Movie Foundry hit the ground running with Ground Warfare

Whale client, CGI studio Movie Foundry, has recently created a set of visuals for "Ground Warfare", a four part documentary for Granada.

Movie Foundry, part of the Image Foundry Studios Group, created 26 graphics and 22 graphical maps, for the series which explores the history of war, and is a sequel to the highly successful, "War Planes".

"The graphics were used to visually explain the narrative; therefore the brief was to be as clear, concise and understandable as possible," said Anand Kapoor, who manages the Mumbai base. "To meet the brief we went back to basics, stripping down the design rather than using complex new technologies; this gave the end result authenticity."

Movie Foundry was also commissioned to design and produce the opening title sequence and contributed to the creative style of the programme.

Ground Warfare, which runs to the 24th November, traces the evolution of warfare from ancient Egypt to modern - day Afghanistan and studies our development of 3,500 years of conflict.

Pass Go and collect your guide to Las Vegas!

The Whale studio have been busy designing “A Guide to Las Vegas,” for the Monopoly World Championships to be held later this month.

The travel guide to the city that never sleeps, was distributed to the worldwide competitors including Bjorn Halvard Knappskog from Sweden, Oleg Korostelev from Russia and Rick Marinaccio from the USA.

Creative Director, Kevin Whitter said, “We always enjoy working on a big brand and who doesn’t love playing Monopoly?! It is a brand that we have all grown up with and one that will be around for years to come.”

To find out more about the Monopoly World Championships visit http://www.worldofmonopoly.co.uk/

Sweet Express is on the right track!

Whale client, Sweet Express, market leaders in pick n mix, are going full steam ahead and have moved into four large railway stations.

Bury based Sweet Express, will open stalls in Manchester Piccadilly, London Victoria, London Bridge and Glasgow Central later this month.

Whale has been working alongside Sweet Express on a PR retainer and which has recently grown into a full service retainer to include Account Management and an element of Creative.

Whale is currently designing a new consumer pick and mix website for Sweet Express which will be launched later on this year.

For more information visit www.sweetexpress.com

OLC Europe turn to Whale Marketing

OLC Europe, a management and leadership organisation based in Bolton, have turned to Whale for marketing support.

“We initially met OLC at a Greater Manchester Chamber event last year and invited them to our offices to chat through their current marketing and how they intend to move forward,” said Kirsty Forman, Whale’s Client Services Director. “Over the next few months we will be working alongside OLC to create a new brand, a website; design and content and a mini campaign for their Credit Management Courses.”

Welcome to the Pod...Paul Braddock

The Whale Pod are pleased to introduce Paul to the team. Paul joins us on his placement year from The University of Huddersfield where he is studying Graphic Design.

“I’ve already been working with Kevin on some big projects including a Guide to Las Vegas for Monopoly,” said Paul. “I’m looking forward to developing and learning new skills while at Whale.”

Creative Director, Kevin Whitter said, “We are looking forward to watching Paul grow at his time here at Whale. Experience in the studio during academic study is vital, it allows Junior Designers to develop their own style, learn new skills and see how a studio works. It is surprising how many graduate designers are unable to do the simplest of tasks including print order when they start out.”

Welcome to Gaming Foundry!

Our client 3D animation studio, Image Foundry, has recently launched Gaming Foundry which has been set up to reflect the company’s growing portfolio of work for game developers. Gaming Foundry will partner with development studios worldwide to provide game artwork. The sister company will be headed by industry veterans John Harris formally of Redhound Studios and Eric Elms co founder of Warthog Games.

Whale Marketing have rebranded the company to reflect their four areas of expertise; movies, advertising, property and games, and are in the process of resigning the new website. Whale will handle all marketing requirement for all four companies under the Image Foundry umbrella brand.

We have also gained coverage in business and trade publications, follow the links to find out more:

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/image-foundry-forms-dedicated-games-company-to-create-in-game-art

http://www.crainsmanchesterbusiness.co.uk/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090826/FREE/908269996/1036/-/-/image-foundry-acquires-redhound-and-moves-into-videogames-outsourcing

http://www.how-do.co.uk/north-west-media-news/north-west-digital-media/image-foundry-studios-sets-up-gaming-arm-200908276214/

Animated rebrand by Whale

Manchester based animation studio, Image Foundry have recently completed a rebrand undertaken by Whale Marketing.

The re brand reflects the studios restructure which now encompasses four dedicated divisions for the game, movie, property and advertising industries.

“When we first started working with Image Foundry two years ago they were mainly focussed on creating CGI for the property market,” said Whale’s Managing Director, Hannah Whale. “We helped highlight other areas of Image Foundry’s success which led to them to re-evaluate their product offering to reflect their experience in other sectors.”

Whale Marketing are a fully integrated marketing agency based in the Manchester. The rebrand included 4 sub brands as well as refreshing Image Foundry Studios umbrella brand. Whale is currently working on a new website to reflect the realignment.

Whale add CT Glass to their client portfolio

We are pleased to introduce a new retained client to our portfolio, CT Glass.

