See behind the scenes of the making of ‘Together At Last’
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To say that the last few months have been busy for OnBrand would certainly be an understatement. Whilst in lockdown, the team have been working at full steam, helping a broad range of businesses adapt their marketing comms in response to Covid-19.
Now that lockdown is easing, we’ve taken a bit of time to reflect on what we’ve achieved; here’s just a snapshot….
As businesses start to re-open their doors once more, it’s safe to say we’ve officially entered the realm of the ‘new normal.’ But what does this mean for your business and, crucially, your marketing plans?
It’s probably an understatement to say that the way you run your business has had to adapt in recent weeks. With this in mind, it’s almost certain that your pre-lockdown marketing plans need to be re-shaped too, so that you can be confident your comms channels are working as hard as they possibly can.
Feeling a bit overwhelmed? Don’t worry, we’ve put together 10 questions you should be asking yourself about your marketing right now. And, of course, if your answers to these questions lead you to thinking you need a helping hand with anything, the OnBrand team are ready to take any marketing load off your mind!!
Your 10 questions start here
- What’s changed in my market/economy?
Change isn’t always a bad thing. For example, it may be that your target audience’s shopping behaviour has changed; they may be shopping less, but spending more. Could this be an opportunity to look at ways to upsell or increase basket size online? - What are my competitors doing?
Whilst assessing what new opportunities there may be for you out there, don’t forget to check out what your competitors are doing too. Think about what makes your brand/business different and how you can achieve stand out amongst all the ‘New Normal’ noise. - What are my comms priorities?
Whilst it might feel like you should be putting spend across each and every touchpoint, it’s better to do a few things really well, than spread your budget too thinly across too many channels. Think about which channels are working best for you right now and ensure those you choose to put resource behind will help you reach your overall business objectives. - What skills are missing in my team that I need to take control of?
With businesses having to make tough staffing decisions over recent weeks, you may find there are skillsets you need to tap into right now that aren’t covered within your team. At OnBrand, our team cover a range of different marketing disciplines, so whatever the gap, we have an expert on hand to help! - How much do I need to change my original 2020 marketing plan?
It’s unlikely your marketing plan from the beginning of 2020 is going to be exactly the same now. Take time to really assess which parts are still going to deliver, and which areas need a tweak! - What new needs do my customers have?
The world has changed for everyone. Not only are businesses needing to make changes, but consumers are having to approach every day tasks and responsibilities differently. Do your customers have any new needs that you can help them with? - Do we have the right level of comms activity running to reach our customers?
If you’ve been one of the businesses that have had to shut-up-shop during lockdown, it may be that you’re needing to ramp up your comms activity more than you originally planned to at this time of year. Take a look at your marketing spend for the year so far – perhaps there’s budget you ended up not using during lockdown that you should be thinking about re-apportioning to really create impact now that you’re back up and running again? - Do we need to revise our business goals?
Do your business goals still reflect the market you find yourself in? If they’re now seeming unrealistic or you’re needing to change your approach, make sure you re-align your business goals so that you have something to measure success with by the end of the year. - Is our website/e-commerce platform robust enough to respond to changes within the business model?
There’s no denying that since lockdown, the world has become more digital than ever. People are spending even more time scrolling on their phones. How well do you engage with your audience across digital platforms? Is your website optimised for e-commerce? - What am I doing to keep my brand visible and top of mind?
Of course, reaching your customers is key, so it’s important to think through which channels are going to work hardest at doing this for you. It’s also important to think x-channel. How are you engaging on social media? Do you have an email database you can segment with the right targeted messages? Are you running an affiliate program? We can help you explore which channels are right for your business, and look at your overarching content strategy so that not only are you appearing across the best channels for your brand, but so that your messaging really cuts through and stays top of mind.
Lots to think about! Want to chat through ways we might be able to help? Email: sayhello@onbrand.co.uk or call 03333 22 00 22
Whilst in lockdown, we’ve noticed the number of people taking time to reminisce about the ‘good times’ has definitely increased across social media. Of course, we couldn’t help but take a little trip down memory lane ourselves…
Today, we’re reflecting on all the fun we’ve had so far working with The Brewery Shopping Centre, Romford.
When we were awarded the marketing contract in October 2018, we couldn’t wait to get stuck in, after all, who doesn’t love creating social media posts, thinking up events and making sure a website is in order? No? Oh, maybe that’s just us then…
…And a lot has happened in a year and a half of working with this awesome centre and management team. Get ready…
EVENTS
We love it when a client gives us the scope to be creative, and The Brewery get gold stars for this. We always like to make sure customers are happy and that we build memories, and we’re pleased to say, we think we’ve done just that, from family fun to community initiatives. Here’s just two!
