Logo rationale and analysis

My current logo idea

 

Colour - Primarily the colour scheme of my logo is blue as it not only fits into the 'sea' theme I'm going for, however it could also be argued that the colour blue is a sign of development and determination to achieve the vision of the business as a whole in what its trying to achieve.

Theme - The theme I've gone for is the sea. Not only does it tie into the local area which is mainly where I'm planning on starting the mission for my business but the sea is also a sign of strength and independence which are important values to me.

Shape - The circular shape of my logo represents movement and constant change going on forever. The waves in the middle reinforce this and also tie it together with the overall theming. The circle is also quite an open shape to show the clarity in my mission.

Font - The font I went for is a simple calibri, as it is familiar, easy and informal which are the ways I would like the business and its employees to operate internally to create a positive, stress-free work environment to push everyone to their creative potential.

Dunkin', Donuts and I: A Retrospective

 

This presentation was made for a skill building lesson on public speaking.

Task 6: The Creative Economy

 What are the creative industries? 

The creative industries are comprised of any industry that achieves its goals through creative means. Advertising as an example uses films for product placement, graphics for its poster ads and videography for its video ads. The main industries that make up the creative sector are as follows: Advertising; Architecture; Arts; Design; Fashion; Games; Music; TV and Film; Literature.

How many people are employed in the UK? 

Currently in the UK around 75.3% of people aged 16-64 are in employment based on statistics from august 2021 (at the time of writing it is November 18th 2021). In 2018 an estimated 2,040,000 jobs were in the creative industries, up 30.6% from 2011 which is way above the average UK growth of 10.1% in that same time period.

How much do the creative industries generate each year? 

The creative industries earned over £111bn in 2018 and  in 2020 were reported to earn £13m an hour. The covid-19 pandemic has cost the creative industries around £12 billion in GVA (Gross Value Added) as well as over 110,000 jobs, 95,000 of which are predicted to be freelance. Despite this, a report by the Creative Industries predicts that the creative sector will recover faster than the rest of the UK, and may even be a major catalyst in the UK's economic recovery.

The creative industries comparative growth - In 2018 Nesta predicted that by 2030 the creative sector would have generated a further 900,000 jobs for British citizens, and at the time the growth of the creative industries were double that of every other sector. Creative sectors are also resistant to automation and such will continue to benefit the people more than other high and low skill industries.

References: 

Creative Industry Council - The creative industries
Statista - Employment rate in the UK

UK Government - DCMS sector economic growth 2011-2018; Creative industries contributions; Creative industries break the £100bn barrier

The creative industries - employment figures

Creative England - We must invest in creative industry

Nesta - Creative industries driving economic growth

Task 8: Other considerations for businesses

 Finance - Film and TV have a few options for finding funding, more often than not being a large corporation like Disney for high scale productions along with various independent producers and businesses paying for product placement. For smaller scale studio or independent productions however, a typical source of funding would be from an independent production company such as A24 or even self-funded by the people working on the film themselves which could be risky depending on how much money they have available. In the UK specifically, there are organisations who are very open to producing films for new talent, including BFI's 'BFI film fund', BBC Films and Film4. On top of this UK nationals also get access to tax relief and rebate from the UK government with a maximum of 80% being paid back, even 100% of the funding is qualified as tax expenditure.

Insurance - Insurance is always important to have for anyone as it can cover us financially from the majority of grievances depending on the insurance you have. All businesses who work in a public space or work in close quarters with clients need to get public liability insurance to protect them from any claims that the company has harmed someone or their property in some way. Film in particular should always have equipment insurance to cover any shooting equipment or props which may get damaged in an on set accident or stolen. Any crew should also be covered by employer liability by law, which is another consideration that must be taken by film producers. A creative industries wide insurance that is a must is professional indemnity insurance, especially for client work. This insurance protects you from any breach of contract claims, intellectual property claims or from any clients who take action if they feel they have lost money in any way dealing with you.

Working from home - Working from home comes with the added bonus of tax relief as long as its a mandatory requirement for work such as a business decree or covid safety. For up to £6 a week combined from electricity, gas, water and phone call (business related only) bills, a person can claim tax back based on their tax rates. An important part of working from home is balancing work with a healthy life, making sure to take regular breaks, stay fit and healthy and also spend time to socialise.

Business rates - Business rates are charged by the government if a property is used for non-domestic purposes, such as a shop or office and each tax year in February or March the local council will send a business their bill for the year, which varies by location and size of the business. Local councils offer a relief scheme for various businesses which depending on your area is automatic or applied for.

Geography, transport and accessibility - Geography is important for businesses, especially smaller ones, to gain success. A wrong location can leave a business with nothing, so a lot of consideration needs to go into picking where to set up shop. A business needs to plan its location based on what it can afford, how much demand for their business is there, how accessible it is and many more.

