Blue Blog
Welcome to the Blue Chilli blog. Here you can catch up with all the latest goings on.
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School hub at the BETT show
Posted On 13 Jan 2012 by Laura
Hi, I'm Sam and I'll be working at Blue Chilli for a couple of weeks. It's Friday morning, and I’ve been reflecting on a fruitful trip to BETT 2012 yesterday, at London Olympia.
The BETT show is an annual event designed primarily to showcase the latest and greatest of the technological world, but with specific focus on education. Approximately 600 suppliers and 30,000 visitors from the world of learning combine to make a truly spectacular event.
I was there to promote our new product, School Hub, and also to gain insight into this new (to us) market. However since my girlfriend, mother and sister are all teachers I felt at ease interacting with the vast numbers on the exhibition floor. For me, this was very much home ground.
As soon as I entered the exhibition I was struck by the sheer scale of the event. The energy of the room, the hustle and bustle, the eye-catching stands; something was happening everywhere. Exhibitors were showing off the latest innovations for teaching, learning, developing and inspiring.
With more flashing lights than a fairground I found myself easily distracted from my task in hand. I mean, was watching a 3D virtual dissection of the eye really the best use of my time? Probably not, but it certainly wowed me.
Back to my task in hand, and, as mentioned above, School Hub is the reason I was there, so let me tell you little bit about it:
Quite simply, School Hub is a bespoke content management system that not only enables you to update your website quickly from anywhere but also facilitates email, e-news and text communications, negating the need for separate, more costly packages. School Hub also provides interactive calendars that can be downloaded to both static and mobile devices and full Facebook and Twitter integration and much more besides.
Combining the unrivalled technological capabilities of School Hub with Blue Chilli’s award-winning design credentials is enabling us to deliver some of the smartest websites in this sector.
Having only recently launched, it was a great opportunity to spread the word and there was no shortage of interest in what we had to offer. Mission accomplished, I managed to prize myself away from yet another iPad app for enhancing my primary school mathematics skills and scrambled passed crowds of people carrying their own weight in promotional items. The day as a whole was a great success and certainly worthwhile for any teachers looking to find the latest offerings from the technological world.
By the way, to find out more about School Hub go to www.school-hub.co.uk
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Words, wonderful words
Posted On 3 Jan 2012 by Jenny
Posted In Blue Chilli
Tagged words, marketing communication, response, writing, copywriting
First day back at work today and I switched from Radio 1 to Radio 2 for the drive in to avoid Zane Lowe’s ‘taking over’ of the breakfast show – sorry Zane, just too much in the morning! Radio 2 had a brilliant feature on what they were referring to as ‘kitchen parlance’ or ‘family slang’; basically, words, phrases and terms only used by (and only understood by!) people in the family. It had me laughing for most of the journey and reminded me just how much I love ‘language’ – in whatever shape or form. Words evoke an emotional response and this is something key to marketing communications. Whether we’re looking to warm a prospective customer to a brand as part of a series of planned communications or generate an immediate response with a hard-hitting offer, the words used are all-important and often the starting point for a creative concept.
Some of my favourites from Richard Madeley’s show this morning included “chicken pies” meaning “yes, my seatbelt is fastened” (it’s a long story!) and “I’m having an Aunty Sue” which means taking a break from eating to let the food go down – or at least I think that’s what it was…I was laughing too much to hear properly!
From my own childhood the one thing that sticks in my mind is how our pets used to end up with names that were nothing like their real ones, and we don’t really know why or how it happened, but it did, repeatedly. Our cat Lucky became Lucy, then Lousy, then Mousy then just Mouse. So, we ended up with a cat called Mouse! Strange but it just seemed right – to us at least!
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Do they know it's Christmas? Oh yes they do!
Posted On 23 Dec 2011 by Blue Chilli
Happy Christmas everyone, that's it we're all done for 2011.See you all in 2012, we'll be back on January 3rd.
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Emotional advertising
Posted On 4 Oct 2011 by Lyndsey
My Mum loves Downtown Abbey, and as a result, I end up being forced to watch it against my will on a Sunday night.
