a major UK based project valued at circa. £20million at a time when she was implementing our new website. This included developing bespoke branding to include the best of our bid partner’s own brand guidelines alongside our own. Jo’s contribution to the professionalism of our bid was one of the critical factors that led to NCB being awarded such a prestigious contract.

In summary, this nomination is about recognising the significant value Jo has delivered, particularly from an individual that has progressed in a very short time from a team organiser to leading marketing for NCB and the value she has delivered for our overall business.“

Mike McLean

Said the following about Joanna Hemmings:

“The NCB was established in 2012 with the strategic objective of developing a strong, successful and independent competitor in the conformance certification market. The market already had a number of long-established service providers and for NCB to successfully compete, a highly effective and targeted marketing strategy and plan was required to inform and promote the highly specialist and professional services that NCB delivers.

Joanne Hemmings has led the marketing function of NCB since its inception and her success is reflected in the success of the business. NCB has significantly out-performed initial expectations, achieving spectacular market penetration and growing staff numbers and turnover to be one of the biggest players in the UK certification market. The most recent characterisation of this success is the appointment of NCB as the sole certification provider for a major UK project following an intensely competitive tendering process. Joanne has worked closely with the NCB executive team to ensure that service delivery reflects the high performance service message that is a theme of her marketing activity. She has been proactive, with colleagues, in building collaborative relationship with customers and seeking their views on any areas where performance could be improved or refined. The results of the most recent customer survey again demonstrate the success in Joanne’s approach with 100% of customers confirming that delivery performance exceeded market standards.Marketing Activities and Successes Notable marketing activities and success that have been led by Jo include:

- Re-branding NCB: This work included getting Executive buy-in within NCB and developing the concepts, which included a refreshed tone of voice. Targeted recruitment campaigns: Using marketing activities in UK media to attract higher levels of candidate interest – exceeding previous campaign results by as much as 300% (number of applicants per vacancy advertised).

- New website: Implementing of the NCB new website (www.net-cert.co.uk), incorporating the best of the new brand, but also recognising how to target its impact for multiple digital platforms.

- New set of brand guidelines: Running the tender process to procure brand development through a creative agency.

- Major (circa £20million) UK bid submission: Developing bespoke branding to include the best of our bid partner’s own brand guidelines alongside our own.“