How did you get into web development?

I got into web development at 14. My best friend and I used to make Dragon Ball Z fan websites. He used to create the design and I would code what he created. Then, as I got older, I started making more complex and dynamic websites.

What do you really enjoy about it? What motivates you and what are you passionate about?

I love creating something from nothing and bringing a complex design to life. To me, development is like solving a very complex puzzle, piece by piece, and then being able to stand back and go “hey this works pretty damn well!”

What project have you enjoyed working on most, and why?

It has to be the website I created for Meldrum House. I created the backend and the frontend of the design, and it was definitely a challenge to maintain design requirements and functionality.

How do you think your work will change in the future?

I’m a big believer in blockchains (Bitcoin/Ethereum) and AI, I think both are going to change the future as we transition very slowly from web 2.0 to web 3.0 – it’s a very exciting time to be a developer!

What programming languages do you use most, and do you have a favourite?

I definitely use PHP the most. I code with that on every website I do – other programmers often say it’s “bloated” and a dead language, but over the years it has become a lot more streamlined and I enjoy the fluidity of how the code works. I can build anything I want with PHP.

As for my favourite language, it would have to be Python. Python has a much simpler syntax and a few extra features that really allows it to be easily extendable and actually pull information in from the OS. It has endless possibilities.

What’s the most misunderstood part of your job?

The hardest thing is making people understand that to a website it isn’t just what you see on the surface that makes a great website, a great website should look good but also be extensible enough that it allows you to do what you need it to and do it very well.

Any advice for somebody wanting to get into web development?

If you’re looking to learn how to program, Youtube is full of resources and guides to help you become a better developer or even pick up a language.

Alternatively, if you’re trying to break into the industry, my advice is apply, apply and apply. The hardest first step you take as a developer is the first time you “get your foot in the door”. It can be very disheartening but when I look back at it, the days that challenged me are the ones I’m most fond of. Keep moving forward.

As I sit writing this, with a host of different social apps open in the background, it’s easy to start wondering if this is a good thing. Since Microsoft Teams became our default meeting room, and online networking events have become regular events in the diary, why spend even more time online than we already do? Surely, social media is just another pointless vanity project, right?

The answer, I think, depends on how you view social media. Like any tool, it can be used for good or bad – particularly for businesses. If you think of social media only as something teenagers use to video themselves dancing, or something influencers use to show off their aesthetic morning coffee (we’ve all done it), you could be doing your business a massive disservice.

When used as a tool for communication, relationship-building, thought leadership and genuine connection, there are few better tools to have in your arsenal than social media.

For businesses, social media is only pointless when it is not utilised in the context of a wider, effective digital marketing strategy. A good craftsman never blames their tools.

So how can social media be used as an effective tool for business development? Here are five reasons why social media marketing is the key to moving your business forward, and why ignoring it is slowing your growth.  

1. Build brand awareness
   
   Across different platforms, businesses can tell their story, why they provide the services they offer, and keep audiences updated with customer and employee stories – helping audiences to really understand why you do what you do.
   One of our hotel clients, based in Dumfries, came to us because they wanted to establish an online presence and widen their client base to include the whole of the UK. Since setting up and managing their social media presence, we have increased their following by 200% and engagement by 1000%.
   
   If you’re not utilising social media as a marketing tool, you could be missing out on potential clients and customers because they simply do not know you exist.
   
   
   
2. Drive Thought Leadership
   
   Social media is a great way to learn about the problems and interests of people. In turn, being on social gives brands an opportunity to drive thought leadership by solving problems. Create how-to guides, webinars and other content to help people and, in response, people could trust your brand as their source for guidance, turning them into loyal clients.
   
   As part of the wider digital marketing strategy for a number of our clients we research trending topics and create thought pieces and blogs, which can be posted on social media channels and drive traffic to your website – increasing the likelihood of gaining customers or clients. Whilst driving thought leadership is important for anybody venturing into social media marketing, this is essential for the professional service sector. Lawyers, listen up!
   
   
   
3. Generate leads
   
   Social media allows you to create meaningful conversations and engagement within your target industry by posting videos, news, data, and interesting trends. Not only do you build credibility with potential customers because you display your expertise and remain ‘in the loop’, butthese strategies can also result in gaining leads.
   
