The iPad has landed…but is it actually any good?
I’ve been in possession of an iPad for approximately 51 hours. My impressions so far are good, in fact, very good. Granted, you’ll not get that same clouds parting, ray of sunshine beaming, angels singing moment as when you first held and used an iPhone but it’s still pretty darned special. In fact I get the feeling the iPad is a grower.
When Apple first announced the launch of the iPad I was sceptical as to what its use could be other than simple gadget eye candy. I kept an eye on the press and what people were blogging about with regards to its use and functionality. It didn’t seem anyone could really put their finger on a definitive use for it, it exists in a technology limbo somewhere between the laptop and the smart phone. As a result I dismissed the purchasing of one as ‘gadgetary decadence’ – a disorder I’ve suffered from in the past… but not this time hey? Well, actually…
On the weekend it launched I happened to be in PC World and there happened to be a series of iPads on demonstration, so I happened to queue up in order to satisfy my curiosity. It’s at this stage that things changed. The screen resolution was astounding, the crispness of the interface, the fluid nature of the interaction with the screen… pure poetry. After 2 minutes of use I now didn’t care if it had a real purpose and reason to exist in my world, it simply had to be in it.
I’ve just re-read this post so far and I sound like an absolute raving, Apple mad, gadget fiend and nerd of the highest order. This maybe true and I maybe in denial but I’d challenge most people to not be impressed once they’ve spent some time with an iPad. The user experience from an aesthetic and interface perspective speaks for itself but it’s the purpose built iPad apps that bring it into its own…
Some of the apps deliver the website experience you’ve always craved. Highly intuitive, immersive, rapid, visual, slick, sexy and ultimately rewarding. I found myself last night literally pawing through an interactive cook book app, the culinary world isn’t usually my bag but this app brought the food and recipe off the page (so to speak) in such an engaging way that I started to entertain the idea of holding a dinner party (something I’ve not done for a long time).
This is where I think the iPad and what it delivers becomes really, really interesting. It can truly engage with a user in a way a standard PC, online experience will struggle to emulate. After a couple of days usage my mind has already started to fill with numerous ideas for ‘apps’ that would enhance the brands and businesses of our clients. B2B or B2C there will be ‘engagement points’ within your business that would undoubtedly benefit from having a rich and highly engaging tool to interact and work through. This could of course be delivered through more traditional online methods such as Flash based applications using Adobe Air or Microsoft’s Silverlight with a dollop of J-Query. The important point is that user expectations are on the rise through devices such as the iPad and businesses need to ensure they keep this in mind as they try to engage with customers online.
Is the iPad and its apps the future of digital experiences? No, I don’t think so but they’ll certainly have a part to play in the coming years and will definitely shape the future growth of the online customer engagement experience.
JS.
From engagement to sale, the story everyone wants to tell
Filed under: Customer Engagement, Customer Relationship Management, Marketing Strategy, Uncategorized
My starting point for this post was the desire to paint a picture of the ideal online customer engagement cycle – a sound strategy, intelligently and tactically implemented… Bear with me, sounds like the start of a sales pitch I know, and it kind of is, but it’s also hopefully a useful exercise (and of course you’ll have your own thoughts on the matter, and I’m more than happy to hear them if you disagree with mine!).
What we probably can all agree on, though, is that we’d love to track a customer’s interaction with our brand right from the moment we appear on their radar up to, hopefully, a sale. This might start off with an email or a Google search, go via a bespoke landing page to a contact form; or to a specific product, the shopping basket, and a sale. Or, as is unfortunately also often the case, it might be that you aren’t optimized for the right search terms and the prospect passes by, or a click leads to a generic homepage and a bounce, or a two-page foray into your site ends in them leaving in frustration because they can’t find what they’re after.
Of course, there are very valid reasons, usually budget related, why we have to make compromises, maybe focusing on website development in the first instance, or rolling out some lead generation campaigning without investing in a considered sales funnel to direct the recipient once they arrive on your landing page. We’ve also found ourselves recently in pitch situations against other agencies who specialize in one particular area of online marketing, and the same problem of siloed tactical thinking becomes apparent here, for different reasons. SEO specialists would sacrifice usability and creativity on the altar of ultimate rankings, email specialists focus only on click through- and open rates, and ecommerce houses get bogged down in the technology and not the output.
