Zest in Bath are a firm of local estate agents established in 2008, by Glen Perry, who runs it with his wife Beth. They have since achieved a Gold award at the British Property Awards, three years running, and been voted as Business of the Year by Best of Bath.
Zest were very interested from the outset in what we could achieve for them, especially in light of the results we’ve achieved for Bristol based letting agents, Hopewell.
This wasn’t going to be a small website design project as the site had to integrate seamlessly with Vibra Alto, Zests’ in-house property management software. Having used the fantastic Property Hive suite of plugins on previous projects this was our go to choice for Zests’ new website.
In addition Zest required additional functionality, including an integration with Locrating, a tool that displays local amenities, sold prices, transport links and local school information such as catchment areas and Ofsted reports.
Zest has an increasing portfolio of student properties to let, so it was important to be able to display these on the website clearly. To that end we created a separate section of the website aimed at students and with distinct branding.
After the website build, we were tasked with growing the website’s search presence across a number of property related keywords in Bath. In a highly competitive and lucrative property market like Bath, that meant a lot of work to do.
The website was a custom design and WordPress build, based on Property Hive’s standard framework, that gave us the code with all of the hooks that we needed to integrate with their property management system. Once this was done we then set about importing the data and testing the site to make sure everything was working as it should.
With Zest’s local SEO strategy baked into the web build at the foundational level, all the initial keyword research and on-page optimisation was complete, meaning we were able to start writing additional content to go up on the new site, during the build phase.
Being involved at the web build stage allows us to really craft solid optimised websites that hold up really well and see immediate bounces in ranking when they launch (just of the many benefits of having an SEO agency build your website).
As well as creating their beautiful new website, the real benefit to Zest has come from our ongoing digital marketing work, specifically organic SEO and Google Ads. The results here have been excellent, with the site now ranking second for the coveted “letting agents Bath” keyword and getting onto page one for “estate agents Bath”.
Between the new site launching in August 2022 and January 2023, we saw a 60% increase in organic traffic, compared with the previous six months. Comparing the most recent data, from 2023 with 2024, we have seen these results really accelerate:
With over 5000 attendees, digital marketeers flock to Brighton twice a year, for a 2-day global search marketing conference, which has the aim of helping search and digital marketers meet, learn, and do their jobs better. Tom Vaiughton is a regular speaker at Brighton SEO and after 25 years of working in search and digital marketing, Tom is frequently asked to share his ideas and thoughts on how search, Google, website visibility and SEO is evolving and impacting brands and businesses. This October 2024, Tom Vaughton, founder and CEO of Varn, delivered an insightful talk on the main stage at Brighton SEO, on the future of SEO in the AI era titled “How ‘Awesome’ will define SEO in the New Era of AI-Powered Search.”
Drawing on 25 years of experience in the SEO industry and having worked with over 400 clients worldwide, Tom shared a thought-provoking reflection on the evolution of search and the impact AI is having on SEO strategies today.
In his talk, Tom explored how AI-powered tools like natural language processing (NLP), voice search and image and video recognition, are transforming the way search engines interpret and rank content. He emphasised the importance of staying ahead of these shifts while remaining true to the core principles of great SEO—high-quality content, strong user experience and an unwavering commitment to long-term success.
One of Tom’s key takeaways was the need for SEOs to stop relying on shortcuts and to fully embrace the concept of “awesomeness,” a term borrowed from Google’s John Mueller, meaning businesses and agencies should aim to be exceptional in all aspects of SEO; whether it’s content quality, user experience or technical optimisation. He encouraged attendees to test, learn and evolve their SEO strategies, highlighting the critical role of innovation, thoughtful content creation and a clear understanding of user intent in the age of AI. Tom emphasised the importance of creating exceptional, user-focused content that delivers true value over time, rather than simply chasing algorithms. As AI becomes more adept at understanding nuanced queries, SEOs must prioritise personalisation and relevance in order to capture and convert users at every stage of their search.
