17
Jan

UNION GROUP SECURES SCOTTISHPOWER WIN

Scotland’s largest independent marketing agency group, The Union, has succeeded in winning not one, but two highly competitive pitches, to be named as ScottishPower’s lead creative agency. Responsible for Strategic Advertising, Direct, Data and Digital Marketing, this is a major integrated win for the group, with the work sitting across both The Union and Union Direct arms of the business. The three-year contract will see The Union and Union Direct focus on promoting ScottishPower’s energy products and services to both business and consumer audiences. The appointment will cover strategic planning, data segmentation, customer journey planning, above-the-line advertising, direct and digital marketing. The partnership begins with a UK-wide integrated campaign, spotlighting ScottishPower’s green energy technology products, from EV chargers, heat pumps and solar panels to 100% green tariffs.

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15
Dec

BUSINESS STREAM APPOINT UNION DIRECT AS MARKETING AGENCY PARTNER

Business Stream has appointed strategic engagement agency, Union Direct, as their marketing partner following a competitive tender process. Business Stream is one of the UK’s largest water retailers, operating in both Scotland and England’s competitive non-domestic water markets. Headquartered in Edinburgh, the company provides water and waste water services to over 300,000 businesses and has gained external recognition for its commitment to delivering environmental efficiencies both within its own organisation and for its customers. 

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27
Oct

BLISS SNACKS OWNER LBV APPOINTS UNION DIRECT TO PROMOTE CRISPY MALLOW RANGE

ightbody Ventures Ltd have appointed creative agency Union Direct to support the launch of their new Bliss Crispy Mallow snack bar range. The Bliss brand offers a range of better-for-you, tasty snack bars, and successfully launched Crispy Mallow UK-wide this summer in a number of retail outlets including Home Bargains and Iceland.  Union Direct, the strategic engagement agency within the Union group of companies, will work on developing a full promotional campaign for the new year featuring social, PR and experiential elements, with sampling events run through its sister agency, Union Connect.  

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3
Oct

UNION DIRECT CREATES AI-POWERED PENSION MIRROR FOR SCOTTISH WIDOWS

Harnessing the creative potential of AI, integrated engagement agency Union Direct launched client Scottish Widows’ Pension Engagement Season campaign with a bang this year with their brand new ‘Pension Mirror’ tool. Putting the ‘fun’ into pension funds, the tool is already generating buzz both online and in workplaces up and down the country with its innovative age-guessing technology.With a simple look in the digital mirror at pensionmirror.co.uk, the tool will guess a user’s age with amazing accuracy (or occasionally, comical over- or under-estimation!), before providingthe average pensions savings figure for UK savers of that age. Spurred on by this social proof, Scottish Widows pension scheme members can then download the Scottish Widows app in asimple tap, to check their pot and see how they stack up.

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17
Jun

UNION WINS BIG AT 2023 MARKETING STAR AWARDS

The Union won a Gold plus six Silvers at The Marketing Society Scotland Star Awards 2023. The agency was nominated ten times prior to the event, including being shortlisted for Agency of the Year for the 14th year running. Michael Hart, the agency’s Creative Director, was also nominated for Inspiring Agency Leader. Over 30 agencies and companies were shortlisted in the highly competitive event. The awards are judged annually by panels of marketing experts; with the goal of benchmarking the effectiveness of marketing investment. The Union’s winning clients were: Hankey Bannister whisky, South of Scotland Destination Alliance, Transport Scotland, Scottish Government,  Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, and Ten Hill Place Hotel. All parts of the Union Group were involved; with entries from The Union, Union Direct and Union Digital.

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28
Apr

UNION TOPS NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2023 STAR AWARDS

The Marketing Society Scotland has revealed the shortlist for the 2023 Marketing Star Awards, which is to be held in June this year. The annual awards event is the benchmark for marketing effectiveness in Scotland, with over 30 agencies and clients nominated. The dinner is expected to be attended by over 600 marketing experts from Scotland’s leading brands and businesses as well the nation’s top agencies. Several agencies from the rest of the UK are also named.

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7
Nov

COST OF LIVING CRISIS CUTS DEEP IN SCOTLAND

A new ‘Mood of the Nation Report’ published today by The Union has set out to capture how the cost of living crisis is impacting on people living in Scotland. Focused on their feelings, fears, priorities and coping mechanisms, it is a striking snapshot as the nation looks ahead to what will be an incredibly tough winter for many. The study shows biggest shift in Scottish consumer confidence in living memory with nine out of ten Scots seriously concerned by the cost of living crisis. The findings make for sober reading, indicating that perhaps there is a disconnect between the reality of public sentiment and the current consensus amongst legislators, retailers and consumer brands.

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18
Sep

UNION CREATES NEW TRAFFIC SCOTLAND WEBSITE

The Union has designed and built a major new website for Government agency Transport Scotland. The new Traffic Scotland website [ https://www.traffic.gov.scot ] is the result of almost three years of work by the agency, working in close collaboration with the client team. The site is the official hub for all data for Scotland’s main trunk road network. The agency’s challenge was to present a vast number of data sets and intelligence to all of Scotland’s road users; every day, on demand, in real time. The whole project was user-led; this required numerous rounds of insight gathering by the agency’s planning team along with extensive rounds of UX research and user testing. The finished site has an incredible array of data on Scotland’s road network; from traffic congestion to live camera views, roadworks, closures, EV charging points, latest incidents, and even the salt treatment on roads for the winter. The site also has a sophisticated route and journey planner.

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14
Sep

THE SO WHAT OF DRUPAL 10

It took five years to get from Drupal 8 to 9. By the end of 2022, Drupal 10 will be out, and that’s less than half the time. Why the rush, and what does it mean for people running websites? In summary, this is the start of several end-of-life countdowns.

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16
Aug

UNION APPOINTED TO THREE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT MARKETING FRAMEWORKS

The Union has been successful in gaining a place on three of the new Scottish Government marketing frameworks, also referred to as the ‘marketing rosters’. The rosters are tendered every four or five years; although this latest framework was delayed a year due to the pandemic. Agencies on the frameworks gain the right to tender for Scottish public sector marketing contracts, but are no guarantee of work. The Union has been appointed to three lots; 1) Creative Services above £50K, 2) Creative Services below £50K, and 3) Digital Marketing Services. Each framework is limited to five or six agencies.

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