Always adapting, Gilt prepares for big mobile push
A steady spring rain served as little deterrence for the hardy attendants of the New York American Marketing Association’s Monday night event featuring Gilt Groupe cofounder Alexis Maybank.
Currently serving as cheif strategy officer, Maybank discussed Gilt's four year maturation into the big-data-weilding, five-million-member established player that it is today.
Gilt has thrived, Maybank emphasized, by prioritizing flexibility. When the company hosted it's first invitation-only sale for Zac Posen in 2007, only ten days had passed since the initial customer contact, and the returns section of the website had yet to be built. During the rapid growth that followed, more people were hired in some quarters than had been working at the company.
The first big change of direction occured when the company realized that their partnering brands weren't just looking at them for inventory liquidation, but instead saw Gilt as a marketing channel. The latest pivot, occuring now, is towards mobile.
JUMP Magazine, US Edition...big ideas on big data
In this first US issue, the magazine tackles 20 important multi-channel topics, from big data and the challenges of the silo-less organization, to bringing innovation to the enterprise.
We're just getting warmed up for the JUMP event, happening November 1st in New York.
American Express teams up with Zynga for prepaid cards
In the market for farming supplies?
If you're looking for a new tractor or some seeds, American Express is hoping that you'll use one of its new prepaid cards to complete the purchase. On Farmville, of course.
Turn your digital technology provider from supplier to partner
As the online industry has grown, so have the number of moving parts we have to consider.
As the cogs in the machine continue to multiply, everyone has had to acquire cross functional skills to manage the different channels that come under the remit of the online marketer.
Whether it be PPC, SEO, re-targeting, social, mobile, or local; the one entity in this eco-system that should have a working knowledge of all of these areas is your technology provider.
Music and marketing: five tips for being heard in a noisy space
The other day I eavesdropped as a pretty girl faced the teenage boy seated across from her and sang, “Tonight / We are young / So let’s set the world on fire”.
Frustrated by his blank stare, she said, “Don’t you know the song? It’s from that Chevy commercial”.
If that example doesn’t convince you of the power of music and marketing, nothing will.
Are You a Human brings gaming to CAPTCHAs
CAPTCHAs or conversions? While just about every business hopes to boost its conversions, the ill effects of spam bots and screen scrapers have driven countless companies to implement CAPTCHAs on their websites.
In some cases, CAPTCHAs are poorly implemented, leaving users (and potential customers) scratching their heads as they try to decipher text so distorted as to be incomprehensible.
Facebook buys gifting app Karma as mobile spree continues
A failure to properly monetise its mobile platform has always been Facebook’s Achilles heel, so it’s no surprise that it has just acquired another mobile-based company.
Social gifting app Karma has become Facebook’s fifth mobile buyout so far this year, though the news was somewhat overshadowed by Friday's IPO.
It follows the acquisitions of mobile companies Instagram, Lightbox, Tagtile and Glancee.
Breaking down the Adwords match type changes
About a month ago, Adwords announced to us that it was changing the behaviour of exact and phrase match to match close variants, including misspellings, singular/plural forms, stemmings, accents and abbreviations.
The changes, due sometime in mid-May, have been sold as a positive change for users, creating a behaviour similar to that already employed for organic search. Google hopes advertisers too will like the changes, as it will help them avoid missing out on relevant traffic.
The reaction amongst advertisers has been mixed however, with some suggesting that the changes serve only to increase revenue by reducing advertiser control.
Google has offered an opt out in the interface for advertisers who don't wish to take advantage of the changes.
Our own analysis indicates that this may not have yet taken place (search query reports are usually a couple of days behind), meaning that if you haven't considered the impact of these changes yet, it could be your last chance.
88% of consumers consult reviews when making a purchase
Recommendations from friends are the most influential driver for UK shopping habits followed closely by consumer reviews, according to a new survey by Reevoo.
More than half of respondents (52%) said friends’ recommendations were influential, followed by consumer reviews (48%), advertising (24%) and advice from sales assistants (22%).
The survey also found that a massive 88% of consumers ‘sometimes or always’ consult a review when making a purchase, and 60% were more likely to purchase from a site that has customer reviews on.
Q&A: Google's Rick Jones on multichannel retailing
The growth of mobile as a marketing channel has provided a massive opportunity for retailers to connect with their customers.
However, it has also created new problems for brands trying to offer a joined up, multichannel experience.
Google’s industry head of retail Rick Jones is tasked with helping brands use digital to create a single customer view.
I spoke with him at last week’s E-commerce Futures Conference to find out his opinion on delivering an effective multichannel customer experience.
