Are you communicating a distinct message? Do your reports and presentations leave your audience begging for more? Is your website and branding delivering you leads? Let us turn information spaghetti into clear and effective communications.
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We were pleased to accept the challenge of helping the world’s two leading, shopper and packaging insight companies to merge; PRS (headquartered in the US) and IN VIVO (headquartered in Paris).
Our initial work focused on what the two existing company brands stood for, and how to integrate the best of both. Mustard ran a workshop in Paris with the new executive board to help the team articulate the new values and personality of the merged business. We built on this feedback to create a new merged brand and the proposition, benefits and the values that underpin the new brand. These elements gave a great platform for new communication, identity, design and website.
As the merge combined both company's names, the new identity balanced the expertise of the former companies, while the site also signalled constructive change. The new website was created to showcase a lively and dynamic company rooted in strong behavioral research and insight.PRS IN VIVO
We were pleased to accept the challenge of helping the world’s two leading, shopper and packaging insight companies to merge; PRS (headquartered in the US) and IN VIVO (headquartered in Paris).
Our initial work focused on what the two existing company brands stood for, and how to integrate the best of both. Mustard ran a workshop in Paris with the new executive board to help the team articulate the new values and personality of the merged business. We built on this feedback to create a new merged brand and the proposition, benefits and the values that underpin the new brand. These elements gave a great platform for new communication, identity, design and website.
As the merge combined both company's names, the new identity balanced the expertise of the former companies, while the site also signalled constructive change. The new website was created to showcase a lively and dynamic company rooted in strong behavioral research and insight.
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When Greenbook (a guide for buyers of marketing research and the team behind IIEX) called us to talk about redesigning the famous GRIT Report (GreenBook Research Industry Trends) we were immediately inspired.
The GRIT Report had been going for 16 editions with little or no change to its design. We’d felt for some time that there was a great opportunity to freshen the design and demonstrate how much the visualization of data in our industry has moved on. The GreenBook team felt that the design reflected ‘old MR’ and they wanted to show leadership in the industry - not only with their content but also with design and communication.
We started with an online workshop, Mustard in the UK and the GRIT team in various locations across the USA. Using GoToMeeting we were able to talk face-to-face, share and discuss existing material and get a feel for what the GreenBook team were looking for - what needed to be changed, what kept and what was ‘up for grabs’. We were also able to understand how the publication is put together. GRIT is a collaborative effort with a great deal of support from many sources, with Leonard Murphy at GreenBook acting as the glue holding these diverse elements together.
We quickly discovered that a change in size, format or finish was not an option as the report is available both electronically and printed so there must be one design to serve both purposes. Beyond this core requirement and the need to retain the structure, content and all the data we were given creative freedom.
As a result of this review process we were able to recommend that we produce design guidelines in the form of a template, that the GreenBook in-house designer Megan and their freelance designer, Alex, could use to build the next report.
Our minds buzzing from the workshop, we went away and started to develop an underlying theme for the design that would also appear throughout the document. Elliot, Mustard’s graphic designer came up with the hexagonal pattern that, when overlaid with a transparency, created 3D blocks. We felt that this reflected in a visual way how GRIT builds a nuanced picture of the market research industry from flat data. As part of the process of developing the theme it became apparent that a new visual identity (logo) was required in order to signal change in the design and ethos of the report. Using the inputs from our online workshop, we developed a new identity, built very naturally using the theme we had developed yet integrating the reference to pie charts used in the original GRIT logo.
At the same time we took great care in developing a harmonious colour palette. Clearly, green was an important core colour, but we did try to tone it down a little with the use of white space and a subtle secondary colours. We also picked a classic clean font for the logo and headers and a more readable serif font for body copy. All these were treated as brand elements that would be used consistently through the document along with other elements including the hexagonal motif.
As part of the workshop we agreed to design and supply artwork for the cover, key pages and specifications for colours, fonts and a wide range of chart options, to give Greenbook the opportunity to break the monotony of the existing bar charts. We also put in place a process of ongoing meetings, consultation and support with the team, which allowed them to have our input, if they needed it, whilst they built the new edition from our guideline / artwork template.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience working with GreenBook and we awaited the report’s launch with anticipation. Now Mustard Towers is plastered with them and we are sharing with everyone! To take a look at what we did see this link: http://www.greenbook.org/grit. Lenny Murphy, GreenBook’s Chief Editor & Principal Consultant, said:“After years of growing in importance to the industry as a barometer of trends and strategic direction, it was time for the GRIT report to be updated visually to ‘practice what we preach’ and become more visually engaging to tell the story of our findings in a better way. Our first, last and only choice to help make that happen was the Keen as Mustard team. They worked with us in a deeply collaborative way, guided the process with excellence, and helped us create a new standard for GRIT that incorporated the best of what had come before while refreshing it to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the most dynamic and interesting reports in the world. The final result was a new GRIT that has received accolades by many readers and a product we are very proud of in every way. The Keen as Mustard team quite simply rocked this engagement, and I can’t wait to find another opportunity to work with them.”
