Lesniak Swann retains prestigious title

Lesniak Swann, the Staffordshire-based integrated communications agency, has retained it’s place in this year’s Top 100 Agencies outside London list, fighting off competition from thousands of businesses from around the UK.

The Recommended Agency Register (RAR) and The Drum – an influential news magazine for advertising and marketing practitioners, worked together to provide the prestigious top 100 listing. 

To be entered, the agencies had to be on the Recommended Agency Register, ‘highly rated’ by their clients and also located outside of the M25. Hundreds of agencies throughout the Midlands are on the Register, but Lesniak Swann are one of a handful from the region who have made the top 100, and are the only agency in Staffordshire to have won a place.

The coveted title means that Lesniak Swann’s clients have rated them highly in various areas, including ‘Strategy, Design, Digital, Direct Marketing.’

As well as client satisfaction, agencies were also rated on their overall strength, including profitability and growth. This year has seen record turnover for Lesniak Swann, and the company has also grown by 50%, recruiting additional account managers, designers and web developers to the creative team.

Mark Lesniak, joint managing director at Lesniak Swann, said “to be recognised again as one of the best agencies in the country is a real achievement, and is a brilliant way to end what has been a fantastic year for us. You can’t win this award without client recommendation, and it’s a testament to our fantastic team that we’ve managed to retain our place in the Top 100.”

To see why Lesniak Swann have been rated so highly, visit www.lesniakswann.com

Lesniak Swann’s intelligent overseas University website achieves A* results



The complex site was delivered in 3 languages

When it came to selecting an agency to design and develop a multi-language site with a user-friendly Content Management System (CMS), in under a month, the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) knew that they could count on Staffordshire-based education marketing specialists Lesniak Swann to deliver. The site, designed for the first overseas UCLan campus in Cyprus, has scored highly with students and staff alike. The site has received over 55,000 hits since it launched, with organic traffic driving over 58% of visitors. Applications were made from students throughout the EU, and the first intake of students has just begun their studies at the new campus.

The site was made screen responsive
for mobile use

Having worked with the University for several years and established a strong relationship, Lesniak Swann were able to draw on the diverse knowledge of their programming team to select the most appropriate platform to build the site, and implemented a CMS that would be able to cope easily with multiple languages. The site was programmed in three languages; English, Greek-Cypriot and Russian, and all versions were made screen responsive for mobile use. The turnaround on the project was extremely tight, scheduled less than a month after Lesniak Swann received the brief, but the complex site was delivered on-time.

 Alex Swann, Managing Director at Lesniak Swann, said: “We were approached by UCLan to design and build their site after successfully working with them on a number of other online and offline projects. It would have been lovely to make a site visit to Cyprus, but maybe as a victim of our own success, we managed the process via emails and conference calls - from start to finish!”

Marketing Manager at UCLan Lisa Colman has been impressed with the results: “Lesniak Swann pulled out all the stops to make it happen in such a tight timescale, and their support has continued beyond going live. It has been a joy working with them again.”

Back to the Future: How Augmented Reality is helping traditional communication channels stay relevant

At Lesniak Swann, the Staffordshire-based integrated communications agency, the business philosophy is to deliver effective campaigns by being relevant and engaging.
But when you’re faced with engaging an audience who uses digital and print media simultaneously, how do you stay relevant and consistent in both?
We were challenged by one of our existing clients, Stoke-on-Trent College, to design a printed prospectus that was dually appealing; to effectively engage with 14-18 year olds, but also appeal to their more mature parents.


Scanning the prospectus with a smartphone reveals
embedded digital contentThe solution that we devised for the College bridges the gap between printed and digital media. Using Augmented Reality, the traditional printed prospectus is brought to life in the digital world. While some will check course credentials in print, others can use their phones to scan pages to reveal embedded digital content in graphic elements, linking to relevant websites, videos and images online. Thanks to eEnrol, another forward-thinking concept of ours, potential students can even be taken straight to the online enrolment site using Augmented Reality with the printed prospectus, making the entire recruitment process seamless.

