Cambridge Marketing review - Issue 6

MARKETING THE THIRD SECTOR

MARKETINGCAMBRIDGE

ISSUE

6 SUM

MER

2013

THIRD SECTOR FEATURESCLIC Sargent: Integrating Social Media into a Charity

Arts Marketing: Generating a Buzz in Tough Times

Power to the People How Influential is Digital?

Direct Marketing: Age UK

FEATURESPhilip and Milton Kotler: The Global Economy of Cities - How cities are the economic powerhouses of countries

Permissions Marketing in a Digital Age

Hugh Davidson: How marketers can make vision and values work

VIEWSContent Marketing

The Emperor’s New Clothes

REVIEWSBooks and marketing apps reviewed

The Tutors’ View

Celebrating 21 years since its foundation, Cambridge Marketing College is offering 21 bursaries to help entrepreneurs gain a recognised marketing qualification.

The bursaries cover the cost of tuition, books and study materials and are available immediately. Anyone can apply provided you can demonstrate how improving your marketing expertise can benefit your organisation or start-up.

For more information, please contact

[email protected] for more information.

www.marketingcollege.com

CA

MB

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GE MARKETING COLLE

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MARKETING KNOWLEDGE

MARKETING KNOWLEDGE

Walter Herriot, former director of St John’s Innovation Centre and leading light of the Cambridge phenomenon, supports the move:

As Director of the St John’s Innovation Centre for 18 years

I saw hundreds, possibly thousands of business plans and the

one aspect the successful companies had in common was

an understanding of marketing. Not just the communications

element but an understanding of the true concept. Marketing

is a fundamental part of any successful business. I heartily

support CMC in offering these bursaries.

£50,000 worth of Bursarie up for grab !£50,000 worth of Bursarie up for grab !

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39HowtouseinboundmarketingtecHniquestoaquirecustomersandimproveroiRob Watson’s article outlines new elements of Inbound Marketing. What value does your company offer to stay

ahead of the game?

43contentmarketing:tHecoretoolintHesuccessfulmarketer’sarmouryDesislava’s research piece discusses the power of online

content.

47tHeemperor’snewclotHesAlistair Pryde explains why marketers shouldn’t be too cautious but instead speak the truth by managing the

facts.

49wHat’snext?Charles Nixon gives us an insightful look into ‘What’s

next?’ and what should be on every marketers’ lips.

53marketingintHenetHerlandsOur Brand Ambassador, Theo Dingemans, gives us a

snapshot of marketing in The Netherlands.

54bookreviewsOur Alumni review some of the latest marketing books

and give their opinions.

56marketingappsreviewed!Our star intern, Jenna Squire, reviews some of the best

marketing apps available.

58tHetutor’sviewKiran Kapur gives us the low-down on Cambridge Marketing College’s Tutor Blog and picks out some of the best stories.

5editorial

6 creatingastrategicframeworktoHarnessstaffinfluenceonsocialmedia–onecHarity’sjourneyHelen Thomas of CLIC Sargent gives top tips on how to strategically integrate social media into a charity.

10generatingabuzzaboutartsmarketingTaras Young talks about how arts marketers can make a

difference during tough times in the cultural sector.

16powertotHepeople:clicktivismorconcernedpublicsAlan Anstead shares an insightful article on how influential digital really is and how making a stand can change the

world.

19 directmarketing:ageukLaurie Young shares a case study on how Age UK became

an expert in direct and digital marketing.

22tHeglobaleconomyofcitiesbypHilipandmiltonkotlerA fascinating piece by the Kotler brothers about the global growth of cities and its impact on the world’s economy.

Taken from their forthcoming book, this is a must-read!

28permissionmarketinginadigitalageOur very own marketing executive, Lorna Brocklesby explains why communications requested by the customer

has a greater impact than uninvited marketing messages.

33HowmarketerscanmakevisionandvaluesworkThis article sees a reprise of Hugh Davidson’s original speech from 2002, along with an afterthought for marketers, reflecting further learning from the past

turbulent decade.

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CONTENTS

THIRD SECTOR FEATURES

FEATURES

VIEWS

REVIEWS

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Publishing Editor: Emma Garland

Chairman: Charles W. Nixon

Contributors: Charles Nixon, Philip Kotler, Milton Kotler, Hugh Davidson, Alan Anstead, Laurie Young, Rob Watson, Taras Young, Helen Thomas, Desislava Aleksandrova, Alistair Pryde, Theo Dingemans, Jenna Squire, Kiran Kapur, Don Moyer, Melissa Nixon, Shane Minett and Lorna Brocklesby.

Contact: Cambridge Marketing Press 1 Cygnus Business Park Middle Watch Swavesey Cambridgeshire CB24 4AA

Tel: +44(0)1954 234941 Fax: +44(0)1954 234950 Email: [email protected]

Issue VI Summer 2013 ISSN 2047-962X

CONVENTIONS:• Wearemarketersnotmarketeers;wearenotcavaliers.• WepractisemarketingnotadvertisingorPR.• Whenwerefertoproducts,wemeanproductsandservices.

Otherwisewerefertoofferings.

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5

this issue focuses on the populartopic of the third sector,which so

many of you have expressed a genuineinteresttoseecoveredinthereview.

Helen Thomas explains how CLICSargent integrated social media into itsactivities. Did you know that a quarterof all charitable donations come viaFacebook?Withspendinghabitschangingin the economic downturn, how canwe support our arts? TarasYoung gives

EDITORIAl

From Emma Garland, Publishing Editor of Cambridge Marketing College

ED

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EMMA GARLAND

Emma joined Cambridge Marketing College in August 2012 and quickly made her mark managing some of the College’s on-going publishing

projects. She has experience in Corporate Communications, as Account Director, where she has helped hundreds of Listed companies

with their IR communications, including presentations, annual reports and IR websites.

us insight into thechallenges thearts culture facesandhowartsmarketerscanovercomesomeoftheseproblems.AlanAnsteadalsoshareshis thoughtson thepowerful influenceofdigitalandhoweveryonecanhaveavoiceandmakeadifference.