Tom’s talk provided a thoughtful, forward-looking take on SEO in a new AI era, urging SEOers and marketers to stay adaptable, experiment with new approaches, don’t take shortcuts and always prioritise your end user.
The Varn team also attended many other insightful talks this year. Read on to hear our key takeaways…
Tom shares examples of errors that AI makes, that his young children were able to easily identify correctly. His example shows that while AI is powerful, it’s not flawless, emphasising the need for human insight.
Tom cautions against over-relying on AI in SEO and highlights the value of human experience and judgment. His proposed “cybermethod” blends AI’s efficiency with human expertise to produce higher-quality results by combining their strengths.
Key takeaways:
Carla offers marketers a unique way to approach their target audience research. Rather than categorising by demographics such as age and gender, she suggests categorising by five ‘curiosity cohorts’.
This approach encourages marketers view their audience through a fresh lens. This can potentially drive greater ROI, and results in content that truly speaks to the consumer’s interests, increasing brand loyalty and engagement.
Key Takeaways
In her talk, Nikki provided a thorough guide to overcoming website migration challenges, focusing on common blockers and how to address them. She highlighted the importance of asking the critical questions and strong communication throughout the process of migration to ensure everything goes smoothly.
Key takeaways:
In this talk, Yasmin drew our attention to Gen Z: how they are changing search, and how do we adapt to this? As the younger generation have grown up with technology and are more tech savvy, there are 3 priorities we need to consider to make SEO more accommodating:
Key takeaways:
Nathan began by explaining the importance of Bayes Theorem in SEO, in particular paid ads. Essentially, when you are testing a hypothesis and making changes to your SEO strategy, you need to assess the impact in order to know if this hypothesis was successful or not by keeping track of changes such as levels of organic traffic.
Key takeaways:
Liv Day opened the conference with a deep dive into the critical role that relevance plays in a site’s link profile. She highlighted the impact of irrelevant backlinks on traffic and rankings, detailing how such links can skew the perceived topicality of a website, potentially causing search engines to misunderstand a site’s focus.
Her team removed toxic and irrelevant links pointing to the site, including those leading to 404 pages. The results? A surge in traffic in August 2024, the best organic performance in five years. These results led Liv to emphasise that relevance should be treated as its own metric. She urged brands to use data to close relevance gaps between their content and backlink profiles. She shared her process, using tools like IBM Watson’s natural language processing to help analyse website content and links to confirm their alignment for link building success.
Key Takeaway:
Darren Jacobs explored the explosive growth of retail media and the convergence of e-commerce and digital advertising. Retail media systems are created by brands to advertise directly on retailer websites, to create an end to end customer journey from browsing to purchase.
With 20% of global ad spend going to retail media, driven in part by the post-COVID shift to e-commerce, retailers are turning their own first-party data into a powerful tool for closed-loop attribution and personalised customer experiences. Jacobs explores how companies like Walmart and Tesco are leading the way, by building sophisticated retail media networks to make the most of their revenue streams.
Key Takeaway:
In the third talk of the online PR section, Sophie Coley emphasised the importance of boundaries in fostering creativity and maintaining relevance. Drawing on her journalism background, she shared how she uses a persona-driven approach to content creation. By doing so, she aligns with the daily lives and emotional triggers of the audience.
She shares how important it is to understand key life moments when products or services are needed. This way, brands can create more meaningful and resonant content. She recommended using tools like Google Suggest, Reddit, and TikTok to dig deeper into audience personas. She also suggests creating buyer personas to map user journeys to align organic strategies with.
Key Takeaway:
Jonathon’s talk provided valuable insights into automating SEO content audits, helping to extract key on-page SEO elements such as meta titles, descriptions, H1 tags, and word counts. Given how time-consuming content audits can be, this approach offers a much more efficient and scalable solution.
Key takeaways:
Jo Cameron’s talk explored the potential benefits and challenges of starting a podcast, building on her experience of creating 20 episodes of MozPod in just seven days with a budget of $20k. She demonstrated that starting a podcast doesn’t require a huge budget and can be highly effective in reaching new audiences.
