Member Blog

Paul Robinson Partnership (UK) LLP, leading Norfolk based Architectural and Surveying Practice, are strong supporters of the apprenticeship scheme and have seen first-hand the benefits which the scheme has had on the their business. The Practice have welcomed two new apprentices to their experienced team this past year and have been delighted to see them both flourish, exceed expectations in all respects and become valued assets to the team. Simon Nicholas, Partner at Paul Robinson Partnership, said that it is “important to invest in young people and provide opportunities for those wanting to gain experience in a particular industry”, and added that the “apprenticeship scheme is a fantastic way to harness new talent for any business”.

Kori Moore, one of the Practice’s apprentices, has recently completed his apprenticeship and the Practice were delighted to welcome him as a full time employee of Paul Robinson Partnership. The practice have been impressed with Kori’s progress and have enjoyed watching him develop and improve his employability, describing his technical design expertise as above and beyond what would be expected. When asked whether Kori had enjoyed his apprenticeship and what he saw the major benefits of the apprenticeship scheme being, Kori stated that his apprenticeship had “given him the opportunity to pursue his dream of a career in architecture in a supportive and creative environment”, he further added that “it has been great to learn on the job, gain experience in the work place and build up knowledge by learning from the more experienced members of the team”.

The Practice wishes to continue to develop home grown talent, providing opportunities for young people, with a passion for architecture.

.london, .amsterdam and .vegas are just three of the 30 domain name extensions relating to cities that are now open for registration. These new, localised domains provide companies that operate in key locations a unique marketing channel.

Changes to the domain name system – in particular, the launch of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs), such as the so-called dotBrands – have forced companies to re-evaluate their domain name registration and monitoring strategies. As the number of gTLDs has expanded, so too has the risk of cybersquatting, typosquatting and other forms of trademark infringement. However, expansion to the domain name system has heralded in opportunities too; in particular, the opportunity to market goods and services to specific, localised demographics. The new city-based extensions are a perfect example of this.

Selling a city City-based extensions can be effective marketing tools for companies that are seeking to target consumers in certain localised extensions. They can also work effectively for companies seeking to emphasise their relationship with a specific place; for example, a company that produces London-centered merchandise. This also has benefits when it comes to Google searches.

At present, the most popular of the new city domains is .nyc, closely followed by .london and .berlin, according to gTLD tracker nTLDStats. Also proving popular are .tokyo, .moscow, .amsterdam and .paris.

Which domain names are right for you? With new domain name extensions being launched on an almost daily basis, it can be a challenge for brand owners to identify those gTLDs that warrant registrations, those that may need to be monitored for infringement, and those that they can safely ignore. Novagraaf provides a complimentary domain extension alert services that can help you keep on top of new and upcoming gTLD launches (sign up for free here).

We also recommend putting in place a clear domain name registration policy to ensure that you are protecting your trademark rights online in the most cost-effective manner. Click here for our five-step approach to aligning domain name registrations with IP and business strategy.

Tudor Lodge Consultantsare delighted to have helped our client (https://www.guarantorloancomparison.co.uk/)reach page 1 on Google forguarantor loans.

We have helped GLC gain this position through the use of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). It has involved a continued effort to add quality content to the site and gain traction and PR from a variety of news and industry sources. In addition, we have followed Google’s guidelines to create a good user experience, adding images and videos where necessary and ensuring that the site speed of the website is very fast. Plus, the site is fully responsive on desktop, mobile and tablet – something that Google loves to see.

Daniel Tannenbaum who is the account manager for GLC said: “We have been working on the SEO for GLC for 12 months. Considering that there are over 50 guarantor lenders in the UK and around 12,000 monthly visits on Google for this search term, getting on page 1 is a very exciting proposition. Wehope that they will receive some quality leads and this will help the site grow from strength to strength. Trying to rank for loans on Google is very competitive as there are companies all over the world competing for these positions. We are thrilled that our hard work has paid off.”

GLC is a basic comparison site for guarantor loans in the UK. Users can view over 10 different companies, the rates they charge, loan amount and duration. For more information, please enjoy the video above.

