Signal-Homepage-Video.mp4

At Signal, we help brands navigate the noise and do better marketing - from the inside, out.

#ffffff

A world-class online platform for a global sporting event.

A better welcome for new supporters, automatically.

A powerful campaign highlighting medical progress.

Signal really, really care. The people are very talented, they work well together, and they embrace us as a client working as part of a small, family-like team.

#fc1c4e

An interviewer once asked me ‘who would be your dream dinner guest?’ My answer is as certain today as it was then: Percy Pig. For those of you in the know, this needs no justification. But for those of you who need an introduction to this titan of the confectionery world, strap in.

In 2017, Percy Pig celebrated his 25th year as Marks and Spencer’s premiere chewy sweet. Since his debut, he’s travelled the world, had a family, invested in real estate and even got married to long-term love interest, Penny.

He’s a business mogul. A millennial icon. And most recently, he’s even dipped a trotter into the realm of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), by removing all gelatine from his recipe.

This meant that almost everyone, veggie or otherwise, would be able to embrace this delicious porker - pork-free. And most importantly, the move implied that M&S were prioritising lessening their environmental impact even further, right down to their smallest team-member.

But as is now the tradition, when M&S announced that Percy would now be a pig of the people, the people did revolt. In small, Piers Morgan-sized numbers, but enough to cause a ripple in the internet. So now M&S have taken to Instagram to recruit 100 fans to form the #PercyPigPanel, and decide on the ultimate, Game of Thrones level plot-twist:

Should Marks & Spencer reintroduce pig parts to one special pack of Percy Pigs?

Obviously, this is not the first time a brand has done a U-turn. Some infamous examples include Gap’s universally hated rebrand in 2010. Or one that has somehow bypassed the pop culture subconscious: does anyone else remember when Pizza Hut tried to call themselves ‘Pasta Hut’?

 Nor are they the first company to attempt to capitalise on the growing veggie movement. The surprise hit of January 2019 was Greggs’ hotly (or at least ‘a wee bit o’ heat-ly’) anticipated vegan sausage roll. Seriously, if someone can get their hands on one for me, I’d greatly appreciate it...

 But the difference is, while Greggs and M&S were hit with both a mound of love and internet angst, Greggs stuck by their decision. And with some of the most delightfully satirical community management I’ve ever seen. M&S, however, seem to be giving themselves an excuse to back down.

Greggs on Twitter: "Doesn't really have the same ring to it… "

 So what does this mean for M&S? Does this change in stance signal that they value their customers’ opinions? Or does it mean that their attempt at CSR was merely them jumping on what they thought could be a lucrative bandwagon – only to jump ship when they realised their profits might start to sink?

It’s easy to see why brands can’t resist the lure of endorsing popular, social causes like vegetarianism or environmentalism. Often, they hold massive marketing wins, can be incredibly profitable and - from a creative perspective - can inspire some life-changing ideas.

But the danger begins when a brand has no authentic claim to its chosen cause; ‘brandwagoning’, as I like to call it. If they don’t actually care enough to follow through on a commitment - like pigless Percys - any previously warm messaging can come across as a mere marketing ploy. Worse still, some companies actively contradict their chosen cause; the most obvious examples are days like International Women’s Day, when some of the worst perpetuators of casual sexism come out to celebrate #Feminism. Such ‘brandwagonists’ risk devaluing the significance of the cause in the beginning.

When a social cause starts trending, it can become ‘trendy’ to jump on board the ‘brandwagon’. And as marketers, this is when we need to take a step back and make sure that we only get involved when it’s a trend that actually looks good on our brand. And not if we’ll look daft when someone asks us to defend our position.

Ultimately, authentic CSR has a sweet spot:

And if us digital marketers can spot it, it’s a win all round.

That’s not to say that your brand can’t change its ways. Maybe you’ve always been a huge environmental polluter. But now you want to clean up your act. That’s great - the polar bears thank you. But if you’re a huge environmental polluter except from #EarthDay when you make a point of sharing your new Keep Cups, the polar bears aren’t having it.

