May 12

Our marketing services business gains East Midlands media coverage

Branding, Design, E-commerce, General Business, Marketing, Photography, Public Relations, Social Media, Web Design, Web Development 2 Comments »
The Mulberry Square team photographed by the Buttermarket in Mountsorrel, Leicestershire

The Mulberry Square team photographed by the Buttermarket in Mountsorrel, Leicestershire

I recently chatted with local reporter Tom Pegden to discuss the state of play in the local business economy as news of a high profile media success had made its way along the grapevine to Leicester Mercury towers – the launch of Leicester based luxury hand made leather satchel brand, Zatchels!

Zatchels, the brainchild of local businessmen Dean Clarke and Brian Brady of Charter Street manufacturer Leicester Remedial and Sewing Ltd was launched to the world with its satchels, hand made here in Leicester, on their beautifully designed e-commerce website on 20th April 2011.

This is one of the most comprehensive product/brand launches we’ve ever undertaken for a client and we’re delighted about the reaction so far. The satchel is the ‘must have’ style accessory for 2011 and Zatchels has launched a truly iconic British collection of leather satchel style bags that have caused a major stir since it was discretely introduced to fashion observers and stylists during this spring’s London Fashion Week. It was essentially a UK launch but already Zatchels are getting interest and media coverage from overseas, so we’re delighted for our client.

Since the Zatchels.com website went live three weeks ago it has had more than 6,600 visitors/hits, with orders coming in from the UK, USA, Australia and France as well as from UK based retailers who want to offer Zatchels satchels to their customers on the high street.

The new website features 71 different bags, with high quality creative studio shot photographs taken by Mulberry Square account manager and Leicester Photographer Ian Bursill, who has gained world wide acclaim for his photojournalistic style of photography.

We were involved right from the early stages and worked with our client to develop a logo and identity for the brand that was really strong and represented all of the key values and strengths of the product; and this in turn led to the introduction of the branding to the product itself with the stitching in of the distinctive woven label which coupled with its fantastic designs, materials and finishes sets Zatchels leather satchels apart from competitors in their market.

As well as designing the Zatchels brand identity and website, we have also been involved in leading and managing the launch campaign which benefitted massively from PR and media relations being added to the usual marketing mix. This involved product placements with magazines and newspapers such as Bliss, Heat and the Daily Express, gifting to members of the band McFly coupled with a social media campaign using Twitter, Facebook and blogging.

To visit the Zatchels website click here
To enter the Zatchels Facebook competition click here
To find Zatchels on Twitter click here

Our marketing services business based on Loughborough Road in Mountsorrel, Leicestershire faced a tough time in the height of the recession in the later part of 2009 but has really bucked the trend over the past 18 months with a full order book keeping our six fantastic staff very busy indeed.

We will build on our historic turnover of £300,000-£320,000 p.a. this year as we have really focused and tried to get across our message that we cover all aspects of the marketing mix and therefore can really make a difference to our clients, some of which have been using our marketing services knowledge and experience for the past 18 years.

To view our portfolio click here

As a result of our networking efforts we have been working on the launch of another new brand for a £20 million turnover Leicester business, with the launch of this planned for later this month. Rather than being fashion with the emphasis on consumer marketing this new brand will be very much B2B and will feature another eCommerce website designed and built on the Magento platform.

We seriously have seen an upturn in the local economy, especially from manufacturers who have ridden out the recession and are now investing to take advantage of a better economic climate to come.

Are we aiming to win more big clients? You bet we are!

Mulberry Square feature on the thisisbusiness East Midlands website

Mulberry Square feature on the thisisbusiness East Midlands website

Read Tom Pegden’s article at www.thisisbusiness-eastmidlands.co.uk/news/Marketing…/article.html

View the Leicester Mercury version here Mulberry Square feature in the Leicester Mercury 060511

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Apr 28

Mulberry Square’s launch of Zatchels – a resounding success!

Branding, Design, E-commerce, General Business, Marketing, Photography, Public Relations, SEO, Social Media, Web Design, Web Development, Web Hosting No Comments »
Home page of the Zatchels online boutique

Screen grab of the Zatchels online boutique

We can safely say the launch of the new Zatchels brand – a range of contemporary and stylish satchels – has been a resounding success.

A successful media campaign (albeit almost under the cover of darkness to keep the launch a secret!) plus the launch of the Magento e-commerce website at www.zatchels.com means that the fashion world now has a new star.

The reaction to the Zatchels range has been incredible; everyone who’s seen the products and viewed the website seems impressed. We’re pleased, our client is pleased, the journalists were warm in their praise of the products, and the consumers seem equally impressed.

It would seem then that we’ve bucked the economic trend. With retail sales down, consumers struggling with bills, and the whole world seemingly on a bit of downer at the moment, we could have been forgiven for thinking the timing was all wrong.

