Friday, 16 August 2013
The Changing Face of PR
Freestyle's Managing Director, Alan Boyden, recently contributed to a round table discussion for Midlands Business Insider magazine.
Alan and other PR professionals from around the region discussed the changing face of PR, including the use of outside agencies, social media and budget constraints.
When asked about social media and its potential to broadcast unauthorised information outside of the company's key marketing messages, Alan commented:
An overview of the round table can be found on the Midlands Business Insider Website and the full discussion is printed in the September issue of the magazine."That's the danger with treating social media as a separate channel. If anyone sent out a traditional press release without it being signed off there would be real anger. But that's exactly what you're doing with a blog or Twitter post created without guidelines."
Labels: Alan Boyden, Business, Business Insider, Freestyle, Freestyle Marketing, Managing Director, Midlands Business Insider, PR, Public Relations, Social Media
# posted by Freestyle PR : 15:53
Tuesday, 30 July 2013
Feasting On A Spaghetti Western
Freestyle’s
PR team was recently presented with an opportunity to develop a creative brief
for – wait for it – chocolate spaghetti! MidlandsBusiness Insider, a regional magazine planned to showcase the best and most
creative campaigns by local PR agencies, and suggested that we could adopt a
different but light-hearted approach to tackling ‘The Chocolate Spaghetti Test’.
Our
brainstorming session was a team effort which involved PR, marketing and the
creatives. It was a great way for us to do some ‘Freethinking’, to let our
creativity run riot…and that was how our spaghetti western theme was born.
‘The Good, The Bad and The Chocletti’ was our fun way to wrangle up some
cowhands for this super-fun cowboy themed
launch party!
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Of course, the theme itself is a light-hearted nod to the spaghetti western, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly starring
the great Clint Eastwood. We agreed that our chocolate spaghetti or Chocletti would
target children primarily, as an energy-boosting meal to power them through
their day but we also wanted to show that Chocletti is fun! Turning Alan Boyden, Freestyle’s Managing Director said, ‘We all understand the importance of a good creative brief and we saw The Chocolate Spaghetti Test as a great way to flex our grey matter. Our aim was to create a solid campaign with proper messaging, appropriate visuals and memorable design. Some of the ideas that the team came up with were truly imaginative, and the exercise itself enabled the passion, pride and professionalism of the entire team to shine through… plus we had a bit of fun too!’
Labels: Chocolate spaghetti, Clint Eastwood, Creativity, Freestyle, Midlands Business Insider, spaghetti westerns, The Good The Bad and The Ugly, Wild West
# posted by Freestyle PR : 10:26
Wednesday, 12 June 2013
History of Marketing Infographic
HubSpot have put together this fantastic infographic charting the development of Marketing since 1450. The 'digital age' has totally transformed how brands communicate and build relationships with customers.
Labels: Agency, Design, Digital, Freestyle, HubSpot, marketing, nottingham, Outbound, PR, Print
# posted by Freestyle PR : 14:40
Tuesday, 1 January 2013
Why creativity should be a walk in the park
Alan Boyden gives his advice on how to spark your creativity!
Where do you get your inspiration from? Is it sitting at your desk staring at your computer screen? Surely not the best place to foster creativity and innovative thinking is it? Think about it, how many hours a day do you spend doing just that? I like to think that real creativity is born out of a more flexible approach, not sat at a desk all day.
Have
you noticed how much more productive you are after taking short breaks, or
having a chat with somebody over lunch about matters unrelated to your work?
How often do you work straight through the day and miss this opportunity?
My
best ideas come to me when I’m not at my desk, when I’m out and about, driving or
in the pub chatting, in the agency kitchen or even ‘shooting the breeze’ at the
water cooler with colleagues. My very best ideas however are when I've not got
a pen or phone to hand, usually when I’m in the shower or walking the dog!
I've never had a great work/life balance, but I’m pleased to say that I've finally
seen the light and I’m working hard at getting it right here at Freestyle. A
late convert, but its paying dividends already. Don’t put it off any longer,
try that early morning swim, a walk with the dog or perhaps a quick jog in the
woods? You’ll soon see why creativity and business really can be a walk in the
park.
Labels: Alan Boyden, Creativity, Freestyle, Ideas, Innovation, marketing, nottingham, PR, Productivity
# posted by Freestyle PR : 15:00
Monday, 17 December 2012
Warmest Wishes...
Here at Freestyle we have a commitment to the environment by reducing waste and saving energy. We also have a commitment to those less fortunate than ourselves, so this year we are donating the savings, made by not printing and posting traditional cards, to a local charity here in Nottingham.
You can find out more about the charity by visiting www.emmanuelhouse.org.uk
Labels: Agency, Christmas, Emmanuel House, Freestyle, marketing, nottingham, PR
# posted by Freestyle PR : 10:19
Friday, 14 December 2012
Do you really want to work part-time?
Alan Boyden offers his perspective on the world of entrepreneurship
Whenever
I’m approached for advice by budding entrepreneurs, they often ask me what prompted
me to set up in business? My answer is always the same – I wanted to work
part-time (and now I do… any twelve hours of the day I choose here at Freestyle).
In all seriousness, running your own business is never the easy option, especially
during those tough early days when cash is not flowing as regularly as it was when
you were employed. Even once you've got over the so called “five year trading hurdle”
it is not always plain sailing. The challenges don’t go away; they just change
as your business develops. Perhaps by
this point you've hired or fired a number of staff? You've won (and lost) a few
contracts and you’re starting to wonder if it is all worth the extra effort? It
always is.I've met very few entrepreneurs who having once tasted self employment, would not go back to being employed again. Many of course are forced back to employment for a period of time for financial survival, but often find themselves frustrated by the restrictions of corporate life. They long for the precarious (yet perhaps more fulfilling and exciting) world of entrepreneurship. So from my observations it seems that once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur.
So,
are entrepreneurs born or made? I still find it odd how universities can offer
degrees in entrepreneurship, if the lecturers were so good why aren't they all
multimillionaires? Maybe some of them are and just prefer academic life to
sailing around the world on large yachts? Or are the very best entrepreneurs
those who have graduated from the University
of Life
Labels: Alan Boyden, Entrepreneurship, Freestyle, marketing, nottingham, PR
# posted by Freestyle PR : 10:13
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