And the winner is… Underscore!

We’re absolutely delighted to have received the 2012 Property Marketing Award for Best Overall Campaign, Retail & Leisure for our work with Duke of York Square in Chelsea.

Our ongoing work covers brand, digital, events and customer engagement. Over the course of our work with them, the Square has achieved:

_ 19% increase in footfall year on year

_ seven-fold increase in database subscribers

_ significant increase in customer loyalty and spend

You can view more of our work for Duke of York Square, part of the Cadogan Estate on our site, including branding, digital engagement, campaigns and customer engagement.

We had some very stiff competition, including no less than Westfield London, who had produced some impressive and very high-profile results of their own.

We’ll be celebrating today by doing more of what we do best: creative work based on knowledge, insight and results. If you’ve got a project that could benefit from our strategic, creative approach, we’d love to hear from you. Drop us a line or give us a call.

And the winner is…

We’re very chuffed to have been shortlisted for the UK Property Marketing Awards retail and leisure category for our work with Duke of York Square in Chelsea.

We’ve been working with the team at Cadogan Estate since 2011 to build their brand, engage their audiences and build a community. Our work has included strategy, brand development, event identities, print collateral, digital and social media. We’ve worked with them to draw a crowd to events including their screenings of the Royal Wedding and Wimbledon and Chelsea in Bloom. Each event focuses on driving footfall and engagement, while increasing data capture.

Since we’ve been working with Duke of York Square, footfall has increased by 19%, their database has grown to include over 5,000 contacts and we’ve helped them to build an engaged, interested community around their brand.

We’re in the running against Clarks Village in the South, and a little centre in London by the name of Westfield. Nice company to be in!

We’re off to the awards ceremony next week, and we’ll of course update with the results.

According to a recent study, over 20% of event ticket buyers use social media to invite their friends.

Sports Business Journal also claimed that 1 in 5 sports fans use social networking to share event details.  A more specific study confirmed that 15% of ticket buyers actually brought their tickets because a Facebook post influenced their decision.

According to a separate study by Crowd Seats (which is the flash deals site for sports tickets) who recently pulled research from the likes of Ticketmaster, Sports Business Journal and some relevant city marketing firms, ticket buyers who made a purchase because they were informed via social networking posts and adverts not only paid 1.5 times as much for their ticket, but were happy to do so. When these statistics were questioned the answer was a simple one, “Because these customers typically make their purchases in advance”.

Crowd Seats generates over 1/3 of its total ticket sales through social media and explains the tool is a critical part of its business. Internet sources also reveal that major league baseball teams have apparently budgeted large spends for social media tools to help fill seats after finally appreciating its revenue potential for the event sector.

Social media pay per click has also been proven to work extremely well with Facebook in particular. Simply because the software tool will cleverly spider site users “likes” and key word activity relating to preferential music and sports teams then assign geographical demographics to the adverts target profile distribution equation.

Shutterstock was established in 2003 and it is a provider of stock footage, photography and illustration, with a database that includes more than 19 million royalty-free images and over 500,000 footage clips from large number of contributing artists.

Last month its much anticipated new brand and identity created by Lippincott was launched. Using an image ‘frame’ within the ‘o’ creates a clever yet simple device, providing a strong visual link between process, technique and the profession of Shutterstock. By adopting the ‘less is more’ rule here avoids confusion and over complication which, as a graphic designer and a lover of ‘white space’, I try and avoid.

This use of a ‘bracket’ device has been done before (as per usual), one very close example would be North’s rebrand for ‘The Photographer’s Gallery’ just round the corner from Carnaby St. Here we see a number of characters used to create the element of a ‘camera’ to reflect the subject matter of the gallery, which compared with the new Shutterstock logo is slightly more detailed but still easy to read and understand.

So what is the golden rule for ‘less is more’?

Apparently the rule is ‘three’. People are more likely to remember three things or elements rather than several different things all happening at once. Of course if you use ten different elements at the same time it will look like Adobe’s Creative Suite has thrown up all over your mac or pc, or in other words, a huge mess.

Personally I feel if your idea is strong and simple then go with just one element that works within your identity concept. Try to simplify everything you do. I love typography and with everything I design I try to remove the design ‘clutter’ to avoid confusion and complication.

