Round 1: Easy

Teams could choose a maximum of 12 items from the following:

• 2 balloons
• a handful of cotton wool
• a handful of polystyrene thingamagigs
• 1 cardboard cup
• 30cm of masking tape
• 1 straw
• 1 kebab stick
• 1 sheet of newspaper
• 1 rubber band
• 3 squares of toilet paper
• 1 plastic bag
• 1m of cling film

Two of the teams opted to bundle up their egg in as many layers as possible before placing it between two semi-inflated balloons, providing protection from absolutely every angle. The third team went for a contraption that will maximise bounce on impact while preventing the egg cup from hitting the ground. Check out the super anxious moments of tension, captured only minutes before the great egg drop:

Team 1: Tom, Melissa, Mike and Bre

Team 2: Kristie, Roderick and Craig

Team 3: Andrea, Rik, Matt and Tina

The time had come. There was no going back. It was out the balcony, one contraption at a time, waiting to be inspected by the anxious team members waiting in the street below. You could cut the tension with a knife. Whose egg would survive the fall? Whose dreams would be smashed into a mess of yellow slime?

As it turns out: nobody’s. All 3 eggs returned safe and sound, with not so much as a crack to prove that they’d just fallen 3 storeys. Ah well – on to round 2!

Round 2: Not-so-easy

This time, the teams could only choose 10 items from the following:

• 1 rubber band
• 1 straw
• 1 kebab stick
• 10cm of masking tape
• 2 squares of toilet paper
• 1 sheet of newspaper

Things just got real serious. Ideas included:

None of which were any good, I’m afraid. All three packages hit the ground with an almighty splat that was heard all the way up in the boardroom.
So yeah – no clear winners, no clear losers, but a pretty fun session nonetheless.
Omelette, anyone?

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Her job title says it all: Martina is a busy person. She forms part of the demi-god administration team that keeps the agency running smoothly.
She spends her working hours handling paperwork on her 3 (yes, three) monitors, only popping up for air for sustenance around tea time to unveil her latest baking invention.
So she keeps us in check, and she bakes. As you can imagine, we love her dearly 🙂
Last Friday, it was Tina’s turn to bring something to the boardroom table. Looking for a much-needed break from numbers and figures, she decided it was time to unwind and get to know each other a little better, starting from our early years and leading straight up to the random stories one would tell around a campfire.

Part 1: Oh Baby

Everyone received an envelope with their name on it, which included the pieces to two puzzles: One is a baby photo of an unidentified colleague, the other is a hint to help you figure out who they are. For some, it was obvious (Debbie’s hint was a dancing couple and Roderick’s was a broadsword – no-brainer!)

The others took a little figuring out, but the stories behind each of the photos got the team-bonding going steady. The beer helped too.
Can you guess who’s who? Quite a few of us couldn’t make it that afternoon, so that’ll make things a little harder if you’re expecting a few familiar faces 😉

Part 2: Lucky Dip

Just when we thought things were getting intimate (I mean, three of the photos were bath-time treasures after all) Tina took it to the next level.
1 bowl, full of more folded strips of paper than you could count. Everyone grabs a handful of strips and has a few minutes to read through the questions he or she has picked up. Some were super personal, others has us laughing out loud.
We heard about fears and phobias (note to self: never plan a Switch event at a theme park). The guys shared fond memories of cartoon crushes (remember Fujiko?) We heard about mean taunts from teen years, life in other countries, someone’s history as a child model, first kisses and the superpower that Keith would go for if he had the choice.

There were sweet moments, sad moments and literal LOLs, all within the last hour of the week.
Nice one, Tina – that was definitely a team-bonding session.

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Enter our latest blog series

Every week, we’ll have a quick round-up of what went on the week before – starting with last Friday and Andrea’s game of Drawception.

The concept is pretty simple, especially if you ever played Chinese Whispers as a kid. Everyone’s given one long sheet of plain paper, a pencil, and a task: you must think of any sentence or phrase and write it at the top of the paper.

At this point everyone’s brain will, of course, blank

Once you’re functioning again and everyone’s written their sentence, you then pass on your sheet to the person on your left. This person reads your phrase and must attempt to draw an interpretation of the phrase. The key work here being “attempt” – please keep in mind that, while we do have a team of hugely talented designers at Switch, the vast majority of us can’t draw a stick man to save our lives.

When you’re done drawing, you fold back the sentence at the top of the paper to hide it from view before passing the sheet over to the person on your left. This person must then interpret the drawing to write out a sentence underneath, before folding the drawing back and out of sight.

