Rebecca Amissah, chief executive of AmisStar Vocal Studios, explains why the business should win the marketing and PR category of the Guardian Small Business Showcase competition.
I run Gospel Essence, a choir for hire, and AmisStar Vocal Studios, a vocal training and recording studio. I frequently promote each of the businesses through the other.
An example of this was winning a free billboard campaign with Simply Business. This resulted in great visibility in my local area in preparation for the launch of my studio back in February.
I have further developed my local profile as a finalist in the New Business of the Year category of the Havering Business Awards. Another fruitful marketing strategy has been my partnership with the London Lions professional basketball team. My students get the amazing opportunity to perform in front of up to 3,000 people in the Copper Box Arena in the Queen Elizabeth Park. This allows me to target one of the key demographics for my services and demonstrate the opportunities I offer.
While providing half-time entertainment, Gospel Essence were recruited by a promoter to support Kirk Franklin, a multiple Grammy Award-winning gospel artist, on the London leg of his UK tour. The highest profile exposure I have gained for Gospel Essence is our inclusion in the BBC2 programme The Naked Choir with Gareth Malone. This demonstrates to a nationwide pool of potential clients that we are the best a cappella gospel choir in the country. What’s more, some of the filming took place in my studio. This really is the kind of publicity that money can’t buy.
All entries which meet the competition criteria are published and our judging panel select a shortlist of the three for each category. Winners are announced at an awards ceremony in summer 2016.
