Monday 31 October 2011

Something I have been saying for years - inbound is best :)

Thanks to the Internet, marketing has evolved over the years. Consumers no longer rely on billboards and TV spots — a.k.a. outbound marketing — to learn about new products, because the web has empowered them. It’s given them alternative methods for finding, buying and researching brands and products. The new marketing communication — inbound marketing — has become a two-way dialogue, much of which is facilitated by social media.

Another reason why inbound marketing is winning is because it costs less than traditional marketing. Why try to buy your way in when consumers aren’t even paying attention? Here are some stats from the infographic below.

* 44% of direct mail is never opened. That’s a waste of time, postage and paper.
* 86% of people skip through television commercials.
* 84% of 25 to 34 year olds have clicked out of a website because of an “irrelevant or intrusive ad.”
* The cost per lead in outbound marketing is more than for inbound marketing.

Inbound marketing focuses on earning, not buying, a person’s attention, which is done through social media and engaging content, such as blogs, podcasts and white papers. This content is interesting, informative and adds value, creating a positive connection in the eyes of the consumer, thus making him more likely to engage your brand and buy the product. So it costs less and has better a ROI.

Tuesday 25 October 2011

Some times I am proud of social media and Manchester.

Manchester the home of revolutions.

With The 'I Love MCR' campaign of Summer 2011 that was mainly won in the trenches of social media after the horrors of the real world riots.

It achieved:

22,000 Facebook fans;

£750,000 worth of media coverage;

350 supporting organisations;

1.8 million Facebook post views;

33,000 active Facebook users;

46,000 Tweets using #ILoveMCR; and national trending on Twitter worth £74,000.

£9,000 raised for charity; from campaign concept to launch in 12 hours.

This proves what can be done with social media and social causes, aimed at the right demographics using the right tools and the right intention.

But the question I have is...... #greatmarketing - yes. But what's next?

Surely something on mobile?

Friday 21 October 2011

It might be over in America - but... what happens over there....

Just read this with interest and then some - all about mobile over in the States. And you know I be loving mobile marketing at the moment - as it's all Losomopho. And the future of #greatmarketing. Which I tweet all about :)

All the below are taken from a report created by Hipcricket Mobile Marketing Survey. The survey was conducted in October via email and is based on 607 respondents.

And they found that stunningly sixty-three percent of smartphone users have visited a retailer’s Web site from their mobile device, compared to 53 percent in 2010. Additionally, 41 percent have done so while in the retail store.

Interestingly, 50 percent have checked a competitor’s mobile Web site while in another store.

Historically, mobile retail sites were lightweight versions of retailers’ PC Web sites. They were mostly relied on for information such as store locations, directions and hours.

All of that has changed. Today, consumers expect mobile-specific retail sites to provide significant benefits to them. And, retailers need to be using their mobile Web sites as a tool to move consumers through the purchase funnel.

Seventy percent of all smartphone users use their device regularly to access the mobile Web.

Smartphone users are accessing mobile retail Web sites to research prices (46 percent), search for coupons and offers (36 percent), research products (28 percent) and purchase products (13 percent).

“Remember, you’re a guest on your customers’ mobile device,” Mr. Harber said. “Be respectful of the opt-in nature of mobile marketing but don’t overstay your welcome.

“Give them useful, compelling content – tips to save time at the holidays, special recipes – and special offers on things you know they want to buy,” he said.

“Whenever possible, use the data in your CRM systems in combination with mobile in order to stay relevant.”

Loyalty
Only 9 percent of survey respondents reported they are being marketed to by their favorite brands on mobile.

However, respondents showed a willingness to join mobile customer relationship management or loyalty programs for their favorite brands. In fact, 33 percent would be interested in joining such a program, but only 12 percent currently participate in one.

Additionally, 75 percent of consumers found value from participating in mobile loyalty clubs.

During the holidays, 61 percent of consumers will likely use their mobile device as a shopping companion.

Overall, 31 percent of all mobile phone users have interacted with a brand through their mobile device and 59 percent of smartphone users have done so.

Also notable, 33 percent of mobile phones users are interested in receiving offers based on time and location. For example, a coupon delivered at noon for $5 off a pizza at a local shop.

“Mobile’s got a seat at the table now – it’s a critical, cross-channel marketing element, rather than a discrete, siloed activity,” Mr. Harber said.

