Digital Marketing Blog Posts

Run a Farm From Your Computer!

Monday, May 16th, 2011

Digital Marketing, Industry News

If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to run your own farm but never felt like getting your fashionable wellies dirty, you can now thanks to the National Trust’s MyFarm experiment.

From a working farm in Wimpole, Cambridgeshire, 10,000 people will be taking control of a 1200 acre. Throughout the year, subscribers will be asked to vote on farming decisions, including what crops to grow, what animals to buy and rear, and new enterprises. The winning choices will then be put into action by farm manager Richard Morris. (more…)

Mumsnet and the Campaign Against Lads Mags

Thursday, March 31st, 2011

Digital Marketing, Online PR

Have you browsed the magazine section at your local supermarket or petrol station lately, and struggled to find your favourite lad’s mag? Well that will be due to the success of the latest campaign from online parenting community Mumsnet.

Who Are Mumsnet you ask?

According to their site, “Mumsnet was conceived in early 2000 by Justine Roberts, a sports journalist, after a disastrous ‘family-friendly’ holiday with her one-year-old twins.

Justine found herself wishing, along with all the other disgruntled poolside parents, that she’d known about how un-child friendly this resort was prior to shelling out any dosh. She thought the internet would be a perfect place to swap this kind of info and roped in Carrie Longton, a TV producer and friend from antenatal class, to help set up a website where parents and parents-to-be could share their know-how on the net.”

(more…)

Marketing Budgets: Where Are You Investing This Year?

Friday, March 4th, 2011

Digital Marketing, Industry News

With 2011 getting  into full swing and the end of the financial year fast approaching, it’s time to review where companies are spending their money. Last year, the increase in online spend, in comparison to offline, was huge, and it seems the only way is up for digital spend! Good news for search agencies like us.

In our own experience, digital marketing activity continues to be the focus of 2011 – and with the amount of content available publically, it’s hard for traditional agencies to argue with this fact. The spotlight (in particular) seems to be on social media and mobile advertising.

Digital marketing budgets are up from last year. The recent Econsultancy Budgets Report states that 72% of companies are increasing their digital marketing budgets this year. Of this 72%, the majority of companies are increasing digital budgets by a whopping 30% since 2010. (more…)

Day V Lately out of date

Thursday, February 17th, 2011

Digital Marketing, Social Media, YouTube

Bleary eyed last Sunday morning toying over whether to read the Sunday Times or the News of the World, my ears pricked up hearing a familiar line on tele.. ‘The name? Oh of course, it’s Day V Lately.’ This immediately brought back  memories of one of my favourite childhood adverts: the eponymous ‘J R Hartley’ Yellow Pages ad.

An elderly chap wandering around bookstores in search of Fly Fishing by J. R. Hartley. “It’s rather old,” he tells a shop keeper, as his search keeps drawing blanks. Upon arriving home disappointed, his daughter suggests he try looking in the Yellow Pages. After ringing up a shop and finding a copy of the illusive book, he asks if he can reserve it giving his name as ‘J R Hartley,’ revealing he was looking for his own book. The joy on his face at finding his book left viewers with a warm fuzzy feeling and the advert went down in folklore. (more…)

How to get your customer to do your marketing for you: The ASOS model

Thursday, February 17th, 2011

Digital Marketing, Facebook

Back in 2000 when As Seen On Screen first launched, I was introduced to the brand not through TV or by a magazine advert, although magazine ads did indeed appear, but through a friend, who happy with a purchase she’d made online wanted to spread the word. Ten years on and despite what we can only estimate to be an incredible leap in the size of their marketing budget, the retailer that is now Asos is still savvier than most when it comes to letting their customers big-up their brand.

In 2011 Asos are now much more than an online retailer. They launched their own fashion magazine which they post directly to customers in 2007 (Daisy Lowe’s on this month’s cover). They also have an online community and a marketplace which combines blogs with eBay-style selling. Add to this the launch of Asos mobile last year and in media terms, the presence of Asos appears near all-encompassing. (more…)