Jo left the audience with an inspiring message from one of her podcast episodes. A guest shared how she and her partner reflect on three things they are grateful for each day, especially on difficult days. This was a reminder that even in SEO, recognising small wins can help maintain motivation and focus on long-term success.
Key takeaways:
Jenna’s talk emphasised the importance of “letting go,” linking this idea with the concept of a site-wide clean-up. She took the audience on a journey through the gradual decline of their organic blog traffic over the years. Through various discoveries and a deep-dive process, her team managed to identify the root of the issue and transform their approach to improve site performance.
Key takeaways:
Our team had an insightful few days at BrightonSEO, with helpful insights for our Future Talent Graduates from some of the SEO industry’s leading experts. Thank you to all the speakers this year, it was great to hear from you.
If you want to learn more about SEO, get in to
Can you respond, with impact, to those big industry moments when projecting integrity, trust & credibility becomes key?
On Friday 19th July 2024, the biggest global IT outage to date caught leading service and security providers completely off-guard. Banks, manufacturers, media firms, airports, airlines, rail services, payment systems, the London Stock Exchange, multiple news organisations, and many public and emergency services platforms held up by Microsoft all reported severe interruptions.
Put simply: because resilience is a growing buying priority.
The world’s largest and most industry-critical enterprises are held up by increasingly complex supply chains and vendors.
In the wake of the debacle, thousands of buying groups (including downstream suppliers, partners, industry ecosystems and less-affected but increasingly cautious organisations) will be questioning the reliability of their current IT systems.
And they’ll be asking themselves one thing: do they have the capability to keep the lights on when the next Big Moment hits?
Cutting-edge data from 6Sense reveals that B2B buyers spend 70% of the buying journey doing their own research before talking to vendors.
(view image in blog here.)
Here are the biggest headlines steering optimised B2B content performance in 2024:
Source: 6Sense Point of First Contact Research Summary
If your content and campaigns rely on buyer conversion via a landing-page form or traditional lead generation it’s time to rethink. You won’t be getting your brand in front of key decision makers and influencers when they’re gathering the information that will heavily influence their purchase decision.
It is urgent for B2B sellers to increase their roster of ungated, educational content. You need to remove as much friction as possible for potential buyers wanting fast insights without a form.
Blogs, external product validation, helpful articles, videos, even some higher-value guides/buyers guides should be readily available to your audience without requiring an email. Concerned about tracking conversions when using more ungated content? We can help!
Whether you’re a fledgling startup or an established technology vendor selling into enterprise, Google and LinkedIn are likely your hero channels for paid media. Most organisations have not activated a key superpower: using the two platforms in combination. Deployed correctly, you can build trust with your audience and maximise awareness of your brand during that crucial first 70% of the buying journey.
Installing the LinkedIn Insights Tag on your website pages means you can track visits to specific website pages from your upper-funnel traffic-driving activity. And funnel those people back into LinkedIn. Now you can filter that audience down to your ICP profile (specific companies or industry, job function + seniority), and offer higher-value site visitors a better-connected content experience. Showing them the most relevant assets based on what they have seen and the strength of their engagement. That builds trust faster and accelerates the time between browsing and buying. And it can keep customers loyal when that next big crisis hits.
It this all sounds incredibly complicated, we get it! You want to make sure your content is making an impact on today’s buying journey. That you’re getting the most out of B2B paid media in the do more for less era. And that your digital communications are robust enough to achieve the right impact in a global emergency! That’s where we come in. Talk to us and find out how we can help build you a robust B2B platform.
Looking for a new jacket? According to Ibis World, there are 298,036 apparel manufacturing businesses globally. So how do you choose where to buy?
There’ll be several elements that affect a purchasing decision – particularly cost, quality, and/or location. But other factors that play a major role in where consumers shop are values and authenticity.
