Expansion, investment, recruitment and sleepless nights.
Why we’re investing £250,000 in the next critical stage of our growth.
If someone was to ask me what the last couple of years of our businesses development could be summarised as, I think the headline of this blog post would be a fairly accurate depiction.
It’s had its highs, lows and, at times, the pace of development and growth has been brutal. But we love a good challenge and love overcoming obstacles to keep improving the business we’ve all built together as a team. So the next two years looks like it’s going to be a fun, exciting and seriously-rewarding time. The agency, which started from extremely humble beginnings, has really evolved and developed into something that not only me, partner Sarah and our fantastic team are proud of, but something our clients seem proud to be associated with too. From the early days of working out of my parents’ attic to our first office at Woodend Mills, we’ve come a fair way!
Agency growth
The agency has without doubt grown and grown rapidly, thanks to a series of investments, team training initiatives, relentless hard work and, yes, sleepless nights in abundance. And the icing on the cake is that more than 80 per cent of that growth has come from recommendations!
We’ve been privileged to win awards in association with North West Ambulance Service in the last 12 months for our marketing and campaign strategy and creative work, whilst helping a raft of businesses across industries grow their brand, their audience and their turnover, whilst also competing with some serious national agency players. Not bad from a little agency in a traditional mill town!
We have a statement displayed on our reception wall from Milton Hershey, which pretty-much summarises what our business is about and what sits behind this drive to do better and continue to find new ways to grow our client’s businesses. That quote states:
“Give them quality, it’s the best form of advertising in the world.”
A statement I truly believe in and which our team works towards every day. (Find out more about Milton Hershey here.)
As I’m writing this post, I’m completely full of pride as we embark on the next stage of Cornerstone’s growth strategy. This centres around an exciting move into a new bespoke-designed office space for our team to enjoy and, most importantly, grow into.
The new building
Anyone who’s visited the current office will know we’re packed in a small space like sardines on a hot day, which isn’t always the best for creative or strategic thinking, although we are probably one of the closest teams you’ll find within the agency field.
Our new office space, which will again feature Milton Hershey’s quote in our reception, will be of huge benefit for our team and our clients too. With over 6,000 sq ft of space designed for a truly creative and strategic marketing development environment, the anticipation of getting into the new building is almost unbearable.
The new building will feature a 3,000 sq ft studio/office space for our team to enjoy, as well as providing us with valuable meeting and break-out spaces, a large video room, a training suite for our clients to learn the latest trends and insights from our industry, and a bespoke print room facility to further enhance our wide-format print service and signage fabrication services.
Next steps
The last two years alone has seen us invest tens of thousands of pounds in systems, training and, most importantly, talented and motivated people to help drive our business forward. Now with the team, skillsets, systems and procedures in place, the new building is the next critical piece to our business development puzzle which will further enhance what we do for our clients, as well as our team’s careers.
We’ve had the pleasure of continuing to develop strong relationships with key clients who have been with us since the very early days, as well as welcoming new clients on-board and learning about their businesses and the work they do within their sectors.
We’re now privileged to be a well-known and respected name in many of our valuable client’s industries and business networks, as well as working with national and global brands who see us as a truly valuable strategic partner to help drive their businesses and marketing strategy forward in a positive and commercially sensible manner.
With investment of nearly £250,000, this next step of our company’s growth is a huge step for the business and for me personally (I’m sure there will be a few more sleepless nights on the horizon with this project).
I’d just like to thank our fantastic clients, talented team and supportive family and friends for getting us to this point. With the launch of our new building expected in August/September 2019, you’ll all be invited to come and say hello, and have a couple of drinks of course!
David brings a wealth of knowledge to our client campaigns, with strategic marketing planning and digital knowledge that enhances and accelerates our client campaigns over and above their competitors. With a strong marketing background and passion for driving clients’ businesses forward, David is actively involved in all major client campaigns and promotions. Why I Do […]
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MPA Awards: A collaboration as legendary as the Gallaghers.
Without the unfortunate ending. Or at least that’s how we look at it.
