Here at Leapfrogg we like to give a little back to the local community and in particular allowing the opportunity for students to sample life at a digital marketing agency through a week of work experience. The latest tadpole to spend some time with the Froggers is Becky Weatherley. Here, she tells you about her week at Leapfrogg towers:

Hi, I’m Becky Weatherley and I’ve just finished my GCSEs, after which I was assigned by my school to attend work experience here at Leapfrogg, as they knew I was interested in computers and advertising.

We are delighted to announce that Leapfrogg will be opening a new regional office in Southampton.  Flying in the face of the recession, our ‘fortune favours the brave’ approach will see us continue our growth strategy by establishing a local presence in the Solent to service SMEs in the region.

The official launch party will take place on the 9th July where our team of experts will be on hand to speak to the local companies and organisations invited to attend. Following that we will be running a series of seminars in Southampton throughout the summer aimed at helping local SMEs learn how they can use the web to grow their businesses; topics will include introductions to social media, content, paid search and search engine optimisation.

We chose Southampton as a city with a thriving SME community that is close enough to Brighton to create synergy between teams, but also has its own distinct community. We firmly believe that despite the benefits brought about by communication tools such as email, there remains nothing better than meeting clients face to face on a regular basis. On this basis, a local Solent office allows us to service companies in the area with the same level of care and commitment that we have demonstrated in Brighton and the surrounding area.

Having spent quite a lot of time in the city over the last few months we are hugely excited by the opportunity to spread our wings and get involved in Southampton’s dynamic and diverse business scene.

We’ll be in our new office from the 1st July. Pay us a visit at Enterprise House, Ocean Village, Southampton.

For further information call the Southampton office on 023 8048 8765 or Brighton on 01273 322830.

Hi, I’m Sam Swan and I am just about to complete a weeks work experience here at Leapfrogg. I thought I’d tell you a bit about what I’ve been up to…

Before working at Leapfrogg:

I’m a student from the University of Chichester and I study Media Production and Media Studies. For one of my modules I was given the task of finding a work placement situated around media that I would find beneficial to my learning and more importantly an area that interested me.

I first became aware of Leapfrogg through the Wired Sussex website when I was searching for some work experience. I wasn’t completely sure at first that digital media was an area of work I would enjoy as my University unfortunately doesn’t cover digital media.

Following my research into Leapfrogg I thought it would be a great idea to contact Jody Mason from the company and through emails I was given the opportunity to do work experience, which I was extremely grateful for.

My first thoughts on arrival and meeting the Froggers:

Before arriving on my first day I was extremely nervous and not quite sure what to expect. As soon as I arrived everyone made me feel extremely welcomed which helped calm my nerves.

I was amazed to see everyone working in one giant room as I expected to see each department separated not merged into one.

My week with Leapfrogg:

During my week I was assigned to the Digital Marketing department which was the area I was most interested and specifically asked to work in. I worked closely with Claire Stokoe and Simon Dance, members from the Digital Marketing Department during my week who set me task to complete which included creating a Twitter account, Netvibes account and a blog with WordPress. I did however, spend some of my time talking and interacting with other team members from the other departments at Leapfrogg which has made me consider other possibilities available if, I didn’t necessarily want to go into Digital Marketing.

However, I was amazed at the tasks set because it didn’t seem right that I was being allowed to socialise on the Internet for my work experience. I was quite conscious about this on my first day. Furthermore, I was given the opportunity to do some work for the Paid Search department where I had to come up with tag lines which I enjoyed as gave me the opportunity to be creative.

My final thoughts:

I’ve had a brilliant time working for Leapfrogg and it has been a great experience for me. My views on social media have changed; I am now more aware of what social media is, although I’m still learning. From my work experience and time with Leapfrogg I would definitely consider a career in digital media for the future.
I’d like to thank Claire and Simon for taking time out of their busy schedule to help tutor me for the week. I feel I’ve learnt a lot from them, as well as the other Froggers who have taken the time to talk to me.

Thank you Leapfrogg for a great week.

P.S. And thank you Sam from Leapfrogg!

Whilst still in the process of recruiting a Part Time Marketing Executive, we are now also looking for a Senior Digital Marketing Strategist.

The role will include detailed research into online communities, creation of viable social media and digital marketing strategies, and the effective management and development of our clients’ digital marketing campaigns.

The ideal candidate should have a keen interest in online business, social networking and be familiar with the likes of Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr, YouTube, Facebook and StumbleUpon, whilst understanding how to use these social technologies effectively. You will be accessible to both clients and other Leapfrogg team members, and express confidence and tenacity in delivering your ideas from thought to implementation.

If you are interested or know somebody that might be download the full job spec here.

We are currently looking for a Part Time Marketing Executive to join our team.

