We’ve got people in Spain, France, Finland, and even one team member bouncing across Eastern Europe (soon to be logging in from Colombia).

Since the COVID days, remote work has become second nature (or maybe first nature, depending on how you look at it). And while we wouldn’t trade this lifestyle for anything, Q4 of 2025 reminded us just how powerful both remote and in-person collaboration can be, especially when the people involved are aligned, passionate, and working toward something bigger.

This is the story of two big ICOM projects that unfolded almost simultaneously. One happened entirely online, across time zones and continents. The other was in person, on a tiny Mediterranean island.

Let’s start with the first one.

The power of virtual collaboration

Two years ago, ICOM kicked off one of its most ambitious projects to date: a full brand refresh. Like any proper project of this scale, it wasn’t about a new logo or a sleeker website – this was about real strategic realignment. About reflecting who the organisation is today and where it’s headed next, and how that determines how it presents itself in every touchpoint. 

In true ICOM fashion, this project brought together multiple member agencies from around the globe. Switch had the privilege of articulating the brand foundations – its promise, values, tone of voice, and the story it wants to tell. We were also entrusted with coordinating all the moving parts behind the scenes. A big task, and one we were genuinely excited to take on.

The visual identity was led by Ad Angels in Estonia, the website was crafted by ImageMakers in the US, SEO support came from Espace M in Canada, and the strategic direction was shaped by input from even more agencies worldwide. It became a real-time, real-world case study in international collaboration.

Yes, it meant 5am calls for some, 9pm wrap-ups for others. There were feedback loops, time zone confusion, and plenty of “you are still on mute” moments. But even more than that, it meant growth. Learning, patience, being open-minded, and a shared desire to create something that truly represents this incredible network.

Fast forward to October 2025, and the new ICOM brand went live: bold, confident, and deeply reflective of the network it represents.

All made possible through collaboration from a distance, and yet, with so much closeness.

The magic of meeting in person

A few weeks after launch, we had the opportunity to host the 2025 ICOM EMEA Regional Meeting in Gozo. And let me tell you, while I’ll always advocate for the flexibility that comes with remote working, there’s something undeniably special about gathering in person.

Gozo was a deliberate choice. We’d hosted our last regional meeting in Valletta back in 2018, but this time we wanted to offer something a little different. Slower, more grounded, and a space where agency leaders could pause the day-to-day and actually breathe, reflect, think and connect.

With that in mind, we decided on the theme: “From Gozo, with Growth.”

For a few days, surrounded by the Gozo’s green hills, sea, and silence, we explored what it means to grow – with new business, existing clients, as independent agencies and as a collective. There was strategy, of course, but there was also laughter, late-night chats, spontaneous brainstorms, and the kind of unfiltered conversations that only happen face-to-face, with people who just get it.

Hosting this event was everything we hoped it would be, and more. If I had to pick one word to walk away with (other than the obvious, growth), it’d be joy – because so much good came out of it.

And once again, it was a reminder: when you bring good people together (virtually or in person), magic happens.

These two projects couldn’t have been more different in execution. One happened entirely over screens. The other around shared tables, hidden away from the noise of everyday life, in peaceful Gozo.. But both were driven by the same values: curiosity, collaboration, generosity, and a deep belief in doing meaningful work, together.

And that’s what ICOM is really about. It’s why we’ve been proud members since 2006, and why we’ve worked as their communications partner since 2019. It’s a network that challenges us, inspires us, and reminds us why we do what we do.

So here’s to bold ideas, to remote calls and in-person hugs and to collaboration that works wonders.

The post From virtual meetings to Gozo: a tale of two collaborations with ICOM appeared first on Switch - Digital & Brand.

Do you ever feel like you could go hours talking about the technicalities of your business offerings, only to feel like you’re shouting into a black hole? Showcasing your value proposition and strengths isn’t about how much you say – it’s about how effectively you say it. Think about it: technical products are niche by nature, solving very specific problems. Marketing them demands the same level of precision to ensure your solutions are understood and valued.

Why We Believe in a Fractional Marketing Team (And Why We’re Biased)

At Switch, we’ve seen firsthand the power of fractional marketing teams for technical SMBs. It’s true – we’re biased because this is one of the core services we provide. But our belief in this approach isn’t based on what we do, it’s based on what we’ve seen work. We chose to focus on this service because we believe that it’s the best way to grow a business sustainably.

Too often, businesses tend to look for piecemeal solutions to solve an immediate need (or want): a one-off SEO audit, a standalone content strategy, some social media content, or sporadic ad campaigns. These services can help in the short term, but they rarely address the bigger picture. Marketing isn’t just a collection of tasks – it’s a cohesive, long-term effort that connects your brand with your audience, strengthens your positioning, and enables you to partner with clients at a strategic level. By aligning your marketing with your business objectives, you unlock the potential for more meaningful and sustainable growth.

When we work as a fractional marketing team we don’t commit to a certain number of tasks, but instead we promise to put a team of experts together to help you build, and run, a long-term marketing strategy for your brand. Since they’re not contractually beholden to a certain number of posts or efforts, they will do whatever it takes to help you grow your brand. 

