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.
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.
The Company Blog & Looking After Rabbits
To blog or not to blog?
Many months ago when planning the latest iteration of the Purestone website the inevitable subject of the company Blog arose. A furious debate ensued…
Pro Bloggers:
“We HAVE to have one. We’re a digital marketing agency for christ’s sake. We need to suck our own sweets.”
“It will help our SEO.”
“It gives the company a face, personality and tone of voice well beyond what the website can.”
“It empowers people within the business and gives them an open avenue in which they can communicate and express themselves.”
“I run my own blog and contribute to others so it’s second nature for me.”
Anti Bloggers:
“If it’s not updated on a regular basis it will do far more damage than good.”
“Why should we conform? We’re not an industry sheep in how we go about our business so why start now. Unless there’s a business case and justification for it then surely it’s just a pain in the backside?”
“I’m worried about someone saying the wrong thing and making us look bad or like we haven’t got a scooby.”
“Just who’s going to administer it? Add to it? I’m not, I can tell you that for free.”
By virtue of the fact you’re reading this then clearly we opted to have a company blog.
Above are just some of the soundbites from what was a colourful conversation. Of course, this situation, is by no means unique and we’ve sat in many, many client meetings watching and chairing this exact debate. There’s no simple answer. It needs discussion and it needs an eyes open approach. The potential risks and dangers of running a blog are significant… which nicely leads me onto the main point of posting this entry…
If you’re going to set up a commercially focussed blog then it needs regular content and a marketing strategy of its own to generate interest and traffic. Now, the more observant of you and those who regularly visit Purestone will be thinking ”you need to look at your own blog mate”. You’d be right. We have fallen at both these hurdles.
Now I could say that we did this on purpose as part of an experiment to gauge the damage an unkempt blog can have on a company. No one would really believe me though. The truth of the matter is that despite starting with the best intentions it’s fallen away and the distance between posts has grown. It reminds me of when I was 8 and I wanted a rabbit. “James, you will look after it and feed it every day won’t you? I don’t want to have to be looking after it when you lose interest’… “Yeah, of course, I’ll make it the happiest rabbit ever.” After 6 weeks ‘Pluto’ (my new rabbit) was not happy. His feeding wasn’t probably as clockwork as he’d have liked and his claws (?) were getting a bit on the long side.
When we discussed the blog there were many people in the room nodding enthusiastically and commiting themselves to getting a new rabbit/blog. The difficulty is that we live and breathe digital, day in, day out and we’re so busy doing this for clients that we inevitably fall down the priorities list. Not ideal by any stretch but a reality that most companies are faced with.
So if you’re considering a blog please read and heed the above.
Pluto died at 8 years old, he was a happy and content rabbit after my Mum intervened and looked after him.
James Smee.
Bad Rabbit Keeper of the Year – 1985 – 1993
Pluto the rabbit
Anyone for some doom & gloom? Not us.
Everyone else is talking about it, so in an effort to keep up with the Joneses, we’re jumping on our very own recession soap box and venting our economic spleen. However, contrary to the media and their continual doom and gloom mongering, we’re relatively upbeat about things and for good reason too. A small part of this is about being good old-fashioned Brits, stiffening the upper lip and staring downturn in the face but the larger part of it is the fact that the online marketing industry is in good shape.
All of the marketing industry rags and analysts are predicting that the axe will fall hardest on the traditional side of the marketing mix. PR, press advertising, exhibitions, direct mail are all cited as beginning to feel the pinch and this is predicted to continue. It’s quite clear why this is the case: it basically boils down to measurement and how much bang you can get for your marketing buck. PR and press advertising can be incredibly effective at building brand awareness and blanketing a market sector but they’re not cheap exercises. When purse strings have been tightened, marketers have to look at activities that they can genuinely quantify, measure and justify back to the business. Simple stuff really , such as if I spend £1 how much will I make in return?
The answer to this question is far more attainable with online marketing than traditional. The analytics coupled with much better economies of scale make activities such as e-mail marketing, website development and search engine optimisation/PPC far more attractive to businesses. That is why the online advertising and email marketing industry are still posting big growth figures and by all accounts, recession or not, this will continue throughout 2009.
It’s very hard not to get embroiled in conversations regarding the economy at the moment because the media make it unavoidable, it plays on a continual loop 24 x 7, newspapers, radio, television and online. However through talking with our clients we’ve found that, in the main, the mood is cautionary as opposed to panic stations. I think everyone understand that things may get worse before they get better, but as long as we’re all sensible then the cogs will keep turning and there is still good business to be made – in fact many would argue that a period of downturn is the best time to market your wares!
James Smee, Director of Optimism