TAKEOFF Insights Into the Entertainment Industry
Why influencers are more important than ever to your social sales strategy
Unboxing videos may have been around for a while, but they’re still incredibly popular, especially when it comes to limited editions and custom gear. It’s critical to underline how much work needs to go into your outreach and social strategies, though, to target the right influencers who have real connections with their social audiences.
Why your company’s USP is important to understand through brand identity
When we work with companies on their branding, one of the first things we do is work to identify their unique selling proposition (USP). A USP is what sets your brand apart from the others, but amazingly, a lot of brands haven’t considered what makes them unique. It’s something we put into practice here at TAKEOFF. With offices across the world (and, soon, a canal barge boat in London!), we work incredibly hard to make sure our USP is consistent across all locations and through each social channel.
It pays to experiment on social media
We wouldn’t recommend a strategy that we wouldn’t try ourselves. We like to experiment with our TAKEOFF social channels, and include moving elements in a lot of our posts. Do it right and inject a bit of creative licence into your social strategy and the potential for success is enormous.
Motion design and video content is great for B2B sales – Here’s why
B2B marketing can be one of the toughest things for sales teams to successfully pull off. We could carry on all day with statistics showing the effectiveness of video when it comes to B2B. The truth is, we like to practise what we preach, and use video as a key part of our own B2B outreach strategy.
How to get a pro print finish on a budget
There’s still power in print. Not everything has to be – or can be – digital. While a lot of businesses and agencies are investing in online advertising, print is still bringing impressive returns and can reach demographics that digital simply can’t.
TAKEOFF’s printing, packaging and supply chain for limited editions
Brands commission limited editions for a number of reasons. An extreme level of detailed planning – from design to delivery – goes into each and every limited edition. Here, though, we want to give you a brief snapshot of the printing, packaging and delivery chain we typically use for every limited edition, and what clients can expect from us.
Deliver engaging audience-led experiences at trade shows, post-pandemic
As countries around the world ease their lockdowns, their governments hope that the return of trade shows will give their economies a post-pandemic shot in the arm. There will be only so much engagement that can be done at trade shows with social distancing in place, so think about what prospects are armed with and use those tools to your advantage.
Why make collectibles worth collecting
A collectible that’s had a lot of thought put into it is already a powerful marketing statement, and shows the creative and emotional depth of your brand. Our limited editions and custom items are totally bespoke, and a way for entertainment brands to forge a deeper connection with their fans.
Using recyclable packaging shows your brand’s green credentials
Consumers are more conscious than ever of brands and their green commitments, and statistics suggest that a brand’s carbon footprint is becoming a key factor in consumers’ purchasing decisions. One of the biggest carbon culprits across the entertainment sector is packaging.
Preparing a good graphic design brief saves you time and money
If you’re looking to attract more attention to your IP, or want to attract more fans to invest in your brand, visual content is one of the best ways to do it.
As an experienced full-service creative agency, we work with you in a bespoke, personal way to make each and every graphic design project the best it can be.
Creative alignment should be at the heart of your brand for better results
Great alignment should be something that’s part of your brand and identity. Creating a clear vision and mission internally is key to fostering a strong company culture built around alignment.
Building moving elements into your visual identity will make you a social media success
Introducing moving elements to your social strategy such as custom gifs, videos, short clips and more can enhance your social strategy and help you hit your goals faster, too. For brands in the gaming and entertainment sectors, their presence on social media can make a significant difference to the way they interact with fans.
Guerrilla marketing to drive social reach in the new normal
With the Coronavirus pandemic beginning to slow and lockdowns being eased worldwide, brands are thinking long and hard about how to adapt to a ‘new normal’. So, what does this new normal look like? That depends entirely on your brand, the sector you operate in and the goals you’re working towards as you get back to business.
What are the limitations for creating custom items?
As a creative studio, we like to push our limits. We’ve worked on a huge number of custom item projects and have produced video game controllers, custom consoles, PCs with amazing new skins, branded headphones... the list is endless. Like everything and anything in the marketing process, though, custom items can carry various pros and cons depending on the size of the brief, your budget and other factors that you may not have thought of.
