Media Buzz: Tour de France; Search Laboratory; Mixd

TWO creative agencies have joined forces to develop T14 – an app aimed at helping the region’s businesses capitalise on the Tour de France’s arrival in Yorkshire.

The T14 app will list places to eat, stay, park and visit along the route of this summer’s two Yorkshire stages.

Creators Cath Blakey, of Harrogate-based marketing agency The Fuse, and Chris Baxter, of Catalyst Mobile in Pateley Bridge, said they hoped it would help to prolong the economic benefits of the Tour de France to the region.

“The app has obvious uses for anyone who is visiting the area for the race but everyone is hoping Le Tour will give a longer term boost to tourism in Yorkshire,” said Blakey.

“Far from being an event that’s over in a couple of days its legacy is expected to attract cyclists and visitors in the months and years afterwards, many of whom will want to experience all or part of the routes for themselves, and the app will make it easier for them to find what they need while they’re here.”

The app features innovative off-line route maps with parking, transport and public facilities shown and GPS tracking to help users find the facilities nearest to them. Places to visit, shop, eat and stay will continue to be updated in the coming months as more businesses get involved.

Businesses will also be able to use it to promote their own Tour de France offers and events. It is available on Iphone and android.

Baxter said: “We’re starting to get lots of enquiries from businesses wanting to be listed and we will be approaching others in the vicinity of the cycling routes in the coming weeks.

“From Easter onwards our marketing strategy will have a much heavier consumer focus as we start to actively promote downloads.”

“We will be engaging people through social media, competitions and advertising to encourage them to use it as a source of valuable information when they visit the route of Le Tour Yorkshire,” he added.

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LEEDS-based search marketing agency Search Laboratory has boosted its SEO offering with the appointment of two new senior content and online PR managers following a host of new business wins.

Nicola Winters has been promoted from content and online PR manager, while Kira Lauber has joined the agency from Harrogate’s Web Marketing Group (WMG) where she was content team manager.

Search Laboratory has recently won a raft of new clients including Urban Outfitters, Seraphine, Jigsaw US and Online Golf.

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Chatterbox Labs, a company that monetises big data, has appointed Mixd to design its new international website to support the company’s rapid expansion in Asia.

Chatterbox Labs helps companies monetise conversational data at scale. It partners with some of the largest technology companies in the world to license and embed IP through software modules. It serves markets in the UK, EMEA, US, China and APAC and is headquartered in London.

Danny Coleman, chief executive officer of Chatterbox Labs, said: “We wanted a company that could understand and clearly communicate our business through the website. It is our primary communication tool as we expand globally and Mixd has a great track record of curating brand awareness and delivering web presences that build businesses.”

Mixd is a specialist digital design agency based in Harrogate.

Commenting on the work Mike Danford, creative director of Mixd said: “We have seen strong growth in demand for our services overseas and believe that export will unlock our continued expansion. We continue to invest in the best design talent we can find and expect to double our size in the coming months.”