Agency Archives | Page 50 of 52 | Bristol Creative Industries

With the support of ADLIB and Babbasa, we’re delighted to announce that Okori Lewis-McCalla has won the 2020 Ben Martin Apprentice Award. The calibre of entries was higher than ever this year and Okori was unanimously chosen by the judging panel for his passion and ambition to become a ‘creative technologist’.

As part of the competition, Okori will join Bristol Media and a team of agency professionals at the world’s largest interactive festival, SXSW in Austin, Texas for five days in March. On his return, he’ll complete a structured programme of paid internships.

“To even be shortlisted for the Ben Martin Apprentice Award was quite flattering but to win the award is an honour and something I’m very grateful for”, said Okori. “More than anything, it’s empowering and has reaffirmed to me that you can and should just be yourself.”

The BMAA internship programme was hugely successful in 2019 and saw last year’s winner, Marissa Lewis-Peart, undertake 16 internships with some of the biggest and best agencies in the region. As a result, her career is off to a flying start! This year, we’re looking for agencies and businesses to be involved as corporate sponsors, to provide additional funding and further reach for young people. In 2020, we’re also committed to offering internships to the runners-up who will benefit from gaining practical work experience, setting them up for a future career in the industry.

“We all want to make sure our industry is 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 Media community to support the BMAA, every member business, regardless of size, can do their bit to help young people get that all important ‘foot in the door’.” ~ Chris Thurling, Chair, Bristol Media

“ADLIB are delighted to support this year’s Ben Martin Apprentice Award. We’re a B Corp business committed to driving and championing diversity and inclusion within the technology, data, creative and marketing sectors. We are big supporters of Babassa and it has been a pleasure working with them and Bristol Media, we look forward to seeing the positive outcomes that are generated through the programme.” ~ Nick Dean, MD, ADLIB

“This competition embodies Babbasa’s mission to improve social mobility outcomes in Bristol and the SW and to support young people from diverse communities with their professional ambitions. We are very pleased and excited for what comes next for Okori and I am sure this will inspire many other young people to consider a career in the creative industry.” ~ Urfan Ali, Babbasa Advisory Board Member

If your business would like to get involved with the BMAA in 2020, contact [email protected] for more details.

The Children’s Air Ambulance appoints YOURS. SINCERELY as retained communications agency in the South West

National charity The Children’s Air Ambulance has appointed Bristol communications agency YOURS. SINCERELY to boost the profile of its life saving work across the country, with an emphasis on the South West.

The Children’s Air Ambulance provides a high speed, helicopter transfer service for critically ill babies and children who are too sick to travel by road, and work with clinical partners at hospitals and specialist centres across the country. Bristol is the second biggest user nationally of the charity’s service with more than 100 potentially life saving missions flown in the region with Bristol’s NEST (Newborn Emergency Stabilisation and Transfer) and WATCh (West Acute Transport for Children) teams.

Dave Richards, Head of Communications at the Children’s Air Ambulance, said: “We’re delighted to be partnering with YOURS. SINCERELY as we maximise awareness of our unique lifesaving service. The agency brings valuable expertise, experience and understanding as we promote the vital work we do in keeping families together.”

YOURS. SINCERELY, a hybrid PR and marketing agency, will work alongside the in-house team at the Children’s Air Ambulance to raise public awareness of its charity status and highlight the essential work it does throughout the region. In particular, the agency will provide strategic consultancy and implement a proactive media engagement campaign.

YOURS. SINCERELY co-founder Amy Simpson said: “We are thrilled to announce our new partnership with the Children’s Air Ambulance and cannot wait to get started. The importance of the work they do cannot be stressed enough and we are looking forward to showcasing the skill and dedication of the team who work tirelessly to help sick children across the country.”

Founded in early 2019, YOURS. SINCERELY has signed a raft of new clients in just six months and is now predicted to hit the £250,000 mark by the end of the year, making it is one of the fastest growing communications agencies in Bristol. Co-founder Amy Simpson, who has previously worked at agencies such as Frank PR and MHP, was one of just fifteen senior professionals selected for PR Week’s prestigious Women in PR 2019 mentoring scheme.

About YOURS.SINCERELY

YOURS.SINCERELY is a hybrid PR and marketing agency which offers a bespoke combination of digital and communications expertise. The agency works with clients spanning a range of industries from fintech, financial services and retail to academia, film and TV and the charity sector. Blending traditional PR and communications with a detailed understanding of the digital landscape and wider marketing discipline, YOURS.SINCERELY offers a range of services from best-in-class content and performance marketing to PR activity and social media management.

