You’d be forgiven for thinking arcades have quietly slithered into the same dark hole payphones occupy. But despite not being as prominent as they once were in the ‘80s, arcades haven’t disappeared – they’ve evolved. The arcade was the place to be for kids and teenagers to blow off steam after school – and for many, it was often where their love of gaming originated from. Classics like Tekken, Donkey Kong, Pac-Man would have swarms of people packing into these dimly lit buildings tossing coins into machines for hours on end. But the rise of consoles slowly had these once packed building ..read more

Marketing your business isn’t easy, there’s an absolute ton of stuff involved – a lot of it technical and weird sounding too. So it’s easy to understand there might be times when you think you know what you’re getting, only to discover that what you’ve asked for is completely different from what you’d envisaged in your head, and that no matter how much you crunch it or squint at the data – your assumptions are about as far removed from the truth as the sun is from the galactic centre. Whether you’re working with an in-house marketing team or have outsourced to experts – communication and a cle ..read more

I was in the shower one night mindlessly scrubbing away as a rush of apocalyptic and prophetic thoughts swirled around in my head. I had saved humanity (a few times), discovered time travel, and learnt the true meaning of Stonehenge, and finally figured out how to start this paragraph. Although as I’m typing this, I am watching reruns of QI (sorry!) But those lightbulb moments of genius weren’t locked inside my bottle of vanilla milk and papaya scented shampoo- nor do I have a genie in a bottle! But the shower did create the perfect conditions to coax a flash of brilliance from my undoubtedly ..read more

TL:DR: People can be difficult to work with, they’re all different. A ‘one size fits all’ approach is never going to work. Take the time to discover more about the person you’re dealing with and adapt your methods to fit. Ah, working with other people. When you’ve got the right team, it can be an amazing experience, where everything gels, goes smoothly and you’re all psyched about what you’re creating. On the other hand, working with the wrong team or certain individuals can be a nightmare. Constant excuses, delays, miscommunications, and the ever-growing feeling of doom as you rue the day yo ..read more

Customer Experience will Define the Success of your Brand Think about the last time you experienced really great service as a customer – remember how and why that experience felt great. Now do the same the last time you experienced really poor service as a customer. If you recall the negative experience more vividly than the positive ones, you’re not alone. On average, customers will tell nine people about a positive experience, but tell 16 people about a negative experience with a brand. Good customer experiences are critical to the success of your business. Customers today are no longer basi ..read more

Bad advice isn’t just annoying, it’s expensive. If you don’t know how to manage your marketing, you need to take the time and learn to do it properly or outsource it to experts. Marketing: You Know What It Is, But Do You Understand Why You Need It? Getting your product or service out in front of customers is one of the most important things your company needs to be doing – if people don’t know you’re available, they’re not going to consider you when they’re making their purchasing decisions. Marketing is more than just advertising though. You can’t just put up an advert or create a webpage a ..read more

Build it and they will come might be a famous saying but it’s also one that is a little outdated. You could have an amazing product, offer a truly outstanding service or have a customer service that is literally first-class but none of those things will matter if no one even knows about your business. Every business needs some form of media presence in order to actually attract customers. This is what content marketing is all about and yes it does matter! Content marketing can take many forms from writing entertaining and informative product descriptions, eye-catching adverts, press releases ..read more

Does Your Brand Need a Refresh? Branding is something we talk about all the time, and establishing a brand is a continual process. Sometimes your brand will need a refresh which doesn’t mean starting again, to be clear we are not talking about rebranding. A refresh does require you to spruce things up to ensure relevancy and the ability to be seen in such a competitive world. So how do you know when it is time to make the change and reboot your brand? Missing Your Target Market The internet moves so fast, as do the expectation of users. This is the instant gratification generation and the work ..read more

Why is SEO Important? Search engine optimisation (SEO) dictates how often your business is seen by prospective customers by making it easier for a search engine to lead them directly to your content. Over 60% of marketers believe that their SEO content is where their most quality leads come from (HubSpot) and 68% of online experiences start with a search engine (BrightEdge). This is why SEO is important, and an essential component in any business’s digital marketing plan. SEO is about using keywords that are designed to increase the likelihood of content being discovered by a search engin ..read more

The Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management (EAHM) in Dubai is a hospitality management school and part of the hotel company, Jumeirah Group. Virtual Solutions Founder and CEO Dawn Gribble was invited to attend as a Guest Lecturer, helping the students understand how to market a restaurant. The session was very well received by students, and Dawn was invited back the following week to judge the student’s marketing presentations in a panel alongside Olympic Gold Medal Winner, Chef Michael Kitts. Dawn was delighted to visit the academy again, when the students launched their restaurant con ..read more