#MarketingTitbits – ‘Line’ the next big messaging App, Google launch marketing course & 10 bizarre businesses

1. Messaging app ‘Line’ takes on WhatsApp & Viber with 200million + usersIf you want to make free phone calls and send free messages to your friends then Line could be the app for you. What makes Line different from the plethora of other communication apps out there is its ability to allow users to send free unique stickers and emoticons.

Since Line launched two years ago it now has in excess of 200million users and is the most downloaded app in over 40 countries, putting it alongside WhatsApp and Viber. Line’s success with stickers has prompted the likes of Facebook and Path to add similar functions to their services.

If you want to know more about the next big thing – Line, then click here.

2. Do a course in Google marketing for £1000

Google has announced that it will launch an internet course to help people to get into the marketing and advertising industries. The course, which is based at the Squared office on Tottenham Court Road, has already been trialled in the ‘real world’ in the form of 6 week full time courses with graduate workers from London’s marketing and advertising agencies.

As of August 22nd the course will be available online so that anyone can access it from home.

If you are interested in Google’s new course and want to learn more then click here.

3. 10 bizarre businesses that you didn’t know existed

You probably never knew any of these strange businesses existed. But all over the world people are finding weird and wonderful ways to meet the needs of their clients and make some money while they’re at it. Perhaps it’s the tough economic climate that inspired these entrepreneurs to do what they love and perhaps their weird business ideas will inspire you to do something you love – no matter how obscure it is!

Who would have thought there was a demand for cheese sculpting?

10 Bizarre Businesses.

 

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#MarketingTitbits – how top retailers are using Pinterest, before they were famous & subliminal messaging in logos

1. A year on, how do the top 10 UK retailers use Pinterest?
Since its launch in 2010, Pinterest has become the third largest social networking site behind Facebook and Twitter with 11million visits a week. The majority of its users are female and the most popular topics on Pinterest are interior design and cookery.

Despite this, it is not only housewives that use Pinterest; it is becoming increasingly popular amongst brands as well. Companies can promote new products and increase brand awareness by pinning photos that inspire them and are likely to inspire others as well.

We think Pinterest can be as beneficial to you as it can be to the likes of Marks & Spencer and Debenhams, but if you have no idea where to start then have a look at how the top 10 UK retailers use Pinterest.

Click here

2. Ads made by film directors before they were famous

Some film directors start out on the production side of films, as lighting technicians and production assistants. However, sometimes they get in to the film industry by taking director roles for things such as television adverts and music videos – they don’t just jump into the best jobs without doing the less glamorous ones first.

This week, we saw a great article which rounds up 6 great adverts directors made before they were famous. To have a look at them, click here.

3. Subliminal messages in 15 popular logos

Subliminal messages affect the unconscious mind. They come in the form of images being flashed quickly across our field of vision so that we don’t consciously take note of them, audio messages that are masked by other sounds and images hidden inside another image or logo.

From Coca-Cola to Amazon, logos that we see every day contain subliminal messages! Have a look at this article which highlights 15 of them.

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Are you getting on the Royal Baby bandwagon?

With the arrival of the Royal Baby, Britons everywhere have suddenly busted out there patriotic fervour, last seen this time last year for the Olympics, to mark the occasion. Keen not to miss a trick, the country’s marketers have greeted the birth of the future king with a seemingly endless stream of tenuously related promotional offers to ‘celebrate’ the momentous event. Pizza Hut have offered a free side or dessert with any large pizza, ASK Italian Restaurant have offered a free glass of Prosecco to toast to the new baby boy and American Apparel have offered customers 15% off all purchases online and in store. These are just the tip of the iceberg.
Not only have we been receiving a flood of Royal Baby related emails, but we have been bombarded with a raft of Royal Baby themed advertising campaigns, to have a look at some of the best and the worst click on the links below.


Starbucks

starbucks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chilli’s Bar and Grill

chillis-bar-and-grill

Coke

coke

Oreo

oreo

Oasis

oasis

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Charmin

charmin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Air New Zealand

air-new-zealand

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magnum

magnum

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Play Doh

play-doh

Aston Villa

aston-villa

Marks & Spencer

mands

 

Carling

carling2


Google and Adobe have even set up online cards for everyone to sign with congratulations to Will and Kate on the Royal Baby.

