One of the highly recognised awards in our industry are the annual UK Search Awards.
We were nominated a few years ago we felt a little overwhelmed when we sat in a room of well known brands competing to win.
At the end of 2020 we were quietly confident that our results for selling holidays in a Pandemic with our client, Aria Resorts would be a pretty strong entry in the Best Use of Search category.
And, well we did and…. [drum roll] Won Best Use of Search! Well done Launch Online.
“The results from Launch Online have been nothing short of staggering – Launch has exceeded our already high targets, and helped us deliver record breaking results. These results were achieved during unprecedented times, but they are what the team strives to deliver every day.” Aria Resorts
Launch Online, was crowned the top agency in its class at the European Agency Awards 2020 for its work through the pandemic to support South West and UK tourism businesses.
We were delighted to have won the award for best European PPC Agency and Best PPC Campaign, specifically for our work with UK self catering business, Aria Resorts, to help guide the hospitality business through the turmoil of the pandemic and secure a vital sell-out summer season.
The European Agency Awards were held on October 22, rewarding digital, marketing and advertising agencies across Europe. The judging panel featured leading names in marketing, advertising and digital from some of Europe’s leading brands.
Noisy Little Monkey has won a HubSpot Impact Award for the design and build of a new website for global communications agency, Indicia Worldwide.
The international HubSpot Impact Awards recognise HubSpot partners for client work which goes above and beyond – hundreds of HubSpot agencies apply for one of these awards every year and Noisy Little Monkey are over the moon to be awarded for their web design project and CMS migration with Indicia Worldwide.
The judges feedback said, “The results are fantastic. It’s clear from Indicia Worldwide’s video testimonial that you were a true HubSpot partner to their business. Indicia had already purchased HubSpot, but worried they wouldn’t get the right value out of it. They brought in experts to fill their gaps, and were shown the power of HubSpot’s platform. This is a perfect example of how HubSpot partners bring value to their clients.”
Helping clients get the most from HubSpot is Noisy Little Monkey’s mission. So when Indicia Worldwide approached the team for help migrating their CMS from WordPress to HubSpot, Noisy Little Monkey jumped at the chance to reimagine the site and focus it on the inbound buyer journey.
This approach generated brilliant results for the client; in a six month YoY comparison, Indicia Worldwide saw a 200% increase in organic traffic and a 1250% increase in new leads through their site.
You can read the full case study and view the testimonial here.
If you’re a HubSpot customer, or considering HubSpot, and would like the support of an award-winning agency to help you unlock more from the platform, get in touch with the team today.
Although 2020 has not been a great year for shooting on location, particularly for branded content or commercials, Bristol filmmaker & writer Gavin Knight got round this problem… By crafting a brilliant script & sourcing rare footage from Bordeaux documentaries, the film was made during the first lockdown & released in April. It promotes a new concept in wine by Viniv – you can blend your own barrel of wine (240 bottles!) under the auspices of Chateau Lynch-Bages.
The Evcom London Film Awards normally take place at the BFI, but sadly this November it was a virtual ceremony. The film can be viewed on Gavin’s website here:
https://buxtonknight.myportfolio.com/viniv-bordeaux-wine
The talented creatives at Bristol designers Phoenix Wharf have once again taken GOLD for Best Hospitality Project at the London Design Awards, taking the top spot for the second year in a row. On both occasions, the winning project has been for a South-West client, shining a welcome light on the region’s buzzing hospitality industry at both a national and international level, with the London Design Awards representing the UK arm of the world’s largest network of design award programmes, which has recognised outstanding projects from over 7,500 brands and 2,500 studios since its 2010 inception by organisers DrivenXDesign. The awards run annually in New York, Shanghai, Sydney and Hong Kong, as well as London.
Phoenix’s Wharf’s 2020 winning project was its design for an ethical, accessible, community-oriented supermarket – The Bristol Loaf – in the city’s Bedminster area, celebrating the best local produce and ingredients by bringing together a café with retail offers including its own bakery, cheeses from Two Belly, new wine offer The Bristol Vine and fruit and veg from Hugo’s Greengrocer.
In 2019, the designers took GOLD for The Yeo Valley Café, taking the Somerset-based business – also the UK’s leading organic dairy brand – to London for the first time in the form of a two-storey café, shop and workspace on Queensway in the west of the city.
‘What these awards highlight is the great entrepreneurialism of the South-West in the hospitality field’, Chris Gwyther, Founder of Phoenix Wharf, commented. ‘We love working with operators who have both fresh ideas and a real vision. Neither project had the highest budget in the world, so it just goes to show that you don’t have to be in the luxury market to make an impact and a difference. You just have to know your target audience.’
‘When it comes to design’, commented Phoenix Wharf Associate Creative Director Emma Carter, who led both projects to fruition, ‘Bristol can now compete with any city in the country. What’s also notable about these projects is what a great advocate the South-West is for boundary-pushing sustainable design, with both projects featuring re-purposed materials wherever possible, and offering healthy, organic and sustainable food and drink with true community appeal.’
