Our new Community Manager

We are delighted to be joined by Community Manager, Kirsty Russell.

A little later than planned, but please welcome to the DVO team Kirsty Russell, who joins us as our new Community Manager.

Kirsty has definitely hit the ground running, straight into a photo and video shoot for one of our clients in her first week! Here’s a little bit a background on Kirsty and what she’ll be up to in the coming months.

Kirsty has over six years’ experience in digital and social media, with everything from content creation, social media management and photography. She has a first class music business degree and went straight into full time work after graduating. Not content with one degree, she’s now in the midst of a part time Masters degree at Loughborough University in Sport Management. This works well alongside one of her other passions: swimming. She swims five days a week and has been competing in Masters competitions for the past six months. She also enjoys creative hobbies such as photography, music and cooking, and she loves travelling.

In the short term, Kirsty is looking forward to expanding her marketing skillset outside of social media, getting to know her clients businesses and helping them improve their community relationships. Expect to see her impact on our own marketing as well, as Kirsty will be helping to build and engage our own network of brands, clients, suppliers and freelancers.

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash 

Join our team!

We are looking for a Community Manager.

Are you a social media whizz who would like to join dvo as a part time Community Manager? 

dvo delivers its work supported by a Roster of talented on-demand creatives, developers and everyone in between. We tap into talent when they’re needed which keeps things efficient for the brands we work with. As we grow, we are developing further in-house services that will work across our consulting projects. The first of which is social media.

We are looking to add a Community Manager to the core team to cover social media delivery and development for our clients. 

If you think you fit the person spec below, we’d love to hear from you.

We require someone with the following expertise:

  • Experience across all main social media platforms to produce engaging and well-designed social posts which are on brand for each of our clients, as well as some internal social media to promote DVO. Clients mainly use Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, however depending on future clients, will require experience or desire to learn new and developing platforms.
  • Strong photography and videography skills (not at a professional level but confident creating content relevant for social) for social posts that require imagery and videos.
  • Using design and editing software (Canva, Adobe Suite etc.) to create visually engaging posts for social platforms.
  • Confidence in engaging with members of the community and bringing people into the community in order to grow impact and build brand awareness of clients.
  • Strong copywriting skills to write engaging content for social posts.
  • Monitors trends on each platform and in each sector to produce the best content.
  • Strong research skills to work with consultants to develop content around themes and calendar content to further develop engagement.
  • Confident producing regular reports that will feed into wider agency work for each client, and work with consultants to agree KPIs which will be regularly reviewed.

Personal attributes:

  • Flexible in their style and able to juggle a number of different tasks at once for multiple clients.
  • Strong communication skills with consultants, clients and suppliers to build  relationships and support the growth of the business.
  • Keen attention to detail.
  • Analytical mind with a focus on meeting KPIs.

The role will be varied within your social media delivery, so we are looking for someone creative who enjoys the challenge of working with early start ups and more established organisations. The role is a remote position, but we are ideally looking for someone who can travel to London when needed.

Please apply by sending your CV and a cover letter outlining why you are suitable for the role to laura.hine@dvoagency.co.uk by midnight 8 November 2021. Interviews will be held the week after via Zoom so please also share your availability in your application. We look forward to hearing from you!

Job spec

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50 Best Bars

50 Best Bars Afterparty

50 Best Bars Afterparty

In association with Thomas Henry

High profile Event Production

What

Working with Thomas Henry to host their after party for the 50 Best Bars awards.

An invite-only event, the after show party saw the cream of the international hospitality industry come together to celebrate the 50 Best Bars award winners.

This epic night featured delicious street-food inspired canapés, a bespoke hand-crafted cocktail menu, the coolest DJs and wild burlesque performers.

How

Working directly with Thomas Henry and the venue, dvo oversaw every aspect of event production.

This included:

  • Liaising with all event sponsors
  • Food and drink menu creation
  • Venue dressing
  • Service delivery
  • Brand management

Results

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“This was the biggest, most prestigious event we'd ever hosted and dvo ensured it went off without a hitch.”

Managing Director, Lockside Camden

dvo can deliver everything from high end event production to full service marketing.​

Get in touch to discuss your company’s requirements and we can work together to find the best solution.

