So if a picture paints a thousand words then a video surely must be able to deliver an immediate encyclopedic burst of emotion and tell an engaging story about your business in under a minute? We have been delivering video content for clients for a number of years now and have been lucky enough to visit some weird & wonderful places across the UK to create that content as we have crafted the stories that sell our clients businesses.

So here is a statistic that I know is true. For our clients where there is video content autoplaying on the home page of their website it does two things… 

1. Time on the homepage with autoplay video increased – 123.17%
2. It reduces the bounce rate by 49.04%.

So that video needs a hero shot. To grab peoples attention and make them what to know more.

I’VE NEVER BEEN COLDER

Telling the story of how Scottish Trout that are harvested on a Monday in the beautiful surrounding of Loch Etive are then served in restaurants as far afield as New York and Dubai on the Thursday was a challenge of literally battling the elements. 

Within 10 minutes of being out on a barge in a blowing gale and a choppy loch, one of the camera screens had stopped working after getting sprayed with sea water, my hardhat had blown off and was now making its own getaway in the loch much like Wilson in Castaway and we were struggling to get a steady shot. But we persevered and as the weather settled we were able to achieve the hero shots that open this film.

Next slide please…

We also committed to a 5am start on day two to achieve a sunrise timelapse from the Connel Bridge out towards Loch Etive….of course that was after the challenge of discovering the Oban has an ‘airport’ that had a no-fly exclusion zone!

Hold onto your hats!

RUNNING & LOBSTERS – LINKS HOUSE @ ROYAL DORNOCH

The slow process of getting a 2 wheel drive hire car (not what I booked) to the top of a hill overlooking Dornoch and Loch Fleet was a challenge, but as we got to the top, we wanted to capture how the light was moving in and out of the clouds and get a drone shot of the Land Rover getting to the summit and doing a fly over. As the light was changing there was some running, a bit of shouting and a desire to not let this moment pass. I’m glad we ran.

We spent three days in Dornoch capturing everything from internal shots of Links House, interviews with the team, slow-mo captures of the beautiful rooms and even out on the Dornoch Firth and the North Sea with a local supplier catching lobsters.

It was such a fun and educational experience and we did our best to cover all the detail that makes a visit to Links House so special. The key thing was creating the long film as well as getting small, ‘snappier’ cuts which could be re-purposed for social media. This allowed us to have a strong, deep library of content to use, reuse and recut making the investment in this video a long term investment.

WHEELY BIN DAY – GP RECYCLING

Another film process we managed was for GP recycling, an educational and informative video that foretold the process that the facility undertakes. At the first meeting, I was impressed that essentially the ‘waste’ that I put in my garden wheely bin can be recycled, treated, repurposed and essentially bagged and sold again as compost that you can use in your garden. Who knew?

Aside from having to return home for a change of clothes after every visit to this ‘fragrant’ facility, we set about story telling the journey through the process by mixing interviews with voiceovers as well as drone images of the building and land around. 

The KPI around the motivation of our client appointing us to do the video was based on the number of phone calls / e-mails / comments and complaints they got regarding either the aroma from the facility or the large number to refuge trucks on the connecting roads. There was just a lack of understanding. This solved that.

HOME SWEET HOME – WESTPOINT HOMES

Having photographed show homes before they are sumptuously appointed and there is a place for everything and everything has its place. The golden rule is don’t touch anything. Luckily we had the run of this magnificent 5 bedroom show home in Bridge of Weir and we used that freedom to have a still photographer and two videographers working systematically through the property and not getting in each others way.

The challenge we had was having one day to achieve all this as there was a launch event the following day and also avoiding capturing the active building site that we were in and the team of workers still laying slabs, grass and chuckies in the garden as the launch deadline got closer.

The pace and style of the filming in this property was slower and softer to give the viewers time to take in the property and see the attention to detail and finish quality of a Westpoint Home.

“So if a picture paints a thousand words then a video surely must be able to deliver an immediate encyclopedic burst of emotion and tell an engaging story about your business in under a minute?”