With more traditional agreements, if you buy a set of services from an agency, it’s hard for them to come and tell you they’re not working, because the implication is that you’ll reduce their business. So while a long term contract for 8 posts a month might be a very comfortable thing to have for an agency, it’s absolutely not in the interest of the client to have something so rigid in this day and age.

Explore Our B2B Marketing Services

Discover how Switch’s fractional marketing team can help your business grow with tailored strategies designed for long-term success.

The Growth Bottleneck in Technical Companies

Technical businesses thrive on precision, innovation, and problem-solving. But marketing in this context is rarely straightforward. Business leaders often face three key challenges:

1. Complex Products Need Clear Narratives

Your audience doesn’t just need to know what you do, they need to understand:

• Why it matters,
• How it’s different,
• And why it’s better than the alternatives.

Communicating this effectively requires a mix of industry insight and creative storytelling, which is an uncommon combination that’s tough to maintain in-house.

2. Overloaded Teams and Leadership

Marketing often falls to internal teams who are already stretched thin or to C-suite executives whose focus should be elsewhere. This creates a bottleneck:

One of our early conversations with a now-client highlighted this challenge perfectly. Their issue wasn’t closing deals – once they got in the room with potential customers, their conversion rates were exceptional. The problem was getting into those rooms in the first place.

Inconsistent outreach and sporadic communication left their sales team struggling to secure those all-important initial conversations. Marketing gaps weren’t just frustrating, they were holding the business back, even though it was clear where the problem originated from.

3. Fragmented or Inconsistent Communication

When marketing becomes an afterthought, it shows. Inconsistent messaging:

• Confuses potential clients,
• Undermines trust,
• And ultimately reduces conversion rates.

The Case for Smarter B2B Marketing

Whether in-house or outsourced, effective B2B marketing is built on a few key principles:

• Clarity Over Complexity
  Technical products often address niche problems. Simplifying your messaging ensures that your audience understands your product while also seeing its relevance to their challenges.
• Consistency is Key
  The modern B2B buyer engages with brands across multiple touchpoints. A consistent voice and regular communication build trust and keep your company top of mind.
• Strategic Resource Allocation
  Marketing today requires expertise across a range of disciplines: SEO, content creation, paid media, analytics, and the ability to craft thought-leadership content that provokes meaningful conversations. 

Building an in-house team with this breadth of knowledge is a significant investment. Outsourcing gives you access to these capabilities without the overhead.

Why We Think This Works (And Why It’s Different)

Many agencies offer marketing services that feel templated: a fixed number of blog posts, a standard ad package, or off-the-shelf SEO recommendations. These services might fill a gap, but they don’t solve the problem.

What we’ve found works better is an approach that’s deeply tailored to the business. At Switch, this means starting with your business objectives, understanding your technical product, and building a narrative that aligns with your goals. This clarity forms the foundation for every piece of communication, ensuring all efforts – whether content, design, or lead generation – work together to move your business forward.

It’s not about quick fixes; it’s about creating a sustainable strategy that grows with you.

The Switch Way

We work with purpose-driven, innovative B2B companies in technical sectors, to align their marketing with their broader business objectives. From building unique narratives that capture your value, to creating marketing strategies that attract your ideal clients, and executing a plan that provides you with concrete and tangible results, we’re here to work side by side with you in the long term. And we’re committed to helping you grow in a sustainable way with all of the tools you need.

We know outsourcing isn’t for everyone, and that’s okay. But for companies ready to focus on their core business while letting a dedicated team drive their marketing forward, it can be a game-changer. And, based on what our clients say about us, we don’t feel like an outsourced team. We feel like we’re part of your team, your favourite part, most of the time.

A Transparent Invitation

We’re upfront about it – this is what we do, and we’re passionate about it because we’ve seen it work. If you’re exploring how to make your marketing more impactful, let’s have a conversation. Whether or not working with a fractional team is the right step for you, we’re happy to share insights and help you think through your options.

The post Fractional Marketing:  B2B Marketing Teams for Technical Companies appeared first on Switch - Digital & Brand.

I’m okay now, chemo is (hopefully forever) behind me, and I’m now preparing to embark on the next round of treatment.

But this post isn’t about my cancer journey (I’m writing plenty about that over on Instagram.)

This post is about what these last few months have taught me about leadership, culture, and the responsibility that comes with showing up for others – especially when you are struggling to show up for yourself.

Leading Through Uncertainty

Alongside the medical recovery came a very different kind of reckoning:

If I talk about it, do I risk burdening the people around me?
If I don’t talk about it, do I set an example that battles should be fought silently?
Is empathy in leadership about being open? Or is it about protecting your team from your own chaos?

These were the questions that kept circling in my mind for weeks.

And here’s the thing: I still don’t have neat, packaged answers.

But I did make the decision to be transparent about what I’m going through.

Not because it was easy. And definitely not because I wanted to be the centre of anyone’s attention.

Part of that decision was about raising awareness. The particular type of ovarian cancer I was diagnosed with (Low-Grade Serous) makes up just 2-5% of all ovarian cancers. It’s rare, it needs research, it needs attention. And one of the ways you get that is by talking about it.

But just as important was something else. I wholeheartedly believe that kindness belongs in organisations. It’s the foundation of any culture worth building. And if we say we lead with empathy, we can’t only do it when things are going well.

