Wednesday, 09 November 2011 16:45

We love our client F.Hinds. Which is just as well, because we spend the best part of a year with them producing their Christmas brochure.

In fact, no sooner has the dust (or snow) settled on the previous festive season then we’re up and running with the next: reviewing Christmas sales figures, helping with product selection then, over the coming months, busy designing, paginating, shooting and printing 170,000 copies of the 48 page A4 brochure - all ready to hit the stores by November.

Not forgetting the small matter of 2 million A5 brochures to be inserted into national press.

Plus there’s also point of sale to complement the new brochure’s look for F.Hinds’ 100 plus stores.

This year’s brochure draws on F.Hinds' rich heritage as a family run business with expertise and advice from F.Hinds buyers and store staff to convey their wealth of knowledge and to give a personal feel to buying your Christmas gifts.  For the first time this year, the brochure had a ‘double cover’ to clearly define the two distinct section, jewellery and watches.

Anyone for a Christmas carol and a mince pie?

Tuesday, 26 October 2010 15:26

PayStream is an accountancy firm for contractors that provides umbrella company services, limited company services, general accountancy services and expert IR35 advice.

Back in 2007 PayStream was receiving a high number of referrals a month. At this point in time the customer base was much smaller and the company was able to pay greater time and attention to reminding customers of the scheme and keeping them updated with the process. Three years on that figure had fallen by half.

Our challenge was to raise awareness of the existing ‘refer a friend’ scheme to the Paystream customer base, and in turn increase the number of customer referrals received each month.

At the heart of the campaign was a single, unifying message, Spread The Word, brought to life through a ‘speech bubble’ design, that enabled us to tell the full story in an engaging and easy to digest manner. This message and design language was delivered through direct mail, email, banner advertising and a presence on the PayStream website.

Since launching the new refer a friend campaign at the end of October 2010, PayStream almost doubled the number of referrals received in November and have seen a significant increase to date in December (21.12.10) - traditionally a very quiet month.

PayStream Marketing Manager, Kerry Hull, commented; ‘We are delighted with the success of the campaign so far, with close to a 100% increase in referrals already. Moving into the new year I’m confident we shall be able to maintain this momentum’.

www.paystream.co.uk

Monday, 27 September 2010 00:00

Chilli Technology’s MD Paul Bradley has a simple vision: to make gadgets accessible. Chilli Tech products all have three things in common – they’re design for fun, simple to use, and they won’t break the bank.

From brand story and logo, to packaging and e-commerce website, our role has been to bring the Chilli Technology proposition to life through an appropriate and engaging visual identity.

Saturday, 27 June 2009 00:00

Holdfast Fixings approached mark-making* in June 2009 when they needed help launching their first product. The product was a deceptively simple kit for securely fixing heavy items to dryline walls. But it didn’t even have a name, let alone a brand identity.

mark-making* was tasked to create the brand identity and packaging for the new product. Russ Henderson, art director at mark-making*, says: “It was clear from our research that this product would be a godsend for both the trade and DIY customers. We wanted to create a strong visual identity that would convey exactly what the product did and within a start-up budget.”

mark-making* developed the name Dryline Pro and created two types of packaging: a blister pack for DIY customers and a larger ‘bulk box’ for trade customers. Both forms of packaging have the same memorable blue and black design, reflecting the easy to use, practical nature of the product.

Dryline Pro recently won Best New Product at the Totally DIY Show in Birmingham 2010 and are currently working on new products to expand the range further.