Having started the process in 2021, they join around 70 other companies in the region who are committed to making business a force for good.
B Corp Certification is holistic, not exclusively focused on a single social or environmental issue. To achieve certification, a company must:
saintnicks achieved a score of 88.9, but as with any company to gain the certification, they acknowledge that this is just the beginning of a commitment to do even more.
“We’re incredibly proud of the work we’ve done to become B Corp Certified, but we’re just getting started. We’re committed to continually reviewing our standards across the board, to not only maintain our efforts, but improve them.” said company Director, Chris Price.
“We’re very proud to be working with some brilliant clients, who are also committed to making positive changes to their business, so it’s a journey we’re going on together.” Price added.
Read more about the journey to becoming B Corp Certified on the saintnicks website.
BRAVA today announces the appointment of professional voice actor and performer, Sally Bailey, to the coaching team
Sally has been a professional voice actor for the last 11 years, working at a high level across narration, commercial and characters. Her impressive career spans over 30 years across radio and TV, starting as a breakfast presenter on Galaxy 101, moving on to co-host the network evening show, Core/Music Control, for GCap Media plc and then co-hosting the breakfast show for Capital FM, South Wales.
Sally moved to voice acting full time in 2012 and has voiced hundreds of commercials for clients including Pukka, GAME, Costa, Coca Cola, Thornton’s and Cartoon Network. Her TV presenting credits include a series of animations on historical figures for BBC Bitesize and documentary narrations for Channel 5 & Everyman.
Sally will join principal coach, Melissa Thom, as senior commercial coach at BRAVA.
Melissa Thom, CEO and founder of BRAVA said:
‘We are delighted to welcome Sally to BRAVA. She has been a colleague for many years and the breadth of skills and expertise she brings to our offering as a professional voice actor and performer, is impressive. She has exactly the right approach as an educator and is a genuinely lovely individual. Sally will help us develop our offering to provide personalised training in voice acting, at the highest level.’
Sally Bailey said:
‘I am over the moon to be joining the BRAVA team. Being a voiceover is one of the best jobs in the world and working with people embarking on their career is both tremendously exciting and a complete honour.’
To find out more about BRAVA go to www.brava.uk.com
Bristol-based branded podcast production company 18Sixty is pleased to announce that senior marketing business leader, agency founder and podcaster David Maher Roberts (pictured left) has been appointed as Board Advisor.
This announcement comes off the back of three years of solid growth for 18Sixty where they’ve established themselves as a renowned player in the branded podcast space, working with big name brands, talent and picking up major award wins and nominations for their premium quality podcasts.
Founder and CEO Gareth Evans (pictured right), who launched the business in early 2020 after a decade-long career in commercial radio (Virgin Radio, Absolute Radio) has his sights set on further growth over the next two years. Evans says, “I’ve been aware of David’s reputation in the marketing agency and digital content spaces for some time, having over 20 years experience in board-level roles within PE and VC-backed companies and, impressively taken digital marketing agency Dialect Inc. from a $4m to $30m business in 5 years.” He goes on to say, “having worked closely with David professionally over the last few months, I’m really excited by the prospect of having him on board to help take 18Sixty into the next stage of our growth. Our mission continues to be helping world-renowed brands reach new audiences with podcasts they love listening to whilst having a positive impact on people and planet, pushing the creative boundaries where brand meets audio and to further establish our place as one of the world’s most creative branded podcast producers.”
In addition to his marketing agency expertise, Maher Roberts also has a deep passion for the podcast space, having produced and co-hosted Podworld (a podcast that celebrates the craft of great podcast-making) with journalist and BBC podcaster Louise Blain. Maher Roberts says “I really believe in the unique power of podcasts to engage audiences and provoke thoughtful conversation. 18Sixty has already made a significant impact in the industry and I can’t wait to help further the exciting work Gareth and the team are doing.”
Driving Bristol’s growth as a leading audio hub in the UK and empowering the local economy
Bristol has emerged as a thriving audio hub, fostering numerous globally renowned podcast businesses and housing exceptional audio production talent. In this dynamic soundscape, 18Sixty stands firmly committed to amplifying the audio industry’s impact on the economy of Bristol and the wider South West region.
The surge in demand for exceptional branded podcasts continues unabated. Recent data from hosting platform Ausha revealed a remarkable 17% audience increase for this category in 2022. Notably, brands embracing podcasts as a medium experience significantly higher levels of engagement compared to other forms of media, such as video.
