ID help launch a future thinking initiative for Dstl and BAE Systems

Autonomous Systems Underpinning Research (ASUR) is a Dstl programme which aims to develop an underpinning science and technology base to facilitate the research, development, production, deployment and operational use of intelligent unmanned systems by UK Armed Forces.

ID, the NorthWest's first digital agency, was the natural choice for BAE Systems for a the delivery of a business agreement platform for the initiative which streamlines the proposal submission process and helps promote the programme.

Delivered quickly and efficiently, on budget and worry-free for the client with a branding, design, build, support and hosting agreement for the life of ASUR it demonstrates how we take hassle away from busy clients who have much more to deliver. We worked closely with the client to firstly develop the brand, a holding page was then quickly put in place to get the brand out there while we worked on the website and required functionality. Working with an agency should be a pleasure - rather than a hassle.

The site is responsive to work well on mobile devices and it captures the proposal business agreements of companies wishing to take part in the programme.

It's a consortium lead project involving BAE Systems, MBDA, QinetiQ, Roke, Rolls-Royce, Selex ES and Thales all working together to satisfy the Dstl requirement to develop capabilities within the supplier base in the area of intelligent systems.

Visit the site on http://www.asur-programme.co.uk.

For more information on ID visit http://www.interactivedimension.com or call us on +44 1772 632800

Milano Pro Sport

Milano Pro Sport may not be familiar to you unless you are more than partial to a few teddy bear rolls. But Milano is one of the world’s leading companies supplying gymnastics clothes and garments, since 1991, when you buy a leotard from Milano you don’t get just get a leotard. You get a piece of sporting history hand-made with care and excellence in their factory in the UK. Clothing Olympic gymnasts such as Beth Tweddle and Lewis Smith and Britain’s Got Talent winners, Spellbound. Milano also have a cheerleading range and recently have branched out into a fun and vibrant cycling shirt range.

The huge popularity of Milano makes it one of the busiest websites Interactive Dimension look after. As long-standing clients of ID, the North West's first digital agency, they have given us the task of building, maintaining and updating their websites for the past 10 years. And excitingly this year, Milano asked us to create their brand new website for them. The third we have delivered for them.

The new website is clean, minimalist and user friendly. Clearing the way for Milano’s vibrant ranges to do the talking. Furthermore users will now be able to access Milano's ranges for their tablets or smart phones with much more ease. As the website now adapts to a variety of different platforms with it's responsive build.

Multiple social sharing platforms are also now utilised in Milano’s website so now customer can share their favourite styles and designs with friends on social media sites.

In the first week of launch the new site turned over more than half the amount the previous site had in the first two months of the financial year.

Go on have a browse through Milano Pro Sport's range and release your inner gymnast!

Bowland Fresh new site goes live!

Bowland Fresh will be a familiar brand to shoppers at Booths and Asda with their expanding range of dairy products from the heart of Bowland.

As a long standing client of Interactive Dimension, Preston's digital agency, they entrusted us to update their web presence after the current one had served them for over 7 years!

The new site promotes all their products including their recent Organic line, and will highlight their cheese and butter lines when they come to market.

Users can find out where to buy Bowland Fresh produce and retailers can get in touch to enquire about stocking their delicious goods!

As with every Wordpress based website we develop for our clients the site is 100% designed around the brand, we don't take off-the-shelf designs or templates and slap a logo on it so our clients sites all look the same. We prefer to be proud of every site we build... and with over 17 years delivering digital (we were the first digital agency in the NorthWest btw) that makes us very proud indeed!

Have a look around the site, more importantly, try some of their milk!

New site for CORDA and AMS DE-RISC

Interactive Dimension have just delivered a new website for CORDA, a BAE Systems company who offer businesses, organisations and the public sector high-level business consultancy services coupled with innovative, proven models and techniques to inform decision making.

This is the latest project we've done for BAE Systems hot on the heels of the AMS DE-RISC site we delivered last month. AMS DE-RISC is a secure portfolio site for the use of BAE Systems, Thales, Augusta Westland, GE, General Dynamics and Selex Galileo to collaborate and demonstrate their joint projects to the MoD.

