But at home? Disaster. It’s 1.45pm on St Valentine’s Day and I haven’t yet bought my other half a present. It’s time to stop and think. Luckily The Phoenix Partners HQ is situated a hop, skip and a jump away from a gift ship. Perfect! An hour later and I’m the proud owner of an entirely suitable gift, wrapping paper and card. Phew!

What have I learnt from this experience? Well, that I can work under pressure, to short deadlines, and no matter what happens next I can find a resolution – on budget and on time!

Come and find us on Facebook or Twitter and let us know your Valentine’s stories

Lots of Love

Gita
xx

“If you were a castaway alone on a desert island, which eight gramophone records would you choose to have with you, assuming of course, that you had a gramophone and an inexhaustible supply of needles?”

At the end of each program, the guest is sent into imaginary exile, along with their choice of a book, a luxury and one of their eight records.

This got us thinking, if we were to be castaway, what is the one item we would take with us – the one thing we couldn’t live without?

The most commonly requested luxury item is a piano, while other choices have spoken volumes about the castaway; novelist Norman Mailer requested “a stick of the very best marijuana”; Simon Cowell asked for a mirror – “because I’d miss me”; and Oliver Reed asked for “a blow-up woman”.

What did our choices say about us?

Gita was torn between her boyfriend – to do the cooking… hold the fan… peels the grapes? And her Sky+ box – assuming of course, a TV and electricity was supplied too!

Roger considered the question for a few moments, “I’d take a radio and a lifetime supply of books – either that or a Jet Ski!” No explanation needed really.

Matt, our very own “Mr Gadget” had a tough choice to make from his range of technological paraphernalia, finally he settled on his Nikon SLR to capture his surroundings in stunning photography.

..And Rach? Well her luxury would be her Clarins moisturiser. The reason? Nothing whatsoever to do with that looming birthday!?

Follow us on Twitter, or find us on Facebook and let us know what you would take and why.

45% of people use mobile devices whilst they are out and about. This is up from 37%.

22% of mobile internet users infrequently or never use a desktop. Wow! It’s also estimated that by 2014 mobile use will overtake desktop use with desktops being phased out and / or not replaced.

71% of smart phone users react to TV advertisements which include a Facebook page or post.

The default phone is now a smart phone with feature phones down by 4%.

86% of mobile internet users surf the web whilst watching TV. Question, how is this affecting your brand and the memorability of your TV advertising? Pretty much everyone knows that in 2009 online advertising revenue overtook TV advertising revenue but did you know that the ‘experts’ and researchers are predicting that online advertising will overtake print in the next few years? Now that’s huge!

Tablets are replacing laptops and must be considered alongside mobiles for any mobile marketing campaign.

Finally the importance of researching your target audience was reiterated time and time again.  Now we’re all for research but this example makes the point beautifully. A college wanted a company to make them an App which would increase student applications. When the company insisted on researching to ensure that an App was in fact the right solution the college shrugged and said, “yes, OK — do it if you want”. Good job they did. The research proved that none of the current students had an iPhone and limited numbers had android phones. To add to that you couldn’t get an iPhone contract until you were 18 — the age that students were leaving the college not wanting to come to college! Needless to say, no App was developed.

So, know your audience and don’t underestimate the influence of mobile in your marketing mix and online strategy!

Just for fun — in text speak what does this actually say?
gggg UK 4 gg
Hint — think Shakespeare!

Says Rachel, “He got me at a vulnerable moment.  We were looking at our pledge to Leicester Charity Link and how much money we had actually raised versus what we had committed to raising and we could see that we are well down on where we should be sooooo Matt suggested the Loughborough Half Marathon and before I could quite believe it I’d said ‘yes’.”

Training for Matt is going well; for Rachel it’s been a little bit more… intermittent.  “I just need to get out there and run but it is amazing how many excuses you can find,” adds Rachel.  “I even found myself insisting that the ironing needed doing to get out of running last week!  That said we’ve only got 8 ½ weeks left so it’s got to be game on now!”

If you’d like to spur our plucky duo on then please sponsor them at
http://www.justgiving.com/ThePhoenixPartners
All funds raised will be donated to Leicester Charity Link.

Principle Rider Jay of Blackbird Couriers (www.blackbirdcouriers.co.uk) popped in yesterday to show us his newly delivered business cards which had been designed by our very own Matt ‘Coach’ Stokes.

The Coach is also a keen biker so when this logo creation and business card design project landed on his desk he was a very happy man!

Says Matt, “The Honda Blackbird is an awesome bit of kit so when the project came in I asked Jay to pop round between deliveries so I could see the bike and get some inspiration.  In the end I developed the logo based on a stylised blackbird and the front bike fairing seen side on, while using a black tarmac background texture on the reverse to further reinforce an appropriate look and feel.  Simple but effective and getting great responses not only from our client but from the folk he’s passing them around to.  A really satisfying project and a great client to work with.”

This is a new venture for Jay so we wish him all the luck in the world with his business and we know where to go next time we need a parcel delivering!

