May 12, 2011 | Coconut News
Sarah Cook, Founder of Coconut Creatives attended the EWIF awards ceremony on Tuesday 10th May and discovered she had won an award!
The Woman Service Provider of the Year 2010 title was awarded to Sarah Cook as recognition for her marketing work with Franchisors. This included, writing a book on franchise recruitment, a former trip to India, establishing Coconut Creatives as the only bfa accredited Marketing Company in the Franchise Industry and launching the popular Franchisor Marketing Workshops.
“The EWIF awards have succeeded in bringing together Franchisors, Franchisees and their Service Providers to recognise and celebrate excellence in the franchise industry. I am delighted to be recognised for the marketing work myself and the whole team at Coconut Creatives do in the industry across many sectors and with Franchisors both large and small,” says Sarah.
Clive Sawyer from Business Options both sponsored and announced the winner for this award.
Clive comments “We were absolutely delighted at the response to these inaugural EWIF Awards both from the number and quality of entries received. The large turn out for the Awards Ceremony is an indication of the level of support EWIF has from the whole franchise industry. As a Service Provider ourselves I was delighted that we could sponsor this Award. There was a lot of strong competition in this category and I am delighted that Sarah won as it is an acknowledgement of all she has done within the franchise industry.”
Mar 29, 2011 | Coconut in the Media
Sarah Cook and Emma Carter at Peace One Day in London
Racing 160 miles across the Sahara desert, travelling on foot through Antarctica, sailing around the world, launching a Sushi bar with Japense TV in Central London (yes Simon Woodroffe, we are talking about you!) – all sound impossible! But they all happened and Coconut Creatives Founder, Sarah Cook and our Coconut Design Guru, Emma Carter met some incredible speakers last week at the Peace One Day event in London who were all about achieving the ‘Art of the Impossible’.
These were some of the most talented and inspirational people in the world whether having achieved in business, in sport or overcome horrific paralysing injuries to concur life. They have achieved incredible, almost impossibly big things because they believed it could happen. Some of the speakers were Yo! Sushi founder Simon Woodroffe, Inspirational Yachtsman Geoff Holt, the BBC presenter and author Ben Fogle and founder of Peace One Day Jeremy Gilley.
Coconut Creatives is a full supporter of Peace One Day and its mission to reach 3 billion people with the message of Peace Day by September 2012. Peace Day is on 21st September each year and this global day of peace has already enabled seemingly impossible acts to take place, such as persuading the Taliban to stop fighting so that aid workers could get into remote villages and vaccinate children against polio.
“It is so important that we all take time out of our businesses to really step back and appreciate what other people have achieved and to celebrate that,” said Sarah Cook.
So be inspired and get thinking of something amazing you can do. Whether it is for charity or for fun (or both), life is too short to keep adding things to the ‘someday maybe’ list. Get out there and get on with it. “I think I got a little bit too inspired at the Peace One Day event as I immediately went home and signed myself up for the Great South Run for later this year and I’m now in training!” adds Sarah.
If you would like to find out more about Peace One Day, visit www.peaceoneday.org. They also have another 1 day event coming up in June with an incredible speaker line up that Sarah will most definitely be attending.
Mar 22, 2011 | Coconut in the Media
Sarah Cook spent an unusual evening on Tuesday 8th March. She met Duncan Bannatyne, Theo Paphitis and Deborah Meaden at the Royal Courts of Justice in London for an evening of fine dining and conversation, along with a handful of other high profile business individuals. The evening was organised by the Make a Wish Charity.
“They were all absolutely lovely,” explained Sarah. “We talked about all sorts of things from Coconut Creatives to shoulder surgery. They each had a fantastic outlook on life, business and were thoroughly enjoyable company. Certain Coconut clients were also brought up in conversation which generated some unusual dragon interest in the franchise sector.”
With links such as these, who knows what future projects could be in the pipeline…
Sarah will be discussing more about her experience with the Dragons on the next Coconut Franchisor Marketing Workshop at the Langtry Manor in Bournemouth, 13th April. This workshop will focus on hot tips for franchise recruitment and look at ways franchisors can improve their franchise marketing during the individual 1 to 1 sessions in the afternoon.
Feb 23, 2010 | Coconut in the Media
Coconut Creatives has now achieved the ultimate confirmation of its success by becoming the very first marketing company to attain 
accreditation from the British Franchise Association. Coconut Creatives, founded by marketing specialist Sarah Cook, responds to the needs of owner managed, SME and franchised businesses that need outsourced marketing expertise. Having already taken many businesses forward over the last five years, this honour will be certain to take the Coconut business forward for 2010!
