GET YOUR DATA AND MAILING LISTS CLEANED UP NOW

We have just carried out a data cleansing campaign by telephone for a client and we found that 36% - yes, over one third - was no good! It had wrong telephone numbers, wrong addresses or contact names, or the contact business didn't exist anymore! 

How current is your data? If you mailed it or carried out an e-shot tomorrow, how much would come back as 'gone away' or as a hard bounce?

Well there's only one way to find out! And it's not "fight"!

It's to clean your data properly and make sure not a penny of your postage is wasted. Yes, data cleansing is critical and a brief. example demonstrates this.

Let’s say you have 2,000 contacts on your database. Typically these would be made up of existing clients, prospects, acquaintances and friends/family.

You send out a direct mail piece wishing them a Happy Christmas or to alert them to a new sales offer.

Most active databases are 70% accurate, give or take. So 1,400 would receive your message and 600 wouldn’t.

Now let’s say 5% would be interested in your new offering or have been reminded that you’re still around by your festive “nudge.” That’s 70 interested parties.

Imagine if the other 600 had been verified. That would be another 30 prospective clients.

I’m sure to most businesses that would be of huge value and it would clearly improve the marketing exercise. There’s no substitute for quality data whether it’s for telemarketing or any other marketing purpose.

To make sure you don’t get left behind, we are offering a lower rate on our data cleansing offering (call it an early Christmas/New Year present) so come on and start your “in-house” cleaning now! And you'll be ready to hit the ground running in 2012!

Geoff Noake is a Fellow of the Institute of Direct and Digital Marketing

Brands will soon have a new way of reaching consumers with the launch of Nokia’s Near Field Communication (NFC) Hubs.

NFC technology allows users to share information and pay for items with a simple swipe of their mobile devices. NFC posters offer a high level of interaction between consumer and advertising: users’ devices can be taken to the brand’s Facebook page, or send a pre-determined text message to a pre-determined number.

Brands using the technology will also benefit from access to Nokia’s statistics on overall usage for no cost, as well as allowing brands to alter their campaigns ‘live’, with no need to change posters.

Nokia’s NFC technology is currently going through a limited testing phase, but Rupert Englander, Head of Services Sales and Marketing at the company, reckons that such technology is only “a couple of years from being the norm”.

Source: Marketing / CBS Outdoor

The Government has ruled out plans for an outright ban on advertising to children, favouring a four-point plan to protect young people from inappropriate marketing.

The renewed responsibility comes as a result of a meeting between Prime Minister David Cameron and 30 organisations, including the Advertising Association (AA) and Advertising Standards Authority.

A pledge, drawn up by the AA, encourages advertisers to not use under-16s as brand ambassadors; agree to a voluntary ban on advertising near schools for adult services; follow stricter ASA guidelines on sexual images in outdoor ads and the creation of a one-stop website where concerned parents can air concerns about advertising issues.

Chief executive of the AA, Tim Lefroy, said: “Today, advertising and the brands it supports are recognised as playing an important and appropriate part in family life, but the PM made clear that we must remain in touch with our responsibilities.”

But Mike Baker, CEO of the Outdoor Media Centre (OMC), asks what constitutes sexualisation, and how far is too far? “The biggest challenge remains drawing the new line on what is allowable,” he says. “The OMC is doing further research as to which actual live ads really cause offence. My hunch is that the British public has a problem with very few outdoor ads. We are a long way from the days of FCUK and Benetton, after all.”

“Total complaints about all outdoor campaigns in 2010 numbered fewer than 2,000, and the majority of these complaints were not about indecency, but about inaccurate or misleading claims, such as broadband speeds.”

Mike points out that Wonderbra’s 17-year-old ‘Hello Boys' artwork has accompanied the story in recent press coverage. “I find it instructive that the journos can’t drum up more offensive and more recent material. Would 'Hello Boys' make it through the net at all these days? I really hope it still would as it was a brilliant piece of creative.”

Source: Brand Republic

Shoppers are still influenced by the advertising they see just before shopping, according to the latest research from the Outdoor Media Centre.

Outdoor advertising was noticed by over 80 per cent of the people interviewed, while 72 per cent said they can be swayed towards a product by recent Outdoor advertising.

