Mendip Media latest news

Lakeland Keeps the Video Coming

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Fresh from a weeklong filming stint amongst the beautiful fells and mountains of the Lake District, Mendip Media returns to the gentler climes of the South West armed with video footage ready for editing.

The relationship forged between client and producer has matured into a honed process that ends with stylish video demonstrations of the company’s ever changing product range for online and point of sale consumption.

“It’s been a real team effort to get to where we are”, says Mendip Media Director Nicky Robertson. “Working with some great characters from marketing and customer relations has been fantastic. And although there have been some rocky moments, especially when we were here during the November storms, we’ve really worked out how to work together.”

Meanwhile, things go from strength to strength with the Lakeland brand. The company has stores opening in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain, after success with its new Dubai branch.

Online Boots Do The Walking

Thu, 24 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

One of the UK’s most exciting fashion retailers, Duo Boots, has been strutting its stuff in front of the cameras. In a two-day product shoot, Mendip Media has filmed over 60 boots and shoes from the Bath based company’s summer range.

Despite the demanding turn around time, we were able to devise, produce and upload the stylish footwear demos in a clean, upbeat format, getting it online ready for the launch of the range in the UK and Europe.

“It’s been real team work to get the product demos up to scratch and online for the launch”, comments Mendip Media’s Development Director, Sarah Brooks. “But we’ve enjoyed the whole process. As you would expect, the boots look fabulous and the video will help sales soar in the coming months.”

Look out for the Duo Boots video on the company’s ecommerce website www.duoboots.co.uk and see them sizzle up the catwalk.

Video Good to Go at Glastonbury

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The end of June is approaching fast and that means only one thing; not Wimbledon, not even the World Cup, but an event that is as established as the Henley Regatta - the Glastonbury Festival is almost upon us, and Mendip Media has been commissioned to make three films highlighting the joys of living and working in Somerset.

Somerset’s inward investment agency, Into Somerset, is running its own show at the Festival, and has asked for a series of casestudies for its venue in a tent at Glastonbury’s busy Market Place.

Development Director, Sarah Brooks says, “the project has been great fun because we want to champion Somerset as a place to do business.”

The films will be showing across the Glastonbury Festival weekend from 23rd – 27th June.

Windturbine PR Causes Turbulence for Quango

Sun, 23 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Since starting a strong publicity drive, as part of Mendip Media’s ongoing PR work with Coemi Windturbines to highlight the real crisis in the renewables sector over product accreditation, the message is beginning to hit home with government departments.

After articles in the Guardian and Power & Energy Solutions Europe secured by Mendip Media press releases, and with the advent of a new government committed to developing the renewable sector, the issue of accreditation for all wind turbine suppliers is coming to a head.

“The huge costs involved to test just one wind turbine model are simply overwhelming to most suppliers in this fledgling industry,” says Coemi’s Managing Director, Paul Young. “Mendip Media grasped the complexity of the situation from the start, and has run with this to the extent that their publicity is really beginning to make a difference.”

Mendip Media Director, Nicky Robertson adds, “without accreditation, buyers of these expensive turbines cannot apply for the grants available to kick start micro generation in the UK. It’s a story of red tape and miscommunication which is causing turmoil the wind industry, and thanks to our work journalists are starting to sit up and take notice.

Strode College Mentoring

Mon, 10 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Teaching camera work and film structure to first year broadcast media students at Strode College is Mendip Media’s first foray into mentoring.

Mendip Media has designed the two-day course as a practical hands-on workshop to look at and create a TV news package. The company is giving its time for free after several years of developing an ongoing relationship with Strode College.

Creative director, Nicky Robertson, who worked for several years for BBC Points West in Bristol says, “working with young people to share my experience and understanding of working in TV news has been an eye opener. The class I’m working with are media savvy and TV literate – I think I’ll learn as much as they do from the workshop.”

The workshops will run through May, and involve 17 students.

