There’s an old saying in advertising that ‘only in the direst cases, should you show the clients’ faces,’ but today, more and more senior execs are taking to the web to explain in person what they are aiming to deliver, the progress they have made and how they plan to overcome future challenges. It can be a simple head-to-camera video or it can be more exciting. Some companies are putting video on their website to explain what their product is in more dramatic fashion, as in this video for Chilean Heliski, a new business venture backed by executives from long-standing Wild West clients, Inflexion.
Monthly Archive for June, 2009
Hardwicke's report on direct access to barristers
If you’re looking to increase response from direct marketing or perhaps an email campaign, involving a charity can add a lot to your credibility, and increase your response numbers. We helped barristers Hardwicke to get response from a notoriously difficult legal sector by offering to pay a pound to charity for every one of their market research questionnaires which was returned.
Those questionnaires were an important way of introducing Hardwicke to a broad slice of their potential market and helped this young and energetic chambers put itself on the map, as well as gathering valuable research which in turn helped to fuel a PR initiative. Find out more about Hardwicke Building, and the expertise of this London barristers’ chambers at www.hardwickebuilding.co.uk
Christmas comes earlier and earlier doesn’t it? We love creating animated ecards for companies who don’t want to send another batch of cards showing St Paul’s in the snow. With the money they save on postage, they have the option to make a charity donation, which is perhaps a touch more Christmassy in spirit too. Animations like this need to be small enough to email as well, which does take a bit of thought and care, so please don’t leave it till the last minute!
A lot of companies who want to extract the maximum value from sponsorship contracts find that experience and creativity are in short supply. To be honest, not many companies either have the expertise or the experience to know what exactly can be done effectively and create programmes that squeeze every ounce of value from a contract. Now, through a collaboration with Sports Media International and with input from former Barclays director of sponsorship, Nic Gault, Wild West is able to offer a full range of activation initiatives, from pitchside branding through to working with sports journalists. We have important joint experience in soccer, motorsport, sailing and athletics. Elements of the programme are likely to include web, electronic marketing, print materials, display and advertising, all of which can be handled very cost-effectively. For more, contact Jonathan Bancroft at Sports Media. Contact details can be found here: http://www.sports-media-intl.com/
Like many business-to-business companies, Inflexion know the importance of marketing, and marketing for this rapidly growing private equity company means two quite different things. First of all, they needed a shop window for their business, a place to show and explain what investments they are making and how they help companies to realise inherent or potential value. Then, they needed to make sure that their investors have access to information and know when important milestones are passed. The Inflexion web site helps do both. The public site showcases what the company offers and highlights their track record. A closed and password-protected area on the site gives investors access to the latest information on the funds in which they have invested. Finally, a tracking system provides the company with up to date information on where visitors to the site are going and the documents that investors like to download. If you’re thinking about private equity investment, check out Inflexion on www.inflexion.com. Smart identity too, isn’t it?
If you’ve got a few bob to spare in these credit-crunched times, you might like to check out Eden House. Eden House is amazing. Sadly, we haven’t been there, but the photographs look stunning. Eden House is on St Barthelemy, an island in the West Indies with a solid French tradition – it has a beach bar credited with a Michelin star. It is owned by the MD of a client of ours, for whom we said we would do a favour and build a web site to promote it. I think our designer got slightly carried away, but you can check for yourselves by going to www.edenhouse-stbarth.com
Years ago, there used to be tales of companies paying many millions of pounds for a new identity, only, in some cases, to abandon it shortly after. Now, with pressure on costs all round, revising an identity or creating a new one can be an expensive and difficult to manage option. The problem of course, is that everyone is an expert here. Our view (for what its worth) is that ‘if it feels good, do it,’ but that it shouldn’t cost huge amounts of money. Wild West has successfully implemented new identities for companies as diverse as Secerno (www.secerno.com), Tribold (www.tribold.com) and Inflexion (www.inflexion.com), but I have to add that when, after a long process of creation and evaluation, Stock Spirits decided that a modest refinement of their current mark would work for them, they were probably right too. See for yourself at www.stockspiritsgroup.com. We designed their websites too, by the way.
Pension Corporation has a bold new logo. The penguin theme is carried through their corporate design work.
The logo for high-tech database security company, Secerno. Secerno is a spin-out from Oxford University. Wild West also designed their web site.
We’ve created corporate ties for Charles Taylor and branded a pub for an internet security company (so that they could meet exhibition visitors in comfort!). We’ve packaged remote-control cars to launch a new company in the UK (our most successful piece of direct mail ever), and put a DVD in a briefcase to promote a software company to corporate clients. But probably the most visible of our unusual assignments is to produce the ribbons that adorn the trophy awarded to the winners of the Premier League each year.
The new annual report for the Standard Club, designed and produced by Wild West
Charles Taylor and Co are one of the world’s leading managers of mutual insurance syndicates or clubs – schemes in which those looking for heavy-duty insurance effectively insure themselves. The company manages The Standard Club, one of the most respected of these organisations, and a Wild West client for many years now. The Standard Club’s annual report was published this week. Designed by Wild West, it’s theme was the powerful forces of the sea. www.standard-club.com/knowledgecentre
Part of the Barclays headquarters display
Despite all the pressure on the banking sector over the last year, Barclays is still making its sponsorship of the British Premier League work very hard for them. Barclays see it as a key element in their ambitious international development plans, and this week, Wild West will be installing a new display at the Barclays head office in their prestigious Canary Wharf headquarters building.