Pelt something at us - go on!

Ever fancied throwing something at one of the Turn Key team? Now you can with our highly addictive Christmassy game.

Go on – it’s all in the name of goodwill!

Remember we can create simple games like this very quickly so if you’d like to do something for your business this festive season – get in touch today!

www.myspace.com/marchofdimesleeds

strategic marketing

We work in an industry where clients often find it hard to see the value in what it is we really offer them. Whether they see marketing as a necessary evil or try to cut costs at every corner, we are fighting a constant battle to get our work valued appropriately. Projects are understood, and often billed, in terms of design and development hours meaning no value is placed on the strategic thinking, idea generation or account management. However this is the bit that really matters and what, really, our clients are paying us for: our experience, knowledge and ability to channel that in to cohesive marketing materials for their business. It is the difference in, say, representing yourself in court as opposed to hiring a top-class lawyer. However when the client only ‘sees’ the value in the end product, some serious work needs to be done in opening their eyes.

Saying that, sometimes this lack of understanding is our own fault as we lay all our cards on the table too soon. Clients will often expect everything to be delivered at pitch stage in a bid to win their business and (always with the eye on the prize) we will deliver that. Weeks and weeks of work can go into research, planning and concept development before an idea is fully formed but the meter only starts running once the designer puts a pen to paper or mouse to screen (and often first draft designs are requested before that can even commence!) However how can you then charge for something you have given away for free?

There is a balance to be had of course. Unless you are one of the big agencies and can use a number of high-profile pieces of work to get your ‘foot in the door’ you have to show a degree of effort when trying to win business as, if you don’t, the competition surely will. The key, I think, is showcasing to the client, from the offset, where your true value lies. Previous creative can show them you have the design ability, web examples can be rolled out to prove your development-worth but the carrot that needs to be dangled is your combined ability as a group of marketeers to deliver intelligent marketing through strategic insight. If you show you understand their business, their objectives and their plan, the ‘end deliverables’ can and will follow much more successfully.

The UK cut flower market is worth more than £2 billion a year. It’s very big business and, for Interflora, it is their business. They are one of the most recognised companies in the world and they have spent millions cultivating their brand. So it’s understandable that they would be more than a little unhappy if Marks & Spencer are using their name as one of their own keywords to boost their ads ranking.

But this is nothing new. Piggy-backing on a competitor’s brand and reputation has gone on for centuries. It’s why Italian restaurants are next door to each other, why cars all look the same and why we have Pepsi and Coke! The difference, in this instance, is that one company has used the trademarked name of another company for their own purpose. Would it be allowed on a TV commercial or print ad and why should it be allowed on a search engine? Or is it just the same as placing an advert on a billboard on the opposite side of the road to a competitor? Companies have always fought to get themselves in front of their customers and Google is just another way of doing that – it’s the newest form of advertising.

So we await the Judge’s verdict with interest in what could be a landmark decision for Search Engine Advertising which could affect thousands of existing Google advertisements. But, as always in these cases, by taking legal action against M&S Interflora have given their competitor even more publicity.

When the Times began charging for its website they lost almost 90% of their online readership*. From a healthy audience of approx 150,000 only 15,000 decided to stay and pay the £2 per week subscription fee. That would only equate to £1.4m a year. Will they make enough money to make the pay-model viable? What we do know is that most advertisers wouldn’t be too impressed with just 15,000 subscribers.

It would be a challenge for the Times to command the same rates as they did when they had 10 times the visitors but what they do have is a loyal following of a certain demographic – a fact that will be even more appealing to more exclusive advertisers. So it could be a winning model…

The ‘paywall experiment’ is on-going and it’s one that everyone should keep a close eye on because. if it is a success. it could mean more providers charging for their content which is a world away from the original principles of the internet – collaborative, co-operative and free.

*Figures from the Guardian 20/7/10

Dan Frydman and Inigo Media recently started an online petition which attracted over 6,000 signatures. It called for the government to upgrade from IE6 because of its inherent faults and problems, whether they be security concerns or issues surrounding browser-orientated web and software development. Also there’s the fact that other EU countries are starting to ditch IE6 and are looking for more modern alternatives (a little bit of healthy rivalry normally enough to get the men in power moving).

But no! Alas the petition went to waste and the government responded with the short-sighted response of “upgrading existing systems can be a very large operation, taking weeks to test and roll out to all users”.

They are right of course. Updating the internal workings of a large organisation, especially one like the government, will take hard work, consideration and potentially more than a few weeks to implement. Anyone who has even sniffed at IT infrastructure will know that software roll-out is no fool’s errand and needs to be planned and properly thought out. But what are they choosing as an alternative?

• Being stuck in 2000 which, when you consider the rate digital moves, is the equivalent of travelling to work by horse and carriage
• Risking the security of what must be some of the most sensitive accounts in the UK
• Using a piece of software that even the developer of  will soon not support
• Leaving a job that needs to be done even longer (meaning that when they do, inevitably, have to upgrade, the job will be harder and take longer)
• Allowing their staff to use online tools that are old and antiquated meaning they do not have the on-job ability to use and view the web as it is supposed to be

Burying your head in the proverbial sand will undoubtedly lead to more issues and work hours later. But hey ho, at least that’s ones less job for them to worry about.

Perhaps Clegg is pro-change?

