We’ve all seen them – those ‘site under construction’ holding page with some clip art of a yellow hazard cone. Often unbranded, without contact information or even a sugestion as to what the site will be for. Not a crime I hear you say, when you are starting out and not promoting your website yet. True enough.

But with the huge list of ‘things to do’ that all new business start ups have to contend with, it’s not uncommon for the website to be promoted before its ready. Business cards handed out at networking: check. Emails with jazzy email footers linking to website and social media: check. Free business listings online: check. You see what I’m getting at. The website’s on the agenda, but you’ve got lots of high priority tasks and in some cases getting some money flowing in by doing what you do is higher up the list.

That’s when a more extensive ‘holding page’ can be an inexpensive and valuable tool for new businesses. As with the example below for EnViva Care you can express your company propostion and values and include all important contact information, dressed as appropriate with graphics and images. And not forgetting the lovely new logo you’ve decided on. This approach doesn’t help for search engine optimisation (SEO) for all manner of reasons – but that’s not the intention here. Your main site is where you will be concerned about keyword density, live content, meta descriptions, H1 tags and all that SEO jazz that we get so excited about (but then we’re a bit geeky like that). But at least a more considered holding page like this provide a professional and useful interim measure while you get the full site ready to rock.  See it here www.envivacare.com

Well obviously the answer is to brand…need I say more?

Yes, of course I do and am happy to, because this is a subject close to my heart (and that of my lovely colleagues as well I know).

We all know that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover but in conflict with that little saying is the one about first impressions…confusing huh? Well the truth is that, moral or not, people do make snap judgements based on their first look. So guess what, more often than not potential clients who don’t already know you, will take one look at your logo/brand and make the decision (consciously or sub-consciously) on whether or not to do business with you.

You may well still be thinking, ‘come on Zoë, it really is just a logo’, but consider this, it is estimated that 96% of the value of Coca Cola is attributable solely to its brand. That’s the equivalent of $150bn.

When I talk about brand I’m not just referring to your logo, it’s much more than that. It relates to everything from how your phones are answered to the style of writing you employ right up to you business objectives, values and mission and the stakeholder’s perception of the business. Your brand should reflect your business aspirations, the type of experience you would like your clients/customers to have with you and the relationships you have with your employees. Now take an objective look at your brand, which is essentially your business’s face. What do you see?

Consider some of your favourite brands, how do they express the vision of the company and you’ll see what I mean? You’d never mistake the purpose and function of Waitrose for Asda for example.

A re-brand needn’t be a painful process, in fact it should be liberating and positive. There are several very good reasons to rebrand. They include:

• To stay sharp, competitive and in tune with your market(s)
• To bring the internal and external parts of the company in line with each other for a more cohesive and effective offering
• As a result of mergers or acquisitions
• To accommodate changes within the business
• To accommodate more effective business practices and streamlining
• To allow for effective application and presence across a range of appropriate media including online.

In conclusion, you have a brand for a reason, it should be a summation of everything your company believes and promises, its style and personality. That’s what your customers initially buy into and that’s what they expect, anything else will be a disappointment.

Mostly I think it is a bad thing that I’m rather addicted to my Blackberry, but sometimes is does have its advantages – such as being the first to tweet back to Shona of Easton Design Studio in Cranleigh that I’d love to test and review one of her bags when she did a late-night tweet putting the offer out there!

My new 'man bag' from Easton Design Studio

We had a bit of a miss-start when I chose the Dieppe Handheld in Emerald as I’d failed to check out the dimensions of the bag online (oops!). Whiz back 10 months before our daughter Chloë arrived and this little number would have been great to house my blackberry, wallet, diary and lipstick when I was out and about. But now, with a mountain of baby ‘essentials’ to carry around I had to fess up to Shona that it wasn’t the right bag for me at the moment. Shona actually pre-empted my call and was totally understanding of my need for a change. After some helpful advice from Shona I settled on the Black ‘Man Bag’ which was suitably proportioned for the job at hand.
 
My bag got put through the mill for the week following its arrival that I had designated ‘bag testing week’ including:

• a client meeting in Brighton (with a mountain of paperwork, samples and proofs to transport)
• an impromptu day spent at QA Hospital to visit someone who had been rushed there (he is fine now)
• a couple of busy non-work days with Chloë packed full of a swimming class, shopping and lunches with friends (these were particularly taxing days I’m sure you can imagine)
• a normal ‘work day’ in the office armed with all my usual paperwork
• various outings over the weekend,  some social, some more of the boring ‘errands’ variety, but all involving lugging stuff about in my bag

I have to say that the bag lived up to each and every one of these outings during the course of the week and has continued to since. So, having put the bag through its paces, here are the pros and cons of the Shona Easton Man Bag:

On the plus side:
The customer service experience was without fault – Shona is really knowledgeable about her bags and her customers. She knew before I did that the original bag I’d chosen might be on the small side and said so when I called her (talk about knowing your customers!). You get the impression with Shona that nothing is too much trouble, and as a designer she has a vested interest in marrying the right bag with the person, and clearly takes this task seriously.

The key clip revolutionised my life. Seriously. No scrabbling around the bottom of my bag for keys and the length allows you to open the door without having to take the bag off, or remove the keys from the clip.

The quality. I was impressed with the quality of the material and workmanship of the bag. It stood up well against the barrage of activity I dragged it through (chucking it on the floor when I get home, possibly overloading it a bit with (milk) bottles and paperwork, plonking it in the foot well of the car when I’m out and about etc).

The design. You can see that Shona has really considered the design of this bag very much with the user in mind. Plus the size was spot on and the funky pink lining was not only attractive but also had the added bonus of making it very easy to see everything that was in the bag. There are also loads of pockets to keep you organised. The strap length is adjustable which is really useful, plus the strap is exactly the right width so that it sits really comfortably on the shoulder without cutting in.