Honda Filming On The Starting Grid

Thu, 06 May 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Mendip Media is on the home straight preparing for its Honda shoot. Locations and crews have been confirmed and the creative elements are in place.

The painstaking process of putting together an ambitious promotional film has been an inspired journey involving the product team at Honda UK, the marketing agency in Taunton and Mendip Media’s in-house artistic director and production facility.

Although we now see the three months of work on the project are coming to fruition, the proof that preparation is everything will be in the pudding.

It’s a reminder that filming is as much to do with preparation as the actual location shoots and post-production, and that the behind-the-scenes management has equal billing at the end of the day.

Filming begins at the end of May and the final promotional video will be ready for its first public viewing in June.

Video Comms for Cutting Edge Technology

Fri, 30 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Mendip Media kicks off May’s packed production schedule with a film for leading environmental technology company, Coemi, to profile its state-of-the-art Skywing Wind Turbines.

The small wind turbine industry in the UK is one of the government’s great ‘green’ hopes in getting the country back on its feet whilst at the same time achieving environmental targets established at Brussels last year.

Coemi is a leading importer and installation expert of top-of-the-range wind turbines for microgeneration. It sells to farmers, landowners, caravan parks, industrial estates, depots and public sector organisations, like hospitals. Its biggest wind turbine is an 18ft tower that produces 50Kwph at top speed.

Mendip Media’s crew will be at the fixing of a 20Kw Skywing in Devon, and will follow every stage of its journey from arrival and checks to the easy hydraulic installation upwards into the wind and finally the link into the grid.

The video will be online at the end of May and will be used by Coemi’s regional reps as a sales tool.

New Video Shows Butchery of Bushmeat Trade

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT

A new Mendip Media video for the Cameroon primate charity, Ape Action Africa, is about to be unveiled on You Tube. It shows the devastating effects of the bush meat trade on West Africa’s fragile ape population.

With a new UN report warning that gorillas may become extinct in as little as 15 years; a revision of previous predictions that gorillas in the Congo Basin would lose 90% of their present habitat by 2030 or be killed by poaching or disease - the figure makes sobering reading.

Increasingly, the report goes on, mining and logging camps are hiring professional poachers to kill ‘bush meat’ for their workers.

Mendip Media’s creative director, Nicky Robertson, says, “there is no time to wring our hands about this crisis. We have to act now and spread the word about what is happening to our closest relatives in the wild. We hope that in a small way we can bring pressure to bear on those who run the logging concessions to conserve not kill the primate populations of West Africa.”

Mendip Media works for Ape Action Africa pro-bono providing social media and video consultancy.

Blowing Away Confusion on Clean Energy Payments

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Mendip Media has broken an emerging story about incompetence and chaos in the government’s wind energy policy on behalf of its client, Coemi.

As one of the UK’s leading wind turbine installers, Coemi, has been dismayed to find out that a compulsory certification scheme for each wind turbine model sold in the UK cannot be implemented because of lack of testing facilities and huge costs.

Without the certificate, customers who have bought the powerful 18 metre high wind turbines stand to loose out on a feed in tariff paid by the government for clean energy.

Coemi’s director, Paul Young, says, “this could demolish the wind turbine industry in the UK as there is only one place in Scotland set to deal with around 90 installers.

“Each model requires six months’ testing and costs around £30,000 per turbine yet there are just eight test pads to carry out that certification.”

The confusion surrounding the implementation of the long awaited FITS (feed in tariff scheme) means that potential investors in wind energy may now delay purchasing the high tech wind turbines which will threaten the future of clean energy microgeneration in the UK.

In the House

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Video testimonials as standard; at least that’s what forward thinking companies believe gives them the edge on website. And Mendip Media has been on the road to film a series of strong, well-lit referrals.

Bath based brand agency thehouse, commissioned us to film one of its clients, Diageo, giving them a glowing reference. This will be top and tailed and be on thehouse website within 24 hours.

