Better Brand Agency - Brand, Design, Marketing, Web, and Social Media Agency based in North East and North Yorkshire.

Better Brand Agency

Better Brand Agency blog posts with information relating to Better. This includes our services, awards, events, news, team and client project updates, plus details of enterprise and business activities across the Tees Valley, North East and North Yorkshire.

Rewarded for being Better

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

Stokesley based branding agency, Better is celebrating after winning another top industry award.

The agency – set up in 2008 by Mark Easby, Declan Metcalfe and Peter Jones – won the Internet and ICT category at the nebusiness Awards which were sponsored by Business Link and The Evening Gazette.

The judges were looking for an innovative use of internet technology to improve business performance or boost competitiveness within the business. Better were credited for using their website and social media to communicate with peers, potential customers and the wider region to develop a powerful digital footprint. (more…)

Posted by: Better Brand Agency

Filed in: Awards, Better Brand Agency, Better News and PR, Events, North East, Tees Valley

Tagged: NE Business, nebusiness, north east business awards, Tees Valley, tees valley business awards

North East Golf Network launched

Sunday, March 28th, 2010

The North East Golf Network (NEGN) is brought to you by a few partners (including us) who enjoy making contacts and making birdies, so that the region’s business executives who enjoy golf can combine two of their keen interests in one day.

With a full calendar of events from April to October, NEGN’s season will provide plenty of opportunity for members to make new acquaintances, develop new business relationships and also to introduce and entertain clients. The NEGN Launch event will take place at Close House on 22nd April. (more…)

Posted by: Better Brand Agency

Filed in: Better Brand Agency, Better News and PR, Events, North East, North Yorkshire, Tees Valley

Tagged: Events, North East, north east golf network, Tees Valley

Be Better Informed – March 2010

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

Our monthly shout out about what’s buzzing in the Better studio.

Is it March already? Well January and February didn’t hang around did they! A very belated Happy New Year to you, I hope your year has gotten off to a great start and ahead of you are rewarding months and new experiences.

At Better we’ve just finished our first year end and it’s been a great ride so far.

We’re pleased, and very proud, to announce we’ve been shortlisted for the ‘ICT and Internet Award’ in the North East Business Awards. We got the call last week from the sponsors of the category to give us the good news and we’ve had visits this week from the judging panel and a camera man who called in to film some of the goings on in the studio (some photos are on our Flickr Photostream ). We’re now all excited and looking forward to the Awards Dinner on 25th March at Teesside University. The winning companies from each of the sub-regional heats will go through to the Regional Final of the nebusiness awards which will be held at Hardwick Hall Hotel on Thursday, 29 April 2010.

We can only put this down to a great team working incredibly hard for some great clients, so we will look to develop both areas in the year ahead. To that end we will be adding to the team shortly (More on that soon) and have finalised the brand and business development strategy that will help us capitalise on the momentum that is building up behind the business. We’ll be supporting the core business with some product development which we’re really excited about. Obviously we can’t say much about it right now, but the opportunity is huge and we’ve partnered with some really cool people who will help us make it happen. Watch this space.

Next month I’ve been roped into taking on the swim of my life and have entered Swimathon 2010, the world’s biggest fundraising swim. I’m part of a team called the ‘Twimmers‘ (check out the photo of us with ‘The Hoff’) and the money that we raise will help Marie Curie Cancer Care provide care and support to people with cancer and other terminal illnesses. The network of 2,000 Marie Curie Nurses work through the day and night to provide this care and every £20 I raise will pay for an hour’s nursing care.

If you would like to support me please just click on my personal donation page on the official swimathon website and make a secure online donation using your credit or debit card. It’s really that simple. Thank you for your support.

We also want to put out an early shout out for TyneTwestival, which will be soon upon us (7pm on the 25th march in fact!). Northern Film & Media are the headline sponsors this year and all money raised will go to Concern who are doing unbelievable work tackling poverty across the globe so we’re very proud to be involved in supporting the event. Please follow @tynetwestival for regular updates and news of what they’re planning and of course do join in, be part of it.

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Posted by: Mark Easby, Managing Director - Better Brand Agency

Filed in: Better Brand Agency, Better News and PR, North East, North Yorkshire, Tees Valley

Tagged: Be Better Informed, Better Brand Agency, Better News and PR, Better Team News

Avoiding social media burnout

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

I’m an average kinda guy. I have social network profiles on Twitter x two, Facebook, LinkedIn (Including four groups), Flickr, Slideshare and Friends Reunited. I have my own blog and contribute to a company blog. I Subscribe to, and read regularly, eighteen blogs through my reader. Thats a total of 31 connections with different social networks and contacts.

We have on average (Dunbar Number) 150 social connections, so for me that represents 4650 potential social connections. There isn’t time to manage all these social connections effectively, we’d be mad to try but some people do and I’m seeing more people dump their profiles all together as they’ve hit social media burnout.

Social connections are important and valuable both to the individual and the communities they are part of. This has been well documented over the last two years and I won’t go over well trodden ground but I am concerned that people have begun to question the benefit of their social connections. This is on the back of feeling their commitment to keeping their social connections open has begun to affect their work and home life. There are lessons we can all learn to ensure we don’t find ourselves in a similar situation.

Chose to lose some social network platforms.

