Technology is becoming more important to the way media agencies work, it’s transforming what is possible in terms of delivery and execution and as such it is also requiring them to develop wholly new skillsets to effectively avail of the opportunities that now exist.
Agencies can no longer confine technology to the IT department, as we enter the age of addressable advertising, it has to become the backbone of everything they do. Read more »
If recent reports are to be believed Facebook are rumoured to be launching a new “Want” button. (And I wonder why they didn’t time the launch to coincide with the recent Spice Girls re-union 
)
It’s an interesting move if true. In recent years, conversation about social media (and mainly Facebook), has shifted from “Should we do it?” to “What is the value of doing it?” And more specifically “What impact is this activity having on sales and profitability?”
So maybe to help answer these questions, or indeed to give us another set of questions to ponder, Facebook is rumoured to be granting us another button. Read more »
O2’s service outage this time last week – which led to almost 8 million customers experiencing a 24-hour blackout across the UK and Ireland – may have damaged its reputation as a reliable provider, but its social media team gave us all a lesson in how to handle an avalanche of Twitter abuse.
They were receiving “customer feedback” at a rate of one tweet every six seconds and there was an almost 5000% uplift in mentions of O2 on Twitter. Huge numbers, especially given many customers would have frustratingly been unable to tweet as their phone was not working! Rather than following the traditional corporate crisis rulebook, O2’s social media team responded to its customers (many of whom had hurled expletive-filled abuse at them) in the way you would a good friend that you had let down. They used the right tone of voice, an element of humour (as well as humility) and a personal touch. See this article in the New Statesman for some interesting examples. O2 have provided a great case study on how an organisation can turn a customer-relations and PR nightmare into a positive customer story.
I’ve just finished chairing the media category for this years WPP awards celebrating creating excellence, the WPPed Creams (can you see what we did there?).
In the five years since their inception the number of entries into the media category has grown four fold and the number of different types of agencies has doubled. Every type of agency wants to be seen as media leaders, it is after all where the action is. Read more »
Having been on the sales side of media for so long, it was strange to start receiving emails and calls from other companies selling me stuff. It has proved to be a real eye-opener.
It all starts when you first register your business at Companies House (CH). The post starts arriving from businesses trying to sell me accountancy, tax and legal services. I confess that ALL of it went in the bin. The chances are that most new companies will already have their financial and legal affairs in order, and usually with companies that have been personally recommended to them. Perhaps send it to me after 6 months when my needs might have changed, or when I have discovered that I need to find a new supplier of these services. So, timing is clearly important. Read more »
According to Google, there were 350 million YouTube videos shared on Twitter last year. Furthermore, 16% of Internet searches on a daily basis are new – i.e. words being typed into Google not seen before. These are just two examples of what we call “big data” that is, data collected via web or mobile analytics and not from traditional survey research. Read more »
With the volume of marketing activity being focused on London this summer, it is not surprising that Heineken is using outdoor experiential marketing to cut through and reinforce brand linkage. They are painting 150 London pubs green and also kitting out staff and interiors with Heineken branded uniforms, glassware and other POS materials.
As I return to work from a pretty wet week in Cornwall, I discover that our latest research* shows that I’m not alone in tightening the holiday purse strings!
Only half of Brits plan to take a holiday at all this summer (down from two-thirds in 2008), with it being the main thing we plan to cut back on. In fact, twice as many of us plan to make savings on holidays than cut the amount we spend on food or even games/technology products! With two in five British adults having at least one of the latest generation games consoles (Wii, Xbox or PS3) in their household and almost half now owning a Smartphone, I guess the money has got to come from somewhere!
Making magazines is bad business. That’s what the numbers suggest, anyway. Overall revenue from print advertising declined 3% in 2011. Newsstand sales fell 9%. Subscriptions were flat, but most publishers offer steep discounts to retain the readers they have. The sobering, bottom line, in the words of the Pew Research Center’s State of the News Media report, is that in 2011, “for the fifth year running, advertisers cut back on the number of print ads purchased and consumers bought fewer magazines.”
And yet seen from another angle, we’ve never had it so good. In the U.S., more than 230 new magazines were launched last year, up from 193 in 2010. Revenue from digital versions rose by 15%. The growing use of tablet computing gives magazine editors a platform for delivering high-quality, multi-media content to a new generation of readers. And a slew of startup sites, from byliner to longreads, have helped to bring attention to the brand of serious, narrative journalism that magazines do best. Read more »
Speaking with the smart folks over at Alchemy Social (part of Experian) last week – specifically Will Ashton, Global Strategy Director, he hit upon some interesting research he’s been working on regarding a subject very close to my heart – value and ROI.
The research ties in with a trend I am hearing and observing throughout the industry – a desire to make Facebook work harder. Using Hitwise data to measure the worth of fans, Ashton and co have gone beyond ad-effectiveness and click-path analysis to see what the fan does after they have clicked ‘like’ – specifically purchasing goods and services. Read more »
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