Overall, M&S actually have a good track record when it comes to sustainability. But their lack of pigheadedness in this case shows how easy it is to fall into the trap of inauthentic messaging. Perhaps the #PercyPigPanel (yes this has all been a shameless ploy to get me hired) will ultimately show that embracing vegetarianism is a good move for M&S. Perhaps not.

But for me, all it proves is that if your brand decides to take a stand, then make sure you can stand tall. If not, take a seat while you get to work on changing that.

Why have M&S been giving mixed signals about Percy Pig turning veggie? Could it be a prime example of brandwagoning?

Is your company guilty of 'brandwagoning'?

“The internet is one of the best things that has ever happened to anyone with disabilities” - WebAIM

At Signal we’ve been taking steps to raise the standard of accessibility in the work we do. Also known as inclusive design, accessibility means that a product can be used by people of all abilities and disabilities, and it’s a topic that can often be overlooked or disregarded.

We’ve come a long way in the past year, and it’s something we’re continuing to work on. That’s why we’re holding our Edinburgh event SIGNA11Y, the evening before Global Accessibility Awareness Day. 

Whatever your level of accessibility awareness, we’d love you to come and join us at CodeClan for a night of talks and open discussion to get everyone thinking and learning about inclusive design. 

We will be welcoming representatives from a number of other Edinburgh-based organisations to talk about the importance of accessibility in their work and share some of their experiences:

Claire Smith - Developer @ Signal
Starting the Signal accessibility committee and our journey so far.

Allan Hutcheon - COO @ Neatebox 
Assistive technology build with inclusivity at the core.

Iris Winter - Front End Developer @ Modulr Finance 
Approaching accessibility testing. Sharing client experience and learnings with different methods.

Chris Wait - Director of Engineering @ Passio
Building accessible products takes practice. Challenges and approaches to including accessibility-related work in modern software projects. 

Refreshments and thought-provoking conversations will be provided and the (free!) tickets are limited. Sign up via the Eventbrite page now. 

Join us at SIGNA11Y - our accessibility & inclusive design event

Accessibility should be a necessity, not a nicety. Join us in Edinburgh on Wednesday 15th May to discuss how everyone in the digital industry can and should make a difference. 

Join us at SIGNA11Y - our Accessibility & Inclusive Design event

I love workshops. They’re a core method for me as a UX researcher and designer.

I've been running workshops in one form or another for over 10 years. I've been lucky to work with clients and colleagues that have dedicated hours, days, and sometimes a week of their time to the participative and productive world of workshops. 

If you have a group of people and a ‘get it done’ mindset, there are any number of ways you make sure your workshop is productive and enjoyable.

 1. Their utility. Workshops are great for lots of things, including: 

2. The opportunity for creativity. There are countless activities and games you can use to engage participants and spark new ways of thinking.

A few weeks ago I was planning a workshop on, of all things, planning and running workshops.

As I worked my way through the things I consider when planning any workshop (which Guerric de Ternay’s excellent article covers in depth), I wondered if I could create something that people could use to help them plan their workshops in the future. 

Like a lot of people, I use canvases as a planning tool. If you’re not familiar with canvases, I'd describe them as a template for looking at a challenge or issue by considering specific elements that are associated with it. The Business Model Canvas is probably the most well known. It condenses the main elements of business strategy into a single page. 

What I like about canvases generally is how they provide focus on a challenge and, in doing so, provoke original thinking for potential ideas or solutions.

With a decision made on creating a workshop canvas, I took a pack of Post-it Notes and a Sharpie and shut myself in a room. I wrote down all the things I considered when planning a workshop (one per Post-it Note). When I finished, I grouped the Post-it Notes and gave them a label. In doing so, I arrived at the before, during, after structure the canvas uses.

The Workshop Canvas asks the user to consider:

Part of the planning and preparation process:

Inputs (the material that feeds into the workshop)

Outcome (the desired end point for the workshop)

People (the names and roles of participants)

Space (the location, room and facilities)

Agenda (the items to cover and associated timings)

Intended as reminders on day of the workshop:

Layout: is the room laid out properly (in order to best support the agenda)?

Role: is the workshop team clear on their role?

Opening / closing: are there any important points to cover?

Facilitation: are there any potential challenges keep in mind?

