Turning fat into fillet!

James Surridge travels around the world in search of a powerful and mystical Analysis technology...  

OK – let’s deal with the social bit first! Even though it’s the opposite side of the world, this client assignment to New Zealand got everyone’s attention in the Idealogy office. 

From the Casting Couch to the Mallory Suite – putting a valuable face to METTLER TOLEDO Global Service

All the discussions in the run-up to this mammoth photographic project were about the journey – the journey for METTLER TOLEDO’s Service Personnel and the journey for their global customers as they experience the core principles behind each of the 4 Global Service cornerstone values - Compliance, Expertise, Performance and Uptime.

Nick Hart. He knew a man, who knew a man

There’s no other way of looking at this! Nick Hart has an enviable background! There – it’s been said. Deal with it!

For the two years prior to stepping aboard the good ship Idealogy, he spent his time marketing a SuperYacht Training School to customers across Europe, attending boat shows and disreputable crew parties in some of the most (and, very often the least) glamorous places. So, he’s survived a difficult period that saw the global recession affect even the ‘Uber-rich’, with a large number of owners laying their yachts up stern-to, bracing themselves for the economic storm. You didn’t need to be a financial analyst to work out what was going to happen to crew training, support budgets and investment in general.

SO, what’s the worst word that you can hear when you’re fairly sure what you’re going to hear next? It begins with ‘Red' and ends in ‘undancy’. And even though that word brought closure to a difficult period, the net result was that young Nick was out on his ear at possibly the worst time to be out on anything attached to your head.

The flip-side of that particular coin was that Nick was most definitely not the pessimistic sort, and he was pretty certain that one or other of those semi-intoxicated introductions would pay-off. So, he set about networking as if his career depended on it – which, of course, it did.

What followed was a period of freelance work to help launch a marine security service. What followed that was a conversation about whether the client knew anybody who might be looking to expand their team. "I know a man" came the swift response. "He’ll need some pestering but he’ll listen to you in the end". An initial chat didn’t prove too tricky, and Nick was convinced there was room for a relationship to blossom. Furthermore he was pretty convinced his new contact felt there could be a mutual opportunity.

The rest of the story reads like an episode from the Morecambe and Wise Show: -
Nick: James, do you need me?
James: No, call me in a week
Nick: James, do you need me?
James: No, call me in a week
Nick: James, do you need me?
James: No, call me in a week
Nick: James, do you need me?
James: No, call me in a week
Nick: James, do you need me?
James: No, call me in a week
Nick: James, do you need me?
James: Yes, you start on Monday

So there it is! Nick knew a man who knew a man. That man was called Harvey, and he knew James, and James needed a new chap to help with some work.

Job done!
Posted by Idealogy

Mettler Toledo Product Inspection. Getting up close and personal by using Microsites as the hub for Integrated Campaign communications.

Frequently Asked Question! What is a Microsite?

Wikipedia says “an individual web page or cluster of pages which are meant to function as an auxiliary supplement to a primary website. The microsite's main landing page most likely has its own domain name or subdomain. They are typically used to add a specialized group of information either editorial or commercial”. Nice!

Idealogy’s take on the ubiquitous microsite is that it provides a powerful but intimate communications hub for integrated communications campaigns and our client Mettler Toledo Product Inspection Division have chosen it as the tactical heart of each of their Technology, Product or Service based forays into B2B marketing.

Working effectively alongside Mettler Toledo’s PI SBU Marcomms teams with development schedules often in days and weeks rather than months, Idealogy have used compelling imagery and content to build a series of highly functional microsites that utilise animation, web-enabled information links, with publication downloads, product technical data and offer-based incentives for database refreshing. It’s a  combination that has been used successfully on a number of key Mettler Toledo marketing events;

Glass in Glass Inspection  http://www.glass-in-glass.com
Pharmaceutical http://www.mt-onecure.com
Harsh Environment http://www.mt-adapt2survive.com
and Ready Meals http://www.mt-dontspoilit.com

Each microsite provides a vivid shop window for Mettler Toledo’s broad technical offering, covering their X-ray systems, Metal Detection and Checkweighing capabilities, and linking disparate techniques in a seamless, totally integrated and multi-lingual way. Conventional campaign tools like PR, Direct Mail, Brochures, Advertising and E-mail releases are used to drive traffic to the microsite domains. And the concept is working. Visitor numbers and lead generation are significantly up on more conventional marketing routes and the microsite, as a cornerstone of Mettler Toledo Product Inspection’s communications strategy, looks like it is here to stay.