It may look easy, but a testimonial requires subtle lighting and interview skills to tease out the best comments.

“It’s always the filming that looks the easiest – like general views of a city and interviews – that require experience and skill to get them looking good,” says Mendip Media’s camera director, Matt Ward. “Very often you’ve only got one shot at it so it’s got to count.”

Mendip Media Gets the Greenlight

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Video inserts filmed by Mendip Media will play a central role in Connecting Bristol’s ‘Green, Social & Open’ event in March. The presentation is a multimedia look at Bristol’s use of ICT to enhance modern living in one the UK’s most pleasant cities.

The event comprises of a series of comic sketches showing how the city’s three big communities represented by the public sector, voluntary organisations and small business, see communication technology through the prism of green, social and open.

It’s a quirky departure from the usual PowerPoint fair doled out at conferences and seminars. The play has been written by Richard Conlon, who authored a similar event for Connecting Somerset in 2009, and should raise a few smiles and nods from a packed auditorium.

“Green, Open & Social” at Bristol’s Watershed Monday 22nd March from 1730

Conservatives Harness Internet Power

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

After a rousing Conservative Spring Conference in Brighton, Mendip Media is busy building websites for the party’s Prospective Parliamentary Candidates, MPs, MEPs and Associations as they gather for a final push towards the General Election.

The Conservative website template has been designed with full social media and content management functionality, by leading drupal developers exclusively for the Party.

Director of Social Media and Online Communications at Mendip Media, Graham Godwin-Pearson, says, “The Internet is an increasingly powerful platform on which to communicate to voters who have previously been hard to reach, and Web 2.0 websites can be the difference between apathy and a compelling reason to vote.”

He continues, “existing Mendip Media Conservative clients include Mark Garnier, PPC for Wyre Forest, Dan Byles, PPC for North Warwickshire and Bedworth, Mark Pawsey in Rugby and Alastair Watson in Bristol; the list is growing.”

Mendip Media has compiled a short film to explain the value of Web 2.0 and social media and their role in American and British politics.

Candidates can buy an entire online campaigning platform, which is AAA accessible, secure, easy to update and follows party branding guideline, for £500pa.

Call us for more information.

Honda Commission Product Film

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

A new video to promote a new product is on the cards for one of the world’s biggest brands.

Honda has commissioned Mendip Media to produce a promotional film to demonstrate how the consistency and quality of its engines helps customers in the home and garden. The film will be shown at presentations and point of sale across Europe.

Scheduling and storyboarding is underway, with filming planned for late May.

Cinematic in scale, with music and graphics to underscore core brand values, Honda believes this foray into product video will give it an edge in a competitive market.

“We’re delighted to be working with such a great company,” says director, Nicky Robertson. “The brief is very clear; to produce something that reflects the technical achievements of the Honda engine.”

Cheltenham Gold Cup Inspiration

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

As National Hunt Racing moves towards the height of its season with approach of the Cheltenham Gold Cup, video will play its part in promoting the work of specialist agricultural accountants Old Mill.

Old Mill has commissioned a video interview with high profile client Paul Nicholls, trainer of the cup favourite, Kauto Star, to be shown during the event in its hospitality area.

With the two front-runners, Kauto Star and Denman, in neighbouring stables, the backdrop to the interview will make interesting viewing.

Take your bets on how one of racing’s greatest trainers keeps his cool as the big race approaches.

Green, Open and Social

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Mendip Media has been chosen by Connecting Bristol to collaborate in an innovative communications event at the end of March celebrating Bristol’s digital future.

Connecting Bristol is the city’s digital partnership; it champions digital inclusion and supports innovation in the pubic sector. Its aim is to ensure that Bristol is widely recognised as a creative, smart, green and connected city.

The Green, Open & Social event on March 22nd will mix live theatre with inspiring presentations and video case studies to show just how new technology is changing the way the city communicates with itself and how this helps us all go ‘green’.

