Category Archives: Design

Blog, Creative, Design, Digital, Social Media

How To: Write A Strong Creative or Digital Project Brief

Get it right and your agency will deliver first time – no mistakes.

Writing a creative or digital brief in an agency can be particularly hard. So where do you begin? A good brief is one that inspires, is clear, sticks to one goal, has supportive constraints and inspires others to take on the project. Here are our top 5 ‘ignore them at your peril tips that any novice or expert ought never to exclude from a brief.

How To: Write A Strong Creative or Digital Project Brief

The Business Case: This part of the brief will encourage you to working together in a creative advertising agencyprecisely outline what the problem is that you are addressing with a new campaign or project. Make sure you have a clear objective, avoiding jargon and any internal lingo. Write with your creative agency in mind; give an obvious and detailed description, so they can fully understand all of the factors they need to consider to achieve your goal.

an advertising checklist when writing your own brief in a marketing agencyMeasurement: What impact do you want to make with the project? Include facts, figures and success indicators.

Competition: Investigate what your competition are doing and describe how they are achieving results.

writing your own brief with a specific target audience in a digital agency

Target Audience: Take your audience into consideration – is the project you’re commissioning targeted and tailored towards your target market? This is particularly important when making big decisions like whether building your website to work on mobiles/tablets is just the latest fad, or something you really need to consider.

knowing your budget when writing a brief in a creative advertising agencyBudget: Supplying a budget guide is always tricky, especially if you’re not sure how much it is likely to cost. With that being said, giving your design agency an idea of a budget will mean they can better tailor their recommendations to your expectations. If you don’t have a fixed budget, then a price bracket such as ‘between £2,000 to £4,000’ will be the best solution.

Ultimately, a creative brief should inform your agency as best as you can, so you can work together towards a shared goal: growing your brand and business.

image of teamwork

Blog, Design, Digital

Why Your Business Needs an Explainer Video

Explainer videos have boomed in popularity over the past year due to their effectiveness in increasing conversion rates.

An explainer video helps a brand or organisation to better connect with potential customers by demonstrating what the product or service can do for them and why they should choose your business over other competing businesses. More than three quarters of consumers are more likely to purchase a product or service if they can watch a video explaining it beforehand. This makes explainer videos an excellent marketing tool. There’s simply no better time to be using video in your content marketing mix.

If you need any further persuasion, we’ve detailed some of the most important factors behind this unstoppable force.

Increase your conversion rate
Customers expect video content, they engage daily with video sites and apps such as YouTube, Vine and Instagram. In fact, a third of all online activity is spent watching video*. And the proof is in the pudding –

• 85% of people are more likely to buy a product or service once they see an accompanying explainer video.
• 58% of consumers consider companies that product video content to be more trust-worthy.
• 71% of consumers say that videos lead to a positive impression of a company.
• 77% of consumers consider companies that create online video as more engaged with customers.

Rank better in Google search
Part of Google’s process for search rankings considers the amount of time visitors stay on your website, which is one reason online video is seeing explosive growth. Visitors who watch a video are reported to stay on sites twice as long and look through twice as many pages, versus those who don’t use video*. Meaning that your website is 50 times more likely to appear on the first page of a search engine results page if it includes a video*.

Similarly host your explainer video on YouTube and Google will thank you for it. Google owns YouTube, meaning that videos originating from the site rank very high in the search engines.

Easily shareable
In the world of social media, shareable content is king. Explainer videos are often humorous and engaging, which lend themselves perfectly to being shared across Facebook, Twitter and beyond. People are also much more likely to share and watch videos on the Internet than read blocks of text on a page. In turn, creating a video that offers value to the audience and has some key call to actions mean people will link to it, bringing traffic from elsewhere to your website.

Clarify the objective of your product
Explainer videos help your customers to gain a better understanding of your product or service. In most cases, the average customer takes less than a minute to make a purchasing decision and an explainer video will grab their attention immediately.

70% of content marketers already use video in their marketing mix, are you?

Sources:
• Digitalsherpa, 2014
• Kiss Metrics, 2014
• E-consultancy, 2014

Blog, Creative, Design, Digital

Why Retailers Should Embrace Omnichannel

83% of retailers expect to implement an Omnichannel strategy within the next 14 months*

Connected consumers are forcing a revolution in retail. The Omnichannel opportunity is concentrated more on a seamless approach to the consumer experience, rather than focusing on just one solution. Omnichannel is a mix of all the different ways people enjoy to shop, blended together but all saying the same message and giving the same brand experience. Retailers who have adopted this approach do so by combining all available shopping channels including in-store displays, retailer websites, mobile devices, social media, television, radio, direct mail, and so on, to drive sales.

creative-advertising-ideas-for-omnichannel

Research has found that mobile is the channel considered key to the successful implementation of an Omnichannel strategy, with 100% citing it as the most important platform*. Tablet came a close second with 97%, and online received 95%. Fashion brand Oasis introduced iPads into their stores to enable the customer to browse online, pay online and place orders online whilst in store. Customers have the option to try an item on in store, and then order it online and have it delivered, rather than having to queue at the till to pay. This is particularly beneficial if the product isn’t in stock or in their correct size. In the first week of the iPad ordering system opening, 20% of store sales were made through the iPad each day*.

new-technology-for-a-better-future-of-marketing

However, with digital commerce attracting a lot of attention, it’s sometimes easy to forget just how valuable physical retail remains. 61% of the survey respondents still consider bricks and mortar and a kiosk (15%) just as important as an online strategy. While many analysts have predicted the impending doom of offline stores, there is little to no evidence to support this theory. In fact, figures from the High Street Sales Track show that High street retailers enjoyed an uplift in takings during May 2014, with sales up by 1.1% overall and up 0.8% on the same period last year*. Stores’ true advantage comes with their ability to act as an effective piece of an overarching, compelling omnichannel customer experience.

