Purple Circle Branding & Graphic Design

Friday illustration

2010-09-03T09:16:00.000-07:00

Keane our Artworker directed me to this lovely website yesterday - it's his old guitar tutor's band: MuHa.

Lovely illustration and so I'm told, some extraordinarily accomplished musicians. Will be having a listen this weekend!

OH MY GOD! WHAT HAPPENED?

2010-07-27T06:25:00.000-07:00

...is the title of a new book by R/GA New York Creative Director team, Leif Abraham and Christian Behrendt. I've only read half so far but I'm pretty sure the next half will be just as useful and interesting.

It's all about the rise of the digital age, how it's crept up on us (and it really, really has!) and what steps we can take to respond.

Pay for a PDF copy with a simple Tweet or buy it from Amazon here

Anywhere, better, best – it’s the secret to all good business.

2010-07-08T09:27:00.000-07:00

I was talking to a very bright client of ours the other day (Kelly Herrick from Abacus Lighting – Thanks Kelly) and she was talking about this piece of wisdom. It’s one we’ve used over and over again since I heard it.

It goes like this.

When the floods came in through the City of New Orleans, you needed to be anywhere to protect yourself and your family. Up a tree, on a roof, literally anywhere to be safe.

But as the water fell away, then your requirements changed. You could move to a better place. This was probably only a bed in a football stadium, but at least you had shelter, comparative warmth and some semblance of safety.

And then some months later, when it was clear you were never going back to your wrecked house and you were relocated to your new home 200ft above sea level, you had reached the best place you could be.

So how does this apply to what we do in design and branding?

Well, we often see businesses, brands and products that are very much in the ‘anywhere’ section – but have at least recognised it. They need our help and they know it, but the have done okay previously without us, it’s just they could do better.

One thing that is very clear in these modern times when everyone has access to design software is that just having the software doesn’t make you a designer, it just makes you a person who can use software – but it doesn’t often mean people produce great stuff. I’m no a designer myself, so I can see how hard it is to do great work every single day.

Our instinct as designers has always been to try and push people for best everytime, where every piece of work is right at the top of its game. From anywhere to best in one big leap of faith.

But Kelly’s new way of thinking has made us reconsider a little. Sometimes pushing too hard can shock a brand, so it’s in danger of losing its existing audience or it’s original reason for being. Just like when you jump into a cold lake on a hot day, you can shock your heart into stopping, a massive change to a brand or product could even kill it – even if we all love the design for what it is.

So in this age of new austerity, sometimes, caution is king. Gentle steps are easier ones to retract than those taken with gigantic daisy roots.

Thankfully we haven’t killed, maimed or slightly injured any brands as yet, but when we do start on a new project, we are looking to bring all of the elements up together, slowly and sensibly, so the only shock you get is how little it can cost to get the bits that need it right first and what a big effect this can have on a well managed brand.

Better, is after all a better place than anywhere. It’s not always the best, but it’s always better than nowhere.

Google gets personal

2010-06-29T01:51:00.000-07:00

As of yesterday, you can now adorn the Google homepage with any image you choose (click the link bottom-left and it'll take you from there).

It's first and foremost a bit of fun.

But it's also a testament to Google's superlative confidence in its identity. It'll let you put its logo atop whatever you choose – whether that's your own company's branding or a picture of your cat.

Of course, the brand has never been afraid to mess about with its logo. But this takes it to another level. A few years ago, branding experts would help clients to establish their 'personality' and then work out the best ways of projecting it to the world.

In today's social media era, brands must both project and reflect - mirroring each individual customer's unique personality right back at them.

I'm not sure if I'm right in saying that this, but digitals comms seem to be bucking the overriding trend of our time. In an economy that's slowing down by the day, brands are continuing to invest in technological innovation - and I can't see this stopping.

Google are, of course, leaders. How and when other brands will follow will be down to their willingness to take a deep breath, hand over a little bit more of their identity to their customers and let them play with it however they choose.

My new best friend, Laura Ashley

2010-06-02T09:20:00.000-07:00

One of the first stages of any branding project is establishing how an organisation can 'live their values': working out what you're all about, what you believe in, what sort of people you want to be and how that should come across to the outside world. No brand gets this 100% right; but we often look to brand leaders such as Virgin, John Lewis and Pret as the bastions of the art.

Add Laura Ashley to that list.

An unlikely one, perhaps - but think about it. Admittedly, they're not one of the young, hip, 'media' mob. Their brand is understated - just like their homewares. But they have always known exactly who they are, what they stand for and what makes them stand out - and they've built their business around those things so consistently that they've never lost the strong position they occupy within their market.

Part of that is, of course, the superior quality of their product. The commitment to beautiful design. Their ability to move with the times, without compromising the style that differentiates them from their competitors. But the real magic happens, as ever, at shop-floor level. Because as every brand manager knows, it's no good investing in strategy, glossy catalogues, fancy websites and integrated ad campaigns if the reality doesn't live up to the image you project. In short, there's no point building a brand if the foundations aren't strong enough to support it.

So what makes me write this blog? Well - needless to say, I'm decorating (again!). I'd been to the rather cold and uninspiring environment of B&Q trawling paint aisles trying to feel excited about the room I'm creating. I felt nothing. Except confused! So many brands, so many colours - nothing to differentiate any of them and no one to help me navigate the myriad of options.

Then I went to Laura Ashley. I shouldn't really. I balk at the prices...but it smells nice in there. It's what I'd imagine the waiting room to Heaven to look like - all pastels, florals, silks and an air of calm throughout. Unable to locate the paint, I asked for assistance. A very helpful girl finds the swatch book for me and before I know it, I'm describing the position of my window, the aspect and furniture layout. "Eeek!", I think, as I fear I may end up being 'sold to' (British constitution). But before long, I was poring over pattern samples, paint swatches and fabrics - and I left with four generous wallpaper samples under my arm and a faint feeling of excitement.

Could it be that I had actually had some helpful assistance, without a modicum of pressure to buy? The assistant really, really knew the product range. She had an intelligent understanding of colour, she listened to what I wanted without involving personal opinion, she wasn't pushy in any way - and she suggested ideas I wouldn't have thought of myself. Yet I didn't feel bad for saying "no, don't like that one" - which for some reason I do in most instances.

It was like a mini interior design service for free. I felt special and listened to. I came away not having been sold to, but wanting to buy. In short, everything that a brand should want their customers to feel about them.

Very classy. Very clever - and to endear me to wallpaper, you have to be. I've just spent the last 2 weeks stripping about 100 square metres of the stuff!

And look - they even sell cats!

Chambord - ripe for the marketing?

2010-05-24T07:14:00.001-07:00

Like the rest of the UK, I spent this weekend basking in the glory of the English sunshine, enjoying more than my usual quota of booze. And that's how I was introduced to this little baby: Chambord. Of course, it's nothing new. The bottle is a design classic and I've seen it gathering dust in people's liqueur cabinets since I was in nappies. But for some reason, I'd always assumed it wasn't something for me. I had no idea what its regal bottle contained (or what it was called) - but if you'd asked me to guess, I would have said it wasn't a lady's drink. Most likely a coffee liqueur or brandy of some sort. I'd also have assumed it was colossally expensive (in a gaudy, nouveau riche kind of way). A slightly retro drink for proper grownups – the retired businessman who always orders a cognac after his meal, or the silk-scarf-wearing lady who smells of Chanel No5 and travels a lot.

Just goes to show how looks can deceive. My friend Julia served me a 'Kir Imperial' this weekend - a simple cocktail of Chambord and sparkling white wine, with two frozen raspberries dancing about in the bubbly goodness. I was instantly hooked and rushed out at lunch to buy some of this tasty goodness for myself - at a more-than-accessible £6.99.

How had I not discovered this relatively uncomplicated and refreshing cocktail before? Looks-wise, it has the appeal of a Cosmopolitan. Classy yet unashamedly girly. Better still, I can make this drink at home (which is where more and more people do their drinking and socialising these days), sans ice, fresh mint, bits of fruit, annoying cocktail shakers and a myriad of other spirits I'll never use again.

If owners Brown-Forman can market this little bottle as effectively to the discerning young woman as they've marketed sister brand Jack Daniels to her boyfriend/husband, they'd be onto a winner in my opinion. Especially since Prosecco, Cava and other reasonably priced sparkling whites have, conveniently, become very popular in recent years too. Mix the two together and you've got the recipe for a great brand refresh and tactical, targeted campaign - not to mention a lovely cocktail! Pimms was the big thing last year; could Chambord be the next old-fashioned drink to come back onto the 21st Century drinker's radar?

This one-woman marketing machine will be watching with interest, Kir Imperial in hand!

The brilliant Breaking Bad

2010-05-14T04:22:00.000-07:00

In a departure from my usual musings, I'm going to do a quick plug for the Vince Gilligan's hit US serial drama, 'Breaking Bad', in advance of its release in the UK.

I've watched the first 2 series' so far and series 3 is currently airing in the US.

The plot is based around Walter - a 50-year-old chemistry teacher who is diagnosed at the outset of the show with incurable lung cancer. He has never smoked. His son is disabled and wife is pregnant; and having never 'made it' in his career, he is hit by the terrible financial burden that will cripple his family after his inevitable death. So, after accompanying his somewhat deplorable brother-in-law (a gung-ho Drugs Squad officer) on a raid for crystal meth one afternoon, the desperate Walt is consumed by an elaborate plan. To 'cook' and sell as much crystal meth as he can before his death. The aim: to preserve his pride, redeem himself for a lifetime's wasted potential and make it possible to provide for his family from beyond the grave. And so it unfolds from there.

This is truly one of the finest examinations of character I've ever seen depicted on TV; and the plot, while simple to follow, is delightfully pacey, twisting and absolutely riveting. Somehow, Breaking Bad manages to be a black comedy, thriller, tearjerker, tragedy and romance all in one - moving effortlessly between gripping tension, violence, decay, human tenderness and gut-wrenching dilemma.

The sensitive subjects dealt with in the plot are also incredibly cleverly handled, perfectly juxtaposing the excitement, adrenaline and euphoria of the drugs world with the bleak and haunting realities that make it such a dark and hopeless place. It's deeply cautionary without being preachy - just as Trainspotting was, to great acclaim, back in 1996.

I love it I love it I love it.

Shake off any preconceptions you may have about these kind of American serial drama and buy the first two series' on DVD here and here.

The Advertising Age of Innocence...or was it?

2010-05-12T07:49:00.000-07:00

As part of some work we're doing for Trent Bridge, I was flicking through a copy of the 1947 Notts County Cricket Club handbook and squealing with delight at its charming adverts. Here are a couple in all their glory.

In his 1936 novel Keep the Aspidistra Flying, George Orwell famously described the general public as "swine" and advertising as "the rattling of a stick within a swill-bucket". That rather bleak image – Joe Public as a bustling pen of easily-led, greed-driven consumers, and advertisers the power-wielding masters of their every movement – isn't exactly surprising. This is Orwell, after all. Accurate or not though, it seems bizarre, doesn't it, that he made this observation in an age when advertising – just like that above – was relatively crude and simplistic, not to mention less prolific. Yes, the above examples are local ads in a small-run Nottinghamshire publication, but even the burgeoning US ad industry hadn't exactly reached mind-warping proportions at this point in history.

What would Orwell make of the situation today? Of the infiltration of virtually every modern media by the advertising machine? Of text messaging ads? Twitter, Facebook and MySpace? Of urinal ads, floor decals or 'clean graffiti'? Of the advertising-and mass-sales drive that is the modern music industry?

Ironically enough, I wonder if he'd bat an eyelid. Because isn't there something altogether less 'sinister' about the advertising industry of today? Consumerism isn't something being actively imposed upon us, because it's already ingrained in our society. We're born cynical and resistant to the messages we receive from the media, despite the fact that our culture ultimately makes us powerless to resist.

We've long been told that advertisers face a constant uphill struggle against the 'noise' of other brands. But maybe there's something we can learn from the stunningly simple (yet, according to Orwell, very powerful) approach of the 1930s and 40s. Maybe, rather than trying to make our branding and advertising louder and louder, more and more complex, we should compete instead by making it quieter. Simpler. Perhaps advertising is and was, indeed, most effective before we started trying so damned hard. Or rather, trying too hard – making noise for the sake of it.

Clean, bold and thoughtful design, tactical placement, relevance and consistency are still at the heart of masterful brands; and it's those brands that are still capable of rattling sticks in today's media-dominated world.

Is Google being serious?

2010-05-06T02:13:00.000-07:00

I did a search last night on Google and entered the word 'Is' as the first part of the question. These are the sentences that came up as suggestions. I'm not sure if they are a joke or the most popular searches in the UK today, but either way Google or the UK are very strange places.

Is Barry Chuckle dead - I didn't search to find out?

Rhub-art

2010-04-22T09:01:00.000-07:00

The remit of a project manager is diverse and extensive. Lovingly polishing rhubarb for a shoot with McArtney's catering, however, was definitely missed off Vickie's job description.

Thankfully, we spared you the footage of John polishing leeks (think about it)

And VOILA - the lovely result:

Thank you, that is all (for once).

Branding the general election

2010-04-15T03:03:00.000-07:00

The importance of branding politics

You can’t go anywhere it seems at the moment without seeing billboards, leaflets, tweets, news items and even posters on your neighbours’ windows for the various political parties. As we look at things a little differently here at Purple Circle, it struck me at how important branding is in politics – now more than ever. The parties are all vying for your attention, assuring you that they’re your best option and selling you their wares.

The ‘Common man’ that all parties seem to be targeting may not be initially aware of the branding work that goes on behind the scene in politics – but believe me it’s everywhere. From the above the line advertising hoardings to the manifestos, campaign trail and the impending TV debates, all will have their roots in carefully constructed guidelines.

Values of both the party and the prime candidates have been carefully set; Cameron is a man of the people – his branding is desparately trying to move away from the Etonian superclass. Just look at the carefully crafted pictures of him riding his bike, the family photographs and even meeting people on the campaign trail with his jacket off and shirt sleeves rolled up. Labour has a press manager dedicated to controlling the release of images of current PM Gordon Brown so every wrinkle, gurn and hair flop is controlled. They see this as an important vote-winning factor, as appearances are everything in the ever-increasing popularity contest. Lest we forget that we’re not voting for an individual but a party!

And the upcoming TV election debates where the top three parties have signed up to the 80 rules and restrictions – trust me, the words, phrases and tone will have been carefully planned, rehearsed and to an extent scripted. They’ll go back to their mission statement and party values regularly. Key messages from the entire election campaign will be repeated, rehashed and reiterated, all to ensure the candidates stay ‘on brand’.

