PDA & Crown Launch New Campaign to Support Members

[bagshot]

Yeah,agreed Tim,every associatiion is only as good as the members.PDA needs some major public awareness to move forward.The trouble is as someone has said the not so thorough,bigger firms are propping the PDA up,always have been.

[jimmy_123]

mistcoat and bagshot have got it right about good and bad whatever your in, wherever you go ive had 1 enquiry from the pda website and its 1 more than i ever thought id get tbh if you join up to gain work from becoming a member then im afraid you could be wasting your money. As far as the pda and crown go if crown are putting money into the association to boost it up a bit then im all for it the bigger it gets hopefully all the members will benefit dont mind crown gear anyway only bug i had was the lack of pda in my area but im trying to see if it can be sorted.

Cheers jimmy

[Aggie]

It is only a promotional video for Joe public after all

PDA - I have never lost work by being a member, AND it hasn't done me any harm either.

In fact, although I have had enquiries through the PDA, have never been in the position to take it on. It is not all about getting work - or expecting the PDA to find you work - you do that yourself, it is about being part of the 'brotherhood' & a sense of belonging to the only professional organisation specifically for Painting & Decorating.

[RakebeckBob]

As a former treasurer of the PDA, I would like to correct some statements made by recent posts.
First, the PDA does not 'hang on to the purse strings of paint companies" and neither is it "propped up by the bigger firms". By far the largest number of members are self employed or employing up to seven employees. Firms employing over 8 employees account for less than 20% of the membership and income.
It is speculated that the PDA "surely has enough wonga for a five minute advert". I presume this would be on TV as this would be the only way to promote "major public awareness".
I am not familiar with current rates for commercial TV advertising, but do you really believe it credible that a subscription of £147 (+VAT) for the smallest of our member firms could include TV advertising?
As it is, the PDA does secure many thousands of poundsworths of free publicity in many local and regional publications through the efforts of our marketing agent.
This video which is the subject of this posting is to be available for members to 'embed' on their own websites to promote the desirability of using PDA members.

[Colour Republic]

(19-03-2012 03:38 PM)RakebeckBob Wrote:  As a former treasurer of the PDA, I would like to correct some statements made by recent posts.
First, the PDA does not 'hang on to the purse strings of paint companies" and neither is it "propped up by the bigger firms". By far the largest number of members are self employed or employing up to seven employees. Firms employing over 8 employees account for less than 20% of the membership and income.

I think it's because Crown were pushing their products in the vid but then I suppose they would want to if they helped with production costs.

It is speculated that the PDA "surely has enough wonga for a five minute advert". I presume this would be on TV as this would be the only way to promote "major public awareness".

Maybe that's the problem if you think the only way to gain public awareness is by expensive TV adverts. I can think of a hundred different ways to market something with less costs than then employing an 80's presenter. Maybe your marketing department needs to be dragged in to 2012.

Take this one for example
Ever heard of caterer.com? I have





I bet that cost less to make than the PDA's. Millions of people have seen it and share it. It's been shown on TV programmes, Gordon Ramsey even invited him on one of his shows and it's shown at some of Gordon Ramsey's corporate events. All at no extra cost to the makers becuase people connected with it and found it funny.


I am not familiar with current rates for commercial TV advertising, but do you really believe it credible that a subscription of £147 (+VAT) for the smallest of our member firms could include TV advertising?

I've heard it's estimated there are 60,000 decorators in the UK, i've also heard the PDA has less than 1,200 members (I hope you'll correct me if i'm wrong on that one). You either need to attract a hell of a lot more members or you put the price up. Check-a-Trade had a membership fee of over £600 last time I looked, now check-a-trade isn't for me but it has a hell of a lot of members and is growing so clearly it is right for a lot of people and they are willing to pay if the benefits outweigh the costs. Employing a cheap decorator means you get cheap results. The PDA having such low memberships fees is much the same IMO

As it is, the PDA does secure many thousands of poundsworths of free publicity in many local and regional publications through the efforts of our marketing agent.

And well done to them! Although I can say i've only ever seen the PDA in trade publications or in trade retailers. That does nothing for public awareness or to educate them.

This video which is the subject of this posting is to be available for members to 'embed' on their own websites to promote the desirability of using PDA members.

And i'm sure they appreciate it but if you think that's where it stops and you rely only on the members to spread the word you missing the point I think.

[RakebeckBob]

The present membership of the PDA is just over 1700. This compares to approximately 2300 in 2007.
Resignations at the end of 2011 were at an all time low and recruitment is running at 10% which I understand is excellent considering the state of the industry.
You estimate that there are 60,000 decorators in the UK. I understood that there may be 35,000 painting & decorating firms from the self employed up to national companies.
The majority (probably 90%) of these firms are either self employed or employ under five people.
As I said earlier, this is also reflected in our membership. We try to set subscription levels at what we believe members are prepared to pay. Obviously this is a matter of commercial judgment, but we are not snowed under with members asking for increased subscriptions!

[Colour Republic]

(19-03-2012 06:47 PM)RakebeckBob Wrote:  but we are not snowed under with members asking for increased subscriptions!