ID have a long-standing relationship with BAE Systems, right from their very first website and intranet the organisation ever had, so it's great to still be working so closely with them. It's evidence of our long-term relationship building approach, and a reason why we are the longest established digital agency in the North West.

CORDA's site is based on the Wordpress platform and we worked very closely with BAE Systems security to ensure the site met their very exacting standards. This was even more critical for AMS DE-RISC as it needs to satisfy the MoD too!

You can visit the CORDA site here - http://www.corda.co.uk/

Another new site for NST

After the successful redesign and rebiuld of www.nstgroup.co.uk we've been busy working alongside NST on new projects. This time we've delivered the site for the Ireland based NST business www.nst.ie.

The site is based on the main www.nstgroup.co.uk site but delivers the specific Irish portfolio of products.

We leveraged Wordpress as a starting point, but built a lot of custom functionality and taxonomy into the system so it delivers exactly what the client wants.

And now they have two sites working together, even to the point of sharing data between certain sections of the site, whilst retaining full autonomy in other areas. Making the best use of the resource NST have to manage the sites.

Working with the client on the specification means the end result is exactly what they want, it's something we always do and time and time again it proves itself to be the best approach.

The site is extremely search engine friendly and with it's proven architecture and design (we held many usability tests with teachers when building the www.nstgroup.co.uk site) we're confident the new site will continue to help develop NST Ireland's market share.

Preston's digital agency, Interactive Dimension, are proud to work with NST Group and feel this demonstrates our relationship building approach. To us, a project is only a part of what we deliver, the more we understand you the better the results! We work alongside you to make sure its a real partnership... no attitude, just reliability and added-value all the way.

You can visit the new site here - www.nst.ie

Fancy some Vintage Cheddar?

Well... SAY CHEESE!

We've just launched a Facebook app for the exciting Vintage Guild Weekend which is scheduled for the 1st and 2nd of September (find out more here).

The application is based around a photography competition where people can browse the submitted photos and vote for the ones they like the best! Or for the more adventurous you can submit your own and try to win the amazing 'money can't buy' prize!

Whether you are browsing or entering, you can share any of the pics on Facebook or Tweet them to get as many votes as possible.

Have a look, and share the best photos! If you can do better, either with an old photo, or a new one done in a vintage style, get it uploaded, you can add as many as you want.

We worked with Preston Guild on the competition in collaboration with Huddle Media who are delivering the online PR and Wash Design who worked on the Vintage brand.

ID, Preston's digital agency, then designed and built the Facebook application in less than two weeks!

Have a look at the app here - http://goo.gl/aE8OW

Feelgood Factory & ID... the perfect partners

Last week Liverpool PCT came to see us, and by the end of the week we'd delivered our first job for their Feelgood Factory initiative. A massive project charged with revitalising the community and NHS infrastructure by improving organisation efficiencies whilst improving general health levels in the area.

The first of many (hopefully!) projects was a stand presence which was needed for this week, we took the brief, designed and produced the end result in a matter of a few days.

The next steps will be to look at ID's other services, including website design, social media strategy and search expertise to ensure messages get across and the overall campaign is digitally supported and in some cases digitally lead.

As a full service agency with a strong digital pedigree ID are the perfect partner for the NHS, one port of call for support across any channel.

Being the first digital agency in the NorthWest helps a lot, the experience gained over that time means our clients benefit from a vast amount of best practice know-how without having to engage a bulky city centre agency with overheads to match. And if they need print or exhibition services, no need to look elsewhere.

An essential ingredient... ID of course!

About 3 months ago we were contacted by Essential Cuisine, a high-quality manufacturer of stocks, jus and glace to the food industry.

Their products are used all over the UK in Michelin Star rated restaurants and the best gastro pubs.

They have a great b2b business and felt there was a market to sell to consumers so they could enjoy their amazing stock at home, when entertaining or just cooking that special dish. Foodies around the country were in for a treat!

They had to develop packaging, a business model and an eCommerce website in less than 3 months, so the team they worked with had to be capable and efficient. The Hive were contracted to look at branding and packaging, and they did a fantastic job, see below:



Essential Cuisine took care of the business model and pricing. And the product of course!