Mustard redesigns the GRIT Report
Mustard redesigns the GRIT Report
When Greenbook (a guide for buyers of marketing research and the team behind IIEX) called us to talk about redesigning the famous GRIT Report (GreenBook Research Industry Trends) we were immediately inspired.
The GRIT Report had been going for 16 editions with little or no change to its design. We’d felt for some time that there was a great opportunity to freshen the design and demonstrate how much the visualization of data in our industry has moved on. The GreenBook team felt that the design reflected ‘old MR’ and they wanted to show leadership in the industry - not only with their content but also with design and communication.
We started with an online workshop, Mustard in the UK and the GRIT team in various locations across the USA. Using GoToMeeting we were able to talk face-to-face, share and discuss existing material and get a feel for what the GreenBook team were looking for - what needed to be changed, what kept and what was ‘up for grabs’. We were also able to understand how the publication is put together. GRIT is a collaborative effort with a great deal of support from many sources, with Leonard Murphy at GreenBook acting as the glue holding these diverse elements together.
We quickly discovered that a change in size, format or finish was not an option as the report is available both electronically and printed so there must be one design to serve both purposes. Beyond this core requirement and the need to retain the structure, content and all the data we were given creative freedom.
As a result of this review process we were able to recommend that we produce design guidelines in the form of a template, that the GreenBook in-house designer Megan and their freelance designer, Alex, could use to build the next report.
Our minds buzzing from the workshop, we went away and started to develop an underlying theme for the design that would also appear throughout the document. Elliot, Mustard’s graphic designer came up with the hexagonal pattern that, when overlaid with a transparency, created 3D blocks. We felt that this reflected in a visual way how GRIT builds a nuanced picture of the market research industry from flat data. As part of the process of developing the theme it became apparent that a new visual identity (logo) was required in order to signal change in the design and ethos of the report. Using the inputs from our online workshop, we developed a new identity, built very naturally using the theme we had developed yet integrating the reference to pie charts used in the original GRIT logo.
At the same time we took great care in developing a harmonious colour palette. Clearly, green was an important core colour, but we did try to tone it down a little with the use of white space and a subtle secondary colours. We also picked a classic clean font for the logo and headers and a more readable serif font for body copy. All these were treated as brand elements that would be used consistently through the document along with other elements including the hexagonal motif.
As part of the workshop we agreed to design and supply artwork for the cover, key pages and specifications for colours, fonts and a wide range of chart options, to give Greenbook the opportunity to break the monotony of the existing bar charts. We also put in place a process of ongoing meetings, consultation and support with the team, which allowed them to have our input, if they needed it, whilst they built the new edition from our guideline / artwork template.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience working with GreenBook and we awaited the report’s launch with anticipation. Now Mustard Towers is plastered with them and we are sharing with everyone! To take a look at what we did see this link: http://www.greenbook.org/grit. Lenny Murphy, GreenBook’s Chief Editor & Principal Consultant, said:“After years of growing in importance to the industry as a barometer of trends and strategic direction, it was time for the GRIT report to be updated visually to ‘practice what we preach’ and become more visually engaging to tell the story of our findings in a better way. Our first, last and only choice to help make that happen was the Keen as Mustard team. They worked with us in a deeply collaborative way, guided the process with excellence, and helped us create a new standard for GRIT that incorporated the best of what had come before while refreshing it to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the most dynamic and interesting reports in the world. The final result was a new GRIT that has received accolades by many readers and a product we are very proud of in every way. The Keen as Mustard team quite simply rocked this engagement, and I can’t wait to find another opportunity to work with them.”
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Having spent most of his life in suburban Harrow, Simon recently escaped the Big Smoke and now resides in rural Yorkshire (though not the bit without broadband!). He spends his days wrestling his children, trying to fix an old house, and escaping to his office for some peace and quiet.
Apart from owning his own design business for three years, Simon has worked as a design director in the market research industry for 15 years and is an expert in all things graphical – design, print, websites, PowerPoint, video, training and more.
Research International played host to Simon’s expertise for seven years where he worked alongside Lucy Davison. It wasn't long before he decided the great camaraderie and exciting client opportunities offered by Keen as Mustard were reasons enough to join forces with team Mustard.Favourite Mustard: Horseradish mustard
Simon Dunn
Creative Director
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ESOMAR asked us to create a full page advertorial to be placed in Marketing Week. With strict guidelines from the publication that it couldn't appear as other pages in the magazine, and a brief from ESOMAR that it should appear as if it 'belongs' in the magazine, rather than an obvious advertisement, it was a challenging piece of work for the Mustard creative team.
