Problem
HTML rendering in email clients is widely inconsistent. This is due to various factors including the level of support for different HTML and CSS features, how different email clients handle unsupported features and even how they embed the HTML email message within the email client user interface. In addition to the email-specific factors, there are cross-browser compatibility considerations that must be taken into account. In fact, this goes beyond web browsers because the Outlook Windows and Windows Mail desktop apps still use Microsoft Word as a rendering engine – and not a web browser engine!
Setting the right goals
Consistent HTML rendering across email clients and presenting your brand message in an identical way regardless of the email client used to view it is not a bad thought, but given the factors listed above it is not an attainable goal.
A more achievable and impactful goal is sending emails that are consistently usable, accessible and at minimum presentable and responsive while communicating the same message without sacrificing the brand image. At Flourish we believe this approach is more effective in achieving our clients’ ultimate goals from their CRM communications.
Approach
Ensuring the recipient can access and consume the contents of the email and interact with it (where applicable) whilst ensuring the email remains presentable across all relevant email clients is a big technical challenge.
Accessibility
Building HTML emails that are accessible to as many people (disabled or not) as possible is a major goal for all emails we build. The target audience here is literally everyone. This includes people who need to use assistive technology to access the content and those who use it to make the consumption of content a lot easier. It includes who need to rely on software to translate the content and those who must use alternative input devices to navigate.
With this mindset we write code that heroes the content semantically and visually. We collaboratively work with our designers to ensure a high level of readability, sufficient colour contrast and sensible dark mode choices.
Progressive enhancement
This is why we take a progressive enhancement approach in which we first build the HTML email with the minimum needed to render semi-consistently across email clients and a big focus on keeping the content accessible. Then we progressively enhance that minimum baseline HTML with fancier nice-to-have features. These features are implemented in a way that if not rendered by the email client, they would not break that baseline HTML.
In some cases, we may have multiple levels of progressive enhancements. For example, a coloured gradient can be rendered as a solid colour in some email clients, a static background image in some or from a programmatically generated image with CSS.
The above example revolves around aesthetics only – which can be important to maintain the sender’s brand image. However, there are also cases where multiple levels of progressive enhancements are needed to ensure the email’s contents remain accessible and useful to the recipient. Due to the limited feature detection techniques in email land, this is when we utilise email client targeting techniques to fine-tune rendering with greater care for specific email clients that are relevant to the sender’s audience. Making data-backed decisions here can essentially guide our team to focus on what is important to our clients’ unique audiences.
Optimise for the unhappy path
When viewing a HTML email, there are two distinct states. The first is when the message is displayed with all external resources such as images and web fonts – which is what everyone optimises for. However, we don’t believe it is enough to solely rely on the happy path, so we pay attention to the second state: when a user disables the download of external resources. This can involve styling the alternative text for images appropriately which would typically be hidden and ensuring the content remains as accessible as possible.
Forfeiting control, intelligently
Due to the limited support of many HTML and CSS features in email, it is not always possible to control how things are rendered in all situations. For example, it is not possible to render dark mode styles in some email clients that have auto dark mode conversions such as Gmail. This does not mean we simply forfeit full control. Instead, we make intelligent choices to ensure the email still renders well in dark mode. This may involve collaborating with designers to tweak some colours and use images that render well in both light and dark modes.
Performance
Unlike the web, performance, in relation to rendering and page load time, is not a widely discussed topic in email. On a normal web page when displaying a single image, it is possible to provide the browser with several versions of the same image for different screen sizes and display densities. You can explicitly tell the browser which version to use for which environment, or you can provide it with the information needed for it to pick the appropriate version on its own. This way the user doesn’t download a 4K quality image when they are on a display incapable of displaying the image at that quality.
This is not possible in most major email clients. This is why a balance between performance and quality is needed and may take additional considerations in email. Defaulting to retina quality images (suitable for high density pixel display) is a common practice. It is vital that images are properly compressed and are saved in the most appropriate format for the image type.
