If we first accept that the Digital Industry is the fastest moving industry the world has ever seen and how it has changed over the years, is it such a radical step?

My gut feel to this is that search engines will evolve, not disappear. The presenter went on to say that search will be voice based, camera based and social led searches. Google already has the goggles application which although camera based still works on the same basis as a search engine. People are using the social media resources as search engines and voice recognition software has been about for sometime but ultimately it still has to return a result. This is what leads me to the thoughts of evolution as opposed to extinction.

With the volume of information available at our finger tips via all types of sources alerts, feeds and search, some people can become easily overwhelmed, so how do you filter out the quality results from the poor ones? Currently sites that the search engines deem to be of a lower quality are ranked accordingly.  BUT…. could Google (who’s driver is relevancy) et al conceivably blackball sites that do not reach a minimum standard? We’ve already seen many discussions on W3C compliance and how it does or does not effect your rankings, so is it that big a leap to completely denying visibility. I think not!

Clearly only time will tell how and when change will come, when it does agencies need to be in a position to respond. They need to know and act fast, hence the reason continual testing helps you understand your traffic and conversions it will also keep you abreast of the changes within the world of search.

The Bottom Line: Stay on top of your Digital Marketing effort, use every resource available to stay informed and keep testing!

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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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Darryl explains: “The formal qualification is an extension of the experience and knowledge I had already gained from running Adwords campaigns for our clients over the course of several months, which can be used to demonstrate my personal knowledge of the programs.  Now, with better understanding as a result of this training, I can run client and company campaigns even more effectively.”

Google Adwords is Google’s advertising program, allowing users to create simple and effective adverts online and display them to people already searching for information related to the advertiser’s business – effectively placing relevant adverts in front of the relevant people.

Creative Director Director at RT Media, Ross Thornley, commented:  “While we have been able to offer Adwords campaigns for a while, we believe in providing the best possible service for our clients, actively encouraging further learning and continued professional development of all our team. The great thing about this qualification is that it is very ‘hands-on’, requiring Darryl to run an Adword campaign alongside taking the examination in order to qualify, demonstrating his capability.  We congratulate Darryl on his success; we are already utilising his expertise to complement our clients’ ongoing and forthcoming campaigns to give them that essential competitive edge in the online marketplace.”

As would be expected, the training and examination took place online via the Adwords Learning Centre, which uses a special testing program and blocks access to other programs while the exam is taking place.

The examination, entailing 120 exam questions over the course of two hours with a minimum 85% pass rate, was in addition to managing and maintaining at least one existing Google Adwords campaign during a 90 day period.

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So you may be thinking, as I’m sure quite a lot of Facebook’s almost 500 million registered users are, what exactly is going on?

Not so long ago Facebook changed their privacy settings to allow users granular access to their privacy settings, to control exactly who can see what, when, where and in what context. Personally I thought this was a marvelous idea, and the first thing I did was set everything to private. Job done, straightforward and spelled out for you there in black and white.

Unfortunately this spelled trouble for people who found the level of control to be overwhelming and confusing, and after a few privacy gaffes (including a few choice comments from Mark Zuckerberg himself) and millions of users threatening to delete or abandon their accounts, Facebook have caved to the pressure and are rolling out a simpler, one click approach to privacy controls. But what exactly does this mean?

- There is now the equivalent of a big red flashy button. Facebook explains: “A new simple control makes it easy to share on Facebook with friends, friends of friends or everyone—all with just one click. The corresponding settings are immediately applied and displayed in an easy-to-understand grid.”

So there you have it, to change your privacy levels, one click. Bang, and you’re done.

- Fortunately (at least from my point of view) the granular privacy access controls will remain as an option. These now appear on a single page in your settings panel and any changes apply account wide, from your wall to any applications you might use Facebook connect with. This applies to all your information. Perfect for those that like to control (and don’t mind taking responsibility for) their own privacy settings.

- The amount of information that is available on your profile, such as gender, age, job, relationship status etc will be reduced and is also controllable by the end-user.

