The Brand Surgery - Branding, Graphic Design and Web Design in Worthing, West Sussex

THE APPRENTICE – REBRAND MARGATE?

The above illustration is taken from the magazine we publish. You can see the full Gullivers in Margate cartoon if you visit Margate and step on a Stagecoach Loop bus before the end of August.

We can’t wait to see next week’s The Apprentice. We will see the TV contestants attempt to rebrand Margate. We are extremely familiar with Margate as we publish In the Loop magazine for Stagecoach in East Kent. In the Loop is a passenger magazine which focuses on Margate, Ramsgate and Broadstairs, and we regularly visit this seaside resort to find out what is hot and happening! This area is known as the Isle of Thanet, and as well as the kiss-me-quick ambience, it has a past reputation as a smuggling haunt! There are lots of smuggling caves, ghosts and haunted buildings. Thanet is gorgeous, with miles of sandy beaches. It has lots to offer – you could even have a holiday and help to save Thanet’s beautiful beaches at the same time. The Thanet Coastal Project has many family and kids beach safari days. So you can relax and polish you halo at the same time …

With word out about the upcoming Margate rebrand, we were (and still are) feeling protective towards our good friend Margate. So we did some Googling to find out what The Apprentice contestants were up to. We came across an article in Your Thanet News. Howard Ebbison, one of the contestants, came up with the idea of launching the town as a gay resort. We will see Mona Lewis strongly disagreeing with the idea – as we saw last night, Mona is an excellent negotiator – so will it go Howard’s way? No pun intended! The Thanet Pride event is held is in Margate each summer and is a huge success drawing in crowds of over 5000, so maybe Howard isn’t far off the mark. We are looking forward to the seeing Sir Alan Sugar in the board room next week.

Whichever group wins the rebrand Margate project is invited to come and help us to Rebrand Britain.

Britain’s Got ‘Creative’ Talent

Just in case you didn’t know … We have launched a national campaign to Rebrand Britain. We want to evolve Britain’s profile, so it is once again, known as the outstanding, innovative great British brand it used to be. Our campaign is called LET’S REBRAND BRITAIN. Click here to see the website! Please fill in our anonymous survey and tell us what you think of Britain!

For this project, have been busy researching to find the gemstones of the Britishness. We have been greatly helped by the fact that Britain’s Got Talent is screening just now. Susan Boyle, Hollie Steele and Diversity are (in our opinion) the most talented stars from the show so far. We need stars like Susan Doyle, Hollie Steele and Diversity to come forward and support Let’s Rebrand Britain, and to encourage other kids to explore their talents from a young age. Who knows, we could grow a whole new talented Britain, and anti-social behaviour and knife crime will become a thing of the past.

If you didn’t see Diversity Dance Group last night, then now is your chance! See our special story and another creative dance routine from Diversity dance routine by clicking here.

We love these Harvey Nichols’ Postcards

Good old Harvey Nichols’ does it again. We discovered these great postcards on the Creative Review blog and we thought we should share our find.

Whenever we’re meeting clients in London, we always manage to take a trip to Harvey Nichols. Now we have the perfect excuse to walk out with one of their carrier bags without breaking the bank! These postcards (designed by Ruan Milborrow and Mark Nightingale of Mr H) are perfect credit crunch friendly purchases!

If you are feeling a bit flusher, check out some of Harvey Nichols’ designer fashions for your feet and your body. Choose from some MARC JACOBS sandals or GEORGINA GOODMAN patent stilettos, or maybe some MIU MIU patent bow front peep toes. Of course there is also CHARLOTTE OLYMPIA, NICHOLAS KIRKWOOD, JONATHAN KELSEY or CHRISTIAN LOUBOUTIN.

Have fun!! Can you think of any other pun celebrities?

Air Comfort Centre – a credit crunch miracle is born …

We are proud to announce the birth of the Air Comfort Centre. We love a happy story to come out of the doom and gloom; so a happy story is what we’ve created.

