Cognition has boosted its marketing and digital divisions with the recruitment of three new team members.

Seb Lenton, Charlie Todd and Kimberley Wadsworth join Cognition following continued success and significant client wins. With 10 years of industry experience, Seb joins the growing digital department as a developer. Prior to joining Cognition, Seb previously managed his own successful startup, an online platform for building, playing and distributing browser games.

Also joining Cognition’s digital team is Durham University Business graduate, Charlie Todd. With a background in sales and marketing within the automotive industry, he takes on the role of Digital Executive.

In the marketing department Kimberley Wadsworth joins as a Client Executive. Kimberley graduated with a marketing degree from Birmingham City University in June 2011 and has gained a solid foundation in marketing following her year placement within the pharmaceutical industry.

Cognition client Hands On, a Kent-based manual car wash company, has been recognised for its ongoing commitment to developing a truly environmentally friendly hand car wash service at a private awards ceremony held at the Houses of Parliament.

The eco-friendly company, also known as ‘car wash Heroes’ at more than 150 supermarket, shopping centre and forecourt sites throughout the UK, was presented with the Green Mark Level 2 award by Adam Holloway, MP for Gravesham, and commended on its drive to take real and lasting action.

Hands On was praised for developing a new washing methodology that reduces water consumption by an astonishing 60%, as well as introducing environmentally safe cleaning chemicals for all operators and using only local suppliers in order to reduce emissions and conserve fuel. As part of its commitment to progressing through the scheme, Hands On also worked with Green Mark to develop an Environmental Management System (EMS), which pulls together all environmental activities carried out across the company, making it easier to plan for the future and adapt to change.

Hands On was highly commended by the MP for its work towards a sustainable future: “With trading partners such as Sainsbury’s, Asda and Marks and Spencer, your company stands proud among giants with an understanding of the importance of environment to business and economic prosperity. But Hands On stands for more – you are a much smaller business than your partners and yet you manage to achieve great standards.

The award is the latest in a line of environmental accolades won by Hands On, including The Green Achiever Scheme and the Green Apple Awards, which reward commercial organisations for adhering to environmental best practice.

Client Manager Caroline Wildman and Strategic PR Manager Jo Dain have just returned from the Monaco Yacht Show with client SELEX Elsag Yacht Technologies. After a great deal of hard work Caroline and Jo were delighted to report that it all paid off. “The Cognition-designed stand looked absolutely fantastic and was incredibly busy every day of the show. We’re delighted all the activity we put in place had such a big impact for SELEX Elsag at this important event,” said Caroline.

This is the third year running that members of the Cognition team have accompanied SELEX Elsag Yacht Technologies to the Monaco Yacht Show. This year Caroline and Jo did a tremendous job raising the profile of the company even further with branded champagne buckets, wine tags, coasters and napkins placed in key venues around the harbour.

Warwick-based photo finishing company, CeWe Color has unveiled a brand new £250,000 technology as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations. Mayor of Warwick, Cllr Trudy Offer cut the ribbon on the state of the art card printing machine during a VIP open day at its Tachbrook Park lab, marking the launch of the company’s new personalised greetings card service, Card Town.
Local photo enthusiasts, schools and colleges attending the event were also given the opportunity to tour the cutting edge facilities and take part in a series of fun and educational photography-related master classes.

Managing Director, Duncan Midwood, comments:

“We’re delighted to open our doors to celebrate such a significant point in our history. This event has marked the start of what we hope will be yet another 50 years working even more closely with schools, colleges and the community and continuing to help people bring those all important memories to life through their captured images.

“The photo finishing industry has moved on so quickly in recent years that many of our competitors have really struggled to keep up. That’s why it’s such a testament to CeWe’s ability to adapt and evolve that not only are we still here, but that we’re still pushing the boundaries and innovating. We’re incredibly proud to be unveiling our cutting edge Card Town technology after significant investment into its development. It means greater job security for our staff and more choice and better quality for our customers.”

Visitors attending the event participated in a variety of photo-related activities. Beginning the day with a team photograph, guests received an exclusive ‘behind the scenes’ tour of the lab facility to see how photographs, photo books and photo gifts are processed.

