Digital's Chief Executive has been a regular commentator in the trade press since the mid nineties. Here are a few recent articles. For a full listing, licenses to reprint, or commissions for your website, magazine or journal simply email the Digital team giving as much detail as possible.
Data & Intelligence | by Danny Meadows-Klue
Michael Jackson's death triggered surges to the web that slowed Google, crashed Twitter and saw millions of tracks downloaded in days. The horrors in Iran drove people online both inside and outside the country, and the single actions of Iranians with cameras and web connections revealed the truth to the world.
The web has given everyone a voice and it's at times like these the scale of change is clearest. We've been tracking the rise of social media for five years and there are more examples here: www.DigitalTrainingAcademy.com/socialmedia.
Meanwhile in the advertising industry the switch to the web remains unfaltering - even though growth appears to be stalling in the US, brands in every country continue switching budgets online because pressured marketers are looking for accountability. This is something we've seen first hand in auditing the effectiveness of brands' marketing spends.
This month we've also included links and comment about the UK's 'Digital Britain' report and the framework for developing our own digital economy.
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Best practice | by Danny Meadows-Klue
In the social space, it's not how loud you shout that counts, but how much we want to listen. Many brands have been asking for advice about Facebook updates and how to talk with fans on Facebook. If you're new to social media marketing then here are a few tips to get you started...
Research | by Danny Meadows-Klue
There is a marked increase in the number of people choosing to consume different media simultaneously, confirming the evolution of media multi-taskers according to new research from the European Interactive Advertising Association released in June 2009. The study highlights how consumers are entering a new phase of communications and commerce online and how dual simultaneous media consumption has become standard consumer behaviour.
Continue reading "Media multi-tasking: a snapshot in changing behaviours of digital consumers" »
Data & Intelligence | by Danny Meadows-Klue
Whatever market your business is working in, understanding your customers is key. It's about getting the right message to them at the right time and the right way.
The growth of internet use in India is attracting the focus of global brands, as well as national firms looking for more effective ways to reach upmarket and professional audiences. As online commerce and internet audiences accelerate, the web is moving to the centre of the retail and information culture in key demographic groups.
To support our clients and partners we've collated together research that provides a snapshot of the online economy in India today, and there is a supporting online resources page.
Developing digital strategies for content, commerce and communications in India demands a strong understanding of the role the web, email and social media play in people's changing media mix. If you find the notes useful then add your comments in the supporting pages.
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by Danny Meadows-Klue
The Direct Marketing Commission is the industry’s self-regulatory authority for keeping up standards in direct marketing and online retailing. Since the group was established in the UK in September 2008 it has been working on the structures needed for more effective protection of consumers.
Useful links for complaints about online marketing in the UK
Continue reading "Complaints about direct marketing: a snapshot of industry regulation in action" »
Digital Insight Report | by Danny Meadows-Klue
Blogs, online communities, social media and then social networks: they have permanently changed online marketing. In this new landscape brands are in a constant dialogue with customers who increasingly play critical roles in advocacy and recommendation. The brand is only one guest among millions and the challenge for marketers is that while the rewards may be great, the risks are greater. The Ten Golden Rules were extracted from analysing the successes and failures of hundreds of social media marketing campaigns, looking for DNA that was shared between the successful and absent in those that failed. The clarity of patterns that emerged removes much of the mystery of social media and helps marketing teams quickly identify the specific risks and potential of the opportunities unfolding around them.
Read more here
by Danny Meadows-Klue
Danny Meadows-Klue shares some of the tips from the Digital Training Academy, showing marketers how to get more value from their marketing budgets and more results online
Continue reading "Online marketing techniques: more results without more budget" »
Data & Intelligence | by Danny Meadows-Klue
Are marketers putting their budgets in the right place? That's the question we're asking after collating May's research tracking the growth in web audiences. The average Brit spends over 22 hrs online each month, and many social groups spend much more.
45% of this time is taken by top 10 sites in the UK, leaving the next 7,600 sites collectively fighting for the remaining audience minutes (excluding the myriad tiny sites deep in the long tail).
The implication? There are massive opportunities for smarter media planning but marketers are easily out of touch with their customers. Look at where a firm's marketing energy is focussed, and there's often disproportionate time and money in classic media, direct mail and below-the-line activity. Our tip: audit the cost-per-customer for each impact in each channel. Not only could you be in for a real surprise, but when marketing budgets are tight that can be your roadmap for where to make the cuts.
For more about auditing the effectiveness of your marketing, email me back, and in the meantime let me know if you'd like any more on this month's research.
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by Danny Meadows-Klue
Here we look at simple techniques marketers can use to harness social media marketing. Best practice examples are included that brands can use in their social media marketing strategies with budgets of any size.
