Quadriga Client Media Release

Livestock management software developed by FarmWizard will be used to provide traceability functionality on hundreds of South African farms.

FarmWizard reached agreement with Checkers, one of South Africa’s leading hyper/supermarket chains, for its Internet herd management system to be used to provide traceability and performance management for its range of “Checkers Angus Beef”.

Read the full story…

Quadriga Consulting has been commissioned by Invest Northern Ireland - the business development agency for the UK region – to provide marketing support for 11 local companies that are taking part in a trade mission to the SXSW Interactive event in Austin Texas.

SXSW® Interactive features five days of presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology, scores of networking events hosted by industry leaders and a line up of special programs showcasing the best new websites, video games and startup ideas the digital community has to offer.

Quadriga has built a pre-event showcase for the 11 Northern Ireland companies – and is building profiles of client companies, AudioBoo interviews, news stories and social media outreach.

Quadriga Consulting Ltd has been commissioned to undertake a market research assignment for Sofant – a spin-out business from the University of Edinburgh.

We are conducting a series of interviews with mobile sector experts – with a strong focus on respondents with a good understanding of MEMS based ICs in mobile devices, and RF technology.

The research assignment is being overseen by Jeffrey Peel supported by Delphine Dufils.  If you feel you contribute to our research assignment we’d like to describe the product concept to you in more detail – to gain your feedback on likely market receptivity. 

Respondents who take part in the research assignment will gain a unique insight into a new breed of antenna technology for mobile devices.

We will be conducting face-t0-face interviews in London on March 4th – and telephone interviews until end of March.

The objectives of the Fund are:

• to generate long-term financial returns, which are recycled back into the Fund
• to attract external investment activity into early-stage companies
• to serve as a model for the successful commercial application of the results of outstanding research

In August 2009 the Enterprise Fund made its first investment in the company Novacem. Based on research from Imperial College London, Novacem is developing a new generation of carbon negative cement systems.

The annual production of traditional Portland cement is over 2.5 billion tonnes and is responsible for 5% of global CO2 emissions with cement production expected to double by 2050. In contrast to Portland cement, Novacem cement absorbs more CO2 than it emits over its life cycle. Widespread adoption of this revolutionary new material will transform the cement industry from a significant emitter to a significant absorber of CO2.

The Enterprise Fund has generated a very encouraging response since opening for business and expects to be able to announce additional investments over the coming months. To submit a proposal to the Enterprise Fund click here.

A unique philanthropic opportunity

The Enterprise Fund offers a unique opportunity to support science and innovation through philanthropy. The Fund has a goal to raise £20 million, and we have already received generous support from visionary leaders including Adrian Beecroft, Roger Brooke, Hermann Hauser and Lord Sainsbury of Turville. Donations to the Fund are eligible for tax relief and are exempt from Capital Gains Tax.

If you would like to speak with us about supporting the Enterprise Fund, please contact Jenny Boyd at the Royal Society on 020 7451 2215 or at jenny.boyd@royalsociety.org

Jeff has a strong track history in brand related research and consulting and has undertaken brand related work in the past for many brand owners – many of which have been acquired, have consolidated or have gone from strength to strength. 

In the article Jeff explains that brands are not simply the names and devices associated with them. Companies try to build “brand identity”: what the brand stands for.

“The brand image is something different; it’s the perception that people have of a brand that owners can’t completely control. They can only seek to control it by altering the brand positioning via tweaking the look and feel of the brand through design, name and marketing communications.”

Such tweaks don’t always pay off though. “Brand owners that totally mess up the brand positioning often do so because they lose sight of what the brand stands for. And brands, especially service brands, are complex beasts.”

You can download the document right away of you complete this short registration form.

When you submit your details the link to the download page will be displayed.

Which provoked me to write this little post wishing all our clients, suppliers and associates a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Therefore we were delighted to read that WordPress has been awarded the Overall Best Open Source CMS Award in the 2009 Open Source CMS Awards. This is a landmark for Wordpress, as, according to its CEO, “it marks a shift in the public perception of WordPress, from blog software to full-featured CMS. No small contest, the Open Source CMS Awards received over 12,000 nominations and more than 23,000 votes across five categories.”