Hug a Hedgehog (Family fun)
We created a Hug A Hedgehog event taking inspiration from one of the murals from the Brewery’s Art Trail project. This kicked off the half term holidays activities and the strategy was to continue supporting and driving awareness of the Walk On The Wild Side project. Hug A Hedgehog was designed to be an engaging, fun and a free event for families.
The results: An increased footfall of 2.2% and happy customers…
‘Aw it’s nice they do things like this for free. It’s always fun to stop by.’ PARENT.
The Brewery Sleepout
With a high proportion of homelessness in the area, Centre Manager Tom Stobbart wanted to use the community and retailer influence of the shopping centre to make a change. Working with Kim Merry, founder of Homeless charity Hope4Havering, the concept of a retailer and management sleepout in the centre’s carpark was coined.
The results: Social reach soared to 12,317 and fundraising targets doubled to over £10k. Press in local papers and on radio also raised awareness of this very important topic, while retailers felt they were part of something important, thus boosting morale.
SOCIAL TALKS
Wow, who knew that social strategies could do such great things? Well, in this case we like to think it has, because we’re so pleased to announce that we have grown the Brewery’s social media reach from an average of 9k reach to 46k a month. That’s an increase of over 500%! How? Well, in a nutshell… We began with a hook of competitions (more of that below) and then, once we’d reeled everyone in, we got to work on a social strategy. We’re not afraid to admit, we created content around a trial and error approach – some posts worked better than others, but that’s what gave us the insight to work out what came next.
The result: A comprehensive strategy including community posts, real-life posts and a sprinkling of fun memes with celebrity ideas to boot.
COMPETITIONS
We love talking to people on the ground and that includes retailers. And it’s a good thing too, because our engagement with these guys means we secured 15 competitions over a 12 month period.
The results: A total of 2,609 entries and 19 very happy winners. On average we receive over 100 entries per a competition, and our most successful prize to date has been 2 tickets to Vue Cinema… #justsaying.
WEB WISE
Websites eh, they do a lot of work to bring in footfall and we know how important they are. That’s why over the year and a half that we have worked with the Brewery, we’ve ensured information such as opening and closing times, new stores and events are always updated.
The results: Website traffic is up 25% y-o-y in Q4, New Users up 23% y-o-y in Q4 and the bounce rate is also consistent y-o-y. The latter means that users are finding the information they need efficiently, which means we get a gold star 😊.
GROWING EMAIL
Yup, like a website, this is also a medium that’s key to driving that footfall and we’ve worked hard to grow the database through competitions, regular newsletters and raising the Brewery activities via the website.
The results: Grown email database from 4,735 to 7,977. That’s a massive 40.7% database increase!
So that’s it in a bigger than average nutshell. Want your centre to be as great as this? Give us a call now!
We thought we’d enjoy a little interlude from what’s going on in the mainstream news, to spread a little cheer and share one of our favourite campaigns from earlier this year.
Question for you…What do you get when you mix a shopping centre, a dollop of love, a spoonful of Whitney Houston and some clever radio marketing alongside a sprinkle of social media magic?
An interesting recipe right? Read on…
A bit of background
OnBrand’s history is deeply centred around radio, so much so that the whole company used to be called Centre Radio. And we’re proud to supply our most cost effective product, Centre Radio, to a wide range of different shopping malls up and down the country, with a variety of playlists and recorded messaging that can be updated and loaded quickly, especially in times when you need to react in a crisis.
We can make you feel good
We’re often reminding people that sounds can encourage a range of emotions. But did you know that positive feelings created by music can also help to increase both dwell time and sales in a shopping centre? You can read more about the science behind it here.
However, today we’re not going to talk about science. Here’s an update on how we used Centre Radio creatively to have a bit of fun this Valentine’s Day at The Baytree Shopping Centre.
What went down
The Baytree Shopping Centre wanted to launch a simple Valentine’s Day competition, but with a twist. Something that would make shoppers want to ‘dance with somebody’ and engage them within the centre and on social media channels.
Centre Manager, Dan Foley didn’t really need to look very much further than OnBrand. We got right to the heart of the brief, which would mix all the elements together… (any Whitney fans getting our references yet?)
The chart-topping idea
A week-long competition that encouraged people to listen out for Whitney Houston’s, ‘I will always love you’ and then message the centre’s Facebook with the time that they heard it, in a bid to win a Valentine’s Gift Bundle.
Working closely with our audio team to ensure the track was played when the ‘Clock strike(d) upon the hour,’ our social media gurus then set to work promoting this awesome competition on the socials.
With a tightly planned schedule, we created banner advertising, posts and fun teasers, encouraging people to go into the centre and listen out for the tune, while giving them clear instructions on how to apply for a chance of winning.
