The agency has recently been awarded the Investor in People marque for another 3 years. Ours is very much a people business and the Investors standard has helped us to develop the agency.

Our assessor - Betty - commented on an 'excellent working environment'. Staff are 'clear about the values of the organisation', and are 'very clear about the targets for the business and are encouraged to take ownership and responsibility within their role.' We're all feeling well chuffed.

The point about blogging, that I made in this letter to the Drum magazine, is that it's about continuing the conversations with have with clients, suppliers and staff. A chat, whether in a meeting or in the pub, helps to develop a relationship. And that's what the art of persuasion is about.

We’ve been appointed by DMA North as their agency partner for 2008. DMA North is a really active group and David is on the Council.

The first big event is the Glitter Ball, which takes place on Friday 16th May at the Hilton Manchester on Deansgate. The cream of the North's dynamic direct marketing industry will be there celebrating their business achievements, forging new friendships and, of course, doing lots of dancing, eating and drinking.

Here's another campaign for the UKTI, helping them to encourage businesses to sign up for their Passport to Export programme. Since the programme offers businesses an experienced export adviser for 18 months, the creative idea features a UKTI adviser stuck to the side of a crate – demonstrating the benefits of adding export expertise to a business. The activity is being rolled out across direct mail, leaflets, online and in b-to-b publications over the next few months.

How did our intrepid model manage to stay in place during the photo shoot? Was he:

a) sitting on a cleverly disguised bicycle seat, or

b) lying horizontal with cardboard up his trousers to hold the creases

We all know we're a nation of chocolate lovers. So this Easter, we sent a few special clients a block of chocolate lovingly iced with a special message. It should leave a pleasant taste in their mouths and give them a taster of the persuasive marketing we're all about.

Pete, our production manager, completed last weekend's Stafford half marathon in a time of 1hr 34min 56sec despite very windy conditions. After 9 miles, he said the 'wheels came off, I struggled to keep up the pace and my concentration was gone. It was the toughest half marathon ever'.

Our bingo trip last week was a storming success – if you consider marking off the wrong tickets, being told to be quiet and not winning so much as a tenner for a line a success! However, we did get a real feel for the motivations of the community featured in Channel 4’s Shameless. The trip was the first in a series of activities that will help us to practice what we preach, based on the premise that we can only communicate effectively with a community if we understand them completely. We’re following the tried and tested model that method actors use. So we’re method marketers if you like. Watch this space for the next in the series...

Ian Milner, of Iris, was recently quoted in Marketing Week as saying that the direct marketing industry is "stuck in a rut doing paper-based direct mail", while digital has been "going through the roof".

He adds: "The direct marketing industry is so conservative and that has stopped it innovating. In theory, direct should be leading the evolution of digital. If practitioners could just apply some of their skills to more areas and be more entrepreneurial then direct marketing would be the key player in making integration work. But their attitude doesn't allow that to happen."

There's alot of truth in this. The usual excuses are that time and budgets are now so limited that agencies are sticking to formulaic solutions. But these are now dated and not generating the levels of response they used to.

Digital marketing is direct marketing using a different channel. But so many agencies haven't invested in bringing in the talent they need to create new innovative digital solutions. Those of us that have are the ones that are going to succeed and prosper in the next decade.

Here's a new sales incentive scheme launched this week along with corporate events agency, Zinc, for one of our automotive clients. Targeted at car dealer salesmen it rewards those who exceed their targets with some fabulous trips to South Africa, Morocco and the Ice Hotel in Sweden.

We’ve recently been studying neuro-linguistic programming. One of the clear messages is that an encouragement to not do something can have the opposite effect on our brands. This week therefore we’ve been encouraging our clients not to invest more in marketing, not to try different media channels and not to test bold, new creative ideas. So, are you still thinking of a blue tree?