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

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year from all at Whale Marketing!

How Big Teeth Mark out the Sexiest Whales

We are always on the lookout for intersting Whale Facts,
this one made the headlines on the BBC today...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7783517.stm

Pot Noodle Frenzy

The Whale Pod has been hunting high and low across the Greater Manchester region for 350 POT NOODLES!!!

Don’t worry we are all well fed, the fast food favourites were part of a mail campaign we had devised for our client Image Foundry, a CGI animation studio. The noodles along with a portfolio of recent work followed an e-mail outlining “3 Easy Steps to CGI” and an image of an IF branded pot noodle, the Hot Doodle!

Prospective clients, who all received a follow up call, tucked into and enjoyed their unusual gift and provided positive feedback on the innovative portfolio of work. We’re sure they won’t be forgetting Image Foundry Studio’s for a while!

Did you know the Beef Pot Noodle is actually suitable for Vegetarians?!