In fact, 90% of consumers say that authenticity is important when deciding which brands they support. In addition, 75% say they are likely to buy a product from a company that shares their values.
So, why are values and authenticity in marketing so important?
We’re now in an age where fake news, deep fakes and influencers peddling products they don’t actually use is the norm. And with the rise of e-commerce, we’re constantly being sold items and services every hour, of every day.
This bombardment of false promises and shallow marketing has driven customers to look for companies with more substance; companies that support their claims with actions.
Customers typically see straight through – and don’t appreciate – inauthentic and impersonal marketing tactics.
So how can you ensure your business doesn’t make these mistakes? It all starts with ‘why’. Why do you do what you do in the first place?
Being authentic and having strong values go hand in hand. But there are some important distinctions between the two.
AUTHENTIC: According to Oxford Languages, the definition of authentic is ‘of undisputed origin and not a copy; genuine’.
VALUES: The definition of values is ‘principles or standards of behaviour; one’s judgement of what is important in life’
While values are about beliefs and one’s outlook on life, authenticity is about who you are as a person (or in this case, business).
Unfortunately, an all-too-common occurrence is businesses falsely claiming they have certain values and beliefs to gain social clout and more customers.
This is also known as colourwashing (which we’ve written a blog about here). Not only can colourwashing slow down progress towards positive and important changes, but it also creates distrust in your company.
Stretching the truth about your values, and not being transparent in your marketing activities, will weaken the connection you have with your customers.
Not convinced?
According to a 2016 study, almost 94% of all consumers are more likely to be loyal to a brand when it commits to full transparency.
And when you obtain loyalty from your audience and customers, you’ll see business growth, more people making repeat purchases, and an enhanced company reputation.
Almost 94% of consumers are more likely to be loyal to a brand when it commits to full transparency.
You may be wondering where to start when conveying your values truthfully to your audience.
First you need to establish what your values as a business are.
Next, start showing you mean what you say through action.
For example, you could raise awareness of issues and organisations that align with your values, or donate some of your business’ profits to relevant causes.
It’s also important to note that this action isn’t a one-and-done situation. You need to continuously back up your claims to build audience trust.
Now, it’s time to tell people about it!
Communicating your actions and values both internally to your team and partners, and externally to your customers and stakeholders, is vital for a business. It deepens connection and understanding between your company and your audience.
Communication examples include:
What to do: Mind Corporate Partnerships
Mind is a mental health charity that stands up to injustices in healthcare, work and law which make life harder for people with mental health problems.
A section of their charity is dedicated to corporate partnerships so businesses can work with Mind to support their work and help fight for mental health.
This feature is so effective because not only are they starting a conversation with individuals, but they’re opening connections with businesses so even more people can get involved.
Their website contains plenty of resources and support for those struggling with their mental health, including workplace wellbeing.
By pairing their business statements with tangible resources, more people are likely to work with them and recommend their services.
What not to do: Naked’s lack of transparency
For this example, we’ll look through a more B2C lens, although the principles still apply to B2B businesses.
Naked offers a range of juice drinks, manufactured by PepsiCo. These products are marketed in such a way as to lead consumers to believe they’re a healthy option.
Statements on its packaging once included ‘only the best ingredients’ and ‘no sugar added’, but the Centre for Science in the Public Interest filed a lawsuit in 2016 because they were misleading.
In fact:
Following the lawsuit, Naked amended the erroneous claims and offered compensation to those who purchased products between a certain timeframe.
But despite its attempts to rectify the situation, both trust – and therefore loyalty in the brand – was lost.
Authenticity and values are interlinked – being authentic is about staying true to said values and being intentional about them.
However, authenticity is about also showing people who you are as a business. It’s about transparency in your marketing. It’s about being open with an audience, even if you’re not perfect.
This vulnerability leads to brand trust.
“Your audience is used to ignoring inauthentic marketing attempts from other businesses. Differentiate yourself by being genuine.”
