Azure Communications driving digital expansion worth €1 million

Azure, the Dublin-based communications firm, has launched a new digital communications and marketing arm, investing €1 million over the next three years with the aim of creating ten new roles to its team of 14.

Heading up the operation in its next phase expansion will be entrepreneur and retail marketing expert Jenny Johnston.

The Dubliner – who until last year was head of marketing with Kilkenny Design, having held the same role with Danish retailer JYSK – founded The SUSS Edit in 2021, a sustainable online luxury clothing range that sought to go beyond the trend of brands offering one eco-friendly clothing line and no more.

This emphasis on authenticity in her “passion project”, she says, is at the heart of what she and Azure seek to represent in its partners, which range from the HSE and the Irish Cancer Society to Irish fundraising agency Ask Direct.

“I think more and more businesses are starting to understand how crucial it is to stakeholders, and in particular consumers right now, but also the fact that it’s proven to have a benefit to revenue and to the bottom line,” Johnston told the Business Post.

“We like to work with companies with integrity, there’s a few kinds of risks and deal breakers that we won't do.”

Print v digital

Different arms of the organisation, which was founded in 2014 with its roots firmly in print communications, specialise in different sectors to serve its diverse client base.

Charitable organisations find, according to Johnston, that the services offered by Azure’s omni-channel offering generate additional revenue from donors through tailored cross-platform campaigns.

Other smaller e-commerce businesses approach Azure to help get their foot in the door through digital marketing and paid digital ad campaigns.

Working with the HSE’s National Immunisation Office during the Covid-19 vaccination campaign – within a tight time frame and service level agreement (SLA) parameters, while keeping the entire population abreast of an ever-developing situation – was a challenge that Azure was “delighted” to meet head-on, Johnston said.

While she says that print-focused communication like the Covid-19 campaign is very much in Azure’s DNA, her own digital background makes her a natural fit for the firm’s expansion.

“Essentially, things like paid social media strategy, digital campaign, brand consultancy, marketing, consultancy, they all fall under the umbrella of marketing,” she explained.

Part of Azure’s next phase will see the incorporation of new technology such as AI-driven personalisation online.

According to Johnston, offering this “unique solution” for clients’ ad campaigns is the natural next step for a data-driven business that has always been innovative in its business.

“It might be a suite of image assets, or a suite of very personalized video assets – it does it at scale, and it does it very fast. And it allows us to create digital ad campaigns that are exceptionally targeted, as opposed to one video or image asset that that will go to a big audience.

“We can create hundreds of variations of that and have much more micro targeted audiences in the campaign,” she said.

Extension of marketing arm

The fact that digital marketing has become so essential for any business hoping to thrive in 2024 has allowed Azure to be flexible in not only what it offers to clients, but how it offers it to them.

“What we say to our clients or potential clients is to think of us as an extension of their marketing team. Whatever you need, you can kind of dip in or dip out with us – use us as a monthly retainer, or just on a project-by-project basis if the need arises.

“We’re thrilled with how it’s going so far,” she added, with new clients in the hospitality, beauty and healthcare sectors added to Azure’s portfolio this year.

Such an à-la-carte approach is particularly attractive to businesses at a time of ever-rising cost pressures.

Johnston said that while she doesn’t see the same level of cuts from businesses as would have been commonplace during the post-crash years, every budget is under the spotlight – and that Azure’s job is to put the focus back on the value that they offer.

“Clients see us as an extension of their team – they can get in and out as needed. In that sense, it's much cheaper to work with somebody like us versus recruiting additional members of their own team in-house.

“From that perspective, we haven't faced too many hurdles or issues in terms of budget costs, thankfully," she said.

“I think that the great businesses out there understand they have to spend money on marketing and promotion and awareness campaigns in order to drive revenues, and so that's not the ideal place to make those cuts from,” she said.