Digital Insight Report | by Danny Meadows-Klue
This snapshot of the Indian market paints the picture of a fragmented economy. There is a fast moving professional class - enjoying broadband access and the latest technology - while at the same time there remain massive infrastructure problems and literacy challenges. So while the overall level of internet use may seem low, it’s important to understand the target consumer and the nature of their behaviour. Upscale demographic groups and professionals are likely to be online, or have access through their family. The media industry is responding and the advertising industry is well prepared for them.
Read more here
Data & Intelligence | by Danny Meadows-Klue
There's a polarizing effect in the digital media and marketing sectors: firms with good business models, strong products and great people are weathering the storm, but those without are seeing sustained revenue falls as customers shift.
Recession is accelerating structural change, forcing brands to find new ways to connect with customers and improve their supply chains and value chains. This is across retail, media and marketing services and is unlocking new disruptive business models. What emerges after the storm has passed will be an advertising and media industry with a fundamentally different structure.
Our review of the last month's research and company announcements confirms this. The vast majority of advertisers are boosting their online spend, while heavily cutting classic media. Social networks continue to leap forward - with Facebook putting on 50m new customers since January to cross the 200m mark - and the race to own the mobile space has never been faster.
Smart digital strategies will be the deciding factor for many, so enjoy this month's research digest and let us know if you need more on any of the trends.
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by Danny Meadows-Klue
Getting social media right is challenging. Many blogs go unread, many forums remain silent and many brand managers waste their time and budget by focusing energy in the wrong direction. Harnessing consumer involvement in product reviews demands understanding the nature of participation and having the right approach to content.
Over the last few months we've been examining expert reviews and enhancing our models for designing the content platforms around them effectively. Expert reviews should be at the heart of content strategies that rely on translating consumer comments into something meaningful for others to review.
There are now social media strategy notes you and a template to provide a framework for getting the right framework in place for expert reviews. Around the expert reviews, simpler participation such as ratings, tag clouds, reviewer ratings and secondary consumer comments can easily be incorporated.
Data & Intelligence | by Danny Meadows-Klue
The switch to online is accelerating as the tough economy forces brands to rethink their marketing. Smart digital strategies are as much about cutting costs and boosting efficiency, as about increasing sales.
In our monthly digest of research and news, we track how Twitter put micro-blogging into the mainstream, and will now monetise all those conversations. Our predictions on the timing of online video going mainstream came true, with 30m Brits now watching video on the web. Social networking and video emerge as the key drivers in boosting the time people spend online - now predicted to average 7 years per person. Our country focus this month is on Germany, Europe's second largest internet commercial market to profile the market.
Firms applying these trends to their digital strategy are navigating the recession. So if your team could benefit from our strategy health checks then email me back. Meanwhile, enjoy the research and if you'd like deeper research in other areas of digital media and marketing then mail us for the details.
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Digital Insight Report | by Danny Meadows-Klue
As part of the digital publishing strategy programme, we share our views on the challenges digital newspapers face today and the solutions they urgently need to adopt. Written in 2009, these include ideas we developed and coached newspapers on during the previous decade. As the ad revenue shortfalls bite and online newspapers fail to get the same audience growth as the internet pureplays, newspaper leadership teams are faced with tough choices. After 15 years in the online publishing sector, Digital’s team share some practical insights with publishing leadership teams.
This Executive Level coaching workshop covers some of the key findings from our management training programmes and is intended to help publishers focus on what matters most in today’s climate. Contact the strategy team at Digital for more.
Best practice | by Danny Meadows-Klue
Pioneers of blogging and live updates, the BBC broadcast network actively encourages submissions from writers in the field. They are defining the new model of realtime news publishing and their massive network of correspondents and media channels has changed audience expectations of broadcasters, both on air and online.
Continue reading "Best practice web publishing: BBC blogs" »
Olympia Conference Hall, London | Monday 9th/Tuesday 10th March: 10:00 - 18:00
Keeping on top of the latest trends in social networking is a constant challenge. No sooner have you started building an application on Facebook than people want to be your fans. Just when that corporate blog is ready for the next update you find half your office are already on Twitter. From MySpace and Bebo, to the pioneers at AOL and Yahoo, social media presents a daunting array of choices for marketers.
Enter the Social Networking World Forum, and a rare chance to see the people you need to under one roof in either London, California or Singapore. They’re high level conference and seminars looks set to deliver some of the latest thinking to brand managers from firms large and small.
Join the Digital Training Academy team by dropping by to meet Claire, Peter and more of the team. And if you miss our Ten Golden Rules, then there are free places for several delegates to the show at our social media marketing breakfast in London on Friday.
Data & Intelligence | by Danny Meadows-Klue
It's social media addiction across Europe. Three quarters of European internet users are now on social media sites and the growth is unstoppable. People are spending increasing amounts of time on them the role of social media and online social networks keeps growing. Facebook is only 5 years old and our take is that this is still the start of the trend: think Google c1999.