Iamalsodelightedthatbrothers,PhilipandMiltonKotlerhavewrittenusaspecialarticleonthe‘GlobalEconomiesofCities’.Thisfascinating piece gives an overview of the developing cities thatcouldchangeourworld’seconomy,adaptedfromtheirforthcomingbook‘GrowingYourCompanyintheGlobalUrbanEconomy.’

In addition, Hugh Davidson has reprised his speech aboutmakingvisionsandvaluesworkformarketerswhichisasrelevanttoday as itwas in 2002.Hehas also added an ‘Afterthought formarketers’which reflects further learning from thepast turbulentdecade.Anothermust-read.

IenjoyreadingarticlesbysomeofthemarketinggreatsintheCambridgeMarketingreview,butitisalsogoodtoreadsomethingfromsomenew,risingstars.Weinviteallmarketersofeverycalibreto submit theirarticlesand thisquarter, I introduceoneofourAgrade delegateswho also happens to be theCollege’s very ownMarketingExecutive,LornaBrocklesby.Lorna’sarticleonPermissionMarketingdiscusseshowmassmarketingisnolongerpullingintheresultsitusedto.

Imust take thisopportunity toapologise for thedelay in thepublicationofthisissue,aswehavebeenworkingonaveryexcitingnew venture. CambridgeMarketing Press will be adding furtherstrings to itsbowwith thepublicationbyKoganPageofa seriesof tenMarketingHandbooks.Theywill be available to purchaseworldwidethisAutumn.Watchthisspace.

InthemeantimeIhopeyouenjoythisissueandifyouwouldliketosubscribetofurtherissuesorwriteanarticleforus,pleasegetintouchat: [email protected].

Welookforwardtohearingfromyousoon.

Emma Garland Publishing Editor

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after three years of operating social media profiles, CLIC Sargent –

the UK’s leading cancer charity for children and young people – has created a strategic framework to realign its digital identities to become an integrated content distribution channel to make connections with supporters.

WHy CREATE A STRATEgIC FRAmEWORk?AccordingtoSocialMisfitsMedia,whilst70%ofsmalltomediumsizedcharitieshavedigitalidentitiesonFacebookandTwitter,themajorityof themareusing these tools tactically,not strategically.53% reported that their socialmedia activitywas not integratedinto their fundraising or communications strategies, with only8% reportinghigh levelsof integration. For themajorityof theseorganisations,biggerpicturequestionssuchas‘whatdowewanttoachieve?’and‘howandwheredowewanttoachieveit?’hangintheair.Inthemeantime,thesocialmediamarchcontinues.

To use social media strategically, it needs to be integratedintothecharity.Todothis,CLICSargentisbuildingasocialmediaframework to increaseknowledgeof thebenefitsof socialmediaandhowitcanbethedriveroffutureplans.

IN THE bEgINNINgLikemanycharities,CLICSargentlauncheditselfontosocialmediawithoutfanfare.

Itwas2008andMySpace rocked. Facebookwas leaving itscollegedorm.Notwantingtobeleftoutoftheconversation,staff-fluentinthetechnologyandkeentogiveitago-launchedcharityidentitieswhichlistenedfirstandspokecarefully.Thechannelsatwithinoneteam.

Fast forwardto2013andthesocialmedialandscapeisverydifferent. Social media is all grown up and spawning mini-menetworksatanalarmingrate.TheUKFacebookaudience isnow41millionandTwitterstandsat34millionandrising.LinkedInisfastapproaching11millionusersintheUK(that’s18%ofus)andnetworkslikePinterestandInstagramaregrowingfast.

Forcharities,thenetworksareincomedriverstoo.Accordingto JonathanWaddingham, JustGiving’sProductManager,nearlya

HELEN THOMAS

CREATINg A STRATEgIC FRAmEWORk TO HARNESS STAFF

INFlUENCE ON SOCIAl mEDIA – ONE CHARITy’S jOURNEy

Helen Thomas, Digital Manager at CLIC Sargent shares the details of their strategic framework, which was created to realign its digital identities to become an integrated content distribution channel. This is their journey.

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quarterofallcharitydonationsonthewebsitecomeviaFacebook,representing £22m in donations and 120% year-on-year growthin2012.Furthermore,anextra£925,000wasdonatedoveran18monthperiodviaFacebookthroughpeoplesharingcontent.£55,000ofdonationscameviaTwitterand£22,000throughLinkedIn–alsothroughpeoplesharing.

Thedaysofidlechatandexplorationarenumbered.It is time to Get Serious.

ESTAblISHINg THE bIggER PICTUREIn2011CLICSargentreachedatippingpoint.Anecdotalevidencehighlightedtheoverallvalueofsocialmediabutitsstructurewithinthecharitymadethisdifficulttoprove.Alongwiththeestablishedaccounts, several profiles operated independently, resulting in adisjointed presence and sporadicmonitoring.The answerwas totakestockandcreateaunified,goalfocussed,approachtooutline how theorganisationcouldachieveitsgoalsthroughsocialmedia.

entrepreneurial fundraisers to be applied online – where newcommunitiesofsupporterscanbebuilttostrengthentheirexistingnetworks.AsCharityComms, theprofessionalmembershipbodyforcharitycommunicatorsexplains–“socialnetworkingsitesdon’traisemoney–peopledo”,andthisframeworkaimstomaximisethefactthatpeoplemakeconnectionswithpeople.

Running alongside this plan are individual pilots to test thepotentialofnewplatformstounderstandwhichplatformisrightforwhichindividualgoalorsetofsupporters.Thisactivityisledjointlybythecommunicationsandfundraisingteams.