   Once you learn how to solve your market’s problems with thought leadership content, you can build an audience that believes in your brand, products, and services. Social media is, in many ways, the new word of mouth.
   
   
   
4. Understand your audience
   
   Our social media platforms and management tools enable us to track key performance metrics (KPIs). We can even assign a monetary value to organic social media engagement and calculate the ROI of digital marketing campaigns – for example, you can see exactly how many hotel rooms were booked because of a single Facebook post.
   
   Tools like Google Analytics – if you know how to use it in the right way – can really help you dig into the behaviour of your audience and allow you to change your digital marketing strategy accordingly.
   
   As an example, after one of our hotel clients appeared on a TV programme their Instagram following increased by thousands, and with it the average age of their audience dropped by over ten years overnight. Understanding this was essential to ensuring our digital marketing strategy was fit for purpose and would continue to be successful.
   
   
   
5. Keep track of the competition
   
   Do you ever see somebody on social media and wish you could be like them? Whilst it’s been said that comparison is the thief of joy, what if you could use your competitors’ online activity to your advantage?
   
   Most businesses are now active on several social media channels, providing an excellent opportunity to monitor and track what they’re doing online – finding out what works for a competitor can enable you to gain insights about the type of content their audience might also respond to, and the broader needs and demands within their niche.
   
   You might even find that your competitors aren’t particularly active on social media at all – so if you decide to put an effective digital marketing strategy in place, you’d already be one step ahead.

Social media can certainly feel pointless, especially if you’re dealing with the day-to-day pressures of running a business, but it doesn’t have to be.

If you’d like some guidance, drop us a line and let’s chat over a coffee. We’d love to take some of the pressure off.

How did you end up in design? Where did you start?  

I always had an interest in drawing and technology, which ended up leading me down the route of a Construction Engineering course after leaving school. However, the technical drawing aspects were the only part that I enjoyed. 

After craving a more creative career path I explored a wide-ranging media course, that covered everything from television production to graphic design. This early introduction to type, layout and image creation made me realise how so many things from album covers, to film posters and packaging were all routed in the same principles. It made me aware that we’re surrounded by design and it could be a genuinely rewarding career path.  

From there I went on to do a degree in Visual Communication and eventually land my first junior role at a small start-up agency. Joining a small company had a steep learning curve as I was thrown straight into client-facing projects and quickly got a brief insight into how design studios operate. I always felt this was a good foundation for working in the industry and haven’t looked back since. 

What do you love about design work and being a designer?  

I like the endless possibilities that each project can have at the start of the process. The scope for how a project can end up looking and guiding that down a route that will work best for the client is a very rewarding part of the job. Seeing the final projects out in the wild after this process is always a good feeling. 

The industry is also extremely collaborative, which I really enjoy. As a student, it’s easy to think that one person does every aspect of a job from start to finish – when it’s almost never the case. Working and collaborating with the right people including illustrators, printers, developers, animators, or photographers is all part of the job I enjoy immensely. 

What projects have you enjoyed working on the most and why? What have you been proud of?  

As with most designers, I still take a huge amount of joy in working with beautiful print materials and finishes. Far from dying out, print can be seen as a display of craft and quality. For this reason, our recent work for Driftwood Spa and Newhall Mains have been projects I’ve really enjoyed seeing come to life. It’s always great to work with clients who know their customers will appreciate the value of print and the outcomes of those projects are something I’ve been proud to share. 

What advice would you give to somebody who wants to get into design?  

The design industry has such a massive range of possible career paths that you should be open-minded about finding the role that works for you. Try everything as a student and don’t be afraid to fail, even if it’s just to understand the different approaches and skillsets involved. And most importantly, don’t be an ****. 

Anything you are excited about coming up? 

We’re currently working with Crerar Hotels on a range of projects, including branding for their new Shore Spa at Loch Fyne. It’s been an enjoyable project to work on and includes some bespoke printed materials with a keen eye on sustainability, which we’re looking forward to sharing soon. 

If you’d like to learn a bit more about Ian and his work here at SHINE, click here.  

