However, the judges begged to differ and took the accurate view that the quality and impact of the rebrand work deserved some appropriate recognition. The gold award was given for ‘Best use of copy/tone of voice’. A firm reminder that a brand’s verbal identity is as important as the visual, something many businesses don’t consider. The silvers were awarded for ‘Best corporate rebrand to reflect changed mission/values/positioning’ and ‘Best rebrand in financial services sector’. Citroen and Grant Thornton were the respective winners in these categories and Aviva and Rothschild took the bronze awards – a tremendous benchmark for us and the client. Click here to view all the award winners.

So a great night and a big thank you to the Parasol marketing team for being superb clients and copywriter Carol for her tremendous contribution. View the case study here.

Also worth a final mention is that jointly flying the flag for the region, the Co-operative Group won the Grand Prix award picking up several awards along the way for their exhaustive nationwide rebranding program. Agency-wise, the big London firms dominated the awards with Pentagram picking up seven themselves and as far as we can work out Studio North were the only consultancy to break the capital’s stranglehold.

Chuffed to bits and as drunk as lords.

Another unknown milestone we reach this year is 60 years since the passing of the remarkable Louis (Luigi) Rocca, the unsung hero and kingmaker of Old Trafford and an Ancoats Italian to boot, relevant to me three times over. While modern day football overlaps nonsensically into the world of business and celebrity, the more nostalgic aficionados cherish these stories and struggle to benchmark the 2010 vintage of association football with the romantic sport of yesteryear.

It’s a story that starts in the first half of the 19th century not a million miles away from Genoa. (Born in 1838) Luigi Rocca senior left Borzonasca, a pretty hill village on the Italian Riviera, in 1865 to search for his slice of fame and fortune. At the age of 27 and still a bachelor, Louis would eventually arrive at the smouldering grey urban metropolis that was Manchester at the peak of the Industrial Revolution. How the colours of the Italian sea, sky and countryside must have compared with Ancoats 145 years ago, one can only imagine but Louis would eventually settle at number 3 Ancoats St, marrying an Italian girl Maria Casinelli, from Sheffield, and together they would raise a typically large Italian family. The family, like many others in the area, would start a vibrant ice cream business in 1872 but youngest son Louis jr had other plans. At the age of 12 he joined a local football team as tea-boy, a position that proved to be the first rung on a ladder that would eventually cement his name in the club’s hall of fame. After then being tasked with looking after the first team kit (quite the honour in those days), the young Italian Manc was also to become the club’s first groundsman.

However, Louis was to make his first real mark on the history and future of the club on April 26 1902 at a meeting to choose a new name for Newton Heath LYR.  Having relocated to Clayton some years earlier, ‘the Heathens’ now saw no need to retain the unpopular ties with the area that borders Ancoats to the slightly north slightly east side of Manchester. After Manchester Central and Manchester Celtic had been rejected it was Louis who proposed the legendary words ‘Manchester United’.

This was hardly the end of Rocca’s immense influence over the future direction of the club. It was he who persuaded James W Gibson to famously save United from near certain bankruptcy in the 1930s and it was he who introduced the first organised scouting system in British football. One that would eventually lead to the finest crop of young footballing talent these shores have ever seen. However, probably his finest hour was being the ‘convincer’ in wrestling Sir Matt Busby away from the clutches of Liverpool where he was seeing out his playing career. Busby had previously played with Manchester City and Rocca had maintained a friendship developed through the local Catholic Church.  The rest as they say is history.

Louis Rocca, born in Ancoats, Manchester was to be spared the pain of Munich, but equally never really experienced the immense glory and worldwide renown that would follow, the fruits of his labour if you like. For someone who dedicated over half a century to the cause he is rarely given the credit for such unswerving loyalty, a rare commodity in the modern game.

The superstars of today Beckham, Ronaldo, Cantona, Rooney et al have many of the finer things in life and will each be remembered for different things, but they will never be able to say they were Manchester United supporter, tea boy, kitman, groundsman, assistant manager, director, chief scout and brand naming genius!

Molto grazie Signor Fix-it.

That’s why it gives us extra pleasure when they do something special. In the past few weeks we’ve launched a new mobile website and an online magazine for one of the leading legal recruitment firms outside London.

The mobile site is candidate focussed and targeted at busy professionals who want flexibility when it comes to job hunting.  With full job search functionality and the ability to directly contact the relevant consultant by phone or email in one click, the site is entirely optimised for mobile performance. If your I-Phone or Blackberry is at hand have a quick peek at www.bcllegal.com/mobile.

A busy start to the year has also seen the launch of an online magazine style publication, The Brief, again aimed at candidates with all sorts of industry gossip, movers and shakers, news and opinion pieces. The first edition’s launch email enjoyed a fantastic click through rate attracting almost 3000 visitors to the magazine’s microsite platform.

Of graduate calibre you will have strong organisational skills, be a natural communicator and have an interest in all things brand and digital. Some work experience would be desirable but not absolutely essential if your degree is highly relevant to what we do.

We plan to arrange interviews for the first couple of weeks in March. To read a bit more about this superb opportunity please click here

Richard previously spent three years at Aylesworth Fleming having graduated with a degree in Operations Management at Lancaster University Management School. Hailing from Wolverhampton, Richard excels at most sports notably a keen rower at University and the captain of both rugby and cricket college teams.

Dominic has worked both client and agencyside in previous roles, most recently at Finch in his native Liverpool. Again, a graduate in Politics and English at Loughborough University, Dom also holds a CIM Professional Diploma in Marketing and is currently working towards a Masters.

Both lads have got stuck right into the client base and we wish them well. They are pictured here letting their hair down for childrens television. From left to right, Richard & Dominic.

In the best corporate rebrand to reflect changed mission/values/positioning, we are being judged against Citroen and Aviva (Norwich Union).  Parasol’s verbal identity will be pitted against the Action for Children charity in the best use of copy/tone of voice category and finally global firms Grant Thornton and Rothschild provide the competition in the best rebrand in financial services sector. All of these companies have more offices than we have chairs but nevermind and never underestimate the underdog.

The Shortlist

The other designers & brand consultancies who have entered work read like a who’s who of the best on the planet. Interbrand, Landor, Pentagram, Siegel Gale and the like. All London and all with a global presence. We’re humble enough to admit we’re honoured to be rubbing shoulders with these hugely respected firms. In fact, from what we can tell, aside from flying the flag for the region we are pretty much flying it for everyone outside the M25 agency wise. The Co-operative Group will be there representing 0161 clientside but then again their rebrand typically went south to Pentagram.

So it’s David & Goliath and our first real effort in terms of entering client work for awards. And great awards at that, with outstanding criteria of measuring the effectiveness of branding as well as strategic input, process and creative execution.

In London, their backyard so to speak, against the creme de la creme. So expect some merriment, even if we walk away empty handed.