We are delighted to be supporting a fantastic but poorly supported charity alongside The Barking Lot, Wetherby – Tia Greyhound & Rescue Centre.
For every pound given at the shop over the next month into the Tia Greyhound Charity box, Network Marketing will match.
I am particularly passionate about this charity as it’s often a completely overlooked cause. We adopted a rescue Greyound called Ranger about 4 years ago, he’s the best pet ever (apart from being a bit big !) They did promise he’d curl up like a cat but he seems far happier to be stretched out in front of the fire! And just to dispel the myth, he gets on really well with our cat, Cookie!
So – give generously in the shop in Wetherby and we’ll do the same!
With the launch of the Six Nations Championship tonight it is interesting to see the spotlight being shone away from team tactics and on to the sportsmens’ use of social media. In today’s press it was disclosed that the Welsh squad have been banned from using the site during the tournament, following recent high profile cases of damaging comments published on Twitter from numerous sports personalities.
At the Ryder Cup there was initially a ‘recommended’ ban on twitter by the European Ryder Cup Captain, Colin Montgomery although the likes of Ian Poulter (@ianpoulter) and G-Mac weren’t likely to stop their tweeting!
Kevin Pieterson was left red-faced following his very public rant about the sport,
– then footballer Ryan Babel found himself £10,000 out of pocket after his controversial tweet about referee Howard Webb just last month.
Social Media can be a great way of keeping up to date with the world and is no doubt proving ever more powerful in today’s society. But is this case of ‘Twitter-banning’ highlighting the increasing worry surrounding its power to make or break business or reputation?
Todays blog was posted by Helena, Agency Recruitment Consultant at Network Marketing
Over the past few years we’ve heard many comments about LinkedIn being used as a tool for recruiters, the majority being negative. There is an apparent resistance to potential candidates being contacted via LinkedIn to establish if they could be interested in a potential opportunity. Or is there?
The poll seems to cover all walks of life from different business sectors at different levels. The fact that the overwhelming outcome is in favour of recruiters approaching potential candidates goes to show, how valuable tools like LinkedIn can potentially be. Granted – many of the comments are focussed around the relevance of opportunities that are discussed or the manner in which an approach is made – if we’re being honest, this could be said of pretty much any service industry.
Recruitment has changed. You cannot simply advertise a role now whether on or offline and hope that the best candidates see said advert and apply. Our job is to find our clients the best candidates and by that, we have to search for the best candidates, regardless of where they are using all channels available. LinkedIn won’t work in isolation, nor will online advertising, press, headhunting or social media. It’s an integrated approach that’s not easy, but if it was, everyone would be doing it!
Even though we’re not quite at the end of 2010 it‘s been such an amazing year for the digital market in Yorkshire that we thought we’d share our stats on what’s been happening. As it’s also Leeds Digital Festival this week we thought all of you digital marketers (or wannabes) would be itching to know how your industry has changed compared to last year.Here’s just a few *stats to get your juices flowing:
Digital marketing recruitment volumes are up 40% on the same period across 2009
Digital recruitment, agency side (working within a digital agency), has grown by 10% compared with 2009
Digital recruitment into client side positions has increased by 30%
85% of agencies we deal with now have a credible digital offering as part of their solutions for clients compared to 65% in 2009.
Implementation of social media as a channel (such as Facebook and Twitter)within the job description for digital roles is up 80% compared with 2009
Pure social media recruitment is up 300% from a very low base
A mobile element now features in 35% of briefs (including development/application of apps) compared to less than 5% in 2009
(*All statistics relate to Network Marketing recruitment market insights and compare November 2008- October 2009 with November 2009 to October 2010.) Conclusions
Whilst the digital market is still growing strongly, there are clear signs that the discipline is maturing across the marketing field. Growth in the sector has been predominately within the client side although agencies like twentysix and MadebyPi have grown considerably. The growth client-side demonstrates a greater understanding of the discipline for clients and a greater confidence in creating strategies and implementing them in-house. This could also further demonstrate a real adoption of digital strategies as a core channel for many client side companies.
