Since it opened in 1992 Draycote Hotel, with its championship golf course Whitefields Golf Club have established themselves as a great venue for recreation and business users.

Reflecting on the message they were presenting to their clients, James Parker, Operations Director, decided that they needed to refresh their online presence and appointed Creative to revitalise their online offering to their clients by designing and building new website for both the Hotel and the Golf Club.

Following a 3 month process from appointment, design sign off and build, James Parker is extremely pleased with the outcome.

So much so, that he has appointed Creative on a retained basis to manage the marketing strategy for Draycote Hotel and Whitefields Golf Club. This appointment will mean that Creative will work closely with James on key business objectives to achieve, which will mean that focus on client retention, venue presentation and engagement with the identified target audiences will be the key in continuing the success Draycote Hotel and Whitefields Golf Club has achieved over the last 20 Years.

We are really pleased about this appointment and demonstrates that our excellent work for developing a vibrant and user friendly website for the venue has awarded us a working relationship we are so pleased to have confirmed.

We are really building up some great results within the Hotel Sector and if you feel we could help your business please get in touch as we would welcome the opportunity to chat to you about your objectives.

BayPoint is a fantastic new leisure complex Nr Sandwich, Kent. On the site formerly owned by Pfizer Social Club, BayPoint owner Tony Harrison had a bold vision to create a new leisure experience for the residents of Thanet and this finally came to life when the venue opened for business in September.

We were really pleased that we beat off stiff competition to win the opportunity to create a website for this brand new facility. With little brief, we had a clean slate to create a vibrant and fresh website to create the vision Tony and his team have for this exciting community project.
Potentially a challenge with little guidance to what the client wished, we again delivered a design and functionality that exceeded their expectation.

With any new project, getting the tone, quality of content and images to convey the site to the prospective members of BayPoint was a challenge, but working closely with the management team at BayPoint we were able to achieve the build to time and to budget to meet the needs for the business opening in September.

We are delighted that Reconomy, the leading waste management provider to the construction and housebuilding industry has awarded us the project to design and build their new website.

Creative beat off some stiff competition to be awarded this exciting project and the sealing factor for this win was our ability to demonstrate how we could use our extensive digital agency capability in making sure that the key messages Reconomy wish to get across to their prospects and clients are communicated in a clear and engaging way.

In addition to this, our SEO and PPC management strategy set us apart from the other competition, clearly demonstrating to Reconomy we are not just looking at the User Experience and User Interface for the website, but arguably as important making sure the Reconomy website is found by their target audiences.

We are delighted to announce that we have been chosen to work with Oxford University Sports on the development of their website. Creative won the project from a tender pool of three agencies. Our brief is to create a “sporting hub” that’s simple, clean and easy to use, modernizing and adding statue to the Oxford University Sports offer. The site will ensure that the 84 sports clubs have a collective area from which links to the clubs own sites can be easily found. The new site updates the current website built over 10 years ago, it will allow the university to integrate it’s social media output.

The site is currently in design so watch this space ……

By Bernadette Curtis of Creative

Friday in the office was more upbeat than usual as I and the rest of the creative team were being freed from the shackles of our desks and heading out to to spend a few hours at the inaugural Cheltenham Design Festival.

Having read about the festival in Creative Review earlier that month, advertising had begun to appear across Cheltenham promoting the forthcoming event. For a change, it was nice to see QR codes being put to good use, and were popping up on distinctive yellow and black for sale boards all across town. The marketing team behind the event had done a sterling job and word of the festival had spread.

After a few last minute amends and a delayed departure we arrived at the Parabola Arts Centre to a hive of activity. Coffee, stands, books and creative networking filled the entrance as we took our seats in the main auditorium.

Front row seats, thank goodness it’s not a comedy gig. iPhone Notepad at the ready…no wi-fi, this is supposed to be a digital design festival? No matter, we were soon in the presence of design legends David Hillman of Pentagram and Bruce Duckworth of Turner Duckworth to name but a few.

The topic of discussion was the future of design, and I was excited to hear what designers of such calibre and experience though about what, why and how the industry would evolve.