“By nurturing Bristol’s audio landscape, 18Sixty is committed to drive economic growth whilst capitalising on the rising appetite for quality branded podcasts,” said Gareth Evans, Founder and CEO at 18Sixty. “Our mission is to leverage the region’s exceptional audio production talent, supporting their creative endeavours and propelling Bristol as the go-to destination for groundbreaking audio content.”
We are super excited to be bringing MotherBoard events to Bristol!
When: Wednesday 19th July 2023.
What time: 6.30pm – 9pm
Location: Huboo, 41 Corn St, Bristol BS1 1HT
Drinks and pizza provided.
Speakers include:
Rav Bumbra, Founder of Cajigo
Rowena Innocent, SVP Engineering at Ultraleap
Chloe Allan, Technology Manager, Just Eat
David Maher Roberts, Managing Partner of Digital DNA & Founder of TechSpark
Join us for the first Bristol MotherBoard community event! This event will be a networking event, with a panel talk starting 7.30pm.
With 50% of women leaving the industry by the time they are 35, we will be asking the important question “how we can retain more women in tech”.
We will offer practical takeaways including how businesses can support their female talent and drive retention, how businesses can offer an inclusive environment for mums and what we as individuals can do to support our peers and be advocates for all women working in tech.
If you have not been to one of our events before, MotherBoard is a community, event series and charter for everyone who believes we need more support for women working in the tech industry. We encourage everybody to join who is interested in understanding more about how to drive inclusion in the workplace.
Please RSVP to confirm your place.
The world of work has changed in a post pandemic world, both in where people conduct their work but also how. The side hustle has developed into an increase in people working in a contract or freelance capacity in their day-to-day jobs, giving them extra flexibility in their lives and essentially becoming their own boss.
Many industries have been tapping into this resource for decades but for other business leaders this is a new experience with pitfalls to avoid.
Contract and freelance arrangements offer numerous advantages; expanding to meet workflow demand, bringing in specific skill sets, reducing the risk of hire and much more, the list of benefits are endless. However there are many other things to consider when taking on a contract/freelance placement.
Rates – One key consideration is the difference in rates between contractors/freelancers and their permanent counterparts. Contractors and freelancers can command higher rates because of their experience but also because the hidden costs of employment are worked into the rate, sick pay, holidays, pension, ENI and equipment. When evaluating the costs based on the actual number of days worked, the gap between the two options begins to narrow significantly.
Tax Implications – With IR35 legislation very much in the news over the last couple of years this can create hesitancy for clients wanting to engage with contractors. IR35 is an area of tax legislation designed to reduce tax avoidance and application of IR35 is intended to identify legitimate contractors and ensure all parties are taxed appropriately. IR35 has been around since 2000, so it’s not new legislation. It has been in the news because there has been a shift in the responsibility from the worker to the client, of who determinates if the role is inside or outside IR35. This in turn determines what tax needs to be deducted at source by the party paying the worker. There are caveats and exceptions for this where you are either a small or large company. A more detailed statement on the changes to the legislation can be found here.
Roles inside IR35 can be less attractive to workers who operate as a Limited Company, if the rate isn’t adjusted to take into consideration the extra income they will effectively lose.
Oscar Dixon-Barrow is an Associate Director of the International Creative Recruitment agency mustard jobs who have been operating for 14 years placing contractors/freelancers within thousands of firms, shares his expertise.
“Hiring contractors and freelancers can feel like a complex process, but it shouldn’t” said Oscar Dixon Barrow, Associate Director at mustard jobs “Our aim is to simplify this process for businesses, providing them with advice on compliance and access to top-quality talent. We are committed to helping our clients make the best choices when it comes to engaging temporary professionals. But don’t set yourself or the contractor up to fail. Make sure you have a clearly defined set of tasks/project to complete, be able to provide guidance and resources to someone, who might be dropping into your business at short notice, the information they will need to complete the project. And then ultimately there will be some questions you will need to answer on the size and scale of your business to determine if the changes in IR35 rules apply ”
In conclusion, taking on a contractor or freelancer can be particularly rewarding to hire at pace for niche skills, flexibility, short-term, and the management of workflow peaks and troughs, but navigating the tax implications can require additional awareness. This article just scratches the surface but if you’re looking for more advice or guidance on hiring contract across the creative and design industries, then reach out to mustard jobs.
We are a group of friendly Digital and Tech runners who go for a social jog around Bristol’s wonderful harbour each Wednesday lunchtime at 12.30 from the Lloyd’s amphitheatre. It’s an opportunity to get away from our desks, get some air, and get to know some other people in the tech industry in Bristol.
We’re a super friendly bunch and everyone is welcome, whatever aspect of digital and tech you work in and wherever you work.