Our work for Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) in collaboration with ElCapitan Digital has seen us nominated for a Manchester Publicity Association (MPA) Award for Collaboration, and we’re going to use this blog to look into why this particular project will Live Forever in our hearts.
The MPA Award for Collaboration category requires you to have ‘worked alongside another agency, with their team actively involved to help you deliver a more inspiring result for your client’. And that’s exactly what we did with El Capitán Digital.
GMCA wanted a website design that linked up all the green spaces, walks, cycle routes and activities out in nature not only in Manchester, but across the Greater Manchester area also. The now titled ‘Connecting People with Nature’ project had a primary goal to encourage the people of Greater Manchester to get more involved in outdoor/green space activities, explore and be active, and to become part of the work being carried out.
The pitch
When pitching for the work, Cornerstone felt a strong collaboration would help develop and enhance the project, so called in boutique UX agency El Capitan to conduct an initial UX workshop to develop the site structure and wireframes.
Speaking about the project, our managing director David said “We felt this project had some real value to the people of Greater Manchester, and would help to open up the green spaces to people who otherwise would have no idea they existed. We felt the project would really benefit from collaborative working, which is why we decided to work with ElCapitan to utilise their skills and expertise in UX.”
Once the UX work was completed, the project was moved to the Cornerstone creative team to develop a unique look and feel that not only looked great, but functioned exceptionally well too. The site was designed to be fully responsive for a variety of devices, whilst making user experience enhanced through consideration of new technologies and effects using javascript, jquery and css3.
The creative was exceptionally well received by all stakeholders from GMCA and gained a quick sign-off, meaning we could move the site into development.
Our development team worked around the clock to meet a launch deadline for the GM Green Summit which was to showcase the website to all delegates attending. The site was built to pre-agreed web standards, with functionality, compatability and SEO in mind. Developing the content of the site in line with the creative route set, we met our deadline, and presented the site at the summit.
Delegates were impressed with the end result, and could see the benefit it would bring to the desired target audience.
You can visit the website here.
Dave has over 10 years design agency experience and has been working in the industry since completing his degree at Salford University, where he gained a 2:1 in Graphic Design. With a true passion for typography and all things graphic design, Dave helps to add another strong element of creativity and style to our client […]
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Helping leisure trusts promote health & wellbeing services during lockdown.
We’ve recently supported a number of our leisure sector clients across the north-west to maintain their public profiles and customer engagement during the coronavirus lockdown. Services have focused around tailored digital media health campaigns for people at home and raising awareness of community support through newspapers and radio stations.
As a leisure marketing agency We work with a number of leisure trusts which each manage a portfolio of venues and services in their local authority areas. Locations include leisure centres, gyms, swimming pools, spas, golf courses, and performing arts venues.
But these have been temporarily closed in the lockdown meaning regular activities such as exercise classes, swimming lessons, health referral work, theatre and music shows have all been suspended.
We work with trusts including Active Tameside, Burnley Leisure, Oldham Community Leisure and Everybody Leisure in Cheshire.
These types of trusts differ from purely commercial leisure chains. Leisure trusts typically have charitable status, are accountable to local authorities and any profits are reinvested back into facilities, local community initiatives, equipment and services for the general wellbeing of the public. In addition, trusts often have wider public health remits which include physical and mental wellbeing activities including referral partnerships with local doctors’ surgeries, hospitals, schools and community groups.
During the lockdown, our services have included communicating key operational and commercial information to customers and suppliers in the early days, followed by health, wellbeing and motivational campaigns on social media and websites, which have been watched and shared by thousands of viewers at home.
Your favourites
Exercise and dance class content has been especially popular with consumer audiences at home. This type content has been watched by tens of thousands and shared widely, leading to positive audience feedback and engagement for the trusts.
Audiences watched almost 11,000 minutes of Active Tameside videos on Facebook in the early lockdown period. Cornerstone assisted the trust’s output which included a range of daily workout videos and challenges on social media and its website. One video of an LBT workout received over 2,000 minutes of viewing by people at home in the early weeks. A Saturday night quiz on social media, plus puzzles and games, have also been popular.
