“APR are a nimble agency with people based in house and are very efficient from a time and cost management perspective.”

What APR Creative brings to Fonterra

• An APR account manager onsite to direct creative and digital needs.
• Packaging expertise that comes from intimately knowing the brand by being immersed in the Fonterra team.
• The technical expertise of understanding the products.

Fonterra and APR Creative have worked together for more than a decade with APR initially providing project based creative and rollout services for Fonterra. 11 years ago, they collaborated with Fonterra’s then Marketing Director and his leadership team to create APR’s unique business model, now known as ArtSmart. ArtSmart was created in order to solve a number of issues Fonterra were experiencing with artwork production and multiple suppliers. Since then, Fonterra have grown the service to also include their Milk Supply, Foodservice and Corporate Communications department needs. Four years ago, APR expanded into providing dedicated digital development and support.

ArtSmart delivers all of Fonterra’s day to day marketing artwork requirements. This includes managing brand assets, packaging rollouts, creating POS items, catalogue adverts and taking above the line campaigns from Fonterra’s lead strategic agencies and rolling out across other collateral. Our ArtSmart Digital Manager delivers front-end web design, content management, digital advertising and site maintenance. The ArtSmart service enables efficient artwork and digital execution and fast turnaround times.

Michelle Scalzi (Group Manager, Marketing Services) says, “APR are a nimble agency with people based in house and are very efficient from a time and cost management perspective. We get our Strategic Agency to develop a master and then ArtSmart roll it out to drive time and cost efficiencies. It’s the same with digital – having a digital resource based here in Fonterra means it’s very quick to get changes made.”

“One of the main benefits is APR’s packaging expertise. Having the team based at our offices and involving them in everything we do means we can take them along the whole journey of packaging development. They are involved at the start and provide input and expertise.”

“The involvement of Tessa and Raewyn as the Directors of the business is great. They are very close to what is going on and are always available. If there are any issues they are happy pick up the phone to resolve it straight away. They have their fingers on the pulse which is very positive.”

“ArtSmart is a low-cost model that supports Fonterra’s overarching strategy and it is perfect for the high volume of work that the company has to turn around, often within tight timeframes. APR are very responsive under the ArtSmart model because they’re onsite and able to build relationships with the team at Fonterra and get to intimately know the business.

“APR’s hands-on approach and ability to engage directly in the daily running of Fonterra’s business has nurtured a solid and long-lasting relationship that has benefited both companies.

“Lead times are adhered to, very reliably, and APR manage the timelines with great communications and feedback. We provide feedback and they take that on board and get it done.”

“It’s like having a whole team of great creative designers in my office but actually not having to have that expense.”

What APR Creative does for DON

• ArtSmart turns artwork around fast.
• It’s more cost effective than an in-house design team.
• ArtSmart creates consistency across brand identity.

Since 1947, the DON name has been synonymous with ham, bacon and smallgoods Australia-wide. This recognition stems from a passion and dedication to quality, first instilled by Australian butcher R.J. Gilbertson. Today DON is one of Australia’s largest smallgoods manufacturers, proudly producing award winning hams, bacon, salami, franks and continentals from their Castlemaine site in Victoria.

DON and APR have a unique relationship, based on the introduction of APR’s ArtSmart service into their business over 3 years ago. Marketing Director Cathy Bertoncello and her team have consistently enjoyed the benefits of ArtSmart and working with APR to achieve success in their business.

ArtSmart provides a dedicated APR Creative Account Manager who works onsite at DON for an agreed upon amount of time per week and a dedicated fulltime designer in the APR studio, Artsmart produces packaging rollouts, POS, trade flyers, catalogue designs and internal communications daily. ArtSmart also makes sure that all DON images and assets are kept up to date on various databases. All of this is done at a more economical rate for DON than the cost of an in-house design team or third party agency.

“It’s like having a whole team of great creative designers in my office but actually not having to have that expense,” Bertoncello said. “Before ArtSmart, we had a lot of people doing different things that made DON look and feel different across our products. I didn’t want that, I wanted to have a very aligned look and feel across all our products and collateral.”

ArtSmart has streamlined the design process for DON and ensured a more aligned brand identity across its various products. What ArtSmart does is make sure that DON’s needs are met on a priority basis in a timely manner. The presence of a dedicated person handling the traffic flow of design needs has improved the quality of the work and reduced the risk of requests not being met and business opportunities lost.

“A big thing we wanted was to have things turned around fast, ArtSmart does this really well. The APR team are so easy to deal with, normal people, no ego and they just get the job done,” Bertoncello added. “It’s a simple, healthy, easy relationship and that really does matter to us.

“APR have hired great Account Managers who are aligned with the DON culture and just fit straight into our business. They are always technically proficient and know how to prioritise. The relationship is so good, we just sit down and brief them in. It works well, it’s quick and agile.

