Current Vacancies: New Business Executive

Following recent success and continued growth, we are in need of an enthusiastic, tenacious New Business Executive who’s hungry for success!

You’ll be responsible for developing business with both new and existing clients and involve everything from carrying out relevant research, making initial contact with clients, arranging appointments and delivering creative pitches. It’s not all about your sales ability though as you’ll also be required to project manage briefs from inception to completion with all the day-to-day banter in-between.

To be considered you will have an excellent B2B sales track record within a design/marketing agency and of course attitude, personality and passion are all important. We are not interested in big egos or one man crusaders. We encouarge collaboration across the business and all opinions are valid. Full or part time hours would be considered.

So, if you’re self-motivated, driven and want to become part of The Agency, please email your CV over to info@theagencylimited.com and tell us why you are the best thing since sliced bread. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Simple but effective - like all ads should be

This great example of simple, effective ambient advertising just goes to show how great ideas beautifully executed win every time over overblown design-led ads.

Sao Paulo bar Bar Aurora and restaurant Boteco Ferraz presented their customers with $73 bar tabs in 2010 in an effort to warn them about the perils of drink driving. The campaign has been recognised with a Gold Pencil at the One Show.

Great examples of less is more

We’ve started to notice minimalism making a big comeback at the minute – possibly because of the times we live in? To create designs with a minimal mix of type and imagery requires a heady mix of skill and craftsmanship, and we’re certainly all in favour of that. These classic re-worked poster designs might just give you some inspiration and insight into the skills needed – if you can crack it the results can help you stand out in a crowd. There’s more examples to inspire here..http://bit.ly/i7SzBl

Some great images from the MOCA Street Art Exhibition coming out of LA. The exhibition  features the work of more than 50 of the worlds best artists showing both original installations, traditional works and some of the people who have documented street art since the 70’s. More pictures can be seen here

These incredible structures were commissioned by former Yugoslavian president Josip Broz Tito in the 1960s and 70s to commemorate sites where WWII battles took place, or where concentration camps stood (like Jasenovac and Niš). They were designed by different sculptors and architects to convey the confidence and strength of the Socialist Republic. In the 1980s, these monuments attracted millions of visitors per year, especially young pioneers for their “patriotic education.” After the Republic dissolved in early 1990s, they were completely abandoned, their symbolic meanings fading in history. More examples here.

Online marketing has revolutionised the way that business communicates with its customers. The revenues that are spent online are constantly rising and one forecast predicts that over $5 billion will be the figure this year alone.

The massive problem is to many, the web and online marketing has become shrouded in mystery, impossible to understand and quite frankly frightening – right? At The Agency we believe that is totally wrong. It’s been made that way by the jargon merchants and unscrupulous operators in the web industry who have built careers and fortunes on the back of misinformation and bad business and marketing practice.

Here’s the deal – It doesn’t have to be that complicated if you follow a few simple rules and most importantly, stick to age-old marketing principles. That’s what this book is all about; we hope it will make things clear for you to make the most of the massive opportunities that the web can give your business.

So just visit www.theagencylimited.com and download it now from the NEWS/KNOWLEDGE SECTION it’s completely free. If you need to discuss any aspect of online marketing, just contact us for a no obligation chat on 0121 772 0802 or email us: info@theagencylimited.com, and we’ll be glad to help.

There are now 500,000,000 active Facebook users – approx 1 in every 13 people on earth. Half of them are logged on every day, and in a recent survey social networking sites have overtaken entertainment as the most popular online activity in the UK. This is a stark illustration of the scale and impact on the everyday lives of both consumers and business people alike, that social media has had over the last few years.

Undoubtedly, exploiting the immense power of social media has become an integral and vital part of any online marketing strategy. The search engines value content from social media very highly, and if used correctly it can be a very valuable and cost-effective method of building and strengthening customer relationships.

At The Agency we are determined to help businesses take advantage social media. We have devised a simple package designed to get you up and running with the four most popular platforms:
1 Blog
2 Facebook
3 Twitter
4 LinkedIn

All the platforms will be customised and branded for your company so that your presence is professionally designed to enhance your brand. This simple approach is priced at a £1000 one-off fee – a straightforward and cost-effective way to ensure that you don’t miss out on all the benefits that social media will bring to your business.

There are also other platforms that we can set-up for you such as a YouTube or Flickr channels, so we can discuss those or any other type of social media that will work for your business.

If you would like to discuss our Social Media Start-up Package or any other aspect of online marketing just contact The Agency www.theagencylimited.com now for a no-obligation chat on 0121 772 0802 or email info@theagencylimited.com.

There are probably many business owners out there who are still asking whether the hype around Facebook is worth paying attention to, or whether it’s just the next fad.

Let’s turn that question around. Is having direct access to hundreds of millions of potential customers important to your business? If you answered yes, then yes, Facebook is important to your business. Obviously this comes with a caveat – there are certain types of B2B businesses that Facebook just won’t suit, so we would never recommend spending time or most importantly your hard earned cash on media that doesn’t deliver ROI.