1. Bratislava, Slovakia for its rates, its friendly service and for being just a little bit different and quirky
2. Athens… for the rates (oh my, are they coming down!) and the better-than-the-UK weather
3. Tallinn, Estonia.  We love, love, love this small capital city and – indeed – the country
4. Vertura Golf & Spa Resort, Sicily.  Rocco Forte at its best.  May just go there myself for my holiday!
5. Lisbon, Portugal – what’s not to love about this wonderful city?  Shops to die for, so much culture and food… The diet will just have to wait guys
6. Istanbul, Turkey.  Not so cheap anymore but a wonderful city full of contrast, culture and great food and wine
7. Gresham Palace, Budapest.  You know we’re a fan of Budapest and if you’re going to go to your favourite city then you might as well stay at your favourite hotel in the whole world…
8. Gleneagles.  The service, the great outdoors and, oh my!  The spa.  One of our client’s favourite places.  Just can’t seem to keep them away from there right now
9. Four Seasons Resort, Scottsdale at Troon North – the location, the accommodation, the food; and America is coming back onto our clients radar after an absence of more than a few years.  The deals are out there guys
10. And finally, can we really have another Four Seasons property on our list??  Yes we can when it’s as stunning as Four Seasons Hotel Firenze.  An oasis of calm in a beautiful city.  We are all huge fans of Florence but when the hotel and gardens are this beautiful it really is difficult to drag yourself out… even in Florence.

The highlight for many of us was Saturday night’s dinner at Lea Hall. Each of us contributed something to the table, but best in show has to go to Malcolm’s Lemon Meringue Pie.

Here he is holding his prize pie. Trust us, it was delicious and didn’t last long.

Rach has been planning and writing a business plan which covers the next 5 years and Zoe has been sitting on her knee ‘helping’. Who knew that Zoe is a financial genius who understands profit and loss, net profit and break-even? I just thought she was a completely bonkers 3 year old Lurcher. I remain suitably sceptical (and, between you and me, a little bit jealous if I’m totally honest).

So, feeling a bit left out, I went and sat with Rog and Matt and ‘helped’ them create our new website. Well, I did help. I ate the apple core they gave me thereby saving them having to leave their computers and walk to the bin… That’s valuable additional time spent at a computer. That’s helping… isn’t it?

Anyway, I’m nearly 7 years old now and that’s knocking on for a Dalmatian. What do you humans say, ‘you don’t get a dog and wag your own tail’? Well, think on. It goes both ways you know.

Rach has been in Budapest recently, as you no doubt read in this e-newsletter. That meant that we had to go and see our Aunty Hayley at our boarding kennels. That’s sacrifice for you! Mind you we do get spoilt rotten there because — as a very famous advert says — we’re worth it!

Now although a lot has changed here — new brand, new website etc — just be reassured of this. Zoe and I (mainly ‘I’ if I’m honest as Zoe is often to be found chewing on her own leg… really, don’t ask) will continue sniffing around and giving you the lowdown on what really happens here at The Phoenix Partners.

Keeping it real for y’all!

Dyson and (occasionally) Zoe
X

It’s also a great time to recharge the batteries and while we all like to reflect on the year gone by, it’s the perfect time to make some New Year resolutions and start planning for the year ahead.

2011 has been an exciting and busy year for us with events in Berlin and Budapest, banners on gas holders, point of sale imagery in jewellers, incentive schemes galore and the start of our 10th birthday year.

But as the year draws to a close and we reflect on everything we’ve achieved (as well as what to buy in the Secret Santa) we’re also making great plans for the future. We’re moving our business upward and onward and we want to help your business be even more successful in 2012.

For those we’ve worked with, we look forward to continuing our work together and thank you for your valued custom in 2011. For those of you who haven’t worked with us before, give us a call and let’s have a chat over a New Year cuppa – we’re always willing to bring the biscuits along with a bit of added creativity!

All that’s left is to wish everyone an enjoyable festive holiday break. Here’s hoping that you all have a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year from everyone at The Phoenix Partners.

Using our incentivise-me website — our bespoke online “points make prizes” incentive solution — participants log-on to their personal reward accounts to track how many points they’ve earned, place their orders from our range of over 400 products, or send a specific request through our “wishlist” service.

Here at The Phoenix Partners we are always on the look-out for the latest gadgets and gizmos to include on our website, ensuring that it is always up to date with the latest ‘must-have’ items and trends. We also have a fantastic network of prestigious suppliers including Harrods and John Lewis who, like us, have customer service firmly at the core of their business.

“I was really pleased with how well it went. Thank you for all your help during this time.”
— H Samuel Gateshead

“Thank you for all your help Gita I appreciate it”
— H Samuel Westfield Stratford

The Spring/Summer campaigns were a roaring success and we now find ourselves in the midst of the Christmas campaigns, hoping to rival the dizzying increase in sales achieved through last year’s schemes.

“…I have some staff chomping at the bit to get it started. They have been pushing Guess like mad… You will more than likely see a huge increase as all staff have picked prizes including myself…”
— Goldsmiths Belfast

For more inspiration on how incentivise-me can work with your business call Gita on 01509 815 026 or email gita@thephoenixpartners.com