What can visual effects and computer-generated imagery do to engage your audiences or win over your clients?
How do agencies, production companies and directors work with VFX to visualise the invisible, and create the impossible?
VFX allow us to see worlds that ordinary cameras can never show us. Sunken ships, exploding planets, vast armies, extinct species and atomic particles. But how do you make it work for you?
Creative Directors from award-winning Moonraker VFX and 422 South, both based in Bristol, share their secrets and explain how they create the stunning visual magic that wows audiences across TV, cinema and the digital world.
During this event, we’ll examine:
The event will take place from 12.30pm – 2.00pm on Wednesday 27th November at Watershed Cinema 2.
Tickets are limited and are £15+VAT for Bristol Media members, £20+VAT for non-members.
Moonraker VFX has built a strong local and international reputation with producers and broadcasters, creating award winning visual effects content for Television, Film, Commercials, Museums and Visitor attractions. Creative Director, Simon Clarke, presents work from two recent hit TV series One Strange Rock for National Geographic, and Big Beasts (Sky One).
422 South have won awards for their extraordinary data visualisations, creating sunken ships, mapping migratory birds, and seeing the Earth as we have never seen it before. Creative Director, Dave Corfield, shows how they crafted Drain the Oceans (National Geographic) into a global hit, as well as other projects.
Margaret was among the 30 speakers who spoke at Bristol Media’s 2016 Vision conference, and we’re thrilled to welcome her back for another insightful event. Whether you’re an aspiring leader, an ambitious manager, or have directed teams for decades, join us and Margaret Heffernan for the Vision Keynote: Why is Leadership so Difficult?
Leadership in today’s age is becoming increasingly difficult due a range of causes from the rate of change, generational differences and a shift in social mores to name but a few. The reality is more subtle. The environment in which we operate is now full of ineradicable uncertainties, which in turn, has caused the traditional 3-legged stool of management – forecast, plan, execute – to lose its first leg. Forecasters are now wary of anything more than 400 days out, so kiss goodbye to your 5-year plan and embrace modern leadership.
So, in an age replete with ambiguity and uncertainty, is leadership even possible? If so, what does it look like?
These questions will be explored during Heffernan’s keynote, where she will share her invaluable knowledge on modern leadership in a session not to be missed.
Join Bristol Media and Margaret Heffernan on Tuesday 22nd October (12.30 – 14.15) at Foot Anstey, 2 Glass Wharf, Bristol BS2 0FR.
Tickets are £40 for Bristol Media members, £60 for non-members and include a networking lunch. A limited number of £10 tickets are available for Bristol Media freelance members.
Dr. Margaret Heffernan produced programmes for the BBC for 13 years. She moved to the US where she spearheaded multimedia productions for Intuit, The Learning Company and Standard&Poors. She was Chief Executive of InfoMation Corporation, ZineZone Corporation and then iCast Corporation, was named one of the “Top 25” by Streaming Media magazine and one of the “Top 100 Media Executives” by The Hollywood Reporter.
The author of five books, Margaret’s third book, Wilful Blindness: Why We Ignore the Obvious at our Peril was named one of the most important business books of the decade by the Financial Times. Her TED talks have been seen by over nine million people and in 2015 TED published Beyond Measure: The Big Impact of Small Changes. She is Lead Faculty for the Forward Institute’s Responsible Leadership Programme and, through Merryck & Co., mentors CEOs and senior executives of major global organisations. She holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Bath and continues to write for the Financial Times and the Huffington Post.
Today’s announcement of the merging of the Creative Industries Federation and Creative England (whose HQ is in Bristol) is a step towards a stronger profile for the industry in government circles. Bristol Media is a strong supporter of the CIF, with director Paul Appleby on their UK Advisory Council, and they have done great work on policy and lobbying.
Now that programmes under the Industrial Strategy Sector Deal are rolling out, including £1.35m allocated to WECA to develop a Creative Scale-up programme for the region, and the national Creative Careers Campaign delivered by CIF with ScreenSkills and Culture & Creative Skills, closer working with the regional presence of Creative England makes the whole support structure stronger.