When a single high-quality image is used for all environments and screen sizes, image rendering can be slow in some cases. This can potentially cause vertical content layout shifts. We can enhance the image loading experience by telling the browser to maintain the aspect ratio of the image even before it loads. This approach does not break the responsiveness of the email.
About the Author:
Hussein Alhammad is Lead Developer at Flourish and a founding member of the Email Markup Consortium (EMC), a community-led group of industry professionals working to improve the email experience for everyone. For Hussein, developing is not a profession but an art form and he’s passionate about pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved with code.
Need help ensuring your emails are reaching the right audience, with the right message, at the right time? Get in touch with the friendly experts at Flourish Customer Journey Marketing.
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the process of raising a website’s visibility and position in search engine results pages (SERPs). Several factors influence how well a website performs in search engine results, but three main factors—on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO—are viewed as being the most important.
Enhancing a website’s content, title tags, meta descriptions, and header tags for search engines is known as on-page SEO. On-page SEO is to make a website’s content relevant, beneficial, and understandable for both users and search engines. This entails making the website’s content keyword-optimised, user-friendly, and simple to navigate, as well as making sure that it runs swiftly on mobile devices.
Off-page SEO refers to factors such as the quantity and quality of links pointing to a website, its social media presence, and its reputation online that are out of the website’s control. By building links, off-page SEO seeks to increase the website’s visibility and authority in the eyes of search engines. To do this, you need to build reputable backlinks from other websites, market on social media, and build a strong online reputation through user reviews and referrals.
Technical aspects of a website that may affect its visibility and positioning in search engine results pages are referred to as “technical SEO.” This includes topics like website architecture, security, and performance. Technical SEO seeks to make sure that a website is free of any errors or issues that could negatively affect its visibility and ranking as well as that it is easy for search engines to crawl and index. Making the website’s code and structure more effective, making sure it is swift and responsive, and making sure it is secure from viruses or hacking attempts are all examples of this.
In conclusion, the three fundamental types of SEO are technical, on-page, and off-page. Using on-page SEO, the website’s content is enhanced, making it more user- and search engine-friendly. Off-page SEO raises visibility and authority by constructing backlinks and engaging in social media marketing. A website’s technical optimisation helps make it error-free and straightforward for search engines to crawl and index. This is done with the help of technical SEO.
It’s crucial to remember that SEO requires ongoing work and cannot be finished once and then neglected. To maintain and improve a website’s visibility and ranking in search engine results pages, it’s critical to continuously monitor, evaluate, and improve that website’s SEO performance. It’s also essential to keep up with the most recent trends and algorithms if you want to compete in the search engine results pages. Best practises for SEO are constantly evolving.
Any strategy for internet marketing must include SEO. By focusing on the three main SEO areas, website owners can improve their website’s visibility and ranking in search engine results pages as well as draw in more relevant visitors. With the right strategy and persistent effort, SEO could help to increase website traffic, leads, and ultimately money.
Want to learn more about SEO? Check out the services BrisTechTonic, a Bristol SEO Company, has to offer.
Like many businesses, Stuff has been through a lot of changes over the last couple of years. And this has led us to carefully consider the best way forward for the agency.
We’ve seen a shift in the way clients work with creative agencies, with an increased demand for creative support and expertise and a reduced desire for account management.
That’s why we’ve restructured and gone back to our roots as a creatively owned and creatively led studio.
Our clients still get the great service they are used to, but they’ll be dealing directly with the people that ‘do’.
We believe this creates stronger relationships, which leads to better work and ultimately, better value.
Our ethos is simple – We get creative stuff done.
Our friendly team of hard working specialists use our creative and strategic skills to help brands shine brighter and make our clients’ lives easier.
We work across the three core areas behind all successful brand communications – strategy, development and delivery.
Whether we’re creating a new brand from scratch, refreshing an existing one or delivering tactical campaigns and assets, our pragmatic approach provides realistic solutions with minimum fuss.