Activities also included a master class on how to make the perfect CEWE PHOTOBOOK and a hands-on workshop where visitors made a Cyanotype photogram. This class was a step back into history as groups learned how this process was used to create images right up until the early 20th century. Selected groups got the chance to design their very own Card Town greeting card using their team photo or an image brought from home.

Staff members were also honoured during an awards presentation rewarding innovation and dedication to the company. One of the winners, Andy Fincham, picked up the award for Outstanding Commitment after notching up 31 years with the company.

CeWe Color offers a number of services from its Warwick lab, including prints, photo books, photo calendars, greeting cards, canvases and photo gifts. Each year the company produces in excess of 30 million prints, 300,000 photo books and 120,000 calendars in the UK alone.

Cognition, a leading integrated communications agency based in the West Midlands and London has added a raft of new accounts to its expanding portfolio of clients.

The agency has been appointed to provide marketing communications support for The Lightbulb Company, Redwood Telecommunication, Prolegal, Phoenix, IP Solutions and TCC Global.

The Lightbulb Company, an online light bulb retailer that provides expert lighting consultancy to many of the UK’s biggest organisations, has engaged Cognition to undertake a comprehensive brand audit and the development of a new feature-rich website as part of a detailed 12-month marketing and digital strategy.

The brief for Redwood Telecommunication is to implement an integrated marketing strategy to build on the company’s existing maintenance business, whilst both London law firm Prolegal, and IP Solutions, a provider of telecom solutions have appointed Cognition to undertake a brand positioning strategy.

Finally, closed life assurance fund consolidator, Phoenix Group and TCC Global, a retail promotion business have separately tasked Cognition with a range of creative projects in order to introduce new methods of internal communication throughout their businesses.

Commenting on the new wins, Tim Witcherley, Managing Director at Cognition says:

“The first half of 2011 has been exceptional with business continuing to grow across the agency’s four integrated divisions. The Cognition approach is geared towards one thing, helping clients make more money by de-risking their marketing decisions. This entrepreneurial attitude is certainly something that clients appreciate and benefit from.”

Cognition’s global photobook client CEWE recently received some excellent brand exposure by appearing in the SKY news global coverage of the royal wedding. The publicity came on the back of a successful PR and marketing stunt organised by Cognition for 29th April 2011.
 
Promotional staff braved the crowds to supply revelers with custom-made British flags branded with CEWE offers. Promotional codes were distributed to the public in order for them to receive a free personalised photo mug and jointly promote the social media group. A life-sized cardboard cut-out of the happy couple made it's way along the parade of royal enthusiasts in order for them to have their picture taken with the pair! CEWE had excellent feedback and no shortage of interest.

Cognition is in the process of developing an internal communications project with TCC Global; a global business based in Heathrow which specialises in the design of retail marketing programmes.

IP Solutions, an award winning independent provider of telecoms solutions such as mobile, VoIP and cloud technology, initially engaged Cognition to work with them on a lead-generating e-shot campaign. Following our success on this project, IP Solutions asked us to undertake a full brand audit.  The process will allow us to refine their proposition and build on their already strong reputation in the telecoms sector.

Smallpeice is an independent educational charity offering courses and hands-on experience in engineering to pupils of Years 6-12. We are pleased to announce that, for the fifth year running, Cognition are working with the team to create all the new course material and supporting collateral in time for 2011/2012.

This year we will be following the theme of the 2012 Olympics; producing a suite of collateral to include; course booklets, timetables and various promotional material to raise awareness of the growing number of courses Smallpeice has to offer. This will be accompanied by a digital strategy and website updates, where SPT will offer seamless and intuitive enrolment functionality; parents will be able to enrol their children online as of September this year. This upgrade, amongst many will position them at the top of their game; building greater awareness of SPT whilst continuing to improve their high levels of communication.

In the Red Nose Day spirit of doing something funny for money, the Cognition team wore red and showed off their best moves for Comic Relief on Friday 18th March.

We are delighted to announce that Cognition has started work with leading traffic management experts DMN Road Services. Since winning the account last month we’ve already completed a comprehensive brand audit and presented two new brand identities: Headway, for their traffic management division, and Headstart, for the company’s new lift, shift and install services.