For more information, visit www.yourssincerely.online or email [email protected]

Award winning independent creative agency and video games marketing specialist, Diva, has opened a brand new studio space in central Bristol after outgrowing their Queen Square HQ. The 4,000 square foot of gorgeous loft-style workspace on Redcliffe Street will provide additional capacity for the fast growing creative and client services teams.

Managing Director and co-founder, Andy Barnes, said “The agency has experienced 40% year on year growth over the past three years in Queen Square, further expanding our footprint within the video games sector, but also quickly outgrowing our home in the process. The new studio is in a fantastic location in Redcliffe, near to the waterfront and to the station and it offers our creative teams much improved collaborative workspaces and client meeting spaces.”

A staff of 30 designers, creatives, developers and digital marketeers have moved across to the new space, comprising of a large open plan studio, as well as a new video editing and gaming suite, a number of formal meeting rooms and informal break out spaces, a library for quieter working, a large social kitchen-dining area, and a dedicated client services suite.

The new studio opens just weeks after Diva founders, Suzy and Andy Barnes, incorporated a new agency hub, Diva EU, in Amsterdam, to bolster the company’s existing global creative service offering with a physical footprint in the European Union.

Diva’s reputation in the video games sector led them to be crowned Creative Agency of the Year 2019, at the industry’s red-carpet style MCV Awards this year. The agency has over a decade of expertise working in the sector. Diva’s longstanding client roster includes, among others 2k Games, Activision Blizzard, Bandai Namco, Bethesda, Call of Duty, Curve Digital, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Playstation, Turtle Beach, Ubisoft, Warchild.

Taken from Empowered Finance’s regular musings on all things related to agency operations. Hence the working title – Agency Ops.

Cash is the lifeblood of a business. Without it, you run the risk of not making payroll, failing to meet your tax obligations and ultimately going out of business. And lack of cash is the biggest worry for agency owners.

Even as you grow, cash flow can still be an issue. The projects get larger and more complex, payment terms can become extended and the costs increase.

Research suggests that at least 3 months overheads as cash in the bank is the tipping point of being financially secure, in the event that you lose a client or come up against an unexpected cost.

By taking a proactive approach to cash management. Look at your cash on a weekly basis, with a clear view of what is going to be going in and out of your business over the next three months. Look at the timings of the ad hoc payments such as corporation tax and make sure they are factored in. And make sure you ignore any amounts that you have received that aren’t yours to keep such as amounts due to HMRC for VAT or client payments for third party costs.

Many businesses still operate on 30 day payment terms purely because it is the historical norm. By reducing payment terms to 14 days, 7 days or payment by return, you will speed up the rate at which you receive cash from clients. Even if it only works with one client, it’s an exercise worth doing.

One approach is to fix your fees – by agreeing a fixed price for the work being done, rather than relying on using the actual hours worked to invoice, it becomes possible to invoice in advance, moving forward the whole payment cycle. If you work on a retained basis, look to bill quarterly or even annually in advance. If you work on a project basis, look to invoice the whole project in advance.

Ring the bell! You won the pitch with the amazing new client. Show me the money! Except they take another two weeks to sign the contract. And then they tell you to register on their supplier portal, which takes 10 working days. And then they take another two weeks to provide a PO number. Suddenly you’re six weeks down the road and you still haven’t sent the first invoice.
One of the simplest yet most commonly overlooked methods to improve cash flow is to make sure that you are issuing your invoices as quickly as possible. And you do this by having an efficient invoicing process in place.

Do you still offer your clients a variety of different payment methods? Why? Do you really want to go off to the bank to have to pay in cheques? The bulk of invoicing and payments are now conducted electronically. Therefore you should look to utilise either bank transfers or if you have recurring monthly services, direct debit for receiving customer payments automatically.

At a minimum, you should be making use of the automated email reminders within your accounting system. And if your accounting system doesn’t include this functionality, I suggest you switch to Xero. However, this alone isn’t enough. The best thing to do is to form personal relationships with the people who approve and pay your invoices, talk to them regularly and get verbal confirmation of when invoices will be paid. Emails are easy to ignore. Phone calls from a personal connection are a lot harder to ignore.

Empowered Finance are specialist accountants for the creative industries. We’ve worked in and for numerous agencies and clients so we understand your challenges. We help owners increase revenue, improve profit and generate more cash. We empower business owners with financial knowledge to make better decisions. If you want to learn more about how we can help your business visit https://empowered.finance or email mike@empowered.finance

Sometimes I feel like I’m still a newbie and only left my part-time job in retail a few months ago, but the reality is I’ve actually been a Junior Content Producer Apprentice with Bristol Media and AMBITIOUS PR for over a year now!

