August 10, 2009 • 10:15 pm 1
A nice presentation created by Matt Dickman, and posted on his slideshare page.
Filed under: 2.0, Advertising, Branding, Business, Customer Experience, Design, Influence, Strategy, Twitter, Web, Web2.0, ideas, marketing, technology, web 2.0, word of mouth
March 23, 2009 • 10:55 pm 1
The Royal Mail (the national postal service of the United Kingdom) has to be part privatised by 2010, and in the run up to this date there is no doubt in my mind that the company is trying to raise its game. (Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turns operates the brands Royal Mail (UK letters), Parcelforce Worldwide (UK parcels) and General Logistics Systems. The Post Office Ltd., which provides counter services, is a wholly owned subsidiary).
One innovation I have spotted (and like) is the MMC – The Mail Media Centre. The Royal Mail’s vision is to be “demonstrably the best and most trusted postal services company in the world” and in this regard they seem to be on a big ‘win the hearts and minds’ mission.
And the MMC is a big step in the right direction. Its a cool resource for all direct marketers to immerse themselves in. By showcasing compelling creative and offering expert advice, it is clear they want to inspire excellence in direct mail.
Key contributors include Rory Sutherland, vice-chairman of Ogilvy Group UK, London, Patrick Collister, editor of Xtreme Directory and Amanda Phillips. They also feature expert content from Chris Arnold, strategic & creative director of Symple, Darren Burnett, head of data planning, Elvis, Mike Colling, managing director of Mike Colling & Company, Steven Day, director of UK Changes, Tim Dunn, head of marketing services at Mobile Interactive Group (MIG), Caroline Kimber, head of data planning at Stephens Francis Whitson, Jane Pritchard, head of strategic planning at Tullo Marshall Warren, Clare Taylor of Clare Taylor Consulting UK, coupon company Valassis, and Chris Whitson, planning director of Stephen Francis Whitson. Plus, they have made available selected content from an award-winning Redwood Publishing title - Contact magazine.
That’s some team sheet!
Yes the devoted online marketer will no doubt shout me down (“if you’re not with me, you’re my enemy” lol), and yes there is lots going on in online media that is down right impressive; but when used appropriately traditional direct mail still has a role to play in the marketing mix.
Don’t discount traditional direct mail just yet. It can still be very innovative and very effective when used well.
If you are going to take a peek at the MMC, if I were you I’d head straight to the Creative Showreel. Then take a look at their Knowledge Centre, Case Studies, Research, Facts & Figures, and the other Useful Tools.
Enjoy!
Filed under: Business, Design, Direct Mail, Media, Planning, Research, Strategy, ideas, marketing , Best practice, case studies, Direct Marketing, DM, Facts, Figures, MMC, Research, The Royal Mail
December 21, 2008 • 10:05 pm 1
I wanted to draw you attention to a FREE resource for those of you who want to benefit from a community of the world’s digital marketing and ecommerce professionals. Econsultancy exists to help its members “sharpen their strategy, source suppliers, get quick answers, compare notes, help each other out and discover how to do everything better online.” I have to say that it is a great source of independent advice and insight on digital marketing and ecommerce.
imho there’s no shortage of marketing opinion online, but being ten years and with 71,000 marketers Econsultancy is pretty special. Bronze membership is FREE and there is more info here.
These are complimentary reports you get for free upon joining (there’s another 20+ too!). Great, er, value!
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Online PR Industry Benchmarking Report
By Michelle Goodall and Aliya Zaidi, December 2008
Overview Authors: Michelle Goodall and Aliya Zaidi Pages: 35 Features: Survey-based research about the Online PR Industry, with expert input from respected industry commentators.
By Econsultancy, December 2008
This report, produced in association with Lemon Digital Production, is aimed at agencies who are interested in the business case and challenges associated with outsourcing digital work.
November 2008
By Econsultancy, November 2008
The third annual Online Customer Engagement Report has been produced in partnership with cScape. This research is based on a survey of 1,300 respondents carried out in September and October 2008.
By Econsultancy, November 2008
This free, 12-page briefing contains a write-up of an E-consultancy roundtable on Email Marketing held in autumn 2008.
By Econsultancy, October 2008
This DoubleClick-sponsored research is based on a survey of retailers and agencies carried out in August and September 2008, with the aim of understanding more about the use of comparison shopping.
By Econsultancy, October 2008
This free, 12-page briefing contains a write-up of an E-consultancy roundtable on Paid Search.
