To celebrate we created a video on a Facebook tab charting the journey of the page from its’ creation, up to the present. We wanted to thank the page’s fans so we pulled in avatars of Bullring’s most avid commenters to help us to create a narrative which represented the voice of the community.

Bullring are supporting the activity with lots of exciting giveaways over the next few days, so make sure you “like” their page to be part of it!

You can watch the video below:

We’re delighted to announce that we’ve been appointed by Chevrolet to handle their social media efforts across Europe.

As part of appointment we will work specifically to roll out an improved social presence for the brand across a number of European countries on Facebook. To kick off the account we’ve already built interactive applications for Chevrolet Racing and helped support the online launch of the new Chevrolet electric car, the Volt, in the UK, Germany and Turkey.

This is a great name to add to our portfolio and representative of our increasing capacity to service creative campaigns across multiple markets. Typically messaging in different languages can be a logistical nightmare and so we’re delighted that Chevrolet have tasked us with solving these problems.

You can view some recent work for Chevrolet in our portfolio – we’ll add in further campaigns as they get launched.

We’re delighted to announce that we’ve made the RAR Top 100 list for the first time. The list ranks the countries leading agencies based on a combination of different factors. These include turnover, percentage turnover growth, gross profit, gross profit growth and turnover per head of staff. Rather than just being a numbers game though, to even make the list, the pre-cursor to entry is that the agency must be measured by its own clients in creativity, client service and innovation.

Given the current economic climate and difficult trading conditions for many agencies, we’re delighted to be bucking the trend and growing at such a pace whilst working with an expanding, stable client base. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank our clients and the whole team who helped us make the list. We’d also like to wish everyone a great Christmas and a happy and prosperous 2011.

Last week we had the privilege of being asked to host the marketing day for the 2010 British Stores Association summer school. The school has been running at Keble College, Oxford for over 80 years and plays host to some 250 delegates from Britain’s largest retailers. Other invited speakers during the week included Joseph Wan, Chief Executive of Harvey Nichols and Mark Newton-Jones, Chief Executive of Shop Direct Group. Due to our continued experience working with some of the UKs leading retail brands, 383 Project were asked to host the marketing day and it was great to be on the bill with such successful retail names.

Retailers attending this year included Debenhams, Thorntons, Harvey Nichols, Nike, Ralph Lauren, House of Fraser and around 200 other household names and established independents. As well as CEOs, each retailer also sends their brightest and best ‘stars of the future’ to attend the school.

The focus of our talks was to illustrate the role of branding though the customer journey, demonstrating how retail brand stories should be approached and planned in a way which can be understood and retold by customers. We then set three briefs for the groups to work on during the days, presenting our model answers in the evening lecture and undertaking an after dinner Q & A.

It was great to be in such energised company and we’ve been very grateful for the feedback everyone has given us since returning from the school. Thanks also to Daljit from Diffusion who tackled the role of PR in branding throughout the day and helped deliver the lectures.

Here’s a snippet from Retail Week on the school (click to enlarge).

Hot on the heels of the iPhone app we developed for the DRUM, we’ve unveiled another – this time for Style Birmingham. It’s been a busy few months since the summer shoot and we’ve been busying away on a number of different fronts. Here’s a well overdue update:

Going mobile

First up, the iPhone app. This is the first incarnation of what will hopefully become a great (free) tool for Birmingham shoppers. At present the app allows users remote access to directory data and news from the site, as well as guiding users around the city centre based on their location in Google maps. Before going to press the app has so far been downloaded over 100 times and we’re already planning a number of updates in time for the New Year.

Here’s the full press release:

Retail Birmingham has launched the first iPhone App designed to guide visitors around the city’s shops and entertainment venues.

The Style Birmingham iPhone app provides users with a directory of over 1,000 shops, bars and restaurants, access to news updates from the stylebirmingham.com website and full route planning through Google Maps. It is the first iPhone app in the UK to be developed on behalf of a city’s retail district and it is available to download for free.

The iPhone app is the latest in a number of promotional activities to market Birmingham’s shops and lifestyle destinations. For the second year running, a comprehensive shopping directory has been published, providing listings for all of the retail outlets in the city centre.

The recently developed stylebirmingham.com website also hosts a new day planner feature, allowing visitors to create a customised search of fashion and dining locations in Birmingham.

