You might remember that earlier this year we started work on revamping a local music venue – Bedford Esquires. Well, things have been going from strength to strength and, with all three bars now open, we’ve seen many a packed house.

We’re now working on, amongst other things, building the reputation of the venue as a great place to go to see live Blues acts. We’ve already had Clare Free come and do a Sunday Session and we’ve just secured bookings for the legendary US Delta Blues man Kent DuChaine (The Sunday Times described him as one of the best five concerts nationwide – for all music genres),  ‘Blues Rock Powerhouse’ (The Guardian) Larry Miller has added Esquires to his tour dates in July and American blues icon Patrick Sweany will be gracing the Esquires stage during his UK tour in November.

October will also see the very first ‘Bedford Beer and Blues Festival’ with a view to putting Bedford Esquires firmly on the map as a premier Blues venue. Set over 3-4 days it will bring some of the finest touring Blues artists to the venue with a chance for attendees to sample some of the finest ales available. At The Riot Squad we’re extremely excited about the PR and promotional opportunities we can explore for this event.

There was a time when the only famous ‘Blues’ in Bedford was our exceptional rugby team. Not any more…

Check out www.bedfordesquires.co.uk for dates and ticket details.

There was no room for the squeamish at RIOT HQ when we were asked to help a new pet acupuncture company launch its services to pet owners in the South West of England.

This holistic animal treatment is growing in popularity and can lead to real pain relief benefits for the animal in question – many of them actually fall asleep during treatment as it can be so relaxing.

We’re currently in the early stages of developing the launch strategy including brand development, sales collateral and a PR programme in time for a summer launch initially focusing on Bath and the surrounding areas.

Time for a bit more info about one of our latest projects which has seen us develop a range of packaging for a premium pet food specialist.

The natural pet care manufacturer has been promoting healthy lifestyles for cats and dogs since 1951, developing complete and complementary foods, herbal medicines, herbal supplements, homeopathic remedies and aromatherapy products.

Our brief was to help refresh their food pouch and tray packaging with some new photography and improved label mechanic to give even better shelf presence. The results are in production as we speak and should be hitting shelves shortly.

We’re already sharpening our claws ready for the next brief….ahem.

Okay – time for the apology – we know we’ve been a bit quiet recently but that’s a sign of how busy last month has been.

What’s more, as a result of one of our latest briefs we’ve had to welcome an industry expert to join The R!ot Squad. We have been sworn to secrecy about the project itself for the time being but the identity of the expert might give you an insight into the particular project at hand….

…we can assure  you it is one tasty brief.

The benefits of ‘passing it on’

Our resident English graduate and self-professed bookworm Olivia has been selected as one of 20,000 applicants to take part in the inaugural World Book Night campaign on 5^th March.

The idea is for each applicant to choose one book that they have read and enjoyed from a list of 25 carefully selected titles, ranging from novels to biographies. Each candidate is then given 48 free copies of that book to give away to whoever they feel will enjoy it – ideally to reluctant readers or to those who wouldn’t ordinarily read a book of that particular genre. One million books will be given away in total as part of the scheme.

The marketing concept behind the campaign is simple, but clever – each applicant has volunteered to participate and so is already enthusiastic about your product and keen to promote it on your behalf.  Each applicants then becomes an active brand ambassador – distributing the product for you to 48 new people who will potentially become fans for the future.

The books are almost guaranteed to be well received – everyone likes getting something for nothing, and as there is no sign up, no hidden catch, no obligation to participate, the recipients of the books are free to simply enjoy the book and perhaps, because of the goodwill nature of the campaign, will be encouraged to pass the book on again or to purchase other books by the same author.

As an added bonus, all books are collected locally, driving footfall to libraries and booksellers, thus providing benefits and potential sales opportunities for businesses in the community.

Yes, the authors have to give away product for free but the cost of this is offset against the fact that their books are reaching a much wider audience – every brand ambassador is tasked with not only encouraging 48 new people to engage with the product, but will also enthusiastically promote it. Who better to market your product for you than the people that already use it and love it?

Liv has selected Kate Atkinson’s Case Histories as her novel of choice and will be giving away her copies during the week after World Book Night on 5^th March. To find out more about the World Book Night campaign visit www.worldbooknight.org

2011 has seen a scorching start to the year for the Heatline team.

As part of helping the radiator experts ignite the launch of two new boilers we’ve put together a range of launch materials, developed sales messages, created new packaging and are currently updating the website to reflect the introduction of the new models.

This launch will help Heatline fire up independent merchants and DIY multiples across the UK as they continue to build their product portfolio with the backing of one of Europe’s largest heating manufacturers.

Getting everything finished in time had us sweating a little, pumping out ideas and burning the candle at both ends but we’re confident everything will radiate creativity and the client will give us a glowing reference.

And hopefully that’s all the heating puns out of our system now too.

That’s right. You saw it here first. The all-new advertising for Bedford Esquires.

This is the first time the new branding has been shown anywhere other than our design studio (and in one or two top-secret presentations) but it’s time we started turning the wheels of publicity and we hope the above ad will put a marker down as to where we want to take things.

Essentially it’s all about entertainment and making the most of the three venues in the building – as you can see there are already changes afoot.

What do you reckon so far?

Our latest campaign for Canada Life is now landing on desks of financial advisers across the UK – aimed at increasing interest in the company’s group income protection product.

With a focus on employee rehabilitation – and commitment to looking at what they CAN do rather than what they can’t, Canada Life plans to help more people return to work than ever this year, providing financial savings for employers and helping ensure they remain as productive as possible.

A welcome change to traditional group income protection policies.

We’re delighted to announce that R!ot Squad Music will soon be helping to put Bedford’s Esquires back on the national map.

Using our design, advertising, promotion and PR experience we’ll be focused on attracting music – and entertainment – lovers to the iconic venue which has previously hosted the likes of Muse, Elbow and The Libertines.

The official handover is due to take place early next week and top of our list is to start looking at refreshing the identity and planning a launch event in addition to investigating advertising opportunities.

A great start to 2011!

*the above article comes from Bedford Times & Citizen on Thursday 6th January, 2011 – click here to see more