By Econsultancy, October 2008
This free, 11-page briefing contains a write-up of an E-consultancy roundtable on Affiliate Marketing.
By Econsultancy, September 2008
This free, 12-page briefing contains a write-up of an E-consultancy roundtable on Measurement, Analytics and Optimisation.
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The Services Econsultancy Provide:
Reports: Econsultancy is an award-winning online publisher of reports covering best practice, user experience benchmarking, market data, supplier selection, template files, trends and innovation aimed at internet professionals who want practical advice on all aspects of e-business.
Training, Learning & Development: Econsultancy operates a highly popular training division, used by the world’s leading brands for staff education, both in-house and via public courses. We provide training across all areas of digital marketing and ecommerce and at all levels from accredited one day courses to formal qualifications including diplomas and a Masters in Digital Marketing.
Events: Econsultancy hosts over 100 events a year, including conferences such as the Online Marketing Masterclasses, Future of Digital Marketing and Digital Cream as well as regular Supplier Showcases, Roundtables, the annual Innovation Awards and a range of social events.
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Free memberships of marketing clubs, and online resources are ten a penny. You just have to surf, or browse LinkedIn groups to see that. But Econsultancy is very different. I’d highly recommend you join if you are an internet professional who wants practical advice on all aspects of e-business.
Filed under: Affiliate Marketing, Analyst, Analytics, Blogging, Branding, Business, Buzz, CRM, Customer Experience, Design, Direct Mail, Email, Events, Media, Mobile, Online, Planning, Research, SEO, SEO / SEM, Search Engine Optimisation, Social Media, Strategy, Usability, User Generated Content, Viral, Web, Web2.0, digital, marketing, technology, web 2.0 , development, ecommerce, Econsultancy, Events, Free, learning, reports, Strategy, training
December 2, 2008 • 7:41 pm 0
Here are some micro postings and bookmarks, c. November-December:
Merriam-Webster’s 2008 Word of the Year – from Boing Boing.
Too be honest it will be a few years before the American Dialect Society’s 2005 Word of the Year (“truthiness”) is beaten imho.
The Book Design Review blog’s top book covers for 2008 – from Boing Boing.
The Trouble with Physics wins for me.
The leading application and service providers laying the foundation for the Top 500 retailers’ e-commerce operations – from Internet Retailer.com
Everything is an Emotional Buy – from CSM
(Poor spelling aside, this piece makes some good points)
B2B Branding – from Neutron
The Death of Blogging – (How Twitter, Flickr, Facebook Make Blogs Look So 2004), from Wired.
Luckily no mention of Pownce in the title. Personally I think that the rumours of the death of the blogosphere are perhaps greatly exaggerated.
Filed under: Art, B2B, Books, Branding, Design, Micropostings, Twitter, Wired.com, marketing, technology , neutron, truthiness, best book cover design, ecommerce technology, B2B Branding, Wired death of blogging
November 6, 2008 • 11:04 pm 2
What have I been doing? It turns out there is a phrase for it, and it’s been around a while.
“HiPPO’s rule the world when it comes to creating customer experiences. And that’s a bad thing. No matter what you think the optimal customer experience should be on the website it is quite likely that you walk into a meeting room, or office, and regardless of your competence the HiPPO decides what goes on the site.” Courtesy Avinash Kaushik
HiPPO stands for: the Highest Paid Person’s Opinion.
Thankfully there is some great technology making HiPPO’s extinct. Multi-variable testing tools & platforms like Interwoven’s Optimost will continue to make a big difference in the remainder of 2008 and in 2009.
Filed under: Analytics, Business, Conversion, Design, IT, Measurement, Media, Software, Strategy, Testing, Usability, digital, marketing, technology , Customer Experience, HIPPO, marketing, multi-variable testing, optimisation, Optimost, technology, web design
October 24, 2008 • 5:39 pm 1
I like Apple’s marketing. It’s great.
(Do I still have your attention? Bear with me on this)
But their runaway success has a down side (not for Apple).
The (very) big downside is the Powerpoint slide that looks a bit like this:
You’ve seen it before right? Wrong. I knocked this out 30 seconds ago. But one’s like this are used in nearly every presentation given by creative agencies and design teams trying to make a point.
OMG! Wake me up ten minutes into the pitch or presentation when you’ve got to the bit when you demonstrate your own creative thinking you me-to-wannabe-good-for-nothing-look-a-like-creative-agency-of-little-distinction.
Arrrgggghhhhh.
Do people fall for this?
