The TV ad will be seen across 15 primetime channels that include ITV2, TinyPop, Nick Junior, DisneyXD, CITV, Boomerang, Cartoon and Nicktoon, amongst others. The new ad supports an integrated direct mail campaign that aims to generate even greater interest in the children’s brand.

Michelle Ramirez, brand manager at Redcats said: “We have worked with Principles Agency since 2009 and have achieved huge success through our award-winning DRTV campaigns since that time. This latest ad reinforces our brand’s core strength in that our clothes are fundamentally designed with ‘children in mind’ and allow children to be carefree, happy and playful. As with the adult retail environment, the children’s market remains as competitive as ever, so we believe this inspirational TV ad will further support our customer acquisition and retention strategy.”

Through the ad, Vertbaudet aims to reinforce its French heritage and drive customer traffic to the website and catalogue. The retailer is primarily targeting busy ABC1 mums with children of pre-school age who are looking for unique children’s clothing for all occasions, that can’t be found on the high street. The ad is also designed to engage existing customers with older children in the 5-8 year category.

Kathryn Muir, account director at Principles Agency commented: “This TV ad promotes the Spring/Summer 2012 collection, whilst continuing to deliver the concept of ‘children being children’. It targets more affluent mums who want their little ones to convey style and individuality through quality children’s clothing.”

Since 2009 Principles Agency has created seasonal direct marketing and DRTV campaigns for the brand, focusing on both customer recruitment and retention. Campaigns have driven sales revenue through Vertbaudet’s catalogue channel and the retail website at www.vertbaudet.co.uk.

Karen has been awarded the prestigious accolade against stiff competition from around the UK. She is a digital marketing professional with over eleven years’ experience and has headed up the client services team at MadeByPi for over three years, She has been instrumental in steering the growth and direction of the company since early 2010, in her current board member role.

Karen commented: “I am absolutely thrilled with this achievement. To personally receive independent recognition through public votes is fantastic. I am proud to be part of such a dynamic team that is always at the forefront of digital innovation. To collaborate with and to create and deliver effective digital projects for brands like BBC, Channel 4, first direct, Halfords, HSBC and Disney, is an absolute dream.”

Karen is a key industry representative and is involved in a number of digital forums and panels. She has recently delivered keynote digital presentations and discussions on social media, retail marketing and digital marketing for youth audiences to a range of brand and marketing professionals.

This year, multi award-winning digital agency MadeByPi – www.madebypi.co.uk – part of the Principles Communications Group – celebrated its 15^th anniversary, whilst the Group celebrated its 25^th year in business.

Chris and Bernie have been recognised for their contribution to the world of advertising. They set up the award-winning Principles Communications Group, formerly known as Advertising Principles, in 1986. Both remain at the helm of the business. This year the Group celebrated 25 years of success, now boasting a client portfolio representing high profile global, national and regional brands across a range of sectors. The Group continues to preserve and grow its reputation as one of the leading marketing communications agencies outside of London.

Chris Goodwin comments on the secret of the Group’s success: “We are extremely proud to achieve independent recognition of our success through this Lifetime Achievement award. It also applauds our fantastic group of talented people that continues to deliver client satisfaction. We started the business with the ethos of delivering the very best marketing solutions for our clients through the most appropriate communication channels, and this still stands today. We are focused and results-driven, so our long-standing client relationships are testament to our effectiveness.”

Bernie May adds: “In today’s fast-moving digital world, communicating with customers is becoming more diverse and challenging. We will continue to reflect this in our service offer combining digital, social and traditional media channels. Accountability and measurement are key, as marketing spend is under even greater scrutiny in today’s tougher economic environment. We will continue to deliver within the realms of our clients’ ever-changing needs in a much more challenging online environment.”

Chris and Bernie’s leadership was acknowledged at the awards ceremony, as was their foresight for ensuring that the Group evolved by embracing technological, economic, industry and client-driven changes over a quarter of a century. The award also recognised their constant drive and vision, particularly at a time when the recession has meant that many competitors have struggled and some high profile agencies have closed their doors.

The company employs 106 marketing and digital experts. It is still the largest independent marketing agency outside of London, specialising in strategic brand communications, digital and online services, on and off line media, market research and insight. Brands include MadeByPi, Fusion Unlimited, Principles Agency, Principles Research and Principles Media.