Even the treatment of their manifestos supports their brand and echos how the big 3 have approached their campaigns. Lib Dems have a more hi-tech approach with lots of exposure on social media sites – this is because they’re positioning themselves as a modern political party to a younger voter (or those that think of themselves as a bit younger – grandads in jeans and trainers?) Their plain English manifesto is available as an online page-turn book, videos, audio, easy read, bite size chunks and they even have Blackberry and iPhone apps dedicated to the manifesto. The Tories are going for a more traditional approach with a hard back book, an online presence but with technological terminology for the masses; ‘megs’ rather than MB, ‘download here’ instead of embedded hyperlinks. Function over form, or vise versa? They have introduced ‘Webcameron’ though, which reminds me of when my aunt tries to be ‘cool’. Labour seem to be playing it safe with a mix of both camps, with a paper book but with bright, aspirational graphics on the cover and throughout, a web microsite with easy navigation, videos and options to link up with Facebook and Twitter.

And don’t get me started on the billboards and in-your-face advertising that seem to be everywhere – negative politics has never endeared me. Personally I want leaders that are adult and leave the playground games to their kids. It reminds me of the age old saying my grandmother used ‘just because others are doing it, doesn’t mean it’s right.’

So, it’ll be an interesting few weeks from a branding point of view. But is it style over substance? There needs to be a fine balance between recognition and over exposure. In a world where news and media has become instant and short-lived, because of the impact of technology, we get distracted with the next big breaking news item, celebrity scandal or new must have - will anyone really care about the campaigns in a few weeks time? Will we all get fed up with the ‘he said, they said’ campaigns, or will they recapture our attentions with new approaches suitable to the social setting, application and of course their brands?

Branding buffoonery: all part of the capitalist ecosystem?

2010-03-25T02:43:00.000-07:00

The consumer/armchair advertising-pundit part of me absolutely loves them. The branding and advertising part wonders how they ever made it as far as post-production. I'm talking about BAD ads - you know, the ones that are so bad they're good? The ones that make you want to scream with frustration, laugh until your lungs collapse and write a strongly-worded letter all at the same time.

The most recent example is the latest tv ad in the 'Just for Men' saga: a delightfully diabolical, orange-hued, badly dubbed ad from America (mind you, is there such a thing as good dubbing?), in which an impossibly enthusiastic and wholesome young teen bolsters the self-esteem of her heart-wrenchingly insecure, 'unemployable' father with, yes you guessed it - a bottle of Just for Men. And guess what guys - he gets the job! A happy ending!

The implication as I see it is that poor old dad has been left hopeless and alone by his cheating harlot of a wife (who he naively, dearly loved - obviously), gone grey with mourning and lost all his self-esteem. Or am I reading too much into this? The last ad certainly seemed to suggest that - remember the one with those hideous little girls plotting to get daddy back on the dating scene? Yuk.

Then there's the Glade ads, voiced by a woman who sounds like she's on the edge of a nervous breakdown. Either because she's over-egged the 'domestic goddess' facade to the point of exhaustion or sniffed to much air-freshener. One way or another, the 'concepts' used to promote each new weird and wonderful incarnation of fake room-smell seem totally, totally absurd. When we're surrounded by brilliant banding and advertising - and I've seen it done on large and miniscule budgets, so that's no excuse - WHY are these ads still being made?

I can only surmise that it's for one of 3 reasons:

It's a warped method of standing out from the competition.
Moronic in-house marketing people. Truly, truly moronic.
Cheap, backwards ad agencies

I resisted adding a 4th to the above – consumers. I know there are some easily-led people in the world; but I refuse to believe there are enough to further the existence of products marketed as badly as this. Surely "it's from Glade you know!" doesn't endear anyone...no matter how much they love a pine-fresh, suedette-clad front room.

I guess it just comes back to the same old mantra - there's no such thing as bad publicity. Maybe advertising with horrendous dubbing, disingenuous characters, shoddy production values and sickeningly trite concepts actually sells products. After all, the very same can be said of some of our most popular televisions shows - the soaps being just one example.

And without the bad ads, maybe the good ones wouldn't look so good. Maybe bad advertising is actually a kind of economic Darwinism - separating the floundering brands from the strong, and weeding out the weak.

In the case of Just for Men, we can only hope that's true.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

2010-03-18T05:13:00.000-07:00

It's a commonly held principle in the advertising world that if your slogan or pay-off makes it into the wider cultural consciousness, you've succeeded. You realise it's happened when you hear boisterous youths bellowing "boom chika wah wah" at some unsuspecting girl across the street. When you heard Blur declare in Parklife that "it's nothing to do with yer Vorsprung durch Technik y'know". And when you, like the sadact you are, find a penny on the floor, pick it up to the disgust of all your friends and then retort "every little helps!"

Bearing that in mind, I wonder how the Lynx/Axe team at BBH are feeling upon the recent release of Specsaver's 'Specs effect' ad. It's a parody of a parody - and I love the conceit: it's just delicious! I can't remember seeing anything quite like it before and I'm pretty sure it'll clean up at awards ceremonies for the rest of 2010. Enjoy!

Lords

2010-03-10T01:52:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Vickie and myself went on a reccy to Lords - the home of cricket, with our lovely clients Trent Bridge. After a meeting looking out over the ground and a quick snoop around the pavilion we had a peruse of the seating, signage and a nosy in the shop. All vital research you understand.

We even saw the rather marvellous telescopic flood lights which are designed and produced by one of our other clients - Abacus.

Long live wine merchants

2010-02-23T07:20:00.000-08:00

Just a quick one today after the essay that was my last blog.

I just had a really good experience at Oddbins in Nottingham and I wanted to have a little gush about it. In the wake of Wine Rack and Threshers' demise, you'd think it was the end for small wine specialists. I really do hope not.

I'm as guilty as the next person of resorting to the supermarket for produce I'd be best off buying at 'specialist' shops. Up to now, I've enjoyed shopping around the various postal wine companies: indeed, I blogged about one (Naked Wines) not so long ago. Laithwaites have also been a firm favourite over the years; but right now, I'm not in the market for 12-bottle cases.

So hands-up - I've been testing out the supermarkets recently, trying to harness my limited wine knowledge to pick out some decent Sauvignons...but to no great avail. Nothing is exciting me any more! Even spending £8 or £10 on a bottle doesn't give me the experience I'm after – it's just unfulfilling from start to finish.

So today, I walked across town to visit Oddbins. The Nottingham branch tends to be the place we go when we want something really special - and a bit of guidance to go with it. The staff there are without exception friendly and welcoming without being pushy, and they know what they're talking about. Either that or they're very convincing actors, deserving equal commendation. Even I, the most hard-hearted resister of sales patter, was easily persuaded to sign up to their wine tasting mailing-list; and I plan to go back tomorrow for the gorgeous Sauvignon recommended by the clerk.

I love the way their store layout teases and entices you to move around the shop. I love the dark wood and high-stacked shelves. I think their signage is clever too - it's kept deliberately rough around the edges - handwritten on branded labels to avoid that mass-marketed, mass-produced feel. I also noticed that when the clerk was doing his 'recommendations' bit, he said "I've got a lovely Sauvignon on offer right now", rather than "we've".

I wouldn't be surprised if this is pretty high up in the Oddbins staff training manual. Very subtle, but very effective. It's like this guy owns the place - and I think he feels that way too. He certainly takes pride in and enjoys his job: he must do, as he's been there as long as I can remember. Longstanding staff members are great brand ambassadors without even trying - their experience and enjoyment rubs off on everyone - especially customers.

Whenever I visit, it's as though this place only has a couple of cases of each wine, and tomorrow it'll be something else. Maybe that's true - I don't know. Either way, I certainly feel more special walking away with my paper-wrapped wine bottle with a smile and a "cheerio" than I do after a flustered dash around Tesco.

If the placebo effect can exist with wine, that'll certainly get me off to a good start. Wine is something special to be savoured, making you feel all warm and fuzzy inside – the process of buying it should be no different.

I'll drink to that!

Healthy business model, healthy brand

2010-02-12T03:10:00.000-08:00

First thing's first, I suggest you make a cup of tea, because this is gonna be a long one (forgive me: it's Friday).

Once upon a time, I was three-stone overweight, miserable and lethargic with a serious attitude problem regarding exercise. "Gyms are for sad people with no life", I thought. "Boring. You have to be a perfect gym bunny or a meathead. AND you have to pay £40 a month. No, no, no - why would anyone PAY to exercise?! I'm cleverer than that. I'm going to lose this weight by running. Yes. I'll run and I'll do fitness DVDs at home. Then it's pretty much free."

So that's what I did. And for a while, it worked. Until I'd watched the same DVD around 70 times, and run the same route to the same music repeatedly - often in the dark, in the rain or both. At which point I slowly began to lose interest, gaining back 2 stone in the process.

F*ck.

Six years ago, when I got my first proper job as a Copywriter, my agency was happily situated right across the road from a branch of 'Living Well' (now Bannatynes), and seeing the opportunity to squeeze a workout into every lunch hour (thus avoiding the after-work slog), I decided to cast of my cynicism and join. After all, the 'go-it-alone' option had proved to be a false economy.

Like many gyms, Living Well ran some of the Les Mills BTS (Body Training Systems) programmes - BodyPump, BodyStep, BodyAttack and BodyCombat. I had no idea at first that these were 'branded' (and trademarked) workouts. The choreography and music are sold to freelance fitness instructors, who are then able to teach at licensed clubs. There's a brand new routine (or 'release' as it's called) every three months and an official 'launch', where clubs create a party atmosphere to help promote the classes. These releases are taught all over the world, all using the same format, music and moves. Read more in this article from The Times, or a slightly more sniggering, cynical appraisal in the Independent (littered with errors, prejudice and fallacy, I might add).

The first class I chose was BodyCombat. It appealed to me, as I'd done a combat-style workout in the past, and I enjoyed the punching and kicking moves - a real stress reliever. But nothing could have prepared me for the experience that awaited me. I left that class the most energised and inspired I'd ever felt. In the space of an hour (which was over before I knew it), my whole outlook on exercise changed. This was fun! The loud music, powerful moves and carefully timed bouts of high-intensity work make you feel strong, powerful, confident - invincible, even!

My fitness rocketed within the week. I tried all the different Les Mills classes, raving about them to all my friends and in many cases, dragging them along with me. Even my most group-exercise-averse mate came out of the studio buzzing.

Six years later, I'm as addicted as ever. I've moved between four different gyms and who-knows-how-many instructors in that time, and watched the 'cult' of Les Mills grow and grow over that time. I've made several fabulous friends too - all of them equally dedicated.

So...finally. What has all this got to do with branding?

Well, it's quite simple really. Les Mills didn't build their business model and then try to attach an identity system to it. Instead, they embedded their values (presumably things like strength, healthiness and happiness) into that business model, so the brand almost builds itself. Add to that a product that's consistent, dependable and focused on quality and you have yourselves a Superbrand in the making.

Let me give an example: I've seen fledglings go through training and it's tough. They have to get virtually every hand movement right, every cue, every command spot on in order to 'pass' as an instructor. Why? Because as Les Mills know, if an instructor is weak and insipid, the participants will lose interest and stop attending.

Not only that, but this company understands the psychology of group-exercisers - their needs, likes, dislikes and motivations - and they build their business diligently around those things. That's called customer-focus. No wonder they inspire such loyalty, passion and praise in their 'congregation'. They're launching in schools soon too - something I think will bring PE bang up-to-date and make it relevant to the modern teenager. About time too.

It's such a shame that articles like the one in The Independent slander BTS programmes so brutally. They equate to anything but a predictable 'ready meal' or a mass-produced McDonalds. Why Ms Jarvis chose to compare fitness to junk food I can only put down to lazy journalism. It's certainly a bit irresponsible to express needless cynicism to something which is improving the health and fitness of so many million people - especially when we're in the midst of a growing obesity epidemic.

I'm fascinated to see how the Les Mills brand develops over the coming years. One thing's for sure - I'll definitely be around to find out.

Currying favour with your customer.

2010-02-09T09:26:00.001-08:00

Now, we live in a very teeny town – so teeny you could barely call it a town. Nevertheless, someone seemed to think that there would be demand for a second Indian takeaway on our high street. A brave decision, considering Kimberley already has an established Indian restaurant/takeaway – Simla: a place with fantastic word-of-mouth and hoards of happy regulars, many of whom take advantage of their Monday night curry buffet on a weekly basis and know the staff by name. Some ex-Kimberley dwellers still come from miles around to eat there.

So what does a brilliant business do when a new competitor lands on their doorstep? Well, as in Simla's case, add value. No irritating menu-leafleting, no discounting, no tacky banners. Instead, as I discovered on yesterday's Monday blues takeaway night, the savvy management have quietly invested in a restaurant refit, and now include complimentary chutneys and poppadoms with their curry orders, as well as a lovely fresh salad complete with sliced kiwi and strawberry. The food is excellent as ever, and the staff warm, friendly, smart and polite. It's that little touch of class which makes this place special – tucked away as it is just off the high street of a traditional North Nottinghamshire mining town.

Last night we debated trying the new competitor...but we just couldn't take the risk. And we weren't disappointed.

I suppose in a nutshell, it's big-brand thinking scaled down. This place differentiates itself. It knows that the key to its survival is continuing personal recommendation within the town – which, unusually these days, has its own sense of community and neighbours who actually talk to each other. It knows its market. It adds value. It makes customers feel special: rewards loyalty. Refreshes the shop floor to keep standards high. Consistently delivers quality, and even surprises customers from time to time with little extras.

That's what builds successful businesses – no matter what you do or where.

Better stop before I talk myself into another curry tonight. Although I'm sure my favourite takeaway will be more than happy to oblige me....

Argos's toothy new grin

2010-01-22T03:51:00.000-08:00

Argos have just launched their new catalogue and alongside that have a fresh new look to their logo. After 10 years of using their previous logo, the brand refresh has been billed to be a more modern look 'reflecting the extent of change in the retailer while reinforcing its established appeal.'

With a simplified font and more compact look, the “smile” design has been enhanced, which will certainly help the logo to be applied to a range of different media - shop fronts, POS and the all important web and digital domain.

As a company and a brand, Argos doesn't pretend to be anything it's not - it's a simple commercial model; large stock levels, wide range and quick service without unnecessary pushy sales and customer service. Although I don't use them a lot, I think they're very effective as a concept and are still plugging the gap for those customers that want to browse on the web, or in print, but still be able to pick things up from real people. But for how long? They may well need to reinvent or diverge as retail becomes more competitive with online retailers undercutting high-street shops, and the younger generations completing more and more business online, but this logo and new look website seems to be a step in the right direction.

The proof that proofreading pays

2010-01-21T02:58:00.000-08:00

Ok, that's it. I've been blogging on branding, advertising and communication for a year and a half...and so far I've suppressed the rage. But now I really need to let rip.

BAD GRAMMAR DAMAGES BRANDS!

And it's everywhere. And yes, before you say anything, I know that technically it's very, very naughty to begin sentences with 'and'. Or 'but'. But this isn't what I'm talking about. I'm no grammar Nazi. I can happily embrace neologisms, quirks of expression and writing which goes against the grain for stylistic reasons. After all, I like starting sentences with 'because'. Because sometimes, it just works.

