Armadillo have officially launched the Durham International Brass Festival website for the second year running. For the very first time, customers will have the opportunity to purchase tickets online before they sell out. The new website gives brass lovers an insight into what will be coming up this year.

The festival includes brass-based music from all around the world, with a full mixture of styles and performances. 'Brass' celebrates all types of brass music, as well as supporting the growing fellowship of brass performers developing in all corners of the globe.

HealthClubTV and Armadillo are working together to help find the 'Face' of this new and exciting brand. Armadillo will be designing literature and adverts to help publicise the auditions to help find a potential new star. HealthClubTV is a virtual workout provider, offering workout excercise sessions that can be downloaded to a video iPod or mobile phone; the service is marketed towards people who have active lifestyles and don’t have time to attend the gym. HealthClubTV is on the look out for real people to become the face of the brand.

The ‘face of HealthClubTV’ will be involved with all promotion from billboards, flyers and online marketing. The lucky winner will be given the five star treatment as they become a recognised face within the North East. Auditions are being held on Sunday 11 May at the Copthorne Hotel in Newcastle.

Armadillo have been appointed to trial launch the revolutionary ‘Mac-Factor Compact Mouse’ in the UK. The 'Compact Mouse' is joint development between Apple & cosmetic giants Max Factor, and the brain child of Max Factor European Marketing Director, Arabella Isovaine.

She said: "There are over 10.5 million office workers in the UK and nearly 70% are female, that is a huge marketplace that should be capitalized on. By producing a unique disposable product in conjunction with a world market leader like Apple the marketing opportunities are breathtaking.”

Tainted Photography has commissioned Armadillo to carry out their Strategic Brand Development that will run through all Brand Development & Marketing requirements. Tainted Photography is a photography company with a difference. The company insists on framing each and every shot with a ‘Tainted’ angle, keeping the result fresh, edgy, stylish and creative but still incorporating the clients’ vision.

Jacqueline Wallace Director of Tainted Photography said: “We wanted Armadillo to let their imagination run free, we wanted a mixture of magical with a dark side, however also a bit of creative quirkiness but still an element of professionalism.

Armadillo's client Gainmanor launched their brand new spring campaign with a 16 page magazine called "Driven", which was distributed to 100,000 homes within North Tyneside. Armadillo were commissioned to design and artwork the magazine, to highlight key services and offers that Gainmanor can provide customers.

The first edition is packed with all the latest news, car releases and great offers and also includes the new brands Hyundai & Ssangyong, plus the release of the Fiat 500 and the Hyundai i10.

Rede Travel have commissioned Armadillo to carry out their Strategic Brand Development that will run through their Brand Identity, Advertising and Web.

Rede Travel is a travel agent with a difference; they offer a unique package which provides individual 24/7 personal service with extras you won’t find anywhere else. The company offers individual bespoke arrangements to make each holiday or travel individual and always add that personal touch that makes every experience completely unique.

Armadillo have been appointed by HealthClubTV to implement a strategic Brand development that will run through all Brand Identity, Web, Print, E-marketing and TV commercials.

HealthClubTV, is a unique online fitness programme where customers can download videos to their iPod or mobile phone giving a completely mobile workout for people on the go that don’t have time to visit a gym.

HealthClubTV has been developed by Chris Cooke who has worked as a personal trainer for many years and understands that people now have very hectic lifestyles, which is why he has developed this programme for customer on the go. Armadillo M.D Berry Burgess says:"This is a substantial bit of business to start the New Year off and were delighted to be involved in a leading edge business proposition that relies on the ever-moving progressing market technology to deliver it's message".

Armadillo have successfully produced an action film ‘The Museum Detectives and the Curse of the Phantom Claw’, aimed at schoolchildren in the region for the The North East Regional Museums Hub. The educational DVD will be distributed to around 600 schools in the region and will be used as a visual learning tool to stimulate and create interest in Museums in the North.

Armadillo launched the new Breathe Skincare account with the Echium - "Botox in a Bottle" ad for the revolutionary new flagship product Echium Anti-Ageing Face Cream in the Daily Mail and Sunday Mail. Focusing on the patented technology that Breathe have developed, the ad let customers know they can have Botox-like results from a bottle without the huge price tag. This is the only product of it's kind in the UK and demand for the product has been quite phenomenal. The product has even been spotted being resold on Ebay at exaggerated prices.

