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Unless you've been hiding under the digital equivalent of a large rock over the last few years, you'll be aware of the huge impact 'social media' is having on the world at large. From Twitter to LinkedIn and Google+, these have given us all new ways to communicate with our friends, build brand awareness or plan the next major riot.

In terms of social media though, nothing can really compare to the behemoth that is Facebook, but many companies are still holding back from any kind of social media presence (especially when it comes to Facebook) as they see it as simply a glorified way for people to 'tweet' about their pub-crawl plans and 'like' pictures of kittens etc. - not exactly relevant for most B2B companies. Sure, we've all heard tales of B2C marketing successes - but again, that's when marketing directly to the consumer.

Even so, more and more traditional B2B companies are starting to explore this new frontier. Twitter seems to be the usual jumping off point - setting up a Twitter account is incredibly simple and with a maximum of 140 characters, most of us can just about find the time to write a tweet every now and again (although even that amount can sometimes seem daunting to those new to the idea).

Are you a tweeting fanatic or are you still sitting on the fence and waiting before you dip your toe in those mysterious social waters? And just because social media is the current 'trend' of the day, should you feel forced to join the herd? Facebook presents a few challenges in terms of building an audience and posting relevant content, so if you are new to the whole thing, then Twitter is probably the best place to start. It can be very effective when trying to raise awareness of your brand, getting your point of view out to a wider audience and even increasing your search engine ranking, so it really is worth trying (and talking of raising awareness - see the additional note 'Going Viral' below).

Here's a tip when starting out - one of the key things to do is find a 'voice' - remember this will be the Twitter account for the company, not necessarily yourself, but this doesn't mean that you have to be dull or 'matter of fact' – in fact those who simply use Twitter to post press-releases won't get a lot of followers. Use the channel to communicate with a different audience and in a different way. Don't forget to follow people you also find interesting and don't be afraid to RT (ReTweet) anything you think will be interesting to those who follow you. Throw in some links to interesting things on your site and use it to publicise any news or blogs you want more people to see (this can be great for SEO too). Finally, don't make the mistake that many first time Twitterers make - don't think of it as one way communication. If someone comments on your brand, your work or sends you a direct message - be on the other end of the line and answer their query, engage with them!

But that's just Twitter, what of Facebook? Well over the last few years, Facebook has steadily been rolling out changes to the way it handles 'brand' pages. Facebook is no longer just for individuals and there are now many more tools to enable either a B2C *OR* B2B brand to have a presence. You only really appreciate the true power of Facebook when you set up a page and then look into the advertising possibilities - the sheer range of targeting information and options is quite staggering. Want to advertise to women in London and New York and Tokyo, all between the ages of 24 and 28 who like Skydiving and Crochet? No problem!

One of the biggest of these recent changes is the Facebook Timeline. Any normal Facebook user will already be familiar with the Timeline layout as that rolled out to personal profiles several months ago, however, this now goes live for brands today. This means a whole new layout to the page, so any existing content will probably need to be re-looked at. So if you've already got a Facebook page, you'll need to make sure you're ready for the change, and for those who haven't explored the option, well, now's a good time to try!

The nice thing about the social media revolution is that the tools are free and the hard bit isn't actually the figuring out of technology/software - it's the creation of content (and not just once, but once a month at least!). This means that it's pretty easy for most people to figure out how to setup their Facebook page and add interesting content for your potential audience. That's not to say that more advanced features aren't available of course.

One tool we've recently been exploring is 'LikeIt Pages' - this is an interesting new service that aims to give the average user much more in the way of options when it comes to their Facebook pages - from encouraging users to 'Like' you, to giving extra content 'rewards' when they do. The system is pretty easy to use and any limitations are more down to the way Facebook works rather than problems with the software itself.

If you'd like to find out more about how you can use social media to spread the word and attract more business, give us a call or email me at: ben@tothepoint.co.uk. For further information about LikeIt Pages or setting up your Facebook page to take advantage of the new Timeline see the links below:

For further info:

Our Facebook page (feel free to 'like' us!)

LikeIt Pages

Top 6 guides to starting a Facebook Brand page

Top 6 changes to Facebook with the new Timeline

Timeline for brands - a complete guide

and finally a very nice use of the new Facebook Timeline - the D&AD Easter Egg hunt


Additional note - Going viral:

Just as I'm writing all this stuff about the potential power of Twitter, it's nice to see that our little typography game we created last year 'I Shot the Serif' has gone viral again. You can see the current Twitter chat here: https://twitter.com/#!/search/tothepoint.co.uk - the point is that without doing any additional marketing (over and above the occasional tweet), we had more hits to our site than EVER before yesterday (that's over 3000 unique hits in one day - not bad considering we usually average around 150 per day). And if that isn't a nice way to demonstrate the power of social media, I'm not sure what is!

When it simply ASDA happen

As St Martin's Quarter was a live construction site, we couldn't enter until works were complete, so we worked within a tight deadline to produce an additional set of hoardings and window coverings across the site in time for ASDA's grand opening.

