The curious incident of the flashing Blackberry in the Night Time
Filed under: Agency, Customer Engagement, Customer Relationship Management, Social Media
I love email. I really do. I find it fascinating. If you stand back and look at what it’s become to the modern world it’s fairly staggering. It’s ingrained itself into cultures and societies the world over. It’s shaped how we talk to one another and share information. It’s developed its own unique code of conduct and etiquette – one that is multi layered, intricate and laced with nuance. The lure of the flashing ‘you’ve got new mail’ LED light on the Blackberry can break the hardiest, most resilient of people at 3 in the morning when you catch a glimpse of the phone on the bedside cabinet. The golden envelope in the system tray can be the single most disruptive thing on the day you have to get that document written. It’s powerful stuff.
For example, I had an internal debate that lasted the best part of 30 minutes the other week over the fact that someone had omitted the ‘kind’ from the ‘regards’ in a sign off to me. You might think it’s not that weird, millions of people opt for the colder, more abrupt signoff however in this instance it was from a person who always, always signs off with a ‘kind’ in front of the regards. Therefore I was left paralysed in front of my laptop, mind reeling, desperately trying to understand the true meaning of this omission. “Are they angry with me?” “Is this the sign that the relationship is coming to an end?”. Once the fear and paranoia subsided I started to become more rational and entertain less dramatic theories i.e. the sender could have just been having a bad day and everyone was getting the same treatment or they were suffering from a dose of fat fingers and deleted the ‘kind’ by accident. Now, I might be slightly over-dramatising for the purposes of this blog posting but my point is to demonstrate the emotional and psychological clout email has as a communications vehicle. We’ve all re-read emails 10 times or more desperately seeking to understand the true meaning of the email, isolating then analysing individual phrases or sentences as we search for enlightenment. This power, when harnessed and channelled correctly can deliver a huge amount of value to marketing campaigns and strategies.
Brands still neglect the use of email. Still send out generic, one size fits all communications to all and sundry. Why? Well, I’ve seen cases where email campaigning has such inertia that it’s become a communications juggernaut bulldozing its way through a yearly comms plan. In these instances it can be a difficult beast to tame. But tamed it must be. To state the obvious email is a vehicle to take a highly personal, relevant, 1-2-1 conversation to the customer/prospect/employee/etc. It can be subtle and deft in the way in which it engages and influences behaviour and action. It can be hard hitting and blunt. It can be what you need it to be you but it requires careful thought and an understanding of the medium. And don’t forget you can test, test, test – don’t burn your data in one hit because you’ve ‘got to get it out of the door’. Plan ahead. Think ahead. Get yourself seen. In the dark make it light.
We all know that email has been around for a fair old while now. It is a founding member of the digital age and has well and truly earned its stripes. It has pretty much guaranteed itself a seat at the table of most modern day marketers when grand plans are hatched. Developments and new technologies in the digital space have eroded its potency but in the same breath augmented its all round usefulness. Take mobile for instance, smart phones have meant that email is consumed everywhere (quite literally) but in the same breath advancements around ‘push’ technologies omits email from the communications loop. Give and take. Social media platforms report every interaction with triggered emails ensuring the ‘yo-yo’ effect hauls you back in. So, all in all email is alive, healthy and evolving. This is especially impressive when you consider the technology hasn’t really evolved in the last few years but the application and use of it has.
Has it got the staying power to still be around in 10 years time? Undoubtedly yes but in what guise and to what degree I’m not quite sure. Anyway, must dash, need to check the old inbox.
Blurred Vision – The Changing Landscape of Digital
Filed under: Agency, Customer Engagement, Marketing Strategy, Social Media
2 months ago ‘Customer A’ says to me with a beaming smile across his face.
“I’ve set up a Twitter account for the company. Good hey?”
“Urrmm, no.”
“What do you mean, no?”
“Well why have you done it? And what are you going to Tweet about?”