20 years ago, the potential marketing reach was very limited as outbound marketing was much more prevalent whether that be billboards, newspaper ads or cold-calling where the audience could be warm or cold leads, there was no way to manage or track the leads generated and if there was it was very inconclusive.

Nowadays, we are able to utilise Social Media not only as a form of communication but a highly effective marketing tool.

Using Facebook Ads to Boost Revenue

As Facebook advertising is one of the cheapest forms of advertising available (significantly cheaper than print, radio, television and other forms of digital advertising), utilising Facebook’s advertising platform you are able to reach the right people for your business through specific targeting.

Targeting Big Spenders or Select Niches with Facebook

No matter what your budget, you are going to want to maximise your ROI. Facebook can allow you to do this by targeting people who match your value proposition through geographic, psychographic and demographic targeting.

This is down to the fact that when you set up ads, it gives you the ability to target based on behaviours, interests, demographics, age, location, language and sex. With this information, you have the ability to truly narrow in on your perfect audience. While the whole world is at your fingertips, the more specific you are, the better chance you have at reaching your desired audience.

Installing the Facebook Pixel 

In 2021, the key to long-term success is data. The more data the better. By installing the Facebook Pixel on your website you can gain access to all sorts of insight to help you make better business decisions that will help you boost your revenue.

Once you install the pixel to your site, Facebook will take data (either sales, lead forms or anything you choose) to use it to optimize your bids for website conversions—it will literally make algorithmic decisions to show ads to people who are more likely to convert into sales for your business.

Remarketing for Your Site

The Facebook Pixel data also allows you to re-market to your website visitors. Whether they added items to their basket or simply browsed the pages, you can gather that data and use it wisely to maximise purchase potential by showing them and reminding them of your brand through ads.

We are currently working with Hotels, Resorts and Property Developers on developing their Digital presence and we are passionate about producing results that matter! If you would like to collaborate on a strategy together – get in touch!

For many of our hospitality clients, they want this standard to flow through to their booking engine so the customer has a smooth and informed journey from first impression to conversion.

What is a hotel booking engine?

It’s an intricate application added to a hotel’s website, allowing visitors to check the availability of rooms and eventually make a booking. 

It is often considered to be the most valued and most important part of any hotel website as it is the location of all final decisions and conversions your customer makes on their journey.

The importance of a Booking engine

A booking engine is a gateway to efficiency through the medium of automation. Long gone are the days of manually maintaining real-time inventory, rate parity and overbookings. A website booking engine resolves these issues through live and accurate integration with your booking software taking time off your teams’ hands by reducing the amount of email and phone enquiries by displaying real-time availability to your customer and allowing them to book directly.

Furthermore, standing independent from OTA’S and Third-party booking sites is hugely beneficial to brand value as it allows your brand to appear more credible and transparent with your offering.

Overall, they provide a much better booking experience for potential guests.

Although it’s good to get bookings from third-party distribution channels, walk-ins and other sources, it’s not always worth the effort.

Choosing a Booking Engine

In 2021, a good booking experience is expected by most consumers. This expectation is derived from the improvements in technology that has made everything we do online faster, which has ultimately reduced the attention span of the average consumer paired with the fact that as consumers, we need information up to date and live or else, we lose interest. 

So, it is essential that a booking engine be tailored to the consumer for maximum acquisition combined with an aim for guest retention.

So, what needs to be considered?

Fit for millennial mobiles

According to a TripAdvisor study, 42% of travellers around the world use their smartphones to make a booking. If your booking isn’t designed for mobile-responsiveness, almost half of potential guests might be turning away. With a clumsy booking engine, the drop-off rate can be much higher than expected. 

While 67% of smartphone users say they’re more likely to book from a mobile-friendly website, 61% of these people say they’d probably leave a website that’s not mobile-friendly.

Therefore, even if your website is extremely mobile user friendly, if the booking engine doesn’t match that, you could be losing a serious amount of potential customers.

It shouldn’t take more than a couple of clicks to reach the booking page from the first initial lead.

Integration

The booking engine you choose must be able to be integrated seamlessly into your site not only to allow for a smooth customer journey but also so the developers of your site can manage it.

