December 23, 2019

A look back at 2019

Featured image for “A look back at 2019”

A look back at 2019

Telescope looking out at the sea

Winter

Al Beeson, Senior Designer:

“Giving back to the community plays an important part in what we do at CC. This year, I supported Stars, the children’s bereavement charity, for my two paid volunteer days where I designed case study templates for the charity to use when applying for bids. It feels good to have been able to provide an important piece of collateral for a charity with limited resources.”

Spring

Joanna Colley, Senior PR and Marketing Manager:

“With a team specialising in sales on online marketplaces, Velocity Commerce is an incredibly fast-growing company – the fastest growing business in East Anglia, in fact. It’s been fantastic to support Velocity’s growth this year through our media relations and social media activity. We’ve worked with the team to refine the company’s brand messaging and have helped Velocity to reach new audiences through media and LinkedIn. We can’t wait to see what the next year brings.”

Alison Taylor, Managing Director:

“Cambridge city has enjoyed enormous economic success and is home to some of the wealthiest individuals and most profitable organisations in the UK. Yet, one in 10 Cambridge households has an income of under £16,518 per year, which is less than both the national living wage and the real living wage for Cambridge. This is why, during 2019, we have worked as part of a collective to formulate plans for a Cambridge 2030 initiative, which will drive collaborative action by leaders in public, private, voluntary and community sectors, who will set aside their individual agendas and work together to create a healthy and prosperous city for everyone who lives and works here. We’re looking forward to launching Cambridge 2030 early next year.”

Sophie Baillie, PR & Marketing Director:

“We are lucky to work with organisations that have positive impact on others’ lives. In the spring of 2019, we worked on a project with SOS Children UK, undertaking a full digital audit for the charity. Reviewing all digital marketing channels (from SEO to social channels to its CRM system) was no mean feat and certainly stretched our brains at times (which we LOVED!), but the task at hand was extremely rewarding and we are pleased to see our recommendations now being implemented.”

Summer

Ali White, PR and Marketing Director:

“We hit the ground running for a major project with the incredible Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) during the summer. The work the IWF does is so important but a difficult topic to confront and, as a team, we pulled together to engage with the issues at hand. The focus of our work was national media relations profiling the CEO, and the work of the charity in the wider context. During the three-month project we generated a significant volume of high-quality, on message, national media coverage for the charity. We also devised and implemented a campaign targeting media outlets and NGOs to change their reporting of child sexual abuse cases in line with the IWF’s reporting guidelines. The campaign generated substantial engagement on social media and we secured commitment from The Guardian Media Group, IPSO and The Editors Code to take the call into consideration in their editorial practices.”

Blessing Raimi, Junior Content Designer:

“My first project for CC was to update the prospectus for Cottenham Village College, keeping within the brand guidelines whilst also refreshing the design to evidence the changes. It was important to ensure the copy was correct and updated appropriately across the document. The way in which the images would be displayed and arranged in relation to the binding was also considered. This was a great first project to work on because it helped me get more familiar with the design processes at CC. I learnt how to work with my colleagues in order to progress the design to its final stages and how to balance client feedback with what would work best from a design point of view.”

Autumn

Joanna Colley, Senior PR and Marketing Manager:

“2019 marks 150 years since women were allowed to study at the University of Cambridge and, in light of this milestone, Cambridge University Library launched an incredible, honest, exhibition revealing the history of women’s lives at Cambridge University. The Women at Cambridge project was fascinating to work on – there were so many incredible stories told through the exhibition of women that studied, taught and lived at the university – we certainly had plenty to talk to the media about. Our objective was to drum up interest for the exhibition ahead of its opening in mid-October, and the results were incredible: we achieved 202 pieces of coverage between September and October, with highlights including a feature on ITV Anglia, an interview with BBC News Online and a review in Apollo magazine.”

Sophie Baillie, PR & Marketing Director:

“Autumn at CC was the season of launches in Cambridge. Particular highlights included launching the new fast-casual Mexican eatery, Tortilla, and a Fjallraven dedicated store by Open Air, in October and November respectively. Working on both short-lead launches was great fun and we achieved results that I am really proud of: local PR coverage in all target publications; influencer and blogger reviews on social media and websites; and exceeding attendance targets to all launch events (including hundreds of the Cambridge public queuing for a free burrito!). To reach the corporate market for Tortilla, we enjoyed implementing burrito drop offs to key businesses in the city centre, which went down a storm!”

Zoë Scorer, Director:

“We have reached an extremely exciting stage in the short but great history of our award-winning STEM initiative, FXP, which aims to advance social mobility by building career aspirations and creating opportunities for young people across Cambridgeshire. From its humble beginnings four years ago as a gem of an idea, FXP has grown year on year – as such, we will be registering the initiative as a charity. The very nature of FXP and what we set out to do from the start aligns so well with a charitable organisation that it was the natural next step.

Although our three day game design and development event is often the visible and physical culmination of a year’s hard work there is so much that goes on in the background which supports our objectives. From profiling possible career paths in the creative, digital, computing and engineering sectors to young people to illustrate the crucial connection between that career and the Computer Science curriculum in schools, to developing the capacity and skills of Computer Science teachers in Cambridgeshire – our work is never done. We’re excited to see what 2020 will have in store for FXP as a charity when we hope to have even more impact.”