INTEgRATINg SOCIAl mEDIA WITHIN THE CHARITySocial media requires planning, evaluation and resource. CLICSargenthastakenthefollowingkeysteps:

1. TrainingStaff are encouraged to use social media in their own name tobuild communities of followers drawn from their own personalandsupportercontacts.Toenablethis,aseriesofworkshopsandtraining sessions were held for communications and fundraisingteams.Theseseminarsintroducedthemechanicsandnatureoftheplatforms and highlighted advantages and pitfalls.They outlinedpositivecontentandwhattoaimforwitheverypost.

Eachmemberofstaffhasthepotentialtobeanambassadorfortheorganisationviasocialmediaandthisprocessaimstoenablestafftobringtheiruniqueperspectivetothestory.

2. Content productionSocial media needs constant content and interaction in orderto make meaningful connections with the audience. Increasingcontentproductionanddistributionisthereforecrucial.

Theinternetallowsforallsortsofcontent,butthishastobeuseful to the audience and tailored to create the action desired.Witha‘like’beingpotentiallyworth£5toacharity(accordingtoJonathanWaddinghamat JustGiving) it alsoneeds tobebuilt forsharingandreflecttheorganisation’svalues.

Mapping thenewsorcontentflowof theorganisationhelpshighlight thesourcesofcontent for socialmediaandencouragesdistributionandcrosspromotion.Thetrainingprocesscaninspireafreshperspective–creatinggoodcontentfromday-to-dayactivity.Thestrategicframeworkitselfgivesstafftheconfidencetoengagewithout theconcern theymaybe ‘wasting time’.Finally,a setofcontentprinciplesunderlinethevaluesofCLICSargent,butallowflexibilitysothatthedesiredcommunitiescanbebuilt.

3. Reputation and crisis managementAccording to Luke Brynley-Jones from agencyOur SocialTimes,reputation is important when you are dealing with people’sgenerosityandtrust.Therearesomekeywaystotacklethis.Agreedcharity-wideguidelinesareessentialsostaffcanutilisesocialmedia

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“FAST FORWARD TO 2013 AND SOCIAl mEDIA IS All gROWN UP AND SPAWNINg mINI-mE NETWORkS AT AN AlARmINg RATE.”

Theframeworkisastrategicrealignmentofthesocialmediapresence,tocreateanintegratedcontentdistributionchannelwhichtells thestoryofCLICSargent’scauseandimpact.ThisapproachaimstomeettheorganisationalobjectivesofcommunicatingCLICSargent’scauseandneedforfunds-butwithoutalargemarketingbudget. To do this requires the creation of strong communityadvocatessharingandrecommendingonCLICSargent’sbehalf.

bUIlDINg AN ExISTINg NETWORk Rather than employingmore socialmedia experts in one team,resource has focussed on facilitating existing staff to use socialmediamoreeffectivelythemselves,i.e.establishingadistributionchannelbasedontheprofessionalandpersonalnetworksofstaff.

These networks have endless potential. Staff can developthem to achieve their business goals, andpreviously establishedcorporateidentitiesaggregatethiscontent–tellingtheCLICSargentstoryfromeveryperspective.

This approach allows the talents of CLIC Sargent’s

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inawayappropriatetotheorganisation.Theyshouldincluderulesofengagementandintegratewithotherpoliciestoo,forexampleIT,HRandSafeguarding.

FreetoolssuchasGoogleAlertsandSocialMentionhelptoidentify positive and negative comments about the organisationenablingbetterresponseormanagementofissueswhicharise.

CLICSargentisdevelopingtheseguidelinesandwaystosharebestpracticeamongststaff.

Negativeeventshappeninrealtimesotheremustbeaprocesstofollowifthingsgowrong.Notrespondingtoacustomerservicequestioncandamagetrusttoo,sodevelopingacustomerservicestandardwithinsocialmediaiskey.

“SOCIAl NETWORkINg SITES DON’T RAISE mONEy – PEOPlE DO.”

becalculatedusingGoogleAnalytics,withtrackedlinksshowingdirectconversionsatacampaignlevel.

Usingthesemetricsenablesenoughdatatobegatheredtobeuseful for futureplanningand in time, could form thebasisof asocialROI.

THE RESUlTS SO FARIn the first four months since initiating this strategic approach,socialmediareferralstotheCLICSargentwebsitehaveincreasedby185%.Inmoredetail,a75%increaseintrafficfromFacebook,300% increase from FacebookMobile and 310% increase fromTwitter.

This traffichasbeenuseful.Theconversionrate–definedastraffic which donated or registered for a fundraising event is up123%andsocialnetworksactingasthelastinteractionconversion(definedaswhere the socialmedia activitywas thefinal activityin the funnel) is up 195%. Facebook andTwitter are also nowsignificant sources for event registrations. Creating an additionaldashboardincludingofflinedatashould,intime,enableustoplaceadirectvalueonthoseregistrations.

Other changes are more institutional. Fundraising andcommunications staff are becoming content creators and usingappssuchasVinetocommunicatewiththeiraudiencesandsupplythemwithcontenttoshare.Newslettercontributors,volunteersandsurveyparticipantsareallbeingrecruitedthroughsocialmediaandaspectsofthecharity’sworkarenowvisibletoall–includingstaff.

4. kPI and monitoringSocialmediaROIisdependentonindividualobjectivesratherthana standard formula that suits every organisation. Initially, takingstepstomeasureawareness,engagement,interestandconversionsaregoodplacestostart.

