April 7, 2010
Posted by Steve
The Pensions Regulator is the UK regulator of work-based pension schemes. Pogo have worked on their last two national campaigns.
Running from December 2009 to March 2010, The Pensions Regulator’s latest campaign focused on the importance of good pensions scheme governance, internal controls and record-keeping.
The central aim of the campaign was to encourage scheme trustees to use the resources available at http://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/safe, in particular new bite-sized online learning modules. IFAs where also targeted as facilitators of good governance.
Pogo developed the overarching creative concept for this campaign, around the core message ‘Poor governance can drive your scheme of track’. This was implemented across an integrated mix of media, including print and online advertising, direct mail, email marketing and social media.
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March 24, 2010
Posted by Steve
The Driving Standards Agency is responsible for driving tests throughout Great Britain. From October 2010 the practical car test will include a new independent driving section. Candidates will be asked to spend around 10 minutes demonstrating that they can drive in everyday traffic conditions without prompting from the examiner, instead following road signs or a series of directions.
Pogo have won a competitive tender to deliver diagrams to be used by examiners to supplement their verbal instructions during this part of the test.
As these diagrams use a pre-defined set of symbols, our approach has been to develop a bespoke application that allows the diagrams to be produced quickly, accurately and cost effectively.
The project will run from March to July 2010 and involves producing over 6,000 diagrams to be used at more than 400 test centres across the country.
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November 19, 2009
Posted by Steve
On-Call Firefighters Toolkit launched
Before working with the Department of Communities & Local Government on their new On-Call Firefighters Toolkit, I didn’t appreciate how many firefighters work on a stand-by basis with jobs elsewhere. They actually represent 30% of all firefighters in England and attend the same incidents and emergencies as their full-time colleagues. They really do play a vital part in protecting their communities and saving lives.
The On-Call Firefighters Toolkit was launched on 29th October by Fire Minister Shahid Malik at the ‘Fire Professionals On Call’ conference in London.
http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/fire/1369523
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November 13, 2008
Posted by Steve
Watching Newsnight last night, I was surprised by David Crystals’ views on the future of the apostrophe (after all, he’s Bangor University’s Professor of Linguistics). Responding to JP’s suggestion that it might be time to ditch this most troublesome of punctuation marks, he argued that we should avoid imposing simplistic rules on apostrophes and be more flexible instead.
Personally, I agree that apostrophes do seem to cause a lot of difficulty. At Pogo, we are often asked to edit or proofread draft copy for communications ranging from annual reports, to direct marketing, email broadcasts and website content. The pesky little apostrophe is always lurking somewhere, looking to trip up the unwary.
If course, it’s always fun to spot particularly glaring apostrophe gaffes (I know, I need to get a life). Below is a personal favourite, which I can’t help smiling at most days.
To see thousands of other unfortunate examples, it’s worth looking at flickr.com/groups/apostrophes, or at the Apostrophe Protection Society’s website. They also provide a useful reminder of the ‘rules’!
Given all this confusion, I guess it’s not surprising that some people want to do away with the apostrophe completely, just see killtheapostrophe.com.
I don’t know about you, but I think the apostrophe is important and worth keeping. After all, there are eight in this blog alone.
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September 26, 2008
Posted by Steve
Last night I went to a great event organised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing, called ‘What’s new on online marketing?’. I particularly enjoyed a very entertaining presentation by Will McInnes on the power of social media networks and would certainly recommend a look at their ebooks. Also, David Rowles provided an informative look a search engine marketing, which contained lots of useful tips and tools for marketers. If you missed the event, you can hear more from David on his podcast. All in all, another well organised, well attended and worthwhile event from CIM Sussex.
There’s six more planned over the next few months, to find out more visit www.cimsoutheast.org.uk.
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September 25, 2008
Posted by Steve
Picking a name can be a tricky business. Pogo came from the desire to have a memorable name, with no more than two syllables, that had lots of energy and fun.
But the even trickier bit is adding the ‘what we do’, short hand to that name. There are many out there, are you an ‘integrated agency’, ‘full service’, ‘through the line’, ‘direct’, ‘digital’?…the list goes on.
After a fair bit of deliberation, head scratching and soul searching, we settled on ‘Creative Marketing’ . After all, we wanted to highlight the fact that creativity, in terms of both design and strategy, was at the heart of our business.
Of course, the world has moved on since then and so has Pogo. We now offer our clients more than ever before, both online and offline. By combining media such as DM and advertising with the power of search engine optimisation and email marketing, we create campaigns that deliver real return on investment.
So a lots changed, but the original idea holds true, what we do is still about creative thinking, clear communication and sound marketing principles. To find out more, why not subscribe to our newsletter.