Our pace is gentle, it normally takes around 30 minutes to do the 5km loop around the harbour. Nobody gets left behind – ever! It’s totally free and we go for a coffee afterwards at the Society café.
When setting out to understand a little more about a brand, a visit to the company website is nearly always the first port-of-call for stakeholders. Often dubbed as the ‘shop window’ to an organisation, a website should clearly communicate your brand’s raison d’être, offer a clear user path, and most importantly, outline your company offerings in the best possible light. And while the process of delivering a gleaming new website is often an exciting one, the launch is only the beginning.
To guarantee that your website performs to its best ability, and to stay relevant among your site visitors, it’s crucial to view your website as an ongoing project. It’s not simply a question of UX/CX updates; reviewing CRO, your goal completion, tackling outdated content, dead backlinks, and poor SEO are all contributing factors to a poor online experience for customers, which can be detrimental to your sales drive and to your brand. The good news is that these are all easily avoidable consequences, assuming you tend to your site with care. To keep your website ticking over nicely, we’ve compiled our top 6 areas of focus for web optimisation…
You should always maintain clear strategic direction with your interface, mapping out the best possible user journeys. Without directing visitors to the right areas on your website, you’ll encourage high exit rates, U-turns, or rage clicks (Hotjar, 2022). Not only does this risk conversions or other goal completions, but it can devalue the brand that you’ve worked so hard to build. Put yourself in your users’ shoes and try to experience your website with a fresh pair of eyes. Is it hard to find key information about your brand? Does the site make checkouts, downloads and forms as easy as possible? Could you improve legibility?
Websites don’t just end at launch; they need to be maintained, optimised and tested. Having the correct analytics tools to visualise quantitative and qualitative data is important, but only when you are tracking the metrics relevant to your business. There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to quantitative analytics platforms, but the key metrics that marketers should be tracking are:
While quantitative research is useful in identifying data patterns and numerical trends, it’s important for marketers to understand users’ attitudes, beliefs, and motivations. This is where qualitative data can help fill in the gaps to make more informed decisions with your quantitative data. Popular qualitative research methods include:
By combining quantitative and qualitative methods, it becomes much easier to understand your customer experience. Ultimately, this helps to highlight pain points and identify the content that resonates most with your brand’s audience.
A great way to ensure you’re optimising your website is by running A/B testing (sometimes called split testing) across variants. Before implementing significant updates, you might want to consider running an A/B test to justify your decision making. Netflix leads by example in this area. Unique to every user, they pool together data to produce a final homepage outcome based on behaviour and preferences. Todd Yellin, Vice President of Product at Netflix, confirms that the brand runs 250 A/B tests each year to test the different versions of the design. These tests also consider the ways in which users search for films and programs on the app (Wired, 2018). With a highly detailed level of tracking and various testing in place, Netflix’s success is entirely reliant upon data. Regularly implementing the variations from the results optimises the user experience.
It’s not uncommon for users to arrive at a website only to be deterred by complex language, over-stimulating features, or a lack of useful information. These websites tend to garner large drop off rates, with marketers left trying to figure out where they slipped up. This nearly always occurs when a website is built without a defined content strategy in place. Markets are ever-changing, and branded websites should reflect this. To stay top of mind, content needs to be relevant, useful, and findable. Marketers need to audit and refresh existing content on an ongoing basis, factoring in current trends and wider business objectives.
SEO is often an afterthought when it comes to website builds. This is usually down to the fact that organic search rankings can take time to bear fruit in contrast to paid activity. But with 53.3% of all website traffic acquired through organic search, SEO should be a core consideration during, and after, a website build.Regular SEO activity can elevate your brand and take you to the top of search engines, surpassing your competition. The key to successful performance and conversion of your website is a content strategy that considers a user-friendly experience, with digestible information for both the user as well as search engines. (Search Engine Journal, 2022).
Whilst they are undoubtedly two separate entities, marketers should make sure their SEO and PPC strategies are aligned, and both have high prominence on their marketing agenda and budgets. On average, 5-10% of your revenue should be spent on SEO activity. (Search Engine Land, 2022).
Read more about our top tips to optimise your organic search in our blog here.
Top performing websites don’t just need to look good, they need to be functional too. Ongoing website maintenance is required to keep your website running. This can be achieved by making sure your website is safe and secure, and that links and tools aren’t broken. It may seem simple but often brands focus on the launch of a new website and forget to check in on performance once it’s live. Some CMS updates can be relatively straight forward, but you’ll benefit from an experienced digital team to manage, monitor and prevent or react to any technical issues your website may encounter.