“Increasingly, our customers are seeing the benefits of connecting customer-facing mobile marketing technologies such as mobile retail sites or ongoing SMS campaigns with back-end CRM and enterprise marketing automation solutions,” he said.

“It’s not just about single campaigns any more. Savvy marketers are often beginning with mobile advertising and tying it into a post-click engagement strategy to build an ongoing relationship with customers and prospects.”

Now how we tie this into mobile augmented reality applications we do not know yet.

But we will.

Wednesday 19 October 2011

"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand."

You know the drill. I see it, I like it, it appears here.

Just thinking about starting something new. It's been over three years for Great Marketing Works - and the old model for training people face to face paid for by the public purse is dying (or dead.)

Someone a lot wiser than I told me this last year - but as ever I didn't listen.

So in an attempt to not make the same mistake several times I re read the below blog with more interest.

It's taken from http://brandorienteering.com/2011/10/11/value-driven-brands/

As recent events at News Corp have shown values, or the lack of them, play an important role in how a company is run. By values I am not referring to those that have been manufactured in order to provide a solution to a problem or rolled out because the research shows that they will improve the brand image.

The values I’m referring to are neither transitory nor disposable. They are authentic, ingrained, part of the woodwork, for the most part invisible, the very air we breathe. The driving force behind the brand, these are the values that provide a sense of direction and overarching purpose which helps further differentiate the brand from its competitors.

The outdoor clothing company Howies, and Lush cosmetics, have each used their core values to create two very distinctive brand strategies based around their common stance of providing ‘eco’ friendly products. Howies make clothes from natural materials that are designed to last. Lush cosmetics are made from natural ingredients and come with little or no wrapping. The expression of these values, Howies hand me down campaign and for Lush retail outlets that look like grocery stores differentiates both brands from their competitors.

Brands that do not have a ‘values driven’ agenda or are happy to go along with the flavour of the month struggle to develop their own distinctive voice. Adopting a ‘me too’ approach and with it a certain blandness customers are far more likely to find these brands difficult to distinguish from the competition.

In a market place that is overcrowded and where price and quality are no longer guaranteed to distinguish one product or service from another customers are increasingly looking for brands whose values and social outlook is in line with their own – aspired or otherwise.

An increasingly important part of the purchasing mix values provide sticky brands with a social status and with that status a language, which further defines and differentiates the brand.

Ben and Jerry’s ice-cream with ‘its gobs of chocolate chip cookie dough’ is in keeping with the company’s status as a ‘brand of the people.’ This language, which is quite different from that used by Haagen-Dazs, is underpinned by the founders commitment to social justice for everyone. Ben and Jerry’s ‘it’s not fair’ campaign is simply one more expression of this core value. As with all sticky brands Ben and Jerry’s communication never deviates from delivering its core values.

As well as being able to project a single well focused message which has provenance value driven brands have one other distinct advantage over those companies who are content to lead purely on product or service benefits.

While the latter look for people who are qualified, value driven brands look for those who share their values. Having a natural affinity with the product, service or/and underlying ethos of the company they are far more likely to represent the brand in a good light. By insisting that all their employees have a strong sporting background Oakley are ensuring that every department is the sales department.

Walking into a bookstore where the staff are interested in books and walking into one where they are not lends itself to two quite different shopping experiences. In the first the experience is friendly and embracing in the other you are likely to get the impression that they couldn’t care less not just about books; but about you. Not the sort of experience that lends itself to creating a sticky brand.

And I think it is this bit which I will take home the most.

Love what you do. And this will shine through.

I love marketing. So hopefully this will shine through.

But do all the development team at goAugmented love making AR applications for mobile phones. I think this is worth a chat this afternoon.

Monday 17 October 2011

Should I stay or will I go? What kind of talk is that for a leader?

Leadership has around these parts become a bit of a dirty word as of late.

But as Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader, a great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves.”

So with that in mind I read the following article from http://www.entrepreneur.com/leadersecrets with great interest.

Especially as I may have to forgo being the leader of one ship - for another.

But, as the article rightly points out becoming a great leader isn’t easy. And so deciding to move course mid adventure isn't either.

Successfully maneuvering a team through the ups and downs of starting a new business can be one of the greatest challenges a small-business owner faces. And one I feel might be done better by someone who knows more about the technical side of the business.

Leadership is one of the areas that many entrepreneurs tend to overlook, according leadership coach John C. Maxwell, whose books include The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership (Thomas Nelson, 1998) and Developing the Leader Within You (Thomas Nelson, 1993).