Delivered in the workshop as well as in follow up communications:

What's next: what will people see next, when and how?

Fit: how does the workshop fit within the wider project?

Available for download below, is our ‘Alpha’ release of the canvas:

Workshop canvas 0.3.pdf

We've got to this stage through testing and feedback from an agency group including designers, strategists, account managers and project managers. 

This highlighted, amongst other things, that more space for the Before stage would be better. Dividing the agenda section by task, activity and time was also raised by several people.

We’re already using the canvas to plan workshops for (and with) our clients. I will continue to gather feedback as we use it and iterate the canvas on an ongoing basis.

If you have any comments or feedback please get in touch.

The BIMA Awards, the UK’s longest standing, most prestigious digital awards are closing soon. And we're excited to announce that Ryan is joining the judging panel for the Products & Services category. Feel like submitting your work? Enter here before the 8th May.

The Workshop Canvas: Making lighter work of workshops

Introducing the Workshop Canvas - a handy tool for planning more effective workshops.

[Originally published on The Drum in March 2019]

Changing technology without changing ideology leads to ‘Scalextric transformation’. Your customers have the illusion of control from a convenient handset, but they are still driving along the same old tracks in directions that are not dictated by them.

My bank’s mobile app is pretty good. It does what I want it to do. Not all of its functions are intuitively obvious on first encounter but they are easy to learn. Recently they added the ability to pay cheques in by scanning an image. In so doing they removed the only remaining reason for me to visit a branch. Having banked with them since I was sixteen, it’s possible that I won’t look them in the eye ever again.

I’d go as far as to say that the app is the baby bear’s porridge of Fintech as far as I am concerned. It is just right. Not too hot on peripheral features, not too cold on essential functions.

But my bank has missed the most obvious function of the app, the one that is literally staring them and me in the face. The app is a glorified statement. That’s all it is really; a real-time statement with some transactional functionality on the side. Sometimes I do it deliberately, sometimes I do it as a by-product of doing something else, but I check my balance and recent transactions on an almost daily basis.

So, from the moment of its first release, even in its most minimally viable form, the app made old-school monthly statements redundant as a means for me to manage my finances.

And yet my app is sending me “unread message” notifications. The messages stay unread because I know what they say. I only get two kinds of message from my bank. One tells me that there is a new monthly statement for me to read (a pdf on an app). The other reminds me that I haven’t read it yet . Why would I want to read again information that I’ve seen several times before, that is out of date, and that is presented in an unnatural and inconvenient format?

Fine if banks are legally obliged to produce monthly statements. Fine if I sometimes need to print or send an official statement to a third party organisation. I might occasionally need to access a statement on my terms. 

But the persistent notifications are clearly being sent on the bank’s terms. The level of emphasis placed on this communication by the bank turns those pdfs into statements of the obvious. They make it obvious that the technology has changed but the underlying mentality hasn’t. This is muscle-memory marketing. And it condemns the app to being a modern mixer tap attached to antiquated lead plumbing. My bank has a ghost in its machine. The ghost of banking past is haunting the technology of banking present.

Banks are an easy target for this kind of criticism. But the principles apply to any organisation that manages a high frequency of customer transactions based on legacy principles. Changing technology without changing ideology leads to Scalextric transformation. Your customers have the illusion of control from a convenient handset, but they are still driving along the same old tracks in directions that are not dictated by them.

It takes time for large incumbent institutions, of which banks are the most visible example, to transform their way out of legacy systems and the culturally ingrained practices that come with them. However, that still leaves significant, quick-win opportunities to revisit regulatory communications with a service design mindset. Some optimism and some imagination can turn things that you have to say into things that customers are happy to hear.

Scalextric transformation. It sounds cool, but it isn't. Strategy Director Phil Adams on banking's 'ghost in the machine'. 

I’m not going to lie - when an email with the subject line “Contagious” landed in my inbox last month, I assumed the sender had come down with a rather nasty bout of flu.

This was not the case. It was in fact, an invite for two of us to attend the latest Contagious Live event, a monthly gathering of creatives in the heart of London. These evenings of ‘rapid-fire inspiration’ often sell out, partly (only partly) owing to the fact they also provide massive amounts of pizza and beer. 