CT Glass, independent processor of toughened glass, will be directed by Whale’s Managing Director, Hannah Whale (formally of Pilkington Glass).

“Our first task is to create a new modern website for CT Glass; the brief is to create a site that doesn’t conform to those traditionally preferred by industrial companies. We want CT to stand out from other people in the industry and for it to reflect CT’s architectural offerings.”

Other glass clients include Pilkington, Independent Glass (IG) and Brownhills Glass.

WWOOF!

Through an organisation called WWOOF (Willing Workers on Organic Farms) I recently spent some time on a finca in Southern Spain.

Las Nanas, or lullabies, is located in the heart of the Sierra de Aracena and lies between the villages of Santa Ana and Alajar. A mountain stream called El Barranco del Negrito forms the western boundary.

In return for accommodation and food, I worked for several hours a day on the farm; weeding, collecting wood, cooking etc. It provided the perfect opportunity to practice my (limited!) Spanish and experience the real Spain which included my first (and last!) bull fight!

http://www.campozendo.eu/en/index.htm

http://www.wwoof.org/

By Laura

A winning Whale Tale

A whale obsessed author has won the £20,000 BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction.
Leviathan, Or The Whale, written by Philip Hoare depicts the authors life long passion for the mammal as he travels the globe in search of the creature.
US journalist Jacob Weisberg, led the panel, "What made Leviathan stand out in a shortlist of wonderful reads was Philip Hoare's lifelong passion for his subject and his skill in making his readers share it," he said. "His prose is dream-like and rises to the condition of literature."

To find out more about Leviathan, Or The Whale, visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/8127527.stm or to purchase a copy of the award winning book go to http://www.guardian.co.uk/buybooks

Kevin Goes to the British Grand Prix

Unfortunately Button didn't do as well as predicted but a good weekend was had at the British GP!

My Father is the Crew Chief of the BARC (British Automobile Racing Club) Race Rescue Unit and was at the British GP for the 11th time over the weekend with his crew.

He managed to get 2 spare weekend passes for myself and my brother, bot of us hadn't been to a GP since we were very young.

From Thursday to Sunday we spend the long weekend geeking out over the various amazing cars and drivers we met, old and new including Nelson Piquet (above).

My Father has also been selected in the crew to do the 1st Abu Dhabi GP in October this year, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that some spare tickets will come my way!

If anybody is interested in racing or marshaling log onto http://www.barc.net/

Kevin Whitter

Dragon Boat Racing

Congratulations go to the Women in Property team who took part in this week’s Dragon Boat racing event at Salford Quays. The Event saw 36 teams from the construction industry battle it out for dragon boat supremacy, all in aid of a good cause. Funds raised by the event will go to CRASH, the construction industry charity in aid of homeless people. The team improved their speed with every race and were crowned overall Mixed Crew champions. An excellent achievement!

SAVE THE WHALE!

Save the Whale Week 8th-14th June

Get active for the Whale and Dolphin Society’s save the Whale week ... or maybe bake a cake... I know which we’re likely to be doing in this office!

http://www.wdcs.org/stop/killing_trade/index.php

http://www2.wdcs.org/hych/getactive/stww/stww.php

Great Manchester Run-Done!

After months of hard work and training, we finally completed our first Great Manchester Run!

The course took us past some of Manchester’s most iconic buildings; Old Trafford, The Imperial War Museum and Beetham Tower; 10k in total.

Mike finished in 1 hour 8 minutes and Laura in 1 hour 10 minutes and 2 seconds.

Although we felt a bit sore the next day, we both would compete again…and are even considering the Great North Run… 13.1 miles! Plus we raised money for our chosen charities The Christie and Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Great Manchester Run

Laura and Mike are currently in training for this years Great Manchester 10k Run. Both of them are hoping to raise funds for cancer charities The Christie and Marie Currie.
The race takes place around the city centre on May 17th, so the countdown to race day has definitely begun.

Birthday Sunshine

Thankfully the weather was perfect for my birthday weekend, and to my surprise my girlfriend had organised for me to have the use of an awesome little MGTF convertible for the weekend! Unbelievable fun and I even got a bit of a tan whilst terrorising the streets and lanes of Cheshire! It was even Whale colour coordinated. Fantastic! - Mike.

Beva Breakfasts & Birthdays

Long standing client Beva Group had something to celebrate recently, with the 60th Birthday of Chairman Fred Chadwick.

 
In the same week the company also held a breakfast viewing of one of its larger schemes at Vulcan Street in Oldham.  The development consists of a large refurbished industrial unit and additional new build units on the same site.
 
Whilst the bacon sandwiches were very well received, the best food of the week was definitely Fred’s rather unusual birthday cake!
  

MediaCityUK comes to Town

Whale successfully hosted a breakfast for the Forum for the Built Environment featuring the extensive development which is taking place on Salford Quays to create MediaCityUK. A hundred people attended the event at the Imperial War Museum North to hear more about the project.