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July 29, 2008
Posted by Steve
Pitching is one of the thorniest issues in our industry. For as long as I can remember, it‘s been a contentious subject to say the least.
In a nutshell, agency people usually fall into two camps on the subject. You‘re either a “pitch lover” who sees it as an essential way to win new business, or you‘re a “pitch hater” who thinks that in the long run it‘s a waste of time, commercially unviable and morally dubious.
Personally, I switch between the two, but spend most of my time in the middle. After all, I happily asked people to pitch when I was a client. What‘s more, no one can make you pitch if you don‘t want too. It‘s still a free country, whatever David Davis might say.
But if I ran the world (how much longer do I have to wait?), I would propose five golden rules to pitching. It‘s important to say that they‘re not just for the benefit of agencies. I think clients would get more from the process too.
1. Be transparent about how many agencies are pitching and the budget
Surely this is only fair if you’re asking people to spend their time and money. Everyone agency side has a nightmare story to tell on this subject (although beware, they are a bit like fishing yarns). The worst example I can give you from my time at Pogo is at least 10 agencies pitching for a £1,500 project. Brighton Council, hang your heads in shame.
2. Never ask more than four agencies to pitch
Trust me it‘s pointless. Whatever agencies may say, there‘s an inverse relationship between the number of pitchers and effort. If you want to get more than four agencies involved, why not consider a “credentials” pitch as a first stage?
3. Ask yourself why you‘re asking your incumbent agency to pitch
If you‘re confident they can deliver the goods, then why have a pitch? If you‘re not, then why ask them? That said, I‘ve known clients who‘ve admitted to having a pitch to” just keep our agency on their toes”. Is this really fair on the other agencies?
4. Be prepared to pay for the winning pitch work
If the results of a creative pitch form part of the project, surely the winner should be paid for that work. If not, the effort put into pitching becomes the price of winning the project. If this becomes more common, it will have an inevitable impact on the effort agencies put into pitches.
5. Consider a paid pitch, even if it‘s just a small amount?
Controversial I know, but it does happen and the gesture goes an awfully long way. It shows that the pitch is serious (we‘ve all seen pitch briefs that don‘t actually turn into live projects), that an agency‘s involvement is valued and they‘re not just “making up the numbers“ and helps cover the material costs of pitching. After all, foam board is expensive!
Now I know some clients will say ‘tough‘ if you want the work, or even want to keep your foot in the door, then pitch!. Similarly, there will be agency types who‘ll say “wouldn‘t it be easier if we all just said no to pitching!. But to be honest, I don‘t agree with either of these views.
Done in the right way, pitching can be positive, encourage great creative and can even be fun. But if it‘s not, I would rather say no and put my money on the 3.20 at Cheltenham. Well, until the next brief comes through the door at least.
Design Week
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June 20, 2008
Posted by Steve
I’ve just read an excellent article by Andrew Sullivan (Sunday Times), which was an interesting look at the impact of social networking on the race for the Whitehouse.
Throughout the last few months of the nomination process, Barack Obama comprehensively beat Hillary Clinton in the race to raise campaign funds. This is despite the former first lady being the clear frontrunner early in the race, and her (and her husband’s) standing in the Democratic Party.
Obama’s money machine owes its success to a ground breaking online campaign, and social networking in particular. They have transformed their website (My.BarackObama.com) into a social networking zone, with wide appeal.
But perhaps his cleverest move was hiring Chris Hughes, a co-founder of Facebook to coordinate this campaign. By end of May, a staggering 1.5m people had donated their hard-earned dollars online to support Obama. The majority of these have donated only a small percentage of the maximum allowed by US law, so the Obama campaign can ask them for more as he fights it out with John McCain. What’s more, these people all have their own social networks, enhancing the viral effect.Â
As the article points out, the Obama’s trademark rallies must also be seen in this context. For example, the 75,000 people who attended his rally in Portland all had to provide an e-mail address. Even before they got home, there was an email in their inbox asking not only for a donation, but also for referrals to their friends.
The results are clear to see. On Facebook, there are groups like “Barack Obama (One Million Strong for Barack)” (568,000 members), “Barack Obama for President in 2008″ (82,000 members) and “I endorse Barack Obama – and I’m telling my friends!” (64,000 members), while there are many more groups at State or affinity level.Â
The growth of social networking has clear implications for brands of all sizes, whether you’re running for President, or looking to engage your audiences and customers in a way that’s meaningful and relevant to them.
There can be no doubt that the relationship between companies and customers is changing radically. As Larry Weber puts it, in his excellent book Marketing to the Social Web, “The future of marketing is a two-way street, not a one-way message:.
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