For agencies, the market has become very fragmented. Where a year or two ago there were a select number of purists delivering digital solutions to clients, now, the majority of traditional ‘off-line’ agencies have a digital offering. Perhaps this is driven from a client requirement where a marketing and creative solution invariably requires a digital angle and they are reticent to pass this on to a 3rd party. Whilst social media has been the buzz-word over the past 12 months many companies appear to be still struggling to see the transparent return on investment of social media. Perhaps this is a misunderstanding of the discipline that has been likened to a bonfire burning away in the background rather than the fireworks of PPC or advertising activity (analogy courtesy of Jono Marcus Lucre Social).
See it more as brand building – not generating immediate sales (contrary to the expectations of most online activity).The Leeds Digital Festival running this week demonstrates without doubt however that Leeds is positioned as an incredibly strong force in digital marketing.Future TrendsDigital is here to stay.
“No kidding” I hear you say. I’ll explain. In a current debate on our Linkedin group Mark Bower from CoolPink made a very important point. The audience has changed. Digital is no longer a bolt on to a marketing strategy, it’s a fundamental part of marketing that needs to be integrated.
Our stats above substantiate this. Clients have embraced digital marketing at a greater rate over the past year and will continue to do so. Marketing spend will still be split across disciplines with, most likely, a proportionately larger percentage being driven online.What digital has got that most other marketing channels don’t have is the ability to be completely innovative. And I for one believe we have some of the most innovative people in the industry based right here in Yorkshire.
For further information regarding this survey please contact Jonathan Hirst
Last night I was lucky to meet with marketing and design professionals for an evening with the Chairman of Elmwood, Jonathan Sands, courtesy of Business Link.
For those of you not familiar with Elmwood, they are an international brand design consultancy based in Guiseley, West Yorkshire. Founded in 1989 with only a handful of clients, their days working on small local campaigns from their Yorkshire base now seem a distant memory. The Yorkshire agency has successfully expanded to operate on a global scale, with offices in Melbourne, New York, and Singapore. Their client portfolio boasts successful partnerships with Walmart, Nike, Durex, and Cable and Wireless, to name only a few.
The ‘Being Inspired With…’ events organised by Business Link are a valuable opportunity to learn more about key figures within the industry and with Elmwood being one of the agencies we regularly recruit with I was keen to finally meet the man behind the company, who has lead the agency to win over 100 national and international awards and to recently be voted one of The Times UK’s Top 100 Best Companies to Work For.
Here at Network Marketing we regularly attend marketing events to ensure we keep up to date with the industry. Unfortunately, due to the demands of deadlines and last minute campaign changes, it can often be the case that turnout at the events is lower than anticipated. However it was a full house at the Great Victoria Hotel last night.
After being welcomed to the event with an impressive array of refreshments (a great selection of Taylors of Harrogate tea and cookies- keeping it local, I was impressed!) and a brief introduction to Business Link, Jonathan Sands led us in to his world of Elmwood. The presentation covered not only the history of the agency but how they have approached the current economic climate to ensure growth, not failure. It was inspiring to hear positive messages about the business world today, as opposed to the doom and gloom presented in the media on a daily basis. Jonathan was passionate about the ‘recession’ being an exciting business opportunity, not an excuse for failure. Brave words but incredibly refreshing and Elmwood’s phenomenal expansion over the past few years is evidence that positivity in these times goes a long way.
We were also given the opportunity to experience the ‘culture of Elmwood’. As a recruitment consultant who regularly works alongside the agency, this was a valuable insight. Jonathan injects his belief of growing and retaining talent at Elmwood and it was great to hear that the agency spend more on learning than they do on marketing- an area that I personally feel too many companies fail to embrace. As a young professional myself it was a comfort to hear that fellow graduates and young talent are given a chance to grow and flourish. One particular point that stuck in my mind was that Jonathan purposely let his junior staff present to judges to be considered for the Yorkshire Post’s ‘Best Company to Work For’ Award in 2008, which they subsequently went on to win.
