How to stay on top of new technology, the Bray Leino philosophy

Your people are your biggest asset in this regard. At Bray Leino, part of our agency business plan includes a specific ‘People First’ work stream. One of the key objectives of this is to commit to the continuing improvement of knowledge, learning and sharing amongst all staff, particularly among the digital team.

This philosophy has a direct influence on our digital business and innovation. To stay in touch with technological innovation, it’s important to keep up to date with the recognised players and newcomers who are driving change.

We support team members attending the key global digital industry events and conferences around the world; CES in Las Vegas, South by South West in Austin, Texas, the Guardian Changing Media Summit in London and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, amongst many others.

Bray Leino is also an active part of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) and regularly provides support for digital events. For instance, this year we have supported Ed Vaizey MP and the IPA in the Creative Pioneers Challenge to find the brightest young digital talent and best creative entrepreneurs. We have taken nine highly promising new staff into the business as part of this scheme.

Our recruitment process for digital staff is weighted toward assessing a candidate’s attitude toward creativity, innovation and technology – we look to hire people who have a natural curiosity and enthusiasm for digital.

Knowledge sharing around the organisation is achieved very simply via internal email and collaboration tools like Yammer, making the process of disseminating new discoveries, new research and technology launch information very simple and effective.

New technologies are assessed via a nimble yet rigorous qualification and testing programme, with an in-house testing and QA manager responsible for highlighting crucial functional or security risks.

Digital analytics then comes in to play heavily, as tracking and measurement capabilities are set up to monitor pre-defined performance-based measurements, which deliver insights that help us manage strategy and decision making on an on-going basis. Tools typically employed include, amongst others, Google webmaster tools, ClickTale tracking, Meltwater Buzz social media tracking and Google Analytics.

For us as a digital business, and for any business that needs to stay balanced on the cutting edge of digital innovation, ensuring knowledge-sharing takes place and keeping everybody firmly grounded on the shifting digital landscape is critical to our work. This, combined with robust analysis and data-driven, insight-based decision-making, forms a key part of our business DNA.