Pretending I was fine would have been hypocritical. One of the most important things I want to teach my son is that you should never hide parts of yourself to make other people feel more comfortable. And I cannot teach him that if I am not willing to live it myself.

Culture goes beyond what we see when everything is easy.
It’s what holds you when things fall apart.

When Culture Becomes Tangible

These past few months have been some of the hardest of my life – physically, mentally, and emotionally.

There were days when I couldn’t find the strength to get out of bed, let alone open my laptop or jump on a call.

But even on the darkest of days, I had something that every person in any organisation deserves to have: the peace of mind that I would be supported, fully, even when I couldn’t show up.

What struck me most during those moments was this: I was never met with pity or sadness. There were no awkward silences to fill. No uncomfortable conversations to tiptoe through. Just strength. Flexibility. Care.

And that doesn’t happen by accident. It happens by design. 

This is what we mean when we say culture isn’t cosmetic – it’s structural. It’s the thing that holds, even when everything else shakes.

Storms test structure. And I couldn’t be prouder of the one we’ve built together at Switch; a culture shaped by intention, held together by care.

For years, we’ve prioritised our deeply ingrained core values to guide every decision we make – whether it’s about the business or about our people.

We’ve made space for real conversations. About purpose. About what we stand for. About what makes us show up and feel fulfilled. 

So when I shared what I was going through, I got to experience (yet again) that those values aren’t just words in our brand book. They became tangible. They showed up in how the team responded. In how the work continued. In how I was treated – not as a manager in crisis, but as a human being navigating something hard.

A strong foundation doesn’t mean you won’t face storms. It just means you won’t be swept away by them.

The Test of Strong Foundations

Here’s the tricky part about having strong foundations: 

Living by your brand fundamentals doesn’t always feel comfortable. In fact, the strongest, most authentic values an organisation can have are the ones that push us out of our comfort zones by making us ask the hard questions. Again and again. 

For me, that meant showing parts of myself that don’t fit the polished, curated version of leadership we’ve been taught to portray.

What I’ve learnt though is that by showing up as our whole, authentic selves, we model something vital.

We show our teams that being human is allowed. That strength and struggle can co-exist. That we don’t need to compartmentalise who we are from what we do.

I can’t stress this enough: culture isn’t a line item on a spreadsheet.

It’s not a yearly quota measured by how many team-building events you’ve organised.

Culture is the invisible infrastructure that holds everything together – or lets everything fall apart.

Storms will come. In life. In business. In leadership.

The question isn’t whether we can avoid them. It’s whether we’ve built a culture strong enough to stand in the middle of them.

So I’ll leave you with this exercise. Get your team together and ask yourselves:

• Have you built a culture in your organisation that could carry you through both a business and a personal storm?
• Are your values known, lived, and visible — or are they just words on a wall?
• What version of yourself are you hiding at work — and what would it take to let a little more of it be seen?

The post The strongest foundations are built before the storm appeared first on Switch - Digital & Brand.

Every few months, we take turns in hosting a “Member Spotlight,” where a member has the opportunity to showcase who they are and what their business is all about. Last month, it was my turn. But instead of the usual approach in which I present myself and my role within Switch, I felt there would be more value exploring a topic close to our hearts at the agency: leveraging brand for business growth.

What made this presentation particularly enjoyable was the absence of any pressure to present myself or Switch within a sales context. It wasn’t about pitching services or showcasing case studies. It was a candid exploration of the risks we’ve taken, the decisions we’ve made, and the steps that have shaped our journey. 

At the heart of it all is our brand: the key element to our growth.

Normally, I’d pass the microphone to Ed, our Head of Brand, who has a unique talent for articulating our business and our clients’ brands in a tangible, relatable, and authentic way. However, this time, one of the goals was for me to step out of my comfort zone – I am not one who particularly enjoys presentations –  to share our story myself, offering a personal perspective on how we’ve used our brand as a cornerstone for success.

The Human Touch in Branding

The core theme of my presentation was simple, and a recurring one: a strong brand needs to feel human. Without this human touch, there’s a disconnect—whether with clients, employees, or partners. We are inherently wired to connect with brands that exhibit human qualities, making it essential for our brand foundations to reflect these attributes.

At Switch, our success is a direct reflection of the people who make up our agency. We have a team of twenty incredibly talented, driven, and kind individuals who I proudly refer to as business partners—because “colleagues” simply doesn’t capture the essence of our collaboration. Despite our diverse backgrounds and interests, we are united by the shared values that define Switch.

When we think about our brand fundamentals, our team is at the forefront of it: our goal is to make it tangible and clear for every team member to live and breathe it, effortlessly.

Building a brand that feels human starts with cultivating a team that embodies your core values.

When we talk about values, we’re not referring to generic slogans often seen on office posters. Instead, our values are deeply ingrained principles that guide every decision we make—especially the tough ones. 

We don’t consider values like ‘trustworthy’ and ‘caring’ as core because, frankly, if you have to say you’re a good human rather than show it, something’s not quite right. These are what I’d call ‘telling’ values, that don’t demand specific actions or behaviours. In contrast, at Switch, our core values are about ‘doing.’ They are deeply embedded in how we actively achieve our goals and make decisions, guiding us even through the toughest challenges.

