WHO ARE the best Bloggers in Bristol – 2010? (Pt2) Critic’s Review
January 19th, 2011 § 5 Comments
This is the second part of the article I began yesterday which looks at the world of Bristol Marketing Agency Bloggers.
You can download the whole report here: The Bristol Blogosphere Survey 2010
The Blogs
Type: Collegiate
Team Rubber - “We grow successful creative businesses based on great ideas and great people”
This blog offers a little window into the workings of the folks at Team Rubber who seem like a thoroughly nice bunch of people; and not a bondage implement in sight.
It’s friendly, conversational blog with op-ed’s, lots of photos of staff, job vacancies and the like. If I’ve got a criticism, its that it all feels a bit random, as though Team Rubber’s youthful designers are having a bit of banter amongst themselves.
I’m sure Team Rubber don’t want to seem all buttoned down and anal, but the blog takes quite a bit of wandering through to glean the type of information I might be looking for. I mean, there are 23 categories, with titles like ‘How to Kill Birds’ and ‘Shipping News’… And although I have a soft spot for stuff like this, it’s a bit indulgent.
Excerpt:
Robin Greene – August 31st, 2010
I’ve been reading Andy’s post on “What makes good?” and it’s got me thinking about what or who determines whether something is “good”.
Andy’s post is a philosophy on how to make “good” apps. It’s a great post on the principle of having 80% practicality, 10% glamour and 10% character. Ideologically, this will provide you with an app that people will love and make you a multi-millionaire! However, it doesn’t always work out that way. We’ve seen it many times on Dragon’s Den where a young, hopeful entrepreneur presents their idea, only for the dragons to rip them apart and leave them empty-handed with their dreams in tatters……So who says it’s “good” – my argument is stress the importance of user-centred design.
Type: Magazine
BuzzedUp “ Be everywhere your customers hang out – all of the time”
BuzzedUp’s blog contains lots of links that are specific to BuzzedUp’s business (social network media), original interviews with industry relevant movers, and nicely written and succinct POV’s.
What really stuck out for me was his genuine reporting of original stories that he’d developed himself.
It’s like reading an on-line social media magazine and must take quite a lot of time to produce. I’m not sure what sort of readership Mick achieves but if I were him and given his line of business I’d look for ways of elevating it beyond blog status and make it into even more of a local social media magazine. Now that’s a challenge, but the content quality is there.
Excerpt:
Butlers in the Buff: the ultimate male order company
by MICK on AUGUST 24, 2010
When I mentioned to my partner that I was off to interview Butlers in the Buff, she asked “can I hold the microphone, please?”
Something about fit, handsome young men swanning about with their bums on display had sparked an interest in my work that had hitherto been dormant.
And that is the simple, brilliant idea behind the Butlers’ business: women like to waited on by handsome, toned, semi-clad male hosts. And they will pay for it.
Type: School of Excellence
Stratton Craig“When you’ve only got seconds to get your message across, every word counts…”
This blog seems to aim to provide a serious source of thought-pieces and essays to clients interested in the fine art of copywriting.
It’s pretty serious, there are barely no photos to lighten the text, and, if you think about it, I guess that’s appropriate.
This looks like a blog with a real thought-through purpose – to establish Stratton Craig’s copywriting credentials – and for my money it does that. If I was going to be critical I’d say it’s still a little bit random, the categories provided don’t really add up to a cohesive whole. Perhaps offering a more structured approach with a more defined statement of purpose might sharpen the whole thing up.
Excerpt:
How personable is your business?
…Take care in ensuring that the interlinking of personal and business communications does not simply result in giving employees the freedom to rant at the expense of valuable clients. Whether employees are using their personal pages or are responsible for the company’s dedicated page – it’s worthwhile keeping an eye on what they are saying about your company and how others are reacting to it.
So there’s a balance to be found when it comes to social media, but once it’s achieved it has the potential to give communications a vital boost. Companies like Marriott Hotels, Xerox and Johnson & Johnson would swear by it!
