New Cillit Bang product launched exclusively on Facebook
Reckitt Benckiser (RB) has announced plans to sell a new Cillit Bang cleaning product exclusively through its Facebook page.
It is likely to be the first of a number of e-commerce trials by RB, as it has said that it plans to invest an extra £100m in brand building across Europe.
O2 continues to surprise and delight with Valentine's campaign
O2 is continuing to roll out plans to ‘surprise and delight’ customers with another personalised social media campaign for Valentine’s Day.
The mobile operator has created a “digital Love Nest in the Clouds” to deliver Twitter users’ messages via YouTube videos, personally recorded by non-identical twin “O2 Cupids”.
This builds on the success of its #O2Santa stunt over Christmas, in which the company tracked mentions of the hashtag and similarly had a Santa character record people’s requested messages.
How do you build an innovative company?
In yesterday's post, we took a quick top-down look at what innovation meant to some of the businesses who’ve made it onto the shortlist for our Innovation Awards this year.
While opinions differed greatly about what makes innovation, everyone we spoke to agreed that businesses need to push boundaries in order to grow and thrive in the current climate.
Our respondents work across a huge variety of sectors, from start-ups to multinational, but they’ve all managed to integrate practical, innovative ideas into their business.
We know you don’t read the Econsultancy blog for esoteric opinions, so today we’re looking more closely at how they managed this, by asking:
How do you build an innovative company, or foster innovation within your organisation?
How brands lost the Super Bowl race for the second screen
Here in New York last week, digital media and advertising commentators were all talking about the role that digital and in particular, social media, was going to play during the Super Bowl TV ad breaks. With advertisers paying about $3.5 million for a slot, this has been another record year for TV ad revenue and the show was the most watched TV event in American History.
Sunday night was going to be #Hashtag-Heaven, we were told – or at least a #FacebookFrenzy, with brands falling over themselves to drive people off their 47 inch flatscreens and onto their other devices – the so-called ‘second screen’. So you’d think that the ad execs would have thought the web in all its forms - mobile, tablet and laptop - would be the place to go make sure they extended the reach and level of audience engagement worthy of such an expensive commodity.
You’d be wrong.
Vodafone implements TagMan's technology to create "unstoppable digital"
Vodafone UK has implemented real-time attribution and tag management technology from TagMan in what the mobile operator is calling its strategy for “unstoppable digital”.
It says this will transform the company's understanding of the digital marketing campaigns it runs, radically altering its approach to that investment as it expands activity in this area.
Do sponsored messages ever work online?
Visibility is everything online, so reaching thousands of people in an instant is something a lot of businesses crave.
This leads many brands to try sponsored messages, but do they actually work, and when they don’t work what’s the PR risk?
“I will share your messages twice over 150,000 Twitter followers and 10,000 Facebook friends to help boost your traffic views for $5” reads just one advert on Fiverr.com.
How can you lose? The seller has 299 positive reviews and 220 people have starred (liked) the service. Surely this is proof that sponsored messages work, right?
Wrong.
Why retailers need to embrace mobile internet in stores
It's natural that some retailers will feel threatened by the growing use of mobile in store, but the answer is to embrace this trend and use it to enhance the in-store experience.
Retailers can do this by providing apps and mobile optimised sites, but also by offering wi-fi to customers.
According to an On Device Research (ODR) survey of mobile users, 60% of respondents have used the mobile internet while in stores, while 78% would use free wi-fi in stores if offered it.
The use of smartphones by consumers is growing, and many are now using them to compare prices, and search the web for product reviews.
So how can retailers adapt and use this customer behaviour to their advantage?
Amazon rumoured to be opening shop on the high street
Amazon is said to be opening a trial brick-and-mortar store in Seattle to see if a chain of shops could be profitable.
Though this might seem like a step backwards for Amazon, the need to give its tablets and e-readers a physical shop window seems to be the main motivation.
The Digital Ocean: how to market to fishers and swimmers
More B2C and B2B marketers are shifting their focus towards increased digital in their tactical mix.
Understanding the digital locations of their target audiences is becoming a standard step in the creation of a digital plan, but many are overlooking the intentions of their online audiences, and adapting their tactics accordingly.
This blog introduces the concept of the digital ocean and the need to locate and market to both fishers (those actively researching products/services) and swimmers (those not looking and just ‘hanging out’ online).
Super Bowl fail: Toyota spams Twitter
The Super Bowl is an exciting time for the brands that shelled out big bucks to reach millions of consumers on one of the biggest days in the world of sport.
That was certainly true for Toyota. The carmaker had high hopes for its Camry Effect campaign, which it described as one of the "most ambitious social media campaigns we've ever implemented." But did it get a little too excited?