The new organisation will be formed in Spring 2020 and maintain a UK-wide remit, with CE’s Caroline Norbury taking the CEO role.
We look forward to continuing our strong relationship with the new organisation, and if you have any thoughts do contact [email protected], and he can take them to the November CIF Council meeting.
To read the press release, visit: https://www.creativeindustriesfederation.com/news/creative-industries-federation-and-creative-england-unite
Did you know that the creative industries in the UK are now responsible for 8% of GDP? But what is it, this thing called creativity? And what does it mean to be a creative person? Why is it that agencies exist? What is it that (most) marketers cannot do themselves?
Hosted by Patrick Collister, ‘Getting the Big Idea’ is a one-day ‘how-to’ workshop for Creatives, Planners and Account Managers, designed to provide the necessary tools to generate ideas. What it is NOT is a session involving finger-paints, plasticine and connecting with the inner self. It will, however, provide the answers that teams need to understand exactly what it is they’re doing and how to do it faster, with more confidence and with greater expectation of success.
The day will be divided into three key parts:
Using ‘The Hierarchy of Ideas’ methodology, you’ll gain an understanding of exactly what sort of idea is being asked for to create successful paid-for communication by breaking ideas into three key parts: the business idea, marketing idea and creative idea.
The workshop also provides practical tools to help you generate strategies, creative platforms and creative ideas faster.
It’s designed to be interactive with a mixture of individual and teamwork where you’ll work together on a ‘live’ brief. As well as being stimulating, the session is intended to be energetic and fun so you’ll leave feeling confident and rebooted.
You’ll acquire real tools of real use which you can use the very next day to improve the creative brief, develop brand positioning ideas and generate creative ideas that will cut-through.
“A unique viewpoint derived from his years spent in both advertising and direct marketing; every person I have sent on his courses has emerged from the experience marvelously rebooted and re-energised.” Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman, Ogilvy Group UK and President of the IPA.
The 1-day workshop is on Tuesday 8th October from 9.30am – 5pm at Zone, Bristol. Places are limited so book early!
Tickets are £245 (+VAT) for Bristol Media members and £345 (+VAT) for non-members. Lunch and refreshments are provided.
Patrick was the executive creative director and Vice Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather, London. Then executive creative director of the EHS Brann network of direct marketing agencies. From 2013 to 2018 he was the creative lead for Google’s creative think-tank The Zoo. He has won many awards, the most prestigious being Cannes Gold in 2013 with Cheil for Samsung. In his spare time, Patrick publishes Directory magazine and resource.
Patrick will also be joining Bristol Media for a lunchtime Vision keynote in September entitled ‘Permission Denied’ – get your ticket here.
Recent successes include big scale factual entertainment show Race Against the World, documentary series Forensics: The Real CSI, The MisAdventures of Romesh Ranganathan and scripted content MotherFatherSon and Defending the Guilty.
Holland is keen to tell the stories that reflect the diversity of modern Britain and is committed to commissioning more regional indies. He will share his ambitions for BBC Two, including how to showcase the channel brand in an iPlayer world and discuss ongoing opportunities for producers across a range of genres.
Prior to this role, Patrick was Head of Commissioning, Documentaries, BBC and before joining the BBC, he was MD of one of the UK’s biggest factual indies, Boundless. This event is hosted by Lynn Barlow, Chair of RTS West of England
Tickets & entry:
Tickets are free for RTS Members, or £6.50 for non RTS Members and includes a complimentary drink after the session
Doors open 6.15pm
Session will run from 6.30-8pm
Networking drinks in the bar afterwards, 8-9pm
Hi Pete, what do you do at Prophecy Unlimited?
Prophecy Unlimited is a customer journey agency, launched in May 2017. We brought together two great South West agencies, EMO Unlimited, renowned for customer acquisition, and The Real Adventure Unlimited, experts in customer relationship management. We realised that we could combine the complementary skill sets and people together, the result being Prophecy Unlimited. That ultimately means we work across every channel in the mix, and for some clients we work end-to-end across the whole journey.
Customer journeys are rapidly changing in terms of technology and consumer behaviours, so we work with our clients to create a successful and impactful customer experience.