“One of the challenges of being an FMCG business is the complexities around packaging and dealing with multiple stakeholders both within the business and externally. APR have really got to know our suppliers, and they always go out of their way to understand the technical difficulties, they have great packaging expertise.

“The partnership between DON and APR has been a successful one because of APR’s expertise, attention to detail and commitment to ensuring DON lives and breathes a consistent message in every aspect of their business. APR’s ArtSmart makes my life and my team’s life easier by having all of these creative resources on tap. Through ArtSmart, APR has gone out of their way to understand the technical difficulties we have with our suppliers —they have great expertise.”

“It’s truly a match made in heaven. APR are not egotistical or precious and just work to keep everyone happy.”

What APR Creative does for Kingswim

• APR are readily available to tackle short deadlines.
• Committed to getting the job done right.

Kingswim is a not for profit, dedicated learn to swim organization. Owned by the YMCA, they have over twenty-two purpose built learning centres nationally.

Kingswim partnered with APR Creative two years ago when they required a full service agency to assist in the growth of their business. APR were the perfect fit for Kingswim based on the boutique size of the agency and their ability to be agile and work as a real extension of their team. In this instance, APR truly was a brand partner, not only developing the brand but also providing a lot of ongoing management.

Kingswim has been focusing on growing their business and they had a real issue finding the right agency to help them bring their goals to fruition. As a business with such specific needs, APR came on board with the right tools and flexibility to get the job done. APR have helped Kingswim understand the nuts and bolts of their brand strategy as well as how to navigate the brand expression in different mediums. And now, Kingswim are on track to tremendous growth.

Because of APR’s help, the Kingswim brand is not only more visible but it is attracting the right kind of customers – a significant improvement. The new website and branding is outperforming their old image and Kingswim’s Marketing Director Erin Lynch couldn’t be happier.

“I can’t speak highly enough of these guys – as a sounding board and as an invaluable partner,” Lynch said. “The team at Kingswim have benefited from a strong working relationship with APR and have seen remarkable growth in their business.

“APR has really hit the sweet spot with the support they are able to give us, the extra resource they are able to let us use flexibly – they have been a really valuable asset to partner with,” she continued.

“It’s truly a match made in heaven. APR are not egotistical or precious and just work to keep everyone happy.”

“APR is flexible enough to handle all of our brands and drive different business objectives as we need them across each of our brand portfolios.”

What APR Creative does for Tassal Group

• Quick turnaround – Tassal Group’s small and frequent design jobs are no problem for APR.
• A very straightforward clear communication process where APR are available and clear around timelines.
• APR can complete any sized brief, making it easier as Tassal Group only has to engage with one agency for their creative needs.

For over 25 years, Tassal Group has been bringing delicious, fresh and healthy Tasmanian Atlantic salmon from their pristine waters to the table. Today, they’re the leaders in producing Atlantic salmon in Australia and employ over 1200 fabulous people all of whom share a passion for this delicious Superfood.

The partnership with Tassal Group grew from the relationship between APR and Jess Doolan, Tassal’s Senior Brand Manager, who had worked with Tessa and her team at Fonterra. Tassal Group needed a boutique creative agency to support their internal designer and marketing team with creative campaigns, packaging design and POS solutions on an ongoing basis. As they are a mid-sized company, they were seeking the right kind of support. They needed more than a freelance designer could provide, but without the price tag of a big agency.

The way APR work with Tassal Group is to support their internal designer and marketing team with strategic design projects both from a packaging and POS activation perspective.

“I had worked with APR before at Fonterra and so I sought them out as we are a relatively lean marketing team and we wanted someone who was agile enough to take on briefs big or small and be able to turn them around. APR are strong at listening to our requirements and easily deliver the projects we need seamlessly,” Doolan said.

“We can easily pick up the phone or send a brief large or small and APR can quickly turn it around. It’s just the ease of working with them that we need and appreciate. APR is flexible enough to handle all of our brands and drive different business objectives as we need them across each of our brand portfolios.

“As work load picked up and where there was additional creative resource required on our side, APR were able to step in and complete the work – big or small. We can always rely on APR — a versatile and agile Marketing, Design and Creative agency.

Everything has always been on budget and within timelines.”

“The process of briefing APR in right through to the work that was done was very professional, with good attention to detail, and succinct instructions into what we needed to provide.”

What APR Creative does for 24/7 Dental

• Attention to detail.
• Great work ethic, responsive and professional.
• Delivered peace of mind.

24/7 Dental is a dental practice located in Moorabbin. As the premier 24-hour dental clinic in Melbourne, they’re happy to open early or stay late and have shaped their practice around overall patient experience, rather than set, short hours. They offer general dentistry, emergency dental and after hours care.