The results
We generated plenty of seasonal engagement around this awesome competition, with customers emailing us to let us know they had specifically visited the centre just so they could hear the song… footfall – tick!
Another customer was also so chuffed at the ‘creativity’ they mentioned it in their entry comment.
And let’s not forget how happy the winner is…
At Onbrand, we talk a lot about memorable experiences, happy customers and success stories… it just makes us ‘so emotional baby’!
Looking for a unique competition idea? Get in touch on sayhello@onbrand.co.uk.
We’re ‘saving all our (creative) love for you…..’
Listen. Hear that?
If you’re in a city centre and all you can hear are raised voices and revving engines, it probably means there’s a good chance that something else has slipped past your radar. Music. As forgettable as they seem, the songs that play in the background of shopping malls and supermarkets are as much a part of the experience as your loyalty card or bag for life.
But how can something so important slip past us so easily? If we can barely tell it’s there, why bother, right? Maybe, we’re better off shopping in silence – they do say it’s golden after all.
Or maybe not. You don’t need to be a scientist to know that a shop with no music feels weird, but in case you were in any doubt, mood-setting music has been shown time and time again to work best for retailers when it’s there.
However, does anyone give it any notice?
It’s like the air we breathe; we only speak up when there’s a problem. Take it away though, and there’s no atmosphere.
When we think of shopping tunes, the first thing that probably pops into your head are upbeat top 40 bangers, those songs we hear played over and over until they become instantly recognisable.
Maybe the rationale of business owners putting them over the intercom is that familiarity is a way to fast track comfort. Popular tracks everyone knows will make people feel more at home, and a welcoming retail environment is more likely to create regular customers.
This idea hinges on people recognising the songs being played, so we know it sounds counterintuitive to be told it’s better for business when customers don’t recognise the music they’re listening to, but stick with us here: Several studies have proven that playing slower music causes shoppers to take longer in stores, and by not rushing, they end up spending more.
Spangenberg and Yalch (2000) found that playing music unfamiliar (and so less obvious) to customers, not only hardly changed its enjoyment, but it also had this time-stretching effect.
There’s lots of theories as to why this might be, but the prevailing one is that when we hear music we know, we feel time passing slower than normal. This makes sense right?
Who’s not listened to a favourite song and it felt monumental, when the run-time is only a couple of minutes? When all the background songs mush together, our body clocks have a hard time working out how long it’s been since we started doing something.
That said, having a whole load of people milling about might not always be the savviest sales option.
Maybe your aisles are getting a little over-crowded, or there’s a queue of families waiting for a table. The answer? Pick up the pace a little.
The good news for retailers is…
When we are under music’s influence, these studies consistently find we have absolutely no idea, even if it seems blatant on paper. Hargreaves, McKendrick, and North’s experiment in a wine bar (1999) found that buyers were more likely to go for French wines when ‘obviously French-sounding’ music was playing, with the same effect on German wines with ‘German-sounding’ music. Customers also spent more on wine when classical music played instead of pop; in neither case did they think the music had affected their choices.
So, let’s get controversial for a moment and make a bold claim:
If you want customers to stick around and spend a little more, maybe it’s time to call time on in-shop pop. Its bouncy rhythms and anthemic choruses might be enticing, but as far as research goes, all signs point toward less being more.
Hard to believe we know, but there’s nothing that makes us want to stay and blow our hard-earned cash than slow songs we haven’t heard before. We guess silence isn’t the only thing that’s golden.
Trying to figure out how to make your marketing budget work hardest for you during such an uncertain time, may feel like quite the conundrum.
What’s absolutely certain though is, that whatever you do, make sure you’re investing in engaging with your audience. Let’s face it, you’ve worked long and hard (and quite likely spent a few £s!) in developing your audience so far. Now is not the time to stop talking to them…in fact, it’s the perfect opportunity to turn those good relationships you have with them, into great ones!
How do you do this?
You should be thinking about how you shift any planned marketing expenditure on things such as future trade shows, advertising or conferences etc. to channels which will help you stay open for business. Think SEO, PPC and of course, Social Media. The brilliant thing about apportioning additional budget to these channels is that, within days, they can be up and running, quite often with immediate payback…a bit of a no-brainer no?
Let’s Talk a bit more about Social Media…
It may feel daunting as to how you get social media right during a pandemic. Yes, it’s vital to show sensitivity and empathy towards the status quo, however, what’s really important is to remember that your audience are sat at home scrolling through their phones for content that resonates. Now is the time to connect with them and add value to their lives whilst in lockdown.
