Product category:
Customer publishing
News Release from: Cedar Communications
Edited by the Marketingservicestalk Editorial
Team on 18 February 2008
Something moving and stirring at Cedar
Customer publisher Cedar is moving offices, changing its brand identity and launching a new challenge to the magazine and web content business.
On February 18 Cedar moves from its current Mayfair location to 85 Strand, in custom-fitted offices above fellow Omnicom agencies Live and Interbrand The new offices will showcase the company's new identity, a bold freehand logo against a red background
The theme is picked up in the new offices, which are dominated by vibrant close-up still-life photographs representing Cedar's uncompromising attitude to quality and detail.
Cedar managing director Clare Broadbent said the new look came out of a year-long branding and research exercise which identified the strong and unique qualities of the work made in Cedar.
"The Cedar logo is designed as a quality mark, a stamp of quality," said Broadbent.
"There's a reason why companies such as British Airways and Tesco have shown such confidence in us over the years.
"It's got a lot to do with the disciplined and pioneering way we go about things".
Last year was in fact a record year for Cedar in profit terms and organic growth, with nine projects being awarded by Tesco, BA and TUI.
The agency also won the 888 gaming magazine and scored award successes for another newcomer, Liontrust's Roar magazine, as well as for perennial winners Business Life and High Life for BA.
The company also brought top-rated Australian web agency, Reactive, into the Cedar fold.
The new Cedar + Reactive operation is pioneering a new approach to online content.
The hub of the new office, created in partnership with design consultancy Redfern, is an open-plan cafe and meeting area.
Its name, Stir, reflects a new sense of mission in the company, according to editorial director Mark Jones.
"So many magazines and so much marketing material is just invisible," said Jones.
"We have always tried to make our work stand out and get noticed by customers, clients and the business.
"That's shown in the phenomenal amount of publicity we generate - 46 national media mentions in the last six months alone.
"We think creating a stir is vital in all the work we do; that's why Stir is physically and symbolically at the heart of our business".
The "create a stir" philosophy is expected to see Cedar take an increasingly forceful stance on commercial, branding and creative issues in the industry.
"Customer magazines is a much more grown-up and strong discipline - and we've been in its vanguard right from the beginning," said Broadbent.
"But the challenge of social media and marketing fragmentation is much greater than many have yet realised.
"The pressure to create targeted, stand-out, relevant work is just immense.
"Create a stir is our response and we're convinced it's the only way to go." Based in Central London, Cedar pioneered customer publishing with the launch of British Airways' High Life magazine in 1973.
Their current client list includes global brands such as British Airways, Tesco, Nikon and WWF UK.
Other organisations include the Chartered Insurance Institute, Liontrust, Bank of Scotland Corporate, Heathrow Express, Central London Estate Agents and TUI UK.
Cedar Communications also has a unique partnership with web agency Reactive, who combine their expertise to help clients deliver on both branded content and digital briefs.
They operate under their joint brand Cedar + Reactive.
Owned by Omnicom since 1994, Cedar Publishing is a member of the Association of Publishing Agencies (APA), the UK trade body which ensures the highest standards of work and business practice.
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