Category Archives: PR and SEO

International News, Marketing, PR and SEO, Recruitment, Recruitment News, South East England News, South West, USA, Web Design, Wiltshire News

Recruitment expert aided in US expansion by creative agency’s new brand and website project

NOTTINGHAM-BASED recruitment agency Distinct has been aided with a push into markets further south and in the US by a redesigned website and an updated brand.

Distinct, which specialises in recruitment for roles within finance, HR, marketing, IT and office support and supply chain and procurement, is opening an office in London to mount an expansion into the south and is about to open another in Boston to capitalise on its rapid growth in the North American market. It turned to Wiltshire design agency Milk & Tweed for its new brand look and an upgraded website with functions to help both clients and job hunters.

Milk & Tweed, which has offices in Chippenham and Brighton in Sussex, is building a reputation for excellence in website, brand and logo design and digital marketing.

Distinct Marketing Director Amy Robinson-Nunn said: “We’ve got exciting expansion plans in both London and North America, whilst also pushing to stand out in quite competitive markets. So, one of the things we wanted to do was make sure that our brand and our website supported this strategy.

“We wanted something that was fresh, confident, clean and modern, whilst still retaining the core of what the brand has always been – I think that’s been achieved here.”

Milk & Tweed’s design team refreshed the Distinct logo to give it a more modern feel, sharpened the colours and used cleaner typography. “While it’s not been radically transformed, these changes have made it look totally different,” said Ms Robinson-Nunn.

The agency’s website has been redesigned and features two new user-friendly tools. “For a candidate being offered a job, one of the first things you want to do is work out your take-home pay, so we’ve got a salary calculator where they can insert their wage and then the tax, student loan and pension deductions are calculated to leave the exact amount they’ll receive in their bank account,” said Ms Robinson-Nunn.

“On the flip side for our clients, we’ve got a wage insights tool which uses live data from the last 12 months, so if they are advertising a job in a particular area, the tool will display the going rate for that job title in their chosen location.”

She said the agency is delighted with the new site. “The development team in particular have been incredible,” she said. “Milk & Tweed’s Web Manager Jon Mynette has been leading the way for us from a development point of view and he’s been fantastic to work with.

“I think they’ve created something that I am genuinely proud of and would recommend them to others.”

She said the new website is particularly important, given Distinct’s ambitious expansion plans. “We’re really taking hold in the US and we’re working in roles within the public accounting and legal sectors,” said Ms Robinson-Nunn.

“We started off in New York and have since moved into Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Texas, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Illinois, Florida, Connecticut and Ohio, so we’re opening an office in Boston to further strengthen our operation in the US.

“Our refreshed brand and new website help us to stand out from our competitors and will certainly support our new strategy and exciting expansion plans.”

Milk & Tweed Web Manager Jon Mynette said: “The project was amazing to work on and the team at Distinct were great to work with because they were so organised, driven and ambitious. It really pushed us as a team and I’m very proud of the work we’ve done and the results we’ve achieved.

“Distinct had some amazing ideas around how they wanted their site to be presented and perform. It meant we had to push the boundaries of how we usually build, which I always enjoy. I must give a special mention to the lead designer Jon Francis and lead developer Sam Jones, who have both done fantastic work on the project. Without them we wouldn’t have been able to achieve what we have.”

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Pictured: Recruitment agency Distinct turned to creative agency Milk & Tweed to help prepare it for an expansion into the south of England and further into North America

Cardiff, Creative & Marketing, Creative News, Marketing, News, PR and SEO, South West England News

GoCompare co-founder joins Welsh creative agency

Cardiff-based creative agency Toward announces the addition of Kevin Hughes, co-founder and former chief finance and marketing officer of GoCompare, to its leadership team as a Non-Executive Director. Kevin’s appointment stands as a pivotal moment for Toward’s trajectory, following the successful rebrand from well-known agency, Bluegg and the kickstart of an ambitious growth strategy.

