Everyone has a creative streak!

Here at The Phoenix Partners we thrive on creativity and draw on it constantly when brainstorming for creative solutions on behalf of our clients. As part of this philosophy we are all encouraged to flex our creative muscle on a regular basis through ‘half-day creatives’.

Half day creatives offer every employee the chance to explore an activity which interests them for half a day every month. Cookery, exhibitions, museum visits, poetry and art have all been experienced but photography is probably the most popular activity.

We have several really good amateur photographers in the agency in addition to our official ones! So much so that we have now introduced our own photo wall where deserving snaps are framed and hung for all to see. It’s a growing work of art and a reminder that everyone sees things differently and gains inspiration in a variety of ways.

If you need someone to give you a different creative viewpoint give us a call.

Roger Bradshaw – Head of Design
m. 07778 389 999
e. roger@thephoenixpartners.com

We are rebranding, are you?

There comes a time in the life of a brand when it needs to be re-worked or freshened up to take it to a different level. Companies and products evolve, styles change and it’s imperative that our clients see that we are as keen to keep our own brand current as we are theirs.

But it doesn’t happen overnight and as we want everything in place for our 10th birthday celebrations we’ve been in the planning stages for several months and have lots to do before everything is implemented on 1st October.

You will be amongst the first to see it here!

If you think it’s time to revitalise your external image, be it through your brand, design materials, website or PR, give us a call to find out how we can help.

Roger Bradshaw – Head of Design
m. 07778 389 999
e. roger@thephoenixpartners.com

Olympic hopefuls!

Everyone at the agency has their own perspective on London 2012. Not only is it a prime business opportunity but a chance to be involved at lots of levels.

Our experienced event manager Jo has applied to be a volunteer event hostess for the duration of the London 2012 and the Paralympic Games, and has now been invited to an interview in July. Very exciting - wishing you lots of luck Jo!

And the ticket lottery has resulted in a couple of successes……

Our Finance Manager Fiona, says: “I applied for a few because I love watching sport, most sports really – even snooker (possibly draw the line at darts) and I love an occasion. I watch the Olympics every time and if I could I’d spend the whole time in front of the TV – same goes for Wimbledon, golf (go Rory!)…so I cannot imagine not applying for tickets for the Olympics. Even if I hadn’t got any I’d be going down to sample the atmosphere – it will be electric.

“I have been allocated tickets for the show jumping - up until a few years ago I’d always owned horses and love watching them and I’ve also got tickets for the canoe slalom. I know this is an odd choice, but I watched it over a couple of days at Bejing and thought it was marvelous. So I just put the application in as I though it wouldn’t be as popular and I’d be more likely to get tickets. I also applied for cycling (no chance) and 100m final (even less chance)….but I’m happy with what I’ve got.”

Nikki, our Marcomms Manager, knows she has some tickets but still doesn’t know what event they will be for. “It’s either Water Polo, Diving, Tennis or Athletics – well someone has to get them! It was really hard to whittle it down from the list of ten supplied by the kids. In reality I know the event won’t really matter to them – it’s all about the experience and hopefully something they’ll always remember.”

If you want to make the Olympics a special time for staff, do get in touch to find out about the possibilities corporate engagement campaigns offer.

Jo Fahey - Sales Manager
t: 01509 815026
e: joanne@thephoenixpartners.com

Shoestring Japanese scroll mailer brings good fortune

If a squeeze on your marketing budget is simultaneously squeezing your creativity, think different, think improvisation, think shoestring!

Such was our dilemma when in the final stages of pulling together one of our Phoenix Moments corporate hospitality events earlier this month, this one being centred on a Sushi-making and Sake-tasting cruise down the river Thames.

The invitation needed to reflect the theme, be quick to produce and inexpensive, but most of all it had to catch the eye of the top flight marketing invitees and secure their attendance.

The end result created by our head of design Roger Bradshaw, was a striking oriental scroll, each one hand crafted from part of an inner cardboard tube from a £1 roll of cellophane, sprayed a deep red with some spare car paint and stencilled with the Japanese calligraphy for ‘Sushi’ and ‘Sake’ in black. Rolled inside and printed to mimic old paper, while really being the regular copier variety, was all the necessary information, authentically finished with a colour co-ordinated silk thread and stone bead from a local craft shop.

Everyone commented on the invitation during the course of the evening with an excellent take up rate by recipients of 76%. They admitted the invitation had been instrumental in securing their attendance and, for those who’d never had any previous contact, said it gave them a prior perception of The Phoenix Partners as being a truly creative agency and a lasting impression.