To celebrate our 10 years of achievement, we are soon to be launching a brand new proposition and website – something we are all incredibly proud of here. It’s taken a lot of consideration, thought and collaboration and now it’s almost ready to show the world. However, before the grand unveiling, I thought it would be nice to ask the team what their favourite moments of the last 10 years were and below are some of the responses (names have been withheld to protect the not-so innocent…)

“Back in the early days of Turn Key we used to constantly play practical jokes on one another – from fake dog poo on a car bonnet, to bangers hid under the phone that exploded when you picked up the receiver – there was always something silly happening in the office. The best gag was probably when we got Nik to call a chap called Mr Lyon about a new brochure…. and gave him the number to London Zoo.”

“When Darren fixed the toilet ‘cos the flush was broke. He strolled out and when asked  “is it fixed?”, he replied “ yep, I’m like Fonzy me “. There was a lot of laugher and from then on in he’s been known as Bog Fonz!”

“Clawism #5:  How do you get into knife throwing?”

“Nik walking down the spiral staircase with flies undone.”

“It’s got to be picking up those 5 big fat RAR awards on behalf of TK …..and winning Midori!”

“Setting off the fire alarm at my first company meeting. Two hours later it was still going strong. What a way to make an entrance!”

“The TKTV session!”

“The Alton Towers trip!”

“The day Phill told me he used to hate me when I first started, but he now thought I was ‘alright’”

“Christian’s initiation drinks and the aftermath. Classic.”

“Moving into our city centre offices”

“Winning the Bridgewater Place account which put us on the property map!”

“Nik doing his speech with his fly down”

TK TV

For businesses it offers an efficient and potentially lucrative means of communicating with customers but in the haste to access the millions of members it’s easy to get it wrong.

Habitat was a case in point last year, when they entrusted an over-eager intern to administer their Facebook group. Keen to drive traffic and increase members popular search terms like “Iraq war” and “iPhone launch” were hijacked and they offended almost as many people as they attracted. The retailer was forced to apologise and they suspended their account for three months. When they re-launched in September they opened with a post that read “This time we want to get it right – tell us what you want to hear from us.”

What can be learnt from the Habitat episode is that it’s not always about the numbers as by having a single objective (to generate traffic) they forgot to look at the bigger picture.
Why do they want to increase traffic and what do they want their visitors to do when they land on their Facebook page?

Attracting people to a group by cynically using keywords is nothing short of false advertising and we all know how consumers feel about that. Companies need to have a strategy for Social Media that is in line with the overall plan for their business and which enhances their proposition.

Habitat got it right when they re-launched on Facebook – they asked visitors to tell them what they wanted to hear from them! Never forget that Social Media is just that – social. It gives businesses a fantastic opportunity to consult their customers and get their insight. Your followers can become a focus group to help identify new target markets, position your brand, develop your offering and ultimately improve sales and results.

Customers like to be heard and when companies listen they can draw customers closer to them, creating advocates who can really sell their brand.

A website without directions to it is less noticeable than a needle in a haystack – it’s Jordan at the Playboy mansion.

This is why you must use all your marketing communication tools to drive users to your new site meaning a planned launch both on and offline  – whether this is pushing a URL on printed materials, a launch PR strategy, utilising the search engines or planting a video on YouTube.

However, the method of this delivery is unique to every business and this seems to be another message that gets lost in all the excitement over new, especially online, marketing tools (Twitter fans take note). It is doubtful a bubbly teenage girl will appreciate a piece of ePR on the Guardian’s message boards, in the same way an 80-year-old will be uninterested in following the ramblings of TeddyFunLove on Twitter. Therefore the method for delivering your website should be as unique as your business.

However, regardless of method, it is impossible to have web success if you miss the vital communication part of the marketing process (and take note – any apparently ‘accidental’ successes big chains and corporations claim will have nearly always been carefully choreographed and planned).

The key here is don’t just build it – make it happen!

blackberry messenger

Blackberry phones have had a tough time recently. They have had to cope with the launch of a new iPhone and the steady influx of Android devices eating into their share of the Smartphone market. But there is one enduring feature a Blackberry has that still sets it apart from its challengers – BBM. Blackberry’s instant messaging service, a system that allows Blackberry users to send and receive instant messages for free and more securely through Blackberry’s heavily encrypted system. The ability to communicate with BBM in real time has many commercial and social advantages. It’s this facility, coupled with its instant email capabilities, that have made the Blackberry the mobile of choice for business leaders and politicians. Everyone knows the benefits of knowing about it first!

But this messaging feature is under threat because some say that in the wrong hands this ability could be a danger to the public and pose a threat to national security. The Governments of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and India are calling for a ban on some Blackberry functions because they are not able to track the messages and data that pass through them. Unlike many similar devices, data from a Blackberry travels through a company’s own server – which makes it virtually impossible for data to be intercepted. For the user this is a security feature but for some countries this is a security risk. There is an ongoing debate on how to balance individual freedoms with national security and with some governments the motivation for banning these functions may have more to do with maintaining social control than identifying a terrorist threat, but their concern is still valid.

Research In Motion, the company that makes Blackberry’s are under more pressure than ever to comply with requests to open up their systems for monitoring by government agencies. There is no suggestion of a ban in the UK or Europe and you could speculate that was because they already know how to monitor traffic from a Blackberry.

In what is an increasingly crowded marketplace, where Blackberry is fighting to hold their position, the price of maintaining such a high level of privacy may have already been to high a price to pay.