While Toward has been successfully led by founders Mike Jordan and Tom Lloyd for the past two decades, the collaboration with Kevin Hughes marks a significant step forward. The agency is now aiming to become the first and best choice for businesses located within Wales and the southwest of England for strategic creative services.

 

Kevin Hughes, renowned for his instrumental role in growing Confused.com into a billion-pound company and co-founding GoCompare.com, brings a wealth of experience to Toward. In his role as Non-Executive Director, Kevin will lend his expertise to mentor and advise the team, offering guidance to the directors as they embrace the challenge of their new ambition.

 

Kevin said: “I’ve always loved working with leaders who truly aspire and have ambitions to grow and be successful; both Tom and Mike have that in abundance. I’ve known of the reputation that Toward (formerly Bluegg) carried and through other ventures have experienced their expertise first hand. My only regret is that I didn’t know of them during my GoCompare days, when on most occasions, our default was to speak to London based agencies.

“It’s an exciting time for both the agency and myself and I’m delighted to be part of this project. Today, I want local founders, CEOs, and marketing directors across Wales and beyond to add a talented local agency, of the quality you’d expect from a London alternative to their pitch lists. Don’t go on autopilot like I did years ago, and think you need London for the best creative services.”

 

Kevin continued: “I met Mike several times at events, and the spark for ambitious growth was evident in him. The role I now play relies on my ability to guide them, helping to put in structures and processes that many creative agencies tend to disregard. We’ve already outlined a strategy and started making very positive changes together. The team has touched so many businesses over the years and there’s so much more to come.”

 

Mike said of Kevin’s appointment: “We’re delighted that Kevin agreed to join us as a Non-Exec Director. His credentials speak for themselves, and his approach with us has been nothing short of inspiring. Tom and I have built a great business over the last 20 years but the timing of this was perfect having used our own rebrand as a catalyst. We knew that we needed expertise to push us further. Kevin has opened our eyes beyond belief, and we can’t wait for the next phase of Toward.”

 

Tom added: “Already in the short space of time working with Kevin, small changes have already made a big difference to how we work. We’ve grown in confidence, and as owners of the business, we’re now running things much differently, being much more transparent and inviting about everything with our team, from financials to new opportunities. Ultimately, we want to see growth, increased sales, larger profits, more services offered, and new partnerships flourish for the benefit of both existing and prospective clients.”

 

Toward is a UK based strategic branding and digital agency that helps ambitious clients grow their businesses. Most recently Toward won contracts with global medical company Frontier Medical Group, international construction products manufacturer Catnic, and luxury hotel group The Celtic Collection.

For further information please visit https://toward.studio/

 

Appointments, Creative & Marketing, Creative News, Marketing, Newport, PR and SEO

Fast-growing creative agency Milk & Tweed’s staff is expanding – and so is its office

FAST-GROWING creative agency Milk & Tweed has made two more appointments to keep up with demand from an ever expanding list of clients.

At the same time the Wiltshire agency is expanding its head office in Chippenham by taking on the unit next door to provide more space for its growing team.

Creative Director Jake Jeffries said the agency, which specialises in website, brand and logo design and digital marketing, needs the extra resource and space to stay ahead of new business coming in. “We made seven new appointments last year to maintain our high standards of customer service as well,” he said.

“When the opportunity to take on the extra space came along we jumped at it. It will give our team a lot more room to work comfortably. We’re knocking through to make one big open plan office and we’ll create two extra meeting rooms so that we can welcome even more clients.”

Joining the team are graphic designer Hannah Woolley and web designer Sara Antonacci. Both had been working from home in previous roles and said they were attracted by the prospect of being based in the agency’s Chippenham office, where there is a strong staff culture.

“I’ve been in situations where remote working has been really good but for the past year I have needed to get back into an office and be around people,” said Hannah, who has worked for several agencies since graduating from Falmouth University with an MA in Communication Design.

