Idealogy INSIGHT - A new look for The New Forest Hotels Group

New Forest Hotels

Welcome to the first in a series of idealogy INSIGHT project studies, taking you through the thoughts and processes that have shaped a successful piece of work for a client. Each story will look at the rationale behind the recommendations we made, explore the history of the client-side input, the conditions of engagement or touchpoints with specific audiences, all the way through to how the ideas and themes have been implemented.

3D or not 3D, that is the question…

I love films – but I don’t love going to the cinema. There’s something missing from the heady days of my youth when queuing around the block for an hour to get in was all part of the experience. So, to try and enhance the soulless multiplex cinema experience we now have 3D to bring the WOW factor back to the big screen.

Now, I had managed to avoid this up until recently, finally buckling with the prospect of a new Tron film popping out the screen. So after paying twice the normal price for the privilege, and donning a pair of large shades that even Bono couldn’t work with, I sat down for an hour and a half of sensory overload.

Positive PMT from Idealogy - Idealogy Training Day

Initiation triangles, plants, shapers and implementers – all sound a little like the plot from a Harry Potter movie? Well you’re right, yes it does, but for the Idealogy Project Management Team it’s all in a day’s work – well a day away from work anyway.

Our mission is to offer a lot more than brand, or business development consultancy. A service not just confined to inspirational creative, but to enabling a more effective way of working, for us and for our clients. With a group of six of us, with backgrounds as diverse as it’s possible to achieve, one thing’s for sure – none of us manage a project in the same way…

Sign of the Times - Elmtree Signs new website launched

Here’s a heart-warming tale of an experienced Southampton signage business that knew how to read the market signs (no pun intended!).

During 2009, Idealogy worked with Elmtree Signs to rebrand, bringing their 25+ years of local and national signage heritage, screaming and kicking into the 21st century. The results were a demonstration of the old adage ‘evolution not revolution’, moving the business gently forward without losing touch with it’s huge and loyal client base, established over a quarter of a century of ‘above and beyond’ customer experience.

And they really loved the results – so much so, that the next step was to translate the new look into a sympathetic web presence, at the same time moving them from their old, static, fixed content site to an editable, open source CMS with ECRM functionality – and that’s a big leap for a local Southampton company.

But here’s where Elmtree’s ability to read the landscape came in – call it wisdom, call it foresight, but whatever you do, call it ‘a good call’. In late 2009 the whole world slid into, arguably, the most painful and far-reaching recession in recent memory. Rather than press on, Elmtree did the smart thing. They pushed the web project onto the back burner, but they didn’t ever stop creating content, generating new case histories, and generally learning about what managing a living, breathing front-line communication platform was all about. So they learned about ECRM, content management and text/image editing, and now, with the site live, they’re good to go. Ready to take over the site management and all the responsibilities that come with it.

See, that’s what more than 25 years in the signage industry does for you. You learn to read the future indicators, and you learn to bide your time. Because there’s no point pressing on when all the signs say stop!

View the website:- http://www.elmtreesigns.co.uk/

Posted by Idealogy

Don’t mention the ‘B’ word! - BrandPrint™

BRAND. How can a 5-letter word trigger so much positive and negative emotion – all at once?

Business people understand the importance of how their products and services are perceived, but often dread the process of fixing something or aligning themselves to make the most of their opportunities.

Why?

Idealogy’s (wo)Man on the Ground (floor)

I love our office in Southampton. I love it so much I had to move in to a flat over the road just so I can see the office when I’m not at work!

It’s a lovely old building, slap bang in the middle of town, with access to all the coffee, doughnuts and posh sandwiches any growing business could ask for. The building has all the meeting rooms we need, our boardroom (nicknamed the squash court) and even our photography studio on floor three, so there’s always plenty going on.

Will the real Algerian Racing Snake please stand up? Oh! You are standing up!

The Urban Dictionary provides it’s own interpretation of ‘racing snake’ – “Someone built for speed. i.e. someone lean, an immensely fast runner”.

In part, that does a fairly solid job of describing our own North African Ectothermic Amniotes Vertebrate, but it’s only a small part of David Birch’s story – itself, a complex mix of survival, tough human spirit, fierce individuality, love of music and movies, but most importantly from Idealogy’s point of view, a passion for contemporary design as a compelling vehicle for successful communication.

Dave shudders at the ‘pink puff’ that seems to attach itself to design - railing at how easily the business falls into media generated traps – he recently cited “design is the froth on top of the cappuccino of commercialism” as an example of how our industry does itself a constant disservice by creating ‘café society’ symbolism to try to ‘up the ante’. But he also accepts that we live in cynical times – he believes clients still don’t really understand the value of good design – unless, of course, their market offer is truly design based.