The turn of a year always prompts some navel contemplation [‘where did that go?’], the inevitable resolutions to get fit and some crystal ball gazing. For bd2, 2011 was a great year with some exciting, ever bigger and ever more complex projects undertaken or underway for an ever growing client base. The combination of which led to business growth of 34% – which we’re quite chuffed with given all the general economic doom and gloom.
2012 promises to be equally exciting with some large scale web-projects in production – we’re soon to launch our most ambitious integrated e-commerce site for longstanding client Ralawise and have begun to develop a major intranet based ‘vehicle’ for HP Enterprise Services.
We’re building our first mobile sites as our b2b clients look to harness the accessibility and capabilities of smartphone technologies following the b2c trend which has seen mobile and tablet use grow exponentially in 2011. This growth is set to continue as Tony Foggett, MD of Code Computer Love, commented recently: ‘If 2011 has been the year when mobile technologies emerged in earnest, 2012 will be the year when brands really start to take advantage of smartphone and tablet usage. Mobile offers an amazing marketing platform with which to innovate from.” Social media will also, undoubtedly, continue to grow in importance for b2b as it has for b2c with its unique offering of engagement and dialogue which is driving all brands to show a compassionate side aligned to a genuine corporate social responsibility strategy. With broadband speeds providing a near broadcast TV experience, the use of video will also continue to grow. But the key to success online, whatever the platform or media, is an integrated strategy – aligned with your offline marketing strategy – and quality content “As current digital platforms mature and more emerge, content will remain a key differentiator for e-commerce and brand building activities in 2012. The importance of clever creative thinking and technology remains – if not becomes more important.”
To meet this need, we’re opening a new 750sq ft photography studio at our premises to provide a resource for still photography such as product shots including all colourways, 3D rotates and zooms along with roomset, as well as video for corporate sites and e-commerce requirements such as catwalks for clothing and apparel. Having the studio on site will allow us to provide a very cost effective service and a very rapid response as we’ll be able to shoot, re-touch, colour balance and add product images to sites in a couple of hours.
March will see the launch of our ‘Creative Wigan’ online directory which we’ve developed and donated to the local creative sector to enable prospective clients from both public and private sectors to source services from creative, digital or ICT businesses on their doorstep. The launch event is penciled in for Friday 2nd March with MP Andy Burnham now confirmed it’s hoped he will be joined by other local MPs, leading public sector figures and captains of industry to help raise the profile of the local talent within the sector and, if the anticipated 100+ do turn up,
it might get some media coverage too!
iPad and tablet conversion rates are double that of desktops, and almost twice as high as other mobile devices, according to stats that show the value of tablet users for online retailers. According to stats from Affiliate Window’s M-commerce white paper http://blog.affiliatewindow.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/M-Commerce-The-Complete-Picture2.pdf the average conversion rate for iPad was 3.82% in August, compared to 1.9% for desktop (i.e. non-mobile). The stats cover 81.9m visits to merchants and 1.57m sales, not including In-App purchases except in cases where the customer is taken out of the app to complete the transaction.
Stats from eBay, quoted in M-commerce’s Innovation Briefing
http://econsultancy.com/uk/reports/m-commerce-innovation-briefing, echo this trend, with the company stating that tablet users spend 50% more than PC users. Conversion rates are also higher for iPads compared to the tablets, not only are average order values higher [AOV of £69.94, compared to £65 for desktops], but the iPad is converting better than desktop, as well as all other mobile devices. And by some distance too. The average iPad conversion rate for August was 3.82%, with the next best 2.58% for Android. Non-mobile was way behind on 1.9%.
These stats then, would suggest that b2c online retailers should ensure their website is optimised for tablets to take full advantage of the growing number of consumers using them – ipad sales grew 183% in the quarter to June this year. It doesn’t take too great a leap in imagination to see that this consumer trend could follow suit in the b2b arena. The portability of the tablet combined with it’s intuitive and more practical usability than mobiles, added to the ability to go online, either via wifi or 3G, makes it the most convenient way for non-desk based users to reference and potentially order products whilst out of the office.
According to the latest Ofcom figures, a quarter of adults in the UK now have a smart phone and it’s reasonably logical to assume that the figure is higher amongst business users. The numbers are rising at nearly 10% a year and will no doubt increase more rapidly as cheaper devices become available. Mobiles have been part of our day to day lives for many years and, with smart phones especially, have become a vital business tool as they provide access to most of what we now need to work – phones, emails, messages, internet access, contacts and an almost overwhelming array of useful business applications.
The attraction of access to everything everywhere is immense, particularly as individuals and as consumers. Some of the most innovative social media channels and switched on brands exploit the technology brilliantly, such as Groupon which offers vouchers and discounts within retail and food outlets, based on a user’s location. And brands are increasingly using QR codes to drive the reader of an advert or promotional piece to scan it and instantly open the website, rather than try and remember the URL or Facebook page for when you get to a PC.
