A huge congratulations to our Kelly who got engaged at Christmas. Wonderful news…and a lovely bit of cake to celebrate! Confetti at the ready…
Here comes the bride…
Posted on: January 5th, 2012 by Ben No Comments
Blog on.
Fill yer boots.
Bluesoup – the healthy choice
Posted on: January 3rd, 2012 by Ben No Comments
Bideford (our home town) is world renowned for it’s New Year festivities and the fancy dress worn by revellers. Well this year, we’re proud to reveal the contribution made by our very own Meg. Meg’s the office champion when it comes to all things healthy and so it seemed apt that she dressed as a…..carrot!
Bluesoup Meg as a carrot
So if you’re looking for a new agency in 2012 and want to seamlessly blend creativity with a healthy diet, look no further than Bluesoup. And if you have promotional needs in the shape of human fruit and veg, give us a call too. We’re only too happy to help!
PPC Masters
Posted on: December 14th, 2011 by Ben No Comments
Not always ones for blowing our own trumpets, but we’re pretty proud of what we’ve achieved in the last 8 months! We took over a large PPC account from a specialist “digital” agency and managed to improve the click through rate by 5% while also reducing the cost per click by 32%. Go Bluesoup!!
Farm & Cottage Highly Commended at Travolution Awards
Posted on: October 12th, 2011 by Ben No Comments
Hip Hip Hooray! We might only have been managing and developing the Farm & Cottage website for 9 months, but in that time we’ve done enough to pick up a highly commended accolade at the prestigious Travolution Awards, held last night.
What did we do…? Lots of little things in all honesty, but when you understand websites like we do, it’s the little things that count. A combination of improved code and functionality made the site run about 30% faster for users. Better information was provided through searchable Google Maps and more video content. New sections were also added to the site to entice users to book providing deeper content about holidays. What did it all mean…simple really, a site conversion improvement of 18% year on year.
No time to bathe in the reflected glory though…we’ve got our sights set on winning next time!
First Marine Conservation Zone Website – thanks to Bluesoup
Posted on: September 14th, 2011 by Ben No Comments
Bluesoup are proud to announce the launch of the first ever website dedicated to a Marine Conservation Zone….on our doorstep around Lundy Island.
The sea around Lundy island was first designated as England‟s only Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) in January 2010, and today (14 September) it launches a website to open a new window onto its clear waters. The unique world of colourful undersea landscapes and spectacular marine wildlife living around this small granite island is now more accessible at a click of a mouse. The site was developed by the Lundy wardens in collaboration with Bluesoup Communications; and the project has been funded by Natural England.
Nicola Saunders, Lundy warden, said: “The website is a great new resource for anyone wanting to find out more about the island or marine conservation in general. It is packed full of fantastic photos which reveal a whole host of species that you otherwise just wouldn‟t know were there. We asked for the design to engage a wide range of people, with slideshows and video clips found alongside academic research papers and reports – and with an all important live weather forecast link if you are planning a visit.”
Ben Duhig, the managing director of Bluesoup Communications, said: “It’s been a real privilege to work with the team at Lundy to create the first website for a Marine Conservation Zone. To get the opportunity to develop a site celebrating the diversity of the Lundy MCZ and to use such stunning imagery has been an amazing project to be part of. We hope the design, navigation and the way we have used the technology available to us brings this stunning environment to life for visitors in an inspiring way.”
Check out the site for yourselves at www.lundymcz.org.uk
Sunday Tabloids – What Next?
Posted on: July 22nd, 2011 by katie 1 Comment
There’s no getting away from the growing drama surrounding News International and the closure of the News of The World. With new revelations each day and a growing number of high profile individuals falling on their swords we are being exposed to the kind of drama normally played out on screen.
So what happens to clients that relied upon the News of the World as one of their key national press titles for advertising? Where should they go now? As you can imagine, these are key questions that have been floating around our office and between us and clients since the NOTW closure. NOTW delivered a large audience across a wide demographic – it was a tabloid yet still managed to hit the ABC1 market. No other Sunday came close to the 7.5m readers each week and only the Mail on Sunday pipped it’s ABC1 readership (3.17m vs 2.93m). In comparison, the Sunday Times only manages 2.87m ABC1s.
The public will be testing different titles to see what they like & what they don’t like and in the next few weeks they will probably be picking titles by headline/front page alone. It will take a while for the dust to settle and for the public to establish a new relationship with a Sunday tabloid.
As you would guess the other Sunday Tabloids are hot on the tails of this new ‘floating’ audience – the Mail have run a direct mail campaign, the Mirror have been doing a massive push for new readers and the Sunday Express have reduced their cover price. But has it paid off? Well early indications are that it may have done…
Sunday Mirror
Circulated 1.94 million that’s 835,000 extra copies sold = 75.6% increase
The People
Circulated 890,000 that’s 411,00 extra copies sold = 86.0% increase
Mail On Sunday
Circulated 2.4 million that’s 400,000 extra copies = 19.3% increase
Sunday Express
Circulated 650,248 that’s 100,000 extra copies = 15.19% increase
So does this mean you should plough your budget into The People / Sunday Mirror? Not necessarily. Over the coming weeks you need to assess the consistency of the circulation, the accuracy of the readership and the content within these titles. It is then a case of planning your media strategy in the national press in all the usual ways. If you don’t advertise in the tabloids at this time of year you don’t need to jump on board these bigger circulations now. It is still all about the Target Audience and what is right for you.
