Successful brands have all found a common thread to their communications: simplicity. To been seen and heard above the daily clutter and clamour and gain instant recognition is the unifying goal of all brands.

It’s not a new thought given it’s summed up in a quote attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, namely ‘Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication’. In a world of marketing clutter, bold brands apply this approach consistently across all their communication to convey a clear differentiated message which connects with their customers.

When we first spoke to Peppers, a company who set the international standard in the cable glands industry, it was clear continued growth had led to a complicated brand and message. Taking a ‘simplicity’ approach was what was required to re-define who they were, what they did and the relevance of that to their customers.

simplicity of message and identity

“More than just a visual refresh, this has been very much a strategic branding exercise. Peppers has gone through significant change since its inception and this rebrand was commissioned to bring the firms brand identity into line with its industry leading product and service proposition.

The process identified and defined core areas of service advantage which can sometimes be overlooked in favour of straight price comparison. However, it is the totality of our offering which truly sets Peppers apart within the marketplace and supports the Company’s hard earned ‘best value’ rather than ‘lowest price’ reputation.”

Managing Director – Peppers Cable Glands

The resulting new ‘Peppers Globe Logo’ brand identity is striking in its simplicity, but all the more impactful because of it. Designed at the client’s request to retain echoes of the old identity, it also needed to reassure customers that whilst the business was developing and evolving, it wasn’t losing or moving away from the quality, service and delivery it has become renowned for.

Indeed, the distinctive new ‘End-to-End Performance’ brand positioning underpins the focus on product delivery, industry expertise and the customer journey, literally from start to finish.

To find out more about how WDA’s unique brand marketing approach can help your business grow please get in touch with our Business Development Manager Anna on 01332 372 728 or e-mail directly on anna@marketing.dev-wda.com

WDA client randd uk recently exhibited at a key trade show, Food Matters Live in London. WDA’s key challenge was to create a bold and engaging stand design that really stood out, and having grabbed visitors attention, to get across quickly what R&D Tax Credits are.

The eye catching stand design did indeed feature the face of a 6ft chicken sitting inside a trophy alongside the headline ‘A chicken farmer receiving £173,000 from the tax man? – As likely as Leicester City winning the Premier League!

Randd Brand Design

That was enough to stop scores of people passing the stop in their stride just long enough to be able to approach them and say, ‘hard to believe isn’t it but the majority of companies who could potentially claim £000’s back from the Tax Man don’t know they can, do you?’

Those interested, and there was a steady stream across all 3 days, were then given a copy of the Daily Reality Cheque, a mock Financial Times inspired newspaper which explained simply and graphically how randd uk have already helped hundreds of SME businesses claim back over £60 million.

With the traffic and interest WDA’s approach help generate at the show, that figure will grow, thanks in no small measure to that 6ft tall chicken, new business for randd uk will be coming home to roost.

To find out more about how WDA’s unique brand marketing approach can help your business grow please get in touch with our Business Development Manager Anna on 01332 372 728 or e-mail directly on anna@marketing.dev-wda.com

WDA are again delivering a number of FREE Marketing and branding audits during January 2017.

This is your opportunity to discover how a brand driven marketing apporach could help drive YOUR business forward in 2017. The sessions are designed to be fairly informal and flexible.

Maybe you want a FREE honest professional opinion of your existing or planned marketing programme, or perhaps you would like advice on a specific area. This is your opportunity to pick the brains of our experts over a cuppa and (hopefully) leave with a fresh perspective and boosted enthusiasm about your branding and marketing plans – a great way to kick off the new year!

Places are limited to book please contact Anna Buonaguro at: anna@marketing.dev-wda.com

WDA were appointed after a competitive pitch by leading R&D Tax Credit specialist RANDD UK to devise and implement a strategic rebranding and innovative new marketing strategy to drive their new business development.