“I really wanted to go somewhere where they really valued team and really cared about people, where you felt like you were a part of it as well and you were part of building something,” she said.

She will be working as part of the design team working on new projects and liaising with clients. “I’m quite comfortable with that client relationship side of things and I also really enjoy like the process side and organisation and building the team,” said the 27-year-old.

Sara, who is originally from Rome but moved to the UK to study, said she was looking for somewhere where she could work among a team. “I’ve been working from home for years, so it was quite isolated,” she said. “What I was looking for was actually to go in an office, spend time with people, have some social interaction and also be able to rely on somebody else’s advice if I needed to.

“After my interview I liked the vibe here and I really, really wanted to be picked for the role. It’s the change that I needed so I was so pleased to be offered it.”

The 34-year-old, who learned web design while working at an agency in Newcastle, has already been busy. I’ve jumped on various different projects in my first few weeks and I’ve now been assigned a few new builds of a couple of projects by myself, which is quite exciting,”

Mr Jeffries said the agency’s emphasis on its staff culture is having a bearing on recruitment. “It is definitely more challenging finding the right people but we’ve found that the quality of the work we produce and having a good, creative and supportive atmosphere really helps.

“I’m delighted to welcome Hannah and Sara to Milk & Tweed, they are already proving to be excellent appointments.”

Sara added: “I felt I’ve known everybody here for a long time already, so I think it’s a good feeling to have, meaning that you’re probably in the right place.”

Find out more about the agency’s services at milkandtweed.com.

Finance and Banking, Marketing, Marketing & PR, News, PR and SEO

V For Vanguard

New Campaign Brings the Love

London-based creative agency, AML Group, have created a campaign for Vanguard that brings to life the affection customers feel for one of the world’s leading investment firms.

‘Loving the Value’ – the third instalment of the hugely successful ‘Value to Investors’ campaign that helped launch Vanguard to the UK market – retains the iconic Vanguard ‘V’ sign and the popular ‘human sound’ music track – and, quite literally, shining a light on the memorable ‘Yeah Yeah’. The campaign also showcases an emotional connection – revealing the different things customers love about investing with Vanguard.

Shot on location in London, the TV spot features a number of scenarios with everyday people speaking directly to camera, doing things they enjoy because their investments are taken care of. A mum, her young daughter and her grandmother on an illuminated carousel; the owner of a retro pizza van and an older couple entering a theatre.

“This campaign is very much about bringing to life the joy of investing with Vanguard and the value it offers to people of all ages and backgrounds.” Says Hugo Bone, ECD, AML Group. “It’s unmistakably Vanguard, which is essential for effectiveness, but with a fresh new twist – you can now see the music as well as hearing it. So it’s not just an earworm – it’s an eyeworm too.”

Since the launch of the multiple award-winning campaign in 2020, brand awareness of Vanguard has moved from 22nd to 5th, with consideration rising from 9th to 4th and spontaneous brand attribution leaping from zero to 50%. The number of UK investors choosing Vanguard with their savings,  currently stands at 550,000.

 

Commenting on the campaign Becky Bond, Head of Marketing Europe at Vanguard says: “Our relationship with AML has had a huge impact on both brand awareness and brand perception. This latest iteration builds on the success of the previous campaigns – and beautifully highlights our customer-first, value-led approach. We couldn’t be happier with the results”.

The campaign that includes TV, radio, digital and OOH was shot by Jim Gilchrist at Rattling Stick with the soundtrack created by Simon Bass and a street choir at Pure Soho.

Marketing, PR and SEO

The Rising Tide of SEO: Unveiling the Secrets Behind its Soaring Popularity

In the dynamic landscape of the digital realm, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) has emerged as the unsung hero, propelling websites to the forefront of the virtual stage.