Meanwhile Burnley Leisure increased its creation of live workout videos presented by instructors from their homes from weekly to daily, owing to video popularity. In the early lockdown period, Burnley Leisure Facebook posts gained nearly 3,000 likes, over 1,200 comments and over 1,100 shares.
Particularly popular videos included a cha-cha slide plank challenge. Here is a compilation video showing followers taking part at home.
Audience engagement has been strong for all ages. One younger Burnley Leisure viewer, a girl called Lily, was inspired to produce her own workout video which she shared with the trust’s social media. Watch it here.
Our managing director David said:
“In the days leading up to the coronavirus lockdown, we invested time and resources across all our departments into developing responsive marketing and communications strategies for clients to stay engaged with target consumer or business audiences over the coming weeks.
“Firstly, our campaigns helped leisure trusts to cope with the immediate challenges they faced in the first lockdown phase. This included huge customer demand for clear information, advice and updates on payments, bookings, membership, classes, performances and so on. Early messages also included essential information for suppliers, employees and the wider community on operations, financial arrangements and temporary health and safety measures.
“Secondly, we designed tailored online content marketing campaigns for each leisure client to engage with their members and the wider public at home though the first six or seven weeks of lockdown. This has helped people stay healthy, motivated, reassured, connected and entertained at home. It includes posts, videos and live-streamed fitness tutorials on websites and social media. We also created quizzes, puzzles and leisure and culture blogs about performing arts, music, local traditions and the histories of local pools, leisure centres and theatres.
“Thirdly, our digital media campaigns and strategies will provide clients with strong platforms in the future to bounce back commercially when lockdown restrictions are eased and wider economic activity revives.”
Why we do it
Throughout this period, consumers and business audiences are seeking useful information, clarity and advice from trusted sources. So, it’s vitally important that businesses and organisations are seen, heard and promoted accurately as the circumstances change and their interests and reputations are protected.
In other marketing services for leisure trusts, our PR department has worked to raise public awareness through the regional news media about the trusts’ practical community help during the lockdown. This outreach work has included trusts’ support marketing for NHS partners, schools, local councils, community groups and charities, such as The Samaritans, to help people with special needs, disabilities, the elderly, the vulnerable and children of key workers.
We have helped the trusts gain important and positive print and digital news coverage of their work in the Manchester Evening News, BBC Radio Manchester, the Burnley Express, Lancashire Telegraph, Tameside Reporter and the national gym industry media. This has reached thousands of readers and listeners across a range of age and demographic groups.
The campaigns have been successfully delivered and have helped each and every trust to stay connected to their members, whilst maintaining a large share of voice within the market. This strategy will help for the speedy recovery of members and memberships once lockdown eases, and an increase in market share.
Cornerstone at the Oldham Business Awards.
We enjoyed a great night out at the 2018 Oldham Business Awards, where we were finalists in two award categories.
We were finalists for the Business of the Year (turnover under £1million) Award, sponsored by Sefton Accountants, and also for Employer of the Year, sponsored by Ultimate Products.
Cornerstone managing director David Wadsworth led the team onto the stage of Oldham’s Queen Elizabeth Hall to receive certificates and congratulations from celebrity host and TV impressionist Rory Bremner.
Our Business of the Year entry highlighted Cornerstone’s growth and investment over the past year with increasing number of clients, services and staff.
Meanwhile, our Employer of the Year entry highlighted our diverse team of staff recruited from across Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire; our wide range of skills, training and career development opportunities; and Cornerstone’s flexible and creative working environment.
David said: “The OBA awards are a great way to celebrate the quality and scope of businesses that operate within the Oldham area, which shows just how strong and prosperous the town is, despite some of the general views from wider media coverage in recent years.
It’s also a great opportunity for our team to realise how valued their hard work and dedication is to our business, and to see them praised for the work they do not only for Cornerstone but also for our clients, who have helped us gain a strong position ready for two award entries of this nature.
The night made for a fantastic evening that we’ll all undoubtedly remember for years to come, and it was also a great chance to have fun and speak to a number of new and existing businesses in the area.”