My problem is that the purest grammatical markers – mainly the humble apostrophe – are being thrown about like snakes on a plane in bad turbulence. The result: that inevitable sense of disappointment which comes with having your illusions shattered. The realisation that the people behind your favourite brands aren't as sharp, intelligent and quick-witted as they'd made out, and you'd idealistically believed. The cheats!

One smack on the wrist goes to Virgin for sending me (on three separate occasions, no less) an email entitled "transfer balances to us and you could be quid's in".

Oh Virgin – how I loved thee. Why – why? Let's not end it now! Not like this!

And then today – Waitrose. "Eat healthier this winter". No, Waitrose – nooooo! I thought you were the good guy? The Radio 4 of supermarkets. The middle-aged, spectacled, tweed-wearing headmaster whose infinite knowledge is only exceeded by his gentle heart.

Surely, Waitrose, you'd rather I "ate more healthily this winter"? Surely?

Thankfully, one brand has never let me down on this score. May the God of Grammar shower you with blessings, dearest Boden. Even your invoice sheets are immaculate. Yes, I did check. Sad, but true.

The downfall in grammatical standards is much bemoaned, but quite apart from the fact that this is destroying the flow and legibility of the written word (that's another blog), it's damaging brands. Particularly premium brands whose very identity is based on their intelligence, middle-class values and commitment to quality – in both their people and their product. How can we buy into that identity when they ask us to "rate 'there' performance" or look at their "idea's for Xmas gifts"?

So, how to solve the problem? Don't ask me. I've encountered plenty of English graduates who don't know their arse from their elbow when it comes to grammar. Then they get jobs in marketing.

Creativity in writing doesn't make up for bad grammar. Your copywriter may be a genius with words, but if they don't have the glue to stick them together, they could be destroying as they create. Never underestimate the value of putting written work past an experienced proofreader. They may send your scripts back bleeding, but their red pen could just be the ticket to your yellow pencil.

iPhone, uPhone, we all design-a-Phone

2010-01-12T06:44:00.000-08:00

The iPhone seems to be riding the wave of mass technology success, so it's no surprise that there are plenty of people wanting to share the limelight. There are lots of assimilated products out there - we all know that big money doesn't seem to be in oil these days, the next generation are making their millions by developing apps.

It's now time for some clever creatives to get involved. As Apple products have always had connections to the creative world, (with a hint of geek chic) it's a natural progression to allow creativity to be shown on the outside - the case of your iPhone.

imakemycase allows you to take some key elements from illustrators and artist to create your own personalised design. Each design you create is bespoke and printed especially for you, how exciting is that!

I also like the wizardry behind the website, have a play with your mouse around the background and see how the magic appears.

Please keep the creativity and technology coming (for all us geeks!)

Why you should never self-vet your ideas.

2010-01-04T01:45:00.000-08:00

Every creative team works differently in the conceptualisation stage of an ad campaign. Team brainstorming, individual head-scratching in front of an unyielding computer or an abyss of blank A3, or a drawn-out 'working lunch' in an 'inspirational' setting. Otherwise known as the pub.

However or wherever it happens though, there's generally a natural process of elimination whereby around 60% of one's brain fodder is laughed congenially off into the den of impossibly tenuous links...but maybe it's time we stopped discounting the 'silly' stuff that clients 'would never go for' and take a leaf out of VCCP's book - the agency behind Comparethemarket.com's 'Compare the Meerkat' campaign.

Can you imagine yourself actually daring to commit this idea to paper - let alone to your Creative Director; and beyond that, the client? "Ahem, yeah, so basically, the idea is that 'market' sounds a bit like 'meerkat' and everyone loves meerkats. So we thought a talking Russian meerkat? 'cause Russian accents are funny too aren't they?! Whaddya think?"

As the tag puts it on the ad's most-viewed Youtube video, "Random, to say the least."

But lo and behold, the idea survived every stage of that famously stifling marketing (merrkating?) ladder and made it right through to production. Amazing. Worth the risk too, clearly, as the company have just launched a big budget 60-second 'motion picture' on the back of its success.

Then again, what did Compare the Market have before? A highly outdated, uninspiring, almost embarrassing jingle-voiceover-repetition combo. Not exactly mindblowing stuff to live up to. Remove the pressure that a respected, established brand presents and you have the space and freedom to come up with something really original. Brilliant, even. Not because of its deep witticism, wry cleverness or outstanding production - but because of its unashamed silliness. Silliness that has captured the imagination of 600,000 Facebookers and 31,000 Twitterers, resulting in an 100% increase in website visits.

So I suppose the lesson in it for us copywriters is:

'Thou shalt not cringe and cower thy head in shame when plain bad, pun-tastic, rhymetastic or simply soundalike-tastic nonsense leaks accidentally from thine brain into a room full of people.'

Simples!

A youngish girls dream

2009-12-22T09:02:00.000-08:00

In 2008 I had a dream. A dream of glowing Christmas tree decorations to send to our clients. Almost two years later the dream is achieved with lots of quoting, tweaking, requoting and not to mention stickering, ribboning and stamping all 4,200 of them.

Thank you to everyone at Purple Circle HQ who have made all my dreams come true. I am now handing over the Purple Circle Christmas Creativity Baton to Shaun; nothing can top this dream for me!

The noughties' naughtiest viral marketing campaign?

2009-12-22T06:29:00.001-08:00

Oh the rage - the rage! Have a look on the 'discussions' tab on the "Rage for Number 1" site on Facebook and you'll see that this year's race for number one has roused more debate and in many cases, abject bile, between passionate music-lovers than you can shake a stick at.

My suspicions were first aroused when one of my schoolfriends - a lovely, polite, music-lover and born-again Christian - sent me the link and updated her status several times begging for people to buy Killing in the Name. Unusual, I thought. But fair enough. After all, I've liked this song since I was a defiant, acne-ridden teen...and that's a pretty long time.

But something's afoot here, I'm thinking. Then, I turn on Radio 4 and what are they talking about? Rage Against the Machine. Cripes! I thought, "are they going to play any?" They didn't. But that's not the point, is it?

Most privately set-up Facebook groups manage to gain a little momentum and then, unable to network themselves any further, fizzle into stagnancy. Others attract some media interest and become bigger and even somewhat cultish (e.g. 'Radio 4 is not just for the middle aged'), largely thanks to some PR investment and the subsequent media ramblings.

So are we really to believe this campaign was the result of one chappy proposing a bit of a 'joke' against Mr Cowell and his mates at Sony? Arguments thus far seem to have centred around the glorious irony of the 'sheeple' buying one record over another, thus negating the sentiment of its lyrics. Many have pointed out both acts are signed to branches of Sony too - so smugly declaring that whichever wins, Mr Cowell wins too.

But surely this is more than this? We may never find out one way or the other, but if I had to place money on it, I'd say this is an inside job by Sony's Viral Marketing Agency - who, I'm reliably informed, are called Zipatoni and are renowned for creating some of the wildest, wackiest and naughtiest stunts in the viral world.

I'd question if they even had Sony's permission. After all, this would have been a marketing move so political, it would have taken months if not years to pass through. And let's face it, it probably would have been blocked. I think they did this off their own back. And if they lost Sony as a client in the process, so what? They become hailed as the people who orchestrated an almighty finale to this decade - one that has seen the media landscape transformed beyond recognition by viral marketing and social media. Put the two together and KERPOW! And in come the clients.

So people, if you thought social media was just a flash in the pan.; marketing jibber-jabber; faddish nonsense - think again.

Take a look at John Lyle's blog for more interesting conjecture...and some pretty compelling evidence that there's more to this story than meets the eye...

Glow-ho-ho!

2009-12-18T02:01:00.000-08:00

Forget Kirsty Allsopp and Nigella. The elves at Purple Circle have been beavering away again this year designing and making glorious decorations that'll bring a warm glow to our clients' hearts – and their Christmas trees; for yes folks, these are printed with glow-in-the-dark ink, so when the fairy lights go out, a phosphorescent glow remains.

May your Christmas be as merry and bright as our festive tokens – all 4,800 lovingly hand-threaded by us, using over a mile's length of ribbon and adorned with 1,200 greetings stickers.

Phew! Time for a sherry...

A totally switched-on brand

2009-11-30T02:29:00.000-08:00

So, this weekend my hoover broke. Or should I say 'vacuum cleaner' (it wasn't a Hoover, but how interesting that the brand was once so dominant in the British marketplace that it's embedded in our vernacular).

Not wanting to face a Christmas picking pine needles out of my carpets by hand, I decided take the bull by the horns and buy a new one before I realised I really can't afford to and changed my mind. So, as any savvy shopper would, my first recourse was to the internet. Where I was faced with the inevitable dilemma - do I do the sensible thing and buy a Dyson with a 5-year guarantee and a proven history of reliability...or do I spend half the money on a 'cheap and alright' model.

To be honest, I couldn't really afford a Dyson. But in the end, I just couldn't trust any other brand so implicitly. Indeed, the very process of using price comparison sites for alternatives threw up such vast differences in price between different retailers, I ended up feeling that I couldn't really trust that when I invested more than £100, I was really going to be get something that was actually worth that money. The price variations for Dyson, however, were quite small; because, of course, they are priced at a certain level for a reason: because quality and efficacy can't be discounted to the hilt. It's just not possible. Dyson are clear about that too. Indeed, it's an important part of their marketing proposition.

And that, for me, was what closed the deal.

Not forgetting, of course, what is and always has been a very consistent, compelling and solid branding and advertising strategy. One that focuses on one enduring principle - the marriage of form and function. Their POS, their packaging - even the beautifully designed little booklet on 'The story of Dyson' which came inside it - can't be faulted. Confident, premium, stylish. They're the Vorsprung durch Technik of the vacuum cleaner world: so although I'll probably never be able to afford an Audi, hell, at least now I can drive my Dyson.

Vroom vroom!

Once upon a time, his mac was his baby...

2009-11-27T08:06:00.000-08:00

...Until Max came along!

Yes, our Creative Director Simon and his wife Gemma have just welcomed to the world this wonderful little bundle of joy – Max James Harrison!

Two very proud and remarkably relaxed first-time parents dropped into the agency this week to show him off. Despite the very artistic photography here, we can confirm he's even more of a picture in real life!

We shoot, we score! Again!

2009-11-26T07:09:00.000-08:00

OK, we admit it. We're starting to feel just a soupcon of smugness about this little baby now. The 2008 NCHA Annual Report has already scooped a Fresh Award, Communications in Business Award and a place in 2008's Creative Review Annual. And now, to add to the list, it's just taken Gold in this year's Cream Awards. Yummy.

Take a look inside and read a little bit more about it here.

We're also chuffed to bits to have won our first (again, we hope, of many!) award, again at Cream, for The Hoods branding – Bronze in the Corporate Identity category. Next up, perhaps it'll be a tattoo-art award for BodyCraft, Nottingham – which is where client Lee had the logo permanently emblazoned on his forearm. Check that out again here (about halfway down the page).

Next up...the Design Week Benchmark Awards. Wish us luck!

We're looking for a web developer for the Nottingham studio

2009-11-13T06:07:00.001-08:00

We're adding to our team with the addition of a web developer for the Nottingham studio.

The job will be for a January start and we really want to find someone brilliant to work alongside the design team in building our online presence and developing our social media offering.

To find out more about Purple Circle, click here.

And download the web developer role definition here

Yes, the world IS listening when you blog...

2009-11-10T03:55:00.000-08:00

And here's the proof, courtesy of Naked Wines' Twitter feed. Got my wine today, as promised. In a box with 'cheers' on the top, and a drive back to their website, I might add. Very nice.

I'll spare you the essay today, for there is wine to be dr...

It's not the thought that counts. It's the words.

2009-11-09T03:28:00.000-08:00

Amazon.co.uk know me too well. My last purchase was accompanied by a £40 voucher enticing me to buy wine from online retailer Naked Wines, and sure as hell, I was on the site before you can say "Sauvignon blanc".

After a bit of perusal, I left - unconvinced that I should buy before reaching the end of the month with spare cash. After that, I forgot all about it. Until this email.

Hi Jane,

Would you like us to sort your wine out for you?

We noticed that you popped some wine in your basket, tried to check out and never quite made it. Oh dear!

Whatever the reason...

Do you need some wine?

If so, just click here to reply to this email with a phone number that suits you and we will make sure you go thirsty no longer!

If you don't mind, it would also help us to know what the problem was:

Did you have any "technical issues"? If so, please tell us because there's nothing we love more than winding up our techies!
Did you get distracted? If so, we'll call you back at a convenient time and promise you will have our full attention!
Or is this internet lark just all a bit out there for you? If so, don't worry! We'll sort everything over the phone.

If you just couldn't decide what to go for, the Naked Angel Case is a great place to start!

Just £74.99 these are a selection of our best wines with a retail value of over £100. Click here to check out this case.

If there is anything you want to ask me, you can write on my Wall at www.nakedwines.com/rowan

Best wishes,

Rowan, Founder

Now, I get so many pushy 'sales' emails from companies various, it's rare that I even open one - let alone read it. But I just LOVED this approach. I love the simplicity and directness of the headline. The way it doesn't try too hard - holds something back for the bodycopy. I think it's incredibly clever. The way it uses humour, colloquialisms and a friendly tonality without being nauseating, desperate or fake. I like the sense you get from the email about the company's values - the comment 'we love winding up our techies' and 'write on my wall' all suggest this is a laid-back, sociable place where corporate dryness is rejected in favour of having some fun.

And when you're selling wine, that's kind of important, isn't it? Great wine is no longer the domain of the terribly civilised upper-middle-class dinner party. And even if it were, that market, too, is changing with the times. Wine is hip, accessible and interesting. But it's still something special and relatively pricey which we buy a bottle or two at a time, and only when we can afford it. This is the hurdle these online wine retailers have to jump.

Without cheapening the product itself, this kind of marketing cleverly trivialises the act of buying wine, in bulk, and online. After all, I 'just popped some wine in my basket' and 'didn't quite make it' to the payment stage. Naked Wines have almost convinced me that I didn't, in fact, think better of it - but that I somehow lost my way. Of course, I can see through it - but that doesn't matter. It did make me visit the site again. At which point I reconsidered and bought. After all, Rowan's such a nice chap. Helpful. And I did like the look of his website. Plus heck, I've got a voucher...

...And THAT, children, is what successful integrated marketing is all about.

Values and points values

2009-10-28T07:37:00.000-07:00

A wee while back, I had a year's stint as a Corporate Writer at Slimming World. One of my most powerful impressions of the company while I worked there was the way in which virtually all its staff (the majority women) were totally head-over-heels in love with the company. Tears of joy were shed at whole-company meetings (including by the MD) and sometimes even during training sessions. And there was more than one staff member who had been with the company for 35 years or more. When we talk about 'genuine passion' for your work, these people had it. It wasn't marketing fluff. I mean, they really had it - in spades.