RANDD UK are R&D Tax Credit specialists delivering HMRC-backed R&D Tax Credit cash injections primarily to SME’s which reward their investment in R&D and innovation. The scheme is an HMRC incentive designed to encourage innovation and investment on R&D activities by UK companies. Somewhat incredibly government figures suggest that less than 10% of eligible companies are claiming through the scheme, which is even more surprising given the average annual claim for a RANDD client is just under £60,000.

WDA are developing a campaign to raise awareness of this scheme generally whilst firmly establishing RANDD as the pre-eminent company in this sector. The key challenges are that many SME’s who have heard about it either think it’s too good to be true (it isn’t) or that it won’t be worth the perceived time/hassle involved (RANDD minimise and manage both for clients). Many others miss out on significant potential claims by thinking that they ‘ don’t do R&D or innovation’, which in many cases RANDD can clarify through a short initial chat over a coffee.

RANDD will officially ‘re-launch’ in late November when they’ll be exhibiting at the Food Matters Live exhibition (22nd-24th), with a distinctive new brand look and feel, differentiated brand positioning and a creative and thought provoking marketing campaign to challenge and change SME’s perspective.

It’s quite likely that several WDA clients may be eligible to claim a cash injection from R&D Tax Credits and we’d be happy to effect a direct introduction to RANDD UK with no obligation whatsoever for anyone who would be interested in finding out about their potential eligibility.

Like all RANDD’s clients there’s nothing to lose and potentially everything to gain. Don’t miss out by assuming your business isn’t eligible and look out for more news on RANDD as the new branding and campaign goes live later this month.

We’ve seen many top brands mining their past, with ‘The Co-op’, ‘Guinness’ and more recently ‘MasterCard’ having returned to form with logos each echoing their 1960’s predecessors, but all for very different reasons.

Heritage and history are valuable commodities for any brand; a history is distinct and ownable. They can be used to re-dress a business to change the public’s perception. Although there is now a climate in which any company with a decade under its belt is proudly declaring its provenance, in good branding, heritage is more than a battle of ‘who has been around the longest’. Authenticity is what roots itself in the consumer’s mind. No wonder many businesses are chasing a ‘heritage brand’, trying to unearth their own engaging story. Storytelling gives a brand a platform to speak to us on emotional level, a recent article in Wired even argues that a well spun tale side-steps our reasoning and normal defences.

For a brand like The Co-op this sort of re-brand seems  like an obvious move.  In many ways – seeking to resuscitate a tarnished reputation – their hand was forced. ‘North’ the design studio behind the re-brand surmises as “evoking nostalgic memories of local shops and dividend stamps”, in this way it’s is harkening back to a fondly remembered time. It is not as much about telling ‘it’s own story’, but rather trying to buy into another. The Co-op is using its heritage to once more try to position itself and it’s values to an idealised past – where no one locked their door and the postman wore shorts. As it happens The Co-op has a longer and richer heritage it can mine, dating back to the early 19th Century, but that doesn’t align with the message and values that they want to project now, but in reality no one cares about a brand’s uncurated history. What matters is story telling. In essence, branding is about sowing seeds in the imagination.

A good example of this is the recent Guinness rebrand, working with an illustrator who had drawn their iconic Guinness harp of 1968. The logo evokes notions of craftsmanship. It is textured and complex and is a breath of fresh air going against the current trend of minimalist design. Compare it, for example, to Mastercard’s recently unveiled logo  – minimal to the utmost. Guinness’ logo is distinct and physical, the hand process is trying to reconnect with a 250 year old brand. The beer market finds itself in a time where every label is emboldened with the word “craft”, Guiness’ re-brand is about differentiation they are attempting By contrast, Guinesss are trying to tap into  the idea of traditional craftsmanship. The same idea is behind the medieval heritage of Stella Artois’ Chalice design.

In a saturated market many brands are staking their claim as ‘the originals’, using their heritage as a tool to reposition themselves with storytelling. Heritage is an important factor to establish a consumer trust, but it is no longer about who planted their flag first. A trustworthy brand is not simply the one that has been around longest but rather the one crafting an engaging tale, a story that reflects that brand’s values. Today’s motto appears to be, If you don’t have a story these days, make one. In design terms we can safely predict a few more brands drawing upon the hand-crafted imagery, moving away from the clean lines of digital, yet as The Co-op and MasterCard show its not just about rejecting the contemporary ‘flat design’ that surrounds us. Branding appears to have fixed its gaze on ‘heritage’, is this a trend that’s set to continue?

