If you were offered a completely new sales channel that was instant, measureable, and cost effective, why would you not be interested?

Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook are proving to be extremely powerful communication tools for our clients including Fathers 4 Justice, The Icecreamists and Master Sken Academy. In particular they can be used to quickly and efficiently for the following:

• Raising brand awareness
• Promoting events
• Promoting new products or services
• Driving traffic to a website
• Networking on a local or global level
• Tapping into new trends
• Gaining new customers
• Providing customer service
• Selling digital downloads (such as music or e-books)
• Building a database for email marketing

Twitter is THE fastest growing social network – if you’re not on Twitter and Facebook yet, you’re missing out and could be losing potential business to your competitors.

If you’ve never used Twitter before and are thinking of trying it out, Contrast Creative run a series of hands-on workshops where we’ll introduce you and your team to some powerful techniques that will get the most from these networks and ultimately drive sales.

For a free consultation and to find out how your company could be benefiting from these networks, contact us here and lets talk!

Contrast Creative recently contributed a series of images to an exhibition called ‘Hearing Unheard Voices’. The photographs were created in conjunction with Liverpool’s YWCA and show the prejudice that young girls experience when falling pregnant.

The exhibition runs from 13th March to 25th April 2010 at The Public, West Bromich.

A thought provoking set of installations by young people from around the UK and Sandwell. Designed to coincide with UKYouth’s national initiative of the same name to train young people in the skills to campaign for their rights, especially young refugees, carers, homeless and those from other sections of society who do not normally have their voices heard.

Click for more information on the exhibition.

We are experts at producing memorable advertising campaigns. We feel comfortable working across all medias and we’re confident that our experienced team can help with your product.

Each job is meticulously handled and time is devoted to producing a strong business strategy and a message that will engage your customers. We always deliver a memorable solution that will appeal to your customer and get results.

To find out more information about our graphic design services, please contact us or request a quote for your project.

We can’t emphasise enough the difference professional photography makes to your product and company.

High Contrast, our photographic division, has years of experience in all aspects of commercial photography. Their photographers are amongst the best in Manchester and they are backed by a team of assistants, stylists make-up artists and retouchers.

When you use High Contrast all the work is kept in-house so costs are kept to a minimum. If you thought professional photography was out of your range, think again.

To find out more information about branding, please contact us or request a quote for your project.

The websites we produce are more than just online brochures they become your best salesman, one that works 24/7.

An engaging site can convert visitors into customers and make a real difference to your bottom line.

We can design your site, build it, then make sure it gets seen thanks to our skilled SEO team.

If you think your website is under-performing or you would like to see sales increase from it, contact us and we’d be only too happy to give you a free consultation.

We employ an exceptional team of highly talented graphic designers. They have the ability to produced stunning work that will add really value to your brand. Over the years they have worked for companies such as First Choice Airways, General Electric, Motorola, Bridge Insurance, Bus Solutions, Organic Indulgence, Clear Prospects, The Corporate Presence… to name a few.

Once we have produced your design we can also manage the printing process, this is one less thing for you to worry about. Our team are experts at briefing printers and they’ll make sure everything is done to the highest standard.

Other companies will hand you your design and leave you to deal with the printing because it’s less hassle for them. Contrast Creative think this is unprofessional and unfair on you.

It’s important to us to ensure that the highest standards are met from start to finish. We are only happy when you have a finished printed product in you hands that you are completely satisfied with.

To find out more information about our graphic design services, please contact us or request a quote for your project.

If you’d like to tap into this talent and save yourself the nightmare task of writing your own copy, contact us today and we’ll be happy to show you how we can help.

To find out more information about copywriting, please contact us or request a quote for your project.

Our team are fanatical about creating strong brands that have real presence and worth. Graphic designers and copywriters work closely to get to the heart of your brand and deliver a focused and powerful solution that has real meaning with customers.

In today’s crowded market place more and more companies are realising the value of a strong brand that’s why we offer a free brand audit to show you how we can help your image and increase sales.

To find out more information about branding, please contact us or request a quote for your project.

Colleagues, friends, word of mouth have far greater credence than traditional marketing techniques. Social Marketing has created a fundamental shift in the prominence and impact of communities and word of mouth.

All companies should be engaging in, contributing to and monitoring these conversations. Who is talking about you? What is said about you? Who is linking to you? Brands that talk to and engage with their communities of interest can create a consumer base that is knowledgeable, engaged, responsive, helpful and, most of all, spends money!

Using tools such as Twitter, Facebook, Podcasting, Youtube, Flickr, Yahoo Widgets and blog writing, brands can ensure that their business is not left out of the conversation.

Examples

There are many successful examples of retailers using social media, in fact you probably encounter at least one a day, Starbucks and ASOS being examples we enjoy, but B2B can also drive the conversation and enjoy the benefits.

Companies such as Emerson Process Management, the New York Stock Exchange, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and Accenture all use social marketing to further their brands and sell their services.

Engaging your customers

There is also much to be gained by engaging your customers with humour. Printer manufactures Expert Laser Services of Southbridge, (USA), let people release their technology angst by finding the most creative ways to destroy their printer — on video. The “Destroy Your Printer Video Contest” was promoted through the company’s blog, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

The contest was a huge success, web traffic more than doubled and the company gained more than 100 new inbound links within a short time. Recycler magazine did an Internet TV special about the contest as well as an article which was the most-read topic on the site for several weeks. The submissions can be found here and they are hilarious. This example is now a ‘viral’ success story which is re-published all over the internet.

Get a Strategy

Contrast creative will develop a practical social media strategy for your brand that will extend your community of interest, talk to people of influence, identify advocates, contain and educate your critics and ultimately ensure your business influences the community at large.

Are you interested in maximising your online potential using social media? Contact us now for a free consultation or call Ed on 0161 660 1973.

High Contrast are participating in an online experimental art project called Facity International, and are offering anyone the chance to have their picture taken and be submitted to the project. Male or female, young our old, everyone is welcome to participate!

We only require about 10-15 mins of the participant’s time and for them to visit our office in West Didsbury, Manchester.

The final image will be submitted to Facity, our Facebook page, our own website and possibly a local exhibition. This is a great opportunity to meet us and get yourself noticed among the international fashion and photography communities. Participation is completely free and you will receive a medium-res digital copy of your chosen image.

If you’re interested in taking part, simply drop us an email with the words ‘Interested in Facity‘ in the subject line to shoot@highcontrast.co.uk and we’ll email you further information and a list of available time-slots.

We look forward to hearing from you!