The event was held in a suitably hip side street in Westminster on 28 February, where my colleague Lewis and I were greeted by 50 pizza boxes neatly laid out in reception. These were demolished in a very short space of time by a host of very hungry creative people from around the country - in horn-rimmed glasses, denim shirts and baseball caps.

There were two distinct reasons why I loved this event:

Firstly, it was short and sweet, which was brilliant. Everything was packed into an hour and a half - so no-one had the chance to get bored and start shifting around in their seats. 

And secondly, there was no single-track way of thinking, which can often be the case at these events. Instead there were two quite distinct views expressed, each equally thought-provoking. 

As we all sat nursing our glasses of wine and bottles of beer, our hosts gave us a round-up of the last few years in advertising. 

Recent ad campaigns have moved further into the realms of storytelling and brand affinity. We were shown some impressive examples of ads which aim to evoke feelings first and foremost, in order to boost people’s connection to the brand - but without explicit reference to the product or service itself. 

Take Ruavieja, the obscure Spanish liqueur brand. Their recent advert has made everyone who’s watched it cry, but although it lasts four minutes, the after-dinner aperitif itself barely features. 

Instead, Ruavieja focus on what they want their brand to stand for - quality time spent together with loved ones. And it shows how modern life is compromising that time, with worrying results:

Ruavieja Commercial 2018 (English subs): #WeHaveToSeeMoreOfEachOther

Or there’s AeroMexico, who tackled the biases of many Americans against visiting Mexico in a brilliantly poignant way. They offered discounts to those living in the heart of Texas, based on what percentage of their DNA is Mexican. 

The higher this percentage, the bigger the discount. Turns out, getting a discount and saving money can overcome some of the most deep-rooted prejudices:

DNA DISCOUNTS advertisement for "AeroMexico" airlines

Oh yeah, and there was barely a mention of an actual AeroMexico plane.

The result? The customer’s connection with the brand becomes the focal point of the advert. The product/service is still featured prominently, but the brand and its values hold centre stage. 

Dave Trott and the serious stuff of creativity

All hail Dave Trott. His answers in the Q+A session took the rose-tinted glasses still clutched by some of us young creatives, and hurled them out the window, along with our pretensions and our chronic need to be liked at every stage of our careers. 

This was an excruciatingly honest session. Trott was quietly reproachful when he commented on an industry more focused on winning awards, instead of those awards being the by-product of good work. Some spectators were positively squirming. 

He remarked about creativity becoming a lost art – that many creatives, fresh out of university, work to get a pat on the back for a job well done. They don’t unleash their ideas. They don’t risk causing friction in order to deliver work that could be brilliantly thought-provoking. Cue more squirming from the audience, the majority of whom appeared to be university graduates in their mid to late twenties.

For Trott, creativity is a muscle to be exercised, whether it’s the concept itself or how you put it into practice and get it out there in the world. He pointed out that convincing a client that your idea is worth taking a punt on is half the battle. 

This wasn’t a proclamation about how precious creatives were. He was pointing out that sometimes creativity is lost in the mire that is the fast-paced, time-is-money modern world. But creative tension is what drives good work - you need it to help your message hit home, to help your ideas resonate with your audience. 

And here’s where he got a teensy bit controversial – he countered the previous view that you don’t need to explicitly reference the product to create impact when you’re advertising it. On the contrary, he said this explicitness is needed – and that in an arena that is constantly being filled with self-aware, clever concepts, we’ve lost the ability to talk plainly. 

Read Dave Trott’s interview with Contagious.

Campaign Battle: Marketeers, are you ready?

As a fan of Pitch Perfect I love a riff-off. And as a highly competitive person I knew I’d enjoy watching the campaign pitch battle, which involved three Contagious writers pitching their favourite campaign of the month, and the audience voting for their favourite. 

First up, a digital clothing collection by Scandinavian fashion retailer Carlings - where the Instagram world has collided with fashion and AI influencers to address the very real danger that disposable fashion is to our world. Why sell real clothes, which will be worn once and then returned, sold on, or binned (thank you consumer culture).

