great balls of wool

Hell-raiser Courtney Love, non-conformist Tilda Swinton, oddball artist David Shrigley and... erm, Janet Jackson...?  It sounds like someone's warped idea of a celebrity dinner party.  Now add to the mix the guest host who happens to be a 195-year old Scottish knitwear luminary and the bizarre becomes intriguing.

This is the picture that Pringle of Scotland has been painting to help launch its 2010 collections.  From Courtney and Janet front row at the LFW shows to Tilda fronting the overall campaign and Shrigley's animation that has ruffled some wool among the fashion set; they've all pulled out the stops to support Scotland's oldest knitwear brand.

A lesser known fact is that LEWIS and Pringle worked together for 25 years over the 70s and 80s which included battling through a major recession and living the Nick Faldo ‘glory days'.  We decided to give LEWIS's founder, Ray Lewis, a call to get his opinion on the current hype surrounding Pringle and what it was like to work with the brand way back when...

Pringle is currently receiving a lot of press attention at the moment, why do you think that is?

Opinions will vary and experts will dissect strategies to prove why any one brand is flavour of the month.  Sure, throw money at the press and they will bite but it has to have substance.  I feel that it may be this depression which has created a consumer need for security and reliability.  In a world where banks are the bad guys and high street names are disappearing, maybe the thought of a brand that has survived previous depressions is worth backing.  If it also has a new name designer and a product which is fit for purpose in today`s high street then, why not Pringle? 

How did we strike up a relationship with Pringle in the beginning?

This isn't as exciting as it could have been.  No big research project or major presentation of ideas.  I worked for the marketing department of the group which owned Pringle, Dawson International.  Working closely with their sales team, I formatted marketing support material and liaised with their London advertising agency.  This was short-lived because of a major recession which hit the knitwear industry in Scotland; the group's marketing department was scrapped and all the staff made redundant.  Fortunately for me, I kept good relations with Pringle.  Knowing that they had no one to look after their marketing and advertising, I offered my services and this gave birth to LEWIS the agency.

When LEWIS worked with Pringle, what was their vision for the future?

Over the years that we worked with them, it was apparent that they believed ‘Pringle the Brand' could sell anything and, to that end, the company ventured into branding non-core products - everything from watches to Faldo aftershave.  The glory years for Pringle were during that Nick Faldo endorsement period which elevated Pringle's status to brand leader of golf apparel but it still had, as it has now, a belief that it could also be a fashion brand.  Over the years we worked on numerous corporate imaging campaigns which tried to create a distinction between its fashion range and its golf image.  In the 25-year relationship, LEWIS saw numerous CEOs and Marketing Directors lead Pringle down many paths.  Now here we are, looking at a Pringle that is promoting its heritage and telling its market that ‘knitwear can be fashionable'.  Very ‘déjà vu'.

25 years is a long working relationship by any means, we must've been doing something right...right?

Often when a client company changes marketing direction, everything that went before becomes old hat and the new broom needs to be seen to take the lead in vision.  This happened countless times over the years while we were involved with Pringle.  Why did they keep using us?  The answer now seems simple - reliability, product knowledge, unrivalled service, continuous creativity, market awareness, innovative production, exceptional technical knowledge and unrivalled account management.  Every director and manager knew that if they had a problem with anything relating to marketing, design, advertising or print, I would be there to solve it for them.  Many times we were told that a new advertising agency or hotshot design studio had been appointed.  They came and went but we stayed.

Are there any particular projects that spring to mind that were truly innovative or special?

Without a doubt, the most innovative and of measurable client benefit was our development of a unique printed colour-correct swatch system.  This system meant that material sales swatches and garments didn't need to be produced.  As you can imagine, this saved the client thousands of pounds and at the time LEWIS was the only company that had this technology.  We sweated tears and had many sleepless nights trying to perfect the system but it held good and eventually we sold it to other knitwear and associated manufacturers.  The swatch system paid off for LEWIS with Burberry and we eventually stationed a member of staff at their London knitwear design office.

In your opinion, what do you think lies ahead for the brand?

Today, Pringle needs to show the world markets that wool is cool and that it can attract the most innovative designers to create fashionable garments that boast the Scottishness of their manufacture.  We are coming through the barrier of cheap clothing.  Sure, there will always be a market for it but brands like Pringle must remove themselves from that position and put out a clarion call to the middle market which is ready to embrace real quality.  Aspiration is also the name of the game as it was in the past when to wear a Pringle said that you understood the value of quality and the craftsmanship that was inherent in its product. Scotland is not a developing nation with slave labour and sweat shops, it is a nation of tradition and of proud people who in the past built wonderful ships, gave the world whisky and, of course, gave women the twin-set. 

stephen minns

In the early days, Stephen Minns's interest in a design career was fuelled by a passion for record sleeve art.  As alluring as the music business may be, Stephen soon learnt that there's more to design than the latest album cover.  Now a skilled expert in imaging and identity creation for clients, his ten year experience in industry means that your brand will always look great - whether you're a rock star or not!