Although we recognised the need for brand subtlety. we still wanted the advertorial to be visually impactful. We therefore opted to use the text itself in an interesting and visually appealing way, using the title to drill into the copy below making an impactful title, 'BETTER, FASTER, SMARTER', stand out even more. This was further enhanced with abstract imagery filling the text. The process involved high levels of typographic and positional tweaking and a keen eye for detail to get the copy to wrap properly yet still be legible.
ESOMAR
ESOMAR asked us to create a full page advertorial to be placed in Marketing Week. With strict guidelines from the publication that it couldn't appear as other pages in the magazine, and a brief from ESOMAR that it should appear as if it 'belongs' in the magazine, rather than an obvious advertisement, it was a challenging piece of work for the Mustard creative team.
Although we recognised the need for brand subtlety. we still wanted the advertorial to be visually impactful. We therefore opted to use the text itself in an interesting and visually appealing way, using the title to drill into the copy below making an impactful title, 'BETTER, FASTER, SMARTER', stand out even more. This was further enhanced with abstract imagery filling the text. The process involved high levels of typographic and positional tweaking and a keen eye for detail to get the copy to wrap properly yet still be legible.
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During our media relations work with Research Now we were looking for a PR concept that would appeal to both the UK marketing press, and provide ample opportunity to repackage the content in a number of ways to support Research Now with lead generation and industry engagement. As Generation Z were coming of age we felt exploring the habits and perceptions of the new consumer was a perfect choice.
Research Now surveyed a Trans-Atlantic sample of 2000+ consumers, with the resulting data being used as a base for a multi channel PR and marketing campaign. Providing Research Now the opportunity to add new subscribers to their database and engage with marketing professionals generally via a promotion of the study on the Marketing Week database. They therefore needed Keen as Mustard's expert design skills to create an e-book, email content and an infographic to be shared on multiple platforms.
Our first job was to design an e-book about the GenZ study, before designing and coding a supporting HTML responsive email to promote the E-Book. Lastly, we created a series of promotional tweets to generate interest in the e-book in the run up to its launch. Despite being on an extremely tight (10 day) deadline, our hard work ensured these steps were completed within the time limit.
We were also able to re purpose the research and E-Book into a PowerPoint presentation which was presented as a keynote presentation at The Insight Show in London. Though the presentation’s design was based on the e-book, the content was enhanced by telling a more granular story with additional figures and support from the research.
The last stage of the project was creating an infographic that was to be used online and on social media. Using our in-depth knowledge of the study, we carefully curated the text and story, before designing the infographic for multimedia use.
Research Now
During our media relations work with Research Now we were looking for a PR concept that would appeal to both the UK marketing press, and provide ample opportunity to repackage the content in a number of ways to support Research Now with lead generation and industry engagement. As Generation Z were coming of age we felt exploring the habits and perceptions of the new consumer was a perfect choice.
Research Now surveyed a Trans-Atlantic sample of 2000+ consumers, with the resulting data being used as a base for a multi channel PR and marketing campaign. Providing Research Now the opportunity to add new subscribers to their database and engage with marketing professionals generally via a promotion of the study on the Marketing Week database. They therefore needed Keen as Mustard's expert design skills to create an e-book, email content and an infographic to be shared on multiple platforms.
Our first job was to design an e-book about the GenZ study, before designing and coding a supporting HTML responsive email to promote the E-Book. Lastly, we created a series of promotional tweets to generate interest in the e-book in the run up to its launch. Despite being on an extremely tight (10 day) deadline, our hard work ensured these steps were completed within the time limit.
We were also able to re purpose the research and E-Book into a PowerPoint presentation which was presented as a keynote presentation at The Insight Show in London. Though the presentation’s design was based on the e-book, the content was enhanced by telling a more granular story with additional figures and support from the research.
The last stage of the project was creating an infographic that was to be used online and on social media. Using our in-depth knowledge of the study, we carefully curated the text and story, before designing the infographic for multimedia use.
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"We asked Mustard to both design a new template for HPI and help us to use it in the most effective way possible. The sheer effort and attention to detail that Mustard put in to ensure all of our expectations were exceeded was fantastic and they ensured stakeholder engagement was very high throughout the process (from Graduate to MD). I would recommend them to anyone!"
Tom Wakeman
Partner - HPI
Quote
“We asked Mustard to both design a new template for HPI and help us to use it in the most effective way possible. The sheer effort and attention to... Read more
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DigitalMR is a tech company with unique IP in AI methods used for market research. Its website had been created by engineers and as a result, not a lot of time was spent on design.
They came to us to redesign and rewrite their homepage and their two product pages, which would be used as landing pages for social media advertising, with a free trial call to action. Our job was to use our knowledge of the tech and market research space to improve the user experience and click through rate for those pages.