Category: Copywriting — — Permalink
Posted By: Harriette Hobbs @ September 17, 2010, 12:30 pm
Type: Thought Leadership
3Sixty “Useful, beautiful, digital” – specializing in the travel and finance sectors.
Discursive but thoughtful – attempting (and to a degree succeeding) to expand their sphere of influence beyond making websites into a wider communication and thought leadership sphere.
I like the look of this blog. Simple, colorful and easy to navigate and I liked the categories – which seemed well defined and specific. A gripe? Only that I’m not sure about the ‘voice’ because its written by a number of contributors with different styles.
Excerpt:
A little less conversation a little more action
Conclusion
My argument sounds illogical – that brands need to both worry more about strategy and also worry less about strategy. I square this circle by suggesting that strategy in its purest sense is more important than ever as consumers use technology to gain access to more and more products. Brand differentiation is often all that separates one product from another. But on the other side of the coin having strategy at the applied level within marketing is becoming more difficult (and potentially counter-productive).
Ideas need to come thick and fast; carefully considered strategy has to be put to one side and gut instinct relied on much more. If your digital idea was a success, then post-rationalise the strategy. If it was a flop, then you can call it a tactical idea that has informed your strategic thinking!
by Chris Thurling on 17 Dec 2010.
Type: Op-Ed
Matthew Fairweather Design “We are a design consultancy Firm”
OK – if you want my opinion, this was my favourite blog. Opinionated, exciting, interesting. This blog has real personality.
Unfortunately, I’m not sure I understand what it’s about. The posts are herded under the overarching title of ‘Insight’, which I’m not sure is what it actually delivers – unless it refers to the insight you get into the authors’ collective head space. The broad remit seems to be ‘all things design‘. There are no categories so it’s hardly a work of reference. But it is interesting.
And now for the big shocker. Is it OK to say that IMHO it looks a bit boring, given they are a design agency? It’s actually far more interesting than it looks….
These articles clearly demand quite a lot of effort to write. I’m not sure they are getting the attention they deserve. They’ll probably tell me I’m wrong.
Excerpt:
Typefaces? Do they really matter?
Some guy called Mike Battista from Canada flagged up a ‘row’ over Avatar using rubbishy typeface Papyrus in their subtitles. Now, I confess. I haven’t seen Avatar, but the point is I can’t really be bothered but I know Papyrus is a crap font and probably not suitable for subtitles. The Canadian blogger mentions, ‘When you’re reading an article you’re not thinking about the font’. Well, basically you’re an idiot. Of course you’re thinking about the font, what if you can’t even read it? Moron. Ok, we’ll park that there for a little bit.
Author Stuart
Date 06.12.10
Type: ‘How To’
Clear Thought “Smart thinking, straight talking, get results”
This blog has a clear intention – which is appropriate, given the name of the business posting it.
It’s called “Marketing tips for small businesses”
All the articles are instructive and offer advice that forms a practical toolbox of instructive articles. It’s all good stuff, and there’s lots of it. If I was going to be critical I’d say the blog was too busy, given that the name (Clear Thought) which creates an expectation of calmness and simplicity. But I’m nit-picking. Given its criteria, the Clear Thought blog is integral to the agency’s proposition. It does what it says on the tin.
Excerpt:
Six questions to ask when developing a small business website
“It is better to ask some of the questions than know all the answers.” – James Thurber.
I meet a lot of small businesses who are ‘in between websites’ or ‘just about to make some changes’. At Clear Thought we are always ‘just about to make some changes’… well by adding some new piece of content or other.
No matter what the reason for the change, or perhaps you are only at the beginning of your website journey, here are 6 critical things should consider to boost the effectiveness of your site. There are loads more, but these will get you started:
1. How easy are you to do business with (i.e. have you got a good method of contact or feedback)?
If your customer service is nothing less than brilliant, no matter how great your product is, people will pick you up on it.