"Art is ... Mount Ventoux."

LEWIS to create order in court

Scottish Court Service appoints LEWIS to create website for the Scottish Judiciary.

LEWIS Creative Consultants, is delighted to announce that following a successful tender process, the agency has been invited by the Scottish Court Service to develop a public-facing website for the Scottish Judiciary.

The digital team at LEWIS will be working closely with the Scottish Court Service to create a website that will appeal to multi-audience groups including journalists, students, clients and the public at large. 

It will be designed to give a valuable insight into the Scottish Judiciary, which will include detailed case studies, media releases, judicial biographies and judges' sentencing statements.  The site will also feature help and advice for anyone attending the High Court. 

Keen to project a more modern and approachable persona, the site will also include detailed ‘A day in the life of ...' features giving an insight into judges' responsibilities and daily tasks in court.

LEWIS takes a tumble

We've started blogging on Tumblr!  Go and check out our blog.  Essentially, it's our online scrapbook of inspiration, thoughts and things that we generally like.

According to their website, ‘Tumblr lets you effortlessly share anything. Post text, photos, quotes, links, music, and videos, from your browser, phone, desktop, email, or wherever you happen to be.'

There's currently over 3million people enjoying the benefits of this increasingly popular blogging platform.  It's really simple to use and we love it.  Why not set up your own account and take a tumble yourself!

on air with radio lollipop

Scott Walker and Angela Dolan joined the Radio Lollipop volunteers last night at Edinburgh's Sick Kids Hospital to help out during their daily show. 

Resident DJ, Graham Barr, invited the LEWIS pair to the Lollipop studio to promote the Run to France challenge which has been set up by David Lewis and Willie Fairhurst to raise money for Radio Lollipop.  During the two hour show, Scott and Angela spoke to the listeners about Run to France and also what it takes to carve a career in the creative industry.  They also had the chance to read out requests from patients in the wards and take part in a ‘guess the tune' quiz - Scott beat Angela by two points!

If you want to find out more about Run to France and how you can either take part or support the runners with sponsorship, then visit the website - http://www.runtofrance.com.

on your marks, get set, france!

David Lewis attended the Run to France launch yesterday, Wednesday 3rd February, with his running partners Willie Fairhurst of ECS and rugby ace, Scott Hastings.  The dynamic trio will be running 1120km - the same distance from Edinburgh to Paris - over the course of the year to raise money for Radio Lollipop.

Officially kicking off on Sunday 7^th February, the same day as the Scotland vs France 6 Nations Rugby match at Murrayfield, participants will have to clock up a total distance of 1120km in short runs across the year culminating concurrently with the 2011 France vs Scotland 6 Nations game in Paris. 

If you want to find out more about this mad-cap mission, follow the group on Facebook or Twitter or go the the Run to France site.

scott walker

You might wonder - what makes a thinker truly innovative?  In our opinion, it is someone who has the ability to look beyond the ordinary and see extraordinary potential.  Scott Walker, the creative visionary heading up the LEWIS digital design team, brings over 12 years experience designing, creative-directing and consulting on digital campaigns for high calibre clients.  His extraordinary thinking will ensure your brand, business goals and customer requirements are truly united online.

"People always remember me by ... my amazingly-shaped bald head."

paul macleod

If you ever made a flick book when you were young, you'll probably remember that buzz when you saw your collection of stick-men drawings come to life.  Senior Digital Designer, Paul MacLeod, has certainly come a long way since the days of flick books but he still experiences the same delight when he takes a design from its initial concept and brings it to life with special effects using the latest motion graphics software.

"If I was a cocktail, I'd be ... a Manhattan.  Gets the job done and tastes good!"

business gateway marketing toolkit

Earlier this year, Business Gateway decided to give Local Gateway managers greater control of their own local marketing activities.  Crucially, following this decision, Business Gateway had to provide the correct tools to ensure this was a successful venture; one that would support the 32 Scottish Local Authorities to successfully promote their services while preserving the integrity of the Business Gateway brand.

In response to the challenge, LEWIS Creative Consultants developed an indispensable online solution in the form of a password protected extranet.  Working with the client alongside their brand guardians, The Leith Agency, LEWIS developed the Business Gateway Marketing Toolkit which allows users to easily find information about the Business Gateway brand and guide them through its application throughout all marketing materials.

The Marketing Toolkit provides everything a local team needs to successfully promote Business Gateway services.  From complete information on brand guidelines to details of recent national marketing activity and providing downloadable logos.  Every useful tool is at the user's fingertips. 

However, the real innovative star in the Business Gateway's Toolkit is the Marketing Template Builder which allows users to create, amend, save and export their own bespoke marketing materials from a range of pre-designed templates.  This simple and intuitive procedure is complete in five easy steps. 

Step 1 - Selecting a format

Users select the type of material they want to create - a poster, leaflet and/or press advertisement. 

Step 2 - Selecting a size

Each user can choose from a range of size options for example an A5 leaflet or an A3 poster.