As an agency, we frequently encounter a few key questions:

• How do you recruit talent remotely that fits your business vision?
• How do you manage a remote team spread across continents?
• How did you transform your clients from mere numbers on an invoice into long term partners?
• How have you successfully implemented a 4-day work week?

The answer to all of these questions lies in our strong brand foundations. These foundations provide the stability needed to navigate challenges or innovating in our work practices. Without them our agency would crumble at the first sign of trouble (looking at you, COVID-19!). They enable us to take bold risks that define who we are today.

Our brand fundamentals are the attributes that define who we are as an agency. They shape our beliefs, thoughts, and actions. Typically, we share these fundamentals only with our team during onboarding and regular agency reviews, but for the Vistage presentation, I made an exception. I wanted to highlight how these core principles translate into tangible outcomes, and the confidential, supportive environment of our Vistage group was the perfect setting for this deeper exploration.

Presenting to a group of different business leaders was a refreshing experience. Their insightful questions and thoughtful challenges pushed me to reflect even more deeply on our principles. The discussions reinforced the importance of looking inward to grow—whether it’s about attracting new clients, expanding relationships, recruiting the right talent, or building lasting brand equity.

Personal Branding Exercise

To conclude the session, each Vistage member was invited to reflect on their personal positioning statement and participate in a portrait session that represented their personal brand. This exercise underscored the importance of personal branding alongside the corporate brand—reminding us all that our individual identities are integral to the broader brand narrative. This exercise was a powerful reminder that a brand’s strength lies in the authenticity and alignment of its people.

The photoshoot was a courtesy of Ed, who shot some incredible portraits of each member—keeping in mind the essence of who they are, allowing it to shine through.

The Enduring Power of a Human-Centred Brand

In summary, the journey of Switch underscores a simple yet profound truth: brands that are able to clearly articulate their fundamentals are the ones that succeed at building authentic, human connections. Whether it’s within our team or with our clients, these connections are the true drivers of growth and resilience.

This Vistage presentation was an opportunity to share our journey, offer insights, and inspire other business leaders to leverage their brand for growth. As you navigate your own journey, I encourage you to reflect on your brand fundamentals. What story does it tell about your business or leadership? How is it guiding your growth, your decisions, and the connections you build?

Enjoyed this blog post? Follow Melissa on LinkedIn for direct access to her insights and more valuable content.

The post How to Leverage Brand for Growth appeared first on Switch - Digital & Brand.

I find that terminologies like B2B and B2C bring me back to my undergraduate studies when everything which had to do with marketing was purely theory-based. Although applying theory is (in theory) important, thinking too much in boxes doesn’t quite work in the marketing world. 

Ed puts it brilliantly in his The Power of Brand in B2B marketing blog:

Thinking specifically about Business to Business is an approach that removes some of our marketing obligations. In a way, it’s an admission that we’re about to get quite lazy with our marketing efforts, wrapping sales tactics in pretty colours and trying to pass that off as marketing. 

When is it B2B, B2C or H2H?

Let me ask you a question: are dog food brands targeting dogs? 

Whether we are trying to convince the end consumer to purchase the food for their beloved furry best friend, or the pet stores that should stock up on the brand of dog food, we are unequivocally talking to humans. 

Humans who have interests, hobbies and specific lifestyles. 

Yet, unlike B2C, whenever people think of B2B marketing, they tend to have a misconception that they are talking to faceless corporations. 

But who is really behind these businesses? 

Machines? 

With B2B marketing, audiences are often just grouped into job categories: business developers, sales teams, marketing managers. 

What is missing here are the elements that define each individual: their own goals, career paths and struggles. 

 We can’t forget that business buyers are human beings. 

The B2C model of profiling audiences should be applied in the B2B strategy too, and this is why we scrap these two terminologies almost completely and instead focus on human-to-human communication. 

We’ve been talking about H2H for at least the past 10 years, yet, whenever we mention the B2B work that we do, it is often believed that we are just talking to the corporation that is being targeted, and not the humans behind it. 

With that in mind, here’s our top 3 tips to tackle B2B communication.

Tip 1: The H2H profiling 

When thinking about the marketing strategy for B2B clients, our first step is the same one we take for B2C clients: we ask ourselves, ‘who are we talking to?’ 

Audience profiling is an approach that has worked in the B2C world for decades, and it would be a wasted opportunity if the same learnings weren’t applied to B2B marketing as well. 

First, we identify the primary and secondary audiences who we want to connect with: these become our references for everything we do. With every piece that we publish, we ask ourselves what the benefit for audience X would be to read this blog, or subscribe to this newsletter, or watch this tutorial? 

The three main questions that we ask ourselves for each effort and audience are:

• What benefits does this provide?
• What problems does it solve?
• What conversation can it trigger?

If it doesn’t answer at least one of the above, we go back to the question and tweak the strategy and execution till it does. 

Tip 2: Sharing our secrets 

We truly believe in the importance of providing valuable content that creates meaningful conversations and connections, and we’ve learnt to achieve this by revealing our secrets. 

A little like a grandmother sharing her delicious, super secretive chicken recipe, we share the things that we know work. 

This can be quite uncomfortable and at times can create internal conflicts because not everyone feels comfortable with revealing winning formulae – there is a sense of pride that can be difficult to let go of. 

