We are thrilled to have been selected by global drinks producer William Grant & Sons to create a global employer brand campaign incorporating online media strategy, brand positioning and ongoing resourcing collateral.

William Grant & Sons is the third largest Scotch whisky producer in the world, whose portfolio of premium and luxury brands includes Glenfiddich, the world’s favourite single malt whisky; Grant’s, the world’s favourite family blended Scotch, Hendrick’s Gin and Sailor Jerry Spiced. The company has sites across the world including the UK, the US, China, Australia and Russia and employs over 1300 people.

Rosemary McGinness, HR Director at William Grant & Sons, said: “William Grant & Sons is a pioneering company and we are very proud of our heritage and success. As a global company, we distribute some of the biggest drink brands from locations across the world, however we are an agile company and our employees can make a visible difference to the way we work and have an impact on their career with us. Native is helping us to understand the essence of our employer brand and ensure we can attract the best candidates in a variety of roles including marketing, finance and operations. “

Our team at Native will also assist William Grant & Sons with the launch of their MBA programme which commences in September in conjunction with Strathclyde Business School aimed at senior leaders from a hand-picked selection of 25 Scottish entrepreneurial businesses. The creative marketing and PR campaign includes creation of the MBA25 brand, promotional brochure and presentation box and the launch event at the Dufftown distillery at the end of September 2011.

Audrey Ramsay, our Managing Director, said: “William Grant & Sons are a dynamic company with a great culture for employees to grow and develop and we are looking forward to helping them create an employer brand that demonstrates their vision. Creating the campaign around the MBA25 has been a great opportunity for us to work with a fantastic brand and we are currently working on several other communication projects with the team.

“This has been a great year for Native and we have made a number of significant new appointments to help us service a series of new accounts, build relationships with clients and continue to attract new business in the UK and North America.”

The University of Dundee has enlisted the help of Native’s brand, design and web teams to assist in creating a fundraising campaign with a difference – Million for a Morgue. The University’s Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification (CAHID) is building a leading forensic centre and needs to raise an extra £1M in funds. You can read more about the campaign which launched this week here.

Thanks to a friendship between the head of the CAHID department, Professor Sue Black, and crime fiction writer Val McDermid, the fundraising campaign has attracted support from a number of the world’s top crime writers. Fans who wish to support the morgue can donate money to the fundraising effort, with each pound given to the morgue allowing its donor one vote, and the morgue to be named after the author who receives the most votes.

Native has worked with Sue and the team at the University of Dundee to create a brand and creative for the campaign and advise on PR and social media. To assist with the launch at last week’s Borders Book Festival, we created a holding site www.millionforamorgue.com and are currently working on the full website which will be launched at the Crime Writing Festival at Harrogate at the end of July. Look out for further collateral and merchandise as the campaign grows.

The full site will be available at the end of July.

SuperTie is a company that is trying to prefect necktie wear by utilising a patented zip and pre formed mould mechanism – it gives a perfect tie with a perfect knot and perfect length every time.

Native has been tasked with helping the company to create an upmarket version of the product with a different brand in order to penetrate the high end of the fashion market. We recently held a brand workshop with the company and are currently working with the directors to create a new brand name and logo which will be applied to a variety of creative including packaging and POS. We are also helping Supertie to develop a brand name for the innovative technology used within the ties.

Chris Gibson, CEO of SuperTie, said: “Whilst our SuperTie brand is already established, we wanted to work with a creative agency that could advise us on how to take the premium brand forward and provide us with the creative ideas. We are different to any other ties in the premium tie market and it is important that we communicate this to consumers. We are currently working on a variety of creative treatments and I am looking forward to taking it to the market.”

Look out for the new brand in London at Selfridges Oxford Street for a limited period from now!

The annual survey of the world’s biggest drinks brands, The Power 100, has just been announced for 2010, highlighting the key issues and trends in the spirits and wine industry. It also identifies which brands are increasing their equity using a unique measure defined by measuring brand score and volume data.

The latest report confirms the full effect that the global recession has had on the drinks industry with each brand in the top 10 suffering from serious dips in brand power (although they still remain as the top 10). Consumers are now looking for value and it’s the newer, flexible brands offering a cheaper but quality alternative that are taking advantage of the market opportunities. Positively, Scotland remains the most powerful country in the drinks industry.

We have worked with various Scottish drinks groups and their brands on marketing, branding and communications projects and advised on brand strategy. This report makes it clear that many of the drinks groups such as Diageo and Edrington Group need to overhaul their strategies on the back of the recession. No longer can premium products such as Smirnoff and Johnnie Walker rely on the brand power built up over the last 15 years and the entrance of some of the smaller brands such as Clan Campbell whisky from the William Grants & Sons group could upset the equilibrium of the drinks industry for years to come.

Grants and Glenfiddich help Scotland to the top of the Power 100 list

After a busy few weeks working with one of Scotland’s leading premium drinks brands on various projects, we have been thinking about Scotland’s place in the global luxury brand market.