For press adverts, advertising spaces in key local publications were pre-booked spanning a six month period so LEWIS tailored the Marketing Toolkit to show the specification sizes relative to the publications in the user's local area.

Step 3 - Choosing a design

At this stage the user can choose from a wide selection of template designs. The designs reflect the Business Gateway brand and include an extensive range of photography and layout options. In total there are over 350 templates to choose from - offering something to meet any marketing objective.

Step 4 -Tailoring content

The templates include default text options to help local users of the site.  However, they can over-write this if they wish to create bespoke material which promotes services within their own local area.

Step 5 - Saving and publishing templates

Finally, the completed template can be saved and stored awaiting approval before exporting.  A copy of the template is automatically stored within the Marketing Toolkit's Content Management System while an alert message is sent to the Business Gateway Marketing team requesting that they access and approve the submitted marketing material.

The complex development techniques invested by LEWIS has ensured the Business Gateway Marketing Toolkit is a simple and intuitive tool that not only saves budget and time but also preserves their brand and helps to make the working day of its users that little bit easier.

The Toolkit has become a key channel allowing Business Gateway's Marketing Team to support the local areas and promote the ‘national' brand internally to local authority contacts and contractors.  It has received extensive positive feedback from Local Authority users.

“The Marketing Toolkit supports local flexibility and maintains control over local marketing material whilst at the same time protecting the Business Gateway brand values. It is a one stop communication shop that’s easy to use, succinct and relevant”

Brenda Burke

Business Gateway Manager

Renfrewshire Council. 

lightening the load

St Columba's Hospice based in Edinburgh works to improve the quality of life for people with progressive and far advanced disease and provides support for their families and carers.  To be able to provide this invaluable service, the Hospice relies upon voluntary income from its friends and supporters. 

Each year, at this time, the Hospice hosts the Light-a-Light ceremony in Edinburgh's Charlotte Square where a huge tree is filled with lights in memory of someone who can't be with their loved ones this holiday season.  Scott McBay, Kirsty Johnston and Angela Dolan went out to Tesco Corstorphine to help raise funds in aid of St Columba's Light-a-Light appeal.

What they did

Scott, Kirsty and Angela went to Tesco Corstorpine on Sunday 6^th December to help the St Columba's Hospice volunteer team sell baubles for the their Christmas tree which was positioned at the entrance of Tesco and also to help customers pack their bags at the checkouts.  Scott was nominated bauble seller (in fear of his poor packing skills!) while Kirsty and Angela were trusted to pack customers' bags at the checkout.

Highlight of the day

A really nice touch allowed customers to purchase a bauble and dedicate their own personal message to it so that they could remember a loved one. But by far the best part of the day was the genuine reaction from the public.  It goes to show how much of a following St Columba's Hospice has in Edinburgh and that it is a cause close to many people's hearts in the area.

Summing up

The team really enjoyed the day and hope that it helps to get St Columba's Hospice a little closer to their final target.

The St. Columba's Hospice Tree of Remembrance will remain lit in Charlotte Square until January 6^th, you can still dedicate a light on the tree by calling 0131 551 1381 or by donating on line.

scottish provident online life matrix

Scottish Provident approached LEWIS to digitise their Life Matrix support tool which helps IFAs identify business opportunities through providing useful customer segmentation information and downloadable approach letters that IFAs can send to their existing and potential clients.  Previously only available in CD format, LEWIS worked with Scottish Provident to develop the Life Matrix tool improving its visual appeal and usability while making it available online and on a handy USB stick.  Now, Financial Advisers have constant access to the online Life Matrix which features intuitive navigation and details useful information that supports their business development objectives.

oh christmas tree...

Christmas trees have seen many trends across the years and soon we'll no doubt ditch white fairy lights in favour of those 80s style multicoloured ones.  But there's one trend that LEWIS will be holding onto - buying our tree from Caring Christmas Trees.  They can be bought from various cities across Scotland including Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh.  Buying ours from Caring Christmas Trees means supporting Bethany's Winter Care Shelter in Edinburgh which provides shelter and food for homeless people in our city at a time when they need it most.

If you've not bought yours yet, we suggest you have a look at the Caring Christmas Trees website now.

12 days of free stuff

Did your father ever tell you that money doesn't grow on trees?  Handy as it would be, we have to agree with dad.  There are still plenty ways to keep your hard-earned pennies in your pocket with an abundance of free stuff waiting to be grabbed. 

In the traditional season of goodwill, LEWIS has scoured high and wide to bring the best free stuff to your table, starting with some great recommendations to take advantage of over the holiday period.

Film fanatics

Just when you thought you had to endure yet another repeat of Annie, E.T and the Morecambe and Wise Show, See Film First comes to the rescue.  A great site where if you register (for free), you not only get to see movies days before their official release but you don't have to spend a penny on the ticket either.  Another great movie resource is the Internet Movie Database which lists full details of every film you could ever imagine.  So the next time you're desperately trying to remember a certain Hollywood actor's name, you know where you need to go to find out!