The British Franchise Association acts as the governing body of the franchise industry and has recognised Coconut Creatives as THE specialists in the field who add value to businesses through expert marketing for franchise recruitment, franchisee marketing and progression of the core business and its long term strategic direction covering the areas of advertising, PR and promotional activities.
Brian Smart, Director General of the BFA, says: “Marketing is both a structured discipline and a creative art. Building the one into the o
ther is a continuing process that Coconut Creatives do, and do well. Franchising is a similarly a structured discipline and a creative art which you need to understand to get right. Coconut Creatives do understand franchising and we are delighted to welcome them to the BFA.”
Coconut Creatives’ service combines the benefits of employing an in-house Marketing Manager with those of a Marketing Consultant, without the disadvantages of either; this means franchisors benefit from a complete service from marketing planning right through to implementation ensuring the delivery of the key activities and tracking return on investment.
“We are thrilled to be welcomed as a member of the British Franchise Association. Having worked with many franchisors over the last few years, it seemed like a natural step for us to take,” says Sarah Cook, founder of Coconut Creatives.
For more information about Coconut Creatives or to arrange a free consultation, please contact Sarah or Chris Cook on 01963 360896 or email info@coconutcreatives.co.uk
Jan 12, 2010 | Clients in the Media, Coconut in the Media
Make it your 2010 resolution to squeeze all the fabulous benefits out of Coconut Oil that you can!
Coconut oil is extracted from the kernel or meat of matured coconut harvested from the coconut palm (Cocos nucifera). Throughout the tropical world it has provided the primary source of fat in the diets of millions of people for generations. It has various applications in food, medicine, and industry.
At Coconut Creatives, we use the goodness of Coconuts to benefit businesses! We have a good start to 2010 with many client successes to boast of:
The buildings insurance claims management company Spettro have just celebrated the launch of ther 30th franchise in Bristol managed by Susan Massey.
“Sally and Sarah from Coconut Creatives have become very much a part of our team and part of our company. They have exceeded our expectations in pushing Spettro forward in so many ways and we are truly delighted with the progress that we have seen. We whole heartedly recommend them, they are not only a delight to work with but extremely professional and knowledgeable in marketing and public relations,” Jenny Smith, Co-director, Spettro Ltd
Innovative children’s entertainment company, Go-Kart Party are also looking back on a successful 2009 as over just the summer months they have had 10 franchise sales across a wide range of regions. Founded by business entrepeneur Gerry Ussher, Go-Kart Party has plans to continue its national growth to open up access to Go-Karting experiences for children:
“Demand for parties across the UK is growing due to sporting icons like Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button and parents wanting to give their 
children the best parties and experiences possible.”
Coconut Creatives has also been working with Janine Eaglestone, founder of Woodland Dogs Ltd, to launch the brand new Woodland Dogs franchise operation which allows fellow animal lovers to run a profitable business from home. She is already welcoming her first franchisee!
Despite the economic unrest over the past 18 months and pressure on retailers, Myakka has proved that doing business ethically pays dividends. In line with increasing sales the furniture and home accessories company has increased the support they give to their suppliers and their community in India. The Directors also opted to support their local community in Somerset by commencing the creation of a £25k community fund through the Somerset Community Foundation. Read more
Rosemary Bookkeeping have taken on their first 2 franchisees just weeks after launching their franchise with the help of Coconut Creatives. They now have 3 (including the pilot) and training scheduled for next week.
“Sarah and the team at Coconut have been extremely helpful to us from the start, they are very knowledgeable in the world of franchise marketing and have supported us tremendously in getting our name out there in the marketplace. I would recommend Coconut to anyone who is looking to boost their marketing efforts.” Lisa Curteis
FitKid launched the LazyTown element to their franchise and have expanded; with many new franchisees, more full-time staff, a brand new online shop and Bournemouth and Poole Lottery funding initiatives, Fitkid has been able to increase its efforts to help combat the frightening statistics on UK childhood obesity.
“FitKid has been working with Coconut Creatives for over four years and the results have been fantastic. We would definitely recommend Coconut Creatives to those companies wanting to take their franchise and business to the next level,” Mrs Nicky Kay, Development Director, FitKid Ltd
For more information about Coconut Creatives, please click here to contact us, or call on 01963 360896
