Above & Beyond, the official charity for Bristol city centre hospitals, has launched its Bristol Against Cancer campaign to “talk about the other ‘C’ word.”
JonesMillbank, a Bristol-based video production company, have been working with the charity to create a series of films highlighting the personal stories of those affected by cancer and working in cancer care.
“We met such inspiring individuals and had the privilege of hearing honestly and openly about their journeys and the amazing people who helped them along the way” said Emma Baker, Producer at JonesMillbank.
“From Simon, who was alerted by his vet and went on to beat the disease, to Jonathan, a radiologist at Bristol Royal Infirmary who was asked by a 7-year-old if he would remember him before sadly passing away, we hope the films highlight the strength, struggles and dedication of their stories.”
One in two of us will be affected by cancer in our lifetime, and today, like every day, 2,500 new patients will take their first steps through the doors of one of Bristol city centre hospitals.
To find out more, or to donate to and support the amazing work carried out by Above & Beyond, visit www.aboveandbeyond.org.uk/appeal/bristol-against-cancer.
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JonesMillbank are a passionate full-service video production company
They work exclusively in-house with a talented team of multi-disciplined creatives, all the while telling authentic stories long before it was cool for a range of clients such as University of Bristol, Battersea, The Royal Mint and IDLES.
jonesmillbank.com
01173706372
[email protected]
Business as Unusual – the webinar dedicated to inspiring marketers and business owners – returns!
Join Azeem Ahmad, Sunjay Singh and Joyann Boyce for a conversation about cultural diversity in the marketing sector on Thursday 17th September from 3pm – 4pm.
This webinar is perfect for marketers and business owners who want to make a start at being more inclusive at work.
We’ll cover:
– Practical ways to champion diversity in the workplace and get around the biases of your boss
– First hand experiences of cultural bias as told by our panellists
– The steps we can take as an industry and as individuals to make inclusive marketing the standard
– How we can encourage more young people of colour into the sector
There’ll also be a 15 minute Q&A where you can submit anonymous questions on the topic; so if there’s a question you have which you felt uncomfortable or a bit silly asking, this is your chance to ask it.
Register for the webinar and get the joining info here: mnky.bz/bau
Pre-submit your anonymous question using this form here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/GKCM3BG
In the first whirlwind days of the UK lockdown, many businesses paused all discretionary spending and battened down the hatches to ride out the uncertainty. But Stratton Craig, a specialist written communications agency based in the heart of Bristol, chose to take a different tack. In its own version of a lockdown DIY project, the agency completed a full refresh of its website and launched a slick new site for itself. And now, the decision to proactively invest in the business is already paying off, with web traffic and new leads up within the first months of launch.
According to Stratton Craig CEO, Darren Clare, “The decision to reinvest in our business during this time was absolutely the right one for us. We knew that a new website would put us in a much better situation for the economic recovery when it kicks off, and it was a proactive step we could take to prepare our business for whatever is around the corner.”
Working in partnership with a specialist web agency allowed the Stratton Craig team to focus on what it does best, exceptional writing and flawless project management. Rebel & Slaughter were engaged to design and build the new website and the two agencies worked in seamless partnership to deliver the new website. By applying a boots and braces approach to the project management, the Stratton Craig team were able to keep the project on time, on budget and on brand, all while never letting a client deadline slip.
Mr Clare said, “The success of the website project is a testament to the resilience and hard work of the Stratton Craig team. We’ve already seen a 31% increase in traffic and a 133% increase in leads, month-on-month. With lockdown restrictions now easing, we know the new website will give our business the best chance of success as the economy bounces back. And we’re encouraging our clients to view this time as an opportunity to invest in their future success as well.”
About Stratton Craig
Stratton Craig is a written communications agency with over 30 years’ experience and a reputation for sharp thinking and brilliant writing. Since 1987, they’ve helped clients of all shapes and sizes to harness the power of words.
McCann and Another Films put family at the heart of new campaign
McCann Bristol has created a new brand TV advert for Thatchers, to showcase the cider makers’ four generations of family cider making.
The ad is a light-hearted exploration of the contemporary meaning of family, featuring amusing and touching scenes of both blood-related families and modern takes on ‘family’ like close friends and colleagues. It’s packed with stories that will resonate with people across the UK.
Featuring a voice-over from comedian Bill Bailey, the ad has a distinctive look and feel. It highlights the range of ciders during drinking occasions and family life, while still featuring the Thatcher family and their stunning Somerset orchards, to make the point that, no matter what, no-one cares more than family.
The ad was created by Zane Radcliffe and Ken Sara from McCann Bristol, and shot by Steve Reeves from Another Film Company.