If you need help creating an effective brand for your event or organisation contact Anna Buonaguro onanna@marketing.dev-wda.com

Following a successful pitch, WDA were appointed to help one of the UK’s fastest-growing independent property groups to rebrand and reposition themselves to accommodate major expansion plans over the next five years.

Founded in 1989 as Direct Valuations and known as Shepherd Direct Ltd, the group comprises a comprehensive range of property related services including Estate Agency, Surveying, Risk Management, Lettings, Mortgages and Finance; each with its own brand identity all operating as independent trading divisions from Shepherd Direct’s Nottingham HQ.

The rebrand was part of a group strategy to create awareness for and to cross-sell these complementary divisions to customers by creating a common brand platform and a level of brand recognition to reflect the scale of the organisation which employs over 400 staff and has an annual turnover of £60m.

Referred to internally for many years as SDL, the choice to adopt the SDL prefix to unify the businesses was made strategically to simplify the complex group structure that existed within Shepherd Direct.  This simple prefix has also allowed acquisitions to quickly adopt the new group identity whilst retaining historic recognition and brand equity.

Whilst moving away from Shepherd Direct Ltd to the SDL acronym supported the desired new brand architecture, we wanted to retain a link to the decades of history, heritage, and core brand values of the original businesses.

SDL Website Design | Branding Derby | WDA

“During initial discussions it became clear that creating lasting partnerships was at the heart of what Shepherd was all about. Words like trust, honesty, loyalty and commitment kept cropping up time and again when talking to senior members of the team and the board.”

Said WDA’s Lee Waterhouse

“These words are not ones you might automatically associate with this sector, but are certainly highly desired by our audience, and were qualities which we felt should definitely be a part of our new brand story.”

That brand story came to life with the birth of ‘Shep!’, our trusty Border Collie which now sits at the heart of the new brand and has been adopted as the SDL mascot, creating a visual link to the previous name.

The traditional companion of the Shepherd; Border Collies are considered highly intelligent, hard working, and very loyal animals, famous for  herding and protecting their flocks. In just the same way, SDL businesses direct (advise) their valued customers whilst helping them protect their financial interests and investments. In addition the breed has a very characterful personality and is incredibly expressive, enabling us to convey lots of emotion within the brand and its marketing communications.

Apart from giving marketing a broad canvas and lots to work with, Shep and the new branding gives SDL a strong platform for growth and a unique brand differentiator within its market. Since the rebrand expansion is happening at a rapid pace. SDL has already gone on to acquire CP Bigwood, Graham Penny and most recently Humphreys of Chester, the new brand structure allowing these businesses to ‘hit the ground running’ under the new SDL name.

You can hear group Commercial Director, Rob Clifford discussing the brand here.

To find out more about how WDA’s unique brand marketing approach can help your business grow please get in touch with our Business Development Manager Anna on 01332 372 728 or e-mail directly on anna@marketing.dev-wda.com

SDL - Shepherd Direct ReBrand - WDA

SDL - Shepherd Direct ReBrand - WDA

WDA have been commissioned to create a new Yamaha Ad Campaign to capitalise on the media storm created by their new Yamaha MT09 Tracer. The bike received rave reviews from the World’s assembled press at launch in Málaga Spain, the latest model variant of Europe’s third best selling motorcycle; and a very important model for the brand here in the UK.

In-line with the Dark Side Tour WDA helped deliver last summer, the aim was to give our audience the complete Yamaha experience, which meant getting riders into the saddle and on the gas rather than just looking through the dealership window. This involved putting Tracer ‘TEST BIKE’ liveried machines into the considerable dealer network, and a promotional campaign to create demand for the test ride opportunity.