This keeps going until everyone gets their sheet back – although most of the time, you wouldn’t recognise it from the end result…

Nice one, Andrea. Ending the week with hysterical laughter is always a good idea.
Until next Friday, folks.

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“Today is the first blank page of a 366 page book. Write a good one.”

Do you know what I love about that quote? The word ‘blank’ in all its clean, refreshing glory. Because after the well-needed rest over Christmas shut down, I couldn’t wait to get back to the office, clear out my workspace (which looked like a bomb hit) and get my work-life in order to set the tone for a fresh and tidy start to the new quarter.
I figured I can’t be the only one who does this, so I’m sharing the 5 tips I keep in mind whenever I’m getting myself organised:

1. The one year rule

If you haven’t used it since January 2015, chuck it or donate it. This goes for the clutter on your desk, those drawers full of expired biscuits and that one closet in every office where 90s keyboards go to die. If nobody needed it in the past 12 months, I’m willing to bet that they’ll still be there in 2017.
Sub-tip: If you come across a note or business card that you think you may need for reference some day, take a photo of it. Store it in the cloud or send yourself an email – you’ll be able to find it quicker, and you’ll have one less item cluttering your space.

2. Tame your inbox

Once your physical workspace is clear, it’s time to tackle the digital one. Email inboxes are a super personal space and everyone’s got their own system, but there are a few things which could help you keep things under control week after week.
You can reduce the number of emails you get each day by unsubscribing from newsletters you no longer read, or create specific folders and labels (with filters to match) to have non-essential emails sorted automatically without interrupting your daily flow.

3. Just say no… To irresistible freebies

I added this to my list a few months ago when we returned from yet another conference with bags full of freebies. Piles of magnets, stickers and pens that don’t write the way you like them to. They never survive the January purge, so next time, just say no.

4. Schedule calendar time for your own work

This is a new one for me, and I’m hooked. If you and the rest of the office use Google Calendar, you probably know that colleagues can add meetings to your schedule depending on whether you’re free at that time or not. That’s great, except for when you sit down to work on a Monday morning and find that you’re booked solid for meetings until Friday afternoon, leaving no time to get your own work done.
Problem solved – Set aside time for the work by actually scheduling it into your calendar. This way, your colleagues will know that you’re busy that morning and pick a later date for the meeting. Your calendar will still look pretty full, but this way you’ll know that everything that needs doing will get done.
(PS: Thanks Mel for the tip!)

5. Create 2 work zones

There’s computer work which, well, needs a computer. But then there’s other work that will probably happen a lot more efficiently if you’re not in front of a screen. Think time, sketching or poring over the latest reports for instance. Whether in another room or on the same desk, allocate a space where you can move away from the screen and let your mind work without constant interruptions.
It’s not a fool proof guide and it might not be for everyone, but taking a few minutes to clear up with these 5 steps has helped me keep sane on even the busiest of days at the office. If you have anything to add to the list, I’d love to hear it – drop me a line in the comments!

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Not your average stop at the pub

Anyone following our Facebook page will know that we’re no stranger to social events at the office. Our weekly brainstorming sessions, crazy karaoke nights, and renowned food days keep people smiling and keep the vibe light and airy week in, week out. We fell into a routine of organising the same type of events that everyone enjoys – some involved family, some did not. It worked, and things were smooth.
Then one day, just a few short months ago, Ed mentioned that he would be attending a conference in Amsterdam in May. Someone chimed in with ‘take me with you!’ and the next thing I knew, most of the office had booked their flights to a long weekend in the land of the long-legged.

One hour. Literally. Within one hour, almost every member of the team was booked for the first ever Switch trip. It was quick because it was simple – we already love spending time together outside of work, so why the hell not?

Dam you’re beautiful

Fast forward a couple of months – we’ve just chucked our backpacks into our 2 apartments before heading out into the gorgeous, gorgeous city that’s pulling us in. We walk around with our eyes looking up. We lie perfectly still in warm, sunny parks. We shiver in the cold as we walk home through dead streets (we missed the last tram, you see). And we devour every shop window, every museum, every wide open space and every narrow, crooked street the city had to offer.

And we eat good food. Because obviously.
Oh yes, Amsterdam is beautiful. We’re in awe – even those who’ve been there before. But what surprised me the most was not the views, not the locals, not the food. What surprised me the most was the group of people I was with.

Know thy colleague

Maybe it was because we were so far away from the office. Maybe it was the cathartic nature of the holiday following a couple of crazy months of work. Maybe it was the fact that we were literally living together for 4 days straight. Whatever it was, I got to know a whole new side to everyone – their comfort zones, their pet peeves, their limits and whether they snore or not (spoiler alert: everyone does.)

