StartUp Britain appoints iris
Nationalenterprise StartUp Britain has appointed creative innovation network iris as its first official creative and strategic agency to date. The partnership, which will go live this month, will see the pair work on a range of briefs together with the first piece of work to go live later this month for the organisation’s hugely successful PopUp Britain initiative. The work was awarded without a pitch.
PopUp Britain, which enables all types of entrepreneurs rent space within a pop-up store at discount rates, is to be rolled out nationwide after a pilot store opening in Richmond. iris has created a new brand identity including a logo for theinitiative as well as a nationwide marketing campaign for the planned roll-out, which will see 10 stores open by Christmas and 50 by mid-2013.
Emma Jones: “We decided to take on a creative agency because marketing is a key part of any business. We have always believed that and as such we need to invest in it ourselves. iris is the perfect fit – their credentials in businessleadership, marketing and retail make them the ideal choice. PopUp Britain is a great initiative which we hope will rejuvenate the British high street and is something we can actively be doing to help entrepreneurs.”
Ian Millner, joint CEO and co-founder of iris, said: “As one of the industry’s most famous start-ups, we can identify with many of the challenges today’sentrepreneurs face and also the target market that StartUp Britain is speaking to. Our Economy is an eco-system, and if it is to be healthy and vibrant in the future, we all need to be doing our bit to stimulate growth, development, investment and innovation. The Great British recovery is in everyone's best interest, and should be a little part of everyone's job.”
iris is one of the industry’s leading voices on entrepreneurialism and creativity, working alongside organisations like the Marketing Agencies Association and StartUp Britain to promote new services to start-ups. In addition, iris launched its own business incubator in October 2011, iris Ventures, which has helped to launch businesses such as Pottermore – the online experience for Harry Potter fans - and Safetray - a unique development in product design which saw the launch of the first bar drinks tray with a clip.
Other initiatives in the pipeline for StartUp Britain and iris will include National Start-Up Day on the 14th November, which will be a nationwide celebration of start-ups across the UK, with events held in schools, workplaces and pubs.