As uncomfortable it can be to be so transparent with what we put out, it generates two great benefits:

1. Existing and potential clients reach out to discuss how we can apply our expertise to fix their problems.
2. Clients, suppliers, and other agencies might benefit from what we share and may choose to apply them directly – being a source of both information and inspiration is a great reward. 

When we plan our content, we deliberately mix business with empathy. 

Our ultimate goal is to provide business solutions, which we achieve by sharing knowledge and showing how to apply it. These efforts have helped us build great business relationships with clients, suppliers and agencies alike. 

Tip 3: From one human to another human

Keeping in mind the first point we made about human-to-human communication, we’ve been working on optimising the LinkedIn platform in the most human and organic way possible. 

Although brand communication is fundamental in your marketing strategy, we have found that content shared on LinkedIn by business owners and key team members performed significantly better. 

It is pretty obvious to see why that is the case: we trust in humans more than we do in brands, even when they are the humans behind those said brands that speak to us. 

I am not going to go into the details of how to successfully be present on LinkedIn because we’ve already written about it – if you’d like to check these out, here are our two resources:

Leading from LinkedIn

A guide to LinkedIn for Business Leaders

Running a business is extremely time consuming, and not everyone has the time to put into growing their personal brand on LinkedIn, so we’ve filled that gap by providing businesses with a concierge service specifically designed for organic LinkedIn posting. 

Human marketing is all about finding the perfect balance. 

Yes, selling will always remain the ultimate goal, but incorporating ways to find solutions to problems or provide your audience with unique experiences should be as important to your strategy, whether it is B2B or B2C (but always H2H).

The post B2B Marketing is Human appeared first on Switch - Digital & Brand.

It’s a fun place to be for the most part – getting to work on your very own property, and seeing all the Pinterest boards come to life is exciting! 

But it has been equally exhausting and stressful, especially since we had a very tight deadline to get the flat in liveable conditions for us to move in quickly.

A little background about us: we are organisational freaks .  We have a process in place for everything that allows us to live a more time-efficient lifestyle. Our calendars are updated by the hour, and we very much like to budget everything on excel sheets. We are guilty of being micromanagers by nature – but for this experience, it’s exactly what was needed.

Friends and family thought we were nuts for planning house works AND a move in just 8 weeks. The bet was that we would miss our deadline by 2 months, but alas, after tears, blood, and constantly chasing workers and suppliers, we managed.

The only reason we managed to get through it all, though, is the flexibility that our jobs allowed us to have. Here’s why.

A standard day during that 8 week period looked like this: virtual meetings, pitches, deadlines, launching mass-market campaigns, project managing, and dealing with 459 different suppliers for the flat works, DIY painting of the entire flat, improv-DIY fixing of water pipes, and keeping up with approximately an average of 60 work emails per day. 

I found a good routine that allowed me to manage everything and still end the day with fewer than 5 unread emails in my inbox (which, believe me, is a huge personal success). 

What I started doing was working 4 hours first thing in the morning, where I’d fit in as many internal and client meetings as possible. For the rest of the day, I’d get my hands dirty (quite literally) on house prepping – sanding, painting, dusting, cleaning. I’d then shower, have dinner, and get back onto my laptop where I’d catch up on all the emails and action points. 

I won’t lie – those days were long, and there was nothing else in my life. It was Switch, house works, repeat. I’d start at around 7am and keep going till around midnight-1 o’clock. 

But having a deadline to work towards (which we were really in no position to postpone) gave us the determination to make it happen.

Although my job gives me plenty of flexibility, I need to keep in mind and respect the people I work with. There are projects, deadlines and meetings that still need to happen between the regular 8-5, and I make it my priority to make it to those. Flexible working adopts the same rule as a relationship: it’s a “give and take”. I can’t allow my personal commitments to interfere with a colleague’s or client’s needs – if my input is needed for someone to be able to continue their job, it’s my responsibility to deliver these promptly and not keep anyone waiting. 

And this was also the case during the house move. I’ve joined meetings with jeans covered in paint, but a clean top, or reviewed proposals whilst sitting on a camping chair and using a stool as my desk.

In any other 9-5 job, where I wouldn’t be allowed to walk into the office after 8:30am (irrespective of whether I clocked out at 10pm the evening before) I wouldn’t have been able to achieve this balance of getting the office work done, while getting the house job finished on time. 

It really is all about finding the perfect balance between getting your work done properly and on time, without having to give up on your personal life and projects, while still being present and helpful with the rest of the team. 

Not that I am planning on going through another house move any time soon, but I must admit that it has been a pretty insightful experience. 

So here’s some key lessons that I’ve learnt over the last few months of balancing work and a house move:

Delegate tasks

One of my weakest points is delegating work – I am totally guilty and aware of it! Not because of mistrust in others (far from it!), but because I tend to bite off more than I can chew. I am not the best at pushing back if someone asks for help or if projects fall on my lap, which often leads me to take on more than I can handle. This goes for both my professional and personal life. But with this house project, I have learnt to delegate work more in the past few weeks than I had in the previous five years at the agency. And the best part was the feeling of it. Having colleagues that you can rely on blindly and know will step up for you when you aren’t available is one of the most amazing feelings you can experience while working in a company. It’s the true meaning of teamwork. 