DigitalMR recognised the need to distinguish the company from its two products, listening247 and communities247, while keeping the same visual style so they still feel part of a whole. To address this problem, we selected a different colour for each element, resulting in three main colours that worked within the same complimentary colour pallet. We then designed all three pages to have a more single-minded purpose, which was to sign up for a free trial.
The copy was short, clear and informative, and made sure to avoid both industry jargon and frequent buzzwords in order to differentiate DigitalMR and make them stand out from competitors. We also thought hard about how the copy and design worked together to guide the visitors to the call to action. Heavy consideration was given to the call to actions, and how the visitors move between the homepage and product pages - keeping consistency in what they see.
We also supplied DigitalMR with 15 A/B tests that they could run going forward. Some of the A/B tests included making the call to actions bigger, changing headlines, showing a transparent pricing table, and moving content around on the page. See the landing pages here.DigitalMR
DigitalMR is a tech company with unique IP in AI methods used for market research. Its website had been created by engineers and as a result, not a lot of time was spent on design.
They came to us to redesign and rewrite their homepage and their two product pages, which would be used as landing pages for social media advertising, with a free trial call to action. Our job was to use our knowledge of the tech and market research space to improve the user experience and click through rate for those pages.
DigitalMR recognised the need to distinguish the company from its two products, listening247 and communities247, while keeping the same visual style so they still feel part of a whole. To address this problem, we selected a different colour for each element, resulting in three main colours that worked within the same complimentary colour pallet. We then designed all three pages to have a more single-minded purpose, which was to sign up for a free trial.
The copy was short, clear and informative, and made sure to avoid both industry jargon and frequent buzzwords in order to differentiate DigitalMR and make them stand out from competitors. We also thought hard about how the copy and design worked together to guide the visitors to the call to action. Heavy consideration was given to the call to actions, and how the visitors move between the homepage and product pages - keeping consistency in what they see.
We also supplied DigitalMR with 15 A/B tests that they could run going forward. Some of the A/B tests included making the call to actions bigger, changing headlines, showing a transparent pricing table, and moving content around on the page. See the landing pages here.
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We don’t know about you, but in the run up to the May 2015 general election here at Keen as Mustard we were all unsure who we were going to vote for. So we asked our brilliant designer Elliot, to come up with an easy way to understand the sentiments of the main political parties. And he has cleverly created this infographic showing the 20 most frequently used words from each party’s manifesto.
To download our infographic click here.Manifesto Sweet Talk
Infographic, Design
We don’t know about you, but in the run up to the May 2015 general election here at Keen as Mustard we were all unsure who we were going to vote for. So we asked our brilliant designer Elliot, to come up with an easy way to understand the sentiments of the main political parties. And he has cleverly created this infographic showing the 20 most frequently used words from each party’s manifesto.
To download our infographic click here.
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Our client Network Research launched Fabric, an advanced, bespoke knowledge management tool that works in real-time to help companies engage with customers, interpret behaviours and plan actions customised to their needs.
Keen as Mustard helped create a prominent name, a strong visual identity and launch materials to match their unique technology.
“Over the past couple of years we’ve come to use Keen as Mustard as our go to agency for marketing. Building on our own visual identity and website, we knew we could trust Mustard to create a brand for our new tool that would perfectly describe and communicate its unique abilities and actionable results. Keen as Mustard made sure to give us exactly what we wanted - and more.” - Virginia Monk, MD of Network Research
Branding and design
The name Fabric was born from the weaving together of multiple strands to form a cohesive whole – in the same way the strands of complex and disparate data sources are woven together via the portal.
The logo includes subtle visual nods to the parent brand by reusing the circular shape from the ellipses, along with the orange colour and font type. The symbol demonstrates the strands being interwoven, while also articulating an F.
The strapline refers to the way Fabric can be tailored to any client and to the ultimate benefit of actionable insight, while again referring to the master brand through the ellipses.
Animated video
We prepared a one minute video to immediately engage with visitors. Using a friendly and knowledgeable tone, the animated video connects potential clients to the portal and creates a deeper understanding of its use. To see the full animation click here.
Supporting the launch
We designed postal promotional material including a promo item in the form of a lens cleaner to show clients that they will ‘see more clearly’ using the new portal.
We also designed a banner ad to display in both Research Live and MyCustomer.
Finally, we used our industry contacts to gain media attention from the press. We received coverage in leading research industry publications including Research-Live and MrWeb.Branding and launching the latest technology for Network Research
Our client Network Research launched Fabric, an advanced, bespoke knowledge management tool that works in real-time to help companies engage with customers, interpret behaviours and plan actions customised to their needs.
Keen as Mustard helped create a prominent name, a strong visual identity and launch materials to match their unique technology.
“Over the past couple of years we’ve come to use Keen as Mustard as our go to agency for marketing. Building on our own visual identity and website, we knew we could trust Mustard to create a brand for our new tool that would perfectly describe and communicate its unique abilities and actionable results. Keen as Mustard made sure to give us exactly what we wanted - and more.” - Virginia Monk, MD of Network Research
Branding and design
The name Fabric was born from the weaving together of multiple strands to form a cohesive whole – in the same way the strands of complex and disparate data sources are woven together via the portal.
