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!!

As I move into handling Digital Marketing at SHINE, I wanted to look back at some moments and lessons from the past year and how they have contributed to my new role and shaped me into where I am now.

Solidarity 

This year has furthered my understanding of business integrity and togetherness. Not only has solidarity been key to keep morale up within our team but I have noticed that it has become a significant value to many clients that I have dealt with, especially during a year such as this. solidarity has outshone many other business pursuals and that has been both refreshing and enlightening to learn this so early on in my career.

Mistakes are a necessity 

Making a mistake and having the breathing space to do so can only ever be seen as a positive, as long as you use it wisely.

There are many instances in life when you will make a mistake which cannot be undone, but when in a position of learning these mistakes will end up making you who you are, especially in marketing, when the world can see your mistakes.

Being given the opportunity to learn from a mess-up has taught me not only self-patience but also self-correction which has proved to be a key trait to me.

Coffee. Is. Everything.

The fact I received a Pret-A-Manger Voucher for Christmas from Craig, really says it all.

Digital Marketing is my passion

After perusing many different areas of the marketing industry, it was clear from when I started to take an interest in developing strategies and monitoring campaigns that the digital life was for me.

There is nothing quite like developing an online presence with a client and watching it grow in line with their goals!

Never underestimate the power of words

As we are now conducting meetings miles apart from each other, the ability to read a room, to take in the atmosphere and develop a ‘vibe’ is lost amongst the airwaves of yet another zoom call.

This leaves only your voice and the power words to communicate which has been both difficult yet a blessing.

It has taught me to think about how I direct myself and how to convey my messages clearer and more directly to the person I am pitching to because you are fighting to keep attention between the group as you are all screen to screen not face to face.

Trains, Buses, Subways (Pre-Pandemic)

I think I travelled more on public transport between meetings, work and projects in the first 3 months of this job than in my entire life…

Passion

Each day I see the team develop something they are truly passionate about and I am beyond lucky to get to see this happen daily whether that be an outstanding branding development or a website that boasts beauty, seeing this passion has solidified my want and need to grow and stay within this industry.

The next steps…

This new role is an exciting one for me because it is new, fresh and full of potential. I cannot wait to take on more projects with old and new clients and collaborate on some exciting new ideas that challenge myself and give me new things to learn along the way.

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 will still be contactable by phone, e-mail, Outlook teams video call or Zoom video call and our social channels as we transition into our less formal offices. We are tackling this uncertain period with our usual shiney attitude and will continue to meet and exceed our clients’ expectations whether it is delivering beautiful design, advanced digital or effective social.

As our commute no longer involves having to navigate Glasgow’s public transport in the morning but instead involves a much calmer and relaxed drift to our desks in our favourite slippers and similarly, taking conference calls in whatever attire we desire (within reason) our Managing Director, Craig, has reminded us that although the working day may be more relaxed, it can often feel lonely.

Here are 5 Top Tips he has given us that make sure the team are well looked after which in turn will keep the team motivated and best placed to look after our clients.

Take breaks and walk around regularly –

Although your new commute might now only consist of slipping into some slippers and gliding towards your desk, it is easy to get caught up in your work when you are sat by yourself, getting up and walking around is good for blood flow and gives your eyes a break regularly as well as taking time to get some fresh air during the day.

Keep Talking –

With the Shine team, there is no deficit of banter but it is always important to pick up the phone or do a quick video call with one of the team even if it is for 5 minutes. It can break up your day and take your mind off the task at hand for a minute and it is some important human contact and seeing a friendly face.  Basically, if you want to take the piss out of one of your colleagues don’t let your location stop you.

Communication –

When working remotely it is sometimes possible that tasks and requests can get lost in amongst the numerous conference calls, emails, texts, slacks and all other communication apps, that sometimes the original job has lost its way due to the barrage of cross-communication. Keep a simple notes app, that you can place on your desktop to keep track of your ever-changing to-do list. 