McCann Group Executive Creative Director, Jon Elsom, says, “The Thatcher family is deeply involved with life at Myrtle Farm. Their passion for quality and innovation is at the very soul of the business. They are the family cider makers, producing iconic brands including Gold, Haze, Rosé and the newly launched Cloudy Lemon. Our new approach illustrates the importance of that family commitment. When you come right down to it, whatever family means to you, both good and bad, no-one cares more than family.”
Martin Thatcher, fourth generation cider maker says, “This is an ad that’s warm with a smile in its heart. We hope everyone will be able to relate to it. The sense of family runs very strongly throughout all we do at Thatchers, from our heritage and traditions, through to our quality and expertise in cider making. It’s something we’re all very proud of, and we know it’s something that will always stay true. There’s never been a better time to reinforce the message of family and caring for each other.”
The advert will air from 17th – 23rd August in a 40-second format, followed by a 30-second format between 24th and 30th August. It will appear on ITV, ITV Digital, Sky, Channel 4 and Channel4 Digital (E4, Film4, More4, Box music channels and UKTV). It will also feature on social media and through a YouTube campaign.
Pre-Covid, creative teams benefitted from being in close proximity. This is mainly because one of the driving forces of creativity is (ironically) its infectiousness.
Being part of a creative idea gaining traction – being able to see, hear, and feel its potential – is why most of us do this.
Now, with the panic of lockdown beginning to fade, and the possibility of remote working remaining part of daily life for a while yet, we’ve been evaluating the ways we’ve adapted over the last few months.
While our technology enabled us to switch locations immediately, our creative habits needed a little aligning to ensure a smooth transition.
Seeing people’s expressions and body language is vital when briefing, sharing, reviewing and presenting ideas.
Being able to notice the difference between silence when they are excited and scribbling ideas, and silence from them drawing a blank, ensures you can keep things moving.
Creativity needs energy and nurturing, and audio alone is not enough.
Creating a way to bounce ideas around as a team when our four walls became two-dimensional was an initial challenge, whether they were conceptual ideas, executional solutions or UX planning.
We found using collaborative programmes, especially Google Chat, Google Meet and Google Docs, meant we could share work straight away.
Sharing screens and documents in small groups for live ideation, or sharing screen grabs or photos of sketches in larger project chat groups, ensured the momentum was never lost.
None of these programmes recreate the beauty of walls covered in layout sheets bursting with ideas; but programmes such as Miro allow us to get nearer to the satisfaction of problem solving with Post-it Notes.
It’s easy to become task-orientated when you can’t physically see your team and without strong intentions individuals can become siloed.
But it’s vital that ideas are seen and challenged by others. A fresh perspective will ensure ideas are robust and refined.
We have staggered project team video ‘scrums’ each morning which serve to not only align us to our goals, but also alert us to opportunities to collaborate outside our initial tasks.
When you’re physically surrounded by creatives the unplanned check-ins that occur when you catch a glimpse of a colleague’s screen, or overhear an exciting idea, are often the times when projects gain momentum.
To attempt to create these naturally and informally without the pressure of a booked ‘meeting’, the team is encouraged to frequently share roughs, and experiments either one-to-one, or in small groups, via screen shares in video chats or screen grabs or sketches in chat groups.
When things get exciting and we want to share wider, the seconds it takes to drop a Google Meet link into individual chats is far quicker than running around a studio looking for other team-mates.
All this constant sharing means that the team has also had to allow for calm times in order to focus and produce the work.
We’ve had to become better at prioritising our time; knowing when to ask for time to focus and how ensure others are getting it.
We’ve found that early afternoon is when we can carve out concentration time; and for this isolated working can be a blessing.
The last few months have affected our work lives more than any impactful event I have experienced during my career; whether worldwide, like the 2008 recession, or the more localised and terrible 2005 London bombings.
Everyone is navigating their ‘new normal’ in different ways, at home and at work. This makes finding the right time to check-in and support each other a bit of a challenge.
But I think our communication and transparency has been forced to improve; bringing us closer, and making us far more efficient as a team.
This article was written by Art Director, Hannah Waters, and first appeared on Mediashotz on 15 July 2020.
Hello from Sons of Graham, a creative studio now based in three separate flats across Bristol!
Since lockdown, our newly implemented morning Zooms have been the virtual team group huddle we’ve all needed. It keeps us focussed and directional. Who knew Zoom would be such an integral part of lives and our business? We certainly didn’t.. I’m not even sure I knew what Zoom was before all this..
