We have all experienced the difficulties of being unemployed and the lows which follow. Loss in confidence and low esteem it makes it harder and harder to believe that you will find another job.

Thats where we will help – offering inspriation and creative ideas in which you can grab the attention of potential employers.

We have been featured in the Drum magazine. If you would like to come and visit Golley Land Leeds to get some help then give Tim a call.

Weekday meal preparation has changed, with 4 out of 5 of us now favouring so-called ‘combination cooking’ (mixing both raw and ready prepared, store bought ingredients). The research also shows shoppers don’t plan meals and lack confidence in the kitchen. They want more information about how to cook healthy meals for their family when they are short of time and what to buy when they are at the supermarket.

An opportunity exists for brand owners to provide meal suggestions when shoppers need them most, in-store. Providing shopping lists and recipe ideas will direct shoppers to your branded product and may even tempt them into new categories.

Our specialist retail team works together with brand owners helping them connect with shoppers, analyse the latest trends and create campaigns to increase sales which meet with the changes in shopper behaviour.

Emma Sutcliffe
Golley Slater Retail
Leeds

*Ref Institute of Grocery Distribution, shopper research report, Meal Occasions

The only sector of marketing in the UK that has not gone into reverse in terms of spend has been digital, all other sectors have suffered to one degree or more. It’s clear that marketer’s consider digital to be an essential part of the marketing spend. Numerous brands are now thinking more carefully about how they develop their creative assets to work best in alternative video platforms such as mobile, podcasts and YouTube and less likely to jump straight into TV production without these elements being considered up-front.

The big story this year is the up-coming general election and how each political party conducts itself with digital and social media. The digital marketers here have really been wowed by the Obama campaign’s use of digital and in particular social networking to connect with voters. Everyone seems to be watching how the main political parties will conduct themselves. We are seeing a serious take up of smart phones and clients are very interested in what can be done through apps. Clients are seeing the benefits of mobile; they still rightly want to make sure it’s having a positive impact on both brand measures and sales.

John Kinder, Digital Managing Director

We visit all the leading retailers on a weekly basis to identify new store and sales innovations. We carry out category audits and competitor analysis for the brand owners who we work with, to initiate creative campaigns that build brands and sales.

At a time when retailers are demanding ever more support from brand owners, by knowing about the most recent developments in each retailer you can ensure you stay ahead of the competition.

Then came the age of the slogan. The likes of Drinka Pinta Milka Day, Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet, Heineken refreshes the parts, Beanz Meanz Heinz, Go to work on a egg, This is the age of the train, The Wonders of Woolies etc.

Then came a kind of reformation or culture revolution. A new breed of ad agencies found everything about these campaigns irredeemably naff. They started to create campaigns for which PhD in post-modern deconstructionism was required to discover exactly what was being advertised.

The American journalist and wit, H L Mencken, famously observed that nobody ever went broke by underestimating the intelligence of the public. Today Messrs Murdoch, Desmond and others are proving him right. The Sun and News of the World are extremely popular whilst the Times and Sunday Times are not. The Daily Star is the only UK daily to be growing significantly. Jilly Cooper outsells Salman Rushdie in spades. Millions more people watch Big Brother than Simon Schama on TV. More people like a story with a beginning, middle and an end, than the puzzling mind games so beloved of the critics.

The new wave of ad agencies in contrast, intellectualizes the business, turning Mencken’s dictum on its head. Their watchwords might as well be legal, decent, honest and obscure. The beautifully crafted works of art which sometimes masquerade as advertising risk going so far over the heads of their audiences that they could come to the attention of the President’s Star Wars shield.

* Why have they stopped buying?
* What are they buying instead?
* Why aren’t they even bothering to go down our aisle?

Focus groups be dammed, when was the last time you simply watched your customers shop!!!

It’s quite a revealing exercise.

When you understand how customers behave when they are within touching distance of your product, you can tell them what they need to know so they will reach out and put it in their trolley. Working from that moment will help any brand owner focus on the right messaging and the most cost effective retail marketing mix.

The role of Golley Slater is to help you understand your customers, produce meaningful deals, communicate compelling offers and develop engaging promotions. That’s it!

In truth there are lots of messaging opportunities with each retailer, shelf POS, 6 sheets, ads, floor media, security shrouds, .com, retailer magazines, store and manager communication plus sampling. We can help you select the most effective media for the budget and the comms requirement.

In terms of pushing the boundaries, retailer guidelines and budgets can restrict the options available, but we find by working in collaboration (client-retailer-agency) you can get things through.

Within our work for P&G we look at technically what can be achieved, this has included scented barker, push pods, health & beauty mini mags and baby DM pieces. We have also seen both moving and illuminated POS but this is normally reserved for corporate activities (such as Halloween and Christmas).

Examples of cross-siting, we have just produced an on-pack promotion for Ariel which includes a discount for George school uniforms. This has helped secure secondary display and POS in the George section of all Asda stores. (Just think of the retailer goodwill in helping sell their products).

Brands in conjunctions with their agencies book slots and present creative in-store ideas. Some of these are accepted, the majority however are rejected.

