Agency Archives | Page 31 of 52 | Bristol Creative Industries

JonesMillbank, Bristol-based video production company, were commissioned by Cheltenham-based global coffee brand SOHO Coffee Co. to produce a range of brand-level photography.

“Whilst not our primary service, we’ve always supported clients with photographic commissions given the similarity in the disciplines. In fact most of our film crew started their lives as photographers” said Russell Jones, Co-Founder and Director.

“SOHO Coffee Co. are a new client but their values resonated with our own; SOHO actually stands for Simple, Original, Honest, Organic”.

The photography is part of a brand and menu overhaul, utilising bold colours and real people, with large-scale OOH and digital advertising in mind.

“It’s always a pleasure working with talented specialists. Both were fantastic and Jo made syringing egg yolks onto sausage sandwiches look easy” said Joffie Burt, Head of Production.

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, IDLES and Randstad.

A creative brief is a short document that sums up a project’s mission, goals, challenges, demographics, messaging, and other key details. Typically produced by the person heading up the project, a creative brief outlines the problems to solve and offers the tools they might need, without prescribing a solution.

Why do you need a creative brief?

To start – you need a plan! A solid creative brief ensures everyone is on the same page before the project has begun and acts as a guiding north star throughout. Simultaneously allowing a project to stay on track, whilst underpinning the creative concept and strategic thinking.

A creative brief helps align everyone on the task at hand. Even the best creative minds in the world can’t solve a problem they don’t understand. More than just an arbitrary document, it is a tool that allows for clear and thorough communication from the very beginning of the design process. It prevents potential last-minute project changes, misunderstandings, and conflicting objectives along the way.

Marjorie Newnham, Project Manager at Fiasco Design, adds: “With larger projects that involve multiple stakeholders and various rounds of creative, it’s especially important to agree on the deliverables up front, so there’s no potential for confusion later down the line.” Establishing parameters and crucially – building trust, at the beginning will help ensure a smoother project journey.

Who is a creative brief for?

It’s quite likely that the people who will use the brief are an external creative agency who may not be familiar with language that is specific to your industry. So it should be accessible to a designer or web developer, for example, and avoid lots of acronyms or jargon. However, worth adding that this doesn’t mean a creative brief needs to be dry! It’s meant to incite enthusiasm and possibilities.

Hayley Yates, Account Director at Fiasco Design, adds: “It’s valuable for us to know if a client’s been through a similar creative process before, or if this is their first time. It allows us to tailor our approach based on their level of understanding of the process, as the acronyms and jargon exist in our industry too!”

What should a creative brief include?

Whilst not an exhaustive list, including these key bits of information will help a creative agency to understand and work towards your project.

Although it might seem like a lot of information to convey in a relatively limited amount of space, a good creative brief stays focused and to the point. Pages and pages of additional information should be unnecessary. The more you are able to distill your thinking into clear and concise points, the clearer it will be to the creative agency you’re partnering with. The brief process in itself, might in fact help to refine exactly what you’re hoping to achieve.

Working at the intersection of brand and digital, we take our partners with us at every step of the creative journey. Our open and inclusive ethos helps us to create joined up work that sparks change. Looking to start a creative project? We’d love to hear from you: hello@fiasco.design.

Watch A day in the life of – Heather Myatt, Senior Account Manager at P+S 2022 video here.

These are exciting times here at P+S Creative. We’re winning new business, taking on bigger and more complex projects with long-time clients, and continuing to expand our offering to meet today’s marketing challenges. In short – we’re keeping ourselves very busy!

And because of that, we’re looking for talented Account Managers to join our growing Client Services team.

What does an Account Manager do you ask? Well, I’m here to give you a complete run down on the role. I’m a Senior Account Manager working across a range of clients, including Panasonic Connect Europe, one of Proctor + Stevenson’s largest and longest running clients.

What does an account manager actually do?

An Account Manager’s role is to be the voice of our clients within P+S, working across all teams to deliver high-quality work that stays true to the brief, meets all deadlines and stays within budget.

We also develop strong partnerships with our clients. We understand their business, their products and their goals and advise on new strategies, methods and programmes that will help their teams reach their objectives.