Stuff your face (and your wallet!)

With all the gorging excess that happens throughout the festive season, make sure your shopping basket bulges without shrinking your wallet.  MySupermarket while it's not strictly something for nothing, it is a brilliant resource and easy-to-use site that will make sure you get the cheapest price on your weekly shopping.

It pays to give

Most of us choose to save our feet from pounding the high street in favour of online shopping.  If you've still got gifts to buy, don't even consider making another purchase until you've checked out Quidco, a website that pays cash directly to your bank if you buy items they recommend.  They're affiliated with every retailer you could possibly imagine and this year alone, Quidco will be putting over £35m back into member's bank accounts for the purchases they made.  It's time to start grabbing your portion of that share!

Play it again

Your Christmas party would be pretty dull without some great tunes.  Nowadays, there's a tonne of music on the internet for free and you don't even have to pinch it illegally!  If you haven't already, check out Last FM it's a really handy resource.  Spotify features an amazing selection of music that guarantees a great sing-a-long and jolly good fun but if you weren't one of the early birds, you didn't catch the musical worm.  Now you'll have to pay £9.99 a month unless you know how to get an invite for their free subscription which contains adverts about every 20 minutes or so.

Out and about

December is a time of fun with family and friends but after the New Year, socialising can seem a bit thin on the ground so why not register with Itison.  It's a social site that gets you onto all the best guestlists in your area.  Just pick your areas of interest; comedy, arts, festivals and bar or restaurant openings then watch the invites come flooding through your inbox.

Get your motor runnin'

If you fancy doing something a little bit wild in the New Year, why not try out a free session on a motorbike with Get On.  They'll even lend you a helmet and leathers!  It lasts about an hour and will give you a real feel of what biking is all about - then you can decide if it's for you.

Beat the system

Isn't it really annoying when you get charged silly money when you call 0870 or 0845 numbers?  Next time you're asked to dial a number that starts with either 0870 or 0845, search for its free counterpart at SayNoTo0870.  The site is run by its users so it's not the prettiest or most user-friendly but it does have plenty information so it's worth a go before you pay over the odds on your next phone call.

Dream desktop

For those who like everything in one place, why not sign up to Netvibes.  It's a free web service that brings together your favourite media resources and online services. Whether it's Twitter, BBC News or You Tube - everything that matters to you including blogs, news, weather, videos, photos, social networks, email and more is automatically updated every time you visit your page.

Foxy!

If you haven't converted from Internet Explorer to Firefox, you have to give it a go.  It is a fast, smart and safe way to surf the net.  Also, the vast range of add-ons available for download offer lots of handy tools to make your browsing a breeze.  Check out our article on Firefox Add-ons.  Say goodbye to I.E and download Firefox for free today!

Exterminate, exterminate

Printing web pages can sometimes end up using unnecessary amounts of paper especially when all you wanted to print was one little image.  This is when the Printliminator comes in really handy.  It's a great free tool you can use which only prints the particular areas of a web page you want.  It's simple to get started, just drag and drop onto your browser's toolbar then hover over the areas you want to eliminate, click and they disappear!

Be the first

Are you the type of person who likes to keep up with all things new?  Software packages are notoriously expensive but you can test drive the new Microsoft Office 2010 for free if you download the Beta version.  Only problem is, with lots of new features and tools, perhaps you won't want to live without it!

Choices aplenty

Another great tool to that puts you in touch with the latest software is Alternative To.  The website offers alternatives to the software you want to replace based on our user recommendations and by joining the site, you can participate in the process of making these recommendations better.

how to win consumer affection

Until recently, brands were seen to be controlled by the organisations that owned them.  While companies continue to clutch onto their status as brand guardians; the ultimate power has shifted somewhat to the voice of the consumer via social media.  Now a single consumer has the potential to air their opinion to an audience of millions whether through a personal blog, tweeting on Twitter or adding comment to other online articles.  Organisations not yet used to dealing with this dramatic shift have found themselves in hot water and it's often been caused by choosing to ignore this newly empowered voice.

In the midst of this newness, brands wondering how best to handle the change should perhaps recollect a quote by Sir Winston Churchill, "If you mean to profit, learn to please."  This poses the question, how do companies really please today's consumers?  It's true that the basics of traditional techniques still stand; form relationships, listen to your customers, respond relevantly, deal with complaints, give customers a little something extra.  What's critical now though is how to actually make these techniques work in today's marketplace.   

One of the genuine advantages of the social media explosion is that there are now loads more opportunities for companies to eavesdrop on what consumers are saying about their brand.  Judging the mood, assessing their needs, understanding their patterns of behaviour - suddenly it's all become that little bit easier.  This listening plays a vital part in knowing your audience.  However the 24-hour, global online conversation means that tolerable response times have diminished significantly.  What used to be an acceptable 24 hours might now require decisive action within the hour. 