Today’s Group clients include First Direct, Morrisons, Disney, Halfords, Ronseal, HSBC, JD Williams, Hallmark, McCain, Symington’s and Vertbaudet, amongst others.

Mike Hackett, managing director of Principles Agency said: “These latest appointments come at an exciting time for the business, when we are strengthening our client portfolio across a range of business sectors. Given the current unemployment situation for new graduates, we are delighted to bring on two new graduates and to be in a position to support their growth and experience in their new careers.”

Kathryn Muir joins as account director and will oversee the day-to-day campaign and project needs of JD Williams, Vertbaudet and Hallmark and co-ordinate new business projects. Kathryn has fourteen years’ experience in brand communication, direct marketing and digital, having worked in both agency and in-house environments. She has previously worked with ASDA Financial Services, Ultralase, Barker and Stonehouse and Pizza Express, amongst others.

Recent graduate Naomi Denniss joins as account executive and will work alongside Kathryn. She will work primarily on direct response projects for clients including JD Williams and Vertbaudet. Naomi graduated with an English Literature degree.

Jamie Riley is the new production executive and will work within the studio, supporting production projects across a broad range of clients. He is a recent graduate from Northumbria University, having achieved a BA (Hons) Business in Marketing degree.

first direct has always prided itself on its ability to have great conversations with its customers, and so has created this festival to explore why, in an increasingly digital and scripted world, ‘human chatter really does matter.’

The new site showcases key information including details of acts and artists and provides a gateway for ticket sales. The four-day celebration of conversation will come to life via numerous events between 2-5 November, covering debate, technobabble, lyricism, chatterbox and banter. There will be an array of poetry, storytelling, comedy, hip-hop and theatre by comedians, authors and musicians.

Amanda Brown, first direct‘s head of PR said: “Even as a digital brand the spoken word is at the heart of everything we do at first direct, so it’s apt that we are driving these fantastic events that are thought-provoking and creative, and will offer inspiring displays of discussion and exchange. We champion the art of conversation every day at first direct, and we feel that this event will provide a further opportunity to generate and celebrate great conversations.”

Bex Brown, senior account manager at MadeByPi said: “We are delighted to work with first direct on this all-engaging, exciting festival event that promotes the art of conversation. The site provides the perfect platform to showcase the innovative and fun events on offer, adding detail on events as they are announced and facilitating ticket sales. We look forward to aiding the hugely valuable and successful event launch.”

The competition offered eight new university students the chance to each win a £15,000 bursary. Entrants were tasked to upload a 90-second video onto YouTube, outlining the reasons why a £15,000 bursary would help them to make their mark on the world. The videos were put up for public voting via Facebook and a panel of judges chose eight winners from the shortlist of 20 videos.

Sam Grimley, digital acquisition manager for HSBC said: “The results of the competition have far exceeded our expectations. The caliber of the videos has been fantastic. By cleverly leveraging the native functionality of social networking platforms including Facebook and YouTube, MadeByPi has maximised the reach of the campaign. Coupled with smart viral initiatives including an interactive quiz, the agency has helped us to enhance our shareable content and attract further interest in the competition.”

The competition has received huge interest with over 38,000 people ‘liking’ the HSBC Students page (a 450% increase on last year) and over 40,000 public votes being received (a 420% increase on last year). The eight winning students, determined by public voting combined with a judging panel, were announced on 11 October.

Paul Lemon, director for MadeByPi said: “We wanted to create an intuitive and engaging application that would encourage students to enter the competition. Working with the learnings from last year’s campaign, we were able to evolve and strengthen the campaign’s core platform, interaction and sharability, successfully building upon the social platforms native functionality to reach the target audience. Originating and delivering the quiz element gave us an opportunity to widen the reach and visibility of the campaign. We’re very proud of the results that delivered four and five times greater metrics than the previous year, proving that our strategic planning, coupled with the creative and technical delivery was solid and effective. We look forward to building these learnings into more Facebook and social projects with HSBC in the future.”

