Kate will add considerable experience to our existing agency team in terms of creativity, brand communications and client servicing, reinforcing our audacious ambitions for Better. Kate’s pragmatic and innovative approach to brand creation and management is based on over 20 years consulting with some of the world’s most iconic brands including ICI, Vodafone, Nike, BT, British Gas, Virgin, Diageo, Royal Mail and Nestlé. During her career, she has worked with London’s leading branding and design agencies – including Wolff Olins, Identica, JKR as well as WPP-owned Coley Porter Bell (as a Board Director) and Enterprise IG.

Kate’s focus is on providing expertise in the craft of delivering excellence through ideas-generation, effective brand management and compelling communication strategies.

Says Kate: “When I relocated to the North East, the challenge was to identify the agencies that would understand – and welcome – my London-based experience and sensibility.”

“Quite frankly, Better quickly emerged as the one to beat as I realised I was increasingly using them as my benchmark by recommending them before I had even met them.”

“Since then, not only have I been impressed with the scope and breadth of their work, I am blown away by their sophistication, their commitment to delivering excellence and their entrepreneurial spirit. Just as important, they are attracting the sort of clients that I really want to work with.”

So, as you can see we intend to deliver on our vision as we continue to build a design and brand consultancy full of the best people, doing the best work. You should know us by now though, at Better we’re never content with the best. That means living and breathing our commitment to continually evolving and challenging ourselves to keep delivering outstanding thinking, and award-winning creativity, for the most visionary of clients.

Building brands people believe in. That’s Better.

Take a peek below. We’ll be adding some more photos when we get done.

The ‘Online Community’ has been developed and launched to support ongoing customer and client engagement and develop insight into the needs of customers. Home customers will now have 24/7 online access to discussions with other customers, focus groups, polls, and surveys as well as direct access to feedback through the community.

The new virtual platform was launched in the latest Home Group newsletter with the article below:

“Online Community is an innovative approach to customer and client involvement and customer insight. The virtual community makes it easier for people to tell us what they think, discuss current and new initiatives within Home with other customers and to take part in surveys and polls about our services.

This is the first time that Home has utilised the power of social media with customers and clients and already you’re having an impact on what we do and the decisions we’re making.

Joining the community is easy. Follow the link from the Home Group website and register to join, answering a few short questions. You will be emailed your login details and you’re ready to begin.

Have a go and let us know what you think. You can also follow us on twitter @wearehomegroup.”
 

Registration will be between 6 and 6.30pm. The Refresh team will greet you and ensure you are registered. At 6.30pm there will be an introduction to the event with any announcements. After this, it’s up to you to get out of the event what you want.

There will be developers with their laptops out sharing code and working on problems. There will be freelance developers and designers looking to connect with agencies. There will be photographers looking to offer their services to others. There will be business owners who may be recruiting. Most importantly there will be creative people networking with their peers.

Sound good?….then register now for FREE.

Refresh Teesside meet at 6pm on the second Wednesday of every month in the function room upstairs at Capaldi’s Restaurant, Linthorpe Road, Middlesbrough.

There will be light food, kindly provided by Capaldi’s, during the evening. The bar will be open. The event officially finishes at 9pm.

Have a great Christmas and we look forward to a prosperous 2012!

The Better Team.

Steven who owns Chapters Hotel & Restaurant and with his Brother Peter, the house designer wear , has spoken of his delight at raising another fantastic amount of £13,500 with the event held at Gisborough Hall on Friday 7th October. This now takes the total raised over the 6 years to £113,500 – an amazing feat!

Steven and Peter would like to express their thanks for the continuos support and generosity received from sponsors Glamal Engineering, KAEFER Group, Better Brand Agency, Gisborough Hall Hotel, Court Homemakers, Whittakers Jewellers, Middlesbrough Football Club,  &The Flower Box to name but a few.

Hosted annually by radio presenter Judie McCourt, the evening’s Hollywood themed fun and entertainment included performances by The Paul James Band, Jack Mitchell, The Butlers In The Buff,  The showbiz and Doctor Brown & The Groovecats, plus a fund raising Casino, Art Sale & raffles.

