World Wide Creative | The Heavy Chef Project

Three Key Stages of Growing a Community Online Posted in Community Management, Concocted by Fred Roed August 26, 2010 1 comment

Community Building is something we’re very busy with at World Wide Creative (the digital marketing agency responsible for The Heavy Chef Project). We’re trying to build online communities around brands such as Honda, Virgin, Exclusive Books and even former South African minister Jay Naidoo, who, with his work on improving global nutrition, has become somewhat of a brand himself. Read Further

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5 tips to optimise Twitter Posted in Social Media, Twitter, Videos, Concocted by Mike Perk October 13, 2009 No comments

This Heavy Chef video snack offers five great tips to consider when using Twitter and writing your tweets, in order to optimise them for the search engines and your users. Read Further

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Use your analytics to create great linkbait Posted in Digital Strategy, Search Engine Optimisation, Videos, Concocted by Mike Perk September 28, 2009 2 comments

Your analytics data holds a treasure trove of information that can be used to help you decide on great linkbaiting content. Heavy Chef, Mike Perk from World Wide Creative, shows us how.

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Simple explanation of SEO Posted in Search Engine Optimisation, Videos, Concocted by Mike Perk September 23, 2009 No comments

Mike Perk uses props and embarrasses the Nomadic Marketing course attendees in order to explain, very simply, the basics of how search engines rank web sites. Read Further

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5 mobile tips for business profitability Posted in Mobile Marketing, Videos, Concocted by Mike Perk August 21, 2009 3 comments

Channel Mobile are one of South Africa leading mobile solution providers. So being in the same Cape Town neighborhood The Heavy Chef team decided to pop in on them and pick up a few useful tips.

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Create Unusually Simple & Surprisingly Powerful Products Posted in Digital Strategy, Website Design, Concocted by LouisJvR June 4, 2009 1 comment

At World Wide Creative we promise 2 things when creating digital strategies for our clients – Profitability and Creativity.

I’m wondering if we should add ‘Elegance’ to that pledge?

Guy Kawasaki recently interviewed Matt May, author of In Pursuit of Elegance: Why the Best Ideas Have Something Missing, about tips to pursue elegance. Read Further

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World Wide Creative cooks up a storm at Capsicum Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Fred Roed April 20, 2009 No comments

capsicum

In the spirit of Heavy Chef, the World Wide Creative team got together on Saturday for a cooking lesson at Capsicum Culinary Studio (a client of World Wide Creative’s). The result: sumptuous food, leisurely eating, great laughs and funny looking marrows.
Witness a bunch of geeks getting ready for some cooking action. Read Further

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The World Wide Creative brand identity crisis Posted in Branding Online, Concocted by Fred Roed March 4, 2009 2 comments

Yesterday was an all time high for our little digital marketing agency. We managed to reach the holy grail of naming errors: “What could be the worst mangled version of the company name possible?”

Someone called us ‘World Wide Cremators’ yesterday Read Further

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Heavy Chef Feb 2009: The New Tools of PR Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Fred Roed February 26, 2009 No comments

Last night saw the first Heavy Chef Session of 2009. We had our biggest attendance yet, with around 80 people crowding into the venue on the third floor of the 24.com building in Green Point. (I know we only allow 50 people, but we’re working on a better system for inviting people). Apologies to the multitudes who were turned away, but we’re going to try and get the video of the proceedings sorted soon.

Thanks to our three speakers, Bev ‘Feisty’ Merriman, Cath Luckhoff and Kaz Henderson – you guys were great.

The Session started with Bev giving a brief overview of the new tools and how they work. Cath followed with a fascinating insight into the Rocking the Daisies PR campaign, which is a great example of the ‘new style’. Read Further

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Rockin’ 2009! 4 Things To Look Forward To In The New Year Posted in Branding Online, Online Advertising, Social Media, Concocted by LouisJvR January 8, 2009 No comments

Fact is 2009 is going to be a tough year no doubt, with the grim global and local economic outlook taking centre stage.

However, an offset of these circumstances is that 2009 has a couple of things we can look forward to – specifically within the digital environment in South Africa… Read Further

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Geeks go surfing; lifesavers on high alert. Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Fred Roed October 28, 2008 5 comments

world wide creative surfing

The World Wide Creative team went surfing on Saturday. We all went through to Cape Town’s famous Muizenberg beach, and aided by our fleet-footed surf coach Craig, we were ably shown how to pull some nifty moves off in the waves. Read Further

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Introducing Utoia, the latest Heavy Chef writer… Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Fred Roed October 28, 2008 No comments

utoia

A few weeks ago, we welcomed Utoia, our intern until the end of November. Utoia is due for her first post on the Heavy Chef Project, so it’s my pleasure to introduce her and the topic that she will be covering for us.