Here are some top tips that I would offer to any advertiser who is considering using Google AdWords, or who has already got started.

The power of advertising on Google search is that you can display your adverts to highly targeted audiences at the precise moment they are seeking your product or service. The Google AdWords platform is an amazing technological achievement, but it’s easy for a new advertiser to get lost in the detail and quickly waste money.

Foundations Take the time to plan and think through how your campaign will be structured. If your website navigational structure makes sense to your customers then it is probably sensible to structure your AdWords campaigns around it. A Google AdWords Account has a hierarchy of Campaigns and Ad Groups that sit within Campaigns.

An Ad Group is a collection of similar keywords, plus one to three adverts that are related to the keywords. An Ad Group may contain up to 10 or 15 keyword variations. Any more than that and you should probably group the keywords tighter by splitting some out into new Ad Groups. In a highly targeted set-up, a single keyword will often be used in an Ad Group with a highly relevant advert.

Ad Groups are stored in Campaigns and you can put all of your Ad Groups in one single Campaign. The reason why you might create more than one Campaign is if you wish to control how the budget is shared amongst the Ad Groups. For example you might have one set of Ad Groups that you are targeting 100% of the available Impressions, so you might put those into one Campaign and allocate sufficient budget to that. You might then put the remaining Ad Groups into a separate Campaign on its own budget. Other reasons for creating more than one Campaign might be if you wish to target the Google search and display networks (use a separate Campaign for each), or target each Campaign to different geography or day and time scheduling.

Think Like a Customer Too often advertisers focus on what they have to sell and forget to think like a customer. When buying a product or service, a customer is often spoilt for choice. They probably have many alternatives to choose from over your product or service, so you have to put your mind-set objectively into that of our customer, and ask:

• Why would they choose you over any and all of the alternatives that are available to them?
• What criteria will they use to quickly sort through the choices to end up with a shortlist to choose from?
• What would they search for if they were looking for a business like yours?

Thinking like a customer should help you with the creation of keyword lists and ideas for advert copy with strong call-to-actions.

Targeting When setting up Google AdWords, a key targeting method to avoid budget waste is to pick only the most relevant keywords for your business. But check in your Campaign settings that you are taking advantage of the other powerful targeting methods as well:

• Locations – in addition to picking the geography where you wish to display adverts, you can also exclude locations where you wish to avoid showing adverts. For example, you may wish to target England but from experience you know that certain towns or regions are less likely to convert, so you can exclude those. Alternatively, you may find in your AdWords data that certain locations convert at a higher than average rate, so you can use Bid Adjustment to increase the amount that you are prepared to bid for a click if the potential customer is in that location.
• Ad Scheduling – you might wish to restrict the display of adverts to specific days of the week or time of day. You use Ad scheduling in Settings to do this. You may also use Bid Adjustment to increase your bid at specific times of day that are more likely to convert.
• Devices – you will probably wish to display adverts across desktop and mobile searches but on mobile it is even more important to have a high display position in the search screen, so you may wish to use Bid Adjustment to increase your bid when a potential customer is searching for your business on a mobile device.

Relevance Make it easy for the potential customer. The adverts should be focused and relevant to the keyword phrase and should point to the most relevant part of your website that has strong call-to-actions. Don’t drop the potential customer in on the home page and expect them to navigate to the correct page: Take them straight there.

Keyword Matching Set the Match Type for each keyword based on how closely you want Google to match the actual search made, with your chosen keyword.

• Broad match – as its name suggests, this is the broadest form of keyword targeting and your advert may display to a wider range of searches than you would like. E.g. keyword red shoes will display for ‘buy new red shoes’ and may display for ‘second hand shoes’ and ‘buy red socks’.
• Broad match modifier – a more targeted version of Broad Match. Just put a plus symbol directly in front of one or more words in a broad match keyword. Each word preceded by a + has to appear in the search query exactly, or as a close variant. E.g. keyword buy +riding +hats will display for ‘women’s riding hats’ and ‘riding hats for men’ but not for ‘women’s riding lessons’.
• Phrase match – gives more precise targeting by displaying adverts for searches that are very close to the chosen keyword. E.g. keyword women’s hats will display for ‘buy women’s hats’ but not for ‘women’s riding hats’.
• Exact match – gives the most precise targeting by only displaying an advert to searches that exactly match the chosen keyword, or very close variations to it. E.g. keyword buy red shoes will only display to searches of ‘buy red shoes’ and not ‘buy blue shoes’ or ‘buy ladies’ red shoes’.

