Buyers of market research services expect their 2009 budgets to drop by 9.5% over the year, reversing a 20-year trend of annual spending increases. Buyers of market research also say cost is becoming increasingly significant, although the most important attributes remain quality of data and derived insights. The largest corporations are seeking to shrink their […]
Ladbrokes is to shift marketing focus for its online brands to customer relationship management (CRM) and digital marketing in the second half of the year in an attempt to boost revenues. The bookmaker launched a major television campaign in April for Ladbrokescasino.com to recruit players, but it will now look at ways of maximising spend […]
Thanks to modern technology I’m able to get a little more work done at home these days. There’s no doubting that the avoidance of the M25 rush hour is a joy, though, to be honest, I’m finding the rest of the experience surprisingly stressful.
What’s in a name? Associate editor (features) Ruth Mortimer wrote a column last week on Pizza Hut’s recent rebranding exercises. You said: I do care about the name of the brand and don’t want it to be called “Pasta Hut” or “The Hut”. That was one of the silliest campaigns I’ve ever heard of from […]
It is a sad fact that social networking seems to have spawned its own version of identity theft – people pretending to be celebrities. Businesses with social networks which take a lax attitude towards impersonation could find that more serious complaints follow, such as defamation or invasion of privacy, if the impersonator begins making slanderous […]
Symantec recently published a report highlighting the fact that 90% of emails are spam. No surprises there, but it does highlight the pressure marketers are under to distinguish their opt-in customer communications from the mass of unrequested and unsolicited emails. Anti-spam tools can be an unintentional barrier to marketers aiming to deliver genuine opt-in email […]
After reading about the launch of SimonSeeks.com (MW 18 June), I was impressed with how Simon Nixon has used the basic affiliate marketing concept in an inventive way to benefit every party – the consumer, merchant and himself (the affiliate). The cost per acquisition (CPA) reward scheme already presents an attractive proposition for retailers, and […]
Consumer confidence is on the rise for the second quarter in a row, according to News International Commercial’s consumer survey. And one in ten of those questioned has tried an own-label brand for the first time during the survey period. Confidence has risen by three points to -32 in the period March to June, up […]
In response to Unilever CMO Simon Clift’s column last week on how digital media has necessitated brands adopting a new approach to communication, you said: Rather than terrify, digital should excite marketers like never before, because it is the only medium that can drive a skewer through the entire customer journey i.e. awareness, consideration, purchase […]
Our news story that retailer Habitat got caught out when spamming on Twitter drew the following response: I can’t agree more with Antony Mayfield’s comments. The technical understanding of how to send a tweet and how to follow others is only step one. Understanding the social aspect takes listening to conversations before acting – just […]
The Premier League’s latest addition is enhancing its e-CRM programme with the help of Communicator Corp. Birmingham City Football Club, who gained promotion at the end of last season, is integrating Communicator enterprise email management with its existing CRM system to improve engagement with its fans. Karen Brady, managing director of Birmingham City FC, says: […]
B2B customer information consultancy Blue Sheep has been appointed to provide data and data services to a key regional agency. East of England Development Agency is taking data from Blue Sheep’s UK Business Universe as part of a mailing and database development service. Alex Menhams, campaign manager for East of England Development Agency, says: “EEDA […]
Small UK financial services firms are largely unaware of what they need to do to comply with the FSA regime. Some small businesseseven believe the term “financial sanctions regime” refers to potential penalties which the FSA may levy, rather than their own data screening. According to a report by the Financial Crim and Intelligence Division […]
Your direct marketing special report (MW 21 May) raised some interesting issues around the changing face of marketing during the recession, but failed to address the issue of exactly who brands should be trying to target. In the current market, the old adage that “it costs five times more to target a new customer than to retain an existing one” is more pertinent than ever. As a result many marketers are focusing their energies purely on retention.
The Chartered Institute of Marketing’s white paper – “Marketing’s decline: a wild exaggeration?” (MW 21 May), refers to crucial points where our profession is failing to show its true worth. However, the pressing issue is not to bemoan our failings but to agree how we can start to improve things.