Quantock have recently welcomed Werner Zeelie to our line-up. Werner will head up our ongoing client activity, as well as our business development strategies.
Werner is an enthusiastic marketeer with over seventeen years of experience across multiple marketing channels in both the corporate and consumer sectors. He has successfully helped establish and grow leading global brands for clients such CBRE, Unilever, Reckitt, Coca-Cola, Levi’s and IHG.
Originally from South Africa, Werner arrived in the United Kingdom in 2006 to further his international career in marketing, only to find himself now settling in the beautiful Somerset countryside.
Werner comments, “Attracted to Quantock’s creative flair, long-standing heritage, and ever-expanding client base, joining the team was a no-brainer”.
Outside of work, Werner loves to spend time with his children and friends and go for the odd run to keep fit.
Bower Films today re-launches as Octopus Films: https://octopus-films.co.uk. Founded eight years ago as a full-service video production company by Giles Edwards and Ellie Edwards, the re-brand reflects the company’s ethos and problem-solving abilities.
With clients such as BBC’s Countryfile Live, the British Council and Dyson, Octopus Films helps businesses connect emotionally with their audience through explainer videos, event documentation, TV adverts, testimonial videos and corporate films. Experienced in working across a range of industries, its clients span financial, IT, medical, charity and education sectors, both locally and nationally.
Octopus Films also prides itself on delivering real value to much smaller organisations whose goals are to communicate their offering effectively. These include the BCRM in Bristol, Nelson Hall and Medical Detection Dogs. Leading every project, creative producer Ellie Edwards has 14 years’ of broadcast and corporate experience, while [technical director] Giles has worked across both the corporate and TV industries for more than 30 years.
“We set out to refresh our name and logo to accurately reflect our company’s values – creativity, adaptability, agility and also, great problem-solving skills. The octopus was the perfect emblem – they are nimble, flexible creatures and famed for their smart approach,” comments Ellie Edwards.
“We love producing vibrant, engaging and unique video content for businesses that are keen to show their best side. We can always promise a personal service and our senior team leads the entire production process.”
Giles Edwards adds: “We believe in real stories well told. We draw on our years of documentary experience to get beneath the surface every time. By combining crafted, truthful films with refined editorial values, we tell stories that accurately reflect our clients’ lives and businesses.”
As its new name suggests, Octopus Films is highly adaptable and flexes the size of its team depending on the scale and budget of the task in hand. For larger projects it assembles a team of trusted, former BBC production staff and crew.
Pictured: Octopus Films on location in Bath filming with presenter Jamie Lowe.
It’s that time of year again! The South West Design and Digital Student (SWDDS) Awards are upon us once more, and the clock is ticking for students to enter the competition, with only 10 days left until submissions close on Friday May 14th.
The competition, hosted by us here at Proctor and Stevenson (P+S), offers final-year students studying in the South West of England and South Wales a chance to win amazing prizes for their creative work.
Up for grabs this year, is £4,000 in cash, opportunities for networking, industry exposure, a portfolio review, and a paid work placement with P+S. Not bad eh?
Ten finalists. Three winners. One ‘Ultimate Creative Champion’.
The awards are a chance for students to prove that they’re the best in the South West, and the next up-and-coming stars of the creative industry.
The brief, you ask? There isn’t one.
Students can enter any project – including previous university projects – as long as it falls into one of the below categories and it’s their own work. We’re looking for projects that demonstrate commercial value, meet a market, cultural, and/or social demand, and that showcase how they will be rolled out as a campaign across multiple channels.
Our three categories for this year are:
- Graphic Design: For all things offline, including 2D, 3D, typography and print related.
- Digital Design: For web and digital graphic design projects.
- Motion and AR: For video, animation, XR, VR, AR and 3D graphics.
Our panel of expert judges will carefully select 10 finalists, who will be invited for 25-minute virtual interviews, where they’ll have the opportunity to present their entries, explain their thinking behind the projects and why they’re deserving of the prize, and also receive a portfolio review of their wider body of work. Last year’s projects were exceptional; you can check out the 2020 finalists’ projects here.