We saw it first hand last week when almost 2000 marketers turned up for one of our Digital Training Academy social media events in London - so to help marketers learn more about using social media we've set up some extra coaching sessions in mid-March. We've also updated our 10 Golden Rules for social media marketing.
Enjoy the research, follow the links and mail me back if there are topics you'd like us to research for next month's edition.
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by Danny Meadows-Klue
Social media, social networks, blogs and online communities have permanently changed online marketing. In this new landscape brands are in a constant dialogue with customers who increasingly play critical roles in advocacy and recommendation. The challenge for marketers is that while the rewards may be rich, the risks are greater. Their brand is just one guest among millions, and nobody is in control. These 10 golden rules grew from training brands on social media marketing across the UK, Europe, Asia and Latin America. Consistently the same patterns emerged: the brands that failed followed few of these approaches, the brands that succeeded had most in place.
Continue reading "10 golden rules for getting social media right" »
by Danny Meadows-Klue
2009 is a horrible year for the advertising industry. There’s no avoiding the cycle of falling consumer confidence, falling consumer spending, lower sales, lower profits and low marketing budgets.
Marketing directors need to urgently focus on a new marketing model. The global recession will trigger a long awaited innovation in marketing techniques and media channels, but the innovation will not be universal. Many brands will fail to change, and deciding not to change means deciding to fail. That failure will be brutal but there is another route.
Continue reading "Marketing: tough times, tough decisions, smart solutions" »
Data & Intelligence | by Danny Meadows-Klue
Tough markets demand new strategies. Researching our first monthly review of 2009 confirmed that while internet use continues growing, the advertising and media sectors (in almost every market) are under exceptional pressures. Hardly news, but the patterns emerging are more complex than simply contracting markets: budgets are on the move, and most firms are unprepared.
Broadcasters and print publishers are the worst hit, but all web media groups need to focus on strategies that create the right environment for their advertisers rather than simply doing what they did last year. The latest IPA Bellwether report forecasts the lowest ad revenues in TV and print for years and without the right web products, the online editions of traditional media won't make up any of that shortfall.
Advertisers are cutting spend like never before. Some simply cut all marketing budgets evenly; but smart brands are completely changing their media mix: cutting the fat and finding new strategies that use email and websites at just the right points to build brand and sales. Many digital marketers we've been working with report cuts of 45-65% in their ad budget, but have found ways of losing only 15% of the overall impact. Economic pressures are triggering incredible innovation.
Although consumer spending has contracted, Christmas still saw increasing numbers of shoppers head online in most markets, looking to find the best price. It's all about price in 2009, so firms without strong search and price comparison strategies lost out. Here in the UK, a massive 3.8m of us were googling away on Christmas Day itself, hunting the best deal.
As strategists and trainers we're seeing a fundamental shift in behaviour and corporate strategy on the same scale as we tracked in 2001. The digital retail, media and marketing industry emerging in 2010 will look very different from that of the mid 2000s.
I hope you find the insights and links here useful. And remember that the team here help firms on projects large and small to change their content, commerce and communications strategies.
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Data & Intelligence | by Danny Meadows-Klue
We hope you have enjoyed this year's editions of Digital Intelligence and in this final monthly review we show you how despite tough times on the high street online retail continues to break new records. In China online adspend continues to show extremely strong growth - no real surprise considering the majority of under-25s now spend half their time online. Further news from the broadcasting sector also continues to emphasise how the worlds of television, radio and online continue to converge and blur.
Best wishes for the holiday season from all of us here at Digital.
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by Danny Meadows-Klue
The marketing and media industries have specialist bodies that are responsible for regulation and self regulation in different areas. If you're concerned about something you've seen, then this page helps you find the right organisation to talk to. Here's a simple overview...
Continue reading "How to complain about online content or marketing" »
Data & Intelligence | by Danny Meadows-Klue
Tough times trigger changes in strategy. As growth in the US online ad sector slows to just 11%, Google and MySpace unveil new models for monetising their social media content. In the run up to Christmas retail sales forecasts make depressing reading for high street shops, but online stores confidently plan to poach their consumers - accelerating the restructure in retailing. And as the UK's flagship BBC channels launch online simulcasts, mobile internet use rises steeply; more channel shift is to come.
Follow the links to find out more in this month's round-up, and if you're working on strategy reviews for 2009 then let us know if our specialists can support.
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by Danny Meadows-Klue
Online communities, social networks and social media have created new ways for us to connect, but in a world where you can have 500 friends on Facebook, does our language fail us? ‘Friends’ and ‘acquaintances’ are phrases anchored in a world before the digital networked society.
Data & Intelligence | by Danny Meadows-Klue
Tough markets trigger creative thinking, which means a wave of rebuilds on the way for failing brand sites, weak online media and under performing e-retailers. Collating this month's stories for Digital Intelligence, we're seeing the innovation start. For those getting it right, the prizes are rich: here in the UK, the switch to online shopping continues with the latest research showing that over 11m Brits are shopping on the web at least twice a week.