Then Preston's digital agency Interactive Dimension took on the website. It needed to be an elegant eCommerce solution which was more than 'just' a shop. Essential Cuisine wanted to become a hub of information so we developed a recipes section and a tips area where they could post fantastic recipes for their customers and give that invaluable professional chef insight on how to deliver top-class food at home.

The content needed to be as prominent as the 'shop' itself to give the right feel to the site. It was important that the site attracted users who were there for information as well as to buy stocks.

We leveraged the Worldpay payment gateway (which has it's own challenges!) and needed to integrate with the Royal Mail labeling system Essential Cuisine used already.

It's a small site in terms of products featured, but the capability is there to grow via the content management system behind it all, and as Essential Cuisine bring new products to the consumer from their fantastic food industry range the site can easily accommodate them and allow them to feature in prime spots on the site.

As well as the eCommerce site, we also developed an email newsletter for them which will be delivered using our Campaign Monitor based system, and we created their social media presence on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Which is all starting to take shape. We advised on the social media strategy and empowered Essential Cuisine to take ownership of the social media rather than pay someone else to do it, which after all, is what social media is about! They're already running competitions on Facebook too!

Now it's about driving traffic to the site, Essential Cuisine already have a large user base on their food industry site, and a marketing strategy in place for the retail offering... we're supporting them with digital marketing services and are confident that the foodie community will quickly get on-board, after all, who wouldn't want to use the best stocks that up to now only the best restaurants could get hold of?

Most interestingly of all to the customers, is that Essential Cuisine's stocks work out significantly cheaper than the current gathering of 'quality' stocks you can buy in the supermarket. The equivalent amount of Truefoods chicken stock compared to £3.95 of Essential Cuisine chicken stock would cost you around £18.00, and wouldn't be as tasty or versatile either!

We think they're onto a winner, and we're glad to help make it happen.

NST Group are going places!

We've just launched a new site for NST Group, a long-standing client.

New business is amazing, but there's something to be said for a client who recognises service and capability from their existing digital agency and doesn't judge them on what they have done 4 years ago... that said, the old site was still working really well for the UK's leading school trips and tours company.

A re-brand and new product portfolio along with high SEO competition in their sector made the decision to rebuild the site an easy one, and working with their existing partner, Preston's digital agency Interactive Dimension, made it far simpler for NST Group as we already knew their business and goals.

The site is a complex matrix of tours offered on a number of different user journeys including subject and destination. And we are bringing back taxonomy driven content on the tour pages using bespoke controls we developed into the Wordpress back-end.

It's a very ambitious site to deliver in Wordpress, but we believe the core product is an ideal starting point for most sites and offers a powerful engine on which to build and tweak to meet the clients exact requirements. And Wordpress offers a really usable CMS interface which the clients love to use.

There are hundreds of products on display, clear user journeys, bespoke forms, secure areas for teacher downloads and lots of other features.

The site went live Sunday night and was attracting inquiries at 7am the next morning... So we're happy with that, and so is the client!

The next phase is integrating reviews and comments and a rigorous SEO activity to make the most of the sites well structured and search optimised code.

You can visit the site on www.nstgroup.co.uk


Following on from this release, here's some client comments:

Hi ID,

I just wanted to drop you all an email with some feedback we’ve had on the website from people in the office. It wouldn’t be fair to keep all this from you!

‘Can I just say WOW! This absolutely blows all the other school travel company websites out of the water. It’s very clear and user-friendly.’

‘Well done – it looks fantastic!!! Worth all the hard work!’

‘Nice looking site’

‘Looks great’

‘I like it - a web site that’s easy to follow’

‘Wow! It looks awesome! You must have been working so hard on this!’

‘Looks amazing – you must be really pleased (and relieved!) to see it live. Brilliant job’

Thanks for all your hard work so far.

Helen

Latest Projeqt for Staniforth

Yesterday we launched Staniforth's new website. An elegantly simple but effective site based on TBWA's Projeqt product.

It was a challenge to take the storytelling platfrom and create user journeys and website'esq content within it, but the end result is an original site which embraces an unusual approach yet feels easy to use and tells the Staniforth story well.

It's the second in a three site launch Interactive Dimension, Preston's digital agency, are involved in for Staniforth and we're looking forward to growing our strategic relationship in teh coming months.