Breathe’s unique Echium Anti-Ageing Face Cream actually supports the skins structure, naturally smoothing fine lines and wrinkles, while preventing new wrinkles appearing. Not only does their revolutionary product dramatically reduce the signs of ageing, it is also free from any harmful petrochemicals, parabens and irritants, eliminating the health risks associated with the long term use of other products containing these harmful chemicals.

Armadillo have also successfully been commissioned by Durham County Council for the second year running to carry out the marketing for the huge “Durham International Festival 2008”.

Last year’s campaign was highly successful; Armadillo brought the look of Brass up-to-date, as they wanted to attract more than just the average brass lover. Armadillo brought together design elements and flair that complement the style and appeal of modern Brass bands, whilst celebrating all the tradition of brass, not so much a resurrection, more a reinvention. Neil Hillier, Arts Development Manager for Durham County Council said: “We are delighted to be working with Armadillo for the second year running. The worked they produced last year was outstanding; they helped Durham Brass come alive through their creativity and artistic flare. I think the creative innovation that Armadillo have will help us make ‘Brass 2008’ even bigger"

ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE
Creative - Web & Design - £neg

We are on the lookout for a special breed to work in Crayons. A multi-talented Web Designer with a great Print and Ad design flair. Must be able to design and help build all kinds of web, XHTML/Flash/E-commerce/CMS.

A thorough understanding of creative web is a pre-requisite, must be capable of producing fast and challenging and creative work. When your not producing the most innovative web and E-Marketing you'll be just as comfortable doing Corporate ID, Ads, Brochure, Direct Mail and anything else in between. Must have great ideas and be a walking encyclopedia on all things web based. Presentation and Management skills preferred- or certainly not frightened to step up to the plate. Must say Workaholic on your Birth Certificate. Self motivated, fast, and hungry to be the creative that you always wanted to be. We believe anything is possible and that somewhere out there, this rare breed exists. If you want to be be everything you want to be, lets have a coffee and biscuits.

All communication in the strictest confidence. Please contact

Berry Burgess on O191 257 8380 or email:berry@armadillo-creative.com

Sean Kelleher, Breathe European Brand Director, commented on Armadillo’s appointment: “After looking at the work they have done recently, and the concepts that they have produced for us, I knew straight away that they were the perfect choice. I wanted to bring a fresh original perspective to Breathe as this is a unique premium high end product. Their complete understanding of the uniqueness of the brand and how to position it on a global scale was instantaneously recognised within the first few minutes of a very refreshing presentation. We all knew that we had found our perfect creative marketing partner to both embrace the brand, and dynamically project it with strategic thinking, incredible creative flair and an excellent drive to embrace our imminent marketing needs.

Armadillo Managing Director Berry Burgess said: “This is a fantastic win for Armadillo, Breathe is a revolutionary skincare product with a marketing proposition that is totally unique, and while launching initially in the UK, has serious marketing aims to expand globally. We took a fresh approach to this campaign, all material produced has geared towards emphasising Breathes natural creams. We designed the Breathe brand to gear the focus to the products and the key proposition as they are so unique. We wanted the audience to be able to identify this straight away. The website and the packaging was kept clean and simple and understated. We wanted to get the message across that Breathe is made of natural products without harmful additives that all other skincare products have, this is a huge selling factor within the beauty industry.”

Armadillo Creative have just completed a fully interactive educational website for North East Regional Museums Hub and Children North East called Family Man. The project, which took nearly six months to complete, is linked to the national curriculum and charts the progress, development and life and times of fathers through time and history. The website www.family-man.co.uk is packed with information from key periods from Egyptian, Roman, Tudor, Victorian, WW2, Present and the Future. The website is an information portal for both schoolchildren and teachers, incorporating a separate Teachers Area with downloadable projects sheets from each period. Interactivity was a key area of exploration for this site and the site features dozen of educational and fun games like "Pimp my Spitfire' , 'Gladiator Dad', 'Daddy Millionaire Quiz', 'Planet Protector' and 'Cyber Story'.

Robbie McBride who researched and wrote the site information said, "This was a huge project to be involved in and took a lot of hours documenting accurate information. I was amazed at just how many variations there were on the year of the Trojan War!" Did you know that In Roman times your dad was the most important member of the family, he had all the power, even of life or death over everyone. When a new baby was born it would be laid at its fathers feet - if the father picked up the baby it would live, and if he ignored the baby it would be taken and left in the street to die or to be taken in by another family.