Instead, why not sell digital clothes, superimpose them onto a photo of a customer and let them share the image on social media? The brand claims it lets their customers “be creative without leaving a negative footprint on the world”. 

The result: Instagrammers hash-tagging your brand left, right and centre, “wearing” their fake clothes at €20 - €30 a go – with a proportion of the proceeds going to WaterAid. And there will be a new collection of digital clothes ready to drop later this year. You can bet those will download fast. 

Next, the Skittles Super Bowl ad-that-wasn’t-an-ad. In a weird twist on what actually constitutes being a commercial, the Skittles Super Bowl commercial a) didn’t appear at the Super Bowl, just at the same time and b) was in fact, a one-off musical production, so didn’t appear on TV either. 

Skittles The Musical ))) Starring Michael C. Hall

Whilst admirable, this did smack more of one great big practical joke, and it’s debatable whether it makes Skittles seem cool and different as a brand. 

Although maybe the joke is on all the other brands who clamoured to get a slice of the Super Bowl, as they spend Broadway-production levels of money on their ads, without any guarantee of an uplift in sales. 

And finally, the Greyest Day of The Year by Hartwall, the Finnish alcohol brand. Sod Black Friday - this looked way more fun. 

Faced with grey days, only five hours of daylight in the depths of winter, and depressingly cold weather, an obscure day in November seems like an unlikely day for a national celebration. But that’s just what Hartwall did, after ascertaining that November 17th was officially, the greyest day of the year in Finland. 

Because of restrictive advertising laws, Hartwall was unable to explicitly advertise the fact they were flogging booze. Instead they celebrated everything else about the product – from its iconic grey colour, the same colour as cloudy skies, to the fact it’s the unofficial national drink of Finland.

OLD - The Greyest Day of the Year 2018 ENG

 The Greyest Day of the Year campaign took on the ambitious challenge of turning Finland’s grey weather into the world’s largest outdoor advert. It certainly sold itself to most members of the audience at Contagious Live, who voted it the winner. 

The outcome of this campaign battle was either further proof that the audience were partial to a tipple, or more likely, evidence that Dave Trott’s observation had a gleam of truth. That making the product the star of the campaign does in fact pay off. Even if in Hartwell’s case, you couldn’t explicitly refer to it. 

Thank you Contagious, for a top-notch evening. We left London suffering from a major case of inspiration overload. And I have to admit, I’m fairly glad I caught this one. 

Photos: Lewis Llewellyn, Digital Designer at Signal

The next Contagious Live is Thursday 28th March.

The lowdown on last month's inspiring Contagious Live event in London.

An inspiring selection of campaigns and speakers from the latest Contagious Live.

[Originally published on The Drum in February 2019]

A sudden, practical act of transformation

My goldfish grew too big for their tank. One listless waft of a tail was enough to propel them from one end to the other. So my parents bought a bigger one. It was a sudden, practical act of kindness.

The new tank was twice as long as the old one, but it took my goldfish a while to adjust. For days they would swim halfway and then turn back, as if the wall of the old tank was still there. It was like they didn’t get the memo. Halfway and back, halfway and back, halfway and back.

They eventually reached the outer limit of their expanded territory, but only by a series of accidental increments. Fish are notoriously bad at retaining information, but their muscle memory is evidently good. Either that or they are reluctant explorers, slow to embrace enhanced freedom and possibilities.

My goldfish were stakeholders in a transformation project. Radical change was imposed upon them from the outside. Viewed dispassionately the change was entirely positive; better conditions and no reduction in headcount. It was the opposite of downsizing. But the fish weren’t sure they liked it, so they continued behaving as they had in their previous, more constrained existence. To us the old tank looked like an outmoded silo. To the fish it felt like a comfort zone.

The brightest, most optimistic people can behave like goldfish when change is thrust upon them, even if the change is to their benefit, and especially if they don’t get the memo.

Organisational silos are like countries. They are defined by the borders between them and their neighbours. They are defined by the transactions and trades that take place across those borders. And borders are funny things. In his excellent book, Off The Map, Alastair Bonnett ruminates on the subtlety and nuance of border effects:

“Borders are about claims to land, but as soon as you draw one you limit yourself. Every border is also an act of denial, an acknowledgement of another’s rights… Borders have a far more ambivalent and complex relationship to territory; they combine both arrogance and modesty, both demand and denial.”