APR Creative was engaged on a project basis to help Dr. Michael Letham (Owner) and his team launch 24/7 Dental online, providing website and marketing assistance.

They were close to opening their surgery and needed a professional, modern and functional website up and running quickly. That website needed to attract customers who knew that 24/7 Dental was a business available at short notice. This is different to the more traditional dental practices that operate on business hours and normally use word-of-mouth or flyers to advertise. If someone has a problem at 2:00 am, they are more likely to search online for help — SEO and digital marketing was therefore crucial. In short, 24/7 Dental needed to be digitally marketed.

APR designed and developed an SEO-optimised website that enabled 24/7 Dental to rise up the Google rankings and remain there, which is a significant achievement for everyone involved.

“I chose APR for their location, work ethic, quick response and professionalism,” Dr. Letham said. “24/7 Dental now has a strong online presence and peace of mind when it comes to our searchability on the web.

“The process of briefing APR in right through to the work that was done was very professional, with good attention to detail, and succinct instructions into what we needed to provide. Mock ups were provided of what things would look like and they checked in regularly on the progress, but not excessively—they just got on with it and I could not fault the process.

“I knew they were professional and had been around a long time – at the time there was a definite sense of urgency and we needed someone who could get the job done.”

“APR pride themselves on good relationships and we always feel like they really care about our company by going the extra mile.”

What APR Creative does for McPherson’s

• APR’s willingness to understand what this product is, what the market is and what will make it work.
• Their leadership and attention to detail.
• Cost effective.

McPherson’s is a dynamic consumer products business, marketing and distributing a wide range of health and beauty products, household consumables and household durables throughout Asia Pacific, the UK/Europe and North America. Their expertise lies in managing the supply and marketing of complex and comprehensive ranges of products that consumers need and use in their everyday lives.

McPherson’s key product ranges include market-leading brands such as Manicare, Lady Jayne, Swisspers, Wiltshire, Stanley Rogers, Multix and Euromaid.

APR and McPhersons have a long-standing relationship. APR was the primary design agency for the brand Swisspers, and when McPhersons acquired the brand APR has been retained as their creative provider on a project basis for over 10 years. This partnership produced significant results for Swisspers in the market.

McPhersons is a product based company and continually launching new products.

“One of the biggest challenges we have is there are always new designs needed – the design work needs to be right the first time, otherwise a lot of time can be wasted going back and forth to fix small problems. This is where APR made the biggest difference – getting it right, time and time again,” Simon Wilkinson (former Innovation Manager) said.

“APR pride themselves on good relationships and we always feel like they really care about our company by going the extra mile. For McPhersons, this is incredibly important considering the high volume of products and tight timelines for design work. This is also connected to APR’s ability to remain cost effective – with so many products it’s easy for costs to skyrocket.

“What McPhersons truly admire about APR is their consistency, versatility and cost effective model and they are the ‘go-to’ people for all things creative for McPhersons. McPhersons require a stable and attentive agency and that’s exactly what Tessa and the team at APR deliver.

“APR are really good at is relationships and showing that they care about our company and going the extra mile- so even if they don’t get it done 100% the first time there was a real commitment there to fix whatever problem existed.”

“How we visually present ourselves is now a true reflection of who we are thanks to APR.”

What APR Creative does for Clean TeQ

• An excellent working relationship.
• A willingness to meet tight deadlines.
• Creative solutions that resonate.

Clean TeQ Holdings Limited (ASX:CLQ) is the owner of the Clean TeQ Sunrise Nickel/Cobalt/Scandium Project in NSW, Australia. Clean TeQ are positioned to become one of the largest and lowest cost suppliers of key cathode raw materials to the lithium-ion battery market – nickel sulphate and cobalt sulphate.

APR Creative and Clean TeQ had been working together for a number of years, so when it came time for Clean TeQ to rebrand, APR was the natural choice. The relationship between the two businesses was strong and Clean TeQ turned to APR to generate solutions to enhance their branding strategy.

Clean TeQ had evolved and needed to refresh the brand in order to present their new offering to the market. They asked APR to develop a new brand identity and new website. Clean TeQ needed to communicate a shift in their business away from an identity in environmental services, to a mining and technology company with an environmental theme.

“The problem Clean TeQ was facing was that people thought we were an environmental services provider and all of the marketing reflected that. No one understood that we are now focused on developing a mine that will produce raw materials,” Ben Stockdale (CFO) said.

APR assisted Clean TeQ in applying the new brandmark and style guide across all of their marketing and digital assets. The brand and website now truly reflects the nature of their business and Clean TeQ has a clear visual direction to use for all future marketing.

“Many creative agencies will show you 4 different examples of work and you dislike all of them. APR showed us 4 themes and we could have run with at least 3 of them. They ‘got it’,” Stockdale continued.

“How we visually present ourselves is now a true reflection of who we are thanks to APR.”