The fact is though that fashion does buck trends. In 2008 leading fashion pundits were forecasting that the recession, which had still to really bite deeply back then, would take its toll. By 2010, the retail sector was suffering but it didn’t collapse. Even if some brands did suffer it basically came down to a question of image.

The fashion industry can sometimes be seen as decadent and self indulgent so what sets Zatchels apart from the crowd?

Well, it seems everyone’s agreed that satchels are the ‘must have’ accessory of the year, which is all well and good so long as people can afford the ‘must have’. And fashion, accessories and cosmetics spend is also considered therapeutic; when all else fails buy yourself a new dress or a new lipstick.

Where the Zatchels range really is a winner is in sensible pricing, affordable quality and the fine craftsmanship that lies behind this very British brand.

And apparently being British – especially in the world of fashion accessories – can be cool.

Tagged with: • • • • • • • • •
Mar 29

Paper price rises out-strip those for fuel – Print, Marketing & Business all suffer the pain!

Marketing, Paper, Print No Comments »

Paper’s a fairly every day commodity and the rising price means a major impact on many businesses, not least for printers.

The cost of paper for a print job is usually in the range of 30% – 60% of the total so paper price rises –which for many people take effect this week – are pretty significant. As a marketing business specialising in print management we buy paper from two main sources: our print suppliers and our office supplies.

It’s usually more topical to talk about rising fuel prices rather than paper, mainly because fuel amounts to as much as 35% of overheads for businesses that have to transport goods by road. So if you’re in the paper business at the moment, rising prices would seem to be even more of a major cause for concern.

According to the British Print Industries Federation (BPIF) paper prices have continued to increase since early 2010, against a backdrop of increased demand and a continued tightening of paper supply. The UK print industry is the world’s fifth largest producer of printed products and has a turnover in excess of £14bn. There are more than 10,000 companies employing around 140,000 people.

Several price rises have affected almost all printers sometime over the past 18 months. The overall levels of price hikes have been quite considerable for the majority. The problem for printers is balancing how many of the rises they can absorb and how many they can pass on to customers. Compared with 2009, prices have risen by around 30%.
Now another hike is about to take its toll and a Leicestershire printer told my colleague that, once again, the rise is going to have to be passed on to the customer.

He said that paper mills have explained that rising prices are due to changes in supply and demand conditions around the world. These changing conditions can be caused by a number of factors, including economic, political, meteorological, or geological.
Add to that the rising price of oil and there’s only one direction the price can go. But our printer also said that paper prices were on the rise before oil prices escalated and there was a view that paper prices were lower that they should be.

So one suspects the truth lies somewhere amid global crises, rising oil prices, economic uncertainty, natural disasters, and business opportunity. There’s so much you can blame, it’s probably a good opportunity to add a few pence to the price; probably too good an opportunity to miss.

Tagged with: • • •
Mar 14

We’ve decided that we have a lot to shout about!

Marketing No Comments »

We’ve decided that we have a lot to shout about. In fact we’ve suspected it for some time but only just got round to doing something about it.

Perhaps too many businesses are shy about telling everyone just how good they think they are at their jobs. Perhaps too many cut back on their marketing spend during a recession, before the market has a real chance to hear what they have to say.

We advise customers about their marketing strategy and marketing communications activity, but like many companies in the communications business don’t find the time to promote ourselves as effectively as we should.

So we took the bull by the horns and took our own advice; now we have a marketing strategy underpinned by advertising and PR activity. We are using the very tactics that we advise and supply to clients.

Understanding about PR is mixed but essentially it’s about everything you say and everything you do. PR activity must be built on a platform of trust, integrity, honesty and great customer service.

Our PR activity over the next few months will include press releases and contributions to feature articles that will help us underpin the giant leap from being successful to visionary. That’s especially important during recession when the tendency is cut back rather drive forward.

Cutting marketing budgets could mean missed opportunities and studies suggest that, over the longer term, businesses that remain focused on keeping their marketing effort perform much better than those taking a short term view.

We asked tough questions of ourselves; the same ones we encourage clients to ask. How effective is a marketing strategy? If changing demand means a company needs to change its message, how does it make sure customers know?


We decided to shout it from the rooftops.

Tagged with: • • • •
Jan 11

Bad weather delays photo shoot

Colour Management, Direct Mail/Marketing, Photography, Print No Comments »

By this time today we should have been nailing some great shots for the Spring/Summer 2010 catalogue for The Collar Company, a mail order and online retailer of high quality ladies shirts and knitwear.
Unfortunately, due to the bad weather, we had to postpone the shoot for two weeks last Thursday as it was felt too hazardous for all of the parties involved to get to the location in Staffordshire safely and on time.
This was the first time that we had been tasked with laddering the shoot with two models so that the shoot could be limited to one day. We have worked many times with our models, Tracy Bailey and Lucy Knight, and can’t wait to work with them again.

Tagged with: • • •
preload preload preload