A word about keywords. When we say keywords, we really should be saying ‘keyword phrase’. Single word keywords are rarely used to display adverts as they are too broad and may attract non-relevant searches. The ideal keyword phrase will consist of at least two words and probably no more than four.

Negative Keywords The keyword types above are used to display adverts when they match Google searches made, but one of the most important keyword types that is often underused is ‘negative keywords’. These keywords prevent an advert from displaying when the negative keyword is included in the search query and are a vital tool in creating and developing a highly targeted campaign. For example we often add ‘how’, ‘what’, and ‘if’ as negative keywords to filter out information-only seekers. The list will vary depending on the business of each advertiser, but we would expect to see a very extensive list of several hundred negative keywords that are being added to regularly, based on the AdWords Search Term report of actual searches that have resulted in clicks on the adverts.

The keyword match types used to display adverts can also be used for negative keywords but the majority of negative keywords will usually be single words set to broad match.

Most AdWords accounts that we analyse have insufficient negative keywords.

Impression Share An Impression is a single advert display and the Impression Share is simply the percentage of times your advert has been displayed out of the available searches for that Campaign, Ad Group or Keyword.

We see many AdWords accounts where the campaigns are budget-constrained and only achieving an Impression Share of 20% or less. This probably means that the budget is being shared over too many keywords or that the overall keyword performance is poor. You should be aiming for overall Impression Share figures of over 80%. It would be better to focus the budget on fewer, higher performing keywords than spread it over a large number of keywords where only a relatively small percentage of available advert impressions can be skimmed off.

Advert Position You can’t buy individual spots on the search results page but you should keep a very close eye on where your adverts are displaying on average and take action if the average is too low. For desktop searches we prefer to see the advert averaging at least in the top three positions and for mobile we want to get to as close to position one as possible, as less search results are displayed on a mobile device. To improve your advert display position you need to improve the quality of the overall campaign by looking very closely at targeting and improving the relevance of keywords, adverts and landing pages. Simply raising the keyword bids will probably raise the advert display position but we would be looking at improving the quality first.

Optimise regularly Check the campaigns on a regular and methodical basis but don’t micromanage. We check new campaigns daily initially but want to move as quickly as we can to a weekly check and optimisation process. How often you should be checking is all down to the volume of data that your account generates and this is dependent on how many impressions and clicks it receives. The full optimisation process is beyond this particular article but essentially you should be looking to improve what is working and remove what isn’t. If a keyword or advert has had at least 200 impressions and the Click-Through-Rate (CTR) is poor (less than 2%) then you should consider changing or removing it. If the CTR is less than 1% then it probably needs removing. If the keyword of the advert has had at least 200 clicks and the conversion rate is poor, then you should consider changing or removing it.

Be very careful not to micro-manage. You need enough data to make decisions about how to optimise the account and you need to view long-term data to smooth out theday-to-day inconsistencies.

Don’t drown in data A final thought: a Google AdWords account can generate huge amounts of data over time and it is easy to get caught up in the detail. Work out what your objectives and priorities are and when checking the account, start at the farthest out view and then drill in.

Check which Campaigns represent the bulk of the spend? Focus on those. Is Click-Through-Rate less than 2%, Impression Share less than 80%, Average Position less than 2, Conversions less than your target?

Then drill into the Campaign to examine it at Ad Group level. Looking at the Ad Groups that represent the bulk of the spend, which ones need the most attention to fix your measures? The answers will probably lie within the targeting and at keyword and advert level.

Consistency While you can pick some keywords, write an advert and put a campaign live right now, don’t expect top rate results instantly. Building an efficient and profitable AdWords campaign takes time. You need to build a solid campaign around a tightly focused set of keywords plus relevant adverts and then build enough data to allow you to understand how to develop it. You need to be able to test keywords and adverts, examine the search terms report, work out where your most profitable customers are located and when they are most likely to be seeking your business.