Type: Autobiographical
McFaul Studio “..is a virtual agency and the creative playground of art director and creative consultant John McFaul”
Warning: Lots of swearing in this blog! But that’s only because John McFaul is passionate. And eclectic – though with a definite leaning towards bikes.
As an art director and creative consultant the objective of this blog seems to be an attempt to show us the world as John McFaul sees it; and to hopefully be engaged and inspired by that vision. It’s a showcase of the sort of things you could expect to get if you hired him.
The fact that the blog is regularly updated, albeit sometimes with photos (he has license to do that given his occupation) suggest that John is also reliable.
Given this somewhat open brief, the blog is pretty well categorized into things like ‘Spotted’ and ‘Bike’.
I also like his long list of things he calls ‘Love’ i.e. Things he loves – such as the Howie brand.
Excerpt:
Thursday, December 09th, 2010 | By john | Category: Spotted
<p><a href=”http://vimeo.com/14074949″>DARK SIDE OF THE LENS</a> from <a href=”http://vimeo.com/user3357787″>Astray Films</a> on <a href=”http://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>
I’m finding myself drawn further and further into film these days. I stumbled over this on the howies blog and it’s simply beautiful. One word > PASSION!
Type: Potpourri
Yucca ‘An award-winning digital agency who deliver results’
This web log has the title ‘Thought. Process’ and it’s pleasant enough. The biggest category is ‘Yucca News’ with 84 entries and this contains internal stories such as staff events, new business wins, case studies and awards. Other categories include ‘Industry’ items such as the recent visit by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales’s visit to Bristol. Amusing and thoughtful. I can’t fault this blog – yet at the same time I’m thinking it’s a bit too, well, nice…
I’m sure it serves Yucca’s purpose: friendly ‘on-the-ball’ people who seem to have the work / life balance about right. As with some of the other blogs reviewed, I’d like a bit more of a defined direction and personality to it. As I go through these blogs I’ve a growing sense that if you’re going to mix your industry news with your social interest items you need to flag the ‘change of pace’ more clearly. It’s fine for a blog to wear many hats – so long as we know which hat is being worn at any one time.
I’m reminded of Trevor McDonald on ‘News At Ten’ who always had the human interest ‘And Finally…’ section at the end. Something similar might work for blogs like these?
Or maybe that’s just me…
Example:
One Moustache to Rule them All
By the end of the month, the Men of Yucca raised over £1,000, with Brian topping the donations leader-board (and looking just like his Dad). A big thanks to all who supported us.
Secretly, we’re already looking forward to next Movember, dreaming about being Thomas Magnum, Rhett Butler, Burt Reynolds, a Spitfire pilot, a French onion seller or, simply, a timeless man beyond style: a man with a mustache.
Type: Potpourri
Positive “We’re digital experts who believe in giving you everything you need.”
This is another of those potpourri blogs that give you a little bit of everything. A collection of miscellaneous or diverse items but with a leaning towards showcasing their own work and clients.
Posts are short and sweet with the occasional thought piece, such as “Thoughts on the iPad – Two months on” and links to designs and designers they feel merit praise.
I very much liked the categories by author. This allows you to read the thoughts of a specific staff member and it helps to get over the problem of the blog not having a consistent tone of voice. I didn’t like the fact there were no other categories at all. It makes the experience a bit shapeless
Excerpt:
“Being Hamish Paterson”
Hamish has been with us for FIVE years! So what better excuse to shut up shop on Friday afternoon and go and lark about down the lanes for bowling, beers and burgers
Hamish has been with us for FIVE years! So what better excuse to shut up shop on Friday afternoon and go and lark about down the lanes for bowling, beers and burgers
posted by Kate 02/10/2010
Type: Showroom
True “Everything you want from a full service digital marketing agency and more”
This blog is absolutely front and center of the True website so I guess it needs to be good.
