Marching in 2016, on Sunday morning I found myself reflecting on BLEND in 2015 and what an exciting year, it has been.
The merger
Hmm….from where shall we start? Let’s take it from the very beginning of the year. We kicked of the year, with a new BLEND in the mix. Yes, 360 Digital Degrees joined forces with Oniric Creative Studio and what a ride it has been, and it still is. Complimenting and capitalizing on each other’s strengths by the end of the year we managed to:
- Increase our:
- revenue considerably
- profits
- global reach to another 4 new countries (Malta, Malaysia, Russia and Denmark)
- Close some more retainer agreements with some beloved online casinos
- Penetrate and do some work for some esteemed financial institutions both locally and overseas
- Grow our design team attracting 2 more interns and our talented UX designer Andreas
- Grow our partners strengthening our excellent ties in Ukraine and extending new ones to Latvia too.
Oh don’t get me wrong. It hasn’t been a walk in the park; in some instances it felt like a bumpy roller coaster ride. Especially when the workload was too much.
The challenges
Our first priority was to align our culture, which was not as difficult as it may sound because the two companies had been working together for a very long time. Having said that, becoming one and acting as one does take some work. In retrospect, more good came out of this process. This re-alignment forced us to put in place more procedures, add new tools and overall made us more efficient and productive. Additionally it forced us to face our weaknesses and improve, which is a constant journey for us here at BLEND. As we are pledged to elevate the quality of web development and web design in Cyprus.
The amazing team
Thinking at the skillset we have managed to build in-house brings a smile on my face; and I am not biased. I truly believe we have the most talented designers on board, the most hard-working and agile developers and experienced marketers. When I think of each and every person working at BLEND what doesn’t just amuse me fondly but makes me feel proud, is the skills we collectively have that go beyond the realm of our work needs. Between us we could literally enter the entertainment world and own our own band, with the number of musical instruments we own and play, backed with the dancing skills, and DJ skills. Or even open our own restaurant with our cooking skills and even brow our own beer…yes, you heard right. Alternately, we can honestly open our own hair-salon where we can not only cut your hair but also do the most unbelievable tattoos, design-wise. You are probably wondering what the heck is she talking about. Just watch our ensuing social media posts where you can find out more BLEND facts about the team, and then suddenly what you are reading now, might make more sense to you.
It seems that our ethos and values outshone, which just proved that the decision taken exactly a year ago, was the right one, as we are committed to creating exceptional user experiences, agile digital campaigns and online solutions at the highest levels of creativity and execution. A commitment which is underpinned by our hard work and honesty as a team. And what is our common blend? Undisputedly, our passion, which always comes first; as we truly love and care about what we do.
2016 expectations
So, what are we expecting in 2016?
- Many more challenging and creative projects
- More hard work, if this is even possible…if only a day had more than 24 hours
- Fresh new updates on our e-commerce and CMS solutions
- Enhanced online marketing offerings with programmatic advertising options.
- A much bigger office with more toys
- More social activity, not only on our social media, but physically too
- A possible team expansion
- And a lot more coffee.
So, how has your 2015 been? Hope it has been as exciting as ours?
