Bermuda's newest marketing company, Middleton Torrance Marketing, has been flooded by calls from potential new clients since it opened its doors on Monday, according to the company's founders.

The company, which will offer marketing solutions for start-ups, re/insurance companies, telecommunications and communications firms, feels it is filling a gap that has opened up in the market.

“It is a testament to the fact that now the time is right and that we are definitely in the right place at the right time,” said Deborah Middleton, co-founder of the new company, also known as MTM, and a Bermudian marketing professional.

After 15 years in marketing, she has gone into business with Gaye Torrance, president of Torrance Companies Ltd of New York who has been doing business on the Island for over a decade in Bermuda.

“For the past 12 years I have been coming to Bermuda to do business, meeting with chief executive officers and developing strategies for businesses,” said Ms Torrance. “I always felt I could do more if we had a presence here, and could devote more time to the business on the Island. And when Deborah came to me with this proposal, I was delighted.”

Ms Middleton and Ms Torrance met when Ms Middleton was working at Overseas Partners Ltd. on joint marketing projects, and when the company was put into run-off earlier this year the two got together to form their own company.

And they both think the time is right for a new marketing company, with many companies choosing to out-source more and more parts of their businesses.

“With the 11 new companies opening up so far, the news has been congratulations to all 11. Now they have to think about how they are going to differentiate themselves, and that is where we come in,” said Ms Torrance.

The company will use local designers and agencies to help support it.

It will have a further back-up of 15 staff in New York Torrance whose expertise can be drawn on by the MTM team.

“We have a wealth of knowledge about the local market,” said Ms Middleton. “The companies do not have to explain their business to us. Reinsurance, for instance, is a very specialised field, but with us you don't have to go in and explain it all to us, as we have been doing it for a long time and know the business.”

The new marketing communications company, located at The Hayward Building, 18 Bermudiana Road in Hamilton, hopes to carve out a unique niche for itself by offering corporate positioning, financial communications, investor relations, customer service support, media relations, and multi-lingual editorial services.

“We can do web-sites in several languages, which is something which is very popular in the US with English and Spanish,” said Ms Torrance.

MTM hopes to work with a variety of different companies, from start-ups, to companies with a need to reposition in order to respond to market forces, or even organisations with a desire to communicate brand attributes more effectively or prepare for an initial public offering, the partners said.

“Today more than ever, companies need a well crafted, sustainable, competitive strategy with a message that will be heard amid all the competitive ‘noise' around them,” commented Ms Middleton. “We created MTM in response to the demand for specialised marketing and communications support to distinguish Bermuda-based companies within their respective markets.

Ms Torrance added: “We have always appreciated and recognised the Island as a vibrant, sophisticated business centre. The dramatic economic growth of Bermuda in recent years, led by innovation within the insurance/reinsurance and financial services industries, in particular, presented a timely marketing opportunity.”

The partners said that with their extensive knowledge of the Bermuda, London and North American markets, they were well-placed to serve clients who did business all over the world.

Ms Middleton added: “We believe that my specialist marketing expertise combined with Torrance Co's ability to design and launch communication initiatives will strengthen the value proposition for all of our clients.”

For more information go to www.mtmbda.com.