Going quiet on social media is a BIG MISTAKE
Whilst we all get used to this new world we’re all living in, it may be tempting to stop posting across your social channels whilst you work out how to keep your business afloat. Quite understandable, but it’s not going to help you in the long-term. In actual fact, consistent posting to show your customers you’re still there for them is vital in order to retain them. In recent days, social media usage has been up by 50% – your customers aren’t switching off, so neither should you!
You may be a business that previously relied on having a shop front. What we all need to acknowledge, however, is that the world has become more digital than ever before. Content is King and it’s your job to ensure your brand/business evolves to inspire, build your community and drive value online.
We’re proud to have a team of digital and social media experts, with years of industry experience behind us. If you need a helping hand to create engaging and authentic content or need strategic guidance on how to evolve your social media channels, get in touch with our friendly team of marketing superstars:
Email us: sayhello@onbrand.co.uk
Give us a call on: 03333 220022
We’re all in this together.
How a unique event doubled fundraising targets and bought awareness to a very important cause…
Community goals
If you’re regular readers of our blog, you’ll know that we love to help our clients put on events and boy, last year we did a lot! You can read about those here.
However, one event that really pushed our skills and expertise was The Brewery Sleepout. The first of its kind in Essex and a great experience for us.
Here’s how it went down…
As a centre based very much on community values, Tom Stobbart Manager at The Brewery wanted to add something alongside the awesome Christmas, Easter and, well you get the picture, events. Mindful of the homeless issue in and around the borough and as a result of ties with local homeless shelter charity Hope4Havering, we worked with Tom and the team to brainstorm an event that would really make a difference.
The result? A sleepout in the centre’s carpark with centre management and retailers.
How we did it:
- Arranged retailer meetings where, with help from Hope4Havering, explained why this was such an important event.
- Set up Just Giving Page(s) to encourage donations
- Created a succinct social media and web campaign including: Interviews with Kim Merry founder of Hope4Havering (link) and a press release (link)
- Raised press awareness with press releases, securing coverage in the Romford Record as well as landing Tom an interview on Time FM.
- Continuously engaged with Hope4Havering to ensure our messaging was spot on as well as spending time at The Brewery fundraising.
The results:
4 freezing cold OnBrand members – Yep we did it too!
Press coverage that added up to £450 raised a huge amount of awareness around homelessness and Hope4Havering.
And best of all… The event raised over £10,000! That’s double the £5000 we had planned!
Tom Stobbart, Centre Manager at The Brewery said: “Homelessness affects a huge amount of people in every single area and Romford is no different. As a community centre we wanted to ensure we made some noise around this topic and raise money. We turned to OnBrand who have put on most of our events, and together we coined the Brewery Sleepout.”
“I’m so proud of the money we raised and take my hat off to the OnBrand team who organised the whole thing from start to finish, as well as taking time away from their families to join in the event.”
Here’s to next year, creating a legacy and… new thermals!!
The Beauty Awards – 250,000 public votes, 1000+ guests, 200 celebrities, 100+ brands, 30+ awards, and headlines everywhere – now that’s what we call an event!
We love writing. Social posts, style articles, quirky bits of copy and awards entries. Especially when they win! And that’s exactly what happened when it came to The Baytree Shopping Centre’s Green Apple Awards entry. Here’s how the story goes.
Getting to the core of it
We knew The Baytree Shopping Centre Manager, Dan Foley, wanted to enter these awards. However, we were up against tight deadlines and challenged with a lack of information to support the entry. And when we did get all the bits and pieces through, we really had to pull in all resources to ensure that we could get these awards written right at the last minute…
Slicing up the key points
Lots of info is so much better than nothing, but when you’ve got to cut it down, well…our challenge was to pick out the key points of what was really needed. We closely reviewed the criteria of the awards and spent a while matching it up to the information we were provided with. So far so good. However, then came the sticking point…there was evidence missing. We knew the deadline was the next day, but we couldn’t risk submitting an entry lacking in substance (we’re thorough like that you see…) so, we spoke to Dan and advised against submitting an award lacking in substantial evidence. He agreed that an extension for a late submission would work better.
Baking and waiting
After a rewrite and approval from The Baytree Shopping Centre, we inputted the golden entry. Held our breath and pressed enter. And then we waited. And waited and… the news came in a couple of weeks ago that our awesome client had only gone and won! Celebrations and social media announcements all round…
An additional slice of success
And just when we thought it couldn’t get better, our social media had attracted the attention of a local journalist who couldn’t wait to get a press release. Cue, more fast writing and a great result. We made the local online paper (upload the coverage)! How’d you like them apples 😊
Got an award entry that needs writing, or press release? Get in touch and see how we can help grow your marketing. Pip, pip…