So how do you go about being authentic as a B2B business? And how do you share this with your audience?
It’s crucial you remain honest in your statements and efforts.
Establishing brand guidelines early on also plays a key role in exhibiting your authenticity. This is because it will help you stay consistent in your messaging, your marketing materials, and your goals.
A major part of authentic marketing is having direct communication with your customers. This may be through:
By opening the door to discussions in real time, you’ll receive invaluable feedback that will allow you to make profound improvements.
In fact, according to a report by Microsoft, 77% of customers have a better opinion of brands that ask for and accept customer feedback.
Another interesting method to show authenticity and gain brand buy-in is through ‘behind the scenes’ materials. Whether this is showing your audience where / how your products are made, the team behind the business, or a Q&A session.
And finally, testimonials are a great way to offer transparency. Sharing feedback from those not necessarily invested in the company itself – i.e. objective opinion – creates believability. This is known as social proofing.
Social proofing is:
“the psychological concept that people are influenced in their decision making by others, compelling them to act within societal norms or expectations.”
Social proofing done well
Airbnb utilises the power of social proofing in their marketing brilliantly. In fact, as a platform that’s built to both enable people to host strangers in their properties, and for people to stay in strangers’ properties, their business success depends on it.
Airbnb includes reviews from guests and hosts which can include photos, stories about people’s stays, and their names.
This adds a personal touch to the platform, which increases trust from users. But it also provides details of others’ experiences using the service, giving clear evidence of customer satisfaction.
Authenticity and value-based marketing ultimately comes down to 4 things:
It’s as much of a benefit to you as it is your audience. In return for your honesty, and so-called vulnerability, your audience will be significantly more likely to invest time (and money) into your brand.
With a loyal customer base, you’re increasing your chances of seeing more growth in your business as people recommend your products/services to others.
And it’s important to remember – this isn’t just for B2C companies, B2B companies should be doing the same.
We’re now in an age where businesses are trying to sell as much as possible and advertise wherever they can. So, when 57% of consumers think that less than half of brands create authentic content, make sure you’re standing out for the right reasons.
After all, people now value quality over quantity, and neither you nor your customers should settle for anything less.
Looking to find out how you can tell your audience about your authenticity and values? Get in touch at [email protected] to find out how we can help.
Are you feeling like your blogs and social posts are shots in the dark, fired out without a clear aim and, ultimately, missing the mark?
Or maybe you feel there are never enough hours in the day to be consistently updating your digital platforms, like you’re always catching up.
There are a number of reasons why your B2B digital strategy might be falling flat.
So, how do you keep the conversation about your brand, products, and services fresh and engaging, without sounding like a broken record? And why does it feel so challenging?
“…58% of businesses don’t have a digital strategy in place…”
It turns out, 50% of businesses don’t have a digital strategy in place. Those that do certainly aren’t immune to avoidable marketing mistakes. And, as Roger L. Martin – strategy and management expert, and author of A New Way to Think – puts it, strategy is NOT planning:
“A strategy is an integrative set of choices that positions you on a playing field of your choice, in a way that you win.”
In essence, strategy is a theory, meaning there is a ‘how’ and a ‘why’. The ‘why’ is the reason you choose to do it. And the how, is the way you plan to beat your competition – playing to your organisation’s strengths to gain opportunities and sidestep risks.
Why do you need a digital strategy?
Every business will have different aims, but here are some reasons you might want to dial up your digital strategy:
Your competition is growing a strong following and gaining market share
Digital platforms give you the opportunity to test what works and what doesn’t, helping you hone your messaging and stay competitive. If your competitor is gaining traction online, it’s likely no accident – you can bet they have a solid strategy in place.
You’re under pressure to do more with less where your marketing budget is concerned
Compared to traditional OOH marketing, TV and print, digital marketing can offer low-cost opportunities to reach even more people – both organic and paid. A robust digital strategy will help you prioritise where you spend that limited budget to maximise returns.
