The spectacular Sunday Times Style Beauty Awards 2016 took place last week and credit was most certainly awarded where credit was due.

We are thrilled to celebrate Tangle Teezer taking home the Boots Innovation Award for their ‘Thick and Curly’ hairbrush.

Here at Propaganda, we are very proud to be working with a brand that brought to market the very first hairbrush of its kind. The Thick and Curly brush was designed with an aim to provide an effective detangling tool for women with thick, afro or curly hair. Helping to launch the new brush earlier this year, through our Big Love for Big Hair campaign, we are prouder than ever to be working with such an innovative brand. Here’s to a round of applause for Team Tangle Teezer.

We’re excited to share what’s coming next…

A few weeks ago we attended the 2016 MCA awards with longstanding client, The Car People. Following a hugely successful campaign to gear their business up for growth in a rapidly evolving marketplace, we were up for the Customer Engagement Award.

We continued our strong form at the awards, securing ‘highly commended’ recognition, and splitting the judge’s decision in a hotly contested category. The fact that our entry was one of just ten ‘highly commended’ in a total of 103 shortlisted across the awards, underlines just what a close call it was, with our client commenting: “I can’t see any of the other programmes being as strong as the one we’ve created together.

Today, the awards supplement is featured in The Times newspaper, celebrating the best of consulting and proving the difference consultancies make for businesses and UK plc. There’s a good reason why we enter the MCA Awards year on year, and place such stock in being an audited member. It helps to prove our difference, as membership is predicated on getting RESULTS and implementing CHANGE for clients.

In today’s Times Supplement, MCA Chief Executive Alan Leaman talks about this difference. Whereby others might paper over the cracks, MCA accredited consultancies such as Propaganda use insight to effect change. He says: “We can help create a strong future for a company that might otherwise decline.” And in truth, this is what it’s all about. Creating better businesses, for a more prosperous future.

This week, the new brand identity and website for our client Jane Sanderson was unveiled at www.janesandersondesign.com. The website, which shows off some beautiful examples of Jane’s work in interior design, is the culmination of a rebranding process we began late last year, which involved talking to Jane’s client base to understand from their perspective, what sets her apart.

At the start of the process, Jane gave us three words to describe her vision for every client: luxury, elegance and style. To represent this in her branding, our senior designer Sophie chose a classic ring shape for the new logo made up of Jane’s initials, which symbolises how Jane is personally involved in every stage of her clients’ projects, from start to finish. Rose gold and charcoal colouring made sure that Jane’s new branding looked contemporary, fresh and stylish.

When it came to the website, the heroes of the piece were undoubtedly always going to be gorgeous, full bleed shots of Jane’s stunning interior design commissions. We created a stylish gallery section allowing visitors to view Jane’s designs by property and theme, and also developed a comprehensive case study of a Victorian Stable House Conversion in order to capture all the bespoke details Jane incorporates into every project, from sourcing vintage furniture and decorations to combining textures and colour schemes to give character to every space.

For more information on Jane’s work, or just to admire the stunning pictures of her previous projects, visit ‘the home of opulent interiors’ here.

Multiwork has engaged Propaganda on a strategic brief to build, develop and launch, a new business proposition. The specialist job board experts selected Propaganda on the strength of our trusted, insight-led strategic and creative approach, with the aim of driving significant growth.

Multiwork, is presently an online job posting platform that connects recruiters, companies and workers. Currently focusing on the construction sector, the platform has around 127,000 worker members, with aspirations for substantial growth in the next few years, supporting the needs of its members and partners in a rapidly changing working environment.

Phil Taylor-Guck, CEO of Multiwork, said: “We chose Propaganda because of their track record of ‘thinking-big’ and unique approach to building brands. With technology changing the face of employment across the board, we are confident that the Multiwork brand can take the industry to new heights and we look forward to collaborating with Propaganda on this exciting project.”

Julian Kynaston, founder and chairman of Propaganda, said: “This is a fantastic new brief for Propaganda, and I’m excited to be working with Multiwork to help build and evolve their brand. This is a great opportunity for us to break some glass ceilings, blending both strategy and creativity for which we are known.”

Earlier this year we were asked to give CNG Stadium, the home of Harrogate Town AFC, a face lift to show supporters the newly launched branding.

Using the bold brand colours our designers created signage which really stands out from the crowd, but don’t take our word for it see the photos for yourselves.

Baubles, snow, tinsel and ribbon…. it was the festive season once again at Propaganda last week.

But before you go into present panic, don’t worry, it was all in preparation for the Tangle Teezer Christmas photo shoot.

Shot with photographer, Ruth Rose, and as a brand chock full of personality- glitter, fun and lots of hairspray were the order of the day.

Celebrating Tangle Teezer’s position as the ultimate Christmas gift (17 of their detangling hairbrushes are sold every minute across the globe) the festive campaign will be unveiled with top retailers from October 2016. Watch this space.

We are pleased to announce a new strategic alignment with digital marketing specialists, Skill & Fire, which will help both businesses to create opportunities for client growth.

The deal will build a close working relationship between the two businesses, with the Propaganda board taking a stake in Skill & Fire as well as a non-executive directorship. Propaganda’s 40-person team works across a range of client sectors, and is set to collaborate with Skill & Fire’s a team of five, which works closely with clients to create digitally targeted approaches to customers.