Berry Burgess added, "This was a fantastic project to be commissioned with, we really had something substantial to get our teeth into. One feature that we had fun with was possibly the biggest historical timeline ever on a schoolchildrens website. It begins in 4.5 Billion BC to the present day. When we began the project we were all amazed at how dry and uninteresting 'educational' websites were. Education should be both informative and fun, and I believe the creatives in Crayons have built the finest, most interesting website of it's kind ever. They also built 2 sites, one a Flash site, and the other a parallel fully compliant validated W3C accessible site."

Armadillo Creative have successfully won the contract with national trade publication ‘Truck Trader’. ‘Truck Trader’ is the sister brand of the national selling publication ‘Auto Trader’. This account win was all the more satisfying after competing with London agencies.

Armadillo have won the business to produce a campaign of Truck and Plant corporate adverts to be launched in business and trade publications. These adverts will keep within the corporate image of the company and the aim is to maximise publicity of the ‘Truck Trader’ publication.

pix: Client Services Manager, Clare Savory.

Armadillo Creative have been commissioned by Railsafe Systems to design and produce a brand new training website. Railsafe are expanding their already successful rail management company, and are now diversifying into the training aspect of the rail industry.

Railsafe systems work in partnership with network rail, to ensure their staff are fully secure when undertaking construction work on the railway. They are now expanding and will be delivering training course to different sectors of the rail industry.

Armadillo have appointed Client Services Director - Rachel Burgess, Creative Director - Lee Skinner and Finance Director - Pam Stewart, to the positions of Associate Directors within the company.

Berry Burgess said, “All three have worked tremendously hard over the last 6 months and they deserve the promotion in recognition of their commitment and endeavours. Armadillo tries to encourage and reward individual performances and efforts and they are all integral to the management structure of the agency. I look forward to their continual development.”

Armadillo is taking off this month with new International client Eastern Russian and ex-USSR Business Development Agency Jump2Russia. Armadillo will re-brand the agency and develop and build a new website, as well as implement other marketing activities across the board.

Alex Mironov, Senior Consultant of Jump2Russia has big ideas for the agency, and hopes that Armadillos fresh thinking approach will help him achieve his international marketing strategy.

Armadillo Creative has been commissioned by Hobart Rose Interiors to design and implement a strategic brand development, looking at their branding, website, and all direct mail which includes a loyalty card scheme.

Hobart Interiors currently sell their products directly to businesses. Armadillo have approached this project with their fresh thinking ideas; all material will be presented in a professional manner and will grab their audience’s attention. �

Armadillo have been commissioned by the North East Regional Museums Hub to produce an action film aimed at children, to promote all the regional museums.

The film will use the museums as a backdrop for an all-action children's movie which is hoped to be the first pilot for many more. The film will be initially distributed to 600 regional schools and used as a visual learning tool to stimulate and create interest in museums in the North.

Creative Director, Berry Burgess said, "Over the years I've done hundreds of TV commercials and this project is simply a natural progression from this, there is no difference between 30 seconds and 30 minutes, it's all about retaining interest and communicating a message. I think everyone involved in the filming, from the Producer, right down to the wardrobe department and the client will have a great deal of fun with this project. We genuinely hope that this may be the start of a series of many more museum adventures to come."

Armadillo picked up the substantial SCS website account in a competitive pitch against national and regional agencies.

Against stiff competition Armadillo were commissioned to produce a fully content managed website that not only showcased in depth over 120 sofas but was also packed with unique bespoke features. Director Keith Luxton comments, "ScS are a very focussed client who expect perfection and a high service level as well as outstanding creativity. This is a great piece of business to keep in the North East against strong outside competition. The site has since seen 7.5 million hits, which is phenomenal by any standards."

Incorporating a full data capture facility after registration helps future E-marketing plans which are currently being developed and designed by Armadillo. As well as producing regular theme updates for the site the agency has also produced in store Plasma Movies and E-marketing for SCS.

Only in America...

Armadillo have won the prestigious contract to build a website for LRTT a joint venture between Lufthansa Technical Training GMBH and Resource Group LTD.

The agency has developed, designed and built a bespoke content managed site for the specialised aviation engineering training company. Incorporating heavy corporate brand guidelines the site enables the client to update and amend information as and when required, with Armadillo providing a comprehensive training manual for the client to easily manage site administration.

PASSIONATE PEOPLE REQUIRED...

Account Manager - competitive salary+car+benefit

Experienced Account Manager: Fresh thinking, dynamic and enthusiastic. You will be responsible for managing and implementing targeted campaigns and projects. A good strong personality with solid business sense and excellent communication skills are pre-requisite. Presentation skills preferred, media and print experience useful. Must have ability to work both as part of a team and independently.