Businesses are also tapping into these innovations to raise profiles and awareness. But it’s all too easy to get swept along with sexy new technology. Sometimes a quick sanity check is needed to question it’s real value to business – ‘would I look at a website on my mobile if I’m sat at a desk looking at a nice big PC or even laptop screen?’ Probably not, but perhaps I would scan a QR code whilst visiting a trade event or exhibition, or one on a business card at a networking event. But if I did, I’d expect a mobile friendly site, rather than a standard corporate one which would need expanding and reducing to navigate or read.
There’s no doubt that the 25% of UK adults statistic alone, makes mobile a consideration for inclusion within your overall ‘e-strategy’ even for classic b2b businesses. It’s important not to think about mobile in isolation, as a
recent article in The Chartered Institute of Marketing’s magazine, ‘The Marketer’ observes “it’s not a separate channel; it’s what people use when they visit other channels. The difference between the internet and mobile will soon be invisible.”
If you’d like to discuss your business’s e-strategy and what role mobile could play in it, please contact will@bd2.co.uk.
Last Friday saw the second Wigan Business Expo, and [whilst the word 'Expo' still suggests to me something that sounds like the kind of thing they hold in Brussels, Rome, Tokyo or Montreal] the event is growing into its title and also in terms of exhibitors, attendees and length. Having relocated from one stadia to another – from DW Sports to Leigh Sports Village – the new venue accommodated more exhibitors and a full day’s programme of speakers in two presentation rooms. Although actually getting to the venue wasn’t that easy though with some ill-timed roadworks causing tailbacks onto the ever-expanding Leigh Sports Village site, shortly to be added to by a large Morrisons. Unfortunately both the event and the roadworks were organised by the Council, I guess it’s a case of the left and right hand?
Despite this glitch, hats must go off to the Council for supporting local businesses and encouraging inward investment in the Borough across both public and private sectors. As last year, the event had a very positive buzz, with exhibitors and attendees networking in the various rooms and corridors of the stadium. The presentations were inevitably mixed, given that there must have been a dozen in each room through the day, both in terms of quality and attendance but there were some worthwhile ones amongst them. I’d like to think that my efforts to explain the importance of developing an ‘e-strategy’ within your business, to compliment traditional marketing and business plans, were well received and I seemed to have a reasonable audience. There was no heckling or throwing of objects at least, which is always a positive.
Given that this year’s event was bigger and better than last year, I’d hope that the Council will continue to support it, even in what are clearly difficult times for Local Authorities and their budgets. There does at least seem be a growing recognition of the importance of local business to the survival and growth of the local economy.
Thanks must go to Claire Walsh and Keith Molloy at the Council for the hard work they’ve clearly put into making the event happen.
We’ve built a strong, and now quite long, relationship with the Graphics Department at Wigan College which stems from an initial approach by Course Leader David Beattie some 4 or 5 years ago. Since then we’ve taken on a few placements, set briefs, marked projects, advised students and even found jobs for one or two graduates, which has all been very rewarding from our perspective and is, hopefully, mutually beneficial. We were more than happy, therefore, to be one of the sponsors of the final show for the first year of the new Graphic Design Foundation Degree Course. Naturally we attended last night’s Private View, as we have for the last few years, and were delighted to see the quality of work on display produced by the Foundation Degree’s dozen graduates under the guidance of David. Both from a conceptual and a production perspective most of the work was very strong and it’s no surprise that the new graduates are moving on to complete full degrees or are even going into industry, where demand for their skills is testament to their ability and training given the current tough job market.
Congratulations must go to David for his work with this group, the quality and dedication of which is evident in their output and obvious respect. Hats off too for his personal and proactive efforts to engage with industry by building relationships with local agencies such as ours, but also with some of the bigger London names leading to studio visits for his students to the likes of Pentagram, McCanns and BMB. 
You have to admire How Do’s knack of putting together a decent speaker line up and consequently pulling in a decent crowd. The ‘How Do Manchester Creative Business Forum’, held at the stylish Studio at The Hive yesterday was typically well attended by a healthy mix of creative industry types drawn in by a wealthier mix of creative industry leaders. The speaker list was topped by Sue Little, Chief Exec of Mccanns, the acknowledged largest agency outside London, which if translated into the famous ‘That was the week that was’ sketch with the Two Ronnies and John Cleese, puts her firmly in the John Cleese position on the left – we all look up to her. Her presentation, whilst b2c biased and inevitably Mccanns view of the world, did capture the current mood of change with its challenge everything message – “think the unthinkable and do the undoable” driven by the rise of social media and newly empowered consumers. Liane Grimshaw, former Amaze director, punchily delivered some widely
known but ever relevant home truths summed up, really, as focus – focus on your team, your clients and what you’re good at. And finally there was a dry but fascinating presentation by a ‘Deputy Agent’ (disappointingly not dressed in Cowboy get up as I imagined) from the Bank of England on the overall picture of the economy which turns out to look like a lot of complex graphs cleverly vague enough to accommodate sizable margins for error and frequently caveated by global economic factors outside their control or ability to predict. Summed up, I think, as cautiously optimistic. Which I felt was the general mood of the event, coupled with the ubiquitous rhetoric about collaboration.
