As CRM specialists it’s great to know that our work is highly regarded by our industry peers, as well as our clients. So recognition in the form of awards is much appreciated – being shortlisted from hundreds of entries is an honour in itself.
So far this year we’ve been shortlisted for not one…but two Marketing Week Awards. The first, earlier this year, was the Data Strategy Awards – Best Use of Email Marketing, and the second is the upcoming Engage Awards in the CRM/Loyalty category.
Both sets of judges chose our 2012 Q-points Finance campaigns to be on their top table at the awards….and not surprisingly we’re over the moon!
The campaigns for Black Horse Finance are part of our Q-points loyalty scheme – where motor dealerships (players) receive points for every finance deal they do. They can increase these points by playing online games and then go on to purchase items in our online shop or use our personal shopper service. Each point is equivalent to one pound, so redemption value is quite high.
Continue reading “Arrggghward nominations for Treasure Island Campaigns” »
As we’ve discussed before, it can be really important for personal self-esteem to receive positive recognition, whether face-to-face, in writing or on social media. A couple of weeks ago we were delighted to win an award from the Creston group for a beautifully simple idea but pretty technically clever innovation that has improved the performance of our email campaigns. It was great to see our thinking and the work of often unsung colleagues acknowledged and rewarded by our peers.
And just a few days ago, we were delighted when our very own Matt Sutherland, a senior web developer and all-round Real Adventurer, was shortlisted as a Rising Star in The e-Consultancy/NMA Digitals Awards. We don’t usually make a habit of singling out individuals for public praise, but in this case we’re thrilled to make an exception!
Continue reading “Shortlisted for an eConsultancy/NMA Rising Star Award” »
Looking at the amount of advertising and media coverage for Kindles and the like, you’d be forgiven for assuming that printed books are in terminal decline, swept aside by a wave of e-reading, a triumph for progress and technology.
However, as a recent blog by David Taylor at the brand gym discusses, while it’s true that digital book sales are indeed soaring, they are at least partly driven by heavyweight price discounting, and are still ‘only’ 13% of the UK market. At the same time, physical book sales have only fallen marginally. Similarly, while digital downloads of singles now make up over 99% of UK sales, they only account for 30% of all album sales.
In a keynote speech at a DMA seminar on 8th February, the UK’s Information Commissioner suggested that up to 60% of UK marketing agency CEOs were unaware of the EU Data Protection Regulations about to make their passage through the European Parliament and Council of the European Union and be brought into law. Worrying, given the Regulations in their proposed form would mean the end of one-to-one marketing as we know it.
It’s 18 years since the current EU Data Protection Act Directive was enacted. The digital world, to the extent that it even existed back then, has inexorably changed, and with it the volume and nature of data in existence. According to IBM, we now create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data each day, and 90% of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone.
Continue reading “Is this the end of one-to-one marketing?” »
Last week we were delighted to participate in two different bits of (we hope) inspirational communications. On the one hand, as part of Digital Bristol Week, we invited local professionals and students alike into our offices to learn about what we do, how we do it, and why we are proud of our work. On the same afternoon, I returned to my alma mater, Exeter University, to give a talk to final-year students about getting into a career in marketing, its pitfalls and pleasures.
To help prepare I asked people around The Real Adventure as well as a few clients past and present for their words of wisdom, advice to people looking to get into marketing. There were several comments that started “too many graduates…” which described how candidates often failed to meet our ever-higher expectations. As with many professions these days, entry-level marketing roles are heavily over-subscribed, and you need to stand out. I hope these five nuggets of advice help…
So the new David Bowie single came out, after over a decade of silence. My 10 year-old daughter heard it the other night, I decided to ask her what she thought, “It’s boring. Sounds old” she said.
I told her about Bowie’s heritage, how he had played a key role in the cultural development of modern music and performance.
“Really? Well may be he should have quit while he was ahead. I think he should just stop now.” she replied.
We believe that building great relationships is increasingly imperative for brands to thrive. Positive, ongoing dialogue is at the heart of personal relationships, and similarly important for brands and businesses.
It’s a sad reflection on many service brands that their automated call-channelling includes the option “if you’re considering closing your account…” The caller is transferred (more quickly, in my experience) to a dedicated team, probably selected for their excellent customer service skills and their ability to take abuse.
The dismal experience I had renewing both Home and Car insurance recently prompted me to check if this was just something with these specific companies. One post on my Facebook wall later and it became clear it’s much closer to standard practice than an isolated incident.
Remember the kid that changed over summer?
A long time ago, 1985 to be precise, in a town far north of here, I bumped into a kid from my school. The summer holidays had been and gone, the autumn term was in full swing. There he was resplendent in a biker jacket, 501 jeans, white t-shirt… it was like his genes had been spliced with Nick Kamen’s. Raybans too, and back in 1985, that was some expenditure.
Continue reading “Are Microsoft just trying too hard to be cool?” »
Delivering digital projects isn’t easy. Particularly when it comes to mobile, web & app builds. Happily, we’ve got great people who are adept at doing it. But there’s always room for improvement. So that’s why we’ve formed a new team within the agency – and I think it’s going to work a treat.
To explain, let’s consider what a perfect digital project looks like…
Continue reading “The Digital Experience team – a better way to deliver digital projects” »
Digital has weaved its way into our daily lives almost without us realising to what extent. The typical consumer has many many digital interactions throughout their day from morning until night, as this short video shows.
