Archive for the 'Design' Category

Our new website for Silverfleet Capital goes live

Published on January 10, 2012 in Design, Finance and investment and Web. 0 Comments Tags: buy to build, European investment, private equity, Silverfleet, Silverfleet Capital.

Silverfleet Capital is a leading European private equity firm specialising in mid-market buyouts.

Silverfleet Capital business sectors page

For 25 years, Silverfleet has been backing exceptional management teams in exciting businesses across Europe. The company has an investment team based in London, Paris, Munich and Chicago to help its portfolio companies make bolt-on acquisitions and to achieve strong organic growth.

WildWest has been working with Silverfleet for over a year, helping the company to dramatise its unique approach to investors and potential investee companies. Now, we’ve achieved our biggest landmark yet, a new website (in three European languages) which builds and develops the Silverfleet identity, as well as providing a private, password-protected area specifically for existing investors in the company’s portfolio.

The introduction for investors at the Silverfleet Capital website

WildWest design will be maintaining and updating all three language versions so that European companies can keep up to date with developments at the company. Find out more about Silverfleet Capital (and WildWest web capabilities!) at
www.silverfleetcapital.com

We’ve been thinking about leadership companies

Published on November 16, 2011 in Corporate and Design. 0 Comments Tags: brand builders, design consistency, intelligent marketing, lasting style, Leaders and followers, leadership companies.

For us, leaders and brand-builders are marked out by some key characteristics:-

- leaders always concentrate on market expansion. Their goal is to grow the market (or a market sector) and then secure a larger place within it, while followers, on the other hand, tend to go for strictly ‘knock-off’ tactics. Leaders think too about how to create new market sectors. (Ezra Pound said at the beginning of the last century that we ‘advance by discrimination, by seeing things which we thought of as separate and distinct as harmoniously linked.’)

- leaders have confidence. Confidence leads to an approach – visible everywhere – that emphasises quality and core values. Those who are confident are prepared to use humour too, to make their point. They certainly always have a distinctive style

- their style lasts. They tend not to get bored with an approach which works. Of course, they will amend it over time, but once they have a position which is comfortable, it doesn’t change too often – something which reassures consumers who like to know where they are

- leaders use intelligent approaches to the market. Leaders respect the people who use their products and don’t talk down to them, while followers are often prepared to state the obvious

- leaders want quality and consistency in their approach, and are prepared to make sure they get it. They tend to come down heavily on product managers who want to compromise the whole approach for some short-term sales gain, or something that is dangerously off message

We always like working with leaders and brand-builders. If you’re there already or if you’re working to become one, please do get in touch with us at WildWest.

Ambition. In business, who dares sometimes does win.

Published on September 29, 2011 in Corporate and Design. 0 Comments Tags: design, electronic marketing, Emerging companies, London start up, New companies.

We’ve worked for a number of new and emerging clients over the past few years. Inevitably, they’ve been both feisty and challenging – wanting rather more in terms of design, brand values and presence than they might get at a print shop on the corner, but not wanting to spend money unnecessarily in the process.

Some of them have gone on to greater things (Secerno, for example, a technology spin out from Oxford University were purchased by the ubiquitous Oracle Corporation, and Alcentra have become an international presence in investment markets), while many more continue to try to gain traction and impetus in the fragile economy that some see around us.

The initial goal for most of these companies is to get the basics in place. To have a business card that they can use in their first meetings without feeling embarassed by the quality. To get a website that engenders the spirit that they bring to their particular sector of the market. To have a high quality outbound emailer that they can use to keep in touch with their clients and prospects.

It has to be said too that they are often relieved that a company like ours exists. Because we integrate design and web and electronic development, we can ensure that quality stretches across every part of the marketing equation. Something that for a newer company is vital.

Hatton Grange are typical. A headhunting firm specialising in helping private equity firms to staff their new investments (particularly in the fields of new media and marketing), they have been excited and encouraged by the help that WildWest Design has been able to give them, setting up a simple but immensely stylish website and giving them a logo that is both impressive and simple to integrate on stationery and business cards, as well as on the marketing projects they have in mind for next year.

Source Foods are another example, a local company recreating themselves as a great value seller of an interesting range of food for offices and office workers. Our Source ecommerce site is effectively a new outlet for this pioneering firm as they plot the development of their service, which already includes food for meetings to companies anywhere in West London, delivered free of charge.