The year’s Oldham Business Awards ceremony was the tenth annual awards night. With almost 600 guests, the awards dinner is said to be the largest of its kind in Greater Manchester.
The evening finished with an after-party disco hosted by radio station Revolution 96.2 and DJ Elliot Eastwick, who first enjoyed fame as a resident DJ at the Hacienda club in Manchester and Hard Times in Leeds.
Congratulations to everyone involved with this year’s Oldham Business Awards.
See the Oldham Chronicle, Oldham Times and the summer edition of Oldham Business Edge magazine for detailed reports and pictures.
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New Cornerstone HQ unveiled at Professional Oldham.
We unveiled our brand-new HQ to the public last week when we hosted the first Professional Oldham event of 2020.
The reveal of our new working space was a momentous occasion, so it seemed only right that we reveal our £250,000 redevelopment project from children’s play centre to bespoke offices alongside Oldham’s biggest and best business networking group.
Professional Oldham is run by volunteers from companies and organisations in the Oldham area including Pearson Solicitors and Financial Advisers, Breakey & Nuttall, Caremark Oldham, Oldham Business Edge magazine and Dr Kershaw’s Hospice.
On the night, visitors got the chance to meet our team, see how our different departments operate and take a look at the different types of work we’ve completed over the years.
Speakers
Suzanne Wright, of Pearson Solicitors & Financial Advisors, opened the evening with a welcome speech and spoke about Pearson’s legal services for Cornerstone including work associated with moving to our new premises. We’ve also worked alongside Pearson on certain graphic design and copywriting elements for advertising campaigns.
Next up was David, our MD, who spoke about the agency’s growth over the past 12 years and explained more about our full-service offering, clients and commitment to Oldham.
Our story
Founded as a one-man business initially based at his home, Cornerstone grew to employ three staff in the early years and moved to a bigger office at Woodend Mills in Lees. Work and staff numbers continued to rise over the next few years, prompting us to move again to a larger office on nearby Lees High Street, where we were based until last year. Team numbers have risen steadily over the years and we currently stand at 22 strong!
Speaking about the importance of our clients to the company’s growth, David highlighted various clients including Hill’s Panel Products (HPP), North West Ambulance Service (NWAS), Cancer Research UK and Oldham Community Leisure.
All of these clients are still working alongside us today, as well as the many new clients who have joined us in more recent years.
Professional Oldham visitors were then taken on guided tours of our new building with our digital team lead Jess, account manager Sarah, PR manager Robbie and David leading the way. Following the tours, it was time to socialise, network and enjoy a beer!
As a not-for-profit organisation, Professional Oldham donates any proceeds from its quarterly events through the year to local charities. At the Cornerstone event, Professional Oldham presented a £1,500 donation to Dr Kershaw’s Hospice which serves the Oldham area.
Thank you to everyone who attended our first official event in our new home. We look forward to welcoming even more new faces as time goes on!
What our new office means for our clients.
Our big move is nearly here. Whilst our new office is only a stone’s throw around the corner in Oldham, it is six times bigger than our current space and will allow us to offer much more for our growing base of clients.
For anyone who has visited our current office, it’s immediately clear that we are quickly outgrowing the space. With an expanding team and client base, our new offices mean we can invest more time, energy and resource into our clients and provide them with cutting edge service and outstanding strategy. More room means more possibilities for campaigns, covering all areas and skillsets within the business.
Print room
Our wide-format print department will now occupy a 187-sq metre space which will enable us to produce vinyl prints, frosting, banners, signs and a variety of large format products in a vast array of combinations and dimensions. This means we will be able to offer bigger, better and a larger variety of indoor and outdoor signage for you to really make a statement for your business. We will also have an area to display examples to help you easily visualise which signage solution is right for you.
Photography & Video
Our new video and photography room will allow for more ambitious and flexible visuals for our clients. Currently, our studio space is rather restricted and sometimes has to be shared with other activities such as design. So we have tended to work on location at clients’ premises or set-up small, temporary studios and sets. The new studio space will allow us to be more responsive to client campaigns, create more high-quality visual media and can be used for various filming purposes including interviews.