“You work hard to develop your product or service. You fight to solve your financial issues. You go out and promote your business and sell your product. But you don't think enough about leading your own people and finding the best staff,” Maxwell says.

It turns out, the skills and talents necessary to guide your team in the right direction can be simple, and anyone with the determination can develop them. Here’s a list of 10 tips drawn from the secrets of successful leaders.

1. Assemble a dedicated team.
Your team needs to be committed to you and the business. Successful entrepreneurs have not only social and selling smarts, but also the know-how to hire effectively, says leadership trainer Harvey Mackay, who wrote Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive (Ivy Books, 1995). “A colossal business idea simply isn't enough. You have to be able to identify, attract and retain talent who can turn your concept into a register-ringing success,” he says. When putting your team together, look for people whose values are aligned with the purpose and mission of your company. Suzanne Bates, a Wellesley, Mass.-based leadership consultant and author of Speak Like a CEO (McGraw Hill, 2005), says her team members rallied around each other during the worst part of the recession because they all believed in what they were doing. “Having people on your team who have tenacity and a candid spirit is really important," she says. It is this team spirit that I need to find again.

2. Overcommunicate.
This one’s a biggie. Even with a staff of only five or 10, it can be tough to know what’s going on with everyone. In an effort to overcommunicate, Bates compiles a weekly news update she calls a Friday Forecast, and emails it to her staff. “My team is always surprised at all the good news I send out each week,” Bates says. “It makes everyone feel like you really have a lot of momentum, even in difficult times.”

3. Don’t assume.
When you run a small business, you might assume your team understands your goals and mission -- and they may. But, everybody needs to be reminded of where the company’s going and what things will look like when you get there. Your employees may ask, “What’s in it for me?” It’s important to paint that picture for your team. Take the time to really understand the people who are helping you build your business. “Entrepreneurs have the vision, the energy, and they’re out there trying to make it happen. But, so often with their staff, they are assuming too much,” says Beverly Flaxington, founder of The Collaborative, a business-advising company in Medfield, Mass. “It’s almost like they think their enthusiasm by extension will be infectious -- but it’s not. You have to bring people into your world and communicate really proactively.” Something I can fail to do.

4. Be authentic.
Good leaders instill their personality and beliefs into the fabric of their organization, Flaxington says. If you be yourself, and not try to act like someone else, and surround yourself with people who are aligned with your values, your business is more likely to succeed, she says. “Every business is different and every entrepreneur has her own personality,” Flaxington says. “If you’re authentic, you attract the right people to your organization -- employees and customers.”

5. Know your obstacles.
Most entrepreneurs are optimistic and certain that they’re driving toward their goals. But, Flaxington says, it’s a short-sighted leader who doesn’t take the time to understand his obstacles. “You need to know what you’re up against and be able to plan around those things,” she says. “It’s folly to think that just because you’ve got this energy and enthusiasm that you’re going to be able to conquer all. It’s much smarter to take a step back and figure out what your obstacles are, so the plan that you’re putting into place takes that into account.”

6. Create a 'team charter.'
Too many new teams race down the road before they even figure out who they are, where they’re going, and what will guide their journey, says Ken Blanchard, co-author of The One-Minute Manager (William Morrow & Co., 1982) and founder of The Ken Blanchard Cos., a workplace- and leadership-training firm. Just calling together a team and giving them a clear charge does not mean the team will succeed.
“It’s important to create a set of agreements that clearly states what the team is to accomplish, why it is important and how the team will work together to achieve the desired results,” says Blanchard, who is based in Escondido, Calif. “The charter provides a record of common agreements and can be modified as the business grows and the team’s needs change.”

7. Believe in your people.
Entrepreneurial leaders must help their people develop confidence, especially during tough times. As Napoleon Bonaparte said, "Leaders are dealers in hope." That confidence comes in part from believing in your team, says Maxwell, who is based in West Palm Beach, Fla. “I think of my people as 10s, I treat them like 10s, and as a result, they try to perform like 10s,” he says. “But believing in people alone isn't enough. You have to help them win.”

8. Dole out credit.
Mackay says a good salesperson knows what the sweetest sound in the world is: The sound of their name on someone else's lips. But too many entrepreneurs think it's either the crinkle of freshly minted currency, or the dull thud of a competitor's body hitting the pavement. “Many entrepreneurs are too in love with their own ideas and don't know how to distribute credit,” Mackay says. “A good quarterback always gives props to his offensive line.”