To add to my misery, ITV have decided it’s a good idea to show adverts approximately every three minutes. Now, I usually like watching adverts (I don’t know why...) but there was too much, even for me.
It got me thinking about how powerful adverts can be though. I’m the most easily persuadable person ever, so no matter what is being advertised, if it’s pitched right, I have to buy it (I almost brought a microwavable mini saucepan a few weeks ago because the picture was pretty). However, Laura is usually a little bit more level-headed and rational than me and doesn’t get sucked in so easily.
Which is why it was a surprise to hear that over the weekend, she’d bought a tube of face cream that promises to pretty much give you a new face in 30 seconds, after seeing an advert for Garnier’s Miracle Skin Perfector Daily All-In-One Cream.
The advert is simple. It shows a woman with the most amazing skin I have ever seen rubbing it on her face, with a voice-over saying all of the wonderful things the cream will do, and a before and after shot of her. Basically, if you buy the cream, you’ll look like the woman.
I went to a seminar a few months ago, and one of the main things that I came away with is that when a customer makes the decision to buy something, first and foremost, it’s made because of an emotion, and then the decision is rationalised in our heads.
So, with this in mind, it’s clear why Laura felt she needed to go out and buy the cream. The advert appeals strongly to the consumers emotion (the cream promises to change your life) and then rationalises it by explaining the benefits of the cream, and the ingredients that make it possible.
It’s a really clever way of advertising. The Coke adverts do the same. In fact, almost all companies who have an established product do it. Coke don’t tell you about the taste of the drink, they appeal to your emotion.
So, next time you’re doing an advert, remember emotion! Pull the customer in by creating some form of an emotional connection, and the rest will take care of itself.
Just for the record, Laura’s skin was amazing before the cream...
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Utilizing your Facebook page
Posted On 30 Aug 2011 by Jamie
Many companies have a Facebook page and due to them not knowing the full capability of their page neglect it.
Rule 1: never neglect your Facebook page!
Rule 2: Don’t underestimate the power of Facebook!
Your Facebook page is more important than you can imagine, here are some statistics about Facebook users:
- facebook has over 750 million active users
- 50% of users log in on any given day
- The average Facebook user has 130 friends (remember this one)
- people spen over 700 billion minutes a month on Facebook
Source: Facebook Statistics 30th August 2011
That makes Facebook the current number one networking website in the world and if done correctly can become a key cornerstone of your marketing strategy.
If one person “likes” your page you have the ability to then reach on average 130 more people (told you to remember that fact), then through each one of those people you have the potential for 130 more people to see your page and when you think about it you could be reaching 100’s or even 1000’s of people through one simple page on a website.
Although these figures seem impressive there is also the problem of the next statistic:
- There are over 900 million objects that people interact with (pages, groups, events and community pages)
Source: Facebook Statistics 30th August 2011
That is a lot of pages, groups and events so in order to succeed with Facebook you need to have the right page.
It’s not all about pretty pictures and functionality (although this is a considerable part of a page) but simple things such as updating your status daily and interacting with your “fans”. If you just post once a week /month people will forget about your page, but if you update daily and interact with the users by arranging competitions, getting their thoughts on new products and even rewarding them just for being your “fans” this will all contribute to a successful Facebook page.
Rewarding your fans is a brilliant way of gaining interest and interaction from your “fans”. Give them “fan exclusive” discount codes once in a while, “fan only” competitions to enter, free vouchers or even products or services (depending on what your company does).
Your updates don’t even need to be about your company to get people interested, for example you could use an update such as this one:
Or
Don’t forget Facebook is a social networking website at its core; people go on to Facebook to be social (yes and a bit nosey too) so if you are friendly to your “fans” they will be friendly to you.
Plus if they’re talking to you they are more than likely going to remember the name and surely that is a good thing.
Remember never neglect your Facebook page.
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Blogging at its brilliant best
Posted On 23 Aug 2011 by Jenny
Posted In Blue Chilli
Tagged blogging, blogs, mr robinson, design, branding, logos, content management system
A few weeks ago we told you about Mr Robinson, a new fruit and veg delivery company in Birmingham. We'd been involved in getting the new business ready for trading with a logo and brand identity, website design, literature and promotional merchandise.