Have a look at the site and you'll quickly grasp how to use the platform, and you can sign up for a beta account too on www.projeqt.com.

Today we will be launching their new company blog, keep your eyes peeled for that one.

PR Media Blog goes live... part 1 of 3!

We're working on a series of projects for Staniforth, part of the TBWA group of companies. Staniforth are one of the leading PR companies in the UK and their PR Media Blog site runs a commentary on the PR and Media industry as it happens. It's a really popular site and the task for us was to bring it up to date whilst maintaining it's excellent positioning in Google and other SEO factors.

The next two launches we'll be doing are Staniforth's own web presence and their blog which will be covering different subject matter than the PR Media Blog of course.

The partnership between Preston's digital agency Interactive Dimension and Staniforth PR has been announced on How-Do and other online media blogs and signals a new set of opportunities for both companies.

Keep an eye out for the follow releases :-)

Time for something new!

We've just launched a new website in partnership with the great team at The Hub in Manchester supporting their 'This is Your Time' campaign.

As ever with the work we do with The Hub, we're extremely proud to be making a difference to people's lives rather than just commercial sites trying to sell something. We like those too, and are great at them, but the type of site which encourages people to better themselves or offers them the support they sorely need is rewarding on many other levels.

if you need a new website, get in touch with Preston based digital agency ID and talk to us about your requirements, we'd love to help.

Very nice site for Very Nice Things!

ID have just launched a new eCommerce site for Very Nice Things, an online retailer for all those lovely finishing touches on your home.

We've kept it really clean and simple, making it all about the products.

Very Nice Things is the brainchild of Emma Blackman and something she's been thinking about launching for some time.

We'd worked with Emma before and she knew working with ID the Preston based digital agency, she'd get excellent value for money and an eCommerce platform she can control herself easily and quickly to post new products as and when she gets them in stock.

The system has PayPal integration, top sellers, guest checkout, related products and all the features you'd expect from an online store.

We wish Very Nice Things great success and look forward to developing the site in the future with more new features as they are required.

Rewarding work? We like that!

We've just launched a new site http://www.the-last-time.co.uk in partnership with the lovely guys at The Hub in Manchester.

It's a blog based site with all the help you might need if you are trying to give up smoking in the Greenwich area. Along with the site we're running a highly targeted Facebook campaign also to drive visitors to the site.

There's something to be said for work which actually helps real people in real ways. We're very proud to do this type of work. Check it out, and if you're trying to give up the evil weed and you're based down south, hope it helps you!

A unique site for a unique event… Preston Guild 2012 website is live

As the countdown to Preston Guild 2012 starts to gather pace, the new website has been launched, created by Preston's digital agency Interactive Dimension.

The new website is closely integrated with social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter and will make it easier for users to have their say about events and announcements in the run up to the Guild.

The website will include information on volunteering to work on the Guild, opportunities to get involved and historical images from past guilds. People will have their photos featured on the site using Flickr, and there is a meet the team section so users can see who is working on coordinating the Guild and get in touch with them for more information. Street party packs will also be available which will help people to plan their own events for the Guild or even to celebrate the Royal wedding. It is also planned that the site will be used to sell Guild merchandise in the future.

Councillor Ken Hudson, Leader of Preston City Council and Chair of the Guild Committee, said: “The website is our international shop window for Preston Guild 2012.

“This is the first ever Preston Guild in the internet and digital world and we have to make the most of new technology. As well as finding a whole host of information about the Guild, people will be able to use the website to follow the Guild scrolls around the world, apply to be a Guild Burgess, register for one of the Guild processions and even buy 2012 Guild branded merchandise.

“I’m delighted that in the great enterprising and entrepreneurial spirit of Preston Guild, Interactive Dimension a dynamic Preston company has designed and created the website which will serve Preston well in 2012 and beyond.”