To successfully take part in these online conversations, organisations need to become familiar with all the communications tools at their disposal and learn how to comfortably fuse old with new - a critical strategy depending upon the target audience.  Engaging with the audience and talking to them about their challenges, bugbears and preferences will give brands the confidence to deploy the perfect fusion of marketing communications at any given time.

And who said the art of conversation is dying?  It isn't dying, it's evolving.

predictions for 2010

What will be the key revelations to influence you and your business in 2010?  The team at LEWIS place their bets on just some of the things we expect next year -

You will pay for what they say

By the summer of 2007, smoking was totally banned in public spaces across the UK.  Many thought it wouldn't work and while there were those that opposed and a scattering of cynics who shook their heads, practically overnight the nation turned and smoking in pubs, at bus stops and even in work vehicles was a thing of the past.  But what has this got to do with paying for online content, you ask?  The same theory applies.  While there will be surfers who dodge boundaries to find free content elsewhere, in the near future most internet users who are seeking up-to-date, quality information will be prepared to make per-article-micropayments of around a couple of pence.

Read more about this in New Media Age's article which was published in late November.

The art of war

The endless battle between internet users and hackers will continue to intensify.  Legitimate users are becoming savvier about avoiding the pitfalls of phishing, scams and spam.  We've even enjoyed the satirical side, remember the Ugandan banker from FoneJacker?  While Firewalls and Anti-virus software is commonplace, users will need to be more diligent about safeguarding their accounts with secure passwords - good tips are to use different but memorable passwords for all your accounts and try to include upper case, lower case and numbers.  For more advice read these tips on creating a secure password  and the Which? Article that tells you how to stay safe online.

Mobile phones: The Rivals

This year, iPhones really have been the ‘must have' accessory.   For those of you who thought Google was simply your search engine of choice think again.  Not only did they launch their own browser in 2008, Google Chrome, to try and corner a share of Internet Explorer and Firefox's turf, they're also planning on building on their mobile phone presence by bringing a phone to the public domain that promises to rival iPhone's popularity.  While we guess that Apple will remain at the top of the iconic design stakes, Google's unprecedented software development expertise means their phone will no doubt be popular with the techy fans.

Welcome the Wi-Fi

Some lead, others follow.  Swindon Borough Council is planning for all its citizens to have total Wi-Fi coverage by April 2010.  The benefits being that line rental will be free and there will be no connection charge according to council officials.  Sounds like a brilliant offer but it will be interesting to see how reliable the connection is.  If it proves successful, we could see the scheme rolled out across the whole of the UK.  Bring it on!

And finally, if you wonder what the future will look like, watch this video by Microsoft.  They've received some flak for creating it among the industry, but you can make your mind up for yourself.

care for a cuppa?

Located in the North East of Edinburgh, Lifecare's Cottage Companion Club is situated in a cottage in the grounds of Queen's Bay Lodge.   The small, homely day centre offers specialist day care to people who have dementia living in the Portobello and surrounding areas of the city and helps support and their family and carers.  A team of four carers support ten clients.  LEWIS's Gillian and Nikki went out to help the group for an afternoon.

What they did

After lunch, the girls were taught by the Companion Club's clients how to play dominos and a slightly unusual (but far superior) way of playing scrabble.  They all sang Christmas carols and the girls also tried to help complete a crossword but were far too slow for the pros!

Highlight of the day

Apart from Nikki's solo performance of Bonnie Wee Jeannie McCall(!), it really made the girls' day to get a chance to speak to the clients and see how happy and stimulated they are.  And don't forget, they loved meeting all the great staff at Lifecare!

Summing up

Overall, they thought it was a brilliant afternoon spent with some really lovely people.  Nikki and Gillian said they would definitely love to go back for a visit to see the entire group again!

Lifecare thrives on donations and support so if dementia is a cause close to your heart, find out how you can help.

all men want ...

Get some gift-giving inspiration this Christmas for the guys from the guys at LEWIS -

1. If you're throwing a party at this time of year, crank up the fun factor by serving up your drinks in these ‘Pick your nose party cups' - Only £4.95 from Harlem UK.  If you're feeling especially wild perhaps the animal version will suit you better!  It really is one of the only times you're allowed to pick your own nose!

2. You're going to need something to fill those cups so why not make your own beer. With the Beer Machine Brew Master priced at £99.99, it's just like having your own pub at home - essential in-case you get snowed-in this winter. Cheers!

3. Keep warm whilst you drink your cold beer with the Lippi Selk sleep wear system. This wearable sleeping bag allows maximum mobility and can even hide any excess weight you may have gained from eating too many selection boxes. Available for £89.00.

4. If you like nothing more than a knitted masterpiece from your favourite granny then look no further than Christmas Jumper.  Available in a range of designs and colours with prices starting at £35.00, you can be the envy of all your friends this festive season.  Or you could buy it for your loved one and make them wear it on Christmas day!

5. Now you can eat and exercise at the same time. Dance like Bez from the Happy Mondays whilst seasoning your Brussels sprouts with these salt and pepper maracas. Mad-for-it!

