When is ‘cheap as chips’ not beneficial to your business?

I only wonder this since we’ve seen quite a number of online templates and ready-made options for websites and print ‘em quick publications lately. Well I could buy low-priced, own-brand cereal but will I enjoy its taste as much as I would a leading brand? Probably not, and without the presence of those extra-moist raisins it might set my day up really badly.

So when quotes for creative work are compared, surely thinking about more than cost alone isn’t us being too airy-fairy and purely (sorry for the pun) idealistic? Certainly saving money is key for us all, hence Pure Azure’s quotes are always as competitive as we can make them without being too much of a squeeze on us, but saving your image and your brand is essential. I wouldn’t buy battery chicken eggs just because they’re cheaper. Maintaining your brand in a high-quality fashion sometimes needs to look beyond price. And speaking of which, have you seen the Chicken Out campaign? Better lives for our feathered friends for just a few pence more …

And speaking of chickens, we at Pure Azure have decided we aren’t made for roughing it in the great outdoors. A recent trip may have been a great way to see beautiful, scenic Scotland, but the camping option was, shall we say, not quite ideal for damp April. Suffice to say our esteemed member returned home a little earlier than planned and consoled herself with a nice bath and a bad film. But fear not, come the summer, camping will once more be returning to our virtual ‘cool’ wall.

Green fingers

More like blue fingers still, but spring has officially begun and planting continues apace, with the indoor peppers close to turning a burnished orange and a rather late attempt at growing garlic (think putting cloves in earth then watering and hoping) underway. I must say that hyacinths may not be uber-cool but their smell is gorgeous and the currently blooming bunch in our office space are delighting our noses whenever we pass them.

Money may indeed be too tight to mention at the moment, but that’s why our creative services need to be value for money. So, dear clients, we always do our best to get costs down to the wire without it meaning we have to live on porridge and value beans. Because you still need us, credit crunch or no credit crunch.

Take a chunk of copy destined for a website, for example. One written by you, when you’re busy, from your office and in a rush (think constant interruptions, emails popping up). Another written by a copywriter (ahem) who has a valuable ‘external’ view and years of experience in knowing what works and the time to devote (pending a a nice cup of tea) to coming up with concise, targeted and correctly-formatted text which represents your company properly and frees your time to do your day job. Doesn’t take a racing tipster to say you’re best off with the latter. And same goes for design - your company logo or website needs to have impact, and be designed by someone who knows what works and why (ahem again). That’s priceless, surely? We reckon so.

Different kind of crunch …

Still, on the saving money front, any tips from our savvy clients would be appreciated. Having recently ventured into the Pure Azure garden (less ‘pure’, more weed-covered) to dig and sow some seeds, we hope to spot some green shoots soon, ready to produce some of nature’s finest bounty (unless carrotfly get our crunchy delights before we do and slugs get a delicious feast of tender Lollo Rosso). Will keep you posted, but my money’s on the chilli peppers, feisty little plants that they are!