Your sales and marketing teams don’t have enough data to confidently modernise their approach
It’s a misconception that B2B sales are all about meeting rooms, suits and handshakes. In fact, a recent report from Sana found that 58% of B2B buyers prefer placing complex and high-value orders online. By harnessing the power of data in your digital strategy, you can learn a lot about your audience and their preferences. This has the power to transform your marketing communications, your sales patter and direct messaging, and dictate how and where you choose to advertise.
Your audience needs your products or services, but they don’t know it yet
Sometimes an extra step of awareness and education is needed to nurture prospective customers. If you have products or services that require a bit more explanation, digital marketing offers numerous opportunities to build anticipation and understanding, guiding them into the next stage of the funnel. LinkedIn advertising is a particularly effective way to educate a B2B audience.
How will you plan your strategy, to ensure success?
“Invest deeply in understanding the problem before proceeding. You create a strategy; you don’t pick one. Design and imagination are critically important to strategy.”
– Richard Rumelt, Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why it Matters.
Diving deep into the complexities of your industry and consumer behaviour isn’t just helpful – it’s essential groundwork for crafting your B2B digital marketing strategy.
You’re battling lengthy sales cycles, multi-seat buying committees, and high-stakes transactions. So, it’s crucial to nurture your audience with a well-thought-out digital marketing strategy.
This means catering to every key audience persona, at every stage of the marketing funnel – from awareness, right through to decision.
Equally, business-to-business marketing is a competitive game. Developing an effective B2B marketing strategy requires an in-depth understanding of not only your industry and audience, but your competition.
Once you have your market research in place and a solid understanding of the pain points your audience is facing, you can figure out how you want to position yourself.
Key challenges when developing a B2B digital marketing strategy:
What to do?
1. Choose the channels you want to reach your customers on
Where can you find your audience? How do you want them to engage?
2. Develop a content strategy
Provide content that speaks to your audience in every stage of the buyer journey: awareness, consideration, decision, as well as making it unique and reflective of your brand. What value are you adding to your audience? How is your content going to solve their problems?
3. Use paid promotion to your advantage
Decide where you want to put your budget that will be most effective for you. For instance, do your customers mainly search for your product on Google? In that case PPC may be the most viable option. Or perhaps you offer a product that appeals to Gen Z – if so, consider TikTok, Instagram or Snapchat. Be sure to track your spending and the conversion rate to optimise wherever possible and get the most bang for your buck.
4. Map out the customer journey
Use tools like Hotjar and GA4, and any other analytics tools you’re subscribed to, and map the journey of your customer from awareness of your brand (social media engagement, for example) and first website visits right through to purchase.
5. Decide which tools best meet your aims
Ensure you research marketing tools carefully before subscribing, and select ones that most seamlessly slot into your processes, providing the most efficient and effective support for the least investment.
6. Get your hands on as much data as possible
Use it to evaluate the effectiveness of your digital marketing strategy, which should be flexible enough to adapt with your findings. Then, be sure to make use of A/B testing to find out how your data works in practice.
Not sure where to start?
Chat to us today for a free consultation and we can provide some tips to help breathe new life into your B2B digital marketing strategy, boost engagement and get you those all-important conversions.
Our Google Ads campaign achieved a Return On Ad Spend (ROAS) of 16.09 and helped Holt Farm sell every pitch at their independent campsite for Glastonbury 2024. And all that in just eight weeks.
Holt Farm is a new luxury camping concept for Glastonbury 2024, created by one of our long term clients, Yurtel.
With guaranteed pitches just 200 metres from the festival’s main entrance and amenities such as clean toilets, hot showers, organic food vendors, and even a wild spa, Holt Farm is designed for comfort and community, allowing groups to camp together in a secure, well-equipped environment.
Holt Farm was a brand new offering around one of the most famous and popular festivals in the world, Glastonbury. After a delayed start, the challenge wasn’t selling the festival but selling a large number of pitches in a relatively short window of time (just a few weeks).