Patents, trademarks, designs and other forms of intellectual property (IP) play a key role in the success of all modern businesses. By providing a company with a legal means to prevent others from copying an invention, brand or product, IP rights enable inventors and creators to obtain a return on their investments in research and development, and to maximise the potential of their businesses, as Novagraaf’s Peter Wilson explains.

Whether directly or indirectly, consciously or unconsciously, IP will play a major role in any company’s future success. A company’s brand value or its product or innovation portfolio are key value differentiators, providing plenty of strategic reasons for initial and ongoing investment. In order to capture that value, however, investors need to be sure that their target companies keep on top of their IP assets, including protecting intangible assets and keeping the associated rights and records up-to-date and in force.

IP attorneys can – and should – be brought in to support investors during the assessment and due diligence phases of a potential investment. Typically, this will include:

• IP auditing to assess the validity and extent of a target business’s existing and potential IP rights.
• Due diligence to ensure the correct chain of ownership is in place and to identify the existence of potential third-party objections or claims.
• Patent landscaping to review IP rights in relation to their technology space, and thereby identify a patent’s strength or vulnerability in light of market activity.
• Freedom-to-operate studies to identify conflicting rights in order to assess how vulnerable the business may be to an infringement suit or litigation.
• IP consultancy to identify strategies for strengthening rights and shoring up portfolios based on vulnerabilities identified during the above analyses.

Getting IP ready for investment Before investors even get to the due diligence phase, however, most will begin by reviewing potential investment opportunities from an IP perspective. Therefore, companies looking to attract venture capitalists, private equity firms or even industry grants or loans would also be wise to focus on capturing and shoring up their IP assets before they even begin the process of looking for funding or external investment.

Depending on the company, this will typically include asking internal stakeholders:

• Have patent rights been put in place for all core inventions, including defensive filings where relevant?
• Has the company or product’s brand and/or visual appearance been protected as trademark/design rights in all key jurisdictions?
• Is the IP’s ownership clear and up-to-date; for example, where it has been created by multiple stakeholders or passed from one company to another?
• How crowded is the market and technology space for any new/core inventions – is there a risk of a third-party infringement claim?
• Where does the IP sit in relation to competitor activity – does the portfolio need to be reinforced with additional filings?
• Does additional IP exist in the business that has yet to be protected?
• How do the identified strengths and weaknesses of its IP portfolio impact on a business’s value and potential?

In an ideal world, IP will have been diligently captured, maintained and recorded as a company grows and expands; unfortunately, this is not always the case. By overlooking their core assets, however, companies risk short-changing themselves when it comes to attracting investment and maximising their future chances of business success.

It’s also important to remember that not all IP exists as registered rights and so an assessment of all company documents will generally be needed to locate other valuable intangible assets, such as copyright or confidential information, licences or distribution rights.

Peter Wilson is a patent attorney at Novagraaf in Norwich

Managed as part of an IP portfolio, trademarks and registered designs are complementary rights that enable owners to protect and enforce their brand assets. But, what happens if a third party registers a design that conflicts with a brand owner’s existing trademark rights? A recent case, heard by the EU’s General Court last month, considered this very issue.

The case in question dates back to August 2010 when global fashion brand Diesel SpA brought an application for a declaration of invalidity against a Registered Community Design (RCD), bearing the word ‘DIESEL’. The RCD had been filed by a Mr Dairek Attoumi and registered by the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) in 2008 for use on ‘belts’. Diesel’s earlier trademark for the word mark ‘DIESEL’ also covered belts and clothing.

In a February 2012 decision, OHIM’s invalidity division found that a likelihood of confusion existed between the signs in question and that, as Diesel was able to exercise its right of exclusivity to the DIESEL trademark, the RCD was found to be invalid. Attoumi filed an appeal and requested that the proceedings be suspended. However, OHIM’s Board of Appeal ruled against him in 2014.

