Element proves to be magic ingredient of success

Initially launched by Leeds-based electronics distributor Premier Farnell as a portal providing data and information, it has become a networking site for design engineers who need problems solving or just want to have some fun.

Named after silicon’s position in the periodic table, element14 allows users to consult experts, discover trends, post blogs, write articles and make comments.

Premier Farnell said that since its launch, element14 has surpassed all of its targets and gained overwhelmingly positive feedback from customers and suppliers alike.

The site is now attracting more than 24,000 visitors a week.

Premier Farnell’s chief marketing officer, Kevin Yapp, said the site is very useful for collaborative problem-solving.

“Engineers want to contribute to other people’s design challenges, they want to sort out other people’s problems. Engineers don’t stop at weekends.”

This perhaps is the secret to element14’s success. Engineers are not like the rest of us – they live, breathe, work and sleep their area of expertise. They find solving other engineers’ problems as satisfying as doing a sudoku or a crossword puzzle.

They also like to have a bit of fun, which is where the “Ben Heck Show” comes in.

Premier Farnell pays Ben Heck to come up with clever ideas for tinkering with electronics using parts that the company sells. It’s called “modding” – which means fiddling with electronics to make machines do unusual things.

One of the most popular shows saw Ben Heck create an apparently see-through shirt for Hallowe’en. The trickery used a laptop on the front of the shirt which was connected to a camera mounted on the back of the shirt – giving the impression that the shirt was invisible. PC World called it one of the best 10 hacks of last year.

Mr Yapp said Premier Farnell has just commissioned another year of the show.

“The Ben Heck show is proving very successful in driving traffic to the site, then the visitor explores the rest of the site,” he said.

That said, the group has deliberately steered away from using element14 to drive sales. The idea is to connect with the audience and offer them a service that they can’t get elsewhere. Engineers then associate Premier Farnell with high levels of expertise.

It’s proved a lucrative strategy. Engineers don’t want to be sold to, but between six to 12 per cent of visitors click through to the Premier Farnell transactional site.

The top brass at Premier Farnell are delighted with element14’s progress.

“None of our competitors are following,” said chief executive Harriet Green. “The engineers love it and it will enable us to become even more meaningful.”

One of the most interesting features about the site is that it may originate from Leeds, but it is now a global community.

“A query may start off in Mandarin Chinese, get translated into Spanish, be picked up in the US and then end up back in China. It goes around the globe. It never turns off,” said Mr Yapp.

SALES BOOST FOR PREMIER FARNELL

Premier Farnell has seen its best annual sales and profits for a decade as its shift to the internet and emerging markets pays off.

Premier’s chief executive Harriet Green said she is confident of delivering further strong growth in 2011

The Leeds-based group, which supplies products ranging from microchips to batteries, said profits in the year to the end of January rocketed 70 per cent, to £93.3m.

Sales surged 21 per cent, to £990.8m.

Compared with two years ago, the group’s sales were up 11.6 per cent.