The Milton Keynes Business Achievement Awards (MKBAA) is one of the region’s biggest business award ceremonies and an annual event that some of our team has been involved with since it was first introduced to MK more than a decade ago.
This year, we’re proud to continue to work in partnership with event organisers to craft the new brand and identity for 2025, working with the MKBAA team on brand discovery, with our creative process informing the direction, development and roll-out of the brand.
Milton Keynes is a diverse, innovative and curious city, which closely aligns with the Stratos way of thinking, and we welcome the opportunity to be involved in the awards again this year, enabling us to support and celebrate our MK clients, friends and various businesses who have made outstanding contributions to the local business community.
The theme for this year’s awards is ‘Bridging the gap: skills and learning for our future workforce’ and with our close ties to MKBAA’S Headline Sponsors, The Open University and Milton Keynes City Council, this is a topic that we are particularly passionate about and keen to find out how the individuals and businesses in our city are excelling in this area, at the awards.
Managing Director of Stratos, Martin Carmody explains: “Recognising and celebrating the successes of individuals and teams within our business community, who have demonstrated excellence within their category is really important. We’re looking forward to supporting those businesses and sharing in their successes at MKBAA 2025.”
Nicholas Mann, Chair of Milton Keynes Business Leaders Partnership (MKBLP) the organisers of MKBAA, comments: “I am delighted to be working with Stratos again this year on the Milton Keynes Business Achievement Awards. The creative team did a great job on our 2024 branding campaign and we were very confident in using the team again for our 2025 event.”
Commenting on the theme for this year’s event. Nicholas says: “Milton Keynes is a thriving hub of innovation and growth, but our success hinges on having a skilled workforce that can meet the demands of our dynamic economy. The 2025 MKBAA theme highlights the urgency of this challenge and the need for strategic partnerships between businesses and educational institutions. Businesses must play their part in finding a resolution to this challenge.”
Take a look at our brand work and register for this year’s awards (Deadline for Stage 1 entries is Friday 15th November at 17:00) at https://mkbaa.co.uk/
Stratos has plenty of experience working with clients in the education industry, creating positive impact and delivering real results. So, when Cranfield University’s MK:U, a ‘new kind of university in Milton Keynes’, approached us to support the development of a new brand identity and future vision, we were excited to get involved!
Our Creative Director, Marc Smiddy, recently ran a brand workshop with the management team at MK:U, to find out more about their current challenges, and work together to come up with some insightful solutions to support the brand strategy and future identity of the university.
An important part of the workshop focused on creating a persona for the MK:U brand, and Marc shared Stratos’ new brand attribution cards with the team, in order to establish the culture, tone of voice and value proposition for MK:U.
Commenting on the workshop, Marc says:
“It was a great discovery session, and using our new Stratos cards was a really engaging way to build a picture of the look, feel and messaging that will create a new identity for MK:U as a standalone brand to be proud of.
“Thanks to Kristian Mackie, Head of Innovation at MK:U for coordinating the workshop and to all of the exec team and brand and comms experts who embraced the workshop and collaboratively helped to create clarity and vision for MK:U. The next step for me is to use this insight to build out a brand strategy for the university, and I’m excited to put this initial research and insights activity into action.”
It’s certainly been a whirlwind start to the year, quarter two already? The momentum built in 2023 has continued to be progressive and positive and Stratos has continued to strengthen the team to add further value and a bigger brand impact to our client partners.
As part of our plans, we have worked in successful partnerships with a selection of agencies and teams who are at the top of their own game. Collectively, we’ve been able to evolve and offer a fully creative and digital proposition whilst remaining focused on individual agency strengths and specialities. We are passionate about building and growing a group of like-minded people, who can combine and draw on decades of industry experience and knowledge and wrap the right team and talent around a project to ensure success.
One agency partner we have worked with extensively over the past two years is Interdirect, a long-established PR and Digital Communications agency who have worked with businesses in Milton Keynes and beyond for over 28 years and is well-known within the community. We’ve been complimenting Interdirect with brand and creative expertise and likewise, called upon their PR and Communications skill-set for a variety of projects.