References: 

Raindance - Routes to finance your film
BFI - sources of funding for UK filmmakers

The creative industries - Finance

British Film Commission - Film Tax relief

Caunce O'Hara - insurance for the creative industry

Hiscox - Business insurance for TV and Commercial Film Production

UK Government - Working from home; Business rates

No Film School - Filmmakers guide to working from home

Bright knowledge - getting into business with geography

Task 9: Cultural Policy

 The DCMS - The DCMS (department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) is a government department that tries to increase Britain's economic growth through attaining public interest and participation in nationwide art and culture events and heritage sites, with a big lean towards increasing tourism to those areas. They're also in charge of connecting their encompassed sectors to parliament and the wider government to tackle social and political issues head on.

Current DCMS Activities and proposals - The DCMS puts out an annual Outcome Delivery Plan, formally the Single Departmental Plan, which outlines where they are prioritising their work. One of their current proposals is to try and ensure all areas of the UK no matter how rural gets access to 4G and gigabit broadband speeds, while another is the newly instated UK Global Screen Fund which aims to provide £7m to funding, distribution and international promotion mainly for British Independent Film. In current activity, on November 16th 2021 (yesterday at the time of writing) the DCMS held a parliamentary hearing for former Yorkshire Cricket player Azeem Rafiq who along with supporting witnesses has exposed a deep rooted culture of racism in the British cricket scene.

References: 

UK government - DCMS about us; DCMS Outcome Delivery Plan 2021-2022

SportBible -Azeem Rafiq DCMS Hearing

BBC - Azeem Rafiq

Task 7: Regulatory frameworks

 Regulatory body - regulatory bodies are organisations which are either government owned or are public businesses which work alongside the government to create and enforce regulations in their chosen sector. Not all sectors are regulated and are instead left to set their own regulations, however the majority of all major industries are regulated.

Regulatory framework - A regulatory framework is a broad term for a collection of tax information, rules, laws and necessary regulations for a certain industry and can be used by people to reform and enforce regulations in the most optimal way.

OFCOM - OFCOM is a regulating body which by order of parliament is in charger of regulating communication services. The services it covers include broadband and mobile phone services and any other fixed line telecoms, TV and Radio and other forms of broadcasted media and lastly they also keep an eye on the UK postal service, Royal Mail. The framework they have in place is a revision of the EU communications framework, called the Electronic Communications Framework. Pertaining to all communications services the framework pushes competition within the industry while enforcing consumer rights and tightly regulating what gets spread through airwaves and online services.

ASA -  The ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) listen to consumer and corporate complaints and make decisions regarding whether an ad contains malicious, offensive and/or irresponsible material to warrant a ban. 98% of complaints are from consumers of which 72% of complaints about misleading ads. They also conduct research to identify what needs to be done to protect the public. The framework they have in place is the EU's Unfair Commercial Practices Directive which enforces strict rules to stop misleading and unfair business practices. The ASA personally tackles any issues before taking it to the law which has prevented the courts from being clogged up with minor cases.

BBFC - The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) makes sure that all commercially available films are given the proper rating to allow people to judge whether a movie or tv show is suitable for someone and what is not. By using age ratings and specific context consideration guides, the BBFC can protect the public from movies that may be harmful to them while giving people the choice to watch a movie knowing what to look out for. The BBFC use a framework of their own creation called the Classification Framework which changes with the public outlook on society. The classification framework operates on a binary system which determines whether content is suitable for children or not, and it is illegal for a child to be sold a ticket to see a film or a physical copy of one that is over their own age. It is not however illegal for a child to watch these movies if they so wish in their own time.

PEGI - PEGI (Pan European Game Information) is a regulatory body that rates and categorises video games based on their content as a guidance for buyers on whether they should buy it or not, and like with BBFC ratings a child cannot be sold a game with a rating higher than their age. The majority of video game developers, publishers and console manufacturers back the PEGI rating system for its clarity and effectiveness. The framework PEGI works off is integrated into its Code of Conduct, which in the UK all games companies must abide by.

Creative Industries Council (CIC) - The CIC is a massive forum made up of creative businesses, organisations and the government. It aims to improve creative sectors through making the usual barriers (finance, skills, regulations, etc) more accessible and to promote inclusion, diversity and opportunity. Their CreaTech program aims to integrate emerging technologies with creative sectors improve both worlds.

References: 

Safeopedia - regulatory bodies

Xiajian Liu - Regulatory frameworks

Law Insider - regulatory framework

OFCOM - What is Ofcom?; EU regulatory framework

ASA - About the ASA; Self Regulation

BBFC - About Us; Framework

PEGI - The PEGI organisation; Code of conduct

ISFE - PEGI Code of conduct

CIC - About Us; CreaTech

UK Government - Creative Industries Coucil

Task 5: Legislation and the creative industries

 Intellectual property - Intellectual properties are creations or inventions which are protected by law to be exclusively used by the creator or owner for commercial use, with the exception of individuals given written permission by the owning body of the original creation.