For many firms it also means a leap into long delayed training of their teams to find smarter uses of precious marketing budgets; getting more value from agencies and online media. The web will prove the deciding factor for many consumer brands and B2B services.
We're wishing our friends and partners a big slice of digital cake in the run up to the biggest e-commerce Christmas so far.
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by Danny Meadows-Klue
It’s hard to think about online publishing without thinking about search. And it’s hard to think about search without thinking about Google. The world’s largest online brand has indexed more than one trillion web addresses, and now presents a suite of tools publishers can incorporate. For publishers new to digital channels, here are a few ways to get started.
Continue reading "Integrating Google into web publications: click revenues for publishers" »
by Danny Meadows-Klue
The web can be a powerful way of supporting television and outdoor advertising campaigns because it offers greater depth and engagement. The tactic of ‘drive to web’ is one of the most common ways the internet is integrated into advertising campaigns. Television commercials, outdoor media and press advertising call out the phrase ‘go online for more’, because brand websites can have limitless depth and richness – a volume of information that would be impossible to fit into those classic channels directly.
Continue reading "Using the web to support TV and classic media" »
Best practice | by Danny Meadows-Klue
This is about a blog for every customer. It’s a transformative marketing strategy that changed the way the retailer connected with its customers, allowing them to write about their passions and travel adventures and then forward them to friend with simple one-click features.
Continue reading "Best practice web publishing: STA Travel becomes a publisher" »
by Danny Meadows-Klue
Internet access in Venezuela is on the rise and during the last three years the connections have become the norm for office workers. At home, the Realty consumers are meeting connected and the era of slow narrowband connections is being replaced by faster broadband connections that, in time, will deliver high quality video programming over the web.
Por Danny Meadows-Klue
El acceso a internet en Venezuela está en el punto más alto, y durante los últimos tres años las conexiones a internet se han convertido en normas para todas las empresas. En casa, los consumidores de Realty se localizan por medio de la red, y la era de la conexión lenta (de banda delgada) ahora dicha conexión ha sido reemplazada por banda ancha, que en poco tiempo, permitirán una mejor calidad de programación de video en la red.
by Danny Meadows-Klue
Publishers can earn significant revenue from Google’s AdSense tools, but simply placing AdSense on the site is only part of the story – getting the search engines to create revenue for publishers means optimising the search marketing placement for best result.
Continue reading "Google AdSense: optimisation tips for web publishers" »
por Danny Meadows-Klue
En las campañas que vemos hoy en día por televisión, el mensaje que se quería dar a conocer era pasajero, lo veías un minuto y al otro desaparecía por completo. El legado que dejaban era el cambio en el comportamiento de los compradores (si es que había alguno), pero los materiales terminaban en alguna bodega, las revistas en algún rincón guardadas y los videos utilizados para grabar otras cosas sobre ellos.
Continue reading "El día de hoy en la red durará por siempre" »
by Danny Meadows-Klue
The promise of behavioural targeting is to create more relevant messaging to consumers, increasing the media efficiency of campaigns, and giving a better deal to advertisers.
The first behavioural advertising technologies were deployed back in 2000, but it wasn’t until 2006 that behavioural targeting really established itself as a mainstream tool in north America and Western Europe.
Continue reading "Does behavioural targeting work for FMCG brands?" »
Data & Intelligence | by Danny Meadows-Klue
With financial markets in turmoil and marketing budgets tightening we're going against the trend by forecasting relatively strong times for online marketing. When marketing budgets need proof, marketers will stick with the internet. Partly it's the accountability of knowing you only pay for banners that get downloaded or search listings that get clicked, partly it's the way that sites fuel the sales teams of most firms, and how even in FMCG their web presence is the gateway to relationship marketing programmes.
We also cover the latest announcements from Amazon and the BBC, as well as research from ComScore which confirms that here in the UK, video on the web has certainly crossed its tipping point: watch next year as video advertising follows.
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by Danny Meadows-Klue
Many web publishers have unsold space and fail to get the most value of it. Danny Meadows-Klue reflects on a few ideas Digital’s team have found that work well for publishers. They are only a start, but are designed to show ways to get more value from online inventory.
Continue reading "How do you make the most value of unsold inventory?" »
Best practice | by Danny Meadows-Klue
The Guardian achieved the stepchange in social media by involving its audiences deeply within the sites. They created mass reach by syndicating content across many social media platforms.
Continue reading "Best practice web publishing: Guardian.co.uk on social media" »
Best practice | by Danny Meadows-Klue
The Guardian is in a unique position among British newspapers, a charitable trust with a share holding structure that historically let its regional newspapers support the national title. But the aim that emerged in the last few years of repositioning as the international liberal voice is a massive leap for the brand and its teams. However, with a focus on the global, an intuitive understanding of social media, and shifts in their rights and workflow process, The Guardian is achieving the rare global expansion of a once national title. Not surprisingly the web is at the heart of this.
