A warm SACC welcome to new member, Sue Sowerby

How Sue started her business in the year of a recession.

What do you do for a living and how did you get started in your industry?

It all started in 1992. It was the year of a recession. The London advertising agency I worked for went into receivership. I lost a good salary, company car and I thought I would lose my 29 clients too. With no real management experience I decided to set up an advertising & design agency in Epping. In those days, and without the internet and email, I used my preferred mode of communication - the good old telephone! I explained to all my clients what had happened. They were supportive and agreed that, providing I delivered the same level of service in terms of ad copywriting, creative design, media buying and research, they would continue working with me. That was 21 years ago and I’m pleased to say that some of those clients are still with The Sowerby Group today.

What services do you cover?

In the early years, the main focus was on recruitment advertising & design. With the advent of digital marketing, mobile communications, online job-boards and social media, things are very different now. Over the past decade we’ve built a strong network of clients and have steadily increased our service offering to encompass Design & Print, Recruitment, Products & Services Advertising, Brand Identity, Large Format Print, Digital Marketing, Event Management and Social Media Training.

Why did you join Stansted Airport Chamber of Commerce?

Purely and simply because I attended a number of events in the Essex and Herts area and kept bumping into Julie Budden! My meeting other SACC members I saw a real opportunity to network with some serious businesses. The Sowerby Group is a relatively new member but already we are reaping the benefits by working with some of the businesses and offering our services, whilst they offer theirs too!

We operate from a suite of offices at a modern Business Centre in Harlow. Many tenants here have used our design & print, copywriting, brand identity, web and advertising services. As we work national and internationally, we will go where the projects are. Distance doesn’t faize us although it is very nice to work with clients locally of course!

What advice would you give to a young person starting out today?

Do your homework! Identify what you like doing and what you are good at! Research companies that could be interested in you and your skillset. It’s tough out there for young people but hard work pays off. At Sowerby, we give talks at schools, we offer work experience and we give coaching, career and CV advice. These are all important tools to help decide on the direction you want to take in terms of a good career path.

Tips from Sue to you...

Focus on Brand Identity – a key part of your communications strategy.

We were asked to provide a particular focus on one of our services, so we chose ‘Brand identity’ which, in a nutshell, is a good representation of your company's values, its guiding principles and a company’s ‘personality’. So it's not a single element such as a logo, the fonts you use, your colour scheme or your website presence that makes up your brand. It's actually the whole package - and this makes you instantly recognisable to your customers and other stakeholders.

Within our own business, more and more clients are looking closely at how their brand is being communicated. It’s all about brand perception, both internally and externally.  It’s also important to ensure that your brand works across all platforms including business stationery, website, social media and mobile devices including phones and tablets. Logos that are designed too small or even too wide will be difficult to use on certain platforms so it’s important that if you work with the right brand provider, you discuss all the practical elements of the brand, the colours, shape, icons and how it is likely to be used in the future.  Brand guidelines are often implemented, particularly in large organisations where there is more risk of the logo or brand elements being compromised. Brand identity can be very emotive. The brands we create in-house are designed to be memorable, demonstrating both longevity and practicality, as well as being reflective of the client’s business operation.

HERE’S SIX TIPS TO HELP YOUR OWN BRAND IDENTITY

Some companies, certainly not all, think it’s fine to knock up a logo and it will do the trick in terms of brand identity. But a corporate brand is not something you can design on a post-it note! In summary, here are a few pointers to think about to ensure your brand works well for you.

1. Your Logo

What does it say about your company? Does it give the right impression about your business from the outset? Is it reflective of the type of business you operate? Could it do with a refresh or even a complete makeover?

2. Your chosen font

There are some lovely fonts to choose from and choosing the right font is all part of your brand. So choose something that is practical and will look good when seen on letterheads, a business card, a brochure, a mobile phone and a tablet (ipad etc.)

3. Colours

When considering your corporate colours, don’t just think about the primary ones, think about introducing secondary colours into your colour palette. This way you will have more flexibility when producing a nice brochure, website, flyer, exhibition stand, etc. We worked with a client once who hated the colour green. However, we produced some colour ways using a lime green and silver and guess what? The client loved it and said “But I like that shade of green!”  

4. Tone of Voice

That all-important tone of voice is the way you communicate out your words and written message. Think about your line of business and then think about how you convey your messaging. Is your printed word too formal, too professional, too ‘hip’, too ‘flowery’ or just about right?

5. Punctuation and Grammar

Do you know when to use single quotes and double quotes or even a colon or semi-colon?  Using these incorrectly can completely change the context of a piece of wording. Then there’s the infamous apostrophe and how it’s used in everyday emails, letters, etc. If anyone has read the book ‘Eats, Shoots and Leaves’, by reading this as ‘Eats Shoots and Leaves’ it gives a different kind of meaning to the phrase. I could go on…but I won’t!

6. Presentation

And finally, that all-important presentation. When a document is laid out, how does it look? Are there any straggling line endings, are sentences too long and lacking the right punctuation? Just take some time to look at your document and imagine how it is received by the end user. Taking a little extra time when creating a document can pay dividends in the long run.  
What do you recall as your most defined business breakthrough – a moment you knew you had a first big break?

Tendering with some of the ‘Big Five’ London agencies and winning business from a well-known global organisation.  It didn’t take long to work out that many companies prefer to work with smaller agencies with lower overheads, who don’t charge huge fees and who offer a personal, end-to-end marketing communications service.

Sue Sowerby
The Sowerby Group Limited
www.sowerbygroup.co.uk
01279 408665