What did we get up to in November?

As the year (and decade) almost draws to a close, we have a look back at the month that was, November 2019.

We celebrated The Drum Out of Home Awards 2019, congratulations to all the winners!

Some of our clients began their Christmas campaigns, and we welcomed a very exciting new national client in Casio and Edifice.

And we started our Christmas countdown, keep an eye out for our last video of the year at the end of December!

The Media Angel are finalists at international marketing awards

The Media Angel have been announced as finalists in the international Drum Out of Home Awards 2019!

This global competition recognises those who have produced the most creative and effective out of home advertising work over the past year.

Their work for Swansea University’s College of Engineering has been shortlisted in the ‘Small Budget’ category, which sought campaigns which had achieved impressive outcomes on a small budget.

They are nominated alongside UKTV for their work on Dad’s Army, and McCann Health London for their campaign for OCO Opticians. Other finalists include Tesco, Huawei, ITV, Carlsberg and Starbucks.

Countdown is on until the awards ceremony which is being held later in November at The Emirates stadium in London.

Link to nominations; https://www.thedrumoutofhomeawards.com/the-drum-out-of-home-awards/the-drum-out-of-home-awards-2019#100921

The Media Angel – Summer 2019

Join us as we look back on our busy summer at The Media Angel!

Summer 2019 saw a flurry of activity with our education clients, especially during July and August and the busy results period.

It’s been ‘back to school’ for the The Media Angel as this summer we have planned campaigns for a variety of education clients such as; Swansea University, Coleg y Cymoedd, Welsh for Adults and Westbourne School.

We loved seeing these campaigns live up and down the country and even on our door-stop in Penarth and Cardiff!

The birds and the bees

It was also another busy year for the National Botanic Garden of Wales with their summer 2019 campaign, designed and planned by us at The Media Angel! The campaign celebrated all aspects of the Gardens; their Butterfly House, Bee Hives and the new British Birds of Prey Centre.

Don’t worry, we also found some time in between our busy campaign schedules to enjoy the heatwave!

We’re already busy planning campaigns for 2020! What are your marketing goals? We can help with all aspects of your advertising needs, from planning to design and campaign analysis.

Get in touch today to ensure we help you get your messages in the right place, targeting the right people at the right time to make 2020 your best year yet!

The Media Angel recognised at the Drum Marketing Awards 2019

We are thrilled to announce that we received ‘Highly Commended’ at last night’s Drum Marketing Awards 2019.

We were the only Welsh agency shortlisted under ‘Media Planning or Buying’ and ‘Advertising Campaign’ both for our work with Swansea University for their June Open Day Campaign 2018. The campaign generated a 30% increase in Open Day registrations in 2018 exceeding the 10% target, over delivering by 200%.

The Drum Marketing awards celebrate the best marketers and campaigns both nationally and internationally. Open to advertising agencies, in-house marketing teams, design consultancies, digital agencies, PR companies and integrated agencies we are pleased to represent Wales against some of UK’s largest brands and agencies.

In the ‘Advertising’ category we were nominated alongside campaigns for Vodaphone, Swinton Insurance, Sky Betting & Gaming, Samsung and WaterAid. In the ‘Media Planning or Buying’ category we were nominated alongside Fox Sports for the Fifa World Cup 2018 and Volkswagen UK.

The Awards

The awards ceremony was held last night in the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel in London, and what a night!

The atmosphere and hotel looked amazing, and it was great to see our work and company recognised alongside huge brands like Volkswagen, Vodafone, FOX Sports, WaterAid, Disney, Greggs and Samsung to name a few.

We are so pleased to say that we received ‘Highly Commended’ for our work in the ‘Media Planning or Buying’ category.

Congratulations to all the winners and finalists!

The Media Angel – Finalists at The Drum Marketing Awards 2019

We are delighted to announce that we have been shortlisted in two categories as finalists in The Drum Marketing Awards 2019.