Jonny Wilde from ID commented - "This site was a major win for us, selected from a competitive pitch process we went in with ideas we'd not seen done before and an enthusiasm which obviously won the day! We're seamlessly integrating the site with the Facebook page so comments and attendees for each event are pulled into the site you can actually RSVP the event on the Guild site which will then let all your Facebook friends know, and of course this means the events themselves are fully synchronised. For us this was a perfect project to leverage Facebook for what it does best… People use it to talk about events and parties, get opinions about things and let people know what they are up to. The Guild will be all over Facebook in 2012, and we aim to make the official site the hub for that activity, it's a step change in how event sites should work in our opinion. There's also other cool bits like sms reminders, add to calendars, eNewsletters, video blogs, and all that good stuff. All the other social networks are catered for of course, but to some people moving forward Facebook is their 'social internet' so we really focussed on that".



The site will continue to be developed, including a mobile site and there's big plans to integrate Facebook Places and Deals for the Guild events…

Visit the site on www.prestonguild2012.com and check out what's coming up for Preston Guild 2012.

Google TV... the future?

Well, it's almost upon us... well actually it's been around a while, with Apple TV, Boxee, and even Microsoft Media Center etc. we've been able to get web content on that glowing eye magnet in the living room for quite some time.

But the rumors are that Google TV is going to make it mainstream.

Part of me thinks that they won't, because they seem to terminally fail at mainstream because of their lack of finesse in everything they do, Android included. It may be more feature laden and 'open' (ooooooh!), but it doesn't feel as nice as the iPhone, I'm sorry, but it's true. It's the stuff of geeks.

Search is search, they got that right, and shaped how we search moving forward. But that's not consumer-land... TV is.

So, slickness aside what will it actually mean?

I think one of two things:

1) It will open up a number of new things to do in your front room, quickly search for stuff, add apps to enhance your viewing, browse the web and more and it will be a TV revolution even greater than the BBC iPlayer OR...

2) It will throw normal viewing habits into disarray as you go from (albeit increasingly unstructured and poorly produced) professionally created content with some real gems there for you when you need them, to total un-organised chaos. Gone are the days when people were home at 7.00pm to watch Corrie, that comfort or life order has already ebbed away, and this could finish it off for good.

Will we all become 'randomers' because of it?

Will quality broadcasting be killed by rubbish web based content, just like journalism has been harmed by amateur blogs?

I don't know. But I'd rather have the TV programmes I have now and a Boxee Box or an Apple TV or my PS3 for the other stuff I think. The examples seem to suggest Google have actually employed a designer for the UI for once on Google TV! But I have a feeling that slickness is just smoke and mirrors, Google aren't slick. And they aren't Apple. But boy do they want to be!

Apple should make an iToilet for a laugh, Google would be on it in an instance (no pun intended)!

Preston Guild 2012 win for ID!

We've just heard we've been awarded the contract for the next phase of the Preston Guild 2012 website. Our proposals included some amazing social media integration, mobile sites and a excellent utilisation of the Guild 2012 brand developed by The Chase to make the most of the flexible and beautifully executed work they've done.

It was a competitive pitch which was thrown a googly by our Creative Director John having to speed home to his expecting wife who'd gone into labor! So it turned out to be a one man pitch, but it was great fun and we demonstrated our thorough understanding of the brief and bought new ideas and strategy to the table, as well as some beautiful calculated creative.

It's a tight schedule but we're committed to delivering the project and will all get behind it 100%.

More details will follow, and a proper release instead of this elated joyous 'just found out' type one!

Brazil mini site for Bodycote

As Bodycote (an ID client for some 15 years now) expands into new territories we support them with mini sites to announce the capabilities from Bodycote.com and to publicise the capability in the host country.

We've just released a small site for their Brazil business expansion, it's live on http://brazil.bodycote.com.

The global leaders in renewable energy solutions practise what they preach

ENER-G (www.energ.co.uk) based in Manchester, designs, develops and finances energy efficient and renewable solutions on a business-to-business basis globally. They deliver a comprehensive end-to-end service – from energy procurement and efficiency expertise through to renewable and low carbon technologies and services.

ID, the Preston based digital agency, have been working with ENER-G for over 5 years now and with their rebrand on the horizon and new requirements for the site it was time to re-scope and re-develop. Or so we all thought.

ENER-G had already invested in the initial website and CMS so the approach was planned to recycle the CMS and just develop new templates to represent and support the new brand. So in terms of renewable solutions this project delivered that promise always made when clients are looking at website development which is rarely delivered against. The site you buy will be able to be redesigned without having to buy a new website or starting from scratch.