The study, called ‘The Last Window of Influence’ aimed to investigate advertising ‘recency’, a term defined as “related to the most recent piece of information that shoppers will get before taking their wallets out”.

The study looked specifically at the 30-minute period immediately before shoppers begin shopping, the last window of influence for advertisers to place brand messages in front of customers.

Mike Baker, CEO of the Outdoor Media Centre, said the survey is “pretty definitive evidence that you can still influence shoppers as they head for the stores. We are not talking about point of sale advertising here, but the whole customer journey to the store itself, which begins the moment shoppers leave their homes or offices. That’s when they step into the Outdoor space.”

Source: Daily DOOHand CBS Outdoor

Had a really beneficial trip to MediaPro Expo last week. Lots of affordable new technology was on show, to help you create and drive integrated cross-media advertising campaigns.

Small promotional microsites that can be used for short term competitions, landing pages, data collection and even online shops can be built within hours and stay live for as long or little time as you need them to support campaigns. And they're available with high creative values - but at very low prices!

Of particular interest were developments in the production of online brochures. They enable superb web-savvy print/online integration that delivers high quality publications via websites, tablets and smartfones, adding greatly to potential for customer engagement.

There's also a new app device that allows you to photograph coded elements of printed magazines and save them to your phone! Plus, lots of ideas to integrate social network platforms, which give us much to talk about with our clients!

Tablets and smartphones are changing the way people consume media.

Advertisers increasingly need to look at how media is being consumed, particularly with regard to new technology. 80 new tablet devices were announced in the US earlier this year and it is estimated that this year, 28 million tablets will be sold worldwide!

Within three years 200 million tablets will be in the hands of consumers. Websites need to be compatible with mobile platforms as Flash does not work on mobiles and tablets.

90% of people who have a tablet use it everyday with 40% who have tablets are using their Notebooks and Netbooks less.

So think print - then think beyond print and how mobiles can help increase audience engagement and campaign impact.

Source: Campaign 21.10.11

The latest figures from Bellweather suggest that marketing trends reported in Q3 are up by 3.4% - the first increase for a year.

Specifically, the report shows the following increases across all media, which is the first time in over 4 years. Specifically, the figures show:

Media up 0.5%

Sales Promotion up 2.8%

Direct Marketing up 3.3%

Internet up 16.6%

Search Internet up 9.3%

Other up 1.5%

But whilst the figures are very encouraging, confidence continues to reflect the uncertain fincncial climate advertisers are operating in. Our own experience tallies with the data, in that while sectors of the engineering sectors are 'booming', there is concern about future conditions.

Source: Campaign 14 October 2011

Hot: Tube map of the future

Commuters in New York are being treated to a revolutionary experience with the ‘On the Go! Travel Station’, a 47-inch touchscreen allowing users to access all they need to know about the subway.

The system can be used to look up the subway map, find out about delays and service changes, and even discover if an escalator at your station is out of order.

The travel station also provides a new advertising space for anyone who wants to catch the eye of New York’s subway goers.

The travel station is extremely feature rich, but its makers say the development is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of potential. The only forseeable problem is ensuring that passengers don’t hog it.

Source: The Next Web

Not: Tweet me happy

A study of Twitter posts has found millions of people wake up happy and become more negative as the day continues. A study by scientists at Cornell University in the US, examined the tweets of 2.4 million Twitter users, dividing them into different hours of the day and days of the week.

The research found people became more negative as the day went on and the most positive times of the day were at the start and the end.

Mid-morning was found to be the worst time of day, with these rising again and peaking just before midnight. Users were also more cheerful at weekends. Researchers also found no evidence for ‘the winter blues’ and found the negative messages were as likely to be sent in summer as winter.

The public find outdoor advertising can be “clever, humorous and entertaining”, according to a YouGov poll.

Research on behalf of the Outdoor Media Centre shows 63 per cent of respondents agreed Outdoor mediums are entertainingly engaging, with this figure rising to 70 per cent among the 18-24 group.

The medium is supportive of brand awareness with 60 per cent of the poll agreeing it keeps brands and products in the public eye, rising to 66 per cent in the younger set.

Londoners are the largest geographic group to agree Outdoor keeps brands and products in the public eye, with 68 per cent agreeing.