The logo includes subtle visual nods to the parent brand by reusing the circular shape from the ellipses, along with the orange colour and font type. The symbol demonstrates the strands being interwoven, while also articulating an F.
The strapline refers to the way Fabric can be tailored to any client and to the ultimate benefit of actionable insight, while again referring to the master brand through the ellipses.
Animated video
We prepared a one minute video to immediately engage with visitors. Using a friendly and knowledgeable tone, the animated video connects potential clients to the portal and creates a deeper understanding of its use. To see the full animation click here.
Supporting the launch
We designed postal promotional material including a promo item in the form of a lens cleaner to show clients that they will ‘see more clearly’ using the new portal.
We also designed a banner ad to display in both Research Live and MyCustomer.
Finally, we used our industry contacts to gain media attention from the press. We received coverage in leading research industry publications including Research-Live and MrWeb.
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Customer experience expert Network Research has been helping many of the UK’s best known companies to win and build profitable relationships with customers since 1987. The management team approached Mustard to update their brand identity and website as they felt a specialist agency would understand their needs better than one without MR experience. Before we started creating the new brand identity, we got the senior management team members together at a Mustard workshop to discuss the company’s vision, positioning, messaging and vision for the future to pin down exactly what sets Network Research apart.
We synthesised all of the materials we collected and put together a creative brief which we used to inspire the visual identity and website. We focused on the story-telling nature of the work the company does – giving clear views to advise clients how to win and keep profitable customers.
The new visual identity and strapline incorporates three orange dots, or suspension points, after the company name - indicating there is more to follow and communicating the agency’s capacity to translate their insights into compelling, issues based stories, based on research data. The modern, clean web design gives the agency the opportunity to articulate its views in original and interesting ways. Our designs also incorporated a range of support materials for the new branding, such as PPT and Word templates, stationery and notebooks. If you visit Network Research, look out for the orange dots!
Managing Director Virginia Monk said, “For over 30 years, we have been known and respected for our strong opinions on what research says, coupled with intelligent views about what our clients should do to win and keep customers. Finally this is apparent through our visual identity and website. The project has been a pleasure from start to finish - Mustard understood our needs from the outset – and we are very pleased with the outcome.”
We’re really proud of our work. If you’re interested in finding out how to go about a branding or positioning project, please get in touch.Visualising Network Research
Customer experience expert Network Research has been helping many of the UK’s best known companies to win and build profitable relationships with customers since 1987. The management team approached Mustard to update their brand identity and website as they felt a specialist agency would understand their needs better than one without MR experience. Before we started creating the new brand identity, we got the senior management team members together at a Mustard workshop to discuss the company’s vision, positioning, messaging and vision for the future to pin down exactly what sets Network Research apart.
We synthesised all of the materials we collected and put together a creative brief which we used to inspire the visual identity and website. We focused on the story-telling nature of the work the company does – giving clear views to advise clients how to win and keep profitable customers.
The new visual identity and strapline incorporates three orange dots, or suspension points, after the company name - indicating there is more to follow and communicating the agency’s capacity to translate their insights into compelling, issues based stories, based on research data. The modern, clean web design gives the agency the opportunity to articulate its views in original and interesting ways. Our designs also incorporated a range of support materials for the new branding, such as PPT and Word templates, stationery and notebooks. If you visit Network Research, look out for the orange dots!
Managing Director Virginia Monk said, “For over 30 years, we have been known and respected for our strong opinions on what research says, coupled with intelligent views about what our clients should do to win and keep customers. Finally this is apparent through our visual identity and website. The project has been a pleasure from start to finish - Mustard understood our needs from the outset – and we are very pleased with the outcome.”
We’re really proud of our work. If you’re interested in finding out how to go about a branding or positioning project, please get in touch.
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This was originally posted on Quirk's. You can read it here.
As a marketing agency working in a niche business area like marketing research, we make it a point to keep an eye on what is going on in research, the mergers and acquisitions as well as the general buzz of business life with people changing jobs and new announcements. We are also very interested when a company rebrands or builds a new Web site. The conversation either falls into two camps, admiration for a job well done or unease at things we feel could have been done better.
But we have also observed a trend: Everything is starting to look the same. Design has always been subject to fashion, as trends are adopted and then quickly dismissed within a year or two. This fickleness is probably best demonstrated by the recent move from photorealistic 3-D-style icons to flat 2-D icons. The most high-profile example of this is Apple, when it changed the design of iOS last year. It could be argued that Apple was in fact late to the game and the first indicator of this trend was Microsoft with Windows 8.