- Facebook pages will “have privacy settings that work for both ends of the connection”. Meaning that you can now hide what pages you like from friends and connections, and also on the fan box on the pages themselves.

- You can now opt out of your information sharing on platform applications.

Following the raging debates and heated threats to leave Facebook a ghost town, the much demanded privacy settings are in the here and now. It’s difficult to strike a balance when simplicity and yet total control are your end goals, and time will tell whether this will be enough to calm the storm of angry users. Hopefully they can now go back to Farmville and Mafia Wars safe in the knowledge that their private information remains just that: private.

But then, is anything ever really private on the internet?

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GetShaking was brought about via the concept of people shaking hands by way of an introduction. This is, in essence, what social media allows people to do far more effectively than real-world, cross-globe travels to meet and introduce yourself.

We have a dedicated team of passionate, motivated and highly experienced marketing professionals who care about getting the right result for you! From email and internet marketing, to design and copywriting, through web development and strategic consultancy, GetShaking are the people that will help you fulfil your social media management and email marketing, ensuring success. We’d rather you went away with too many ideas and action points than not enough, because we know that communication coupled with an understanding of your business requirements are vital in getting the right marketing mix for you. We believe in marketing that builds relationships. Our focus is on your strategy and the ongoing support of that, because we know that short-term activity might get the quick sale or result, but it won’t maintain the result or lead to sustainable success or business growth.

In keeping with our unique and effective offering, E-Bob, GetShaking’s purple-faced character was developed by our in-house illustrators.

We currently have a diverse cross section of clients who are enjoying full success from our work on their internet presence. From established solicitors to experienced car body maintenance companies, all our GetShaking clients have committed to ongoing contracts as they have seen rapid results from the work we have undertaken for them.

Are you engaged in online marketing but don’t know if you have reached your maximum potential? For a limited time only, we are offering a free audit. We will look at your current online activity and evaluate the positives and highlight where there is room for improvement. The audit comes with no obligation – but will ultimately help you making the right decisions for your future activity.

Visit www.GetShaking.co.uk for more information and to arrange your free audit.

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When C4L gave us the challenge of creating a new brand in 7 days we said “let’s go”.

With Bournemouth set to have super fast internet via fibre optic cables, our client C4L, (the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 company) were keen to make their mark. The brief to create a new brand for this new super fast broadband service was not only tight in deadline but it also has an increadibly competitive landscape. Entering into the market where big fish like BT, Virgin Media and SKY are fighting for customers, we needed to box clever.
With the in-house teams shortlist of names; BEAR, BULLET and JUCIE broadband we first knew a name could make or break this brave new business launch.

Following an evening workshop with Ross Thornley, the South’s branding expert innovator led them through a process and into a market changing name. It was his plan to create a whole new category for the internet connection. Enter FIBREBAND, no longer will users be looking for broadband providers if they wish to experience the unimaginable speeds fibre optic cables offer, they will be asking for FIBREBAND.
This ticked so many boxes from protectability, multi lingual understanding, domain name availability and word defining opportunities.

We are proud to show the value of expert innovation coupled with great design principles will ensure the best possible chances of success.

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We are bombarded by so many messages each day, most of which are blotted out by our tired brains or just ignored. That is why it is so important to forge meaningful connections, relevant to the target and encouraging participation. The flexibility to respond when you sense that the market is moving in a different way is essential, instead of bobbing along with the flotsam.

A very interesting speaker, Phil Crowther, explained that events (be it a concert, a public show or a party), which are high risk, were also high opportunity. Why? Because they creatively engaged with the target audience, encouraged participation and were voluntary. That does not mean there is no strategic direction, on the contrary it is as structured as all the other marketing routes. A good event is designed with objectives and evaluation in mind, however, that is often where the problems arise.

An event needs to be integrated into an existing marketing and branding strategy, not isolated, but included in the strategic direction. When that is successfully accomplished the risk is reduced, without reducing the opportunity.