The photography studio, with its projection capabilities, will double up as a training facility for our clients. This means we’ll be able to train you and your team in all things marketing, covering WordPress, SEO, PPC, marketing strategy, social media marketing and much more. We’ve found training can be very effective at making clients more independent and marketing savvy, being able to take control of their website in particular as well as wider marketing activities.
Cornerstone HQ
The new Cornerstone HQ will also have two meeting rooms with ample space for presentations, workshops, and team collaboration on projects.
Last but not least, we will be able to provide a lot more for our Cornerstone team. As we know, happy employees lead to happy customers. So there will be lots more space to work together as a team, as well as break-out space, an in house gym and quiet areas to work alone. There will be more room for fun and social activities (keep an eye on our social media to see what we get up to) and two kitchens to make sure we are always caffeinated and ready to give it our all!
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Building an office to benefit the team.
Acting in the interest of employee wellbeing is crucial for developing a healthy and happy team. Workplace design that considers air quality, lighting and interior layout is paramount to job satisfaction and a happy working environment. These are just some of the elements we took into consideration when designing the new Cornerstone HQ. To ensure the new office suits the Cornerstone crew, we opened up a Pinterest board to the whole team to share their ideas, which went on to influence the final design. After all, we want the new building to be a place where everyone feels comfortable, relaxed and productive.
Our space
One thing which has been noted by every team member at CS is our current lack of break-out spaces. It’s true, we’ve outgrown our current office and we are all craving some relaxing spaces to eat lunch, socialise with other members of the team and focus on our work when the office is a bit too loud. In turn, having these areas will mean we can spend more time being social together and will allow us to bring back activities such as team lunches which have been lacking of late due to lack of space.rnrnWe’ve all heard the expression ‘tidy desk, tidy mind’ and we know how true this is. Our new Cornerstone desks are wider and deeper and will allow for some more breathing space, personalisation with plants and artwork and will leave the team feeling less cluttered.rnrnIt’s important to work in an environment which suits the team, boosting productivity, happiness and overall wellbeing. We take employee wellbeing at Cornerstone incredibly seriously. At the end of the day, people in the UK typically spend 37.4 hours a week at their job, so we want Cornerstone to be a genuinely enjoyable place to be. Our new office will be a place the team come to where they can socialise, feel comfortable and keep producing the exceptional work that we’re known for.
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Robbie’s 20 years in journalism.
Robbie MacDonald, our PR manager, is celebrating 20 years of work as a journalist.
He has worked across the north of England, from Tyneside to Merseyside, mainly for newspapers, magazines and PR agencies. Here, he reflects on his work and interests over the past two decades.
“I’ve written a lot of news in 20 years and met lots of fascinating people and organisations. Working with different people on different projects gives me a lot of job satisfaction.
“After studying at Cleveland College of Art & Design in Middlesbrough and Bradford College, I worked for a printing industry during my early 20s in typesetting and graphic design. But I was also interested in written journalism and had friends working for newspapers.
Starting out
“So, in my late 20s I joined a journalism course accredited by the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) at Darlington College of Technology, which I really enjoyed. Darlington has a long history of newspapers including the daily Northern Echo and weekly Darlington & Stockton Times which have won many awards.
“My first reporting job was at the Hexham Courant in Northumberland. During my time there, the reporting team won a North East Press Award for our extensive coverage of the foot-and-mouth disease crisis. I’d led the news team’s coverage of the crisis, which lasted for over a year and had a major impact on UK life, so was very proud of our award.
“Later I joined the Darlington & Stockton Times in the early 2000s, covering my home area of Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesbrough, Durham and North Yorkshire. It’s a very diverse urban and rural region with two universities (Durham and Teesside) and industries ranging from steel, engineering, chemicals, technology and offshore industries to farming, green energy, fishing, tourism and two national parks. I became the Cleveland district reporter and was really proud to report on my home turf, which I really enjoyed. The Darlington & Stockton Times won a series of North East Press Awards year after year in that era for the category of North-East Weekly Newspaper of The Year. It had a great editorial, design and photographic team.