No but if you read posts on this forum and others I know you've read, i'm sure you'll see 'potential' members are asking you to do more to make it worthwhile joining!!!

[mikethebrush]

(19-03-2012 03:38 PM)RakebeckBob Wrote:  As a former treasurer of the PDA, I would like to correct some statements made by recent posts.
First, the PDA does not 'hang on to the purse strings of paint companies" and neither is it "propped up by the bigger firms". By far the largest number of members are self employed or employing up to seven employees. Firms employing over 8 employees account for less than 20% of the membership and income.
It is speculated that the PDA "surely has enough wonga for a five minute advert". I presume this would be on TV as this would be the only way to promote "major public awareness".
I am not familiar with current rates for commercial TV advertising, but do you really believe it credible that a subscription of £147 (+VAT) for the smallest of our member firms could include TV advertising?
As it is, the PDA does secure many thousands of poundsworths of free publicity in many local and regional publications through the efforts of our marketing agent.
This video which is the subject of this posting is to be available for members to 'embed' on their own websites to promote the desirability of using PDA members.

Bob i have read back through and I cant find what your refering too

[Colin]

And meanwhile.....Ratedpeople.com is on the march

Quote:The site, which launched its first TV campaign last year, forecasts its revenues will increase by around 30% year on year to more than £8m as awareness of the brand grows.

Tariq Dag Khan, RatedPeople.com’s chief marketing officer, says the company will double its marketing budget this year and will invest in a further five to 10 staff - some in a marketing capacity - to help each its revenue target.

(Marketing Week)

Lets not pretend that the PDA is about putting tradesmen in touch with customers. The PDA cannot afford to publicize itself in any meaningful way and anyway, the members don't want to pay for it.
RatedPeople have something like a 45% market share of these referall sites with a huge TV campaign, and so it seems the public and many tradesmen are voting with their feet (and wallets).
Peeing into the wind comes to mind.....

[RakebeckBob]

Well isn't this post all about the PDA providing a new service?
For those decorators who wish to belong to their profession's trade association, the services on offer now are well worth the subscription. I know there is always room for improvement and better value but what would the PDA need to offer you, Colour Republic, for your membership?

[mikethebrush]

(19-03-2012 06:47 PM)RakebeckBob Wrote:  The present membership of the PDA is just over 1700. This compares to approximately 2300 in 2007.
Resignations at the end of 2011 were at an all time low and recruitment is running at 10% which I understand is excellent considering the state of the industry.
You estimate that there are 60,000 decorators in the UK. I understood that there may be 35,000 painting & decorating firms from the self employed up to national companies.
The majority (probably 90%) of these firms are either self employed or employ under five people.
As I said earlier, this is also reflected in our membership. We try to set subscription levels at what we believe members are prepared to pay. Obviously this is a matter of commercial judgment, but we are not snowed under with members asking for increased subscriptions!

interesting points vis a vis membership rates

no one has asked to pay more so you must be priced right. ineresting view

setting membership at what you believe people are prepared to pay, why???............why arnt membership fees worked out properly to cover your costs and to the benefit of the membership

its the same old story , we need x amount we have y amount of members so we need to charge z

increased membership brings down the z, if z is less y goes up, if y goes up x is exceeded

as Im fast learning theres more than one way to skin a rabbit

why is membership due in january, worst time of the year for deccies with young families, what do you do to make it easy for membership to be paid, how much does it cost to set up a quartly direct debit and so on

but your first step is to ensurre the buying public are aware of who the pda are, sort that bit and your halfway there

advertising is costly and innefective , pda need to market itself

[Colour Republic]

(19-03-2012 07:25 PM)RakebeckBob Wrote:  Well isn't this post all about the PDA providing a new service?
For those decorators who wish to belong to their profession's trade association, the services on offer now are well worth the subscription.

TBH maybe 90% of the benefits listed on your membership page I get elsewhere just for giving someone my email address! Discounts on insurance or healthcare for example are everywhere, discounts on ad's in the yellow pages??? I haven't looked at one in 3 years and neither does anybody else seeing as it is now printed on an A5 flyer.

I'm in business I know how to negotiate a deal, that's not what I want.

OK i'll give you an example of what another trade body did. Only a few years back a new association set up in the KBB (kitchen, bedrooms and bathrooms) industry. Shortly after Tesco's started selling kitchens. This new association did a deal with them to supply tradesmen to Tesco's for the fitting of these kitchens. If you weren't a member you weren't fitting for Tesco's. The association guaranteed the quality of the trademens and Tesco's guaranteed they would only use the associations members.


I know there is always room for improvement and better value but what would the PDA need to offer you, Colour Republic, for your membership?

I'm glad you asked as i was about to start a new thread asking what members here expect from a trade body. As I'm not sure if it's me out touch or the PDA

[CheshireDecorator]

What would I want? Maybe if I joined id expect someone to come and look at my jobs and nvq's and maybe have the standards so high its stupid and have everyone wishing to be so good until they got in, then eventually if your not init customers wouldent even look at you, it would get all the moles back down there holes that's for sure. Before anyone tells me how wrong I am that's just been thought out as I've wrote it