New features were added to the website at the start of the month including a blog and a section for Mrs Robinson's recipes (worth checking out if you're stuck for something seasonal to cook!) Blue Chilli’s content management system was introduced to make it easy for Mr Robinson to keep these sections up to date and interesting for customers.
It's the blog that I really want to talk about. In just a few weeks, Mr Robinson has posted a really interesting mix of blogs, the perfect way to engage with a target audience and help get a new website recognised by search engines.
I like the Mr Robinson blog for three reasons.
1. There's a consistent style that clearly represents the brand and makes me feel as though the company is talking directly to me.
2. There's a good mix of interesting stories, sometimes about products, sometimes giving snippets of advice, sometimes giving a more personal insight into their daily life experiences - but always linking back to their core business offering of fruit and veg.
3. There's always a new story. Every time I have visited the site in the last few weeks, there's something new for me to read. And that makes me want to visit again the following week.
So well done Mr Robinson. In my opinion, a fantastic example of how to get the most out of a blog. So many companies have them and don't do them justice.
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Bosch newsletter win for Blue Chilli
Posted On 10 Aug 2011 by Blue Chilli
Posted In Blue Chilli, New work
Tagged Blue Chilli, newsletters, marketing communication, copywriting, copywrite, design, photography, print
The Bosch Car Service (BCS) network of independent garages is growing in size, and along with it our workload! The BCS concept team at Bosch headquarters had been communicating with the 500-strong network digitally via regular e-newsletters for the past two years, but discussions with the garage owners highlighted that this possibly wasn’t an effective method. E-marketing is fast-growing in many sectors but in an industry where the target audience spends its days in a garage workshop and not sat behind a desk, an email newsletter can easily be missed – and viewed as a hindrance rather than a help.
We pitched our concept for ‘the network’ – a quarterly newsletter that combines product and technical features with garage profiles and team insights, presented in a copy-light manner that tells the stories through approachable photography and a friendly, non-corporate design layout.
We're involved with the newsletter right the way through from start to finish, which suits us perfectly as we can look after all of the details. We discuss the editorial content and agree the timescales with our client and then it’s over to Blue Chilli to interview the garages and arrange the relevant photography, research and copywrite the features, design the newsletter, manage the proofreading, source and oversee the print before ensuring the newsletter is mailed out on time to the database. We even handle the competition entries to keep the process as simple as possible for our client.
The summer edition is now in the hands of the garages (hopefully being read cover to cover!) and the competition entries are coming through quicker than we can say 'Red Letter Day!' Next week we’ll be down at Bosch planning for the autumn edition – now that came around quickly!
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Google are taking over...
Posted On 2 Aug 2011 by Jamie
... No seriously they are!
Think about it, first they took over the internet with their search engine which I’m not saying is a bad thing, as I frequently use Google search every day as do most people. Then there was Chrome (Google’s awnser to Internet Explorer) which again I’m not complaining about as this is a good web browser. Now Google have decided to corner the social networking world with Google+(“Google plus”) .
Google+ is the latest social networking website to be developed and after having a bit of a play on it myself I have to say I am yet again marginally impressed with Google. I originally thought that Google+ would be developed and then “flop” but after having a look around the site myself I’m going to have to say it, I’m impressed!
Firstly as Google+ is only in development and testing stages and you require a friend who is already on google+ to invite you to become a member (once development is complete you will be able to just sign up as you would do with any other website). So I got an invite and signed up.
Onced logged on I was greeted by all the usual pop-ups etc... insisting that I should think about adding friends which I think would be quite an obvious thing, to say the least but hey, I’ll carry on. The “live stream” home page is the same thing you get from the majority of social networking websites with all the updates from your friends. Your profile is also the generic profile you get on other sites with photos, friend lists etc...
Now this is where Google+ had me. Your “circles” are, in a nutshell, your “groups” of friends for example; friends, family, work, etc... all your friends are in groups (some may be in multiple groups) and with these groups set, you can share status updates, images etc.. with everyone or just certain groups!
The picture on the left shows a group of mine without friends’ faces but usually the profile picture of the people in the group are displayed in the little circles.
