BJL: An Agency & Much More

I arrived at the agency on the first Monday morning slightly uneasy about my three weeks placement with BJL. Feeling almost like the school kid back after summer with all the excitement of meeting new students (colleagues in this case), anxious about those new modules (tasks and research) and simply “fitting in” with the new crowd.

I was greeted by the lovely receptionists Sue and Lorraine who, with their bright smiles, put me at ease straight away! Jennie, who orginally interviewed me walked me around the agency introducing me to the whole team and finally bringing me to meet the PR experts. With smiles and our first cup of tea the team welcomed me with warmth and answered every little question I had. From day one I was thrown in with the big sharks – researching, blogging, and tweeting about our different clients, and even ringing celebrity agents (how cool!)!!!

While the brainstorming with Roz, Jennie and the rest of the team was a lot of fun and so interesting with the craziest creative ideas one can think of! Planning event launches was the best part of being with the PR team. At my time with the agency one of the clients was sponsoring a boutique launch that I was invited too, and truthfully I could never forget that fascinating and beautiful event. While I was packaging bottles of sparkling wine to be sent out to celebrities in the day, I was drinking them by night in one of the North West’s glamorous venues with some of those celebrities!

Unfortunately my time with BJL has now come to an end and I can honestly say I have enjoyed every day spent with the great and friendly PR team, and the rest of the of the BJL family. I feel enriched with a lot of knowledge, experience, and confidence that I can carry a long in the journey of my career. I would particularly like to thank Jennie and Roz, for giving me this opportunity and the rest of the PR team for supporting me throughout my three weeks within the agency.

Written by Noah Noaimi

Topping up on Trends at Future Foundation

Last Thursday saw the eagerly anticipated nVision Client Conference down in London, one of the key milestones in the Planning calendar. BJL Partner Jackie Holt and I headed for the capital, bleary eyed, on the 6.09am train from Manchester for the all day event where we’d hear the very latest in UK consumer trends.

Mark Easton, Home Editor for the BBC chaired the conference, chipping in with his personal, characterful take on proceedings and stimulating debate.

So what did we learn?

As expected, the news was mixed. There were highs – in the form of techno trends and the exciting future of retail in both online and offline worlds, and there were lows – as we heard about the dark side of digital (!) looking at whether our creativity and concentration is being compromised by technology doing the thinking for us, and questioning are we really becoming less adventurous as endless information and opinion surrounds us? There were tentative moments when we had our UK economic update where a ‘sober decade’ was forecast – a resolution to the Eurozone crisis and the rate of inflation holding the destiny to our delicately poised economy.

The 10 trend briefings provided plenty of food for thought though. We came away brimming with stats, emerging trends and the latest brand manifestations, already enthused with how we could apply these insights to our clients. Exciting times ahead...

Written by Jane Hazelhurst, Planner

Nat loves the BJL bright yellow VW

It really was love at first sight, from the moment I looked down from the office window at his shiny yellow paint work – I was desperate to take our lovely BJL camper van out on an adventure.

A couple of weeks ago, I set out to take the VW on his maiden voyage to sunny Anglesey. It took half an hour and a few panicked phone calls to work out how to get him started, (or into reverse) but start we did, and once we’d got used to the steering wheel being on the wrong side we were on our way.

Unlike me, the VW was effortlessly at home amongst Anglesey’s off-beat surfer types, posing for plenty of photo opportunities along the way. I also learnt the true meaning of “classic car” – as he’s considerably older than me, he has a few quirks – a lack of heating, a top speed of 58 mph and gearshifts that feel more like arm wrestles being chief among them. But his good looks, a fridge full of Crabbies and his roaring engine more than made up for them, plus the fact that wherever you go, people just can’t help but be nice to you if you’re in a VW Camper!

In fact I’ve grown so attached to him that I spent 4 days worrying this week when our Creative Directors took him on his next adventure to the North East... constantly checking the bjlgroup twitter to see if he was ok.

I’m looking forward to the next adventure! #bjlcampervan

Written by Natalie Cooke

RARRRRRRRR!!!!

Last night we scooped the Best Agency in Advertising (30+ staff) gong at the RAR Awards.

The RAR Awards are unique because they are assessed by the people who really know how good an agency is - our clients!

Annually, RAR collects 5,000 ratings from clients who access agencies on their skill at specific marketing disciplines - design, digital, advertising and PR, as well as on an agency’s service levels, including creativity, value for money, ability to deliver on time etc. The top-10 scoring agencies in each category are then shortlisted as finalists for the awards.

There are 22 categories, and as well as taking home the title of Best Advertising Agency, BJL was also a finalist in the Best Agency in Public Relations (30+ staff).

For more information on the RAR awards, please visit the RAR website.

Subaru launch self-cleaning car... or so people thought!

Our client, Subaru is taking the automotive world by storm, with the launch of the World’s first self cleaning car. Subaru AF Self-Cleaning Technology came to market yesterday… or so people thought!

Yesterday we leaked an April fools film, supported by display, and a targeted e-mail campaign to launch the world’s first self-cleaning car for our client, Subaru UK.

This spoof campaign built on the national launch of the new XV crossover vehicle and the ETCo warranty programme which we launched earlier this year.

The April fools creative idea identifies with the Subaru target audience being the kind of people who are active people, and who don’t have time to waste washing their car at the weekend.

We're Hiring!

This is an exciting opportunity to join one of the most creative and dynamic agencies based in the North West. As their Digital Specialist you will have a strategic role within the Agency and have a great opportunity to help drive the business forward. Dove-tailing into the activity of all the agency’s’ clients and projects this role will be to look at how digital channels can be used in conjunction with classic media to deliver results. We are looking for a digital ‘native’ who has a good technical, strategic and commercial background

The Role:

• Managing digital projects and delivering results
• Bring a digital view point to all Client campaigns
• Managing all internal and external resource and digital partners
• Influence at all levels and be an excellent client developer
• Pitching new business and project ideas
• An insatiable appetite for keeping up to date with the latest digital best practices

The Person:

• Digital marketing specialist
• Ideally comes from a digital agency background
• Excellent understanding of all digital channels including web, social media, email marketing and search engine optimisation
• Innovator who can challenge, shape and support the agencies increasing digital capabilities
• Strong influencer at all levels

Expected salary levels – Competitive 

Send your CV and your answers to the following questions to : dave.robinson@bjl.co.uk

1. What’s your perception of BJL and why do you think you’d be a great fit with the team ?
2. T-shaped people is the current buzzword – what’s your ‘T’ ?
3. If you left your current job, who’d be the person who would miss you the most and why ?

 

BJL joins the search for Creative Pioneers

This week, you may have noticed the ‘Great Minds Wanted’ adverts running through the Metro newspaper. The ads are part of the launch for a six week scheme to find great creative minds across the country, and we’re thrilled to announce that here at BJL we are playing our part in helping the project.

The Creative Pioneers Challenge, as it is more formally known, (@CPChallenge) is being led by the advertising trade body The IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) with support from Ed Vaizey, Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries. As part of this nationwide search to find great minds, 100 digital and creative agencies from across the country have come together to place the greatest talent into the UK’s top creative businesses.

The cream of the crop will get internships, apprenticeship and entrepreneurship opportunities to kick start their career in the fields of television, film, publishing, gaming, mobile, advertising, digital technology, social media, and media planning and buying.

The entry process opened on Tuesday 20th March 2012 and anyone aged 16+ who thinks they have what it takes are encouraged to enter at www.creativepioneers.co.uk - deadline for entry is noon on Friday 27th April.

So what are you waiting for?... Good Luck!

Written by Lizzie Smith