The first conversation was based around branding, one of Creative’s strongest areas, so I was pleased to hear a discussion that John, the creative director and I had been having only days earlier.

The talk was of branding, and the fact that a brand now was much more than a logo and a poster. At Creative, we refer to this as ‘adaptive branding’, where we aim to achieve a consistent look but create a multi-dimensional brand that can change and evolve.

The conservation went on to describe how the media has largely remained the same but the client touch points have now changed. Clients view brands through a multitude of different channels and as a result, brands must to be able to adapt. However, no matter what the channel, the idea is key, and if the idea and core brand values are strong enough, then everything else within the brand will hold together.

To hear speakers of such regard in the industry, reinforcing the values and discussions we have in our own studio was extremely encouraging, and gave both I and John a wry smile.

The debate soon gathered pace, and topics were covered from client relationships and research, to recruitment and digital design. Hillman had the audience laughing as he described stories from his life at Pentagram, reflecting on a meeting with a difficult client who was insistent on what course of action was best… “do you go to the doctor with the symptom or the cure” he asked the client? “The symptom” the client replied. “Well then, I would appreciate it if you would treat me with the same respect!”

The panel were both old and young, experienced and upcoming, and their views and opinions divided. However, one thing that the panel did agree on, and something that made me reflect, is that Creativity is one of the greatest gifts given to mankind and I realised for moment, how lucky I was personally, to be granted that gift and be able to use it on a daily basis.

Before I knew it, the talk had finished, and after a quick coffee we returned to the office inspired and upbeat. Positive that the industry is alive and well, and humoured by that fact that even the top designers have exactly the same issues we face on a daily basis.

On returning to the office Client Services soon brought us back to earth, amendments to get done.

Ah well, as Duckworth said, a creative studio is like a football team, the designers are the players and everyone else are the supporters…

…Was that Rachael chanting my name? Oh yeah, those amends!

Can’t wait for the next event.

Mark Reed of Creative

Senior Designer

So what is Pinterest?

It’s a social media site that lets you share pictures (and videos). You create pinboards of images that you categorise – for example: kids, parties, travel, homes, weddings, fashion etc. Once you’re on Pinterest (and you need to apply to join and wait to be invited) you can see what other people are pinning. If you like their images, you can pin them on your own boards. And things you pin on your boards get shared across other social networks – like Facebook and Twitter. It looks a bit like this:

So how can you use it for business?

The Pinterest rules say that you can’t self promote. So you might be able to pin a handful of your images onto your boards, but it’s not meant as way for you to just promote yourself. Like all social media, it’s about sharing!  From a business point of view, what you need is for other people to pin your images for you. And you do that firstly by having images worth sharing and secondly, by adding a Pin It button to your images/product pages, just the same way you would add other social media bookmark icons. This gives other people an easy way to pin your images to their boards, and hopefully, other people will repin it to their boards. And as you can tag your images to include your URL, you can drive a great deal of traffic to your website.

How do I do that?

This very useful video explains how to use Pinterest, how to add Pins to your blog or website and how to encourage people to pin your products. Although the video is specific to people who tend to make and sell crafts, it will be just as valid for people selling any products online or people who have image-led businesses/blogs.

And finally

You don’t have to be a member of Pinterest to add Pin buttons to your website so you don’t have to spend hours looking at pictures all day. But it does help to see the type of images people are pinning and repinning.  Yes it can be time consuming, but it’s worth setting aside an hour just to get a feel for it. Alternatively, hire in help!

Like all social media for business use, this will work best when you do it with a plan and strategy in mind. If you are feeling utterly confounded by it all and need help getting to grips with your social media, get in touch and let’s have a chat.

Happy pinning!

By Melissa Talago of Creative

I speak to many companies who tell me that they ‘re-did’ their website two, three, five years ago so they don’t need anything new at the moment. I understand that. You spent a good chunk of money. You got a new website. You can tick the box on your to do list that says: refresh/create website.

But websites are your biggest advertising opportunity and your best way of attracting customers 24/7.  It’s probably your most cost effective way of marketing your business too. If you want to keep attracting customers, you need to constantly refresh your website. And not just with new content. Website styles go out of fashion just the same way harem pants do. What looks hip and happening this year might not look quite so up to date next year.

