"Route-to-market" Strategy

 Strategy 1: Trade Shows and Exhibitions 

As my business is providing a service instead of a product, the best way to go out and network to potential clients or employees is a trade show. This allows for more personal connections to anyone I'm trying to sell the idea to and also gives way to discussion with any competition that may present itself. The main issue with this route is costs, as prices to pitch vary per show and if it's far away external costs like fuel and accommodation might have to be taken into consideration. It would be efficient at picking up interest from people looking for new talent as well as generating exposure in general as word of mouth travels far and wide.

How I would implement my business at a trade show would be by bringing along some of the employees to talk about their experiences, as well as presenting a couple of showreels to highlight the quality of content produced. This would hopefully establish an interest in not only the services which can be provided, but also raise awareness to the overall mission of my business.

Strategy 2: Selling online 

While not selling a product, my business would benefit from a website to put out information about what the company actually does, showcase work made by our talent and also provide blog-like updates on the progress of some of the trainees with input from them explaining what they do and how they're taught. This can also be a platform to open up applications or organise workshopping sessions to pull in more trainees and clients. On another side of the website will be a page for hiring out staff and potentially equipment, with a store that allows people to buy any in-house features that haven't already been distributed for free.

Branding

 Digital logo designs - 

This design I felt was simple and understandable, with easy colours to represent the coastal location which is a running theme in my branding, blue being the sea while the white represents the waves. The name 'Coastal Creatives' ties into this theme by including the word coastal, but is also clear in the business' purpose with creative. The slogan 'Making waves in the industry' is a play on this theme, with the text being warped around the wave to match up with it.

This design is a variant of my first idea, however removing the tile and instead leaving the waves on a blue background. Another addition is the slogan going all around the circle, which signifies a circular flow of motion representing how my business will operate by putting money into trainees who then earn back money for the business which will partly go towards helping the community.

This design is a banner variant of the first design, with the circular shape and waves still featuring prominently, however the business name and slogan appear alongside it on a separate banner. this design was made with social media banners in mind, being 500x1500 in size to match the format.

This design was created to be a more minimalist, blocky design. With the idea of having a sharper rectangular design to strike the viewer more, and having a simplistic title and slogan only design to make them be the focus of attention. The small waves underneath are to both underline the lettering, while also providing a small amount of smoothness to the mostly rough design.

This design was made to address the lacklustre of the 4th design by adding smoothness to the rectangular design while also doubling down on the coastal theming. This design is the only to include a beach, making it appear more coast-like, and has the addition of a boat to act as a symbol of the business, much like the Starbucks mermaid or the McDonalds 'M'. the thin waves add layering to the design to help fill out the large amounts of space.

Final Design - 

  

My final design incorporates the wave and circle design however omits the company title, instead opting for a letter 'C' shaped by the block capital slogan "Making waves in the industry." I feel this design portrays what I want to get across while also using the space without filling it out too much.

Asset Packs - 

This banner was created for Facebook, fitting the sizing rules of 820x360px. Facebook banners also have a 'safe zone' which lies in the middle and can be viewed on all platforms, whereas certain border elements are PC or mobile only. my graphics and details lie within this 640x312px.

This is sized to fit in any profile thumbnails, for twitter, Facebook, instagram, etc and can be sized accordingly due to its large size.

This is a twitter banner designed at 1500x500px to fit the mould and is a more simple version of the Facebook banner as the logo will be present next to it in the form of the thumbnail. this design in its raw form has many opportunities for reshaping itself to fit other moulds too.

Copland reshoot and evaluation

 

I thought that the shooting of the film and the overall editing process went quite well, with a couple different versions being picked apart until we found the one we wanted to finish with. I think the joint editing process went really well as we both focused on doing the parts of editing that the other might have been better at but we needed practice with so it created a nice level of challenge and skills development. One thing that could have gone better was the acting, especially mine, but as a first time actor in a spoken role it seemed like a good first attempt and I'm proud of what we ended up with. If I could do it again I would maybe try and get more involved in the camera side as its where my passions lie however only if it involves picking up new skills. This time around having the experience of getting to play a major acting role was an enjoyable but nerve racking experience and has helped me develop well.

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