More specifically, my role as CEO involves two key jobs: one is making sure the Prophecy team are happy, and then making sure that clients are happy, too. The two are incredibly interrelated, happy team, happy clients, and vice versa!
Who’s in the team?
Everyone from client services, project management, creative content, data and insight, tech, HR… the list goes on. I’m responsible for making sure we have key team leads ensuring we all work to the best of our abilities. No one department is more important than another, it’s a real team effort.
What are you most proud of as a business?
The client list that we have for a South West agency – I’m so proud of it. We have several clients who have been with us for over 30 years, some large blue-chip brands and global players.
I’m ex London, and we tend to have this chip on our shoulders about London, thinking it’s the big be all and end all. But I actually think the work coming out of Bristol is as good, if not better, than the London players. Bristol has such an energy and creativity.
What’s your favourite office gadget?
Big Red – our coffee machine! It’s got to be at least 10 years old. Probably as long as we’ve been Bristol Media members it’s been trucking along, supplying us with coffee. As part of our induction for new starters we have a stint with the coffee machine. Not quite barista training, but it’s a proper machine so not just a press and go.
Whose work do you admire and why?
This is a tricky question, because I think about the campaigns I like at the moment and actually, I wouldn’t pin it on one particular agency or brand. I’ve never known a time for the agency world to be quite as challenging, in terms of the changes and the dreaded B-word. Any agency that’s making their client feel confident enough in them to buy work is absolutely doing great. Hats off to all!
What’s the biggest challenge your industry/organisation is facing at the moment?
I can think of two, clearly economic uncertainty is one of those, but also data. The scandal around Cambridge Analytica made consumers wary about their information and what’s being used and where. Not only that, but with more data available, we need to make sure we don’t just disappear into big systems like Adobe or Salesforce. It’s something we’ve been focussing on at Prophecy recently; transparency in the customer journey, not just getting the system to tell us the answers but making sure we’re sensitive to human emotion and using old school planning skills.
If you had one piece of advice for someone just starting out, what would it be?
Get involved, put your hand up, get stuck in and remember that your voice matters. Great ideas can come from anywhere, any team and any person. Don’t be afraid to speak up! And seek out a mentor if you can.
What’s your favourite place in Bristol/this area?
On Friday mornings I religiously make a breakfast run to Hart’s Bakery. The guys know to leave a small window in the diary so I can get my sourdough, or sausage rolls, or cheese toasties… There’s too much to choose from!
If you could sum up Bristol/this area in 3 words, what would they be?
First up, real. As a city, we don’t pretend to be anything different. We’re proud of our differences. Then vibrant and innovative.
What exciting plans have you got coming up this year?
That’s a really good question, because we’ve always got new things in the pipeline, and those vary by client. Probably the most exciting thing is our new customer journey methodology, it’s a model for getting to the heart of what’s working in a customer journey and what’s not.
We’re working it through now and we’ve got some clients using it. The hairs on the back of my neck are standing up a bit thinking of the difference it’s going to make. We’ll be sharing it soon so watch this space!
To see latest examples of Prophecy’s work, visit the website.
Fancy joining the Prophecy Unlimited team? They’re on the lookout for new hires, find out more about the roles available here.
If you’d like to be part of our Featured Member series and profile your business, get in touch.
Following the success of her 2018 speech on Liquid Retail at Kind und Jugend in Cologne, the leading international trade fair for premium baby and toddler products, Phoenix Wharf’s Associate Creative Director Emma Gullick is set to return to the show in 2019, speaking in the Trend Forum on how the world of retail has changed and developed over the last 12 months.
The speech, entitled ‘Directing the Flow – Where is Liquid Retail taking you next?’, will be given alongside other presentations on current market conditions in Europe, China, Brazil and the Middle East for baby and toddler products, as well as on leading trends across tech, social media and omnichannel retail.
