Sitting at home, toasting my tootsies on a roaring radiator while scanning the inbox, I couldn’t believe my eyes. A jolly email from Eurostar nestled between Johnnie Boden and my sister-in-law.
The email arrived Saturday morning just after the Eurostar’s most hellish day in their 15 year history. Customers being treated worse than any banker deserves to be. Traffic chaos resembling a mass exodus caused by an impending nuclear Armageddon.
The subject matter of the email: “Give a continental gift this Christmas”. Are they off their rails?
I’m a happy customer. In fact two days previously I'd had a great day in Paris thanks mainly to Eurostar. But they’ve shown a total lack of sensitivity. Any Eurostar customer could have faced that situation and instead of recognizing this, they are selling a Christmas present to remember.
I can only think that either some overworked or hung-over marketing exec thought "I’ve been waiting months to get this away, driven the design team nuts, I don’t care, just get it out."
Or they’re just too arrogant to give a damn.
As a communication tool emails are great; but they have to be handled with care. We’ve all got a horror story to tell.
What should have happened is an email explaining what went wrong, the steps taken to rectify the situation and positioning the Christmas offer as a "thank you for understanding". I’d forgive them. After all it’s the season of goodwill.
Ian Prager, Planning Director
Monday, 21 December 2009
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Bronze, silver and gold!
Funny thing change.
Many of the team this morning (including me) are floating – literally on residual alcohol and metaphorically on air.
It was the DMA awards last night: new venue at Old Billingsgate market; new format with ten new categories; and a new attitude that direct marketing is not the poor relation of advertising but rather the discipline that is at the centre of many clients' marketing globe.
I felt a real sense of pride across the room in the work that we created as an industry.
And there was local pride too. We won three awards- a bronze, a silver and a gold, and were associated (as footballers say “assists) with two more.
Huge impact on the teams involved- both client members and MC&C members. And the change again from previous years. In my youth we would have celebrated today’s win all night and thought naught of the morrow. These teams took the joy from the moment- but also used it as a resolution for next year, and the basis of a pact to win not only again, but more and better.
Most mornings I reflect on how lucky I am to do what I do, but today, even through my hangover, the realisation of that privilege is more acute than ever.
Mike Colling, Managing Director
Many of the team this morning (including me) are floating – literally on residual alcohol and metaphorically on air.
It was the DMA awards last night: new venue at Old Billingsgate market; new format with ten new categories; and a new attitude that direct marketing is not the poor relation of advertising but rather the discipline that is at the centre of many clients' marketing globe.
I felt a real sense of pride across the room in the work that we created as an industry.
And there was local pride too. We won three awards- a bronze, a silver and a gold, and were associated (as footballers say “assists) with two more.
Huge impact on the teams involved- both client members and MC&C members. And the change again from previous years. In my youth we would have celebrated today’s win all night and thought naught of the morrow. These teams took the joy from the moment- but also used it as a resolution for next year, and the basis of a pact to win not only again, but more and better.
Most mornings I reflect on how lucky I am to do what I do, but today, even through my hangover, the realisation of that privilege is more acute than ever.
Mike Colling, Managing Director
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
The future of online content revenues
I went to a Westminster eForum meeting yesterday. On the agenda was "The Future of online content" and much of the discussion revolved around business models.
Several contributors seemed to feel that advertising revenues would ride to the rescue of media owners and that other revenue models were not worth bothering with. In particular, video advertising was held up as a powerful revenue generator.
It is certainly true that you can pay over £20 cpm for some video advertising inventory. But you can also pay £2 cpm!
The reality is that the marketplace for video advertising is still forming and value is still being established. Online enables you to click through to a website from an advert - which can be considered as extra value. And online targeting and ad-serving does allow campaigns that are more sophisticated than TV, where small groups of people can be shown sequential advertising based on their previous online behaviour for instance.
But you can buy TV advertising of £3.50 cpm or less, and even prime-time TV can be bought for well under £20.
Is a pre-roll online ad worth so much more than TV? My belief is that media owners will struggle to maintain a premium for online video advertising – or will perhaps only be able to maintain it for highly targeted (including time targeted) inventory.
In addition, does a linear video ad, which by necessity has to be capable of delivering its message without audio, represent the best way of advertising online? Surely more interactive formats, where people can somehow "participate" in an ad, are likely to be more engaging.