Principles Agency has been shortlisted for:

- Best B2C Marketing Strategy or Campaign for its ‘Ronseal Smooth Finish’ campaign

- Best Retail Marketing Strategy or Campaign for its ‘Designed with Children in Mind’ DRTV campaign for Vertbaudet.

For both categories, the judges recognised Principles Agency for exceeding their clients’ ROI expectations and for the solid research and planning behind each campaign.

Digital agency MadeByPi has been shortlisted for:

- Digital Agency of the Year

- Yorkshire Marketing Business of the Year.

MadeByPi has been recognised for exceptional standards, strong financial performance and the delivery of successful digital work that has exceeded client expectations.

Mike Hackett, managing director for Principles Agency said: “We are delighted to be independently recognised for our marketing excellence and creativity across two distinct campaigns. They have been shortlisted for their clear focus on strategy and research and for delivering results beyond all expectations.”

Karen Lewis, client services director for MadeByPi added: “We are proud to be nominated for two of the highest accolades. It’s a fantastic achievement, particularly against such strong competition. We look forward to hearing the outcome in November.”

The MiAwards – www.miawards.me – are hosted by MiNetwork, the UK’s fastest growing network of marketing professionals and agencies. They aim to identify marketing excellence and celebrate outstanding marketing practice. The awards are now in their third year and will see more than 250 of the UK’s top marketers gather in Manchester on 17^th November, when the winning agencies and individuals that are considered the leaders in their respective fields, will be announced.

The free iPad application is now available to download from the Apple store and showcases InterfaceFLOR’s full product catalogue, bringing it to life digitally. Through the new app, customers can now access hi-resolution imagery, watch video demos and review detailed product information. They can select and store their favourite products, order samples and visualise room sets through the new inspirational gallery and floor designer tool.

Maaz Rahman, head of digital marketing for InterfaceFLOR said: “We are delighted with MadeByPi’s development of our new iPad app that enables customers to interact with and explore our product range. The app is fantastic – it works intuitively, it looks great and provides the tools and information needed for users to effectively browse, search and view our entire product portfolio and browse by colour and product category.

“At InterfaceFLOR, we are always looking to invest in new digital marketing initiatives that continually improve the way in which we can showcase our portfolio of carpet tiles. Our app development will enable our sales teams to showcase our product range to customers in a slicker, more efficient format, offering up-to-date and detailed information to our teams on the move.”

Karen Lewis, client services director for MadeByPi said: “We’re really proud of the new iPad application that we’ve delivered for InterfaceFLOR as it combines the best of our design and development skills, with all the interactivity that the iPad platform allows. We’ve subsequently released a desktop version of the app and investigated cost and time efficient ways to repurpose it for Android, iPhone and other cross-platform technologies for the future.”

Boardman Bikes Britpack
takes to the saddle

While the range of opportunities for connecting with consumers through social media may sometimes seem overwhelming, it is important to remember that traditional marketing principles still apply. Strategic insight, inspiring creativity and intelligent media planning all have a role to play in the sprint for consumers.

The dedicated team of social media specialists at Principles Communications Group have been putting these principles into practice recently, combining their skills to launch an integrated Facebook campaign for Halfords.

The Boardman Bikes ‘Britpack’ concept invites cycling enthusiasts to track their rides using the mobile application iMapMyRIDE and post the data onto the Britpack leaderboard to compete against other riders for prizes.

In addition to executing a successful social media content and communications strategy, MadeByPi also developed an fCommerce store to showcase Boardman Bikes and allow users to browse, research and purchase though Facebook.

The campaign was developed to achieve three clear marketing objectives for Halfords: drive traffic to the site, create engagement and increase online sales.

To achieve this, Fusion Unlimited undertook a comprehensive outreach program to connect with influential members of the British cycling community, providing real insight into the target audience. The creative concept was developed to inspire and engage with cyclists, encouraging them to participate, share and track their rides on Facebook during the Tour De France. The online media strategy pioneered the extensive use of social data to raise awareness of the campaign and drive traffic to the Facebook page. So far the campaign has been successful in meeting its objectives, building an ever growing community of over 4,000 enthusiasts in just three weeks,

These principles provide a solid foundation for successful social media marketing. If you’d like to talk about how we can help you develop a successful social media strategy, get in touch at contact@principlescommunications.co.uk

Bitesize news

Google+ adds 20 million

The launch of Google+ has created a huge online buzz in recent weeks. The search giant’s latest attempt to develop a social platform has received an enthusiastic response, attracting over 20 million users in just 24 days. Google+ encourages users to sort their contacts into ‘Circles’ and selectively share content across their different social groups. While G+ is still very much at the early adopter stage, it may well become a genuine challenger to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn over the coming months and if it does, brands will be sure to follow.

