Our Blog
Industry 4.0 / Internet of Things (IoT) means that Customer journeys are forever changing. How do you keep up? That’s easy you let us do the hours of research then we sift through and share the best and most relevant information with you to enable you to grow your brand and stay one step ahead of your competitors.
Five tips for choosing the best CSR initiative to make societal change and grow your brand in the process
This article is written for small to medium business owners and consultants who are, or maybe, donating to charities on an adhoc basis and/or sponsoring community events. It explains how adopting a philanthropic mindset can be fun and will build your brand if thought...
Does your website create brand trust?
Does your website create brand trust? Whether you are B2B or B2C organisation, your website may be the first window of opportunity for people to glimpse into and explore your business. Therefore, it is essential to maintain interest. Does your...
Authentic brands case study – Chesterman Homes, property developer
We are very proud of our client, Chesterman Homes. They have completely embraced our brand trust advice and integrated their Corporate Social Media (CSR) strategy and Core Values into everything they do. The team at Chesterman Homes is working hard to...
How to use the 4A Brand Trust Marketing Model and Digital Marketing to enhance Brand Trust
How much do they trust your brand? | What are you doing to earn that trust? According to the Edelman Trust Survey, the least trusted of all the markets is media which includes social media platforms. Having said that, trust in UK’s Government, Media, Business and...
Corporate Social Responsibility: Broadwater Royal Wedding Picnic
The Brand Surgery® takes its Corporate Social Responsibility very seriously! With that in mind, when we heard that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were to be married, we wasted no time in organising a mammoth celebration. Together we have collaborated with Ann Barlow, Dave Hunt and Liana Naylor to put this fantastic event together – our committee has already done a great deal of work in organising the entertainment for the day.
International Marketing for European Mentoring and Coaching Council
Vicky Vaughan, has accepted a voluntary role of International Marketer for the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC). The EMCC is renowned for three pillars: accreditation, quality and research. Vicky is working in the quality section. Vicky said:...
We are celebrating 15 years of building shiny, strong brands
It's The Brand Surgery's 15th anniversary Our original company was formed on 2nd December 2002. It's not everyday that you get to be 15 again! Why we are celebrating The Small Business Association (SBA) states that only 25% of new businesses make it...
Marketing strategy and mentoring for public sector transformation consultant
iESE are evolving from a government funded organisation to a not for profit limited company. The economic climate is good for us as we help local authorities to save money. However, we needed to let more local authorities know about our good work so we hired Vicky...
Looking after employees naturally protects your stakeholders and grows your brand
How do you know that your employees trust you? The ILM Trust Index 2011 research reveals that many employees surveyed believe their organisation, CEO and line managers prioritise financial goals over ethical operations which causes distrust. If you trust your...
“We want to be happy and ethical” Listen to Generation Y.
Generation Y don’t want cheap – they seek ethical behaviour. Today’s young adults born after 1980 are known as Generation Y or the millennial generation – research indicates that they would rather experience life and be happy than buy new things (Forbes). How can the...
Is there still a place for focusing on cost-leadership strategy alone?
The cost-leadership challenge Cost Leadership is one Porter’s Generic Strategies and businesses following this strategy use techniques including economies of scale, negotiating preferential supplier deals and attracting low cost labour to sustain cost-advantage. This...
What is the difference between logo design and branding?
Why creating a good brand requires more than a shiny new logo! I have just been speaking to a business owner who asked us to design a new logo because he needed to increase sales. Our conversation inspired me to publish this post. Logo design alone, will not increase...
Marketing & brand development for Business Improvement Districts
Marketing & brand development for Business Improvement Districts The Lancing Business Park Intertrade Expo which recently took place at Rabbit Skips was another example of our marketing & brand development services for Business Improvement Districts. We...
Is your organisation a good place to work?
Is your organisation a good place to work? How does it impact your brand? Your company culture is your organisation’s greatest competitive advantage.