A unique environment for the media sector to grow and prosper, MediaCityUK will be a place for people to work , live and visit. In addition to state-of-the-art TV studios and

an unparalleled communications structure, the site will boast a public open space capable of staging events for up to 9,000. The first phase of the development is due for completion in 2011, when the BBC will relocate five London-based departments to the Quays, including Sport and five live.

Speakers were Mark Covell, Head of External Affairs for the BBC at MediaCityUK and Paul Newman, head of communications at MediaCityUK, who previously worked for three years as sports correspondent for the BBC’s Six O’clock News.

Whilst the site is progressing at a pace, unfortunately the Manchester Rain did spoil the view somewhat!

Congratulations to the Forman family!

Finally we got the news we’ve been waiting a while for, Client Services Director Kirsty Forman gave birth to baby Henry on Monday 23rd March, weighing in at 8lb 13.

Congratulations to the Forman family!

Body Positive gets a little help from Celebrity Friends

You may recognise the faces on the front page of Body Positive's recent magazine, who were only too glad to help promote the Green Ribbon to support instant HIV testing.  Whale created the new edition of the magazine, which included photographs and stories from the launch of the Green Ribbon Campaign.  The first edition of the magazine had proved to be a great success, which encouraged BP to expand the second edition from 36 to 52 pages.  It provides a showcase for the work that the charity is undertaking, as well as independent articles and advertising which brings in funds to support BP's work.

Whale to work with Brook Manchester

Whale Marketing are pleased to announce that they have added Brook Manchester to their portfolio of third sector clients.
Whale won a three way pitch to work alongside Brook Manchester, part of the nationwide organisation which provides sexual advice for 16-25 year olds, on a monthly retainer basis.

We had previously worked on a project with Brook to design and produce materials to promote their innovative C-Card scheme, an initiative where 16-19 years old can collect free condoms from participating distribution points. We are now looking forward to working along side the charity and promoting future projects to support their regional and national objectives .

Brook will join Whale’s growing list of third sector clients including Body Positive, Intergen & IStructE.

To find out more about Brook please visit www.brook.org.uk

Recession is a Whale of a time!

"Hannah Whale, the founder of Manchester-based Whale Marketing, gives her seven top tips to ensure that your business doesn’t become an endangered species during the current recession...."

Follow this link to view the rest of the article as featured in How-Do:

http://www.how-do.co.uk/north-west-media-comment/media-comment/recession-is-a-whale-of-a-time-200902244744/

Still being a child at heart, getting a job to design a pop-up book for Magnet was a pretty cool project to be involved with. The final product was a nice little 18 page riveted brochure which had the kitchen island/counter popping-up from the background. We added other little touches with textured and spot UV’s to make it look that little bit more special. - Mike Frost.

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, Whale decided to play cupid and created an e-shot for Image Foundry Studios. The aim was to make prospects “Put some love into their CGI”…by working along side Image Foundry, who create 3D visualisations and animations.

Utilising their 3D skills IF created a box of chocolates which was positioned at the end of a bed. Setting it within an html e-shot which linked to their website, with a Valentine’s strap line, it was sent out to clients and prospects worldwide.

As a result traffic to Image Foundry’s website increased over Valentine’s weekend.

With the Olympic Games heading to London in 2012, work for the North West should not be ruled out. On behalf of our clients, Whale attended “How to Tender successfully” a seminar held by the NorthWest Development Agency to find out more!

The day was extremely informative and not only did the seminar outline how North West companies pitch for Olympic Games related work, but also other public sector opportunities.

Companies which feature current opportunities on their websites include:

- Compete For
- North West Development Agency
- The Chest
- Supply 2

Have a look and see if there is anything relevant for you!

Rather than focus on the recession blues which are dominating the media we’re busy promoting our clients more than ever to weather tougher times . Marketing through a downturn can help increase your brand visibility and importantly ensure you retain existing business . Take a look at this post that mentions a Financial Times report which agrees.

http://www.themarketingblog.co.uk/e_article001311795.cfm?x=bf0pfnw,b9HDV0h8

Kevin Says Cheese & Gets Board!

Before Christmas (for a laugh) I decided to create a Monopoly board with all the traditional London places changed to different cheeses!

I didn't realise it would cause so much press!

Nigel White, Secretary of the Stilton Cheese Makers Association, siad: "The board summarises Britain's love affair with quality cheese and should be something that we're extremely proud of.

"With so many continental cheeses imported into Britain, the Monopoly Cheese Board acts as an excellent reminder of all the fantastic cheeses produced by the British Isles.

"Our main challenge was selecting the 22 cheeses on the board from the 700 plus now being made in the UK."



http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/7800506.stm
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/Play-the-Monopoly-cheese-board.4826534.jp

http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/news/Stilton-monopoly-game-s-placing/article-575719-detail/article.html

http://www.wigantoday.net/wigannews/Mr-Monopoly-says-cheese.4832208.jp

http://www.manchesterconfidential.com/index.asp?Sessionx=IpqiNwTiNwTkJWJ6IHqjNwB6IA

http://www.newstin.co.uk/related.a?edition=uk&group_id=en-010-009169054&similarFilter=ALL

Kevin Whitter