Instagram & Facebook – Why?


A few hours ago I read that Facebook had acquired Instagram for $1bn… aptly enough, this news came to me via my Facebook feed. There’s also an official release here from Mark Zuckerberg My first thought once I checked the legitimacy Read more

Return On Influence: The New ROI


There is not a single activity in business which is exempted from a query regarding return on investment.  Focused strategic planning and expenditure to optimise your e-commerce mix is known to be an investment worth making for product and Read more

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Other stuff

Generate Advantage from Generate UK

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Dan Gascoyne in Other stuff | Leave a comment

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Excerpt: Don’t get caught out by advertising a price that is not competitive or a product that has been discontinued.  Typically a business will spend a considerable amount of time carrying out price comparison tasks. This task is usually carried out by an expensive in-house resource that will look at each product range on your own site and compare it with your online competitors.  This data usually becomes out of date very quickly as your competitors are also doing the same. Generate UK now offers Generate Advantage, a unique service that compares your advertised price on all your products against your competitors.  We track this information on a daily basis and report back to you.  Reports will be emailed to you each morning will show the latest price and stock levels of each product including changes which have occurred since the previous day. Weekly/Monthly reports are generated with statistical data on each product. Price changes are graphically displayed comparing each company over a period of time. Daily Competitor Price and Stock Tracking Typically if the information is displayed on your competitor’s website then we can track it. Reports can include and display price and stock levels for each of your competitors with information presented in a clear and easy to understand manner. Better Visibility of your Competitor Price Changes, Product Ranges and Focuses How often are your competitors changing their prices and what are they changing them too? With Generate Advantage you will be able to clearly see where the price shifts are occurring as well as…


2012 is looking great following a strategic acquisition.

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Kim in Blogging, Business Development, Customers, Digital Marketing, Events, Featured, Online Reputation, Other stuff, Social Media, Web Design, Web News | 1 Comment

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Excerpt: In December 2011, Generate UK were delighted to complete on the acquisition of Web on High, an 11 year old digital marketing agency based in Newbury, Berkshire. Following this announcement, Generate UK will be moving to new premises at New Greenham Park. Following the acquisition; Generate UK now have over 20 digital specialists ranging from creative designers, an award winning development team, experienced SEO Experts and a wonderful team of Account Managers. When you make a big move like this, it’s hard not to look back and appreciate how far you’ve come. In 2008 the economy was at the start of the recession and whilst this scenario was a concern, the Generate UK Directors, Mike Robinson and Joe Baily stuck to their vision and took a giant leap of faith. They understood that despite the uncertainties, there would be a need for an agency who would help companies bridge the gap through expert knowledge and resource, offering measurable returns through emerging technologies. Our history and our ever growing client basis proves they were both right. It’s hard to believe that Generate UK began as a 2 man team, we’re now over 20 strong! Having a larger team is already proving successful with more ideas and expertise which can be passed on to our clients allowing us to be even more proactive then before. What about the new office? It’s brilliant! We have a nice big open plan office, flatscreen TV’s, a lovely big meeting room and the Director’s are keen to continually invest as they…


Fabulous Flowers Goes Live

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Kim in Blogging, Customers, Digital Marketing, Events, Other stuff, Web Design, Web News | Leave a comment

Earlier this year, Generate UK was contacted by a company based in Abingdon and Oxford, Specialising in Flower Displays and Floral Art called Fabulous Flowers. This was a project that instantly caught our eye, as we spotted a great opportunity to let our creativity run wild, creating a great looking website for an amazing up and coming company. Thanks to a great idea by the owners of Fabulous Flowers, Gary Cooper and Matthew Taylor, we split the website into 2 halves, 1 dedicated to the sale of Gary and Matthew’s handmade collections and bouquets, the other dedicated to the promotion of the events they have provided for and their best works. This demonstrated Fabulous Flowers passion to be set apart from the rest of the market, demonstrating their attention to detail and individuality. By using eye catching colours and large, vibrant graphics, Gary, Matthew and everybody at Generate UK agreed that the site could not have looked better. Why not check out the site for yourselves at: www.fabulousflowers.biz


Instant Flood Sandbags : The latest technology

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Kim in Blogging, Ecommerce, Featured, Internet Marketing, Local Search, Other stuff, Web Design, Web News | Leave a comment