As a fully integrated agency, we build sites that talk the talk and walk the walk – from design to optimisation. If you’re looking to take your website to the next level, drop us a line today – we’d love to have a chat.
Discover more industry insights and opinions at saintnicks.uk.com/insights
Originally posted to: www.carnsight.com
Let’s be honest, meetings are kind of a necessary evil when it comes to the corporate world, but there’s been a lot of talk in the media recently about just how necessary they are. With spring in the air and spring-cleaning season upon us, now could be a great time to spring clean your diary and tidy up those endless meetings.
Understandably, 2020-2022 saw a huge increase in the average number of meetings held. I think because we were all massively craving human connection during lockdowns. The thing is, that increase in meetings seems to have stuck and we’re all having more meetings than ever before. A recent report from Otter.AI on the cost of unnecessary meetings showed that employees are frustrated by the current volume of meetings. Almost half (46%) agree that they have too many unnecessary meetings in their calendar.
A lot has changed in the past few years, including how we define, expect, and run meetings. More people work hybrid roles and it’s far less common to travel for work and thus virtual meetings are still being used as a way to bring people together in one place. While virtual meetings were used to form connections and boost employee morale during the Covid lockdowns, too many virtual meetings are having the opposite effect today and arguably, we’ve all become a little too reliant on them. The takeaway: Just because you can, and we did, doesn’t mean that we still should. Perhaps it’s time to reassess and clear out the cupboard.
Meetings aren’t always useless, though. In fact, a well-run meeting can be incredibly valuable, but perhaps during the lockdowns, we all got a little bit too used to having a meeting for the sake of talking to another person in a day of being locked away inside. Now we have to get back into the habit of interrogating the purpose of meetings before we send over that diary invite. Here are some tips for things to consider when sending or agreeing to a meeting invite. Take each meeting (especially reoccurring meetings) in your calendar and ask the following questions:
Before putting a meeting in the calendar, it’s vital to ask what the purpose of the meeting is.
What do you want the meeting to achieve? What needs to be done in order for everyone at present to consider it a success by the end? What are the ‘must’, the ‘would be nice to’ and the ‘if there’s time’ goals of the meeting?
Though agendas are a pain to write, and often go unread, ensuring everyone who’s coming to the meeting at the very least knows what that meeting needs to achieve is very important. It’s also important that everyone who’s been invited to the meeting comes prepared with anything necessary to achieve those goals as efficiently as possible.
It’s worth noting that connection and morale are still valid reasons to hold a meeting. It can be nice to check in with your team in the morning, everyone with their coffees and a smile. However, you have to be sure that that purpose has been established in advance, that everyone is on the same page and ask if a meeting is really what people need for morale at that moment, or if another event, activity or treat is better suited.
But really.
Having too many attendees is a surefire way to lose control of a meeting. It’s also incredibly frustrating to be sat in a meeting with nothing to contribute and nothing to take away – those meetings are serious time sucks!
Think carefully about who needs to be present. Ensure everyone is given the space and consideration that add to the conversation. And also respect those who aren’t as vocal in meetings, remembering it’s about the end goal and establishing what’s necessary to achieve that, not waffling for the sake of it.
And when you decide, stick to it! Overrun meetings seem to be an epidemic! When the expectation is that the meeting will overrun, it’s much more common for people to go off track or meander. The workday is busy and there’s also a limit to how long people can concentrate when it comes to meetings, so keep it short and sweet where possible (ideally 30mins max). If a longer meeting with multiple goals is necessary, consider scheduling in breaks.
Thank you for inviting me to the meeting. I appreciate the opportunity to participate, but I regret to inform you that I won’t be able to attend due to some urgent matters that require my immediate attention. Kindly share any notes taken during the meeting, and I’ll make sure to review them. I look forward to catching up with you at a later date. If there are any actions required from my side, please do let me know, and I’ll be glad to oblige when I have the capacity.
Meetings can be helpful and productive if done correctly. And the truth is, nailing the formula is difficult. I’m not sure we’ve even got it quite right yet, but it’s something we’re working on internally.
Remember that it’s important to assess the necessity of each meeting and make sure it’s well-planned. With the right approach, meetings can be a valuable tool for communication and collaboration.
You can find more productivity tips elsewhere on the Carnsight blog, including our review of Atomic Habits by James Clear.
Since 2009, the Bristol based creative recruitment agency mustard jobs has grown exponentially. As a result the business requires a fresh perspective to enable success during this time as they grow and scale the business. The intention of these roles is to prepare the business for onboarding more staff, increasing the sales aspect of the business and improving the operations to support this increase in business activity.