6. If, like most, you over-indulge this year then perhaps it's time to get back in shape with a new bike. You can get a little help when the going gets tough with the Gocycle - the coolest and best-designed electric bike on the planet. Join the Gocyle-To-Work scheme to get your super bike for £50 per month or alternatively buy one for £1,198.  

7. After all the exercise you might want to chill out a while. Do it in style with the latest Air Multiplier fan from those clever guys at Dyson.  A mixture of the latest technology and great design, all for £199.99.

8. The pen is mightier than the sword and in this case the pen is a lot cleverer. The LiveScribe Pulse Pen records sound around you as well as recording what you write so it you can replay it all on your PC or Mac. Perfect for your thank you letter to Santa. Available from Amazon for £119.99.

9. Calling all secret agents - the must-have LG GD910 Watchphone is available exclusively from Orange in the UK www.orange.co.uk for £499.99. Rating highly on the gadget-o-meter, this comes with built-in speaker, stereo Bluetooth, 2GB of storage and a camera for video calls. Very James Bond.

10. Never fear, when you have to leave your toys and drag yourself back to the office you can still combine work and play with this Transformers USB Flash Drive only available from the U.S. at the moment for $44.99 (about £28.00). Adding a little fun back at work so you can banish the January blues.

all women want ...

The girls at LEWIS have put their wishlist together to give you inspiration for gift-giving this Christmas - 

1. Wool and the Gang gives you all the tools to knit your own snood (£69)  Or, for the crafty souls in the family, if this is a bit out of your price range why not steal the idea and work on your wrapping skills to make the present seem equally as special? K1 Yarns in Edinburgh and Glasgow is a great little haven for the wannabe knitters among us. If knitting your own is just too much like hard work this Aubin and Wills Snood (£120) is particularly nice.

2. For ladies who do afternoon tea! From tea at the Ritz to tea at a top local hotel, it's something to be savoured.  Afternoon Tea Guide provides a list of possible venues and prices. Prices vary, but usually from £20 a head.  

3. Looking for a present for your other half, bestest mates or the mother-in-law? Why not make a book of all the fun times and happy moments you've shared together? Photobox gives you a step-by-step guide to creating the perfect DIY pressie (from £28.99).

4. It's official, grey is the new black! Try the Nails Inc version called ‘The Thames' (£10.50) or Barry M's 'Grey' (£2.95) are the perfect varnishes for this trend.  Watch the clouds roll in.

5. For those who love doggies and style get Dogs in Vogue (around £20 from Amazon).

6. Party like it's no longer 2009 with this gorgeous Bowers and Wilkins Zeppelin Mini speaker for your iPod or iPhone, £299 from Apple, John Lewis and approved B&W dealers.  The Zeppelin Mini was developed with exactly the same acoustic engineering principles as Bowers & Wilkins who used to make the speakers in the control room of Abbey Road Studios.

7. Never be late again for that all important waxing/premiere/date with this funky watch (£140 from Harvey Nichols).

8. For some ultimate luxury sparkle, how about anything by Lara Bohinc, we'd prefer the bag but would settle for the Saturn earrings.

9. Render your mum, pals, sister, girlfriend in wood with these sweet little hand painted people (prices vary).

10.  Ever thought that you would make a good Jane Austen Heroine, or maybe you were jealous of Alice's adventure in Wonderland? Maybe you saw yourself as a Mr. Darcy type figure or how about Robin Hood? Now you can literally put yourself in their place with these personalised classics. Personalised Classics: Pride and Prejudice, £19.99 Urban Outfitters.

scottish provident high wire britain

Scottish Provident were keen to publicise the findings of the ‘High Wire Britain' study in order to provide an insight for their IFAs allowing them to recognise the major gaps and understand the attitudes of the end consumer.  Scottish Provident wanted to provide sales tools and literature for IFAs to use with their clients, to ensure they are adequately protected for whatever life may hold in store. 

LEWIS was asked to develop a strategy for the digital output of a campaign to promote High Wire Britain's research findings.  We worked alongside the client and their offline agency to create a plan for the roll out of the campaign throughout the year.  It was decided that, rather than one large campaign covering a variety of messages, it would be more effective to run a series of mini campaigns throughout 2009. Each phase focusing on a few key findings thus developing momentum and creating continual interest as the findings were gradually revealed.

Throughout 2009, three ‘High Wire Britain' mini campaigns were launched as follows:

‘High Wire Britain' - The launch of the High Wire themed campaign focussed on the concerns and values that respondents had about maintaining their standards of living.

‘Your home is your castle' - The follow-up campaign illustrated how important it is for home owners to secure the investment they have made in their home, especially if they have to face a serious life event such as a debilitating illness or redundancy.

‘Blissfully unaware' - The third campaign demonstrated the extent to which consumers turn a blind eye to the likely financial repercussions of not being able to work for a period of time.

Each phase was creatively themed to illustrate its key messages explaining how Scottish Provident protection products could help IFAs' clients plan for the worst case scenario in each instance.