“Well firstly, everyone’s going on about it. Secondly, dunno yet, just bits and pieces I suppose, about what’s going on, news, products updates, stuff like that.”
“OK. We need to talk about this.”
I’ll come back to this…
The lines are blurring. Landscapes are changing. Evolving. The tectonic plates of the digital world are shifting. What will be left with? A brave new world or a state of anarchy and disorder?
Overly dramatic, GCSE geography based, blog openings aside, this isn’t news, not by any stretch of the imagination. The industry has been in a continual state of flux since inception and those within it have excitedly bobbed and weaved their merry little ways through it. Me included. However, recent murmurings, trends and movements would indicate something larger is afoot. Something more significant.
Speed of change and innovation have always been the main driving forces behind evolution in the digital space. As one channel of communication is born, another dies (or more likely evolves into something different). More established areas, for example, email, haven’t been afforded the luxury of laurel sitting but have had to diversify and innovate in order to stay current. All of this has shaped a wonderful, ever changing, high speed world full of colour, chaos and above all opportunity.
Agencies have adapted – we’ve had no choice. The big ‘oil tanker’ traditional ad agencies, amidst stifled screams of panic, have had to either acquire or restructure (slowly) in an attempt to keep up. At the other end of the scale the boutique, specialist agencies have ground out successful niches in areas such as SEO, email and more recently social. This has all made for a very interesting playing field (one that’s unfortunately often left brands and businesses a little unsure as to which way to go and what to do). All of this is going through a shake up. A shake up driven by the customer.
OK, exposition done, context given. Now to the point…
Whilst brands, businesses, agencies, technology providers, etc have been charging around seeking holy grails and the like, the customer (consumer/target audience member) has been quietly and assuredly maturing. In fact, they’re now the catalysts for change. They dictate the rules of engagement. For the second time in this posting I’m stating the obvious. There’s been a great deal written about the changing customer/brand dynamic, consumer power, etc but that doesn’t necessarily mean businesses and the marketers within them are taking note. In fact I’m regularly left dumbstruck when a shiny, new piece of digital is unveiled and it whole heartedly neglects the most important thing… the customer, the prospect, the target audience, the very essence of marketing!
Anyway, getting back to the fact of the matter, customers have matured both in terms of expectations and needs. Fact. But how is this changing digital? Well, to start with it’s forcing integration, the hard lines that have formed around the main pillars of the digital mix are starting to blur, crack and crumble. Social media, mobile, viral, search, email, eCRM, web, apps, etc are being mashed up by a gigantic consumer driven pestle and mortar. The new breed of customers do not consciously differentiate between a social media interaction and a website, between an email and a text message. To them it’s all part of the same conversation. A conversation that they want to be relevant, consistent and engaging. Research recently published in NMA stated a 30%+ drop in the last 6 months in the usage of terms like ‘mobile’ and ‘social media’ across industry blogs, forums, Twitter, etc – clearly pointing towards an end to ‘siloed’ thinking.
This is good news. In fact, very good news. It means people’s hearts, minds and digital marketing plans are being led by the right reasons. Businesses should be looking at their customer, in finite detail, understanding what makes them tick and then talking to them based on this knowledge. Don’t charge off setting up a Twitter and Facebook account purely on the basis everyone else has – will it add anything to the conversation with your customers? Probably not. If you’re a plastics manufacturer please don’t look crestfallen when your polymer based tweets haven’t whipped your industry and client base into a frenzy of excitement and awe. The fact that your 7 followers (all of which are colleagues you’ve bullied into following you) have re-tweeted you (count them) 8 times doesn’t constitute success. What I’m saying is, businesses shouldn’t be ‘channel led’ but ‘customer led’ and within the digital space this message is starting to come through by virtue of the fact people aren’t talking about ‘Social Media’ incessantly, on loop, 24/7. It’s a conversational tool, one of many, to harness and use to engage with your customer in the best way possible. Integrated, consistent thinking and delivery that’s customer centric. Beautiful.
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