The border between Tajikistan and China, taken from the Pamir Highway.

We don’t experience the full extent of border effects when we fly into a foreign country. Passport control in an airport is a sterile, one-dimensional border crossing experience. Most often it is a formality.

But try crossing between former Soviet countries on foot or in a vehicle. These borders are arbitrary lines in the sand, literally so. Distant and detached, the powers that be drew straight lines in the desert with scant regard for those affected on the ground. These borders cleave families, tribes, supply chains in two. They were a sudden political act, and no one got the memo.

The border between Ukraine and Russia at Izvaryne, taken surreptitiously from the driver’s seat. 

In these places you can feel the confluence of arrogance and modesty. You are viscerally aware of the conflicting forces of demand and denial. It is thrilling in ways that passing through airport immigration will never be.

However, it is far from thrilling for the locals. Crossing back and forth on a daily basis to ply trade or visit extended family is just another part of the Central Asian grind. What the foreign traveler does with cold sweat and tight chest, they do on autopilot. The locals have their version of goldfish style muscle memory.

And if you took the borders away there would be a period of goldfish style adjustment. The removal of borders would make life easier. But it would also cause upheaval for the people who profit from their existence - the soldiers, the civil servants, the food sellers, the sole trader currency exchangers. Borders are fertile territory for cottage industry.

Organisational silos are like countries. People profit from the existence of borders between them. 

Whilst silos make no sense in the context of operational efficiency, technological change and market disruption, they do make sense to the people that occupy them. The simple, familiar structure that silos provide is reassuring. At the borders between silos, the corporate equivalent of cottage industries spring up to bypass, compensate for, and profit from the bureaucracy. In so doing they create systemic resistance to change. The new will always make less sense than the old, no matter how sensible it is to change things for the better.

Any transformation project worthy of the name involves organisational upheaval. You can describe your transformation as ‘digital’ if you like, but the most significant and most difficult aspects of the project will be organisational. The technology will be a side show by comparison. Project sponsors should over-commit to communication. Send the memos, where memo is a metaphor for good, frequent communication of all kinds. Memos about project purpose, implications and opportunities afforded should be a permanent fixture at the top of the backlog.

Systems Thinking differentiates between the surface and the substance. For transformation projects the surface is the strategy and the technology. The substance is the corporate muscle memory, the cottage industries and the other unintended human consequences of silo structures. The substance is the goldfish factor.

Successful, sustainable transformation has to be more than a sudden corporate act. In order to leave their silos willingly, and swim in a bigger tank, even the brightest, most optimistic people need to get the memo. The memo about what the change means for them. The memo about how they will be protagonists rather than pawns. The memo about the personal development opportunities that will open up as the silos close down. They can’t get too many memos.

Not sure where to start? Find out how we clarify, simplify and make change less daunting for our clients. 

Goldfish, borders, and sudden acts of transformation. 

What do organisational silos have in common with an old fish tank? Our Strategy Director Phil's thoughts on overcommitting to communication during transformation projects.

It’s February 14th. A day of love, lotharios and even arrow-punctured butts. But most importantly, it’s a day of passion.

As people who work in the creative industries, it’s no surprise we’re passionate about creativity. And it doesn’t stop when we leave the office. Here are a few labours of love our talented team-members try their hands at (when they’re off the clock):

“Outside the office, I like to tread the boards at our local theatres! My next musical exploit is West Side Story, coming up in Hereford in June. I also post covers of musical theatre songs (and other tracks) on YouTube.”

"I am chairperson of Puppet Animation Scotland. Unsurprisingly the organisation exists to nurture artists and promote the art forms of puppetry, animation and visual theatre. These are subversive artforms that allow stories to be told in imaginative and disarming ways. We run two major festivals each year, and we provide seed funding and mentoring to interesting creative projects. The board is full of creative people and I help with marketing and HR issues. It keeps me off the streets."