The blog has a set of 4 simple categories: ‘work’, ‘news’, ‘opinions’ and ‘fun’, which I think, in the main, is all a blog needs. Boil the blog down though and you find that, interspersed with the lighter pieces are a lot of posts about clients and work that True have done for them.
I think this is fine, because, as I say, this blog is at the very heart of the company’s website – and thus, a little more like a brochure than your average blog. It would seem a little odd if the opening page of your site was dedicated to, say, the ‘who ate all the mince pies’ research mentioned in several blogs.
On the other hand, there are dangers in using a blog in this way. If you’re not careful it can seem a bit too ‘salesy’, like walking into a car showroom and being immediately confronted by a salesman. True don’t fall into that category, but it’s something to be wary of.
Excerpt:
To Furniture Village and beyond!
Posted: November 5, 2010 In: Fun, News
We’ve had loads of fun helping Furniture Village promote their sponsorship of the biggest UK DVD release of 2010 – Toy Story 3.
Visit their site at www.furniturevillage.co.uk now and you can enter a fantastic competition to win a Caribbean holiday plus a whole heap of Toy Story goodies.
There’s also the chance to help the fantastic work of British Heart Foundation by donating your unwanted toys and games to FV’s New Homes for Old Toys scheme.
Simply take any unwanted toys, games, CDs or DVDs along to your local Furniture Village store. Tell all your friends and family too – it’s a great way to clear the decks in the run up to Christmas. Everything you donate will be sold to support vital research into heart disease carried out by British Heart Foundation.
Not sure where your nearest Furniture Village store is? Use our Store Locator. Use our Store Locator.
Type: Specialist
Focus “A small but perfectly formed Bristol based web design and development agency.”
Blimey – this is all a bit technical! Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of stuff in these posts that a layman can understand – such as new business wins and some of those ‘This is what inspires us’ items. But there was also more technical items which went right over my head. (not difficult to be honest.)
In a way I found these technical posts endearing. It shows that the good people at Focus are really into their stuff. They speak with authority and passion about H.264 and HTML5, SVG and CSS. And while Paul warns “I’ll try not to go all techie on this one”, it got me wondering whether that would be such a bad thing. Focus seem to have some pretty big clients which suggest their points of contact would be IT managers, so perhaps they’ve got their pitch right.
There must be plenty of IT managers out there who’d welcome a little more technical meat on these blogging bones and Focus could really show us they know their onions if they managed technical posts well. Perhaps it’s an opportunity to stand out and differentiate, so long as they clearly signpost the posts aimed at a more layman audeince that prefers to look at the pretty pictures.
Excerpt:
Google to drop Chrome’s support for popular video format
“Though H.264 plays an important role in video, as our goal is to enable open innovation, support for the codec will be removed and our resources directed towards completely open codec technologies.”
At focus we think open-source is great, in fact we build our web sites on open-source technologies every day. However, we think this move by Google (who’s motto is “Don’t be evil” by the way) is bad for a number of reasons…
…In the end I think despite both H.264 & Flash being proprietary technologies, H.264 is the better more transparent one for the user. The licensing cost is paid by the Browser vendors (let’s face it, Google, Apple, Microsoft can afford it) not the developer or end user.
Type: Op-Ed
The Agency “A marketing agency that builds brands whilst driving sales.”
I think the Agency does something clever by writing posts in industry forums that then get placed on their own blog. So they are getting two bangs for their buck. I think…
The result is a blog that has a sparky personality – because the ‘op-ed’ posts they write have to live in the more competitive environment of the Brand Republic and Creative Match forums. I can’t help feeling however that the blog loses some of its intimacy when the reader is taken off site to read them.
The attitude of the posts are provocative and designed to create a response, which is appropriate for what seems to be a more advertising-focussed marketing agency. I particularly liked their case studies – and the ‘see behind the scenes’ feature. But then, being a strategist, I probably would…
Excerpt:
Learn to Enjoy the Summer (2010)
Consumer cold acquisition campaign
Brief
To build on the buzz and interest around BSM during 2010, their centenary year. Maintaining relevance with the youth audience is essential, whilst simultaneously increasing new learner sales. This campaign is part two of the 12-month campaign, and needs to dovetail ongoing marketing activity. The campaign needs to embrace the PR and social media activity, and seamlessly integrate the online and offline media channels.
