Be My Baby this Christmas

Primary have been helping the charity Baby Lifeline to set up an online auction which will save the lives of babies across the country.

Dame Judi Dench, Sir Ben Kingsley, Sir Michael Parkinson, Jimmi Harkishin and Trevor Eve are just a handful of big names in film and television who are supporting the Be My Baby Auction by offering stunning ‘money can’t buy’ prizes.

It is a great opportunity to source some very different Christmas presents or client gifts and you will be helping a fantastic charity.

The auction will run at www.ebay.co.uk/charity from 5 November to 15 November.

We like a challenge....

Recently Primary have undertaken some interesting projects requiring some quick thinking to resolve a clients requirements within short time limits.

Innovative but practical point of sale items were required to present Christian Audigier Wines and Champagnes.

British Cycling required a presentation to show the concept of a 'cycling hub' destined to be a feature in towns up and down the country.

Strictly Primary Graphics

Primary Graphics belong to the Olympus Chapter of BNI referral networking organisation who meet every Tuesday at Shaw Hill Golf Club, Chorley - and have been for almost 6 years since its very beginning. Olympus has gone from strength to strength this year with rapid growth and a huge increase in business passed every week. This week a challenge was thrown out to members, to make the 60 second presentations a bit more creative - we were told to make a 60 second radio commercial for 'BNI Radio'. Primary rose to the challenge and were delighted to win the 'oscar' for the best presentation. Produced in our offices on Monday night...this was our contribution to a bit of fun, but, hopefully memorable!......see www.bnipreston.co.uk to listen in.

How do you present yourself?

Every now and then a business has the opportunity to present itself to a wider audience with a formal presentation, with projector and screen. Unless you have had a lot of experience and some natural creative flair, this can be daunting! Maybe you have inherited a rather tired Powerpoint presentation, or have put one together yourself? Does it fill you with confidence as the moment approaches?

How much more confident would you feel if you were able to use a slick, polished and entertaining presentation that really got your point across and kept your audience awake, laughing (in the right places), cheering and applauding - and going away with a lasting good impression of you and your business?

Primary Graphics can help you decide on the content, write the script, choose the right imagery, even add a voice-over and specially composed soundtrack. The finished product can be added to your website if appropriate, or emailed to potential customers. It may be part of a pitch for new business or an internal presentation to a sales team.

Whatever the occasion and the audience, make the right impression every time with a professional presentation. Why waste a golden opportunity to showcase your business or motivate your staff? It can be fun too!

What should you pay?

Help us to help you find out what you should expect for your money when you commission design. We are collecting information and feedback on the whole experience.

Without naming names, please tell us .....was it tortuous or enjoyable? Was a deadline set and was it met? Has the resulting brand image / marketing campaign / website produced results and were you generally happy with the service you received?

Maybe you are in the dark anyway about whether you paid over the odds - we can assess that for you. How long is a piece of string - we have quite a good idea! Where did you look for design services - the internet, Yellow Pages, the local printers, a signwriter, a large city agency, a freelance designer? Was it through a recommendation or referral?

Would you use them again and recommend them? (No names please we are just looking at how much you spent and what you got for your money!!). Fire away - it's all helpful!

Business websites

What better new year's resolution could any business make than to attend to their website? Amazingly, some businesses in the UK still don't have one! Unbelievable? I agree but it is a fact. (www.statistics.gov.uk - '70% of businesses have a website'- 2007 ecommerce survey I admit so it must have increased by now). Surely these businesses will be presenting themselves to the world soon in the best shop window there is?
Many will have taken the plunge a few years ago and have something that they can't update (and never have time to anyway) and that maybe does their image more harm than good. Good news for these people - things have moved on now! You can now have access to a content management system that allows you to change text, and even images, on a day to day basis if you want to. It will become a hobby! How much more dynamic to have new stuff to talk to your target market about whenever they log on to your site. What a great way to introduce yourself to new contacts! There is little doubt if anyone is half interested in you, they will check out your website before getting back in touch - to see how professional you really are.
A good website will be working away for you - even while you are in bed!
If you own a small to medium sized business think about this over the Christmas break - and contact a design consultancy (like Primary Graphics) to help you get your ideas together.

marketing in the 'credit crunch'?

As we approach December businesses will be winding down towards Christmas and maybe assessing the year gone by and thinking about making fresh marketing resolutions for the New Year. All this with depressing forebodings about how the credit crunch is likely to affect us all - tightening belts, cutting back on all spending. Traditionally marketing has been the first target for cut backs - even though most people know it's a 'chicken and egg' situation - to keep going, new business development cannot be allowed to stagnate.
There is much a business can do for themselves simply by having a marketing plan and working through it in a structured way at a pace that they can manage and maintain.
A design and marketing consultancy like Primary can help put such a plan together and provide the tools to implement it.
My first piece of advice is this - whatever is done should somehow be geared to collecting email addresses from all clients, potenital clients and targets so that a comprehensive database can be achieved. A small promotion may need to be put togther to achieve just that if email details have not already been sourced. Every promotional item used should be examined to see if maximum benefit is being gained from it in terms of data-gathering - whether that is confirmed contact details or simply feedback from clients on standards of products or services and user experiences.
Once the database is in place we can then work on segmenting the market and designing emailshots to each potential client that highlights u.s.p.'s and answers their needs. Emailshot campaigns can be closely monitored and results assessed. Regular contact with existing clients can be maintained with well-designed and informative e-newsletters.
As with all marketing, presentation is key. Brand image should be strong and consistent and concepts should be original, thought-provoking and clearly promote the u.s.p.'s of the business.
Where can you find all this expertise? Take a look at www.primarygraphics.co.uk - and start the new year with great design that works hard and gets results!