In addition to winning in the Overall Best Open Source CMS category, WordPress was named first runner-up in the Best Open Source PHP CMS category.  As is stated on the Award site, “WordPress made its way into the top five for the first time. The fact that it was outranked by Drupal by a very slight margin indicates how popular it has become with users as well as developers over the past year.”

Congratulations Wordpress.  Well deserved.

Typical SID Elements - Click to view larger graphic

Is brand and reputation management important to you?  Do you need to be associated with a major issue?  Do you need to be seen to be at the edge of the curve in terms of a social movement, an environmental debate, a new technology innovation?

In the old days, a bit of PR normally did the trick.  A few media releases, and perhaps a white paper, possibly even a seminar or two, might be enough to convince people that you were on top of things. 

However, nowadays, it may take a little more.  With the advent of social media it takes much more added value, and rich contribution to debates and social conversations, to be heard.

Here at Quadriga Consulting we have been developing a new research product called Social Issue Dynamics (or SID for short). 

What is SID? 

Social Issue Dynamics Data Sheet

SID is a public programme of research that embraces qualitative discussion around an issue or topic that is of interest to a brand owner.  The difference is that we take the discussion public using web broadcasting.  The result is that instead of an esoteric discussion just among members of a focus group, using the SID approach we extend the debate into international online social communities. 

The qualitative discussion is just the starting point.  A typical SID assignment contains the following key elements:

• EXPERT RESPONDENT RECRUITMENT
• TOPIC GUIDE DEVELOPMENT
• PROMOTION OF THE PUBLIC DEBATE VIA MEDIA PARTNERS AND SOCIAL MEDIA
• LIVE WEB BROADCAST PUBLIC DEBATE – MODERATED BY US
• BACK CHANNEL DEBATE VIA TWITTER AND OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA
• DEBATE AND SOCIAL MEDIA ANALYSIS
• FEEDBACK AND ONGOING DISCUSSION VIA DEDICATED BLOG AND FOLLOW-UP DEBATES
• SOCIAL MEDIA TRACKING

A SID programme allows our clients to be seen to be right at the heart of an issue or series of issues.  SID takes the best elements of tried and tested qualitative reseach and explodes it into the social media domain – resulting in highly involved interaction from a much wider array of participants.  Instead of research being a tactical and passive part of the marketing process it becomes the centre-piece of strategic audience involvement – resulting in long term engagement with key protagonists from various perspectives of the debate.

To get some idea of how a SID programme might look and feel you may wish to take the time to visit our Government 2010 micro-site.  Government 2010 is a rolling programme of engagement focused on the issue of next generation government.  Think of Government 2010 as Quadriga’s own public exemplar of a SID programme.  It promotes us as the sponsor of issue-focused debate.  It engages social media communities.  It draws upon people with expert knowledge of various aspects of the Government 2.0 debate.

SIDs can be complex and large or modest and highly defined.  But if you want to be seen to have your finger on the pulse of an important issue that might affect your business, contact us and ask us to build a SID programme for you. 

The alternative may be that you are seen as a bit-part participant in a debate that may re-define your market.

Nic Stirk of SLA Mobile

Quadriga Consulting is working with SLA Mobile, the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Winner, to build a new social media optimised communications hub.

SLA Mobile is a fast growing technology company and needs a more flexible means of getting its messages out to the mobile developer, blogger and media community.  Quadriga is working with the company to build an interactive blog – www.slamobileblog.com – with links to other social media ‘assets’ such as Twitter.

Content will build over time but the blog site will be a key focal point for product information, technical discussions, and multimedia content in the lead-up to the mobile industry’s major trade show – Mobile World Congress – in Barcelona next February. 

According to Quadriga Consulting’s CEO, Jeff Peel, “We’re building a reputation as a specialist digital communications consultancy.  We love the flexibility that is afforded by blogging platforms and the ease with which we can rapidly connect blogging content into social media channels such as Twitter, Linkedin and social bookmarking sites. 

“SLA Mobile is a client with lots of things to say, so it makes sense for them to use a modern, highly tuned and flexible platform upon which to build its online communications strategy.  We’re delighted to be working with such a fast growing and market-aware company.”