Visualisations

There is a growing trend for producing beautiful visualisations of information and data over the last few years.  They’ve mainly been confined to the web and magazines like Wired but now they are going mainstream.  Thistle Hotels has just produced one about its breakfasts.  They’ve even made it embeddable (like all the cool websites did in 2006).

It will be interesting to see how this cross into mainstream marketing works.  My old boss at BBC Worldwide is leaving to set up his own company producing visualisations.  I don’t know if he’s planning to go down the Thistle route but I can see a business riding the wave of making them for all those promotional surveys that marketeers trot out.  He might need to move fast though.  I sense a backlash on the horizon.

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iCrossing’s Connect Blog

I did some SEO consultancy and training for a small business over the summer.  They wanted someone to teach them the principles of organic SEO so they could improve their site without paying an expensive agency on a retainer.  They asked me if there was a good site they could follow to keep up to date with developments.  I initially struggled to think of one.  There are plenty of SEO blogs but they go into minute detail and are far too complex for their needs.

Then I remembered iCrossing’s Connect blog.  iCrossing is a search marketing agency based in Brighton who I’ve had a few dealings with over the past few years.  What’s great about its blog is it is perfectly pitched at companies that need to know what the most relevant happenings are but don’t need in-depth analysis and coverage of all the latest start-ups.  In particular iCrossing does quick guides that tell you everything you actually need to know about new developments.

Why is iCrossing particularly good at this (you probably aren’t asking)? Well, I think it is because it has a strong Content Strategy team of ex-journalists who have a history of writing content for mainstream audiences.  Like all good content people they spotted an audience need and have met it.

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Completely London

Speaking of corporate publishing, estate agent Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward have been producing an award winning customer magazine for a few years now.  Each issue is steeped in London with local people, events, restaurants and houses. I can agree with its food tastes as the current issue has Pit Cue Co and Big Apple Hot Dogs featured inside.

Among its awards is ‘Best use of Photography’ which, along with its design, make it a beautiful thing to flick through. It does feature houses for sale and rent but they are interesting in themselves and it doesn’t feel like a sales magazine.   It cannot be cheap to produce, print and distribute but it makes me think highly of KF&H which is not normal for an estate agent.