Better Brand Agency

Core Message Specialists

Posts Tagged ‘Industry – Web and Digital’

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…)

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CIM Your Marketing Show for SME’s in the North East

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

As a tribute to the late Ken Atkins, a committee member, former Chair of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) and tireless marketing advocate, the CIM Your Marketing Show North East event is aimed at helping SMEs in the North East improve their businesses.

With a combination of both inspirational and practical speakers including our very own Marketing Director Declan Metcalfe, Your Marketing Show will provide delegates with worthwhile tips and suggestions on improving their own marketing.

The event will also mark the start to the “80 Days around Marketing” programme to celebrate the 80th birthday of the North East branch of the CIM.

Your Marketing Show will be held at The Radisson SAS Durham in the North East on 3rd March.

If you would like to book for the Your Marketing Show 2010, please book online using the CIM Events Booking System. Alternatively please call The Chartered Institute of Marketing Region and Branch Events team on (0)1628 427340 or by email on cimevents@cim.co.uk.

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Social Media: Beyond the Hype

Friday, October 16th, 2009

Date: Thursday 29 October
Time: 5.30 – 8pm followed by food, drinks and networking
Venue: Great North Museum: Hancock, NE2 4PT
Cost: FREE to Codeworks Connect members; £20 to non-members

Everyone and anyone is talking up social media right now. Asking you to “join the conversation”, “engage” with your customers rather than shouting at them. And telling you that if you don’t use these tools you’re at a major disadvantage.
But what’s the truth about social media? Can they really help your business? And how, exactly? (more…)

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Charities are making social media work hard for them

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

In tough economic times people and businesses are less able to give as freely as they may have once given, charity unfortunately stays at home!

As with any business in a recession charities need to be where their audience is or they run the risk of being left behind, and it’s clear some smaller charities are struggling to change lanes and adopt social media as a key part of their strategy. Some charities, however, have made the leap and have been reaping the rewards of new social opportunities.

Age Concern with partner Innocent Smooties developed ‘The Big Knit’. Started in 2003 the campaign has raised, to date, over £600k for older people in the colder winter months. The campaign now includes Flickr, YouTube and Blog channels which enable the people who’ve got behind the campaign to be part of the story. Clever widgets such as the ‘Hatometer’, which can be embedded into supporters blogs and websites, shows how many hats have been knitted so far. (more…)

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Living through a revolution

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

I read a piece recently by Clay Shirky, who in a blog post entitled ‘Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable,’ reflected on the nature of revolutions. Periods of time when old ‘stuff’ was no longer relevant to us and new ‘stuff’ couldn’t come along fast enough to replace it. That feels like now doesn’t it?

The edges of our media space are expanding faster than our ability to make sense of them, of new technologies, of how people use them and of the shake out, that will mean some old media will fall by the wayside.

But this is an unravelling story seen from two very different perspectives. The user, swept along by the rush of the crowd to try new media, to make that media fit their lifestyle and the marketer, trying to position a brand where its’ target customer is. (more…)

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PHP/MySQL Developer needed to join the Better team

Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

On the back of winning some exciting digital projects, the Better team is growing again. We are looking for a talented and exciting PHP/MySQL web developer to join us. You can have previous agency experience or be fresh out of Uni, as long as you meet the grade.

The web developer role requires demonstration technical ability but more importantly the passion required to forge a career in digital media that by its very nature requires continuous learning. You should have a love for all things web. You will see web projects as being not only design and functionality, but also understand the marketing and communication requirements for the project (including SEO). We are looking for a motivated self-learner, who finds code and problem solving interesting. (more…)

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North East Business News: Brand firm will stay local

Saturday, April 4th, 2009

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…)

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Sign posting people down ‘The Funnel’

Wednesday, March 18th, 2009
Social Media Funnel 

Social Media Funnel

I’ve seen lots of social media maps, some good some not so good.

The problem is they sit there in lofty isolation, a sea of mostly unfamiliar names and quirky identities.  They are a secret cypher known only to social media cool kids it seems. These maps are not connected to the real world (The one in which hard pressed marketing professionals are fighting hard for their budgets and their jobs) in any recognisable way. We’re missing an opportunity here and, if we’re honest, being a little bit condescending to boot. Another thing, social media buzz words are such a crock! Real people don’t talk like that!

(more…)

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Growing your brand’s digital footprint

Friday, March 13th, 2009
Growing your Digital Footprint

Growing your Digital Footprint

We find ourselves drawing this diagram all the time for clients when we’re talking about social media so we thought we’d reproduce it here and get some feedback.

Conversations tend to go something like, “Why social media?”.

After introducing them to the idea that engaging with audiences, listening and harvesting feedback, gaining insights into audience thinking and breaking down corporate barriers is the most rewarding business change event they’ll ever implement it’s much much simpler to draw it.

(more…)

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PHP/MySQL Developer needed to join the Better team

Saturday, March 7th, 2009

On the back of winning some exciting digital projects, the Better team is growing again. We are looking for a talented and exciting PHP/MySQL web developer to join us.

The web developer role requires demonstration technical ability but more importantly the passion required to forge a career in digital media that by its very nature requires continuous learning. You should have a love for all things web. You will see web projects as being not only design and functionality, but also understand the marketing and communication requirements for the project (including SEO). You should find code and problem solving interesting and have a genuine interest in perusing a career within a vibrant commercial studio and an environment where deadlines change daily.

Software and skills:
Expert knowledge of Object Orientated PHP/MySQL., Javascript and AJAX
Expert knowledge of building sites in CSS/XHTML
Content Management System Models
Hosting and Email Set Up and server support
Search Engine Optimisation
Aware of Accessibility particularly W3C and WAI 
Web 2.0
Design standards and technology

Salary/Package: Negotiable based on experience.

You must be able to join the team to support both existing projects (additional work, problem solving) but also lead on new projects using your technical understanding to help with scoping out technical website specifications. You needs to be able to work comfortably on your own while maintaining close communication with the rest of the team. Having a strong attention to detail is critical.

(more…)

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