Tim Hamill, head of the Mail Media Centre at Royal Mail, who attended the Phoenix Moments event, commented: “The mailer showed ingenuity and resulted in a piece of creative design which really hit the mark against all its objectives. It was a fitting pre-cursor to a very enjoyable event and demonstrated that mail is an effective communication tool to cut through day to day business communications. Most media would dearly love to demonstrate driving such high rates of action. This campaign also demonstrates that it’s not all about big budgets where effective direct mail is concerned.”

Freida Moore, head of corporate communications for recruitment experts Hays, commented: “The invitation certainly had the wow factor. I was impressed from the minute I opened the padded envelope it arrived in. It was a perfect introduction to the event and it looked very exclusive. All of my colleagues commented on it as it sat on my desk and it definitely set the scene for what proved to be an amazing evening. The team at Phoenix had thought of every little detail, from mirroring the Japanese characters on the invitation to print on the apron for the event, to the event branded marketing materials for us to take away. I was so impressed with the creativity and flair of the invitation and can't wait to see what they do next!”

The event was also a success on the night in generating potentially lucrative business tenders from several attendees spanning our expertise in live events, design and video.

Rachel Hargrave, managing director here at The Phoenix Partners said: “We like to do things a little bit out of the ordinary both with our own marketing and on behalf of our clients. Sometimes the simplest of things are more effective than sophisticated production techniques. It’s always the creativity behind the idea which counts.”

To put some creativity into your next direct mail campaign give us a call.

Rachel Hargrave
Rachel@thephoenixpartners.com
01509 815026

New business wins are the spice of agency life!

We’ve had a flurry of exciting new business wins lately which is just how we like it!

We are now working with Loughborough University, have two new videos to produce for BP and a series of health promotion events for the NHS, plus lots of fabulous design work for Scotia Gas Networks. International law-firm Taylor Wessing has asked us to organise an event on their behalf and we’ve also been selected to give a workshop on Press and PR for Creative Businesses’ for Creative Enterprise Hub here in Leicestershire next month.

If you would like to discuss your next project with us do get in touch with either Rachel or Jo on 01509 815026 or rachel@thephoenixpartners.com

How to inspire your staff the Olympic way! It's not just about tickets!

Living in the host country during an Olympic Games could be a once in a lifetime event for many and the excitement and build up are as much a part of the experience as the competition itself. Savvy companies are seeing London 2012 as a way to engage their employees, whilst anticipating that additional benefits will include staff members feeling inspired, increased productivity, loyalty and a greater sense of belonging.

Incorporating imagery on websites and intranets is a fun and innovative thing to do (but beware the 101 rules and regulations about using ‘standard’ Olympic imagery!!). We had some fun re-enacting events to show how the ethos of the Olympics can be translated to working life. Run a company-wide competition for an ‘Olym-pic’, publish the best ones as screensavers or organise company wide voting to find an overall winner.

Here are our favourites!

Stimulate two-way communication about non-work related activities or community initiatives employees are involved with, offering company support, resources or time to help them achieve their own sporting or fundraising goals.

Incentive schemes are another great way of engaging employees. As an agency we work with a lot of companies to devise appropriate campaigns in terms of budget and rewards. It’s not just about giving employees the chance to win tickets to Olympic events – great if you can but potentially unfeasible for many companies owing to cost and availability! Tickets to other sporting events, family days out at local attractions or sports equipment for the garden are other alternatives which sit firmly in the sporting theme. Remember that anything goes – everyone loves to win something!

To discuss how you could engage your employees in the London 2012 run up call to speak to Rachel Hargrave or email rachel@thephoenixpartners.com.

Book review by Rachel Hargrave: BOLD - How to Be Brave in Business and Win (by Shaun Smith and Andy Milligan)

"Cynicism is a dangerous thing, but I have to admit that I approached this book very cynically. Perhaps I’ve just read too much about business differentiation, making the brand real or focusing on people (whether they be employees or customers) at whatever cost. Perhaps it was a case of ‘I’ve read Richard Branson’s books – what else can Virgin teach me?’ Anyway, if I’d kept up that attitude I would never have opened the book … and I would never have moved my thinking on.