Find out more about Puppet Animation Scotland on their website, or check out manipulatefestival.org

“One of my passions is 3D animation and illustration. It's not too dissimilar to my role here, but having the freedom to explore and expand upon things without the confines of a client brief can lead to some pretty interesting (and surreal) results. Whether its a simple modelling project or an exploration of more complicated systems, it's always fun to create something from nothing and see where it ends up."

"I'm into crocheting at the moment, and one of my latest projects was inspired by the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. The pattern was provided by Stylecraft yarns & Janie Crow."

“Since I arrived in October, it's not really been the weather for me to reveal my passion. I have a small fashion brand devoted to beautifully crafted cotton shirt dresses, underpinned by the concept of luxury essentials with a focus on fit, fabric and quality. I spent months honing a shape that would work for women of all sizes (UK8 - UK18), researching the ultimate cottons and ensuring the best possible finishes. The result is a collection of timeless designs that simplify dressing in the morning and ensure effortless style. Most importantly, they are cut from fine fabrics that will last for years - this is not a fast fashion label.”

"I’m an Edinburgh based slow travel blogger at 'The Slow Travels'. Striving for sustainability and eco friendly tourism, sharing scenes of Scotland and beyond."

Follow Louise’s adventures on Instagram @theslowtravels or check out her website.

“As we are in a big pod, the tea/coffee making is a big task. I've have just finished my Python basic training and wanted to build something with my new-found skill. So I give you 'Whose Round?' my random tea making program."

Take a look at Philip's program to find out who is the ultimate tea-making champ in his team. 

ANDREW GIRDWOOD: HEAD OF MEDIA TECHNOLOGY

“Geek Native is a culture blog I started back before Dungeons & Dragons was cool again (it's cool now, by the way). The site is all about showcasing the interesting things gaming geeks get up to - as that's a far wider and more esoteric collection of awesome than getting your character beyond level 10.”

Head to Geek Native for more from Andrew (aka Girdy)

“After surfing in dirty water, I contracted cellulitis and ended up on an IV drip for a few delightful days in hospital. That’s when I decided I wanted to do more to protect our oceans. I wrote an article about the incident for Surfers Against Sewage. After meeting with their CEO, I now regularly design brand identities and social posts for them. The highlight so far has been seeing the ‘Message In A Bottle’ logo I designed being applied to a surfboard and displayed outside parliament as part of a (successful) attempt to encourage MPs to introduce Deposit Return Systems across the UK."

Find out more about Surfers Against Sewage on Instagram

“My passion is photography. I love taking photos of stuff and sometimes photos of people that don’t know that I’m taking photos of them…which isn’t great with GDPR but it really is the best way to capture natural and subtly dazzling shots that make you feel something when you look at them. I have taken photos of whisky, musicians - recently I shot Sigrid’s concert which was fun as she’s always cutting shapes about the stage - and my favourite thing I’ve shot was The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. Oh, and NYC." 

“I spend a lot of my day behind a screen looking at the fine details. So in my free time, I like to be out in the world taking photos. Whether it’s the city, the countryside or getting nose to lens with a few neighbourhood cats.”

“Most of my weekends are spent covered in paint! I’ve got a passion for interior design and DIY…My husband and I spent last year renovating our 2 bed Morningside tenement flat. Then decided that wasn’t challenging enough. So we bought a 14 bedroom mansion…"

JEN LYLE & JOANNA HARROD: DESIGNER/STRATEGIST

“We have recently been indulging our passion for drawing and painting at @LeithArtSchool. After work, we get our hands dirty with charcoal, pastels and oil - and take time away from screens and devices in order to re-ignite our artistic fires.”

“One of my passions is DJing. I got into it far too late and I’ve been playing catch up ever since. I’ve always spent a wasteful/huge amount of time finding new music, listening to live sets and curating playlists. Now I’m putting it to better use and I've started playing at The Mash House in Edinburgh. I’m meticulous about the overall vibe a set needs to create and being able to adjust that on the fly is a really addictive challenge.”

“You can get pretty caught up only designing when at work for other people, so I set myself a challenge of designing four posters that I wouldn't mind hanging on my wall.”

"Ever since I got my teenage kicks in the punk clubs of Belfast, my passion has been going to live music. I even turned writing about it into a career for ten years. These days I prefer to take pictures – mostly for fun, occasionally for publication."