With so much noise and buzz in the build up to the Glastonbury festival, standing out and making sales via Google Ads needed to happen quickly and effectively. This was a high pressure, high speed campaign.
We also had the support of this being a multi-channel campaign, with brand awareness being built by the client on Facebook and Instagram as well.
Our results can be seen in the tables below:
Conversion Rate: 3.44%
Bristol integrated brand agency saintnicks has announced a further senior appointment with the hiring of Marcus Culloty as the agency’s new Creative Director.
Marcus joins saintnicks after holding the title of Creative Director at McCann Bristol. Before that, he was the Creative Director of The Mix Dublin, part of Pernod Ricard’s global in-house agency network.
With more than 17 years experience working for some of the UK and Ireland’s leading network and independent agencies including Havas, Publicis, and The Leith Agency, he has created a raft of award-winning campaigns for global clients such as Toyota, O2, Jameson and Dunlop.
Now as saintnicks’ Creative Director, Marcus will be leading the agency’s conceptual output alongside supporting with the mentoring, shaping and development of its creative studio.
On his appointment, Culloty said: “saintnicks has a great philosophy for crafting great work that helps their clients and their brands really fly. That’s why I can’t wait to dive in, be part of this experienced agile independent agency’s senior team and take things further than ever.”
It’s a time of continued growth for the Bristol agency with further new talent joining across the business. This month sees the arrival of Richard Canueto-Cook and Hannah Bain into the Client Services team as Account Directors. Both join with previous careers at Ogilvy, Havas and McCann.
The appointments coincide with another strong year for the agency after a consistent period of new and existing client growth within the automotive, sport and audio sectors and a string of industry award nominations.
Steve Davies, ECD of saintnicks commented: “The quality of talent and the versatility of skills in the agency has enabled us to generate stronger campaigns and deliver better performance metrics across the board. With over 65% of our business from international brands we are always seeking talent who can help us to take clients further, and Marcus is a most welcome and exciting addition to the team.”
Werkshop Weekender (formerly known as Werkhouse) is finally back! This year they’re changing it up, and the torch for hosting has been passed on to Halo.
The weekend, where future designers, copywriters, and strategists are given the chance to connect with the industry and get a taste for agency life first hand through a real brief, is happening in Bristol on 16th and 17th November 2024.
Breaking down barriers
As Halo takes over the mantle, they are continuing to dial up the focus on diversity and inclusion. The weekend is open to anyone over 18, no matter their previous experience or education, and all applications are being judged blind.
“We know that university isn’t accessible, or even the right route, for everyone but yet there’s still such a heavy onus on having a degree when trying to move into the Creative Sector. We don’t think this should be the case. Creativity is open to everyone, and always should be, no matter where you are in life or what you’ve been (or are going) through. “ ~ Bryony Greenwood, People & Studio Coordinator at Halo
Werkshop Weekender brings together professionals from some of the best studios in Bristol and Bath, with curious individuals looking to enter the creative industries. Participants are divided into squads to tackle a real life brief from a client in the charity sector, developing ideas and communicating their concepts, with the support of assigned team leaders and on hand professionals.
Studios that so far have signed on for the weekend are:
How to apply
Applications open on 2nd September and close on 1st October, but if you for any reason need more time to finish, please contact Halo at [email protected] and they’ll do what they can to accommodate you.
The Werkshop Weekender team has made it clear; the weekend isn’t for those with experience. It’s for those with an interest in communications, design, and commercial creativity. They aren’t looking for professionals, they’re looking for those with a curious attitude and drive, who want to gain insight into agency life.
“If you’re passionate, if you have ideas, if you’re curious, we want to hear from you. Good ideas come from every aspect of life, and the experiences and the way people perceive life right from day one are what forms rounded ideas. We know life isn’t linear, and your journey into the creative space may not be either (mine wasn’t), so if you have even an inkling to apply, please do!” ~ Bryony Greenwood, People & Studio Coordinator at Halo
Go to the Werkshop Weekender website to find out more and to access the application when it opens.