A website won’t pull like it could if it isn’t supported by the right search engine management, an email campaign could fall flat if the web page it clicks through to doesn’t deliver, and absolutely none of it will work if you aren’t talking to the right people in the first place. A typical strategy could be carried through via all of these elements, and they absolutely have to complement each other for it to perform, and to smash your targets for return on investment.
There’s no denying that there’s real power in having every tactical aspect of your online marketing strategy pulling together to draw people in as prospects and spit them out again as satisfied customers. That’s the beauty of online, particularly when accountability is everything, and that’s why we always propose solutions that address our clients’ business needs rather than having to push a solution because it happens to be what we sell.
Marketing is Simples
It is. It always has been, always will. It’s about having a conversation. Sometimes with people you know, sometimes with people you don’t. Whether it goes well or not is entirely dependent on your banter. Make it interesting, relevant and engaging. Listen and respond.
In order to demonstrate the point behind this posting I’d like to use an example from everyday life and from a place where a lot of the best conversations take place… the pub. However, this isn’t exactly a shining example of how good pub banter can be but more of an abject lesson in how bad it can be…
I was having a few drinks the with a group of friends I’d not seen for a while, one of my female friends introduced me to her new boyfriend; let’s call him ‘Cuthbert’ for the purposes of this posting. Now Cuthbert was the walking, talking embodiment of an old school approach to marketing. He used interruption and a ‘shock and awe’ conversational style in order to converse with his target audience (myself and 4 others). He hijacked our conversation on more than one occasion and when he did quite quickly steered the conversation onto the topic of him, what he did and how generally great he was. Oh how the time just flew by.
Now this did work to a point, it certainly made us stop what we were talking about and listen to dear old Cuthbert prattle on about how his “hedge fund” investments were “really coming to the fore” and how (and I kid you not) “this was going to be the year of The Cuthbert.” Now I’m a relatively patient person when it comes to this sort of situation because there’s usually a good reason why people are like this and I’ll try and give them the benefit of the doubt. However, after 45 minutes of Cuthbert’s verbal battering of me and my friends we were alienated, disengaged and rapidly losing the will to live. His girlfriend (my friend) was oblivious and content that she’d left him to mix it up with the boys whilst she caught up with the girls in the group.
Cuthbert was the marketing bludgeon, ram raiding his way through a set of conversations in the hope of impressing us to a point where we really ‘bought into’ him, his philosophies and just how amazing he really was. Cuthbert was a poorly conceived direct mail campaign. Cuthbert was a garish press advertisement. Cuthbert was a badly angled press release.
If our high flying friend had taken the time to listen to his target audience (us), understand us and respond in a personal and relevant fashion we’d have formed a far better opinion of his product – which in this instance was Cuthbert himself. If he’d done this then the next time we’d have found ourselves in the pub with him we’d be far more likely to embrace him as our own, instead he will be avoided like the Nora Virus.
"Marketing is Simples."
He should have recognised that not one of the people in the group worked in finance and therefore tailored his conversational content and vocabulary accordingly. People won’t engage if they don’t understand you or even worse you make them feel stupid. Exactly the same can be said with regards to how you market yourself. Send communications that demonstrate that you understand me and value me, you know when I want to talk to you, you know where and how I want to have the conversation (email? SMS? print?) . Give your audience the chance to have the conversation, a one way relationship doesn’t really cut the mustard in this day and age.
I’d like to close with a glancing reference to a very current example of how a straight forward marketing strategy and concept can capture the imagination of its target audience and above all engage with it. Alexandr Orlov, the talking Meerkat and anti-brand hero of the ‘Compare The Meerkat’ campaigns has mass appeal across the CompareTheMarket.com customer base. He engages across multiple channels, be it social media, web, SMS, direct mail, television, etc, in all instances the consumer is prompted to engage and have interaction with the brand in a manner of their choosing. Alexandr is now synonymous with the main brand (whether you like him or not) and has become a trusted, fun and truly engaging brand ambassador that resonates whether you’re 16 or 60. Everyone can understand him and what he’s (Comparethemarket.com) trying to do, it’s transparent and in the words of the Meerkat himself it’s marketing that is ‘Simples’.