You can find out more by visiting our new website – https://wearestuff.studio/
Bristol Creative Industries has teamed up with Bristol-based social enterprise Babbasa and 15 creative businesses to launch a city-wide internship programme.
The programme is aimed at Bristol-based young people aged 18-24 from an ethnic minority and/or from a low-income background who want to gain insight and experience in the creative industry.
The scheme will see many of the city’s most well-known creative companies offering six-month full time paid placements to applicants in roles covering advertising, marketing, design, animation and digital.
Two of the biggest challenges currently facing the creative industries are a long-term skills shortage and a lack of diversity in the sector.
A Creative Force to Be Reckoned With, our report released in September 2022, found that although increasing diversity and inclusion was a significant priority for six in 10 creative firms, almost half said they want more help with finding diverse talent from underrepresented groups.
We’ve been working hard to create a solution and are delighted to launch the Bristol Creative Industries Internship Programme.
Babbasa, which supports diverse young people to achieve their aspirations, is leading the recruitment process. We are working closely with them and the brilliant participating creative businesses to match applicants to one of the available roles.
Chris Thurling, chair of Bristol Creative Industries, said:
“We all want to make our industry more diverse and inclusive, but when you run a small business it’s not always easy to know how to make a practical difference. By coming together as the Bristol Creative Industries community to support the internship programme, members can do their bit to help young people get that all important foot in the door.
“We are delighted to formally announce this internship programme in partnership with Babbasa. The creative industry in Bristol is one of the best in the country, and we want to help open this up to as many young people in the city as we can.
“Our aim with this programme is to work closely with the fantastic team at Babbasa to connect bright young talent with some of the city’s best and well-established businesses.”
Starting on 15th May 2023, each successful applicant will work for six months. During that time participants will undergo two placements for two different agencies, both lasting three months each.
The programme provides a mix of professional skills training, creative skills training, inspirational talks, networking events, mentoring and opportunities for future employment.
The deadline for applications is 28th March 2023, with interviews taking place on 4th and 5th April at Watershed in Bristol. There will be an informal group workshop which will give applicants a chance to come and hear a bit more about the participating businesses, their internship offers and meet some of the team.
Applicants will then be given a 30-minute slot to chat to the interview panel to give us a chance to explore applications in a bit more detail. Bristol Creative Industries will cover costs for travel to the interview for every candidate.
The businesses and Bristol Creative Industries members participating in the programme are:
Big thanks to them all!
Poku Pipim Osei, CEO and founder of Babbasa, said:
“Last year, we consulted with a range of city partners and underrepresented communities to better understand how Bristol can close the inequality gap for the next generation, in a report called the OurCity20230: Socioeconomic Analysis Report.
“What was striking is that over 38% of the young people surveyed had aspirations to pursue a career in the creative industries. This is why we are excited to be part of this partnership, as a demonstration of our commitment to work collaboratively and unlock doors for those who would not have otherwise had the chance.”
To apply, applicants already registered with Babbasa can send a video/audio recording that’s around one minute long, or a written piece to recruitment lead Mikhaila at [email protected] explaining why they want to be part of the programme.
Those who aren’t yet registered with Babbasa can sign up here and the organisation will be in touch to help progress the application.
For more information on the programme, visit the Babbasa website and for more details on the businesses participating in the scheme, go here.
Mr B & Friends has created a future-focused new brand and website for digital learning provider, Sponge.
Sponge provides workplace learning for companies across the globe. They had a strong reputation in the industry for highly creative, cutting-edge bespoke learning content but, following a series of acquisitions, they needed a way to combine a broader range of product and service offerings. Sponge were looking for one compelling proposition that would resonate with a diverse audience set whilst retaining their strong brand positioning. Following a series of acquisitions to grow their portfolio of products, the company was poised for growth and needed a strong proposition to take them to the next stage.