We are the only Welsh agency shortlisted under ‘Media Planning or Buying’ and ‘Advertising Campaign’ both for our work with Swansea University for their June Open Day Campaign 2018. The campaign generated a 30% increase in Open Day registrations in 2018 exceeding the 10% target, over delivering by 200%.

The Drum Marketing Awards are considered to be one of the industry’s most sought after accolades and have many prestigious judges such as Sarah Kiefer (Director of Business Marketing at Spotify), Tatiana Piccolo (VP of Global Fragrance at Avon UK), Victoria Needs (Director of International Marketing at Sony) and Charles Allen (Head of Marketing at Arsenal Football Club).

In the ‘Advertising’ category we are nominated alongside campaigns for Vodaphone, Swinton Insurance, Sky Betting & Gaming and Samsung. In the ‘Media Planning or Buying’ category we are nominated alongside Fox Sports for the Fifa World Cup 2018 and Volkswagen UK.

For Swansea University, we created a multi-faceted campaign which utilised a broad range of media to engage with 18-21 year olds including; video on demand, TV, digital and various outdoor platforms to name a few.

Alison Debono, MD of The Media Angel said, “We are beyond thrilled to be representing Wales as finalists at The Drum Awards 2019, especially as we are in the same category as such prestigious brands.”

The results will be revealed at the award ceremony on 3rd April at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel, London.

Congratulations to all the finalists from us at The Media Angel, and good luck on the evening!

The Media Angel’s favourite Christmas adverts

The Christmas advert has evolved from simple beginnings to the million-pound short films released around the festive period. We’ve gone through the archives to find our favourite festive adverts.

1. John Lewis (2011)

We’re kicking off this list John Lewis’ advert from 2011. It follows a little boy as he waits for Christmas Day to arrive, only for him to rush past his stocking to his present for his parents. It’s heart-warming and sweet, a classic.

2. Sainbury’s: Christmas is for sharing (2014)

This advert used the famous tale of a Christmas Eve truce on the Western Front to mark the centenary of Word War One. Some said the advert was in poor taste, but we think it showcases the values behind Christmas.

3. Marks & Spencers: Christmas, with love from Mrs Claus (2016)

This modern twist on Mrs Claus has everything; helicopters, jet-skis, reindeer’s and a lovely storyline featuring a little boy and his tall (and angry) big sister!

4. Heathrow Airport: Coming Home for Christmas (2016)

Who knew stuffed animals could make you cry? This sweet advert from Heathrow Airport follows two teddy bears as they arrive home.

5. John Lewis: The Bear and The Hare (2013)

John Lewis must be the true masters of the Christmas advert. With hand-drawn animation and a beautiful soundtrack this is an iconic advert.

Special Mention (because we can’t get enough of John Lewis)

5 ways to improve how you use Twitter for business

The latest blog from Cardiff media buying agency, The Media Angels. The final blog in our series, how can you improve the way you use Twitter for business?

1. What do you want to get out of Twitter? Is it for more light-hearted posts, industry news…

What do you want your Twitter presence to ‘feel’ like? Is your Twitter page a chance for your business to be a bit more informal and playful or is it for sharing blogs and industry news? By deciding what you want to get out of Twitter you can start to get an idea of the type of content you need to be creating and sharing.

2. Follow industry leaders, clients – re-tweet their news.

We use Twitter to follow influential people in our industry but also to interact with our clients. We can stay updated on their news and share it, we also like posting images of our recent work and tagging the client in the image. Use Twitter as another way to create a conversation with your client!

3. Showcase your own news – post your new blog etc.

We also use Twitter to link to our recent blogs, otherwise nobody would know we’ve uploaded one! By using hashtags we can be seen on relevant Twitter feeds too. We find our own news does really well on Twitter, especially if we’re tagging clients in the post too.

4. Use analytics – what do your followers like, what events are coming up, recurring hashtags

It’s analytics again! Twitter’s analytics are helpful as youcan see what other topics your followers are interested in. You could tailor your posts to include these topics and see if engagement increases. You also get monthly reviews of your page, showing you new followers, best performingposts etc.