This would suit a freelance marketer looking for part time work or an experienced marketer looking to re-enter the workplace. The successful candidate will be responsible for managing ongoing marketing activity for one of the fastest growing and vibrant agencies in the South. We are looking for someone to work closely with our Sales & Marketing Director to implement our marketing strategy. The role will include aspects of PR, event organisation, copywriting, brand development and communications.

If you are interested or perhaps we would love to hear from you. Or perhaps you know a friend or colleague on the look out.

Download the full job spec here.

Rosie Freshwater, MD at Leapfrogg and her sister, office administrator Libby raised £328 for Comic Relief this morning with a mad cap idea to brave the freezing weather and take a running jump into the Brighton sea.

I can’t even describe in words the amusement Leapfrogg staff took at seeing their boss and sister running fancy dress into the sea so I’ll let the video do the talking. Thank you so much for our friends at Fat Sand who gave up their time to come down and video the event. Excellent work guys!

Other activities in the office today have included Sasha’s Sewing Den, Jody’s daughter Tilly selling home made cakes and biscuits, and Amelia was sent on a kitchen errand for a pound!

If you fancy contributing to the cause visit the Leapfrogg Red Nose Day Giving page.

Following last years success in winning ‘best place to work’ and ‘best employer’ at the Brighton and Hove Business Awards (BAHBA’s) and the Sussex Business Awards respectively, we are delighted to have made it a hat trick at last nights first Gatwick Diamond Business Awards.

The winners were announced at a glittering awards ceremony at the Gatwick Hilton with the BBC’s Business Correspondent Declan Curry doing a sterling job as guest presenter.

Judging the entry, Tony Hyams-Parish of Rawlison Butler LLP said “The final three are all worthy winners but Leapfrogg particularly impressed the judges because of the passion shown not only towards their own job but also to the overall success of the company, no doubt assisted by excellent ‘top to bottom’ communication of the company’s vision and universal ‘buy in’ to that vision. For a relatively small business the staff are well motivated and rewarded in ways which one would expect of a bigger organisation. Staff are genuinely happy and morale is good, even in this tough economic climate.”

Feeling rather buoyant after our win (the wine may have also have helped), we asked Declan for a photo. See if you spot the Leapfrogg sticker that we cheekily placed on his lapel!

Well done to the organisers, chiefly Jeremy Taylor CEO at CADIA for an excellent evening. Great venue, good food and excellent guest speaker.

I will be following this up with a further entry about the importance of retaining staff in search agencies like Leapfrogg. It will explain why we take staff happiness so seriously, namely because retention of intellectual property is essential in a competitive market place.

Watch this space!

With a big smile on my face, and much relief, I am delighted to welcome you to the new Leapfrogg website and Froggblog. If you are a regular visitor, firstly thank you! I hope you like the updates to the brand and the enhanced functionality on offer, which includes:

• New monthly newsletter to include the best bits from the Froggblog and latest Leapfrogg news.
• Meet the Froggers – an introduction to, and some rather lovely pictures, of the team
• Lots of information about our history and philosophy
• Enhanced resources section with glossary, information on partners and new downloadable content due to be added
• Integrated blog offering enhanced functionality and a whole load of personality

Leapfrogg has evolved almost beyond recognition in recent times changing from a pure SEO company into a digital marketing agency offering a much wider remit of services. These include consulting on social media, web copywriting and customer retention consultancy. However, we continue to hold on to the same values that saw the company start out over five years ago.

The new website is a reflection of this shift. So after photo shoots, a mass of copywriting and a freshening up of the brand, we have arrived at the finished article.

A special thanks to our design/developer Phil Guilfoyle at Online Logic and also the Leapfrogg copywriting team who subbed my efforts at writing web copy (which, may I add is one of the hardest things I have had to do; high fives to the web copywriters!).

Have a look around. If you have any comments or thoughts we are all ears!

Leapfrogg are proud to announce that we will be exhibiting at the Wired Sussex Digital Media Jobs and Skills Fair. Members of the Leapfrogg team will be on hand from midday to 8pm to talk to you about up and coming job vacancies at Leapfrogg in 2009, what it’s like to work at Leapfrogg and offering their insight of working within the magical world that is digital marketing.

Our Managing Director Rosie will also be speaking on the day about getting your first job in Digital Marketing and our Sales Director Ben will be giving a presentation on Leapfrogg at 5.30pm in the Skills Hall.

The fair takes place on Thursday 26th February at the Corn Exchange in Brighton and anyone is welcome to attend, so we hope to see you all there!

For more information on upcoming vacancies at Leapfrogg OR to if you wish to be added to our Recruitment Database to be considered for future vacancies at Leapfrogg please send a cover letter/email and updated CV to me at recruitment@leapfrogg.co.uk, and we will be more than happy to contact you as soon as a vacancy arises that suits your skills and aspirations.The