Out of our 10 finalists, 3 lucky winners will be selected, announced at our digital awards ceremony on June 10th.
All 3 winners will be awarded £1,000, with one crowned as our 2021 Ultimate Creative Champion, and granted an extra £3,000! Any of our 10 finalists could also be selected for a paid 3-month work placement with us here at P+S.
Meet the judges
We pick the crème de la crème of the industry to judge our awards. Ready to meet this year’s line up?
- Chris Roberts, Creative Director of Dyson. Chris returns as Chair of our judging panel. Responsible for managing Dyson’s global brand image and identity, he’s in charge of their worldwide reputation. In true testament to his talent – and our keen eye for recognising it – Chris was a winner of the original P+S SWDDS Awards back in 1994!
- Nema Hart, Senior Relationship Manager, Strategic Partnerships, Arts Council England South West. Nema has led small, large, and million-pound regional, national and international projects within the arts and technology space – including London’s Creative Economy Programme. Plus, her organisation, Submerge, encourages employment and entrepreneurialism, providing a platform for graduates, researchers and innovators to celebrate, network and promote their skills to industry. This is the second year Nema will be joining our judging panel.
- Charles Golding, Senior Creative, Hello Charlie. Charles worked for P+S during his graphic design degree at London’s LCC. With many years’ experience in digital media, his expertise ranges wide across many fields including filmmaking and interactive design. He now works for creative agency Hello Charlie as well as recently establishing a small non-profit organisation, Cargo Movement, that works to increase diversity and representation within education and media.
- Giulia Kapp, Head of Marketing, Daikin UK. From marketing strategy to customer engagement, communications, and way beyond. Giulia has both deep and wide-ranging experience in the B2B and B2C markets, but her specialist expertise lies in sustainability, the built environment and low-carbon technology sectors
- Katie Elvins, Senior Designer, P+S. A ‘Young Designer of the Year’ finalist in The Drum Awards, Katie knows a thing or two about style with substance. Katie has worked her magic for clients that include The Open University, South West Water, Prysmian Group and Effat. A typography specialist, Katie has built her own design business alongside the work she does for P+S – so she’s as entrepreneurially savvy as she is visually talented.
- Tim Price, Head of Video and Motion Graphics, P+S. Tim leads our talented video and motion team at Proctors. Some days he’s leading high-profile motion projects for renowned clients such as Panasonic, UKHO, MOD, Prysmian…and Satish Kumar. Other days he’s directing blow up polar bears, unwittingly casting Fireman Sam or trying to keep pace filming international rugby stars.
- Emma Collins, Creative Consultant, Executive Leadership and Team Coach, Collins & Co. Previously MD of Bristol design agency Home, Emma went on to set up her own business in 2006, aimed at helping creatives and agencies flourish. She later established Spike Design the Design Buddy programme and Weekend Gallery, and was previous Chair of the West of England Design Forum.
Let’s show the world what the South West and South Wales are made of
Powered by P+S, and sponsored by Bristol-based printers Taylor Brothers, the awards were launched by our very own MD Roger Proctor, as part of his ongoing campaign to tackle how institutions approach design education.
Over the years, Rog had noticed something about design graduates leaving university: often they had exceptional talent, but no commercial experience. A big problem, when creating a commercially-viable concept that clients and customers will buy into is half the job!
Frustrated by the lack of culture and creativity funding anywhere west of London, he also wanted to do something to celebrate local talent. The South West and South Wales are bursting with creative flair, with their vibrant cities, bustling creative networks, and brimming art venues.
Plus, the awards are specifically designed to be as accessible as possible. We know a lot of students have limited free time –especially those who need to work alongside their degree – so they can choose to enter an already existing project from their course.
Find out more
To make sure you don’t miss any of our updates, like our Facebook page and register your interest here. Our FAQs page is also a handy resource – and if you haven’t already, check out last year’s winners for some hints and tips.
Drop us a line at [email protected]if you have any questions, or to find out more.