5. Use Twitter’s features

On Twitter you have the option to add and image or GIF to your post. This is another way to add your personality to your post as GIFs can be quite funny! The added movement is really engaging too. On Twitter you can also create polls, similar to Facebook, and we find these good to use on quick or light-hearted topics to create a conversation with our followers.

Improve the way you use Facebook for business

The latest blog from Cardiff media consultants, The Media Angels. This week, we’re looking at how you can improve the way you’re business uses Facebook.

1. Add information to your page – opening times, what you do, contact details, website address

Facebook is probably the most customisable platforms you can use for your business. In settings, there are many templates you can choose from which suggest different features to highlight in order to get the most out of your page. You can modify your homepage to show a custom button, it could be “Visit our website” or “Book now”, depending on your business. You can also set a photo reel to show at the top of your page, and pin important posts to the top of your timeline. Your cover photo is also an important feature, unlike in LinkedIn, you get quite a lot of space to use and so it’s important to make the most of it. We try and change ours depending on events or the seasons.

2. Use analytics – see when your followers are most active, what posts generate the most interest

As with most social media platforms, it’s important to utilise analytics. Facebook’s are quite in-depth and you are able to see; page views, post reach and how recent posts have performed. This is helpful as it let’s you see which post format works the best for your page. Are they it photos, polls, blogs? You can also see an overview of your competitor’s pages, allowing you to see how their pages are performing in comparison.

3. Check out your competitors – what do they do, what posts work for them

On that note, it’s important to see what your competitors are up to! How active are they on social media? Are you using the same social media platforms as they are? Have a look at their pages and see what posts are working for them.

4. Use different formats – pictures, statistics, polls, light-hearted posts…

We find it helps to use a variety of post formats, to keep our page varied. Facebook has a lot of formats you can choose from including polls, pictures, carousels etc. We also try and vary between light-hearted posts and statistics or blogs from the industry. This helps get our personality across but also keep in touch with market news.

5. Use Facebook tools to make your life easier!

On Facebook you can schedule posts to upload at a set time and date. We find this feature helpful for finding out when our followers are most active and what times our posts get the best engagement. For our pages it varies from platform to platform, for example our Instagram page gets better engagement if we post in the evening but our Facebook and Twitter works better in the morning and afternoon. This is a trial and error process to see when your posts do their best, but it is worth doing!

Improve the way you use Instagram for business

The latest blog from Cardiff media agency, The Media Angels.
How can you improve the way you use Instagram to market your business?

1. Personal or business account?

There are two different types of Instagram account; personal and business. With a business account, you can get analytics into your followers and posts, promote Instagram posts and have a more professional profile. You can also link your Instagram profile to your Facebook page, allowing you to quickly post photos onto Facebook. Your Instagram business profile also has a “Contact” button, here you can choose to include directions, a phone number, or an email address. Most of the advantage of switching to a business profile is the ability to learn about your followers. Here you can see what posts work best, generate the best interaction, where your followers are and when they’re online.

2. Using Instagram scheduling

There are a lot of mobile apps available which allow you to schedule Instagram posts, like how you can schedule posts on Facebook. We use Apphi for our account. It’s easy to set-up and link your account, and from the app you can set filters, hashtags and a caption before setting a time and date to post. We find this app helpful as our analytics show our followers are most active during the evening, when we’re out of the office. By using a scheduling app we can make sure our posts reach our followers at the right time.

3. Which posts generate the best reactions?

This is all about trial and error. Have a quick look through your Instagram analytics and you can filter your posts to see which ones have created the most engagement. Is there a theme? Are the photos of your work, your clients’ work, of your team? For us, we find pictures of us out and about do well, alongside photos of our clients work in-situ.

4. Use hashtags and create a conversation

We have a “bank” of hashtags we use frequently as we find these get good engagement. We also tailor these to what we’re posting, and we’ll also try to tag the client in the post if they have an account too. It also helps to ask a question in a caption, prompting a response from your followers. Even something simple like “What do you think of this?” can generate a conversation.