Undeterred, Attoumi contested the ruling. Among other things, he sought to challenge Diesel’s invalidation action based on a Spanish trademark ‘SDD SUPER DIESEL DAIREK’ (of which he is also the registrant), whose existence, Attoumi argued, lessened the likelihood of confusion between Diesel’s mark and his RCD. However, in its 9 September judgement, the EU’s General Court refuted Attoumi’s arguments. After noting that the DIESEL trademark was able to enjoy a right of exclusivity on account of its distinctive character and seniority, the court also confirmed the cancellation of the contested design right.

Trademarks are powerful rights Article 25(1)(e) of the European Council Regulation on Community Designs allows brand owners to invalidate RCDs based on prior national and/or Community trademark rights. This provides trademark owners with an important tool; in particular when it comes to protecting and enforcing rights in relation to product, packaging and logo design.

To bring an invalidation action, brand owners need to show, as in the Diesel case, that the contested RCD is identical or similar to their trademark rights, that the RCD covers identical goods and that, as a result, there exists a likelihood of confusion on the part of the public. The RCD must be filed after the trademark right for which the brand owner is bringing the action. However, it’s important to note that the process covers unregistered as well as registered trademark rights; therefore, also enabling actions based on passing off in the UK.

Capturing and enforcing trademark and design rights Of course, the ideal scenario for brand owners would be to register both their trademark and design rights prior to brand or product launches, thereby protecting against the risk of infringing design registrations in the first place. Design registrations are especially recommended for products that use design to differentiate themselves in their market. (Find out more about registered design rights here.)

To guard against RCD infringement for key trademarks and designs, brand owners should also consider putting trademark watching strategies in place. This should include, for example, monitoring and assessing all new trademark and design registrations (e.g. registrations of logo designs) at the relevant national and international trademark registers to identify potential conflicts with your trademarks.

As with trademark enforcement in general, the earlier an infringement is detected, the easier it will be to oppose registration of the conflicting mark.

Lauren O’Leary, Head of Employee Volunteering and Employability, reflects on the current state of the jobs market and what responsible businesses can do to support people into sustainable employment.

September was a big month for employment news in the UK.

In the summer, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, announced the creation of a ‘National Living Wage’ (NLW) which will be set at £7.20 per hour for workers aged over 25 from April next year, with it rising to over £9 per hour in 2020.

In addition, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reports that average pay rose by 2.9% in the three months to July, compared to a year ago. That’s the strongest growth rate for regular pay (excluding bonuses) since 2009.

Last week, the UK’s employment rate was released to much fanfare. Leading economistscalculated that the number of people in work across Britain rose by 42,000 quarter-on-quarter to 31.09 million, which leaves the employment rate little changed at 73.5% – a record high.

The complete picture on UK employment

This is all welcome news as we inch closer to the holiday season, but we cannot be complacent. Rising employment figures, whilst a positive sign, do not present the complete picture.

Youth unemployment has only fallen byone per cent, barely shifting for a year; we are in the midst of a housing crisis across the UK; changes to the benefits system are adversely affecting millions; and work is no longer a guaranteed route out of poverty.

How can employers take action?

Business in the Community (BITC) has been committed to tackling unemployment and helping companies realise their power to affect change since our inception in 1982.

We want to work with businesses to bust misconceptions about unemployedworkersasscroungers and benefit cheats. Of course, there are many differentreasonswhy people recieve unemployment benefits,but the vast majority of people that I meet throughour Ready for Work programme are desperate to be in secure and sustainable employment.

We alsowant to give companies the tools they need to support their employees in career progression and to develop policies and procedures that enable individuals to access work on a level playing field. We want to educate corporates on the significant difficulties that being unemployed presents, not just for the individual but on their families, friends and wider society.

At BITC, we challenge our member companies to work collaboratively to address systemic issues surrounding employment, including zero-hours contracts and other forms of insecure labour. Corporates have the opportunity to form networks and create innovative solutions to provide for their communities.

We want businesses to engage their staff at all levels and explore the many benefits that supporting people into employment can bring to their bottom line.

So, can business really change the employment landscape? Absolutely. Business can, should and must do more to create a truly fairer society. You have a choice – we all do.

