Their brief to us stated that they required a brand that was both clean and sharp, cost effective to reproduce, and looked professional across all media formats. The brand and website combined had to reflect Deanston Cooper’s high standard of professionalism to a varying audience of both recruiters and also career managers. The layout of the website is clean and accurate which helps display important information to the end users in a concise and informative manner making the website user friendly throughout.

The website includes a wealth of information including career specific support such as the “career toolkit”, providing guides on everything from writing a CV, improving your interview skills, right through to handing in your notice or negotiating a pay rise – all the essential, helpful advice you need when looking for employment.

We had a number of challenging development issues to overcome during this project but we have managed to deliver a successful solution for each one encountered. We have enjoyed working so closely with Deanston Cooper on this project and our combined efforts has enabled us to produce a website that everyone is delighted with and is unique to Deanston Cooper’s individual requirements. We look forward to watching the website grow as it begins to play an important role in the future of their business.

Russell McCaig, Director, said “At Deanston Cooper we are different to other recruitment consultancies in the marketplace and wanted our website to reflect this whilst looking professional, innovative and consultative . Unlike other designers that we had spoken to, Midgibyte took the time to really understand our brief and had a genuine interest in working with us. Throughout the process they were friendly and professional whilst having the technical know how to create a website which has surpassed our expectations. We are delighted with how it looks and have already had great feedback from our clients and candidates.”

It was all news to the client, who hadn’t heard of Joomla, so we thought we’d give a brief overview as to what Joomla is and the benefits it can bring to your new website.

Joomla has become one of the world’s most popular open source content management systems (CMS), a system used to create, manage, store and organise content on web pages.  Used by individuals, small and medium-sized businesses and large organisations throughout the world, the name ‘Joomla’ is derived from the Swahili word ‘Jumla’, which means ‘all together’.

The main benefits of using Joomla are:

• The user-friendly back end administration, making it easy to manage every aspect of your website’s content.
• Easy to add, edit and delete images and content, ideal for companies who regularly have to update prices and product information.  Once your site is ready to go live, a quick lesson to show you how the CMS works and anyone used to word processing will be able to make amendments.
• The ability to expand its functionality – adding a shopping cart, image galleries, videos, blogs and countless other features.

So, if you have any questions on Joomla, or want to find out what we could do to improve your website and make it work better for you, just drop us an email or give us a call.

View some examples -

www.88eventscompany.com

www.universal-windows.com

www.marshall-brown.co.uk

Read the full article here – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-14130854.

Although the article specifically relates to errors on websites, the same can be said for all company brochures, leaflets and flyers.

Our top tips for effective proofreading:

• Don’t rely on the computer spell checker to find every mistake as it won’t distinguish between the likes of where and wear or there and their.
• Listen to the sound of your voice inside your head as you read.  This will help you spot if any words have been left out, especially small words such as a, the, and, it and in.
• Make sure all factual information (dates, phone numbers, email addresses, etc.) is correct and double check these if necessary.
• Print out your text and review it line by line.  Rereading your document in a different format often helps you pick up on errors you had previously missed on the screen.
• Ask someone else to read your text. A new set of eyes may immediately spot errors that you’ve overlooked.
• Don’t rush.  Leave yourself plenty of time for a thorough proof check of your work, especially important business proposals and tender documentation.

Rivergate Shopping Centre in Irvine, Ayrshire’s No 1 shopping destination, were looking for a new creative partner for their various indoor and outdoor marketing campaigns throughout the year.

Our Approach

Following a series of successful meetings with management at Rivergate to ascertain all necessary information about the Centre, an initial creative concept was agreed for a Free Parking campaign which was then turned into artwork for a bus rear and a poster.  Similar creative has been used for a Free Summer Entertainment programme and for the Rivergate Action Fund.  Other work has included their 2011 Easter campaign, press advertisements and various photography.

