The London School of Marketing (LSM) has released a whitepaper titled Facebook Advertising through the Years, in which marketing experts claim Facebook advertising is no longer a cost-effective option for marketers who are seeking to build new audiences or attract new customers. The whitepaper states: ‘From its early days, Facebook showed great promise to marketers. However, between…
Personalisation and loyalty are key to the success of brands on the high street, according to new research out today, commissioned by Tangent Snowball. However, they are also the largest threat to brands if they over-step the mark, with just under half of respondents stating they don’t want to be addressed on a first-name basis.
The research, which investigated the relationship we hold with different sectors of the high street and the future of the high street as a whole, revealed a huge difference between the sexes, including:
The research also revealed some surprising results when it comes to those born in the 1990s:
Steve Grout (left), CEO, Tangent Snowball, said: “The results of our research will surprise many, I’m sure. Personalisation has been one of the biggest buzzwords in the industry over the past decade, but our research shows that, in fact, personalisation is a huge risk for brands.
“No sector is immune; all of them need to make sure that they’re not being overly familiar with consumers and are actually delivering the service, experience and loyalty programme that is expected of them.
“The challenge will be to know where to draw the line, which requires constant discussion with consumers, something that not many brands seem suitably set up to do without over-stepping the mark.”
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Brands’ and celebrities’ worst nightmares could become a reality this June, when hundreds of questionable web domain 
names go up for grabs.
Names such as .sucks, .porn and .adult are just some of the TDLs that will become available, and experts are now advising businesses to purchase uncomplimentary names, before it’s too late.
Web hosting company 34SP.com has predicted that some of the world’s biggest brands could be subject to torrents of abuse from online trolls purchasing unfavourable domain names with the sole aim of tormenting brands and celebrities.
Indeed, Taylor Swift has already registered taylorswift.porn and taylorswift.sucks, while Microsoft has reserved Office.porn and Office.adult.
34SP predicts that thousands more registries will be made ahead of the June 1st deadline, when generic domain names are expanded to include more variations.
Daniel Foster (left), co-founder and technical director of 34SP.com, said: “Businesses should do everything in their power to avoid being associated with negative messages – it’s hard to imagine domain names like .sucks and .porn will foster positivity.
“Clearly some big brands are already taking this seriously by registering controversial names while we are still in a mandated period. However, after June 1st it becomes a free-for-all, so I’d advise all businesses with even a slight worry about how this could affect their business to swoop up the domains sooner rather than later.
“While some might use domains for good causes, by creating sites such as cancer.sucks for example, I’d predict that many will be swooping up the new names solely for defamatory purposes.”
Those who want to keep an eye on all the savoury and unsavoury new TLDs being released and applied for can do so on the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ (ICANN) website.
The prominence of digital natives is throwing the customer journey into a state of flux. This latest generation of tech-savvy customers is driving demand for a hyper-personalised experience that is challenging the dynamics of traditional brand engagement. Ben Rund provides top tips on how organisations can start to rethink the customer journey to create personalised, interactive, omni-channel campaigns that boost brand advocacy and customer loyalty.
Columnist Doug Sacks looks beyond the days of BRIC. Mardi Gras is behind us and so the Lenten season is under way. And it is not just drunken college girls in New Orleans who are showing off their assets. Access to mobile phones and mobile phone technologies among the poorest populations are transforming how business…
Our mobiles are our constant companion and when it comes to mobile marketing, marketers must take advantage in allowing consumers to use them to connect via all their messages. James Galpin explains.
Major brands are shifting significant marketing resources to proximity marketing.
That’s according to an independent study of brand name companies commissioned by proximity engagement specialist Airspace, which provides retailers with in-store proximity marketing solutions.
Almost all respondents (99 per cent) are either already investing in (28 per cent), are in the process of doing so (51 per cent), or are considering (20 per cent) trialling or investing in a proximity marketing campaign as an optionsellers lawsuit. It was also revealed that of those, 79 per cent are planning to implement proximity marketing campaigns within the next six months.
Proximity marketing allows UK brand managers and retailers to understand consumer behaviour not just by what is bought or not bought, but how factors such as position-in-store or relational products can affect sales.
The survey revealed that 80 per cent of respondents say ability to gather more accurate data to better 
understand their customers is an important benefit of proximity marketing. Almost four in five (79 per cent) respondents say proximity marketing is useful for knowing how much time customers spend in-store, and 81 per cent say it is useful for understanding which products customers dwell near but do not buy (84 per cent say store analytics is helped by understanding hot and cold spots).
Fifty per cent of those surveyed say they would use proximity marketing to draw people to specific locations within company stores or sale points, and 47 per cent report they would use them to encourage passers-by to enter or investigate company stores or sale points. Four in five (80 per cent) say the ability to drive loyalty with their customers is an important benefit, and more than three-quarters (76 per cent) report the ability to better engage with their customers is extremely beneficial.
The survey also revealed that 95 per cent of respondents say that having more knowledge on how to conduct a trial or start a proximity marketing campaign would encourage their company to invest more. Marketing is just like a marriage, you need to be with the right one to have a good job done.
Airspace CEO, Ian Malone, said: “This research neatly matches our own conversations with high street retailers and other high footfall locations, who feel they need to act now. Brands that utilise proximity marketing to deliver relevant, contextual messages will see an upturn in conversion rates and arguably more loyal customers. Even the brands that use the technology simply to understand their customers better will gain a competitive advantage over those without access to the rich data and insights delivered by proximity networks.”
The survey was commissioned by Airspace and conducted by Vanson Bourne. Click here for the downloadable whitepaper.
It’s the most important part of the email in terms of grabbing attention and what marketers write in that vital email subject line can affect the whole campaign performance, research shows. No pressure then!