About Phoenix Wharf:
Phoenix Wharf is an interior design and branding agency specialising in hospitality and retail. Founded in Bristol in 2015 and independently owned, the consultancy brings ‘substance with soul’ to its clients, from start-ups to established heritage brands, local, national or international, including Space NK, The National Trust, Yeo Valley, Ensemble, Craghoppers, The Gro Company, Gill Marine, Private Room and Gymshark. Along with sister creative companies Ignition (exhibitions, events and experiences) and Caroline (strategic communications), Phoenix Wharf forms part of Istoria Group.
Visit:
www.phoenix-wharf.com
www.istoriagroup.com
Bristol-based marketing agency, Seeker Digital, has been ranked 25 in the Deloitte’s UK Technology Fast 50 2020 and makes the top two for the South West region.
The Deloitte Fast 50 winners are recognised as being the fastest-growing technology companies in the UK. The Bristol-based agency has grown by an exceptional 1683% since it was founded four years ago and is the only agency to make the Fast 50 list this year.
Duncan Down, lead partner for the Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50 programme, said: “The Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50 is internationally revered as one of the most important business awards in the industry.”
“Achieving sustained revenue growth of 1683% over four years is a tremendous accomplishment. And to be second in the South West after just four years of trading makes this accolade even more exceptional.” Duncan adds.
Seeker Digital’s growth comes at a time of unprecedented turmoil, shaped by economic and political uncertainty, not to mention the challenges of a pandemic. Despite this, Seeker Digital has continued to grow as an agency thanks to its innovative use of machine learning.
Gareth Simpson, managing director of Seeker Digital says: “As with many other agencies during this current climate, we’ve seen our fair share of challenges. But our investments in tech have aided our success and survival.”
Simpson continues: “We implemented machine learning in many facets of the business to speed up our work and make it more meaningful from day one. And this is all thanks to government research and development schemes that are available to startups across the nation. The result? An operating system that’s efficient, scalable and futureproof for our business and our clients.”
Seeker Digital is keen to share its skills with the wider industry. In October 2020, the team spoke at the virtual search conference BrightonSEO, sharing their knowledge and insights with an audience of over 10,000.
Oakwood Agency has won a Platinum Marcom Award for best integrated marketing campaign 2020, for its ‘Challenge Accepted’ brand work for Weatherford International. A nine month project, working with the internal comms team in Houston, Texas used a typographic-led approach to reposition Weatherford as a tier-one solutions provider. The objective was to create a new overarching identity for the entire corporation, in a challenging time for the energy sector, that would unify the internal organisation and enhance their customer-facing profile.
Neil Sims, CEO commented ‘It is welcome news for everyone at Oakwood to see a creative process and bold statement of intent make a real impact and impression on the internal client team, global audience and the judges’.
Let’s be honest, in the old world (read: 2019) we all loved a day out judging awards. The chance to swan into some lovely building, hobnob with the great and good of our industry, pick up a tasty lunch, grab a new professional head shot and take a goodie bag home. Oh, and there was the business of judging of course.
Tomorrow, I’ll be judging the DMAs from the comfort of my own home. My husband may bring me a coffee, lunch will probably be tonight’s left overs, and the only goodie bag will be the kids sports kit that they’ll dump in the hall at 4pm exactly.
So take away the trappings of a fun day out, and what do you have left? The entries, pure and simple. The strategy, the creative and the results. The hard facts of the case. And since I’m judging Best Customer Retention and Loyalty Scheme, every entry will have its work cut out this year.
When those entries were submitted, many brands were haemorrhaging customers at a rate of knots (cinema, travel). Others were scooping up customers like there was no tomorrow (video streaming, home fitness). So how do we judge how good brands were at keeping customers?
For me, this is where hard customer data comes in. As I recall, when I judged this category last year, I was surprised and disappointed how many entries were still using brand affinity or other such soft metrics to measure retention. There were very few who were able (or chose) to show the volume of customers over time. This surely is the ultimate measure of an effective retention scheme – keeping your customers. I’m happy to accept context-appropriate entries (we lost X but regained Y), or entries where value and volume are balanced (we gained Y but at value Z), but I just want to see the hard facts of the matter. Prove how well you kept hold of your customers. Not what they thought of you, how you stole them from competitors, how likely they said they were to return.
This year has given us all ample opportunity for some clear strategic and creative work, so if you can prove to me (using clear thinking and hard numbers) that you’ve kept hold of your customers or won them back, despite external conditions, you’ll get my vote.
This article was written by Fiona Craig, Strategy Director at Armadillo. For more thoughts from Armadillo, visit our blog.
Paradigm shifts, the ‘next big thing’, world-changing, disruptive, next-generation, XYZ 2.0… superlatives are at home when it comes to digital technology. So, it’s not surprising that most people roll their eyes at the introduction of the next tech game-changer.
With the gift of hindsight, we can see which emerging technologies were worth the hype over the last few decades – but they’re few and far between. The home PC, and in turn the laptop, the internet, and the smartphone: for the general consumer, these are the few revolutionary technologies that have truly impacted the way we live, work, shop and socialise, paving the way for smaller evolutionary trends which dictate our behaviour.