Having used QR tags on the 2012/13 part-time prospectus, which was also produced by the Lesniak Swann Team, the College knew that combining print and digital elements could be rewarding. The success of previous projects with us meant that the College was confident that taking the next step, blending print and the digital world, would work, and the Augmented Reality 2013 full-time prospectus launched earlier this month.

Andrea Capewell, Marketing Coordinator at Stoke-on-Trent College, said "We thought the suggestion by Lesniak Swann to introduce Augmented Reality in our new Full Time prospectus was a fantastic idea. The ability to keep up with new trends and bridge the gap between printed and digital media gives us a real competitive advantage. This enables our prospective students to fully engage with our printed materials…and brings the college and our courses to life!"

Mark Lesniak, director at Lesniak Swann, is looking forward to developing the other potential applications of Augmented Reality; "Augmented Reality will become more integral within education from the ground up. At the moment we're using it to get people into classrooms; soon it will become part of the classroom environment making learning more engaging. The potential applications of Augmented Reality are vast, and we are excited about working with clients to bring a new dimension to their printed media."

To find out how working with Lesniak Swann could help your business deliver relevant and engaging communications, call Alex Swann on 01782 284503.

Tailor-made website is the perfect fit for Town Council

With an outdated existing website, that was difficult to navigate and impossible to update, Congleton Town Council realised that they needed to create something new that was fit for purpose. The council awarded the design and build of the new site to us in 2011, trusting in our 10 years experience and technical know-how. Out went the tired, old site, and in came a fresh-looking site, that is as easy-to-use as it is beautiful.

And now the investment has paid off; the Council has just won “Best Website” at the Cheshire Community Awards 2012.

The new site offers the best of both worlds to the council, in terms of ease-of-use for both the end-user and the staff who update the website. Before the new site was built, making changes was extremely complex and technical, and consequently the information was out-of-date and rarely refreshed. With the new content management system (CMS), a non-technical member of staff is able to update the website on a daily basis, providing accurate information on news and events. And as the Council’s needs grow, so too can the website; the system is designed so that additional modules can be ‘plugged in’ or custom-built as necessary.

The entire process, from concept through to build and launch, took around 4 months, and traffic to the website has grown by an average of 1000%. The site now ranks number 1 in Google for searches related to Congleton, a key priority for the Town Council, as it was previously being outranked by non-council maintained sites.

Jackie MacArthur, Town Centre and Marketing Manager, said “There’s so much going on in Congleton that we wanted a lively, modern and fresh website. A local company, Cyberzia (now part of Lesniak Swann), designed and built the new site and trained Congleton Town Council staff on the content management system so that we can keep it up to date.  Since the launch in September 2011 we have continued to work together to improve and develop this much – admired, award winning website”

To find out how Lesniak Swann could deliver an award-winning site for you, designed around your needs, contact Alex Swann on 01782 284503.

All grown up! Integrated agency Lesniak Swann celebrates 10th Birthday!

Lesniak Swann began life as a 3-partner advertising agency in September 2002 called AdOne. Their early years were characterised by gaining new clients from all over the country, (including Michelin, Friends Provident, Baxi) and winning several awards, including 3 Heist awards and a Chip Shop Commendation in their first year alone. The boys were also busy establishing themselves as serious players in the field, not to mention a reputation for staying out late on school nights!

As the company grew, so did their skills, and in 2006 they changed their name to Grisdale Lesniak Swann to reflect the broader range of services on offer. As they continued to expand, adding more designers and account managers to the team, the company were recognised as a top 100 regional agency by the Recommended Agency Register. Busy honing their skills in award-winning design, brand management and integrated marketing communications,  they still liked to stay out late on school nights sometimes, when they weren’t travelling to clients based around the country, notably UCLan, the Learning Skills Council and The Portman Building Society.

Following the departure of Mr Grisdale, the company moved to new offices in Festival Park in 2010, and had a final change of name to Lesniak Swann. Building on the talents of the existing team, the agency acquired Actual Reality in 2010 to strengthen their web department. Another acquisition in 2011 saw the team grow to 14, and a successful merger earlier this year with Cyberzia brought the team to 19.

Now firmly established as a leading fully integrated marketing communications agency, the company has retained clients from their early days, and won lots of new ones along the way. With global projects to manage, the team is kept busier than ever, and the company is currently celebrating a record turnover year.