Through a weekly POS clinic hosted by Asda, we have been able to get a permanent Pampers nappy sizing barker sited in all stores. This does not conform to POS design guidelines but as it builds value in the category it was accepted.

Our approach is to constantly look for creative opportunities in conjunction with you and then presenting onto retailers together.

And whilst consumers are obviously more aware of the issues, they haven’t really changed their behaviour that much.

Does the average person recycle enough?

Do they use their cars less?

The answer to these questions is no.

Take the new Energy Saving Trust Campaign for example.

It’s cute. It’s inoffensive. But it doesn’t tell me anything new.

It’s the same old message, delivered in the same old way.

Maybe we need to take a different tack with our approach to green advertising.

The tried and tested “positive messaging” that we see in the majority of green advertising may not be strong enough to engender a major behavioural change.

A stronger message may be required.

So that’s what we’re doing.

The next Waste Awareness Wales TV ad goes live in November.

Watch this space.

Paul Williams, Senior Creative

Now that the announcement has been made, it’s time to get down to basics and introduce who we are and explain why we’ve decided to take the plunge into the great blogging unknown.

Firstly, we are Golley Slater North East. We are a Public Relations agency based in Newcastle city centre and we strive daily to provide our clients with fantastic, measurable results. We are one of the 11 regional offices within the Golley Slater Group and together we offer the complete marketing mix as a full service agency from PR and marketing, to digital, contact management and advertising.

What more could you ask for?

Now, on to why we have started this ongoing journey into the digital depths of cyberspace.

What we aim to do is simple: we will be sharing with you what we are all about and what we are doing from our beloved base, Toon Towers and across the UK with our diverse portfolio of clients. Our intention is to inspire you by sharing our knowledge on trends in communications and issues, talking about lessons we have learned and insights that we gather within the Public Relations sector.

Now that we have introduced ourselves, don’t forget to watch this cyperspace for more updates soon!

They will join an extensive client list that includes Greggs the bakers, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), Proctor & Gamble, Learn Direct and The Army.

The PR activity for Safestyle UK will aim to raise awareness of the company’s quality, affordable products and business successes across the regions.

The Advertising division will be focusing on developing new branding for the County Durham and Darlington NHS.

Wigan Athletic Football Club (WAFC) has followed Bolton Wanderers in appointing the agency’s sport specialist team to develop strategic plans and creative solutions to drive season ticket sales, corporate interest and develop innovative new products.

Paul Hunt, Commercial Director at WAFC said “We’re looking forward to working with the Golley Slater Leeds team to make the match day experience even more exciting and rewarding for our fans. Their unique knowledge and understanding of the industry will ensure we continue to move forwards both on and off the pitch.”

Tim Orrell, Managing Director of Golley Slater Advertising in Leeds said: “These new business wins are testament to our ability to deliver outstanding strategic support and produce practical solutions to help our clients grow.

“We know we can’t change the economic climate but we have a growing, talented team that can help companies make an impact and get noticed which will ultimately help them to increase their market share and retain customers.”

For more information or to enquire about how Golley Slater Leeds can help your firm achieve its goals call Tim Orrell on 01943 484 848.

With over 12 years sales expertise, gained principally in customer-focused, sales-orientated roles; Emma Sutcliffe has added a new dynamic to the family and will be responsible for growing business opportunities and securing new clients.

New Golleys Rona, Dean & Emma

Rona Askew joins after running her own events company in Newcastle which she co-founded after graduating with a Geography degree from Durham University. Bringing her experiences from this sector, Rona will prove invaluable in her new role, working on the prestigious British Army and Proctor & Gamble accounts.

Meanwhile, Dean Harding’s design talent will prove an asset to the creative team. His previous experience includes assisting with the marketing designs for Manchester United and BMW at an e-marketing agency.

Tim Orrell, Managing Director of the agency’s advertising team joined Golley Slater a year ago and has since been the brains behind driving the agency forward in a period of gloom, where the vast majority of other rival agencies have made redundancies and suffered a profit loss.

As part of Tim’s plans to further grow Golley Slater Leeds and maintain and attract the best staff and clients, he has recently expanded and refurbished the office environment with a growing theme, where grass runs throughout the work space and the team’s mission objectives feature in bold colours on the reception wall.

He has also overseen the design and launch of the agency’s new web blog: www.golleyisgrowing.com which has been created to demonstrate to prospective clients and recruits just exactly how and why the team at Golley Slater Leeds is growing and the benefits of joining and working with such a talented team.

Tim said: “Advertising and Marketing matter more in the current climate as now is the time for companies to really get out there and shout about what they do well, and rather than let the recession get to us like most agencies have, we’ve worked extremely hard to help our clients be creative and get noticed and this has really enabled us to grow and increase our annual profit.”

He added: “These are exciting times for us as we have invested in a growing, talented team that can really help organisations make an impact and get noticed, which will ultimately help them to increase their market share and retain and attract customers.”

“I’m delighted to have recruited Emma, Rona and Dean as they really are three top, talented individuals and they have already proved to be assets to the business in the short space of time that they have been working here, so I have every confidence that they will help us to enjoy further growth.”

For more information or to enquire about how Golley Slater Leeds can help your firm achieve its goals Tim Orrell on 01943 484 848.