Generate UK recently purchased the rights to Instantsandbags and in doing so designed and developed a new website called Instantfloodsandbags. The product itself was not only innovative and new to the market but it’s ingenious space saving design and it’s real ability to keep the water out was exciting to us. The passion and drive behind the project from day one has been fantastic; symbolising the belief and high potential in the product. From the initial thought process Generate UK utilised the internal skill set to create a brand new site which really markets Instantfloodsandbags. In the last 2 weeks the product is being marketed through it’s dedicated Facebook and Twitter page which you can follow or like. The website is now reaching  out to local counties surrounding Berkshire, Somerset and even Ireland. The sandbags are made of a jute material together with a thin layer of cotton and they contain a water absorbing gel. You are also able to securely purchase the sandbags via Paypal on the website. Flood alerts may not give you sufficient warning, but an instant flood sandbag can be stored easily to defend your home or business! Please feel free to visit the website for more details Instantfloodsandbags


The first working week of a non ‘IT’ bod

Posted on June 27, 2011 by Julie in Other stuff | Leave a comment

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Excerpt: When I started work at GenerateUK, I thought I was fairly proficient in the world of ‘IT’, but hey I had only scratched the surface in my previous jobs, was I going to survive? Day 1, I was bamboozled by acronyms and phrases that sounded like a foreign language.  My head was swimming by the time I went home and with the mother of all headaches. Was I really in the right place? Was I ever going to learn it all? Did I want to go back for more the next day? Hell yes! This was something that sounded interesting and even for an ‘old bird’ like me, surely I could learn a new skill. I have to, my daughter is about to start secondary school and she of the generation where ‘IT’ is part of their every day life. Day 2, I sat outside the office contemplating, do I don’t I? do I don’t I?  That little voice in my head said, go on give it a chance, you can only go 2 ways, onwards and upwards or out the door! Joe made a passing comment as I walked in the door, ‘Come back for more then?’ With a  wry smile, I sat at my desk, turned on the computer and just listened to the lads chat in their foreign language, SEO this H1 tag that URLS, HTMLs, I busied myself with invoicing, updating a very antiquated filing system, PPC here CMS there, when was it going to end and make sense? Day 2 was drawing to an…


My Marathon

Posted on April 19, 2011 by Mike in Other stuff | Leave a comment

It was hot and it was a long (long) way, but after 4 hours and 43 minutes I finally crossed the finishing of the Virgin London Marathon. So far, no ill effects and I’m able to hobble around the office in relative comfort. My starting position was right at the back, which was good fun as this was where all of the crazy people wearing fancy dress were; the downside to this was that it took a long while to get through the traffic and by the time I was at Canary Wharf it was over 20 degrees…. Training in January/February does not prepare you for that! I would really like to thank everyone for their sponsorship and well wishes; particularly my wife Donna who has supported me through more training sessions than I care to remember. It’s an amazing experience and I was proud to run once again for Tommy’s charity. I still have a little way to go in terms of reaching my fund raising target, however once I add in the people who have said they would sponsor me then hopefully the gap will begin to shrink. The link for the donation n page is here: http://www.justgiving.com/Mike-Robinson1 Thanks once again to everyone… suggestions for the next challenge?


An Introduction to QR Codes

Posted on April 11, 2011 by Fayaaz in Other stuff | Leave a comment

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Excerpt: Can you imagine a world without barcodes? Think about your weekly shop at the supermarket. The jungle that is the car park, the kids racing around the shop asking you to buy anything that looks like it might contain chocolate, the lines at the checkout, the unnecessarily loud self checkout, it’s a nightmare as it is. Now imagine that without the efficiency and ease of use that barcodes bring to the table. It’d be more horrific than the opening sequence in Saving Private Ryan. Barcodes are the best thing in supermarkets and now the next generation of barcode, the QR code, is going to make the rest of life more enjoyable too. What is a QR code? QR Codes or Quick Response codes are barcodes similar to the ones you find on everyday retail products like a tin of beans or a can of coke. The difference is that traditional barcodes are linear one-dimensional codes that can hold up to 20 numerical digits while QR codes are two-dimensional matrix barcodes that can hold much more information. Why would you want a barcode that can store more data? More data means that when you scan a QR code using an iPhone or any other smartphone with a camera, you can actually prompt the device to perform certain tasks. These tasks range from linking to a webpage all the way to activating the phone’s email or SMS function. How do you read a QR code? To read a QR code all a smartphone user needs to…