‘MORE THAN JUST TORQUE’ Yamaha Ad Campaign

Our solution ‘MORE THAN JUST TORQUE’ worked on a number of levels, most obviously in leveraging the topical positive press reviews utilising a series of the best quotes from the UK’s leading specialist press titles. The idea being to invite the audience to ‘ride it for themselves’ and discover that this bike lives up to – and indeed exceeds – the hype.

The slogan gave us the opportunity to remind the audience what the ‘MT’ model acronym stands for (‘Masters of Torque’) something not widely known but which perfectly sums up the unique triple cylinder powered machine. ‘MORE THAN JUST TORQUE’ also enabled us to position the Tracer as a bike which sits slightly above the ‘base’ MT in terms of price point, and one which is aimed at the slightly different Touring market.

In addition to conceiving the core campaign concept, WDA were tasked with creating the official ‘Test Bike’ branding, and with writing, designing and producing a range of promotional materials for the dealership, and various advertising positions – both print digital. Due to time pressures Yamaha required the whole campaign to be turned around in about a week, which we were able to accommodate.

Yamaha’s continued road to sales success

WDA are proud to continue to support Yamaha and are thrilled to be part of the brands ‘come-back’; with latest Motor Cycle Industry Association figures showing Yamaha now occupying second spot in the UK manufacturers top 10 with sales UP 20% on the previous year and market share increased by 13%. As multiple winners ourselves(!) we’d also like to congratulate them on ‘doing the double’ at the recent BDN motorcycle industry awards – A Motorcycle Franchise of the Year award, and NMDA Manufacturer of the Year Award.

Running a creative agency, everyday we’re brainstorming ideas, designing ad campaigns, writing copy, taking photographs, building websites – and so on. However, we’re probably best known for branding. Working with clients, we create new brands, build them and reposition them. Branding is regarded by some (me included) as the most important weapon in the marketeers arsenal today. Get it right, and the customer is putty in your hands(!). But I’m often asked why people buy brands, and are some people immune from a brands influence?

What is the purpose of a brand?

My definition of a brands purpose is to create something the target customer needs that they can’t get elsewhere. They are the two boxes which must be ticked. Of course when we say brands lots of people think of high end premium labels – maybe a fashion house, luxury watch brand or prestige vehicle. But branding applies to every day products too – creating differentiation between commodity items from sugar to frozen peas is an even more important role for branding when customers can’t explicitly see a difference.

At a higher level, as CEO of Saatchi Kevin Roberts said “brands build loyalty beyond reason” Two of many examples are Adidas and Nike. Go to a sports store with just these two brands and most shoppers will be strongly drawn to one or other. Lots would go on to make a purchase ‘beyond reason’. This means that even if they were presented with an alternative product at the same price or even slightly cheaper from the rival brand, and told by an expert that the other product had more features, performed better, and would last longer; the customer would STILL purchase their favoured brand – in spite of the facts.

Another good example is iPhone – when customers found out it was made by Foxconn in China – they still brought it because of the Apple brand, designed by Steve Jobs. Ditto Lexus which is made by Toyota. A company perfectly able to make a very high end vehicle, but would people have paid £50k+ for a Toyota? Ask Volkswagen who created their greatest car the Phaeton. Arguably worth the £60k asking price, but nobody brought it – why? because of the badge.

Brands also change perception. Guinness made Stout cool. Primark did the same for cheaply priced clothes. Cadbury created a whole brand around a flaky textured chocolate which originally nearly got canned BECAUSE bits came off. Lucozade is another great example. As a kid the very sight and smell of the stuff, and the crinkling noise of the wrapper made me feel ill. Who would have thought a product linked to sickness would today be one linked so strongly to fitness!

Brands also create memorability. 
We all remember brand campaigns such as the PG tips piano, Smash Martians, Henry cooper splashing it all over and the Milk tray man. All of this stuff is dreamt up by creatives like me in the boardroom

The evolution of the brand

Last week I was sat in a creative meeting with our studio manager and two designers staring at a big board with a picture of a man and women standing proudly in front of a big yacht. Having worked all their lives they finally purchased their dream boat and were going to enjoy their retirement sailing around the Azores. This was the target for a rebrand of a global Yacht Marque. Our new brand had to appeal to ‘Mr and Mrs Smith (Sailors)’.