The speech, to be given at midday on September 20th, will expand on the following themes:
‘The name of the game for today’s retail and hospitality operators, in a world characterised by a lack of permanence, is flexibility and fluidity. Tomorrow’s goal is not just to keep up with rapidly changing consumer behaviour and new technological frontiers, but to get ahead of them, to ensure consumers encounter something new and unexpected on the high street and digital highway. The only real way to do this is to identify underlying drivers. Emma Gullick will be identifying the biggest issues retailers need to concentrate on now, from the change in focus from sales to service to the further extension of the rental model, plus the need to stand for something and have clear messaging on wellbeing and sustainability – as well as the sheer glamour and fun of creating FOMO moments.’
Phoenix Wharf, together with sister company Ignition, a specialist in events, exhibitions and experiences, has also designed and created three stands at this year’s show for clients Elvie, VitalBaby and Ickle Bubba.
About Phoenix Wharf:
Emma Gullick is Associate Director of Phoenix Wharf, a Bristol-based branding, retail and interiors agency dedicated to inspiring change in clients’ businesses to bring about better returns, differentiated positioning and increased customer loyalty. With clients including Space NK, The National Trust and Yeo Valley, Emma’s creative concepts and vision are in constant use, with her views and insights sought and published regularly in the design and retail press. Phoenix Wharf, along with sister agencies Ignition and Caroline, forms part of Istoria Group.
www.phoenix-wharf.com
Our Content Apprentice Izzy headed over to Bath for this month’s Featured Member to talk with Sue Bush, Creative Director at Touchpoint Design, and find out more about what they’re up to. Here’s what we learned…
Hi Sue, tell us what you do?
We are a brand design agency, we design brand identities, primarily for arts and culture and not for profit clients. We work across all touchpoints, which is where we got our name. The touchpoints are: digital, printed materials and large-format visuals. Ensuring a consistent brand identity across all applications.
Who are your team?
There are 3 of us in the production team, myself (creative director), Georgia (designer) and Ian (technical director). We are a small team, but we collaborate with lots of talented associates that we bring in on a project by project basis.
How long have you been a Bristol Media member?
We’ve been a Bristol Media member for 4 years I believe. We became members because I moved to the South West from London, so it was a good way to get to know everyone and join the creative community.
What’s your favourite place in Bath and Bristol?
In Bath, Solsbury Hill, it’s really invigorating up there. It’s a steep hill but a great place to clear your mind. In Bristol, probably the harbourside, a great place for people watching.
What are you most proud of as a business?
I love that we punch above our weight. We’re only small but we take on some really big briefs, size is not an issue. Our rebrand of the American Museum & Gardens was a great example of where we demonstrated what we can achieve with a complex and demanding brief.
Our favourite projects to work on are those where we get involved right from the brand discovery stage, researching, unpacking client vision and values, positioning etc. Going in deep from the start gives us insight and helps us to maximise impact and spark really effective creative solutions.
What exciting plans have you got coming up this year?
We are working on a website with Taxi Studio for the West of England Design Forum to help women in design. There’s a big disparity between women reaching roles of seniority so it’s great to work for something we’re passionate about.
We’re also a part of a ‘mastermind’ group of 8 agency owners. We’re small giants, like the concept developed in the book Small Giants by Bo Burlingham. Based around the idea of sustainable agency growth, rather than expand for the sake of it, to make a wider positive impact beyond simply our own financial gain. So we’re excited to see where this takes us in the future!
Whose work do you admire and why?
Marina Willer from Pentagram. We love her, she’s very humble considering how successful she is, and she works in sectors we work in (charities and creative arts). Her work with Amnesty International and the Serpentine Gallery in particular. She creates clear solutions that are bold and impactful. She is a stand out influence for us.
If there’s one thing we need more of in this region, what is it?
In Bath, it would be great to see a big contemporary art centre. Bristol has Spike Island and the Arnolfini, and while Bath has great spaces, like The Edge and 44AD, it would be nice to have a permanent space that can pull in some of the bigger high-profile artists and act as a creative hub across disciplines.
If you could sum up Bristol in 3 words, what would they be?
Vibrant, refreshingly diverse and fiercely-independent.
What’s the best tip/trick you’ve learnt as a business?