Does this apply to other aspects of design?

Of course it does. Take typography for example, the golden three works a treat here, three point sizes – one for your header, one for your leading messaging and one for your body copy. This makes it more digestible and can detract from large amounts of ugly copy.

So what I’m trying to say is ‘less is more’ in design. By simplifying elements within design there will be a higher success rate with what you are trying to achieve. And the new shutterstock identity proves this theory pretty well.

The weather might be trying to tell us otherwise, but summer is definitely here, and we’ve got the perfect place to spend a weekend afternoon.

North London’s iconic Alexandra Palace are opening their Sunset Sessions this weekend, with tunes, drinks, food and Time Out’s ‘best alternative view of London’. We’ve brought a bit of sunshine into the studios at Underscore Towers while we’ve been designing all the collateral for the events, including flyers, posters, web banners and a Facebook presence.

While you’re there, why not pop your head into the Regeneration exhibition? There’s lots of information about the Palace’s plans to revitalise the building and surrounds, with Ally Pally team members available for any questions you might have. Check out the exhibition materials (proudly designed by Underscore) and fill out the survey to have your say on the future of the people’s palace.

There’s also the usual attractions at Ally Pally, like the Ice Rink, park, mini-golf and boating lake. Sunset Sessions will run every weekend in June, with July dates to be confirmed.

Your perfect place to soak up the sun this summer? Sunset Sessions for sure.

The social network site announces planned changes for the younger generation. Years 13 and under will soon to be allowed to join Facebook.

The Wall Street Journal revealed that the social network site is planning a regulated online environment for todays youth. “Mechanisms being tested include connecting children’s accounts to their parents’ and controls that would allow parents to decide whom their kids can “friend” and what applications they can use.” The article explains. “We would like to see Facebook create a safe space for kids” a company representative clarified

Speculators assume the announcement is to hose the fire of concerns that elevated when the social network announced an 88% annual growth rate to support its recent stock IPO price. Public finances aside, this new demographic doorway opens up obvious potential for corporate digital engagement campaigns.

Facebook announced that their privacy policy is becoming difficult to sustain and regulate as so many younger generations simply lie about their age to be part of the worlds largest social network. Sources suggest that 39% of parents actively encourage their kids to use the site.

So what are the facts and how can this affect a business’s branding and digital approach? Toys and games companies are extremely excited about the recent announcement, video game firms claim that the change would create huge increases in demand and revenue.

But markets that target young customers are not the only commercial segments that will experience additional online communication tool options. Children are a powerful voice in todays modern society. Their opinions on corporate products heavily valid, their social lives far larger when compared to your average working adult. News, promotions, ideas, inspiration, tech advancement and overall branding values spread fast through today’s youth. Supermarkets, retail outlets, consumer electronic firms, junior educational sectors, Government awareness groups, TV & film, sport and recreational… (the list goes on) will all benefit from the new online demographic.

What happens when the public has a loss of trust in your company. Traditionally we have been taught that trust and reputation are key brand values.

The departure of Barclays Bob Diamond and COO Jerry del Missier for whole Libor rigging scandal has no doubt planted the seeds of distrust in the Barclays brand. Tax avoidance schemes, the credit crunch, and subsequent government bailouts has made the public become suspicious of all banks.

The fallout begins

With Bob Diamond due to appear before a select committee this week, and already threatening to fight back, the evidence could only be more public humiliation and embarrassment for Barclays.

Related to Libor scandal Boris Johnson has come under increasing pressure to scrap the Barclays sponsorship of London’s Boris Bikes.

Jenny Jones the Green mayoral candidate said “They are not the sort of people we want to be associated with. It would have been good to set up smaller sponsors who were ethically in line with the concept.”

TfL seem to be saying they could break the contract with Barclays and find a new sponsor.

Barclays a brand in crisis

Trust in a brand is very hard to define. In most cases it directly relates to customer satisfaction or ethical alignment. In Barclays case they have built a strong brand strategy as secure and trustworthy. They have been forced to engage with their customers and have adopted a friendlier tone in their communications.

If indeed this whole debacle has damaged Barclays, it will be interesting in the months or years to come what crisis plan or strategy they employ to repair the brand. In Bob Diamond own words “Banks must win back trust from the public and be better citizens.”