We’re organised, great communicators and problem-solvers – and we aren’t afraid to take on a challenge. And it’s that self-starter attitude that really helps us as we navigate our role and keep all our plates spinning.

What does a typical week look like for an AM?

The types of work we manage varies depending on our individual clients. In a typical week on Panasonic Connect Europe, we’ll research, build, and manage awareness and lead generation campaigns across a range of channels, work with the creative and technology teams to design and build webpages, create print and video collateral, and develop brand strategy for the organisation.

“…it’s that variety in work, scope and complexity that I find really rewarding…”

As an Account Manager, you’ll be in constant contact with your clients through weekly calls and emails, with new projects coming in daily. You’ll build out each project from your client’s brief and properly cost each phase, and then you’ll bring in the right people to get each project finished. Some projects last 3 days, some will last months, and it’s that variety in work, scope, and complexity that I find really rewarding.

And while we tend to manage our own projects, you’re never alone. The team is so supportive and always on hand to help you through the project management, spreadsheets and emails of your day-to-day. We’re surrounded by a very talented and experienced team at P+S and there’s always someone whose brain you can pick to help make your projects more successful.

And what about the social side of things?

It’s not all work over here – we also have a lot of fun! Weekly quizzes, Friday drinks, monthly pop-up lunches and various groups, sporting challenges and parties make Proctors a pretty awesome place to be.

As an Account Manager with P+S, you’ll be challenged, given the freedom to run with your ideas and the support you need to develop in your career. You’ll work on some incredible projects with clients who are making the world a better place. So, if you’re starting to think that a lot of what I’ve said sounds pretty good to you, go ahead and apply! And if you’ve got any questions before you do, please don’t hesitate to connect with me on LinkedIn. I’d be happy to help in any way I can.

Think you could be our new Account Manager? Check out the full job description and send your CV and cover letter to [email protected]

On a scorching weekend in July, two of us creatives from Flourish were lucky enough to flee the heatwave and head to the air-conditioned sanctuary Amsterdam RAI. But we weren’t there for the cool air. We were there for TwitchCon – a convention like no other that sees gamers and cosplayers mingle with drag queens and ASMR enthusiasts to indulge in a weekend of live streams, community meetups and IRL (that’s In Real Life to you and me) events. Here’s what we learned.

Let me tell you a secret. I’m not a gamer. And I didn’t go to a single gaming panel at TwitchCon. If you think that sounds a bit like going to Glastonbury and not seeing any music, let me remind you that there’s much more to the world’s biggest festival of performing arts than bands and DJs. And in the same way, there’s way more to Twitch than gaming. In the Just Chatting category alone there’s travel and adventure streams, feminist groups, drag, body painting – the list goes on. TwitchCon attendees were a wonderfully diverse bunch. That’s the wonderful thing about streaming. It brings people together from every walk of life. Which brings me to my second point…

Communities are formed through shared experience and passions. So, it’s no surprise that on a platform like Twitch, where creators in every field come together to do what they love the most, community is front and centre of everything. Unlike pretty much any other social media platform, Twitch deals in live content, meaning real, shared moments and shared experiences happen every minute. Real friendships are formed through streaming, and that was tangible at TwitchCon.

One panel I attended was memorable in that the hosts – three women who were there to tell us about how women in streaming support one another – chose not to sit behind the table that had been laid out for the panel, but on it. Legs crossed, comfortable, open. There was nothing contrived about their choice – they just did what felt right to them. Like choosing a favourite seat in the living room. Midway through, they invited a woman from the audience, a fellow streamer, to join them. This realness, this authenticity, was a running theme throughout the event.

They might be streaming from their bedrooms, but affiliates and partners are incredibly good at what they do. Hours and hours of work has preceded their ability to make a living from streaming. For the cosplayers, thousands of hours go into making costumes. It’s skill and passion that makes streamers go big, and turns them in to stars. There was so much talent under one roof at TwitchCon.

It struck me how open panellists were about sharing tips about their craft. There was no secretiveness or reluctance to share. They wanted to get more and more people on board and encouraged people to join the space. There was no feeling of exclusivity, or mystique around what makes good content. The Twitch community is open, and want more and more people to find their niche and join in.

