One Partners

To start with, we used the following guiding principles.

Simplify everything.

In regards to content, the new site had to be welcoming and engaging. It had to tick the usual 'company info' boxes. Alongside the basics to consider, and vying for airplay, were news updates, press releases, project updates and social commentary. Taken as a whole, we see this as the ‘Good Stuff’, so rather than spread it across different sections it is now one of three simple and distinct areas.

'Home' (click our logo) is where you arrive and is a bold showcase of some recent work and our company story. 'activity' is where everything that is happening happens and 'information' is - ahem - for the boring stuff.

Create a channel, not a repository.

We have a lot going on. Our agency model spans Shopper, Digital and Experiential. We have a culture of creativity generating fantastic personal projects, from a young and rapidly growing multi-talented team, with a wealth of opinion on anything and everything marketing and creative related.

Reflecting this diversity of output was the challenge and it's one we hope to have met with the 'activity' area; a constantly updating feed of content. News, opinion pieces, projects and happenings now sit together in a fluid snapshot of Onepartners. If you are looking for something specific, all content can be filtered and searched via tags or search-box.

Bring our character to the fore.

Another CD once told me 'Don't tell me you're funny, tell me a joke'… I didn't do either, but that aside he had a good point.

We decided the best way to illustrate the character and culture of the team was to simply ‘put it out there’. Informal Facebook and Twitter posts sit comfortably within the 'activity' stream, shoulder to shoulder with the serious stuff. Pretty much everything on the site is sharable - just as it should be. 

Looking forward.

When not redesigning our website, we can often be found creating exciting campaigns for fantastic clients. Look out for some fresh work updates in the very near future. A version of the new site - optimised for mobile - is being worked on as I write this.

There you have it: Onepartners online 3.0. We hope you like it, and if you do, please feel free to share.

Posted by Joe Mayock; Managing Partner and Creative Director

I also regard my blog as an intrinsic link to my full-time profession of being a graphic designer. I find it interesting as owning a blog has become second nature to almost every type of creative. Whether you are an illustrator, fashion designer, architect, musician or chef even, the idea of a blog is an easily accessible platform where one can share, express and converse with complete strangers from the other side of a computer screen. There are simply no restraints as you as the author, are granted freedom in expression.

For a designer, a blog could be seen as “free play”’; a release from the design process we undergo on the job. With many factors contributing to the design process, the need to stimulate a designer’s creativity becomes just as vital as a fresh breeze of air through a stale room. 

As a designer/fashion blogger and avid blog reader myself, stimulating my creativity is an everyday necessity where I often experience a “visual overload” – a self-conceived idea where you have literally looked at so many images you’re eyes refuse to digest anymore and all you can do is close them. One could interpret this as a negative outcome, though I see this sensory overload as a positive. Here’s why…

I have recently started a new chapter in my design career at an integrated marketing communication agency called Onepartners, based in Surry Hills. Having moved on from an in-house retail environment to a studio/agency setting, the transition has certainly been a stimulating one none the least. However, to support in producing refreshing designs, I visit my favourite blogs/websites that cover both fashion and design on a daily basis.

These include Trendland, The Design Files, Design Milk, ColourLovers and AusInfront and Etsy. Each of them is bound to have a post that makes me say out loud “look what we have here” followed by an immediate click on the “share on Twitter” button.

I have come to notice that it’s become an unwritten requirement for designers to be in the loop of what’s going on not only in their industry but also in popular culture and world news in general. Since design is a massive category in itself and one that is relative to many others, I always resort to this single comment - “you don’t have to like it, but be aware of it”. I feel this is a good way to comprehend all information and images you come across as it aids you in taking on new ideas, valuing critiques and feeding your hunger of wanting to see more of what really is inspirational to you.

With the opportunity to work with a mix of global brands at Onepartners, there is the responsibility to ensure all branding is consistent, though at the same time present innovative ideas. Being continuously exposed to creative material, every visual overload has influenced my outlook on design and need to think ‘outside the box’. It has assisted me in being an informed, open-minded designer and has ultimately questioned my very own capabilities and goals that I want to achieve not only in the workplace, but also later down the track. 

Here’s a short overview of what many ‘visual overloads’ and my experience of being a fashion blogger have taught me:

The importance of social media and being continuously active online

I receive the majority of industry updates via Twitter. If you’re not on Twitter, I strongly suggest you join. Many popular design bodies and groups have set themselves up an account and regularly share “up and coming profiles”, studio insights, event invites and even clever infographics, like ones here, here and here

http://sociability.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/b2b-lg.jpg

http://iwebask.com/blog/2011/09/26/a-graphic-designer%E2%80%99s-hectic-life-infographic/

http://antsj.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/dnxvj.png

My favourite design groups I follow are Vimeo, AusInfront, The Loop, FeatureShoot, Print Magazine and Abduzeedo. 

