Harvest Digital news feed

We are moving

mike@harvestdigital.com (Mike Teasdale) — 2009-09-23T09:30:00Z

Yes we’re moving!

Over the past few months, the bulldozers, cranes and wrecking balls have edged closer and closer to our lovely office. And now it’s finally our time to leave.

We’re moving a couple of streets away from Crossrail’s rebuilding of Tottenham Court Road tube station and back into the heart of Soho. So please change your address details for us – if you visit our old office by mistake you’ll need to bring a hard hat!

Look forward to seeing you in our lovely shiny new office from 25th September

New contact details

Email:	info@harvestdigital.com
Phone:	+44 (0)207 479 7500
Fax:	+44 (0)207 287 6911
Address:	Medius House 2 Sheraton Street London W1F 8BH

Wallace and Gromit call in on Harvest

mike@harvestdigital.com (Mike Teasdale) — 2009-06-22T16:55:00Z

OK, so it isn't news as in 'hold the front page', but we were all very excited when a couple of days ago Aardman popped in to see us with their latest showreel - and the actual models of Wallace and Gromit. Â We were all totally starstruck - although like lots of famous people, they were both a bit short in real life!

Our biggest and most important client meeting yet

mike@harvestdigital.com (Mike Teasdale) — 2009-03-05T12:40:00Z

*We're dressing up as our clients for Comic Relief. Okay so not literally, but we'll be taking inspiration from each of the brands that we work with. And it's for charity so we can raise a bit of cash too.

The idea

For this year's Comic Relief we've decided to do something different. Every member of staff has to choose a client and dress up in something that represents that particular brand. We're not quite sure of the logistics of it yet (but will undoubtedly involve beer, games and some sort of "best dressed" prize) but it's for a great cause so we're game.

On Friday 13th March Comic Relief aim to raise as much money as possible to help realise their vision of "A world free from poverty". We think this deserves a little help – so why not sponsor our biggest client meeting yet?

Here's a little taster to give you an idea...

Sponsor us

You can sponsor us here justgiving.com/harvestdigital

NatWest web redesign is Revolution Awards finalist

mike@harvestdigital.com (Mike Teasdale) — 2009-03-03T17:08:00Z

Our redesign of NatWestâ€™s personal banking website recently went live at www.natwest.co.uk. We are delighted that it has been chosen as one of the finalists in the financial services category of this yearâ€™s prestigious Revolution Awards.

Harvest was asked to create a visual design which solved a number of user experience issues, including simplifying user journeys on the website, helping visitors decide on the right product for them, improving the visual appeal of the website, increasing conversions and supporting wider commercial goals.

Harvest used agile project management techniques to focus efforts on a single page or problem at a time. This meant the turnaround time from brief to new work going live on site was as little as seven days. This enabled quick feedback from live testing, and the client benefited from an immediate improvement in site performance

Behavioural research consultancy, Bunnyfoot worked on the user experience and eye-tracking research for the redesign which Harvest then deployed.

Harvest blasts off on second Digital Mission

mike@harvestdigital.com (Mike Teasdale) — 2009-02-18T18:07:00Z

Digital Mission is a trade mission to SXSWi in Texas sponsored by the UK Trade and Investment and organised by Chinwag. Thirty-five companies have been chosen to go out to Texas and represent the brightest digital businesses in the UK.

The first Digital Mission was to New York last year – Harvest is one of only two companies to be lucky enough to be picked for two Digital Missions in a row.

As well as developing digital applications for our clients, we see part of our role as an agency in being able to recommend and integrate existing web applications. So we’re delighted to be part of such illustrious company – please take the time to check out some of the other participants in the Digital Mission.

AMEE - http://www.amee.com/

Best Before Media Limited -http://bestbefore.tv

BookingBug - http://www.bookingbug.com/

Ceros - http://www.ceros.com

cxpartners - http://www.cxpartners.co.uk

dpivision.com - http://www.dpivision.com/

ensembli - http://www.ensembli.com

Facultas / Lyris UK - http://www.facultas.co.uk

Harvest Digital - http://www.harvestdigital.com

Hubdub - http://www.hubdub.com

Infurious - http://www.infurious.com

Mixcloud - http://www.mixcloud.com

Mobile Pie - http://www.mobilepie.co.uk

Mydex - http://mydex.org/

Myrl - http://www.myrl.com

NixonMcInnes - http://www.nixonmcinnes.co.uk

Plebble - http://www.plebble.com

ProofHQ - http://www.proofhq.com

Rummble - http://www.rummble.com/

School of Everything -http://schoolofeverything.com

Six to Start - http://www.sixtostart.com/

skive - http://www.skive.co.uk

Short Fuze (Moviestorm) -http://www.moviestorm.net

Snagsta - http://snagsta.com

Splendid - http://www.howsplendid.com

Tactile CRM - http://www.tactilecrm.com

The Filter - http://www.thefilter.com

the iPlatform -http://www.theiplatform.com

Traffic Digital -http://www.trafficdigital.com

Vizimo - http://www.vizimo.com

We7 - http://www.we7.com

we are social - http://wearesocial.net

Workhound.co.uk - http://workhound.co.uk

Worldeka - http://www.worldeka.com

Ben Knight joins Harvest as Head of Search

mike@harvestdigital.com (Mike Teasdale) — 2008-10-31T10:43:00Z

Search engine marketing expert Ben Knight has moved from The Search Works to become Head of Search at Harvest Digital. He will report to Harvest Digital’s Managing Director, Emma Wilson with a remit to grow the online marketing agency’s search business, manage its search team to ensure high levels of client satisfaction and seek opportunities to integrate search with other channels including display advertising.