If I had to be picky:
There isn’t really much I can criticise about this bag, but if I was being picky I would say that the bag had a tendency to ‘bulk out’ at the front when I put stuff in the pocket on the front of the bag – so I tended to leave that empty, but it did work well as my ‘phone’ pocket.

Also, at the beginning of my use of the bag I started to wonder if there is there such thing as too many pockets, but as the week progressed I realised that the rule of thumb has to be that you have to have a system of what goes where, otherwise you can find yourself scrabbling around the many pockets looking for your lip-gloss. So, designate pockets for specific use and then it works beautifully. Not really a criticism of the bag, more a suggestion for optimum use!

I swap my bag usually about once a week as I am a bit of a collector and like a change. But it is testament to the design of Shona’s Man Bag that it has quite had a number of airings since the bag testing week and is now my staple bag of choice for days out with the little one because it houses everything I need for her at this stage, and because the strap crosses my body, it is practical and stays put when I’m out and about.

Thanks Shona for my new bag – I love it!

We love a good social here at Mzuri and on Saturday held our first Mzuri Family BBQ. We all (all 24 of us!) turned up at Alice Holt outside Farnham armed with BBQ food, drinks, picnic blankets and most importantly….games! 

I’m pleased to say the “Mzuri Team versus Husbands, Wives and Partners” Rounders Match saw Mzuri bat an impressive amount of rounders and sail to victory (that’s our story and we’re sticking to it!).  The bean bag race was less well supported, but Victoria, Emma and India were determined and so went ahead regardless.

We were really lucky with the weather - having woken up to drizzle, we were treated to warm, but not scorching weather with slight cloud cover all day – perfect for whiling away the afternoon in the gorgeous surrounding of Alice Holt. It was great to get the team together and have some fun. No doubt it will become an annual fixture…and next year I’m keen to add ‘Go Ape’ to the proceedings but I’m not sure if that will get everyone’s vote.

We thought you might like to see this picture of the motley crew…

p.s. Kevin – sorry you couldn’t make it, but thanks for keeping London safe! Kate, Guy, Ben and Lily – we missed you….but hope you’re enjoying your holiday!

Mzuri Design BBQ Fun at Alice Holt, Farnham

The past weeks have seen an increase in coverage of the renewed concerns about the depth of the global financial crisis – this makes for concerning viewing and it can all be a bit overwhelming. But then I sat down and read View From The Hill, the Magazine of Kingston Business School and Kingston Law School where I completed my postgraduate studies, and it made me feel a little brighter.

Dr Tom Wainwright and Dr John Kitching of the University’s Small Business Research Centre have investigated how small and medium-sized enterprises have responded to the recession and have come up with some interesting findings:

• 20% of SMEs are planning to take on a recent graduate in 2011
• 66 % are planning to maintain spending on product and innovation
• 24% are planning to increase spending as a way to drive innovation and growth and
• 43% of firms are planning to increase marketing spend

It would seem that a large proportion of SMEs are taking positive, proactive steps to innovate, re-think, push forward and fight hard! They are planning to channel money in to the most worthwhile areas to bring real change and growth to their businesses.

The survey also highlighted the opportunities that exist for SMEs in a recession:

• Recessions motivate business owners to adapt products and processes in order to improve performance or to survive.
• Purchasers often switch to new suppliers for cost or quality reasons.
• Recessions impart downward pressure on prices, enabling small firms to access cheaper inputs.
• Recessions often increase the rate of market exit, enabling surviving firms to compete for the ‘vacant’ market share.

All food for thought! It’s been interesting to reflect on how we have adapted to the recession at Mzuri and how we have helped other businesses really focus their marketing spend on those areas that generate the best return. As we work with lots of start-ups, it is always fascinating to see new businesses in the making and we take great pride in helping businesses build the best foundation they can when it comes to marketing their business – from an impactful brand, to an effective website and online marketing strategy, we really do get a buzz out of helping businesses succeed.

So, while the news might be full of doom and gloom, take heart from these interesting findings and stay positive and passionate about your business. I’m feeling inspired to see what opportunities are out there for Mzuri and hope you’ll be inspired for your business too.

Source: Recovery Britain, The brave new world of small business. Dr Tom Wainwright and Dr John Kitching, View From The Hill, Spring 2011.

While the majority of the projects we work on at Mzuri Design are for businesses, we do also have the privilege of working with private clients on a wealth of design projects with a more personal feel.

Having a think of some of our most recent briefs, they have included:

• Wedding stationery: save the date, invitation, order of service, place names, table plan and thank you cards for a wedding in Eton.

• Surprise 50th birthday party invitation: partly in Welsh and with a quirky pictorial take on the hobbies and passions of the birthday boy.

• 30th birthday party invitation: with a Mexican theme, to be sent by email.

• Baby announcement cards: featuring all the usual details and gorgeous baby pics.

• Black and white themed party stationery: invitations (sent in a black bubble wrap envelope with matching label), table names, place cards and table plan with a black and white theme with each table showing a different picture of the birthday boy.

It’s not always event stationery that we produce. We also take on the odd personal commission for other items, such as graphical displays of favourite poems and extracts from literature, and wedding vows or readings. And when it comes to our own projects, we can’t resist giving them a design twist: Phil recently had to create a design piece for a surprise birthday present for a friend of his. The brief: to send in a photo of us, somehow including the message ‘happy birthday steve’. Not content with a handwritten message held up in front of the camera, Phil set about creating a personalised take on a famous film poster (picture shown above left: name that film!)

So, if you have a special event coming up and would like the stationery to be as memorable as the party, then challenge us! We love flexing our creative muscles and we make sure we pay attention to all the details.

(p.s. the film was… Trainspotting ! )