There's been new features added to enhance the online presence for ENER-G like a jQuery hero area on the home page:


...and a deep linking SEO type footer which acts as a method of navigation when at the base of the page and highlights where the user is in the site. And obligatory social media sharing options handled by an AddThis widget:


A lovely jQuery based map of Europe helps promote their growing international portfolio via the CMS without getting caught in the messy Flash map scenario getting in the way of SEO and updatability:


And because this was ID's CMS in the first place coupled with our excellent development skills it didn't mean the system hindered the evolution of the site, which can happen with some CMS products. ENER-G could have exactly what they wanted.

ID created the online design after Happy Creative (www.happy-creative.co.uk) in Blackpool did an excellent job with the rebrand, having worked many times with 3rd party branding agencies and extending the clients brand online for the likes of United Utilities and BAE Systems this was an ideal project for Interactive Dimension.

"This is a demonstration of how important long term relationships are these days. 2nd and 3rd generation websites for clients is great for all involved, no need to get another agency up to speed and maximum cost effectiveness for the client and repeat revenue for the agency, it's a win-win situation for all.

"To top it all off, we're very happy with the site and feel it works well in our portfolio, they have a great team over there at ENER-G", said Jonny Wilde at ID.

You can have a look at the site on www.energ.co.uk.

New website from ID turns the spotlight on Preston

A new website promoting Preston as a modern, creative, innovative European city has gone live.

www.prestonvision.co.uk features links with popular social media such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Flickr, allowing Preston people to get involved in discussions about the planned transformation of their city over the next decade.

As well as expressing their views on current projects and initiatives featured on the site, the public can contribute videos and photographs which celebrate the area’s beauty, heritage and personality to help raise the city’s profile as part of the bid to attract investment.

The fresh, sleek, clean website was designed by Preston creative agency ID and commissioned by Preston Vision Ltd, the regeneration company which is driving forward proposals to transform the city.

Preston Vision’s head of marketing and communications Emma Blackman said: “The website is a key part of our strategy to market Preston in a comprehensive and far-reaching way, bringing together the city’s best attributes and proudly showing them off.

“Preston is a vibrant, compact city with fantastic transport links and a lot of personality, this website will give Preston a new platform to stand alongside it’s European counterparts, showcase development opportunities and highlight Preston’s strengths in sectors such as advanced manufacturing , knowledge and design.

“The website is fully integrated in terms of social media so that Preston people feel part of it and, most importantly, can contribute towards telling the world what a great place it is to live, work or visit - it’s a celebration of Preston. Feedback from local people about our proposals now and as the projects are rolled out is also crucial.

“These are potentially very exciting times for Preston and its people as the city positions itself as a 21st century centre of knowledge and innovation.

“We were delighted to find the creativity and technological expertise needed for our website right here in Preston with the ID creative agency.”

Strategic Account Director at ID Jonny Wilde said: “It’s been a privilege to work on such an important site for the City of Preston. The new brand was easy to work with, and the client was great!

“Integrating so much social media into the site means the community can contribute and that’s something we’re interested in observing, to see how the social media and website channels blend - it should be very interesting.

“We’re very pleased with the final product and have enjoyed the follow-on opportunities with Preston Vision such as exhibition systems and email marketing, it’s a great relationship, and one I’m confident will only grow over time as we work closely moving forward.”

The site was developed using ID’s content management system (CMS) with several enhancements such as:

- Social media integration, including Twitter (both account and search related feeds), Facebook, Flickr (particularly the header on the ‘Preston is Evolving’ page which is made up of images drawn from Preston photographers), YouTube, Delicious and LinkedIn

- Pages tailored in terms of colour and style according to the user journey

- RSS feeds from tourism and property sites are to be integrated making the site a hub of information for the whole of Preston

- Site map footer which acts as the breadcrumb trail highlighting where the user is on the site, and delivering great linking into the content of the site

- Newsletter subscription which feeds directly into the email marketing platform

The site is built with search engine optimisation (SEO) in mind and features SEO tools in the CMS and rich keywords all over the site giving natural search success, especially relevant to the recently launched Google Instant.

You can visit the site on www.prestonvision.co.uk.