Wealth Manager, PE Firm among new clients

Published on May 22, 2013 in Brand and identity, Corporate, Design, Finance and investment and Web. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Too soon to reveal full details, but Design WildWest has been appointed to handle two identity and design projects for evolving clients in finance.

One includes a complete review and brand refresh for a London-based wealth management firm that wants to really mark a difference in style between it and its competitors. WildWest has been working with marketing consultants to the company (who are providing strategic input) and new website, corporate literature and associated materials are now in process.

The second project involves a developing a complete new look for a private equity firm that is spinning off from an American parent. New name and logo have now been agreed, and WildWest is now moving on to design and produce stationery, website and associated collateral materials in time for the new company’s launch later this summer.

WildWest already has a prestigious portfolio of clients in finance including Silverfleet, Inflexion, Satya Capital, Hatton Grange, Alcentra and others. These two new important assignments help to demonstrate how Design WildWest helps new and evolving companies establish a complete and distinct image in a crowded marketplace.

Barclays Premier League Champions 2013

Published on May 14, 2013 in Marketing and Sport. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Congratulations Manchester United, from us all at Wildwest Design

We’d like to congratulate Manchester United on their win in the Barclays Premier League. We’d like to thank them sincerely, because for once, the uncertainty didn’t go down to the final day, and so we avoided scurrying around trying to second guess every option as to who might win!

With both Manchester clubs appointing new managers, and managers to be found for Everton and probably Chelsea too, it looks like there are a lot of changes to come at the top of the Premier League. It really is a tough divsion to win.

But here’s to the new competition and 2013/2014, from all of us at Wildwest Design

Barclays – helping young people stay in control of their money!

Published on April 9, 2013 in Unusual. 0 Comments

Barclays Money Skills is helping a number of disadvantaged groups as well as the young and old to understand how to stay in control of money.  Kids at FE Colleges up and down the country can register and receive help and advice on making the most of their money and how not to get into difficulty with it!

For more information on Barclays Money Skills in FE Colleges, go here:-

http://www.barclaysmoneyskills.com/Information/Our-projects/Barclays-Money-Skills-in-FE-colleges.aspx

Our track record in finance

Published on January 10, 2013 in Corporate, Finance and investment and Marketing. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

We’re very pleased to be able to demonstrate such a comprehensive record of experience in working with finance and investment companies, investment funds and particularly with private equity firms. One of the big attractions for them has always been our ability to work across boundaries, in terms of new media and design for traditional print and display. Often, we’ve helped companies to take their first steps into the market and continued to work with them as they have grown.

Here are some of the firms we are currently working with:-

Alcentra
Argonaut Capital
BTG Pactual
Duke Street
Inflexion
Resolute Asset Management
Satya Capital
Silverfleet

We’re looking forward to adding to that list in 2013, and helping all our clients to greater success.

Good Web Practice: the Key to Better Search Results

Published on November 23, 2012 in Marketing and Web. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

How can we get better search results?

It’s a question not quite so frequently asked these days (when once it was what the  marketing department lived and died by) but it’s still important. What’s changed is that we’ve all got fed up searching for stuff, only to find something irrelevant.

How often have you searched for a particular hotel, only to be given a directory listing?

People – potential clients of yours among them – want to find what they are searching for, not be spoofed into visiting your site.

So Rule One is to know what you’re good at, what it is you (precisely) do, and then to help people looking for those things, to find you.

Our clients at INCo (www.inco-online.com) find and qualify sales leads for IT and Consulting firms. They can also help companies in these fields (and some others) to plan realistically for actual market conditions.

So, their site features a blog which discusses issues around these topics, providing knowledge and also a sidelight on what they do and the professional process behind it.

INCo use social networking (particularly Twitter and LinkedIn) to promote their ideas and encourage those interested in what they do, to visit.

It seems to be working. Searching for key phrases like IT lead generation, or C level telemarketing (an INCo speciality) brings their site quickly to your attention.

What’s important in website building today? Just three things – good design, good content, and good web practice. Try it and see.

CSR Projects – More than just design

Published on October 30, 2012 in Corporate, Design and Marketing. 0 Comments Tags: , .

What do you need when you’re embarking on a CSR project? One of the most important factors might be a broad-based design partner, capable of designing, producing – and distributing – material.

