Kennards Hire is one of Australasia’s largest hire companies with over 160 outlets across Australia and New Zealand. It started in the late 1950’s in Bathurst, NSW, as a single store hardware shop. One day someone came to ask if they could borrow, rather than buy, a cement mixer, with founder ‘Wally’ Kennard responding, “you can hire it.” And, thus Kennards Hire was born… Fast-forward 70 years and three generations at the helm of the still family-owned business and Kennards Hire is one of the most respected players in the industry and one of the largest in the southern hemisphere.
Challenge
While Kennards Hire enjoys a strong brand awareness, the ongoing challenges of market competition and the broadening of the service (hire) offering made it essential to continuously educate the market, both trades and industry, as well as domestic and DIY. Kennards Hire offers a wide range of hire equipment, from party hire to extension leads, porta-loos and trailers to specialised industry-specific tools, gauges and equipment. Plus, of course, countless tools for DIYers and kilometres of fencing and barriers. Needless to say, there was a lot to talk about to the right audiences. Plus, they were also launching a new website.
Strategy
Developing a communications strategy that would cover general hire, specialised industry tools, tailored equipment for trades and industry, events and catering to major TV productions such as ‘The Block’, made the foundation for our approach. This meant a wide array of media messaging that needed to be delivered to targeted audiences – nationally and across New Zealand.
From highlighting specific equipment, new arrivals and expanding hire categories, to heralding renovated and newly opened sites, from sharing staff profiles on a local level, to sharing the long history of the hire brand nationally and beyond, all made up the broad mix of articles, press releases and opinion pieces that were delivered to relevant media and their readers.
Effect
We have achieved extensive media coverage for Kennards Hire across product, (all hire divisions) and company news, as well as profiling of the CEO Angus Kennard, the third generation ‘Kennard’ to lead the company. In particular, we placed him into the Kochie’s Business Builder TV segment, most industry publications and all leading business publications across Australia. All hire industry media has covered our client extensively with diverse news, updates, opinion pieces and industry-focused interviews. Plus, we achieved coverage of the company’s sponsorships and events, new website launch and their philanthropic activities.
This resulted in countless magazine features, newspaper articles, radio interviews, appearance in business publications, TV, events and sponsorships right across the Australian media landscape, in New Zealand, and internationally.