Metrics covering audience growth and content sharing canindicate increasing awareness. Engagement can be measuredthroughinteractionssuchascomments,mentionsorlikes.Interestgeneratedcanbecapturedusingtheamountoftrafficreferralsfromsocial media sites. Finally the conversion rate of this traffic can

mINI CASE STUDy VIRgIN lONDON mARATHON

During theVirgin London Marathon,Twitter was used topromote the supportCLICSargentoffers to thosewho runfor the charity.The CLIC SargentTwitter profile was usedto aggregate content from staff, volunteers and runners.Storifywas then used to archive the activity and act as apermanentcall toaction.Therewasnospecificbudgetforthecampaign.Thecampaigngeneratedover80tweetsandvisitstothewebsiteincreasedby50%duringmarathonday.The CLIC Sargent KLOUT score (a social media analyticsapp)increasedby10%andforthedaysfollowingtheeventCLICSargentwasthehighestrankingcharityintheorganiclistingsonGoogleforthekeywordsVirginLondonMarathon.

ThiswasthefirsttimeCLICSargentcouldmeasurehowthe bigger picture could work on a campaign level for afundraisingeventsuchastheVirginLondonMarathon,andtheresultsarepromising.TheStoryishere: https://storify.com/CLIC_Sargent/virgin-london-marathon-2013

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Whenplanningtoimplementyourstrategy,remembertothinkbigandwide.Theplanwillprobablypermeatethroughallelementsofthecharityanditisbettertocapturetheseatthestart.

Asanorganisationyouwillneedtobe‘socialmediaready’–withanappropriate levelofdigital literacy– includingacontentproductionprocess,guidelines,therightskills,acustomerserviceplan and an exit plan. This will help social media to be fullyintegratedintotheorganisation.

EVAlUATE AND RE-EVAlUATEMeasure the effect of your activity often, in particular how theaudienceisgrowingandinteracting,howmuchtrafficitisgeneratingandwhat that traffic is doing.Use the goals function inGoogleAnalytics to measure the key behaviours that your organisationrequires and tag your links from social media posts to measureindividualcampaigns.

Yourresultsmaymeanlittleatfirst,butovertimewillgiveyouausefulunderstandingofyour socialmedia landscapeandwhatstepstotakenext.

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Helen Thomas is the Digital Manager at CLIC Sargent, where she manages the digital team and is responsible for the development of

digital communications for the charity. She joined the organisation in 2006, and launched its first enterprise level website that year. Since

then she has launched two intranets, numerous social media platforms and established a team of content creators across the charity.

The latest generation of the CLIC Sargent website can be found at: www.clicsargent.org.uk.

Prior to joining CLIC Sargent, Helen spent 13 years working in radio and online production for the BBC in both local and national

networks, winning a British Environmental Media Award for Best Environmental Website for a website which tracked Geese via satellite

during their migration.

TOP TIPSIfyourcharitywantstobuildastrategicframeworktoutilisesocialmedia,herearesometips.

TAkE STOCk OF yOUR DIgITAl lANDSCAPESocialmediaisverydemocratic.Thereisnothingstoppinganyonedoinganythinginthenameofyourcharity.Thisscattergunapproachcanseizetheday,butitcanblurthebiggerpicture.

Auditingallaccountscangiveyouagreatunderstandingofwhattodonext.Itmayprovethatsomehavealreadyworkedandcouldbeharnessedtoachieveyourcharity’sobjectives.

CREATE A STRATEgyThiscase study isnotabouthow tocreatea strategy,butone isneeded. The aim is to achieve your charity’s goalsusing socialmedia.Thebiggerpicturestartswithaskingifsocialmediacanhelpachieveyourgoals,andthenaskhow,whereandwhen youwillachievethis.

INTEgRATE SOCIAl mEDIA INTO yOUR ORgANISATIONSocialmedia is not simply a digital presence; it is a potentiallylimitlesscontentdistributionchannelandbuilderofconnectionsandcommunities.

“SOCIAl mEDIA REFERRAlS TO THE ClIC SARgENT WEbSITE HAVE INCREASED by 185%.”

REFERENCES

CharityComms Guide to Social Media for Charities. 2011 http://www.charitycomms.org.uk/articles/charitycomms-guide-to-social-media-for-charities

Jonathan Waddingham, JustGiving’s Product Manager JustGiving donations through Facebook worth £22m http://www.guardian.co.uk/voluntary-sector-network/2012/jul/03/justgiving-donations-facebook-share, 2012

Luke Brynley-Jones from agency Our Social Times. Charity Buzz Social Experiment, 2010 http://oursocialtimes.com/charity-buzz-monitoring-a-live-experiment/

Clicsargent.org.uk

justgiving.com/clicsargent

@ClIC_Sargent

facebook.com/clicsargentuk

/company/clic-sargent

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gENERATINg A bUzz AbOUT ARTS mARkETINg

Taras Young tells us how arts and cultural marketers are taking on tough times by finding new ways to grow audiences and how sharing those experiences will help the sector build a “collective memory”

and move forward as a whole.

arts marketers have long been in the business of producing exciting,

creative campaigns on tight budgets and with limited resources. In recent years,though, marketing teams everywherehave felt the squeeze, and the culturalsector iscertainlynoexception.Sohowcan arts marketers continue to growaudiences, create innovative campaignsandmaintain goodpracticewhen facedwithtoughtimes?

THE ClImATE IN THE ARTS SECTORAt a national level, the government is cutting its grant to ArtsCouncilEngland(ACE)by29.6%intheperiod2012−15.Forartsorganisations funded by the body, this translates to a 14.9% cutoverthesameperiod(ACE,2012),and206organisationssawtheirfundingcutentirely.Ontopofthis,additionalcutshandeddownbytheGovernmentof1−2%maybepasseddowntoartsorganisations.Meanwhile, the arts in Scotland andNorthern Ireland are facingfundingcutsof£2.1mand£1.4mrespectively,which,whilenotasdamagingasthecutsinEnglandandWales,stillspelltoughertimesfortheculturalsector.

At a local level, arts funding is being cut too and, in someplaces in its entirety. Notably, Moray Council andWestminsterCityCouncilhaveinstitutedplanstofirstreduce,andthencutitsfundingtoartsorganisationsentirely,whileNewcastleCityCouncilrenegedonplanstocutfundingby100%afterpublicprotestandaninterventionbyHarrietHarmanMP,settlinginsteadoncutsof50%.