Forget falling back into the arms of a colleague who’s been instructed to catch you – this is real team building. This is throwing a bunch of real individuals into a new situation and watching them figure it out as they learn more and more about each other. New bonds were formed, new discoveries were made and, more importantly, a whole new reservoir of memories, laughs, and inspiration has been filled to the brim and carried into our day-to-day work at the office.
There were bound to be clashes and arguments at times – we’re a family of sorts after all. But now that we’re back at the office and well into day 3 of normality, the dust has settled and I’ve made my mind up.
The idea worked. We did it. We didn’t build a team of colleagues – we built a team of humans.

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You care

Start by working on having a genuine care and concern for your customers’ goals, objectives and needs. This is the foundation for everything you hope to build with them. It can work with B2B too, if you keep in mind that there is a person sitting at the heart of every business decision.
As marketers and brand stewards, client relationship is key. The structure and goal of individual campaigns may change from time to time, but if you think about it a little, there is always one constant: We are all seeking to move a person to take action, to buy our product and to do business with us. Ultimately, those people won’t do business with a logo or a mission statement, they’ll do business with people they know, like and trust.
If you keep this relationship in mind and speak to them truthfully, as regular people, using a voice that is both clear and authentic, you’ll begin to build that trust you’re after.

You collaborate

Social platforms are here to stay, and as we’ve said over and over again, it’s no longer an option for brands to avoid the social media landscape. The most successful companies to use it won’t be the ones using social to market to their customers, but those marketing with them. (Last week’s post was all about ‘being social’ as opposed to ‘doing social’, if you missed it.)
Giving customers a seat at the table has never been easier or more important, and this is where collaboration with affiliates comes in.
According to the 2014 Ipsos Social Influence Study, user-generated content is more memorable to readers, and 50% trust it more than they trust other media. In fact, millennials trust peer reviews a lot more than they trust professional ones – think about your online shopping habits: don’t you check the user reviews before you place an order?
You can use peer reviews to your advantage to make your brand more trustworthy. A collaborative approach that focuses on including your customers will make the conversation around your brand more positive – a refreshing change to the old approach of interrupting clients to blast them with one-way messages, don’t you think?
This is exactly why we at Switch Digital are in constant contact with the largest network of bloggers on the island. Through collaboration with bloggers, we’re able to encourage and, to a certain extent, manage the creation of quality blog posts that generate trustworthy brand awareness among blog readers.
Tapping into resources like this could get your brand well on its way towards becoming a household name through effective endorsements and quality affiliate marketing.

You inspire

Heart-centered marketing is what won President Obama his 8 years in office. The same strategy can also sell anything from an idea, to a service, to a bottle of water.
By getting to know your customers through the collaborative dialogue we just discussed, you’ll learn what it is that drives them on an emotional level. More importantly, you’ll be able to give them exactly what they want. You could speak to them with confidence, knowing that that you are offering something they find valuable. Just like Obama did.
The results will then speak for themselves: People will give you ‘likes’ because they actually like you, not because you badgered them into it. People will know about you because you’ve taken the time to get to know them. People will appreciate that you have invested in the relationship and listened to them. And when you then speak from the heart with the intention to better your customer’s life in some way, you will leave people feeling inspired.
TL;DR – What’s love got to do with it? As it turns out, a whole lot.
Finding the authentic voice of your brand and respecting your customers enough to develop and cultivate a real relationship with them will lead to a win-win scenario which seriously pays off in terms of long-term equity and loyalty. Heart-centered marketing FTW!

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Everyone wants to “do social”, when in reality, the secret is to be social

Let’s backtrack a bit and think about this for a second. Social media is called social for a reason. Nowadays, everyone is always online, always accessible and always sharing things that strike them as valuable – including their favourite brands. Now, more than ever, people turn to social media as a way to stay connected and up-to-date with the brands they love. This makes authenticity, transparency and real-time engagement for brands a must.

Think about the time you spend on networks: you scroll through posts from friends and colleagues telling you about their last meal, trip or shopping spree. Chances are, you click through to the people or organisations tagged in the post to find out more. Within seconds of landing on that page, you make a decision to stay and engage with the page or to jump ship altogether. That split-second decision is based on your immediate perception of the page. Does that sound about right to you?
First impressions are everything. Being open, genuine and authentic on the digital landscape means a great deal to the audience that wants to genuinely engage with your brand on social. Many brands struggle with this, probably because they find words like ‘genuine’ and ‘authentic’ rather… vague. But it’s important to find your own, personal voice to have an even bigger impact on the social sphere. This is not a new concept: Forbes mentioned in 2011 that the battle for social media authenticity is about showcasing the human side of your business to make your audience truly feel a part of your brand. Authenticity builds credibility – be real, be genuine and above all, make sure that your motivations aren’t manipulative (fans will sniff that out in a second).
It’s not that alien a concept, if you think about it. Just look at your personal relationships: they’re built on trust and communication, and it’s safe to say that transparency and engagement are two key priorities. The question is, how do you make it work with your brand?