They still enjoy the occasional late night, but with their own school runs to do now, tend to lead a quieter life during the week.

Alex Swann and Mark Lesniak: a winning team at 10!

Happy Birthday Lesniak Swann!

Shooting for the stars with NASA and UClan Water Bottle Rocket Challenge website

A leading Staffordshire marketing agency has helped to make a Guinness World Record attempt to launch the most water bottle-rockets in 24 hours, go off with a bang.

Lesniak Swann, a fully integrated marketing communications agency based in Staffordshire, were selected by the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) to build the website for the 24 hour Water Bottle Rocket Challenge after working with the University on several other projects. The challenge was a joint project between NASA, Rokit and UCLan.

Work on the interactive site began earlier in the year, containing all of the information about the attempt, but also crucially acting as a central point for participants to upload their launch videos for verification. The upload area had to be capable of withstanding potentially 1000s of uploads in a short space of time, whilst still remaining user-friendly.

Results from the official Guinness World Record attempt will be published once they have verified all of the videos, but initial numbers recorded indicate that over 2500 bottle rockets were launched in 24 hours, from 4^th-5^th July 2012.

Jo Heaton, Project Coordinator, has been impressed with the results.

“Lesniak Swann were chosen to design and build the website after completing several other successful projects for us. As usual, they delivered the site on-time, and were able to accommodate all of our requirements. They really engaged with and understood the project, helping to make it a huge success. We look forward to working with them again in the future.”

Members of staff from Lesniak Swann launch their own water bottle rocket, as part of the 24 hour challenge.

More information on the challenge can be found at http://www.24hourrocketchallenge.com/

To find out how working with Lesniak Swann could help launch your business into the stratosphere, visit www.lesniakswann.com or call 01782 284503

Agency proves itself a cut above the competition with professional mower client

Integrated marketing communications agency Lesniak Swann have been chosen to work with professional mower manufacturers Allett Mowers to launch a domestic mower range.

Allett are traditionally the preferred choice for groundsman professionals, selling to the likes of Lords and Manchester United, but after acquiring the tooling to manufacture a domestic range from Atco, they faced a special challenge to launch a domestic brand without affecting their existing professional reputation.

After a competitive pitch, Lesniak Swann were commissioned to develop the new brand identity and marketing strategy, and were chosen specifically for their experience in consumer marketing and research led approach. After extensive research with consumers and their distribution channel, Lesniak Swann established a brand identity to closely mirror the professional range, to create a halo effect across the domestic range.





The new product range launches this summer, and will be supported by direct mail, consumer advertising, point of sale literature, PR and a website.

Initial reaction to the new product range has been excellent, with resellers and distributors expressing their delight with not only the products but also the supporting collateral. Allett have reported record numbers of pre-orders for Spring/Summer 2012.

Mark Lesniak, director at Lesniak Swann, said “winning an account like Allett is fantastic. The brand is steeped in heritage and engineering excellence. We are proud to be working with a tremendously successful British manufacturing business.”

Austin Jarrett, Managing Director, Allett Mowers said: "We decided to work with Lesniak Swann because of their strategic approach to the launch of our domestic product range. Their research into our marketplace provided valuable insights, ensuring our position in the professional market would not be compromised. The response to the materials released to date has been overwhelmingly positive. Our trust in Lesniak Swann's recommendations has been rewarded with strong figures so far this season, both here and abroad. We're looking forward to an exciting year ahead."

For more information on how working with Lesniak Swann could help grow your business, visit www.lesniakswann.com, or call 01782 284503

Successful merger offers clients a fully integrated web solution

Lesniak Swann, the integrated marketing communications agency, has joined forces with Cyberzia, the eCommerce solutions specialists, further strengthening their position as a fully integrated agency.

The recent merger has combined the marketing strategy and brand development that Lesniak Swann are famous for, with greater eCommerce and open source software knowledge that Cyberzia have developed over the past 10 years.

The merger comes at a perfect time for the two businesses; Lesniak Swann were looking to expand their web business to provide clients with a complete internet marketing solution, whilst Cyberzia wanted to join a larger strategic firm in response to clients requiring more integration between web and other marketing services.