Key Insights
Having spoken extensively to the BSM management team, their employees, instructors, pupils and potential pupils we established that the youth are in control. They make the buying decisions. Parents are only influencers. Heritage and reputation are still the most important factors for parents. But youth do not value heritage. Peer recommendation, flexibility of service and price are paramount.
Type: Digest
Blue Marlin “We’re all about landing big ideas that drive significant brand growth for our clients.”
Blue Marlin’s blog – only part of its on-going communication that includes news and newsletters - has the mission to bring: “Ideas and innovations from around the world of branding, design and marketing”
To that extent it succeeds. The articles are a digest of the extremely wide world of advertising and design so they tick the boxes for an international agency that develops brands through four offices around the globe. Within the post are a smattering of the agency’s work, wins and awards, but there are no categories from which to choose, so you can’t focus on specific subjects, which is a same given the blog’s very wider remit. It’s very polished but there’s not a lot to get the pulse racing, given that a blog lends itself to immediacy and intimacy. I actually liked Blue Marlin’s PDF newsletters more. They seem to have a bit more focus and an applied POV.
Excerpt:
Hop to it
Posted on November 13, 2010 by alice payne
It is hard not to snigger at the notion of Playboy launching an energy drink, although for the octogenarian founder Hugh Hefner getting his slippers off probably requires a significant expenditure of energy, let alone any other nocturnal activity. Schoolboy humour aside, it is an interesting launch. The liquid inside the can is pretty standard stuff, as is the positioning – connotations of celebrity, excess and sexual freedom, ideal for the target group of young urban males. ‘Be the lifestyle. Drink the lifestyle’ says the website. Model and “actress” Kelly Brook is a good fit as the drink’s brand ambassador for that approach.
However, the energy drinks sector is slowing and growth, such as it is, is coming from demographics outside the traditional lads market, such as women and the health conscious. Hmmm, how many women do you know that are fans of Playboy?
Type: Specialist
Delib “We’re Delib and we’re a digital democracy company”
OK last, but not least I took a look at Delib who’d written to me to point out they hadn’t been included in the original Blogger of the Year league table but had actually blogged more times then their stable mates over at Team Rubber.
Delib work within the civic arena providing apps to a relatively niche market. Their blog reflects this focus. It’s not a lot of laughs, but then, its not supposed to be. Their posts cover projects and clients they’ve been working with but, unlike with some blogs these seem less like a sales brochure and more a genuine attempt to share learnings.
The blog includes some light-hearted posts which give a little personality to the brand and I think this works well. The video “Hello from Delib’ for example disabused me of the idea that Delib employees must be a hive of civil servant super geeks. In fact they look just like their friends from Team Rubber…
They tell us that: “Over the last year, our blog has had over 21,000 page views from over 16,000 visit” and I can only assume that’s because there are a lot of special interest parties who find Delib a valuable source of specialist information. This is borne out by the titles of their top 10 posts of the year which were:
1. The leader’s debate live blog
2. Our campaign for another bank holiday
3. How councils used the internet for budget consultation
4. Panorama on council budget cuts
5. Bristol City Council’s new website
7. Building the future of digital democracy in the UK
8. Bristol City Council e-participatory budget pilot
9. How not to tender for e-consultation software
10. A round up of commentary on our ‘Your Freedom’ website
The blog largely provides serious information together with a smattering of personality and brand values. Like Team Rubber, it still seems a bit messy to me, and a little more visual organization could be applied, but in many ways I feel this blog is bringing some valuable cohesion to the overall Delib brand.