On the other hand, for those staunch republicans out there, don’t miss The Guardian’s “Republican” button on their website, which blocks all news and stories about the Royal Baby. Something similar was introduced around the time of William and Kate’s wedding and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee; however, we highly doubt they’re going to be able to hide from the flood of offers, advertising and emails streaming into their inboxes.

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#MarketingTitbits – Coca-Cola advert banned, must-follow twitter accounts for entrepreneurs and digital marketing campaigns from McDonald’s!

Coca-Cola advert banned for misleading exercise claimsThe Advertising Standards Authority has clamped down on Coca-Cola this week. Their advertising campaign that shows a can of coke to have 139 calories and all the things you can do to burn these calories off has been banned. Allegedly this advert has led consumers to believe that they can burn off 139 calories by laughing for 75 seconds.

Coca-Cola has come back to the ASA by pointing out that only 10 people out of the 39 million people that saw the advert contacted the advertising watchdog.

To check out the advert and the full article, click here.

5 must follow Twitter accounts for entrepreneur

Twitter is great at connecting us mere mortals with celebrities, politicians and thought leaders, but with everyone and there dog on the social media platform, finding who to follow for relevant and interesting Tweets can be challenging. As an entrepreneur, twitter can be a great source for advice and tips from the people who have already been there, done it and done it well. Have a look at these 5 must-follow twitter accounts for entrepreneurs, from Richard Branson to Tim Ferriss.

http://mashable.com/2013/07/12/twitter-for-entrepreneurs/

10 brilliant digital marketing campaigns from McDonalds

McDonalds is the largest food chain in the world and is no stranger to digital marketing. In fact, over the last couple of years the marketing gurus at McDonalds have come up with some very clever digital marketing campaigns. From the “Ask McDonalds” YouTube campaign, where over 20,000 questions were answered, including “Why does your food look different in the advertising than what is in store?” and “Is your beef actually 100% pure beef or is that the name of a company?”, to the McDonalds Iced Fruit Smoothie App.

To check out these and everything in between, click here.

 

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SEO: Video makes a difference

seo-image-final!Last month, we provided you with a series of top tips to help you improve the visibility of your website, by uploading regular, quality content.  To help you make the most of your website, the second part of our ‘demystifying SEO’ blog delves into the world of video and viral marketing.
If executed correctly, video content can be extremely beneficial when trying to improve your organisation’s position online.  The average internet user views 32.2 videos a month and it’s been shown that videos can increase the number of website visits by 55%. It has also been predicted that by 2014, 90% of website traffic will be video. With numbers that significant, what business would argue against the incredible opportunity video can offer your organisation?

In order to use video to boost your online presence, it is important to consider the following points.

1.  Outline your SEO goals, strategy and content:

With SEO and video, it’s important to first establish what you want to achieve. Do you want to increase your social presence? Generate lots of views on YouTube, or perhaps create more tailored traffic to your website? Designing and making the video is the simple part, but companies often fail when it comes to defining goals and putting an online strategy in place. Goals can include:

  • Improving website traffic as a whole or for specific pages
  • Generating social shares and creating a viral campaign
  • Increase sales from your website
  • Building your brand awareness online

In addition to this, you will need to decide what type of video you want to produce. Over 80% of the videos that list in Google’s search results are informational. Pushy sales videos do not tend to rank as well within Google, so it is important that you produce content that appeals to your target market and adds value.  Video content can include.

  • Client testimonials
  • Introducing your organisation and team
  • Product demonstrations
  • Top industry tips
  • Fun viral video about your organisation

2.  Include a title and description within your videos:

Search engines look at the information you have provided about the video and compare it with the context of the page that the video is on. If the page title and the video title match up, there is more of a chance that you will get a higher ranking on Google.  It is also very important to make your video’s title specific; you are much more likely to rank higher when the keyword is not too general.

3.  Take into account the length of your video – less is more

Most people would rather spend two minutes watching an interesting video than spend ten minutes reading an article. Statistics show that people tend to engage with online videos for 2.5 minutes on average, so when making your video, try not to make it too long in order to keep you audience interested.