Meet Mike Higginson. Mike is the director of the Air Comfort Centre in Worthing, West Sussex. What makes Mike’ story so special is that he was made redundant in December last year. However, he didn’t sit and grumble, or feel sorry for himself. Instead, he put the plans in place to set up his own business, and what better industry to set up in … One that Mike knows very well – the AIR industry. His next brilliant move was to take a trip to our surgery, full of brand doctors and nurses. And alas! A star was born …

Now our brief was … “We want you to make air conditioning cute!”. Plus Mike does have a obsession with polar bears (don’t ask), so the two went hand-in-hand. We added some orange, to give an all-round warmer, cuter feeling . Mike had the great idea of affiliating with Polar Bears International, and the World Wildlife Fund.

The Air Comfort Centre specialises in:

• Air conditioners
• Air purifiers
• Ceiling fans
• Dehumidifiers
• Evaporation coolers
• Fans
• Fan heaters
• Panel heaters
• Patio heaters
• Storage heaters
• Workshop heaters
• Humidifiers
• Insect killers
• Ozone generators
• Spares: vacuum cleaners, water filters, weather stations, and even illuminated garden knomes!

The Brand Surgery designed the logo, the corporate identity templates, the stationery, signage and web banner. Unfortunately, Mike was already tied into an Indian web company before we could get in. Tsssk. We have heard that the money you save in hiring these companies, does end up in timely frustration with language barriers – even if you do have an English middle-man. So our advice is think carefully before you invest in long-term ’solutions’ with language barriers.

If you have been made redundant, then don’t despair. Most millionaires come out of recessions! Think about setting up a business, and then take a trip to our surgery, where our brand doctors and nurses will ensure your business remains in a healthy state. Call Vicky on 01903 824229 for a friendly no-obligation chat! Or contact us on our CONTACT US (top left-hand grey tab).

Brand your way out of this Recession

OK, this is an American theory, but we all know the UK is not far behind. The above presentation was given at the recent Economist Conference. The Brand Bubble by John Gerzema and Ed Lebar says that we must embed energy and passsion into our brands to survive. We should be using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and must use compassion as well as passion within our marketing.

To see how this could help your business, call Vicky, our brand expert on 01903 824229.

LET’S REBRAND BRITAIN

Are you proud to be British? Do you think summertime, with meadows swaying in the winds? Do you think of innovation and forward thinking? Do you remember our unique history, our arts and culture? Or the monarchy? Our freedom? Nice happy feelings? Or do you think of Vicky Pollard, hoodies, knife crime, MRSA, bullies, tax, unemployment, wet weather, delayed trains because of leaves on the tracks? Matthew d’Ancona recently explored the meaning of ‘Britishness’ in a Radio 4’s programme. You can listen to it on iplayer.

If you like people and places, but not politics, then Let’s Rebrand Britain is for you! We want to find out how many of the British public would be behind helping us to make Britain, Great Britain again! Take part in our online survey and tell us what you think of Britain and how you would change it. Once we have the results, we will start to rebrand Britain, like we would rebrand a business – it is the same process, only on a much larger scale! Unless we all want to pay more tax, and take orders from above, we need to start doing something. So less of: “I remember when…”. This is your chance to take control

Let’s Rebrand Britain is looking for a large corporate company to partner with for this project. The company must be British and passionate about Rebranding Britain. Please call 01903 824229 or email us at info@rebrandbritain.co.uk if you have any useful contact information.

The Let’s Rebrand Britain website and idea has been designed and developed by The Brand Surgery.

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DO A MADONNA!™

After attending a recent Twitter seminar by Andy Headworth of Sirona Consulting, the boss decided to Google herself. Then soon discovered that an article she had written last September, called BEAT THE RECESSION, MAKE AN IMPRESSION!™ had actually been published. Hoorah! We are now celebrating!!

