Digital Media Monkey

Like Photobox.com…

When you empty your basket, they want to keep you on the site. They want to counter the reason you emptied your basket. They want you to find what you’re looking for. They want you to be happy avoid your day being unfulfilled.

They, like all retailers, don’t want you to go home empty handed.

Which, in a nutshell, is what marketing is all about.

Reducing conversion drop off: When you clear your basket of items at the checkout stage Photobox serve this clever little screen to tempt you to stay on the site and purchase

Labour’s anti-Cameron PPC (plus #UKelection display ads by Conservatives and the Google Chrome party)

Lots has been said and written about the impact of social media on politics. Barack Obama surged to power on the back of a Facebook campaign; Stephen Fry brought the strife of Iranian voters to the attention of millions; whilst Westminster has been opened up with tools such as Tweetminster , They Work For You and Vote For Policies.

Tweetminster has helped bring Westminster to the online community (or vice versa?!)

The 2010 UK general election may be the first time the political scene in Britain has been able to fully immerse itself in online communications on a grand scale (although some would argue it’s been a missed opportunity). YouGov polls are making way for blogging polls (I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve ‘voted’ already on various different websites). David Cameron became the most defaced man in Britain as the Tories offline media buy turned viral via a quickly fashioned spoof website. Unlike his Tory counterpart Gordon Brown has avoided sending personal emails to voters, opting instead to focus on the viral effect of accusing people of bigotry, whilst Nick Clegg has been expertly backed up in the live TV debates by the Liberal Democrats twitter feed, who posted Lib Dem policies in real-time as they were discussed on the telly.

Countless blogs and articles will no doubt analyse the social media prowess of the political parties (we shouldn’t forget that the Green Party have also made great use of Twitter and even the BNP have embraced 140-character updates). But it’s not all glamourous activities such as tweets, viral and status updates…

More traditional forms of offline and online media have also deployed and the success of will be equally as difficult to measure as social media. It also seems that the main parties preferences have been to pay for offline media whilst utilise ‘free’ (although time consuming) online channels. You haven’t left the house in the last month if you’ve not seen Gordon Brown or David Cameron’s face on 92.6% of billboards in urban areas, but I’ve not seen a single leaderboard or skyscraper placement for either leader.

Labour however haven’t been avoiding paid online media. The incumbent majority have been quietly plugging their anti-Cameron campaign with good old fashioned search marketing. And to top it off they’ve been using the Google Content Network. Here’s an advertiser who really does benefit from those free contextual impressions, every one potentially another slither of doubt in floating voters minds.

Don't Risk The Tories: Labour's contextual PPC campaign the day before the UK general election

It all seems a bit underhand compared to integrated social media feeds and interactive manifestos. But it’s (potentially) a very cost effective way to add to the overall effect of electioneering.  I’d be interested to know if they have a negative keyword/site exclusion strategy. It’s a subtle approach and clever, but will it really do much more than create a few headlines on a handful of geeky blogs?

And as I type some news just in: I’ve just heard that the Conservatives have block booked YouTube tomorrow (polling day). The homepage placement (I’m told reliably by Google) is only available on a daily takeover basis and what a day to select! Potentially impeccable timing from the Tory marketing machine. OPn top of that this week has seen my inbox littered with personalised emails from a variety of Tory MPs which mean there’s no hope of avoiding the fact it’s election week (I’d love to know how they got my email address too, care to explain Mr Cameron?). On the face of it, their strategy looks much more influential than Labour’s adoption of content ads. I guess time will tell.

In case you missed it there...!

Funny how two buses come at once. In the process of writing about Labour’s use of paid search I stumbled across Google Chrome following Ann Summers onto the election bandwagon. Piggybacking politics is a bit of a minefield but both brands have done a decent job here. Probably better than the politicians have…

I’m going to make a sweeping statement and guess that many people involved in advertising don’t hold the We Buy Any Car television adverts in much esteem. It’s manufactured jingle and post-’Crazy Frog’ soundtrack make for in yer face marketing that might have the more artistic of creative directors rolling in their graves and eating their snakeskin shoes.

Personally, if I was Marketing Director at We Buy Any Car, I’d be smugly ecstatic, sitting with feet up on the desk and a self-satisfied grin on my face. The ad is brilliant in it’s own way. If you’ve seen it, I challenge you to a brand recall survey: “Name a company that will buy your car?”

See?!

I’ve seen a few tweets scoffing at Thomas Cook’s latest TV advert which sees Jamie and Louise Redknapp parading and gyrating around one of their luxury resorts (I won’t scoff too much myself as I quite admire the Redknapps but that’s a digression for another day).

Thomas Cook’s tv ad does more to alienate me than attract me though. I somehow can’t see me and Sarah (my girlfriend) affording to stay in the same swish pad and private beach as Jamie and Louise (before the final frame I was convinced it would be a coveted luxury holiday brand rather than a high street one). I’m sure it will work to inspire some people but that sort of aspirational marketing leaves me a little cold (as well as guffawing at some of the slow-mo pics, particularly Jamie’s golf drive and Louise’s equestrian friend).

Anyway, this article isn’t about that tv ad or Thomas Cook. It’s about one of their rivals, and the data driven approach of their fiercest competitor Thomson, whose integrated approach really appeals to me. Read the rest of this entry »

I for one won’t be found online shopping on Christmas Day. I’ll have plunged deep into the Real Ale Reviews beer cupboard to sample some of my finest beer treats, enjoying seeing my family and tucking into a smorgasbord of Christmas treats and luxuries: peanuts, cheeses and those fancy See’s candies that my granddad gets sent from San Francisco every year.

But according to the Telegraph, 4 million of us will be letting the Christmas washing-up pile high whilst they rush to their shiny new laptops and go crazy in the January…no New Year’s….no Boxing Day…sorry, Christmas Day sales.

Telegraphy report on Boxing Day (Christmas Eve!) sales

In fact the sale will start on Christmas Eve as, according to the paper, Halfords, Comet, B&Q and John Lewis amongst others will be opening up their sites to hoards of price savvy bargain hunters 36 hours before the bricks and mortar stores unlock their doors.

Last year I saw some interesting trends with retailers at this time of year, but didn’t see the huge Christmas Day rush. But methinks their may be something to this news as increasingly online connected population have the ability to look up ‘what they could have won’ within seconds of being disappointed by their pressies. That may be a cynical outlook but take some electrical items like sat navs, where its easy to select a slightly wrong model. And Halford’s third busiest traffic day last year was Christmas Day.

There’s also simply the people who know that there will be great savings to be had but know that if they wait until the 27th or 28th to hhit the shops (online or offline) that stock will be long gone. Once the turkey’s prepared on Christmas Eve these people may well be sitting down with a shopping comparison site rather than a rerun of Only Fools And Horses.

Implications for marketers and retailers? Do you ensure a perfect PPC presence or comprehensive shopping comparison listings? A two day takeover of a large portal? Or simply invest in servers to cope with the rush?

I’d say this shopping on Christmas Day malarkey is all very sad, but I know for a fact I have a Christmas Day blog post planned. I think I’ll set it to auto publish…!