The slogan ‘Have a break, have a KitKat’ has become synonymous with Nestlé’s chocolatey treat, so it must be quite frustrating for the company that its efforts to create a distinctive chocolate bar shape has so far failed to pay off as a trademark registration. Novagraaf’s Frouke Hekker examines the thin line between success and failure for 3D shape marks.

Obtaining trademark protection of shapes is not as common or as simple as trademark protection for other types of signs, such as words, slogans or logos.

Toy manufacturer LEGO’s attempts to protect its iconic bricks as 3D trademarks is just one of the high profile examples of brands whose otherwise iconic shapes have failed to meet the criteria for shape marks set by trademark offices, and national and European courts. Why has the bar been set so high?

Limits to registration Registration limits have been imposed to prevent companies from acquiring a monopoly over technical solutions or a product’s functional characteristics. To prevent shapes from being monopolised in this way, European legislation contains three limitations. These exclude shapes from trademark protection, if:

• they consist of a shape which results from the nature of the goods themselves;
• the shape gives substantial value to the goods; or
• if the shape of goods is necessary to obtain a technical result.

Shapes that are not excluded on these grounds can obtain trademark protection, but – as with trademarks in general – only if they satisfy criteria for distinctiveness. In practice, this is quite a hurdle as it can be difficult to argue that consumers recognise a shape as a distinguishing mark of a particular undertaking. The greater the similarity of the shape to a product’s obvious shape, the less distinctive it will be deemed to be. Ideally, shapes need to depart significantly from the norm or customs of the sector in order to fulfil the essential function of a trademark of indicating a product’s origin.

Does KitKat’s four-finger shape fall short? In 2010, Nestlé filed an application to register a trademark for its four fingered KitKat bar. As the application was for a shape mark, the (word) mark KitKat was not included in the image.

The UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) originally accepted the application and registered the shape mark; however, competitor Cadbury’s opposed the registration. In the procedure that followed, the High Court of Justice of England and Wales referred the following questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for a preliminary ruling.

In essence, the procedure concerned the following questions:

• Is the shape of the KitKat bar excluded from trademark protection because one of the grounds for refusal is applicable? And, if the answer to that question is negative;
• Has the shape acquired a distinctive character through use?

Applying the grounds for refusal With respect to the first question, the CJEU heard arguments that the chocolate bar’s shape contained three essential features: one of which results from the nature of the goods themselves and two of which are necessary to obtain a technical result.

The court discussed that it is possible for the essential features of a sign to be covered by one or more grounds of refusal. It then went on to clarify that the grounds of refusal regarding the technical result must be interpreted as referring only to the manner in which the goods at issue function and not the manner in which they are manufactured. The court also clarified that registration may be refused only where at least one of those grounds is fully applicable to the sign at issue.

The case has now been returned to the UK courts for review. It is important to point out that, contrary to suggestions in the world’s media, the CJEU’s ruling has not led to the final refusal of KitKat’s shape. The CJEU gives its interpretations of EU law in preliminary rulings, not the ruling itself.

The final decision belongs to the court that referred the question, the UK’s High Court, and is yet to be made.

The question of distinctiveness The second question of distinctiveness will only need answering if the UK High Court finds that none of the grounds of refusal is fully applicable. If it does not, the question of distinctive character will not be relevant as the sign at issue will be forever excluded from trademark protection.

If, however, the High Court decides that KitKat’s shape is not excluded from trademark protection, than it will next need to consider whether it has acquired a distinctive character through use. Here, the CJEU explained that: “In order to obtain registration of a trademark which has acquired a distinctive character following the use which has been made of it within the meaning of Article3(3) of Directive 2008/95, regardless of whether that use is as part of another registered trademark or in conjunction with such a mark, the trademark applicant must prove that the relevant class of persons perceive the goods or services designated exclusively by the mark applied for, as opposed to any other mark which might also be present, as originating from a particular company.”

In other words, for a successful appeal to acquired distinctiveness, Nestlé must show that the relevant public recognises the shape in itself as originating from Nestlé. Reportedly, Nestlé has commissioned a survey that shows that 90% of respondents recognise the shape as belonging to the KitKat. Therefore, if the High Court does go on to assess acquired distinctiveness and Nestlé can actually prove these impressive numbers, trademark registration for the KitKat shape could be a possibility after all.

