Bonfire has been appointed by Argos to develop their Chad Valley brand. The project is the first in a series of developments for Argos following a

Chad Valley brand development

number of recent brand acquisitions.

Chad Valley was one of the UK’s leading toymakers throughout the 20th century. The brand’s roots are in a Birmingham based printing business established by Anthony Bunn Johnson in the early 19th century. Under the management of subsequent generations the company moved to the suburb of Harborne, in the valley of a stream called the Chad, from where the brand takes its name.

Chad Valley was taken over by Palitoy in 1978 and later bought by Woolworths, ten years later. Home Retail Group, the parent company of retailers Argos and Homebase, then purchased the brand for £5 million from Woolworths when it finally closed its high street doors in January 2009.

An interim phase has been completed with the production of a series of themed background illustrations for catalogue 73 in January 2010 and is to be followed by a full brand review and development in the New Year.

The project will cover a broad set of style guides, packaging and other promotional activity, and is aiming to be launched in June 2010 in time for catalogue 74.

Stephen Judge MA FCSD, Strategic Development Director at Bonfire says ‘Chad Valley is a historic children’s brand and we are proud to be part of this project. I can’t think of a more exciting way to enter our 10th year.’

Andrew Turner, Marketing Manager for Argos owned brands, adds ‘Having been recently appointed to manage a number of the recently acquired non-Argos brands, I approached Bonfire to help with the first phase development of the Chad Valley branding – to help develop and position Chad Valley in the 2010 spring/summer catalogue as a brand (although Argos-owned) in its own right. This initial work will be followed by a full brand review.

Bonfire created a range of wonderful background illustrations for the various age and product categories to very tight deadlines and I look forward to working with them further. Their expertise, approach and in-house illustration capabilities made them the perfect partner for this fun and lively brand.’

Bonfire were recently invited by Olympus to tender for their latest TV advertisement.

The fabulous new Olympus Pen EP-1 and accessories.

The advertisement was for the new Olympus Pen EP-1. A retro-styled digital camera using the latest in compact digital technology – micro-four-thirds technology – developed in partnership between Olympus and Panasonic. But why approach a branding consultancy?

Bonfire had been working with Olympus and built up a thorough understanding of the brand and its goals. In early 2008 Olympus commissioned Bonfire to come up with concepts for the Mju 790SW TV advertisement that had already been placed with their incumbent agency.

This commissioned work provided the opportunity for Bonfire to learn about TV advertisement production, and Olympus to see how Bonfire could tackle a TV brief. It was on the strength of this creative we were invited to tender for the Olympus Pen EP-1 TV campaign this year.

At this stage we knew we were up against Red Brick Road (the incumbent) and A. N. Other. After the first round of presentations we were the holders of two of the preferred routes and were praised heavily for our approach, thinking, presentation style and open costing structure. During this process we had sourced a number of production companies, both leading and emerging, with leading directors to provide expert advice and guidance in the production and interpretation of the concepts.

The final presentations took place with one of our concepts a hot favourite amongst the UK marketing team. It then went to the European marketing team and we found out shortly after we had been pipped to the post by the ‘other’ agency, who later turned out to be Team Saatchi.

Although losing the tender we have learnt a lot in this process – not least the full production cycle of an advertisement and met some great directors and production companies in the process.

Mark Thackara, National Marketing Manager – Consumer Products, Olympus KeyMed says ‘The Olympus Pen EP-1 is a fantastic new product and it needed a different approach to your standard camera ad. We worked with Bonfire last year when developing the Mju 790SW advert, now known as the Toddler ad, and they showed a great understanding of the product, its market and how to approach it creatively. With this in mind we invited Bonfire to tender for our Christmas 2009 TV campaign alongside Saatchi’s and Red Brick Road (our existing agency). As a branding consultancy Bonfire’s approach was very different, analytical in its deduction and highly creative in its application. It was a very close call on the final decision but I have to give credit to this up-and-coming agency for their refreshing and enlightened approach to what was an equally challenging brief. Their costing structure was also very impressive – open, inclusive and honest and I look forward to working with the Bonfire team again in the future.’

With this knowledge we now look for more TV opportunities with the encouragement that we have a highly competitive creative team and about 65% the cost of the big agencies. Cost is a big issue at the moment and many TV campaigns have been axed due to the current economic climate – but there is another way. To find out more about how we tackled this campaign and how our creative approach can help you stand out in the crowd drop us a line on +44 (0)1525 841079.

Bonfire have won a 6 way Pitch for a long-term contract with 225 year old, UK (Yorkshire) based, textile manufacturer Hainsworth. The relationship starts with a full brand review followed by the development and delivery of a long term marketing strategy for both its national and international client base.

Additionally to this we are also undergoing a full brand and collateral audit for existing client Cognisco.

We also need to bring to your attention that the news will be not available whilst we redevelop our  website. The launch of which will see the unveiling of the Envibra Group!

Until next time
The Bonfire team xxx

March brought with it the naming and brand development for an innovative new product, for market leaders the Advance Group, to be launched in June. We are also working with Advance on the launch strategy and are in the process of developing a new web presence to reflect their position in the market place.

March also saw the winning of a web development project for Blueman Recruitment and the development of an online CRM system for dubai based aircraft Leasing company LCAL. The system was developed using FilemakerPro and enables the senior management team to check progress from anywhere in the world.

Until next month
The Bonfire team xxx

Well what a wet spring, but then again the weather is picking up – as is business!

February saw the rebrand of Prism Digital Colour which included the website and their adoption of HTML email marketing (using our online tool PillarboxRead); and it also saw the beginning of a new relationship with Jones, a revolutionary new clothing brand launched last October and set up by Urban Stone designer, and founder, Ketan Shah. Short term Bonfire will be working with Jones on their new website and helping develop the brand and its collateral on a longer term basis.

Until next month
The Bonfire team xxx

This month saw the climax of a successful awareness campaign for the BHT-700, a joint initiative between Toyota Tsusho ID Systems and Avery Dennison, which concluded with a launch event held at the acclaimed Nobu Restaurant in London, with over 60 attendees from all over the UK and Europe.

On a completely different note, and due to growing client requests in the field of HTML email marketing, we have now launched our online, client controlled HTML email marketing tool – PillarboxRead. Ideal for SME’s, PillarboxRead is an user friendly and cost effective way for clients to create, edit and manage their own HTML email campaigns. You can watch results as they come in, live on screen, and analyse campaign data from opens, clicks, unsubscribes and bounces. You can even monitor the activity of individual records within your own managed mailing lists. For more information on this incredible tool click here.

The new studio will be completed next month and we have a merger to be announced so stay tuned!

Until next time.
Bonfire x

P.S. If at any time you require further information on any of the above, or any previous news, please do not hesitate to drop us a line on 01525 841079!