Recently, Armadillo Chairman, Chris Thurling, spoke to South West Business Insider on the topic of choosing your marketing agency. When dealing with creative abstracts such as brand, message, creative strategy, digital engagement and design, it can be difficult to know what exactly it is you should be looking for. Chris provides his advice on what to consider when seeking out a marketing agency that’s suitable for your business.
Should you look for sector specialisms?
Even though there can be good reasons to select a sector specialist agency, there are strong arguments the other way. One of the main benefits of using an agency with broad sector experience is its ability to bring fresh perspectives compared to in-house teams or agency specialists. Generalists have learnings from brands in different sectors that they bring to a brief, and ultimately the skills are transferable. Partnering with an agency that works across various sectors also decreases the chances of merely rehashing your competitors’ work and increases the likelihood of innovation.
The importance of ROI
An agency’s ability to indicate potential ROI ahead of the project depends mainly on how much information you are willing to divulge. The more transparent you are, the more accurately an agency can indicate the potential outcome. However, without detailed insight upfront, this can be difficult.
Think long-term
Crises such as the one we are living through often see brands choose to abandon strategy and go into panic mode. For example, brand building activities get dialled down in favour of budget savings or short-term customer acquisition approaches. Smart and confident companies tend to hold their nerve and continue investing in their brands with the long-term in mind.
These comments originally featured in the South West Business Insider, April 2021. Follow the link to read the full article, including comments from a variety of other business leaders and industry professionals.
It goes without saying, 2020 was just a small departure from the norm for most of us. But there were a few silver linings peppered throughout the year.
Here at Proctors, for example, our video department experienced the highest growth we’ve ever seen. We’ve been moving into new markets, offering entirely new products and generally adding more polish.
So better late than never – yes, we know it’s a quarter of the way into 2021 – here’s a look at some of 2020’s more notable projects.
TOUGHBOOK vs. Sam Warburton – Panasonic
Tackling COVID head-on
Cast your mind’s eye back to the heady days of January 2020. After months of planning and strategic plotting, we’d just begun to organise a full contact rugby-inspired shoot for Panasonic TOUGHBOOK. What could possibly go wrong?…
We’ll let you fill in that particular blank.
Not to be defeated, we turned to industry union BECTU’s superb COVID webinars and guides to get ourselves up to speed on how to plan and run a COVID-safe shoot.
Shooting under COVID restrictions comes with its challenge, but that doesn’t have to mean bloating up a lean budget. So, we set a small, tight-knit group to work. Clear communication is key, and after a quick socially-distanced scrum we formed a new plan: turn the shoot into a training day, and put ex-British and Irish Lions Captain and all-round rugby legend, Sam Warbuton, through his paces, alongside our leading Panasonic TOUGHBOOK tablet.
One risk assessment, a few tracing forms and a quick change into PPE later, we were ready to go. Shot across two days, we produced a huge amount of video content –enough for a full, multi-channel campaign showing how TOUGHBOOK and Sam ‘Lead from the Front’.
The results:
Fourth-best performing Panasonic landing page ever
Outperformed main TOUGHBOOK website
Energy for Change – Daikin
We made the small screen
After getting to grips with COVID shooting, we met our next challenge: to produce a TV ad which would promote Daikin’s range of eco-friendly heat pumps.
This time, we had a number of parameters upfront: A list of features we needed to advertise, a total run length to the frame, the need to push content through Adstream and Clearcast to ensure it was TV-ready, a Mosaic profile of consumers to target, plus the need to make the ad look like it was shot in the winter months, whilst filming it on one of the hottest days of the year.
Oh, and did we mention we had just four weeks to turn it all around?
A solid team effort pieced the ad together in record speed: it was written, prepped, casted, shot, edited, titled and graded, ready for delivery in just under four weeks. The result is testament to our team’s perseverance and the great relationships which allow them to accomplish huge amounts, together.
The results:
Second most-viewed Daikin YouTube video ever
630,000 page views from 216,000 visitors
All-new Training Management – Bud Systems
Not just a pretty (inter)face
How do you make a film about software that’s akin to a Mary Poppins’ magic bag of employee training – without losing your viewers’ attention by explaining every last detail?
