Websites crucial to CPG brands: report
Major CPG brands spend eye-popping sums of money every year across multiple channels trying to convince consumers to buy their products when they walk into the supermarket.
When it comes to how that money is spent, you're probably more likely to think about high-profile television campaigns than you are to, say, websites. After all, a funny television ad for a cereal probably seems more appealing than a cereal website.
Technologists don't get the Kindle Fire
If you've been reading the headlines about the Kindle Fire lately, you might be surprised to learn that Amazon has already moved millions of units of its tablet and is now the proud creator of the best-selling Android tablet.
Web usability guru Jakob Nielsen isn't a fan, and went so far as to say that he felt, "the Fire is going to be a failure."
Six things to learn from the Louis CK experiment
Can a prominent comedian shake up the comedy business by producing his own event and selling it to consumers online in digital format DRM-free? Thanks to Louis CK's experiment, we now know the answer is yes.
More than 100,000 comedy fans have snapped up 'Louis CK: Live at the Beacon Theater' for $5, earning the comedian a healthy profit and sparking a discussion about digital content, business models and pricing.
Here's what you can learn from Louis CK's experiment.
Q&A: James Gurd on B2B content marketing
E-commerce and digital marketing consultant James Gurd is the author of our new B2B Content Marketing Best Practice Guide, which we've published this week in the build-up to our inaugural FUNNEL event on 1 November in London.
Below, he answers some questions about his 104-page report.
Why you need a freelance copywriter
Using a freelance copywriter isn't just about flexibility and convenience. It's often the best way to get a quality result.
A few weeks ago, Sharon Flaherty wrote a guest post here entitled Want quality content? Produce it in-house. As her title suggests, Sharon argues that the best way to get high-quality content is to employ an in-house copywriter.
Although I commented on the post, I feel it deserves a more considered response, so here it is.
Adapting digital marketing for the Middle East
In his last post on the Econsultancy blog, Tariq Seksek touched upon the importance of competitions, contest and sweepstakes when running a social media campaign in the Middle East.
While some brands may have found success in running such contests, others are of the opinion that competitions equate to buying fans, as the interest of the fans lies in the prize rather than the brand and its offerings.
I remember speaking to Mohamed Parham of Wild Peeta (Dubai’s social media darling brand) about two years ago, who emphasised the brand's organic growth of its fan and follower counts.
Whatever camp you belong to – growth by competitions or growth by content - it is important to consider the characteristics of the local market including demographics, usage habits and cultural sensitivities.
Want quality content? Produce it in-house
For me, it simply comes down to the fact that agencies overcharge and under deliver.
Maybe I’m too fussy, but I’ve proved from experience that having someone in-house producing editorial content produces better quality results.
Know your audience: lessons learnt from the newsjack
Content-driven everything is pretty much the marketing mantra. More than that, it's the rationale for anything we do online (depending on how we define content), and it's a pretty banal observation.
If something isn't content-driven, then what is it? Fluff-driven? Waste-of-time-driven? Tricky-dicky-driven? I'd go as far as to say 'content-driven online marketing' is some sort of mega-tautology.
Can ad-supported hardware trump ad-supported content?
When it comes to online content, consumers by and large prefer to pay for it in attention rather than currency. As a result, it's no surprise that far more publishers have built successful ad-based business models than paid content business models.
Advertising, of course, usually isn't a path to easy money for publishers. Yes, advertisers love the internet, but digital still accounts for a minority of total ad spending, and advertisers generally pay less for digital ads than traditional ads.
Number of U.S. tablet owners to double by early 2012: report
Despite the hype, tablets are still most accurately described as a 'niche' market. But that market is expected to grow really, really fast.
That's according to a study (PDF) conducted by the Online Publishers Association (OPA) and Frank N. Magid Associates, which sees 54m Americans owning or using tablets by early 2012, up from 28m today.