Craig Harrold, Director at Propaganda said: “Propaganda has built up an enviable reputation in our industry, and our consultancy led approach has opened up significant growth for clients. Getting their contact strategy right has never been more important for businesses and this partnership brings another layer of expertise to our offer. Skill & Fire employ the most up to date thinking in how businesses connect in a more targeted way with their audiences, and it’s this approach that chimes so well with what Propaganda does.”

“Fundamentally, we both work to more effectively engage brands with their audiences to deliver tangible results. We’re both driven by delivering strategies that go well beyond the reach of traditional marketing, and this partnership will ensure we continue to do just that.”

Jamie Hutchinson, Managing Director of Skill & Fire said: “In the two years since we launched, we’ve built up an impressive list of clients and helped them to grow their businesses significantly. Working with Propaganda will allow us to share our proven methods with a new audience, whilst they’ll give us the strategic direction and guidance we need to fast track our own growth.”

Our tried and tested, bespoke consultancy process, Brand Discovery™, allows us to uncover business and brand insights. This is then used to inform strategic planning and tactical outputs, to realise their potential and ambition. Skill & Fire creates bespoke digital marketing strategies that allow businesses to develop clear communications and drive business performance. Their approach is centred on the way data can be used and analysed to target and deliver clear results. The deal was initiated in Spring 2016 and will be rolled out in the coming months.

We are delighted to be celebrating a record month of sales for our longstanding client The Car People this week. In March, sales were the highest they have ever been since the launch of the business in 2000.

Last month’s sales even beat the peak we saw in 2009, when the recession drove many consumers to choose used cars over new, and used car values were at an all time low.

The cornerstone of The Car People’s approach is the ‘hassle-free experience’, which turns the industry stereotype of pushy salespeople on its head in favour of combining the best quality used cars on the market with the most honest, friendly service possible. We’ve worked with The Car People over the years to support and challenge them in getting the best out of this unique proposition. It’s a partnership that has helped to boost their sales to last month’s all-time high, and one which has earned Propaganda a place on this year’s MCA awards shortlist for our work to drive customer engagement. The winners will be announced later this month – all fingers are crossed in the Propaganda office!

Moving forwards, we’ll be working to keep up the momentum with The Car People’s new annual campaign, which will be appearing on screen and in The Car People’s showrooms this summer.

A Bentley, vintage Chesterfield furniture and a set of industrial scales – just some of the props we used on our recent shoot for the Huddersfield based knitwear brand – Slaith.

Owned by Spectrum Yarns (the same company behind our other client Glenbrae), Slaith has been two years in the making  – due to their quest to craft a garment that is nothing short of exquisite – and is finally set to launch to consumers this year. The company uses their time-honoured skills to make knitwear like no other. Soft, luxurious, knitwear in fine (30) gauge cashmere and every one of the garments is seamless, knitted in three dimensions, and produced here in England.

We chose to shoot the brand photography from their mill, not only because the yarn that goes into every garment is spun here, but because as soon as you step into the mill you can practically sense the generations of history and expertise that flow through it, and the fine-tuned machinery is quite something. At the start of the development, we created Slaith’s strapline – ‘From Forgotten Comes Finest’ – and what better way to represent that than by showing off the luxury of their knitwear in amongst the original mill machinery?

We can’t wait to turn these stunning shots into beautiful collateral that will support the launch of Slaith.

CNG’s new look was prominently on display at the Energy Live Consultancy Conference, the first major event aimed at its target market since the new identity was launched. ELCC, of which CNG was a headline sponsor, brought more than 200 energy brokers to the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, to discuss industry events and upcoming trends.

It’s fair to say that the new brand and identity created by Propaganda went down a storm, drawing compliments from the assembled crowd. CNG’s MD Jacqui Hall was also in attendance on a panel of energy experts, discussing the latest news and trends in the sector.

The event coincided with the release of a report from the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) on recommendations to reform the energy market. As such, it was vital to demonstrate how CNG has been taking a lead on this.

With the report released at 7am, and the panel event starting at 10am, Propaganda reviewed and summarised the 46-page report, ready to discuss the finer points with Jacqui ahead of her appearance.

The event brought together energy experts from across water, electricity and gas helping to establish a strong position for CNG as a leader of its sector. Power Up!

Last week we were at Cherie hair design at Iveridge Hall, shooting four summer occasion looks for the Neal & Wolf Summer Style guide. This guide will form part of the Spring/Summer campaign, due to launch at the beginning of April.

We identified four key summer occasions where customers want to look and feel their best; a festival, a wedding, the races and the beach. These final looks will be used online and style guides will be available in salons for consumers to learn how to create these salon professional looks at home and make sure they shine through their summer events.

Our team was made up of photographer Luke Cannon, MUA Debbie Lezemore and hair stylist Cherie– who gave us some fantastic hair styling tips on the day.

Visit nealandwolf.com/be-inspired on the 1^st April to see the final looks and learn how to create the styles.

Here’s an insight into some of the many reasons why my job is pretty cool…

1)   I get to venture to the capital quite a bit.

2)   Once there I get to spend my day in a beautiful store like this.

3)   I learn the tricks of the trade with fabulous make up.

4)   Get gory with special effects make up.

5)   Surround myself with some of the capital’s most talented make up artists.