We had already created a number of modular system hoardings for the development, which were designed to be moved from one stage to the next once work was complete. However, in the run up to the completion of the ASDA site, further work had been carried out on site, meaning additional hoardings were required in a very short space of time.

So, it was all hands on deck as our hoardings guru Glenn had to recce the site and obtain measurements and then it was over to the team back at base to design and layout the visuals and supply all the artwork in time for production and installation.

Altogether, we produced 150 modular panels and 13 window coverings, featuring the development’s branding, charcoal grey and lime green colour palette and lifestyle imagery to communicate the benefits of the development to the local community.

Both the hoardings and window coverings were delivered on time and the opening of ASDA on 26 March was a great success. The fantastic feedback we’ve had from the client made the tight turnaround worthwhile, and Carillion Richardsons’ project manager had this to say to all the collaborators on the scheme:

“My congratulations to you all as a team for your part in ensuring that the opening of the ASDA store on Monday was a success. I would also like to thank you all for the hard work, effort and long hours that you have all put into the project recently to make this happen.”

As St Martin’s Quarter is an ongoing project for us - having been involved in the name generation and branding for the development - the site visit also gave us the chance to see the first stage installations of signage and banners in situ that we had previously designed.

The opening of ASDA marks the completion of the first phase of the development with the second stage due to begin any day. So, watch this space for another update as we’ll also be supplying hoardings and signage for the retail and commercial units.

click on the images below to view larger

More bang for UK Space Agency's buck

We’ve had our heads in the clouds this month, applying the branding, the applied graphics and creating and updating videos for the display screens for the UK Space Agency’s stand at the Big Bang Fair, part of National Science and Engineering Week.

The UK Space Agency is at the heart of UK efforts to explore and benefit from space. Following the tender win for the project we got to work designing graphic visuals that would both give the illusion of being in space and also inspire children to learn more about space and its science. We created internal graphics of a starry sky, using blues and purples to create a backdrop straight from the depths of our universe, and laid out text, logos and other graphic panels for the whole stand.

It was a pretty quick turnaround from winning the tender to the event so we needed to keep tight control of the project management for this. Having supplied the artwork to the UK Space Agency's stand contractor, PG Events, for the build and installation of the stand, we ensured that the visuals were implemented to our specification and the stand and digital elements were completed in time for the fair.

Matt Goodman, Head of Communications at the UK Space Agency, said: “To the point did a fantastic job in a tight timeframe, delivering on the brief to create a stimulating stand, with dynamic graphics to create an inspiring atmosphere for visitors at the fair.”

The Big Bang Fair is always a success and the UK Space Agency’s Train Like an Astronaut stand was one of the most popular at the fair.

We’re also in the middle of updating the UK Space Agency’s brand guidelines as well as creating a logo to celebrate the anniversary of 50 years of the UK in space, so keep an eye out for updates on this in a forthcoming blog.

Stimulating growth

The Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is the main UK government agency for funding research and training in engineering and physical sciences.

We’ve worked with the EPSRC on several projects over the last couple of years, helping to communicate to the public what the EPSRC is and its role in society, and this project was no exception.

Engineering and physical sciences stimulate growth in many of the UK’s most vital sectors and without them the UK’s ability to generate future growth would be severely damaged. As such, it’s essential for the EPSRC to demonstrate how the research it supports is vital to contributing towards the UK’s growth – something that is always important, but even more so in this tough economic climate.

And that’s where we came in. We needed to create a concept that was bold, memorable and instantly communicated the idea of growth for the economy to audiences including government, the general public, businesses and academia.

We created a campaign brand that consisted of the word ‘growth’ made up from different industry sector icons such as health, construction and engineering. The primary colour palette used pure Cyan, Yellow or Magenta as a backdrop to Black and White cut-out photography which added drama and visual interest, whilst being sector specific.

The campaign will be launched at the Cheltenham Science Festival in June, and then be used at other events, on press releases and the EPSRC’s website to build on the initial launch.

Young man, there's no need to feel blue*

brilliant 'CMYK' photo by 'Auntie P'

Of course, we’re preaching to many of the converted here, but the subject of print colours seems to baffle many non-designers. The recent comment from a client that 'CMYK' sounds like a Village People song is a case in point!

Young man, are you listening to me…

And once you start explaining that the colours seen on screen aren’t the same as print colours, some clearly just tune out. So whilst the Village People comment caused a lot of amusement in the studio and has been added to our 'quote bank', it did also throw up some interesting questions about how much clients do and should know about the colour processes. We see this as an essential part of branding, especially when considering the consistency of your brand across all current mediums, from print to digital.

So, in a nutshell, print colours are typically CMYK (that's Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black - Black is represented as 'K' for Key) and Pantone, whilst the on-screen and web colour spectrum is RGB (Red, Green, Blue), but it’s not always that simple. So, for this month’s top tips we’ve put together a handy little guide describing the different colour models and whether they are for print or screen usage.

Get our colour guide here (PDF)

Make sure you take a look at next month’s blog as we’ll be continuing with this theme and looking at logo formats and their different uses, something else that confuses non designers and often designers too!