The team are tenacious and curious in seeking opportunities that support the agency’s vision. With a focus on insight to inform their strategic approach, bringing together like minded people sits alongside the overarching values and beliefs of the agency.
So what’s changing? Very little apart from an enhanced client-centric, creative and digital team, committed to delivering the very best experience, strategic brand and digital proposition and marketing solutions. Bringing people together to join an inclusive culture that’s set to continue strengthening to meet everyone’s expectations.
Martin Carmody, Managing Director at Stratos commented “We have continued to invest in the team and agency, and have collaborated with ID on several projects whilst enjoying working alongside their team and partners. Therefore, it felt like a ‘natural’ next step to bring the two agencies officially closer together. We’re passionate about partnerships and working with people who share a purpose, always advancing and supporting one-another to provide the very best team to plan, develop and deliver successful client projects that make an impact.
It’s an exciting time and going forward, with an enhanced proposition and a wider team to lean on, we are all excited by the opportunities for our client partners and future initiatives.
Whether you operate in the B2B or B2C sector, target audience research should underpin every decision and investment you make.
Behind every buying decision is a human being. Understanding your audience’s personal preferences and challenges allows you to tailor your pitch to address their unique needs.
Your content, your branding, your campaigns – they should all work to influence and encourage behaviour from your audiences.
So if you’re ready to elevate your marketing game in 2024, let us take you through a detailed look at the world of audience research.
Here, we’ve created a 7-step actionable guide to help marketers plan and implement an effective target audience research strategy.
Step 1: Know your business
Of course you know your business. But before you embark on any research, get clear and comfortable on your brand: your mission, values, and unique selling proposition.
What outcomes do you provide for your customers, rather than just services/products?
Understanding who you are as a business will enable you to set the stage for your target audience. It comes down to really understanding the fundamentals of your offering and your brand personality to ensure consistency and alignment with the right people.
Step 2: Who are you targeting?
You will be able to identify your audience quickly by assessing your leads and current clients.
Take a look at the demographics, psychographics and behaviour patterns, It may also pay to think about who your IDEAL customer is, as opposed to your current customer. Think about the ins and outs of their daily life, preferences, and social status – the more you know, the better you understand, and you can target them.
Step 3: Research your competitors (and their audiences)
Keep a close eye on what your competitors are up to: their websites, their social media platforms, and their email campaigns. Sign up for their email list and download their content (if appropriate). Practise social listening to see what your customers are talking about on their platforms. Learning from your competitors’ victories and defeats provides valuable insights into a shared audience and which gaps you can fill.
Step 4: Personas
Build detailed customer personas that go beyond the surface. Avoid sticking to basic demographic information, and give them fictitious names, faces, and personalities. Think about their daily routine, who they report to, and what pushback they might have to handle during the sales cycle. Personas add a human touch to any data and will guide you in creating messages that resonate and convert.
Step 5: Social media as a tool
Your audience is already there, sharing their preferences and grievances; asking questions and maybe even sharing complaints. Listen, engage, and analyse. Social media is a goldmine of real-time data that can help you understand trends and sentiments. Plus, what your audience doesn’t want to hear!
Step 6: If you don’t ask, you don’t get
Speak to your audience directly by sharing surveys, polls and feedback forms to gather qualitative and quantitative data. Understand your audience’s pain points, desires and expectations. A well-crafted survey could be the guiding compass through your next marketing strategy.
Step 7: Numbers don’t lie
Dive into the analytics of your website, emails, and social media. What content is getting the most love? Where are your visitors dropping off? Always make data-led decisions. Analytics unveils the breadcrumbs that lead you to a better understanding of what works and what doesn’t.
By investing in target audience research, you’re not simply throwing a marketing budget into the abyss. You’re investing where it matters, optimising your resources, and maximising your ROI.
The results will speak for themselves:
Optimised resources
Better return on investment
Precision targeting
Better customer relationships
Personalised messaging
Whether you are marketing to B2B or B2C businesses, every decision-maker is a human. It would be irresponsible to forgo the importance of audience research.
Plus, people are tired of generic content.