One of the reasons Utoia chose World Wide Creative is that she wanted to expand her knowlege on the dark and mysterious world of SEO. Read Further

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Beware Bozo – The Community Troublemaker Posted in Social Media, Concocted by LouisJvR September 2, 2008 1 comment

bozo

Yep, “Bozo” is the troublemaker in online communities. The guy (or girl) that stirs things up. Craves for attention. Has little to no social skills. In short, a community manager/webmasters worst nightmare.

Online communities are essentially about social interaction. And, as in the offline-world, where there is social interaction unpredictability is a sure thing. Read Further

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Another day, another Hawaiian shirt on TV Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Mike Perk July 17, 2008 4 comments

fred roed cnbc africa

For those of you up bright and early in the morning you may have seen World Wide Creative’s very own TV celeb, Fred Roed, donning his customary Hawaiian shirt on CNBC Africa. Following on from his Carte Blanche cameo he was asked to talk about web marketing strategy for African business. Read Further

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Verity’s online success story Posted in Branding Online, Digital Strategy, Online Advertising, Videos, Concocted by Mike Perk July 13, 2008 No comments

One of World Wide Creative’s success stories, Verity was highlighted on the prime time television programme Carte Blanche this evening. It’s a great example of how a good web marketing strategy with great determination and even greater belief can reap rewards. Read Further

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World Wide Creative’s all-time best typos Posted in Branding Online, Concocted by Fred Roed April 20, 2008 No comments

Being a media team of sorts, the guys at World Wide Creative generally regard the word ‘typo’ in the same way that one would regard downing a slug of greasy dishwater. We’ve had some corkers, the most recent being one from World Wide Creative’s new Creative Director, where she wrote ‘cyst’ instead of ’site’ – ahem. Here are some more pearlers: Read Further

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World Wide Creative, the web marketing company bubbling under Biz-Community Posted in Branding Online, Digital Strategy, Online Advertising, Concocted by Mike Perk September 19, 2007 No comments

Since placing our profile on Biz-Community* pitching World Wide Creative’s services as a web marketing company, we’ve seen an increase in online referrals by around 150% (not a confirmed stat – this is using my overtaxed, non-administrative brain). Not sure if the traffic through our site has been generated by the Biz-Community website, since not a lot of the visitors to the World Wide Creative site actually come directly from their site – but maybe our increasing number of people ’stumbling upon’ us results from better search results for marginalised words. Read Further

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This week at World Wide Creative Posted in Digital Strategy, Concocted by Mike Perk September 17, 2007 No comments

World Wide Creative SA are stoked this morning. South Africa won a pretty important rugby game on the weekend (there’s radio silence from the UK office today) and it looks like we’ve got a good route to the final if we play our cards right. Nice boys. Read Further

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This week at World Wide Creative Posted in Digital Strategy, Concocted by Mike Perk September 10, 2007 No comments
Quick post today since we’re cracking on with all of it.
- Mike and Nicola on their way to the UK to look after clients over there, make some sales calls and to pop back home for a few days.
- I’m doing some brand workshops.
- Shaun is completing some bits and bobs on Cape Nature.
- Paul’s…well, Paul’s doing just about everything at the moment.
Just to show that we do actually do have lives outside of work, here’s a pic of me getting into the spirit of the Rugby World Cup. I played an old boys game last week Wednesday in a mud bath.

That’s me 5th from the right.

- Fred

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Verity sings at the World Wide Creative Heavy Chef Session Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Mike Perk August 30, 2007 1 comment

Last night, the 5th Heavy Chef Session was presented by a very special guest-speaker (guest-singer?) Verity came to tell us about her journey over the past 2 years since she embarked on her quest to get her songs recorded. Instead of signing her life away to a record label, she aimed to raise the R400 000 to pay for a professional production to be made. By selling her album in advance through her website, she has managed to raise an incredible R200 000 already – enough to start the production and give R30 000 to charity! We managed to co-erce a song out of her – do yourself a favour and check it out (click on the video below), and then head onto www.iamverity.com and buy your future copy now!

Watching with interest were Shane Dryden (from Live Alchemy), Lisa Griggs (Lisa’s Little Wine Shop), Rowan Jacklin (AV Direct), Eric Edelstein (from just about every IT company in SA), Frank and Anne-Marelle Meijer (Creme & Cacao), Jackie Cleobury (Cape Nature), Catherine Luckhoff (Mango-OMC) and David Murray (Cape Venture Partners). Thanks all for coming!

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This week at World Wide Creative Posted in Digital Strategy, Concocted by Mike Perk July 29, 2007 No comments
This week sees Sean, World Wide Creative’s newest member, join the WWC programming team. Welcome Sean! We’re looking forward to your skills complementing an ever-strengthening group of dynamos.