Whilst others talked I started thinking about how branding had changed over the years. In the early days brands were more honest (except the ones telling you cigarettes were actually a health benefit). They simply said this is us / this is what we do / heres where you can buy our stuff. All very features driven and informative.

We then moved to Benefit based brands. Not what they did, but what that meant. Selling the sizzle not the sausage as salespeople say.

Branding then went down the Emotive / lifestyle route. Here the focus was taken OFF the product and its features and benefits and onto how a brand made you feel inside and how others viewed you. One of my favourite ad campaigns of all time is considered the first of this ilk.

 Created by my hero Sir John Hegarty for Levis rebellious Black Label jeans, this ad was the very first Levis advert NOT to feature the product – revolutionary at the time. Instead this was about a lifestyle statement, the copy boldly declaring ‘When the World Zigs, Zag’

Where will branding end?

With social media some say we’re going back to honesty – arguing your brand is what your customer says it is. However I don’t think were going to see Dudley Moores ‘Boxy but good’ campaign running for Volvo any time soon. In fact brand claims seem to be getting wilder. Look at Red Bull – a drink which gives you wings apparently. Although NOT according to a guy from the states who is allegedly suing the drinks giant for $13M for failing to sprout as much as a feather after drinking a can!

But what’s so wrong with these crazy claims? We all like to escape don’t we? We’re happy to pay to read books, watch films, go to the theatre. Who are we to criticise a brand like Harley Davidson that can transport a middle aged professional from Slough to a cafe in the States in the turn of a key. For a few hours on a Sunday afternoon he is a Jack Daniels swigging, Hell-raising Hells Angel in leather – back home in time for tea and Songs of Praise.

So I ask you, why shouldn’t brands have a tangible value? And why shouldn’t YOU embrace them? Fact is it’s very hard to overlook brands – even if you try. If you’ve got disposable cash, and unless you’ve opted out of the rat race, then maybe somewhere in the world theres a board room filled with marketing people staring at a picture of YOU; formulating a brand strategy for their new product – and working out how to get YOU to buy it!

WDA’s unique brand marketing approach drives business – and we have the figures to prove it.
Let us show you how this approach can help drive YOUR sales. Call today for a free initial 1 hour consultation on 01332 372728.

This article was originally published by the Derby Telegraph, click here to view

Yamaha took motorcycling to ‘The Dark Side’ at last years Motorcycle Live! show, with the launch of multiple brand new models, spearheaded by the MT – a revolutionary new range featuring compact new chassis designs and super high-torque 3-cylinder engines.

More than just heralding a new era in motorcycle design and development, MT was the jumping off point for a whole new market positioning for the Yamaha brand – one which UK Marketing Manager Jeff Turner was keen for as many riders as possible to experience for themselves.

“Having the ‘full Yamaha experience’ was central to the brief” said WDA’s Lee Waterhouse. Yamaha wanted riders not just to see – but smell, hear and feel the new bikes. To experience them at their maximum potential, to ride them for themselves; to really engage with the brand and the new bikes. This was as much about changing perceptions of the Yamaha brand as showcasing the exciting new bikes coming through. ”

Jeff wanted both riders already loyal to the brand, and also riders who may not have considered a Yamaha before – to really get to grips with the new bikes. To do so meant targeting riders who may not have seen the new bikes at the show or visited Yamaha showrooms.

The Dark Side of Japan

Yamaha’s ‘Dark Side of Japan’ concept was devised to position the brand as a new, edgier and more distinct proposition to riders already aware of the brand’s reputation for market leading technology, build quality and reliability but who had started to look at more unconventional, supposedly more ‘exciting’ machines offered by some of the European manufacturers.