As the virtual space (the internet) expands exponentially, the popularity of SEO has witnessed an unprecedented surge. Let’s delve into the reasons behind the growing prominence of SEO and why businesses are increasingly recognising it as a cornerstone of their online success.

The Power of Visibility

In the vast ocean of the internet, visibility is everything. SEO acts as a beacon, guiding users to relevant content and businesses. With billions of searches conducted daily on search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing, businesses understand that securing a spot on the first page of search results significantly enhances their chances of being discovered. The allure of increased visibility is a powerful motivator for businesses to invest in SEO strategies.

Consumer Behavior Evolution

The way consumers navigate the online world has undergone a transformation. Modern consumers rely on search engines to make informed decisions about products, services, and even everyday queries.

SEO aligns businesses with this changing consumer behavior, ensuring that they are present and easily discoverable when potential customers turn to search engines for answers. The shift in consumer behavior has made SEO, not just a marketing strategy but a fundamental aspect of digital survival.

Credibility and Trust Building

In the digital age, credibility is synonymous with trust. Websites that appear on the first page of search results are often perceived as more credible and trustworthy by users. SEO, through its multifaceted approach, helps businesses build this trust.

From optimising website content to enhancing user experience and ensuring mobile responsiveness, SEO tactics contribute to the overall credibility of a website. As consumers become savvier, businesses recognise the need to establish trust from the very first online interaction. That’s why many companies are constantly seeking affordable SEO services in the UK to succeed.

Global Marketplace and Competition

The internet has transformed the world into a global marketplace where businesses compete not just locally, but on a global scale. In this competitive landscape, SEO provides a level playing field. Small businesses can compete with industry giants by strategically optimising their online presence.

The democratisation of the digital space through SEO allows businesses of all sizes to reach a global audience, fostering healthy competition and innovation.

Analytics and Data-Driven Insights

One of the most compelling reasons behind the popularity of SEO is its inherent reliance on data. SEO strategies are not just implemented blindly; they are backed by comprehensive analytics and data-driven insights.

Businesses can track the performance of their SEO efforts, understand user behavior, and make informed decisions based on real-time data. This analytical approach not only enhances the effectiveness of SEO but also aligns it with the broader trend of data-driven decision-making in the digital era.

Mobile Revolution

With the proliferation of smartphones, the mobile revolution has taken center stage. Search engines prioritise mobile-friendly websites, and SEO has adapted to this paradigm shift. Mobile optimisation is no longer a choice but a necessity, and businesses recognise the role of SEO in ensuring their websites are accessible and user-friendly on mobile devices.

Summary

The rising popularity of SEO can be attributed to its role in enhancing visibility, aligning with evolving consumer behavior, building credibility, enabling global competition, providing data-driven insights, and adapting to the mobile revolution.

As businesses continue to navigate the digital landscape, the importance of SEO will likely continue to grow, cementing its status as a major factor in online success.

Charity & CSR, Creative News, Marketing, News, PR and SEO, Tech

Disability charity can help families more easily thanks to creative agency’s website design

DISABILITY charity Designability has been helped to improve its support for disabled people by creative agency Milk & Tweed.

The Wiltshire agency, which specialises in website, brand and logo design and digital marketing, has designed a new website for the Bath charity that, says Digital Communications Manager Fiona Cromwell, will make life easier for parents and carers looking for information.

The charity, which was founded in 1968 and is based at Bath Royal United Hospital, develops products to give disabled people more independence.

Its most successful product is the Wizzybug, a colourful powered wheelchair aimed at children under five. The charity has more than 300 Wizzybugs on free loan to families and over the last 11 years more than 1,400 children all over the UK have benefitted.

Of late Designability has focused more sharply on family mobility and is also developing a pushchair that can be used with a manual wheelchair and design guidance for accessible EV chargers, as well as being part of a national working group on improving access to transport for disabled people.

Mrs Cromwell said the charity needed a new website to make it easier to communicate what it does, both for service users and would-be donors.

