Studio Snapshot
Professional Adviser 360 Conference
Will and Sam B recently participated in the Professional Adviser 360 (PA360) exhibition held in London. This event, exclusively for financial advisers and exhibitors, offered a platform to exchange insights on key topics influencing the future of financial planning.
At the event, Will and Sam set up a stand and engaged in numerous conversations with financial sector professionals. These discussions centred particularly on the challenges of navigating the digital landscape post-COVID and the dynamic shifts in the investment landscape.
Lunch by the Harbour
The team hit the Mud Dock Café for a leisurely lunch by the harbourside. While some of us opted for juicy beef burgers, others chose the healthier chargrilled chicken option. Thankfully, as we walked there and back, the sun was shining, but as soon as we stepped into the office, it started pouring down buckets! Nonetheless, the team thoroughly enjoyed catching up with each other on things outside of work.
The Restaurant Show
Will and Sam B also made their presence felt at The Restaurant Show, a renowned event in the hospitality industry held at the NEC in Birmingham. The event, held at the NEC in Birmingham, featured a variety of hospitality speakers who covered the industry’s latest trends and changes.
Given Fanatic’s large client base within the hospitality industry, this was a great opportunity for Will and Sam to catch up with some of our existing clients and engage in interesting conversations with potential ones.
What's new in the Design team?
Brabazon Went Live
Back in February we put live a project we’ve been working on for some time. A brand new website for Brabazon, a housing development here in Bristol. The website had interesting challenges around both design and development including how we can best communicate the expressive Brabazon branding, while designing a best-in-class user journey for home buyers.
We utilised motion graphics, video content and editorial inspired layouts to produce a website which feels like a brochure experience while still giving the user plenty of interaction. The outcome is a fresh take on a typical housing development website while still being a powerhouse for Brabazon to use for bookings, resources and marketing going forward.
NTR Video Production
Alongside the design and launch of the new NTR website, we have been doing post-production work on a series of videos featuring key members of the NTR team. The videos spanned broad discussions to specific project breakdowns and required us to create some accompanying motion graphics alongside the video editing.
Using the great footage supplied by Powerscourt and the footage from projects across NTRs portfolios we put together 10 great videos that are now in use on the site.
See what the Development team have been up to
WordPress CMS Refactor
The Development team has been undertaking a complete refactor of the codebase of a client’s WordPress-powered website. The website was made a long time ago by a previous agency, and the client wanted to migrate the site over to Fanatic to provide ongoing hosting, support and a Digital marketing partnership.
As part of the Digital marketing strategy, it became clear that the current website was not up to the standard required; it was too slow, proving challenging to modify page content and was riddled with errors. This is very much apparent with WordPress websites that are left unmaintained for a period of time.
The process involved the Development team completely reshaping and optimising the site’s underlying codebase while maintaining its current brand look and feel. The overall aim was to ensure that the front end of the website appeared visually unchanged.
Undertaking this refactor sets a solid foundation for future growth and helps support any future Digital marketing requirements.
A Warm Welcome to Our New Developer, Connor
How have you found life at Fanatic so far?
Really good, definitely the best work environment I have ever worked in, and the process of things is much better.
What were you doing before Fanatic and what made you get into Web Development?
Before Fanatic, I was working for a DDoS Mitigation company as their sole developer. I got into software/web development because I always wanted my own website, so I managed to make one. From there, people kept coming to me asking for a website like mine, and that basically propelled me into doing this full time.
What made you choose Fanatic?
I wanted to expand my skill set, and it was very hard to do that working as a sole developer. I feel like you can only get so far by yourself. Working in an agency has always been a dream of mine, as you get to work on a variety of different projects and collaborate with other talented individuals.
What have you enjoyed most so far?
I definitely enjoyed working on my first project for the company; not only did completing tasks feel rewarding, but it also taught me quite a lot about not just Livewire but also the process of how things work around here.
What are you looking forward to learning more about?
Everything, really. I’m just looking forward to expanding my skill set even more and learning how things work in the other departments as well, specifically SEO and Design.
What’s an interesting fact about you?
I’m a fully qualified plumber, but the pandemic led me to focus more on my tech career instead.
The latest news from the Digital Marketing team
The CMO's Guide to CRO Conference
Stathis and Mary attended “The CMO’s Guide to CRO,” a half-day event covering the optimisation of the customer journey from click to conversion. The conference featured speakers from Microsoft, Pinterest, Source Nine Insights, and VWO, focusing largely on customer conversion strategies. They gained a wealth of insights, ranging from crafting unique customer acquisition strategies to leveraging behavioural analytics and AI for understanding website journeys. One intriguing topic discussed was around closing conversion gaps. Stathis and Mary are eager to apply these newfound insights within their digital marketing strategies.
BrightonSEO Conference
In April, Benny attended her first BrightonSEO conference, one of the largest gatherings of marketers worldwide, held in the seaside town of Brighton. The day was brimming with talks delivered by a diverse array of speakers, providing attendees with the opportunity to network across various industries. Covering a wide spectrum of SEO topics, from on-page strategies and copywriting to data management and the integration of AI, the talks were insightful and informative. A particular highlight was Rory Sutherland’s thought-provoking keynote, urging everyone to look beyond data for deeper insights.
In addition to the talks, the event offered a variety of engaging activities which Benny to partake in, including a quiz, tie-dye t-shirt making, and a professional headshot session.
We've been visiting…
We've been visiting…
David traded the chilly English weather for the warm, sunny skies in Greece
David took a well-deserved Easter break to Greece, Stathis’ motherland. He explored Athens and the picturesque islands of Syros and Tinos and relaxed by and in the sea. During his time there, he also learned a lot about the rich Ancient Greek history.
David, Paid Media Specialist