Posted by Paul Wright

20 years old. So why do we have an Anniversary crisis to cope with?

Typical!

It didn’t escape our notice that, as we approached our 20th birthday in August, we had a few difficult decisions to take. Which I suppose, as adults, shouldn’t present too many problems but it has become symptomatic of a life spent in a shifting landscape, ducking and diving, trying to flesh out an approachable personality and identity.

And that’s hard for a small business, especially one that opened as Selling Ideas the very day the headline read “it’s official, we’re in a recession”. There’s a beguiling symmetry there don’t you think?

Back in 1989, we could have been accused of recklessness, and indeed, the early years were tough as we learned to balance the rigours of running the new Selling Ideas business, with the needs of a demanding client base. But we soldiered on and we grew, putting on weight and muscle in all the right areas, developing our vocabulary, learning how to walk confidently amongst our peers. The family album had lots of attractive portraits and group pictures as we gazed, clear eyed, beside our friends and colleagues, at the flashing bulb.

We were standing tall and learning how to work well and play with others. And we were becoming independent.

But, like all adolescents, we weren’t 100% sure of who we really were. Life was so much easier in the early days, when all anyone wanted to talk about was good ideas, and we had plenty of those to sell.

With maturity comes a fresh set of beliefs and intellectual fog. We weren’t afraid of the questions we were being asked or where those questions came from – and our world had clearly become a more consumerist and commercial place. What we were scared of was our ability to consistently come up with the right answers – because that meant we had become something else, something quite different from the persona we knew and had grown comfortable, arguably too comfortable, with. Idealogy had become a comprehensive vision.

So we changed, and in all honesty, we’ll continue to adapt as the world changes around us. Today’s incarnation as Idealogy may be quite different again in another 5 years, but that’s life and, as we all know, change is good!

Now, back to the crisis!

Is a 20th anniversary a China or a Platinum, because that will make a huge difference to the party theme? Are we going to drink tea from a saucer or are we all going to show up in blonde wigs? Decisions, decisions…….

Answers and comments please.

Posted by Idealogy

Green Idealogy given a boost

The slightly better news for Mother Nature is that desire and virtue are no longer at odds in our minds. That said, the bandwagon effect of ethical consumerism on marketers is plain to be seen. It's obvious that ethics is affecting our culture - showing we care has become highly appealing as well as fashionable and brands ignore this at their peril. The problem is that not all embrace it fully. The resulting effect is higher prices, too much ethical noise and little substance to support it. This means that consumers get bored, feel patronised, stop listening and eventually stop buying. This is bad news for Mother Nature.

Along came New Earth, who not only have a very grown up and contemporary view of all things ethical, but also have managed to join profit and principles at the hip. Eco warrior Bill Riddle and investment guru Mark Scobie have invented a completely unique business model and radical brand architecture to go with it. Where have you seen waste treatment through composting (New Earth Solutions), the recovery of energy from waste (New Earth Energy) and an investment fund wrapped up by one brand?

These very clever boys have a very powerful proposition - so simple it hurts. Revenue stream 1: Local authorities pay to have waste biodegraded through very smart composting chemistry and technology. Revenue stream 2: the bi-product happens to be a really good fossil fuel substitute, but there's a problem; to enable the conversion of waste-derived fuel into renewable energy you need a power plant in the first place!...and these plants are capital intensive a pop so Bill and Mark have set up an investment fund so they can do just that – build their own - and they've already predicted a return of 12%-16% on the investment.

Don't you just wish you'd thought of that!

As brand consultants on the Investment side, we are very privileged to be advising on and producing collateral for the launch of the Eclipse and Premier funds. This is a great addition to our green credentials, already strong with Biottle, a bio-degradable and crushable 500ml water bottle, already attracting interest from some very big and scary brands. Right on.

Posted by James Surridge