Continue reading "Best practice web publishing: Guardian.co.uk globalisation" »
Data & Intelligence | by Danny Meadows-Klue
In this summer's edition we track why rain on the high street accelerated the growth of online retail, how China emerged as the country with the largest internet population, Russia as Europe's fastest growing digital nation, and the BBC iPlayer continued to enjoy success as it crosses tipping points in new markets with new features.
The team here at Digital for years have said 2009 would be the year mobile advertising really takes off, and several new forecasts are aligning with us: we're expecting to see big rises from the acceleration now underway. And if you ever thought you were spending too much time online, then spare a thought for "extreme gamers" who according to new research are clocking up more than 45 hours on the web every week.
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by Danny Meadows-Klue
In the traditional channels of television, press or outdoor, advertising came and went, and the presence of messages evaporated with the end of each campaign. Their legacy was a switch in consumer behaviour or attitude, but except for commercial breaks archived on dusty video cassettes, or full page ads buried in a pile of glossy magazines by the sofa, the physical assets of a campaign were gone without trace.
Data & Intelligence | by Danny Meadows-Klue
While marketing budgets across the board are feeling the pinch the IPA's latest data shows that online remains the only sector experiencing positive growth. In addition, revised forecasts from ZenithOptimedia now expect online to take 10% of this year's global advertising spend.
This month has also seen further evolutions in digital convergence - a trend we have been tracking in Digital Intelligence from the very beginning. Soon both Sony and Microsoft will have video-on-demand services for their various multi-function gaming devices, and both firms are now bringing in content partners to widen their offerings.
As consumers we're now used to the idea of things being connected and able to fulfil many roles - so it was no surprise this month to see that Facebook now takes over 45% of the UK's social networking traffic. Perfect timing then for us to tell you about a little Facebook app we've built to send you our latest news and headlines.
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by Danny Meadows-Klue
Most online advertising can work much harder than it does. Banners can work better at building brands, search engine listings can generate more leads, brand microsites can deliver richer customer connections. The challenge is knowing how to achieve this.
by Danny Meadows-Klue
The web should be your most powerful lead generation tool, but is it doing the job properly? We've worked with thousands of marketers to help them increase the volume of leads they get and decrease the price they pay. Most search advertising, search engine optimisation and web customer acquisition programmes can work much harder - if only you know what to do, or what to ask of your agency. The challenge is knowing how to achieve this.
by Danny Meadows-Klue
The web and email may be some of the most powerful channels marketers have, but sadly most digital budgets are poorly used. Many firms waste a third or more of their digital marketing by failing to get the model for lead generation or consumer connections right. Briefs to their agencies can be weak, the consumer insights underpinning the strategy can be poor, and all to often the execution is far from what it could be.
by Danny Meadows-Klue
Keeping on top of digital marketing and publishing is tough. Most agencies suffer from serious under-staffing, and the wage price inflation for digital skills means they can't afford the talent they need. That's why investing in building the knowledge and skills of their team is the key to maintaining the edge.
by Danny Meadows-Klue
How many websites have been built that no one ever visited? How many banner campaigns that didn't achieve a single increase in sales? How many search listings that were so far down in Google they never got a single click? It's sad to reflect that most digital strategies fail. Since 1994 our directors and associates have been helping firms get digital channels right. Originally they did it as specialists within media firms and brands, and then in 2000 set up this consultancy practice.
Continue reading "Get digital strategies right first time" »
by Danny Meadows-Klue
How do you hire a digital agency? What should you look for? How do you tell the difference between smart use of the latest technology and a technology looking for a solution? How do you know the skills you're offered are the skills you need? Who does the great work and who simply does great pitches?
Data & Intelligence | by Danny Meadows-Klue
The figures are in for 2007, showing that online passed the £3bn threshold last year and now makes up 16% of the UK's ad market. In Europe online adspend grew 40% during the year and is on course to overtake the US by 2010. These trends are only set to continue with some analysts now predicting that online budgets in the UK could overtake TV this year.
The long-running Microsoft-Yahoo! saga has also come to a close with the clearest winner seeming to be... Google. Yahoo's determination to avoid being acquired has strengthened the search giant's position even further. It remains to be seen if and when their new ad deal will be rolled out worldwide.
This month also saw Facebook overtake MySpace with astonishing annual growth of 162%. Facebook is clearly no longer the underdog rebel upstart though at present its users seem to be staying loyal.
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Best practice | by Danny Meadows-Klue
The Wall Street Journal is a longtime online stalwart, with a premium brand and authoritative voice. Their online publishing business models tested the nature of subscriptions and their advertising revenues have included the pioneering of new formats and surround sessions.