Bud’s training management platform is built to solve the pain points that training providers are up against. But with online attention spans sitting between the 2 to 3-minute mark, our challenge was to wrap up the platform’s benefits into a succinct, engaging video and encourage people to book a demo for more info.
Luckily, we had the Bud team’s great branding to work with as a jumping-off point. Their bold, clean appearance meant we could use some technicolour flair to design an equally bright and brilliant visual style. We extended Bud’s multi-coloured logo form into a visual suite of colourful geometric shapes and key lines which would simply and elegantly represent the simplicity of the platform. We then brought these shapes to life with various motion techniques and sound editing, interspersed with shots of the platform in action.
The resulting video echoes the vibrancy, enthusiasm and enjoyment Bud’s users rediscover in their work with the help of this all-in-one platform. It’s not just any old, animated infographic. It’s a masterclass in engaging video.
The results:
Bud have only just launched their film, so right now we can only wax lyrical about how chuffed they were with our work. But watch this space for soon-to-come results…
Multiple Clients – Panasonic, UKHO, Sanlam
Video Toolkits
2020 was the year of video calls and streaming. The working day became a flurry of Zoom calls, Teams meetings, Skype sessions, webinars and virtual conferences – not to mention the evenings spent helping your nan figure out FaceTime.
But there was something missing: a way to professionally and consistently brand your self-generated videos, ready for recording, live-streaming and sharing. So we put together a video toolkit for our clients.
These toolkits pull some of the most commonly required and useful assets into one package; from lower thirds, to intro and outro sequences, title screens and transitions, along with a few extra, bespoke assets depending on what our clients need. We provide them in an editable format, so they work with pretty much any software you use, meaning you’re always on-brand.
They’ve proven truly cost-effective – both to produce, and for our clients to deploy. Meaning less room for errors (like accidentally becoming the world’s first Lawyer Cat).
Results
A comprehensive Video Toolkit for Panasonic, Sanlam and P+S
Fully-branded virtual conferences for Panasonic and UKHO
One City, Zero Homelessness – Caring in Bristol
Giving a little, achieving a lot
2020 was a struggle for any business. But some services were hit harder than others.
Rather than produce our typical Christmas video of jolly japes, we donated our time and resources to local charity, Caring in Bristol. Their amazing work includes providing hot meals, shelter, medical care and support to people experiencing homelessness within Bristol. But donations often suffer during times of national hardship, so we needed to rally the local troops and call them to donate to this well-deserving cause.
So we created a film. But don’t expect your typical ‘pulling on the heartstrings’ donation message. We wanted to celebrate Bristol culture: the edgy, vivacious spirit of our city, calling our Bristolian family to action, and secured their much-needed donations in the run up to Christmas. But with COVID restrictions meaning we weren’t able to film the city and its people in action, we had to get creative.
We went full force with a script and art direction that entertained, with plenty of nods to local celebrities, inventions and fabulous quirks, while delivering the cold hard stats about people experiencing homelessness. Using graphics and animation to make the message as uplifting and entertaining as possible, we were able to create a powerful film which called for an end to homelessness in our city – for good.
The results:
Over £20,000 funds raised in under two weeks
60% of all social engagement in December
…And there’s no sign of stopping
At Proctors, our team of videographers, animators, motion designers and script-writers have been making award-winning, show-stopping video for decades. And we believe each of our clients has something to say.
From the tech behemoths and the multi-international market leaders, right down to local, grassroots charities changing the world one view at a time. Whatever story you have to tell, we’ll help you share it with the world. Talk to Proctors, today.
We’ve re-launched!
“Creativity is the Cure ™”
Ted Talker Anne Thistleton headlines virtual event around the power of creativity in decision-making
We’re extremely excited to announce that at Create Health we have re-launched under the banner “Creativity is the Cure ™”. Committed to injecting a dose of creativity into healthcare communications, we kicked off the re-launch with a virtual event headlined by renowned TedX talker, ex-global marketer and Mind Science practitioner, Anne Thistleton.