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12 Days of BrewDog

12 Days of BrewDog

Christmas Loyalty Campaign

What

dvo were tasked with creating and delivering a Christmas campaign to encourage repeat visitors and collect customer data for a 7 day a week, late night venue in Camden Town.

After consulting with the venue, ascertaining their objectives and research into the current offer and sales figures, it was decided that a sponsored loyalty scheme that rewarded customers for repeat purchases was a simple and effective mechanism that could be rolled out easily on site and across the venue’s digital platforms. 

How

BrewDog was selected as a suitable partner for the campaign who were happy to support the campaign. The venue offered a wide range of their products already, including gluten free and low alcohol beers and had a good relationship with their account manager. 

The concept was to run across the whole of December, with a basic loyalty stamp card and data capture mechanism, with data capture encouraged with a prize draw. dvo sourced a graphic designer from their Roster of talent which aligned with BrewDog’s branding. BrewDog agreed to contribute a hamper of products and merchandise for the prize draw and covered production costs.

Customers received a stamp on their card for any purchase of a BrewDog product, getting their 12th free of charge. They also had the option to opt in for communications for the venue and BrewDog. The reverse of the card was used to promote BrewDog’s core and seasonal ranges.

Cards were displayed at key points around the venue as well as handed out by staff whenever a customer purchased a BrewDog product. The campaign was promoted across social media (supported by BrewDog) and the venue’s website.

“Our venue typically suffered from lack of walk-ins at Christmas, as they assumed we would be fully booked with parties. The campaign dvo delivered was simple and highly effective.” Manager, Venue

dvo supportse PR campaigns to full service marketing.

Get in touch to discuss your company’s requirements and we can work together to find the best solution.

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Drinks Menus

Drink Menu Launches

End-to-end campaign management

New Drinks Menus

What

dvo has managed the launch of every single cocktail menu launch for a number of Mallen Group venues.

The venues instructed dvo to plan, execute and deliver two seasonal menu overhauls of their bespoke, in-house cocktail menus, as well as a large number of smaller special edition menus for unique events and activations, often working directly with a particular brand or supplier.

dvo was required to work directly alongside the team, utilising their vast knowledge and skills to produce menus that were not only exciting, enticing and delicious, but also commercially successful and that appealed to their particular customer base.

How

Each launch is broken up into stages, with dvo managing the whole process:

  1. Concept development – working directly with the owners and bar team, dvo helps coordinate the menu concept.

  2. Drink development –  in-line with the brief and concept.

  3. Photography and menu design – using dvo’s Roster of graphic designers and photographer.

  4. Pre-launch comms and final menu launch – teaser and PR campaigns are run across all communication platforms.

“We value working directly with an onsite team to produce stunning menus and imagery that not only represent the venue, and the latest industry trends, but speak directly to their individual customer base”
Jackie Clode-Dickens, Marketing Director, dvo.

dvo can deliver everything from content design and campaign delivery to full service marketing.

Get in touch to discuss your company’s requirements and we will work together to find the best solution.

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National Geographic Traveller

National Geographic Food Magazine

Ask The Experts

feature in National Geographic Food magazine

What

As part of dvo’s ongoing PR support for the Mallen Group, we coordinated a feature in the Ask The Experts section of 2020’s Issue 7 of National Geographic Food Magazine.

Featuring one their venue’s Head Chef Dan Borham, dvo liaised directly with the editorial staff to provide imagery and copy for this exclusive international publication.

How

After securing the piece in the magazine, dvo managed all collateral production, collation and delivery in line with the publication’s specified deadlines.

This included a photoshoot for the chef and the featured dish, a write up of the recipe and methodology, and featured biography for the chef.

dvo supports everything from a single PR campaign to full service marketing.

Get in touch to discuss your company’s requirements and we will work together to find the best solution.

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Gluten Free Street Food Festival

The Gluten Free Street Food Festival

Showcasing the best of London's Free From Street Food traders

The Gluten Free Festival

What

Launched in 2012, the Gluten Free Festival is London’s original and only free street food festival showcasing the very best of the city’s free from food and drink.