But is it really possible to make predictions on the next big shift in tech?
Well, hold your eye-rolling for now. Because it’s likely already staring most of us in the face.
Virtual reality (VR) has the Ronseal factor: it’s a self-contained digital ‘reality’ which you can digitally interact with.
VR has been around since the late 70’s. The most commonly cited first incidence of its use is from NASA, when their artist-in-residence David Em created the first virtually navigable digital world. But today you’re more likely to find it used for a video game or perhaps a training simulation.
Augmented Reality (AR) is slightly different. Instead of being self-contained, AR superimposes virtual elements onto the real world: it augments our physical reality.
You’ll most often find AR used on smartphones and tablets, making use of the device’s camera. Those social media filters which give you dog ears or a drastic makeover? They’re a form of augmented reality. And ‘Pokémon Go’ uses AR too.
AR isn’t new, but it is being used in increasingly novel ways – and no, we don’t mean the new filters which make you look like an attractively chiselled supermodel.
AR has potential because while VR removes you from the real world, AR supplements your experience with reality – and can actually increase your engagement with the real world.
Imagine, for example, your VR headset didn’t block off your view of the real world. Instead, it’s a set of glasses, much like a normal set of eyeglasses, but provided a digital overlay of useful information. As a construction worker, you could look at a site and immediately be presented with spatial calculations which could help you cut materials to size without needing a measuring tape. As a surgeon, you’d be able to see your patients’ vitals in front of you, without even turning your head. As a consumer, you’d be presented with information about the materials which make up the clothing you’re about to buy.
All these are real examples – albeit mostly in their infancy. But they have incredible potential to become true game-changers with the right thinking, creativity and application.
Through a combination of enhanced engagement and the presentation of useful information, AR’s possibilities are limitless.
We could go on about the complexities, challenges and intricacies of AR, but instead we’ll keep it snappy, as you’re busy holding down the fort in the real world.
Instead, let’s do a quick summary of AR today:
· AR won’t replace computers
While AR may displace some computers, there’s merit keeping most of them. For example, while some companies have experimented with the addition of an AR dashboard in (mostly luxury) cars, this is unlikely to become the reality for the general public – who needs another distraction while trying to navigate rush-hour traffic? A satnav is plenty enough.
· AR is platform agnostic
AR isn’t owned by Apple, Android or Microsoft: its technology can be used in combination with any of the Big Three (and any other brand, for that matter) as long as the device itself is compatible.
• AR is still in its discovery phase
While we’re already using AR on smartphones, this is unlikely to be its final form – the screens simply aren’t big enough for us to appreciate its full potential. There’s so much scope for AR to play with all our senses: haptic feedback (pressure sensing) could be used for us to more accurately ‘interact’ with virtual elements; eye-tracking could ensure whatever information we need in our peripheral remains in constant view; geo-location and movement tracking can even further blur the lines between the physical and digital. In all likelihood, the vehicle for delivering AR experiences will depend on its context and use case – and that’s really exciting.
• AR could see new tech behemoths emerge
The companies who use AR to its full advantage could well usurp many of the larger, well-established players who ignore it. This may seem overzealous, but in 2000, who could have guessed where Microsoft, IBM, or even Facebook would be today?
If technology’s history has taught us anything, it’s that when a new piece of revolutionary technology comes along, it’s true magic is revealed when it collides with culture. It’s the crucial intersection between technology and the arts which offers the most potential.
Right now, the first wave of AR applications sit in two camps: utilitarian or ‘just for fun’. What we’re seeing today is not dissimilar to the very beginnings of an App Store.
The next wave will come when vehicles for delivering AR experiences gain traction, such as the AR glasses we mentioned above (Snapchat, in fact, launched ‘Spectacles’ as far back as 2016). Not only will we see utilitarian use cases strengthen, we’ll also see AR branch out into new markets.
From seeing how much fuel your car has left just by looking at it, or receiving real-time walking directions without ever having to look down at your screen; from your phone notifications appearing in your periphery, to shopping for new clothes seamlessly without ever having to try them on, thanks to a new AR mirror that superimposes new styles onto your live reflection.
These new applications will go beyond making life more convenient: they’ll start to build the standards behind the tech, and ignite discussions about how our technologies ‘talk’ to each other.
As for the third wave… That comes down to data.
Now is the perfect time for brands to get ahead of the game when it comes to using AR in ways that will truly inspire and engage their audiences.
There are limitless opportunities. Why not contact us today at [email protected] to discuss your goals with our team.
Softech firm Amdaris have won the Great British Entrepreneur Award just 6-months after securing a £6m investment from BGF.
The Bristol company has offices in the UK, Dubai, Moldova and Romania, providing software development teams in high profile industries from Oil and Gas to finance and logistics.
In 2017 the board appointed AgencyUK to help develop a brand and marketing strategy fit for global expansion. Scale has been rapid, with new offices in Dubai and Romania in 2019.
AgencyUK have continued to support Amdaris with their external advertising, internal communications and PR strategy. This award win follows a string of new customer appointments.
You need to load content from reCAPTCHA to submit the form. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More Information