Cogent Beekeeping: March 2019.

Time flies when you're having fun.

It’s April, and while losing an hour of sleep didn’t help with our April Fools gullibility (vegan Spam anyone?) we’re still bustling away here at Heath Farm. We’ve been up to lots over the last few weeks and we can’t wait to share it with you. So, here it is, Spring’s first Beekeeping…

First up, we are over the moon to announce we are finalists in The Drum Recommends Awards! We have been nominated in 15 out of 21 categories. A huge thank you to our wonderful clients who have recommended us for 81 out of 107 services, hearing such positive feedback on the work we do has really made our month. The winners are announced in May, so we’ve all got our fingers crossed!

The team went to a whole bunch of events and conferences last month and came back with lots of new knowledge and insight. We made our way to Marketing Week Live, Digital Women, Creativebrief Explores, Meltwater Social Summit and The Drum’s Agency Acceleration Day. We loved hearing from speakers at Facebook, MailChimp, Unilever and even Dr Jillian Ney – who is the first person in the UK to achieve a PhD in Social Media!

 

Our PR & Social team were at Crufts with Company of Animals helping to launch their new Halti products – the Halti Double Ended Lead and the No-Pull Harness. They met with lots of journalists and press and invited them to talk about the launch of the new products with Company of Animals CEO, Paul Nolan, and Founder Dr Roger Mugford.

Our PR team have also been working with our financial wellbeing client Salary Finance to explore, on average, how much disposable income we all have. The research uncovered some interesting results. Based on 2000 people surveyed, we discovered the average Brit has less than £10 to spend per day. The story achieved blanket coverage across The Sun, The Mirror, The Metro, UniLAD and more. 

The 2019 Kwik Fit BTCC race season kicked off in style with a press event at Hever Castle followed by a successful launch day at Brands Hatch. Kwik Fit are proud title sponsors for the new season, and as their lead creative agency, Cogent worked together with them to create a branded fan zone – complete with VIP suite, staff uniforms and a seven-meter inflatable arch!

Our very own Lucy, also ran two cracking workshops called ‘Be Less Beige’. Lucy took to the stage to present to the rest of the team on improving presentation techniques. We love encouraging the team to share knowledge with one another – and there’s plenty more where that came from.

In other news, the Volvo Bus team came in for a creative brainstorming workshop, which generated lots of fresh new ideas! We also spent some time working together with Sandvik on two major exhibitions in Berlin and Nashville, Tennesse. We had a blast supporting both shows with fully integrated marcoms activity.

We’ve also launched a social media competition for Yorkshire Water to encourage people to use water wisely. There are lots of prizes up for grabs, including £2000 worth of DIY vouchers! It’s all part of our mission, alongside the Yorkshire Water team, to make a difference with water saving.

There’s more… This March we’ve also been working together with Marston’s to launch their Mother’s Day campaign. Marston’s partnered with flyingflowers.co.uk to give an exclusive 20% off bouquets to customers who book a table at Marston’s for Mother’s Day. 

While we’re on the topic of Marston’s, we also launched their new carvery menu. The new menu focuses on raising awareness of Marston’s sustainable ingredients and delicious fresh dishes (*licks lips*). The menu launch was rolled out across social media, email marketing, websites, content and more! 

Congrats are also in order for two of our fab planners. Both Mary and Ulka were listed in Group Think’s ‘Female Strategists to Watch Out For’ – and we can’t help but agree. Great assets to the team, well done!

On the topic of planning, the team have also been hosting regular WARC study groups, which sees people from all across the business come together to talk about different topics and learn more about the industry. From ‘How Marketing Works’ to ‘The role of the Strategist’ and ‘Analysing the Brand’, attendees from every corner of Cogent are learning more about the growth of planning, and sharing opinions on the evolution of marketing communications by discussing real-life case studies.

We’ve helped WD40 to launch its latest product innovation – a bendy straw – with freshly re-designed (and squeak-free) rally cars for this year’s race season.

Our Finance team also hosted an amazing cake sale for Dementia UK. Lots of home-baked goodies made the team very happy. Our Head of UX & Conversion, Carl, was crowned Star Baker thanks to his delicious frangipane tart!

So, that’s all from us this month. Check back next month to see what April had in store for us (although there’s a 98% probability that it will mainly consist of overindulging in Easter eggs and chocolate shaped bunnies). Until then – Happy Easter!