Word of mouth

“Four Weddings and a Funeral” cost just $2 million to make, but made over $50 million profit, despite a miniscule marketing budget. How? By word of mouth, the best form of advertising, that’s how. Well, if it’s good enough for Hugh, it’s good enough for Giraffe, so here’s a sample of some of the nice, unsolicited things people have said about us since we started.

“Many thanks for your help with the ‘blind’ Financial Director advert, under Giraffe’s name rather than ours, in the Financial Times recently. You might like to know that one candidate had a look at your website, even though he knew you were weren’t the hiring company. He said that one of the reasons he applied {apart from the carefully crafted ad of course!!!) was that Giraffe came across as a really nice organisation which nevertheless knew its stuff, so any company that used you as a consultancy had good judgment and must also be a good place to be!” Jo Dodds — Benjys, October 2005

“Early in the year Giraffe made some significant changes before we put an advertisement out in New Scientist .You may not get much feedback so I thought I'd send some. We have recruited the two people we wanted for the electrophysiology positions. We captured the right type of people with the initial advertisement - selecting a small number to interview was made much easier. They liked the advert and it made them interested in us as a company. This process worked well.” Rob Pinnock — Xention Limited, September 2005

“Thank you for everything Maria! I am really pleased with the instore advertising plan you have sent over, I particularly think the cards and perspex holder will be effective method going forward.” Anna Faulks — Elizabeth Arden, September 2005

“Your site is beyond legendary. Especially your www.thewholeofthemoon.co.uk site. I and my partner were howling with laughter at some parts of it. Just by going on your site and by its general feel, I am quite eager for us to work together, as you all seem to be the kind of people capable of doing what we want, and delivering the style we are trying to achieve.” Ashley Hawkins — Pine River, August 2005

“What came out of the tender process in your favour was the tremendous creative talent and ability within your team and your people – who all came across as friendly professionals we could easily work with.” Carolyn Kelly — Corinth Healthcare, July 2005

“Hello, many thanks for these. Fantastic - I do like the brochure as it really gives the impression to candidates that they are going to be part of something exciting. The ads too really push the fact that this is an exciting environment and that we are part of the future in diabetes and obesity treatment.” Anne Goodenough — Prosidion, June 2005

“I am writing to thank you for having me for the two weeks of my work experience, I learned a lot and I enjoyed it very much. This is all due to the employees at Giraffe welcoming me into the office in a very kind manner and working with me without losing their patience. I would consider going into the industry when I finish school. So thank you very much Kim, Maria, Jim, Izzy and Alex for a great experience.” Zainul Choudry — Work experience victim, June 2005

“Fantastic adverts!!!! I liked them all. Thanks ever so much for your ideas, as ever very good quality. Just in case you didn't know, I really appreciate the support you are giving me.” David Bacon — M. H. Alshaya, November 2004.

“The personal service is excellent. A real team spirit. A small company with huge personality that cares” Alison Macleod — Talisman, October 2004.

“The Whole of the Moon? Terrific. Love it. Give the editor a raise”. Unknown —
August 2004.

“The work looks fantastic - thank you and to the team for your help.” Mark Gibbons
Tescom — August 2004.

“Once in a while, an effective, readable site is born... And it's not just because of the design, but also because the company has something to say. Balancing the two together to convey meaning is at the heart of communication planning... Which is to say, that this print and recruitment advertising agency – Giraffe — has its planning down pat.” www.digitalthread.com — July 2004

“Please accept my apologies. I sent out a mass mail out to recruitment magazines listed on The Recruiter so this probably isn’t applicable to you at all! I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate you on your website and company ethos, both are very impressive.” Jessica — June 2004

“I stumbled upon your website looking for information on a band called the Sonic Torpedoes. I'm not entirely sure if there's any connection but no fear, I quite liked the look of your site anyway. I decided to stick around not least because my friend is obsessed by Giraffes and is doing a degree in Advertising.“

“Anyway, so, I really liked your site. The Whole Of The Moon especially was pretty entertaining. I flicked through a few articles and they were all entertainingly written. My favourite though, cheaply enough, was the Specially For Those Of A Low Attention Span sentence long ones. Shorts. Yeah. Again, much fun was to be had, not least by the writer's seemingly obvious distaste for major banks. Heh.”

However, as much as I liked everything and thought the design and implementation of the site was also very nice, I am writing this e-mail to congratulate someone else entirely. Wow! I never noticed that in the FedEx logo before. That's really cool! I'm gonna tell everyone and pass it off as my own discovery. No doubt increasing my social standing points manifold. Thank you, Giraffe! You've saved the day again!” Alexis Nelson — June 2004

“When are you going to update wholeofthemoon.co.uk? It’s a GREAT site but hasn't changed in 6 months!” Melanie Bartlett — Turnaroundrecruitment, May 2004

"I have had a look at the promotional leaflets you sent through and I think they are great! Thanks so much for having another go — it was definitely worth it. We are so pleased with it. They are both great. Much more the kind of thing we had in mind, in fact a little bit more." Liz Sparham — Planetary Tribe, November 2003

"I am writing to thank you for all the time and expertise which you put into designing our newsletter. We are delighted with the result — it's great to have something so up-to-date and fresh looking." Jill Puchala — Sargent Cancer Care, September 2003

"Thank you for sending the rationale and first draft of the advert. We very much like the idea and artwork and we would like to go ahead. Thank you for coming up with such a great idea." Isabel Gonzalez — Marketing Manager, SRG, June 2003

"I was doing a search on headhunters for the UK market and happened on your site — just wanted to say that your work is great. Even if it's 'only' three months worth to show it's wonderful stuff. Good luck and I hope that your Company goes from strength to strength." Marcus Findlay-Arthur — May 2003

“Just a quick note to thank you and Kim for all your help thus far. It is truly a pleasure to work with professionals such as yourselves.” Dave Hares — April 2003

"I must admit that your version looked super. Thanks for turning this around so quickly." Lesley Robertson — Antisoma, March 2003

“Why would we want to alter perfection? Top, top, top dollar posters. Yours in awe.” Sally Roberts — WHUST

"Thank you very much for your e-mail regarding the Head Chef advertisement, I was very impressed with the new format, and hope that it will attract a much needed new Head Chef." George Kane — University of Aberystwyth, March 2003 (it did)

"Bravo for the web site: friendly, simple and efficient." MarieClaude — DubéLandry, February 2003

"Thanks for sending through these details... I like the web site, it's very well done, particularly liked the piccies of you all! I do like the name giraffe too, particularly the explanation as to why the company was called so, whoever thought of that hit all the right notes." Tessa Casbon — February 2003

"I have just received mail from yourself regarding the creation of Giraffe Limited and I must say it was an absolute pleasure to read, along with being informative and well presented, I also found it very funny. Just when I thought it was going to be yet another bit of mail to trash or some firm trying to lure me into a specialist site, so to speak (which I wouldn't have looked at of course) I started reading and ended up checking out the web site. Your site was excellent and although I am no guru on web sites or looking to use a recruitment advertising agency I have to say I found the site informative, easy to use, honest and very amusing." Daniel Carey — February 2003