Continue reading "Best practice web publishing: The Wall Street Journal - Brand and stature" »
Data & Intelligence | by Danny Meadows-Klue
The latest US online adspend data shows continued strong growth as brands continue to move budgets online. New research is also continuing to identify online's specific strengths and role in cross-media campaigns.
Days away from the launch of Apple's new model iPhone it's no coincidence that this month we have focussed on developments taking place in the mobile phone sector. Recent trends and developments suggest the mobile web is clearly on course to reach its tipping point - mobile-based IM and social networking are set to make us more connected than ever before. No surprise then that key players including Microsoft and Vodafone are jockeying for position to give consumers and advertisers the tools they didn't even know they needed a year ago.
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It takes a long time for newspaper paper stock prices to feel the effects of structural change in media, but when they do it makes for depressing reading. Johnston Press's announcement today about a rights issue to raise £212m is just the latest in a ceaseless flow of profit warnings, revenue reforecast and closures that have become the norm in the magazine and newspaper industry. The thing is that it's not that these businesses are doing anything wrong, it's that the landscape has changed so much that their products lack the relevancy to advertisers and consumers that they once had.
Continue reading "Johnston Press rights issue: it's the business model, not the business" »
Digital Insight Report | by Danny Meadows-Klue
On the web consumers can have their information and entertainment needs met without needing traditional media brands. The business models of publishers and broadcasters acting as market places that bring together audiences and advertisers are challenged. The formula for success online means developing services so strong and compelling they draw in audiences through 'must-have' propositions. This might mean radically rethinking the approach and the content, but for brands that get it right, the pickings are rich. Last year the team here at Digital ran website product development workshops for firms from over 20 countries and these notes share with you some of the framework we've been using since 2000. We love great web content and want to see our friends and partners producing even more.
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Data & Intelligence | by Danny Meadows-Klue
As the e-retail economy forges ahead, this month's summary of new research reports upbeat figures for the US and UK, along with a similar lifts in online advertising in spite of the wider concerns about the ad market.
Opinion polls suggest a gradual change in consumer attitudes towards some of the more advanced forms of targeting, endorsing the strong financial results from leading media owners such as Google and Yahoo, as well as middle tier UK publishers.
There's more on the click-throughs we've added, with deeper commentary in our Digital Insight Reports.
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Education & Training | by Danny Meadows-Klue
Every firm has a website these days, but that's only the start of internet marketing. Why do some websites do almost nothing for their companies and others change the perception of a brand or generate massive numbers of leads? Could you be getting more value from the time and money you've already invested in your site? In this article, Danny Meadows-Klue, chief executive of the Digital Training Academy, share a few tips for simple steps firms can take to get more value and engagement out of their existing web presence.
Continue reading "Seven simple steps for getting more from your website" »
Digital Book Club | by Danny Meadows-Klue
After the marketing hit 'Life after the 30 second spot', confrontational author Joseph Jaffe explores the conversational nature of digital marketing and concludes that with the right attitude and something to say, brands can have a big part to play. There's no automatic right though, and Jaffe explores the problems as well as the successes.
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Digital Insight Report | by Danny Meadows-Klue
When the new data came out about online advertising spend in the UK getting set to overtake television next year, a few people asked me to write up some perspectives on the growth, the drivers, and the nature of change in media. You're probably not surprised by another massive leap in what has become the world's leading online advertising economy, but the trends in search, classified, video and industry sectors are fascinating. Ever larger campaign budgets are switching to the web, and there is an accelerating understanding of the models to apply to web media to get consistently high returns.
Having tracked the online ad economy since the early nineties, I'm confident that whatever happens to the wider marketing sector over the next three years, there will be no dramatic slowdown in online. The highlights are for you here, and there's a short Digital Insight Report at the end of the links. Let me know if it's useful, and if you have a comment you'd like published, then just mail me back.
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The sudden arrival of in-stream video advertising formats presents new challenges for commercial directors, ad operations teams and media planners. Minor variations in the way video advertising messages are delivered can have a disproportionate impact on the effectiveness of the commercials and the quality of the campaign. These best practice tips for video advertising reflect techniques that have proven to be effective for both media planners and online publishers in getting more value from the media space and creative assets.
Data & Intelligence | by Danny Meadows-Klue
The outlook for digital advertising growth remains strong with new research putting online at 10% of all adspend in the US, and here the UK market topping £5bn by 2012 - that's on top of our own forecasts that now put UK online adspend ahead of TV by the end of next year.
We said that 2009 would be the year mobile advertising accelerates, and new forecasts are already sizing that sector at $4.8bn within five years. Also in our round-up of the last month's research and announcements, we look at MySpace entering the downloads market, how Brits are tuning into TV on the web (even though 22m homes now have digital TV), and the OpenSocial initiative.