Ontheothersideofthecoin,consumersinBritainarefeelingthepinch.Inrealterms,consumerspendingontheartsandculturehasbeenindeclinesincethesecondquarterof2011.Whilefundingis important to many organisations, “the greatest contributor totheoverallfundingoftheindustry…hasbeenandstillisearnedincome”(CEBR,2013).MorethanhalfofBritsnowsaytheyonlybuyitemsthatare“absolutelyneeded”,whileawhopping94%saytheirspendinghabitshavechangedasaresultofthedownturn.Ontopofthis,leisureandentertainmentispredictedtobeoneoftheslowestgrowthareasoverthenextfiveyears(Mintel,2013).

For the arts, this means traditional audiences are becomingchoosieraboutwhattheysee,andhowoftentheyattendculturalevents.Theartssector isnotoutside the influenceof the ‘lipstickeffect’,whichholdsthatcash-strappedconsumerswillbreaknormal

TARAS YOUNG

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patternsofpurchasingbehaviourandfocustheirspendingonlow-endluxuries:pricierproductsthatofferguaranteedresults.

In the theatre, forexample, thiscouldmean that rather thanattendingseveralmid-rangeproductions,theymaychoosetoattendjustonepriciershowthatisaguaranteedwinner(Maitland,2009).Theeffectofthistypeofattendanceisadropinrevenueforrepertorytheatres,whosebreadandbutterismid-rangeshowsproducedin-house.

Inaclimatewherefundingcutsatalllevelsarecombinedwitha reduction in earned income, the arts and cultural sector is, in

effect,beingsqueezedfromallsides.Marketingteamswithinmanyartsorganisationshavebeenfacedwithlosingteammembersandexternalhelp,suchasfreelancepresssupport–ortheyhavethatthreathangingoverthem.Budgetsarebeingcut,includingtrainingbudgets,leadingtofeweropportunitiesforprofessionaldevelopment.Yet,whilemarketersarefindingtheirresourcesreduced,expectationsto attract audiences have never been higher.The pressure is onmarketerstonotonlymaintain,butincreaseattendance.Researchdone before the decline in consumer spending on culturebegan (ACE, 2011) showed only 7% of the British population

Northern Ballet: C

leopatra; courtesy of Jason Tozer

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attended more than two arts events per year. With consumersmoreconsciousoftheirspendinghabitsthanever,anincreaseinattendance seems unlikelywithout artsmarketers taking positiveactionnow.

INNOVATINg TO gROW AUDIENCESSo,artsmarketershavebeen forced tobecomemore resourcefulandinnovativethaneverbeforeinordertoretainexistingaudiencesand seek out and keep new ones. Following a rebrand and thecommissioningofabrand-newballet, Cleopatra, in2011,Leeds-based Northern Ballet were keen to do both. The company setthemselvestheobjectiveofcreatingacampaignwithanemphasison “new and different activity”. In addition to sales targets, theydecidedtotakeanationalapproachinordertoraisetheprofileof

culturalactivities,themajority–36%ofthepopulation–fallintotwogroups.Thesearedescribedbythereportas‘Fun,fashionandfriends’,and‘DinnerandaShow’.NorthernBalletmadeachoicetofocusongrowingtheiraudiencesfromthesetwokeysegments,andthisdecisionwasreflectedintheirchoiceofpromotionaltacticsandpartnerships.

In itsmost radicalbreak from traditional artsmarketing, thecompanyworkedwithacelebritybookingagencytoinvitefamousfaces to the London press night of Cleopatra. In the event, 19celebritiesturnedout,increasingcoverageoftheeventbothinthepressandonsocialmedia.Unusually,thecompanyoptedtodevotetheir entire spring/summer season to touring Cleopatra, wherenormallytheywouldtourtwoorthreedifferentproductions.Giventherisk-aversenatureofausterityaudiences,andtheirpredilectionforhigh-qualityentertainment,itwasanastutechoicetoemphasiselifestyleandvalueformoneyintheirmarketingcampaign,anditmadesenseforthecompanytofocusononebigproductioninthisway.

Thesuccessofthisinnovative,integratedapproachtomarketingnewballetwasreflectedintheoutcomes.Itbecamethecompany’smostsuccessfulopeningofanewproduction,andtotalticketsalescameinat£35,000overtarget.Thecampaignachievedmanyofitsotherobjectives:websitehitsdoubled,and–moreimportantly–weremaintainedathigherlevels; thee-newslettergainedmorethan5,000 subscribers, and thecompany’sTwitter account grewbyover1,400newfollowers.TheNorthernBalletbrandreacheda diverse, new audience, with coverage in the traditional press,plusmagazines such asVogue andGrazia.Aswell as the long-term positive effects of increased engagement and heightenedbrandrecognition,pressrelationshipsestablishedbythecompanyduringthecampaignwereretainedandusedtopromotetheirnextproduction,The Great Gatsby.

RAISINg PINTERESTTheEuropeanaFoundation,whosesite isan interface tomillionsofartisticworksfrompartnermuseumsandheritageorganisationsacrossthecontinent,wantedtoexplorewaysofengaginguntappedonline audiences, using the collections they already had. Inparticular, the Foundationwas interested in seeing howopeningup existing data to an online audience could create new socialinteractions and lead to increased web traffic to its partners’websites.Theydecidedtolookatsocialimage-sharingsitePinterestasawayofconnectingwithaparticularaudience: two thirdsofPinterestusersareaged35andolder,andnearly85%ofthesite’sactivity is carried out bywomen. Europeana realised thatmanyitemsintheircollections,wouldappealtoa“predominantlyfemaleaudience that ismature and visually savvy”.Moreover, Pinterestusersaremorehighly-engaged than theircounterpartsonTwitterandFacebook.

