Agency round-up: Five project wins for e-commerce specialist; Digital marketing strategy for outdoor clothing retailer; and more
Halifax based e-commerce specialist Venture Forge is celebrating five new project wins totalling £90,000, a larger office, four award nominations and a new Amazon service offering.
The agency, which was launched in spring 2018 by Andrew Banks, former head of e-commerce for Matalan, has experienced rapid growth through specialising in e-commerce strategies for growing businesses and has now launched its own Amazon Strategy and Management Service to help brands maximise their online sales potential.
It has spent the past six months developing the offering in response to Amazon representing the biggest e-commerce channel – with more than 197 million visitors each month – for companies looking to rapidly grow their online sales.
The agency’s latest client win and first to sign up to its Amazon service is ERA Home Security, one of the UK’s largest home security product companies. The firm has appointed Venture Forge to create and manage a bespoke Amazon sales strategy for its Homeguard range of smart home burglar alarm systems.
Speaking about the launch of the Amazon Strategy and Management Service, Banks said: “For every brand we’ve delivered ecommerce strategies for in the last 18 months, Amazon has represented the biggest growth opportunity for them.
“For some clients, their lack of Amazon experience has resulted in them not being able to deliver on the biggest growth opportunity for their business, and in many cases their products being sold badly by third parties on Amazon.
Chris Burrows, head of sales for Distribution and Smartware at ERA Home Security, added: “The team at Venture Forge has helped us understand how Amazon works and have built a bespoke sales strategy without the need for additional in-house resource or distractions from our day-to-day business.
“In the space of four weeks, we can already see that Amazon sales have had a significant impact on revenue.”
In addition to ERA Home Security, Venture Forge has been appointed by cycling distributor Zyro Fisher to review its Amazon strategy, SW James Sofas to lead its ecommerce strategy, Equiflair Saddlery to re-platform the business’s online offering to Shopify and it has secured strategy projects from William Lamb Footwear, Rainbow Designs, which specialises in licensed products, and Vernacare, a global medical supplies business.
The company has recently acquired new office space in the Croft Myl development, Halifax, to accommodate its growth and accompanying team expansion.
:::
Yorkshire-based agency Extreme, has won the multi-channel marketing account for The Billington Group, a privately-owned group of six businesses behind brands such as Glorious! Soups and the English Provender Company.Having handled the digital transformation of the group’s TSC-owned Glorious! social media account since 2018, Extreme is tasked with increasing awareness of The Billington Group and its share of voice in key markets. Extreme’s work with the soup brand has attracted national attention and is currently in the running for the UK Social Media Communications Awards.
David Wilkinson, business development director for The Billington Group, said: “Extreme were chosen because they totally understood the brief and presented solutions and opportunities that excited us.
“In addition, the people are down to earth, realistic and a team that we believe we can really work with. Not only that, but they have already transformed the Glorious! brand for us through social media.”
:::
Mirfield-based digital marketing agency, Fishtank, has completed a brand and digital marketing overhaul for a training provider for service men and women – Brookhouse Training.
With a heritage dating back 20 years, Brookhouse Training provides managed learning programmes for anyone who would like to certify as a gas engineer. It offers a dedicated programme for ex-army and servicemen and women to retrain in a new career.
Fishtank was briefed with creating a completely revitalised visual identity and significantly upgraded digital platform.
Fishtank applied the rebrand to all areas of the business – with the development of brand guidelines, creation of interior wayfinding, updated sales presentations and interactive illustrations.
The website was also completely overhauled with a key focus on conversions and ensuring that potential new recruits were clearly signposted to get in touch or request more information at every stage of the journey.
James McConnell, Brookhouse Training MD, said: “The crucial part of this brief was understanding what Brookhouse do and how we impact people’s lives; then translating this into all aspects of our brand communications.
“Fishtank have more than delivered on this objective. The passion that their team has put into this project to fully immerse itself into our brand is second to none, and it is fully reflected in the final result. Our brand and all communications now clearly communicate what we stand for and how we set ourselves apart from our competitors.
“As a result of the rebrand, website build and digital marketing campaign, our digital presence is significantly improved with a 35% increase in page views and 310% increase in web sessions from social channels – a phenomenal result.”