Technology has certainly accelerated the speed of change. At the beginning of the Internet design wasn’t a factor. Everyone went wild with excitement building websites without any design skill or consideration – just pure enthusiasm for this new medium. Over time the aesthetic was introduced and the evolution of web standards meant that designers and coders were less restricted by the technology and beautifully-designed websites began to flourish.
Recently there has been a jump in both the design and technology of websites in the form of the parallax scrolling website. This is essentially a long page with a lot of sections; the name parallax comes from different elements on the page scrolling at different speeds.
This presents an interesting new way for web pages to work – arguably the first significant change since the start of the World Wide Web. The downside is that we have seen a homogenization in designs and increasingly see very similar site styles – making us wonder what could cause this design coalescence.
We think it’s that most designers are looking over one another’s shoulders. With the proliferation of visual social media such as Behance and Pinterest, everyone is copying everyone else like a magpie bringing to the nest everything that is shiny and new.
Why is this trend the case in web design but not in brochure design or other collateral? This is probably down to the nature of the technology. Unlike print, a website is something that can be continually tweaked and adjusted. Sites can evolve with input from designers and also unconsciously from visitors to the site whose behavior is tracked with Google Analytics.
This is essentially design by committee on a vast scale born from our continual need to see and adopt what others are doing and our obsession with tweaking and optimizing.Standing out from the rest
So how do we avoid this? Well, companies need to know what they stand for and be brave. Only ever start the design of your website with a full understanding of who you are and what you want your site to do. Always use a creative brief to work with your designer and make sure you use it to discover your own secret sauce.
Above all, be authentic and don’t compromise. You don’t have to make changes to your site just because 4.35 percent of visitors are slightly confused by the use of green to indicate a link. Most of all, just because someone else is doing it doesn’t make it right. We are all unique with various strengths and qualities – let’s differentiate not homogenise.Rethinking your website? Be authentic.
Blog
Rethinking your website? Be authentic.
This was originally posted on Quirk’s. You can read it here. As a marketing agency working in a niche business area like marketing research, we make it a point... Read more
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FreshMinds recently adopted a new visual identity; to mark the merging of its social business with its research business.
Mustard was set the task of creating a powerpoint design which fit in with this new branding. We created two templates; an auditorium template for large presentations and a report template for intimate settings and emailing.
Once we had created the templates in close consultation with Nikki at Fresh Minds Creative Director Simon also went along to their HQ to do some training with the team, demonstrating how to use the templates to create consistent and on brand presentations.
This helped to reverberate a clear and consistent brand image throughout FreshMind’s communication channels, allowing them to fully utilise their new brand image.Presenting FreshMinds
Design, Templates
FreshMinds recently adopted a new visual identity; to mark the merging of its social business with its research business.
Mustard was set the task of creating a powerpoint design which fit in with this new branding. We created two templates; an auditorium template for large presentations and a report template for intimate settings and emailing.
Once we had created the templates in close consultation with Nikki at Fresh Minds Creative Director Simon also went along to their HQ to do some training with the team, demonstrating how to use the templates to create consistent and on brand presentations.
This helped to reverberate a clear and consistent brand image throughout FreshMind’s communication channels, allowing them to fully utilise their new brand image.
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The Business Intelligence group (BIG), the UK's business to business research and insights association, was stuck with a website that required a lengthy and expensive process each time something needed updating. Mustard partnered with the BIG to rethink and redesign the site, also taking the opportunity to redesign the visual identity. Providing BIG with a site designed to better help their members take advantage of their benefits, and a new identity to reflect the organisation's forward thinking stance.
We started with our own technical and strategic research process, followed by workshop with the BIG committee to discuss the website's purpose and identity. These steps resulted in the decision to develop the website on a separate server using a Wordpress theme and membership plugin, along with some additional custom coding from Mustard's development team.
The website was launched last summer and has breathed fresh life into the organisation who can now present a more modern face to the B2B world. We also decided on a new URL www.thebusinessintelligence.group to reflect the ongoing change within the organisation.
The project's final step was creating the new BIG logo which included design elements to reflect BIG's community feel. We chose a tall and narrow typeface because it's modern and classic feel would prevent it from dating quickly and would also allow us to write the company's full name, 'Business Intelligence Group', without overwhelming the logo mark.
The Business Intelligence Group
The Business Intelligence group (BIG), the UK's business to business research and insights association, was stuck with a website that required a lengthy and expensive process each time something needed updating. Mustard partnered with the BIG to rethink and redesign the site, also taking the opportunity to redesign the visual identity. Providing BIG with a site designed to better help their members take advantage of their benefits, and a new identity to reflect the organisation's forward thinking stance.
We started with our own technical and strategic research process, followed by workshop with the BIG committee to discuss the website's purpose and identity. These steps resulted in the decision to develop the website on a separate server using a Wordpress theme and membership plugin, along with some additional custom coding from Mustard's development team.