How your creative agency can reduce costs and improve results
Are you really getting the best results from your budget by paying multiple agencies? How do you know if they’re using the latest and greatest techniques to grow your business? The procurement process can be an incredibly hard one to go through. And that’s not just for smaller businesses and suppliers.
Why organic branding is so important to future-proof your identity design on a budget
Good branding is about more than just having a sharp-looking logo. While a great logo is important, strong branding is about building connections with people.
Working with an agile creative agency experienced with branding can help maximise your budget and future-proof your brand.
Holidays, pandemics and production: Why you need to plan ahead for a successful product launch
We think it’s the right time to underline why planning ahead and taking China’s holidays into account (as well as unforeseen circumstances such as a pandemic) is critical to the wider manufacturing process.
Reversing the brief – a different approach to your campaign
Creative agility is also crucial in times of crisis. The recent Coronavirus pandemic is an example of that; the vast majority of businesses across the world have had to think of new approaches to the way they work to keep in their audiences’ consciousness.
Video games that will help your children blossom during quarantine
For every game with guns, there are many more fun, child-friendly games made by big studios and independent developers with a loving spirit, creativity and togetherness at their core.
Storyboarding – the key to a successful production
Once drafted, a storyboard is the blueprint for a strong animation, trailer or video. They’re a crucial part of the creative process when animation and live-action storytelling is involved, and getting it right will keep production costs and timings tight and see your brand take to the screen in the best possible way.
Utilising your collector’s edition for a press kit
Press kits are a pretty universal way to open a direct line of contact to anybody with an interest in covering gaming, and are a more personal and effective way at generating conversations and column inches than a standard press release emailed to anybody and everybody.
Maximising your budget with the power of satellite events
Whether you host from a tent, an airstream, an RV, empty retail space or a hotel suite, approaching a satellite event in the right way can give you more bang for your buck, attract more targeted footfall, and can be much easier to activate - especially for smaller developers and publishers.
Making a successful collector’s edition for consumers, publishers and retailers
Our advice is to work backwards as a starting point. The entire ‘collector’s edition process’ takes approximately a year, so there’s plenty of time at the start to prepare a timeline and creative strategy to maximise its success.
Engaging motion graphics can boost your ROI in these 7 ways
Static is old news. The Cisco VNI forecast is predicting that video will account for 79% of global Internet traffic by 2020, growing 15-fold from 2017 to 2022. There has never been a better time to create videos than now.
Influencer marketing – how to get marketing reach by customisation
If you play your cards right and pick the right influencer, that is. Depending on your approach and wider marketing strategy, influencer marketing has the potential to generate laser-focused leads for your brand in incredibly affordable ways.
How to choose the best images for your brand without breaking the bank?
The use of stock images is one of the fastest and most effective ways to create eye catching designs. We create designs for a wide range of clients, and images can end up being a huge strain on the budget if they are not sourced correctly...
Design Trends 2019
TAKEOFF design trend predictions for 2019. We have collated our knowledge of the current design climate into a list of what the big trends are going to be this year...
TAKEOFF – MCV Awards Finalist 2019
For the second year running, TAKEOFF are finalists in the ‘Creative Agency of the Year’ category at the MCV awards 2019. Take a look at some of the work which got us on to this year’s shortlist...
Does your brand need to slim down? How a simple brand can streamline other areas of your business.
In this article we discuss how less can definitely mean more when it comes to branding. Stripping away the unnecessary design elements from your brand can create room for the more important things...
Top Collector’s Editions of 2018
Here is a roundup of some of our top picks for Gaming Collector's Editions released in 2018. The list includes some AAA titles, independent games and a few which we had the pleasure of designing...
15 Essential Branding Tips
A brand is essentially a visual identity. A brand is what distinguishes one product / business / service from another. The word ‘branding’ in business terms originates from cattle branding in the USA, where farmers would brand their cows to distinguish one herd from another...
2018 design trends
Here at TAKEOFF we are always busy keeping an eye on the industry design trends and innovative design. This year we have collated our predictions of what will be seen more in the industry and design styles that will be pushing boundaries over the next year...
Top 5 PR Creative Content Trends
This post is a collection of the top five trends which have emerged in the PR industry recently. We work with numerous PR companies on a varied range of projects...