We’re now developing two separate websites and accompanying collateral to propel the two brands forward for early April.

Cognition has exceeded its target to raise £1,000 for Marie Curie Cancer Care after employees swapped their work attire for fancy dress inspired by the ‘12 Days of Christmas’ on Friday 17th December.

From ‘no-one puts baby in the corner’ ladies dancing to Kentucky Fried Chicken drummers drumming, it’s fair to say there were some interesting interpretations of the song characters. As a result, we thrashed our target and raised an impressive £1,833 for Marie Curie.

A special mention goes to Jenny Ricketts, who was the deserving winner of the best costume prize with her creative Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Dove amalgamation!

Thank you to everyone who supported us – for anyone who hasn’t donated and would like to, please visit http://www.justgiving.com/12daysofchristmas

Three new companies have appointed Cognition since the beginning of December. We are delighted to confirm that Collard Trolart, Rednal and Via Michelin have all selected us as their agency.

Collard Trolart is one of France’s most successful and innovative heating companies. At the end of November, we were invited to their factory on the outskirts of Paris to see some of Europe’s leading experts in steam heating at work developing and patenting environmentally friendly technologies.

The company played an instrumental role in the development of the Paris district heating system, so their equipment is used to heat landmarks such as the Louvre. Since our visit, we have updated the Collard Trolart brand to better reflect its unique heritage and its commitment to ‘green’ heating, and we’re putting the finishing touches to a new website which will go live this month.

A wholly owned subsidiary of the Michelin group, Via Michelin designs, develops and markets digital products for road users such as travel guides, route planners, hotel booking facilities and tourism information. We’re delighted to be working with such a well-known brand and, having already completed some tactical activity, look forward to getting stuck into some meaty projects in the coming months.

Supplying both European wider world markets, Rednal is a leading manufacturer of pressure vessels and hydraulic rams. On a trip to their factory in Oswestry, Shropshire, a team from Cognition was given a guided tour of their operations at the beginning of a project to refresh the look and feel of their website.

The digital team have since had some fantastic feedback from Rednal management, who are thrilled with the results so far.
These recent wins underline our ongoing success with a variety of high-quality businesses. We welcome our new clients on-board and look forward to helping them make 2011 their best year yet.
 

Cognition’s digital department has created a series of online interactive quizzes for the Smallpeice Trust, an independent educational charity that runs hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) activities and courses for pupils in years 6-12.

Developed as part of the website’s ‘Fun Activities’ section, the quizzes test users’ knowledge of key topics against the clock. The participants must answer 20 questions as quickly as possible to be in with a chance of getting their scores on the website’s leader board.
The quizzes include a ‘Robot Build’ game, which allows the participant to create their own virtual robot as they collect robot parts for each question answered correctly.

Sophie Eadon, Digital Account Manager for Cognition comments: “Smallpeice’s new quizzes are an interactive and lively way to get children and teens more engaged with what are often the less popular school subjects. It is proving to be a fun and proactive platform to get further exposure for the Smallpeice brand.”

Why not try the quizzes out for yourself here?

Maris Interiors, the UK's leading workplace interior design specialist, has selected Cognition to manage a new direct marketing campaign. 

After a competitive four-way pitch, Maris chose Cognition based on our impressive portfolio of creative work – which struck exactly the right chord in terms of messaging and design for a company that prides itself on its sleek and modern image.

Having completed over 9,000 projects to date and with a 93% repeat business rate, Maris boasts an impressive network of industry-leading trade partners. 

The company has designed office interiors for high profile organisations such as Channel Five, Millward Brown and Comic Relief.

Cognition has announced growth across departments with seven new appointments in the last two months alone! This latest recruitment drive comes as a result of Cognition’s rapidly expanding portfolio of clients. We are excited about the wealth of experience the new recruits bring to the team, with their particular expertise in delivering return on online strategy and social media.
 
Significant hires include Adam, who joins the team as Commercial Director. With 19 years’ experience as a marketing practitioner, Adam will head up Cognition’s new business department. Prior to joining Cognition, Adam worked as Client Director at a number of known agencies, where he was responsible for major client wins including Aston Martin, Citroën, Barnardos and Greenpeace.