Run Marketing Boy, Run

Posted on February 25, 2011 by Fayaaz in Other stuff | Leave a comment

After successfully completing last years Reading Half Marathon, Generate UK’s Mike Robinson has decided to set himself an even bigger challenge and participate in the Virgin London Marathon on 17th April 2011. Over the past few months Mike has put himself through a rigorous training routine often limping into the office in the morning complaining about sore hamstrings. Although he hasn’t suffered silently at least his agony will not be in vain as he is set to finish with a great time and we are all incredibly excited to go and support him. Support the Cause As usual Mike will be running to help raise money for the charity Tommy’s, which funds scientific research and provides information on the causes and prevention of miscarriage, premature birth and stillbirth. To learn more about Tommy’s or their work click here. Please show your support by sponsoring Mike on his Just Giving page. Anything that you can give will be greatly appreciated by Mike and the entire Generate UK team. About the Race Established in 1981 the London Marathon is one of the biggest running events in the world. In 2010 36,549 people ran the 26 miles and 385 yard (it’s all about those last 385 yards) route to cross the finish line and this year the race is expected to be just as big. If you would like to show your support in person the race starts at 9:45amon Sunday 17th April. To find out the best spectator spots click to view the interactive race map.


Are you optimising your store for Google Product Search results?

Posted on April 29, 2010 by Mike in Ecommerce, Internet Marketing, Other stuff | 1 Comment

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Excerpt: Out of the ashes of Froogle and Google Products is Google’s take on what a price comparison website should be. Google Product Search is still officially in Beta; however any application where Google is involved is bound to attract attention and more importantly traffic and users. It’s an interesting move by Google and it must have made the likes of Kelkoo, Pricerunner and the like sit up and take notice. These are the current incumbents in the price comparison market; their business model is to take a commission from sales of products they have referred (they also charge to place products higher in the searches). So their search engine ranking in the most popular search engine in the world is very important to them….. So now they are in direct competition with the very same search engine they need to be ranked on in order for their business model to work. If that was not bad enough, Google has confirmed that there will be no charges to list products and they won’t accept payment in return for rankings. So on the face of it, not good for the price comparison chaps and it does not bode well in the future for other sites offering price comparison for insurance, mortgages, credit cards etc. Surely, it is just a matter of time before Google start to enter these markets too. The good news for a lot of ecommerce store owners is that there is a new channel for them to showcase their products and services…


Favourite marketing campaigns of the 20th Century

Posted on January 22, 2010 by Ian Fergusson in Digital Marketing Tips, Other stuff, Web News | Leave a comment

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Excerpt: I have decided to create a series dedicated to the best marketing campaigns of the 20th century. Each Friday for 6 weeks a different member of the Generate UK team will discuss one of their favourite campaigns explaining why it stands out against its competition and what makes it so successful. This series will reveal some of the most creative, successful and the just downright weird campaigns to have been launched in the last 10 years. Name: Ian Fergusson Position: Marketing Executive Campaign of choice: McDonalds Billboard (2008) McDonalds does not have a good reputation in the fast food world as being ‘healthy’! In fact it has been sued a number of times for its advertising targeted at kids and for promoting un-healthy living. During the ‘noughties’ we saw a massive boom in healthy living and keeping fit, in my opinion borderline obsessive with fitness videos and new diets advertised wherever we looked. McDonalds clearly felt that if they didn’t alter their reputation soon, profits could ‘dip’. They left it up to the wonderful Leo Burnett to get across to the public that McDonald’s salads really are fresh! Leo Burnett created a Billboard that over time grew lettuce, to form the words ‘Fresh Salads’. Creatively I feel this is ingenius. In a sense we see here the first ever living billboard. This wasn’t the fastest campaign ever launched, the sign took 3 weeks to grow, but the message delivered is clear and strong, If McDonalds can get fresh lettuce on a sign, surely that leaf…


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