Dumping the social networks that you joined in a rush of enthusiasm but aren’t actually value social networks will free up your time to focus on the connections that really benefit each other. By value social networks I mean those social network that don’t feed you personally in terms of knowledge, learning and connections or you don’t feel contribute to the growth of the community.

Remove overlapping contacts.

If we stick to the principle of one person equals one connection, how many duplicate connections do you have with a person across your social networks? It’s easy to accept a friend and a follower, without giving it a second thought when we connect with them on other networks already. Consider how many people use Twitter to feed their Facebook profile or vice versa? If you follow people on both networks you’ll expose yourself to the same content twice.

Recognise what is social media noise and and then ignore it.

Remember when you were a kid traveling on holiday with your parents. You’d sit in the back of the car watching the cars coming in the other direction. Then you simply started to not see them. They were there, but you didn’t register them any more as they’d become part of the background noise. (more…)

Posted by: Declan Metcalfe, Marketing Director, Better Brand Agency

Filed in: Better Brand Agency, Marketing Communication, Social Media & Social Marketing, Web and Digital

Tagged: Communication, Marketing Communication, social media, Social Networking, Web Development social media

North East Business Awards

Friday, February 19th, 2010

We’re pleased, and very proud, to announce we’ve been shortlisted for the ‘ICT and Internet Award’ in the North East Business Awards.

We got the call today from the sponsors of the category to give us the good news and now we’re all excited and looking forward to the Awards Dinner on 25th March at Teesside University. The winning companies from each of the sub-regional heats (not applicable to Best Creative Business and Not-for-profit Organisation of the Year Awards) will go through to the Regional Final of the nebusiness awards which will be held at Hardwick Hall Hotel on Thursday, 29 April 2010.

More details of the Awards category and criteria is detailed below:

Purpose of Competition:

To recognise companies and other organisations that have used web technology, including ICT, e-commerce and e-business, to enhance their business.

Judging Criteria:

The judges will be seeking examples of best practice and will look for:

- Excellence of website design, in terms of visual appearance, navigability and interactivity.

- A demonstrable impact of the use of web technology on the business, internally and externally.

- The innovative use of Internet technology to improve business performance or boost competitiveness within an existing business, or to start a new enterprise.

The regional business award format is now in it’s 10th year. It is a tried and trusted formula that offers a consistent benchmark for judging performance.

Since 2000, over 2,500 different companies in the North East have entered one of the Award categories. That is a fantastic endorsement of the event and shows that the event really means something to the business community. Companies of all shapes and sizes, and in all sectors, get involved.

A key ingredient of the nebusiness awards is the tremendous support we get from the Award sponsors. Organisations such as Public Health North East, Pearsons, One NorthEast, UK Trade & Investment, KPMG and Deloitte give the event credibility and gravitas.

For any further information please visit www.nebusinessawards.co.uk.

Posted by: Better Brand Agency

Filed in: Awards, Better Brand Agency, Better News and PR, North East, Tees Valley, Web and Digital

Tagged: Evening Gazette, North East, north east business awards, Tees Valley

Entrepreneurs Forum

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

Click to view Project Slideshow

Project Details:

Brand Development, Marketing Campaign Design, Marketing Literature, Direct Mail, Website Design and Development, Social Media Support.

(more…)

Posted by: Better Brand Agency

Filed in: Better Brand Agency, Better Client Work, Better News and PR, North East, Tees Valley

Tagged: Better Client Work, entrepreneurs forum, Events, ifwecanyoucan, North East, Tees Valley, teesside

North East Tyne Twestival returns

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

TyneTwestival will be hosted on the 25th March 2010

On Thursday 25 March 2010, people in hundreds of cities around the world, including Newcastle will come together offline to rally around the important cause of Education by hosting local events to have fun and create awareness. Twestival™ (or Twitter Festival) uses social media for social good.

All of the local events are organized 100% by volunteers and 100% of all ticket sales and donations go direct to projects. Follow @tynetwestival on Twitter or visit http://newcastle.twestival.com for updates.

About Concern Worldwide.

Concern Worldwide was founded in 1968 to meet the needs of people living in extreme poverty, for whom every day is a ﬁght for survival. Concern is a non-governmental, international, humanitarian organization dedicated to the reduction of suffering and working towards the ultimate elimination of poverty. Their mission is to help people living in extreme poverty achieve major improvements in their lives – improvements they can sustain without ongoing support. Concern meets the needs of these people in a caring and personalized manner, respecting their human and cultural dignity. They are committed to reaching the most vulnerable, even in the most difﬁcult of circumstances.

Concern’s work is informed by a vision for change and their education programs target the poorest people in the poorest countries in the world, with particular emphasis on reaching out-of-school children such as girls, orphans, street children, working children, children affected by conﬂict, children affected by HIV and AIDS, and children with disabilities. Concern’s education programs currently reach over 700,000 people in 25 countries across the regions of Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. Please follow @concern on Twitter to get a glimpse of their staff tweeting from around the world; including their efforts on the ground in Haiti. (more…)

Posted by: Better Brand Agency

Filed in: Better Brand Agency, Events, North East, North Yorkshire, Social Media & Social Marketing, Tees Valley, Web and Digital

Tagged: Industry - Web and Digital, North East, North Yorkshire, social media, Social Networking, Tees Valley, twestival, tynetwestival, Web, Web and Digital, Web Development social media