Usingobjectsfromthecollectionsoffivepartnerorganisations,

“HOW CAN ARTS mARkETERS CONTINUE TO gROW AUDIENCES, CREATE INNOVATIVE CAmPAIgNS AND mAINTAIN gOOD PRACTICE WHEN FACED WITH TOUgH TImES?”

theproductionand theballetcompany itself.Rather than simplyattractinganaudiencetomakewhat,inmostcases,wouldbetheironeannualvisit, theywanted tocreateabuzzaround theshow.Ultimately,theywantedtocreaterelationshipswiththeiraudienceswhichwouldleadtoincreaseduseoftheirnewwebsiteandgreateruptakeoftheire-newsletterandsocialmediaplatforms;relationshipswhichcouldbemaintainedandbuiltonforyearstocome.

The campaign would grow audiences through appealingto people’s lifestyles via online work, print, press and outdooradvertising, and PR. It focused on increasing recognition of thebrand through threestrands:partnerships,onlineactivityandPR.Thecampaignwasbuiltintwophases,focusedaroundtwomajorevents:theworldpremiereoftheproductioninLeeds,andtherunofperformancesatSadler’sWellsinLondon.

Segmentation research carried out by Arts Council England(ACE, 2011) has shown that, of the 63% of people who attend

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Audiences and artists interact at an evening performance of The Night Shift by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

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theylaunchedacampaign,postingitemssuchasvintagepostcardsceneswhichweretargetedattheolder,mainlyfemaledemographiconPinterest.The resultswere impressive,withagreatdealmorereferrals fromPinterest to theEuropeanawebsite than fromothersocial networks. Moreover, Pinterest users were more engagedwiththecontent,andlesslikelyto‘bounce’(leavethesitewithoutcontinuingtobrowse).

Theprojectwasasuccess,withcontentfromcollectionsthatwouldotherwisehaveremainedgatheringdustgivenanewleaseoflifeonline–repurposedtoencourageanewaudiencetoengagewithheritage,andtodrivetraffictothewebsitesofEuropeanaanditspartners.

A SmAllER-SCAlE APPROACHGrowingartsaudiencesthroughinnovativemarketinghasnotbeenrestricted to largeorganisations.Anensemble thatplaysclassicalmusic on instruments appropriate to the era of the music, theOrchestra of theAge of Enlightenment (OAE) is a self-governing‘collective’ of musicians which has built a reputation for beingquirkyandinnovative,whilemaintainingextremelyhighstandards.They wanted to find a way to attract traditionally hard-to-reachaudiencesforclassicalmusic:particularlystudentsandthoseaged18−35whoinfrequentlyorneverattendedclassicalperformances.

The OAE decided to take classical music out of its normalenvironment,andpresenttheirconcertsmoreinformally,bringingtheaudienceandperformerclosertogether,yetwithoutcompromisingthequalityoftheperformance.Theyensuredtheprogrammingandmarketingoftheserieswascloselyintegrated,allowingittoturnthenotionofaclassicalmusicconcertonitshead.Byholdingitseventsin an informal setting, and reducing the length of performances,theybroughtdownmanyofthebarrierstoattendanceandcrackedasignificanthard-to-reachaudience.Afterconsideringthereasonsyoungpeoplewerenotattending,andwhatthebarriersmightbe,theydevelopedastrandofonehourlate-nightconcertscalledThe Night Shift.Dispatchingwiththestandardformatforclassicalmusicentirely,The Night Shiftisperformedinabarenvironment,withapresenter introducing themusic,aswellas livemusicbefore theshowandaDJafterwards.

Having created an innovative, accessible format, the OAEturned their attention tomarketing the event.Again, rather thantakingthetraditionalapproachtomarketingclassicalmusic, theyapproacheditinawaythatwasmorelikelytoappealtothetargetdemographic.TheycreatedprintwhichfocusedonThe Night Shiftbrandratherthanplayingontheorchestra’sname.Borrowingfromnon-classicalmusicpromotion,theorchestradistributedtheirprintinleafletpacksandinpersonatbarsandclubs.Theysupplementedthiswithsocialmediaactivity;advertisementsonstreamingmusicserviceSpotify;throughastudentambassadorprogramme;emailstargetedbyMOSAICclassification;plussometraditionaladvertisingandPR.

Bytryingadifferentapproachtoprogrammingandmarketingclassicalmusic,theOAEmanagedtocreateanaudiencewhichhastraditionally been extremely difficult to reach.AMOSAIC-basedanalysis of the performances revealed a very different audiencemakeuptowhattheywouldnormallyhaveexpected.Theorchestrafoundthat85%ofattendeesfellintothe18−35bracket–athirdofthosestudents,andafifthhavingneverexperiencedclassicalmusicbefore.Notonlydid theconcertseriessuccessfullycreateanewaudienceforclassicalmusic,buteveryeventsoldout.

OPENINg UP gOOD PRACTICEItisclear,then,thatartsmarketersarekeentocontinuetoinnovateinordertogrowaudiences.However,theeconomicclimateriskstakingatollonmarketers’ability todevisenewwaysofbringingpeopletoart.Alreadysmallmarketingbudgetsarebeingreducedfurther, and organisational loss of marketing skills through highstaffturnover,alreadyanissueinthesector,hasbeenintensifiedbystaffingcuts.Meanwhile,smallercompaniescontinue to face theproblemofeitherspendingmoneyonbringingafreelancemarketerintopromotetheirwork,orattemptingtomarketitthemselveswithlittleornoformaltraining.