Mr B & Friends conducted research with customers and colleagues to understand the true benefit that Sponge delivered. From here, the agency created an Organising Thought of ‘Unforgettable learning’. Combining an understanding of the way that humans absorb information, with data science and excellence in technology delivery, Sponge engages learners in a way that makes the subject stick.
The brand has been brought to life through a new identity that combines the magic of Sponge’s creative solutions with the logic of intelligence and use of learning science to optimise learning. This emerges through the colour palette – warm, earthy tones for logic, fused with vibrant colours for magic and ever-changing shapes that collide for unexpected effect.
Nathan Crosby, Associate Creative Director at Mr B & Friends, says, “The combination of magic with logic were at the crux of our creative approach. Sponge offers more than a learning platform – they use innate understanding of how humans learn with engaging solutions. We wanted to make sure this balance of cleverness and creativity was apparent.”
The website has a straightforward, easy to navigate interface. Key benefits are called out with opportunities to learn more at intervals throughout. Relatable examples from big name brands demonstrate expertise and impact without intimidating.
In addition to providing a dynamic new brand for customers, the transformation has also become a focal point to bring together the global Sponge team, providing them with one purpose and a unified culture.
Gareth Atkinson, Associate Strategy Director at Mr B & Friends says, “From our first contact with the team at Sponge we could see the value in their category leading approach. Combining creative excellence and learning science, with the support of technology innovation, delivers the holy grail of learning. The one thing their clients need; learning that works. Cutting through the noise and jargon of the category with a clear and relatable promise, positioning Sponge for their next phase of growth as a brand-led business. It was a delight to work with such a focused and ambitious team to help them bring their vision to life.”
Olivia Haywood, Chief Marketing Officer at Sponge says, “Throughout this process, we were determined to make a clear statement to the industry that, even as Sponge grows, our core ambition of creating innovative and visionary workplace learning is stronger than ever. From the start, Mr B & Friends were fellow visionaries: we just clicked. They were true strategic partners, guiding our decisions with creative integrity to ensure we never strayed from this path and, ultimately, delivering a great result.”
Bristol-based web design and brand agency, Squarebird, have evolved a new look for the biggest player in space sector recruitment, EVONA, to better echo their established impact and vision.
EVONA is disrupting the recruitment scene, a consultancy team of space sector specialists with strong beliefs in the progression of knowledge and unlocking the potential of humankind. As they say, it’s in the name: EVO – to evolve, ONA – people.
Telling the true story of space sector recruitment was vital. As all of us use space every day – to navigate, use our phones, and even watch TV – an optical style was needed to rewrite the narrative and open the industry to all.
Working with their existing branding, Squarebird explored the visual limits they wanted to push through style tiles, helping them move towards a clean, dark, space-inspired look. A tone of voice workshop allowed the team to discover the personality of the brand, bringing the notion to existence. The developed visual style was rolled out across the website using a cinematic, aspirational style – perfectly reflective of their vision and ambitions.
“Developing a strong online presence is central to our Marketing strategy as a space company on the forefront of innovation, so there was a lot riding on getting this right. Predictably, Squarebird have delivered an exceptional website that not only stands out amongst the competition, but functions far better than previous versions. The team got our vision very quickly and worked with us to develop a website to be proud of that was close to the brand direction we wanted to move in.
Working with Squarebird has been a great experience; the team are knowledgeable and their skills diverse enough to handle any of the issues developing websites could throw up.” – Adele Fox, Marketing Director at EVONA
From extensive image manipulation, to editing and icon creation, every aspect of the website worked holistically for a cohesive brand experience. The website was brought to life in a collaborative way, ensuring the visuals, and ever-evolving message, aligned with the technical functionalities of the site. Integrating with multiple recruitment and marketing platforms, the website plays a functional role in streamlining their operations and ensuring a platform that better aligns with EVONA’s growth and maturity.