Hackgate opens door to rivals

The News of the World ‘Hackgate’ scandal has dominated the media landscape over recent weeks, with a stunning succession of accusations, revelations, and resignations. Investigations into widespread phone hacking at The News of the World led News International to axe the paper after 168 years of publishing. Rivals including the Sunday Star and the Sunday Mirror attempted to capitalise on the opportunity, launching TV advertising and increasing print circulation in the hope of attracting former readers of the popular Sunday tabloid.

Principles Agency toddles off with ‘Best Retail Campaign’

Principles Agency has scooped the coveted ‘Best Retail Campaign’ in the Marketing Society Northern Awards. The agency has been recognised for its ‘Designed with Children in Mind’ campaign for Vertbaudet, the children’s retailer that is part of the Redcats Group. The award was achieved against high profile competition, with the direct response campaign being commended for its creative flair and effectiveness in driving response.

Michelle Ramirez, Vertbaudet’s brand manager said: “Principles’ fantastic work in repositioning the Vertbaudet brand, coupled with their understanding of the market and the DRTV process meant that they were clear winners of the pitch and natural choice of our first move into TV.”

“The ad is beautiful, capturing the essence of the brand perfectly. It has had a hugely positive reaction from Vertbaudet worldwide. Most importantly, it exceeded our expectations in terms of sales – both volume and value. We are continuing to work with Principles to build on this success and grow the Vertbaudet brand.”

Research in the real world

“People don’t think how they feel, they don’t say what they think and they don’t do what they say” David Ogilvy

As politicians and marketing practitioners are destined to find out repeatedly until the end of time, people not only don’t behave as we want them to – they don’t always behave as they say they do.

People are complex creatures who create and believe ideas about themselves that sometimes bear only a fleeting resemblance to the facts.

Consider these examples:

“I am very careful about the food I eat”, “I always compare at least five insurance quotes” and the old classic “I don’t take any notice of advertising”.

This notion is central to our realworld™ research approach. Our mission is to get behind what people say – and think – and get to the truth.

A recent study reviewed budget conscious shoppers, agreeing with statements like “I have to budget very carefully when it comes to grocery shopping” and “I have a limited amount of money to spend each week on groceries”. realworld™ discovered that the reality was in fact quite different. These budget–orientated consumers actually reflected spending habits of their affluent counterparts. While spending was fragmented over different stores (not all stores being budget) the amount was quite substantial.

People, huh?

Each year, Leeds-based St Gemma’s Hospice – www.st-gemma.co.uk – provides specialist medical and nursing care for over 2,500 local people with life-threatening illnesses, predominantly cancer, along with invaluable support for their families.

Nicola Woodgate, communications manager at St Gemma’s said: “Our environment is changing and so are the expected levels of care and services provided. Charities are vying for the same pot of publicly donated funds, so as an organisation we need to achieve even greater standout, particularly in today’s economic climate. It is therefore timely that we review the corporate identity that has been in place for eleven years. The new brand will need to reflect the evolving nature of the hospice, yet fundamentally remain true to our ethos of meeting the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of patients and carers.

“We are delighted to work with Principles Agency on this important branding project. The agency’s ongoing goodwill and support is absolutely invaluable, especially since it costs us £22,700 per day to run the hospice. We therefore rely heavily on generous help from the business community, fundraising activity and public donations, that allow us to maintain high levels of holistic, palliative care for our patients.”

Mike Hackett, managing director for Principles Agency commented: “We have a long established relationship with the team at St Gemma’s and hope we have helped to make a positive difference to the local community through our campaign work over the years. We are honoured to be able to donate our time and creativity to such an exciting development in St Gemma’s history, and look forward to working with the team over the coming months.”