Published at 11:16, Tuesday, 01 May 2012

In 2010, executives at Channel 5 were looking for a British version of their hit US import Ice Road Truckers.

Glenn Patterson

The show, featuring lorry drivers who travel across the frozen lakes and rivers of Alaska, was a huge hit, particularly among the young, working-class male audience the channel was after.

They were keen to replicate the success with a similar show based in the UK.

And, while the British motorway network rarely offers up the dangers of sub-zero North America, it does feature an iconic, quirky brand around which a TV series could be built – Carlisle haulage giant Eddie Stobart.

Eddie Stobart: Trucks and Trailers left the drawing board and Scotby’s Glenn Patterson was the man challenged with bringing it to life.

The owner of PR firm Really Clever had been taken on by Stobart to develop its social media marketing and had ended up with a TV show to develop.

“You can’t just stick a camera in a cab and follow a driver going up the M6 for four hours – no-one would watch it,” he said.

“We needed to come up with storylines and characters.

“We went round all of the Eddie Stobart depots round Britain screen-testing people to look for those who would be interesting on screen.

“They didn’t have to do anything out of the ordinary, just explain to the camera what was going on.

“It was a risk because we knew we wouldn’t have editorial control. Nothing is stage managed; you can’t meddle too much, because it would lose credibility.

“People know that things go wrong as well as right so we were relaxed about the cameras capturing everything.

“We knew the company was good at what it does, its health and safety systems are robust and nobody would be seen doing things the wrong way. It was a risk, but as a haulage company, the business is good at managing risk anyway.”

The first series pulled in well over one million viewers and gave Channel 5 a 50 per cent increase in audience share for the Friday 8pm slot.

A second series was commissioned before the first had ended and the third has just come to an end, with a fourth currently filming and due to be shown in autumn.

“It has been a huge success for company,” said Mr Patterson.

“We always had a core fanbase of 20,000 to 30,000 people, but it has gone up by between 400 and 500 per cent.

“The show is taking us to two million people.

“It’s had a huge impact on some of the drivers’ lives. Mark Dixon, who has become the biggest star, has been on Harry Hill’s TV Burp and on the Chris Moyles and Chris Evans radio shows.

“It’s difficult for him, he gets people stopping him for autographs but he’s still a truck driver and has his job to do.”

Mr Patterson, originally from Dungannon, Northern Ireland, ended up as a PR consultant via stints as a pharmacist in Stranraer and a co-driver in the Citroen World Rally Team.

He moved into marketing in 2006 and set up his own company in 2010.

He numbers Carlisle firms System Training and Story Painting Group among his clients.

He has recently formed a PR consortium including photography firm Mulholland Media, IT outfit Web Industry, Ast Signs and Stobart Media.

“I’m finding that a lot of Cumbrian companies are wanting to compete nationally but don’t have the marketing skills or the budget to do it effectively,” he said.

“Many have had to trim back staff numbers and often don’t have time or resources to produce PR material or things like brochures.

“I’ve brought together four companies who are experts in their field so companies can deal with one supplier, rather than four.

“PR is all about sales, you don’t do it for the sake of it, it has to lead to increased sales.

“With things like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, PR is something any business can afford to do.”

Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk