Regent Sixth Form College of Leicester will be holding their student awards ceremony on Thursday 28h June 2012. The awards evening and prize giving is an annual event celebrated by many local business people, families and students to highlight and reward the outstanding efforts and achievements of their students during this current academic year.
Craig Johnstone, our Managing Director, has participated in a mentoring programme for a number of Regent College students as a representative of The GB Group, a Leicestershire based group of like minded business owners and senior managers who have come together to help local businesses and organisations gain more business, manage their costs, reduce risk and improve their people, infrastructure and the systems and processes they use to do what they do.
As a consequence of these regular contacts with the college Mulberry Square were invited to design and print the award certificates and we duly obliged. We have also taken this opportunity to sponsor two of the awards that are closely related our industry sector, one to Alicia Edwards for her excellent efforts and work within art, graphics and photography and to Amy Slater for her exceptional work being an industrious worker in both art and graphics.
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!
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
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.
We were approached by Hanfords of London to do some commercial studio photography for them. Hanfords of London design and create unique pieces of handmade jewellery and are currently in the process of getting their products onto a new e-commerce website.
Our award winning in-house photographer, Ian Bursill, spent a day photographing a large range of their jewellery, with fantastic results. These lovely images will be used for showcasing their talents on their new e-commerce website and perhaps also for their printed marketing needs.
If you would like any more information about our creative or commercial photography services, or would like to know what other marketing services we can provide, please call us on 0116 237 4603.
Mulberry Square was recently asked to print manage a wedding photography booklet, “A Guide To Posing”. We were supplied with the digital artwork and the copy for the booklet and were tasked to find the right printer, paper, finishing and binding to perfectly complement the images contained within.
With such important images; those of a bride and groom on their wedding day, it was essential that the colour management of this booklet was perfect. The effects of the lighting on people’s faces can make or break an image and so our pre-flighting expertise was key to ensuring the look of this booklet lived up to its potential. Happily, as we at Mulberry Square always employ cutting edge digital proofing – to FOGRA standards – you can rest assured that your printing will always be picture perfect.
We were approached by Custom Lynx to design and build a new magento e-commerce website to showcase their extensive product range and provide them with an online store.
Custom Lynx are a trade company specialising in providing a wide variety of custom length cables for their customers. For those systems needing a lot of cables, they also offer the useful option of customising the colour of both the cables and Neutrik connectors so you always know which cable is which!
Our graphic design team designed the look of the magento e-commerce site and its layout, whilst the products were catalogued and professionally photographed by our award winning in-house photographers. The result is a very good looking site with a clear layout and excellent product images, all of which are held on the large database contained within the website design.
The new Custom Lynx website is now up and running and ready to take orders!
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.