The importance of Outdoor advertising to helping fund public amenities is also understood by a good portion of the poll at 41 per cent and 47 per cent of the younger group agreeing with the proposition.

The most recalled sector for specific outdoor advertising activity was entertainment (61 per cent) with telecoms next (52 per cent).

The YouGov survey was conducted online with a representative panel of 1,692 adults.

Source: Marketing Week and CBS Outdoor

Did you know that you can buy last minute radio airtime at a really low price to maximise your budgets?

If you have budget available and want to try radio advertising, then we can help you buy a campaign at a very low price.

We just need to know the demographics of your target customers (age, sex and the areas in the UK you wish to target) and we'll see what stations match your budget offer. It's as easy as that!

TEST YOUR RADIO CAMPAIGN NOW!

This is a superb way to test radio advertising if you've never tried it before. And if you need a commercial, we'll quote to create it, script it and produce and supply the the transmission materials to the radio stations you have booked. In fact, we get everyhting ready and then make the offers in the regions you wish to reach the week before you want to advertise. It's perfect for getting pre-Christmas sales!

To find out more just contact us via the online form. We'll then contact you and do the rest! It's a one-stop-shop to national, regional or local radio advertising!

EXAMPLE

Category: Home Improvements
Length: 30 seconds
Airtime Budget: £5,100.00
Dayparts: Breakfast, Mid-Morning, Afternoon, PM Drive and Evenings
Impacts: 6186
Opportunities to hear (OTH): 8.0
Stations included in campaign: 8

This client was a home improvements brand that had previously used radio before and found it to be unsuccessful. This system of buying airtime was the chance for them to give radio another try and they successfully ran a month-long 30 second campaign targeting the South of England. For just £5,100.00 plus the commercial production!

Radio Advertising Works! We help make it work for YOU!

This Quarter saw an increase in Digital Listening with 300 million listening hours and 22.8 million people tuning in to the radio via a digital platform!

Radio listening as a whole has remained above the 47 million listener mark (47.1 million) and despite a slight quarter on quarter decline (0.9%) commercial radio has achieved a reach of 33.7 million listeners. The BBC stations have also seen a slight decline and now achieve 34.8 million listeners, whilst the share of hours sits at 54.5% for the BBC and 43.3% for commercial radio. It's on a local level that commercial radio really delivers verses the BBC, with 27 million listeners compared to 9.5 million for the BBC's local and regional services.

Digital Listening Continues to Grow

Digital listening has grown to account for a 28.2% share of all radio listening, with a weekly reach of 43.9% of people listening to digital radio, either through DAB, DTV, the internet or 'other'. The latest RAJAR figures recorded 20.5 million adults (39.4%) claiming to live in a household which has a DAB receiver. The number one commercial, digital only, radio station in the UK is now Absolute 80s which delivered over 1 million listeners (1,018,000). Bauer's The Hits has dropped just below the 1 million mark (995,000) and Smash Hits delivered 889,000 listeners. The independently owned Planet Rock takes fourth position achieving year on year growth of 7.3%, now reaching 840,000 listeners.

Source: Radio Works RAJAR NEWS

How much more impact do you think your sales and technical presentations would have when you use 3D graphics to demonstrate the benefits of your products?

With 3D photorealism you can bring products and demos to life!

Just think about what can be achieved quickly and easily from a set of package drawings without the need to produce physical prototype models, or indeed, manufacturing patterns of any sort! It's also a way to take an idea, a design or a presentation to a high level of visual impact and giving simple movement to the system or components,  which can also be animated as sequences and provided as avi or other movie types.

You can use it to demonstrate mechanical operations and system functionality, building designs, computer animation, virtual staging and creating life-like situations for any application. The opportunities are boundless!

So, think about what you want to say to customers. What you want to tell them about your products - and whether this can be made so much easier using 3D illustration!

For more information about how you 3D could help you and your design team click here - the examples shown are just a few of the things that can be done. Your imagination does the rest - we just help you to bring it to life!

If you were in the advertising, PR or publishing business in and around Sheffield and South Yorkshire in the 80’s and early 90’s, then you’ll remember that very sober and august body known as the Sheffield Publicity Association! Its Christmas bashes were a thing of legend and for those who were there, something never to be forgotten!