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CPA is primarily used for e-commerce websites, where it is much easier to track your “customers journey” from landing page to checkout confirmation page.

At TFM&A 2010 there was some interesting new ideas surrounding the usage of CPA in AdWords. Traditionally, CPA is used in addition to a normal advertising campaign to help drive potential customers to the site and convert them. Now though, some companies have been looking at using a CPA only approach with managed campaigns.

This is normally handled through an agency who can take the time to apply their knowledge to the situation. This starts with an agreed retainer with the actual costs for the advertisements ultimately coming out of the agencies pocket and an agreed number of acquisitions within a time period. The agency can then take this information and apply it to the campaign, starting off with the AdWords recommended CPA.

This can really go either way, with a set retainer and the agency actually paying for the ads it is then up to them to grow, nurture and evolve the campaign in a specific way to drive up the quality score of the advertisements whilst simultaneously reducing costs to them. This normally results in a loss, at least in the short term, while they build it up.

The ultimate goal is to reach a stage where the costs for each acquisition are below the retainer amount, meaning that a profit is being made and the client is receiving their agreed number of sales.

Over all, this is quite a risky method to use when stacked against normal CPC campaigns and it won’t work for everyone depending on the type of business but can have significant benefits. With more and more people turning to CPC advertising (AdWords specifically) and the newly announced advertising on YouTube pages the face of online advertising is changing rapidly and is set to grow even more over the next few years.

Will you be on board?

Interested in online advertising but don’t know where to start? Contact us at info@rtmedia.com for more information about what we can do for your business

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- Firstly, the message must not be altered
- Secondly, if the message arrives at the final person unaltered, you win cash

Sounds easy? What if I tell you that if the message isn’t letter-perfect when it arrives, you owe me cash? Not sounding so good? Sadly though it is a common scenario. So many designers and agencies don’t communicate job statuses or latest progress accurately to each other… or the client. Communication is the key. That, and knowing what levels of communication to give to which people. Some people want an email to acknowledge their email, some people want to be left alone and told when the job is done. Some people need to be told about each change that is made, some people find out themselves.

The point is this: we are constantly passing ‘messages’ to each other, status updates on projects or latest files for a job. Keeping on top of these things is crucial, one day the message might not arrive intact, and you might not win the cash!

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Consider this – perceptions of your brand that exist within the four walls of your office may not be totally (or at all) aligned with those held by your customers. That’s right. Your brand identity not only exists on your business cards, website or brochure, but also in the mind of the consumer.

It is frightening to think that consumers may interpret your brand in their own very subjective manner, but at the same time, this realisation should also be seen as an opportunity to re-discover the various (and often unexpected) meanings attached to your brand, adapt your communications accordingly, and ultimately reap the rewards of becoming a business who truly knows their audience.

So how do you discover how your customers make sense of your brand?

In short, you ask them.

Qualitative research, principally involving focus group discussions and in-depth interviews, can be an extremely useful strategic tool for businesses of all sizes. Research is vital, and here are a few reasons why:

•    Provides a forum to explore and extrapolate ideas, which can act as an effective springboard to make your visions a reality.

•    Enables you to drill down and understand the specific needs of your different market segments, providing a creative environment for consumer optimisation.

•    Enables you to fully understand reactions to your marketing materials and packaging; identifying strengths, weaknesses, and uncovering any previously unmet needs of your customers.

•    Helps you make informed business and marketing decisions, with confidence.

•    Protects you from completely ‘missing the point’ with your brand communications, ensuring that you build a brand that strikes resonance with your target market.

Above all, it simply makes sense that a strong and current picture of your consumers’ mindset should underpin the strategic and creative process of building and maintaining a brand. You wouldn’t create a gourmet meal with your eyes closed would you? Well, you might try, but you would probably end up getting burnt.

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#tfma is the UK’s only integrated marketing event and delivers all the latest industry insight, trends and developments giving the perfect blend for truly integrated marketing & advertising campaigns. All 10 staff have chosen their seminars and keynotes to attend and we will be looking forward to the day of learning.

