Prickly campaigns see GBW up for Hedgehog awards

MARCOMMS communications agency, Gough Bailey Wright, has been shortlisted in two categories at the Golden Hedgehog Awards 2014.

GBW, which is the only Midlands agency to have received nominations in two categories, has been recognised for its public relations work for healthcare supplement, Ateronon, dubbed ‘the tomato pill’, in the Healthcare / Pharma Campaign of the Year category.

The campaign involved promoting scientific research, which revealed the supplement could be the key to revolutionising the treatment of heart disease. The PR campaign resulted in widespread national press coverage, which helped increase sales and drive traffic to the company’s website.

The second nomination is in the Internal Communications Campaign of the Year category for the innovative Tennant Annual Report produced for bdht (Bromsgrove District Housing Trust). The report was produced in partnership with a mixed group of tenants, who varied in age, gender and social circumstances. This meant the report was truly engaging, positive and made tenants feel valued and their opinions respected because they were part of the production process.

Michelle Wright, Creative Services Director at GBW, which is based in Bromsgrove, said: “Our teams worked exceptionally hard on both of these campaigns and it’s great to see their efforts recognised at a national level.”

The winners of the Midlands, Wales & The South region will be announced at an award ceremony in London on March 20.

drpgroup launches exhibitions division

WORCESTERSHIRE creative agency drpgroup has expanded its portfolio with the launch of a new exhibitions division, drpexhibitions.

The group intends using the new division to change the way the organisation accesses the exhibitions market both globally and within the UK.  The group said it had made the step after seeing an increase in demand for higher quality exhibitions and the need for a dedicated resource to be on hand.

The drpexhibitions division will be led by Ed Vickery. After leaving the drpgroup eight years ago, Vickery forged a career at leading exhibitions and design agencies such as Iguana Group and the DSA.

The new drpexhibitions division, which is now live, already has a number of clients in the pipeline.

Formation Design helps trailer firm take up the offensive

WARWICK-based digital design agency, Formation Design, is helping the UK’s leading manufacturer of trailer components to fight back against cheaper foreign competition.

The agency was called in after Bradley Doublelock, a British manufacturer producing components for the light trailer market, came under increasing threat from cheaper, overseas competitors.

To counteract the threat, the Yorkshire-based manufacturer, has gone on the offensive, investing heavily in marketing and research & development.

It brought Formation into the attack with a £50,000 campaign to convert its web presence into a potent online marketing tool that delivers a broader technical and commercial communication with its customers.

Martin Gordon, founder and managing director of Formation Design, said: “Bradley is like the ‘Rolls Royce’ in its own field but it has suffered at the hands of cheaper competitors who have delivered reasonable quality products at cheaper prices, which is always going to appeal in a depressed economy.

“We wanted to provide three new websites and deliver an online marketing campaign to really start afresh and educate the market once again about who Bradley is rather than who it was, although its 65-year-old heritage does play a fundamental role in the rebranding.”

Formation, which supplies business branding, website design and development, social media and search engine optimisation, currently has more than 60 clients, ranging from Mazda car dealerships, Mitsubishi and ETG (Engineering Technology Group) to Space Healthcare in Leamington Spa and a luxury French chateau in Dordogne.

Lee Bott, sales director, Bradley Doublelock, is pictured left, with Martin Gordon, managing director of Formation Design.