New Appointment - Jamie Homer, Design Director at RT Media

Branding, creative and digital agency, RT Media, has announced the promotion of Jamie Homer from Studio Manager to Design Director as part of the company’s overall growth plan.

The move comes hot on the heels of the recent merger and integration of social media training and consultancy business, SocialTech, and creative agency, Ozone Creative Solutions, which saw RT Media expand its services and core resources.

Ross Thornley, RT Media founder and Creative Director, said: “The appointment of a Design Director is a fundamental step in the growth plan of our business.  Following our on-going strategic development of the company, we decided to expand our offering to clients through mergers with two companies that had the core skills we desired.  Naturally, the additional staff and skill sets need a new level of management and Jamie was the obvious choice.”

Jamie has eleven years of experience in the industry, having spent almost eight of them with RT Media.  He joined the company as a Creative Artworker, progressing to Senior Designer and then Studio Manager.

Jamie has worked on a number of high-level branding campaigns whilst managing the team, and has a philosophical approach when it comes to delivering the best option for the client.  He said: “I am delighted to have been appointed as Design Director and see the position as having the responsibility of nurturing the best talent and ideas within the team in order to deliver the best results for the client.

“These are very exciting times for RT Media and for our clients. I intend to use the unique position of having already worked within the business as a manager as well as creatively alongside our existing clients to inspire and motivate the team to develop world class, conceptual design that meets the strategic aims of any creative campaign.  It is not just about being good at design,” he said.  “It is about being good at design for the good of a business and that, along with our branding, social media and digital offerings, is where we excel for our clients.”

RT Media was the only agency in Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire to be listed in a first-of-its-kind national table of design agencies by Recommended Agency Register (RAR), which showed that great design is no longer the preserve of specialist design agencies.

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Ross Thornley (left) with this year’s winner Phillip Khan-Panni (centre) and Alderman, David Trenchard.

Wimborne-based branding, creative and digital agency, RT Media, sponsor of the first UK Business Speaker of the Year, has announced its support for the 2012 competition, now launched.

Last month (Sept) Phillip Khan-Panni’s, a copywriter from Bromley, wowed an audience at Bournemouth’s Pavilion Theatre, winning the first ever UK Business Speaker of the Year competition with a motivational speech, “What it means to be second”.

The speech included stories about Mr Khan-Panni’s rivalry with an older sibling and how he overcame disappointments in life.

As well as sponsoring the event, RT Media founder and creative director, Ross Thornley sat on the judging panel.  He said: “The whole competition was extremely well run, with the eight finalists selected from auditions posted onto YouTube.  At the final, there was the added tension of the judges selecting just three contestants for the audience’s deciding vote.

“It was a great night – there are some really talented speakers out there and this competition is a real opportunity to be independently recognised.  We’re looking forward to building the reputation and scope of next year’s competition.”

The event was devised by the UK Speechwriters’ Guild, which hosts its annual conference at the Bournemouth University Executive Business Centre.  Professor Max Atkinson, one of the country’s leading public speaking experts, author of ‘Lend Me Your Ears’ and a much-acclaimed blogger, sat as Chairman of the Judges.

Khan-Panni, CEO of PKP Communicators, a training company that helps business leaders to speak in public without fear and in a way that makes others want to listen, said: “The UK Business Speaker of the Year is a splendid and worthwhile initiative that attracted some quality speakers. Much credit to Brian Jenner, whose idea it was, and to RT Media, the brand agency that recognised its potential. I was delighted to take part and honoured to have been voted the inaugural winner.”

Aspiring or professional speakers over the age of 18, with an unusual story to tell can register their interest to take part in next year’s competition at www.ukbusinessspeakers.co.uk.

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Ross Thornley, Creative Director

Actively taking an interest in the environment makes business sense, according to a Dorset-based firm of brand consultants.

RT Media is supporting a new awards initiative launched by DECISION Business Magazine to recognise companies that believe setting and implementing environmental best practice is mission critical, not just for their businesses, stakeholders, and the community, but for the future of the planet.

RT Media managing director, Ross Thornley said: “The purpose of The Business & The Environment Best Practice Awards is to demonstrate that taking a lead environmentally will give companies a competitive edge and that it is not something which should be driven by compliance.  The process needs to be proactive and embracing, not reactive and box-ticking. These Awards will identify and recognise companies which demonstrate such credentials.”

“These Awards differ in two key ways.  First, unlike most award schemes, businesses and organisations do not pay an entry fee, or even submit an entry themselves – they are identified by an independent panel and selected from a range of categories relating to business process, and the market sectors that have most influence on the region’s economy.  These include retail, construction, built environment, logistics, manufacturing, leisure and tourism, print and packaging, food, and business services.