Nowadays it’s easier to connect with content that feels like it was written just for us. Consumers love personalisation and tailored messaging, but you have to know who is at the receiving end of your comms. Have you ever felt more connected to a brand because of their marketing?
Need help with audience research? It’s what we do – feel free to get in touch with a member of our team today.
Who left the wrappers in the Roses Tin?! We can hear it now! Only Fools and Horses on the TV, logs on the fire, Christmas markets, festive feasts, family, friends, fun, laughter and not forgetting Chris Rea in the car ‘Driving Home for Christmas’. It’s that time of year again.
To say the year has flown by is an understatement. Reflecting on everything we’ve worked on as a team, a business and an agency, it’s not surprising. The team have been constantly busy throughout the year and the time is nearly upon us to close our laptops, mute our phones, and prepare for the festivities.
Christmas is one of our favourite times of the year, we love catching up with family and friends with whom we don’t seem to get enough opportunities to get together throughout the year.
Whatever the occasion, it’s so important that we stay true to our culture, agency beliefs and values, and the Christmas holiday is where we can wrap up all these purposes together as we consider the well-being of our team as a priority at Stratos. Encouraging everyone to step away from the day-to-day grind, take some well-deserved time out, time to relax and ultimately, enter the festive zen zone where they don’t need to catch up on that new message, social media, email, or post – unless you’re Marc of course, who can’t sit still and has decided to fit a kitchen during his break!
Most of us look forward to our Christmas holidays for all sorts of reasons. However long your Christmas holiday, it’s vital to use this time to properly ‘switch off’ and enjoy your festive freedom.
We get too used to the fast-paced agency life we thrive on; it can be hard to break the schedule.
We must recharge, prepare and return in the new year, re-energised, motivated, and enthusiastic for another exciting year ahead (It’s gonna be a gooden).
In the meantime, our studio will be closed from Christmas to New Year. We will switch off the office lights together on 21st December, lock the door and look forward to creating even more with our clients, partners, and peers in the new year.
So, enjoy yourselves with friends and family, eat, drink, and be merry. There’s never been a better excuse to do so. Make your Christmas Matter.
The final thing before we hit the switch… Wishing you a Merry Christmas and an amazing New Year!
Aside from the countless pumpkins littered across housing estates and front gardens, there are many iconic makers associated with the Halloween season.
Ghosts and ghouls, witches and broomsticks, candy and sweets, and pretty much anything orange and black. The supermarket shelves are also brimming with ‘Halloween’ themed goodies. If you had travelled from a different decade, you’d quickly be able to decipher which month you’d landed in!
So, this month we thought we’d celebrate what makes brands iconic with a nod to some of our favourite Halloween horror movies. These films are celebrated not only for their storytelling but also for their ability to etch themselves into our memory. Much like these cinematic masterpieces, brands can strive to achieve iconic status through strategies and design elements that leave a lasting impression.
The lone red balloon. Or the chainsaw dripped in blood. I’m sure that even non-film buffs can quickly identify the film title from these markers alone. So weird and yet so wonderfully done, these graphic representations of the film helped boost the film’s popularity and add to the iconicness of these titles.
So what exactly makes a brand iconic?
Consistency
The iconic brands we know, love and recognise are masters of consistency. They maintain a uniform voice, style, and message across all touchpoints, whether it’s their website, social media, packaging, or advertising.
Just like Coca-Cola’s signature red and white branding that has remained virtually unchanged for decades. This consistency builds a sense of trust and reliability among consumers. When they see the familiar colours and logo, they instantly associate it with the brand, which makes it memorable and iconic.
Just as the ominous simplicity of the red balloon in ‘IT’ sends shivers down your spine, branding with clean, uncomplicated designs are more likely to be etched into our memory. It’s the added connotations of the movie and its promotion that add to its power.
In the commercial world, Apple’s logo, which is a simple apple with a bite taken out of it, is minimalist yet instantly recognisable worldwide. A clutter-free, straightforward design makes it easier for consumers to remember and identify your brand.
Emotional Connection
Iconic brands do more than sell products or services; they tell a story and forge emotional connections.
