I was talking yesterday with an account manager who during a discussion about market research said that social media metrics would never replace the value gained from facial expressions, body language and the tone of voice of people attending a live focus group.

I’ve planned a few focus group sessions in the past when I was part of the team that re-branded Frisp Crisps and I have to say I remember them as being interesting and generating some useful feedback, particularly that the crisps were considered as being quite ‘foody’ and filling, more than a snack. That fed into the decision that new ‘foody’ such as Buttered Jacket Potato & Mature Cheddar would fit with our customers’ perception of the crisp brand.

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UNSU Student Survey Campaign

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Apr 7 2009 by Jez Davison, Evening Gazette – view article online.

MARK Easby had to face his mum’s cancer and a confidence crisis before becoming Tees Valley’s king of communications. JEZ DAVISON discovers how the Big ‘C’ transformed his life

THE year is 2000 and a young Teessider is caught in a crisis. Former college drop-out Mark Easby had just scraped through university with a third class honours degree before being crushed by the death of his mother Gwyneth from leukaemia.

With confidence and motivation at rock bottom, he decided the only way was up and embarked on a post-graduate qualification “as much for my mum as for myself”. (more…)

Featured in Evening Gazette on Apr 1 2009 – View article on www.nebusiness.co.uk.

A FLEDGLING digital agency in Stokesley has pledged to remain a local company for local people as it expands from its base in the Tees Valley.

Established last year, Better Brand Agency (BBA) is looking to hit £1m turnover in three years. Run by industry brand expert Declan Metcalfe and Teesside graduates Mark Easby and Peter Jones, the firm specialises in brand, marketing and social media campaigns and works with clients across the North-east and Yorkshire. (more…)

We’ve looked long and hard for the right person to be the cornerstone on which we build our web development offer. Our criteria was pretty big. We wanted someone who had buckets of big agency experience, who had spent a considerable amount of time working through the product development cycle at the very highest level and who could shape how we offer web development to our clients.   (more…)

University of Teesside has selected Better to provide social media consultancy for the corporate communication team to help develop and deliver a social media strategy for the University and its departments.

Better has worked alongside the marketing, web, alumni and student recruitment teams at the University to help them understand how social media integrates with their communication strategy and bring their various audience groups closer to them on a daily basis, while supporting them in building and integrating and number of social media tools around their main corporate website.

The University of Teesside is a vibrant, innovative University dedicated to pursuing excellence and enabling individuals and organisations to achieve their potential through high quality learning, research and knowledge transfer. For more information please visit http://www.tees.ac.uk.