This book engages its reader straight from the off. It opens with a clear outline of what the book aims to do and how it aims to do it. While the author’s writing is knowledgeable, it is also warm, conversational and open. However, their natural style does not overshadow the stories told by the participating companies. Each chapter of the book is dedicated to a particular company who tell their bold story. Several people within each company contribute with the net result that the reader gets a real sense of the people in the business, the business itself, the business journey, the business’s values and how they do business differently; in short how they are bold.

This book quietly challenged me throughout by asking ‘how’s your business bold? How’s your business different? What are you doing to challenge the norm and move your industry / your business forward?’ No need to worry. The final two chapters set out a clear plan and ‘how to’. There’s also plenty of online support and email updates that you can access so you don’t forget your bold plans in the heat of day-to-day business. So, be bold. Put your cynicism to one side and have an enjoyable – and challenging – read!"

This review is featured in the June issue of Growth Business Magazine www.growthbusiness.co.uk

How to make sushi, drink sake and enjoy a Phoenix Moments' night

What better way to spend a sunny Thursday evening than on the Thames? And so it was, with champagne in hand we set sail aboard our clipper.

After introductions and a couple of glasses of fizz we went below to be taught how to make three types of sushi – which I might add, is deceptively difficult!

Luckiliy we had expert tuition from chefs from one of London’s top Japanese restaurants who guided us through the whole experience - there's nothing like learning from 'artistes' and our creations were surprisingly tasty.

After dinner we went on deck to enjoy the sunset whilst the crew set the room for a tutored Sake tasting. We ate more Japanese delicacies and tasted four different Sake including one specially for dessert.

Our return journey was stunningly beautiful through a floodlit Tower Bridge...There was a lovely moment along the way as the bridge raised for us to glide through and tourists cheered us as we waved back.

It was a really different experience, which is what our 'Phoenix Moments' nights are all about – and I musn't forget to mention our design team's attention to detail – personalised Phoenix Moments' aprons and cheeky take away goody bags - which went down a treat.

We had lovely comments about the night... Freida Moore from Hays said, “Thank you so much for an amazing evening. It was such a unique thing to do...... Thank you all at The Phoenix Partners for such a lovely evening.”

Tim Hamill from Royal Mail thanked us for a lovely evening and commented on the creativity and quality of the joining instructions created by our design team which was a Japanese-style scroll that we sent out in advance of the night.

If you would like to pre-register for our next complimentary Phoenix Moments' event in November, which is a wine-tasting evening, please contact Joanne Fahey - joanne@thephoenixpartners.com

For more details on our design capabilities, please get in touch with Roger Bradshaw. roger@thephoenixpartners.com

ISO 9001:2008 Renewal Approved

Our ISO 9001:2008 accreditation was approved for another year on 18th May 2011 and all thanks to Gita's liaison.

This is a measure of our Quality Management Systems and is a framework for us to monitor and measure our success, our work, our client feedback and satisfaction.

ISO 9001:2008 is a standard of quality that is recognised and respected throughout the world.

We think it's important because it reflects our regard for quality in our service, and the robustness of our processes. It is also there to ensure quality, customer satisfaction, objectives and targets for improvements and growth.

Thanks to everyone involved.

Marmite - what's your take on the brand?

In the light of the Danish ban on Marmite, we thought we’d take a straw poll around the office to see what thoughts there were about the black gooey stuff that has a love or hate reaction associated with it and not really anything in between.

Nina’s views are as follows: "Marmite – Couldn’t even imagine eating it, the thought of doing so makes me want to be sick!" - which is a pretty conclusive no then!

However, Fiona who works in Finance says she LOVES marmite, but only on toast. She continued, “I’ve heard there is a new OX version, as in extra strong – can’t wait to get my hands on it. If I lived in Denmark I’d be smuggling it in.”

Gita who has recently obtained approval for our ISO 9001:2008 accreditation for another year said: "I absolutely hate it – which is odd cos I love twiglets. Oooh, I also can’t bear any variable like vegemite and own brand “yeast extract” (Yum!) and the like. My brother loves it though and used to torment me as a child by “accidentally on purpose” smearing it on my toast. Screaming fits ensued."

Personally I love the stuff… and use it as often as I can – on toast with scrambled eggs on top is a personal favourite. If you’ve had it as a child it really is, and to quote one of their old catchphrases, ‘the growing up spread you never grow out of.’ The Danes are banning it because it has been fortified with vitamins. They also banned Ovaltine I understand. Which begs the question whether cereals will be next. Seems kind of excessive behaviour, but then it kind of goes with the territory of the marmite love / hate brand.

We’re having a rebrand in October, we hope you’ll love it!