The Womens Business Clubs has a brilliant website, which is packed with lots of information. BEAT THE RECESSION, MAKE AN IMPRESSION!™, obviously being one of the better articles There are 5 free easy steps to get yourself ahead, including “Do a Madonna™”…

Don’t get set in your ways. Fashions change and you need to keep one step ahead. You can evolve your image without confusing your client base if you do it properly and use a good branding agency. Even if you despise Madonna, you have to respect her. Madonna is 50 and more popular than ever. She may be mature, but she is still sexy, interesting and she sells millions of records. Madonna’s products never lack in quality, they become more interesting. She has cared for her image every step of the way, and you should do the same for your business. Stimulate your customers. Excite them. Give them a good experience.

Call Vicky on 01903 824229, or email us for further information.

Meet Anna Westwood, Illustrator Extra-ordinaire!

Meet Anna Westwood, the beautiful and talented wife of golf-pro, Tony Westwood

Vicky, the surgery boss, met Anna via her husband Tony who was giving Vicky golf lessons in her attempt to beat Tiger Woods.

Vicky decided that quaffing a generous glass of Pinot with Tony’s wife Anna was much more enjoyable, and Vicky and Anna found out that they shared a huge passion for creativeness, plus a much less desirable emotion for hoodies and bullies …

Anna was born into a creative family in 1970. She is a self taught artist with the fortune of having her father’s influence from his years of signwriting. Anna lives in the Algarve, Portugal, with Tony and their two daughters. Anna’s inspiration comes from nature, people and life. Anna says, “I love strong bold colours, and I enjoy learning through experimenting with different mediums and techniques. My aim is to create Art for Everyone. Whether you are young or old, a private or a corporate client. My focus is on you and what you want.”

Vicky strongly recommends Anna for any paintings, murals or designs you may need for your home, or a gift. Please contact Anna by email annacwestwood@googlemail.com or telephone : +351 910 954 918.

Meet Jody, our Creative Goddess!

We are pleased to welcome Jody Bennett, fresh out of Northbrook College.

Jody studied at Northbrook college and walked away with a National Diploma in Graphics, and a BA (Hons) in Communication. When we saw Jody’s portfolio, we were taken back by her creativeness!

We gave her our usual initiation questionnaire, and here are her answers.

Jody Bennett – Trainee Graphic Designer

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I am very pleased to join The Brand Surgery and can’t wait to get my hands on some of the tragic business branding which is around.

If you were having a dinner party and could invite three famous people, who would they be?
Johnny Depp (without the scissors) because he’s hot, Russell Brand because he is bit of a cheeky man. Finally, Whoppi Goldberg because she’s funny.

What’s the last book you read?
I’m a bit of a celebrity magazine tart. Plus I like design and fashiion books.

What did you want to be when you were 10 years old?
I wanted to be Rolf Harris in Animal Hospital (a vet).

What classes did you like at school?
English Literature and Art.

What would I find in your refrigerator?
Cider, Cheddar cheese, lots of bacon, wine and mould!

We look forward to seeing Jody’s etchings in due course.

SUCCESSFUL TARGET PRACTICE

If your business has been trading for a number of years, your previous target market has probably aged somewhat. Have you thought whether your company literature and wording is still attractive to your faithful loyal customers, who are in fact, still your target market?

We have two words to say to you. Silver Surfers. They may not have been silver when you first did business, but they are now. The 45+ age group is classed as the new teenager. As people are getting older, they are acting younger. These days, some men don’t get their mid life crisis until they are 60!

People change as they get older, so you need to adapt your product or service marketing so it is attractive. One of the biggest marketing mistakes is that businesses have just two lists: Existing customers and potential customers. Forget new business for one minute. Just take some time to think about your existing customers. Surely they deserve some TLC?

Why not categorise your existing customers into sub-lists? How long they have stayed loyal to you? How old are they? What sex are they? Why not send them a bespoke or personalised campaign, to make them feel special and to thank them for their business to date?

We have lots more ideas on how to make your target market feel really special, which in turn will help you to boost sales and beat the recession.

Why not visit our brand new sister company, The Success Surgery to find out how we can stretch your marketing budget by miles. Call us on 01903 824229 now, for a no obligation, confidential discussion.