Since the last time I checked in, things have really taken off. Social Media Week Bristol 2019 has come and gone (read about my life on the digital squad in my blog), I’ve met and featured 5 (soon to be 6) Bristol Media members, and have worked alongside both teams on some really exciting projects. Not to mention that I’ve also been busy at College experimenting with VR and learning about video production.

With my apprenticeship coming to an end and the new year about to begin, it’s the perfect time to reflect on my experience and think about the future. Here are three things I’ve learnt during my time as an apprentice…

Confidence

Something I struggled with at the beginning of my apprenticeship (and still a bit now) is confidence in myself and my work. Some great advice a colleague gave me is to not doubt myself because of my age or absence in experience. Because when I walk into a meeting or event, no one knows those things, and I can use that to my advantage. What’s the worst that can happen if I approach someone to network at an event? Or offer my input during a collaborative meeting? I’ve realised that people are actually interested in hearing what I have to say and it’s really great to know that.

Communication

When I say communication, I mean ALL communications. Whether it be as simple as answering the office phone or communicating brand values, I’m sure my colleagues can vouch for me when I say that since I first started back in November 2018, my internal and external comms have significantly matured. I guess spending 2 days a week at a comms agency will do that to you…

Embrace the deep end

Of course, my apprenticeship has proven challenging at times. I have been thrown into the deep end on a few occasions. Naturally, I like to stick to familiar tasks, things I know that I can do well, but when in a sink or swim position I can either wait for someone else to save me or jump right in. Ultimately I know that I’ll impress my team a lot more if I try and give it my best go. On one occasion I made a video for a client that I really wasn’t confident about doing, but once I’d got past the stress and panic it turned out great.

One year on, I know that I made the right decision choosing to go down the apprenticeship route with Cirencester College. I am super pleased to have finished my exams with a Distinction overall and a job offer from AMBITIOUS PR as Junior Content Executive!

The Institute of Osteopathy has appointed integrated brand communications specialists AgencyUK, to raise awareness and understanding of the Osteopathic profession across the UK. In addition to this, they will highlight the important role that osteopaths play in supporting public health and the provision of patient care.

AgencyUK were appointed following a four-way pitch, in response to a brand strategy and awareness brief set by The Institute of Osteopathy (iO). AgencyUK will develop the value proposition for the osteopathic profession in the UK and launch with a national campaign to promote it.

The pitch was run by The Institute of Osteopathy, the professional membership body for osteopathy. Its purpose is to support, unite, develop and promote the osteopathic profession, for the improvement of public health and patient care, and represents over two-thirds of the osteopaths practising in the UK.

The first wave of activity undertaken by AgencyUK includes strategy and creative that is based on insights gathered from a year’s worth of independent market research into osteopathy and consumer perceptions around the profession. The aim is to raise the profile of osteopaths across the UK and help consumers understand what an Osteopath can do for them – in the same way as a doctor, nurse and physiotherapist.

The strategy will extend into the development of a national consumer campaign harnessing advertising, PR, and social media as well as direct marketing communications on behalf of the iO and their members.

Katie Griffiths, Head of Marketing and Communications, iO, said: “We were looking for an agency with strong strategic and creative capabilities and a track record in disrupting markets to take on this huge challenge on behalf of our members and the profession. AgencyUK came armed with a robust approach, relevant industry experience as well as a passionately creative team.’’

Sammy Mansourpour, Managing Director, AgencyUK, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have been appointed by the iO. They are ambitious in their plans to help increase awareness of osteopathy with people across the UK and to provide help to those living with short and long term physical pain. We have worked extensively in the medical sector and are well placed to take on the challenges their strategy presents.”

AgencyUK are nominated for six categories at this year’s Drum Digital Awards – Online Media Strategy, Online Advertising, Social, Digital Full Service, Digital Strategy, Online Analytics and measurement.

Pimento has cemented its position as the UK’s leading Independent Agency Network by signing its 200^th member

Pimento, the world’s first virtual agency and the leading independent marketing agency networking, is celebrating its 15^th year and is proud to announce its 200^th Member.

FX Digital officially came on board this month. They are a London-based agency which merge user-centred design with emerging technology to create meaningful connected experiences across Web, TV, Voice and Mobile.

Matthew Duhig from FX Digital said “We are delighted to be part of the Pimento network and are honoured to be the 200th member! As an agency, FX Digital is looking forward to our continued growth as part of this collective. Forging strong connections has been vital for our business so far and we are excited to meet our fellow Pimento members and collaborate with them on future projects.”

Also new to Pimento are Manchester’s Thirty6Miles and Edinburgh-based Always be Content. Thirty6Miles is an e-commerce consultancy specialising in Shopify, Shopify Plus and Magento 2. Always be Content focus on Content Marketing, Branded Film, Online Activation and Customer Experience.

All new additions add valuable skills and broaden the geographic reach of the network throughout the UK.

