In 2005 the Welsh Development Agency embarked on a major new business initiative to encourage inter-trading between local businesses in Wales. For this exciting new project the WDA asked us to be their brand and marketing consultant.
The Welsh Development Agency (WDA) recognised that many SMEs throughout Wales were losing out on valuable and lucrative contracts with neighbouring companies. Quite often a business in one town was sourcing materials from elsewhere in the UK when there was another business just down the road capable of providing the same resources. So, in June 2005 the WDA launched Contract Shop, a programme to promote inter-trading between SMEs and to encourage business growth in Wales.
Fundamentally, our job was to promote Contract Shop on a national scale and encourage businesses to sign up and embrace the scheme. The digital strategy we devised fell into two key phases - the first part being the marketing and publicity campaign to launch the project and the second phase being the continuation of marketing services over three years.
In phase one we launched the scheme with a major event hosted by WDA chairman Sir Roger Jones. The event was attended by high profile business leaders and consisted of workshops. In this phase we also created a fresh new look and brand for the project. Analysing the principles of Contract Shop we created a bold and modern logo consisting of two circles interlinking - representing the 'coming together' of different organisations.
For phase two we carried out an exhaustive marketing campaign to raise awareness of the scheme. This included an outdoor advertising campaign on buses and trains, targeted events and exhibitions, a direct mail campaign and the creation of an offline magazine devoted to the Contract Shop project.
The co-ordinated campaign conjured up a huge amount of publicity resulting in a record amount of businesses signing up to the scheme. Current membership stands at 11,800 individual businesses and it is continuing to serve as an excellent service for businesses in Wales.