Eat Healthily –

At home, it is easy to snack on things throughout the day, try and stick to 3-meals a day to keep your body topped up and fulfilled to produce your best work.

Stay Safe –

Look after yourself when out and about, wash your hands, keep distanced and follow the government advice to ensure the safety of you and your family.

From all of us here at SHINE, we hope you are staying safe during this hectic and scary period and look forward to begin back at SHINE towers doing what we do best!

Stay safe.

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.

So how do you stand out?

When we work with any business, we strive to develop not only their brand but enhance and build upon their story with the goals and targets of the business in mind.

This has proved vitally important when developing a gin brand. With a saturated marketplace and a savvy customer base, potential consumers want to know the story behind the brand with unique ingredients and sustainability being two widely sought-after factors. From our research, we discovered that bottle shapes along with label finishes were also key in the decision-making process of the buyer.

Utilising bespoke assets including photography, in-bar and in-store marketing play a massive role alongside the brand to help shine through a busy marketplace. This is key to drive sales and push brand awareness.

The challenge when developing a gin brand is to make it both recognisable and identifiable on the shelf and yet distanced from prime competitors in the ever-expanding gin industry. With a plethora of amazing gins out there it was important that we studied the craft gin market to identify a visual gap in the market.   

We wanted to create a brand that sold the Arcturus story with the first impression. We combined hand-drawn illustration techniques with beautiful typography to capture the brand message of a ‘foraged and handcrafted luxury gin’.

An initial brand workshop played a major part in understanding the values of the client and their brand. Establishing these brand values and ensuring they are communicated through the final product allows consumers to identify with your brand, building loyalty and familiarity.

Within the Arcturus logo, as mentioned above there are nods to the location and ingredients of the gin coupled with a touch of the client’s own story.

Brand continuity also proves essential when developing the digital side of the product. The brand story needs to flow equally between product and website. We achieve this by using high-quality, brand photography that highlights the USP’s of the product such as location or history guiding the user from discovery through to purchase.

In an ever-expanding drinks industry, it is important to consider where in the market you are trying to place yourself.

Premiumization is huge at the moment as brands compete to achieve luxury status. You have to highlight the premium nature of the drink you are selling but maintain the personality and relatability you are trying to portray. Attention to detail is key.

This can mean using crafted typography combined with tactile finishes that look and feel premium. On the other hand, now more than ever qualities such as sustainability and authenticity go hand in hand with the luxury perception.

This is down to the fact that old luxury ideals of bling and glam are being driven out by the force of millennials who now demand assurance that their product has a backstory that they can buy into and shows signs of being sustainable, which is now a requirement for any new brand that plans on making an impact in the market.

The Gin and Drinks industry is a fast-paced and everchanging environment that is constantly bringing up new challenges, and we can’t wait to see where our next drinks venture takes us!

Do you have ideas to set up a gin or perhaps take your current gin to the next level?

If you think we could work together in the future, get in touch!

As technology advances, it has become apparent that online users are increasingly impatient with day to day activities. This comes down to technology speeding up almost every aspect of our lives from self-checkout machines to being able to purchase something online and have it delivered to your door in under 24-hours. 

Although this advance in tech is groundbreaking and provides us with never before experienced access, it is forming a population who are more idealistic, more socially-conscious and more experience-oriented than any of their preceding generations, which isn’t necessarily a problem, but businesses need to be aware of this change to be able to cater for it.

So how do we as a design and digital agency focus ourselves to provide an experience that fits this new-wave of consumer?

By analysing rising trends and carrying out intensive user testing we are able to stay ahead of the curve and consistently deliver a unique design and digital experience for our Hospitality clients that allow them to manage their own guests’ expectations and offer them a smooth customer journey from the first click on the website until check-out.

Importance of Hotel Branding

When we discuss branding, this does not mean just your logo. It is the sensory experience that a client initiates when coming into contact with your brand, and in turn, becomes your most important asset as a business. It helps tell your story whilst allowing your potential customers an insight into your offering and values. Your brand will be one of the first things a guest may interact with and could play a pivotal role in their decision to delve further into your offering and book. It is then key that your brand reflects your price range and proposed target audience. 

