Ogilvy Group UK is inviting businesses based in Central London to come and benefit from its expertise free of charge when it opens up another “pop-up” branch for three days next month.
We will be opening up our third (after successful stints in Brixton and East London) Idea Shop (to be known as Idea Shop Social) from 8th to 10th of February and which will coincide with the second international Social Media Week .
Over the three days the Ogilvy Idea Shop, located at an address in Central London (probably somewhere near Oxford Street) which will be unveiled at the Idea Shop blog on 14th January) will serve as an advertising and marketing clinic for local businesses, community projects, charities, arts groups and other organisations and individuals in the area and Ogilvy is encouraging everyone to sign up for this free service. This time round there will obviously be a particular emphasis on social media.
“Central London isn’t just the home of big corporations and chain retailers,” says copywriter Ruth Jamieson, founder and manager of the Idea Shop. “It’s forgotten that in places like Soho, Fitzrovia and Bloomsbury, there are hundreds of small businesses. Marketing plays an essential role in the successes of any enterprise but local businesses and charities can’t necessarily afford to employ communications professionals.
“What we aim to do is provide support and help by pointing people in the right direction no matter what their marketing, advertising or communication issue and supply them with tailor-made ideas and tactics that they can implement straight away. And it’s also a fantastic morale booster for us – and we learn a great deal as well as have real fun.”
The Idea Shop will be staffed by volunteers from Ogilvy including top-notch advertising, public relations and marketing creatives, social media specialists, strategists and planners who ordinarily work for the agency’s big brands. As well as their individual areas of expertise, team members will be able to advise on related areas such as mastering the web, brainstorming, presenting and pitching.
Over the past year a total of 108 Ogilvy Group UK volunteers have so far given free 90-minute consultations to 139 small business, charities and community groups. One was Natasha Harris of Aardwark Recycling.
“Idea Shop allowed me to discuss the marketing needs of our business with someone that was enthusiastic about what we are doing as a social enterprise,” she says. “As a not-for-profit organisation we do not have enough in our budget for any marketing so it was a great way to get some expert advice and fresh ideas. We now have a new leaflet design and a far higher Google ranking thanks to Idea Shop.”
Anyone visiting the Idea Shop Social will likewise be able to speak to Ogilvy specialists on a variety of subjects including social media, advertising, public relations, digital, email, strategy, direct marketing, branding, design, search, SEO and copywriting and meet a range of practitioners in each field.
As an added extra, there will be a special “hack day” on 11th February for social media practitioners and industry figures: more details of this will be revealed shortly.
Anyone interested in attending Idea Shop Social is invited to apply for a free session (closing date 24th January) by going to http://ideashop.ogilvy.co.uk You can also follow Idea Shop on Twitter at @Idea_Shop.