“Having known and followed the EVONA crew since inception, it’s been amazing to grow alongside them, and be a part of their next stage of expansion. From the USA, UK and beyond, EVONA is – and will continue to be – a driving force within the space sector.
It was a pleasure to take their objectives and messaging and create a visual masterpiece to do it justice.” – Nick Bird, Managing Partner at Squarebird
View the full case study here.
Lodging & hospitality public relations specialist, Abode Worldwide, has appointed experienced agency leader and former Fleet Street journalist Neil Millard as Managing Director.
Millard joins the agency from Rhizome Media, where he spent nearly six years working across industries with a particular focus on property. Before that, he was a news journalist for some of the UK’s biggest titles, from the Evening Standard and MailOnline to the Sunday Mirror and The Sun.
His property experience — covering student accommodation, residential sales & development, offsite construction, fractional ownership, property investment, development finance, and mortgage lending — will dovetail with Abode’s six key lodging, living and hospitality pillars as the agency targets rapid growth over the next three years. Its focus will continue to be on technology solutions and enterprise level operators across short term rental, hotels, multifamily/Build to Rent (BTR), student lodging, coliving, and senior living.
Abode Worldwide was founded in 2017 by Jessica Gillingham and currently works with brands across North America and Europe. The company’s mission is to supercharge the authority and credibility of global tech pioneers and their customers as they transform the way we work, rest, and play. The team – which is hiring for new roles –does this by combining deep industry knowledge and extensive media and influencer relationships with continual fresh insight.
In the last year, for example, Abode Worldwide secured over 100 speaking opportunities for clients across podcasts, webinars, and conferences, in addition to hundreds more pieces of profile-raising proactive media coverage and thought leadership. To date, the agency has partnered with some of the biggest companies in the world of lodging, including ALTIDO, Bidroom, Breezeway, Boostly, Buoy, Guesty, Hostaway, Jetstream Hospitality Solutions, Key Data, Operto, PointCentral, Rentals United, Reside Worldwide, Revyoos, Safely, Uplisting, Xplorie and 3Sixty.
Jessica Gillingham, CEO & Founder of Abode Worldwide, said: “We’ve got big ambitions to be the premier global public relations specialist in the lodging, living and hospitality space, and Neil has been appointed to help us get there. He has a wealth of media know-how, fantastic leadership experience, and is a tremendous asset across the business and for our clients.
“He couldn’t join at a more important time, with the merging of the lodging, hospitality, hotel, short-term rental, and real estate sectors really picking up pace and we are excited to be at the forefront of this transformation for the technology solutions, operators, investors and their customers.”
Neil Millard, Managing Director of Abode Worldwide, commented: “The way we live is going to change dramatically over the next 20 years, and Abode Worldwide sits at an intersection where all these worlds collide. Whether it’s short-term rental technology, student accommodation, multifamily/Built To Rent, co-living or senior living — every one of these areas will see accelerating growth.
“This shift is happening globally, so it’s a magnificent opportunity for me to join an agency that looks beyond the horizon and already has more US than European clients. I’m really excited to join such a talented team. Jessica has massive ambitions for the company, and we’ll be winning business worldwide. A key immediate focus for me will driving our expansion and maintaining a laser focus on delivery for clients.”
For more information on Abode Worldwide, please visit abodeworldwide.com.
Independent brand consultancy, Mr B & Friends, is celebrating a strong start to 2023 as the newly appointed marketing and creative agency partner for Persimmon Homes Group.
Persimmon plc was founded in 1972 and is now one of the UK’s largest new home builders,. The Group is made up of 30 regional operating businesses, and includes the Persimmon, Charles Church and Westbury brands. Across these brands, they build homes for a wide demographic of homeowner and are committed to the highest standards of design, construction and service, holding the accolade of being awarded 5 stars by the Home Builders Federation.
Mr B & Friends has been retained as lead creative partner and will work closely with Persimmon’s marketing and customer experience team across brand strategy, identity, customer engagement and acquisition campaigns, CX, physical and digital environments, and social.