“After getting married, I moved to Greater Manchester and worked for newspapers across Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Liverpool and Cheshire. I was a news journalist then a sub-editor and then business editor for papers including The Bolton News, Lancashire Evening Telegraph, Westmorland Gazette and Oldham Evening Chronicle.
“At the Chronicle, I helped launch and edit Oldham Business Edge magazine in 2015, which was Highly Commended in the Magazine of The Year category in the 2016 O2 North West Media Awards. Today at Cornerstone, I still edit and write the magazine which Cornerstone also designs (and redesigned) as a contractor for the new owners of the Oldham Chronicle.
“In other writing work for Cornerstone, my press releases, photographs and PR work have led to coverage for our clients in leading local, regional and national media such as the Manchester Evening News, Liverpool Echo, Lancashire Post, Lancashire Telegraph, Burnley Express, Rochdale Observer, Warrington Guardian, The Business Desk, Insider Media and The Financial Times, along with national trade magazines and digital channels.
“This coverage helps clients reach key business or consumer audiences and also complements Cornerstone’s other marketing and design services for them. We also build relationships with journalists and editors to better understand their interests, needs and preferences.
“Over the years, my work has led to follow-up enquiries and further broadcast media coverage BBC TV’s Look North (Newcastle), BBC Radio Manchester, BBC TV’s North West Tonight (Manchester and Liverpool), Blue Peter, ITV Granada Reports and Sky News in the north.
“Today, 20 years after becoming a newspaper journalist, my job title and employer has changed and communication channels have multiplied. However, most of my work still focuses on journalism – the communication of news and information for our clients.
“I like the variety of work at Cornerstone and enjoy working with lots of different people, businesses and organisations. And I still often use shorthand to write notes and interviews.
“After 20 years as a journalist, there’s still lots of fascinating news to communicate locally, regionally and nationally. Cornerstone’s news and PR department continues to grow alongside other departments. Our full range of in-house services means our clients reach their target audiences across all print and digital channels.
“This is true in both good times and challenging times, such as the coronavirus lockdown period. We have been busy serving a number of clients with their communication and marketing needs throughout the lockdown weeks of 2020, as detailed in another blog on our Cornerstone website.
How our designers are influenced by Bauhaus.
It has been 100 years since the Staatliches Bauhaus was founded, and we wanted to acknowledge its huge influence on the world of design and on our own business as a creative agency.
In short, the Bauhaus was an art school in Germany which had a profound influence over modern day design, architecture and creative philosophy. Even if you’ve never heard of it, you will have seen its influence everywhere, from Ikea furniture to typography and city sky scrapers. (There was also a British punk band called Bauhaus active during the 1980s.)
The Bauhaus came about through a merger of two Weimar art schools founded by Walter Gropius. He and his colleagues aimed to connect fine art and craftsmanship through a wide range of courses on architecture, design, painting, sculpture, film, photography and other visual and performing arts.
Influenced by the Modernist movement before it, and liberal and radical European artistic experimentations that arose after the First World War, the Bauhaus championed functionality behind creativity.
The early 20th century was a period of intense creativity in Europe influenced by many factors. These included new materials, technology and aesthetics, industrialism and consumerism, political tension, war and huge social change. Art scenes such as Futurism and Dadaism also reflected the dynamism, opportunities and turmoil of the times – and influenced commercial design too, as did the Bauhaus.
Here is a run-through of the Bauhaus’ key principles and how we think they relate to our work today at Cornerstone:
Minimalism
The Bauhaus style, or the International Style, championed plain and unornamental design that focused on the function of the object. Its use of simplified forms has greatly influenced modern graphic design principles, including typography, 2-D lay-out, white space, colour, shapes and angles, and our mindset at Cornerstone.
We favour stripped-back design and clean, uncluttered layouts in our design work, which means the intended audience can quickly and easily digest information. We make sure our designs do what they need to do, beautifully.
Designed by our Graphic Designer, Dave, for Crispin Orthotics
Function over form
Design at the Bauhaus – from 2-D graphics and typography to 3-D furniture and architecture – began with rational consideration for the products’ use and function. After this, aesthetics would be incorporated.