The website was launched last summer and has breathed fresh life into the organisation who can now present a more modern face to the B2B world. We also decided on a new URL www.thebusinessintelligence.group to reflect the ongoing change within the organisation.
The project's final step was creating the new BIG logo which included design elements to reflect BIG's community feel. We chose a tall and narrow typeface because it's modern and classic feel would prevent it from dating quickly and would also allow us to write the company's full name, 'Business Intelligence Group', without overwhelming the logo mark.
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MRops is an end-to end market research operations company, working with research agencies and management consulting firms across the globe. The company was founded in 2007 and has grown very fast – excelling at executing the most complex work in the MR industry. When they approached us earlier this year it was because they felt their visual identity and website were not communicating the right messages anymore.
So, we got started with a workshop, with team members from different offices around the world to discuss the company’s vision, positioning and messaging, and exactly what was special about it. Along with exercises mapping the market and looking at their current communications, we also did a visualisation of their business in the future, giving us an understanding of how to approach the design of the new visual identity.
After the workshop, we synthesised all the materials and worked up a brand strategy document which we used as a spring board for the future design and website. The idea was to focus on how MRops makes really difficult research happen – by building the teams, technology, and processes to support the execution of the most complex work, from targeting hard to reach audiences around the world to developing respondent engagement solutions.
For the new identity we came up with the different arrows and the strapline – ‘this way for possible’. Once the new brand identity was established we built on this with the website design, emphasising the importance of the people with in their company – to excel at executing the most complex work in MR, you need people who are up for the challenge! The site is populated with pictures of the teams around the world at work, and even illustrations of them at play.
COO Wander Meijer said, “Our rebrand and website project has been a great experience with Keen as Mustard. They approached the project attentively and creatively, and delivered excellent results. Our web site visits, LinkedIn and Facebook pages got visited three times as much and several clients spontaneously complimented us. ”
The whole project – from the workshop to the launch of the new site took 12 weeks – and although we all worked fast – we made sure to pay attention to all of the little details. And we’re very proud they show!Research Operations
MRops is an end-to end market research operations company, working with research agencies and management consulting firms across the globe. The company was founded in 2007 and has grown very fast – excelling at executing the most complex work in the MR industry. When they approached us earlier this year it was because they felt their visual identity and website were not communicating the right messages anymore.
So, we got started with a workshop, with team members from different offices around the world to discuss the company’s vision, positioning and messaging, and exactly what was special about it. Along with exercises mapping the market and looking at their current communications, we also did a visualisation of their business in the future, giving us an understanding of how to approach the design of the new visual identity.
After the workshop, we synthesised all the materials and worked up a brand strategy document which we used as a spring board for the future design and website. The idea was to focus on how MRops makes really difficult research happen – by building the teams, technology, and processes to support the execution of the most complex work, from targeting hard to reach audiences around the world to developing respondent engagement solutions.
For the new identity we came up with the different arrows and the strapline – ‘this way for possible’. Once the new brand identity was established we built on this with the website design, emphasising the importance of the people with in their company – to excel at executing the most complex work in MR, you need people who are up for the challenge! The site is populated with pictures of the teams around the world at work, and even illustrations of them at play.
COO Wander Meijer said, “Our rebrand and website project has been a great experience with Keen as Mustard. They approached the project attentively and creatively, and delivered excellent results. Our web site visits, LinkedIn and Facebook pages got visited three times as much and several clients spontaneously complimented us. ”
The whole project – from the workshop to the launch of the new site took 12 weeks – and although we all worked fast – we made sure to pay attention to all of the little details. And we’re very proud they show!
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GreenBook, one of the industries most valuable content hubs, came to us with an irresistible proposition of redesigning their blog. We started the project with a clear plan to design a website with a simple and coherent layout. GreenBook was also keen to shake up and update the site, creating a consistent layout across all GreenBook sites by using a header (menu and logo etc. at the top of a website).
As the GreenBook website contains an incredibly large amount of information, both in terms of quantity of blog posts and the content on each individual page, it took a lot of thought and consideration to design the pages in the clearest and most logical way. Insight and research sites are often a challenge in this way, and it takes real expertise to develop an appropriate hierarchy and user experience.
Updating the site also offered us an opportunity to look at the GreenBook logo which had multiple inconsistent versions. The GRIT logo we designed a couple of years ago is well established and was well received, so it was natural to adapt it for use as the core GreenBook logo. This meant that GreenBook had a new harmonised visual identity that met their needs, yet was already familiar with their audience.
We are thrilled with the results of both the logo and the blog. http://www.greenbookblog.org/.GreenBook Blog
GreenBook, one of the industries most valuable content hubs, came to us with an irresistible proposition of redesigning their blog. We started the project with a clear plan to design a website with a simple and coherent layout. GreenBook was also keen to shake up and update the site, creating a consistent layout across all GreenBook sites by using a header (menu and logo etc. at the top of a website).