Dark Side is a bold and radical move from a brand often considered as conventional, safe and conservative. A positive step away from its status as just one of the Japanese ‘Big Four’; the company now offers all those great benefits associated with being such a large, established manufacturer – whilst now developing and delivering bikes which are arguably the most interesting, exciting, individual machines – from ANY manufacturer.

MT Tour 2014

WDA assisted Yamaha in creating ‘The Dark Side MT Tour’ – a revolutionary new tour event where riders could ‘Find and experience their Dark Side’ on their ideal MT bike, whilst also enjoying a whole host of other fantastic biking experiences including Dave Coates famous Stunt Show, test rides, an MT extreme wheelie machine, partner exhibitions, demonstrations, and VIP guest appearances.

Central to each event was a fully branded MT Tour Truck which transported an entire fleet of MT machines, covering every model within the range from the ultra-cool new MT-125 through the awesome MT-07 to the simply stunning new MT-09 ST (Street Rally).

Completely FREE to attend the tour covered five major UK cities across the UK during this summer, included biking favourites Box Hill, the National Motorcycle Museum and the Scottish Motorcycle Show.

The Tour represented a considerable investment to our client, so it was critical that the promotional campaign drove significant traffic to each event to ensure a good marketing return both in visitors buy-in to the campaign (with good numbers being picked up by the attending dealers), and also creating enough noise to generate good publicity and press coverage.

Promotions revolved around a digital campaign on Visordown consisting a whole range of different inventory including Geo targeted Home page takeovers (serving to viewers within a 50 mile radius of each event), targeted search lock outs, and sponsored digital content (newsletters and stories). The digital campaign program was designed, implemented and managed by WDA including media negotiation and purchase.

Digital was supported by press with full and half page ad executions placed within every major motorcycle specialist print title. Additionally WDA created in-store dealer promotional materials, as well as branded collateral for the Tour events themselves.

Significant sales increases

This years MT Tour event helped drive significant demand for Yamaha and in particular the MT range, so much so that the tour has now been extended to include this years Motorcycle Live at the NEC in Birmingham in from November 22 to 30. Moreover, the stage is now set for more important Yamaha launches, not least the eagerly anticipated all new R1, which was unveiled at Eicma this week.

Latest figures* now place Yamaha at the very top of the manufacturers charts in terms of sales increase (up 18%); and up into second place in terms of total units sold. *Latest available sales figures at the time this post was published (September 2014 compared to the same period in the previous year). Figures supplied by the Motor Cycle Industry Association.

Following a competitive 4 way pitch, Smith Partnership have appointed WDA Marketing to help to drive their existing and new business development.

Finalists in the Creative Industries Business of the Year category of the Derby Telegraph Business Awards, WDA were awarded the business having identified new strategic and tactical marketing ideas and brand development thinking to position and market Smith Partnership in a legal services market that is undergoing considerable change.

‘Jointly announcing the account win beside the famous ‘Orrery’ painting by acclaimed Derby artist Joseph Wright at Derby Museum and Art Gallery may seem strange at first’ said WDA Managing Director Lee Waterhouse

‘But in fact, there are parallels in how Wright’s paintings highlight new thinking and innovation and WDA’s own ‘brand driven marketing’ approach which has shed new light on how Smith Partnership can take advantage of challenges and opportunities in a rapidly evolving legal services market.

During a recent Cathedral Quarter Professional Services forum (hosted by Telegraph Editor Neil White) the importance of Joseph Wright as a ‘brand figurehead’ for Derby was referenced. Famous for capturing the period of enlightenment and the birth of the industrial revolution, Wright’s work is considered a metaphor for innovation; but this is nearly always linked to the city’s famed Aerospace, Rail and Automotive sectors.

Smith Partnership’s Business Development Partner Claire Twells challenged invited agencies to show how similar new thinking could align Smith Partnership’s professional services offering within a legal services sector undergoing quite a revolution of its own.

Smith Partnership clearly believe that WDA Marketing were able to ‘throw new light’ on this sector in the City’s tradition of creativity and innovation – Joseph Wright would surely be proud that the heritage he first shared with the world nearly 250 years ago is alive and well!