9. Keep your team engaged.
Great leaders give their teams challenges and get them excited about them, says leadership expert Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (Free Press, 1989). He pointed to the example of a small pizza shop in a moderate-sized town that was killing a big fast-food chain in sales. The big difference between the chain and the small pizza joint was the leader, he says. Every week he gathered his teenage employees in a huddle and excitedly asked them: “What can we do this week that we’ve never done before?” The kids loved the challenge. They started texting all their friends whenever a pizza special was on. They took the credit-card machine to the curb so passing motorists could buy pizza right off the street. They loaded up a truck with hot pizzas and sold them at high-school games. The money poured in and the store owner never had problems with employee turnover, says Covey, who is based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

10. Stay calm.
An entrepreneur has to backstop the team from overreacting to short-term situations, says Mackay, who is based in Minneapolis. This is particularly important now, when news of the sour economic environment is everywhere. “The media has been hanging black crepe paper since 2008,” he says. “But look at all the phenomenal companies and brands that were born in downturns, names like iPod, GE and Federal Express.”

And it is this LAST point which is the most important for me - and the take home moment. Perhaps I will lead the lads @goaugmented after all. It was just with so many people entering the Augmented Reality Mobile Applications market I was starting to lose sight of the end goal.

We have a great team and a great chance.

Now it is time for me to be a great leader.

Thursday 6 October 2011

So, what do you do if you’ve been put upon the planet with an insatiable desire to create, but not the ability to handle the potential angst that goes along with leaning into the unknown?

On a day like today when Steve Jobs passes - it's kinda got me thinking about innovation and why aren't there more people like Steve Jobs.

A chap called Jonathan Fields might just have the answer below.

He has spent the last few years interviewing everyone from Mullen Chief Innovation Officer, Edward Boches, to The War of Art author, Steve Pressfield, and devouring reams of research that spanned neuroscience to decision-making theory in a quest to find out.

What emerged surprised even me.

There may, in fact, be a very thin slice of creators who arrive on the planet more able to go to and even seek out that uncertainty-washed place that destroys so many others. But, for a far greater number of high-level creators, across all fields, the ability to be okay and even invite uncertainty in the name of creating bigger, better, cooler things is trained. Sometimes with great intention, other times without even realizing it.

And what surprised me even more was that so many creators, field-wide, work in a way that is in direct contradiction to the way your brain functions best. Not because it works for them, often it doesn’t, but because “that’s just the way it’s always been done.”

It’s possible to effectively build “uncertainty scaffolding,” practices that allow you to do what you do (a) without ending up a psychotic mess, and (b) giving you access to an often untapped reservoir of creativity.

This uncertainty scaffolding tends to fall into three different areas:

Workflow adaptations
Personal practices
Environmental/cultural shifts

Here are five examples to get you started:

1. Single-Task.
The part of the brain that helps keep fear and anxiety in check -- the prefrontal cortex, or PFC -- is also tasked with managing working memory. Problem is, it’s easily overloaded. Doing too many things as once lessens its ability to keep the discomfort that tags along with moving into uncertainty at bay and makes you more likely to shut down. Only by rejecting multitasking and focusing on a single task at a time can you harness your full brainpower for optimal performance.

2. Exercise Your Brain.
Meditation and exercise have well-documented mood-enhancing, stress-management, and disease-prevention effects. What you may not know, though, is that they also have a profound impact on creativity, decision-making, and problem-solving. Recent research even shows certain approaches increase brain mass, something that’s always been thought impossible.

Also, these two daily practices bolster your ability to go to that edgy place where the good stuff happens and stay there long enough for next-level innovation to emerge. Together, they combine to create the single most powerful mindset, creativity, and innovation force multiplier on the planet.

But not all forms are equal. High-intensity, cardiovascular training, for example, has a greater effect on the brain than moderate level activity. And mindfulness training has the added benefit of training creators in the art of observing, then dropping storylines, which creates the space for more empowering patterns of thought to emerge.

3. Reframe.
Reframing is the process of asking questions that allow you to change the storyline around a particular set of circumstances. We often become so close to a project, we lose objectivity about its viability and start to tell ourselves stories that not only stifle action, but stunt creativity. Reframing is a process that allows you to see an identical circumstance in a way that motivates action and fuels creativity. And, as noted above, one of the most effective tools to build the awareness needed to pull back and reframe is a daily mindfulness practice.