For each campaign LEWIS developed all of the digital elements which included banner advertising, email communication and a dedicated microsite which was updated with the latest theme and material at each phase.  The microsite contained all of the key facts of the campaign from the Ipsos MORI research. These included a literature area inviting IFAs to download sales aids and fact sheets helping them explain the benefits of protection to their clients and a quick quiz. IFAs were encouraged to take part in the quick quiz to further illustrate and understand the findings of the research and, ultimately, to compete to win a prize at each campaign stage.

The online strategy was supported by offline elements including press advertising which followed the same campaign themes and messages.

Across the activity period the campaign achieved 3,160 unique visitors to the microsite and generated an additional 81 new leads for Scottish Provident's sales team.  The strategy to stagger mini campaigns throughout the year proved a success in raising awareness and generating increasing interest amongst IFAs as the roll out continued.  Varying the messages and updating the site with fresh content not only kept the user engaged but encouraged search engines to continually visit and index the site.

The ‘High Wire Britain' campaign has allowed Scottish Provident to position themselves as a trusted source of knowledge and a key provider of information and support for IFAs.  The campaign strategy, themes and creative routes transformed what could have been a somewhat dry, statistical information piece into a dynamic and engaging communications channel for Scottish Provident.

nikki sprott

A brilliant product, great creative, a myriad of comms channels and a sound roll-out strategy are all key elements to kick-start a successful marketing campaign.  But none of this matters if the message falls on deaf ears.  With 12 years account management experience, Nikki knows just what to say to make your audience sit up and listen.

"If I hadn't made it in the design world I'd be a ... professional Latin American dancer."

LEWIS takes hunter boot stateside

LEWIS is delighted to launch a website today dedicated to Hunter Boot American-based customers.

An increasing popularity for all things British in the United States encouraged the iconic Hunter Boot to take their brand to an American audience.  Echoing the same style as the Wellington-boot maker's award-winning UK site which was developed by LEWIS 18 months ago; American customers can now browse the range of US products, keep up-to-date with company information and search for stockists in their state.  Full purchasing functionality may be added to this US site in the future.

LEWIS also recently completed key updates to Hunter's UK ecommerce website to improve the overall customer experience and product selection areas.  The UK Hunter website has become one of the brand's key selling tools and continues to positively develop the way that their business operates. 

Hunter Boot Ltd has enjoyed award-winning success since its UK website launch, winning Relaunch of the Year through The Drum Marketing Awards in January this year.  The website photography achieved recognition by winning an Award of Excellence from the Scottish Master Photographers Association.  While Hunter was shortlisted alongside Billy Bag, Anya Hindmarch, Links of London and Mulberry in the category for Best Single Brand Etailer in the Drapers Etail Awards 2009.

sshhh - 10 top tips for reviving your brand

1. Benchmarking for success

Seek inspiration from the brands that you think get it right. They don't need to be within the same industry that you operate. If an organisation is doing something truly outstanding, it's likely there will be something you can learn and be able to apply that learning to your own brand's revival.

2. Forward focus

To future-proof your brand, make it relevant and position it correctly, you need to align your brand values and vision to what you want to be rather than what you are. By doing this your brand will be fresh and ambitious and, more importantly, it will reflect exactly the organisation's desired position and standing.

3. Respect your roots

By acknowledging what the customer recognises about your brand and working with these elements, it ensures that following any revival, your brand will still be recognisable. Therefore, you can attract a new audience without losing your brand's existing customers.

4. Hook, line and sinker

Think about your customer's lifestyle and try to come up with ways to encourage them to engage with your brand whether that is through incentives, seeking contribution or through good online user-interactive content such as blogs or forums.

5. Happy campers

The brand should inspire and engage employees as well earning customer trust. Employees can be your most convincing brand ambassadors. Get their buy-in and the road ahead is suddenly a lot smoother.

6. Mirror, mirror on the wall

Try thinking about your brand as an outsider rather than an insider. It's amazing how differently it can appear. A good way of doing this is to continually gather feedback from your audience, perhaps through focus groups or surveys. This will also help to make them feel part of your world.

7. Keep things fresh

Update your website regularly. By keeping your content fresh, you can better engage staff, customers and peers. Search engines look at freshness as a quality factor so this can also positively impact on your website's exposure.

8. Evolve or revolve

Getting to grips with the unknown as well as the known is important in moving a brand forward. That could mean developing an additional product offering or developing an additional way of offering your product. If you are planning on diversifying now do your research, be clever and most of all, be canny!

9. Assuring quality

Make sure that your brand works just as effectively in black and white when reproduced small as it does when shown in brilliant, full colour, on a billboard or online. By producing and following Brand Guidelines, you will ensure that the brand is presented correctly every time it is seen. Quality and consistency are essential; badly executed representations of your brand will undermine all the time and effort invested in getting it right in the first instance.