Copyright - Copyright is the legal right a creator has over any literary or artistic work, and in most countries is obtained just by creating your IP, which can be made more valid legally by patenting or registering a copyright after its conception. Certain things can't be copyrighted as they are protected from copyright or are too commonly used to be able to legally own, such as phrases, logos, and titles.

Trademarks - Trademarks are a registered signifier which are required to be renewed every 10 years. A trademark is a legal signifier that a product, service or creation is exclusively used by the owner or paying third parties. A trademark guarantees legal certainty of ownership and provides the highest level of protection from plagiarism and unauthorised use of the product in question.

talent releases - Talent releases are written consent from a creative artist (actors, models, etc) allowing the release holder to use any footage or recording of the artist related to the project(s) mentioned in writing for monetary (or otherwise) productions. The point of the release is to help settle any legal troubles surrounding ownership and fair use in the event of a dispute from the artist.

Location release - Written consent from a property owner allowing a production use of their property under certain terms issued by the owner in question. The form is handy as it not only gives details of the production to the owner but also covers the owner and filmmaker legally

Filming and performing in public spaces - Filming in public spaces is allowed to be done by anyone as long as its not for criminal purposes. most people can be filmed in public without a release form and no one other than the police have the right to stop you filming or right to own any footage you have produced. Always cooperate with police, and if you encroach on someones private property, stop what you are doing and move back onto public ground. 

Child labour laws - In the UK, children cannot work until the age of 13, and until the age of 16 do not have to be registered so long as they don't work over the personal allowance. There are exceptions for the creative industries however where all children below school leaving age, including under 13's, can work in a professional setting. In the UK children are legally required to have a performance license and a council approved supervisor before they can work on a film, concert, private event, paid public performance or in a paid sports game or modelling shoot.

Public liability insurance - Provides protection against legal action taken by a member (or members) of the public if any of the business' activities cause damage or harm to their property or to them. The insurance helps to cover both legal fees and any compensation in a lost lawsuit.

GDPR - GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is a law passed by the EU which applies to any business which provides a service to EU countries irrelevant to their country of origin. The laws included in the GDPR all relate to the protection of any personal data which can lead to heavy fines if misused as per a breach in the laws.

The key principles of the GDPR which must be followed are: All processing must be fair, lawful and transparent to the data subject; All data usage must be explicitly stated to the data subject, and only used for those purposes stated; Only the minimum required amount of data should be processed and collected; All data must be up to date and accurate; Data should only be stored for as long as it needs to be for the intended purpose; processing must be done in the most secure and confidential way possible; The data controller must be accountable for all data and its compliance with all the aforementioned GDPR principles.

Competition Act 1988 and the Enterprise Act 2002 - The Competition Act 1998 and Enterprise Act 2002 are the leading laws around business competition and are in place to restrict market manipulation and monitor signs of cartel behaviour and other forms of collusion. The Competition Act is in place to prevent a business with a dominant foothold within a market from unfairly manipulating that market or using practices that negatively effect its competition and consumers. The Enterprise Act enforces severe punishment on businesses who commit cartel and racketeering offences, including but not limited to price fixing, supply limiting and bid-rigging.

References:

World Intellectual Property Organisation - What is intellectual property?; Copyright; Trademarks
OpenLegal - What is a talent release form and when do I need one?
Peerspace - Everything You Need to Know About Getting a Location Release Form
Institute of Amateur Cinematographers - Filming in public
UK government - Competition act; Enterprise act;Child employment
compare the market - public liability insurance

GDPR.EU - GDPR

Task 4: The brand

Mission statements - A mission statement is a sentence or short paragraph which lays out what the business is trying to achieve, how its achieving that why. The mission statement should incorporate the business' ethics and values with its goals, which is important as it helps investors, employees and the wider community align themselves with the business' agenda through shared values.

Brand positioning - Brand positioning is how the consumer perceives the brand and its identity. A way to adjust your positioning within the market is to change your identity to a selection of key unique themes which you can inject into your brand image through advertising, product design and a website or social media page. These themes should resonate with your own values as well as appealing to the values your primary demographic. There are strong ties to consumer loyalty to the brand based off of the brands positioning, and this is important for public awareness, returning consumers and establishing an image within the community.

Values and drivers - A business' values are the principles on which the business is built upon. These values should be the driving force behind the business' decisions going forward across all functions from hiring staff to making financial decisions, especially taking consideration of the core values of the list which the companies brand will be built around. Business drivers can be a process, resource or a condition which affects a business directly or otherwise. It is the job of the business to identify, analyse and then harness these drivers for optimum output and business growth.