Having come from a very laid-back agency, working on a very masculine brand (Audi) alongside quite a few sarcastic blokes, this was a complete culture shock. I couldn't work it out. Did this company have some kind of mind-control system in place? Or were sentimentality and emotional attachment simply a natural tendency amongst a largely female workforce? Either way, I couldn't understand what made these people care SO utterly passionately about what they did for a living and why – without a London presence, TV advertising and international renown – Slimming World was overtaking its world-renowned rival, Weight Watchers.

Yesterday I think I clicked.

In the name of an excessively fun summer (10lbs worth!) and genuine curiosity, I went to a Weight Watchers meeting (traitor!). I chose it over Slimming World because I wanted a change, and because it's a 25 minute walk from my house. Bonus calorie-burning! Having spent the last year immersed in branding, it became immediately obvious to me what Slimming World's secret ingredient was all along. Their amazingly strong values. Quite old-fashioned ones, actually - based on mutual respect, politeness, empathy and kindness. Nevertheless, very powerful, infectious values that differentiate them from their slightly more 'corporate' competitors at Weight Watchers.

Despite their recent efforts to 'warm up' their image, Weight Watchers still have that feeling of dry 'aloofness' about them. It's not necessarily a bad thing because clearly, its renown and proven efficacy attracts millions of people every year. But this kind of brand doesn't win love and loyalty. Slimming clubs rely on those successful, vocal, dedicated members who come along week after week to inspire fledgling slimmers. They are the spokespeople for the brand, and without them, these weekly pow-wows in community halls and schools up and down the UK wouldn't be what they are.

Sitting there last night, I watched member after member come in, get weighed and then leave. £4 to stand on some scales? Of course, people do have the option to stay to the group talk - but many chose not to; and those who didn't weren't encouraged to do otherwise.

Slimming World has created quite a different kind of beast, where members get a kick out of the way the experience of Slimming World as a whole (not just its impact on their weight) makes them feel. Indeed, the company's 'Love food, love Slimming World' campaign is a blatant, if crude, way of marketing Slimming World as the Apple, Virgin or Innocent of the dieting industry.

Weight Watchers, conversely, seems to be held up purely by the strength of its reputation and their financial investment in marketing and member resources.

In any business, customers will come and go as a fact of life; but it's the strength and infectiousness of your values which creates the emotional attachment that keeps those long-term spokespeople committed. It's also proof that the way you behave internally as a company has a massive impact on how you come across as a brand - something I've talked about in previous blogs on the quality of staff training at Virgin and McDonalds. In wonder how these two weight-loss companies will fare against each other in 10 years. Time will tell.

Question is, does tapping away about brand values and slimming clubs burn calories? Here's hoping!

Our first DBA Award and its a gold one!

2009-10-23T05:49:00.000-07:00

I was at the DBA Awards last night with Micahel and our client Simon Egan from BeWILDerwood. It as held at the Mermaid theatre and they promised us a Champagne reception and a mercilessley brief ceremony.

And they delivered on both counts. The Champagne was genuinely flowing and there wasn’t any of the usual scramble for the few glasses being paraded round. At the end there was even more Champagne and then a bottle for each consultancy too. Perhaps that’s why I have a headache now.

And then the night got better when or work for BeWILDerwood was announced as a gold winner, which took us all by surprise.

There were 52 winners overall, with only 12 getting gold and it puts us in some pretty big company of the great and the good in our industry.

This is us posing by or winners board.

The Solo Star disposable pen injector, by DCA Design International won the Grand Prix and Elmwood won agency of the year again for their continued exceptional results based work. Is there a year when they haven’t won it?

You can see the design Week article here, but the DBA haven’t updated their website yet.

Updated
The DBA have now updated their site which you can see here

And you can see our category here

I'm lovin' the copywriting!

2009-10-23T01:57:00.000-07:00

Back at the tender age of 18, if you'd have told me that one day I'd be writing a blog praising McDonalds, I'd have laughed. Actually, I'd probably have cried, assuming that if this were the case, I must be destined to fail my degree and remain trapped forever in my student job on the drive-thru. And end up actually enjoying it.

Having said that, this was by far the best part-time job I'd had. I walked out of my waitressing job in tears thanks to a rotund witch of a supervisor. And prior to that, I'd stormed out of Safeway in abject rage after going out of my way to help an elderly customer, only to be publically reprimanded by another power-hungry fatty for stepping away from my till without permission (the corporate term was 'Controllers' – can you believe?) With brand values like theirs – all too obvious when you worked there – it's no surprise Safeway eventually faded away to nothing.

Compared to this, McDonalds was a breath of fresh air (ironic, considering that I never could wash the smell of chip fat out of my uniform). The company has always been renowned for an incredibly effective staff training system - one that demands fairness, respect and equality between staff members and rewards good performance. You can knock McDonalds for a lot of things – but having witnessed the operation of the brand from the inside, I can see why they are so successful as a business. They were on the anti-corporate bandwagon long before our friends at Innocent and Virgin; and while they have made mistakes over the years, they have never been too proud to learn from them and put things right.

Ever since they were slandered by the docu-film 'Supersize Me', they have fought back with true insight and guts. Most impressively and bravely, I think, in Leo Burnett's latest round of TV ads - where some incisively observed recreations of a typical day's custom at McDonalds are accompanied by poetic voiceover. Slightly absurd in theory, but exceptionally effective in reality. In the space of 30 seconds, they identify and endear the vast majority of their audience. The white-van guys who come in at 6am, the gherkins-removers, the dad and his kids, the hen party. Not the inventions of an ad agency, but the real experience of anyone who works at - or indeed visits - a McDonalds. I wouldn't be surprised if they'd done a lot of research with stores in order to capture the reality of their brand so accurately.

Of course, it's always great to see a brand using copywriting to powerful effect; but to take it one step further and make the increasingly outdated art form of poetry into an effective, emotive and thoroughly modern marketing tool takes some balls. Moreover though, it's the closeness to their target market, combined with the very real promises made by these adverts, that impresses me. The experience of visiting a McDonalds is shared by billions. And as the adverts show, it's nothing particularly mind-blowing - but it does have behaviours, quirks and a culture all of its own: one that has worked itself firmly into the public consciousness.

Capitalising on those shared human truths is the hallmark of all the great 'Lovebrands'. With such a huge weight of cynicism to whittle away, McDonalds may not be - or ever be - one of those quite yet; but they're doing a darn good job of trying.

Agency: Purple Circle. Client: The Hoods. Media: Skin.

2009-10-15T08:12:00.000-07:00

The Roses and Cream Awards nominations are one thing…but how many agencies can say their client loved a logo design SO much that they decided to have the thing tattooed on their forearm?

Well, it’s certainly a first for us! Check out the video below – specially commissioned for the big event.

Lee – the founder of Nottingham’s first basketball club – fully admits that The Hoods has become something of an obsession for him over the past year. His fire and ambition to create something truly worthwhile for the young people of Nottingham is contagious – so much so that Purple Circle is off to the Wildcats Arena later today for a battle – ahem – team-building training session all of our own.

To find out more about The Hoods and upcoming games or to get yourself a branded hoodie (no transfer tattoos available yet though…), visit www.hoodsbasketball.com.

Brand identity - the diamond standard

2009-10-06T01:30:00.000-07:00

Remember when lovely, wholesome River Island went all chavvy back in the late 90s/early 00s? I felt cheated and I wasn't the only one. More recently, New Look did it too. They'd gone from cheap and nasty to affordable and really rather cool. I couldn't get enough of the stuff...Then, alas, back again to the cheap and nasty stuff again about 18 months ago. What a shame. It smacks to me of a brand that doesn't even know itself, let alone its market.

However, where there is darkness, there's always light just a few doors down. T'other day, on a thrifty birthday shopping trip with my (broke) boyfriend, we paid a little visit to that girly Aladdin's den of pretty things, Accessorize. And having left with a great stonking sparkler of ring (£10), complete with a totally beautiful little box, it struck me how bloody brilliant Accessorize (and Monsoon, their sister company) actually is.

Ever since the brand emerged in the 90s, their values have always remained clear and firm - despite the waves of ridiculous fads that have come and gone in the meantime. They're a brand you can rely on. A brand that defines affordable quality. One that has taken 'ethnic' and made it timelessly appealing. It's not just tie-dye and mirrors. It's mouthwateringly lovely embroidery, fabulous sparkly beading and bright, feminine colours; brilliant, alluring point-of-sale; a sense that you're getting something special yet disposable (yes, I'd be gutted if I lost my new spangly ring, but it won't be the end of the world and I'll be relieved it didn't cost £100).

Monsoon is just the same - a haven of classic shapes, rich colour, unusual patterns and pretty fabrics in a world where metallic, leapord-print leggings and shapeless neon tops appear to have overtaken most shops' clothing rails (and, dare I say, sense).

In the fashion game, there's a fine balance between sticking to what you know and becoming staid or unexciting. Monsoon-Accessorize hits it, right on the silk-embroidered button.

Chicken or egg Sir?

2009-10-02T08:30:00.001-07:00

Purple Circle got their glad rags on and went out for a fab meal last night at the much-awarded and highly recommended Kayal restaurant in Nottingham. It was a Thursday night and they were packed to the rafters - possibly unexpectedly, as they didn't seem to have enough staff in to cope with the numbers.

Consequently, the service was...well...a bit rubbish. But when the food came (eventually), it made up for it all. It was all beautifully cooked and incredibly unique - so different: I've never tasted anything quite like it and can only describe it, crudely, as a mixture of Thai and Indian.

For me, it half settled that long-held argument over which us more important - your product or your service. I could forgive the slow service, lack of attentiveness and boiling hot surroundings because it was worth putting up with. And I'm a nice kinda person - maybe it was just exceptionally busy that night. Whatever the reason, I'll definitely go back. For now, a quality product wins out. But whether that's strong enough to survive two negative service experiences...only time will tell.

Will report back after the next round of 'research'. All in a day's work. *sigh*

What a hoot!

2009-10-01T08:25:00.001-07:00

Design Week’s very prestigious Benchmark Awards shortlist has just been announced and we’re on it! And the hopeful winner-to-be (drumroll please...) – our ‘Waste in School Education’ (WISE) identity for Nottingham City Council.

Find out more about our WISE owl and his adventures by clicking here. And keep your fingers crossed on December the 1st when the winners will be announced!

Oxo cubes get the star treatment

2009-09-28T07:06:00.000-07:00

OK, so I'm a little slow off the mark on this one - thanks mum for the tip off. Oxo, the long-standing brand for quality concentrated stock has again innovated whilst maintaining solid brand values. The brand which dates back to 1840 focuses on family and good old fashioned values, and has developed a new campaign marrying those same honest values with a modern twist. With a nod towards the ever popular X Factor, the new 'Oxo factor' campaign has invited any family to make their own Oxo TV commercial in a competition which will see the winning family aired across the small screen. The brand guardians Premier Foods have accepted that the old nuclear family with 2.4 children is becoming a thing of the past so are embracing the 21st century and encouraging all 'types' of family. What a great example of boosting sales of a product whilst encouraging the love for the product - buy it, try it, love it.

Combined with this experiment in social media and client/audience participation, the product is also having some showbiz treatment as the stock cubes are no longer square! That's right they've morphed into the famous Oxo 'X'.

Voting to find the winning family starts on 24 October, so let's wait and see what kind of family becomes the face of Oxo.

And they say the age of great TV ads is over...

2009-09-24T07:50:00.000-07:00

Our newest Purple Person, Amy, alerted me to the latest Coca Cola campaign today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1NnyE6DDnQ

HOW haven't I experienced the happiness factory before? Probably because I've been knee deep in paint and wallpaper strippings for the last 4 months...but I won't get started on that.

I don't really need to say much about this do I? Other than, aren't the simplest ideas always the best? (And when I say simple, I do of course mean the concept as opposed to the execution!).

What are the chances the Copywriter/Art Director team working on this came up with the idea on the second day, knew they'd struck gold (because with ideas like this one, you just DO) then spent the rest of their week on the agency pool table, down the pub or both.

The production team on the other hand...

Pantyhose gets political

2009-09-21T08:17:00.000-07:00

I recently came across this highly unusual campaign for the 'New World Order' collection by Agent Provocateur.

Click here, view the new collection and watch the short trailer.

Agent Provocateur are, of course, renowed as one of the world’s coolest, bravest brands – and the concept behind this campaign makes it, I believe, one of their bravest ever. How you read the campaign really depends on how au fait you are with alternative political commentry (or ‘conspiracy theories’, depending on which angle you come at it). On a superficial level, this powerful trailer is simply a nod to classic, fantasy comic-book artwork and sci-fi storytelling. Read the whole story for yourself in the 36-page 'Mission to Earth' comic on Agent Provocateur's website.

However, on a deeper level, the imagery of hooded clans, planes passing through the NYC skyline and the name of the collection itself more-than hint at a popular conspiracy theory. This supposes that an elite group of the world’s most powerful men are engineering the thoughts and actions of the populus in order to create a ‘new world order’: a totalitarian one-world government which exercises complete control over a fearful, unthinking human machine. Phew! A hard thing to sum up in a nutshell, as these multi-layered theories are complex and go back many years. Personally, I’m undecided (and often unconvinced) about it all – but it’s fascinating stuff nonetheless.

With its striking look-and-feel, huge PR launch (when an 'army' of models marched on Oxford Street) and multi-faceted messages, the campaign makes one hell of a statement about Agent Provocateur as a brand – and the women who choose to wear their lingerie. It says “we aren’t afraid to be controversial”; It says "we look at and challange the world around us"; it says “we are a complex, thinking brand - just like our customers”. It puts a stunning twist on the post-feminist belief that female sexuality is the secret, not the obstacle, to power. A unique power that can be leveraged to bring men to their knees. And Agent Provocateur have the armour and weaponary to help them do just that.

What a promise. “Transform yourself into a sexual superhero with lingerie that can save the world.” Tongue-in-cheek, of course. Nevertheless, it doesn’t get much more confident or risqué than this. But what else would you expect from a brand whose very identity is built on the confident and risqué? For me, it's a brilliant execution and validation of everything this very successful brand stands for.

I can’t wait to see how Agent Provocateur develop the New World Order campaign and how far they’ll be prepared to push the dark, political subtext. Refreshing, intriguing and totally distinctive stuff that’s as naughty and rebellious as the products themselves.

Anti-corporate Amsters-style

2009-09-18T08:11:00.000-07:00

While researching my next visit to Amsterdam, I clicked on TripAdvisor’s number-two-rated ‘thing to do’ – the St Nicolaas Boat Club. Essentially, this is a ‘free’, informal boat tour run by a couple of Dutch chaps. You put your name on the list in the local bar, and then turn up for an 80-minute pootle about the canals, weather permitting. To quote their rather cute (and nicely-written) website:

“The St. Nicolaas Boat Club of Amsterdam is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic boats on the Amsterdam canals. It's not a proper guided tour. So come to relax and have a good time. It's a better ride when you bring food and drinks and smokes. We don't sell anything. Our boats are open.