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Data & Intelligence | by Danny Meadows-Klue
In 2008 British companies and customers will buy Polish products and services worth 25 bln PLN. Polish export to Great Britain is growing 15-20% a year. To read more go to 'Rzeczpospolita' article (in Polish)
Digital Insight Report | by Danny Meadows-Klue
The skills crisis in digital industry is not getting better.
We've been running training in more than twenty countries as well as the UK and we're seeing the same patterns of rapid growth in the industry leaving most companies uncomfortably over-stretched.
Without enough of the right people in place firms are placing at risk their online marketing, content and in many cases the whole strategy. It concerned us enough to write up one of our short reports, and for us to include some of the best practice approaches we have seen in structuring digital teams effectively. When a brand extends onto the web they become a publisher whether or not they have a traditional history of content development, and with the massive expansion of web content, these skills are in high demand.
The crisis is holding back the whole industry in most countries, and I thought you might find the notes useful. If you have comments then let me know, and if you are looking for quick training to boost the skills of some of your own team then we've included links to a couple of the 40 courses we developed below.
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Strategy & Training | by Danny Meadows-Klue
The world of marketing has changed and suddenly brands are having to face up to the reality that not every customer wants to be interrupted by the messages they have. Like an annoying pop-up, even if television, radio and print advertising is hitting the right person, when the messaging is not requested by the user, the effects can be neutral. But if advertising engages with its audiences, then inviting them to take part, then there can have a dramatic effect in the efficiency of the message and the delivery of response. Here are three examples Digital’s team have been tracking:
Nike Run London (Nike) – How the leading sports brand created a massive ‘idea’ that had customers talking and interacting face to face, on the web and accross all media.
Tea Partay (Diageo) – How a leading drinks brand gives its product the edge, gets customers talking, and still enjoys audiences over a year later.
Snowblog (Snowbooks) – How marketing on a shoestring budget can still engage audiences and win the publisher awards.
Education & Training | by Danny Meadows-Klue
Getting to grips with how online advertising works, and the scale of benefit expected from a campaign can be a real challenge to those new to the web. That’s why we developed a simple way of describing the steps in the online advertising sales conversion process. Here you can read through the thinking and download some of the simple notes that are used in the Digital Media Planning Academy to introduce marketers new to digital channels to the models and concepts at the heart of successful online advertising.
Best practice | by Danny Meadows-Klue
The Associated titles were some of the first to launch online in the UK, but the early model of on screen editions of local newspaper titles proved limited. What emerged alongside was a powerful portfolio of regional portals and one of the most diverse ranges of niche classified websites of any news media publisher. As advertising budgets migrated online DMGT was busy building the platforms it would migrate into.
Continue reading "Best practice web publishing: DMGT Group (UK) - Classified verticals" »
Education & Training | by Danny Meadows-Klue
If you’re McDonalds and selling breakfast products, when do you want to advertise? If you’re a coffee chain with an afternoon coffee shop promotion then when could trigger the purchase? If you’re a film company releasing a new blockbuster, when are people most receptive? Broadcast media has always been strong in using the times of day to talk to customers when they are most receptive, but why have web marketers missed the trick? And how can media owners and planners reap the rewards to improve the effectiveness of how they work?
Data & Intelligence | by Danny Meadows-Klue
The acquisition frenzy continues this month with some of the world's biggest internet brands still in battle for taking over each other (and still finding time to buy more smaller internet companies along the way).
The economies of scale mean a service like email or photo-sharing once developed can be rolled out worldwide at very low cost, economics that pressure online services that are only national and trigger the race for growth.
At Digital we said that 2008 was the year television programming would hit the web, and here in the UK the BBC's iPlayer is making headlines with 2.2m people a month watching TV through the player. MySpace has launched video advertising (pre-roll and post-roll formats), helping create a framework for brands to reach video watchers, and with Joost and the IPTV pureplays growing fast, this year is the crossing point for television programming on the web.
For mobile telephony the middle of the year will a big crossing point as the volume of calls made on mobile networks overtakes those on fixed networks according to the latest predictions.
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Education & Training | by Danny Meadows-Klue
From the moment email went mainstream it was clear the internet would accelerate social networks and create a new type of weak, permanent connection between people. The explosion of social media has released completely new forms of community and enabled a new era of participatory marketing. But that doesn't entitle every brand to create its own. Unless there is passion and cohesion among participants, nurturing your own community can be a false promise and dead end. We've been teaching brands across Europe about social media and in spite of our enthusiasm for community, sometimes it's more effective to simply fish where the fish are rather than trying to build the pond. Bandwagons are seductive, but no substitute for strategy.
This short comment first appeared in The Marketing Society forum
Education & Training | by Danny Meadows-Klue
Selling online advertising is harder than selling print. While the Google interface may have made search listings easy enough for anyone to buy off the screen, selling brand building graphical ‘display’ space is tough because it opens up so many questions, often at a time when there just isn’t the knowledge inside the client team or the sales force.