Ben Knight brings almost five years of search marketing experience to Harvest. In his most recent role as Account Director of the Finance Division at The Search Works he managed the highest spending channel across clients including Virgin Money; Norton Finance; eGroup and Lloyds Offshore. Knight joined The Search Works in 2004 as an account manager - prior to its acquisition by Tradedoubler in June 2007- and his client experience also includes Friends Reunited, Virgin Games, Betfair, Mitsubishi, Nissan and Kia as well as pan-European campaigns for brands such as Hertz. He also managed search marketing for The Search Works agency clients

Emma Wilson, Director at Harvest Digital comments, ‘Ben Knight has a track record of bringing in new business whilst managing the largest finance team in the industry, with a budget of almost five million pounds a month. He is a well-known figure in the search marketing industry and Harvest’s clients will benefit from his years of experience and a reinvigoration of our existing search team. Ben will also drive new business for Harvest, especially since we expect the end of Google’s Best Practice Funding to result in a lot of brands looking for a natural home for their search marketing activity.’

Ben Knight, Head of Search at Harvest Digital, adds, ‘I was the third longest-serving employee at The Search Works and was keen to move to a company with an energetic, innovative culture and a passion for delivering results. The search team at Harvest Digital is very experienced, with a more creative approach to search marketing and an understanding of how it integrates with and influences other channels. There is an opportunity for me to pull out the wealth of ability across Harvest’s teams in media planning and buying, search marketing, user experience, online creative development and technical build to deliver a cross-channel strategy for clients that makes the best possible use of their overall online marketing budgets.’

Harvest Digital’s search marketing clients include InsuranceWide, Plan, and HolidayExtras. The agency plans and implements campaigns on search engines including Google, MSN and Yahoo! and integrates search with other online media such as display, affiliate channels and social media marketing, as well as offline media, to improve the overall performance of client campaigns.

Prior to joining The Search Works Knight worked as an accountant where he honed his financial skills and understanding. He has a degree in Economics and Business Finance from Liverpool University.

New online campaign for Ocean Village

mike@harvestdigital.com (Mike Teasdale) — 2008-10-27T10:21:00Z

Ocean Village has selected Harvest Digital to create an online advertising campaign to promote its Winter Caribbean cruises. The online marketing agency is producing digital creative and planning and buying media designed to promote the brand online, integrate with the broadcast activity and increase cruise bookings.

Harvest has designed creative which supports Ocean Village’s more informal cruising message in a range of different formats. One execution supports the TV campaign and a second highlights the key points of difference of an Ocean Village cruise. Both creative routes promote the £599 price and end with animated ship imagery and a ‘Click to cruise’ button.

Harvest Digital has negotiated media across travel sites including TravelSupermarket.com, Tripadvisor, and Teletext Holidays. The agency is also using geo-targeting activity to integrate with other marketing initiatives including TV, radio and print advertising in the Yorkshire, Granada, Central and ITV West Country regions.

The campaign aims to encourage people to click through to www.oceanvillageholidays.co.uk where they can research and buy cruises as well as sign-up for special offers and request brochures. Online bookings receive an extra 5% discount, and cruises can also be purchased by telephone and through an ABTA travel agent.

Gill Haynes, Head of Marketing, Ocean Village comments, ‘Our TV advertising has delivered a big increase in sales and now we want to support that with online advertising, especially since so many of our customers research their cruises online before they buy. We selected Harvest Digital because of their experience in digital marketing for the online travel sector, and especially because they have worked for other cruise companies. The internet is an efficient way for us to reach customers which means we can continue to offer great value cruises in a challenging economic climate.’

Emma Wilson, Managing Director of Harvest Digital adds, ‘Our research shows that consumers are increasingly using travel sites to compare user-generated reviews and investigate destinations and providers before they book. Therefore, we have booked media on these sites to promote the brand at key points in the research process. The online advertising reinforces the quirky, informal positioning the brand has developed in the other marketing activity and builds on exposure to that activity to drive direct response bookings.’

Ocean Village’s autumn TV and radio activity is voiced by Tamzin Outhwaite and highlights the range of activities available on an Ocean Village cruise. It is supported by a national print media campaign featuring a mix of inserts and advertorials and a direct mail campaign to over 250,000 new and existing customers.