Brand development testimonial from Stagecoach South
The Brand Surgery revamped and relaunched our ‘night rider unlimited evening travel for £2’ brand across the Coastliner route in East and West Sussex. Vicky designed the visual branding which included advertising, leaflets and bus livery. She then carefully planned two launch events within record time in both Worthing and Brighton, carefully selecting the guest list, venue and itinerary for maximum positive impact. We’re delighted with the quality and organisation of both launches, the visual branding, the pre and post launch marketing. Our directors are extremely busy so it is essential that we have a company like The Brand Surgery which we can 100% trust to get on with the job with minimum input from us, keeping to budget and deadlines. I am happy to recommend The Brand Surgery for their brand development and launch event services.”
New e-commerce website for Macwear Clothing and Embroidery
We are pleased to present this new logo and website for Macwear Clothing and Embroidery. Macwear has been in the business of workwear, school uniforms and embroidery for over 20 years and provides the highest quality in-house embroidery on many items of clothing. It...
Marketing, PR and creative design for Stagecoach Night Rider Launch
You may know that we have designed bus livery for Stagecoach South and Stagecoach North East in the past.
Stagecoach South asked The Brand Surgery® to relaunch its Night Rider ticket and asked us to organise the launch and design some new bus livery for the Pulse buses to promote the new service.
Corporate Identity / logo design for Lelliotts Blinds and Awnings
One of our latest logo designs is for Lelliotts Blinds and Awnings. Our client wanted to celebrate Lelliotts 135th birthday in style, so who were we to refuse? We hope you like the new stylish logo.
How food intolerances can boost restaurant innovation
I was recently asked to speak at the Adur and Worthing Food Expo on restaurant marketing and branding. It was an amazing day organised by Andy Sparsis of Proto Restaurant Group, Sharon Clarke of Worthing Town Centre Initiative and Adur and Worthing Councils.
How to generate the very best ideas …
With organisations striving to achieve more with fewer resources, how can you keep generating the best ideas? Brainstorming is a fantastic approach to creating new ideas and marketing strategies to overcome problems and challenges, however, it is essential that your...
How to rebrand your charity with the full support of donors
NPFSynergy conducted a survey where 69% of people perceived rebranding to be a waste of money. If your charity is changing direction and is reaching out to a new donor segment, you may need to rebrand, so how can you do this without being perceived to waste donor money?
We’re top of the LinkedIn Social Selling Index
There is an amazing tool in LinkedIn you may not be aware of. It’s called the Social Selling Index (SSI). It measures some powerful key performance indicators and is updated daily. The scoring is based on: Effectiveness of our professional brand Finding the right...
How to create an effective charity impact report
t is important for your charity to create an impact report to show funders and donors how their money is being spent. Impact reports can also be used as a promotional document for new funders. Charity impact reports should follow your corporate branding guidelines. There is a tried-and-tested method to writing a charity impact report. Here are some tips:
Packaging design, illustration and website shop – Costa's Liquid Gold Olive Oil
We are pleased to announce that this delicious organic olive oil is now available via Proto Restaurant Group website. The packaging design brief was to be as rustic as possible! We used a combination of Adobe Photoshop effects and hand-drawn illustration to achieve...
Marketing techniques to overcome barriers to charity fundraising
Charities and third sector had never had it so tough, yet the number of charities increased by 1015 in 2015 to 165,290. The Charities Commission has recently published the charity statistics up to 31/12/15. This means there is increased competition for both public and...
How brand development can help you to beat the recent UK GDP manufacturing growth forecast
A 2014 report by the Office for National Statistics called The Changing Shape of UK Manufacturing states that "Manufacturing productivity has grown by 2.8% on average per annum since 1948 – compared with 1.5% in the services industry."...
What have a chameleon and a firefighter got in common?