Filed under: Apple, Branding, Business, Design, Fun, Ideas and Riffs, Media, Strategy, ideas, marketing, technology , Apple, Ctreative Pitch, Powerpoint
October 20, 2008 • 7:50 am 0
Craig Stout a creative director at Interbrand NY, together with his colleague Scott Milano, have authored an interesting byline that has appeared in Interbrand’s www.brandchannel.com online newsletter this morning.
In it, they outline why some of the world’s most successful websites are so ugly and adored: Google, eBay, Craigstlist and Wikipedia, I am sure you have read pieces like this before.
And whilst they raise a number of very important arguments – I think they missed one key point that Seth Godin raised in May 2006. That being, “bad” design (that is to say, slightly bad design), can facilitate engagement and might actually be a good thing!
Slightly bad design isn’t familiar. It’s off. It demands attention. (Very bad design demands the ‘back’ button, of course). One of the reasons that experienced power tool users–like table saws–can still lose a finger is that they don’t pay attention… it’s too easy to turn the thing on and just use it.
A phrase I have always enjoyed is “you can break the rules, when you know all the rules” and I think this applies here. There is hope for us all it would appear, but there are many rules to learn on the path to web design enlightenment.
Filed under: Business, Design, Media, Strategy, Web, marketing, technology , attention, bad web design, Brand Channel, Craig Stout, Craigslist, ebay, Google, Interbrand, Scott Milano, seth godin, wikipedia
July 31, 2008 • 10:14 pm 2
Adam Kmiec is an Interactive Marketer at Colle+McVoy. His presentation on Slideshare about micro interactions is well worth looking at.
Filed under: 2.0, Advertising, Branding, Business, Conversational marketing, Customer service, Design, Facebook, Ideas and Riffs, Media, Social Media, Social Networking, Strategy, Twitter, User Generated Content, WOM, Web, Web2.0, digital, ideas, marketing, technology, trust, web 2.0, word of mouth , 2.0, interactions, interactive, marketing, Media, micro, new, social, Twitter, Web
June 3, 2008 • 4:54 pm 0
(or if that fails check out the class of 2008: Design Week’s Top 100 Design Consultancies)
(or check out PR Weeks Top 40 Technology oriented PR consultancies)
Filed under: Design, Measurement, PR, Research, Strategy, digital, ideas, marketing, technology , BBC, Design Week, PR Week, Top 100, Top 40
May 20, 2008 • 9:50 pm 1
….or “How to think in a world gone digital.” by Jan Leth, Ogilvy & Mather.
Filed under: 2.0, Advertising, Branding, Business, Buzz, Data, Design, Ideas and Riffs, Media, Planning, Social Media, Social Networking, Strategy, User Generated Content, Web2.0, digital, ideas, marketing, ogilvy, technology, web 2.0, word of mouth , 2.0, Advertising, alpha, beta, conversations, dada, Data, digital planning, future, Jan Leth, ogilvy, Web
May 6, 2008 • 9:05 pm 0
Elegant font & web 2.0 colour palette used in new logo redesign: £14,000.00
Printed Mousemats: £1,000.00
Printed Pens: £500.00
The look on everyone’s face when they see a picture of a man holding his, er, column inches, when the logo is put on its side: Priceless.
So. All publicity is good publicity right? Alas maybe not.
Filed under: Branding, Design, Planning, marketing , Business, Design, Logo, marketing, OGC, redesign
May 2, 2008 • 10:09 pm 2
April 9, 2008 • 1:03 pm 0
For all the email marketers out there – earning a living in appalling rendering conditions – This is for you.
Hat tip to the author Mathew Patterson.
You may also want to check out, or join the Email Standards Project.
Filed under: Design, Direct Email, Email, Fun, Google, Media, Yahoo!, digital, marketing, technology , CSS, Email, email marketing, gmail, Google, html, marketing, semantic, standards, web design, Yahoo! Mail
April 7, 2008 • 10:09 pm 2
Today, there is one less excuse not to. Thanks to Blurb.com.
I just published my own – a photo portfolio – and will report back on the quality in due course.
My initial belief is that it is ideal for photo books, portfolios, business books, wedding books and even a blog book, something that has been in the news recently!
And for the youtubeaholics here’s a video with more info, and an interview with Blurbs CEO.
Filed under: Books, Design, User Generated Content , author, blurb, book, Writing
March 31, 2008 • 11:22 am 1
Out of millions to choose from, the UK’s Telegraph picks the 101 most useful websites.
Filed under: Awards, Business, Design, Fun, Influence, Measurement, Research , best, Telegraph, useful websites
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