Our next video adventure is going to take us back to the highlands hopefully in April to cover a staff engagement project, a castle and another hospitality project and a golf course. Fingers crossed for the weather!!

How we met them was classic 6 degrees of separation. Caroline, the PR consultant, had heard about SHINE through a friend of hers who worked in the same department of ScotRail who were our client at the time. She had overheard positive tones about our work from the ScotRail marketing team and when Caroline was looking for central Scotland recommendations our name was in the hat.

I started to do a lot of research about the hotel and its competitors and we had a pitch date in place for mid March in Edinburgh. I then took a £400 gamble that proved to be pivotal in how the process unfolded and laid the foundations for the next 10 years. I went and stayed at The Torridon in Wester Ross one week before the pitch to really understand what they were all about, what the place was like and to really see, touch and feel what we were begin asked to market. I remember taking lots of photos and I was sitting in the drawing room of the hotel sending these back to the office so our pitch could get worked on over that weekend.

Later that week in Edinburgh I met the husband and wife owners Dan & Rohaise Rose-Bristow of The Torridon and the investment in visiting their property payed off as our 45 minute pitch slot lasted over 2 hours and I was able to start our meeting with “The venison was lovely” as opposed to “Let me just open Power Point”. We then had a long chat about my visit as they were really interested in my experience and also knew that I hadn’t been met at the front door on arrival…..such is their attention to detail, standards and levels of personal hospitality.

We were appointed a week later and I was on a train to Inverness a few days after that to start planning our first campaign.

It’s been amazing to be part of their growth over the last 10 years. They are a joy to work with. You are treated fairly, respectfully, you are listened to and you know were you stand with them regardless of whether the regular feedback is good or sometimes less good!  Dan once gave me a soundbite that I quote regularly and my hope is I was at least being referenced in some capacity –

“Bring in an expert, pay them their rate and let them get on with what they are good at.”

When we started working with them they were a 4 Star property and we were doing regular deals, offers and discounts to increase occupancy. Over the years their constant investment in the business has seen them climb, quite rightly, from 4 Stars to 4 Red Stars then to 5 Stars and now 5 Red Stars – the pinnacle of UK hospitality ratings.

My favourite part of the journey to Torridon is just past Achnasheen when you are on a beautiful winding road that opens out to one of the most famous views in Scotland, it is famously used to market the North Coast 500 route despite that bit of road not actually being on the route. The first time drove that route and every time I have visited since (yes, every time…..both arriving and departing) I have stopped to take the same photo regardless of the time of day or the weather. That part of the world is really magical and it feels amazing to hear the peace & silence. You can feel any stress or pressure lifting from you as you drive towards The Torridon.

Working with them over the years has had some amazing highlights. We have developed their website three times, working with them to launch their Arcturus Gin, several fun nights at award ceremonies, the occasional April Fools on social media, early phone calls and late night e-mails as well as calls when on holiday have all been part of the service. We then started a conversation around rebranding The Torridon to allow their identity to catch-up with the level of the 5 Star resort.

This BBC Amazing Hotels programme arrives at a pivotal time. We bounded into 2020 with an epic plan in place weaved together by the dream team of The Torridon, SHINE and Custard Communications. We were in the middle of a rebranding project, we were planning to relaunch their bar and restaurant and we knew the broadcast of this show was coming at some point in the Autumn. Then the small matter of a global pandemic arrived and the hotel was closed. Even during the 17 weeks they were closed they handled the situation admirably both in how myself and SHINE were communicated with on a personal and business level and also watching how they worked with their teams during a time of incredible uncertainty. Even in troubling times their professionalism and integrity was unwavering and they didn’t lose sight of their vision.

I have a very fond memory of arriving one evening to the hotel in the winter…….a bit later than planned due to weather and I walked through the door and the receptionist welcomed me with “Hi Craig”, she took my case, handed me a Corona and said that the owner was waiting for me in the bar!

On a business level our relationship has led to so many other doors been opened and opportunities to do business with others in the hospitality sector and beyond and I cannot thank them both enough for that support.