Judie introduced the evening with Steven Bell, patron, and then Lynne Gray, manager of the Centre invited guests  to listen to patients from the Holistic Cancer Care centre understanding what the centre actually does for them – these heartfelt messages touched the guests hearts and helped raise the fantastic amount on the evening.

The evening consisted of a popular heads n tails introductory game, Silent Auction, Grand Auction, Raffle Draw, a tombola and due to the vast amount of donated artwork, this year saw the introduction of an Art Sale.

A vast array of special prizes were on offer including Fender Stratocaster, ringside tickets to Michael Katsidis Fight in November, lunch at Coutts & Co, Living Room performance by Alistair Griffin, MFC mascot experience and a stunning Charriol Watch supplied by Whittakers Jewellers, all which were displayed by the specially requested assistants- the butlers in the buff & the Tiller Girls

Guest auctioneer, Richard Storry from Lithgow Sons & Partners, got the fundraising into full swing, achieving a fabulous result for the charity.

Steven Bell, Patron of the charity said:

“I would like to thank everyone who attended this year’s event and particular thanks goes to the people who are there ever year and all those who kindly donated prizes. It was a fantastic evening and we are thrilled to have raised so much money for the charity.

Using therapies that complement orthodox cancer treatments, The Holistic Cancer Care Centre supports patients through the physical side effects and emotional roller coaster that experiencing a cancer diagnosis brings.

Lynne Gray, Deputy Manager at the Holistic Cancer Care Centre, said: “All the efforts to make A Touch of Class such a success are very much appreciated.  To have raised the £100,000 over the previous five years is a tremendous achievement, but to then again hit a target over £13,500 this year is just unbelievable especially more so in the current economic climate”.

To view and download photos from the night, please visit www.photo-crazy.com.

For further information regarding A Touch of Class, contact Rachel Power at Chapters Hotel & Restaurant on 01642 711888.

The site lets you buy and name your own personal colour from a choice of over 16.7 million shades for a minimum donation of just £1 per colour. All money raised goes towards UNICEF’s work for children.

{ View Better Pink’ -- #ca005d }

Watch the video about UNICEF’s ‘Own A Colour’ campaign, with Sir Roger Moore.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbgH28J08to

Since its formation in 2008, in the midst of the economic recession, the Stokesley-based agency has gone from strength to strength. Offering brand, creative, marketing and web services it is now regarded as one of the leading agencies in the North East. This year has seen Better win a number of high profile contracts with clients such as Five Lamps, Business & Enterprise Group, Northumbria University, The Trout Hotel, The Assembly Rooms, Cleveland Fire Brigade and Gentoo.

In its first three years, the agency has also extended its reach internationally. On the back of great work for UK & Ireland SAP User Group (UKISUG), Better were selected from other European agencies for the design and development of a new website for the Swedish SAP User Association (SAPSA).

As the client base has continued to grow, Better have doubled in size by investing in its studio team and now employs eight people with a powerful mix of skills in brand, digital, design and marketing.

The eight-strong team also includes six graduates from the North East’s universities.

Mark Easby, Managing Director said; “Our consistent growth of over 30% year on year over the last three years has been exceptional. This year we’re set to exceed our projections again with the last 6 months being our best period so far. We have continued to see a growth in demand for our services as businesses across the country look to market their way out of the recession.”

“In this environment clients demand a return on their marketing investment and our clear focus on results means our customers continue to have the confidence to invest their marketing budgets in Better. We are proud to have developed long-standing relationships with a number of clients and have become brand partners for national companies such as MPI Offshore, NDI UK and Anabas. Our work on all aspects of their online and offline communication has helped them build a strong place in the market whilst increasing visibility for their products and services.

The agency is passionate and committed to the development of the region’s businesses. They have backed this up through contributing directly to the skills of over 300 SMEs and Start Ups by sharing their knowledge delivering marketing workshops and seminars at a number of regional events including Marketing:TheArtOf, CIM, Service Network, Entrepreneurs Forum and more recently the Keeping Your Business Fit Conference.