That’s easy – start with the humans

It really is that simple. People like people, and the easiest way to connect with an audience is to show that your brand is made up of people just like them. After all, if it wasn’t for the people on your team, there wouldn’t be much of a brand, would there? Embrace their individual values and leverage them – everyone, from the top of the ladder all the way to the bottom rung. Write about them, give your audience a peek at the behind-the-scenes and be the leader of the conversations taking place about you and your brand by giving your audience something to talk about!
Now, before you roll your eyes, let’s quickly bring this back to you: the business owner. That’s right, there is business-sense in all of this. We are living in the age of the consumer: the key driver of your product or service and the person behind the all-important purchase decisions you’re looking to influence. Those consumers are the reason behind being social.
In short, treat your customers like insiders. Remember that sharing is caring and give your brand advocates something positive to share with the world. Talk with them, not at them, and build a dialogue that encourages your customers to interact and support your brand. We’re positive that with enough effort, this will lead to social media success.
Want to know more about improving your social media marketing strategy? This might be what you’re looking for. 

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It’s all about the timing

Schedule your emails, tweets, updates and blog posts to go live at a time that’s suitable for your audience.
When’s that? Well, that depends on three things:

– The platform you’re using: Twitter is usually buzzing around lunchtime, while LinkedIn is always a ghost town on Fridays. Think about the network you’re using before scheduling posts.

– The audience you’re targeting: If your audience works from 9 to 5, for instance, try to publish Facebook posts during the afternoon slump, as most people won’t check social media during the morning rush.

– The type of engagement you’re after: Looking to build awareness about a promotion? That’s great material for early mornings posts, when people sneak a quick peek at their phones over coffee. Do you want people to read your blog posts? Save it for late afternoons, when people will have more time to spend.

While these guides are a safe start, we would definitely recommend running your own tests before deciding on a time – every brand is different, after all.

Respond to direct interactions from followers

One of the most important things you can do within your profiles is to respond to any direct messages or comments you’ve received from followers or fans. Remember that these interactions represent people who have made the effort to engage with your brand on a higher level than simply viewing your content.
Whether the interaction is good or bad (in the case of possible negative reviews) it’s imperative that you respond to them as quickly as possible to return the effort in making that connection. Not only will you create a connection with a potential client, but it will also humanise your company profile and make it more accessible for future visitors to contact you directly.

Add a call to action

Do you want people to click? Ask them to. Want them to comment? Let them know.
Social followers are often so overloaded with information on their news feeds that it takes a clearly defined request to encourage them to take action. According to the Buddy Media report, Facebook posts with questions generate 92% higher comment rates than posts without questions, so a clear call to action could make all the difference to your post engagement.
As for Twitter, well, see for yourself:

A word of caution – please, please do not ask questions on every single one of your posts. Moderation is key, and overdoing it could make your posts less engaging and more annoying in the long run.

Use images

It’s about a lot more than a pretty picture: Kissmetrics finds that posts that include photos attract 53% more ‘likes’, 104% more comments and 84% more click-throughs than posts that are purely text-based.
It makes sense, if you think about it: As humans, it’s in our nature to communicate visually, and most people process images a lot quicker than text.
Here’s the caveat, though: Posting a stock image of a pretty face won’t do much. Ideally, your chosen pictures should be self-explanatory. The most obvious example of these are graphs or infographics, images that don’t need a caption to be understood. All in all however, the use of good visuals in your posts will make them more sharable and engaging. And bang on cue, here’s an impressive little graph to demonstrate the effectiveness of images in tweets, courtesy of Buffer:
 There you have it – 4 tips to improve your social media marketing effectiveness. Making small improvements like these could get you to know your audience better and interact with them on their terms. By making it easy and attractive for them to engage with you, you can elevate your brand and continue to drive revenue through your efforts. Not bad for 140 characters or less.
Want to know more about improving your social media marketing strategy? This might be what you’re looking for. 

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Results

The site was ready to launch within a couple of months, and once the offices opened for business we received very positive feedback on both projects. All in all, a great project to work on – and thanks to everyone at GX4 Projects for being such great clients!

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