Kevin Breese, Chair of Retail Birmingham Marketing Group and General Manager of Harvey Nichols said:

“Birmingham has a great reputation for shopping, and attracts millions of visitors each year. With the new Style Birmingham iPhone app, shopping directory and day planner we want to make exploring the city and its fantastic retail offer as easy and enjoyable as possible.”

The press release also mentions a day planner feature which has recently been added to the site – this allows users of stylebirmingham.com to register and save a customised shopping route which suggests stores and activities based on users age, buying habits and shopping choices etc.

You can download the app here

AUTUMN ADS

In addition to the iPhone app we’ve also got another photoshoot wrapped up featuring the Autumn lines from Birmingham retailers. If you grab a copy of Style Birmingham magazine this month the shoot features heavily, or alternatively grab a taxi and look at the doors- we’ve been seeing them everywhere!

CHRISTMAS

Lastly, stay tuned for some exciting news leading up to Christmas – there’s some big stuff in the stocking!

We’re pleased to announce another great win for the team here at 383. We were commissioned by Sony TV Asia to design an outdoor and press campaign to promote Sony’s new TV channel package ‘Max Mix’.

The ads are designed to reflect the vibrant mix of Cricket, Bollywood film and news that will be available across the channels and engage audiences on a personal level through the use of quotes.

You can read the full press release over at The DRUM, but suffice to say we’re really pleased with this win and looking forward to working with Sony TV Asia in the future.

There’s a nice article in the current issue of The DRUM which 383 Project were interviewed for. It looks at various agencies business cards and asks a simple question – what does the card say about you? Take a look if you’re registered with the site or have a copy of the magazine.

We were delighted to see today that two restaurants we’re very much proud of at 383 project have been featured in a Guardian top 10 list of restaurants in Birmingham. The icing on the cake was that Urban Pie (which we designed and have since produced all on and offline marketing for) was placed at number one. A big well done goes to the guys at both Handmade Burger Co and Urban Pie who make the food (which is obviously key!), but we’re sure the design helped a bit!

As an aside, a brand new Urban Pie has just opened this week in Leicester, so pop along to Highcross if you’re in the area.

We’re pleased to announce that 383 Project has been appointed as the new creative agency for Style Birmingham. After a hotly contested pitch process we were delighted to be selected to work on the years campaign and are looking forward to getting stuck in to the brand, advertising and website relaunch in the next couple of months. A big well done also goes to the guys at rewired who’ve been appointed as the new PR agency. Here’s the full press release:

Retail Birmingham has appointed two regional agencies to carry out a new creative, web and PR campaign on behalf of the organisation and its brand, Style Birmingham.

383 Project and Rewired PR, both based in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, were selected after a multi-agency pitch.

The campaign will include a re-brand for Style Birmingham, a fresh advertising creative, development of a new, interactive website, and year round PR, events and promotions to raise awareness of Birmingham’s retail offer and drive footfall across the city’s stores.

Retail Birmingham Business Improvement District was launched in 2007, and is a not for profit company representing over 1,000 retailers including Bullring, The Mailbox, Pallasades, Pavillions, Great Western Arcade and Picadilly Arcade.

Kevin Breese, General Manager at Harvey Nichols and chair of Retail Birmingham’s marketing group, said: “Retail Birmingham represents the entire spectrum, from designer fashion to leading high street names and independent stores.

We wanted to appoint a marketing and PR team that would have the expertise, creativity and energy to support retailers through the current climate and maintain Birmingham’s leading position as the UK’s shopping destination of choice outside London.

“Both 383 Project and Rewired PR impressed us with their original approach and ability to create fresh campaigns that will have real resonance for the city’s retail sector.

John Newbold, Creative Director at 383 Project said:
It’s an exciting time to be promoting the retail offer within the city. Building on our previous work with Retail Birmingham we’re keen to create a campaign which plays to Birmingham’s strengths and increases the brand perception on both a regional and national level.

Ruth Ward, Managing Director of Rewired PR said:
Having experienced Birmingham’s retail renaissance first hand over the past decade, it’s fantastic to have the opportunity to promote the city in this way. We’re looking forward to generating even greater interest in Birmingham as a shopping destination, from its big brands to the hidden gems.

Urban Pie is one of the showcase sites in this months .net magazine. It’s been out for a few days but we’ve only just managed to get one. Pick up a copy if you’re interested – we’re on page 66.