These days modern hotel booking engines provide a variety of methods on

what’s the best practice on how to integrate their code into your website.

These methods are: –

• Using an HTML iFrame
• HTML and JavaScript

These methods provide the cleanest way to integrate your booking engine into

your new website. Both methods provide a neat way to: –

• Display a custom booking form to your users
• Allow them to enter their details
• Be responsive

At SHINE, the websites we build are built with WordPress, which has moved on from being ‘just’ a blogging platform to a fully-fledged CMS, agile enough to handle any 3rd party

Integration and is one of the most secure systems available.

This means that the websites we build are strong and powerful, capable of handling most booking engines, so it is the booking engine that must be compatible. 

Does it fit your needs?

An important to factor in when deciding on a booking engine is that does it suit the size and offering of your property. 

The Booking engine should be able to adapt to suit offers and promotions if required or the addition of optional extras such as Champagne in the room or table bookings.

Your booking engine should support this but also be able to grow and develop in-line with your property.

There are many booking engines out there to choose from, and at SHINE – design & digital, we are well-versed in the integration and recommendation of Booking Engines to our clients.

If you are looking to develop and progress your website, get in touch below. We are always seeking to collaborate and work with new properties to expand their positioning and performance.

So if a picture paints a thousand words then a video surely must be able to deliver an immediate encyclopedic burst of emotion and tell an engaging story about your business in under a minute? We have been delivering video content for clients for a number of years now and have been lucky enough to visit some weird & wonderful places across the UK to create that content as we have crafted the stories that sell our clients businesses.

So here is a statistic that I know is true. For our clients where there is video content autoplaying on the home page of their website it does two things… 

1. Time on the homepage with autoplay video increased – 123.17%
2. It reduces the bounce rate by 49.04%.

So that video needs a hero shot. To grab peoples attention and make them what to know more.

I’VE NEVER BEEN COLDER

Telling the story of how Scottish Trout that are harvested on a Monday in the beautiful surrounding of Loch Etive are then served in restaurants as far afield as New York and Dubai on the Thursday was a challenge of literally battling the elements. 

Within 10 minutes of being out on a barge in a blowing gale and a choppy loch, one of the camera screens had stopped working after getting sprayed with sea water, my hardhat had blown off and was now making its own getaway in the loch much like Wilson in Castaway and we were struggling to get a steady shot. But we persevered and as the weather settled we were able to achieve the hero shots that open this film.

Next slide please…

We also committed to a 5am start on day two to achieve a sunrise timelapse from the Connel Bridge out towards Loch Etive….of course that was after the challenge of discovering the Oban has an ‘airport’ that had a no-fly exclusion zone!

Hold onto your hats!

RUNNING & LOBSTERS – LINKS HOUSE @ ROYAL DORNOCH

The slow process of getting a 2 wheel drive hire car (not what I booked) to the top of a hill overlooking Dornoch and Loch Fleet was a challenge, but as we got to the top, we wanted to capture how the light was moving in and out of the clouds and get a drone shot of the Land Rover getting to the summit and doing a fly over. As the light was changing there was some running, a bit of shouting and a desire to not let this moment pass. I’m glad we ran.

We spent three days in Dornoch capturing everything from internal shots of Links House, interviews with the team, slow-mo captures of the beautiful rooms and even out on the Dornoch Firth and the North Sea with a local supplier catching lobsters.

It was such a fun and educational experience and we did our best to cover all the detail that makes a visit to Links House so special. The key thing was creating the long film as well as getting small, ‘snappier’ cuts which could be re-purposed for social media. This allowed us to have a strong, deep library of content to use, reuse and recut making the investment in this video a long term investment.

WHEELY BIN DAY – GP RECYCLING

Another film process we managed was for GP recycling, an educational and informative video that foretold the process that the facility undertakes. At the first meeting, I was impressed that essentially the ‘waste’ that I put in my garden wheely bin can be recycled, treated, repurposed and essentially bagged and sold again as compost that you can use in your garden. Who knew?

Aside from having to return home for a change of clothes after every visit to this ‘fragrant’ facility, we set about story telling the journey through the process by mixing interviews with voiceovers as well as drone images of the building and land around. 

