We thought it was about time to review our own website and give it a little refresh with new design, layout, functionality and content.

We spend so much time delivering quality services for our clients, we forget at times to stop, take a breather and think about our business. Christmas is a great time to ‘play catch up’ so while all our clients were having a well-deserved rest and recharging their batteries, we used that time to re-design and re-write this new website and we’re really pleased with it – we hope you like it to.

We’ve been working with the guys at Urban River (www.urbanriver.com) to re-design our site and thanks to NBSL (https://nbsl.org.uk/) for providing some support in grant funding to get us going. It’s not the first time we’ve worked with Urban River, we worked with them to re-design and re-launch a new website for one of our clients, Tyne Housing Association. Check it out here – www.tynehousing.org.uk

We are always proud of the work we deliver on behalf of our clients – even more so when we win awards and we have been very fortunate to be recognised in regional and national awards within our sector (PR and marketing).

Now and again, we get asked to pull together award submissions for our clients. Entering awards is an ideal way to raise your profile and shout about your achievements whether they are at a local, regional or national level or specifically within the sector you operate.

It’s around this time of year when we all start receiving emails from event organisers to start thinking about entering their awards. Some will be free to enter whilst others will be expensive but entering awards and raising your profile should all link back to your marketing and communications strategy. If you have delivered a project that you are particularly proud of then why wouldn’t you want to shout about it? If you have a member of staff who goes above and beyond their core duties to deliver an excellent service then why shouldn’t they be recognised and rewarded?

It’s important to plan awards in advance. They can be very time consuming to write and it is important that you fulfil the award criteria and look carefully to see what the judges will be looking for. This is where Up North Communications can help. We have been very successful in entering awards on behalf of our clients. Our role is to help you raise your profile and to write award submissions that make you ‘stand out from the crowd’ i.e. your competitors. The key to writing successful award submissions is to write and present it in a way that will grab the judge’s attention.

This is exactly what our client Tyne Housing Association did. We presented a list of housing-sector based awards and they specifically asked us to enter the Inside Housing UK Housing Awards and in particular, the Outstanding Approach to Communication (under 10,000 homes) category for the work that was delivered on behalf of the association and to Ouseburn Farm.

The awards shortlist was announced on Friday 12th January and Tyne Housing was successfully shortlisted. What a way to start the New Year! They have been successfully shortlisted as one of six finalists. This is great news for our client especially to be recognised in such prestigious awards. Good luck and we’re routing for you in the finals on 2 May 2018!

There is a lot video content on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook designed to grab people’s attention and encourage the number of clicks, likes, comments and shares.

Moving content is much more engaging that static content but has your organisation considered using animation and motion graphics as part of your sales and marketing strategy? Animation and motion graphics are becoming more and more popular and has been a topic of conversation with a few of our clients.

We have been developing short clips for clients about specific products and services they can then use online and on social media. We can develop animation or motion graphics that brings your brand to life. Unlike video when you need to find the right person to star in the production and seek permissions or you may work with a specific customer group, that due to their background or vulnerability, they can’t be used in video productions. How do you get around this?

Animation and motion graphics allows you to create a campaign whilst still delivering your key messages but avoids identifying anyone in particular.

To give you an idea – we’ve been trialling some motion graphics based on our corporate logo but using this in a way which brings our logo to life. We used the Up North symbol as the focal point to create a ‘character’ that comes to life. We wanted to use this as a way of promoting some of the key the services we provide for clients. Here is a preview of the clip we produced (https://youtu.be/xOFyJuZnA3Q) very simple, but very effective.

Maybe your organisation could benefit from producing short animation or motion graphic clips to promote your products or services.

To find out how we can help your business, please get in touch. Call us on 0191 300 0810 or send us an email.

Not yet!  In a society where the rise of the Internet and digital media are rapidly growing, it could be easily suggested that traditional media is out-dated and no longer relevant.

Digital media take up in the UK is constantly rising with the number of hours spent online per week increasing at a rapid pace. Consumer demands dictate how news and information is delivered. Consumers are frequently using the Internet to watch TV, catch up with the latest news and visit social media platforms.

However, the degree of trust consumers place on traditional media is still high and even the main players in the industry are using print media to refresh their business model to increase credibility, when no other media can reach this solution. Print is a great way of gaining extra marketing attention and building up a community.

Here at Up North Communications, we acknowledge the importance of print media and still to this day, create many successful and engaging print publications for our clients, helping them to raise their profile and communicate with their target audiences. Just ask our client, Byker Community Trust. In 2017, we were awarded gold at the CIPR Excellence Awards for ‘Best External Publication’, one of the top accolades within our industry. The award was for the development of their quarterly tenants’ newsletter, Byker News, which we manage and co-ordinate full production from planning, copywriting and graphic design to print management, fulfilment and distribution.

We can help you create engaging content, target specific markets and build up trust with your customers/audience/key influencers. If you prefer content in print or pixels then we can help you to integrate your digital media to create a successful, consistent campaign.

So, if you’re business needs a new publication or your existing marketing literature just needs a refresh and new look – why not get in touch.

To find out how we can help your business, please get in touch. Call us on 0191 300 0810 or send us an email.

When an event threatens the viability and integrity of your business operations, you have a crisis on your hands. A crisis is made up of three important factors: a threat to the organisation, the element of surprise and the short decision time to react.

Ask yourself this question… would your organisation be prepared to handle a crisis?  If not, then now is the time to start planning. Regardless of the size of your organisation, you need to be ready no matter what the future holds.

There are a multitude of reasons why crisis management is important to your business, some of these are highlighted below:

• It increases the safety and well-being of your employees
• Crisis events are unpredictable, but they must not be ignored
• Crisis management protects your company reputation, member confidence and market share, therefore looking after the long-term health of the organisation
• It gives you peace of mind as an employer

With the advances of social media and the Internet, news travels faster than ever before so it is important to have some element of control over the situation, particularly if it escalates. The worst thing you can do is ignore the situation.

In times of crisis, it is important to consider who will manage the crisis, the information that stakeholders require and who will be the company spokesperson – amongst many other factors.

This is where Up North Communications can help – we can help you to create and manage your crisis management plan so that you are prepared should anything happen in future. We can also guide and support your organisation if you require urgent crisis management that you haven’t planned for.

Remember to be prepared not unprepared. We can help and advise your business to plan for those unexpected incidents. To find out how we can help your business, please get in touch. Call us on 0191 300 0810 or send us an email.

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