Check this post throughout the day for our live video feeds below. We aim to record snippets every hour or so, and with the chat feature direct on the live video feed you will be able to interact with us too!

If you want to find out how you can stream live video from a smart phone, integrate it real time on your blog plus feed straight to twitter, facebook and YouTube then contact us tomorrow when we are back!

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This year, businesses are going all out to make a song and dance of the season, some quite literally. Even the world of confectionary has listened to consumer trends and included "Tweet me" as a new message on the American version of Loveheart sweets, Sweethearts

Amongst the many distinctly average attempts to create innovative ways of taking advantage of the day, I found a few gems:

The American greetings card company, amgreetings, has set up a daily Twitter contest in the run up to Valentine’s day, for its’ followers to produce the best romantically themed post. The winners are announced daily and have been winning up to $350 each. A costly use of the ‘free’ marketing tool, but they have certainly boosted their customer interactions.

Hallmark has created a line of Augmented Reality (AM) greetings cards. These are like regular paper cards, but when the image on the front of the card is held up to a webcam on a page on the Hallmark website it becomes a mini 3D animated world with sound and a fully rotatable stage. A bit of a gimmick? Perhaps. But a unique way to tell that special someone how you feel. See it in action here.

And of course, the iPhone has produced an impressive selection of the latest Valentine’s apps. The best of the bunch include virtual kisses that take an imprint of your lips and send it on, voice personalised e-greetings cards and even a two-person fingerprinting tool that can ‘accurately’ analyse the feelings between you and your loved one.

Who said romance was dead?

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As a marketing graduate from the University of Exeter whose most recent role combined lecturing and research at Bournemouth University, Richard brings with him a thirst for digital technologies and a passion for all things brand and marketing.

Having previously completed a Graduate Training Scheme at a global consumer research agency in London where he worked with a range of FMCG, media and public sector clients, Richard is extremely excited about the prospect of nurturing brands and growing businesses with RT Media.

Welcome aboard Richard.

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Traditionally these would come in the form of a barcode card, key fob or printed coupons. These schemes offer a combination of rewards and recognition, in order to drive up sales and customer retention rates. Credit card companies are notorious for their offers, with the majority now handing out flight miles, cash back, credit points and prizes if someone makes a purchase on the card. Through this, the idea is that they are helping the customer to stretch their budget that little bit further and keep them coming back for more.

Despite this, almost half of people still do not participate in these loyalty programs. And only half of those again are actively using them. So why is that? Could it be that most reward schemes come down to only one thing: freebies? As the concept has gained popularity over the last couple of decades it’s easy to see how it can be a double edged sword.

The problem is that it’s possible to get it wrong. While offering free stuff to customers the more they buy, an aggressive campaign could feel almost like a bribe, whereas a complicated system with different tiers and structures can only serve to confuse and confound the customer. Take Starbucks as an example:

My Starbucks Rewards

Last year, Starbucks introduced a Gold membership card. A customer could pay $25 dollars for a year membership, and in return they would get 10% off their purchases every time they went into Starbucks. For hardcore coffee drinkers this could equal some serious savings. The card would pay for itself in a matter of a month or two (or even a few weeks if you were a serious caffeine addict).

Now though the current economic climate, coupled with poor sales and stock drops down to over-expansion, Starbucks has had to reassess it’s approach. As of December 26th of last year the Gold card is being retired and replaced with My Starbucks Rewards.

Under this new scheme, customers can acquire a card and “activate” by loading currency of any denomination on to it in store or online and begin using  it immediately to purchase their hot cup of joe in the morning. For every purchase that is made, “stars” are accrued on the card. The more stars, the better the rewards. Rewards can range from a free birthday drink, free in-store wi-fi (2 hours per day), free beverage customization and free brewed coffee refills up to a free tall beverage and a personalized card.

There is even a limited test run for customers to use the “My Starbucks Rewards” iPhone app to pay for their drinks.

