Tony Davison - Marketing Director

The History of Pimlico’s Marketing Operation

Pimlico’s in house marketing department is led by Marketing Director Tony Davison who has managed the company’s marketing for over 20 years. Working in a close relationship with MD Charlie Mullins the two have combined to create a unique and successful brand recognition.

Pimlico’s marketing effectively started when they met fleetingly in 1989. Tony was immediately struck by Charlie’s fastidious attention to detail on all aspects of the company’s operations and immediately saw the potential, and the ambition Charlie had for Pimlico The fact that there was no effective marketing or professional presentation of the brand, or even a brand for that matter, meant it was effectively a blank canvas for which Tony was able to provide the marketing strategy and the design and creative skills that Charlie was actually looking for without realising it. As Tony now says, ‘Charlie and I don’t always agree but we always seem to get it right as a result!’.

Prior to joining Pimlico Tony was the creative director and copywriter/designer of a design and advertising group and has worked on several blue chip accounts- The National Trust, The World Wildlife Fund, Customs and Excise, Hoskyns Group plc, Marks and Spencer, the MOD and Tesco. He had also worked as a photograper both designing and photographing calendars and catalogues for the National Trust, the opening brochure for BAA’s Terminal 4 and even taking the official team shots for Manchester United.

Pimlico’s Marketing Tools

When Tony first took on the role as Marketing Director the company was literally a ‘white van’ concern working out of a basement in Pimlico.
His first task Tony had was to remove the catalogue lettering and replace it with the forerunner of the Pimlico ‘oval’ which was designed to reflect the service offered and to give a credible image to promote the established core beliefs and strategy of Pimlico to our key customers. The corporate design was first applied throughout the then 30 strong fleet of vans and stationary. Uniforms, promotional and advertising material, and stationery were revamped to incorporate the new logo which quickly became a recognisable image for the company.

As Pimlico grew the traditional hand sign written vans were upgraded to a transfer application which was more suited to the rapidly expanding fleet. During the earlier part of this decade Tony designed and created the concept of the Pimlico ‘Blue Nose’ trademark vans which was at first met with scepticism but by defending the marketing corner the fight was eventually won and the design is now an iconic part of the Pimlico brand, albeit with updates. The original in-house designed logo has also been updated to reflect the company’s modern role, still retaining the characteristics of the original while the ‘Blue Nose’ has evolved into a dynamic ‘wave’.

We are very proud of our self reliance in design and marketing and produce virtually everything ourselves - from concept to finished design and artwork. In a long list: the new roof tubes incorporating the website, the On-Call signs, and even the website itself and many others were all designed in-house by the department. The well received Pimlico ‘Blue Plaque’ Calendar began its life at the start of the millennium and this year’s calendar (2012) is a celebration of the bicentenary of Charles Dickens, whose writing raised the nation’s conscience of children’s treatment and which brought about dramatic reforms in their welfare. We have chosen the work of ‘Kyd’ (Joseph Clayton Clarke), one of the leading ‘Dickensian’ artists, for our images. Tony was also behind the creation of Busters’ Bitter, a specially brewed beer in collaboration with Wells and Young to commemorate our van cleaner Buster Martin's 100th birthday.

The Marketing department has also set up several ‘firsts’. Pimlico were the first private company to instigate and achieve what has now become an industry standard - the five year boiler warranty, latterly extended to six with Viessmann. Both of which were met with dismay by our competitors who could only obtain the standard terms. Currently the company work closely with Vaillant offering promotional incentives.

Pimlico’s Marketing Awards

2001- H&V Marketing Initiative of the Year Winner

1999- H&V Marketing Initiative of the Year Finalist

Contact

For further information you can contact Tony Davison using the details below:

Telephone: 01306 713 021

Email:pimlicomarketing@gmail.com