The KPI around the motivation of our client appointing us to do the video was based on the number of phone calls / e-mails / comments and complaints they got regarding either the aroma from the facility or the large number to refuge trucks on the connecting roads. There was just a lack of understanding. This solved that.

HOME SWEET HOME – WESTPOINT HOMES

Having photographed show homes before they are sumptuously appointed and there is a place for everything and everything has its place. The golden rule is don’t touch anything. Luckily we had the run of this magnificent 5 bedroom show home in Bridge of Weir and we used that freedom to have a still photographer and two videographers working systematically through the property and not getting in each others way.

The challenge we had was having one day to achieve all this as there was a launch event the following day and also avoiding capturing the active building site that we were in and the team of workers still laying slabs, grass and chuckies in the garden as the launch deadline got closer.

The pace and style of the filming in this property was slower and softer to give the viewers time to take in the property and see the attention to detail and finish quality of a Westpoint Home.

“So if a picture paints a thousand words then a video surely must be able to deliver an immediate encyclopedic burst of emotion and tell an engaging story about your business in under a minute?”

Our next video adventure is going to take us back to the highlands hopefully in April to cover a staff engagement project, a castle and another hospitality project and a golf course. Fingers crossed for the weather!!

As I move into handling Digital Marketing at SHINE, I wanted to look back at some moments and lessons from the past year and how they have contributed to my new role and shaped me into where I am now.

Solidarity 

This year has furthered my understanding of business integrity and togetherness. Not only has solidarity been key to keep morale up within our team but I have noticed that it has become a significant value to many clients that I have dealt with, especially during a year such as this. solidarity has outshone many other business pursuals and that has been both refreshing and enlightening to learn this so early on in my career.

Mistakes are a necessity 

Making a mistake and having the breathing space to do so can only ever be seen as a positive, as long as you use it wisely.

There are many instances in life when you will make a mistake which cannot be undone, but when in a position of learning these mistakes will end up making you who you are, especially in marketing, when the world can see your mistakes.

Being given the opportunity to learn from a mess-up has taught me not only self-patience but also self-correction which has proved to be a key trait to me.

Coffee. Is. Everything.

The fact I received a Pret-A-Manger Voucher for Christmas from Craig, really says it all.

Digital Marketing is my passion

After perusing many different areas of the marketing industry, it was clear from when I started to take an interest in developing strategies and monitoring campaigns that the digital life was for me.

There is nothing quite like developing an online presence with a client and watching it grow in line with their goals!

Never underestimate the power of words

As we are now conducting meetings miles apart from each other, the ability to read a room, to take in the atmosphere and develop a ‘vibe’ is lost amongst the airwaves of yet another zoom call.

This leaves only your voice and the power words to communicate which has been both difficult yet a blessing.

It has taught me to think about how I direct myself and how to convey my messages clearer and more directly to the person I am pitching to because you are fighting to keep attention between the group as you are all screen to screen not face to face.

Trains, Buses, Subways (Pre-Pandemic)

I think I travelled more on public transport between meetings, work and projects in the first 3 months of this job than in my entire life…

Passion

Each day I see the team develop something they are truly passionate about and I am beyond lucky to get to see this happen daily whether that be an outstanding branding development or a website that boasts beauty, seeing this passion has solidified my want and need to grow and stay within this industry.

The next steps…

This new role is an exciting one for me because it is new, fresh and full of potential. I cannot wait to take on more projects with old and new clients and collaborate on some exciting new ideas that challenge myself and give me new things to learn along the way.

We have come up with 5 trends for 2021 that we think will be coming into play and will affect us more than ever.

1. User-Generated Content

Apps and interfaces such as Tik Tok and Instagram reels made their biggest boom in 2020 and they don’t look like they are slowing down anytime soon as their user demographic gradually starts to get older with Tik Tok already obtaining 3.7 million active users in the UK.

These apps’ primary force comes from its users creating the content for other users and whether a video has the potential to go viral comes down to a little push from Tik Tok’s algorithm but mostly from user engagement.

This spike in user content has lead to the sharpest influx in influencers. Many companies have caught onto this and targeted these new influencers for product placement and brand promotion whilst also utilising Tik Tok’s paid ad platform.