Likewise, when considering a new brief for a client, our team will research and plan before creating a new design. Considerations such as dimensions, audience needs, message, viewing time, context and objectives for the campaign will all be noted before the design is created. This will ensure our creative assets are always functional as well as appealing.
Unity of the creative
One of the main objectives of the Bauhaus was to unify fine art (art made primarily for aesthetic appeal), craft (practical objects that also look nice) and technology. Students of different disciplines were encouraged to work together with no segregation, to create a “guild of craftsmen” with shared objectives.
This cross-discipline approach later inspired the development of foundation courses in art and design which have become a key course in modern art and design education in the UK and Europe. Foundation courses focus on giving students a practical taste of all disciplines before they choose their specialist areas.
At Cornerstone, we recognise that design and marketing activities are not isolated from each other. Different activities all support each other and work together to achieve a bigger goal. Mixing our departments in meetings and at our office is a way we share knowledge, create new ideas, and bring innovation to our clients in a holistic way. This is why our marketing retainers which offer a range of services including graphic design, printed materials, website development, digital newsletters, social media marketing, written content, photography and video are very effective at achieving long-term results.
The power of technology
The Bauhaus had a business-like mindset in some ways, in that it believed harnessing the power of technology was paramount to being economically competitive and practical.
Similarly, we are always trying to work with the latest technology to scale-up for our clients – from social media scheduling tools to CRM systems. This means we can save time for our clients and meet more ambitious objectives than ever before.
Compatibility with modern life
Walter Gropius once said: “We want an architecture adapted to our world of machines, radios and fast cars.”
He wanted to bring art into the modern era, where creativity responds to modern needs. This philosophy has influenced many creatives over the years, including architect Ernst May, and it also reflects the practical outlook of our staff at Cornerstone.
We don’t want to create amazing designs that don’t fit in with our modern world. With changes happening all the time in technology, culture, politics and communication, we think it’s important to stay relevant. For example, regularly updating our clients’ websites, their tone of voice and strategy is something we do as standard for our long-term clients.
What we didn’t take from Bauhaus
Although there are many things that we admire about the Bauhaus’s cultural impact, there are some things that we don’t want to apply to our work at Cornerstone. For example, in stripping back design, the Bauhaus creatives produced some things that can, arguably, feel rather clinical or generic. We prefer design that is aesthetically pleasing, eye-catching, and with a more human feel, which slightly differs from their starker, purist principles.
What happened to the Bauhaus?
Despite the art school being apolitical, due to the liberal political inclinations of many of its students and tutors, the school faced a lot of pressure from right-wing politicians and the rise of the Nazi party in Germany. The Bauhaus was eventually forced to close in 1933.
When the artists fled the Nazi regime, they emigrated all over the world, including the United States, and spread their teachings far and wide. This is why the Bauhaus movement has had such an effect on our modern culture and why its centenary has been marked this year.
Brush up on your Bauhaus
Want to learn more? Here are some books we’d recommend:
Annie Albers – (Bauhaus textile designer – show at Tate Modern this year)
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How we built our agency culture.
Our agency culture is something we have put a lot of time into developing as the business has grown. It’s based strongly on the personalities, ethics, ethos and morals of both me and David, to ensure the business not only moves forward in a way that mirrors our own beliefs and goals but stays true to our humble beginnings.
Whether you’re the veteran who’s been here 10+ years or the newbie who started last week, it lives and breathes through every single person in our team and even extends out to the suppliers and contractors we use, as we feel it’s important to all share a common goal.
So, what is our agency culture?
We started, and still are a small agency, with humble beginnings and northern roots. We’re Oldham born and bred, honest, down to earth people who want what’s best for our clients and our team. We’re not afraid to work hard for what we want and grab things by the proverbial danglies to get the job done, whilst having fun and relishing each and every challenge. We work hard and are extremely committed and focussed with a passion for all things marketing & creative.
Our agency culture is built on our ethos and values.