Promoted internally, these director level roles have produced an advanced progression route for high achieving members of staff.
Archie Harvey, previously an Associate Director, leading the XP division (Experiential, Events & Exhibitions Recruitment) has now been promoted to Sales Director. Having amplified the XP division’s output, he is perfectly placed to take on this new role, working with mustard’s Divisional Leaders to elevate the client and candidate experience, helping them to understand the best recruitment solution from the range of products that mustard provides.
“9 years ago I joined mustard off the back of working in the music festival industry with no previous experience in recruitment, so it’s personally an exciting period of time to be taking on the responsibility for business wide sales at mustard. We have a fantastic team of dedicated Manager’s and Consultants that I can work with to get us there, along with the freedom to implement our sales strategy and direction. At the moment, an ever changing market makes this a challenge but one I’m looking forward to continuing to tackle it!” – Archie Harvey, Sales Director.
At the forefront of mustard’s business operations, Joe Bungey has been placed as Operations Director. Having started his journey as a trainee recruitment consultant in the BE division; Joe worked his way up the business with skill, passion and determination. This new role will support all the departments of mustard and oversee management of the systems we use to provide the best possible service to both candidates and clients.
Keeping the people within the business happy is a crucial element to growing and scaling a business, therefore mustard have promoted Phil Boshier to Associate Director of People and Culture. This new role involves developing our existing sales staff but also managing our internal recruitment strategy, along with onboarding and training new starters. As a previous team leader to the ID division, Phil’s an expert in our culture and has gone above and beyond to support the mustard family.
“The whole team has worked super hard to grow and scale the business over the last few years, as a bigger business we can provide opportunity to capable and loyal members of the team. All 3 of these people add real value in their respective arena’s to help us push on further in a structured and organic way… exciting times!” – Peter Browne, Founding Director.
Originally posted on: www.carnsight.com
B2B PR is often overlooked by those considering a career in PR. B2C always seems so much more creative and alluring. But the truth is, B2B PR is more than just B2C PRs boring sister. In fact, B2B PR can be just as exciting, fast-paced and creative!
If you read our blog on the differences between B2B and B2C PR then you’ll know that while B2B public relations typically focuses on technical information and analytical data, emotion is still a key driving force when it comes to B2B campaigns.
In today’s blog, we’re explaining why that’s the case, and why B2B PR can be just as creative and boundary-pushing as B2C.
Cutting through the noise requires creativity
B2B audiences are bombarded with information every day, and so creative, emotionally resonant messaging is necessary to help a company stand out. By using unique and innovative PR strategies, businesses can capture the attention of decision-makers who may very well be jaded by the same-old marketing tactics. Fresh thinking is often what gets the best results.
People buy from people
People buy from people, not businesses, and so while yes, B2B PR does often target decision-makers within a company, it’s important to remember that those decision-makers are still people. By using emotion in B2B PR, companies humanize their brand and create better connections with their target audience. The result – greater brand loyalty and more meaningful business relationships.
Connect with a broader audience
Similarly, remember that businesses, now matter how big, are made up of lots of individual people. By creating messaging that resonates with individuals on an emotional level, B2B PR campaigns can broaden their reach and connect with a wider audience.
Drive engagement
Emotionally resonant messaging better drives engagement and increase the likelihood of your audience taking action. By creating content that inspires a response, businesses can encourage decision-makers to take the next step and move forward with a purchase or partnership.
Even though B2B PR is typically more technical and data-driven, creativity and emotion can play a critical role in creating effective campaigns that stand out, connect with decision-makers, and drive meaningful business outcomes.
To end, here are a couple of examples of B2B PR campaigns that really pushed creatively!
Octopus Group, in partnership with Hectare, launched Tudder, a dating app designed for cattle, as part of a Valentine’s Day-centered PR and social media campaign. The app, which functions similarly to Tinder, allows users to swipe left or right on profiles of cows and bulls. When there is a match, a mooing sound is played, and the interested party is directed to the SellMyLivestock platform for more information. Hectare aimed to raise awareness about “livestock love” through this campaign. Alongside the app, personalized Valentine’s Day cards were sent to targeted journalists, and exclusive briefings were held with media contacts. A comprehensive social media campaign was also implemented.
Slack leveraged the popularity of hit sitcoms such as The Office and Parks and Recreation by producing a humorous, mockumentary-style video advertisement to showcase the superiority of its platform over other professional communication tools.
The video linked below features Sandwich Video, an actual Slack customer, as they introduce the platform to their office. The video serves both as a testimonial-packed case study and a funny piece of media that entertains viewers.
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