Storytelling is an extremely powerful tool to help you lean into what makes your brand unique and iconic. A slogan or value that sets you apart from competitors in a similar space. ‘Dove’ quickly became iconic in the skincare space after they championed inclusivity and individuality through campaigns that spoke to ‘everyday people’. This helped to build trust and an emotional connection with audiences who felt understood by them, and a part of their community.
The emotional connection created by iconic brands ensures that consumers not only remember the brand but also become loyal advocates.
Adaptation
Yes, consistency is key. But iconic brands can evolve and adapt with the times.
Just as classic horror films continue to captivate new generations with new marketing campaigns and branding strategies, brands like Disney have managed to stay relevant by adapting their content. Staying current while preserving the core essence of the brand (yes, that warm fuzzy feeling) ensures that it remains in the public eye and continues to be iconic especially as new generations become your audience.
Memorable Visuals
Visual elements play a crucial role in making a brand iconic. Going back to our theme of horror films, we always think of the white mask worn by Mike Myers in Halloween as an extremely memorable marker of the movie branding.
The same goes for some of the world’s most iconic brands. The golden arches of McDonald’s and the Nike swoosh, for example. All are globally recognised symbols. These visuals are carefully designed to be unforgettable, making it easy for consumers to identify and remember the brand in a crowded marketplace.
Halloween is a holiday phenomenon. But there’s a lot to be learnt from the iconicness that surrounds the theme of Halloween, and how its iconic branding permeates the entire month of October rather than just the 31st!
Becoming iconic and instantly recognisable should be an objective for any company focused on building a brand. By cultivating consistency, simplicity, emotional connections and memorable visuals, brands can leave an indelible mark on their audience. Take a cue from the iconic horror films that have stood the test of time, and create advertising campaigns that resonate this Halloween season and beyond. After all, being memorable is the first step to becoming truly iconic in the eyes of those you want to get noticed by.
If you’re ready to start creating an iconic brand (don’t worry, we’ll leave Halloween out of this one), just drop us a line.
Don’t be put off by the term. Strategic marketing analysis isn’t complex, but it does take work, attention to detail, and consistent measurement.
Strategic marketing is at the centre of everything we do at Stratos. From a brand creation to a colour palette to an online presence. Every step we take is informed by strategy and analysis.
We will delve deep to understand your business objectives, take an in-depth look at how your company measures up to your competitors, the industry you are in, your customers, your campaigns and ultimately your targets. We also assess a variety of metrics before developing or implementing any strategic plans.
In this blog, we’ll explore the topic in more detail.
What Should Strategic Marketing Analysis Look at?
There are 4 main areas a strategic marketing analysis should focus on: market, competitors, audience, and your own brand’s performance.
Market Analysis
Market research is essential in understanding the industry you are in and the future direction you should be taking. Market research should analyse:
Current trends
Future trends
Market share
Market growth
Technological developments
Environmental factors
Social factors
Competitor Analysis
An in-depth competitor analysis can help you understand your place in the market and any big opportunities for you. You should also understand your competitors’ USP and how your own USP compares. A good starting point is to identify how your competitors implement the 4 P’s. It sounds basic, but you can build from here and identify where you can make a greater impact.
Product
Price
Place
Promotion
Target Audience
Understanding your audience is vital. And it’s not just a case of simple demographics. You need to know what drives them, and what are their needs and desires. Do your brand values align with their own values? What is their pain point in your industry, and can you solve it?
Building a buyer persona will ensure your marketing will target the right customers effectively and tailor your message.
Brand Analysis
Strategic marketing analysis should look at your own brand and its performance. You should always assess your brand awareness among your target audience, allowing you to gauge brand perception, and measure against your KPIs.
For every marketing campaign you need to assess what has worked in terms of leads, conversions and sales.
Are your customers satisfied?
Are you retaining customers and building brand loyalty?
Is your marketing strategy aiding your profit and market growth?
What Metrics Should You Use For Strategic Marketing Analysis?
When it comes to measuring your brand performance and campaign analysis there are many metrics available. Some free and some that will require investment.