In some ways this is a brilliant tactical move. By using pre-paid cards or an app on a mobile, it helps customers to feel like they are not buying the drink, but rather they are owed it when they walk into the store. Like they are getting it for free. Instead of handing over money or fumbling with the pin for a debit or credit card, customers can breeze through the purchase process and be on their way. This ease of purchase should keep the flock coming back again, and shunning other competitor brands. Effectively cementing “The Starbucks Run” as part of the daily routine.

On the other hand, getting customers to part with their money online or in the store without taking away a tangible product could prove difficult. And with the various reward levels and perks it may be too much information for most customers to digest in the short space of time they in are in store. Buying coffee is an express transaction with most people in a rush to wake themselves up and get back to the office, so convincing them to take the time, listen, understand and ultimately decide on it may prove to be the thorn in Starbucks’ side.

And if it falls to the baristas to make the pitch and case to the customer. Will it end up being a case of sacrificing customer experience in return for a chance at dedication?

It could go either way for Starbucks as only time will tell if their gamble will pay off. That said they have taken an interesting approach with the iPhone app as a medium for delivering rewards and express payment. This is still a relatively new concept, still unexplored by most companies but with a world of infinite possibility.

Motorola recently launched their “Mobile Loyalty Solution” which allows retailers to digitize their subscription and membership services, which is then saved onto a mobile phone. Through this platform a consumer can carry around all their membership details with them 24/7, and can receive updates and notifications of special offers, deals and newly released products. No information as to what platforms it will function on yet, except that they say it will be available on “the majority of mobile phones in the U.S. market today”.

Yowza!! have taken a similar approach, but purely with coupons wrapped up in an iPhone app. Yowza!! uses the GPS and 3G (and to a lesser extent the Wi-Fi on the iPod Touch) functionality  of the iPhone to pin point your location, then presents on a map nearby stores that have offers or coupons available. All the customer needs to do then is take their phone in, show the cashier the coupon and receive their reward.

All of these are geared purely to drive sales under the guise of saving money, and in today’s technology-centric world it’s surely the way forward. But with a bigger and bigger push on maintaining customer dedication the question has to be asked:

Is your loyalty up for sale?

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Our talented team of 10 superstars has made sure we retained our clients whilst acquiring new ones that fit our strategic model. We’ve branded and launched 16 companies, re-branded 8 businesses, built 35 websites, produced 8 promotional videos including filming across Europe, we have continued to be the strategic marketing department and partner for 6 growing businesses, run a brilliant public vintage fayre, worked over 16,000 hours, drunk over 5,900 mugs of coffee & green tea, sent over 16,200 emails (not campaigns just day-to-day messages) ran 29 workshops for about 150 people, presented to more than 100 young entrepreneurs, shot over 13,000 photographs, and spent more than 2,000 hours on Facebook! And had a lot of fun doing it all!

We do what we do because we love it and we’re damn good at it! We like to be challenged and valued. We get stuck in and deliver results; we like freedom and learning and strive to be the best in our world.

But do you know what made my year? Reading this…

“I would just like to thank you and your whole team for the level of service, commitment, attention to detail and timely actions that you have all taken to give ooops.net limited that paradigm shift required of a business entering its eighth year of trading. As you know we are a five strong team at this moment in time and with your continued help I am sure within the year we will be an eight strong team! I am impressed with RT Media’s integrity; each and every member of your team are free to say what they think, to express themselves with a zealous passion for putting us first. This ensures we know we are getting the whole truth and nothing but the truth – important to winning! You are like an honest “coach” and “mentor” to us. I am impressed with RT Media’s creativity, I know it is your pre-requisite but there are a great many of your competitors out there that are not! I am impressed with RT Media’s strategic vision, able to see beyond the horizon, helping us let go of the shore! Ensuring we don’t waste money now, saving for the opportunities that will give the greatest return on investment in future. An example of this is our stopping of our Press advertising and moving into Social Media that is FREE! All in all – I’m as chuffed as nuts with you all!”
Paul Booker – Founder of ooops.net limited

Well done to the whole team for a year to remember. I am looking forward to making 2010 even better.