Although the opportunity to promote is abundant on Tik Tok, the criteria to create successful leads is extremely niche. The content must appeal to the young demographic of the app, it must be 60 seconds and it must contain some rare USP whether that be humour or dramatic landscape to stand a chance of going ‘viral’.

For example, if we at SHINE were to promote some of our hospitality clients on the app, there is a strong chance we would gain a strong viewer rate due to some of the unique landscapes we could utilise, but the chances of turning those viewers into successful conversions is very low due to the price point of our client and the demographic of the viewers.

2. ‘Comfort Content’

We as a society have never been more vulnerable than we are now. As social media reaches its peak bringing with it fake news, unachievable beauty standards and depreciating communication skills it is coupled with a global pandemic that has shaken the world and left us distrusting companies, governments and brands more than ever.

This has resulted in the creation of what we call ‘Needy Nations’. We are left seeking comfort and reassurance from whatever is put in front of us to be able to function freely.

Companies and brands fully understand this and are tweaking their promotions in favour of ‘Comfort Content’ to reduce backlash and to try and be more appealing than the next company.

Many brands are adapting their wording and promotion to include the 4 C’S –

• Community 
• Contactless 
• Cleanliness
• Compassion

Using the 4 C’s can keep you on track to building a sustainable and trusting consumer database who you can then convert into reliable leads.

This is something we at Shine have already started to implement into our own clients’ Social Media whether that be through soft promotion or highlighting cleanliness.

3. Social Commerce

E-commerce and social media will become more seamless in the upcoming year. With companies like Etsy, eBay and Amazon trying to take advantage of social media platforms, digital shopping is getting a whole new life. In 2021, we will see more Instagram storefronts and tailored platform ads. Social media data will be used to personalise ads, making them all the harder to ignore.

Overall, there is a lot of innovative social media features to get excited about in the coming year. We will see a more personalised experience thanks to increases in technology, but at a cost. With more machine learning running behind the scenes to figure out our tastes, we run into issues of privacy, legality and credibility. In the future, we will have to figure out how to balance all the new technology with our basic desires to feel in control.

We will be shown more and more products that relate to our specific tastes and it is almost getting the point where when a product is shown to us that is too similar to what we need, it might actually put us off because we are scared of what data companies hold on us. It could reach a point where brands are forced to cut back on targeted ad’s as the detail of them are actually having the opposite effect.

4. The continued rise of disinformation

Covid-19 isn’t the only virus we are having to deal with at the moment, there is a new and very real virus that has the power to affect us in many more ways than just a high-temperature.

If the last two years have taught us anything, it is that ‘Digital Disinformation’ is real and is not going away. It can range from menial fake news such as “Cocaine kills Covid’ up to the disinformation that Russia deployed during the USA 2016 elections.

Disinformation can easily be compared to a virus due to how it replicates. In a recent research project by Stanford University, they have identified the movements of fake news can scarily mimic that of a virus.

The researchers have adapted a model for understanding diseases that can infect a person more than once. It looks at how many people are “susceptible” to the disease – or in this case, likely to believe a piece of fake news. It also looks at how many have been exposed to it, and how many are actually “infected” and believe the story; and how many people are likely to spread a piece of fake news.

“Much like a virus, the researchers say that over time being exposed to multiple strains of fake news can wear down a person’s resistance and make them increasingly susceptible. The more times a person is exposed to a piece of fake news, especially if it comes from an influential source, the more likely they are to become persuaded or infected.”

5. Conversational Marketing

As our information regarding social media grows and we begin to release the power big corporations and business have in-regards to data and knowledge there is a unanimous feeling of fear among the general public towards social media and the complete ambiguity of it.

In light of this, Businesses need to acknowledge that now more than ever they need to be more accessible and bring down any ‘virtual wall’ that may lie in-between their business and consumer and must appear to be at one with their customer.

Smart businesses will understand that being transparent, authentic, and even vulnerable is smart marketing in 2021. Building a connecting between people is now essential to promote longevity and solid frameworks of marketing. This means the brand should be personified in a way that reveals who they stand for and what they stand for.

This particular ‘transparency’ will see the rise in conversational marketing such as chatbots, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp for Business in an effort to build relationships through personalised one-to-one content.

