“They think it’s all over…………”

Well it may never be! Ever...so here’s a football story that proves the point.

The antagonism between certain factions at Idealogy, a decade long enmity between certain Leeds Utd and Saints followers reached a crescendo on Saturday 13th March. A small group from both camps, together with over 30,000 other souls, attended the fixture at St. Mary’s Stadium, and if you don’t want to know the result, then look away now…
The Saints 1 The Whites 0

Which, for the majority was a great result, celebrated rudely as you would expect. But, in reality, it only squared up proceedings for this season at one win a-piece. So, as Simon Johnson, our Digital Director and most fanatical Leeds supporter would maintain, bragging rites were only short lived. However, before we get ahead of ourselves, Simon still holds the upper hand with his side set to gain automatic promotion to the lucrative Championship, whilst Saints only have a Wembley visit for the Johnson’s Paint Trophy (before you ask, it’s not his!), and another season languishing in League One. The good news for Saints fans is that we’re now Swiss owned and rich enough to make Soloman blush (which we’re not 100% sure that he ever did!).

So, on we all go again! Nothing is concluded and it’s going to be at least another term before hostilities can be resumed, shirts exchanged and name-calling can become really unpleasant. Let’s look ahead to a World Cup, another 9 months of arm’s length bickering and, hopefully, two meetings in the 2011-12 season.

Like they say, “It’s not over until the…”

Posted by Simon Dover

IE6 is dead. Upwards and onwards with IE7, FF+ and beyond!

As part of our internal processes we are continually looking at new technology and trying to highlight ways of moving things forward. One of the things we're asked more often than anything else, is about supporting browsers and which ones we support.  Currently, we support Internet Explorer (IE) 7 & 8, Firefox 3+ & Safari  3+, which seems to cover most of the bases. We also offer options to support Google Chrome, Opera etc. but, as yet, this is not in an official capacity.

Last year, 2009, saw a major event for us - we dropped support for IE6, arguably the largest browser platform ever, and we often get asked why we took that decision? Well, to explain, IE6 offers poor CSS rendering (layout to non-techies), so jobs potentially could take much longer to complete, especially when you combined the hacks that were needed just to get things working. And of course, these are costs that are hard to pass onto clients - especially when there were the alternatives of multiple browsers available, all offering free upgrades, faster speeds and better tools. So, we felt that the time was right for people to upgrade to achieve a better online experience. If you want to check the viewing figures that substantiate our decision, see here.

At the end of last year – 2009 – IE6 was showing 10% and dropping, and we felt that it was something we couldn’t support.  But it’s not just us!  YouTube is dropping IE6 support in early 2010 as are Gmail, followed by Google, so it won't be long before the other big companies fall into line. Supporting IE6 is not commercially viable for us, without the ability to pass on costs, and, on the flip side, it’s not viable for our clients either. 

So, from Jan 1st 2010 we have dropped support for IE6 and we’ve pushed forward with using the better browsers and technology that are out there. As of today, it seems as if everyone at Idealogy, designers and developers, have found this a much more satisfactory position, and it seems like our clients do also - the benefits are strong and 95% of them have now moved on from IE6 or are planning to do so in early 2010.

Posted by Simon Johnson

Senior Innovator

Do you believe in new?



The south's most progressive brand consultancy is looking for a Senior Innovator to delight its growing client base. You will be driven by well-rationalised ideas, have an excellent understanding of most facets of customer experience, as well as an intimate knowledge of the media at your disposal. Great presentation and people skills are an absolute must-have, plus the ability to visualise your thoughts, either by hand or on a Mac.

You will also be required to manage your own projects from time-to-time.

Fill your blank sheet of paper with an idea that will tell us how you intend to delight new clients with your thinking and your personality and send it with your CV to paul.w@idealogyltd.com



Start with an idea. Succeed with an idealogy

Posted by Idealogy

“Move on up!” – Idealogy’s own musical chairs

When the music stops…make sure you know where your seat is!

When you spend many months on internal analysis and refocusing the business, it’s funny to see it all come to an almost inevitable, yet frantic, conclusion on Friday 29th January. The relocation of key teams and workstreams within Idealogy at 11 Portland Street, Southampton is a major step in the business change process.

But this is no random piece of natural selection! It’s the logical next evolutionary phase after another challenging Appraisal round, the business undertaking it’s own BrandPrint, an escalation in the emphasis on digital and new media routes to market, and some key appointments at the close of 2009 - it’s safe to say that the clues were there for us all to see.

So. what is the actual outcome?