“We don’t have any regional teams around the country and yet we are trying to reach people all over the UK, so for us, our digital presence is something we rely on,” she said. “It is completely invaluable to us to have to have an effective website.

“Our old website didn’t reflect where we have got to as a charity, as we have this new focus on family mobility. We just wanted something brighter and more contemporary, but the user journey was the biggest priority.”

She said the new site, with its more modern, uncluttered, feel has had a positive response. “We had a small group of user testers, which was a mix of  Wizzybug parents, volunteers and supporters and all of them had really positive things to say,” she said. “They felt it was very easy to use and said it looks really modern and looks exactly how we feel it should look.

“It felt like from the get-go, it fulfilled those basic things we wanted to get out of it.”

The new site will soon have a Wizzybug Zone for parents who have one on loan. “It will be incredibly useful to families,” said Mrs Cromwell. “They’ll be able to log in  and see confirmation of when their provisional end of loan date is. They can access tutorial videos and a directory of other organisations that might be able to support them. It’s going to have a wealth of information.”

She said the excellent working relationship with Milk & Tweed’s team has contributed to the success of the redesign project. “I found them really personable people, really warm and approachable,” she said. “If there were certain things I had queries about, they were always very responsive and I felt like they really understood the charity and what our objectives were.”

The charity was recently the subject of a BBC fundraising appeal. “We had a website traffic surge as a result of that, which obviously was fantastic,” said Mrs Cromwell. “It was very important to us that we got the website live in time for that, because we wanted people to have a really great experience when they looked us up, as they obviously did.”

Jamie Lawton, Head of Design at Milk & Tweed, said: “It was an absolute pleasure working with Fiona and the Designability team to create a more modern and streamlined website with clearer user journeys. It was important that the website helped to better showcase the incredible work that the charity does, and tell some of the happy stories of individuals and families using their innovative products.

“We love to work with charities, especially when they’re based locally, and as we complete the Wizzybug Members Zone and look to create a smoother online application process, there are still lots of exciting developments to come.”

See the charity’s new website at designability.org.uk and find out more about Milk & Tweed’s services at milkandtweed.com.

Business Expansion, Marketing, PR and SEO

Digital Marketing Essentials: A Comprehensive Guide for Business Owners

In today’s ever-evolving business world, digital marketing stands as a foundation for growth and opportunity for business owners. As traditional advertising mediums become increasingly overshadowed by digital platforms, the relevance and impact of online marketing strategies have skyrocketed. A recent statistic highlights this shift: 63% of businesses have increased their digital marketing budgets in just the past year, underscoring the growing recognition of digital marketing’s vital role in business growth​​.

In this post, we’ll explore the multifaceted world of digital marketing, offering valuable insights and strategies for business owners to enhance their digital footprint. Tailored to both seasoned marketers and those new to the field, this comprehensive guide equips you with the essential knowledge and tools needed to proficiently manage the ever-evolving terrain of digital marketing.

Leveraging Social Media for Business Growth

Social media has become a cornerstone of digital marketing, offering businesses a dynamic platform to connect with their audiences. The true value lies in attracting real and relevant followers who resonate with your brand. A shining example of this is TikTok, a platform that has revolutionized social media marketing with its unique content format and vast user base.

To harness its potential, it’s crucial to focus on building an authentic follower base. To do so, working with a reliable growth service can significantly enhance your TikTok strategy, ensuring that your followers are not just numbers but real people genuinely interested in your brand. This not only allows you to get real and relevant TikTok followers but also strategically aligns your content with the interests of your target audience, fostering a more engaged and loyal community around your brand.

Website Optimization and SEO Strategies

Since your website is often the first thing your potential customers see, optimizing it for search engines is paramount. To achieve this, effective use of meta tags, alt text for images, and structured data can greatly enhance SEO performance.