The way that Twitch use their brand guidelines has been eye opening for me. The themes they use are bold and clear, with block colours and accompanying textures. The imagery created, echoes what is happening in their community and ties in the brand in nicely. From the signage to the immersive experiences at the conference, everything on display was innovative and purposeful, as well as consistent and well thought out.

Twitch really care about their streamers and viewers alike, and actively promote healthy wellbeing whilst streaming and using the platform. They are constantly improving the safety on the platform to keep streamers feeling appreciated.

The way charities team up with Twitch is a relatively new and out-of-the-box way to generate fundraising. Having visited some of the charity seminars, I really learned how Twitch as a platform can improve a charity’s reach within their communities, touching new audiences and finding new ways to promote income generation online via streaming. Read more about how charities can enhance their fundraising through streaming on the Flourish website.

The community cannot easily be sub divided into genres. There is such a vast collection of different people and interests to follow and connect with, and the sky is literally the limit on what content can be found on Twitch. It’s as diverse as the internet itself!

The toolkit that is available to streamers is ever growing and expanding. They are introduced to a bunch of new tools that are going to help us as an agency and streamers alike. I was also interested to find out how much they actively promote the use of other social media channels for streamers.

Every brand has an online reputation, and a quick Google search may reveal more about your business than you’d like.

Digital accessibility has made it easy for potential customers to find out more about a brand online. This is why your brand’s online reputation matters.

What is online brand reputation management?

Online reputation management is also known as ORM. It’s the process of monitoring and managing the public perception of your brand by taking control of online conversations.

You can do this in a variety of ways, from encouraging positive reviews to dealing professionally with negative feedback. Your brand’s reputation is not just manageable, but it’s also malleable and now your customers can do more than search for information, they can add to it.

Online reputation management strategies

Business owners are becoming increasingly aware that their brand is almost entirely shaped by the consumer. The best marketing and PR agencies understand that it’s not only important to include the consumer but to work with them to cultivate a positive brand image.

Online brand reputation management can help you deal with negative search results and strengthen a positive reputation for your brand. ORM can also modify the way you appear in search results.

Brand audit

The first step to boosting your reputation online should always be to conduct a brand audit. This involves conducting online research to help understand how your brand is perceived.

Search engine optimisation

ORM involves using tools to actively monitor your brand mentions, attempting to eliminate as much online criticism as possible. It broadly falls under the influence of search engine optimisation (SEO).

SEO attempts to build a strong portfolio of optimised content to increase the visibility of your brand on search results. Optimising your online content so that it appears on the first page of results is now a crucial requirement, 75% of searchers won’t look past the first page of Google search engine results for any queries.

Respond to online reviews

More customers than ever before are relying on online reviews, as a form of third-party endorsement, to help them make purchase decisions.

While it’s always great to receive positive customer feedback, negative reviews are an inevitable part of online visibility.

It’s always easy to become defensive but it’s always best practice to answer a negative comment quickly and professionally. 93% of customers read online reviews, and 89% of consumers read company responses to reviews.

Being seen as being responsive and proactive in the face of criticism is an excellent way of building endearment and loyalty towards your brand.

Monitoring social media

Social media channels and PR are based on communication and engagement. This is why they are so effective when used together. As social media presence grows, so does the opportunity to cultivate a persona that will satisfy target markets.

There are plenty of opportunities for online reputation management on social media. Simply cultivating social media interactions, and being present and visible, will allow you to create and grow your online visibility.

Leverage PR

ORM and public relations go hand in hand. While traditional media is still very much a part of Public Relations, PR’s remit very much covers online reputations.

Using a combination of methods, not dissimilar to digital marketing, PR utilises online platforms to manage your online reputation. Services include content marketing to improve ranking in search results, SEO, influencer marketing and crisis management.

PR’s central focus is the strategic planning of communications. Be it through media relations, social media and digital platforms, a strategic approach to PR can help develop better relationships and do more to protect your brand reputation online.

Monitor mentions

Brand monitoring is an incredibly effective way to manage your business online. By setting up alerts for your brand name, and related keywords, you can monitor any mentions as they happen.

Knowing where and how your brand is being mentioned online, allows you to react quickly and be responsive on social media, review sites, blog posts and forums.