Peugeot Kicks Off 2010 With Video Brochure

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Mendip Media is back from filming a video brochure for Peugeot’s new 5008 model.

Shot on location at a chilly Duxford Air Museum in Cambridge, with motoring journalist Jason Barlow braving the elements, the crew revved into Top Gear mode as the car was put through its paces.

Half the filming was under lights in a glamorous nighttime scene which lit up the museum grounds.

The video is now in post-production and will be online early in February.

Bank of England Uses Video

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:00:00 GMT

If you ever wondered what Quantative Easing means you can find out by watching the Bank of England’s latest flash animation with commentary provided by Mendip Media.

Working on a multimedia project with partner agencies on a complex subject has proved to be a positive start to the New Year.

he short animation aims to give an explanation of the technical reasons behind the Bank’s decision to inject money into the economy during the recession.

Mendip Media’s Creative Director, Sarah Brooks, “it’s been an interesting challenge to work on such a specialist subject. We’ve enjoyed a multi agency approach and look forward to more work with the Bank.”

Social Media websites for the Conservatives

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

How MPs and candidates can harness the ‘Obama effect’ in the UK, and why they should be doing that now.

With the Conservative Party conference now over, hundreds of MPs and PPCs and looking at ways to spread the message, open dialogues with voters and have the biggest effect at the General Election.

The usual constraints of budget, time and resources still apply, but somehow voters want more – a personal experience, information when and where they want it and talking points to share in the pub or at the bus stop.

We are developing next-generation websites with Conservatives to deliver just that, in a clear, accessible way that builds communities online, on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and others.

Flexible, intuitive, secure and with time-saving automation features, the model is the market leader in websites for Conservative politicians.

Your website can reduce costs, improve efficiency, engage voters better than ever before and even bring donations and assistance in to your campaign.

See Mark Garnier’s website (PPC, Wyre Forest) as an example.

Each website, with all social media integration, costs just £500 per year.

A New Look For Ape Action Africa

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Re-branded with new Mendip Media video content, Ape Action Africa is going for gold.
It needs to raise over £100K to meet its commitment to the hundreds of gorillas, chimps and monkeys it looks after, not to mention the Cameroon staff who care for them in their jungle sanctuary.

Mendip Media is teaming up with the primate charity based at Bristol Zoo to help with its online marketing and PR. Video will form a large part of the fundraising drive.

“We’re really pleased to be helping the trustees with marketing the new look charity in the UK,” says Nicky Robertson, Mendip Media’s Creative Director.

“We’ve a long standing association with Ape Action Africa. I’ve seen some of the baby gorillas and chimps rescued from appalling circumstances recover and grow into healthy animals thanks to its amazing work. We’ll be there for Ape Action Africa for as long as it takes …”

And over the next few Discovery Channel’s hard hitting Bushmeat documentary Going Ape is back with more compelling and heart rending stories about the orphaned apes that have lost everything to the poachers.

Video Kick Starts Museum Display

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:00:00 GMT

One of Somerset's premiere tourist destinations, the Rural Life Museum, has unveiled a new Mendip Media video to deepen understanding about rural industries.

Sponsored by South West Screen, the museum in Glastonbury officially opened the long awaited refurbishment of its country skills section, with an audio visual display giving insight to the changing nature of work in the countryside.

Focussing on four rural industries - fishing, cider making, willow weaving and peat extraction, the 3 minute film combines archive footage with newly shot material of modern day practices.

"This takes our display to a new level and is the first time we've combined the artefacts and their narrative with a carefully conceieved film display", says Museum Manager, Estelle Gilbert. "We're delighted with what Mendip Media has achieved."

Riding High With Peugeot

Mon, 11 May 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Peugeot commission Mendip Media to tell the video story behind the making of their Rapport magazine.

Manchester and London offered two very different settings for Peugeot’s take on two of their most popular models – the re-launched 4007 SUV and the dapper about-town 308.