10. Join forces

Consider the organisations and brands that you associate yourself with. By developing a strategy for brand affiliation through clever online placement, joint incentives or campaigns and well-structured social networking activity, you could improve the recognition and quality of your brand.

boxing clever

Cast your mind back to those days at school when you covered yourself in paint and glitter and made impressive structures from egg cartons and toilet roll tubes.  Didn't it feel amazing to get messy and let your imagination run wild?  That's how Jo, Otto, Greg, Amy and Angela felt when they made use of the humble cardboard box and any tools they had at their disposal to set about making something unique.  Did they manage to create masterpieces akin to the Audi Q5 Unbox the Box ad?  Read on and browse the gallery to find out.

How did they come up with their idea?

Amy (Scorpion)

When I held up the box, it fell into a sort of scorpion shape so that's what gave me the inspiration.  Plus I am a Scorpio so it made good sense!

Angela (Baroque frame)

I wanted to make something useful.  I toyed with the idea of making a doll's house (no kids) and then I was going to do a heart-shaped bookmark (cop out!).   Finally, I decided upon the frame.  I did a Google image search for ‘ornate frame' and a clip art image came up that seemed to do the trick (don't tell the designers!).  I printed it off at various sizes then picked the best one and used it as the template. 

I wasn't sure what image to put in the frame; I deliberated between a sickly cute cat picture and a defaced image of the Queen.  In the end, I decided to go for an alternative to the ‘Keep Calm and Carry On' poster - Get Excited and Make Things which I thought was quite fitting.

Jo (The Coo)

I had sketched out a few ideas but when I opened up the box to start creating, the shape of a cow's head jumped out at me from the box.  From that point, I got caught up in the mooment and The Coo was born.  Another happy coincidence came from the scrap of paisley print wallpaper I had in my supply box which made a nice cow print.

Greg (Ensalada de rana)

I came up with the idea whilst eating my lunch.  Hence the reason I chose the box that I did!

Otto (Pedro the Mohawk Mexican cage fighter)

It was doodling in its truest form that made me come up with the idea for Pedro, I just let my mind relax and get into the zone.  Oooooh yeah!!

Wondering if you should give it a go?  Take some advice from our doodling team.

Amy says, ‘It's like being back at school.  Good muck-in, silly, fun.  Definitely worth the japery.'

Angela says, ‘I'd definitely recommend a couple of hours breaking free from the usual routine and getting back into the way of the craft!  It reminded me of what we all believe here at LEWIS which is that everyone can be creative.'

Greg says, ‘Don't be square, let's doodle!'

Jo suggests that you ‘Remember those magical days in primary school when the teachers craft box came out. Think how pleased you were with your creation that consisted of a paper plate covered in glittery/painted pasta which was meant to look like your mum! '

Otto wants you to, ‘Gather your tools and boxes and challenge Pedro to a fight!  He very strong!!!!'

This crafty activity was inspired by David Hofmann's Box Doodle Project.

dewalt and LEWIS work together on a top secret campaign

Following a successful four-way competitive pitch, LEWIS is delighted to announce that we are now working with DEWALT, one of the leading suppliers of industrial power tools, on a major global campaign to promote a new and top-secret product which will launch in early 2010. The campaign will be translated into 23 different languages and communicated to the company's main target areas including Europe, the States and the Middle East.

The London-based team at DEWALT invited LEWIS to pitch for the contract after seeing our print advertising work and the award-winning promotional campaigns we deliver for our clients including Santander Private Banking and ScottishPower.

Don't forget to come back and see the outcome of this exciting campaign early next year!

LEWIS redevelop award-winning hunter boot e-commerce site

LEWIS Creative Consultants has redeveloped the e-commerce site for their client, Hunter Boot Ltd, to ensure that the wellington maker's customers enjoy an outstanding online shopping experience.

An iconic, British, footwear brand that prides itself on being ‘Outstanding in Every Field', Hunter has been working with LEWIS to analyse the usage of the site since its launch 18 months ago and identify areas that could be improved based on the findings.  Shoppers are now able to easily source products through the newly refined search functionality created by the development team at LEWIS.  While the development of a ‘related products' function offers Hunter customers a more informed, and varied, choice.

Further enhancing the user experience are the behind-the-scenes development techniques which have been implemented.  Product images are instantly displayed with no delay whilst downloading and new developments to the Content Management System allows Hunter to upload new products instantly.

In January 2009, the Hunter site won the award for Re-launch of the Year at The Drum Marketing Awards and since its launch mid-2008, it has received industry accolades including references in national press and fashion magazines across the U.K. 

The site was also was referenced for its innovative CSS development technique in Smashing magazine, the weblog dedicated to designers and developers.

Jackie Reid, Operations Director at Hunter says, "Since its launch in June 2008, our website has seen a rise in traffic and sales. Now that our range is expanding, we recognised the need to give consumers easy access to our product from the home page and the ability to refine their search by a number of key criteria. LEWIS has risen to the challenge by redesigning our shop online section to include a flexible product filter.  They have also enabled Hunter to offer our conSystem.Xml.XmlTextWritersumers similar or complementary products when browsing the range."

See the changes in action, go to http://www.hunter-boot.com