Be intentional with my time

I’ve often fallen into the trap of believing that because I worked X hours of work throughout a day, it meant I was productive. The oh-so-overheard ‘today was a crazy day, I’ve been in meetings all day and only starting to go through my inbox now, at 8pm’. I guess it’s a little white lie we tell ourselves to make us feel better about the fact that we’ve worked for over 10 hours but actually ticked off very little from our to-do list. By cutting out some unnecessary meetings, delegating a little more, and being more aware of the time that I could focus on work, I managed to achieve more in less time than I would have on a regular workday. 

Learn that it’s not the end of the world

I work closely with clients, and I take each project to heart – which, I suppose, is one of my strengths, but also my greatest weakness because if something doesn’t go exactly to plan, it doesn’t go unnoticed:it will haunt me for months to come. I have often woken up in the middle of the night panicking because of an email that wasn’t sent on time, or spent an entire weekend annoyed because of a typo on a client’s artwork. And although these are all human errors that are bound to happen (and I am the first to tell everyone that these things happen and it’s okay and they shouldn’t let it affect them), I wasn’t capable of giving myself the same advice. What happened in those two months though was exactly that – I learned that it’s okay if an email doesn’t go out on time, or correcting myself for something that I haven’t done quite right. There were a few hiccups or delays that happened, and the world didn’t end. It was alright. And so I’m learning to cut myself some slack – not to the point where I just stop caring, but just enough to learn to balance it all out (and no longer experience 4am panic wakeups).

Oh, and the 4th thing I’ve learnt during this period, is that I might have mastered the skill set of plumbing – I fixed a water drain all on my own, and it felt freaking awesome.

The post On the move: remote working while renovating and moving home appeared first on Switch - Digital & Brand.

We’ve practically always operated as a remote working agency because we truly believe that inspiration and productivity don’t come by looking at the same four walls 9 to 6. Some of us thrive more at odd times of the day (it’s currently 23:51 as I am typing this), whilst others are early birds that love starting their day with a cup of coffee at the office.

So when we had to shift the whole team to working remotely last year, we weren’t worried. The logistics weren’t an issue, as the vast majority of us already work from laptops and were used to the flexibility of working from home.

What our main point of focus was (and still is) is making sure the team remains a team. 

Working remotely can feel lonely very fast. 

When the catch-ups next to the coffee machines, the lunch breaks shared together, the office chatter, brainstorming sessions, and Friday drinks get replaced by quiet home offices and scheduled video calls, it can make people feel very disconnected. The lack of human interaction, and the overall feeling of being part of a team – of something bigger, can make it easy to lose the motivation and determination to work. 

To avoid that, we make it a priority to meet everyone as regularly as possible. We work on a number of weekly, monthly, and quarterly virtual events that include one-to-ones with each member of the team, meetings by departments, and also whole agency ones. The purpose of some is to keep our internal communications up to date, whereas the others are aimed at keeping the team glued together. 

In this blog post, I’ll be focusing on the latter, and how we work on keeping creativity and collaboration alive. 

One of the most common comments we’ve been hearing over the past year is how everyone has been missing the brainstorming sessions at the office. These are a fundamental piece of our process for any of the projects we work on, but besides helping us come up with beautiful stories to tell for our clients, it is also a great exercise for the different departments to collaborate and think creatively together. Some of our best work was the result of agency-wise brainstorming (often accompanied by a beer).

We didn’t want the challenges of working remotely to stop these. So a couple of weeks ago, we decided to opt for a brainstorming session with a twist. 

We ended a regular Wednesday a little earlier, and following the quarterly meeting which updates everyone on what has happened the past quarter and what projects/goals/forecasts we are aiming for in Q2, we split the agency into different groups. Each team was formed by one member from each department (creative, marketing, strategy, and project management). The aim here was to get people to step outside of their teams so they could interact with others they may not deal with daily. 

For the scope of the exercise, we opted for a ‘fantasy’ client that we are all very familiar with: Spotify. The brief was simple: each team had 20 minutes to think of a creative concept for May the 4th: Star Wars Day.

We created breakout rooms, and let the magic happen with each team. Once the 20 minutes were up, they were all automatically brought back into the main call. 

Each team had 5 minutes to pitch their ideas. This resulted in discussions, building off each others’ ideas, a little friendly competition, and ultimately selecting the winning idea (which turned out to be the perfect mix of all the proposed ones). 

Spotify Wrapped for Star Wars characters. 

Our office’s Star Wars geeks had a blast working on writing the content needed to make the Spotify Wrapped as relevant to the franchise as possible. From Darth Vader’s guilty pleasure for Cher, to Luke Skywalker’s favourite Ocean Sound genre, we just had to give the mockups a try. And once we did, we obviously couldn’t not share them.

So here’s our Spotify #Maythefourthbewithyou campaign!

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#TAKEMETOMALTA

March was another busy month for Switch. After winning the pitch for Air Malta’s New Destinations Campaign, we got straight to work on both the advertising campaign and influencer campaign. A tight deadline loomed, but the excitement in the agency was palpable. This was going to be bigger than anything we’d worked on in a while.
The brief was straightforward: we needed to promote Air Malta’s new destinations outside of Malta. Locally, Air Malta is one of the top of mind brands when it comes to airlines, but it is still not that established abroad – especially in areas in which it hadn’t been operating.
The digital advertising campaign is vast, targeting 7 countries and the respective audiences within those regions. This gave us all the more reason for the ads to be as relatable, personalised and engaging as possible. If the message was going to be memorable, we needed to make it stand out among the noise.