5. Using Instagram stories

Stories are a helpful way to include your followers in your day if the content doesn’t warrant an actual post. We find them helpful for more light-hearted or time-sensitive events, such as the rugby for example. They are just another way of engaging with your followers.

Improve the way you use LinkedIn for business

The latest blog from Cardiff marketing agency, The Media Angels. In the first post of our new blog series, how can you improve the way you use LinkedIn for business?

1. Post blog articles, written by you or relevant to your industry

This is a great way to involve your other social media channels. You could link to your recent blog articles, try captioning with an open question and tag relevant pages. If you don’t have a blog, you can link to other news articles relevant to your business. LinkedIn isn’t as advanced as other social media in that you can’t ‘like’ or ‘share’ another page’s posts. But by creating your own content, it helps keep your followers involved.

2. Keep your information up to date; website address, phone number, email etc

As LinkedIn is quite a limited platform for a business. It’s important to make sure that the information which is on there, is correct! If you change address, phone number or contact email make sure to keep it updated on your LinkedIn page too. We use our “About Us” section to tell people who we are and what we do. It’s a chance to get your brand’s personality across. You could also use this section to detail services your business provides.

3. Create a cover photo to add colour and more information

Like other social media sites, on LinkedIn you can create a cover photo for your page. It’s quite narrow, so make sure all your information is shown! This is a good way to add some personality to your business page.

4. Analytics, analytics, analytics!

Most platforms these days have some form of analytics and LinkedIn is no different. Through the “Analytics” panel on your business page. Here you can see how many visitors your page has had, what their jobs are etc. You can also see what updates get the best CTRs and engagement and where your followers are located. This is helpful to see what types of posts get your page the best response.

5. Use paid advertising to target potential customers

LinkedIn’s paid advertising has the ability to be really targeted. You can target people by job title, location, age, business, sector etc. The ad builder shows you how many impressions you are likely to get, and then you can set a daily budget and a maximum budget. You can also choose from a few different advert types, each one helps target a different response.

Say “Hello” to our newest angel!

This week we welcome Jodie, our newest team member in the role of Agency Support Executive.

Jodie is originally from Pembrokeshire, and now has completed a degree in Graphic Communication at Cardiff Metropolitan University. She is a driven individual with a passion for social media and design, eager to begin her marketing career and develop her skills further.

With experience in managing social media campaigns, Jodie is excited to see what she can bring to the Media Angel’s social media platforms and website in the future.

Don’t miss out on her first few weeks and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

The Media Angel in National Finals of Prestigious Marketing Awards

For the second year running we are pleased to announce that we have been shortlisted for The Drum Marketing Awards. Our entry for “Public Sector Marketing Strategy of the Year “ was for The National Botanic Garden Of Wales’s Summer Campaign for 2017 which helped to dramatically increase their family footfall by 43% to the Gardens .

The Drum Marketing awards celebrate the best marketers and campaigns nationally and internationally. Open to advertising agencies, in-house marketing teams, design consultancies, digital agencies, PR companies and integrated agencies we are pleased to represent Wales against some of the larger UK agencies.

The Drum Marketing Awards are considered to be one of the industry’s most sought after accolades and have many prestigious judges such as Michal Szaniecki, marketing Director, Volkswagen and…. Vanessa Fitzgerald Regional Director, Northern Europe, Facebook.

We created a multi faceted campaign which focused around the new British Bird of Prey Centre utilising Out of Home (OOH), On line, regional press and radio. We are shortlisted along with some impressive national campaigns such as BBC Children in Need “Do Your Thing” and Kindered for HM Treasury and The Royal Mint.

Alison Debono, MD of The Media Angel said “We are beyond thrilled to be representing Wales as finalists at The Drum Awards 2018, especially as we are in the same category as such huge brands.”

The results will be revealed and the trophies handed out at the award ceremony on 30th May at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel, London.