SEO, or search engine optimization, involves various techniques designed to improve your website’s visibility and ranking on search engines like Google. This includes keyword research, quality content creation, and ensuring your website is mobile-friendly and loads quickly. An optimized website not only attracts more visitors but also enhances the user experience, encouraging them to engage with your brand.

Content Marketing: Engaging Your Audience

Content marketing is about creating and sharing valuable content to attract and retain a defined audience. This could range from informative blog posts and engaging videos to compelling infographics. Moreover, integrating user-generated content and leveraging storytelling techniques can significantly boost the effectiveness of your content marketing strategy.

The secret lies in crafting content that resonates with your audience while positioning your brand as an authoritative figure in your niche. Successful content marketing goes beyond just informing; it entertains and inspires your audience, deepening their connection with your brand.

Email Marketing: Personalization and Automation

Email marketing is still significantly relevant in the digital marketing world. Personalization is its strength, allowing businesses to send targeted messages that resonate with individual recipients. To enhance personalization, using data-driven insights and segmenting your email list based on user behaviour can be highly effective.

Automation takes this a step further, enabling the scheduling of emails based on specific triggers or actions taken by the user. This strategy helps maintain consistent engagement with your audience, nurture leads, and drive conversions.

Pay-Per-Click Advertising and Its Benefits

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising serves as an effective strategy to quickly gain visibility on search engines and various digital channels. This approach lets you present ads to a specific audience, incurring costs only when your ad is clicked on.

Utilizing retargeting techniques and optimizing landing pages for each campaign can significantly increase the effectiveness of PPC advertising. This model is particularly effective for driving traffic to your website and generating leads quickly. Crafting successful PPC campaigns requires understanding your audience, selecting the right keywords, and creating compelling ad copy.

Analytics and Measuring Success

Monitoring and analysing your digital marketing initiatives is essential. Analytics provide critical insights into your audience’s behaviours, the performance of your marketing campaigns, and the overarching influence of your marketing strategies. Implementing advanced tracking setups, such as conversion tracking and event tracking, provides a deeper understanding of user actions.

Using tools like Google Analytics enables you to comprehend essential metrics, including website traffic, conversion rates, and customer engagement levels. This data is invaluable for making informed decisions and continuously refining your marketing approach.

Final Thoughts

Digital marketing is a vast and dynamic field, constantly evolving with technological advancements and changing consumer behaviours. By embracing these essential strategies, from social media and SEO to content marketing and analytics, business owners can significantly enhance their online presence and drive business growth. Implementing these tactics with a focus on quality, relevance, and engagement will ensure that your digital marketing efforts yield substantial results.

E-Commerce, Marketing, News, PR and SEO

Black Friday Google searches dip as social media sales opportunities soar

TikTok provided brands with the biggest opportunity for sales during this year’s Black Friday sales, say search intelligence experts at Found & its proprietary search platform Luminr 

Google accounted for less than one in five online searches for Black Friday bargains this year, according to search intelligence experts at Found.

It illustrates a massive switch away from the world’s biggest search engine as Gen Z shoppers, in particular, turn to social media platforms to look for purchases.

The latest data, provided by analysts at Found & its proprietary tech Luminr, shows that while 110,000 searches were conducted on Google for “best Black Friday deals” this year, TikTok provided the biggest opportunity for brands on social media, with more than 70,300 searches on the platform for the hashtag #blackfridaydeals.

 

James Rigby, Head of Paid Performance at Found, said: “Times have changed. Shopping habits have changed. Online searching methods have changed and that means every brand needs to adapt its thinking.

“Around 40% of Gen Z consumers use social media for their searches, and this year’s Black Friday opportunities illustrate that starkly. If you’re a brand that wasn’t on TikTok, Instagram or even YouTube, you were unnecessarily missing out on sales, because that’s where many shoppers looked for bargains.”

X, formerly known as Twitter, saw more than 54,000 searches during the Black Friday period. There was also significant engagement on Instagram, where more than 45,000 searches for the same hashtag were conducted, highlighting it as a critical arena for viral marketing.

