If you're going to robocall, be prepared to get Rick Rolled
Telemarketer based frustration used to be a personal grievance, but with the number of technologies at the finger tips of consumers today, marketers have to be wary of the tactics they use to reach out to customers. Case in point: Auto One Warranty Specialists Inc.
The company hired a third-party marketing firm to call consumers who opted in to receiving solicitations. They were informed their car warranty was about to expire. But many of the recipients hadn't opted in. And many of them don't even own cars.
Mobile site review: Auto Windscreens
In what seems like an effective use of mobile internet, Auto Windscreens recently released a new mobile site which is optimised for iPhones and Blackberries.
The mobile site allows drivers to find the nearest fitting centre to them and make a booking before that crack gets any bigger. I've been trying the site out to see how well it works.
Will media agencies sound the death knoll for pure play PRs?
It has been interesting to watch the varied reactions following Volvo’s decision to appoint Mindshare to manage their SEO, digital PR and social media (PR Week May 8). SEO drives the effectiveness of digital PR and vice versa – irrespective of whether this is championed by PR agencies or traditional media agencies.
Social media engagement: are we making it up as we go along?
Or is it just me? Measuring the effectiveness of brand consumer engagement via social media isn't easy. Add integrating this social media engagement into the overall marketing strategy and the task becomes even more of a challenge. We're looking at each other for answers, and Twitter is full of people posting helpful links; anyone keeping up with them all?
I'm certainly not. Some individuals are stepping up to the plate to offer their advice, which is great and all credit to them, just so long as they are talking about real life cases, as opposed to the theory of it all. I hope this post offers some valuable real life analysis thoughts and tips.
Will Ford's gutsy social media campaign work?
Ford Motor Company was founded almost 106 years ago and it's been through its fair share of ups and downs over the years. But like other auto manufacturers, it's currently in a battle to survive one of the toughest economic environments ever seen.
So it's doing what other great companies have done throughout the years when faced with a great challenge: it's taking a risk. In this case, it's turning to social media.
How not to be the GM of your industry
Yesterday, United States President Barack Obama told American automaker GM what most of us have known for at least the past several months: right now, the beleaguered automaker is in no shape to stay in business.
GM's CEO Rick Wagoner stepped down at the request of the Obama administration and the company has little time to prove to the US government that it can right the ship or it will not be given the additional government aid it can't survive without.
Screw it. Let's read the paper
A friend of mine was recently hired as the ad director for a mid-market newspaper, owned by the Tribune Company. After he was there about a month I asked him, "so how do you plan on selling ads for a dying media?"
"For starters," he said, "I do something absolutely no one in that office does. Every morning I read the newspaper. Cover-to-cover."
New projections show lower internet ad spend
The online ad business was worse than thought last year, and it will be worse than projected this year. Brighter days will have to wait until 2010, according to recent data updates.
The first comes from Barclays Capital, which had already checked in with bad news last December. Over the past year the investment bank has gone from predicting 16 percent online ad spend growth (October report) to a six percent rise (December) and now pegs online ad spending calls for a 2.3 percent increase over last year to $23.7 billion. This joins recent reports from Bernstein Research's prediction that global online ad spend will grow only 5.9 percent, and Veronis Suhler's call of 4.9 percent
Ford revs up social media solution
Ford's social media director Scott Monty might have thought he was off to a safe start with a little audience participation during a recent conference presentation. "How many people here," he asked, "have ever driven a Ford?" Most of the audience raised their hand. "Now how many of you would buy one?"
And the room froze like a rusted carburetor. "That's the problem," he said.
The solution? Part of it is in a social media program that Monty believes will restore some of Ford's lost "humanity" as a brand and continue to put some distance between Ford and the two other Detroit carmakers, Chrysler and GM. "Somewhere along the line," said the company's digital and multimedia content manager, "we lost our personality. We can gain it back with social media."
Ford leads with interactive effort
Against all odds, and against all business logic, the early signs look like Ford Motors might be turning around. Unlike GM and Chrysler it has turned away government bailout money, seeking instead to get its house in order through more efficient operations. And unlike GM and Chrysler it internet effort is meshing with its product line and positioning.
The auto maker has taken at least some market share gains every month for the past year. And although it is prone to the same disastrous numbers that have led to those trips to Capitol Hill and concessions from its unions, some of its numbers are looking up. Ad Age reports that in the first two months of the year, the number of qualified buyers who planned to buy a Ford jumped 16% from 2008. Qualified buyers who intended to buy GM fell 12% and Chrysler 33%.
20+ mind-blowing social media statistics revisited
Gleecommerce: 10 ways to improve job satisfaction
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Graham Charlton
Strategy & Planning