By James Smee.
Is this the beginning of the end for IE 6?
It would appear that the end is nigh for IE 6 (Internet Explorer) with Google announcing that it will not be supporting this problematic web browser from 1st March on both the Google Doc’s and Google sites apps.
Add to this that You Tube no longer supports IE 6 and you start to realise that some of the most heavily hit sites / applications are all ditching support for IE6.
With the realease of Windows 7 expect to see the current IE 6 user base (between 10% and 22% depending on whose statistics you see) diminish more over the coming months.
The full article / post can be viewed here
“What do I need a designer for?”
This is a question uttered by many of those who have at some time invested in a new brochure, website or maybe a logo. “I can do that myself” – and why not, you are entitled to do so, you have Microsoft Word, you know what looks good… right?
It is very easy to dismiss the creative craft as ‘fluffy’ and assume that any individual with a design program and an ounce of creativity merits the title ‘designer’. But perhaps the role of a designer needs to be considered a little deeper. Let’s start with when you need a designer: simply stated this is whenever a corporate asset is audience-facing. In the case of your website or company intranet, not only does design consider the creative elements like colours and logos, but it is also responsible for usability and accessibility. Usability because there is no sense in investing thousands of pounds in integrated state of the art online technologies if the user doesn’t know where to log in. Accessibility; not just about considering the blind using a website, this is also about people who are dyslexic requiring text to be laid out in a logical way, or those accessing your site through a mobile phone. These are all users, all must be considered. A designer is there to think about these people, and knows how to talk to them.
“Can I use anyone who calls themselves a designer?” Well that is entirely up to you. You may know a chap around the corner working from his bedroom who says he can do it for a song, but… if he was any good surely he would be working in a studio? It is important to feel confident that you are getting what is best for you and your business, and that it is being represented in a way that best reflects your service. Good design can enable your business to operate on many levels. Don’t let a poor design be the deciding factor in someone placing their business elsewhere.
Getting a designer with the right attributes to take your business forward is paramount; as I have said it is not just about the ‘fluffy’, although that is a large part of it, but also requires experience and understanding of what has come before. Deciding to include or exclude/avoid certain elements on this basis is critical to the success of a design and its impact with the target audience.
So simply taking a brief and deploying based solely on the requirements without considering historical elements can lead to ineffectual design. On the flip side of this, consideration/incorporation of what has come before can lead to a more successful result. An example of this is the 2008 Obama election campaign, which drew considerable inspiration from the Kennedy Campaign and the iconic imagery of Dr King Jr. This influences the target audience, promoting an emotional response and trust in something /someone they know little about, largely by association. This is no mistake, the designer with his understanding of design and historical knowledge was able to use it to great effect: experience can give you something a little more.
Understanding how to overcome challenges is another thing that comes with experience. These may be challenges faced many times before, but finding a fresh approach to a solution is what adds value. An example of this can be found in the TaylorMade Center of Excellence site; this is a professional fitting service offered to TaylorMade customers, their site needed to be an engaging brand supported flagship for the service and act as a transaction booking facility. The solution to this was developing a flash site that worked as an online brochure and information source, with frequent calls to action to a simple calendar based booking system. The culmination of which has surpassed revenue expectations in the first year.
Getting it right first time. Now this is something every designer strives towards, and the longer you have been a designer the better you become at taking a brief and ensuring you have all the elements you need to produce the goods at the first attempt. Experiencing the feeling of utter rejection when a client throws the best part of two weeks’ work to the floor and tells you, “I don’t like it but I am not sure why” gives you even more incentive to get it right. This is, however, all part of being a good designer; if you don’t fall, you can’t learn how to pick yourself up.
Ultimately, fifteen odd years’ training and learning and a team’s collaborative experience of working with some of the most difficult… sorry… selective clients gives good designers an understanding of what works and what doesn’t. Design is still very much a collaborative effort between the client and the creative; it needs to be based on trust and belief. When this works the results can be… more than you expected.
Bilbo