Jo joins Cognition as a Strategic PR Manager. With experience heading accounts at agencies across the UK, she has conducted activity for major organisations such as BP and The Royal British Legion, the UK Timber Frame Association and Willmott Dixon Construction.

New Client Manager Jennifer joins the marketing team after five promotions in seven years at the NHS, where she oversaw marketing for a national funding scheme. She has gained vast experience in an editorial capacity for an NHS publication and singlehandedly set up her own operations group to encourage accountability in NHS schemes.

Cognition’s digital department welcomes Caroline Murphy as Strategic Digital Manager. Caroline has extensive website management experience, having overseen design for Polygrip and Lucozade. In prior roles she has managed large accounts such as Land Rover, CITV/Granda, Random House and Wesleyan.

Other hires include Rachel as Client Executive in the marketing team, Tom as Designer in the creative department, Jacques Ward as Developer in digital and Hannah as a new PR Executive.

Read more on the expansion in Midland Business News - http://tinyurl.com/2wagwqt

SELEX Communications Yacht Technologies is celebrating another successful Monaco Yacht Show following Cognition’s strategic handling of the company’s presence at the show.

This is the superyacht industry's leading European event and a crucial showcase for SELEX.

SELEX Communications Yacht Technologies, one of the world's leading providers of navigation, communication, security and entertainment solutions for superyachts, wanted to use the event to launch two new initiatives; an enhanced global security offering for superyachts and its Integrated Antenna Solutions (IAS) technology.
 


From managing and designing the SELEX Communications Yacht Technologies stand to organising a programme of on-stand journalist briefings, the Cognition team ensured that every element of the show was used to SELEX’s commercial advantage.

Cognition also generated pre-show interest across the industry through a series of Europe-wide speaking platforms and editorial features, including a key piece in the Financial Times.

Allison Bradley, Associate Client Director commented: “After launching the new SELEX brand at the show last year, the main objective for this year was to maintain momentum in raising Yacht Technologies' profile while gaining a significant sales pipeline. The show proved really successful; our new initiatives were well received and we were delighted to see evidence of how much brand awareness has grown in just 12 months."


 

Following a comprehensive brand audit, one of the leading insurance brokers for the removals and self storage industry, Reason Global, has engaged Cognition to handle its marketing, PR and digital requirements.

The thorough audit process saw members of the Cognition team meeting and interviewing key stakeholders, reviewing brand identity and appraising the company’s on and offline presence. Findings were then presented to the board, alongside a series of recommendations and strategic advice to meet the company’s market objectives.

Katie Worthing, Strategic Client Manager, comments: “We found that Reason Global was generally on the right track with its marketing activity, however the company’s USPs weren’t being communicated in the most effective way – and that’s where we come in. We have more than a decade of experience delivering campaigns for businesses like Reason Global, and we know our strategic advice and creative input will make a huge difference to the company.”

Following engagement, Cognition has created a bold new brand that is due to be rolled out across a new suite of collateral and website, handled by Cognition Digital. The digital team is also enhancing the company’s PPC and SEO strategy and Cognition PR is deploying ongoing PR support as part of the integrated campaign.

Cognition has been engaged by Solihull firm Convergence Group to launch its new superfast internet service Bullet, to West Midland’s SMEs.

Hailed as the UK’s fastest and most advanced internet connection, Bullet uses BT’s new Ethernet in the First Mile (EFM) technology, which gives small businesses access to a superfast internet speeds previously only afforded by large corporates.

Cognition was tasked with the creation and launch of the new brand in the shortest time possible, as Cognition Client Manager Katie Worthing explains: “We know that many of Bullet’s competitors are launching into the same market in the next few months and that it was vital we establish the brand as quickly as possible. We usually work to longer time scales, but on this occasion we had to deliver in double-quick time, and we did. From start to finish, an integrated marketing, PR and digital campaign was devised and implemented within eight days!”

The campaign included the creation of a new brand identity; copy, design and build of new microsite bulletinternet.com; design and implementation of e-shot, direct mail and outdoor advertising campaigns and PR activity which included the creation of “Bullet Man” - who attracted a lot of attention in Birmingham!

The results are impressive. Just one week after the launch and Convergence Group have already sent out 14 quotes, which equate to a three figure revenue and a very happy client!