Many hundreds of resources that could help alleviate theseproblems have been created over the years, yet access to themhastraditionallybeenlimitedornon-existent.Documentssuchashow-toguides,toolkits,casestudiesandresearchhavebeenwrittenon most cultural marketing topics, yet the majority have beeninaccessibletothoseactuallytaskedwithpromotingartisticwork.Projects have come and gone, and the resources they generatedhaveoftenbeenshelved,ortheirwebsitestakenofflineasfundingranout.Meanwhile,somedocumentsusefultoartsmarketersare‘outthere’–somewhere–buthavebeennearlyimpossibletofindwithoutknowingwheretolookorwhotoask.Whathaslongbeenmissingfromthesectorhasbeenacentral,easilysearchableplacethatoffersopportunitiesfor‘self-service’professionaldevelopment,as well as immediate access to relevant materials on marketingculturewhilemaintaininggoodpractice.

The problem of continuing to find, develop and maintain

“lEISURE AND ENTERTAINmENT IS PREDICTED TO bE ONE OF THE SlOWEST gROWTH AREAS OVER THE NExT FIVE yEARS.”

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Taras Young is Digital Content Manager at the Arts Marketing Association (AMA), the non-profit professional body for those who

market the arts and culture. Since joining the organisation, he has taken a central role in developing CultureHive, a key resource for the cultural sector backed by Arts Council England, as well as developing the AMA’s

social media presence, and working on its innovative online learning programme. He joined the AMA last year with a background in digital

marketing and public relations in the cultural sector.

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audiencesforcultureledtoArtsCouncilEngland(ACE)creatingaprogrammecalledAudienceFocus,withtheobjectiveofallowing“morepeopletoexperienceandbeinspiredbythearts,museumsand libraries,and toensure thatorganisations fundedby theArtsCouncil have an even stronger focus on attracting audiences”.As part of the ‘best practice’ strand of this programme, theArtsMarketingAssociationwas funded tocreateaplacewhichcouldprovidethetoolsneededbythosewhomarketcultureanddevelopaudiences. Following extensive planning, consultation with thesector and development, a new online resource was launched:CultureHive,atculturehive.co.uk.Thesitefeaturesapurpose-builtsearchenginebasedonGoogletechnologywhichservesasthemainentrypoint tohundredsof arts andculturalmarketing resources.Documentsindexedbythesiteincludethosesourcedfrompartnersacrossthesector,rescuedfrom‘disappeared’projects,andspeciallycommissionedforCultureHive.All thesetoolshavebeenbroughttogetherintoonelocation,wheretheyarecentralised,accessible,andfree.

Aswellasbeingausefulday-to-dayresourceforartsmarketers,CultureHive is an important step towards building a ‘collectivememory’ of good practice and innovation in the sector.The siteis intended to help develop the sector and allow it to continuetoinnovate;byhavingeverythinginoneplace,itwillallowgapsinknowledgetobespottedandnewstudiescommissionedtofillthem.Functionalityhasbeenprovidedtoallownewresourcestobeuploadeddirectlyintothesystem,allowingthosewhotrythingsouttosharetheirexperiencesandresourceswiththeirpeersacrosstheindustry.AndCultureHiveisnoflash-in-the-pan;thesitehasbeenbuiltandfundedinawaythatmeansitwillcontinuetodevelop,with additional features planned, such as automatic readingrecommendationsbasedonan individual’s trainingneeds.At thetimeofwriting,thesitefeaturedmorethan600resources,andthisissettogrowbymanyhundredsmoreoverthecomingyears.AllcontentonthesitehasbeenreleasedunderaCreativeCommonslicence,meaninganyoneisfreetodownload,share,andbuildonthework.

Whilewegothroughtoughtimes,theprofessionaldevelopmentprovidedbyorganisationssuchastheArtsMarketingAssociation,andtheopensharingofgoodpracticeonCultureHive,willmakeartsmarketersfeelbettersupportedandallowthesectorasawholetocontinuetoinnovateandgrow.

Why not check out the full case studies discussed in this article on CultureHive at: culturehive.co.uk and let us know what you think.

More information on the Arts Marketing Association is available at: www.a-m-a.co.uk

Northern Ballet: Creating an integrated marketing campaign to boost ticket sales http://culturehive.co.uk/resources/creating-an-integrated-marketing-campaign-to-raise-profile-and-boost-sales

Europeana: Pinterest for cultural heritage institutions http://culturehive.co.uk/resources/europeana-partners-on-pinterest-case-study

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment: Breaking down barriers to attract new audiences http://culturehive.co.uk/resources/breaking-down-barriers-to-attract-new-audiences

Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), 2013. The contribution of the arts and culture to the national economy. http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/browse-advice-and-guidance/contribution-arts-and-culture-national-economy

Mintel Group, 2013. British Lifestyles 2013: Examining the legacy of the economic downturn. http://www.mintel.com/press-centre/press-releases/1108/mintels-british-lifestyles-report-highlights-the-legacy-of-the-economic-downturn-in-britain-and-finds-savvy-ways-are-here-to-stay

Arts Council England (ACE), 2011. Arts Audiences: Insight. http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/publication_archive/arts-audiences-insight-2011/

Arts Council England (ACE), 2012. Investment in arts and culture 2012-15. http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding/our-investment/investment-in-the-arts-2012-15/

Arts Council England (ACE), 2012, Audience focus. http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding/our-investment/funding-programmes/audience-focus/

Smith, Alistair. Westminster cuts arts funding by 100%. The Stage, 7 March 2013. http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2013/03/westminster-cuts-arts-funding-by-100/

Youngs, Ian. Newcastle Council’s 50% arts cuts confirmed. BBC News Online, 7 March 2013. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21668498

Briggs, Billy. Moray council approves 100% cut in arts funding. The Guardian, 13 February 2013. http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2013/feb/13/moray-council-cut-arts-funding

Rogers, Simon and Free, Charlie. Arts council cuts mapped. The Guardian, 30 March 2011. http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/interactive/2011/mar/30/arts-council-cuts-map