Also, we now think the social chat at work is as important (if not more..) than the business chat. It’s what’s been keeping us sane. Right now hearing who’s managed to master home baked sourdough and why Disney’s The Mandalorian is a groundbreaking gem, is what literally gets me out of bed in the morning. Not to mention discussing the state the world, some much needed processing in these weird and interesting times.
Like many, it was never our goal to set up shop in our own homes but here we all are! And you know what, yes ..we’ve had a few technical problems, but on the whole it’s not been bad, the wheels haven’t fallen off and our little world keeps turning.
In fact, we’re very proud of what we’ve managed to achieve together in these separated, walled boxes we call homes across Bristol. We recently worked with McCann Bristol to produce the first ever TV commercial for Pink Lady® Apples and an online social campaign — a match made in juicy heaven. The team have worked hard to pull this technical and bizarre piece of animation off. With much motion tracking, tongue wagging tests and eye bulging debates we have finished! We can stand back proud.. whilst munching on our pink lady apples.
As a creative team we look forward to a day where we can see one another again, breathe terrible coffee breath on each other and dare to share a packet of crisps.. as long as they’re not cheese and onion please.
Check out our site to see the whole project.
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What percentage of marketers do you think have felt that their ethnic background has affected their career opportunities?
10%? 50%? 100%?
The answers are likely to shock you.
At the next Business as Unusual webinar, join Noisy Little Monkey and guest Azeem Ahmad for an exclusive preview of his 2020 survey into diversity in marketing, in relation to being a person of colour.
Azeem’s research reveals the results of his investigation into the representation of people of colour and their roles in the marketing industry in the UK, and their representation at marketing conferences. We’ll discuss the results in the light of recent events and the actions business owners, directors and marketers might take to effect lasting change.
If you feel confused about what you can do to be a better ally or want concrete information on the scale of the problem faced by people of colour in the marketing industry, this session is not to be missed.
You can join the Business as Unusual webinar by signing up via this link: mnky.bz/bau
Business as Unusual is a fortnightly webinar for in-house marketers, sales professionals and business owners.
Every webinar you can meet with industry experts and learn how to stay productive, profitable and at peace in the pandemic and whatever comes after.
Over the next few months you’ll get insight into advertising, recruitment, infrastructure, video, corporate events, PR, digital, social media, sales, AI and much, much more. Register today and we’ll see you every other Thursday at 3pm.
Azeem is currently Digital Marketing Manager in the Higher Education sector. He has spent several years working in the industry, beginning in a paid search focused role before moving into a multi channel specialism. Having worked both agency side, and in house, he is experienced in various aspects of online marketing activity, including PPC, Social Media, Display, Programmatic, App Marketing and SEO. He has previously spoken at conferences internationally including MeasureFest, and BrightonSEO, and also appeared on podcasts and webinars too.
The past few months have been tough on businesses, and individuals. Working patterns have needed to be adjusted, and remote working practices have been put in place by many businesses.
It’s been hard on everyone. That said, it’s not all doom and gloom, there is light at the end of the tunnel and even if you’re currently in a crisis, with a bit of crisis management and digital marketing, things will soon be back on track. Yes, the economy is slowly re-opening, but it doesn’t look like we’ll be in the clear for a while. If you can’t eradicate your business’ problem, you need to adapt. We can help.
So, what’s going wrong? Are you struggling to generate revenue? Has your industry collapsed? Or are you receiving backlash for something that upset your customers? Whatever the problem, the first step to crisis management is understanding what’s gone wrong so that it can be remedied. You will need to make amends for past mistakes, or examine where in the businesses the sales pipeline has fallen apart. It’s only once you’ve worked this out that you can start to adapt your digital marketing and solve your crisis.
It’s a new day, and a new opportunity for your business. Once you’ve examined what’s going wrong, you will now have the opportunity to start fresh and create a new digital marketing strategy that caters for the present day. Consider a brand refresh or create new social media platforms; whatever will give your brand a boost, do it.
According to a recent study, digital use is growing at an exponential rate with an estimated 7.1% increase in internet users in April 2020 alone. From this, it’s clear that your business needs to be digital. This is where you should start.
By developing a new structure it will become a lot easier for sales to convert. Of course, this entirely depends on what your business is and which industry you work in, but if you’re in need of crisis management, we’ll take a guess that the current structure isn’t working…
We recommend finding a way to generate sales simply and quickly through your website. Plan a new digital marketing campaign that incorporates tactical PPC campaigns and SEO content. Get your website converting and then focus on attracting the customers.
