Behind that first floor window you’ll find a nail salon called Bubbles. In the window is the phone number and a call to action saying what number door they are and asking you to walk in for an appointment. Can’t say I’ve ever noticed this before. I’ve never had reason to look. Now, although I’m not going to get my nails done anytime soon, I couldn’t help but think this was a really smart idea. It works two fold, obviously there’s the connection with the name ‘Bubbles’, but more importantly, it made me look up there.

Their window vinyl signage isn’t great and the branding is worse. However, I want to congratulate them for trying something different and delivering what is a very smart piece of marketing.

Most of the cards going out of the studio have a splash of varnish and it’s understandable – the finish is so hard to resist.

Check out our facebook for recent work snaps and check out the great examples.

Pisys.net have used Starmarque products to distinguish themselves. One of the most impressive companies we work with. Very friendly, knowledgeable and efficient. A well established company with a bright future ahead.

Swansea based Pisys.net provide IT service, sales and support to businesses across the UK. They are also one of the countries top Microsoft 365 distributors. Check out some of the recent work we created for them. Can you spot the highlights?

A5 Starmarque Folder Cover

Stretch VT Banner Stand

A5 Starmarque Folder, Inserts and Business Cards

Episode 8 starts with a trip to Waterloo station. Hilarious. They thought they were off on a trip somewhere, but they’re just checking out the graffiti under the arches, as this will be the next product they attempt to sell.

Huge gamble: Laura takes in Jessop's collection. Courtesy of Telegraph.co.uk

The teams got to meet exciting new street artists from Bristol and London, looking for work to display in a gallery and sell in a one off event. There were some interesting tactics here. Team Sterling decided to show a lot of enthusiasm, passion and admiration for the artists and their work. However, Team Phoenix PM Tom declared an interest in street art and he decided to to win the artists over with his knowledge of the scene.

This bombed. Both teams chose to go with artist ‘Pure Evil’ and so it was up to him to choose. He decided to go with the enthusiastic team, much to Tom’s disgust who was visibly shaken and shocked, saying ‘It just goes to show that knowledge, expertise and rapport goes nowhere with these guys’. Little did he know that in his bid to demonstrate knowledge and expertise, he’d built no rapport whatsoever.

In Tom’s pitch to the artist he talked of other street artists such as Space Invader and Andre the Giant. I think he had just watched Banksy’s film ‘Exit Through the Gift Shop’, and was regurgitating stuff to look clever. But what Tom didn’t realise was the last thing an artist wants to hear are names of other artists. The artist only needs you to be interested in one name – theirs!

We can learn a lot from this when we speak to our customers – especially potential ones. It’s one thing to spout about how much you know, who you work with, and what an expert you are. But the key to winning over the client is to take the time to understand them and express your interest and enthusiasm for who they are and what they do.

!!SPOILER ALERT!!

If I haven’t already given enough away, this’ll do it, so here’s your spoiler alert.

Still reading? OK, Team Sterling won by £137, which wasn’t a huge margin in a task that earned over £10,000 in sales per team. Team Phoenix, led by Tom, probably lost because they failed to secure the artist ‘Pure Evil’, who’s work sold well. Tom decided to go with James Jessop, an artist with a unique style, not to everyone’s taste, and with a huge price tag – £7k- £10k per piece. It was a gamble that didn’t pay off as the team didn’t sell any.

Sterling made some mistakes though, and scraped through. Both teams had the opportunity to find work for corporate buyers, who they got to meet prior to selecting artists. Sterling got to meet a Gin Producer looking for something particular to adorn the walls of their premises and represent the company and it’s direction. Gabrielle, PM of Sterling, failed to ask questions relating to size, and more importantly, budget. They had no idea what the Gin company were prepared to pay. So when they sourced work worth £500 it was no surprise that they missed the mark, with the team unaware the corporate buyers had a £10,000 budget!

Adam did well this week. Haven’t really liked him previously but I think he’s now my favourite. Unlike many of the others, he’s unpretentious and seems like an honest guy who’s genuinely good at what he does – Sales. Uncomplicated, personable, non aggressive sales. Good man.

FASTER:

Many of our most popular items are faster than ever. Most of our best sellers are now delivered in just 3 working days – including Premium Gloss Leaflets and Luxury Business Cards. If that’s not fast enough, we’ve reduced the price of our Xpress Service. Get your order in around half the time, for just an extra 20%.

SMARTER:

We’ve been busy building online tools to make your life easier. Visit my.printing.com and sign in (or register if you haven’t used it before) and browse a gallery of your previous designs. Makes re-ordering easy.

LOWER:

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Get your free copy and a set of samples sent to you by choosing one of the options below:

All too often we see some Impressive, dynamic businesses with massive potential but out dated marketing that doesn’t reflect their current offering. The business changes fast to adapt but the leaflets and brochures just dont keep up. Instead they gather dust.