Bristol-based CRM specialists Flourish have today joined forces with the creative services agency Curious and The Harbour Collective, in what is the first step in the development of a new marketing company – the Harbour Group.
The group will be led by Paul Hammersley. Previously founder of Harbour Collective, Hammersley will become the CEO of Harbour Group, with Hugo Varney taking on the role of CFO. Before forming Harbour, Hammersley was a chief executive of DDB and Cheil. He launched Harbour in 2017.
Hammersley said, “For some time we have been discussing with a number of our Collective member agencies how to more closely align their shared interests and create a more connected plan for future growth and value creation… central to those discussions has been our desire to allow for the continued autonomy of the agency Brands.”
Founded in 2004, Flourish built its reputation in CRM and Customer Journey marketing, working for clients such as Nissan, Twitch and ASOS. Today, the agency employs over 50 people and operates from offices in Bristol and Dubai.
Of Flourish’s three founders, Neil Hecquet and Rich Hartson will be departing the agency, whilst Keith Nichol will remain, taking a position on the Harbour Group board. Nichol said, “The last 20 years have been such an incredible personal experience. I couldn’t have hoped for better partners than Neil and Rich and both have been instrumental in Flourish’s success. The time has come to push on and this opportunity with Harbour enables us to add our strength to a wider group proposition.”
Ian Reeves, Flourish’s Managing Director, said “The Harbour Group vision is clear and offers our clients tangible value through vertically integrated and complimentary services. We’re excited to start the journey alongside Curious and believe their offering can help push the creative barriers of what can be achieved within CRM.”
For more information, please contact Aimee Blakemore, Marketing Manager at Flourish on 01173 117620 or [email protected].
About Flourish
Flourish, which has offices in Bristol and Dubai, is a CRM agency “specialising in the development and delivery of personalised data-driven experiences, direct communications and content”. Its clients include Nissan, Bet365 and Asos.
About Curious
Curious is a “tech-driven agency that provides design, artwork, photography, video, CGI, and content distribution services”, with clients that include Diageo, Specsavers and Patek Philippe.
About Harbour
Harbour Collective, described as a “standalone company which manages a membership base of a number of independent agencies”, includes Live & Breathe, Pretty Green, Thursday, Platform, Digital Natives, TCO, Just So and Mi Media.
We are thrilled to announce that Varn has been selected as a finalist for The Small Business of the Year Award, at the prestigious Lloyds Bank British Business Excellence Awards 2024. This is a real honour and a testament to the hard work and dedication of our entire team.
The Lloyds Bank British Business Excellence Awards are the UK’s largest awards programme celebrating the best of British business. These awards welcome and celebrate businesses of all sizes, from entrepreneurial start-ups and SMEs to well-established key industry players in the FTSE 100. Being selected as a finalist in this prestigious awards process is an incredible milestone for Varn, particularly as this year there has been an unprecedented number of entries.
The Small Business of the Year Award is a highly competitive category open to organisations with up to £5 million turnover in their last financial year. This category celebrates companies that demonstrate strong growth & resilience, plans for sustained growth and innovation, as well as customer/staff engagement, an ethical approach to business and strong business results.
Rob Wilde, Managing Director of Varn proudly shares that, “Being named a finalist for category of The Small Business of the Year Award at the Lloyds Bank British Business Excellence Awards 2024, is a fantastic recognition of the hard work and dedication of our wonderful team at Varn. We are truly honoured to be acknowledged alongside such outstanding businesses and are excited for what lies ahead.”
The winners will be announced at the Awards ceremony, to be held at Grosvenor House Hotel in London, on 12th November 2024. Being part of this esteemed awards process is a remarkable achievement for Varn. We are immensely proud of our team’s efforts and delighted to part of the awards process, as we eagerly look forward to the next stage of this journey.
If you would like to find out more about the Lloyds Bank British Business Excellence Awards or have any questions for our team, please get in touch and you can contact us here
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