So, where are your customers? Depending on your crisis, they may be sat right in front of you and need enticing with new digital marketing content. They could also be on a new or different platform to where you’re currently marketing – find out where they are and join them.
Now it’s go time. Create content, and lots of it. Engage with your customer on social media and reach out to them in innovative ways using digital PR methods. Get your Google ads up and running – optimised, of course – and retarget your customers. This will make it very easy for them to visit your site, remember your brand and eventually, buy your products and/or services.
One of the most important and best things about digital marketing is the fact that you can change something if it’s not working. No one will question you, no one will probably notice. Now is not the time for pride, so if your strategy isn’t working, find out why and change it.
A great way to do this is by getting feedback from real customers about your campaigns and services. Start with a survey; then develop a network of loyal customers; from there you can curate a fruitful advocacy campaign where customers can have open dialogue with your brand whilst also being your number one fan. Trust us, it works.
Not only is it important to understand where your customers are, but you also need to know where they’re heading. To avoid needing a second round of crisis management, it’s a good idea to plan for the future and initiate digital marketing campaigns that will be future-proof. Anticipate the direction of customer behaviour and invest. This will keep you ahead of the game.
In this day and age, the world moves on, and quickly. Make sure you keep up.
Are you ready for your digital reboot to start? Yes.
Last month, HubSpot officially launched its new CMS Hub. It’s a product their team has been working on for the past two years which is designed to help professional marketers build and optimise their own websites without the headaches. Hurrah!
Sign up for the free Business as Unusual webinar on Thursday 11th June at 3pm (BST).
Hosts Noisy Little Monkey will be joined by Luke Summerfield, the Go-To-Market lead for HubSpot CMS & Web.
Luke will be discussing the obvious topics: CMS, web design, optimisation… But he’ll also share his thoughts on the future of the web and you’ll get his insight on the technological opportunities facing professional marketers in the years ahead.
Register here: mnky.bz/bau
Noisy Little Monkey are a Diamond HubSpot Solutions Partner – specialists in technical SEO and inbound marketing, they’ve helped numerous clients leverage HubSpot to grow their business better. You can get in touch here.
Practically everyone is online right now so it’s a good time to ramp up your comms and digital marketing. Online success comes not only from creativity, but also from data. You’ll want to ensure your strategy is working by measuring metrics. But which ones should you be measuring and what do they all mean?
There are so many ways to determine success, from the number of engagements on a post to website traffic to the number of sales. Start by deciding what success looks like to you and then decide on the metrics that will help you get there. Knowing what your customer journey looks like is important as then you can measure the effectiveness of each part of your marketing and PR strategy and adjust where necessary.
This is all about getting your content and website seen by search engines. There’s a lot of metrics available here including traffic to website, page views, bounce rate, session length and pages visited. Your keywords are very important and as these are the terms that visitors use to find you. Always ensure they are right for your content, use a keyword tool to find the best ones for you and watch your website rise in the SERPs.
Keywords are important here too as your choice of keywords will determine how much your pay-per-click campaigns cost. PPC campaigns allow you can calculate how much it costs to create a lead, a great advantage to have as you can plan out your budgets per campaign. You know exactly where your money is going.
The best metrics to use for email campaigns are the open-rate and the click-through-rate. Be aware that some email clients like Outlook open emails automatically so you need to measure open rates against click-through-rates for the full story.
You’re getting leads in but how many are converting? The quality of the leads is arguably more important than the number of leads, and you need to see the impact on your bottom line. There are good lead scoring tools available allowing you to understand the quality of your leads better.
Quantifiable social media metrics come in a variety, from reach of a post to engagement (likes and comments) to driving traffic to your website. Brand awareness is a harder metric to quantify but you can measure through brand recall and recognition, as well as an increase in online conversations about your brand, not on your platforms. An essential part of digital marketing!
The best way to know if your strategy is right is the number of visitors coming to your website. Drill down to see if they are new or returning visitors. New visitors means your brand awareness strategy is working and new people are coming to see who you are and what you offer!
Find your loyal customers by identifying the ones who come back to you again and again. Give them the content they need to be a quality lead.
Once you find out that a particular visitor has decided to visit you again, it’s a straight indicator of his interest in your business! All you gotta do is, optimize the opportunity and figure out a way to convert this returning visitor into a real lead!
You know when you’re providing your visitors with the content they need by how long they spend on site and understanding when they leave. The bounce rate is just as important as the length of time on a page. If the bounce rate is high and the time on site is low then it’s time to look at where you’re going wrong. Have you got your customers right? Is your digital marketing strategy working?
Talk to us about what success looks like for you: [email protected]. Virtual tea and cake awaits!
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