“Two things everyone knows about copywriters: we like writing and we wear daft clothes. My two passions are hats and writing, mainly short stories. I store them in my virtual hat box (each story is beneath an illustration of the hat I wore when writing it).” 

(Not quite a ‘passion project’, but a proper love story)

“My dad and uncle are the new stars of the Guinness Six Nations advert.

It's based on the true story of how my nan, before she passed away, asked them what they would like to spend her inheritance on. They replied with 'Beer and Rugby'. Her Welsh purse went with them wherever Wales played. It was in a few national papers last year, and they have spent the last two weeks putting this together."

Passion Projects - Gorge on our Creative Eye Candy this Valentine’s Day

A selection of delightful extracurricular creative projects from the Signal crew.

As 2018 comes to an end, and we look back on the last twelve months, what really stands out is the central role data has played not only in the world of marketing, but also on the world stage.

Access to users’ data has given big brands unprecedented power (if they have the processes and expertise in place to harness it properly). And yes, with that comes great responsibility.

Of course, compliance was very much on marketers’ minds in the lead-up to the GDPR deadline in May. The new regulations were complex and somewhat open to interpretation.  As many brands scrambled to ensure their internal and external processes met the necessary requirements, our inboxes were flooded with last minute privacy policies and slightly desperate sounding pleas to opt-in again. And then everyone let out a big sigh of relief when it was all over.

It’s safe to say however that GDPR will continue to have an impact in 2019 and beyond. Writing on May 25th, the day the new laws came into force, Signal Business Partner Mark Collins advised that charities in particular now have to do much more to nurture mutually beneficial relationships with their audiences. This applies to other sectors too, as he points out:

“GDPR will (quite rightly) mean that every individual is more aware of their data rights, and they will be more likely to turn off this consent if their relationship with an organisation gives them reason to do this.”


But while the new laws are undoubtedly a big win for data protection, web usability has taken a hit due to general confusion over what best practice means (please, make the pop-ups stop!). Still, maybe the new ePrivacy regulation, which is likely to be finalised/come into force in 2019 will clarify things.

The regulation didn’t stop there. We’ve also seen the rules around influencer marketing clarified by the ASA, although, as our Outreach Manager Lauren Cormack writes, there is still room for interpretation there too.

Once more unto the breach - a very bad year for Facebook

Speaking of social media, Facebook were hit by mainstream news reports of one data disaster after another during 2018, no doubt further eroding public trust in how their information is being used (or misused) by big companies. 

The company’s nonchalant approach to user information in the past came back to bite them, when the Cambridge Analytica scandal came to light in March. CEO Mark  Zuckerberg ending up testifying in Congress - refresh your memories on the key points with this helpful summary from Planner Jamie McAdam. 

Facebook’s annus horribilis didn’t end there however, with news of further dodgy data practices coming thick and fast, including leaked emails that seemed to confirm that the company might not always have users’ best interests at heart. 

Meanwhile, even Facebook-owned Instagram, which previously seemed immune to its parent company’s run of bad juju (or at least negative press), has recently been shown to be a hotbed of Russian propaganda. More trouble at t’mill was hinted at when Instagram’s founders also called it quits this year, following the less than stellar launch of the IGTV platform (likely an attempt to reduce the impact of the TikTok video app, which is growing incredibly fast among young audiences).

Google didn’t escape either, announcing the abrupt closure of their social network, Google Plus in October. What had once been a much-vaunted threat to Facebook had of course been long abandoned by the search giant. Which made it a convenient sacrificial lamb when they eventually got round to disclosing a data leak that had come to light in the spring. CEO Sundar Pichai ended up in front of Congress anyway, where the questions being asked only highlighted a startling lack of insight amongst senior lawmakers into how the internet and technology actually works. Something that should be of concern for the big tech companies, given that increased US regulation of the sector now seems increasingly likely.

Big brands of course don’t have the same luxury as the US Congress when it comes to remaining ignorant of technological progress. The need for big organisations to adapt to our ultra-connected, data-centric world became even more pressing this year, and digital transformation showed impressive staying power as a buzzword. But as digital now permeates everything we do, it has become an increasingly meaningless term. 

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