Benchmarks should be set for every campaign to enable you to track performance and analyse data.
It’s easy to get caught up in sales metrics, but remember that sales are not the only measure of the success of a campaign. Metrics should be able to give you an insight into awareness and engagement too.
Surveys
Thanks to digital innovations, it’s so much simpler to engage customers in surveys now – we have QR codes, virtual forms and incentivisation. Standing on the street with a clipboard is a thing of the past!
The benefit of a survey is that you can ask the specific questions you want answered. You can also conduct surveys through social media and engage with your audience’s responses to gain even deeper insights.
Focus Groups
Focus groups are a great way to dig deep and get in-depth information from your customers. You can observe, collect data, eavesdrop…
Sometimes they are a more costly metric since you might have to pay upfront for logistical costs, but they can lead to incredibly valuable insight, so are worth the investment.
Website Data
Your website data includes a tonne of useful information such as traffic, where it’s come from, and your users’ behaviour. Where do they go after arriving at your landing page? Are they subscribing to your email database? How long are they sticking around and being engaged? What’s your engagement rate? Did your campaign drive traffic to a particular page? Website data analysis can help you optimise your online presence and get more customers making conversions.
Social Media Engagement
You can find answers to so many questions by simply analysing your basic social media metrics.
When is your audience most active?
What content are they responding to and engaging with?
What are the conversations being had about your brand?
Are influencers having an effect on sales?
Can you track discount codes to measure conversion?
Is paying to promote your promotions on social media leading to increased reach and engagement?
What kind of content that you put out there performs the best?
Most platforms offer analytics for free or as part of a business subscription service, but the results could potentially propel your presence ahead of competitors!
How Often Should You Conduct a Strategic Marketing Analysis?
For an emerging market or brand, the analysis should be conducted AT LEAST every six months. In a more mature market, the analysis should take place every 1-2 years.
Strategic marketing analysis should always be conducted before any new product launch or refresh. And brand analysis should happen every time you run a campaign so you can measure its effectiveness and whether your KPIs are being met.
Marketing should never be done for the sake of marketing. Any strategy needs to be rationalised with raw data, analytics and KPIs. Strategic marketing analysis is essential for showing you how to spend your marketing budget in a targeted and effective way. Done right you can directly improve your ROI.
Ultimately strategic marketing analysis will affect every future strategy and decision in your business.
Need help to devise a strategic marketing analysis? Feel free to speak to a member of the team about your initial goals or concerns.
We all know the importance of individually taking responsibility for the planet. We do what we can in our everyday lives to lower our carbon footprint and live in a more sustainable way. But we can’t do this alone. We need the brands we buy to match our intentions and lead the way to a sustainable future.
And it’s a cross-generational concern; Millennials are more likely to buy products that are ethically sourced, whilst Gen X are more likely to buy products that reduce their environmental impact. According to Forbes, 70% of Millennials will pay more for a brand that supports a cause they care about. And with a buying power of $2.45 trillion, that’s not a statistic to be ignored.
Sustainability-linked consumer products can grow 5.6 times faster. Sustainable Marketing is no longer a value add, but a key business driver.
What is Sustainable Marketing?
Sustainable Marketing and Green Marketing are different strategies.
Green Marketing promotes environmental awareness and protection.
Sustainable Marketing promotes environmental awareness and protection, along with social and economic issues.
Brands today need to meet the needs of their audiences without compromising the security and opportunities for future generations. That cannot be achieved without a good sustainable marketing strategy.
Sustainable Marketing Strategies
For sustainable marketing to work it needs to encompass the following objectives:
Have a larger purpose
Sustainable Marketing promotes the core values of a business; environmental wellness, human health, resource security, fair trade, and social equity.
A brand should focus on the area where it can make the biggest difference and have the most impact on its customer.
Put value ahead of profit
Yes, brands need to be profitable to survive. But they must consider people and the planet to be sustainable. The three P’s of the triple bottom line are; people, profit, and planet. According to the Harvard Business Review, sustainable businesses have greater risk management and innovation, which leads to better financial performance through larger profits, more cost savings, and improved efficiencies. Making sustainable marketing the key strategy will help your business thrive.