Simon Barbato, Founder and CEO of Mr B & Friends, says, “To say that we’re thrilled to have been chosen as Persimmon’s partner agency is a massive understatement. We are absolutely aligned with their ambition, can see the development potential in their brands and are looking forward to learning more about their products, customers, and internal stakeholders. I’m sure this is going to be a very successful collaboration. The appointment marks a positive start to the year for us and we’re looking forward to delivering on our promises to create outstanding marketing activity for the Group.”
Sonia da Costa, Chief Customer Experience Officer at Persimmon added, “We immediately felt at home with Mr B & Friends. From the first meeting it was obvious to us that they had the talent, experience, and ambition to support our brand and marketing vision. We also aligned really well with their no-nonsense culture and early indications suggest that this will be a great partnership. We’re very excited to be getting started.”
Work has already begun on the account with the first major advertising campaign launched at the end of the year.
The appointment marks another significant win for the agency, which has recently welcomed The LEGO Group, Haleon plc, the NHS, Bristol Zoo and British Canoeing into its portfolio. With an eye firmly on growth, Mr B & Friends is also underway with plans to open a satellite office in the US in 2023.
Independent brand agency Mr B & Friends has appointed agency growth expert Gellan Watt to help accelerate the agency’s capability as it gears up for international expansion.
Over the next four years, the agency will be creating 35 new roles as it creates a presence in London, US and Singapore, while also bolstering the team at its Bristol HQ.
Gellan Watt is one of the industry’s leading growth experts. Having founded Thinking Juice in 2003, Watt went on to merge the business with the Emerge Group – a £60m agency group at exit in 2016.
A strategist and creative director at heart, Watt now works with a portfolio of independent agencies as a strategic advisor and NED.
Founder and CEO Simon Barbato says “Gellan and I have known each other for several years, and I’ve always been blown away by his energy, ideas and boldness. Being with him energises me and I’m now looking forward to him sprinkling his magic dust on our Senior Leadership Team and the wider team”.
“Gellan’s primary objective will be to grow the capability in our practice areas: strategy, creative and client service. We have such strength in each of these areas already – so this is about making it world-class. That’s his level, and that’s where we want to be”.
Gellan Watt added: “I’ve long been an admirer of what Simon and the team do at Mr B & Friends. Their work is powerful, provocative and intelligent. They’re first class. I look forward to the adventures ahead.”
The appointment commences in February and Watt will work closely with the Board and SLT to prioritise development programmes.
We are thrilled to announce the appointment of Joe Johnston as our first ever Conversion Director.
With over 10 years helping brands get better results from their marketing, Joe will help Launch’s clients improve their website performance, understand how their audience engages with their website, and get better results from their paid media investment. Primarily, he’ll be involved in user research, analytics analysis, and experimentation, working closely with both Paid Media and Data departments.
Joe says: “I’m thrilled to join the Launch team at such an exciting time in their journey. For many brands, the cost-of-living crisis and rising inflation has meant marketing budgets are being squeezed. Every pound or dollar of ad spend is having to work a lot harder. So I’m looking forward to helping our brilliant roster of clients realise their websites’ potential.”
Jaye Cowle, Managing Director of Launch, says: “The key role of paid media is to drive traffic to key pages – but if those pages aren’t optimised, brands can waste valuable ad spend and still not see results. That’s why Joe is a brilliant addition to the team. His expertise is going to help us deliver in-depth insights and affect greater change for our clients.”
As digital marketing becomes more driven by machine learning and advertising becomes more competitive, our team’s ability to define strategies, create efficiencies and identify opportunities is what enables us to deliver brilliant results for our clients. Joe joining the team will bridge the gap between paid media and website performance, providing a more comprehensive service.
Joe joins Launch as the team grows to 25, following the recent appointments of Ian Lewis as Analytics Director and Simon Lockyer as Paid Social Manager.
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