Given that online display revenue actually declined last year in the UK, it seems unwise to rely on video advertising to rescue the online media industry. And while video advertising will no doubt have a part to play, media owners need to examine all other opportunities for generating revenues. These will include:
- Subscription - possibly along the lines of that being trialled by Johnson Press, or possibly of certain premium elements of a site - which common sense would dictate will be elements that are hard to find elsewhere and which are particularly suited to delivery in an online environment
- Data - which can be used to help advertisers understand marketplaces, deliver advertising messages that are effective and develop new products and services
- Syndication - but only where this doesn't have a major impact on subscription revenues
- E-commerce share - which can involve specially developed readers offers or simply a share of revenue from sales made by third parties
- Pay to participate revenues - which might include fees for joining communities (e.g. dating), talking to specialists (e.g. astrologers), competition entry fees, and fees to participate in online games and virtual environments
Of course, advertising will also be an important source of revenue - indeed it may remain the largest source of revenue for many media owners; but on its own it is unlikely to be enough to be enough to deliver a robust online business for most media owners.
Jeremy Swinfen Green, Digital Director
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Will local newspapers succeed in charging for online access?
Johnson Press’s decision to trial subscription on some of its local sites, including the Northumberland Gazette, is a sensible experiment, and particularly interesting given the recently announced plans for News International titles to do the same.
The idea of local newspapers charging for content might just be supported by the apparent early success of local titles such as Newport Daily News in charging for content.
However, it would be dangerous to assume that if something works in the USA, it will work in the UK as well. The structure of the newspaper industries in the two countries is very different, with local newspapers being held in far higher importance in the USA than they are in the UK, partly because of the absence of national newspaper brands, and partly because of the locally focussed attitude of many Americans.
Nonetheless local newspapers do have a hold on the UK psyche. And local newspapers have content that is not easy to find elsewhere. If you want to learn how Steven Young gave Choppington Travellers Rest the lead at home to Woodhorn Lane, then there are few places you will be able to find that information outside the Northumberland Gazette.
The question for Johnson Press is – are sufficient numbers of people willing to pay to find the latest on sporting prowess of the Choppington Travellers Rest soccer team.
Maybe. Certainly Johnson Press seem to have chosen an attractive price point, £5 for 3 months. If you are willing to pay something, surely you will be willing to pay that.
And the way that the Northumberland Gazette offers you a tantalising view of the first few lines of the content is surely going to work better than the approach taken by Newport Daily News where only the headlines on the front page can be read.
But Johnson will have to do better with their sign up process. At the moment visitors:
1.see an invitation to subscribe
2.and are then pointed to a log in page
3.which contains another button to a page where users register
4.after which they go to their email
5.where they confirm registration by clicking on a link
6.which takes them back to the newspaper
7.where they click on a story
8.and then see the subscribe button (again!)
9.and then (and only then) are able subscribe.
Come on guys, that’s just silly!
And remember, even if Johnson Press do make this work for their local papers, there is absolutely no reason to assume that the same will be true for the News International titles, which may well prove to be far more “substitutable”.
Jeremy Swinfen Green, Digital Director
jeremy@mcand.co.uk
The idea of local newspapers charging for content might just be supported by the apparent early success of local titles such as Newport Daily News in charging for content.
However, it would be dangerous to assume that if something works in the USA, it will work in the UK as well. The structure of the newspaper industries in the two countries is very different, with local newspapers being held in far higher importance in the USA than they are in the UK, partly because of the absence of national newspaper brands, and partly because of the locally focussed attitude of many Americans.
Nonetheless local newspapers do have a hold on the UK psyche. And local newspapers have content that is not easy to find elsewhere. If you want to learn how Steven Young gave Choppington Travellers Rest the lead at home to Woodhorn Lane, then there are few places you will be able to find that information outside the Northumberland Gazette.
The question for Johnson Press is – are sufficient numbers of people willing to pay to find the latest on sporting prowess of the Choppington Travellers Rest soccer team.
Maybe. Certainly Johnson Press seem to have chosen an attractive price point, £5 for 3 months. If you are willing to pay something, surely you will be willing to pay that.
And the way that the Northumberland Gazette offers you a tantalising view of the first few lines of the content is surely going to work better than the approach taken by Newport Daily News where only the headlines on the front page can be read.
But Johnson will have to do better with their sign up process. At the moment visitors:
1.see an invitation to subscribe
2.and are then pointed to a log in page
3.which contains another button to a page where users register
4.after which they go to their email
5.where they confirm registration by clicking on a link
6.which takes them back to the newspaper
7.where they click on a story
8.and then see the subscribe button (again!)
9.and then (and only then) are able subscribe.
Come on guys, that’s just silly!
And remember, even if Johnson Press do make this work for their local papers, there is absolutely no reason to assume that the same will be true for the News International titles, which may well prove to be far more “substitutable”.
Jeremy Swinfen Green, Digital Director
jeremy@mcand.co.uk
Monday, 30 November 2009
Life Begins at 40 for The Sun
Along with millions of others I celebrated The Sun’s milestone anniversary: 40 years.
Having worked in media for nearly 35 years The Sun has been a remarkable constant in my working life. As a wet-behind-the-ears media buyer working on Hotpoint I remember the verbal assaults you received from the wild bunch at the Currant Bun, if you dared not to give them at the very least space parity with the Mirror.