At Elmwood, relationships are placed at the heart of everything. Jonathan stated that he wanted his clients to be their best friends and in times were there is competition in every corner it is these strong relationships that will deliver results. Unfortunately we see so much aggressiveness in business every day- it was refreshing to see good old-fashioned kindness being championed.
At the end of the evening we were treated to a light buffet and the chance to network with the other attendees. The place was buzzing and the presentation had clearly been well-received. All in all it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening and I did actually come away feeling ‘inspired’. I would truly recommend people take a look at the Business Link website and check out their events programme for autumn- http://www.businesslinkyorkshire.co.uk/events.
And as a final point to all my fellow Network Market-ers, I am proud to say that Jonathan Sands declared his love for Derby County last night- my home team! We may struggle on the football front, but we have inspirational fans
Following a really busy few months from the NM team an executive decision was made that we should all be “treated” to an afternoon out orienteering in Roundhay Park and post action food and drink at the Roundhay Fox. I think everyone was in agreement as to where the real treat lay in these two elements to the day.
The first part of the task was to all meet at the carpark at Roundhay park for 2pm sharp – surely with what was planned for the rest of the afternoon an inability to do this would not bode well yet I regret to report not all were on time. When we had full attendance we had to prepare ourselves through a simple warm-up which turned out to be far from simple. After much leg-kicking arm throwing and hugging ourselves we were ready for part one of the event.
We were split into four teams of three, each of which we were told had a mix of brain and brawn, although I’m sure I class as both!! This team environment also got our competitive spirits going, which in all honesty doesn’t take much encouragement.
The first task was, in my view, a mini version of the Worlds Strongest Man Atlas Stones event except instead of weights from 100 – 160kg we were to carry 12 – 40kg and instead of putting them on pillars we ran with them in a relay race style – so in essence probably not much like said event after all. Each team completed the course and there time was recorded with the quickest team supposedly having a head start in the second and main event – the fastest team consisting of Dan Kondras, Jonny Duke and Jeannette Hirst.
After this we were given some much needed recovery time whilst learning how to map read. Each team was provided with a map of the park and a number of questions which had numerical answers which could be put together to provide co-ordinates of various points within the park where we could find clues leading to a final answer.
A clever twist meant the slowest team in the warm-up event were given a 90 second head start and each team set off in 90second intervals with the fastest team leaving last as they had the pace to catch up. We had 2 hours in which to get to all check points and record the relevant clue at the point before returning to the base camp to finish. All teams set off on their way to lakes, statues, trees and other landmarks around the park and as far out as Oakwood Clock.
Just 59 minutes later the winning team of Helena Krzeminski, Emma Thomson and Tom Fordham returned having SUSSED IT! and got to all 10 landmarks to record the relevant letters and symbols which ingeniously spelt SUSSED_IT! After a while the three other teams slowly started drifting in one having not made it to all check-points, one having not been able to use a map and one that spent 30 mins looking for a check point which didn’t exist due to a slight technical glitch with a co-ordinate from the answer to an initial question.
Celebrating finishing the task with water and a tracker bar we all discussed the fun and frolics that were involved, conducted some post match interviews (which hopefully will never be broadcast) and then were ready to hit the Roundhay Fox.
The usual Network Marketing couple of quiet drinks and a sophisticated meal followed and off we all went for a well earned sleep oblivious to the aches and pains that lay around the corner when we woke.
It was a great afternoon and delivered above and beyond expectations. Big thanks go out to Phill and the rest of the Out-Fit team who we’d recommend to anyone looking for an outdoor orienteering / team building event and congratulations again to the winning team on the day of Helena, Emma and Tom.
Network Marketing was proud to lend our support to Mark Strafford (Marketing Assistant) at Chapter Eight. Mark has set out to raise money to enable him to partake in a charity climb of Mount Kilimanjaro. The climb will be taking place at the end of August, all in aid of Childreach International (www.childreach.org.uk), a charity that specialises in children’s projects in parts of Asia and Africa. Mark and his friends certainly came up with a unique way of raising the money.