My first visit was in March 2010 and I am already booked in for September 2020 for a special occasion visit with family.

“Given how many times I have stayed at The Torridon – probably over 30 times at The Hotel and easily over 10 times at The Stables. I am fully expecting a Carriage Clock when I have stayed in all the rooms.”

So, it would be nice to sit back tonight with a beer, put my feet up and enjoy watching The Torridon receiving global recognition for being an Amazing Hotel run by an Amazing Couple. But I will be on-duty. Myself and my colleagues from SHINE will be monitoring all social channels, website hits and ensuring that the website can cope with the demand that we are expecting for viewing figures north of 1.8 million. So I will be at my desk. (But with a beer I would like to add)

It will be an Amazing Moment and it really is “a place like no other”. 

www.thetorridon.com

ps. Luckily I managed to get through this blog avoiding the ‘spilt bottle of red wine on the green carpet’ story. I will save that for the 20 years, it’s still too soon.

I was flying home to empty shelves and the unknown having been in a rather sunny bubble for a few weeks. Two of my biggest clients, being hotels, closing their doors, we had to prepare for working from home and my team started casually liberating everything from the office including macs, screens, toilet paper and the really nice caramel biscuits that you get in posh coffee shops. (I swear we had hundreds of them.) 

There was an uncertain landscape ahead of us, but like any self-respecting businessman and leader – I downloaded Microsoft Teams and then sorted a Click + Collect from Tesco.

What have I learnt since?

ON A TEAM LEVEL?

I knew this anyway, but I am surrounded by a brilliant team. Each of them handled themselves magnificently and has been supportive and understanding of all the changes, decisions and new ways of working. I have done my best to detect when mood is low with people and we have all tried to support each other and I have been honest if I have been struggling a bit with either energy or motivation on certain days. I have tried to keep everyone as informed as possible with how business is, what decisions are coming up and what the next month looks like. We have treated each month as a mini-project and then adapted our plans accordingly. 

ON A CLIENT LEVEL?

It’s been challenging but good. We have picked up a few new clients despite having never met them or visited their premises which has been a refreshing way of working, but I am looking forward to getting back to when you can make great connections with people over a coffee and the ‘getting to know you’ chat. We have been working with all our other clients and starting to understand how they will need to act differently and how that affects what they need from us. Some have had the time to take a step back and start projects that have been hovering, others, have been transforming their business at an impressive rate.

ON A BUSINESS LEVEL?

At the beginning, trying to think beyond the first three months of how this was going to affect us was difficult. The first month was digging in, conversations with all clients, trying to work out what would happen to the sales pipeline and understand all the fast moving advice and legislation. May seemed to see us more in the swing of our new found ways of working and when we turned the corner into June it really felt like there was a mood change and positivity replaced uncertainty. Like everyone, I now use Zoom for meetings rather than jumping in the car and zooming TO meetings. 

Remind me why we wave at the end of Zoom meetings again? 

ON A PERSONAL LEVEL?

After a few false starts, I got myself into a routine of fitness and finding time for myself as well as starting to deal with the overwhelming list of household chores that I had ran out of excuses to avoid (I finished painting the garden wall after four years). I signed up for the very excellent FiiT app and I’ve attended 25 virtual gym classes and been discovering lots of new running routes around the Southside of Glasgow covering over 150k. My cooking has improved and my wife scored one particular meal as 4.5 on Trip Advisor.

ON A WELLBEING LEVEL?

Good days, bad days and a lot of learning about what makes you tick when your routine is taken away. I started to realise that I missed my commute and the time where you don’t need to think about much apart from mindless nonsense on your phone while listening to 5Live. So I now make sure I get a bit of time to myself before jumping into the day, this is sometimes exercise or just a cup of tea and the news. Time seems to just disappear as days are not punctuated by old style meetings, general banter and ‘normal’ office stuff. You don’t realise how important all those little bits of interaction are.

HOW DO YOU MEASURE THE LAST 100 DAYS? 

The mantra I shared with the team at the start of April and throughout this time it has still been our guiding light…. 