I knew my career was on the up when the then ad manager Mike Moore complained to Chris Ingram about my unreasonableness and bloody mindedness. Result, a £50 spot bonus!
The Sun has fared pretty well over the last 40 years. It’s developed from a rude red top into a testimony of what makes Britain tick.
Its ability to muster public opinion is remarkable, from Guardian-esque environmental causes such as forcing Starbucks to turn off its taps, to deliciously spiteful barracking of hapless England football managers.
Iconic is an over-used expression but in the case of The Sun , especially relating to some of its headlines, it fits. Everyone has a favourite headline: mine is that gloriously succinct anti-Europe sentiment, “Up Yours, Delors”. Priceless.
In commercial terms, The Sun has maintained and enhanced its position as a major media force compared not to just other press titles but to the likes of Google and MSN. The well-trodden media fact that The Sun is read by more AB readers than The Times has even more validity, standing at 932,000. What’s more The Sun's persona has been successfully transferred to new media.
Love it or hate it The Sun just can’t be ignored. And long may it continue for the next 40 years!
Ian Prager, Planning Director
Having worked in media for nearly 35 years The Sun has been a remarkable constant in my working life. As a wet-behind-the-ears media buyer working on Hotpoint I remember the verbal assaults you received from the wild bunch at the Currant Bun, if you dared not to give them at the very least space parity with the Mirror.
I knew my career was on the up when the then ad manager Mike Moore complained to Chris Ingram about my unreasonableness and bloody mindedness. Result, a £50 spot bonus!
The Sun has fared pretty well over the last 40 years. It’s developed from a rude red top into a testimony of what makes Britain tick.
Its ability to muster public opinion is remarkable, from Guardian-esque environmental causes such as forcing Starbucks to turn off its taps, to deliciously spiteful barracking of hapless England football managers.
Iconic is an over-used expression but in the case of The Sun , especially relating to some of its headlines, it fits. Everyone has a favourite headline: mine is that gloriously succinct anti-Europe sentiment, “Up Yours, Delors”. Priceless.
In commercial terms, The Sun has maintained and enhanced its position as a major media force compared not to just other press titles but to the likes of Google and MSN. The well-trodden media fact that The Sun is read by more AB readers than The Times has even more validity, standing at 932,000. What’s more The Sun's persona has been successfully transferred to new media.
Love it or hate it The Sun just can’t be ignored. And long may it continue for the next 40 years!
Ian Prager, Planning Director
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
Using social media for marketing
Perhaps it’s the result of some deeply buried childhood experience but I can’t help categorising things.
And one thing that does need categorising is the way marketers use social media because a lot of people talk about it as though it is just a matter of reputation management.
Of course reputation management – monitoring conversations and where appropriate responding to them and guiding them – is important. But there are several other parts of marketing that can use social media. We can start with search marketing.
Search marketing is of course focussed around keywords and key phrases. Some social media tools monitoring are great at helping with this, and add an extra dimension to the insights derived from Google’s tools. For instance Alterian’s SM2 product will allow you to generate a cloud of keyword tags created by people writing blogs and other content. This is a really easy way of discovering concepts that people think are important on any day.
Tools like SM2 or IceRocket can also be used to influence messaging strategy. If you know what people are talking about, and what they want to hear about, they it is easier to create messages that will have impact.
For instance, what are the big issues with cars at the moment: is it reliability, economy, safety? At the time of writing fuel consumption trumps reliability for motor cars – but only if the term “economy” rather than “fuel consumption” is used. And safety is more important than either.
Social media can also be used for driving traffic to websites. This can be done in two ways.
The simpler way (not that simple really!) is to identify people who are talking about your brand or an issue you are trying to get associated with and send them links to information that will interest them in the hope that they will post your links and other people will see them.
Alternatively you can listen out for people talking about your brand or issue and send them information. This is of course may well be more time consuming if there are a lot of people talking about you but you can automate this to a degree using tools like SocialOomph which works with Twitter.
I had a sweet example of this the other day. Tweeting about late (early?) blooming camellias I was immediately followed by @lovethegarden (a web entity owned by The Scott’s Miracle Gro Company) who have a website (www.lovethegarden.com) of great interest to the camellia lover.
And finally there are marketing campaigns that use social media for launching products, generating awareness or favourability, or even generating sales. More on these another day!
Jeremy Swinfen Green
Digital Director
jeremy@mcand.co.uk
And one thing that does need categorising is the way marketers use social media because a lot of people talk about it as though it is just a matter of reputation management.
Of course reputation management – monitoring conversations and where appropriate responding to them and guiding them – is important. But there are several other parts of marketing that can use social media. We can start with search marketing.