Not surprisingly, e-commerce platform Amazon holds the highest share of all channels, seeing 145,000 searches for #blackfridaydeals, while content generation platform YouTube, with its unique influence on consumers, registered 103,000 searches.

 

Natalie Patel, Managing Director at Found, said: “In this evolving landscape, adapting as a priority is crucial for brands. Christmas and the New Year sales are looming. So, my advice would be to find out what we know and let us help you maximise your performance across every searchable platform. It’s essential for brands to avoid excessive dependence on a single channel.

“Now is the opportune moment to adopt a more diverse strategy, ensuring you reach your audience at the right time and on the right platform.”

 

Between November 2021 and November 2022, searches for “best Black Friday deals” on Google in the UK dipped by 19%.

Marketing, News, PR and SEO, Social Media

Advertising strategist, Amy Kean slams the lack of “inclusion” in her industry and tells Status Update podcast “every voice deserves to be heard”.

Author, poet, diversity activist and sociologist reveals she wants to create a reality show

Best-selling author, poet, creative sociologist, advertising strategist, speaker, diversity activist and playwright, Amy Kean admits to Status Update that at the beginning of her career in advertising she dyed her hair black, tried to change her voice and wore fake spectacles in a bid to be taken seriously.

These days, among her long list of accomplishments, she is CEO and Creative Director of a learning and development company called Good Shout – “a couch-to-5k for the voice” – with the aim of helping others to be heard.

 

As a working-class woman from Essex, despite having a great job, Amy didn’t feel anyone was listening to her and has, she says, always created her own platforms to be heard in an uninterrupted way.

Amy is the guest on Episode 5 of Status Update, the podcast from influencer marketing agency Disrupt, which features some of the world’s best known creatives.

The podcast, hosted by former Made in Chelsea star Stevie Johnson and co-host ‘voice of Gen Z’ Jake Crabb, is available on Apple and Spotify. It has been designed for listeners with an interest in the future of social and digital content.

 

Looking back at her early career, Amy says she felt she needed to change (herself) to progress and had carried that impulse throughout her professional journey. Storytelling, automatic writing, poetry are all devices which Amy believes can have a liberating effect on the creative process.

Amy tells the podcast the premise of her best-selling book ‘The Little Girl Who Gave Zero F*cks’ is that each little girl has a basket of ‘f*cks’ which she dispenses every time she gets embarrassed, or upset, or gets told off. One day she doesn’t give out the ‘f*cks’ and realises nothing really changes at all, except she worries less and it feels good.

Using creative tools, Amy says can help people get over the “paralysing effect” of self-awareness: “When you decide to let go of living with fear of judgement, it can set you free…

 

“In the first seven seconds of meeting someone they form eleven different judgements about you.” Teaching people to unpack those judgements is so important.

“It can help businesses with managing conflict, working together, relieve stress and improve integration and tolerance: Inclusion is terrible in advertising, really, really bad.

“Only 12 % of the workforce in advertising isn’t privately educated.  That didn’t used to be the case. In the 70s, the creative industries were working class industries…

“The advertising industry is prone to ‘self-symbolic completion’, where talking about stuff is as good as doing it.

“In 2016, hundreds of agencies pledged to get rid of the gender pay gap, the ethnicity pay gap. Because it was a leap year, the project was called ‘Take the Leap’. There was a logo and everything.

“Four years later, when the results were evaluated, the gender pay gap and ethnicity pay gap had widened…and the data was buried…

“We need to integrate better.”

 

Talking about the future of the digital space and where she sees the industry moving, Amy says real trends are based on social and political forces, not commercial desires.

And she tells the podcast she wants to create a reality show, expanding on her Good Shout theme, where people can uncover a lot about themselves, and learn to use their voices well: “A little bit like Queer Eye, where I have a body language expert and a comedian on the panel of judges.”