For designers, use a notebook! Don’t go straight for the computer, sketch ideas before you start pushing pixels around, it’s so much easier and quicker. Leuchtturm notebooks are our favourite! Our greatest tip is to really listen. Ask questions, then actively listening to the answers. Prompt and facilitate those conversations to get insight.
Keen to feature your business? If you’d like to be part of our Featured Member series, email Kirsty or Izzy for more information. See you in September!
Bristol Media’s new Visualiser apprenticeship programme has its first recruit! Congratulations to Kheamah Powell, who has recently joined animation company A Productions as a Production Management Apprentice.
Launched in May this year, Visualiser is a partnership between Bristol Media, Babbasa, Ujima Radio and the City Council, and this new apprenticeship is a perfect fit for the team at A Productions.
Melissa Lipscombe, A Productions, says “The team wanted to take the opportunity to reach out to a more diverse range of candidates to be part of our production crew, alongside promoting the profile of the studio within the wider local Bristol community.
Working closely with Jo Sunderland from Diverse Insights, we ran two events, one with Babbasa, based at Wilder Street and one with Ujima Radio based at St Pauls Learning Centre. We advertised through our own website but also through Creative Access.
There was a fantastic response and Kheamah was one of 33 applicants who applied. The competition was tough, but Kheamah really stood out and we are delighted that she has accepted a job as part of our Production team.
Cirencester College have been great to work with, they advised on, and coordinated the recruitment process and will continue to support Kheamah and A Productions throughout her contract on the production. We couldn’t recommend the whole process enough!”
Kheamah says: “The apprenticeship has given me real hands on experience – I’m really enjoying working and learning every day!”
If you’d like to widen the diversity of your team or would like to speak to someone about the Visualiser apprentice programme, get in touch with Paul Appleby ([email protected]). For more info on Visualiser visit: https://www.bristolmedia.co.uk/news/4685/visualiser-new-talent-in-your-business
Previously executive creative director and Vice Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather, as well as creative lead for Google’s The Zoo, Patrick has a career spanning over 30 years, and we’re delighted to welcome him back to Bristol.
20 years ago, Seth Godin wrote “Permission Marketing”. He had such high hopes for advertising, suggesting that the digital revolution would make advertising personal and relevant and thus anticipated and welcome.
But it didn’t quite work out that way…
Not only do people dislike advertising (there are a billion ad-blockers installed on devices around the world) they dislike the advertising profession too. In the UK, advertising people often rank below politicians, which takes some doing! Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, Google and Brand Safety, the new tech giants have had a disastrous effect on how advertising is both made and seen.
BUT, despite all this, advertising can still help sell products and grow brands. It’s just that there are new rules.
About the keynote:
In this talk, Patrick Collister will apologise for the cliché (new rules) but will explain how it gives a framework for understanding the five conditions brands need to meet if they want to get through to people.
He’ll talk a bit about data, a lot about insight and he’ll mention the fact that 30% of the audience will have bought something on their mobile phones while sitting on the toilet. He’ll squeak excitedly about some of the new toys in the tech-box but pull a frown when he gets to the slide with the poo emoji. That’s when he’ll be discussing Programmatic and how it is an opportunity that creative agencies miss at their peril.
He’ll talk about ideas a lot, use the word creativity quite often, and may even try to sell you his book, “How To Use Innovation & Creativity In Business.”
Tickets & Entry
Join us and Patrick on Tuesday 17th September (12.30-14.15) at the riverside offices of Foot Anstey, 2 Glass Wharf, Bristol BS2 0FR.
Tickets are £40+VAT for Bristol Media members, £55+VAT for non-members and include lunch. A limited number of £10+VAT tickets will be available from 9th August to Bristol Media freelance members.
About Patrick
Patrick was the executive creative director and Vice Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather, London. Then executive creative director of the EHS Brann network of direct marketing agencies. From 2013 to 2018 he was the creative lead for Google’s creative think-tank The Zoo. He has won many awards, the most prestigious being Cannes Gold in 2013 with Cheil for Samsung. In his spare time, Patrick publishes Directory magazine and resource.
Patrick will return in October to run his critically-acclaimed workshop ‘Getting the Big Idea’… find out more.
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