Things didn’t stop there though. We were lucky to be working with a team at Air Malta that was open to fresh ideas, so we were thrilled when they agreed to work on something we truly believe in: Influencer Marketing. We’ve been proud advocates of Influencer Marketing from day one, and we’ve helped many brands expand their business through local collaborations – but Air Malta gave us the opportunity to take it one step further. We invited international influencers to Malta for a destination marketing campaign: #TAKEMETOMALTA.

THE SPONSORS

Between the 20th and 23rd April, we hosted 17 bloggers and influencers on our islands, on behalf of Air Malta. The goal was to show them the best that Malta has to offer through a destination marketing campaign.
Our work was cut out for us. Our target audiences in the 7 new destinations consider Malta to be a ‘party island’, a destination only ideal for students who wish to take a three-week booze-fuelled vacation away from their parents who think they’re ‘studying English’. We wanted to change that misconception; so we planned a three-day event to show the most Instagrammable places around the island. We wanted to ensure that the influencers (and their combined following of 5.2M) would see the gem we’re living in, and want to experience it themselves.
There was one restriction: we had to work within the initial budget allocated for the digital campaign. To work around this, Air Malta agreed to let us look for partners to help us make Malta’s biggest destination marketing campaign happen without breaking the bank.
The response was great – Corinthia Hotels were soon on board, providing accommodation through their three hotels (Corinthia Palace, Corinthia St George and Marina Hotel), and a delicious five-star welcome dinner at Villa Corinthia on the influencers’ first night.

A post shared by Vladisláv Karpyuk (@vladislavkarpyuk) on Apr 22, 2018 at 10:40am PDT

Ecabs also signed up as sponsors, providing transport throughout the duration of the event. From airport pickups, to drop-offs around the Island – the influencers were treated to first class transport.

A post shared by eCabs (@ecabsmalta) on May 5, 2018 at 2:54am PDT

Trabuxu, one of our favourite wine bars in Valletta, provided the perfect afternoon snack – a combination of excellent wine with cold cuts and cheeses, well needed after a stroll around the capital city.

One of our own clients, Danny’s, offered us a fantastic lunch after a long day of exploring the gems that the south of Malta has to offer (and yes, the influencers got to try their famous spicy beef cheek linguine, which they loved).

If there’s one thing we know, is that there can never be enough food. We were thrilled to collaborate with de Mondion from Xara Palace, who provided first-class service and food for the influencers‘ last dinner (and can we please talk about the view? ????)

A post shared by Xara Palace Relais & Chateaux (@thexarapalace) on Oct 9, 2017 at 8:57am PDT

THE INFLUENCERS

Finding the right people to work with for each new route took quite some time. We were after a balance of travel bloggers (people who are followed because of the blogs they write) and travel influencers (the ones who are known for their beautiful photos and short, yet useful, captions).
We opted for quality over quantity, as it was important for Air Malta to create meaningful conversations. Because of this, we chose to collaborate with ‘micro’ influencers over ‘macro’ influencers. This being said, there was nothing micro about the combined number of followers that our influencers had across their social media platforms: 5.2 million followers is no mean feat.
From Spain, we had:
Irene & David, from the Traga Viajes blog – a dynamic couple who are always on the go exploring and visiting new places.

A post shared by tragaviajes.com – Foto???? Vídeo???? (@tragaviajes) on Apr 23, 2018 at 11:59am PDT

Alii Moron, fashion and travel influencer – with over 160K followers on Instagram, Alii is known for promoting beautiful outfits in beautiful destinations.

A post shared by A L I I M O R Ó N (@aliimoron) on Apr 20, 2018 at 7:46am PDT

Dani Keral, blogger at Un Viaje Creativo – Dani travels the world with a camera in one hand, and a pen in the other.

A post shared by Un Viaje Creativo (@danikeral) on Apr 21, 2018 at 10:15am PDT

Nadia & Javi, the power couple from Travel the Life & Javi Cubo – this Spanish power couple have started travelling the world back in 2002. They’ve visited over 30 countries and launched their blog and social platforms in 2015.

A post shared by Javier Cubo (@javicubo) on Apr 27, 2018 at 12:41pm PDT

From Russia, we had:
Vladislav Karpyuk, the adventurous Instagrammer. Vlad has two obsessions: heights and puddles. If you scroll through his Instagram profile, you’ll see breathtaking views taken from the roofs of buildings, or stunning water reflections in puddles.

A post shared by Vladisláv Karpyuk (@vladislavkarpyuk) on Apr 25, 2018 at 10:45am PDT

Yulia Taskaeva, beauty and travel blogger – When she’s not travelling to Paris or Coachella for work and leisure, Yulia is either studying for her Uni exams or swatching lipsticks for her next blog.

A post shared by yulia taskaeva (@juliataskaeva) on May 2, 2018 at 1:00am PDT

Valeriya Kornacheva, traveller & photographer – Valeriya photoblogs her life, from places she’s seen (over 40 countries), to hotels she’s stayed at, to languages she’s learned and food she’s tasted.