4.  Duplicate your video across several platforms.

To reap the SEO benefits associated with video, you will need to include your content on several different platforms. There are numerous outlets for you to take advantage of, the most important being YouTube.  Having recently celebrated their 8th birthday, YouTube is now one of the most viewed websites in the world, generating billions of hits. Once you have created a YouTube channel, you can then embed the video on to your website and include it on social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn to increase the exposure and linking potential.

5.  Create a Video Sitemap

Once you have included the video on your website, you will need to create a Video Sitemap. Currently search engines can’t look at what is in the video, so the Video Sitemap tells the search engine everything it needs to know about the content, for example, the title, description and duration.

6.  Measure the success of your video with Google Analytics:

Like any other marketing activity, you will need to measure your results.  Free tools such as Google Analytics will help you establish if your video content has increased the level of traffic to your website.  You could produce a couple of different videos and compare the results, this will determine the type of content that your audience responds the best to.

Even though video isn’t new to the web, many businesses fail to make the best use of tools that will take their video and SEO results to the next level. If you are going to invest time and money in boosting your SEO, start considering video in your marketing mix.

Not only is video a great way to share your story, it’s also  an effective way to build links back to your site and if you target your audience in an exciting, unique way, maybe your video will even go viral. This is where the major search engine optimisation benefit comes into play.

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CamKids Newsletter Summer 2013

cam-kidsThis week, we received the summer 2013 newsletter from the charity that we support, CamKids. CamKids main aim is to support children in Cambodia whose parents are either too poor or for another reason, unable to support them.
CamKids have had a busy start to the year with lots going on. They have two new teachers at the school and a new vegetable patch has been built. Additionally, two wells have been drilled and two septic tanks installed. Toys, library books, school uniform and footwear have been given to the children, all the things that we take for granted.

To find out about everything that has been going on with CamKids over the last few months and to see the newsletter in full, please click here.

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#MarketingTitbits – Top apps for the 1%, will Google Glass be good for ecommerce and Rory McIlroy vs. a robot golf match!

Top apps for the 1%
As an app designer, competing with the likes of Google and Facebook is a hard job, unless you are very smart about it. There is a lot of pre-existing competition for mainstream apps that target mass audiences.

Because of this, app designers have started coming up with apps for niche audiences, for example Wattpad, an app designed for aspiring novelists to share their work in a tailored way that is better than an everyday blog.

Along with this, there has been a rise in the apps for the 1%, which the majority of us can admire but unfortunately cannot afford either to buy, or to use. The “I Am Rich” app which cost $999.99 was merely an icon that reminds you that you were able to afford it, a work of art with no hidden purpose. Make of it what you will, but it was taken down from the App Store by Apple a few days later, with ‘only’ 8 copies ever being sold.

Despite this, there are many apps that target the 1%, which are fully functional and do serve a purpose. If you fancy a spot of window shopping then check out the apps below!

BlackJet
The on-demand private jet service.

Inspirato
The luxury destination travel app.

Onefinestay
An app for rich people who are bored of going on holiday and want to swap mansions instead.

Boatbound
A boat borrowing program for the elite.

Tiffany & Co. Engagement Ring Finder
This one is fairly self-explanatory.

VIP Black
Kind of like Groupon, except it costs you $1,000 a month

 

Will Google glass be good for ecommerce?

If you haven’t yet heard about Google Glass yet, then now is about time. It is basically a computer that is worn like a pair of glasses. It can be used to check directions, to capture photos and videos, send messages and answer questions that you would usually type into Google.

From a commercial perspective, people have pondered whether Google Glass will be good for e-commerce? We found a great article which evaluates this. To have a look click here.

 

The best robot vs. Rory McIlroy golf contest you will ever see

This week, we found a great viral-friendly video created to promote the PGA tour. In it, Rory McIlroy embarks on a golf contest against a robot. As well as being very good at golf, Jeff the robot is also a trash-talking, joyously mean-spirited robot.

Watch the video below

click here

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Who Will Village – Biannual Update

Biannual Update July 2013This month we received the biannual report from the Who Will Village in Cambodia. Here we sponsor a little girl called Sreylim through ‘CamKids’, The Cambodian Children’s Charity. The Who Will Village work very hard all year round to improve the education, medical conditions and life in general for the children that live there.
The newsletter highlights all the changes that have been made at the village over the last 6 months, including de-worming and de-headlicing programmes, the appointment of a new village manager and the building of a brand new school computer room. It is clear to see that the village is moving forward day-by-day.