It may not be instantly apparent to us Scots but the luxury brands we give to the world are hugely popular and provide a huge boost to our economy. We’ve got textiles covered with the likes of Pringle and our premium drinks industry is unrivalled.

Brand quality is vital to each of these companies. It’s what sets them apart from the rest and everything they do reflects the premium, luxury values that we know them for. Whether it’s internal communications or product marketing, everything must give consumers and stakeholders the luxury experience. Which is why managing a premium brand is trickier than most.

What makes these brands premium that we are willing to pay more? Why do we think they are worth more? What do they create around their brand that is appealing? In the case of Scotland’s brands they have an authenticity and quality that build confidence in consumers.

These brands are ambassadors for Scotland and we think they do us proud. What do you think? What are Scotland’s leading premium brands?

Native is blooming with a string of fresh faces for Spring. We have recruited new members of the team to build on some recent marketing projects and retainers we have won such as Robertson Homes, Alliance and Golf3000.

We have recruited Denise Fraser as the new Account Manager to look after our current clients and build new business. Denise came to Native from a PR background and can also advise clients on social media strategy.

David Jenkins has also come on board as Business Development Associate Director, as part of our growth plans for 2011. David brings a wealth of commercial consulting and business administration experience from over 15 years in eCommerce, sport and the media.

Experienced designers, Lynne Park and Ricardo Pasarin, have also recently joined Native to strengthen the team working on print and online branding designs for a variety of clients.

We are delighted to have our fantastic new team on board and look forward to a busy and creative 2011.

Native has just been appointed to handle a major communications project for the Alliance of Sector Skills – the employer driven organisation that ensures the UK has the skills it needs now and in the future. The Alliance of Sector Skills Councils represents, promotes and supports the work of the 23 Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) across the UK.

Established in 2008, the Alliance is the collective voice of SSCs and has the unique role of positioning them within the UK skills system. SSCs are employer-driven organisations covering approximately 90% of the UK workforce on skills issues.

The Alliance works to:

• place SSCs at the heart of the UK skills system
• enable SSCs to deliver standards and qualifications that meet needs of the employers
• position SSCs collectively as the authoritative voice on sectoral Labour Market Intelligence
• facilitate collaborative and cross sector activity that cannot be carried out individually by SSCs.

Native are delighted to be delivering marketing solutions for such an esteemed client and we look forward to helping them deliver their startegic goals.

Robertson Homes, part of Scotland’s leading group of development, construction and service companies the Robertson Group, has just extended Native’s contract to deliver all of their creative marketing requirements.

Robertson Homes over the past 44 years has expanded throughout the country, establishing itself as one of Scotland’s largest homebuilders. Robertson Homes has two operating regions in the North and South of Scotland. It has developments across Scotland from Elgin to St. Andrews, Edinburgh to Dumfries, New Stevenston to Paisley and reaching as far as the Isle of Skye. Current sites across both regions include Elgin, Inverness, New Stevenston, Motherwell, Kilmarnock, Paisley, Ayr and Dumfries.

Native are delighted to be able to continue offering Robertson Homes innovative solutions to help them grow their brand and effectively connect with their market. If you would like to find out how Native can help your business grow then get in touch.

Native are proud to announce that Audrey Ramsay is the latest member of our team. Audrey joins Native as our new Managing Director and brings with her 25 years of strategic communications experience across a wide variety of industry sectors. Most recently she was the Corporate Relations Director, Global Business Support at Diageo, the global alcoholic beverages company, responsible for some of the biggest selling drink brands in the world, including Smirnoff, Guinness, Baileys and Johnnie Walker.

Audrey also previously spent seven years as Diageo’s Corporate Relations Director in Scotland, providing vital contributions to their ongoing corporate strategy and representing Scotland to global communication functions. A specialist in integrated stakeholder management, internal communications, reputation management, public affairs and public and media relations, Audrey has also held senior management positions for several other companies including Christian Salvesen, Thomson Travel, Nationwide Building Society and Gallup.

Audrey is a strong, strategic leader with commercial focus, committed to team development and people performance management and we are looking forward to working with her to help Native continue to deliver its high standard of creative marketing solutions to a global audience.

If you would like to find out how Native can help you better engage with your target audience, then get in touch and let us help you put your company on the map.

Spotflick – the flick to kick penalty shoot out game for the iPhone – produced by Native’s new Account Director Tim Bryans, has just been named as one of the Top 5 Apps on the iTunes App Store of 2010 by the News of the World.

The accolade means that Spotflick rubs shoulders with such heavyweights of the iTunes App Store as Angry Birds and Grand Theft Auto – Chinatown Wars. It also means that the News of the World consider Spotflick to be the best Football game on the App Store this year, beating people like EA Sports FIFA 2010 and a host of other major footballing titles released for the World Cup in South Africa.

If you would like to find out how Native can help your company make an impact on the marketplace like this then get in touch.