A new working structure with strong linkage to building complimentary skilled teams, aligned with a much stronger client-facing contribution in each team. What that all means to many of the Idealogy team is relocation to new, more prolific, more relevant seats, almost inevitably on a new floor in the building.

So, from 29th, Digital – that’s web, e-mail, moving pictures – are all together in one place. For Creative, Business Development and Client Services, it’s the same principal. Putting designers, visualisers, programmers, planners and strategic all in one place to strengthen the client-facing product and manage the work flows more efficiently. Despite some of the sad faces!

When the music starts early on that Friday, everyone will know where they’re going. Not everyone will know if there will be a chair in place when they try to sit down.

Let the games begin……….

Posted by Idealogy

The experience of a Lifetime – and don’t it feel good!

It’s great when you re-kindle a long-standing and successful client relationship from within the Idealogy network, carry out an innovative and fruitful BrandPrint™ analysis, then develop an evolved logo, proposition and new brand guidelines that demand a major leap of faith for all involved.

So, experience tells us that it’s all pointing to a fresh and innovative new web experience for Lifetime and it’s customers. As the UK’s No.1 training provider in the active leisure sector, Lifetime trains and qualifies more people than any other provider. And the new site had to reflect just that – layers of experience delivered through the offer, the environment and the information.

Working alongside technical partners and full service digital agency Solid State Group, Idealogy have designed a web experience that clearly represents Lifetime and it’s values, the new branding, the new visual language and the unique benefits delivered to their diverse targets. Audiences ranging from learner level 16 - 18 year olds looking for funded training, self-funded individuals from 16 – 60, Managing and Operations Directors to General Managers running active leisure establishments.

The very latest CMS technology allows easy and topical management of the restructured site and provides logical information delivery, with illustrated training/results journeys. The new site is an altogether more comprehensive, informative and rewarding user experience, while still retaining it’s user simplicity. And for good measure, the site also incorporates data capture with information and analysis feeding directly into Lifetime.

The site will have a phased roll out - Phase 1 structures information into 3 logical and distinct audience areas - FOR YOU (Learners), FOR BUSINESS (Potential Partners), ABOUT US (Lifetime Corporate). Next steps in the initial phase include new venue information, newsletter templates and a Press Centre.

Then onto Phase 2, which will see the site move into the world of E-commerce and the capability to book and pay for courses on-line.

It’s a major step for Lifetime as the active leisure sector gears up for serious growth in the next decade. The site has been designed and developed with the future of the industry clearly in mind – and doesn’t it look good!

Posted by Simon Johnson & Anna Ecuyer

It’s all on Flickr...

...a taste of what Idealogy have been busy creating lately. There’s the wide range of quality stuff that you’ve come to expect from us; everything from Pop-up Stands, Microsites, Logo creation and Video Sales Tools.

Come on. Sneak a peek!


Posted by Idealogy

Sucking up Digital Data for all it’s worth!

The Beige Information Leech.

The past 4 years have seen a massive transformation in Idealogy’s business mix. Today, digital media represents a staggering 45% of all revenue and the business has had to adapt to that new model, as digital touchpoints have become an increasingly powerful and challenging piece of integration.

Sitting at the head of that revolution has been Simon Johnson – for well over 10 years, Idealogy’s very own Beige Information Leech - building valuable network partnerships and absorbing the torrent of material, protocols and web measurement disciplines that his ill-defined and constantly changing world pours out into the ether. In an amazingly short period, Simon J. has gone from being an IT warrior, to web-site project manager, all the way to Digital Director, heading up the fastest growing revenue stream in Idealogy’s portfolio.

Today, he has total responsibility for websites of all sizes and complexity, and for both B2B and B2C clients. As part of that role, he manages site architecture, design, campaign support, programming and content, e-mail traffic and data harvesting. Add to that his partnership management – key relationships that drive the engines for all Idealogy web and digital services – and his role within the business is pivotal.

And his appetite for this voraciously data hungry environment is legendary. His love of Social media and it’s opinion forming impact is a constant reminder to the business that we need to communicate with as many people as possible, all of the time, as we manage our own and our customers’ reputations and personalities through the forums of Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, MySpace and YouTube. He pushes the business relentlessly – the results are impressive, and progressive.

So, there we have it. Simon Johnson. A man partial to his grapes. His chiropractor. Leeds United, his football team. Online gaming (whatever that is!) And the colour Taupe. Which is supposed to be soothing, but most would call it neutral. So it’s an odd choice for a man so committed to his craft and the assimilation of stuff.

Simon Johnson - Beige by name. Information parasite by nature!

Posted by Idealogy