Using social media as marketing strategy to build brand awareness in a instant/interactive environment

Many fashion brands are promoting their product via bloggers and Facebook App campaigns. With online shopping becoming increasingly popular, many consumers are now online and feel more comfortable engaging and interacting with brands that have a strong presence in their social media channels they visit. Our Digital Production team at Onepartners deals extensively with campaigns similar to these, building promotional Facebook Apps, which usually involve a brand ambassador.

The benefits of blog-trawling

You will be surprised to see other blogger’s styles that you may take an interest to and stumble upon unexpected content and music. It’s always great to share interesting posts with colleagues and create discussion amongst the workplace. The more you see, the more you have to gain. 

Personal development and intangible skills

Maintaining a blog requires a deal of effort, discipline and no doubt commitment – skills that can be carried into the workplace. You’ll come to be more familiar with your own personality traits and any areas for improvement. In preparing blog posts, there is a sense of personal satisfaction and growth to build something from scratch. Here the process of producing original content can be somewhat similar to brainstorming for a pitch or executing an idea for a design proposal at Onepartners. 

For a closer look into what I do in my spare time of being a designer, visit my personal style and fashion blog youronlyblackswan.blogspot.com

Posted by Lauren Hernandez; Onepartners Junior Designer

While this took a moment to get my head around, a couple of days ago I had a Eureka moment when I realised you could take your ‘TAT’ and divide it by your ‘Likes’ to arrive at your Engagement Rate (ER). FYI we love an acronym in digital. 

TAT is great because it’s a 7-day snapshot of the current engagement rate and overall health of your Page quantified by the amount of Likes, Shares, and Comments on your Wall. So from week-to-week, and depending the content that is being published, you can see if the content was well received (your ER is up), or if you need to rethink your yawn-content (ER was down).

Why so freakin’ excited I hear you saying?

It’s all out in the open now. Just as others can see how you’re doing at any given time, you can also see how other Facebook communities are resonating with their audiences. 

A page may have a massive number of Likes, but if their TAT number is low then it’s a likely sign that something is amiss. They may have driven large Likes initially, but now no one is commenting, liking or sharing with them. That community couldn’t care less about what the brand is pumping into their News Stream.

It’s now more important than ever to think like a content publisher and create reasons and meaning around consumers being involved with your brand – especially if you’re new to the Facebook bandwagon.    

Now all that is left is to determine benchmarks for ER. And its only fair that these benchmarks should be created against a rigorous set of criteria and categorised by segment – in the same way that the IAB has set out benchmarks for online advertising.

Social Bakers have had a go. Here is their stab at ER by community size, with the disclaimer being that the larger the community the lower we can expect engagement rates to be.

I would also argue that this ER should be categorised by segment. Fashion and entertainment would be at the top end of the scale, while toothpaste and soap would be on the opposite end.

I would also propose that there needs to be a bi-fold measure of ER by size and category that accounts for the ‘artificial’ drivers of Likes to a page – not that there is anything wrong with that! Promotional drivers usually take the form of:

Competitions
Seeding
Coupons
Reward programs

These drivers can inflate your TAT for the period that they are on. Can I coin this your ‘pro-TAT’? You let me know!

Good pro-TAT brings good results. A pro-TAT promotion targeted in the wrong way can attract a community that is there for a good time, not a long time. If these pro-TAT cats hang around then your ‘off-TAT’ ER is always going to be low.

Take for instance a ‘WIN an iPad’ pro-TAT run by a nappies brand. It attracts a large SINKS and DINKS audience and the numbers look great. But they are   probably going to experience difficulty maintaining a high ER past the iPad promotion, unless they start talking about music and clubbing. But then I’m not sure how valuable that would be to the brand… anyway… I hope you get my point.

When every brand manager I speak to at the moment is screaming that they want to ‘engage’ their audience, this is certainly one way we can quantify the effectiveness of that engagement – at least for the moment. 

What this means to ‘bums on seats, ‘$$ at the checkout’, or ‘footfall in store’ is still largely unknown (or so Google tells me). Perhaps some brands can share their experience of increased ER against sales figures in the future?

I’ll keep you posted on that front. If and when I manage to find a great source for fair ER benchmarking, I’ll report back on that too. In the meantime send me your comments!

Posted by Claire Ferguson; Onepartners Digital Business Director