“I want our team to all return fit and healthy to a business that is fit and healthy when the time is right.” 

But what are we returning too? I need to answer some big questions around the office, working from home policy as well as our equipment and procedures but now it feels like the next natural step as opposed to overwhelming changes.

The good news just now is that we are all still here, we are all fit and healthy, all busy, all working hard, all adapting well and focussed on keeping each other happy and our clients happy.

WHAT DO THE NEXT 100 DAYS HOLD? 

Well perhaps you can expect another blog on the 9th of October but the next focus for me is, as always, the long term stability of the business, work, clients and finances and I must get out of the habit of watching Homes Under the Hammer. 

But on a serious note… 

• Thanks to my team for all your understanding, flexibility and hard work.
• Thanks to my clients for working with us, sticking with us and treating us as a partner rather than a hired hand.
• Oh, and thanks to you for reading this. 

What has the last 100 days taught you?  

We have a Business Continuity Plan in place as well as the right systems to enable us to successfully work remotely for a sustained period for the safety of the team at this ever changing and unprecedented time. Our main contact number of 0141 332 9941 will still be the best number to contact us on, as our calls are then diverted to the relevant persons’ mobile phone, so the whole team are still fully accessible through that number as well our respective e-mail addresses.

Our generic contact e-mail is – hello@theshineagency.com

We will be ensuring regular contact with all of our clients over the course of the next week to reassure them that our high standards as well as existing deadlines will still be met regardless of our working location. Our team and our resolve are strong and it is business as usual at SHINE. Please stay safe everyone.

Developing a new brand can be a deeply personal experience, especially when the owners of the business are involved, but it is also important that the brand reflects the culture of the team too, combining to create a full brand experience, that is both personal yet professional

This is the 5th brand generation that the business has had over the years and without doubt, our new brand has been delivered in the right way that reflects our values, cultures and behaviours perfectly and is both current today and will be for the next decade.

We have all encountered our expectations of a business being met, exceeded and also disappointed with what we initially thought would be. There are 5 factors that determine a brand.

The Promise

What will someone experience when they engage with your brand. This can be physical and perhaps more importantly emotive, It is important for there to be trust and for them to see the potential in your brand.

The Perception

It’s generally the consumer and not the company itself that determines how a brand is perceived. We can lay down the foundation to give your brand the best springboard into steering perception. Ensuring that the first impression is a lasting one.

The Expectation

Based on the promise, consumers build their expectations for your brand. When they interact with your brand they assume their expectation will be met. If it doesn’t, this impacts on perception and them seeking another brand that delivers their expectation. Live up to the name, a trusted look and feel goes a long way in solidifying your brand message.

The Persona

Sometimes it’s beneficial to think of your brand as ‘who’ and not ‘what’. What would that person stand for, what would they be like to interact with? From appearance to personality a consumer will judge a brand and evaluate the ‘persona’ before doing business with you.

The Elements

Your brand is made up of more than just a logo, messaging, packaging, social platforms. It’s all the tangible and intangible things above. These must all have a consistent and coherent message to give your brand the overall power to remain memorable and trusted in a crowded marketplace.

Communicate your brand promise, shape their perception, exceed their expectations, live & breathe the personality and deliver the elements. All of these things combine to give a true brand experience at every moment of consumer engagement.

Its true to say that you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression and as a creative business delivering branding & digital projects for businesses we are always preaching about being consistent when it comes to the presentation of the brand.

With that in mind we always advise that when a new brand is being designed, then refined then unveiled that the staff should be involved in the process and it should be launched internally with the same fanfare and pride that you would launch to the public.

The team that will be living and breathing it need to be heard and similarly, have a want to be a part of it.

So, can you confidently answer the following questions…

• Do you love your brand?
• Do your customers love and engage with your brand?
• Does it reflect where the business is and where you want to to go?
• Does your brand match your business values and behaviours?

If you are interested in working with us to bring your branding vision to life or feel your current brand is in need of a refresh get in touch by filling in the form below.