The SPA was also notable for some superb 'educational’ events, which included many presentations from key advertisers, like the ‘World’s Favourite Airline’ British Airways campaign, delivered by their Saatchi account director; the creation of that superb piece of advertising/PR “Hello Boys” by TBWA for Wonderbra (only recently voted as one of the best campaigns ever); and other memorable campaigns like Boddington’s Bitter and BMW by the agencies that created them. Yes, we managed to get them all up to Sheffield to give highly valuable insights into these campaigns.

This special SPA Reunion evening is a great opportunity to get together again – and we’d also welcome anyone who is in the advertising, marketing, media, PR, creative and photography industries in Sheffield today to come along too!

The Date: Thursday 20th October 2011 8:00pm – 11.00pm
The Venue: Browns Bar and Brasserie, St Paul's Parade (overlooking the Peace Gardens), Sheffield, where a private area of the bar has been reserved, food is available to order on the night if required.

Please pass the word around and if you want to know anything or would like to come on the night, then please email Leigh Rendall to let us know.

We look forward to seeing you on the night!

Geoff Noake
(Former Chairman, Sheffield Publicity Association)

Have you ever thought about producing an online video for your business?

The way technology has leaped forward recently, now makes video affordable and accessible for businesses of all types. There are now an increasing number of good, cost-effective film makers and lower prices no longer means low quality.

If you talk to a reputable film production studio  – and we already partner with some highly professional film and commercial makers – then you will find that you can have a high quality film produced for hundreds - rather than thousands - of pounds.

What’s more, there are now far more outlets that you can use to publish the films. Obviously, you can distribute them on DVD or large capacity memory sticks, but savvy businesses are now putting them them online. As well as YouTube, where you can quickly build a name for your brand if your video inspires people to watch it, ‘like it’ and forward links to their friends, there are many trade magazine publishers who offer a video or 'tv' facility.

You can also host it on your own website and then build links to it from e-shots, e-brochures, newsletters and press releases.

So, if you have a way of doing things that could benefit from a video demonstration, then give it some serious thought. And what’s more, search sites and SEO experts are now reporting that web videos are getting higher rankings in the in the search engines than other pages.

Food for thought?

We attended a direct and digital marketing seminar recently where one of the side discussions related to sharing of personal information and intrusion by marketers into our everyday lives.

Are you concerned that if you have a certain type of phone, the manufacturer can track your every move? There was some uproar in the press recently when this became common knowledge, but by and large, it will become an everyday thing.

Teenagers now share masses of data and personal information on line. This generation is far more savvy in many respects than us 'oldies', yet when it comes to personal information, then it flows like water.

It has recently been reported that Facebook has lost thousands of users in the UK, but is still growing fast in India and the Far East - as well as amongst 50+ adults in the UK! I don’t believe these users are leaving as a result of sharing issues; it’s more likely to do with the fact that a 16 year old won’t relish being on a social network site alongside her dad and her gran!

So where is it all going? I believe that the youngsters will soon set their own online agenda through the very sophisticated capabilities of the next generation of mobile phones. Tracking movements will be the least of the things they will do as new online networks are forged and driven by mobile technology.

What we are starting to see now, with the super injunctions and celebrity privacy issues, is that we don’t want people to know what we’re up to but we do want to know what everyone else is doing! Whether this is right or wrong is another matter.

The British Population Survey (BPS) has published a paper (15.07.11)  looking at who peviously read the News of the World and what Sunday newspaper they are likely to read now.

They have also looked at it from an advertisers perspective and raise the question of how responsive the NOTW readership was to advertising and what value it holds for other newspapers.

The tables make interesting reading, particularly the fact that the NOTW readership does have a greater propensity to respond to advertising. But is this simply because it has (had) the highest circulation of any Sunday paper?

The Sun was the daily newspaper with the greatest readership amongst NOTW readers at almost 63%, whilst the Sunday Mirror, The People and the Mail on Sunday were the strongest Sunday papers read by NOTW readers.

Click the link below to read the full details.

NOTW READERSHIP 15.07.11.pdf

Information published by courtesy of the BPS.