Barber Jackson
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Barber Jackson - committed to design for business
Barber Jackson is a brand consultancy, providing specialist design and creative services from offices at Inworth, near Colchester in Essex. The consultancy, which works with a diverse range of clients in the public and private sectors, has also been deeply involved with the promotion of Essex design and marketing services to companies in the United States, India and China considering location in the county.
Creative Director Adrian Barber believes strongly in the importance of design to business. “We like to work with people who view design as an investment, rather than a cost. Our experience is that consumers expect high standards in the methods and ways in which companies communicate with them. Brand or corporate identity and marketing communications materials must be of sufficient quality to give the company the credibility it needs to even be considered by potential customers.”
Good branding is important for any size of business, according to Adrian Barber.
“We work with a number of six to ten year old companies. They are often run by entrepreneurs and have probably done little formal marketing in the early years. As they grow and move into new markets, they face more and better competition. That’s when they need to establish a clear, strong brand identity. We’re fortunate that Essex has so many innovative, entrepreneurial companies. It gives us great growth potential as a consultancy and it’s personally very satisfying to work alongside clients with exciting ideas.”
While many of Barber Jackson’s UK clients have benefitted from this approach to branding, Adrian Barber feels that it has even more value for overseas companies who want to do business here.
“We have participated in a number of Essex County Council trade missions. I was in Washington and Simon Jackson, our Managing Director, went to China and India. We stressed to local businesses that it was not possible to simply transplant their local brand into Europe. Market, business and cultural differences are too great. Essex has a lot of good creative and marketing services with the local knowledge to help overseas companies promote their goods here or assess local markets if they are considering inward investment.”
Essex is a good place for business in Adrian Barber’s experience.
“We have been established here for over twenty years and have benefitted in many ways. For a start, it’s a great place to live and work. The quality of life is good and that helped us to recruit and retain the calibre of staff we need. For the more specialist services, we may use outside suppliers”.
“Essex has a wealth of talent in the marketing services sector so we’ve been able to draw on a high-quality supply chain right on our doorstep. It’s also very easy to reach clients. We’re close to the main A12 trunk road, so driving to anywhere in the east of England is straightforward. As an increasing number of our clients are based in London, we find that the fast train service is a real bonus”.
Looking ahead, Adrian Barber sees a great future for the county and the consultancy. “Essex is buzzing with ideas and innovation. That must be good for business in the long term.”
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