4. Pulse and Pause.
Though we often tend to work in 2-4 hour chunks of seemingly uninterrupted time, our brains are really only equipped to productively focus for a max of about 90-minutes. Beyond that window, we may feel like we’re cranking, but in reality our attention, creativity, and cognitive function decline rapidly. So, rather than push through and watch your frustration levels skyrocket while the quality of your output craters, rework your day into intense, 90-minute bursts with refueling periods in between.

5. Drop Certainty Anchors
Certainty anchors are repeated daily experiences where the decision-making aspect has been removed. They can be as simple as eating the same thing for breakfast every day, wearing only black t-shirts, or walking to work the same way. The key is removing the decision-making element from the experience and, in doing so, turning these moments into repeated occasions where you know in advance that you’ll be able to drop out of the creative ether and land on firm ground.

All of these we are going to start to put into practise @goaugmented - as it's all very well being able to create mobile phone augmented reality applications - but if you cannot be creative as well with them - then no client will be happy. That's just not #greatmarketing for them or us.

Monday 3 October 2011

So where should you live - to feel economically free :)

Canada has surpassed the United States for levels of economic freedom, according to a new report released today by the Fraser Institute, Canada’s leading public policy think-tank.

“In response to the American and European debt crises, governments around the world are embracing perverse regulations and this has huge, negative implications for economic freedom and financial recovery.”

The United States experienced one of the largest drops in economic freedom, falling to 10th place overall from sixth in 2010. Much of this decline is a result of higher spending and borrowing on the part of the U.S. government, and lower scores for legal structure and property rights.

Hong Kong again topped the rankings of 141 countries
, followed by Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland, and Australia.

Research shows that people living in countries with high levels of economic freedom not only enjoy higher levels of prosperity and greater individual freedoms, but also longer life spans.

“The link between economic freedom and prosperity is undeniable: the countries that score highly in terms of economic freedom also offer their people the best quality of life,” McMahon said.

“The political uprisings sweeping across the Arab World are the result of people wanting the outcomes of economic freedom – prosperity, job growth, political freedoms, and poverty reduction.”

The annual peer-reviewed economic freedom report uses 42 different measures to create an index ranking of 141 countries around the world based on policies that encourage economic freedom. The cornerstones of economic freedom are personal choice, voluntary exchange, freedom to compete, and security of private property.

Economic freedom is measured in five different areas: (1) size of government, (2) legal structure and security of property rights, (3) access to sound money, (4) freedom to trade internationally, and (5) regulation of credit, labor, and business.

International rankings

Hong Kong offers the highest level of economic freedom worldwide, with a score of 9.01 out of 10. The other top scorers are Singapore (8.68), New Zealand (8.20), Switzerland (8.03), Australia (7.98), Canada (7.81), Chile (7.77), the United Kingdom (7.71), Mauritius (7.67), and the United States (7.60).

The rankings and scores of other large economies include: Germany, 21st (7.45); Japan, 22nd (7.44); France, 42nd (7.16); Italy, 70th (6.81); Mexico, 75th (6.74); Russia, 81st (6.55); China, 92nd (6.43); India, 94th (6.40); and Brazil, 102nd (6.19).

Zimbabwe maintains the lowest level of economic freedom among the 141 jurisdictions measured. Myanmar, Venezuela, Angola, and Democratic Republic of Congo round out the bottom five nations.

Several countries have substantially increased their economic freedom scores since 1990. Uganda saw the biggest improvement, climbing to 7.10 this year from 3.00 in 1990, followed by Zambia, which rose to 7.35 from 3.52; Nicaragua, which jumped to 6.76 from 2.96; Albania, which climbed to 7.54 from 4.24; and Peru, which increased to 7.29 from 4.13.

Over the same period, economic freedom has steadily regressed in Venezuela, whose score fell to 4.23 from 5.45; Zimbabwe, which dropped to 4.06 from 5.05; the United States, which slipped to 7.58 from 8.43; and Malaysia, which fell to 6.68 from 7.49.

About the Economic Freedom Index

Economic Freedom of the World measures the degree to which the policies and institutions of countries are supportive of economic freedom. The annual report is published in conjunction with the Economic Freedom Network, a group of independent research and educational institutes in 85 countries worldwide. The 2011 report was prepared by James Gwartney, Gus A. Stavros Eminent Scholar Chair at Florida State University; Robert A. Lawson, Southern Methodist University; and Joshua Hall, Beloit College.