“Second, the independent panel comprises academics, experts from industry bodies, government representatives, industry bodies, and environmental and sustainability consultants to advise on both the categories and criterion for the awards, as well as judging, to ensure that the interrogation process is robust and the winners are indeed deserving. The idea is to get right under the skin of organisations that are working positively for the environment and recognise those who have not just embraced environmental policy, but who are actively involved in doing something about it at every level.”

Thornley adds: “How a company addresses the environment has an influence that flows beyond its business. If employees sense that its attitude is cosmetic, then that can condition their behavioural response to the environment.  On the other hand, a brand that embraces environmental responsibility will not just improve corporate credibility, but also performance. Taking care will be a mantra which influences not just environmental considerations, but customer service and an understanding on the part of employees of business process efficiency.”

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RT Media, the marketing & branding agency in Wimborne, proudly took part in the ‘Those who plant trees, plant hope’ event on the 3rd February 2011 at Potterne Park, a local community recreation area in Verwood. The event was organised by Rock recruitment in association with The Bournemouth Echo and East Dorset District Council and RT Media planted a 6ft Oak tree together with a variety of whip trees.

The event consisted of various tree related activities with the Education Rangers from East Dorset Countryside Management Services, including crafts, bird box building and even a Wellington boot competition. The bird boxes made as part of the day will be dispersed in gardens around the area and will give birds somewhere safe to nest in the spring.

Mr Ross Thornley, RT Media Creative Director, “We are aware of our impact on the environment and aim to reduce our emissions with the goal of becoming carbon neutral within the next 10 years. It was nice that we could get involved as we didn’t get to see the tree eForests planted for us last year; a single tree can offset 1 tonne of carbon emissions in its lifetime.”

As a business RT Media has always endeavoured to work with suppliers and customers who share the same environmental values and together look for solutions to decrease our carbon footprint.

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Company founder and Creative Director, Ross Thornley talks about building a successful – and balanced – creative business, and his predictions for the future.

This month, RT Media celebrates a decade of creative campaigns, branding and web marketing for a client base spanning international, national and regional clients of all shapes and sizes.

Company founder and Creative Director, Ross Thornley, attributes the company’s success to a clear vision, a clear definition of success, a focussed drive to achieve it, and good timing – launching a creative agency at the start of the new media revolution.

Ross explains: “When I started the company I was 21, I worked from a bedroom armed with an Apple Mac, support from my family and a desire to prove myself.  Ten years on, RT Media has grown organically to a 10 strong team with all the skills required to fully service 21^st century campaigns.  All this has happened against perhaps the biggest ever change for marketeers; the advent of broadband into our homes.”

Ross continues:  “As a result we have grown up with the Internet, which has given us a very holistic approach to our clients’ work. To facilitate the increasing demands from clients for digital and social media campaigns, we recently launched GetShaking to maximise how social media can be monetised, and a return on investment can be tracked.  But while we know that the web can never be underestimated or ignored, we still believe every business plan and set of objectives requires a mix of communication channels.”

Today, RT Media can be aptly described as a ‘small, but well-heeled creative agency’, due to its deliberately contained growth, which centres on seeking the ‘right fit’ within the team, as well as its clients.  It also takes its impact as a business very seriously, applying for, and achieving Energy Efficiency in Business (EEIB) 2020 accreditation earlier this year.

Ross explains:  “It may sound like we are aiming to achieve some kind of Nirvana, but for me, creating the right balance between what our team needs in order to provide the highest level of service, is what business in the 21^st century is all about.  Every member of staff has input into the type of company we are on the inside, which means that we perform better for our clients on the outside.”

Ross adds: “I have worked very hard to reach a point where my vision of how a business can be balanced for the good of the whole, can be realised.  By working smartly, and with those people we actually enjoy working with, we can, and do, achieve so much more.  Over 40% of our current client base has been with us for over 5 years.”

Client retention is certainly a priority at RT Media and its high rate can be attributed to the company’s ‘client filter’, which gives the team clear criteria for doing business, and ensures that while they actively seek clients who fit, they also decline those who don’t.

So, what’s next in marketing?  Looking to the future, Ross predicts:  “Video and YouTube are effective and exciting communication channels, but their application for businesses is really very new, and will reach impact we have not seen to date.  I can also see that community delivery, through managed crowd sourcing, will also change marketing boundaries of scope and timescales.”

And the future for RT Media?  Ross adds: “We have now reached a point where we have the firm foundation, staff and resource to continue to build a strong and progressive business. Meanwhile, I plan to construct and build our own office environment, which will be ethically and ecologically sound.  It will give the business a breath-taking environment to cultivate creativity and become the hub of innovation I envisage.”

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