Sorry, but you have to go to in person to see the boat schedule and sign up for a ride. Alas, there is no way to reserve boats online or via e-mail. We're not trying to be difficult, it's just that we have no office much less office help. We have no phone. We have no scheduling meetings. We're not professionals and this isn't a tour-boat business. We're volunteers keeping up a couple of boats. But please don't let this discourage you.”

It struck me that these guys are one of two things. Either they are genuinely just fabulously generous volunteers with a real passion for boats…or they have the whole ‘appearance of commercial naivety’ branding thaang down to a tee! It’s the kind of anti-corporate feeling that companies such as Innocent, Virgin and White Stuff have fought to create…but of course, there’s no getting away from it: they are businesses – and big, rich ones at that.

These canal-cruising chaps have obviously created such a feeling of goodwill amongst the people they take out, that they are keeping a restoration business alive and making a living (probably a very good one at that!) out of the donations that people freely give at the end of their boat tours. They don’t need to pay for marketing because, given the theoretical ‘free’ nature of their service (and I hazard a guess, the laid-back style of the tours), they have mentions in the likes of Lonely Planet an awesome TripAdvisor rating – one that trumps the likes of the Van Gogh Museum and The Heineken Experience.

One way or another, I think their approach is something we can all learn from. These days, people research long and hard to try discover the 'real' essence of a place. To eat where the locals eat, escape the crowds and experience something a little bit more earthy, unconventional, uncorporate - slightly rebellious, even - than they'll find on the 'tourist trail'. They want value for money too; and what better way to create a perception of great value than asking people to decide the price for themselves. Even if every passenger only gives 10 Euros each, that's an income of around 200 Euros for two boat trips - not bad for just under 3 hours' work.

The Dutch are oft described as the world's most laid-back people; and the St Nicolaas Boat Club just seems to sum that up 100%. So, if I decide to take a trip with them in December, will I be getting a flavour of 'the real Amsterdam' or will I just be another tourist, being taken for a ride by the savviest businessmen in Holland? Not sure I really care - looks good to me either way (especially as I'll be having me a good few Heinekens along the way!). I'll report back in January...

http://www.amsterdamboatclub.com/index.html

Nottingham Creative Business Awards 2009

2009-09-18T03:27:00.000-07:00

Just recently I had the pleasure of judging the Nottingham Creative Business Awards, alongside fellow judge Lorna from Jupiter.

In case you're not familiar with the awards, the main aim is to celebrate and recognise the best of Nottinghamshire's talent in all creative disiplines - from architecture, to fashion and textiles, to performing arts, and so on...

Graphic design and advertising was the most popular category, with over 30 entries. And, on the whole, there was some strong work. But, I'm relieved to say there wasn't too much argument between the two of us in awarding one winner and two runners up.

Our lips are tightly shut until October the 7th when the winners will be announced at the awards evening in the Council House. Then we can both stop avoiding people!

The Michael Jackson brand is alive and fanatically well

2009-09-10T09:15:00.000-07:00

I was lucky enough to be on the Hollywood Walk of Fame yesterday as part of my visit with the Sheriff of Nottingham to see some of the best attractions and visitor experiences in the world.

On the walk of fame, quite close to Grauman’s Chinese Theatre is the Michael Jackson paving stone. No other had crowds like it with people moonwalking around it, people in Full MJ Swag dancing and crying around it and people lighting candles and crying on it.

It was truly weird.

If you want to see all of the other experiences as they happen, why not pop over to my own blog at http://johnnylyle.co.uk

John

The way to a customer's heart...

2009-09-10T05:55:00.000-07:00

Now, anyone who knows me knows I am the most compulsive chocolate lover conceivable. In fact, I firmly believe that if I didn't chuck myself about in an aerobics studio so darn much, the fire brigade might already have extracted me from my house in a winch designed to transport killer whales...

So, needless to say, my my cocoa-infatuated heart was warmed by the sight of the Gü desert on John's blog (served as plane food!?) - and even more by the story of the Virgin Atlantic air hostess who slipped him a second pud for his vociferous praise of the first. John said he wasn't sure if it was part of the rule book...but I wouldn't be surprised if it was. Because as any brand manager worth his salt knows, it's the kind of customers who vociferously thank staff for nice food and service that are disposed to tell their friends about it too...

These customers are easy to spot - they're the upbeat ones who actually enjoy being positive. The ones who make conversation with supermarket checkout operators or fellow train passengers, instead of conducting every interaction with a stranger in stony silence. So why not reward them? And double the likelihood of their later ravings while you're at it?

Funnily enough, I had my thoughts on the matter confirmed just a few hours later - albeit in the slightly less exciting setting of Thorntons in Victoria Centre. I was buying a 69p chocolate lolly for my little 5-year-old neice - hardly the last of the big spenders - and much to my surprise, the assistant offered me a free lemony-chocolaty delight along with my penny change. She even extended the offer to my non-purchasing boyfriend, who was lingering about in the background.

Now, it might seem a bit OTT to do a blog purely because of a free chocolate (well, two) - but this struck me as yet another powerful example of a brand which makes you fall in love with them over and over again (an art we talk about a lot here at Purple Circle).

Thorntons have always held a certain oldie worldie allure for me; but in past years, the brand seems to have lost some of its charm. Maybe it was their rebrand, when they moved away from their 'chocolate heaven since 1911' identity; or maybe the fact that they made their product less 'exclusive' by selling out of supermarkets and petrol stations. Neither of them fatal flaws, but it certainly made me feel differently about them as a brand.

How quickly one's estimations can change though. This simple exercise in adding value - making your customer feel special - is bound to make many more than me feel a real warmth towards the Thorntons brand; instill us with the sense that they are still unique and just a bit special and lovely. Clever too, when you think about it - because both Thorntons and Virgin Atlantic have conveniently picked one of the world's most addictive and endorphin-inducing substances to do it with...

I wonder how much such a promotional tactic costs the company in real terms. Probably nowhere near the value they get back in word of mouth and most importantly - loyalty. Because although I won't get (or expect) free choccies every time I visit, I'll always remember fondly that time when I did.

Some pucker branding

2009-09-09T06:30:00.000-07:00

My old schoolfriend and fellow Textiles A-level comrade Amy-Jane has just launched the website for her catering company - Jammy Olive. And how do I know about it? Well, of course that'd be Facebook - the granddaddy of social media.

I'm really impressed with the branding, the photography and the idea for the name itself - an amalgamation of hers and her business partner's names that just so happens to give a cheeky nod to Britain's cheekier chef du jour, Jamie Oliver. Only natural, then, that the branding should do the same.

Check it out here: http://www.jammyolive.co.uk/

I really like brands that manage to be sophisticated and premium in look and feel without taking themselves too seriously. It's a difficult balance to achieve, but I think this one does it with real panache.

DBA Design Effectiveness Award

2009-09-09T04:21:00.000-07:00

We now have even more proof that if you spend your money with Purple Circle you get a better return on your investment. Creative and effective. Fur coat with the knickers.

Our BeWILDerwood project has won a 2009 DBA Design Effectiveness Award. They are judged by the likes of Paul Sternlieb Marketing Director at Heinz, Bernadette Kennedy Global Marketing Director at Shell and Nadhim Zahawi CEO of You Gov. These are serious business people and so the return on investment case simply has to stack up - there is no hiding place.

As the DBA say - judges are looking for designs that prove beyond reasonable doubt, a cause and effect between the new design and business success through tangible results.

On average only 12 Effectiveness Awards per year have been awarded over the past 20 years. Last years winners include Red Bee Media for their creation of the 'Dave' tv channel branding and Jones Knowles Ritchie for their Molton Brown packaging.

For more details on the awards visit the DBA site.

We'll be getting our glad wrags on and going to the award ceremony at London's Mermaid Theatre on 22nd October. On the night we find out whether our award is gold, silver or bronze.

Trains, rain and automobiles

2009-09-04T08:53:00.000-07:00

A real testament to customer service we braved the wind and rain for our latest photoshoot. We traveled to supermarket car parks, markets and train stations. Thank goodness the photographers are better than me. I blame the weather!

What a cool statue water feature

2009-09-03T12:39:00.000-07:00

If you ever get to Spain and happen to be up above Miraflores on Mijas Costa, its worth a drive into the hills to see this beautiful structure lying in the middle of nowhere. I'm not sure why its there, or who funded it but I thought it was very cool and it made me smile every time I went past it.

An exercise in how not to rebrand

2009-08-24T01:55:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, my leisure centre was taken over by a ‘Everyone Active’ – a company which manages a number of Local Authority leisure centres across the UK. Subsequently, a rebrand begun. The gym was closed for a few weeks and refurbished. The Spinning room was knocked through and a new area created next to the main gym area. The swimming pool has just been done, as have the changing rooms and most recently, our aerobics studio. Turnstyles have also be installed to enable members to ‘swipe and go’ without queuing up at reception.

So why then, has the Centre just received more complaints than you can shake a bodybar at? On the face of it, there’s been a lot of investment. But for what? Yes, the tatty 1980s décor needed a facelift – but to be honest, the peeling paint and brown-tiled changing rooms weren’t really a problem.

If you’d have asked anyone, most members disregarded those little foibles because they never really got in the way of anything. They would, however, unanimously have listed the same gripes: inefficient air-conditioning, a microphone that distorts and cuts out so instructors can’t so their job, lack of weights for conditioning classes, and shoddy, smelly old mats, a broken water machine...Even the tissue dispensers, removed for painting, haven’t been replaced. Not to mention the lack of water pressure in the showers. And to top it off, absolutely no communication or forewarning of any of the refurbishments from the centre’s management.

It’s an absolutely golden example of a company mistakenly believing that rebranding is no more than painting everything in your corporate colours and splashing a new logo about. A misguided, inconsistent approach that is costing them loyal members and fantastic instructors, positive word-of-mouth and probably with all that – a lot of money. Of course, the facelift is all ‘cunningly’ designed to get more new members signed up. But how long will they stay when they realise that beauty is only skin-deep? Probably about as long as I will.

You only see return on a rebranding investment if you underpin it with real, meaningful research and a true understanding of what customers want – what ‘improvement’ means to them. In this case, the centre’s audience is fairly easy to pin down – fitness enthusiasts, aged anything from 16-60, doing rigorous activity which causes them to get hot, sweaty and thirsty. It’s hardly rocket science to assume that this target market is more bothered about ventilation, access to drinking water and decent washing facilities than the wall colour.

Never neglect your target audience – and your existing customers most importantly – at the expense of a self-indulgent branding exercise. You may well tempt new customers through your freshly-painted front door, but forget the fundamentals and they’ll be out of it again before you've even done a second coat.

Flicking the organic bean: Mushroom pate and a tommy tank anyone?

2009-08-21T07:06:00.000-07:00

Ahhh ok it's a bit cheeky I admit, but hey, it's Friday and I have had a ginger beer.

While quaffing my drink of choice I came across an article in the Metro claiming that wholesome food chain Holland and Barrett were planning on adding to their repertoire of mega discount vitamins, tea tree shampoo (that smells suspiciously like Poppy's Bob Martin's) and yoghurty nuts with.... a 'feminine intimate massage' - yep that's me being polite, which let's face it doesn't happen that often.

Hmmm I suspect folks that this maybe slightly off brand. Ann Summers you are not, I mean despite it being the eve of my non-hen do I am not going to be walking around Nottingham with some Bombay Mix taped to my Deely Boppers so why are you trying to be something you aren't?

Maybe its the economic pressures that are leaving companies thinking that diversification is the key - fine, but please people don't lose your focus and risk alienating your core audience.

View the full article here

Carl Froch

2009-08-14T03:46:00.000-07:00

Carl Froch, super middle weight boxing champion, had the delights of being photographed by Scene Photography this week whilst myself and featherweight Mich art directed the shoot at the local Liberty Gym. The images are to be used for a Policing campaign centered around achievement and who better to front the campaign than local hero and easy-on-the-eye success story Carl Froch (not the one in the glasses!). Look out for the campaign around Nottingham soon.

2009-08-13T08:17:00.000-07:00

On my mission for the perfect shower curtain (which apparently doesn’t exist), I decided to take a trip to Wilkinson. They’ve just had a rebrand and store re-fit and I was really impressed. Previously a somewhat ‘yellowing’ brand, they’ve revived their look and feel with bold, burgundy signage, clean, simple typography and big, bold directional signage in-store that makes it easy to find your way from curtains to corn plasters, shampoo to shower curtains. They’ve also installed some simple yet effective POS devices, including Perspex ’bubbles’ full of tasty chocolatey treats – cunningly positioned at an average female’s head height as you queue up to pay (I wonder why!)

I wonder where all this is going to take them as a brand. Most people are dubbing them ‘the new Woolworths’ – by which, of course, they mean ‘the old Woolworths’: back in the day when Woolies knew its market and its own limitations. Wilko seem to have a fairly clear understanding of their market, and the products are pitched at just the right level: everything represents great value for money, but within each product sector, there’s always a slightly more premium option, a middle-ground and a very basic ‘right price’ option – the perfect way to appease a wide-ranging audience while still offering fantastic value across the board. The store was also incredibly well staffed: not rocket science, but it's amazing how many shops fall down on this.

With all rebrands, there’s a certain period of crossover or ‘lag’, as some parts of the business catch up with others. In the case of Wilko, it’s the website. Some might say that – in this web-centric age – leaving their site until last was a bad decision on the part of the company. But thinking about it, I don’t think it is. After all, who shops at Wilko? And what for? Often it’s bits and pieces – a cheap picture frame, a bottle of pepsi, a hanging basket – all things you’d just want to walk into the shop and buy. So in fact, it makes sense that Wilko have concentrated on reviving their high-street presence before their website. Besides, it’s the high street traffic that will eventually drive web traffic, so that needs to be right first and foremost.

Well done Wilko. You may not have the perfect shower curtain, but I came away £9 poorer and then wrote this blog, so you must be doing something right.

A light touch

2009-08-07T08:22:00.000-07:00

Check out this amazing light art from ‘TCB’!

An artist who “combines photography, graphic design, and performance to create a unique identity that allows magic and the supernatural to occur on a daily basis”.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/twincitiesbrightest/

Using a long exposure, TCB essentially runs around in the dark waving various kinds of light source about – LEDs, torches, cold-cathode lights, and good old fashioned fire!

There’s no retouching or clever technical jiggery – just a creative understanding of the way a DSLR camera can manipulate light to create shots with a unique, almost illustrative quality. And if you don’t believe me, you can see how he does it here:

http://www.twincitiesbrightest.com/index.php?/photos/lapp-videos/

Communication, communication, communication

2009-08-07T03:51:00.000-07:00

The building trade haven’t exactly earned themselves the best reputation for communication over the years. Urban myth or not, most of us have heard the woes of someone’s mum/auntie/friend whose tradesman never answered their phone, ‘forgot’ to mention the £1,000 they had to add on for extra materials or – worst of all – downed tools and never came back.