In similar circumstances, we have managed to help Resolute Asset Management, Satya Capital and most recently R3Location Ltd., a new company offering a more personal and all-embracing service to companies who need to relocate senior executives and their families to homes in London and the South East.

At WildWest Design, we’re very proud of our track record in helping emerging companies to establish themselves, and we always remember that, when they grow, we grow with them.

When you need to impress, write the book

Published on July 14, 2011 in Corporate, Design, International and Sport. 0 Comments Tags: Captured, High level audience, leading brands, Mahindra Racing, SMI.

Not too long ago, our friends at the sports marketing agency, SMI, came to us for help in producing a promotional brochure for their client Citroën Sport. SMI were marketing a sponsorship proposition for Citroën, one of the leading teams in the World Rally Championship.

Since the sponsorship deal would only be done for a not inconsiderable sum of money, our work had to be prestigious and noticeable – noticeable enough for Europe’s leading brands to start showing an interest. Our solution was dramatic piece of print, an A3 portrait brochure highlighted in Citroën red, and featuring some of the really dramatic photography that was available.

Fast forward a year or so and we find ourselves producing ‘Captured’, a photo-book highlighting award-winning photography of the teams and players in the Barclays Premier League – a coffee-table ‘book of the season’ that you’ll see in many of Barclays’ corporate reception areas.

It was ‘Captured’ that enabled us to find a format for another SMI project, this time promoting Mahindra Racing, who this year are the first team from India to compete in the Moto GP championship. Mahindra wanted to demonstrate to potential sponsors both the substance of Moto GP and the solid credentials of the team that they were bringing to the grid for the first time.

The Mahindra Racing credentials book comes with its own slip case and is part of the door-opening programme being implemented by SMI, in which Mahindra plan to introduce themselves to potential sponsors and partners, in India and across the world. We equipped their team too with a complementary Powerpoint presentation – styled to match the contents of the book – to help explain the nature and extent of the full sponsorship proposition.

The lessons from all of this seem to be that if you want to impress high-level audiences, then you can’t afford to take half measures, and a book may just offer the presence that your proposition deserves.

Company coming to Europe? Two suggestions…

Published on July 5, 2011 in Design, International and Marketing. 0 Comments Tags: coming to Europe, company expanding, INCo sales leads, USA2Europe.

Two important services for companies coming to the UK and Europe

We have two clients who might well be of interest to any company thinking of making its first steps into European markets.

USA2Europe help companies de-risk the move into Europe for the first time. The company puts in place all the accounting, legal and other business services that a company will need for the first year or two years of its establishment. Effectively outsourcing those services means that companies can get on their feet, without highly-paid headquarters staff. And as the company grows, then USA2Europe gradually withdraws, allowing a smooth path to a solid presence in Europe. USA2Europe actually works in the Middle East and the Far East too!

More at www.usa2europe.com

Of course, wherever they are, companies grow through increasing sales, and our clients at INCo are experts in finding and qualifying sales leads – particularly for IT and Consulting firms. INCo implement continuous contact with many different sectors of the market, finding through conversations about companies and their priorities in terms of investment. INCo has worked at all levels of potential purchasing organisations, including with Times Top 250 and Times Top 100. Their service has been proven with purchasing individuals up to and including ‘C’ level executives.

More at www.inco-online.com

And of course, if it is brand-building and marketing that you’re after, then please do contact us at WildWest!

High-level audiences? Treat them with respect

Published on May 20, 2011 in Corporate, Design, Direct and Sport. 0 Comments Tags: book design, Finance Directors, High level audience, power and control, response.

My credit card company sent me a mailer recently. It was so flimsy that I doubted the sales proposition even before I read it, and it wasn’t much of a surprise to find the offer totally valueless. Better to send me nothing than this kind of thing.

On the other hand, WildWest has proven over the years that producing high quality items (with a little imagination mixed in) really does produce good results.

Like? Like the two-part mailing we once developed for a software company. It was aimed at Times Top 250 finance directors – a market we thought was well nigh impossible to reach, let alone get response from. Our mailing had a theme – power and control. The message was that you can’t be powerful unless you are in control (our client’s software promised control over corporate expenditure).

Our pack contained a remote-control car – a bright red Porsche model. We branded and re-packaged it to reflect our message, and we sent it out with one omission. The controller for the car. You didn’t get that unless you sent back the card in the first pack.

There was no catch. No salesman would call (unless requested). No marketing material would be sent.

