A team at Oi have been busy over the last few months working on a large branding project for Collins Stewart Wealth Management to integrate the Anderson Charnley investment business they acquired.

After extensive research it was decided to re-brand the Anderson Charnley business to the 360° Service from Collins Stewart Wealth Management. The the 360° proposition encapsulates the fact that the Service provides clients an all-encompassing approach to managing their wealth, backed by a long-term strategy tailored to personal lifestyle goals. Provided by experienced planning and investment professionals the 360° Service aims to give more clarity and control over personal finances and puts clients, with a total net worth in excess of £1million, in the driving seat of their financial future and lifestyle.

By selecting very unique photography we were able to reinforce the 360° concept and how the Service looks at all aspects of a high net worth client’s personal lifestyle goals. From creation of the identity to all other marketing communications material we focused on creating a strong theme to brand this sophisticated service.

Brochures were finished with high specifications including quality stocks, metallic inks, and spot varnishes. Big, striking images with the special 360° effect were incorporated as much as possible.

We also spent considerable time to produce a perfect bound A5 book full of case studies emphasising how the 360° Service has benefited different profiled clients.

The website www.collinsstewartwealth.com/360 features more 360° imagery, case studies, literature section, and will be further developed in the coming months, to include interactive tools and literature section.

An all round great project to work on, and develop going forward.

We were challenged with creating a 20 second ad which would get across the store’s range without showing specific products. Also, it had to integrate closely with Aladdin’s Cave’s creative theme this year.

What we came up with is a fun, quirky ad and a bit of a homage to Bob Dylan. Produced with the guys at Channel TV and filmed in-store and using the ever-friendly staff as the stars, we think we’ve come up with a memorable little Easter ad that really captures the character of Aladdin’s Cave.

It was great fun to film so, finger’s crossed, you’ll get to see a few more of these over the course of the year.

You might find this surprising but Barbie is a bigger tech-geek than all of Oi Digital put together; which is pretty geeky. But even we were surprised when she came in to the studio this morning surfing Vogue.com on her new Apple iPad.

Paper hates to be written on. It must do, because whenever we’re struck with a noteworthy brainwave or have a voicemail with an 80-digit phone number to remember – all the paper within a fifty metre radius has got together, dug a tunnel and escaped to Switzerland.

That’s why all of the most important information in the world is not stored in high-security databases or neat filofaxes and filing cabinets but is scribbled on tissues, over crumpled receipts and across biro-stained hands. Until now – and the invention of Ideapaint.

Ideapaint is a whiteboard in a pot. Paint it anywhere to create a wipe-clean surface ready for coloured pen scribbling. Now walls, which – let’s face it – were previously only good for stopping the floors floating away, can be transformed in to huge and permanent note pads, ideas sketchbooks and creative doodle spots or, as the website puts it, a ‘collaboration hub’.

I’m all for painting every flat surface we have here at Oi Towers so that no idea goes unloved. Although it may take a little work to convince clients that their new logo is ready to go and can be approved about 2 metres left of the lightswitch, underneath the clock.

Find out more at their – nicely designed – website here.

A great little ad for Eurostar popped up on my web travels yesterday. Quirky, attention grabbing and, thankfully, far from a photo of Buckingham Palace or the London Eye.

It reminded me of an in-house ad we did several months ago. At the time there was some debate about the, ahem, metaphor – but hey, if it’s good enough for Eurostar…

Here’s the “New ideas, made with love” ad we produced:

Perhaps you’ve spent the last several weeks with superglue in your ears and lying unconscious at the bottom of a mineshaft full of cotton wool – somewhere on Mars. If so, then you’re probably the only human left who hasn’t heard: Michael Jackson died.

The King of Pop’s final curtain-call came as a surprise to most of us, apart, it seems, from the tribute documentary makers who, within 12 minutes of the shaky LA ambulance videos being aired, had rustled up enough memorial TV reminisces to fill a couple of weeks worth of broadcasting…

For weeks – do you remember? – Jackson filled every channel, newspaper and magazine. In the deluge I kept seeing Jackson’s 1983 performance of Billy Jean where he unleashed the moonwalk on to a gasping crowd. It’s a great piece of footage, a be-gloved Jackson waggles his leg then snaps his ankles through right angles (these are all technical dancing terms) and, suddenly, he’s defying nature itself by sliding backwards while walking forwards. The crowd go so wild you can hear their eyes popping out. This isn’t the original but it’s a brilliant example of MJ doing the move:

Any life skill that makes it look like the laws of physics are melting is ok by me, and so, as a testament to the late, great Michael Jackson – I decided to learn how to do it. Or at least try.

A Two Sentence History of the Moonwalk.
Michael Jackson popularised the move but didn’t invent it. The ‘backslide’ has been around since the thirties at least and was a favourite of mime lord Marcel Marceau.

Learning the Moonwalk.
YouTube is, of course, packed with tutorials and tips. I started off with this one. While you’re practising you can get some inspiration from watching Obama’s moonwalk, or, strangely, a dog – possibly with worms – doing it too:

Two good tips if you want to learn too: Start off in socks on your kitchen floor, and never, ever tell anyone at work or you’ll end up on the work blog and YouTube yourself.

This part one of my learning curve. Depending on how quick I learn, this could turn into a very long series…

I think this is genius. Sara Watson, a Bristol art student, set out to make her car invisible by camouflaging it in to the surroundings. What looks like some clever Photoshop work actually took three weeks of painstaking, real-world painting – amazing…

Surely this could be the starting point for a whole new way to disguise all those eyesores that litter our landscape. How about ‘invisible’ recycling bins at Vazon? Transparent building sites? With a bit of imagination maybe we could get rid of Frossard House too?

Any ideas of what we should camouflage? Drop a comment below. 

Originally from The Telegraph, here.

Chartered Institute of Marketing Direct Marketing Awards

Offshore International Group was proud to pick up the CIM Direct Marketing Award 2006.

Praxis Group

“Offshore International Advertising worked closely with us to understand the Group’s values, culture and needs. They created a strong positioning statement and a simple yet compelling recruitment campaign – a fit with the Praxis Group and our target audiences that produced excellent results.”

Elaine Purdy, Senior Manager Marketing

Investec Asset Management

“We have been using Offshore International Direct since 2006 for the production and mailing of report and accounts. They have always delivered to a high standard and we have been extremely pleased with the service we have received.

We work to very tight deadlines but they are always more than willing to help us when things don’t go quite to plan! The staff are extremely obliging and helpful and go out of their way to assist us and keep us informed of how they are progressing with our work.”

Debbie Pattimore