 

Stevie Johnson, co-host and managing director of Disrupt says: “We like to showcase the work of creatives on Status Update and Amy Kean is among the most innovative.

“She is constantly creative and looking for new ways to allow other people to find and use their voice, to overcome the experiences that silence them. She is brilliant at achieving that…in fact, she coached me!”

 

Previous episodes feature Rob Mayhew, Creative Director at digital innovations agency Gravity Road..

World-renowned photographer Misan Harriman appears on Episode 2. Activist, campaigner and creative Jamie Klingler features in Episode 3, and entrepreneur and content creator Dom McGregor is the guest on Episode 4.

The next episode of Status Update will be released on Wednesday November 22nd. You can listen back to previous episodes on Apple or Spotify.

 

Marketing, News, PR and SEO

Dmitrii Khasanov: Digital Marketing and 5 Benefits to Integrating AI

When it comes to digital marketing, AI has set a new standard for how businesses sift through data, engage their customer base, and make strategic decisions. In this article, marketing expert Dmitrii Khasanov will delve into the various benefits of incorporating AI into your company’s digital marketing strategies, as well as how it has the potential to bring your product to the cutting edge.

The Positive Impact of AI on Digital Marketing

Regarding AI, Dmitrii Khasanov argues that it has numerous potential applications for digital marketing. Developing strategies for marketing plans and measuring the performance and effectiveness of your company’s current efforts are also made easier through the use of AI. Let’s go through 5 key benefits to adding AI to your digital marketing toolbox.

AI as a General Analytics Tool

Enhancing your analytics with AI-powered tools can help your company streamline this process, as well as identify market patterns and emerging trends. If you want to maximize your ROI, then AI should be your go-to solution for developing effective and efficient campaigns. As a digital marketing specialist, Dmitrii Khasanov finds that this technology can be applied across multiple digital touchpoints and platforms, tailoring the content to each target audience and market segment.

AI-Powered Customer Insights and Personalization

Better understanding customer insights through the use of AI integration can help deliver a more personalized experience. Advanced data analysis can help identify how customers behave, what they buy, and whether their preferences fit your approach. With effective audience segmentation, you can better tailor your message to the individual. You don’t have to read a Dmitrii Khasanov biography to understand that for a digital marketer, more customer insight is better.

AI-Driven Content Optimization and Creation

In the case of digital marketing, optimization refers to using resources wisely to deliver effective content. AI-powered optimization tools help supercharge this process of sifting through oceans of data, presenting you with up-to-date and selling trends, keywords, and topics. Dmitrii Khasanov points out machine learning and natural language process tools as being particularly effective in helping businesses create SEO-optimized content that strikes a chord with the target audience on a more personal level.

Enhanced User Experience through AI in Digital Marketing

The integration of AI in Dmitrii Khasanov’s company has shown to produce a significant enhancement in the overall user experience. Recommendation engines and chatbots are just two examples of powerful tools that can help curate experiences that are personalized and intuitive. In order to better guide users through their customer journey in a way that’s convenient and logical, AI-driven tools analyze user queries and provide real-time information.

AI-Powered Predictive Analytics and Decision-Making

Marketing campaigns take time to create, and thus demand an accurate forecast of the market and your customers’ fluctuating needs. By integrating AI, predictive analytics can be generated to a high degree of accuracy both by looking through historical data and identifying current trends. What you’re provided with is insight into how customer behavior and market conditions will change over time. This keeps your decision-making process proactive, rather than reactive, and helps you stay on the cutting edge.

According to Dmitrii Khasanov, AI is on your side

To properly implement AI in your digital marketing strategy, you have to be ready to learn, adapt, and keep an eye on the trends. With his company Melandia, Dmitrii Khasanov is no stranger to the ups and downs of integrating new technologies. Businesses that are prepared to transform their approach through AI integration can expect a positive return on their investment many times over.