If your brochures, leaflets, stationery and letterheads are letting the side down, it’s time to take action. It’s our job to remind customers what we offer today. What were all about, today. When was the last time you worked on your marketing literature? Instead of keeping them up to date, Are you letting your customers know what company you used to be?

Starmarque Duplex makes your marketing stand out. Plus it’ll make all your competitors well jel.

Handing out business cards at a networking event? You know when you come across the people with cards from Vistypants or (slightly) worse, their own desktop printer? Do you take them or their business seriously? It’s unfair, but it’s human nature to make comparisons between their attitude to business and their business cards.

We print both sides of a thick 400gsm artboard and cover in a tactile matt lamination. Then we add delicious spot gloss highlights on both sides. Nothing amateur about that.

You decide which bits to highlight. Spot gloss looks particularly cool on a dark background. For best results, use the gloss as a design element in its own right. Ask us for ideas or free samples.

Try Starmarque Duplex during May for half price on a range of Business Cards, Showcards, Thick Flyers, Menus, Folders, Brochures and Invitations. Check prices and availability online.

Get them while they’re gorgeous!

Be careful with free artwork. What do you think they care about most? If they’re offering artwork cheaply, or for free, their main concern is to spend as little time as possible creating it. Often a printer will knock something out quickly so they have something they can print, and charge you for. We work differently. Our main concern is getting your phone to ring.

With our full service design packages, we look at your market, identify people and areas to target. We take time to understand your product or service so we can communicate the benefits to the recipient. And we create a clear call to action. We even use tools to monitor the results, so you know what’s working and by how much.

Printing a bunch of leaflets without too much thought to the content is simply wasting your money. 100 properly thought out leaflets put in front of the right type of people will outperform 10,000 poorly designed randomly distributed leaflets.

And if someone’s offering you ‘cheap’ or ‘free’ artwork remember there’s a hidden cost. Is it really the cheapest leaflets you want… Or the ones that will make you the most business?

If you’re fed up of leaflets that don’t work, get in touch. Contact us on 01792 448 132 to arrange a time to begin putting things right.

Does this seem familiar: You take your responsibility to the environment very seriously but you don’t want to compromise on the quality of your promotional material? Now you can have your cake and eat it (or tree and hug it). Premium Recycled Folded leaflets have a velvet feel and are printed on both sides with vegetable based inks. They make you look fantastic and help keep trees where they belong, pointing upwards at the sky!

Prices start from just £72. Order online today.
Want them folded? No problem. Prices from just £110.

Get your message working hard, even before your recipient opens your letter. Our Overprinted Envelopes are the first stage in the sales process. Create a ‘hook’ on the outside to draw your reader inside. If you’re worried they’ll throw the letter away without opening it, then you need to put your effort into making that hook irresistible.

Headline’s are crucial to the success of your marketing. They often determine whether the rest of your marketing will get read at all. So where better to put your headline than on the envelope in the first place. Get some interest going and make people want to see what’s inside.

Print something colourful, say hello in big words, or use images to make sure your envelope stands out. By creating a bit of intrigue, the chances of your communication getting opened is far greater with an envelope that demands a bit of attention in the first place.

Print your headline, your logo, or something eye catching

When you’re mailing out quotes, reports, samples, invoices, statements, confirmations, thank you cards and other frequent communication, create a good impression and raise the awareness of your brand by printing your logo and corporate colours on the envelope. If the recipient is expecting mail from you, your envelope will be a welcome sight.

Smart companies are using printed envelopes to get noticed. Don’t blend in with all the other companies that are doing the same old thing, the same old way.

There are only 3 days left to get your hands on full colour printed envelopes with 1/3rd off the price.

Let’s be honest, the Boys’ designs were awful. The Girls’ designs, on the other hand, were excellent. Really charming little animal sketches, even if the penguin looking a little suspicious.

OK, bit of a spoiler about to come, so I’m going to put this picture in the way and give you chance to come back later, should you not have watched the show yet…

The Girls' Design. Image Copyright BBC via of http://www.dailymail.co.uk

OK, the girls lost! What? How? Their design was superior, their products better. What went wrong? Well, their sales and marketing went wrong. Poor strategy and worse execution. Did you see them all talking at once to the shop owner? Blimey!

Nick Hewer informed Lord Sugar of their behaviour to the retailer, saying ‘the shopkeeper was so affronted by their sales approach that she wouldn’t buy anything, she couldn’t stand being cornered by a pack of baying hyenas.’

Bilyana got fired. Although we think she might’ve talked herself into it while in the boardroom. We were sure Katie was going (for not doing an awful lot or saying anything worth keeping her for).

So, an interesting start to the series and a great example of how you can’t just rely on having good products. Having good products at the right price just gets you in the game. They don’t guarantee people will flock to your doors. Your marketing strategy holds the key to success. As the Boys proved in this episode, despite an early pricing hiccup, it ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it.