I’m not suggesting that businesses should have a complete website overhaul on an annual basis. I am suggesting that you look critically at your website at least once a year (obviously content should be checked and updated far more regularly). Does it still look current? Are there things that should be there that aren’t – like social media links or legal notices? Are the images still relevant? Could you tweak the layout or font or style? Is the site map up to date? Do the colours still work? Has your business strategy changed and does your website reflect that change? When last did your web designer proactively suggest some changes to you?

If you think that five years is not that long ago and that you still think your website from back then is fine, think about this:  Five years ago Twitter had only just launched. Facebook was something individuals did, not businesses. YouTube had only been going for a year. According to Netcraft,  there were 105.2 million websites in December of 2006. At the end of 2011 there were 525,998,433 sites – in other words five times more in five years. Will your website stand out amongst all of those? Will it seem current?

If you think your website might need a bit of a make-over, get in touch. I’ll happily take a look at it, compare it to your competitors and give you some basic suggestions – all for free with no obligation from you. Obviously we can make all the changes for you too. But I’m just as happy to act as a fresh set of eyes for you.

Get in touch!

By Melissa Talago of Creative

It’s almost over a week since Simon, Nina and I joined Helen from Treehouse at a Learn and Go creative thinking training day. We were all intrigued with what was in-store and were eager to prove that you don’t have to be a designer to think creatively.

With our mobiles all turned off, our work baggage filed in the bin, a table full of pens and colourful post it notes and a big plate of biscuits we were all set to start.

After a quick biology recap on neuro pathways and plasticity, Helen an old contact from my FMCG days explained how we would get the most out of the day. We learnt about BOB the Box Of Behaviors, the importance of Space and the brilliantly named TreeAngle process.

It appears with a bit of structure, a defined objective, some simple rules and a tool kit of stimulus the most difficult of problems can be solved with any number of ideas.

It was hard work but we all learnt a great deal on how to look at a problem from lots of different angles.

We came away with an action plan for an allotment and a long list of ideas on how to be greener in just 7 days.

We are proud to be currently working on a new website for Treehouse and will keep you posted once the new site goes live.

For more information please contact Julie Krysik at Treehouse on 07796 940 659 as Helen is about to have a baby!!

By Bernadette Curtis of Creative

You’ve made the decision to hire a creative agency – whether it’s to build you a website, develop a brand, create an ad campaign or roll out a full marketing strategy. Before you invest a penny of your marketing budget, you need to make what is arguably the most important investment in the marketing process – the creative brief.

A Creative Brief is a plan for the project. It describes your intentions, identifies what success looks like and how success will be measured. So often, organisations appoint a company to conduct some kind of marketing or creative work and end up feeling disappointed as the end result isn’t what they’d hoped for. That usually means that the goals and expectations weren’t clearly laid out to start with.

So how do you create a good brief? Here are five tips on getting it right:

• Gather background information to understand where you are today – who are your customers, what do they buy from you, where are they located, what’s working, what’s not? Get your team together to discuss this so that you’re in agreement.
• Set out clear, measurable goals that you want to achieve. Without these, there is no way to measure success. Vague targets such as ‘improve awareness’ are difficult to measure. All objectives should be considered in terms of a business problem that costs money to solve. Ask yourself: ‘What is the rationale to spend this money?’ What does success look like?
• Use a framework outlining:  Your goals, the objective of the project, the proposition i.e. what you’re trying to communicate, who your target audience is, product information, brand background, the execution, the timetable and budget.
• Provide insight. Giving too little or very dry, factual information is a recipe for disaster. The more insight, personality, descriptors and understanding you can provide the better. The agency needs to get under your skin to know who you are and what you want to be.
• If possible, write the brief in partnership with the agency. They know what they need and can help you clarify what it is you need. And it takes some work off your plate!

Click here to down load our guide to the perfect brief

By Melissa Talago of Creative

We take pride in our work at Creative, and delivering for our clients time and time again is our priority. With this in mind we are proud to now be on the Recommended Agency Register. A big thank to all our clients who have taken the time to rank us.