Thankfully, our builder isn’t one of them. Quite the opposite in fact: always answers his phone, keeps me informed of any extra costs – even sends picture messages asking for my thoughts on the little details that make a big difference. Keeps me informed when things get held up. Only employs people he actually likes. A great communicator, in other words. Which is probably why he gets recommendations from left, right and centre. Including (so far) four from me. And probably about 50 more from our exceptionally friendly, retired neighbours (not to mention a hell of a lot of tea!)

They say a busy builder is a good builder. So a busy builder in a recession must be a very good builder, right? But as with so many big brands out there, the quality of the product is only half the story. Chris sometimes laments the fact that – even at weekends – his phone never stops ringing; but in business, that’s what makes the difference. It’s all about communication.

Everywhere, we see brands that talk about offering great 'great service', then fail to communicate in even the simplest ways – both internally with their employees, and externally with their customers. They don’t engage with colleagues or consumers as thinking, feeling human beings and consequently, they end up ridiculed, hated and permanently damaged. They may continue to trade (Ryanair and Abbey for example – some of the most appalling communicators I’ve ever experienced) but who would recommend them to a friend? Or indeed, leave them a positive review or blog on the internet?

In the big-brand world, Virgin are the ones to look up to. Outstanding staff training, selective recruitment and a commitment to their number-one value of outstanding customer care makes them some of the best communicators out there. A massive company, with a small-scale, old-fashioned approach to service. Staff who are allowed to use their initiative and deal directly with customer quibbles, without going through a messy string of hierarchical procedures.
Outstanding, clear and clever copywriting on all product literature, ads and web copy. Hardly any on-hold time when calling their customer service bods. And a polite, friendly and professional voice when you do get through.

The result – Virgin are now able to be so competitive that they often can’t be beaten. It’s a self-perpetuating cycle that has made Richard Branson one of the richest men in the world. Is that, you might ask, fundamentally because he’s a nice person who employs a bunch of other nice people? Quite probably.

Whether you’re a builder or Branson, never underestimate the power of great communication. It’s the hook that brings happy customers back time after time; the factor that keeps your staff retention sky-high; the thing that makes both colleagues and customers forgive you wholeheartedly on the occasions when you do mess up. The thing that gets you great word-of-mouth – and keyboard.

Quite simply, fail to communicate and you communicate failure. End of success story.

Board (m)eating

2009-08-06T08:20:00.000-07:00

At Purple Circle, we like to have high powered meetings with serious people. When it comes to our own board meetings, we like to keep things terribly formal too and work to strict agendas, wearing uncomfortable collars, shiny shoes and sharp suits.

As you can see from this shot, none of the above is true and our board meetings are as much about airing ideas, checking we’re doing the right things and heading in the right direction, whilst at the same time, drinking lots of tea from our big purple teapot, eating nice sandwiches and crisps from the new Waitrose around the corner.

We did decide lots of important stuff though, not least of which is the impending launch of our expanded branding offer to include some new services, which we weren’t able to offer really confidently before.

We’ve been out seeing lots of potential partners for this and we’ll be announcing more soon. In the meantime, enjoy the summer sun!

Lost for branding inspiration?

2009-08-04T02:32:00.000-07:00

A friend and fellow fitness nut surprised me at last week's BodyPump class with this rather fetching Dharma T-shirt. It was the result of a half-beered-up chat down the pub a few weeks back, about how great the TV series Lost is. Or at least, how great we think it is. Got me thinking…about the things we can learn from great TV ‘brands’ and great retail brands.

For a start, great TV shows captivate people, winning their attention, their trust and their loyalty. Steadfast loyalty at that. They make people feel good, giving them something they can believe in (no matter how incredulous!). They engage with their audience – in the case of Lost, with LostPedia, message boards and even ‘Ask Lost’ – where the audience can submit burning questions that will be answered either through a podcast or an online interview with the characters themselves.

Like great brands, great TV shows also bring people together – they get people talking. Hence my T shirt! And as we all know, word of mouth is, always has been and always will be a brand’s most powerful marketing tool. Great TV shows never let their audience down by increasing volume at the expense of quality. Look at Fawlty Towers. Just 12 episodes and still hailed as one of the finest TV comedies of all time.

Yes, ‘Lost’ could be accused of ‘milking it’ – but it’s milked it darn well. Because – and this is the cornerstone of all great brands – it always leaves you wanting more.

A shed in a bottle and many more....

2009-07-23T02:06:00.000-07:00

It’s been a couple of months since we launched shed loads of ideas and we have had super responses from students, clients, illustrators, photographers – and a few promises of sheds which I hope to get fulfilled.

This week we received a ‘Shed in a Bottle’ from my dad. He has spent weeks crafting away in the garage (the perils or joys of retirement), gluing tiny planks of wood inside an even tinier bottle and to be honest I’m a little bit proud. So for anyone still thinking about creating a shed, I am hoping this will be your call to action – whatever you have in mind we would love to see it!

Bewilderwood the Movie II

2009-06-26T04:19:00.000-07:00

Two bits of BeWILDerwood news to report.

Their new website, designed by ourselves has been launched and looks lovely. Good Job done by Elfin Filagree at BeWILDerwood and the team at Studio Create for keeping it looking good from visual to final site.

You can see the whole site here.

But the THEA application video has also been updated. If you want to see why it won the accolade as the best children's adventure park in the world, watch this video and you'll see some of the magic. Look out for our graphical touches throughout!

What a (confidential) waste!

2009-06-26T02:45:00.000-07:00

We've always been a bit paranoid about security at Purple Circle, because many of the projects we work on are in progress here, ages before they are available to the general public.

This all started when a young man called Benjy Pell who made his name going through the bins of celebrities. The one that made him really famous was Elton John, when he ‘scooped’ the fact that dear old Elton spent £20,000 per week on flowers and was probably bankrupt.

So, apart from having shredders on every floor of the Nottingham Studio, we work with an organisation called Shredall, who take away all of our bulk waste to shred. They also work for the Bank of England, so we’re in good company.

Here’s our two intrepid heroes, standing proudly in front of their big secret service lorry. We could tell you their names, but we can’t, it’s confidential.

Never work with animals!

2009-06-25T07:13:00.000-07:00

We are currently designing a rather splendid website for the lovely Kew Gardener. The higgledy-piggledy, Aladdin's cave nature of the shop and its place at the heart of a community fighting off large multinational shops, prompted an alternative, personal and unique approach to the site design.

So last week we had a small photoshoot in our boardroom. With a photographer up a ladder, snails being rather misleading as to their speed, and worms wiggling about all over the shop - we created 5 different backgrounds images for the website. (No animals were harmed during the process - well only one) We just need to pop the content in now. So check back for news on how its all going – or if you're in Kew, pop into the shop to discover the magic yourself.

Shed Loads of Ideas

2009-06-25T06:51:00.000-07:00

So as you may or may not know, Purple Circle has just turned 18 and to celebrate we are inviting all manner of illustrators, photographers, designers, copywriters, school children and clients to get involved in marking this coming of age by bastardising our red shed.

So if you fancy a go or want more information on what to do – then have a look at the shed loads of ideas site – www.shedloadsofideas.com or look out in town for one of these flyers which I have just finished rubber stamping.

We look forward to seeing you efforts!

A night at the ballet

2009-06-25T06:14:00.000-07:00

Last week, I went to a performance of ‘Sir Fred and Mr B’ as some rather jolly research for my latest writing project – the Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Annual Review. Having already interviewed a handful of the company’s directors, I knew that these guys were going to be good – they’re one of only two ballet companies in the country to have ‘Royal’ status; plus they’ve got their very own dedicated ballet orchestra (even the London Royal Ballet don’t have that privilege!).

The performances certainly didn’t disappoint. Isn’t it great when you learn something new? And not just about your craft or a particular client, but about yourself. I had never really considered myself a ‘ballet person’ before; but after being blown away by the fabulous control, artistic flair, captivating storytelling and sumptuous costumes in The Two Pigeons and Mozartiana, I can truly call myself a ballet fan! It’s also given me a far better insight and experience of the brand that is the Birmingham Royal Ballet – not just what they do, but who they do it for, where and why. Getting under the skin of a company, its passion for what it does – and seeing that passion in action – is the kind of juicy, immersive insight that writers need to produce great copy. More valuable than an A4 briefing sheet any day. More projects like this in future please!

Cutting edge stuff

2009-06-23T09:37:00.000-07:00

Johanna's been busy this afternoon crafting a new project for an energy awareness campaign, 'The Big Green Scheme'. It's early days, but the linocut logo looks like being the start of something quite special!

DMU Graphic Design Competition

2009-06-17T03:16:00.000-07:00

Earlier in the year I set a project for the De Montfort University graphic design students to create a poster entitled 'Inspire Me'. The purpose of the project was to pass down words of wisdom to first year students in the form of a creative poster. Jordan Rzymski scooped the £100 first prize, a placement with us, and this shiny gold certificate! What gem of advice would we pass down... Don't post a glass frame. It will break! Despite being wrapped in 10 layers of bubble wrap!

Shaun Hughes joins PC

2009-06-17T02:56:00.000-07:00

Lincoln University graduate Shaun Hughes is joining the design team for a 4 month placement with us following his very successful first two weeks here. It won't be until September though – he has quite a full schedule what with D&AD New Blood and ISTD in London, a stint at Vast and Iris Associates, oh, and 10 days in New York with his Keep Us Busy project, where he'll be involved in a workshop with Karlssonwilker and fellow graduate Tom Lovell. Stars in the making we think...

Nottingham Trent University students

2009-06-17T02:35:00.000-07:00

We had 20 second year NTU graphic design students in the other morning to present their work for a live project I set them – to create concepts for the Nottingham Community Housing Association's annual report. It's one of our favourite creative jobs that we produce each year, and felt it was only fair to share the experience!

I purposely kept the brief very open to encourage the students to think conceptually about the organisation. And, as ever, it was great to see so many varied answers to one brief. The work created was of a very high standard and there were a few concepts that really stood out – and even a bit of old school, bronze Omnicrom to boot! Many thanks to all involved and to lecturers Peter Lester and Douglas Wilson.

The Hoods

2009-06-17T02:22:00.000-07:00

We're just applying the finishing touches to a project for one of our tallest clients, Lee from The Hoods – Nottingham's one and only professional basketball team.

The name and logo has been created to reflect Nottingham's historic associations and present-day culture (and set in a nice bit of Blackletter typo). The client was so delighted with the identity he wants it tattooed onto him! The camcorder's at the ready Lee...

Recycle for Nottingham

2009-06-04T01:06:00.000-07:00

We’ve just had a sneak preview of our latest project for Nottingham City Council, hot off the press.

It’s a folder which will be sent out to Nottingham residents, with lots of information and other goodies to help them get organised with recycling and make our city a greener place. And naturally, we’ve taken an eco approach with our production, screen-printing the folders onto grey board using environmentally-friendly inks.

We can't wait for the rest to turn up on our doorstep; and hopefully, they’ll be just as well received by the many households who get them too.

I've escaped - And now I can be ruder

2009-05-21T01:53:00.000-07:00

I've been blogging on here for a while now and found it great fun, but I always feel I need to be slightly careful about what I say and any of you who know me would recognise that this would be pretty difficult for me to do, so I've gone and started my own blog over here at http://johnnylyle.co.uk (don't ask me why there are no www's as I simply don't know the answer, its a Wordpress thing.)

The plan is that i'll be writing some more theoretical articles about branding that may have no relation to any of our clients and ones that may just be that bit ruder than ones I feel I can write on here. Google doesn't seem to like it when I publish on both as it is considered duplicate copy.

A few recent ones that i've done are about one of my home towns Margate, being 'rebranded' by the buffoons from The Apprentice.

Another that I think will continue to grow into a more detailed paper is about the 11 rules for any branding project. I can see this becoming a checklist we will work with to assess whether a project is going to have the potential for real brand success.

and there's a nice one about our 18th Birthday celebrations which seems to be taking on a life of its own already.

I've also added a link to all my favourite sites and blogs and for those of you who want to learn more about branding as a concept, there is a link to what i believe are the best branding books out there to read, which will shortly have mini reviews of what you can learn from each.

Have a pop over anytime and see what I'm up to. Thanks

John

Rebranding Margate - Ignoring the Apprentice

2009-05-13T23:41:00.000-07:00

Having watched The Apprentice last night for the first time, a few things struck me about the programme itself and the solutions that the contestants put forward as to how they would rebrand Margate.

I am no stranger to city county and place rebrands and was one of the people behind the controversial rebrand of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, being on the receiving end of tongue lashings from almost every outraged paper in the country for having the nerve to say that there was more to our city and county than just Robin Hood.

This is our version of events

I grew up in Margate and had two exceptionally happy years there moving away when I was only six years old. It would be very hard to argue that Margate still lives those glorious days in the 1970’s when Dreamland was at its boom and the new Arlington House flats being built were still hailed as a new way of living for Eastenders moving out from town to a new idyllic life by the sea.

I was in Margate again at the weekend for a few days with my kids, who are ten and twelve, and every single time we go there, we still love the place. Its simple British fun that has had the heart ripped out of it by a dreadful planning decision that put a new ‘out of town’ shopping monster between the main towns of Thanet and destroyed all the others in the process.

But Margate is fighting back. We walked around the old town which has some cool new boutiques and interesting arty stores. It also has some beautiful little shops available for rent for almost nothing. They just need an independent retailer to come in and make a success of it. If you can’t do this with 100SqM of retail space and a rent of £3k per year, you don’t deserve to stay trading anyway. Perhaps subsidised rents would allow the town to be reborn through this growing retail sector.

Margate has a lovely feel to it, if you ignore the slightly tired façade. Offering a family appeal is the perfect answer and so I think Kate and her team were spot on. There was no need to rebrand it as MarGAYte as there is already a thriving gay community there, so what’s the commercial sense in aiming all your marketing money at just one niche. They could have done that easily with some clever PR and a few nicely designed ads.

None of them did actually rebrand the town though.

They just produced campaigns that may drive a few tourists through the door. A rebrand of any town or city only works if you have the whole area behind it. It’s the process of getting to the new logo and the newly agreed strategy that is important a by getting everyone to unite behind a common flag, they agree to talk the place up in the same way and become more able to defend it for what it is and promote it for what it could become.

The designers behind the losing team’s route should be shot for allowing a client to give them such a bad brief. ‘we need a brochure in 20 minutes’ will never work, lying about a reason for white space by the ‘client’ is even worse. Clients invariably get the work they deserve. If you leave a designer 20 minutes to produce a brochure with no distinctive or iconic pictures, too much mediocre copy and someone with no eye for design overseeing it, its always going to be a disaster that should have been prevented.

But the feeling I was left with overall, was why do you need to be that unpleasant in business to win. Surely you can be decent with each other and still succeed by championing what each other does best rather than laying traps into which each can fall and then celebrating when they do?