Account Executive - competitive salary

Account Executive: Ideally with a few years experience and a hunger to progress. You will work in a team and take briefs from clients. Strong organisational skills a must. Must be prepared to muck in with a variety of duties. This role offers virtually unlimited possibilities for a hardworking, focused individual.

Copywriter/Deputy Creative Director - £neg

Copywriter: Perfect grammar, great concepts, strategic thinker. Press, Print, Web, D.M, etc. Management skills are required. Potential possible Creative Director material - sooner rather than later. The individual we want should be at ease meeting clients and presenting material and pitching ideas. Great opportunity to for the right individual to create a mark.

Web Programmer / Designer - £neg

Web programmer/Designer: ideally CSS/PHP/MySQL/MsSQL/ACCESS/Java/ASP/ASP.NET/ understanding of Dreamweaver, Flash and Photoshop. A clear understanding of user-interface design and accessibility issues. A good knowledge of operating a consumer website, e-commerce, online communities and other internet technologies is required as well as an understanding of effective project management, accessibility and SEO. A rewards package to attract the best is on offer.

All communication in the strictest confidence. Please contact

Pam Stewart on O191 257 8380 or email:pam@armadillo-creative.com

The agency has been appointed by Ethnic Style to create, develop and market the new online shopping brand. Formed by Joshua March, Ethnic Style embraces the original, the rare, the contemporary and the chic to create a superior homeware collection so unique it’s timeless.

Sourced from all four corners of the globe, the product range has been thoughtfully put together to offer the highest quality, hand crafted pieces, all ethically traded and delivered direct, adding a touch of world culture to any living space. Armadillo created the Brand Identity and developed the brand right through from Product Catalogue, Direct Mail, Advertising, Full E-Commerce Website, Audio Visual presentation, E-Magazine and E- marketing.

Joshua March said, "It was imperative in creating a marque brand like Ethnic, that quality in all the marketing collateral was of the highest possible consistent level. Armadillo created a well rounded integrated brand that has the capacity to develop and grow and the finished work has already gained high praise from many sources." Armadillo Creative Director Berry Burgess also said, "I'm of the firm belief that you can only produce great work if you have great clients, and Josh was very happy to put his faith and trust in our vision for his product."

Brand Identity is the combination of consistent visual elements that are used in your marketing materials. However, many business owners have misconceptions about brand identities that can damage their businesses.

A basic brand identity kit consists of a logo, business card, letterhead, and envelope. It can be extended to include a Web site, brochure, folder, flyer, or any other professionally designed pieces. Having a brand identity is extremely important to your business' success. Yet it's amazing how little value some businesses put on getting the right image and brand for themselves.

A good brand identity should be able to build a positive, strong and long lasting impression on existing and prospective customers. The very moment a person views your logo, even a part of it, he should think of your company. Before you get Cousin Phil to get his clipart out check out the following

Here are the TERRIBLE THREE that could ruin your business.

Grace Li has joined the growing ranks of Armadillo Creative as Art Director. An M.A Graduate from Northumbria University and a former teacher from China, her multi-disciplined skills across print, corporate identity and web are a useful addition to the growing Crayons Department.

Armadillo Director Berry Burgess commented, "We are delighted to welcome Grace into the Creative department and her individual skills and strong design flair from across a number of mediums will be a useful addition to the agency."

In her spare time Grace loves swimming, karaoke and movies. She is a big film buff and loves the films of Jean-Peire Jeunet like Amelia which she thinks is an Art Director's dream film. Grace added, "I am delighted to be at Armadillo there is a great buzz about the place, they have a great approach to creativity and the work environment is very healthy to good creativity and I’m really looking forward to this challenging opportunity. Armadillo are a young agency with strong individual ideas and very specific direction and I love the fact that they have an open fresh thinking to every client problem that is not rooted in old ideas and methods."
Armadillo Director Jeff Jamison said, “Grace is just the right calibre of fresh young hungry staff that the agency are actively seeking - expect a few more appointments to follow."
Unfortunately her carpet putting skills are useless and Lee and Giff continue to take her dinner money off her, despites her continuous cries to tackle them at a spot of Kyudo - which we believe is something to do with a Bow and Arrow and some obsolete ancient Martial Arts and spiritual aspect of archery. Grace also fashions some of the most trendiest trousers in Modern Day Advertising.