In case you’ve missed the global phenomenon that is Facebook, let’s first define what it is. Facebook is a social networking platform. It’s an online software application that allows people from around the world to connect with each other, for free, and share information, photos, events, and ideas. Because it’s free to use, it’s also gained a huge global following in the few short years that it’s been around, and it’s become as important to advertisers and business people as it is to the people who use it for social networking!

The first step in using Facebook to market your business is to sign up for a free profile. This is recommended whether you’re new or whether you already have a free profile, and here’s why: many people share personal information, stories, or embarrassing photos on their personal Facebook profiles. If you’re using Facebook for business purposes, you don’t want your clients, colleagues and compatriots to see those less than flattering items, so it’s always best to have two profiles – one for work, and one for play!

Once you have a profile, you’re going to want to start using the networking potential of Facebook to your advantage. The first step will be to find and ‘add’ your existing customers, suppliers, colleagues and other business associates. That way, you can start posting information in your status updates.

Next, it’s a good idea to look for groups and pages that are related to, but not competing with, your core business. This will mean that you can post links and information from your website on the group or page’s ‘wall’ without being guilty of spam, or annoying your competitors. You might want to add friends that you find on those pages and groups too, that are interested in whatever it is you’re involved in making or selling.

By now, you should have a fairly substantial network of friends, colleagues, acquaintances and associates, and it’s time to set up your own pages and groups. Pages and groups are essentially a little like a mini site or blog for your company that appears within the main Facebook platform. You can post information on your business there, links to your site, interesting news stories, and anything else you want to share. You can also start discussions, run competitions, and do all kinds of other promotion. As the page and group administrator, you also have control over who is a member of your site, and whether they can comment on your news items, and you can remove any offensive members or comments.

I’m sure you’re starting to see the value of having a Facebook marketing plan already, and the best part is that all of this, up till now, is free. You won’t pay a penny to join Facebook, connect with people, groups and pages, or start your own.

There is, however, another advertising option on Facebook, and that is the paid advertising. Unlike pages and groups, this works on a pay per click basis – every time a Facebook member follows your link, you pay a small fee to Facebook for hosting your ad.

However, there are still benefits to this type of advertising. The first is that you can set your budget. If you’re just testing the water, this can be as little as a few pounds, and as you progress, you can increase the amount. The amount you pay will determine how often your advertisements come up every day.

The second, and more important benefit to pay per click advertising on Facebook is that unlike search engines, where you only control the geographic area and keywords that determine who sees your advertisements, with Facebook, you can target your ads to a particular city, gender, age group, marital status and other target markets. So, for instance, if you’re selling clothing aimed at young woman from a store in Birmingham, you can target your advertising so that only women aged between 15 and 35, in the Birmingham area, see it.

It’s this kind of specialised service that has made Facebook so popular, and it’s this type of targeting in terms of advertising that has allowed Facebook to become a multi billion dollar company.

Whether you opt for the free advertising and marketing methods that Facebook offers, or choose a paid for service, there is no doubt that Facebook connects your business with exactly the people you want to connect with, and every business owner should be paying attention to the social networking revolution!

Helping British business fight back!

The Agency has had enough of the defeatist attitude that has engulfed Britain, and we’ve decided to do something about it. We’re starting a campaign to help business get up and fight for more business.

The only news you hear at the minute is bad. Its all gloom and doom and the government are doing what all politicians do: they jaw, jaw, jaw – they’re long on talk, but short on action. But wait; what are we all going to do? Its not time to turn off the lights and leave just yet, as Churchill once said: NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE UP.

We can’t claim to be trying to drag the country out of the recession single-handed, or have a magic bullet to grow your business. But, it has been proven that when times are tough if you have the courage to invest in marketing you’ll reap the benefits, and that’s what we can help you with.

So you’re asking yourself “what are you going to do to help?”

1. We’ll start by giving you a free no-obligation consultation to see where marketing can help your business. Our aim is to show you how even in times as tough as these, attacking the right targets in the right way can generate new business and increase sales.

2. We’ll help you take full advantage of the latest online marketing techniques ideas from social media to e-blasts. We can suggest practical cost-effective ways that can make them work for you. The marketing landscape is constantly changing, so we continually do the legwork by researching and testing new ideas to keep you up to date and ahead of your competitors.

3. We’re going to provide you with as much free information as we can so that you can make informed decisions. For example you can download our new
e-book to online marketing and other helpful whitepapers right now. All our publications are totally jargon-free so you don’t have to call a consultant to translate them!

4. We have always worked in partnership with our clients, and now more than ever we will work together with you to support and encourage you every step of the way.

5. Last but not least, we’re going to talk-up to anyone who’s prepared to listen that there are many British companies doing great things and are flourishing – even in this tough environment. The more positivity we can spread about business, the more confidence we can generate, and as everyone in business knows, confidence is a vital factor in the recovery.