This will more than likely be accompanied with a rise in ‘human-voice’ social media presence that adopts a more conversational tone through the potential use of humour and relatability for example

In short, Social Media is both at its strongest and scariest with so much potential for growth into areas that we don’t know exist yet. Although some aspects of Social Media can be scary, we try and harness the best of it and use it to promote organic growth and stimulate businesses.

As an agency who deal with clients’ Social Media directly, we are constantly looking out for juicy new trends to latch onto and are constantly trying to learn and progress to make our social management some of the best out there!

If you are interested in how we can adapt your social strategy to get you miles ahead of your competition.

This can involve everything from customer satisfaction, emotional connection, personality and goals. 

Branding is not just a logo, but something that encompasses your ideals, personality and values in a range of sensory products.

A brand tells a story that builds a relationship between a customer and a product. This includes:

• Positioning

• Benefit for customers

• Personality

• Aspiration

• An emotional connection

One brand that has excelled in developing a unique and instantly recognisable offering is Netflix.

Netflix’s device is clear, concise and direct that flows naturally throughout their entire offering. Although from when they initially started, technology has advanced leaps and bounds in ways no one ever expected, their brand structure has remained solid and relatively unchanged in terms of ideals.

Netflix is now known as the most popular ‘on demand’ video streaming service in the world. 

To give you some context, during lockdown alone, Netflix gained 20 million new subscribers within the first month of quarantining! These numbers just highlight the huge powers and influence globalisation can have and has had for industries such as those in entertainment to be able to reach audiences that just weren’t accessible 15 years ago.

But before they introduced the streaming concept, Netflix first started off as a Movie and TV Show Rental Service since it’s beginnings in 1997.

Originally founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph, who were two software engineers who left the company they were working for to take a risk and develop a company that embellished both of their unique skills and interests.

Randolph who had an interest in the internet wanted to start an internet business but didn’t know what type of product to sell and Hastings who saw how retailers were charging people for renting movies, was disgusted by their practices and wanted to make renting more consumer-friendly. This lead to Netflix being born.

The Logo

The First Design

Netflix’s presence at the very start screams ‘computer generated’. Starting off with a very generic and over-used black text that was split by a circle spiral in the shape of a reel of film. The brand had very little character to say the least.

The ‘90s was a time when branding and marketing were really becoming hot. There was a huge competition to build meaningful brands that stood out in the ‘branding boom’. People really started to associate themselves with brands and buy into their whole brand, rather than just their logo.

Netflix quickly outgrew their first logo as it didn’t capture their values and ideals. It’s possible a logo such as this took influence from other logos such as Nike’s infamous swoosh, that paved the way for other brands to incorporate a simple shape or design that was instantly recognisable. Netflix did not make the right choice in how they developed their original logo and was far too similar to brands from the early ’90s and wasn’t until their rebrand in the 2000s that their brand really caught on.

The Second Design

This brings us onto their second design which you will instantly recognise. This is when Netflix really came into its own with their branding, developing a typographic logo that flowed naturally through the products and services that they offered.

Utilising a semi-circle curve at the bottom of the typography brought a second 3-dimensional aspect to the already 3D type. The letters were arched in a way to cleverly look like an old projected curve, and that only continues in the shadowing behind the white letters, making the entire title of Netflix to look like a projected movie on a screen.

The device is utilised a bold red as the background, the same iconic colour of traditional theatre curtains that were prominent across America for years.

Although at first glance the brand appears simple, once analysed the logo embellishes some of the most iconic and profound nods to movies and theatre of decades gone by.

The Third Design

The third phase for Netflix’s device, saw the simplification of the projected letters and the background replaced, whilst the arch and deep red have been kept.

We have just said that Netflix’s previous logo was working well, so why the need to change?

The rise of Millennials.

The turn of the decade in 2010, brought with it a new era of consumers. The Millennials. They are a generation who grew up alongside the advances in technology and were raised on data and information being at their fingertips, as they turned into adults they brought with them a new wave of consumerism.

What fits perfectly with a generation that has extremely low patience due to having been drip-fed and nurtured on having access to information, high-speed internet, online shopping and instantaneous communications within seconds? An on-demand streaming service!