Results

Although too early to report on statistics and footfall figures as a result of the new creative, Marketing Manager for Rivergate, Ashley McKay quoted “We have only recently been working with the Midgibyte team and since day one it has been an absolute pleasure – they have absorbed any pressure in the design process, enhancing and developing the simplest of ideas into something spectacular. In a very competitive market their designs, quick turnaround and ‘no job too big or small’ attitude really stands out in a crowd. I feel they have understood our brand and have complete confidence when asking them to do anything.”

Branding is not about getting your target market to choose you over the competition, but rather about getting customers to see you as the only one that can provide the solution they need.  When customers think about buying, you want your company to be at the top of their list.  This is why branding is so important, whatever the size of your company.

Everyone needs a strong company image.  People tend to buy products and services from people and companies they know, like and trust and a strong brand identity contains many of the attributes that contribute to the “Know-Like-Trust” factor:

Know — A creatively designed set of materials will make you stand out in your field. Through the consistent, repetitive use of a logo and the supporting visual elements in your marketing materials, people will feel as though they “know” you and your business, even if you have never met face-to-face.

Like – A logo with an icon attached to your company name can make your business seem more approachable and friendly endearing your company name to potential clients.  If you like the look and feel of a business’s materials, you will probably find it easier to like both the people you are dealing with and doing business with them too.

Trust — A professionally created brand identity can make you look more capable, established and enduring.  If your marketing materials look polished and well put together, they tend to lead people to believe that working with you will be similarly pleasant.

A successful brand identity is built around many characteristics including consistency, repetition, professionalism, uniqueness, honesty and personality.  In addition, meaningful and clear graphics make your company’s message come to life in all your marketing materials.

When people remember your brand, they will return and once your business has been distinguished through branding, your entire effort of marketing your business will be so much easier.

Done properly good branding is a great thing for a business and has the potential to lift your business to new heights.

With no suprise to most Apple has been named as the world’s most valuable brand in 2011 with Google following a close second.

View the 10 most valuable brands in 2011 here

We came away with:

Brand Activation & Marketing
Midgibyte & Cycling Scotland : BRONZE

PR & Sponsorship
Cycling Scotland  - freshnlo Pedal for Scotland: GOLD

View all the award results

Delighted!

Online videos can create a more personal interaction with customers by using both visual effects and sounds to gain viewers’ attention.  Nowadays it is much more efficient for someone to click on a video link than it is for them to read a document.  And with the help of sites like YouTube and Vimeo, your video can reach a huge audience and help create strong brand awareness.

Commercial results are forthcoming when the video is professional, engaging and effective enough to generate increased traffic to your website and the business is able to convert these visitors to actual sales.

A good video can be the best way to spread a message, product or brand, and video blogs can be used to welcome viewers to your website.  When a video advert contains a link to a website, or the name of a company website, it is quite likely that the viewer will visit that site.

Businesses may also gain high recognition for their brands by having their adverts circulating on the web. And with social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, video sharing creates opportunities to spread the word about your business without any serious effort on your part.

Video production offers numerous benefits to businesses looking to increase their brand recognition and gain a competitive edge. With the right content, using video through the internet can be a powerful tool to any business.

The event was a great success and raised over £1,000 for Cancer Research and helped reach the total needed to buy a vital piece of equipment for the Beatson in Glasgow.  Well done to DBM Building Contractors for winning the tournament.

Midgibyte Team Members L-R: Marc McStay, Eddie Alexander, Joe Miller, Raymond McStay, Daniel Cunning (Manager, Captain and Strip Washer), Willie McStay.

Funded by the Scottish Government, SNH promotes the care and improvement of the natural heritage, its sustainable uses and helps people enjoy it responsibly.  A report was required for a completed community project ‘Community Introductions’ which, once complete, was to be turned into an online interactive flipbook-style.  A short branded video loop was also required for use on the website and at conferences.

Our Approach

The report was designed in line with brand guidelines and kept clean and clear for ease of reading once it was converted into an online flipbook version.

For the video we designed motion graphics and animations using the SNH logo and supplied text quotes and combined these with existing video, audio and photographs to create an SNH branded video loop.