DEDICATED | TOGETHER | DOING THE RIGHT THING | SPENDING IT LIKE ITS OUR OWN | TAKING PRIDE
How did we achieve it?
We achieved our culture by staying true to our values, following our gut and sticking to these simple principles.
We hired the right people
It’s important that our team share our goals, value and drive. We hire like-minded, talented people with a passion and thirst to succeed. Our aim has always been to create an environment where they feel relaxed enough to be themselves. People who feel comfortable being themselves are happier, do amazing work, have better wellbeing and job satisfaction and are more loyal and motivated.
We invested in training
We’ve always been big believers in investing in people. We have high training budgets and as we’ve grown, have implemented individual personal develop plans and career maps to help steer the career and role progression of the team. We want people to feel like they can achieve their full potential and reach their goals and aspirations.
We focussed on health and wellbeing
We’ve introduced flexible working times, work from home days and we also close the office at Christmas so the team can spend extra time off with family and friends. We value our team’s health and wellbeing and feel a great sense of responsibility as an employer to look after our staff wellbeing. We encourage openness on mental health concerns and have training in place for dedicated mental health first aiders. The team have implemented yoga Tuesdays at lunchtime in our largest meeting room and go for walks together, taking advantage of our nearby bridle path.
We built – creating a great new space to work in
We’ve invested heavily in a new office giving us room to grow. This includes more meeting and quiet zones for when you need headspace or somewhere to concentrate, an open plan office with music to help encourage collaborative working, an on-site gym with shower facilities, a large breakout area for much needed down time as well as new kitchen facilities, making healthy eating a doddle.
We focus on the things that matter
It’s important to gain regular insight and understanding into how the team are feeling. Are they happy? Do they feel their needs are being met? Is there anything we can be doing to improve on as employers? We send out regular surveys on the important topics at hand and as such, have implemented a lot of our benefits and improvements off the back of this feedback. Every person needs to feel heard and appreciated which all helps to building a great agency culture.
What does our team think?
We asked our team how they would describe our culture in 3 words and here are some of their answers.
- Supportive
- Respectful
- Friendly
- Collaborative
- Hard working
- Fair
- Down to earth
- Relaxed
- Family
- Dedicated
- Professional
Sarah heads up our creative department and has developed our creative offering since our launch in 2007. During that time she has had wide exposure to all areas of the business, such as digital, web, operations and client support, so is a solid and reliable all rounder, involved in many aspects of the agency. She […]
Find out more about us10 questions with Wilson Wadsworth.
In this week’s blog, we sit down with Cornerstone’s shining star of social media and longstanding member of the Cornerstone team, Wilson Wadsworth.
1. Describe a typical day at Cornerstone
My day usually starts by greeting all of the team. I like to say hi to everyone individually when they arrive as I think it’s a great morale boost. My job is to primarily let people know when clients have arrived and when the postman has been. I also like to meet and greet clients when they come into the office for meetings.
2. What is your favourite film?
101 Dalmatians – I like a good horror!
3. What’s your favourite part of the UK?
The UK has such an amazing coastline. I love a good run along the seafront.
4. If animals could talk, which animal would be the most annoying?
Easy. Cats.
5. What’s your favourite meal?
Well I’m a self confessed foodie, so this is a real tough one. I think I’d have to go with a nice juicy steak, medium rare of course.
6. What are your best qualities?
I’m a very good listener and I like to get on with everyone.
7. What is your favourite song?
Who let the dogs out by the Baha Men.
8. What’s the best thing about working at Cornerstone?
It’s a very relaxed environment and I love all the friends I’ve made here.
9. What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Going for a nice meal, having a stroll through the countryside then snuggling up next to an open fire. Ah bliss.
10. Which website do you always check, and why?
I’m a bit obsessed with Facebark. I love keeping in touch with all my friends and family and seeing what everyone’s been up to.
Jess joined Cornerstone as an account executive in January 2017 following freelance roles within marketing and PR fields. Exploring her passion for all thing digital, Jess embarked on several training courses and became Cornerstone’s dedicated digital marketer within 12 months of joining the Cornerstone team. Jess gets involved in all digital work at Cornerstone including […]
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