This re-launch comes 12 months after our management buy-out led by Ed Hudson, managing director, and Phil Blackmore, creative director. It’s been an exciting year as we also secured an investment of £500,000 from Creative Growth Finance from Creative England in October 2020.
“We firmly believe that Creativity is the Cure™ for the future of healthcare communications – it’s behind everything we do at Create Health, and we’re really excited to share this more widely. Brilliant ideas aren’t just good for business, they make a positive difference to healthcare professionals and their patients. We need to appeal to the subconscious mind, not the rational one, if we truly want to change behaviour, and our creative campaigns have shown this time and again,” comments our creative director, Phil Blackmore.
Underlining the proposition, ex-The Coca-Cola Company marketer and Mind Science expert, Anne Thistleton, took the role of Keynote Speaker at our virtual re-launch event, sharing her wealth of insights around Mind Science and how to unlock behaviour change by appealing to the subconscious mind. A massive thank you to those who attended the event as well as those who took part in the panel discussion around the challenges of reaching the audience and the power of creativity: Anne Thistleton, Karen Hand, global marketing director of ConvaTec; Craig Wightman, chief design officer of Kinneir Dufort, and Andy Milsom, CEO, Kanjo App.
Now 14-strong, we welcomed a raft of new hires last year including Polly Buckland, strategy director, and its first in-house animator, Matt Sugrim. Carrie Fick joined us as marketing manager last month too. We’re thrilled to unveil our new branding and a refreshed website as part of the re-launch.
Ed Hudson, our managing director, added: “Marketing theory is based on the assumption that minds – especially scientific ones – think rationally and make decisions along rational lines. But that’s not true – as is underscored by Mind Science experts like Anne. We’ve seen countless times that it’s the truly creative campaigns rather than the rational ones that have the biggest impacts on brand and buying behaviour in healthcare. Decision-making is led by the sub-conscious mind, and that’s why our most creative brands, grounded in insights, are the most powerful ones.”
Vision 2030 has opened up tremendous opportunities for KSA organisations to take their place on the world stage over the last five years.
But, when first impressions are so important, how do you project a brand that connects with a culturally diverse, global audience? How do you convey your unique heritage in a contemporary way? And how can you remain distinctive across a fast-changing digital landscape?
Digging deeper than surface aesthetics
Success relies on connecting your brand to the needs, aspirations and psychological motivations of your audiences. The words and images you use must resonate in their minds. They must feel that you share your purpose with theirs.
But words can be empty if they are not delivered by someone they trust, so the tone and personality you use to tell your brand’s story is important. It must be clear and authentic, spoken with heart and passion.
Above all, you want your brand to be distinctive. It should set you apart from others who tell the same story. It must lead with conviction and clarity. Only then will your brand create advocates in all who work for and do business with you.
Thinking ‘digital first’
There was a time when brands were created and then translated into digital applications as an afterthought. Today, in a world where the primary touch points will almost certainly be online, a ‘digital first’ approach to your brand is essential.
Of course, this raises important considerations for your logo. It should remain crisp and distinctive when rendered on the smallest of screens.And it’s worth considering how your brand narrative and tone will remain authentic in videos and infographics. How will it sound through digital assistants? How will it connect through augmented reality and artificial intelligence? What will the experience be online, in apps, and at virtual trade events and meetings?
Once you have explored the brand digitally, you can confidently translate it into what your audience experiences in the real world.
Connecting authentically
Creating brand authenticity requires a balancing act:
1. Be distinctive in your organisation’s purpose and personality
2. Be true to your rich and distinct heritage
3. Integrate into the global business community.
Visually, your brand will bridge the gap between the incredibly unique and individual cultures of the MENA region, which celebrate delicacy, nuance and complexity, and global brand dynamics which favour bold simplicity.
It is advisable to include semiotic audience research – the study of shapes, colours and images – as part of the development process, as these can take on different cultural meanings across diverse audiences. Reaching an understanding of these differences can help avoid any unintended miscommunication through the visuals you apply to your brand image.