Netflix began to adapt their brand to fit their newly developed browsing system. They still adopt their Hollywoodesque arch and colour but have embraced simplicity by dropping the 3D effect. This simple change promotes ease of use in application across the board. The brand is recognisable and performs well at a variety of scales made for digital media and does so consistently at all times. The application of the brand itself takes inspiration from their forever expanding collection of film, tv and a sense of almost unlimited choice at your fingertips. Which you’ll understand from countless hours of scrolling through the ‘stacks’ trying to find something to watch!

“The new identity for Netflix revolves around the ‘stack,’ which is best imagined as a stack of cards all printed with some element of the entertainment company’s brand, like a character from one of its series or part of the red logo. A conceptual and visual thread to unify every touchpoint.”

The Netflix brand has grown and evolved with technology. The way we consume film and tv is very different now to how it was when Netflix began but this can also be said about the way we consume brands. We live in a time where content is king and we want it as fast as we can get it. Now it’s true to say within the app the brand becomes secondary to the image cards we now instantly recognise but this has been earned by building the brand over years. Constantly refining, fine tuning and keeping up with the times has ensured that the Netflix brand will be a mainstay in our lives for years to come.

Sometimes businesses need to rebrand for various reasons. Whether your brand needs to communicate it’s message and positioning clearer or if it is simply just a visual refresh, we can help work with you to bring your brand to life.

We hope we have inspired you with this blog! However, if you would like to work with us on improving your own branding, get in touch!

Check out our Instagram and give us a follow for updates on life at Shine – https://www.instagram.com/theshineagency/

You may be thinking why would my business benefit from being on a photography lead app, created for socialising? Although this was the original roots of Instagram, it has grown and transformed into a huge and fundamental marketing tool for both B2B and B2C functions. It is much more than just socialising, here’s why.

Engagement 

Instagram is a visually led tool that works in your favour. Its layout is simple and isn’t cluttered like Facebook and Twitter with copious amounts of wording, its low word-count aesthetic is visually appealing and in turn, keeps the focal point to the picture and drives engagement. 

However, to harness maximum engagement, your picture must stand out in a busy newsfeed. Using quality photography that has a clear focus will be sure to gain attention. This doesn’t mean you need to have professional photography to get traction, but a clear, in-focus photo that showcases a product, team member or service will be sure to get noticed.

Landing Page 

Instagram’s visually-lead landing page immediately gives viewers and potential customers the feel and personality of your business.

Without even having to read a single word, viewers can make snap judgements on whether they are interested in your product or service based on the colour scheme, layout and overall impression of your Instagram homepage.

The homepage should act as an eye-piece into your business and reflect your ideals and values alongside the product you offer in a way that flows smoothly.

You can achieve this by using a mix of branding and photography, for example, in a grid that follows a continuous pattern or perhaps using consistent photographic direction and style. 

Your main aim is to try and reduce the bounce rate of your landing page. By creating something that is attractive to potential customers and makes them stick around, they could eventually be lead through to your website.

Ad Platform

Instagram uses one of the most complex and detailed targeting platforms in marketing. With the ability to preset who you would like to see your ad’s down to the age, gender, social habits and location it is now easier than ever before to reach your ideal customers. 

Your Instagram ad can be 40x more effective than traditional marketing as there is now a powerful targeting process that can lead customers to checkout or contact information within a matter of clicks.

There is also the possibility to retarget people who have visited your website and can turn them from a cold lead into a warm one by capturing product interest when is it fresh.

Brand Loyalty

Once a customer has purchased a product or service from you and have followed you on Instagram, it increases the possibility of follow up purchases.

This is where customer engagement is key. Those who follow you can potentially be notified of every new product release or announcement you make. They then engage with this creating another potential lead.

This not only drives engagement and interaction for your posts but reduces the barrier between buyer and seller, meaning the buyer has now begun to build a relationship with your brand.

We hope we have inspired you to get your business on Instagram and how to use it efficiently! However, if you would like to work with us on improving your social strategy, get in touch!

Check out our Instagram and give us a follow for updates on life at Shine – https://www.instagram.com/theshineagency/