It’s a funny old time in the world of national press and we’re watching closely to see what’s on the cards for national press and what further revelations will continue to shape the media as we know it…and that’s without the likely launch of a new Sunday from News Int in due course or even the new red top from Associated, called “Sunday”. What’s next?
Showcasing the dramatic beauty of Exmoor
Posted on: July 20th, 2011 by Wayne No Comments
Refreshing design and engaging accessibility combine to deliver a stunning new website for Visit Exmoor (Managed by the Exmoor Tourism Partnership in association with West Somerset Council) www.visit-exmoor.co.uk
Bluesoup were challenged to design and deliver a visually engaging website that provided stand out in an increasingly competitive UK tourism market. Supported with a content management system that provides the Exmoor Tourism Partnership with a site they can manage and update with ease they are delighted with their new site.
Well done to all the team for delivering such a great site on time and importantly on budget.
Apply some brand aid to get through the recession.
Posted on: June 28th, 2011 by Ben No Comments
I’m not making any bold or surprising claims when I say it’s tough out there. Afterall we launched Bluesoup in the same week as the recession became official, so my time as an MD has been served under one economic climate only; a tough one. And what’s becoming more apparent is that it’s not getting any easier and it’s not going away any time soon.
So what options are open to us as business leaders to navigate these difficult times?
Well the first and most obvious solution is to look at cost. Can we reduce the in cost of raw materials or reduce the overheads of the business. If you haven’t already done this (and probably more than once) you are in a privileged position…and can I franchise your business?!
Having completed the cost exercise, most of us will also have seen a drop in turnover as sales volumes fall. And herein lies the point of this blog. Conventional thinking would suggest you either:
- Weather the storm and cut your cloth to reflect the lower revenues (which takes you back to cost cutting again)
- Reduce your price(s) to stimulate sales volume, albeit at a lower margin. To maintain profitability you now need to cut costs to offset the reduced margin..so the same net result, back to cost cutting. You’ve also inadvertently created a problem for the future…namely will you ever manage to get your customers to pay pre recession prices again?
Bold as it may be, I’d like to suggest that there is an alternative. You own a brand, however strong or weak it may currently be, you own a brand. And it’s this brand that will be able to help you through the next few years. I’m not saying it will be the whole answer, but it can play its part if properly understood & managed.
So what do I mean? Well imagine a person who appeals to everyone…yes absolutely everyone. This individual is the life and soul during happy hour, yet is tea total. They attend church every Sunday, yet they’re an atheist. They support Manchester United and Manchester City and Spurs and Arsenal. Finally, they love, and loathe, Marmite!
Impossible heh? Well that’s exactly what companies are effectively telling us when they say their “product appeals to everyone”. It’s just not possible.
Much better that you do adopt the Marmite approach and understand who you appeal to and who you don’t. Once this is understood, you can dig deeper and understand why they like you, and just how much. If they’re obsessed, evangelists even, chances are they’ll sacrifice other things in their life before they give up on buying your brand. And they’ll probably pay a premium for it too. Why else am I still buying Tropicana and Heinz Baked Beans?!
Many brand people can come across as fluffy, blue sky thinkers. However find the right partner, and they come loaded with commercial insight that focuses their work towards the end goal of helping you sell more, whilst maintaining your margins. From a marcomms perspective, a clear understanding of the who and why enables us to develop motivating campaigns, adopting the right tone of voice, and utilizing the right channels so that marketing budgets become more of an investment than a gut feel cost.
So am I talking a lot of hot air and idealistic waffle? Well no. We undertook exactly this exercise for a client of ours at the start of the recession. We increased the premium nature of their brand & communications given what we knew of their customers. And the results? Revenues have been maintained throughout the recession and given the improved marcomms strategy, volumes have held up too.
So, my recommendation? Instead of adopting the conventional wisdom, be bold and look at what you own and what it’s worth to you. Find yourself a brand consultant with a proven track record of commercial results and invest in their insights (we work with some great ones if you want a recommendation!). I guarantee the upfront cost of their work will be more than saved in increased returns from a more informed marketing strategy on its own…let alone the ability you’ll have to maintain margins more confidently.
Goodbye to a dear friend & colleague!
Posted on: June 3rd, 2011 by Ben No Comments
Today we say good bye to BN08USO, or The Focus as it became known. “Focus” joined us way back in 2008, when Bluesoup was just 5 months old. The agency is what it is today in no small part due to the efforts of this plucky 1.8 diesel, taking us over 80,000 tough miles.
The little blue motor has enjoyed countless drive throughs, a spell of vegetable samosas and even the odd health kick where nothing more exciting than fruit and bottled water were consumed. Radio 2 was a staple of any journey, but “The Organist Entertains” and the free Cliff Richard CD were low points in an otherwise solid musical repertoire.
So, as we go our separate ways, it’s with many happy memories. Good luck & thanks to The Focus!