The faster you can contain and respond to online negativity, the better. It’s perceived as more professional and more caring. But it isn’t all negative, monitoring brand mentions will also help you share and promote any positive content that might come through from third parties.

Get started with ORM

Online reputation management is constantly evolving as digital channels grow and change. To ensure business success, your online reputation must be cultivated, maintained and monitored constantly.

Tools of the trade

Executing your online brand reputation management strategy is far more straightforward when you have a host of tools to help.

Google Alerts, Buzzsumo, Brand Watch, Meltwater and Semrush are some of the tools used by ORM professionals for maximum results. Like any tools, of any trade, they are most effective when in the hands of an expert.

Online reputation management is constantly evolving as digital channels grow and change. To ensure business success, your online reputation has to be cultivated, maintained and monitored constantly.

As we reach 13 years in business this summer, Loom Digital is celebrating its best ever half-year financial performance. Our Bristol-based digital agency has scooped 11 new clients in the past six months, including LITELOK – the brand behind the world’s lightest bike locks; fuel storage solutions company, Western Global; and summer school provider, Summer Boarding Courses (part of Dukes Education).

Loom has recently received an impressive score of 9/10 from clients in The Drum Recommends international agency rating scheme and has delivered a total ROAS of 735% with over £5m in sales for their eCommerce clients 2022 to date. Later this year, we will be supporting all clients with the adoption of Google Analytics 4 (GA4) as Universal Analytics is sunsetted on 1 July 2023.

“New clients have joined us because of our proven track record and our brilliant team, who are dedicated, experienced and talented. Client success and a strong, trusted team go hand-in-hand. Although we’re growing, we’re also incredibly proud of our staff retention, with 50% of the team being with us for over five years,” comments Nikki Ellison, founder of Loom.

Loom has upweighted our PPC and biddable offering in 2022 with the appointment of Dan Waller, boosted SEO expertise with Marco Morelli and Jack McGivern joining, and are currently recruiting for future digital talent. Although operating a flat structure, Loom is also committed to welcoming and nurturing talented people who are new to digital.

With increased competition in the industry, areas such as client experience and employee culture are increasingly the things that set agencies apart.

Here at Loom we’ve relaunched our employee benefits, introducing a more flexible approach to these by offering a wide range of monthly benefits the team can choose from. Each employee can decide between health and dental cover; gym membership, yoga classes; monthly massages; Audible or Headspace subscriptions.

All 16 team members are also offered professional coaching via MoreHappi, the one-to-one online workplace coaching company. All benefit from peer-to-peer support, including being given a budget to buy up to four gifts a year (sourced from local, independent shops) to say thank you to colleagues that have gone above and beyond.

“We are committed to providing a healthy, happy and progressive workplace, with our office as a hub but also welcoming a hybrid approach, depending on each team member’s circumstances. We’re 100% transparent and our new [perks package] and ongoing coaching also means everyone can find their purpose and grow in all aspects of their lives,” adds Vicky Hockley, People & Growth at Loom.

The escalating cost of essentials such as food and fuel is putting pressure on workers across all businesses, and the creative industry is no exception. In response, Harleys creative agency has taken the decision to support staff through these uncertain times with a cost-of-living allowance for every employee.

To provide sustained support for the year ahead, a total of £1,200 will be provided to staff in 12 monthly instalments.

The initiative was introduced back in May, along with a second extra benefit – holiday allowance has been extended by one week, to encourage a stronger work-life balance. Since the news was shared internally, many other, larger companies have announced similar steps to provide their own living allowance benefits. Harleys’ CEO Nick is proud to have been one of the first companies to introduce a living allowance initiative: “this goes to show that smaller companies can be mindful of this crisis too – it’s not just the larger organisations, in fact, I think we’ve been quite quick to react.”

Last week, AgencyUK attended MAD//fest, the UK’s boldest and most distinctive marketing event in the heart of London’s tech and culture scene. The space where top brands, agencies and publishers come to connect, form new relationships, fix industry issues, pitch visionary ideas and celebrate all things Marketing, Advertising and disruption!

We #gotourwings2022 and won two fantastic awards at The Independent Agency Awards 2022, including ‘Best Use of Social Media for Chewits’ and ‘Best FMCG / Retail Campaign for Chewits’!