There are other features on the new site too but I dont want to spoil everything for you!
There is no offical release date for Google+ as it stands but as soon as it is avaliable for you all, go take a look as at the moment, in the testing stages, it is looking pretty impressive!
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Mr Robinson is now open for business!
Posted On 6 Jul 2011 by Lyndsey
Posted In Blue Chilli, Industry News
Tagged Mr Robinson, Fruit and Veg, Website, Logo, Leaflets, Design
In just six weeks, Ted and Catherine Robinson's vision of setting up a company delivering fruit and veg to homes in and around Birmingham went from a seed of an idea to launch. Blue Chilli had previously worked with Ted on branding, graphic design and marketing projects during his time in management consulting roles, but this time he turned to Blue Chilli to help get his family business up and running.
'Mr Robinson' was the unanimous choice from a list of company names that we put forward and we quickly got to work on creating the right look and feel to support Ted and Catherine's vision of providing 'high-quality fruit and veg at better-than-supermarket prices'. First up was 'Mr Robinson' himself - a friendly, happy illustrated icon to stand proud as part of the logo and brand identity. Then it was on to the all-important e-commerce website. Ease of shopping and secure payment facilities for the consumer were the priority; and for Ted and Catherine themselves, a full content management system was a must to enable them to update their box deals and recipes quickly and easily on a daily basis.
Marketing support materials including leaflets, van livery, branded clothing and special produce tags were all designed, produced and delivered on time for Mr Robinson to go live and start taking orders from 4th July. And after just a day's trading, orders are already in double figures so it's not only the fruit and veg that are looking healthy!
Take a look at www.mrrobinson.co.uk
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Olympic fever has begun!
Posted On 6 May 2011 by Lyndsey
How exciting are the 2012 Olympics?! Here at Blue Chilli, we’re all waiting on tender hooks to see if we’ve been allocated any tickets and holding our breath to see what the first 2012 Olympic advertising campaign is going to entail! Considering the amount of criticism that the designers of the mascots and the logo have faced, it’s sure to be an interesting one.
Personally, I quite like the logo and think the mascots are really fun but a quick poll around the Blue Chilli office suggests that the majority think otherwise! So, in a bid to change everyone’s mind, I thought I would do a bit of research into what the 2012 Olympic logo and mascots mean.
First up, the logo. The design has caused a huge amount of controversy, but I think it’s pretty dynamic and eye catching! There isn’t any actual ‘meaning’ behind this logo, the jagged emblem is just based on the date 2012 and comes in a series of shades of pink, blue, green and orange.
The interesting thing about the logo though is that it will evolve in the run-up to the Games. I can’t wait to see what they do with it – even though I am a fan, I can’t really imagine there’s much you can do to change it. Here at Blue Chilli, a lot of the criticism seems to fall on the fact that it’s not really very “British” and that it looks a bit erratic, but I like the fact that it doesn’t go down the same route of every other Olympic logo by featuring a recognisable landmark. It’s a lot fresher than previous logos and I think it really appeals to the younger generation because of its ‘futuristic’ look. Considering the fact that youth involvement was a key selling point in helping London secure the right to host the games, this is a big plus!
Now, on to the mascots. Although I am inclined to agree that they are a bit strange, there’s a really lovely sentiment behind them. According to the children’s story that they are based on, the two figures, Wenlock and Mandeville, represent two drops of the last bit of steel used to make the Olympic Stadium.
Wenlock, named after the town Much Wenlock whose annual games inspired the Olympic founder, is the mascot for the Olympic Games, and Mandeville is named after Stoke Mandeville in Buckinghamshire, the birthplace of the Paralympics. Both of the mascots have only one eye (something that seems to have angered a few critics), which represents the focus needed by the athletes. Apparently, amongst the designs rejected at the start of an open pitch process were anthropomorphic pigeons, an animated tea pot and a Big Ben with arms and legs. Considering these options, I think these mascots make a great change! (And are a lot less scary – a human pigeon?!)
Both the logo and the mascot have grown on me a lot – I admit that I wasn’t too keen initially, but now I really like them, and look forward to seeing them everywhere as the Games get closer!
