DigiKind
DigiKind are community builders. I developed the agency to engage in meaningful projects that help community-based enterprises, local businesses and governments work together to thrive and grow. I launched DigiKind as a response to the pandemic and have been working to help fellow businesses and government partners go digital, empower the public, and use tech for good tools to help communities to take ownership of their futures. The consultancy supports clients in building community through digital transformation, advocacy, creative omni-channel marketing, PR and design campaigns, and business support programmes. I also feature, for free, any organisation or business that makes an impact in their community and focuses on art, philanthropy, up-cycling/sustainability, digital transformation, empowerment, and/or handmade. Get in touch and I will happily feature you on our blog or our Christmas Gift Guide. Learn more at DigiKind.uk. https://www.facebook.com/bedigikind http://twitter.com/bedigikind http://instagram.com/bedigikind https://www.linkedin.com/company/digikind/
I have been positively prolific. Won some awards and been nominated for a Drum Award. I created all of the artwork to support high street engagement and collaborted with a Tech For Good to engage the public about COVID and then high street shops.
This is the 7-8 foot tall 'Guard' I designed for my client. Read the case study on my DigiKind website.
This work saw me launch my second company, a high street rejuvenation consultancy called DigiKind, a multi-award winning digital and creative communications agency that empowers local communities and governments through digital transformation, creative campaigns, placemaking, and business support. I collaborated with central government, local authorities, non-profits, start-ups, business improvement districts, CICs and companies large and small to reach and empower more people, focus on building community and drive economic development.
I was responsible for launch and scale up of the company, business development and marketing, winning high-value contracts, integrated branding, transformation, comprehensive training programmes, partnership building, digital transformation implementation, grant management programmes, project and event management, risk mitigation, stakeholder management and engagement, place making, media strategy, budget management, mentoring teams and staff, use of innovative technology, AI, and omni-channel communications campaigns.
I also drew everything.
Working in partnership with my client, my team and I combined a diverse range of research and insight from expert sources and identified that we would need to focus on three key areas:
Creative campaign
The creative campaign was initially to help build confidence about safe shopping, and carried a strong public health message. Research showed that big corporate messages wouldn’t engage the public or build trust, so instead we created an accessible brand persona which the community connected with, opting for hand-drawn illustrated communications with a friendly tone of voice. The campaign was so successful that we were asked to extend this into linked campaigns as the pandemic progressed: ‘support local, shop online’ (during lockdown) and then ‘following government guidance.’ The friendly and less corporate imagery was well received by the local community and was shared widely online by brand ambassadors.
Based on our success RBWM asked us to extend the activity in March 2021. We used the same recognisable image style to create the ‘Don’t Let Your Guard Down’ campaign with on-street artwork. This highly recognisable campaign was picked up by national and international media.
Community building
Vital to the success of our strategy was creating communities around the high streets of RBWM, and providing the digital landscape to enable these communities to create and share content to support local business. DigiKind created an infrastructure of social media channels, a web hub, and branded hashtags, which we continued to populate with relevant content in the form of weekly blogs, interviews with successful local businesses, and our campaign messaging. We ran ‘placemaking’ activities to further engage the local community, and turn Instagrammers into true brand ambassadors. We also created an online directory of local businesses to remind locals what a wealth of services are on their doorstep.
Our strategy worked. Our content inspired the local community who got on board in droves, and thanks to our platforms we were able to share over 5000 pieces of user generated content creating a true digital ecosystem.
Supporting local businesses
We identified that campaigns and communities alone were not enough to give the high street businesses the boost they needed. For our strategy to be sustainable and resilient in the long term, the businesses themselves needed support via training, development and ways to network with one another.
We started by offering free digital training in the form of easily digestible ‘lunch and learn’ online courses: five hour-long sessions suitable for time-poor businesses. Following their success we supplemented this with inspiring Breakfast Briefings which showcase world-class entrepreneurs, and networking events to ensure businesses can share their solutions with each other. We delivered training to over 120 businesses in just four months (bringing our total trained to 200). We also provided one to one digital strategy expertise to those businesses who really needed help.
In 2021, RBWM asked DigiKind to partner with them on developing their ‘Additional Restrictions Grant Innovation grant scheme’, whereby local businesses who met the criteria could receive a grant to help them reinvigorate following the lockdown. Through the grant scheme we enabled over 50 businesses to receive £800,000 in grant funding.
Success for the Royal Borough
Results from the delivery of the campaign included:
- Over 5,000 UGC posts on Twitter and Instagram
- We connected with businesses, their customers, non-profits, leaders in the community, the media…and brought them together around one cause: to champion their high street
- We achieved national and international recognition from the media, to include Sky news, BBC, the Guardian, and the Times
- Footfall increased by 315% in Windsor over a year (2020-21) * Currently at 16% increase monthly
- During this time, 30 new shops opened in Windsor and five in Maidenhead
- Campaign email open rate of 55% – far exceeding the industry average
- 91-95% positive sentiment score on our branded hashtag #MyRoyalBorough
- Our organic engagement and impressions rose steadily month on month by 10%
- We delivered training to 150 businesses over a four month period
- We enabled over 50 business to access 800,000 in grant funding
* according to Footfall report (May 2021)
“Would just like to say what a breath of fresh air MyRoyalBorough is. Fun, informative and engaging. Building a great supportive local community, not just for businesses but also for those who visit, live and work in the borough. 1st class.”
Terri Watson, Store Manager at Paperchase