“I can now carry out my analysis in a fraction of the time it was taking me before”

Graeme Purches is the Community Relations Manager for TrustPower – the 7th largest company by market capitalisation on the NZX – and, he and his team are responsible for much of TrustPower’s communications efforts. As former President of PRINZ with 23 years of large corporate PR experience under his belt, Graeme knows a thing or two about public relations.

He tells us why he strongly recommends Fuseworks media monitoring to other PR people.

It’s online – and then some

Looking forward Graeme says, “there is no question about it – online monitoring is increasingly overtaking mainstream monitoring. Not only is most stuff appearing online, some stuff is online that isn’t published anywhere else.”

Graeme trusts daily updates from Fuseworks to keep him in the loop with what’s being said about TrustPower and what’s happening in the energy industry. “Despite relying on online monitoring, Fuseworks is delivering all but a very small percentage of what I used to get from iSentia and I also get lots of additional online stuff, including from the main broadcasters,” he says.

Note:  Fuseworks has since added  NZME print newspaper monitoring.

As audiences move online, publishers are working hard to make sure their content is there as well. As a result Graeme says he’s found “only a few community-type publications are missing” and the list keeps shrinking.

“I get everything now, at less cost, via a one-stop shop,” he says.

Better results in less time

“Some folks actually thought I was working harder. In fact, I’m not! Fuseworks have simply enabled me to work smarter.”

Graeme has had plenty of hands on experience with media monitoring solutions over the years, so he knows what to look for. “I’ve used Chong Bureau, iSentia and Meltwater and trialled other providers. The Chong portal was superb before it was replaced with the vastly inferior Media Monitors portal – iSentia have failed to deliver what I needed,” says Graeme.

“Now I’m all set, I finally have back all the things I missed from the old Chong portal. On a daily basis I receive the key alerts I need and log into Fuseworks to check a wider range of things, plus do the analysis for my monthly report,” he says.

Graeme is pleased to report that Fuseworks has enabled him to work smarter. “I can now carry out my analysis, both on a daily basis and at month-end, in a fraction of the time it was taking me before,” he says.

“I share Fuseworks reports with others regularly, and I also include them in my monthly report to the CEO and other key managers. The feedback has been very positive. Some folks actually thought I was working harder. In fact, I’m not! Fuseworks have simply enabled me to work smarter, freeing up valuable time for other things yet at the same time allowing me to produce reports that look better than ever,” says Graeme.

“Well done Fuseworks. Thanks for making my busy work life better.”

Superb customer service

“The product is excellent, and the charges are very reasonable, but the best bit is the customer service. It is simply superb.”

For Graeme the decision to switch from iSentia to Fuseworks was easy. “I trialled the service and was not only impressed with what it could offer, but blown away by the high level of customer service,” he says.

Graeme claims he’s “a bit of a slow learner when it comes to IT and online things,” and suggests anyone in the same boat shouldn’t be worried to give Fuseworks a go because getting started was excellent. “My ‘minder’ Kirsty has proven to be an absolute gem – a quick call or an email and she’ll walk me through what I need to do to get what I want out of their service – which is pretty intuitive anyway” says Graeme.

As a local company Fuseworks is able to collaborate with clients to tailor monitoring and analysis services for the New Zealand market. Graeme has seen first hand how this translates into “fantastic customer service from people who understand what PR people like me and my team want,” says Graeme.

Proactive approach

“Fuseworks are constantly seeking feedback so they can improve their systems to make the service even better,” says Graeme.

This proactive approach was another key reason for Graeme’s move to Fuseworks. “Kirsty actually quizzed me about what they could do better, and they have progressively delivered those things plus other great enhancements.”

When asked what Fuseworks should focus on next Graeme said “to be honest, I’m pretty happy with what I have now, but based on my experience so far, the Fuseworks team’s proactive approach to continuous improvement will probably continue to deliver me and my team benefits and surprise us!”