I was left hating the programme for its nasty snidy attitude.

I was left still loving and defending Margate – for all its faults – and looking at a council team who should be the ones taken out and ridiculed for letting Margate as a seaside town, sell its soul to the retail ‘gods’ who owned the site a few miles up the road.

I can’t imagine I’ll be tuning in again

Thanks for the images to two people.

Sean Mason and Lynn Jackson

British Design Classics

2009-05-11T04:40:00.000-07:00

Now I am not generally one for advocating the ancient art of philately but it seems Royal Mail have done a rather splendid thing. While I was looking to buy some stamps online I realised they've released a lovely illustrated stamp book by designer Jim Davies on all manner of British Design icons from the Mary Quant mini to Robin Day's chair.

Yummy Yummy. Have a look at Royal Mail for more info.

Oh and you get four stamps too so if you're feeling a little retro you can send a letter! (Or you can just look at 'um cos they're flippin' lovely).

Innovate or its gonna be roadkill

2009-05-07T02:31:00.000-07:00

It seems obvious to most of us that unless we innovate with our brands we die, but why do so many organisations and brand owners slowly drift into mediocrity? Branding is far more than changing logos, it’s about renewing the entire presentation of an organisation to its customers or agreed target audience, who may become customers of the future.

The Little Chef brand in UK is a great example. Their Olympic breakfast used to be exceptional but year by year it became less Olympian and more local track event. Bits started dropping off and others became ‘extras’ pretty soon a simple breakfast became a £10 plus extortion.

By the time they drafted in ‘expert’ Heston Blumenthal of Fat Duck fame, who is quite obviously a brilliant chef, but as far removed from a motorway service as could possibly be imagined, the cheese had most definitely moved. It was so far gone that no amount of PR could bring it out of hiding.

Over almost ten years there was a generational change (or neglect) that meant an entire new audience grew up NOT using Little Chef as their roadside café of choice.

The rather excellent site Motorway services info which rates Motorway services over a number of different ratings to do with cleanliness, friendliness and pricing and then rather weirdly. gives them a burger related rating.

Tebay in Northumberland always wins because the owners – as it is amazingly, still privately owned – care enough to keep renewing their offer and ensuring their staff are behaving as they would want, the prices are what they would be happy to pay and the showers are ones they would even use themselves.

Bottled water in most services is actually much more expensive than petrol or diesel (at over £1.50 per litre) and in these value aware times, most people are wising up and either bringing their own ‘value’ products (from home, from Aldi or even from taps) that the likes of Moto will soon start to seriously struggle unless they renew, and renew fast.

I drive thousands of miles on Britain’s motorways and for me the biggest mover of cheese (and pickle and ham etc etc) has been Marks and Spencer. The arrival of their brand in services has brought a new price structure and a level of quality only seen before in the likes of Tebay.

There is nothing new in marketing and ever was thus. The clearest example we were given whilst training in marketing at college was the Swiss watch industry being decimated by Swatch. They just didn’t see the competition coming from electronics. Whilst they haven’t quite died, the volumes of mechanical Swiss watches is far smaller than in the 60’s.

Brands have to innovate, in any industry. The road to LONG TERM branding success is littered with glorious failures and quiet disappearances, but if it can happen at the roadside, where could it happen to you and your brand – more importantly, what are you doing to ensure that you move the cheese before the others realise it has even moved.

Ps if you want read the who moved my Cheese book that I refer to in this article, click this link and you can buy it on Amazon.

Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life by Spencer Johnson

5 Welsh bikers and a ring flash...

2009-04-30T03:38:00.000-07:00

This is our latest campaign for the Enhanced Rider Scheme from the DSA.

To promote the benefits of ERS, we created a simple series of ads to stand out from the busyness and clutter of bike magazines. And so, we drafted in 5 qualified ERS bikers from Wales (I think they enjoyed the excuse for a ride); asked our good friends at Scene Photography to shoot the campaign for us; and then went about adding some nice, chunky type to hammer home their own reasons for taking the ERS.

Purple Circle bangs the drum for East Midlands branding excellence

2009-04-29T10:28:00.000-07:00

Purple Circle, the Nottingham-based branding and graphic design studio has won yet more awards for its branding excellence. At the recent Drum Marketing Award ceremony, the company scooped not one but two awards, including the much-coveted Grand Prix Award, the award given to the most outstanding campaign nominated.

Purple Circle was nominated in the category of Best New Product, for the branding and communications strategy it created and delivered for BeWILDerwood, the family woodland adventure theme park in Hoveton, Norfolk. Not only did the company bring home that award, but the prestigious group of judges also felt the campaign was strong enough to be awarded the Grand Prix Award for the most impressive overall campaign.

Purple Circle Director of Brands, John Lyle, said: “Winning any award is amazing, but the Drum Awards feels extra special because of the combined experience of the judges on the panel. For the likes of Simon Pestridge, Marketing Director of Nike UK and Keith Vernege, Creative Director of COI Publications to give us the Grand Prix award is a real honour.”

He continued: “We think the fact that we have won this award should send a message to Marketing Directors everywhere that you don’t need to look to the biggest London agencies for creative ideas that can also really make a difference to the bottom line of your business.

There is a wealth of talent sitting on your doorstep in the East Midlands and in this economic climate, surely it makes more sense to utilise that to its full potential – significant costs savings can be made without sacrificing the quality of your brand communications?”

Purple Circle operates as an integral part of the BeWILDerwood team, partnering them in all of their creative efforts, including the design of much of the merchandise that is sold through the park and online.

This includes the popular children’s books ‘A Boggle at BeWILDerwood’ and ‘BeWILDerbats’ by Tom Blofeld, the founder of BeWILDerwood.

Thomas O’Neil from Drum Marketing Awards said “The fact that a small visitor attraction in Norfolk managed to fight off competition for the Grand Prix from the likes of multi-national clients such as ASDA and Virgin goes to show that when it comes to marketing it is not always about how much money you spend, but how clever you are with the money you have available.”

Purple Circle’s Drum Marketing Awards come hot on the heels of the THEA award in March this year. THEA is a Californian-based award ceremony celebrating the very best of themed entertainment throughout the world. At this earlier award ceremony BeWILDerwood and Purple Circle sat alongside other recipients such as the team behind the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics and The Simpsons Ride at Universal Studios Hollywood.

Jo Artherton, Head of Marketing for BeWILDerwood commented: “We’re delighted Purple Circle has won these two very well deserved awards. For a little adventure park, tucked away near the Norfolk Broads, to have won such prestigious awards, as well as the THEA award, it’s really highlighting BeWILDerwood on the map as a desirable tourist destination.”

ENDS-

For more information contact:

John Lyle
Director of Brands
Purple Circle
Global HQ
Nottingham
NG1 3LT

Tel: 0115 955 0005
John.lyle@purplecircle.co.uk
http://www.purplecircle.co.uk or visit http://www.bewilderwood.co.uk

This post has been published on Pressbox too

Partnering to build your Brand

2009-04-24T07:23:00.000-07:00

You might think that working in the charity sector during a recession isn’t the recipe for award winning design. Purple Circle have worked with Nottingham Community Housing Association (NCHA) for a number of years - reflecting their brand values in their annual reports.

Over the past 5 years we’ve won 10 awards with their annual reports and this year’s was particularly challenging.

The judges’ summary in the Communications in Business awards said

“What a brilliant concept and what fun. This clever idea demonstrates how budgetary constraints need not damage the finished product. In previous years there have been gripes by entrants about scarcity of budgets for the public sector”

The Report has also been published in the 2009 Creative Review Annual – an international showcase of the best in design.

Click here to see the report

So if you genuinely want to bring your brand values to life but your budget is limited - talk to us about partnering rather than pitching.

Finally, the THEA pictures

2009-03-27T10:16:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are the pictures of Tom and Simon from BeWILDerwood in their finest finery collecting the THEA Award in the Disney hotel in Los Angeles

Tom also got the chance to address the whole group with a very weepy acceptance speech, just like they do at the real Oscars." I have to thank my Mum, my Dad and my Pigeon Lofty for bringing me up to be so flighty." (I made the last bit up)

Anyway, a good night was had by all and it is one hell of an honour to speak to EVERYONE in the industry.

Enjoy the pics.

The rather tarnished Sword of Excellence

2009-03-26T03:23:00.001-07:00

Many years ago, one of our biggest clients was Thomas Cork, later to become Cork International. They supplied merchandised ranges and latterly books to all of the major retailers.

In their reception area was a huge mission statement stating they were working towards and living excellence in everything they did. It was joined by the remarkable sword of excellence that took pride of place behind the receptionist’s desk.

We always wondered whether anyone in the organisation knew these values, understood these values or ever ‘lived’ them. Having asked most of the team, we became pretty convinced that no-one did.

They quietly went out of business in 2004 due to ‘financial difficulties’.

You can see in this historic article that they were already through a Total Quality Management (TQM) programme.

But what this proves is that its all very well having values and even writing them in huge letters in your reception.

But the key to any brand, to any organisational culture is to embed and live those values in everything you do.

Thomas Cork, never did embed any form of positive culture and they disappeared. The tarnished sword of excellence lives on however and it is a great reminder to all of us to walk the walk as well as just talk about it and write it on our walls.

Nottingham at Night Exhibition

2009-03-25T09:17:00.000-07:00

Well we are all super chuffed to be going along to Scene Photography's Night Exhibition tonight. They have shot some grittier, atmospheric images of Nottingham when the majority of us are sleeping soundly in our beds (well unless you're Sue, she's a right party animal).

Anyway the exhibition is on at Waterstones until the 29th so pop along and be inspired and see what goes on when your all tucked up with your mug of Horlicks*....

You can find out more here: www.scenephotography.co.uk/night

*other horrid malt drinks are available

The worth in words

2009-03-13T06:11:00.000-07:00

Simon and I went to a rather interesting talk last night by Mark Shaw: Copywriter, co-founder of Jupiter Design, author of a brand new Copywriting: Successful Writing for Design, Advertising and Marketing – oh, and once-archaeologist. While you could tell he was itching to tell us about patterns of decomposition in pre Stone Age skeletons, Mark restrained himself commendably and stuck to the topic in hand: Copywriting. The art of saying what you mean, and meaning what you say.

A number of Mark’s points rang true with me as a writer. For one, I was relieved to discover that I’m not alone when I ask ‘silly questions’ in client briefings. Actually, it’s actually a fundamental part of our job – something that forces the client to analyse and deconstruct their own, institutional language or jargon, uncover the true meaning in their brief and deliver it with more clarity. Either that, or it’s a great excuse for me being a bit thick sometimes.

Then there was the part about the ‘rules’. Like Mark, I never really knew how to write copy until I had to train others to do it. Up to a certain point, you’re completely unaware of the organisation and thought process that underpins your work. It feels like something you ‘just do’ – instinctively. Only when you start trying to pass on knowledge and technique to others do you realise there’s more to it than just ‘a way with words’. It’s a process of lateral thinking – taking one thought and seeing how far you can fly with it. It’s about being clear, simple, concise. Never using two words when one will do. Communicating – honestly, sensitively, endearingly.

It’s a huge responsibility – taking 100 pages of content from your client and ignoring 90% of it. Scary sometimes. But that’s what copywriting is. Getting under the skin of a complex product or brand, understanding what really needs to be said and saying it without confusion or clutter. Just like this headline from the famous Economist campaign does:

Great minds like a think.

Simply brilliant. Brilliantly simple.

(and for more where that came from, check out Well-written and Red: The Story of the Economist Poster Campaign)

Something yummy for money!

2009-03-13T05:07:00.000-07:00

Rocky road, flapjacks, vanilla cream noses, rice krispie cakes and a ‘postmodern’ lemon cheesecake (don’t ask)...
The Delias of Purple Circle have cooked up a bit of a treat for Comic Relief this year, charging extortionate prices to everyone with a wallet and a sweet tooth (and I’ve got 32 of them)...

Friday 13th – unlucky for some, not for us!

We've won an 'Oscar'

2009-03-11T10:25:00.000-07:00

The lovely Tom and Simon from BeWILDerwood have just returned from Los Angeles with their very first THEA award for the children’s woodland adventure park in Hoveton, Norfolk. It’s the equivalent of an Oscar in their industry and is a worldwide competition.

I'll upload a picture of the award shortly. To see more about the Themed Entertainment Association, click here. Not the prettiest website, but one with rather a lot of brilliant members.

The THEA is an annual award ceremony for the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) based in Burbank California. Its remit is to represent the best of themed entertainment throughout the world. It is a truly worldwide organisation with all of the big players in theme parks and live entertainment such as Disney and Universal represented as members. This years award ceremony took place on 7th March at the Disneyland Hotel in Los Angeles, CA.

Other winners for 2009 include the teams behind the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics and The Simpsons Ride at Universal Studios Hollywood.

We’ve worked with BeWILDerwood since before the park itself even opened creating not only the branding but also the theming and the tone for the entire attraction. They have even designed much of the merchandise that is sold through the park and online, including the children’s books ‘A Boggle at BeWILDerwood’ and ‘BeWILDerbats’ by Tom Blofeld that have sold over 35,000 copies between them.

We've actually known about the award for a few weeks now, but had to keep quiet until the official announcement. To see our tiny little adventure park as able to rub shoulders with the likes of Disney is amazing and probably beyond what we ever thought we could do with it.

It does show the real power of branding though. It’s not much to do with sticking logos on things and everything to do with an organisation – however big or small – setting a tone for its communications. It doesn’t matter whether you are speaking to your team or to your customers, if you manage your messaging, you can create a brilliant brand, even with a swamp to work with.

We took an unusual approach to the THEA entry in that we produced a beautiful six minute video for the judges. We have created such a magical place in the woods and swamps that it is almost impossible to get it across in just pictures and words, so we let the kids do the talking for us by showing them running, laughing and having a brilliant time swinging and climbing through the trees. It ended up being rather good! – well the judges seemed to think so anyway.

Here’s the video

The black in Purple

2009-03-04T09:32:00.000-08:00

If you like your heavy metal with a side of political commentary, you’ll love the new album by The Engines of Armageddon – featuring Purple Circle’s artworker Keane (that’s me) on bass. Forget fashionable, formulaic droning and hark back to the days of triple gatefold concept albums, dry Floydian wit and epic Black Sabbathism.

With our singing drummer, unsurpassed level of technical mastery, distinctive doom/thrash/groove style and natural modesty, The Engines have built up quite a fan base over the past four years, averaging over 250 plays per day on MySpace and appearing on the ‘unsigned’ CD in international metal mag, Terrorizer this month. Visit our page on MySpace for a free listen, or www.enginesofarmageddon.com to pre-order a copy of the album...burning a hole in the presses as we speak.