Rebecca FitzHenry, AgencyUK Senior Account Manager says: “We’re so excited to have won two awards for our work with Chewits. It’s been so great working with Cloetta to reawaken the Chewits brand (and it’s cheeky dino friend Chewie!) This integrated campaign has been a real AgencyUK team effort, from strategy and creative through to continuous learning and optimisations with the social and digital teams. With some amazing results to date, we can’t wait to see what’s next for the brand.”

Huge congratulations to all members of the Social, Digital, Creative, Strategy and Client Services teams for all of your hard work- it has definitely paid off! And that’s not all… AgencyUK were also Highly Commended for the Agency Purpose Awards and shortlisted for Independent Agency of the year!

Sammy Mansourpour, Managing Director says: “In 2019 the AgencyUK management team embarked on an ambitious programme of self improvement for staff, community and environment. Recognition and a Commendation for our efforts by the Independent Agency Purpose Award judges is invaluable and motivating for our team and peers. We cannot wait to continue this journey and share our experiences with the judges again in next year’s entry”.

We are so proud of our achievements as an agency and look forward to creating more great content this year and beyond. See you next year MAD//fest!

We’re delighted to support premium cycle tyre brand Vittoria by launching Great Expectations. This series of mini-docs and social content reveals the inner thoughts of professional riders as they reflect on what cycling means to them.

We created the campaign to take a more personal approach, giving riders the freedom to express what cycling means to them as they prepared for the new season – and The Ride Ahead. It’s all part of The Ride Ahead positioning we developed with the brand’s leadership team that’s now being rolled out across Their global communications.

Filmed on location at the team training camps, Great Expectations launches with riders from XC team Santa Cruz FSA and road team DSM. The films open the door on the curiosity, optimism and courage of each rider in a series of intimate portraits as they share their hopes and ambitions.

“Visiting many places helps you to grow as a man – as a human – because you can see the world from different points of view,” says Maxime Marotte, Santa Cruz FSA, in one of the films.

“One of the nicest things in cycling is to go on a new road – that brings you to a beautiful place,” adds, Romain Bardet, Team DSM.

Firehaus worked with Italian production company Yanzi and director Marco Marcasolli along with the brand’s marketing team on the mini-docs and a range of short edits.

Vittoria CCO Ernesto Garcia Domingo said “ Great Expectations brings a new approach and fresh voices to our audience with pro riders sharing some of their personal insights and motivations. This has been a great collaboration so far under The Ride Ahead banner and we look forward to sharing more over the coming months”.

Ian Bates, Founder and Creative Partner at Firehaus said “This series of mini-docs has given us the space to produce content that is more personal and inspiring”

The Enterprise Sessions is a new content series led by Prof. Michele Barbour Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor: Enterprise and Innovation at the University of Bristol.

The series has been created to inspire entrepreneurs and help them to realise impact from their ideas. Michele interviews founders, researchers and academics from different disciplines and career stages who’ve been part of the University’s Enterprise ecosystem. Each episode is a treasure trove of information covering a range of topics from funding, licensing and IP, consultancy, contract research and business incubation.

Guests include Konstantina Psoma, Professor Wuge Briscoe, Professor Roberta Guerrina and Dr Tom Carter.

Bristol now tops the list of UK universities for the return on investment achieved by spinouts and is ranked in the top 3 for equity investment.

Prof. Michele Barbour said: “The University of Bristol has an impressive track record of enterprise and innovation and we’re keen to share that knowledge within our community as well as with a wider audience. The Enterprise Sessions is a new content series that brings to life the personal stories of spinout Founders and how our enterprise ecosystem has them.

Firehaus took our idea and created a branded content series, introducing the broadcast-style interview approach, as well as the name and look and feel. The approach has allowed me to develop rich conversations with our interviewees and showcase their experience of our ecosystem which will be of huge benefit for anyone involved in research, innovation and enterprise.”

Nick Barthram, Strategy Partner at Firehaus said: “Firehaus has worked with a range of organisations in the Research, Innovation and Enterprise space, including UKRI, Made Smarter Innovation and The University of Bristol. Consequently, we’ve developed a clear understanding and methodology to ignite opportunities at the intersection of academia and industry”.