Winter

Al Beeson, Senior Designer:

“Giving back to the community plays an important part in what we do at CC. This year, I supported Stars, the children’s bereavement charity, for my two paid volunteer days where I designed case study templates for the charity to use when applying for bids. It feels good to have been able to provide an important piece of collateral for a charity with limited resources.”

Spring

Joanna Colley, Senior PR and Marketing Manager:

“With a team specialising in sales on online marketplaces, Velocity Commerce is an incredibly fast-growing company – the fastest growing business in East Anglia, in fact. It’s been fantastic to support Velocity’s growth this year through our media relations and social media activity. We’ve worked with the team to refine the company’s brand messaging and have helped Velocity to reach new audiences through media and LinkedIn. We can’t wait to see what the next year brings.”

Alison Taylor, Managing Director:

“Cambridge city has enjoyed enormous economic success and is home to some of the wealthiest individuals and most profitable organisations in the UK. Yet, one in 10 Cambridge households has an income of under £16,518 per year, which is less than both the national living wage and the real living wage for Cambridge. This is why, during 2019, we have worked as part of a collective to formulate plans for a Cambridge 2030 initiative, which will drive collaborative action by leaders in public, private, voluntary and community sectors, who will set aside their individual agendas and work together to create a healthy and prosperous city for everyone who lives and works here. We’re looking forward to launching Cambridge 2030 early next year.”

Sophie Baillie, PR & Marketing Director:

“We are lucky to work with organisations that have positive impact on others’ lives. In the spring of 2019, we worked on a project with SOS Children UK, undertaking a full digital audit for the charity. Reviewing all digital marketing channels (from SEO to social channels to its CRM system) was no mean feat and certainly stretched our brains at times (which we LOVED!), but the task at hand was extremely rewarding and we are pleased to see our recommendations now being implemented.”

Summer

Ali White, PR and Marketing Director:

“We hit the ground running for a major project with the incredible Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) during the summer. The work the IWF does is so important but a difficult topic to confront and, as a team, we pulled together to engage with the issues at hand. The focus of our work was national media relations profiling the CEO, and the work of the charity in the wider context. During the three-month project we generated a significant volume of high-quality, on message, national media coverage for the charity. We also devised and implemented a campaign targeting media outlets and NGOs to change their reporting of child sexual abuse cases in line with the IWF’s reporting guidelines. The campaign generated substantial engagement on social media and we secured commitment from The Guardian Media Group, IPSO and The Editors Code to take the call into consideration in their editorial practices.”

Blessing Raimi, Junior Content Designer:

“My first project for CC was to update the prospectus for Cottenham Village College, keeping within the brand guidelines whilst also refreshing the design to evidence the changes. It was important to ensure the copy was correct and updated appropriately across the document. The way in which the images would be displayed and arranged in relation to the binding was also considered. This was a great first project to work on because it helped me get more familiar with the design processes at CC. I learnt how to work with my colleagues in order to progress the design to its final stages and how to balance client feedback with what would work best from a design point of view.”

Autumn

Joanna Colley, Senior PR and Marketing Manager:

“2019 marks 150 years since women were allowed to study at the University of Cambridge and, in light of this milestone, Cambridge University Library launched an incredible, honest, exhibition revealing the history of women’s lives at Cambridge University. The Women at Cambridge project was fascinating to work on – there were so many incredible stories told through the exhibition of women that studied, taught and lived at the university – we certainly had plenty to talk to the media about. Our objective was to drum up interest for the exhibition ahead of its opening in mid-October, and the results were incredible: we achieved 202 pieces of coverage between September and October, with highlights including a feature on ITV Anglia, an interview with BBC News Online and a review in Apollo magazine.”

Sophie Baillie, PR & Marketing Director:

“Autumn at CC was the season of launches in Cambridge. Particular highlights included launching the new fast-casual Mexican eatery, Tortilla, and a Fjallraven dedicated store by Open Air, in October and November respectively. Working on both short-lead launches was great fun and we achieved results that I am really proud of: local PR coverage in all target publications; influencer and blogger reviews on social media and websites; and exceeding attendance targets to all launch events (including hundreds of the Cambridge public queuing for a free burrito!). To reach the corporate market for Tortilla, we enjoyed implementing burrito drop offs to key businesses in the city centre, which went down a storm!”

Zoë Scorer, Director:

“We have reached an extremely exciting stage in the short but great history of our award-winning STEM initiative, FXP, which aims to advance social mobility by building career aspirations and creating opportunities for young people across Cambridgeshire. From its humble beginnings four years ago as a gem of an idea, FXP has grown year on year – as such, we will be registering the initiative as a charity. The very nature of FXP and what we set out to do from the start aligns so well with a charitable organisation that it was the natural next step.

Although our three day game design and development event is often the visible and physical culmination of a year’s hard work there is so much that goes on in the background which supports our objectives. From profiling possible career paths in the creative, digital, computing and engineering sectors to young people to illustrate the crucial connection between that career and the Computer Science curriculum in schools, to developing the capacity and skills of Computer Science teachers in Cambridgeshire – our work is never done. We’re excited to see what 2020 will have in store for FXP as a charity when we hope to have even more impact.”

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