DBA Roundup
A roundup of industry expertise, exclusive resources, business support and tools for your design business.
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Legal health check
You can benefit from a free legal health check provided by Humphries Kirk as part of your membership.
“For a small business like ours, the health check has been really valuable in giving us a better understanding about legal best practice. I have been amazed with the service Humphries Kirk has provided us with. It’s rare to find genuinely excellent quality customer service these days but the guys at HK definitely seem to have gone above and beyond. I am delighted to have joined the DBA and to have met with HK. My experience of working with them so far has been worth our annual DBA membership on it’s own,” says James Hill, Director of Fudge Animation.
Image credits: © Roman Motizov | © Paisit Teeraphatsakool Dreamstime.com
A roundup of industry expertise, exclusive resources, business support and tools for your design business.
Lobbying for a fairer, more effective system
One of the most significant commercial pressures industrial design consultancies face in the UK is losing work to publicly funded organisations offering heavily subsidised design and product development services. The DBA is lobbying for a fairer, more effective system.
The Global Talent Visa for Design
Talented and promising individuals can now apply for the Global Talent Visa in Design, and the DBA will assess applications on behalf of the Arts Council.
Promoting the UK-India opportunity to the UK design sector
The UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) comes into effect on 15 July and the DBA has been asked by the Department for Business and Trade to advise on the opportunity it creates for UK design companies.
DBA Member Forum | July Summary
At our July DBA Member Forum, we took a balanced look at what might be responsible for the downward trend in junior hiring in recent years.
Beyond the echo chamber: How creative agencies get into the business media
How can your agency claim its place in the business media? Competition is fierce and journalists receive hundreds of pitches every day. To stand out, you need to master these three key areas.
The Employment Rights Act and agencies: What to do now
DBA Expert, Aliya Vigor-Robertson looks at what the Employment Rights Act means for design agencies and what you should be doing now.
A Shared Vision for Industry-Led Design Education within Higher Education
The DBA has launched its latest white paper, produced in partnership with the Council for Higher Education in Art & Design.
Rules & Rebels: How design agencies tell their own stories
How do you choose the right words to set your business apart? DBA Expert Emily Penny looks at the rules and rebels of design agency messaging.
The era of the Client Partner has begun
Client service helps generate serious returns and it's time to recognise its value. The Client Partner era has begun.
Main Content
Case: Challs International and their Buster brand
With limited budgets, Challs International’s main marketing investment is in design. Its ongoing design investment and long-term collaboration with agency Elmwood has elevated its Buster brand from obscurity to a serious category contender in the last decade, and Challs are convinced on the value design brings to their business.
“When you don’t have huge above the line budgets, you need to invest wisely. The focus of our investment for 12 years has been using the power of design to cut through at the point of sale, and that has been pivotal in making Buster the No.1 brand”, says Challs International’s MD, Graham Burchell.
Buster emerged from obscurity on to the supermarket shelves following a brand overhaul by Elmwood in 2004. Since then the company has continued to invest in design. A brand evolution in 2009 helped elevate the brand to No.2 in the sector, but by 2013 the continuing global recession and competition from well-financed mega brands in the UK plughole category, meant the market wasn’t exactly free flowing. With specific objectives to create a platform for sustained growth, to expand internationally and ultimately to claim the top slot in the UK market, Challs chose to invest in design once more, and Buster has made it to the top of the market with packaging that cuts through at the point of purchase.
The objectives:
- Develop a strategy and platform for growth, both in the UK and abroad which would double UK value sales by 2017 (5 year plan)
- To strengthen the impact of the Buster brand on shelf, in order to become the No.1 brand in the market sector by January 2015
In a sector where consumers are normally faced with a wall of power graphics, Buster challenged category norms and contrasted with simple, calm design and a change of tone, becoming the No.1 plughole brand in the UK market months ahead of target in May 2014, and reducing its heavy reliance on sales of one of its products.
The results:
Buster is well and truly on track to achieve its 5 year plan of doubling value sales way ahead of schedule.
- In 2014 sales were up over 50% in a market growing by 13.9%
- Sales grew from £6.65million pre-redesign in 2012 to £11.47million in 2014
- Listings have been secured in 5 new international markets
- The workforce has increased by 20% off the back of this success
Elmwood and Challs International’s GOLD winning DBA Design Effectiveness Awards submission can be viewed in full here.
Image credits: © Rawpixelimages Dreamstime.com | © Ivaylo Sarayski Dreamstime.com
DBA Roundup
A roundup of industry expertise, exclusive resources, business support and tools for your design business.
Lobbying for a fairer, more effective system
One of the most significant commercial pressures industrial design consultancies face in the UK is losing work to publicly funded organisations offering heavily subsidised design and product development services. The DBA is lobbying for a fairer, more effective system.
The Global Talent Visa for Design
Talented and promising individuals can now apply for the Global Talent Visa in Design, and the DBA will assess applications on behalf of the Arts Council.
Promoting the UK-India opportunity to the UK design sector
The UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) comes into effect on 15 July and the DBA has been asked by the Department for Business and Trade to advise on the opportunity it creates for UK design companies.
DBA Member Forum | July Summary
At our July DBA Member Forum, we took a balanced look at what might be responsible for the downward trend in junior hiring in recent years.
Beyond the echo chamber: How creative agencies get into the business media
How can your agency claim its place in the business media? Competition is fierce and journalists receive hundreds of pitches every day. To stand out, you need to master these three key areas.
The Employment Rights Act and agencies: What to do now
DBA Expert, Aliya Vigor-Robertson looks at what the Employment Rights Act means for design agencies and what you should be doing now.
A Shared Vision for Industry-Led Design Education within Higher Education
The DBA has launched its latest white paper, produced in partnership with the Council for Higher Education in Art & Design.
Rules & Rebels: How design agencies tell their own stories
How do you choose the right words to set your business apart? DBA Expert Emily Penny looks at the rules and rebels of design agency messaging.
The era of the Client Partner has begun
Client service helps generate serious returns and it's time to recognise its value. The Client Partner era has begun.