The aim of the festival was to provide a platform of inclusivity for people wanting to enjoy street food together. Street food dining is all about friends and family coming together to enjoy innovative food outdoors. The festival provided the backdrop of inclusivity so often lacking from most ‘free-from’ events. It was, and will always remain, a completely free-of-charge event to help achieve this.

How

The original event launched as a single day event within Camden Market, running twice a year, and very rapidly grew to be their most successful pop-up event to date.

dvo, working alongside one of our collaborators Sarah Kettel, worked to produce, market and manage every aspect of the festival.

The festival has run across various sites in London, returning in 2017 to Camden and in 2018 was invited back to Camden Market.

The event consists of street food traders, artisan take home food stalls, a fully gluten free (and vegan) bar, live music and children’s entertainment, cooking demonstrations and even featured on Channel 4’s ‘Food Unwrapped’ and ‘London Live’. Partners include Wholefoods, Limehouse Social, The Coeliac Society and Camden Council.

dvo can deliver everything from festival production to full service marketing.

Get in touch to discuss your company’s requirements and we will work together to find the best solution.

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New Technology Platforms

New Technologies

Making technology work for your business

Integrating new technology platforms into your business

What

“Life moves pretty fast” and don’t we know it!

Technology is constantly evolving and has become completely embedded into almost every aspect of modern life.

That being said, many businesses have trouble embracing new technologies, usually either trying to incorporate inappropriate platforms for their specific business, or lagging behind due to a lack of confidence or a fear of the unknown.

How

At dvo, we are very much anti the “technology for the sake of technology” way of doing business. With our vast experience working both agency and client side, too often we have seen completely inappropriate platforms and tech solutions thrown into a business which ultimately becomes useless and usually, extremely costly.

dvo takes the time to really understand your business and we only recommend platforms that benefit your objectives. We believe technology should enhance your business, make it more efficient, more cost-effective, reduce waste and improve the customer experience and communication. We have lost count of the number of times we’ve been told by clients that they want/need an app, but when questioned, have no idea what they want an app for or why it would benefit their business. As with so many things in life, just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.

Research, understanding the customer journey and internal processes and clear KPIs and business objectives are what should drive the implementation of new technologies. Not just because it’s shiny and new.

Here's some technology projects we have worked on

Booking platforms for hospitality

dvo has worked with a large number of hospitality clients to implement new booking platforms with end to end support. This includes researching the most effective platform for the individual client, negotiating the commercials with the preferred partner, initial set-up of platform parameters specific to the client’s needs, integration of the platforms across required client channels, training the on site team, launching the platform and, if required, ongoing management and maintenance.

Business development and digital partnerships

Making digital technologies integrated is essential to maximise efficiency and success across the business. dvo has vast expertise in recommending and launching platforms for clients with the specific aim of driving their business forward and developing real growth and expansion.

Whether it’s partnering with specific geo-location based apps to drive targeted customer footfall into a bricks and mortar business, implementing and managing new CRM systems to drive customer engagement and maximise sales, or simply helping you to set up your social media channels, dvo has an efficient and cost-effective solution to meet your business’s needs.

Bespoke solutions

Sometimes, off the shelf solutions just aren’t right for a client. dvo works with the client to find solutions that are the most effective for all areas of the business, including cost. But we’ll also be honest and only recommend a bespoke solution if we truly believe that it will deliver the very best return for you, your business and your objectives.

Whether this be a custom-built website, original commissioned creative (e.g. video, illustration, animation) or (and yes, we do actually recommend them when it’s appropriate!) an app, dvo can help. Due the unique way in which we work, we will build a team of highly experience, hand-picked experts from our Roster to deliver your project at a fraction of the cost of big agencies. 

Incremental revenue

Once a business is humming along nicely, maximising sales, opportunities and resources, it’s time to look at possible incremental revenue streams. This is where technology has really benefited businesses large and small, with integrated web-based solutions available and achievable for virtually anyone. But to make sure they are successful, you need to research, plan, forecast and manage any new ventures with granular detail.

This is where dvo thrives by bringing our experience, expertise and knowledge to the heart of your business. Many businesses lack the time and resource to embrace incremental income projects, and they end up dragging along, never quite getting over the line. This ends up costing the business even more money. dvo can quickly and seamlessly recommend, integrate and manage these for you, getting them making you money in a fraction of the time.

dvo supports everything from integrating new technologies into your business to full service marketing.