As well as developing the children’s school, they celebrated International Children’s Day with games, face painting, t-shirt painting, balloon sculpture, manicures, pedicures and football.

To read more about life in the Who Will village, please click here.

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#MarketingTitbits – Looking to brush up on your technical skills? Great apps everyone is talking about right now and books on marketing!

Looking to brush up on your Photoshop skills?
If you’d like to develop your creative and technical skills in a cost-effective way, then take a look at this great website with over 1,900 video courses in a range of topics from design and photography to Adobe and Microsoft. They even let you trial it for free for 7 days to see how you get on.

It has some nice features, like unlimited access to all the courses available and the list keeps growing. It accommodates all levels of expertise, from beginner to expert. You can share courses with your friends or colleagues and perhaps most useful of all, you can access the videos on a computer, tablet or mobile device and switch between them for your convenience.

Good luck!

http://www.lynda.com/

 

Apps everyone is talking about right now

It seems there is an app for everything right now and with the app market valued earlier this year by the Wall Street Journal at $25 billion, the rate at which they come into the marketplace is only going to increase.

To help point you in the right direction of the ones worth knowing about, we found this interesting article about 15 apps that everyone is talking about right now. From Park Me, an app that helps users find places to park nearby, to Tempo, a ‘smart calendar’ app that helps you organise your day better and the likes of Candy Crush and Vine in-between.

http://www.businessinsider.com/apps-everyone-is-talking-about-right-now-2013-7

 

Top 10 marketing books of all time

Like the app market, the sales, marketing and business book market is saturated with publications of varying degrees of usefulness. Life is too short to waste it reading poor books, so we always try to pass on recommendations of books worth spending your precious time on.

With this in mind, if you’re looking to read up on your marketing this summer and want some books for light reading on the beach, we’ve found this useful article on the top 10 marketing books of all time. Have a read and let us know what you think!

http://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/top-10-marketing-books-of-all-time_1.html

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#MarketingTitbits – Choose the Perfect LinkedIn Photo, Tips for Company Colour Schemes and Tennis: a history in ads

How to choose your LinkedIn profile photoAs you know, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking site, with over 200million members in over 200 countries. Now the odds are, you probably have a profile on it (if you don’t, it would be a good idea to get on it today) but it constantly amazes us how frequently we find profiles without a profile picture associated with them. It’s a bit like turning up to a networking event with a balaclava on. Studies bear out the importance of having one, finding that profiles with a photo received about 50%-70% more enquiries than profiles that don’t have one. So having a photo is better than not having one; however, it is equally important to choose a photo for your profile that conveys the right message and not the wrong one! A photo of you at the local pub with a pint in your hand may be a true representation of how you spend your time but it’s not exactly appropriate for LinkedIn. After all, they do say “a picture is worth a thousand words.”

We’ve found a great article with 11 top tips on choosing your LinkedIn profile photo, and another showcasing 10 examples of terrible LinkedIn profile photos.

http://www.careerealism.com/linkedin-photo-tips/

http://andrewmacarthy.com/andrew-macarthy-social-media/10-terrible-examples-of-linkedin-profile-photos-bad-linkedin-profile-pics

 

Tips for Company Colour Schemes

Different colours have different meanings, for example, white connotes innocence and purity, whereas red connotes love and passion. We all know that colours and the connotations associated with them are very important to consider when choosing a colour scheme for your brand; however, there are many other things to consider.

Designers frequently use the 60-30-10 rule, which suggests that you choose three different colours and use them in the ratio of 60%, 30% and 10%. The rule provides a simple way to develop an appropriate colour scheme for your brand.

This week, we came across a great article with top tips for company colour schemes. So whether you’re starting up a business from scratch or redesigning your current brand, we think this article is definitely worth a read.

http://mashable.com/2013/06/09/color-schemes-business/

 

Tennis: a history in ads

Britain is the home to the world’s oldest and most prestigious tennis tournament, Wimbledon. Each year, nearly 500,000 people attend the two week event and its impact is felt right across our day-to-day life, as prominent brands jump on board the tennis bandwagon for the period. With Wimbledon into it’s second week and with two Brits into the 4th round, there is no better time to celebrate the history of tennis-related television adverts:

 

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