Search marketing is of course focussed around keywords and key phrases. Some social media tools monitoring are great at helping with this, and add an extra dimension to the insights derived from Google’s tools. For instance Alterian’s SM2 product will allow you to generate a cloud of keyword tags created by people writing blogs and other content. This is a really easy way of discovering concepts that people think are important on any day.
Tools like SM2 or IceRocket can also be used to influence messaging strategy. If you know what people are talking about, and what they want to hear about, they it is easier to create messages that will have impact.
For instance, what are the big issues with cars at the moment: is it reliability, economy, safety? At the time of writing fuel consumption trumps reliability for motor cars – but only if the term “economy” rather than “fuel consumption” is used. And safety is more important than either.
Social media can also be used for driving traffic to websites. This can be done in two ways.
The simpler way (not that simple really!) is to identify people who are talking about your brand or an issue you are trying to get associated with and send them links to information that will interest them in the hope that they will post your links and other people will see them.
Alternatively you can listen out for people talking about your brand or issue and send them information. This is of course may well be more time consuming if there are a lot of people talking about you but you can automate this to a degree using tools like SocialOomph which works with Twitter.
I had a sweet example of this the other day. Tweeting about late (early?) blooming camellias I was immediately followed by @lovethegarden (a web entity owned by The Scott’s Miracle Gro Company) who have a website (www.lovethegarden.com) of great interest to the camellia lover.
And finally there are marketing campaigns that use social media for launching products, generating awareness or favourability, or even generating sales. More on these another day!
Jeremy Swinfen Green
Digital Director
jeremy@mcand.co.uk
Wednesday, 18 November 2009
What’s Murdoch up to with Google?
What’s Murdoch up to with Google? Can he really mean to stop Google from spidering his sites so that people can’t find the news that he is planning to charge for?
It seems barmy.
But you’d be barmy to write Murdoch off as a luddite and a fool. He is certainly neither of those things by a long way. (Pace Stan Schroeder writing in mashable).
So why the - on the surface - rather odd stance?
Well, Google does need taming. I’ve nothing against Google personally; it’s my search engine of choice (or is that habit?). But it is a very dominant (far too dominant) player in the online advertising arena.
And that dominance, enhanced by ill-informed “last click counts” models of ROI analysis, is skewing the marketplace and taking advertising revenue away from editorially-based media owners like Murdoch’s newspapers.
(If you don’t believe that then ask yourself why online display dipped this year while search continued to grow.)
Murdoch wouldn’t necessarily lose that much by REPing his sites. He would of course lose the traffic from Google – but most of that traffic is from people searching on news stories, much of which is one-off, high-bounce traffic coming from overseas and which from an advertising perspective isn’t particularly valuable. Traffic from loyal media brand visitors would be unaffected.
My problem with this is that I don’t really believe that Murdoch would do much harm to Google if he turned his back on it.
Even if all the other commercial media owners followed him (and that's a big “if”, and even then presumably the BBC wouldn't play ball) then Google would just be a slightly different beast: a place where people search for products and goods but not for content. That would be pretty unlikely to affect Google’s PPC revenue which is founded on people who are searching for products and goods.
Google would still be the medium of choice for advertisers looking to generate click through to their sites. And, until advertisers learn that the last click doesn’t count for everything, it’s likely to remain so.
Jeremy Swinfen Green
Digital Director
It seems barmy.
But you’d be barmy to write Murdoch off as a luddite and a fool. He is certainly neither of those things by a long way. (Pace Stan Schroeder writing in mashable).
So why the - on the surface - rather odd stance?
Well, Google does need taming. I’ve nothing against Google personally; it’s my search engine of choice (or is that habit?). But it is a very dominant (far too dominant) player in the online advertising arena.
And that dominance, enhanced by ill-informed “last click counts” models of ROI analysis, is skewing the marketplace and taking advertising revenue away from editorially-based media owners like Murdoch’s newspapers.
(If you don’t believe that then ask yourself why online display dipped this year while search continued to grow.)
Murdoch wouldn’t necessarily lose that much by REPing his sites. He would of course lose the traffic from Google – but most of that traffic is from people searching on news stories, much of which is one-off, high-bounce traffic coming from overseas and which from an advertising perspective isn’t particularly valuable. Traffic from loyal media brand visitors would be unaffected.
My problem with this is that I don’t really believe that Murdoch would do much harm to Google if he turned his back on it.
Even if all the other commercial media owners followed him (and that's a big “if”, and even then presumably the BBC wouldn't play ball) then Google would just be a slightly different beast: a place where people search for products and goods but not for content. That would be pretty unlikely to affect Google’s PPC revenue which is founded on people who are searching for products and goods.
Google would still be the medium of choice for advertisers looking to generate click through to their sites. And, until advertisers learn that the last click doesn’t count for everything, it’s likely to remain so.
Jeremy Swinfen Green
Digital Director
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