Think of the options in print: whole page, half page, quarter page, strip. Maybe a cover-mount? Maybe a direct mailing piece? Maybe two or three editions? The choices are finite, and also familiar. It’s the familiarity to both buyer and seller that makes the sales conversation fluid and focussed.
Internet publishing coach Danny Meadows-Klue reflects on the second digital congress of FIPP and concludes that while the talk in Berlin is about strategy, getting the right people in place should be the priority. The skills crisis is everywhere and that’s the underlying reason so many classic media brands are haemorrhaging audience and advertiser market share on the web.
Download the notes that accompany this article
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Continue reading "Solving the digital publishing skills crisis with training" »
Education & Training | by Danny Meadows-Klue
As a web publisher, how do you deal with conversations between viewers that descend into a flame war? How do you maintain a thread of comments that are on topic? How do you build credibility in the debates on your site without censoring everything that's written? How do you avoid the legal risk of libel when you are the publisher but your readers are the author? Social media tools are great ways to engage audiences and boost page traffic, but moderation needs to be taken into account from the very start.
Education & Training | by Danny Meadows-Klue
The Digital Training Academy joined the IVCA’s Essential Communications conference this year and found many firms missing big opportunities on the web. Here, their chief executive Danny Meadows-Klue explains a few simple steps firms can take to get more value and engagement out of their Corporate Responsibility programmes.
Danny Meadows-Klue
Everyone knows the internet has changed the communications mix, but why do most firms fail to do anything more than build static web pages and simple corporate brochures? Digital channels hold the keys to powerful relationship marketing that can transform engagement, boost brands and build trust. When Digital’s training team were invited to share their thoughts at Essential Communications 2008, it was clear that most firms were missing some easy tricks in getting their websites to amplify corporate responsibility messaging. Having trained digital marketers for more than a decade, there are plenty of lessons relevant in the Digital Content Academy, and here are some tips any business can look at applying straight away. They are only intended to be a starting point, but are a sure fire way to help amplify marketing messages by building engagement with the right stakeholders on their terms.
Continue reading "Seven steps for getting more from your website " »
Data & Intelligence | by Danny Meadows-Klue
Another exceptional month in a decade of exceptional months: latest financial reports from Google reveal that the UK operation smashed the $2.5bn barrier (£1.3bn) for the first time, accounting for 15% of total worldwide revenues. Business in the UK is up almost 60% year-on-year in turnover (58%), with the pay-per-click activity accounting for the vast majority of all the firm’s revenues.
Digital Insight Report | by Danny Meadows-Klue
Back in 2004 we set up the Digital Media Sales Academy to help portals, magazines and newspapers make a stronger and clearer case for the role of online advertising.
Since then we've taught it teams from over 20 countries and developed advanced strands for sales directors as well as orientations for newcomers.
We're sharing some of the recent course companion notes because they give a sense of the challenges marketers have with online media and reflects what they're missing. These are highlights of some of the questions asked during the last few months, and if you have questions, then we're taking the passwords off the online classroom so you can add yours here.
If you or your colleagues are looking for training this year in online sales, online ad operations, the marketing of online sites, or web media strategy, then why not see if we can help. With some of the world's leading media brands among the existing academy graduates you'll be in good company.
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Newspaper and magazine sites in Spain and the UK get a massive boost of traffic from foreign audiences. It’s been one of the driving forces since the start of online news publishing and the overseas contingent can easily top 50%. ComScore data at the start of 2008 suggested that among the UK media properties The Mail gets 69 percent of visitors from overseas, BBC 59 percent, Telegraph.co.uk 57 percent, Guardian 56 percent and Times 55 percent. The same models and issues are true for the Spanish speaking sites, with media properties from Spain enjoying disproportionate traffic from Latin America. Many media groups miss these dynamics because in print and broadcast, the model has traditionally been about producing and distributing locally. However, with increased globalisation of media savvy directors at the BBC and The Guardian are now actively targeting overseas audiences with special editions, services and content. Look out for the www.guardianamerica.com site launching in early 2008.
Digital Insight Report | by Danny Meadows-Klue
Online marketing presents a richer choice of media formats, targeting and messaging than any other media channel. Harnessing this potential involves building on the principles of traditional media planning and using new toolkits, and matching the right formats and sites with the right media properties - all in a market that offers a daunting array of options. There are new metrics to track that transform accountability, and new models for trading media space. This Digital Insight Report introduces some of the trends, frameworks and viewpoints that describe online media planning today to help planners new to digital channels get up to speed quickly.
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Today was a great day for Croatian internet marketers. 250 of the most digitally savvy gathered for the region’s largest internet congress, to see examples of best practice, the models that work, and get a download of the latest training in digital marketing.
Online ad spend in Croatia (net, EUR). Source: Httpool / Gemius
Continue reading "Croatia: a market mobilising for digital " »