Why influencers are more important than ever to your social sales strategy
Unboxing videos may have been around for a while, but they’re still incredibly popular, especially when it comes to limited editions and custom gear. It’s critical to underline how much work needs to go into your outreach and social strategies, though, to target the right influencers who have real connections with their social audiences.
Why your company’s USP is important to understand through brand identity
When we work with companies on their branding, one of the first things we do is work to identify their unique selling proposition (USP). A USP is what sets your brand apart from the others, but amazingly, a lot of brands haven’t considered what makes them unique. It’s something we put into practice here at TAKEOFF. With offices across the world (and, soon, a canal barge boat in London!), we work incredibly hard to make sure our USP is consistent across all locations and through each social channel.
It pays to experiment on social media
We wouldn’t recommend a strategy that we wouldn’t try ourselves. We like to experiment with our TAKEOFF social channels, and include moving elements in a lot of our posts. Do it right and inject a bit of creative licence into your social strategy and the potential for success is enormous.
Motion design and video content is great for B2B sales – Here’s why
B2B marketing can be one of the toughest things for sales teams to successfully pull off. We could carry on all day with statistics showing the effectiveness of video when it comes to B2B. The truth is, we like to practise what we preach, and use video as a key part of our own B2B outreach strategy.
How to get a pro print finish on a budget
There’s still power in print. Not everything has to be – or can be – digital. While a lot of businesses and agencies are investing in online advertising, print is still bringing impressive returns and can reach demographics that digital simply can’t.
TAKEOFF’s printing, packaging and supply chain for limited editions
Brands commission limited editions for a number of reasons. An extreme level of detailed planning – from design to delivery – goes into each and every limited edition. Here, though, we want to give you a brief snapshot of the printing, packaging and delivery chain we typically use for every limited edition, and what clients can expect from us.
Deliver engaging audience-led experiences at trade shows, post-pandemic
As countries around the world ease their lockdowns, their governments hope that the return of trade shows will give their economies a post-pandemic shot in the arm. There will be only so much engagement that can be done at trade shows with social distancing in place, so think about what prospects are armed with and use those tools to your advantage.
Why make collectibles worth collecting
A collectible that’s had a lot of thought put into it is already a powerful marketing statement, and shows the creative and emotional depth of your brand. Our limited editions and custom items are totally bespoke, and a way for entertainment brands to forge a deeper connection with their fans.
Using recyclable packaging shows your brand’s green credentials
Consumers are more conscious than ever of brands and their green commitments, and statistics suggest that a brand’s carbon footprint is becoming a key factor in consumers’ purchasing decisions. One of the biggest carbon culprits across the entertainment sector is packaging.
Preparing a good graphic design brief saves you time and money
If you’re looking to attract more attention to your IP, or want to attract more fans to invest in your brand, visual content is one of the best ways to do it.
As an experienced full-service creative agency, we work with you in a bespoke, personal way to make each and every graphic design project the best it can be.
Creative alignment should be at the heart of your brand for better results
Great alignment should be something that’s part of your brand and identity. Creating a clear vision and mission internally is key to fostering a strong company culture built around alignment.
Building moving elements into your visual identity will make you a social media success
Introducing moving elements to your social strategy such as custom gifs, videos, short clips and more can enhance your social strategy and help you hit your goals faster, too. For brands in the gaming and entertainment sectors, their presence on social media can make a significant difference to the way they interact with fans.
Guerrilla marketing to drive social reach in the new normal
With the Coronavirus pandemic beginning to slow and lockdowns being eased worldwide, brands are thinking long and hard about how to adapt to a ‘new normal’. So, what does this new normal look like? That depends entirely on your brand, the sector you operate in and the goals you’re working towards as you get back to business.
What are the limitations for creating custom items?
As a creative studio, we like to push our limits. We’ve worked on a huge number of custom item projects and have produced video game controllers, custom consoles, PCs with amazing new skins, branded headphones... the list is endless. Like everything and anything in the marketing process, though, custom items can carry various pros and cons depending on the size of the brief, your budget and other factors that you may not have thought of.
