Stevenson rockets ahead with new idea

Published on Monday 20 July 2009 21:33

WHEN Mike Stevenson found his turnover dropping as clients tightened their belts amid the economic downturn, he knew things had to change if his communications agency was to survive.

And the former youth worker, who launched Leith-headquartered Design Links 15 years ago, looked to students at his local school for inspiration.

While doing voluntary work at Craigroyston High School in Edinburgh, Stevenson had created a workshop-style think-tank for pupils to generate their own ideas to improve the school and its external brand.

Stevenson then developed the idea into a saleable package suitable for businesses to rapidly turn around marketing strategies at a low cost. And so the Thinktastic initiative was born.

Since its launch early this year, Design Links' turnover has soared, helped by a string of contract wins with British Gas, the NHS and local councils.

"It's all about enthusing people, getting them to define success in their terms and relating this to the organisation, whether it's a school or British Gas," explains Stevenson.

"In the current economic climate, companies need to get more out of people and get the wholehearted support of staff if they are to succeed.

"The environment is changing, the markets are changing and you don't have a lot of time to take action if you want to improve things in your business. The traditional marketing approach, which is more of a slow, incremental trickling, just doesn't suit most companies any more.

"I have consistently found that there is a wealth of ideas among people doing the front-line work."

Although the definition of the product itself may seem a little ambiguous – it appears to be a cross between a marketing campaign, advertising and a management consultancy session – it is proving popular with firms keen to engage with their workers and is undoubtedly paying off for Design Links.

Turnover from the firm's traditional business, which previously boasted a client list including BSkyB, Marks & Spencer and Scottish & Southern Energy – slumped from almost 1 million a year to 650,000 as the credit crisis tightened its grip.

The figure was already significantly down from the company's heyday of more than 1.3m three years ago.

But through Thinktastic, Stevenson's company generated 380,000 in the first six months of 2009 and is on track to hit revenues of 1m in the next financial year, to the end of May.

Stevenson hopes that by the end of the third year, 60 per cent of Design Links' sales will be generated through Thinktastic.

And he claims Thinktastic boosts the use of staff resources by as much as 30 per cent.

He says: "You need to get people thinking creatively and out of their comfort zone. I think in the current climate, companies have to be more creative and innovative in their approach.

"We found there was always quite a gap between front end marketing and what a company actually tells people. Thinktastic tries to bring these things together.

"It's a way of thinking more than anything else."

As chairman of Youth Coach Scotland, a board member of One Parent Families Scotland and a member of the Council of St George's School, the former youth worker is keen to involve young people in his projects.

In addition to holding sessions with a client company's employees, Stevenson also likes to use panels made up of children and teenagers to give their opinion on a firm's brand and reputation.

"Children are honest and don't have as many preconceptions or prejudices," he says. "We will often consult children or teenagers on how the company looks to the outside world."

The firm's link-up with Craigroyston High came in 2006 when Stevenson attended a meeting of Scottish Business in the Community.

"The head teacher was there and she issued a plea for people to offer practical help at the school," he remembers. "I think I submitted a proposal the very next day."

In addition to working with the school on specific projects, Stevenson created a tie-up between state school Craigroyston and private school St George's, which is still going strong three years later.

And even with his commercial head on, Stevenson is keen to get involved in community projects.

Through the Thinktastic approach, Design Links has just scooped an 80,000 contract with West Lothian Council to work with the community to raise awareness of the dangers of alcohol consumption.

The firm's plans include working with local schools to design posters and creating non-alcoholic cocktails with community groups.

"We are all about engaging people and making it fun," says Stevenson. "Whether that is in a corporate business, or a community group, the approach is the same."

Customers first to survive the downturn

MIKE Stevenson's tips on how to prosper in the downturn:

&#149 Maximise resourcefulness of your staff – make change visionary rather than reactionary and create exciting new goals. Tap into your staff's creativity – they will have ideas about how to streamline their work, save money and create innovation. Value their ideas and thank them.

&#149 Change the "mood music" from instructional to positive, and get rid of gobbledygook. All of this has a huge impact on people's sense of satisfaction and their performance at work.

&#149 Up the ante on customer service – create a customer experience that's genuinely second to none – involve staff and customers in dramatically raising the bar.

"Make our Customers' Day" sounds much more powerful than "satisfying our customers".

Being more ambitious around the customer experience can be a powerful staff motivator and call on skills they haven't yet revealed.

&#149 Create cost-saving alliances – develop new alliances with other businesses – even competitors – to share costs of sales, publicity and personnel.

Use a bartering system with other businesses and exchange expertise, services and products.

ROUTE TO TOP

MIKE Stevenson did not take the traditional route into marketing.

He left school aged 15 and, by his 21st birthday, had worked as a steelworker, wine bottler, hod-carrier, shortbread packer and hospital orderly.

This varied early career was followed by a stint as a musician in Dublin, where he hung out with Irish hard rock band Thin Lizzy and played at a number of music festivals, as well as taking a walk-on part in TV series Taggart.

Before setting up his marketing firm, Stevenson worked as a community and youth worker in Scotland and the north of England.