Be consumer oriented
Customers are looking for authenticity. Brands should be honest about their sustainability to avoid reputational damage. Don’t wait until you have achieved your net zero targets or your social change. Communicate the journey along the way. Your consumers want to be part of making that difference with you.
Examples of Great Strategic Marketing Campaigns
Ikea
In June 2018 Ikea announced it would phase out all single-use plastics from its stores and restaurants by 2020. In October 2018, Ikea unveiled a display in London’s Design Museum called ‘The Last Straw’. The display was indeed a plastic straw. The campaign called upon people to share the small steps they have made in their everyday lives that make a big difference. The campaign created a lot of buzz, drove home a key environmental message, and there wasn’t a ‘Billy bookcase’ in sight!
Levi
Levi has long been associated with a durable and classic style. Levi took their strong selling point and the thing that their customers love about their jeans, and made it a sustainable message with their ‘Buy better, wear longer’ campaign.
The campaign focused on sustainable fashion with Levi’s durability as the selling point, but also highlighted other ways the brand was becoming more sustainable.
Ariel
In 2006 Procter & Gamble created a huge behaviour change in their customers with the Ariel ‘Turn to 30’ campaign. They encouraged us all to wash our clothes at a lower temperature to reduce the impact our laundry was having on the planet. Ariel encouraged customers to sign their pledge website and created a sense of group mentality, and a stronger together feel.
DHL
In 2019 Coldplay announced they would not tour again unless it could have a positive environmental impact. In 2022 Coldplay took to the road again with a tour applauded for its innovative sustainable solutions DHL partnered with Coldplay and provided logistics for the tour using electric vehicles. DHL’s latest TV advertisement features a female driver in an electric DHL vehicle singing a Coldplay song, with images of Chris Martin performing the same song on stage fading in and out. The campaign highlights how brands can work together in a successful sustainable marketing campaign. We can all join forces for a cause.
Lacoste
Lacoste is famous for its crocodile emblem. The brand worked with the Save Our Species campaign and produced a limited number of polo shirts replacing their iconic croc with 10 threatened species. They also matched the number of shirts with the number of individual species left in the wild. Lacoste donated the proceeds directly to the preservation of each of the above species.
Examples of Bad Strategic Marketing Campaigns
For us to understand the success of a Sustainable Marketing campaign, we also need to look at those who’ve failed…
McDonald’s
McDonald’s replaced their single-use but recyclable straws, with single-use non-recyclable paper straws. And the fact the straws went soggy and often meant customers used two, doubling the waste. That’s 1.8 million straws a day in the UK that can’t be recycled. A lesson in looking at the alternative’s product life cycle and emissions before announcing it superior.
Huggies
Huggies were accused of jumping on the environmental bandwagon when they released their Pure & Natural range of nappies, which featured a small piece of organic cotton on the outside of the nappy, and raised the price. Lesson: make a meaningful change, or don’t bother.
Valspar
In an effort to be more ‘clean and natural’ Valspar paint removed an additive from their paint. However, the removal of the additive had allowed bacteria to grow, resulting in a smell customers described as cat pee. To get rid of it, rooms had to be completely redecorated, with Valspar footing the bill. The lesson is to take your time in getting your formula right, or you can do more harm than good.
Innocent
The Innocent brand had built its image on being natural and eco-friendly, even their name is wholesome. But their bottles were single-use plastics, and they are owned by Coca-Cola, which is one of the biggest plastic polluters in the world. The ASA banned their adverts for being misleading. This a classic example of ‘greenwashing’; a strategy that makes brands appear more sustainable and environmentally friendly than they really are.
Conclusion
Successful Sustainable Marketing can make an impact and change consumer behaviour.
And with consumer behaviour changing and expecting more from brands, it’s vital to have a Sustainable Marketing Strategy.
Marketing might not be able to save the planet on its own, but by working together with consumers and pushing each other to do better, we might just stand a chance.
Get in touch if you’re thinking about a sustainable marketing strategy and we can work with you to make it a reality.