How your creative agency can reduce costs and improve results
Are you really getting the best results from your budget by paying multiple agencies? How do you know if they’re using the latest and greatest techniques to grow your business? The procurement process can be an incredibly hard one to go through. And that’s not just for smaller businesses and suppliers.
Why organic branding is so important to future-proof your identity design on a budget
Good branding is about more than just having a sharp-looking logo. While a great logo is important, strong branding is about building connections with people.
Working with an agile creative agency experienced with branding can help maximise your budget and future-proof your brand.
Holidays, pandemics and production: Why you need to plan ahead for a successful product launch
We think it’s the right time to underline why planning ahead and taking China’s holidays into account (as well as unforeseen circumstances such as a pandemic) is critical to the wider manufacturing process.
Reversing the brief – a different approach to your campaign
Creative agility is also crucial in times of crisis. The recent Coronavirus pandemic is an example of that; the vast majority of businesses across the world have had to think of new approaches to the way they work to keep in their audiences’ consciousness.
Video games that will help your children blossom during quarantine
For every game with guns, there are many more fun, child-friendly games made by big studios and independent developers with a loving spirit, creativity and togetherness at their core.
Storyboarding – the key to a successful production
Once drafted, a storyboard is the blueprint for a strong animation, trailer or video. They’re a crucial part of the creative process when animation and live-action storytelling is involved, and getting it right will keep production costs and timings tight and see your brand take to the screen in the best possible way.
Utilising your collector’s edition for a press kit
Press kits are a pretty universal way to open a direct line of contact to anybody with an interest in covering gaming, and are a more personal and effective way at generating conversations and column inches than a standard press release emailed to anybody and everybody.
Maximising your budget with the power of satellite events
Whether you host from a tent, an airstream, an RV, empty retail space or a hotel suite, approaching a satellite event in the right way can give you more bang for your buck, attract more targeted footfall, and can be much easier to activate - especially for smaller developers and publishers.
Making a successful collector’s edition for consumers, publishers and retailers
Our advice is to work backwards as a starting point. The entire ‘collector’s edition process’ takes approximately a year, so there’s plenty of time at the start to prepare a timeline and creative strategy to maximise its success.
Engaging motion graphics can boost your ROI in these 7 ways
Static is old news. The Cisco VNI forecast is predicting that video will account for 79% of global Internet traffic by 2020, growing 15-fold from 2017 to 2022. There has never been a better time to create videos than now.
Influencer marketing – how to get marketing reach by customisation
If you play your cards right and pick the right influencer, that is. Depending on your approach and wider marketing strategy, influencer marketing has the potential to generate laser-focused leads for your brand in incredibly affordable ways.
How to choose the best images for your brand without breaking the bank?
The use of stock images is one of the fastest and most effective ways to create eye catching designs. We create designs for a wide range of clients, and images can end up being a huge strain on the budget if they are not sourced correctly...
Design Trends 2019
TAKEOFF design trend predictions for 2019. We have collated our knowledge of the current design climate into a list of what the big trends are going to be this year...
TAKEOFF – MCV Awards Finalist 2019
For the second year running, TAKEOFF are finalists in the ‘Creative Agency of the Year’ category at the MCV awards 2019. Take a look at some of the work which got us on to this year’s shortlist...
Does your brand need to slim down? How a simple brand can streamline other areas of your business.
In this article we discuss how less can definitely mean more when it comes to branding. Stripping away the unnecessary design elements from your brand can create room for the more important things...
Top Collector’s Editions of 2018
Here is a roundup of some of our top picks for Gaming Collector's Editions released in 2018. The list includes some AAA titles, independent games and a few which we had the pleasure of designing...
15 Essential Branding Tips
A brand is essentially a visual identity. A brand is what distinguishes one product / business / service from another. The word ‘branding’ in business terms originates from cattle branding in the USA, where farmers would brand their cows to distinguish one herd from another...
2018 design trends
Here at TAKEOFF we are always busy keeping an eye on the industry design trends and innovative design. This year we have collated our predictions of what will be seen more in the industry and design styles that will be pushing boundaries over the next year...
Top 5 PR Creative Content Trends
This post is a collection of the top five trends which have emerged in the PR industry recently. We work with numerous PR companies on a varied range of projects...