Tone of voice should be driven by similar considerations. To connect pan-culturally, it is best to speak with clarity, whilst retaining your distinctive personality. At all times you will want to appear confident, but approachable.
Creating strategically
We have talked about connecting your brand to the needs and motivations of your audience. To achieve this, your process will need to be grounded in thorough audience research. Not only will this drive the best creative outcomes, it will also help your team to make decisions based on an objective view, rather than personal likes and dislikes.
Equally though, brands that successfully achieve resonance are a true reflection of their organisation and people. Your will ideally represent who you are now, and who you want to be. No matter how appealing your brand, if your people aren’t ambassadors, holding its values and purpose in their hearts, it will be unauthentic.
Involving everyone in your organisation – at every level – in the discovery and development process will create engagement and a passionate shared ownership of the brand you create together. The objective should be to make sure that everyone is able to both understand, and be a living embodiment of your beliefs, aspirations, purpose, ambition and approach.
For your audience, this means that the promise your brand makes through its marketing is realised when they do business with you in person.
Planning for success
We have merely scratched the surface here. At P+S, we use a whole host of further considerations, applications and insights to develop brands for our international clients.
From tone of voice (how you speak to the world) and SEO (how you increase your voice’s reach) to the materials and platforms you choose to convey it all. Getting the right brand message, to the correct audience, at the optimal time, is the key to developing a brand that not only attracts but thrives long-term.
In short, creating and communicating a successful global brand requires strategy, creativity and technology. If you can harness all three, the world is yours.
If you’d like to tell us more about what you’d like to achieve from your brand, and explore what we can offer you in terms of developing and promoting it, please get in touch today via [email protected].
Over the last year, we’ve learnt the hard way that businesses who can react, pivot and adapt are far more likely to survive than those who rigidly remain on a single-track traditional strategy. In the current climate, this means that significantly more pressure now lies on business teams who are responsible for effective use of budget and creativity. There is a need for them to pull off greater impact for less budget, or an entirely new commercial direction with a leaner team.
It is a huge challenge and now more than ever, we’re seeing the true value of experience coming into play. You’ve no doubt heard the phrase ‘nobody ever got fired for buying IBM’, it’s been bandied around the business world since the 1970s and has numerous different interpretations. But what it essentially comes down to is the importance of choosing the safe pair of hands when bad things happen, the value of going with the established choice that’s less likely to fail because it’s been around for longer and has been thoroughly tested.
The original saying obviously referred to software (and is since horribly outdated) but it does still ring true today for people in the creative industry. Quite simply, in these difficult social and economic circumstances, now is the time to be working with seasoned experts, those with many years of creative and commercial experience to draw upon to solve the challenges faced by businesses.
So here are our three core reasons for choosing experience right now to move your business forward:
1. Speaking the same language
Senior creatives have been around the block enough times to speak the same language as any client. They can demonstrate empathy for how work needs to be sold in, the challenges they might face and can help manage stakeholders. That’s not to say, of course, that more junior members of team don’t bring huge benefits to the table – knowledge, enthusiasm, a valuable different perspective that comes with youth, to name just a few. But when times are tough, you just can’t underestimate the power of being able to draw on previous experiences and turn that understanding into action.
2. Fewer and faster
Experience means there’s no need to layer teams when working on a project, which is vital when dealing with reduced budgets or rapidly changing projects or timescales. Teams can be kept really lean with senior team members doing the work rather than overseeing it. This delivers cost and time efficiencies to clients that they will really appreciate. In most creative agencies, the senior members of the team tend to be light touch with clients – there if you need them, but not directly involved on a day-to-day basis. At Sparro House, ours are hands on – no bloated hierarchy, just experience put to good use.
3. Flexible innovative thinking
Experienced industry veterans can and should, at the right time, challenge the thinking of clients and inspire them to take a different direction if it’s the right thing for the business. Don’t make the mistake of confusing experience with outdated thinking or a safe pair of hands with a boring or traditional approach. The right seasoned veteran can uniquely combine agile out-of-the-box thinking with the confidence to act that only comes with years of experience. Now is the time for innovation to flourish as businesses try a new direction but any risks can be tempered by placing creative responsibility into the hands of those who’ve been there and done that.