Get in touch to discuss your company’s requirements and we can work together to find the best solution.

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The Candlelight Club

The Candlelight Club

London's Original Underground Speakeasy Party

A clandestine party at a secret london location

What

The Candlelight Club launched in 2010 and is London’s leading Prohibition-era pop-up event. The parties are held in secret locations around London, with guests only being informed of the location a couple of days before each event. Every aspect of the events are curated with integrity: from the music and the cocktails; through to the 1920s silent movies projected onto the walls and the performance artists. Everyone dresses the part.

Due to ever-increasing competition in experience-based nights out, The Candlelight Club were seeing significant reductions in ticket sales. They approached dvo initially enquiring about some PR support for their upcoming events but it quickly became apparent they would benefit from a much more integrated approach to their marketing.

How

dvo proposed a number of objectives, with the main ones creating a scalable, measurable and predictable source of ticket sales, an increase in brand awareness and to establish a leading position for the Candlelight Club (CLC) within the crowded experience-based leisure landscape.

Social content was central to the strategy. The vast majority of customer activity took place online, so streamlining and maximising the efficiency of the website, newsletter sign-up and conversion needed to happen quickly. Then, social media, PR and blog content was used to drive people to the website. The brand position as market leaders with a unique level of integrity meant targeted content would create a valuable stream of digital footfall.

Time was taken to work with the client to get a full understanding of the customer journey and buying cycle, so a successful longer term strategy could be put in place, so CLC could become proactive rather than reactive. Data collection and customer communications were automated where possible and appropriate.

SEO was applied across the site to increase organic search results and a detailed social media advertising campaign implemented. dvo utilised its Roster to commission high-quality photography, specifically briefed for social and PR purposes to increase the impact of imagery on the site.

dvo also worked with CLC to take ownership and management of their digital footprint, including their search engine listings, social media channels and online booking platforms to align its tone of voice and messaging across platforms.

“The Candlelight Club really is the closest you’ll find to an authentic Jazz Age experience in central London. Its unique ambience, fuelled by hundreds of candles, is truly a scene to behold.”
Time Out

dvo can deliver everything from rethinking your events strategy to full service marketing.

Get in touch to discuss your company’s requirements and we can work together to find the best solution.

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Corporate Events

Corporate and Private Events

Negotiating, securing and managing events for private and corporate clients

Maximising revenue from your events

What

dvo generates a large amount of additional income for clients by sourcing, negotiating and managing all their private events and corporate parties.

These range from closed, guestlist-only parties and celebrity aftershow parties; to PR events and Christmas and summer company events.

How

To run any successful private event, the critical starting point is to truly understand two things; the client’s expectations and the venue. dvo stands apart in providing agency support as we fully incorporate our skills and services into the client’s business. Knowing everything a venue is able to offer and what it is capable of delivering is vital to delivering a successful event. Client communication is equally important, so granular management of the details is essential.

Services for private and corporate events

01.

Working with the venue operator and onsite management to build, cost and market (on and offline) pre-defined packages for events, including; food, drinks, venue hire fees, DJ/entertainment, AV equipment, security/door staff and bespoke menus. dvo can also manage specific brand partnerships and sponsorship if required.

02.

Managing booking enquiries right through from enquiry to confirmation and overseeing all necessary paperwork (signed contracts, risk assessments, invoicing etc.).

Managing all communication between the client, the operator and the onsite team to ensure all parties are fully briefed, with clear instructions and deadlines.

03.

Booking and managing any external services or additional requirements the client has. This includes requesting and collating quotes, organising contracts, overseeing logistics and liaising between external contractors and the venue.

04.

On the day management of the event. dvo ensure onsite support from set up and throughout the duration of the event, through to breakdown and close. Any necessary follow up work, closing invoicing, collateral and equipment collection etc. is also managed by us.

Some of the brands dvo has delivered events for:

“Just wanted to say thanks so much, we had a brilliant party and the event went off without a hitch.”
Josh, Artist Manager, Jax Jones

dvo can deliver everything from your next event to full service marketing.

Get in touch to discuss your company’s requirements and we can work together to find the best solution.

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