A post shared by ????Traveler ????Photographer (@v_kornacheva) on Apr 20, 2018 at 3:39pm PDT

From Portugal, we had:
Susana Ribeiro, the solo traveller from Viaje Comigo – Susana started writing about her travels in 2013, and since then has won two awards for her blog. Her passion for discovering new places has taken her everywhere around the world!

A post shared by Viaje Comigo – Susana Ribeiro (@viajecomigo_susanaribeiro) on Apr 28, 2018 at 9:53am PDT

Carla & Rui, the travelling teachers from Viajar entre Viagens – when a geography and physics teacher decide to start a blog, no one can stop them. In between school holidays and days off, Carla & Rui have managed to tick off many countries from their list, and Malta was one of them!

A post shared by Viajar entre Viagens (@viajar_entre_viagens) on May 1, 2018 at 10:03am PDT

From Italy, we had:
Nunzia Cillo, writer and photographer – Italy is her home, but her heart belongs to the world. Nunzia writes about beauty, fashion and lifestyle, all while visiting and exploring new places.

A post shared by Nunzia Cillo (@nunziacillo) on Apr 25, 2018 at 1:15pm PDT

From Israel, we had:
Ella, hilarious blogger from Ella Travels Word – Possibly one of the most dynamic and hilarious people we’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. She’s passionate about everything, and visits every place with an open mind, no expectations and curiosity to learn about everything.

A post shared by Ella (@ellatravelsworld) on Apr 25, 2018 at 11:16am PDT

From Morocco, we had:
Zeineb Laouni, beauty and travel vlogger – Zei is a famous radio host by day, but has grown her following due to her passion for all things beauty and her curiosity to visit new places.

A post shared by Zeineb Laouni (@zeibeauty) on Apr 21, 2018 at 11:52am PDT

THE AIM

We had one goal in mind for this destination marketing campaign: to promote Malta as a holiday destination by showing how easily accessible it is thanks to Air Malta’s new routes.
Every detail of the three-day event was strategically planned in order to encourage the influencers to promote the Island, the airline and the sponsors. We took them to Malta’s most Instagrammable spots. We planned each location stop at the right time of day to ensure the best lighting for photos and videos, and we ensured that each meal was worth photographing. In a nutshell, we made sure that wherever the influencers were, there was a good-looking story to tell.
We encouraged the use of the hashtag #TAKEMETOMALTA for every tweet, story, post, blog and vlog shared related to the Air Malta’s destination marketing campaign – which resulted in over 300 posts in just under a week.

A post shared by Nadia ???? Travel the Life (@travelthelife) on Apr 25, 2018 at 2:04pm PDT

THE ACHIEVEMENTS

It’s been almost three weeks since we hosted the influencers, and the results are still pouring in. To date, we’ve recorded over 1,150 posts, stories, tweets, blogs and vlogs that were shared in relation to the destination marketing campaign #TAKEMETOMALTA; not including the blogs and vlogs that are still yet to be published, and all the photos that haven’t yet been shared.
Considering the tight budget and limited timeframe we had to work with, we were (and still are) overwhelmed with the positive results. We’re still compiling reports (the numbers keep growing by the hour!) but we can proudly say that the campaign was a resounding success.

A post shared by Nunzia Cillo (@nunziacillo) on Apr 23, 2018 at 10:13am PDT

The next stage was just as fun. As all the influencers returned home and continued to promote Malta and Air Malta (along with Corinthia Hotels and our other partners), we started rolling out the digital ads – a mix of social, Google, Yandex and VK ads) to promote the direct flights to Malta in each new destination.
This is just the beginning. As more conversations happen online, our aim is to reinforce the message that Malta is now more accessible, thanks to Air Malta’s new direct routes.
Keep your eyes peeled for the final results – we’ll be sharing them on our page the minute we have them.

The post Destination Marketing | Air Malta's International Influencer Campaign appeared first on Switch - Digital & Brand.

Here’s the how and why:

Whenever a Page will make use of such spammy content, systematically and repeatedly, Facebook will start decreasing the reach of such posts. This will result in lower engagement and reach of the Page. Ultimately, using engagement bait content will be counterproductive. The reason for this fight against engagement bait is that Facebook wants to encourage authenticity and promote meaningful conversations on the platform through the use of relevant content.
We’ve all been guilty of using this ‘cheat’ at some point or another, but Facebook is finally drawing a line and no longer allowing over-use of this sort of content to increase engagement and reach.
We need to keep in mind that Facebook’s ultimate goal is for the consumer to remain on the platform, and unfortunately, due to the continuous spam content, people had begun to lose interest in Facebook’s newsfeed.
This isn’t the first time that Facebook has waged war on bait. Remember when all the articles shared on Facebook would have these kinds of titles “You won’t believe what happens next”? We do too. Well, Facebook has managed to find a way to reduce that sort of content, and they will be doing the same with spammy posts.
One month into 2018, we’ve already seen a difference in the content displayed on our newsfeed, and this is just the beginning.
So what does that mean for businesses on Facebook? It’s a great opportunity to start producing good quality content which is both interesting and engaging.
Remember to please tag your grandparents in the comments and share this article with your pet. Thanks. ????

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