Marketing

Never Stop Learning

Never Stop Learning

By Dan Bradfield

Never Stop Learning

“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty.”— Henry Ford

We always strive to improve collectively as a team at Naked Marketing. We do this by sharing knowledge and continually learning from leading experts in the field of marketing and design. 

If learning gives you a spring in your step, sit back and read some perspectives from the team about their training experiences this year:

James:

How to Brief Creatives – Kit Altin

Having recently attended Kit Altin’s brilliant ‘How to Brief Creatives’ workshop at the D&AD in London, I was able to learn some invaluable insights into driving creativity and, ultimately, a brilliant design outcome for our clients. 

The theme of the workshop was to always distil an idea down into its simplest form.

The premise being less is more, and those who really know their subject can write about it in fewer words than those who don’t. Which reminds me of a famous quote “If I had more time, I would have written you a shorter letter.”

From the workshop learning we have now begun to implement some of the strategies into everyday life at Naked to ensure we continue to drive creativity and spark emotion from our work. 

It was also hugely inspiring to work on real life briefs from Adidas and Virgin Atlantic alongside other industry professionals. We could share ideas and put into practice some of the learning from throughout the day.

Simon: 

As an artworker there are times when I’m required to solve problems. So, while a traditional training course may be great for learning something new, it’s often a case of needing to find a solution as I encounter a problem.

There are great resources out there for the Creative Suite programs – graphic design forums, YouTube videos and even the various Adobe Twitter feeds all provide useful tips and tricks.

Jodie

My D&AD masterclass in Art Direction for Digital Campaigns taught by Alex, co-founder of Wiedemann Lampe, proved to be a very eye-opening experience! Not only was it an insight into how to flip marketing on its head and think only about digital solutions rather than print, but it also highlighted how to implement the processes required to produce a clear and distinct user driven digital campaign. 

I felt I came away with a new drive to learn more about digital marketing, and implement the processes required to create UX driven digital design to help improve customer engagement and revenue as well as reducing overall costs for our clients.

Ben:

I’ve been regularly learning and sharing with other CEO’s as part of my ongoing membership of Vistage. According to the Vistage website this is a one-of-a-kind peer advisory and executive leadership development program, (I know… and if like me you think that’s a load of jargon, ask me what it’s all about). It has been invaluable and it's given me the opportunity to hear some excellent speakers whilst also being free to share challenges and knowledge with some great people.

Dan: 

I have a keen interest in branding and recently took part in the popular Future of Branding Week in London. The week consisted of group activities with designers, marketeers and business owners from all over the globe as well as insights from leading London design agencies into processes, strategies, cultures and how the world of branding is changing through consumer trends, behaviours and advances in technology. 

For me personally, a week in the city was a truly inspiring experience with eye-opening ideas coupled with the joy of meeting some really interesting people. 

The course widened my knowledge about the potential scope of branding projects and what can be branded, from visual and verbal identity to sound – with familiar jingles, so subtle that they exist almost sub-consciously in ads for well-known brands.

David: 

I attended two D&AD master classes this year. The first was ‘Ideas for Branding and Design’ with ex-NUA student Jim Sutherland, learning that better ideas happen away from the screens that we all seem to have become slaves to. 

Being more playful, using our imagination and having fun creating with our hands is the route to producing far better and more original design concepts.

The second masterclass session was ‘Branding for Creatives’ by Michael Johnson from the multi-award-winning Johnson Banks. We learned how branding has, in some instances, become an overly-complicated process featuring 100-page documents full of process charts and confusing models. Michael uses a simple method of plotting and distillation that creates easy to understand strategy to inform even better creativity.

I was pleased to run a workshop with the team back at Naked around being creative with lettering and encouraging experimentation. A few pics from the workshop below:

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By Naked Marketing on 07.10.19

alpaca

The ‘Get A Quote’ and scheduling tools could allow customers to be self-sufficient, save the Gasway team time and provide an interactive and smooth booking experience.

Far from being a standard e-commerce website, the main aim was for customers to be guided through their purchasing journey - to ‘Get A Quote’ and to book their installation and/or survey.

Strategy & Website Workshops

 

The website was a key part of the digital transformation project. We needed to consider the customer journey, including the questions posed.

The original questions, answers, and end results were provided by Gasway which Naked transformed into an interactive form design. This design was presented to a testing group in the form of a user testing workshop. The testers were not involved in the project and could therefore provide objective feedback on the usability of the form.

Being careful not to lead the users in any way, Naked oversaw the users testing the form, after which they provided comprehensive feedback which enabled us to revise elements of the form all while keeping one goal in mind - a clear and easy user experience.

 

Branding

 

A shift in strategy for the Gasway brand meant a suitable time to review the current branding.

The old logo had become tired and Gasway wanted one that better represented the brand following their digital transformation. Consideration also needed to be given to prominent offline applications such as van livery.

Naked modernised the Gasway brand identity – now better suited for use in a digital environment, also better representing the business that Gasway is today.