Ways of marketing - Marketing is important for any business type and there are many ways to do it whether you’re an individual or an organisation. A good way to market yourself is to set yourself apart from the competition and focus on a specific demographic rather than appealing to multiple groups of people. In the Information Age there are many ways to market yourself, ranging from the traditional ways of advertising on TV or through posters and billboards to now using social media and mailing lists online to reach out to the whole world if need be.

Business blueprint - The business blueprint is a compilation of documents which provides direction in the success of a business while laying out a life plan to anyone who takes over the business to do it smoothly and effectively. The blueprint is vital for managing staff effectively as well as predicting growth so that the business is fully prepared to deal with increases or decreases in demand and to make sure that none of the staff are being overworked.

The materials of a blueprint can be translated into training manuals for new workers, which is important for the customer as they can be guaranteed the same level of service each time they work with the business. Another blueprint a business needs is a marketing blueprint, which focuses on brand perception from a customers point of view to strategise the businesses customer relations. Use of a marketing blueprint can assist in the prediction of business growth vital to the business' blueprint and model, allowing them to keep on top of work and supply.

references: 

Investopedia - mission statement

The Branding Journal - brand positioning

Queensland government - Business values

Techopedia - Business driver

CMG Consulting - Components of an effective marketing plan

How to Entrepreneur - What is a business blueprint?

The Economic Times - The need to have a marketing blueprint

Task 3: Business Plans and Models

Business Plans - The business plan is a living document pertaining to the company's future in terms of finances, operations, staff and strategies in the years to come and are commonly updated across months or years. This is important in helping a business clarify its plans and set realistic goals for the future while giving the business and it's investors a way of spotting any issues and check the progress its made since the last business plan was made. Business plans are a necessity if the business wants any financial help from the banks as they will only invest if there's a solid plan in place.

Business Models - Business models are all about profit. Essentially their purpose is to clearly lay out the businesses objectives through its product, target market and expenses to generate a surefire way to success, and this model is also vital in attracting investment, interest and talent to a business. Like a business plan, the model is a living document that needs to change with the market trends and the companies successes and failures.

What is a sustainable business model? 

A sustainable business model is a business model that doesn't just focus on fulfilling the needs of the business, but also the effects of the worlds ecosystem on the needs of the business and vice versa, including factors such as the environment, society and also the future generations and how to least affect them. A sustainable business model provides strategies for the most sustainable outcome for the world as a whole instead of only benefitting the business, an adaption of the traditional model in order to adapt to a changing social climate.

references - 

The business plan shop - Business model vs. business plan

UK Government - Write a business plan

Investopedia - business models

THRIVE - Sustainable business models

Branding and brand identity: Case Study

The Social Shepherd 

The Social Shepherd's brand identity is based around the idea of giving clients a social agency that is fully committed to bringing in a good ROI (return on investment) result quickly while being fully transparent with the client. They don't have a specific target demographic as they accommodate for all different types of companies, however do a lot of long term partnerships with mostly UK based companies geared toward young adult audiences, which ties in with their staff being comprised of all young aspirers with the exception of their part time accountant. Their target psychographic is geared towards aspirers and succeeders, the people who want to take their businesses to the next step by hiring TSS to increase their media outreach while boosting profit and awareness of the brand. These people are most likely because of their drive and hunger for power and status, which a boosted presence would help them achieve. The Social Shepherd easily meets and exceeds the demands of its clients through proactive, strategic targeting of the markets and platforms the product would most likely appeal to.

One of their values is teamwork, which is shown through their commitment to the sheep-based imagery of the company, referring to its staff as a herd. The turquoise colour used across their brand shows intuition and creativity, while borrowing the openness and determination from the parent colour blue and the idea of growth and stability from green.

The Social Shepherd 'about us' page: mission statement and 'herd' photo

Trett Films 

Trett Films have based their brand around their goal of providing high quality, professional films and corporate videos with a story led twist. This professionalism is shown through their website design, committing to mainly using black, white and red for a more minimalist, powerful and sleek look. Another reason for my claim is the use of serif fonts all over their site, which is a very formal way of typing and shows a level of class in how they come across. Their actual logo consists of white, red, yellow and blue, which lines up with strong themes of boldness, dependability, clarity and balance and shown through their work and mission they clearly show off a certain level of each of these themes.

FilmQuip Media 

FilmQuip Media's brand is all in relation to being straightforward, open and no-nonsense. They are the largest and oldest media rental house in the UAE with branches in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and provide the best crew and equipment rental services in the middle-east, doing domestic work but also filming in both neighbouring and distant countries. Their single colour choice is blue which shows off this openness and self-sufficiency and their use of sans serif fonts show that they're also comfortable and easy going in their confidence of providing good service. The pictures on their site are all very professional and showcase off the equipment and services they provide as simply as possible.