Pimento covers just about every aspect of marketing strategy and communications. With over 100 different marketing specialisms, they draw on the skills of their network of agencies and experienced individuals to create bespoke marketing solutions for their clients.

Clients include TopGolf, Celebrity Cruises, ZipWorld, Ebico, Caffe Nero, Letsgo2.com, Odyssey Airlines, Insure your Health, Zzoomm and JetNow.

Stephen Knight, CEO and founder of Pimento, said “We are immensely proud to have reached these two huge milestones of fifteen years in the business, and now with 200 members and nearly 5500 skilled professionals across our network. We are well positioned to deliver solutions for clients of all sizes. We offer a unique business model that the market seems to like – senior, highly experienced marketing professionals with specialist skills to answer specific sales and marketing needs”. Knight went on to add “I’m excited to see how it will progress, with our future plans of expanding into further areas across the UK, and with the launch of two sister companies this year – Pimento People, our recruitment business, and now Pimento Partners, a modern approach to business consulting.”

The Top 100 celebrates the best-run independent agencies in the UK in 2019. It is powered by The Drum’s Independent Agencies Census, the most comprehensive study of its kind into the performance of UK marcomms firms.

Bristol-based Diva, the independent agency specialising in video games, entertainment and leisure, placed number 52 in the UK list, one of only two Bristol-based agencies to make the cut.

Agencies earn their place in the Top 100 based on their performance across six financial metrics – turnover, turnover growth, turnover percentage growth, turnover per head, gross profit and gross profit growth – and two years’ worth of financial data is analysed to determine their ranking.

Managing Director, Andy Barnes, said: “We may be used to getting awards for our client work, but it’s great that our sound management of the business has been recognised in this way. We work extremely hard, not just to deliver standout campaigns for our brilliant clients, but to run a professional agency that is best in class, sustainable and a great company to work for.”

“We won’t rest on our laurels though. We have lots of exciting plans for the business over the next few years and the recent move into our new offices in Redcliffe Street gives us further space to grow.”

“In fact, we’re actively recruiting both within our client services team and our digital team, so any talented individuals wanting to work at one of the best agencies in the South West should get in touch!”

Workbrands, the Bristol-based creative agency, has been appointed by global cloud software company Nutanix to create the branding for a major new initiative.

Nutanix specialise in digital transformation through cloud computing. Although their business has grown significantly in recent years, they were finding that too many conversations with potential new clients were happening at mid-management level.

The solution is CXO Focus, a high-level programme of exclusive content and events for C-suite executives – the individuals ultimately responsible for shaping the future of their businesses.

Workbrands were brought on board by Nutanix to create the brand identity for CXO Focus, along with the four sub-brands that make up the structure of the programme.

The result is a cohesive, powerful and cutting-edge look and feel. Flexible enough to use across all on and offline marketing, its clear messaging and clean and minimalist style are perfect for positioning Nutanix as a thought leader on the transformative power of technology.

Qabil Shah, global marketing director at Nutanix, said: “We want to elevate the role of IT in business – from functional to transformational. So we need to build relationships with people who shape the future of business. CXO Focus lets us do this, on a platform which shows Nutanix as thought leaders, rather than simply promoting our products and services.

“The outcomes have been really positive. By forming a community of C-level (and aspiring C-level) executives around learning and knowledge-sharing, we are able to demonstrate that we understand their business challenges and how to address them.”

Full details of the project can be found here. Workbrands were also commissioned to create a mood film to showcase the launch of the programme, which can be viewed on the CXO Focus website here.

Digitally-centred marketing, shopper & sales promotion agency, Activation, has announced that it has appointed Claire Moyne as Client Services Director. Previously the Managing Director at Bristol-based Edo, a digital customer experience consultancy, Claire has joined to support Activation with it’s ambitious growth plans, leading and developing client relationships whilst heading the client services function within the agency as a member of the senior management team.

With 23% growth last year, and following a number of recent wins, Activation has a number of exciting brands on its books, and leading these relationships will be an area of focus for Claire. The agency also launched it’s reworked proposition in the summer, with a uniquely differentiated offering in digitally-centred brand, shopper and promotional marketing. This proposition is generating interest in the grocery sector, leading to a growing new business pipeline.

Matt Ramsay, MD of Activation comments – Claire brings with her a unique mix of skills with her experience in leadership, digital, customer and client experience and grocery brand promotions – we know Claire will be an asset to the business and we’re really looking forward to working together and introducing her to our clients, where her abilities will help us grow and improve our overall business. I’m delighted to welcome Claire to the A-Team

With this role, the agency has also embraced flexible working, with Claire also working the role around her recent purchase of a coffee shop in Bristol!