It wasn’t too much of a surprise to find that we had a 60% response rate within a week. What was more surprising was how many of our target market wanted to meet with our client and to find out more about that software. Our client – previously unknown in this market – suddenly had a hugely valuable sales pipeline.

The same theme is reflected in the work we have been doing with sports marketing agency, SMI.

Sports Media International market sponsorship packages in motorsport, sailing and soccer, and the really high quality marketing packs that we have developed for their clients (at Citroen Sport and Mahindra Racing) are both appropriate and respected. So too, with the brand-building photo-books which we produce for Barclays and their work with the Barclays Premier League.

The message is simple. If you have a high-quality product, you need high-quality materials to back it up. And of course, there’s no one better to meet those demands than WildWest design.

SEO? Forget about the tricks. Try working on your content

Published on April 19, 2011 in Design, Marketing and Web. 0 Comments Tags: improving traffic, SEO, web content.

Whenever we design and build a web site, the question of web traffic comes up.

‘What do you think about SEO? How are we going to get better results in search engines?’

Now, there are some things you should absolutely do to try and improve the likelihood of your site being found, but they aren’t complex and good clean code, clearly labelled, will help.

Beyond that, it seems, there’s widespread belief in something like a Harry Potter solution to the problem. Sadly, on the web as in life, wizardry isn’t the answer. Instead, try hard work and perseverance.

View your website like a magazine, competing for readership, rather than an annual report or a corporate brochure and you’ll be getting on the right track. If people want the content you provide, you’ll get more traffic, more comments on your blog, more engagement with the market, and that’s what you built your web site for, isn’t it?

Three important steps:

- measure traffic all the time. Only when you know what’s happening, can you do something to improve things
- add a blog, and use it to provide advice, help and encouragement, based on your expertise
- keep updating content in the site. Add current testimonials that illustrate how your products or services add value to your clients

Doing these three things continuously will do more than any amount of ‘wizardry’.

Diane Abbott’s Leadership Bid

Published on September 16, 2010 in Advertising and Design. 0 Comments Tags: Advertising, Campaign Leaflet, Diane Abbott, Labour Leader Campaign, Labour Party.

Diane Abbott is a feisty and combative personality, the first black woman to be elected as an MP and who is now trying to secure as many votes as she can in the ballot for the next leader of the Labour Party. We hope that the campaign leaflet and advertising we produced as a part of her campaign will be giving Labour party members a good idea of what they might expect from Diane as leader of the party.

Source Foods

Published on August 19, 2010 in Brand and identity, Corporate, Design and Display. 0 Comments Tags: Chiswick Park, lunch, lunchtime, Richmond, Source foods.

Counter graphics for Source Foods

Source has the gift of getting food into people’s hands quickly, as regular lunchtime customers of its Richmond and Chiswick Park outlets will tell you. And not just the standard sandwich and chocolate bar either. Source provides good food at reasonable prices and its curries, sushi, salads, soup and their famous daily hot lunchbox are always great value and always served fast, when time is at a premium.

Now, Wild West is helping Source to refine its image and improve its signage too. Our first project for the company was to install a new counter graphic at the Source outlet in Richmond, which you can see in the picture.

Source also run in-office catering facilities and, as well as opening new branches in the near future, see this as another attractive opportunity.

We’re looking forward to lots more meetings with our new clients, preferably at lunch-time!

Finance and Investment – Presentation Means Business

Published on July 2, 2010 in Design, Finance and investment and Marketing. 0 Comments Tags: Alcentra, BTG Group, Carrington Group, design wild west, Duke Street, finance, Hatton Grange, Indicus, Inflexion, investment, Resolute Asset Management, Satya, Silverfleet, wild west design.

Just in case you hadn’t noticed, Finance and Investment companies form a large part of our work. We design web sites, outbound emarketing and investor bulletins, reports, advertising, invitations, presentations and lots more besides.

Currently, we’re working for all of the following companies and organisations (together with one or two others that these individual clients would rather we didn’t mention).

We designed the Resolute logo, stationery, web site

Alcentra
BTG Group
Carrington Group
Duke Street
Hatton Grange
Indicus Advisors
Inflexion
Resolute Asset Management
Satya Capital
Silverfleet Capital

It is, as we hope you’ll agree, an impressive list, and if you are looking for a company to help develop your marketing resources, with specific expertise in the finance and investment markets, we hope you will get in touch.

Here, we’re showing some of our website work, but we also cover print, display, advertising and other projects (like investor communications and even complete presentations in Powerpoint).

Web work for Alcentra