Many of today’s most successful fashion houses, are already blending their offline and online strategies to deliver a better consumer experience and build more effective business.

digital-try-on-clothes-new-idea-in-creative-marketingBritish luxury brand Burberry have reinvented their Regent Street store in London to act as an extension of their website. The flagship store utilises digital technology such as large-scale interactive mirrors, hidden speakers and a hydraulic stage. Above all, the most innovative technology is the chip-technology developed by Burberry, which enables customers to pick up any garment and trigger an interactive video on one of the mirrors which shows how the product was made and what other items compliment it. This gives in-store customers access to the rich levels of immediate information they have grown to expect online. This kind of personalisation has allowed the luxury brand to create a deeper engagement with a customer seeking that very kind of service. Burberry have utilised all of their channels to tie everything together, ultimately making the shopping experience seamless.

buying-clothes-online-anywhere-new-marketing-ideas

By having a consistent presence across all channels, consumers can reach and shop at their convenience, anytime and anywhere. Plus frequent shoppers and those planning high-value purchases are more likely to use a range of channels for their purchase. Consumers want to see the product in-store, compare the product and price online, read consumer reviews and analyse social media feeds before they purchase. The best omnichannel organisations are those who can offer the customer the same value, benefits and options regardless of what platform they use.

Sources:

  1. SLI Systems, 2014
  2. SmartInsights
Blog, Creative, Design, Digital

Rise of the Construction Drones

For years the world has had this misconception that scientists are creating evil robots that are hell bent on destruction and taking over the world. In actual fact they’re building ‘drones’ with the purpose to do the opposite. These robots have the ability to independently build the structures that we both live and work in.

Quadrotors – simple electric helicopters with four sets of rotor blades and controlled remotely are already being used for exploring inside nuclear-processing facilities, inspecting buildings and to deliver vaccines and medicines to cut off communities. With recent advances in robotic technology, the days of the human construction worker may be soon be numbered, as machinery makes the task cheaper, safer and more effective for those involved.

A construction site is the natural habit for quick visual inspections by drones. Add specialised camera technology, such as filters or sensors to detect gas leaks and the drone becomes an invaluable tool. The drone minimises the cost and risks associated with human inspection of hard to reach areas. Multi-rotor drones can also provide companies with precise 3D models of buildings and surrounding areas, which contractors can use when planning changes to a building or trying to figure out where to move a road. Quadrotors are also being fitted with sprays and grippers so they can paint walls or buildings without the need for scaffolding or ladders.

In addition to inspection and risk assessment, the drones of the future will also be able to offer building development solutions. Swiss firm Gramazio & Kohler recently collaborated on a Flight Assembled Architecture experiment where a group of 50 robot helicopters were programmed to simultaneously lift and stack 1,500 polystyrene foam bricks into a six-metre high tower. Built in sensors detected the drones to be working at a speed of 370 feet per second. This data was then fed back into a programming system, which determined how to dispatch the drones effectively to avoid collisions and to determine the best-case paths for fast pickup and release. This trial is the first stage in the firm’s vision to build complex cylindrical towers using drones, which could stand more than 600m high and house 30,000 occupants.

Construction drones offer a more advanced solution than manual labour. However, for the concept to be adopted by construction firms they will firstly require the development of more heavy-duty robots that can carry substantial materials. Many robotic companies are looking to scale up this process, and design drones that can carry bricks and dispense mortar to automate traditional construction methods. The Drexel Autonomous Systems Lab in Philadelphia is working on a more ambitious Quadrotor with multiple arms for more complex tasks that require a pair of ‘hands’. Grippers mean that Quadrotors can pick up and transport construction items and objects without human intervention, making them suitable for applications such as building maintenance and repairs.

The opportunities for the use of drones in the construction industry are continuing to expand. It is envisaged that in the future drones could work in areas that aren’t fit for humans or may help in disaster relief and other emergencies. It is quite possible that more construction sites will see a flying drone overhead capturing photos, carrying bricks and playing a vital role in building our landscape.

Blog, Creative, Design, Digital, Uncategorized

Local Feature: Northampton High School Creative Workshop

On Thursday 30th January, Gavin Willis and Nina Billington presented at Northampton High School, which is one of GDGT’s independent schools. The session was part of a Careers Conference to broaden the pupils’ understanding of the career opportunities available.

The school runs this evening every two years where external speakers are invited to give presentations about their careers. This provides a valuable insight into real-life working environments and acts as a source of inspiration to the students.

Gavin, who is Creative Director at GWCM, launched the agency that is based in Northampton town centre 18 years ago. Both himself and Nina, who is Senior Art Director at the company, grew up in Northampton and attended the local University. Therefore, the pair wanted to share their industry experience and local knowledge to encourage students who are looking to decide upon a career.

Their presentation was based around life working in a marketing, design and communications agency, and what the job role entails on a daily basis. They advised the students on the most beneficial qualifications and characteristics to have if they were looking to work in the same industry. They also touched upon the skills required for coping with change and dealing with the world of work.

Making important career decisions in the early stages of Education may seem daunting at first. This is why creative workshops are so important – they aim to aid student choices and provide the pupils’ with real-life examples of successful career paths. Gavin and Nina hope to have inspired, motivated and encouraged the next generation of designers, showing them that it is possible to achieve your ambitions.