Glory Glory NCHA United

2009-03-04T06:54:00.000-08:00

It was a glorious night for the Purple Circle team in London last night as they lifted the coveted Design Week trophy. Despite a long injury list and fixture congestion the lads gave it 110% and in a ceremony of 2 halves, withstood some early pressure from Battersea Dogs home. The game was settled with a teasing cross from Drewe in the 80th minute with Harrison rising at the far post like a salmon to nod the ball home. After the game Slack congratulated the team on a commendable performance all round.

To see the winning goal click here

Helping our clients businesses fly – or is it the other way around?

2009-03-03T08:19:00.000-08:00

We ask our clients to put a lot of trust in our advice when they go through a rebrand, but its not often that the favour is so completely repaid.

Well it was today – In some style.

The client, Ed Lennox from Feefo is a very keen pilot and as we were meeting at Wellesbourne Airfield in Warwickshire where he is a member of the flying club, he offered to take me for a few spins around the airfield.

Never having been in a four seater plane before, I was obviously scared off my head, but having just read ‘Yes Man
">Yes Man’ by Danny Wallace (A great book and well worth a read), I was forced to say yes, even though I’m a bit scared of heights!

Anyway, the following pictures prove we went up in 30 mile an hour gusts and flew out over Stratford on Avon.

Brilliant Fun and I’m not scared anymore.

If you fancy joining yourself, this is the link to the Flying Club.

Saving the Rainforest one glass of Orange Juice at a time

2009-03-02T08:19:00.000-08:00

I was reading the Freakonomics blog today and noticed a brilliant article that seemed to back up our thought about adding value.

On some Tropicana orange juice packs you can send in a code and they will save you 10 square feet of rainforest.

Wow.

That’s sounds like a lot and a really generous offer by a huge multinational. But my favourite economists have calculated it’s only worth about US11 cents – The key though is that it has a MUCH higher perceived value – and that’s where adding value really comes into its own.

So to stress again, don’t discount, find a way of adding value. What can you give your customers that doesn’t cost you much, is really wanted or valued by your customers and reinforces the values of your brands?

If you can find it and deliver it, your brand will grow, recession or no recession.

Read the article in full by clicking here

Woolies is back

2009-02-25T23:42:00.000-08:00

I was trawling around the web this morning and saw a Google Adword for Woolworths.

I did hear that they were back, but click here for proof.

http://www.woolworths.co.uk

By reading over their blog, it seems like they are being sensible and trying to correct the mistakes that took them down in the first place. They talk about defining a range designed for their web shopping format and even seeing if they can make Pick and Mix work on the Web.

If they can take the best of the Woolworths brand values and build on them, they may have a chance of building a new business with the old name.

Its a shame they missed out on all the Easter Egg sales for 2009 as in a business article on radio four yesterday it was said that the reason Tesco and Sainsbury are selling so many cheap Easter Eggs at present, is that they bought them all from Wooolies administrators. I guess that is our gain?

Whilst Woolies was always far from perfect, it will be interesting to see if the new owners can do a 'Skoda' with it and turn it from 70's joke into a sharp responsive retailer that would have allowed them to survive in the first place.

Creative Review

2009-02-24T09:00:00.000-08:00

Each year the Creative Review Annual comes out, the quality of work published turns us all a little green with envy – after all, it is described as ‘the best work of the year in visual communication’.

Well this year, we’re in it! Our work for the Nottingham Community Housing Association Annual Report has been awarded a place in The Annual. It’s out in May, and we can’t wait to get our hands on a copy!

Get your leathers on girls...

2009-02-24T08:36:00.001-08:00

Abi and Victoria look remarkably excited about a big, black plastic box. And so they should – it contains the new ‘Safer Riding’ exhibition for our friends at the Driving Standards Agency!

Discounting kills brands – you simply HAVE to add value

2009-02-23T05:22:00.000-08:00

As long ago as 1994 when we were working for a world class Racing Drivers School at Donington Park in UK. They came to us with a problem of a winter course that was almost impossible to sell out and they wanted us to produce a flyer for them to help sell it at a discounted price of £1800 for the five day programme rather than the full price of £2500.

We talked them into an idea of offering an additional 15 hours of one on one instruction that had a perceived value of £1200 but an actual cost to the school of less than £200. Guess what? The programme became the most popular and sold out almost immediately.

We already suspected the power behind adding value but this was our first definitive proof.

Well this has now been confirmed by none other than Martin Lindstrom who is one of the most forward thinking of any current brand strategist.

His supposition is that discounting a brand will take SEVEN years to recover from as this is how long the cycle takes for it to be built back up to a brand that is valued.

If you look at the huge brands now literally dumping their products through the likes of TK Maxx in a desperate search for volume, I would have to ask whether they will even survive long enough to get to the end of that seven year cycle.

If you can buy a Calvin Klein jumper in TK Maxx for £25 in their traditional grey colour, why would you want to pay £100 and more, just to have it in a better bag – particularly when some would now be embarrassed to be seen with such a conspicuous sign of excess that a Calvin Klein bag represents.

So for us, the key for the long term success of any brand is to find ways of adding value to your brand.

Tony Parsons - who we have previously described as an unwitting brand guru in many presentations delivered over the years - writing in his book Man and Wife, was trying to establish why his parents had managed to stay married for so long. His Mum’s answer was simple

By learning to fall in love over and over again.

The same can be said for managing any great brand, because the best brands have an emotive element that people love over and above all reason.

An emotional brand gives their customers reasons to fall in love with them over and over again. They act as though they are in a real relationship with them and if they do it well and keep doing it well, they may be lucky enough stay in that relationship with them forever.

The secret seems to be to reward them, surprise them, say thank you, respect them and treat them as intelligent individuals. Just like in a conventional relationship, if you make more of an effort, you are far more likely to succeed.

So. Don’t discount. Delight instead.

You can see this press release on Pressbox by clicking here

Little Angels

2009-02-12T08:38:00.000-08:00

Angels by Day are a Montessori children’s nursery in Nottingham that we’ve been working with for several years now. Our latest brand refresh involves talking birds, Lochness-like worms, kamikaze butterflies and a purple squirrel!

The simple illustrations have been loosely drawn as if cut from coloured paper. There’s also a cutout typestyle to boot!

We’ll publish more soon, but for now this is the nessie-like worm I was talking about!

Safe!

2009-02-11T05:37:00.000-08:00

As its youth month in Nottingham, we were asked to create an identity and a range of materials for Nottinghamshire Police to appeal to those youths that hang around by the lions in The Market Square (and also the ones that don’t!)

Our solution was to get back to basics with stenciled and spray painted text and illustrations all wrapped up in a 'Little book of big tips'.

Nottingham. Design Capital of the World?

2009-02-10T03:04:00.000-08:00

Quite frankly, we weren't sure either. But the more we thought about it, the more we believed it could actually be possible. Look beyond the monstrosity of the Ice Arena, and you'll discover some quite inspirational, contemporary architecture; A mix of creative illustrators and product designers; The 1970's iconic Raleigh Chopper; Watson Fothergill's Gothic splendor; Not to mention some bloke called Paul Smith.

On the back of this, we were asked to look at the branding to help Nottingham City Council win the World Design Capital 2012 bid. Unfortunately, we weren't successful this time, but if that project has reminded us of one thing, it's the incredible talent we have in the city.

Love is in the air...

2009-02-03T09:38:00.000-08:00

With any luck the snow is melting as fast as our frozen hearts this February. Believe it or not we have been informed by the folk that deliver our lovely organic food boxes that the 14th February heralds the start of Purple Love week - and frankly, who are we to argue. Apparently it's the biggest co-ordinated tasting week in the UK and it combines our favourite things - purpleness, sheds and food.

So have a look at www.purplelove.co.uk and get fruity this Valentines. (sorry!)

How to knit a logo

2009-02-03T08:21:00.000-08:00

Usually our designers will be pondering what typeface to choose. How tightly to set the leading. Or what Pantone colour to pick. This time, Johanna’s having to decide which needle and thread to use!

Our latest branding project for Nottingham City Council involves a pair of lime green pajama bottoms. A couple of Tesco soup lids. Buttons from Vicky Market. And amongst many other things, about a tonne of supersoft toy filling!

And, before you ask, no we’re not spinning you a yarn... Check back t-wit t-woon to see Johanna’s secret creation in it’s full, feathery glory!

Back to the future

2009-02-03T05:47:00.000-08:00

Back in 1995, we wrote a proposal for Machine Mart, who we then went on to work with successfully for many years, helping them almost double the size of their business.

A few things remain unchanged in this document from all those years ago.

1. Machine Mart's logo - Which shows that changing a logo is not always the answer to running a business or even making a mark when you take over one.

2. Purple Circle's business values. Even in 1995, they read as follows:

Firstly we only take on projects that play to our strengths - namely those that involve creative thought and project management;

Secondly when we submit a quotation we will stick to it. We will not keep adding extras for 'author's alterations' at the design stage, unless you completely change the brief;

And finally, design comes last. When we are given a brief we stop and think. We don't rush headlong into trying to sell a visual we think you want to buy. We only supply relevant creativity - relevant to your brief. We are not in the business of designing for aesthetic criteria alone and good design is drawn from clarity of thought.

The amazing thing for me is that even after all this time, those are still three of our core values in trading with any client - old or new.

Getting your organisational values right can be brilliant for any business. They give you a clear direction to influence any business decision.

It also said rather proudly that Purple Circle had been established for over four years. That seems like absolutely ages ago now as its just about to be 18 years.

Getting your business values right and then sticking to them for year after year after year ensures that any customer, old or new also knows what they can expect from you or your brand and ensures you know how to recruit potential staff who understand what your business is really all about.

And for your amusement, this is what the three of us looked like back then!

New Business Live Conference

2009-01-28T10:56:00.000-08:00

I'm speaking at a conference tomorrow (29th jan) at Nottingham's Trent FM Arena.

It's called New Business Live and is designed to help new businesses, entrepreneurs and other small businesses to be inspired and improve what they do.

http://www.newbusinesslive.net/

I'll be talking about branding (surprisingly!!) and how to build a brilliant brand from scratch - even if you are on a very tight budget.

There's some good speakers overall. Have a look here

Have a look and if its not too late, why not come along and heckle. I seem to have a bit of a graveyard slot and if anyone sits through a talk about legal aspects of setting a franchise up then hopefully my subject area should be a bit more light hearted.

Hope to see you there. I'll be Twittering for much of the day about what the speakers are like, so have a look here if you're interested.

Cheers

John

You don't decide - your customers do

2009-01-28T10:06:00.000-08:00

For years, we have been saying that it is not you that decides whether your brand is any good, it's your customers.

That may seem like a bold or even an odd claim, but the growth of feedback websites is proving it.

We are just starting to work with one of the best called Feefo

They are delivering feedback to their clients customers that is transforming their businesses. It has been amazing for BeWILDerwood in that it has helped them learn what they are doing right and wrong and really helped focus some decisions about where to invest in improvements.

For Charles Tywhritt it has been what they have built their entire business model on and 99% of their customers seem to love them - which is an amazing figure for any retailer, let alone an online one.

Gartner inc forecasted some years ago that by 2010 there would be 1 billion camera phones in the market place. Add to that the fact that they are now mostly web enabled and you have a very powerful customer voice indeed.

Richard Branson of Virgin fame, who runs a brand that is properly loved was forced to actually ring a customer who not only wrote him a complaint letter but took pictures of what he was unhappy about and then posted it all over the web. It is one of the funniest letters you will ever see.

Have a look at it here. It's brilliant and well worth reading.

but here are some of the beautiful camera phone pics he took!

Makes you want to tuck straight in, doesn't it Richard, tuck straight in.

What this shows you is that with any brand you have to really listen to your customers

If they decide that your brand is offering them rubbish, they will tell the world. What you need to encourage them to do by tapping into the power of User generated Content and the likes of Feefo, is harness the power of their compliments too.

Bye for now

John

Branding in a recession

2009-01-05T03:35:00.000-08:00

Few of us can be in any doubt that times are tough for most sectors of business and all of us will have to adjust our business models to survive and maybe even thrive.

Having started our own business in a recession, we know all about how to trade in these times. There are two key choices:

1. You hide and panic and hope it gets better

2. You stride out confidently knowing it is as bad or worse for your peers and take the opportunity to grab their market share.

 Too many businesses drift into receivership by quietly fading away with a whimper, but the best of us use it to adapt and possibly expand and help redefine what we do to make it far easier for our customers to connect with our businesses.

Only if you truly connect with your customers will they continue to trade with you.

There are three ways that we believe we act as customers.

1. Customers want real value.
This does not mean a cheap price, but a sensible price for a good quality product. We would say that it is more likely that people will buy fewer higher quality staples than lots of cheap poor quality products.

So with clothing it would be the likes of Primark who would see a negative effect as they are so dependent on high volumes. Those who concentrate on really looking after their customers and listening and acting on what they want, such as John Lewis and Next will almost certainly do very well in the long run.

They can even offer value ranges for those who wish to trade down without totally compromising on quality.

2. Customers are nervous about commitment.
Again, what this means to us is that the answer is NOT huge great lead times for when you have to pay for things. An ad on TV yesterday was claiming that you paid nothing until 2010 and then took interest free credit. That is just ludicrous and I’m sure it will not be what people want when they are nervous about what their future holds.

Make yourself easy to buy from and offer sensible value and your customers will remain loyal.

3. Customers only trust those they know.
If you have bought from someone before and you know they did a great job or provided a great product, it is more likely you will come back to them as a customer.

Therefore, use PR and advertising to show potential customers other satisfied customers and be loyal to them. Don’t go offering massive incentives to new customers and neglect the ones you have. It is far, far more sensible to build a business based on the ones you have already than always chasing after the next new exciting one on the horizon.

In summary, you have to be clearly differentiated in a way that is not just different for the sake of it but that offers a real and desired point of difference. This point of difference may be as simple as being consistently better in service than others (which is in itself harder to achieve than it sounds) – but whatever it is, you need to tell everyone about it in everything you do.

The days of mass branding are over. We do not want to be the same as everyone else, even if we do buy the same brands.

Branding is not rocket science, it is not just good design, it is a collaboration of clearly thought through common sense delivered through exceptional customer service and a product or service that matches and makes people feel good about their decision.

Treating every single customer as though they are important and valued individuals will ensure your business will not just survive, it will thrive and grow in this recession.

You can see this release on Pressbox by clicking here

Festive Greetings

2008-12-18T07:40:00.000-08:00

This year we invited everyone to deck the halls and, indeed, their offices with a festive cardboard alternative to the bauble!

We foiled bedrock board with three different festive designs in copper, purple and pearlescent silver, and then tied them with a red ribbon before the elves at Global HQ sent them all over the land.

We hope you’ve found a special place on the tree for yours!

Drum roll please...

2008-12-10T06:49:00.000-08:00

And the winner is...

Those kind people at The Drum magazine have recently voted little, old us ‘Midlands design agency of the year 2008’. That’s not to be confused with ‘Midlands design agency of the year 2007’ (we won that one last year!)

It’s a fitting end to what has been another great year for us. Let’s see what 2009 brings...!