We seem to come across two major problems when attempting to do our own work; firstly, and somewhat inevitably but always happily, our clients’ always take priority, which means that any work for ourselves is constantly pushed to the back of the queue. Mind you, it’s hard to complain about not having enough time to do your own work as it means we’re too busy doing someone else’s; Secondly, we are the most demanding, most critical, most awkward and most frustrating client we’ve ever had to work for.
It’s safe to say then, that designing and building our new website has been a prolonged and sometimes painful process. Over the years we’ve taken various paths, driven by expectation really, and have been locked in a perennial arm-wrestling struggle between looking like a boutique design agency and looking like a web development business, so much so that for the last few years we’ve had 2 sites - a Shockwave ‘designery’ site at bd2.com and a ‘techie’ web developers site at bd2.net. However, the time has come, or in truth it’s long overdue, to consolidate our online presence into one site that hopefully explains ‘what we do’ and reflects ‘how we do it’ by showing ‘who we do it for’. We’re pleased with it (at least we are this week)
but we’re always interested in constructive feedback, so any comments are welcome – please email will@bd2.co.uk.
So I went up to The Storey in Lancaster, a labyrinthine and fascinating venue ran by an equally fascinating Chief Executive with more connections than a Meccano Ferris wheel set and a business CV that wouldn’t flatter a Dragon’s Den panelist, with some nervousness but no real expectations. That nervousness was soon dissipated by a friendly compere – Byron Evans of Wallop Video who must be just as comfortable in front of a camera as behind one, a quick pint of Peroni and some fat comfy leather couches which set a relaxed and homely tone. Although this is reduced somewhat when you look up to see a lecture theatre with rows of faces looking back at you.
The debate soon found itself sidetracked by what exactly constituted a ‘big’ agency these days although the panel was well placed to consider this with a fairly representative spread – ourselves with a dozen people, Wash Design with 5 or 6, Juice Digital again 6 but part of Tangerine PR which is in the mid 20s and Red C Marketing at 42. Perhaps predictably it was the PR guy, Steve Downes,, who proposed that it wasn’t numbers of people or revenues but ‘fame’ that mattered. Rather trickily, this is unquantifiable, although the success of the likes of ‘Love Creative’ has clearly built a reputation leading to work from some big brands. Such examples also reinforce my assertion that it’s all about doing a good job.
Unquestionably size has been less and less of a determining factor which is evident in all the small agencies working on big brands, although capacity must have some bearing. Over the last 20 years or so, the best regional agencies such as The Chase in Manchester and Attik in Leeds, have broken London’s stranglehold on the industry through the excellence of their work setting a new precedent for big corporates to source creative work outside London.
Personally, I believe technology has also played a massive role to assist this and in two ways; firstly as a communications enabler – you don’t need to be next door to your clients with email, electronic documents and innovations like video conferencing and Skype. For example we’re currently working on a project for HP’s Ericsson account in Sweden, the final stages of which have seen alts made in real time in Indesign on our machines, viewed in their virtual conference suite. Secondly, very the nature of the job includes ever increasing digital media involving new skills and technologies. It’s often been smaller agencies that have reacted faster to learn and adopt the skills to deliver these emerging media – web, mobile, apps, viral – and so, when companies have needed these skills, they’ve had to work with smaller agencies either directly or through partnerships. Then, assuming they’ve delivered, credibility is built and any wariness dispelled. This, in turn, leads to more work for them and opportunities for other specialists of any size. At least that’s our experience.
This joint Marketing Industry Network and Creative Lancashire Event at The Storey in Lancashire on the 11th May is set to discuss the benefits or otherwise of Agency size and how small businesses manage to work with big ones. I’ve agreed to be one of the panelists, although having never done anything quite like this before, do so with some nervous concern, mostly about the potential of making a fool of myself in front of lots of people. Plus I’m going to have to start paying attention to panelists on the telly for style tips – David Dimbleby? Michael Portillo? Ian Hislop? Simon Cowell? Perhaps The Hoff? I suppose, given that bd2 is a dozen people in Wigan but we’re currently working with several businesses with revenues in excess of $100 Billion, I’ll have something useful to contribute.
However, and I’m not sure I should reveal this before the event, I don’t think there’s any big secret; it’s all about doing a great job, being professional and looking after your customers.
For more info, or to book tickets, see http://minetwork.me/2010/12/30/big-brother-little-brother-does-size-matter/
We have published a new issue of our newsletter “brief distraction”; it’s the latest round up of our creative work on websites, direct mail, email marketing, adverts and literature projects. we have also included a short article on e-strategies, which looks at why organsations should consider their entire online presence in combination.
The newsletter features a website project we have recently completed for Wigan Council; “Way to Work”‚ is a Wigan Borough Partnership initiative designed to make it easier for local people to access work, training and education. Along with marketing communication projects for HP – a key partner within the Atlas Consortium, we’ve completed a major e-commerce rebuild for Ralawise 
Europe’s largest distributor of branded apparel, and an ongoing new sector marketing campaign for Vision Commercial Kitchens, kitchen suppliers to the new Heston Blumenthal restaurant London.
To request a copy of our newsletter please contact vicky@bd2.co.uk
it might get some media coverage too!