Dr Matthew Freeman, Reader in Multiplatform Media at Bath Spa University, has founded Immersive Promotion Design Ltd., a new marketing consultancy for the world of Extended Reality. It supports Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) businesses to better communicate with their audiences about the magic of immersive content.
The company builds on sector-development research funded by StoryFutures Academy and Bristol+Bath Creative R+D, and brings together expertise from the BBC VR Hub, Limina Immersive, StoryCentral, Raucous, Bath Spa University and beyond. Last year the team partnered with The National Gallery, Anagram and Studio McGuire to build research-led and audience-tested promotional campaigns for live VR and AR experiences. This led to the creation of new promotional strategies, prototypes, industry bibles and teaching resources for how immersive experiences can be better marketed to today’s audiences.
Talking about Immersive Promotion Design’s success so far, Matthew said: “Many people have recognised the enormous potential of immersive technologies like virtual and augmented reality to transform the creative industries as we know them. Up until now, however, the immersive sector has struggled to reach bigger, more mainstream audiences – the kinds of people used to streaming Netflix but not yet interested in VR headsets.
“The challenge is obvious: How do you communicate the magic of being in a VR experience via social media, posters and trailers? Immersive Promotion Design Ltd. provides a step towards establishing a new promotional language for VR and AR, opening the door to a bigger, more diverse immersive audience. We are very excited to see where this journey takes us.”
Visit www.immersivepromotion.com to find out more.
“For an industry that supposedly gets positioning, we generally do a pathetic job at doing it for ourselves.” Those are the straight-talking words of David C. Baker who joined us for a fascinating session earlier this month discussing how creative and digital businesses can nail their positioning statement to get the right clients.
Described by the New York Times as “the expert’s expert”, David C. Baker is an author, speaker and adviser to entrepreneurial creatives worldwide. He has written five books, advised more than 900 firms and keynoted at conferences in over 30 countries.
Here’s a summary of David’s brilliant talk with essential tips on how to come up with a positioning statement that works for your creative or digital brand.
Why bother with positioning?
The Wikipedia definition of positioning is: “the place that a brand occupies in the minds of the customers and how it is distinguished from the products of the competitors and different from the concept of brand awareness”.
Your positioning is vital if you want to win the right clients and for David C. Baker that’s all about coming up with a positioning statement that’s deeply focused on what you do and exactly who you do it for.
You need to go into a positioning exercise with the right attitude, David said. If it’s just about keeping busy, that’s a very bad reason, he warned.
Thinking about your positioning in terms of meeting the growth goals of your company is potentially a good reason but only if the goals are properly measured and sustainable.
A great reason for strong positioning is if it gives you the ability to deliver more effective work as a “deep specialist” and to charge a premium price.
But for David, the main reason he likes his agency clients to have a strong positioning statement is that he can’t write a marketing plan without one.
Types of positioning: Horizontal and vertical
David says there are two types of positioning to consider.
Horizontal positioning is offering a specialist service such as annual reports or targeting a specific demographic such as older people.
The benefits of this approach are that you get lots of variety and the opportunity to work with larger clients.
You also don’t have to worry so much about client conflicts and your business will have a greater immunity to economic downturns than if you were focused on a vertical sector.
The second option is vertical positioning which is targeting a particular industry sector such as financial services, tourism and hospitality.
The advantages of this approach are that it’s easier to find clients and they will often take you with them if they move jobs.
It’s also easier for your reputation to spread as communities tend to organise around verticals, with conferences, trades and awards etc, and the money you can make tends to be higher because verticals place a premium on deep expertise.
Testing your positioning statement
Once you’ve decided on your positioning statement, you should test it by answering some key questions.
David grouped them as “quick tests” and “better tests”.
The quick tests
Is it the typical “more better” nonsense?