As the GreenBook website contains an incredibly large amount of information, both in terms of quantity of blog posts and the content on each individual page, it took a lot of thought and consideration to design the pages in the clearest and most logical way. Insight and research sites are often a challenge in this way, and it takes real expertise to develop an appropriate hierarchy and user experience.
Updating the site also offered us an opportunity to look at the GreenBook logo which had multiple inconsistent versions. The GRIT logo we designed a couple of years ago is well established and was well received, so it was natural to adapt it for use as the core GreenBook logo. This meant that GreenBook had a new harmonised visual identity that met their needs, yet was already familiar with their audience.
We are thrilled with the results of both the logo and the blog. http://www.greenbookblog.org/.
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The team at Mustard Towers recently accepted the exciting challenge of repositioning Dub from a tech provider to a digital qualitative partner. Keen as Mustard helped the company articulate their new positioning and designed a brand new website to deliver Dub’s objective.
Dub provides digital engagement software for researchers, marketers, planners and strategists to help them deliver insight and generate new ideas. They recently joined the Mustard fold in need of a new brand direction and website.
Mustard was eager to accept the challenge of repositioning Dub and helping the company to grow.
We ran a workshop involving the senior management team members to discuss Dub’s vision, positioning, messaging and future objectives. This allowed Mustard to prioritise Dub’s specific needs for the content and design of the new website. This moves the brand from being a technology provider to being a partner, enabling better relationships with people for qualitative insight and innovation. Dub’s Founder and CEO Stephen Cribbett said, “Working with Keen as Mustard has been really helpful. It was stimulating to work with a team who truly understood our company and our clients as well as digital marketing. Mustard listened to our needs and has delivered a new website design and copy that will help our company enter its next phase of growth.”
If you’re in the market research sector and require a touch of marketing from a company that fully understands your industry, please get in touch.Transforming Dub
Branding & Design
The team at Mustard Towers recently accepted the exciting challenge of repositioning Dub from a tech provider to a digital qualitative partner. Keen as Mustard helped the company articulate their new positioning and designed a brand new website to deliver Dub’s objective.
Dub provides digital engagement software for researchers, marketers, planners and strategists to help them deliver insight and generate new ideas. They recently joined the Mustard fold in need of a new brand direction and website.
Mustard was eager to accept the challenge of repositioning Dub and helping the company to grow.
We ran a workshop involving the senior management team members to discuss Dub’s vision, positioning, messaging and future objectives. This allowed Mustard to prioritise Dub’s specific needs for the content and design of the new website. This moves the brand from being a technology provider to being a partner, enabling better relationships with people for qualitative insight and innovation. Dub’s Founder and CEO Stephen Cribbett said, “Working with Keen as Mustard has been really helpful. It was stimulating to work with a team who truly understood our company and our clients as well as digital marketing. Mustard listened to our needs and has delivered a new website design and copy that will help our company enter its next phase of growth.”
If you’re in the market research sector and require a touch of marketing from a company that fully understands your industry, please get in touch.
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We've been working with L&E Research for several years now, providing design and content ongoing. Recently L&E needed a white paper template that fit within their existing brand style. The template was designed for their white paper series, 'Six Steps to Perfect Qual' (written by Mustard's creative copywriters).
For the initial 'demo' white paper template, we needed a design that was easy to use, versatile and striking - but most importantly, obeyed their existing brand guidelines. We created the template and first white paper using selective imagery for maximum impact, including a cutout image treatment that helped to link image and copy. This created a point of interest across pages - whilst remaining true to their existing brand.
L&E have since used this template across seven white papers (so far).L&E
We've been working with L&E Research for several years now, providing design and content ongoing. Recently L&E needed a white paper template that fit within their existing brand style. The template was designed for their white paper series, 'Six Steps to Perfect Qual' (written by Mustard's creative copywriters).
For the initial 'demo' white paper template, we needed a design that was easy to use, versatile and striking - but most importantly, obeyed their existing brand guidelines. We created the template and first white paper using selective imagery for maximum impact, including a cutout image treatment that helped to link image and copy. This created a point of interest across pages - whilst remaining true to their existing brand.
L&E have since used this template across seven white papers (so far).
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"After years of growing … it was time for the GRIT report to be updated…to ‘practice what we preach’ and become more visually engaging to tell the story of our findings in a better way. Our first, last and only choice to help make that happen was the Keen as Mustard team… The final result was a new GRIT that has received many accolades … and a product we are very proud of in every way. The Keen as Mustard team quite simply rocked this engagement, and I can’t wait to find another opportunity to work with them" Read more here.
Lenny Murphy
GreenBook’s Chief Editor & Principal Consultant
Quote
“After years of growing … it was time for the GRIT report to be updated…to ‘practice what we preach’ and become more visually engaging to tell the story of... Read more