Thanks to all who take the time to think of us, work with us and recommend us.
Ross.
Founder & Creative Director.

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While failing to optimize your site will not necessarily exclude you from search results on websites like Google, Bing etc it goes along way to making the process smoother and more efficient. The search engine bots that crawl the net can see the website metadata as well as the page contents, giving your pages and results more context and better relevancy. It also gets your website on there much more quickly so people can start stumbling upon you!

SEO isn’t just for new websites either. Pretty much any website could be improved SEO wise in at least one way. Much like the Aldridge Brownlee website that the team recently worked their magic on.

Background

Aldridge Brownlee Solicitors LLP, established in 1929, is one of the larger firms in the Bournemouth district, with three offices in Bournemouth and one in Highcliffe and some 80 persons in the firm altogether. The firm advises both private and commercial clients and can assist on Legal Services Publicly funded work where appropriate.

RTMedia recently re-branded, re-designed and re-built the AldridgeBrownlee.co.uk from the ground up with all new content. This presented an opportunity for the team to come in and, with what was essentially a blank canvas, optimize the new website for better organic search results.

The team first broke down the site on a page-by-page basis to determine optimal keywords, descriptions and phrases to use that would be most relevant to the content. With this completed, a request was submitted to Google, Bing and other search engines to send crawler bots to the website to index the website.

With the help of RTMedia the Aldridge Brownlee website and individual landing pages has moved up in the ranks quite substantially. Over the past few months since the process was started we have seen an average increase of five places with the majority of the chosen keywords now displaying Aldridge Brownlee as the top result.

As an example, a search for “commercial solicitor Bournemouth” previously resulted in a listing that was half way down the first page. After the SEO tweaks it now shows as the highest organic search result.

During November alone, AldridgeBrownlee.co.uk started to appear on Google, Bing and Yahoo under 17 new keywords. Including the much sought after “personal injury solicitors” search returns. And then in December it moved up a further four places to the second organic search result.

This will continue over time, and every few weeks we are seeing increases and new keyword result additions where there was previously no sign of Aldridge Brownlee.

Here at RT we don’t just build websites, we optimize and fine tune their performance, ensuring a great experience for both client and visitor. Not to mention the future success of your website.

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This is a really important realization for many clients and indeed agencies. Having designed countless websites, logos, brands and custom software it is important to know what exactly you are buying.
The following is an exert we obtained from one of the South’s leading law firms who specialise in these matters…

“If you have paid someone to design your website, logo, or brochure or create software for you, it is not unreasonable to assume that the copyright in the end product belongs to you. However, this will not be the case unless you obtained the designer’s express agreement to this when you commissioned the work.

If you haven’t obtained the designer’s agreement to the copyright passing to you, all you have is a licence to use the website, logo, brochure or software.

This may be all that you need, but it might become a problem if you want to sell the business or authorise someone else to use your “property” or get someone else to develop or change what you already have. The original designer can stop you unless you have his agreement, which will normally comes at a price.

Action Points
It is essential to ensure that you get the designer to agree that you will own the copyright at the time you negotiate the terms of the engagement.”

Add this to the T&C’s of an agency and you can easily become confused as to who owns what and where you stand. Reading the T&C’s of any supplier is essential however this is often overlooked as business is regularly done on trust. However lack of understanding from a client or the reluctance of an agency to explain exactly what is being bought and sold is not a valid excuse.

Website source code also remains the copyright of the agency unless written agreement has been agreed. Also this licence to use the source code like any goods remain the sellers property until full payment has been received as is the same with any designed product from a logo to a brochure.

So please be careful that you are aware of what you are purchasing when commissioning a design agency to build you logo, website and materials, that if you require more than a licence and wish to own the copyright then make sure you have the agreement and costing outlined at stage one.

As the South’s leading branding agency we are committed to helping consumers understand what they are buying from agencies and not only to be aware of this but work in partnership with them to build brands with value, success and integrity.

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