Two weeks ago my oven caught fire so I dialled 999. Within five minutes two fire units turned up and I had a house full of firefighters. I had a lucky escape as no-one was hurt and nothing was damaged. Since then, my mind keeps drifting back to those firefighters … but not for the reasons you may be thinking …
Our spectacular 999 emergency services are always ready and able to adapt their behaviour to suit all manner of situations: from cats stuck up trees, to huge fires and horrific road traffic accidents.
Imagine if we injected some of the emergency services’ mindset into organisations that struggle to adapt to change e.g. organisations in the public sector including education, third sector and some retailers etc.
Hooray! We are finalists in TWO categories of the Adur and Worthing Business Awards 2015
We are delighted to be finalists in the Adur and Worthing Business Awards in 2015 – under the Customer Service category. This is a huge pat on the back for us and recognises our continued commitment to our customers.
It's Thyroid Awareness Week!
As you know The Brand Surgery® is an ethical branding agency and we work hard to Create Shared Value as part of our Corporate Social Responsibility strategy.
This year, we have chosen Thyroid UK as our chosen charity, mainly because our MD suffers with an under-active thyroid (hypothyroidism) so this subject is close to her heart, or should we say her throat!
Become a super-strong brand by adopting a coaching culture
Our executive coaching services will develop your leadership skills helping you to create a dynamic 'Super Team'. The Brand Surgery® now offers a complete brand management package with the addition of Executive Coaching. We are proud to be the only brand management...
It’s all about connecting the dots
We were asked by Stagecoach North East to redesign its bus livery and branding for the launch of a new fleet of buses (and part of a £2.3 million investment).
In aligned the livery design to the Stagecoach Group’s corporate identity guidelines. We designed a new logo for ‘Connecting the Dots’ which used a font made up of dots. We designed simple black icons help customers to visualise the activities that are accessible by bus. The coloured lines connecting the dot symbols are the same colours as the corresponding routes on the route map.
Stunning and contemporary corporate identity and responsive website for Brooklyn Kitchens
We have created stunning and contemporary corporate identity and a responsive website for Brooklyn Kitchens is a new Scottish retail kitchen company. It is based in Livingston and is targeting aspirational customers who may have previously owned an Ikea or B&Q kitchen and now wish to reflect their successful lifestyle by opting for a designer kitchen.
Registered Expert (business coach) with the Business Growth Service
The Brand Surgery® is a Registered Expert for the Business Growth Service which means you can enjoy highly subsidised effective business coaching. The Business Growth Service is a Government-backed service offering support to businesses with the potential to improve and grow. You may know it as GrowthAccelerator.
Do you multi-task when listening to podcasts or taking part in webinars?
We are conducting an online poll and would be grateful for less than one minute of your time.
Do you ever listen to podcasts or take part in webinars? Do you multi-task when listening to podcasts. What would make you listen more carefully?
Please take part in our quick online poll. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1TQhtHxMp3DoEv_O1S0z6hvVP_PLY3ufusV9Z7DrcmlA/viewform?usp=send_form
Worthing Wifi brochure design
Brochure design and window sticker design We have recently completed this exciting project for Worthing Town Centre Initiative. We were given a photographic to make 'sunny'! We created window stickers and the cover to a Worthing Wi-Fi map Worthing boasts over 400...
Brand building tips for business success
"A brand by itself can do nothing – it must integrate with elements of your business" (Kapferer 2012). We have previously identified that there is much more to brand building than logo design and here are a few...
Good news! More business funding from Enterprise Vouchers
We are pleased to announced that Enterprise Vouchers are soon available. What advice can be accessed as part of Enterprise Vouchers? The Enterprise Vouchers programme will help small businesses access strategic business advice within the following categories: Going...
Marketing your value proposition: How to make your customers truly happy
Is your value proposition the same as it was five years ago? Are you effectively communicating your value proposition? Chances are that your customers' expectations have increased since when your business was first established. Some businesses try to keep one step...
