When design was a real skill...

If anyone can remember, before the advent of the Apple Mac, all artwork was done by hand, using technical drawing skills to create logos, artwork and drawings etc. In principle, you had to be able to at least draw and have a some creative/artistic skill to even think about entering the design field. It was a real craft.

One of the tools we used to use was the technical pen. Several brands were available with the market leaders being Rotring and Staedtler.

I tended to favour the Staedtler brand mainly down to the fact that the 0.5 nib seemed to block less oftenthan the Rotring version of the same. While rooting through one of our cupboard here at the studio I found this brand new virtually unused set of pens in the original box!

This brought back memories of having to physically draw keylines for artwork using CS10 board, red film, and of course set squares and technical pens...

With computer aided design and so many application to help with design, it's easy to see how the craft element has been lost over the years...however, here are PE Creative we still believe that crafting a design is one of the key differentiators that we bring to your design.

Anyone can style something up, but not anyone can develop a concept in quite the same way we do.

If you'd like to see how we can help you to diffentiate your brand, give us a call on 01332 291141 and we can discuss your specific needs.

Aveva Las Vegas

Or rather...how we helped Aveva to define their young Apprentices Program.

Aveva are a world class software provider specialising in the oil and gas sector. They have a career path open to apprentices and needed to promote this as an opportunity. We helped to develop this eyecatching brochure aimed at new prospects.

The brochure uses a range of imagery and has helped to put the program firmly on the map. Aveva were shortlisted for the Apprentice Program of the Year, and congratulations goes to them on this achievement.

We are hoping to work with Aveva in 2017 on more projects.

If you need a brochure, be that printed or on-line then please give us a call on 01332 29114 to discuss your requirements.

Oracle Preps for OpenWorld in record time...!

Oracle is one the World's largest software vendors. We have worked with them off and on for around 25 years (lordy it seems like only yesterday!). We were asked to develop a new look and feel for their Partner Network collateral. The Oracle Partner Network (OPN) is a  global community of Oracle partners with expertise in many varied vertical markets.

OPN brings together the knowledge and skills of these professionals in order to deliver only the best for their customers. By sharing information across the Partner Network, developers can easily reach out to the most knowledgeable experts in their fields. Not only that, but partners can also earn 'points' to improve their own learning and skill-base.

The brochure is aimed at Oracle's partners and explains the on-going benefits of OPN as well as underpinning Oracles goal of continual improvement and expertise. Using simple graphical imagery the brochure tells a story of how members benefit and how they can become an OPN champion.

The brochures were conceived, developed, written, art-worked, printed and delivered from the UK to California USA in less than 20 days.

If your business would like some expert advice in communication and if you need it fast, then please call us on 01332 291141 and we can discuss your needs.

Company image- what works?

As a student, many companies have tried and failed to reach out to me in order to sell products they believe may benefit me. 

I receive dozens of marketing e-mails and leaflets per month, in addition to viewing numerous billboards and adverts on campus or in the local area targeted at students. So what works?

It’s quite simple- if a company isn’t able to relate to a young person from their first contact with them, they’re unlikely to be successful in engagement.

Your average student or young person spends hours a day on their mobile phone or on the internet, where information is fast-paced and easily accessible. I firmly believe that the best companies are actively using these platforms to build upon their image. There are very few companies whose image and brand equity are strong enough to invite custom without digital marketing. 

An exception to this rule are companies like Starbucks or Apple, who have landed themselves a strong position in the everyday life and culture of young people. Both Starbucks and Apple’s products are regularly mentioned in films and throughout social media (Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram to name a few) and the company has therefore become an icon of young popular culture that will continue to appeal. 

For other companies, company image simply needs to be relevant. The benefit of using or buying a product offered by a company needs to be immediately obvious. A good example would be Virgin Media and their student broadband packages, tailored to fit student housing contracts. Whilst offering these products, Virgin Media appeal to young people by using celebrities such as Usain Bolt in TV adverts. TV is obviously a solid medium in which to appeal to young people, and Usain Bolt is admired by the younger generation and considered ‘cool’. Virgin Media’s company image is consequently, in my opinion, strong to young people.

It’s difficult to think of companies with bad company image as, consequently, I don’t think about or engage with these types of companies. It’s fairly safe to say that if you don’t have social media marketing in place, your website is out of date, and the only marketing materials you’re producing are leaflets (sometimes even e-shots) attention just won’t be grabbed.

Young people are used to having information delivered to them in interesting ways that also allows them to understand the given message in a matter of seconds. Anything that falls short will have a hard time connecting with students.

For advice on your company image and how to strengthen it, give us a call on 01332 291141.

The omnipresence of marketing..

Burning the midnight oil..

Two weeks into my final year at university and the pressure is already on to hunt down a graduate job.

This week saw a marquee arrive on campus filled with potential employers and a buzz soon went around that some were even 'hiring on the spot'. Aside from feeling a sense of panic, this all got me thinking about the job application process and how it relates to marketing.

I realised that a lot of the marketing work I do during university tends to be 'self-marketing' such as creating and updating CVs or regularly tweaking my LinkedIn profile.

In many respects applying for a job can be like a project for a client; the objective is to engage and interest an audience, in this case an employer. By tailoring the copy and design (like you would do on a client's product) a CV can appeal directly to the company, or audience, being targeted.

When producing e-shots and leaflets the ability to stand out is crucial given the influx of marketing materials circulated at any given time. The same concept can be applied to a CV given the number of applications being made.

My point is, marketing is used in everyday life in extremely subtle ways. It is not just the process of applying for a job that is an example of everyday marketing of some kind.

How often have you been to Starbucks to have your name comically spelt on the cup, only to tell people about the experience or share it online? Have you ever recommended a television series to a friend or raved about how good it was until they watched it? We are all mediums of marketing in some way and better at it than we think!