By this David means you don’t need to use superlatives in your positioning. Being “more better” than someone else is not a strategy. “Just state clearly what it is you do”, David said.
Could a prospect self-select themselves into or out of the running?
Prospects should be able to read your positioning statement and know straight away whether or not your business is right for them. This means you won’t waste your time on pitching unsuitable clients.
Do you have an unfair advantage in maintaining the claims you are making?
Do you have some things that other people don’t have? Perhaps it’s unique research insights or you’ve delivered the service many times before.
Are the claims readily verifiable to an outsider before they hire you?
David said: “There are a lot of things that your clients love about you, but they can’t really test the veracity of those claims until they become a client. So it’s good, for example, that you’re responsive or that you listen carefully. But how can they verify that because there’s nobody out there saying ‘you know what, we tried to listen to our clients, and it just slowed things down, so we don’t do that anymore’.
“There are a lot of things that are true that are not a part of the positioning discussion, they are just there. You want to distinguish between why clients come to you, and why clients stay with you. They stay with you because of some of these other things, but that’s not why they come to you in the first place.”
Would you let a client of yours get away with a lack of precision in your claims?
You probably have some clients who want to make claims about their product or service that you don’t think are courageous or strong enough. But if you’re really honest, are you doing the same? You should be “bold and unique” with your positioning, David said.
The better tests
How many competitors are there who occupy the same expert positioning as you?
David said that the number of competitors in your geographic client area should be between 10 and 200. If it’s fewer than 10, your positioning is probably not viable unless you’re starting something very new and you’re the first, or one of the first, to market. If you have more than 200 competitors, David advised that you should work on narrowing your positioning down.
How many client prospects are there that you could address?
David said that number should be between 2,000 and 10,000. Many will probably not hire you, but could they hire you if they wanted because your positioning fits their needs?
10 immediate, unrehearsed “aha” moments between peers
David gave the analogy of sitting on a train and striking up a conversation with a fellow passenger who he discovers works in marketing like he does. “I know a fair bit about marketing but I still expect to have 10 “aha” moments from the other person because they are positioned in a different space than I am. I want to have 10 of those “aha” moments in a 10 or 15 minute conversation.”
Your positioning needs to be such that you surprise others in your sector. If not, David said, then you’re probably not positioned well enough because you haven’t focused in an area and dived in deep enough.
Do you never run out of topics to write about?
When writing blog posts, do you sometimes think “I don’t know what to write about that is interesting or hasn’t been written about by lots of other people already?”. If the answer is yes, that’s a sign that your positioning probably isn’t right. “The deeper and tighter your positioning, the more things you can write about that are interesting to a smaller segment of the population,” David said. “Positioning is an exercise in exclusion, not inclusion.”
How to write a positioning statement
David shared some key tips for writing a positioning statement.
You do [this] for [these]
Your positioning statement needs to answer two questions: What do you do? Who do you do it for?
Keep it snappy
Your positioning statement should be no more than 12 words. Don’t use a lot of adjectives or adverbs and avoid superlative statements. ”Be brutally objective and rational in your statement. Let other parts of your website provide the ‘we’re the best’ and ‘we’re amazing’ messages.”
Scare yourself a little
Smart positioning decisions are made when people look at everything they do and decide honestly what should be included. That might mean leaving something out because there are too many competitors or it’s not your best work. That’s a painful decision to make”, David said, but scaring yourself a bit is no bad thing.
Socialise but don’t democratise
When coming up with your positioning statement, it is important you bring everyone along by involving your team, listening to feedback and answering questions well, but you (the managing director/chief executive/president etc) have got to make the final decision.
If all else fails, reluctantly build a sub-brand
If you settle on a positioning statement but you realise you only have very limited examples of how you fit and you’re nervous about jumping in with both feet, David said you can create a sub-brand. This is useful for a generalist business that is doing lots of things for lots of people but wants the advantage of a tight positioning.
Let us know how you get on with writing your positioning statement by tweeting us at @Bristol_CI.
Join the next Bristol Creative Industries event on 2 March: Clubhouse as a media platform.