Brand Consistency

Brand continuity in look, feel, offering and message should run coherently through everything you do. Although the visual aspect is very important it is probably the easiest to get right. Your brand values and offering are the reason why people book and return to your business and it is, therefore, key that staff members align to the brand values allowing consistent delivery of service across the board. 

Importance of Signage

Following on from consistency, the quality of your brand should be reflected through well thought out signage and wayfinding across hotel interior, exterior and grounds. Signage is an opportunity to reinforce your brand message through the choice of materials and finishes. 

One of the key factors when developing a hotel website is making sure that the user experience is focused on the route to a booking. It is vitally important that the book now button is clear and easy to see on the site. On mobile, it is also good practice to have it visible at all times as a higher percentage of people will access a hotel site via mobile. If possible allowing the user to enter their potential arrival dates on the site is good so that when they get to the booking section they are presented with the correct rooms and prices for that date range.

Importance of Engaging Media

Through user testing, we were able to determine what makes the most interactive and engaging home page on a website. Comparing professional and poor photography allowed us to see the significance each one had on bounce rates and engagement, proving poor photography directly lowers your chances of a booking on your site and similarly out of date or poorly lit images can give a bad impression of the hotel and can turn a user off instantly, so we focus on creating engaging, high-quality gallery pages or include a video as these proved most popular during user testing. This reduces the bounce rate by allowing the viewer to get a quick, detailed overview of what exactly the product on offer is, without having to spend time hunting for details.

After securing a high-end Design & Digital experience it is essential that the experience flows equally through the social presence.

So, this year more than ever it is pivotal to expand and promote your Social standing and allow it to demonstrate truthfully the product you offer.

One of the first things people do when looking up a new hotel, apart from visiting the website, is looking at their Instagram. 

By working closely with our clients and paying regular visits to build your content we allow your platform to be seen as transparent and authentic whilst still portraying the high-level you offer, this is achieved by balancing a range of different posts that include staff, rooms, food, and location taken both professionally and live on site.

We use a range of techniques to build a profile that not only sells your business but will have a direct increase in successful bookings, this is down to how we attract consumers attentions by building a realistic aesthetic and from there create a short and simple journey redirection through to the booking page in a matter of clicks.

If you think we could work together in the future, Get in touch!

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.

Dickie & Moore provide full construction & project management on all construction projects across a range of sectors; education, healthcare, residential, retail, and commercial contracts. They also represent five generations of house building and understand that it takes more than bricks and mortar to build a home.
We look forward to working with them on both their commercial and house building divisions.

Watch this space!

What was your first impression when you started 3 years ago?

I thought everyone was really friendly and focused on creating amazing print and digital products which made me want to be better. 3 years later I’m still as driven.

What is your role at SHINE?

To develop and ensure our websites are at the cutting edge of modern development.

What was the first project you worked on?

The first project I worked on was Angus Soft Fruits I really enjoyed the project and to this day I still really like the design.

What’s a standard day at SHINE like?

My day starts with me cracking open a cold one (redbull), then checking in my code from the previous day and dealing with any client requests. From then on I’m coding away on new projects or expanding already live client projects.

What is the most recent project you worked on?

That would be Westpoint Homes.  The new site is a vast improvement over their previous one and the project pushed me to become a better developer I really learned a lot from it.

What advice would you give to graduates applying for a career at SHINE?

If you’re applying for role at SHINE my advice would be to make sure you have a solid foundation in programming and have either an up to date github repo or portfolio website.
Push yourself to learn all that you can and have a willingness to want to learn more.

What development in the tech industry are you most excited about?

The new Gutenberg editor for WordPress, it’s powered by react and gives you more control and feedback over content being created.

What are you reading right now?

Automate the Boring Stuff with Python

What are you listening to right now?

Tool – 10,000 Days

What’s the most important thing you’ve learned here?

Having patience with what you’re working on as it will lead you to be a better developer.