Better has also embraced social media and is at the forefront of new web technologies. This has seen them form a partnership with Explain, a Newcastle-based market research business, to develop and launch Better Communities. The product is a bespoke private online community platform which allows companies to gain insight and feedback from their customers. The online platform encourages customer engagement and collaboration though discussion areas, focus groups, polls and surveys backed up by powerful profile reporting and analytics.

Mark Easby said: “We understand how social media and web technology is developing, and see private online communities as a key tool for brands to communicate with their customers to drive loyalty, engagement, innovation and co-creation.”

Since its launch earlier this year, Better Communities is already being used by brands such as Northumbria Water, Scottish Power Energy Networks, and HOME Group with many others interested in the platform.

Even with financial growth, the flurry of new clients, success in The North East Business Awards and recognition of it’s team through the Culture for Success Awards, the agency has set itself ambitious growth plans and is looking forward with excitement to the next three years!

This year’s ‘Marketing: the art of‘ conference will give give you expert insights into how to dramatically improve your digital marketing strategy.

A number of keynote speakers will be there to inspire you throughout the day, and local marketing experts (including our MD, Mark Easby) will help you to explore how you can develop your own digital marketing strategies effectively to win new customers, build brand recognition and grow your business, in a series of interactive workshops.

The workshops will include:

• Web analytics: shaping online marketing strategy from analytics data
• Developing your social media strategy
• Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) explained: no jargon, just clear, actionable info and advice
• Rediscover email marketing: customer, content and… chaos?
• Conversion rate optimisation (CRO): turning website visitors into customers
• Developing your mobile marketing strategy
• Creating the marketing a-team
• Lights, camera, action, are you ready for your close up? Reputation management in the digital age

If you’re relatively new to digital marketing, there will also be a number of breakfast workshops on offer to get you started.

Whether you’re a digital marketing novice or you’re an experienced digital marketing professional, there will be workshops and keynote speakers relevant for you.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to find out the very latest in digital marketing and don’t get left behind!

The cost to attend is £120+VAT per person. To book or call Karen on:  0191 281 5777 or email:  businesslink@btob.co.uk.

For more information and a full programme, please go to www.marketingtheartof.com.

Please note that places are limited and are getting booked up quickly.

The conference was well attended and I enjoyed meeting the other speakers and attendees throughout the day. The conference was hosted by Sarah Coburn, who injected humor as well as the steely determination to move the conference along.

The conference was opened by Alastair MacColl, Chief Executive, Business & Enterprise Group (If there were an example of a North East business success story it surely has to be it’s growth and movement into new sectors.) and the first speaker was Damian Hughes, Founder of the LiquidThinker Company. Stand out content for me was identifying four basic emotional needs; To belong, To be safe, To be valued and To be in control and the instinctive reaction we have when any of these needs are threatened – Flight, Freeze or Flee. He referred to this as Monkey Brain! It was interesting to see how this related to business performance and personal development.

Roger Flynn, who shared some of his collected knowledge working alongside Richard Brandson and for the likes of the Prudential and the BBC. It’s refreshing to see that here was a business leader who didn’t surround himself with complex business models and was prepared to change the businesses he worked in by throwing out the rule book and believing that an organisation can change itself by listening to the people who work operationally within the business.

Listening Talking Energising Supporting Embracing on social media. NOT hard selling.

My own small contribution to thinking strategically about using social media instead of playing at it went down well judging by the Twitter comments and those who came up to me afterwards. 3/4 of an hour is just too short a slot to cover the subject matter but I liked the fast pace of the session and the questions afterwards.

It was good also to catch up with a few pals; Shaun from Vector 76 (Hope the new office works out for you), Julie from Sharpe recruitment and Heather from Marketing Geni.

I think they are putting all the presentations on the website for download so keep an eye out and have a look, lots of good bite sized goodness for you to take in at your leisure.

I did take a few photo’s throughout the day which I’ve put here. Sorry for the quality of some, the lighting was terrible, that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!