Mark had the unenviable task of picking up 72 dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts from Manchester, and delivering them to local businesses in Leeds. By the time that Mark had arrived at our offices, he had managed to raise £1900 of the £2300 needed to enable him to go on the climb.
All of the Network Marketing office was informed last night that we would be receiving 24 Krispy Kreme doughnuts, the money kindly being donated by our director, Jonathan Hirst.
The excitement today was intense with the anticipation of when they would arrive. Some of the office had even forgone food to make space for them.
After tasting the doughnuts, two of our staff decided that they would like to make an extra contribution, so purchased a dozen more doughnuts each. Charity has never tasted so good.
Good luck to Mark on his epic adventure, from everyone at Network Marketing.
The objective: To enjoy a team building event that wasn’t your usual “let’s get drunk” and then bond…although obviously that did come later
On a sunny July day the team at Network Marketing enjoyed a voyage into the forest for treetop madness…described on their website as “high-wire forest adventure” we set off like a group of intrepid explorers eager to exert our natural prowess, in this high octane sport. This was our afternoon at Go-Ape!
There was blood, sweat, yelps and a lot of wood chippings as people tried to complete the giant obstacle course in a respectful manner. The course also boasted the country’s best zip line (which is the longest at 426 metres long and over 30 metres high). Battered ego’s and bruises aside the event really was a bit scary, certainly a challenge, a lot of fun, the pictures even more so!
Anna Traversing the Rope Bridge
Dale 100ft Up in the air
Everyone completed the course – even those that really didn’t like heights – and rewarded themselves with a good feed a beautiful gastro pub in Newton on Derwent called the Half Moon Inn.
by Rajvir Khatra – Agency Consultant at Network Marketing
As an avid football fan and feeling deeply emotionally scarred by England’s ignominious exit at the hands of Germany, I thought I’d look in to what impact exiting the world cup would have on commerce and industry.
With 30million plus people watching the match yesterday the major sponsors must have been desperate for England to go through. Whilst commercially they may have calculated a return on their commercial investment based on us getting through to the last 8, they would surely have been hoping for something better, not worse.
This Telegraph article talks about the subject from many different angles. One that particularly hits home is relating to our beleagured pub industry. Our local – The Boot and Shoe in Barkston Ash took more money during the 3 hours of the first game than they did during the whole evening of New Years Eve – a mammoth 10 hour stretch! Inevitably pubs are going to significantly lose out, as is the food retail industry in general.
Those breathing more of a sigh of relief will be the non food retailers, particularly clothes shops who I am sure have seen a significant downturn in business during the games when everyone is glued to their tv’s.
And finally employers – I’m on the fence on this one. We don’t have any problems with absenteeism at Network Marketing but there are apparently a lot of businesses that do. The flip side to this is that people come in to work with a common enthusiasm and a bit of the old adage ‘those that play together stay together’ seems to rub off. Certainly in our environment where we make a number of calls to people we want to build relationships with, Englands success, or lack of it, has made for a useful discussion topic!
Overall, whilst we are desperately disappointed about England’s exit from the World Cup, the overall balance of impact will probably be negligible.
We now have Andy Murray to look forward to – all of which is on the BBC and not on ITV – we wouldn’t want to miss his final ace for victory because of an ill timed ad break, now would we!
On June 20th the busy folk of Network Marketing managed to tear themselves away from candidates and vacancies and enjoy an evening of 20:20 cricket courtesy of Leeds Media. As part of their monthly networking events the 20:20 cricket event was organised to help professionals in the media industry meet and greet over one (or two!) cheeky drinks, and on this occasion the witnessing of a glorious victory for Yorkshire Carnegie over the Durham Dynamos.
It was great to have the opportunity to meet other industry professionals at such an event, to enjoy catching up whilst enjoying (or in my case ‘discovering’) the joys of cricket! Although slightly disappointed with the low turn out, lack of opportunity to network and having to brave a typically cold English night (!), it was a great evening and we look forward to meeting further fellow professionals at the next event. I’m secretly hoping a night out at Leeds Rhino’s will be on the cards so I can learn about this beautiful game next!
Views from Network Marketing 