Retail branding and signage – The Coffee House, Worthing
We have been working with The Coffee House since 2003 and are pleased to have recently designed their outdoor seating partition to compliment the recent rebrand. We have also designed some more window graphics and signage to promote their amazing take-away coffee and cheap drink refills. The Coffee House also serves delicious food and caters for people with food intolerances by offering dairy and wheat-free range of foods.
Are your website and e-newsletter mobile friendly?
To ensure your website is found on a mobile device it must be mobile-friendly. Call us for a competitive quote to convert your website to mobile-friendly.
How Growth Vouchers helped The Sage Guys
As a result of the changes suggested by The Brand Surgery through the Growth Voucher programme, SoftServ immediately started to receive a much better response to their email marketing. The Growth Voucher programme has allowed SoftServ to fulfil its marketing potential and to make positive changes towards its business.
Do a Madonna – The Secret to Successful Branding
In 2010 I published my first business marketing book called Do A Madonna: The Secret to Successful Branding. Do a Madonna is aimed at new businesses with a gap in marketing knowledge and is written in a light-hearted and humorous tone. The book is currently being edited and rebranded and due to be launched in 2016. However, it is still available in digital format and in light of Madonna’s amazing performance and go-get attitude last night at The Brits, I felt this was an ideal opportunity to relaunch it before the rebrand.
Website, logo and menu design for Proto Restaurant Group
Government Growth Voucher case study – The Sage Guys Ltd
Steve said: “We selected The Brand Surgery because, even at the initial meeting, they wanted to understand our business and began suggesting ways to improve our marketing and profile. As a result of the changes suggested by The Brand Surgery through the Growth Voucher programme, SoftServ immediately started to receive a much better response to its email marketing campaigns. The Growth Voucher programme has allowed SoftServ to fulfil its marketing potential and to make positive changes towards its business.”
Why we need a more disruptive culture in education
I felt inspired to write this article after researching Disruptive Marketing and Learning Organisations: Boy! What an interesting subject choice. It ties in neatly with an interesting talk I listened to by Sir Ken Robinson (Ted Talks) called “How Schools Kill...
Happy Christmas! We look forward to seeing you in 2015.
Happy Christmas to our clients, suppliers, associates and friends. We look forward to seeing you in 2015.
Please help us to promote this Christmas single to raise money for "Cures for the Big 4" Research campaign
Please help us to promote this Christmas single to raise money for “Cures for the Big 4” Research campaign. A Christmas Single has been recorded to raise money for research into “Cures for the Big 4” killers that affect so many of us – cancer, diabetes, heart and neuropsychiatric disease including Dementia and Alzheimer’s.
The single is dedicated to the memory of the song’s lyricist and co-writer, Jonny Walker from East Preston in West Sussex – a talented musician and fun loving 21-year-old, whose battle with bowel cancer ended just a few weeks ago. His premature death, which came before he was able to hear the completed recording, has been a powerful catalyst for all those involved in making the song a reality.
Bus livery design and logo design: The Zone, Stagecoach North East
Initial project scope for The Zone Three Stagecoach North East bus routes had been updated with free WiFi and more frequent routes. Stagecoach North East commissioned The Brand Surgery to create an exciting fleet of bus livery for the Teesside area. We were advised...
Brochure design: Impact report for Coastal West Sussex Mind
We have recently designed this brochure style impact report for Coastal West Sussex Mind. In previous years, the impact report was A4 size, however, this year we decided to change it to A5 to make it easier for people to keep. Government cuts has also put pressure on charity marketing budgets, so the A5 16pp A5 is far more economical than A4. And of course it is more planet friendly.
Small Business Marketing Guide: Why the Heck does bsize matter so much?
In this blog, our Chartered Marketer, Vicky Vaughan, asks the question: Is it better for small businesses to look larger than they are? Or like Heck Sausages, should small businesses promote themselves as a small, family run business?
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