Lesniak Swann now has a vast pool of talent to draw from, with a combined staff of 20 bringing the best of open source software and bespoke programming expertise together to cater for every client’s needs. The programmers at Lesniak Swann have been developing unique web applications ranging from eCommerce enrolment solutions for FE colleges, to fully screen responsive websites for use on mobile phones and tablets.

The move strengthens the position of Lesniak Swann as market-leaders in integrated, strategic communications, and has taken the web side of the business to approximately 50% of the GP of the firm. 

Clients from both businesses are now able to benefit from a more complete range of marketing and internet solutions; from website building, eCommerce and online marketing strategy, to broader communications strategies, brand development and print solutions.

Following from the merger with business-to-business specialists Austin Barrett Brock last year, Lesniak Swann is now positioned to offer additional sectors a fully integrated marketing service, and as the agency grows from strength-to-strength, clients are able to meet all of their marketing needs under one roof.

Alex Swann, director at Lesniak Swann, is thrilled with the latest merger, “only three months into the merge we have met the six month target for the combined business. Considering the current economic climate, we are very pleased with these results, and we are looking forward to another year of healthy growth for the agency."

For more information about Lesniak Swann, visit http://www.lesniakswann.com/

Agency puts a social spin on charity cycle campaign

Lesniak Swann, the Midlands-based agency who have worked with The Donna Louise Children’s Hospice for the past 3 years, have been chosen to kick into gear the ‘On Yer Bike’ campaign.

Having created a new website for the charity in 2010, and a Facebook page that now has over 2,200 followers, Lesniak Swann will be increasing the charity’s online presence with a dedicated ‘On Yer Bike’ website. By focusing their marketing activity online through social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, the campaign will reach an ever-increasing audience.

The campaign launches in June with a celebrity cycle from John O’Groats to Lands End with Nick Hancock and Tony Pulis, and the charity is counting on the digital expertise and strategic input of Lesniak Swann to achieve their campaign target of £100k. News from the campaign will feed through into the charity’s website, Facebook and Twitter pages, delivering real-time updates on the riders’ progress. Using the new website, supporters will be able to track riders' progress, make a donation, or even organise their own cycling challenge. With peer-to-peer or social fundraising becoming increasingly effective, engaging supporters to create their own events will be key to achieving the campaign goal. By maintaining a multichannel stream of communications, supporters will be able to share and spread the fundraising message, and increase awareness of the campaign.

Mark Lesniak, director at Lesniak Swann, said: “Social fundraising is becoming an incredibly powerful tool. By creating an interactive website and delivering a constant news feed for the campaign, we are confident that supporters will be engaged and inspired to create their own mini-events.”

Director of Fundraising & PR at The Donna Louise Children’s Hospice, Melanie Mills, is already pleased with the results: “Having worked with Lesniak Swann for a number of years, we knew that we could rely on them to help us deliver an engaging and effective campaign. Generating interest online is key to the success of this project, and Lesniak Swann have created a website that is both entertaining and engaging.”

To keep up-to-date with the campaign, visit http://www.onyerbike2012.org/

To learn more about Lesniak Swann and their services, visit http://www.lesniakswann.com/ or call 01782 284503

Midlands-based agency gets top ranking

Marketing communications agency Lesniak Swann has been highly placed in the Top 100 agencies outside of London survey.

The agency fought off competition from over thousands of other agencies to win 69th place in the listing.

The Recommended Agency Register (RAR) and The Drum – an influential news magazine for advertising and marketing practitioners, worked together to provide the prestigious top 100 listing.

To be entered, the agencies had to be on the Recommended Agency Register, ‘highly rated’ by their clients and also located outside of the M25.

Alex Swann, Joint Managing Director said: “Client satisfaction is at the forefront of everything that we do, so we’re really pleased with our placing. Moving up 30 places on last year is testament to our success.

The agencies were assessed on client satisfaction, their overall strength including profitability and growth.

He continued: Our successful year includes winning a number of new, local and national clients which has boosted our gross profitability by 40%, allowing us to expand our team by 30%.”