Harvest Digital recruits David Bowen from Tradedoubler

mike@harvestdigital.com (Mike Teasdale) — 2008-10-13T17:23:00Z

We have hired David Bowen to manage new business. He will report to Managing Director, Emma Wilson with a remit to generate new full-service business for the digital agency, whose clients include 3M, Auto Trader, Plan and Tesco.

Bowen joins from Tradedoubler where was responsible for selling Searchware and Diallog telephone tracking technology, developed by The Search Works, to both agencies and clients in all verticals across Northern Europe. Before Tradedoubler, Bowen had several roles in marketing and events. He holds an MBA in International Business.

Emma Wilson, Director at Harvest Digital comments, ‘David Bowen is a self-starter with a wide range of skills from marketing to cold calling. We are focusing on bringing in more full-service business for leading brands and maintaining our current rate of growth, which is ahead of the market.’

David Bowen, Business Development Manager at Harvest Digital, adds, ‘After working in search marketing for a while I wanted to broaden my knowledge to all other areas of digital marketing, especially media and creative production. I am keen to join a dynamic agency that is expanding and aim to contribute to its further growth.’

The appointment follows a run of new business wins for Harvest Digital including P&V Holidays, Riu Hotels and Resorts and Gumtree. In March the agency was recognised as one of the UK’s top fifty fastest growing digital media companies in in the Media Momentum Awards. Last month the agency was been selected as one of twenty-one innovative companies to form part of Digial Mission, a major trade mission to New York, organised by Chinwag and backed by UK Trade & Investment, in September.

Harvest picked for Digital Mission to New York

mike@harvestdigital.com (Mike Teasdale) — 2008-08-19T16:40:00Z

Harvest Digital has been chosen as one of twenty-one innovative companies to form part of a major trade mission to New York coinciding with the Web 2.0 Expo. Digital Mission is a trade mission organised by Chinwag and backed by UK Trade & Investment. We’ll be heading off to New York from September 14th to 19th for a schedule of networking events and one-to-one meetings with potential partners and clients.

To quote from the official website:

“Digital SMEs selected for the Digital Mission are set for an exciting business boost as valuable business contacts are made and relationships forged whilst they market and pitch their services at two of the most celebrated and influential web events on the globe.”

We can’t wait. And we’re thrilled to be in such auspicious company (including one of our clients!) – here is the full list of Digital Mission attendees.

B View - http://www.bview.co.uk
Harvest Digital - http://www.harvestdigital.com
Head London - http://www.headlondon.com
Headshift - http://www.headshift.com
Huddle - http://www.huddle.net
idiomag - http://www.idiomag.com
KMP - http://www.kmp.co.uk
Market Sentinel - http://www.marketsentinel.com
Mippin - http://www.mippin.com
Littleloud - http://www.littleloud.com
QuickTV - http://www.quick.tv
Slicethepie - http://www.slicethepie.com
Smarkets - http://smarkets.com/
Sweemo - http://www.sweemo.com/
Tactile CRM - http://www.tactilecrm.com/
Tempero - http://www.tempero.co.uk
UGame - http://www.ugame.net
UnLtdWorld - http://www.unltdworld.com
Unruly Media - http://www.unrulymedia.com
Veedow - http://www.veedow.com
WorldTV - http://worldtv.com

Harvest Digital wins Riu Hotels & Resorts account

mike@harvestdigital.com (Mike Teasdale) — 2008-08-06T19:58:00Z

International hotel chain, Riu Hotels & Resorts, has awarded Harvest its full service digital marketing account for the UK. We will produce online display advertising creative and manage integrated media planning and buying for the company which partners with TUI.

Riu Hotels & Resorts has over 100 predominantly four and five star hotels around the world. Harvest has produced modern creative with a ‘less is more’ theme to show quality and relaxation designed to appeal to couples aged 25-54 and young families with children. One campaign will concentrate on promoting hotels in Spain, Portugal, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands and another will launch the new four star ClubHotel Riu Buena Vista in Tenerife. Harvest Digital has booked online media on sites including Tripadvisor as well as rich media banners on Riu.com.

Fernando Rodriguez Merino, Director Consumer Marketing, European Division at Riu Hotels explains, ‘We are increasing our brand advertising in the UK and will continue to run the advertising to encourage people to take holidays in Autumn when we see an increase in high-end vacations and people seeking to holiday away from the crowds. We selected Harvest Digital to manage our creative and media in the UK because of their experience in the travel industry and tasked them with designing creative that generates a word of mouth buzz.’

Emma Wilson, Managing Director at Harvest Digital adds, ‘We have designed creative which reflects the brand values of tradition, quality, and service with a stylish twist and we have taken a creative approach to media buying in order to ensure we combine targeting and reach.’

Harvest has designed distinctive creative for the campaign to launch the four star 500-room ClubHotel Riu Buena Vista, set on Playa Paraiso Beach in Tenerife, which joins Riu’s portfolio in November. Aimed at families, young-people and sports lovers it offers sporting facilities and an infinity pool.