Mendip Media was there to capture the flavour of the daylong photo-shoots for the online Ezine produced by Bristol based publisher Specialist.

Olympic BMX star, Shanaze Reade, was on hand to give a total sports feel to the tough 4007 - which easily cruised the massive berms or banked hills at Manchester brand new BMX track. Using clever lighting to snap stunning jumps by the cycle athlete, the photographers created a gritty, urban look to complement the car’s robust image.

Pinewood studio was the more sedate setting for an intense day of special effects. The Specialist team lit the space and showed off the 308 at its very best.

Celebrating a Lifetime of Achievement

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Commissioned to explore the conceptual vision of one of the UK’s most prolific and famous sculptors, Mendip Media has been on an extraordinary filming odyssey.

At 83, when most octogenarians are taking it easy, David Wynne is a remarkable, single-minded artist. His most well known sculptures are in front of the PepsiCo Headquarters (Grizzly Bear) in LA and on London’s Embankment (Boy with Dolphin).

The short video clip captures the sculptor at home amongst his maquettes and object d’art.

In conversation and at work, he talks about his sculptures and how his philosophy of being true to the subject has led him to a heightened realism that at once both respects the true physicality of form whilst exposing the inner being caught in a moment of movement.

Peugeot Packages a Video Punch

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:00:00 GMT

As Peugeot fully embraces online, Mendip Media has produced 3 ‘top gear’, style video brochures to help market its small cars.
With well-known commentator, Jason Barlow, presenting the 107, 207 and 308 range, there are 15 clips that give in depth, high quality information to persuade would be punters into a Peugeot.

Filmed in chilly February conditions at a test track in Surrey and at a studio in Bristol, the project presented creative challenges which gave our team a real filming conundrum as they overcame snow, ice and power cuts.

The clips will also feature in Peugeot dealerships as POS film that give the interested browser a real feel for the cars.

Long Term Video Project Begins With Lakeland

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Ever tried a Chef’n Veggie Chopper? With Mendip Media’s new video demonstrations for Lakeland Kitchenware, it’ll be a doddle to find out just how to use the products and why they’re so good.

Mendip Media has won a commission from Lakeland to film hundreds of clips for its ecommerce site and for its advanced in-store video POS to keep customers up to date with the latest product range.

Lakeland is one of the UK’s most successful domestic retailers and its marketing director, Tony Preedy, sees video as a vital tool to sell the benefits of cookery and cleaning products to customers.

Mars a Day Helps Your Dogs Play

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Bounding online, Mars’ premium healthy dog food brand James Wellbeloved is leaping paws first into internet video with the re-launch of its website.

For the past months Mendip Media has been filming Retrievers, Keeshonds and other assorted mutts, who know what’s what when it comes to a tasty bite.

After filming on Exmoor with her own pedigree dogs, hobby breeder, Jane Saunders, is very positive about both the brand and the video, “an online video will help others to find what is really a very healthy food for dogs; it’s a great idea and I look forward to seeing my five Keeshonds on the James Wellbeloved site.”

The new website is due to launch in December; just in time to get the turkey kibble ready for Christmas!

Into Somerset Commissions Mendip Media

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Mendip Media has been awarded the contract to promote Somerset as a business destination to companies in London and the South East, through online marketing and short films.

Initially funded by local authorities and supported by the private sector, the agency is majoring on a number of target sectors.

Part of the task ahead is to challenge existing perceptions about the county – perceptions that include cider, the Wurzels and country lanes filled with sheep.

Somerset is, in fact, a diverse and modern county, with a large and mature high tech industry presence (including world-leading aerospace, energy, environmental and motor) and a strong business network.

With high-speed broadband, excellent road and rail links (it’s under two hours from London) and good schools, it’s an obvious lifestyle choice for many jaded Londoners.

We’re looking forward to working with the team at Into Somerset to build on the county’s strengths through Web 2.0 and social media, and encourage inward investment in one of the leading regions in Great Britain.