New Form of advertising

My first post of the year. Firstly may I wish everyone a very happy new year. I spent christmas and new year in India. It was only for 21 days but I had an amazing time. Went all over the place but I particularly liked this new form of advertising in one of the holiest of cities of India. During the next few months I am going to be publishing a number of other images and posts to share some of the things I have experienced. Hope you enjoy them.

National Museum Wales - New event brochures

National Museum Wales - New event brochures, originally uploaded by julian marshall sykes findings.

After a very busy few weeks we have finally got a few new pieces out for the National Museum Wales. During this years Eistedfodd the National Museum will be launching six event brochures for the National Museum Cardiff, National Coal Museum, National Wool Museum, National Slate Museum, National Roman Museum and St Fagans: National History Museum. Along with the recently published 'Meet the Family' leaflet these are the first items that have been produced by us (Hoffi), since we were successful in the tender process to win the Museum's Marketing contract for the next two years.

Bilingual Guides for Welsh Businesses

Over the last few months now we (Hoffi) have produced a number of bilingual design guides for Welsh businesses. Ranging from bilingual branding, through to brand communications and interactive design. The guides were really to give the client an idea of the issues involved in design and how bilingualism can help increase their reach. 

Since the series we are now going to be expanding the guide to wider business issues. Among these will be new marketing techniques, creating press releases and controlling you 'brand' image to clients and potential clients. This series will very much be an exploration of our clients wants and needs and so if anyone has anything in particular that they would like to suggest we produce a guide on, please email me at julian.sykes@hoffi.com

contradiction

contradiction, originally uploaded by julian marshall sykes findings.

I found these two in the magazine rack in Sainsbury's this week. The magazines were next to each other and it really made me smile. If you look in particular at the Coleen piece on both covers. While you will always be get these contradictions they still make me laugh. It seems even more so when the picture is of her in the same dress.

The Project of Place

Professor Nigel Morgan
Cardiff School of Management, UWIC
Date: Wednesday 9th April 2008
Time: 5.45pm for 6pm start

Well that was the invitation and it certainly did not disappoint. Both me and Car decided to go and see what it was all about. The lecture was centered around Destination Branding and just how powerful it is both within getting people to visit locations as well as how in some cases it has lead to the degradation of women within their country. The really interesting point of the lecture for myself was how destination branding and it's marketing is forming a disneyfied view of the particular location/space in question. In someways this is pretty obvious, but what I really started thinking about is where borders lie?

So for example could a government invest in companies such as a chain of restaurants that, in their eyes, are representational of their country? and so by exporting the chain to other countries then they maybe a stepping stone to visiting the real thing.   

We have been working with alot of companies recently that have a footing in the tourism market to some degree and I am really looking forward to relaying them with new ideas.

 

Amgueddfa Cymru — National Museum Wales marketing ouput

We (Hoffi) have been working on this for quite a while now, and I am really glad we can finally announce that we have managed to get the contract for all of the National Museum Wales' marketing collateral for 2008 and 2009. Hoffi will be responsible for all output apart from the National Waterfront Museum and the overall What's on guide. We are delighted to have been awarded the work, and hope that over the next few months everyone will be able to see what we have been up to. The pitch was very complex and difficult with us being up against 5 other very strong design agencies. It has been a really good start to the year for Hoffi in general with new work being launched all the time. Currently we have one more piece to produce for Academi's Book of the Year awards and we are also already in the planning stages for the Cardiff Design Festival 2008. 

difference is good

A new month and a new look into things. Over the last few months we have been working with alot of new clients, we have been really busy and have hardly stopped. We have also started working in a slightly different way. We feel that we are producing work that is far more sophisticated in it's understanding on current marketing and trend techniques. Over the last month we have been trying to help our clients be ever more bold with their design choices. 

A lot of our work is based along the lines of difference being good and indeed commercial. A recent tour round the leading thinkers in marketing and brand strategy seem to back up these theories. As people the idea of difference has been around for a long time. Ever since the Industrial Revolution made mass production possible companies have made more and more products. If we take a company such as Nike for example, and in particular there trainer ranges. If we look at a trainer fundamentally they all do the same thing so why the hundreds of different models? this though is in complete contrast to say a food product. Where a food company launches a product they are constantly revising their recipe and improving the taste, however what these companies should have been looking at is why don't we produce five or six different variations of the same food item so people can get exactly what they prefer?

This type of mass personalisation works for companies with very strong brand values. As long as the brand is clearly not been subverted or taken away from it's original feel/belief then why can't this be used on other less consumable items? Recently we have been working on a number of projects where we are actively encouraging our clients to choose a number of items (marketing collateral) to sell the same product/event. Just like the Nike scenario, people like different trainers and so in the same way people can also like different marketing collateral. This type of thinking has two advantages over traditional thinking. Firstly people will feel personally understood by the company trying to sell the product/event, secondly the difference will allow for far more dramatic/striking design and so difference will get you noticed above the rest of the crowd.