We’re excited over a couple of projects:
- Creme & Cacao is a new company in South Africa. Led by Frank Meijer, a Master Chef from Holland, the company has big plans for the South African catering industry. In the same way that things changed when Vida e Caffe aised the bar with coffee, no one is going to accept a second-rate cake after tasting one of Frank’s masterpieces!
- We also start designing a website for a brand new hotel group that’s launching across Southern Africa. This company, led by a longstanding veteran of the international leisure industry, will introduce a new level of service and luxury across a handful of highly unique destinations across South Africa and its neighbours. Watch this space for updates.
- In House Fashion, perveyor of 2 of Young Designer Emporium’s top brands, launches its new website on the 1st August – courtesy of WWC. Our team collaborated to create a innovative new strategy, including website, web gallery and social media platform. More news next week.
That’s it for now. Look out for the impending new and improved look ‘n feel over the next few weeks on the Heavy Chef blog.

- Fred

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Join the World Wide Creative team for a day of golf Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Mike Perk July 22, 2007 No comments

One of the social investment projects we are involved in is the long-serving Autism Western Cape.

Anyone who has autism in their family, or who knows someone with Autistic Spectrum Disorder, understands what a tragic and debilitating affliction it is – as much for the family as for the individual. It is a trying and testing challenge that needs all the support available. This kind of support is not freely available in South Africa. Even in the UK, autism is not fully understood by the general public.

The resources we do have in SA are stretched to the limit and need as much assistance as possible. And so, in the name of winning, all round, Id like to invite anyone whos interested to partake in the Autism Western Cape annual golf day. Click here to contact Gerhard and book your place. Its only R2000 for a 4-ball. World Wide Creative will be there in full force, so youre welcome to join us.

And, yes, its tax deductable, and youll get to meet famous people, and probably end up in the newspaper.

So, what are you waiting for?

(Click here to find out more about autism.)

- Fred

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Focusing on the buying process Posted in Digital Strategy, Concocted by Mike Perk July 15, 2007 3 comments

Fred and I have been talking a lot about our marketing strategy for World Wide Creative lately and as such have been planning changes to our Website, The Heavy Chef Project, Advertising and the usual marketing mix. The problem I sometimes have with marketing is the focus it places on selling rather than the buying process. Or should I rather say; the problem I have when I do marketing.

The web has changed dramatically over the last couple of years and the idea of “if they see me they will buy” just doesn’t ring true. The consumer no longer responds to the TV ad by rushing out and purchasing the latest product – in fact they haven’t done that for quite a while now. They are information gatherers, a tribe that absorbs thousands of messages a day, sifts through them sub-consiously and retains what is applicable to them. Each one is an individual, each one choosing to retain that message for a different reason to the next. How then is it possible to put up a sign with a picture of your product and a snappy line that say “we make your dreams come true” going to work?

We have to understand each and every one of our potential buyers and more importantly the process they take to buy our product or service. We need to ensure we are part of that information gathering process so that when they are at the point of saying: “Yep I’m ready to buy now” our product/service is in front of them. To do this we need to intricately understand the route they take, the alley ways and paths they go down, whilst subtly persuading them along the way.

This is much easier said than done as it requires an extreme amount of planning. If we are designing and implementing a web strategy for a client, it is almost impossible to persuade them that 2/3 months worth of analysis, research, brain storming and getting into the minds of their users is required before we can even tell them how there website/blog/web marketing is going to work. The reason being is one still views the web from an “old” marketing perspective: If I place an ad in a paper people will buy my product – if I put up a website people buy my stuff.

I am really looking forward to the next couple of years and seeing how the growth of Web 2.0 changes the way businesses not only think about the web but marketing as a whole.

- Perky

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This week at World Wide Creative Posted in Digital Strategy, Website Design, Website Usability, Concocted by Mike Perk July 9, 2007 No comments
This week is a busy one for the team. These are exciting times for us, and we are looking for some new talent to join the team at World Wide Creative. We are currently looking for the following positions:

Studio Manager: must have experience managing a creative studio.
Client Service / Sales: must have experience in an agency environment, must have marketing background.

Projects this week:
- We begin the design and development of the website for a new hotel group being launched here in South Africa.
- Our team has nabbed the account for one of the country’s top golf estates (more to follow). We will be responsible for the design and development of the estate’s website, intranet and communication systems.
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This week at World Wide Creative Posted in Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Mike Perk July 3, 2007 No comments
We are excited as the new month sets in. Our Heavy Chef Newsletter goes out tomorrow*, which always gets some great feedback – and also announces the upcoming Heavy Chef Session in Cape Town at the end of July. For our UK clients missing out, never fear, Mike is going to be swinging by in August / September to conduct a session then.

We are busy with the following projects:
- Finishing up the Cape Nature website – yeeha!
- Rocketseed banners for Co-ordination Crew
- A blog design for Cerebra for their client, Toyota
- Finalising a kickass website for Shonaquip
- Starting another kickass website for NH3, an engineering company in Cape Town
- Getting cracking on a website for production house, 2Productions along with DZ3.
*Not on our mailing list? Email me and I will add you to our database.

- Fred

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