Further confusion to come? As a final thought, it’s also worth noting that upcoming reforms to European trademark law intend to extend the provision that excludes certain shape marks to also apply to signs with ‘other characteristics’. That is to say, all signs which consist exclusively of a shape or any other characteristic which results by the nature of the goods, which gives substantial value to the goods or which is necessary to obtain a technical result will be excluded from trademark protection.

Frouke Hekker works at Novagraaf’s Competence Centre

Believe in Why

“A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.”

-Mahatma Gandhi

Everything starts with a question. Being naturally inquisitive is a trait that the truest innovators, leading entrepreneurs and thought leaders all have in common. At some point they all asked the question why? Why they do what they do and why others should believe in it too? In simple terms they set their vision on their unmovable purpose and the reason why they get up in the morning.

In today’s world we see so many people set up and want to grow their business idea because of a pursuit of money. Their purpose is to make money and that is success.

To me, money is not a purpose, it’s a by-product or result of perusing a vision that you can clearly communicate, create a following and bring others along on the journey with you on.

You see to me, money in business is like putting fuel in a car. You need it to get to a destination but it is not the destination itself. If it was all you would do is drive from the petrol station home again and then back to the petrol station as you have used fuel to get home… and so on and so on.

When I say you need purpose, you need to know why you do what you do and not what you do. You need to define what you are trying to achieve with your service or new product and It has to be more than just offering a better quality, cheaper version of something that someone else does. Even if you do have a unique product that nobody else has, if you can’t bring people with you on a journey that they believe in then it won’t be a bigger success at it could be.

You have to ask yourself why we are making this, why we do what we do.

To prove a point, ask any social enterprise or Charity why they do what they do and their whole existence is based on a purpose. It is what they do without thinking about it, in fact they can only exist by bringing people along with them on a journey.

Imagine if like a social enterprise, your commercial business idea or product could have that clear and passionate purpose that you and others could really believe in. A vision that can engages the passions of early adopters and starts to challenge perceptions of your customers or target market. Apple did it, Dyson did it and so did Richard Branson with Virgin. All came from a firm vision and purpose that endured to achieve something that transcended money and inspired a new way of thinking. They made their brands count for something that had purpose.

When they started in their business, people in their organisations weren’t the best qualified at what they did or where the best equipped in the world. They didn’t necessarily have a unique product at the time that changed the world, but what they did have was a real belief in a purpose that drove them forward and they knew others would follow. They truly had a vision and a message that was more than just a mission statement but they captured people’s imagination, redefined desires and set a trend by challenging the status quo and showing people not what they want, but showing them why they should want it.

People don’t know, what they don’t know and customers are no different. They may know what they want but sometimes we have to show them what’s possible. That’s how we set a standard, define a generation and create a new market.

In my business, Swarm was born from desire develop a new generation of commercially aware apprentices. A real vision of what could be achieved if we could develop young professional minds to understand the bigger picture in their business, apply entrepreneurial skills in their roles and inspire them to deliver the greatest measurable impact and return, both commercially and indeed socially.

We don’t just want to “do” apprenticeships, we want to re define them and maybe change the world in the process.

In business the saying goes, people buy people. But they follow dreams. Find some early adopters, get them to follow your dream, and make it their reality and believe in it. And the money will come.

“It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.”-Muhammad Ali

Ends

Parts of Britain could soon become a Minority Report-style reality with Ocean Outdoor UK, one of the country’s largest digital advertising firms personalising outdoor digital billboards to those commuters passing by.

From next month, commuters at Birmingham’s largest train station, New Street, will become guinea pigs for state-of-the-art digital screens that will be shaped like eyes and beam adverts tailored specifically to those looking at them.

If New Street takes off, it could become the start of a move towards advertising seen in the blockbuster filmMinority Report, starringTom Cruise, which depicted a world in which billboards can identify people.

