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!