A Shropshire creative company has beaten off competition from five London-based agencies to land a high-profile contract with the Beano comic.
Yarrington Limited, based at Frankwell in Shrewsbury, has secured the job of designing and building a wide range of new commercial content for the comic’s website, www.beano.com. The deal has been done with the Beano’s publishing company, DC Thomson, based in Fleet Street.
The first job involved designing various interactive features to coincide with the launch of David Walliams’s new Book of Stuff. David was guest editor of the Beano’s special 80th birthday edition.
“The Beano’s website is hugely popular, receiving massive traffic, and the company has been looking at ways of creating more commercial opportunities for its partners,” said Yarrington managing director Mark Allsop.
“That’s what this contract is all about – providing digitised and interactive advertorial which is in keeping with the Beano’s branding, working in close partnership with their commercial teams.”
Beano has relaunched its famous Dennis and Gnasher Fan Club as part of a series of initiatives for its 80th birthday year, and the Yarrington team has created landing pages to promote the new-look site.
Josh Gidman, director of digital services at Yarrington, said: “This is proving to be such a fun project. I was a huge fan of the Beano as a kid – in fact, I first learned how to draw by creating my own versions of Beano characters - so the chance to work with the team is amazing. Jobs don’t get much better than this.”
He added: “With the David Walliams project, we received the words and fabulous illustrations from Sir Quentin Blake before it was all publicly released, and used the assets to build a micro-site. The Beano team told us the sort of things they wanted to see, but gave us full creative freedom to develop our own ideas.
“We used extracts from the book, and some of the illustrations, to mix with various interactive elements including video, competitions, quizzes, and mini book reviews from young people. It was all published on the Beano’s website, with a signpost through to David Walliams’s own website for book sales.”
The ongoing contract could also involve Yarrington creating similar commercial designs for the printed version of the famous Beano comic over the coming months.
Pictured: Mark Allsop at the Beano's offices in Fleet Street
Shropshire firm delivers equipment for prime time reality show
Smart technology to boost experience for social housing residents
Deal will create 50 jobs and create new format food store
Shrewsbury firm enjoys business boom
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is VIP guest of honour
Trade Union Studies training hits £1 million
Leading mural artist commissioned to create two paintings
Businessman will take part in national cycling event
Groups, clubs and societies will benefit from grants
Team seals the deal after a competitive five-way pitch
Firm helps magical bus to soar above the audience
Increase in demand for animation service creates new vacancy
Success would mean third trophy in a row for Lanyon Bowdler
New home for talented creatives
Comment and analysis on today's big announcements
Have you booked your place yet for November 28th?
Innovative online gallery attracts attention
London Marathon challenge in aid of county charity