Excerpt:
Consultation and the comprehensive spending review
Posted on October 29, 2010 by AdamC
With the spending review recently announced, the focus is now on how to manage budget cuts at the same time as managing public satisfaction. To help achieve this, we’ve produced a short briefing paper detailing 3 quick ideas on how you can maximise your consultation effectiveness to ensure that the reshaping of services that will inevitably occur fits with residents’ needs.
You can view and download a pdf version here – http://www.scribd.com/doc/40328151/Delib-Spending-Review-Briefing-Paper
From our experience of working with local and central government across the UK, we’ve learnt that online engagement is increasingly the most valuable process for building participation with the public. If you’d like to speak to us about any opportunities you think we might be able to help you with or you’d like a copy of the paper sent to you, please email me – adam.cardew@delib.co.ukPosted in Delib news and events | Leave a comment
Pulling it all together
The helicopter view you get when looking down at these blogs is revealing.
In broad terms one sees a blog as a useful facet of a business website that can perform a very specific function. Working in conjunction with other elements of the site and the broader marketing strategy it can flesh out a brand’s personality or underline a company’s expertise. If it’s well thought through and appropriately designed it can do both.
Yet, in the course of writing this review I’m moved to say that few blogs are developed to their full potential. The headline is obvious: If you’re going to blog then do it well. If not, then drop it.
Yet beyond the out of date or sparsely populated, many of the better blogs could work even harder. Most would benefit from a critical review by their authors and tightened-up appropriately to make them even more effective.
On a basic level, designers could spend more time identifying what they hope to achieve from their blog; perhaps mapping it using a matrix similar to the one I used. From that exercise the content, categories and tone of voice of the blog would begin to evolve naturally.
I’ll also bet that many bloggers don’t know what they want to achieve from their blog because they aren’t clear about their audience, their brand positioning, or their most important competition. But that’s a discussion for another article…
So who’s the winner?
Without too much analysis, my dibs for Best of the Blogs is as follows:
Best Overall Blog – 3Sixty
They build their entire website around their blog, which is attractively laid out, on message, and weighty without being serious. In my opinion, they expand their sphere of influence through this serious commitment to their blog.
Special mentions also go to:
Most original content. Local, specialist, entertaining.
Useful, prodigious, does what it says on the tin.
Authoritative, single-issue, represents it company very well.
Great content, witty, opinionated and wise, but hides its light under a bushel.
Comments welcome!
If you’d like me to conduct a free web clinic for your site(s) then please contact me at:
Graham Hall
Ambitious Brands / The Ministry of Insights
Email: Graham@Ambitiousbrands.Com
Tel: 0759 0579031
© Copyright Jan 2011
[...] Hall subsequently posted a subjective review of Top Bristol Agency Blogs. …if you know of other blogs in and around the Bristol & Bath area you feel deserve [...]
Congrats to the guys at 3Sixty: a great blog, and a very brainy and expert agency. It’s uplifting to get a mention in your thoughtful piece – thank you. You should be congratulated for doing the research, particularly this second tranche. Thanks Graham.
No problem Mick, you’re welcome – and as my post points out I think your blog is really well written. The real finding is that a blog has real strategic value and more thought needs to be put into their design.
Thanks Graham. Agree on the 3Sixty blog – it’s an exemplar, and they really are fab people too.
It’s interesting that we (Clear Thought) stand alone in that bottom left. Which is probably for three reasons: 1) We’re not an agency (we’re almost interim client-side). 2) Our clients are MDs of SMEs for whom marketing is seen as a dark art. 3) We don’t have a creative ‘product’ to sell or showcase.
As such, the aim is, as you say, to be a how-to, breaking the marketing task down into bite-sized chunks.Completely agree on the business. Clarifying the categories, etc has been on the list for a while now!
Bryony, I found the whole process fascinating. Isolating the blogs and asking ‘what does this do for the brand’ was an eye-opener.
It seems to be about striking the balance of providing genuinely useful content without losing the intimacy and personality a blog offers: which I guess boils down to knowing your audience and given them something of value. Which your blog does very well.
Thanks
G