Such use of digital advertising has also been growing sufficiently in the far east and Germany. Earlier this year a local German brewerAstra Bierused facial recognition techniques to target female drinkers in Hamburg with video advertising.

Clear Channel UK Report Finds Out-of-Home Sector Must Do More to Educate Marketers on Emerging Technology UNITED KINGDOM – A new report from Clear Channel UK has found that less than a third of marketers are aware of digital out-of-home (DOOH) capabilities, that include technologies such as QR codes and NFC integration; sensors that detect motion and temperature changes; and facial recognition technology.

According to Clear Channel UK, the out-of-home (OOH) advertising industry must play a larger role in educating and promoting the medium’s digital capabilities. Clear Channel UK’s Look Again report surveyed more than 200 marketing professionals. The report found that innovation was cited as one of the top buying considerations among marketers who are under great pressure to find new ways to reach mass audiences driven by the ubiquity of mobile devices. In addition, mass mediums such as television are seeing declining audience figures.

Among the innovations dubbed most exciting by marketers surveyed by Clear Channel UK were environmentally friendly technologies (70%), motion detection (67%), contact-less technologies (70%), and the use of mobile technologies such as Near Field Communication (NFC) and QR codes (72%).

“We are at the point where many marketing professionals’ perceptions are at odds with the new levels of digital sophistication currently available across the out-of-home medium. In the UK, millions of pounds worth of investment has been made in digital over the last few years, creating a medium that is capable of delivering broadcast reach, measurability, and brand visibility on a national and regional level,” said Sarah Speake, CMO at Clear Channel UK. “It’s no coincidence that some of the world’s top brands are already taking advantage. It’s now paramount that we educate the masses on the new digital opportunities available as well as reiterating the strengths of our traditional formats.”

Aside from digital out-of-home advertising, the OOH advertising space has invested heavily in audience planning, intelligent content, and new data platforms. Yet Clear Channel’s research findings suggest that this news has not yet reached marketers.

NFC Enabled Smartphone”Today Clear Channel is transforming bus shelters into tweet-activated vending machines and ad-serving aeroplanes. There’s a wealth of sophistication available across the medium to tap into. It’s our job to shout louder and champion the new capabilities on offer to help our customers engage their audiences on a deeper and more meaningful level. Today marks the beginning of this journey to create the future of media, out-of-home,” added Speake.

Source: screenmediadaily

Please read this because it is important for our localeconomy(and for anyone who runs a tech or digital servicescompany).

Do you run a tech or digital company?

“A company that provides a digital technical service/product (including hardware and platforms) as its primary revenue source,

OR

A company that provides aservice/productthat is reliant on digital technology as its primary revenue source.” – Tech City UK

If you do, you really should complete the new #TechNation survey today.

Tech City UK launched the first UK #TechNation report in February 2015. This was a comprehensive, community-driven analysis of the UK’s tech clusters. Thanks to theinvolvement of local knowledge sharinggroups such as Hot Source, SyncNorwich and Norfolk Developers, Tech City UK identified Norwich as one of21 nationally important tech clusters.

Now Tech City UK and NESTA have launched a new #TechNation survey to map the UK’s tech ecosystems. They want togain a deeper insight into the current state of nation’s technology and digital sectors.In particular, they want to discover what innovative companies need to start-up and scale-up.

The government will use the TechNation 2016report to market the UK’s tech capabilities to the world.This gives us a great opportunity to showcase the diverse tech and digital talent across Norfolk and Suffolk. As well assecuring the reputation of Norwich asa#TechNation cluster, we want toensurethe whole of our regionfeatures strongly.

However, to do this we need your help.Please take the short (15 questions / 10 minutes) TechNation survey today by following this linkhttps://bit.ly/1QCyqly– and share itwith your business networks. If you do, your company mightevenfeature as a case study in the final TechNation 2016 report.

Three good reasons why you should complete this survey: 1) You will help chartthe development of the UK’s digital economy – particularly inthe East of England

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Please take the survey today by following this link:https://bit.ly/1QCyqly– the deadline is 14 October.

Also, please remember to share with your tech and digital contacts in East Anglia,because together we are stronger.

Thank you and best of luck in the prize draw.