They’ll probably need to work in display, web and electronic media (so you can send updates to key stakeholders, for example), and be able to produce anything from a binder full of information to a DVD with complete guidelines for any third parties involved.

They’ll need to work fast, be accurate, and be able to organise the packing and despatch of whatever is needed, wherever it is needed.

Attention to detail sits alongside maintaining good client relationships; a willingness to go the extra mile when there’s a change has to be complemented by design skills that stretch across print and display, and into web design and outbound communications.

At WildWest, our baptism of fire came with first (and very large) CSR project last year. Our successful handling of it had led to our re-appointment this year. And success was measured not just by the way things looked or the satisfaction of third parties like the National Skills Academy and Action for Children. In this instance, success was measured by an independent research study led by a leading University.

So, if you need a design partner for a CSR program, maybe we should be talking?

Private equity? Need to sharpen your procurement?

Published on September 13, 2012 in Corporate, Finance and investment and Marketing. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Wildwest designed and programmed the new Pepco Services website

Whether you’re a private equity firm looking to sharpen up procurement, or a private-equity backed company that needs to improve its bottom line, you’ll need to take a look at the new website for specialist procurement experts Pepco.

The Pepco catalogue of services provides an entry to almost every facility and service a company could need – from car leasing to computer services, and from property to stationery supplies. And all Pepco suppliers are quality-checked, as well as providing exceptional value, thanks to special procurement rates negotiated by Pepco.

Pepco help companies to find high-quality suppliers and then, because of

Pepco members gain access to big company procurement advantages

aggregated rates, ensure that those same companies get the best value possible. For a busy company that wants to run as efficiently as possible, the Pepco service gives you a short-cut to an improved profit line, since every pound saved on buying everyday services is a direct improvement to profitability.

Pepco offers its services to companies in Britain, and in France too. We’re very pleased to have been able to help Pepco present itself and its complete range of services to its member companies.

For more details, go to http://www.pepcoservices.com/

Working in finance and investment

Published on August 1, 2012 in Unusual. 0 Comments

Modesty (currently) and non-disclosure agreements prevent us from naming our latest two financial clients. One, a hedge fund, was impressed by work we had done elsewhere for our long-standing clients at BTG. Another, an investment and fund management company, is the European arm of an American parent.

These two companies join a growing list of boutique finance, investment and private equity investors who are entrusting the strengthening of their brand and communications to the team at WildWest Design.

We already value Alcentra, BTG, Duke Street, Inflexion, Silverfleet, and Oakley Capital as long-standing clients.

Hello again, direct mail

Published on June 25, 2012 in Direct. 0 Comments Tags: , .

For some time now, we’ve been seeing decreasing interest in anything that’s emailed in bulk. Maybe people are less curious about marketing messages that appear out of the ether in their mailboxes. Maybe they suspect that opening or clicking through may leave their computers open to infection. Maybe, being busy people, they just view emailed messages as an intrusion into a space that should be their own.

Whatever the reason – we suspect that the ease with which it is now possible to email in bulk has produced too much of the stuff! – you have to say that in most instances, it’s just not producing results.

So, many of our clients who have been watching the response numbers fall (one of the great things about outbound emarketing is the availability of amazing statistics!) are turning back to printed material when they want to get noticed by clients who aren’t in the habit of dealing with them.

What is different is the way that response is chanelled. That has to direct recipients to a website these days. There’s just no escaping that fact. And best if it can be a microsite, specifically set up to handle response to a particular message. Reply-cards (remember them? we still do them as a back up to some mailings) won’t be returned unless there’s a good incentive, but websites for some reason, seem to hold no fear for sales prospects and it seems (from the cross-section of clients we are working with) that factual messages perform better than anything.

So, welcome back direct mail. We’re sorry to see those envelopes again, but they’re working, at least for now.

The Barclays Premier League – Fixtures

Published on June 20, 2012 in International and Unusual. 0 Comments Tags: .

Just one simple way that we help Barclays to promote their association with the Premier League in England (and their status as a leading sponsor of international sport) is by publishing the fixtures table. This graphic has so far featured in countries as diverse as Kenya and South Africa, and here, in the New York Times.

http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/18/2012-13-premier-league-schedule/

The current Euro 2012 Championship seems to be increasing everyone’s appetite for the new season too, though whether England will be able to get by their next challengers (Italy) is open to doubt at this stage.