Ben Davis
Ben Davis is part of Econsultancy's editorial team. He blogs, manages some social media, and keeps one eye on operations. You can contact him at ben.davis@econsultancy.com
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Here's a quick look at some search terms and paid ads ahead of Father's Day.
Some ads were optimised but dry, others made me laugh unintentionally, and some targeted the longer tail.
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by Ben Davis
14 June 2013 10:42am
3 comments
Which campaigns have you seen recently that are defining the digital marketing landscape?
Genius can recognise genius, right? So, we asked this question of some ingenious folk shortlisted for Econsultancy and NMA's The Digitals Awards (we'll be handing out the awards on June 27th at a swanky swank bash).
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by Ben Davis
13 June 2013 14:50pm
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I'm continuing my journey, exploring what digital transformation means in the real world. I’ve been speaking to David Jarvis from TUI Travel plc (the world’s largest leisure travel company).
David works for Specialist Holidays Group (SHG) within TUI and is currently VP of Customer Engagement for Marine brands Sunsail and The Moorings. His experience with online goes back to the mid-90s with a focus on user experience, and he’s now helping to drive transformation at TUI.
When I spoke to David he highlighted a few key themes he has been experiencing when driving change within his part of the business.
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by Ben Davis
12 June 2013 11:32am
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I can promise you only inspiring case studies, titbits and mantras in this post.
All taken from our future gazing conference, Future of Digital Marketing, which we held last week.
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by Ben Davis
10 June 2013 10:08am
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In this post, or seamless meld of my personal and professional lives, I will highlight a few user experience blips I found when booking a holiday to Austria.
On reflection, it occurs to me we might all be over-excited about new developments online. Wearable technology and cross-channel CRM are both all over tech and digital marketing news, but how far are we from websites working to the user's satisfaction?
As progress brings more examples of 'good', the 'bad' becomes even more annoying. The whole experience of booking my holiday left me realising that one of the main benefits of package holidays remains the same: they take the hassle out of having to interact with more than one service/company in the travel sector.
None of the company websites I used were bad at all, in fact, I was impressed by OBB (Austrian Rail) and Olotels, but the cumulative effect of small user experience hiccups meant that booking tickets and accommodation filled an evening with moderate pain.
Can a holiday ever truly be 'last minute' until travel sites are optimised further? Here are the problems I faced.......
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by Ben Davis
05 June 2013 10:06am
6 comments
Here's a brief summary of the main G+ improvements in effect today.
We at Econsultancy think it now has the chops to garner more users, and these features may enable the platform to take hold...
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by Ben Davis
16 May 2013 12:15pm
18 comments
Just what exactly, in plain English, is digital transformation? Which companies have already undergone it, and which need to? Have some already missed the boat?
Google ‘digital transformation’ and you’ll see companies providing services for the burgeoning market needing to quickly start thinking digital.
Some of this content is great, and some is still not quite transparent. Whilst white papers detailing change and success in specific sectors are welcome, videos of consultants talking in generalities and marketing speak are less so.
The problem is, of course, that much of any organisation’s digital strategy is unique, and it’s difficult to define what excellence is, or how it can be reached, without first knowing who one is writing for.
This creates one of the challenges for organisations seeking to understand digital; starting the journey is often the hardest step. It’s difficult to know what needs to be looked at first, especially if you have the erroneous and sinking feeling that ‘everything’ needs to be changed.
You might also be trying to articulate to the board why change is needed, and to do this you need to be able to make clear points.
Over the next few months I’m going to look at how ‘digitally mature’ various sectors and organisations are and what the process entails, not least because Econsultancy is actively helping companies in this area (contact our digital transformation consultants if you need help).
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by Ben Davis
14 May 2013 12:53pm
9 comments
Point eight of Econsultancy's Modern Marketing Manifesto (#MoMaMa) regards creative.
Last month, Nesta published its 'Manifesto for the Creative Economy', so let's take a look through this impressive publication and see where Nesta thinks we're at.
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by Ben Davis
02 May 2013 09:48am
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In an online world, publishers need to become retailers, and brands should think about becoming publishers.
Here are three tools or platforms and some case studies which brands can use, for your enjoyment.
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by Ben Davis
26 April 2013 13:39pm
2 comments
The British Museum has released a decent app that showcases the current ‘Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum’ exhibition.
Hopes are that people who can’t get to the museum will download the app and experience the exhibition at home.
I discuss the app (made by Apadmi) below in the context of the British Museum's digital stock.
Testing the market and getting experience with an exhibition app build is undoubtedly a smart move, and a tricky undertaking.
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by Ben Davis
22 April 2013 10:56am
3 comments