Maitland, Heather. The lipstick effect. Arts Professional, May 2009. http://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/magazine/article/lipstick-effect

bIblIOgRAPHy/SOURCES: All websites accessed May 2013

Case studies on CultureHive

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HAVINg A VOICE

in October 2010 a relatively unknown group, 38 Degrees, launched a

campaign to stop the sale of UK state-owned forests by the Government.It did this through an online petition,encouraging supporters to share it onFacebook (over 200,000 did - think ofthe reach). Over 530,000 people signedthe petition and the pressure, togetherwithlobbyingbyotherorganisationssuchas the NationalTrust and Ramblers, resulted in the governmentabandoningitsconsultationonthesale.TheensuingdebateintheHouseofCommonsmayhavebeenhumorous,withoppositionMPsshouting“timber!”,buttheresponsefromtheconcernedpublicwasmoreserious.“Thankyouforgivingusavoice”onetweetedto38Degrees.TheorganisationhasgrowntobeoneoftheUK’sbiggestcampaigning communities, with over 1 million members, manyveryactiveoncausestheybelieveinpassionately.

Itisnotjustnationalissuesthatconcernedonlinepublicshavetakenactionon.NicHughesdiedofcancerinOctober2012attheageof44.Theinsurancecompany,FriendsLife,refusedtopayouthislifeinsurancepolicytohisfamilyashehadnotdeclaredthathesufferedfrompinsandneedles.Afriendstartedanonlinepetitionagainstthedecisiononchange.org,whichlaunchedintheUKin2012.Withinafewmonths63,000peoplehadsignedthepetition,manysparkedtoactionbycelebritiesincludingStephenFry,RussellBrand,MargaretAtwood,MirandaHart,IanBotham,BoyGeorge,Alistair Campbell and Kirsty Gallagher tweeting about the case.StephenFry tweetedhis5millionfollowers“Mandiesofcancer,insurancepolicywon’tpayduetopinsandneedles.Pleaseask@friendslifetalk todo the right thing”.Acombinationof thepublicpressurethroughthepetitionandmediainterest,andtheFinancialOmbudsman’sintervention,causedFriendsLifetopaythepolicyinfulltoNic’swidowinApril2013.

I signedbothof theseonlinepetitions.Perhapsyoudid too.Sohowcansomethingsoeasyasa30secondsignupandclickbesuchaninfluentialandpowerfulpeople’stool?Thewidespreaduseofcomputersandsmartphonesandthegrowthofsocialmediahasenabledcampaignstobestartedupandgainawidereachquickly

POWER TO THE PEOPlE ClICkTIVISm OR

CONCERNED PUblICS?Alan shares an insightful article on how influential digital has been in giving each and everyone

of us a voice, not only to speak our mind but to really take a stand and make a difference in the world. Alan also shares some life-changing examples and shows that once you

start, it’s not always that easy to walk away…

ALAN ANSTEAD

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and to attract interest, often through an emotional appeal. Theadoptionofdigitalplatformsbytheorganisationsthatactivistswanttoinfluence,makesitsomucheasierforactiviststoputacrosstheirviews.Whereasinthepast,thebalanceofpowerinpublicrelationswasheldbythosewithmoney(governmentsandcorporations),nowthedifferentiatoristhescaleoftheemotionalproposition.

InJanuary2011Ilearned,throughasmallarticleinmylocalnewspaper,thatSuffolkCountyCouncilwereabouttostopfunding21ofitscountryparksandwalks.Asakeenoutdoorperson,Iwasconcerned.AfewenquiriesandIdiscoveredthiswastrue,thatfromthreemonthstimetherewouldbenofundingandifsomeoneelsedidnotstepinandmaintainandpayfortheparkstheywouldcloseorbe soldoffby thecouncil.QuiteconvenientlySuffolkCountyCouncilhadjuststartedanonlinepetitioningsiteontheirwebsite.Ifapetitionercollected2,700signaturesfrompeoplelivingorworkinginthecountythenthecouncil’sconstitutiontriggeredadiscussionatafullcouncilmeetingoftheelectedmembers.The‘SaveSuffolk’sCountryParks’campaignwasborn.

Likeallgoodcampaigns thisdidnot relyononechannel toachieveitsobjectives.Localmediarelationswasanimportanttactictoraiseawarenessandstimulateaction.Ononekeydaybeforeacouncilvote,BBCSuffolkwerepersuadedtohaveanitemonSavingSuffolk’sCountryParksoneveryprogramme.Localnewspaperswerehighlysupportivewithmassivefavourabilitygiventothecampaign(helpedbecausetheCouncildidnotengageontheissue).FacebookandFlickrpages(thatstillexist)enabledsupportersofthecampaigntoengage.Weencouraged(andmadeiteasybyprovidingcontact

details)forsupporterstowritetotheirCountyCouncillor.AndmywifeandIspentagoodfewlunchtimesoutinmarkettownsacrossthecountycollectingsignaturesonanoldstylepaperpetition(wefound that some peoplewere still wary of electronic ones).Thepetitionnumberwas surpassedandadebatewasheldatSuffolkCountyCouncil’sAnnualGeneralMeeting.

The outcome: Suffolk County Council backtracked andguaranteedthatnoparkwouldbesoldormothballed.Theyagreedthatfundingwouldcontinueuntilnewowners(charitiesandparishortowncouncils)couldbefound.Andeventhen,agreedtoprovidefinancial support for thefirst fewyearsof the transition.Oh,andI amnot just anactivist. I amnowadirector in theCommunityInterestCompanythatismanagingmylocalpark,MelfordCountryPark,andarailwaywalk;togetherwithLongMelfordParishCouncil

“HOW CAN SOmETHINg SO EASy AS A 30 SECOND SIgN UP AND ClICk bE SUCH AN INFlUENTIAl AND POWERFUl PEOPlE’S TOOl?”

Save Suffolk’s Country Parks, 2011

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andwith good support from the County Council. Onewonderswhatmighthavebeentheoutcomewereitnotforthecampaign.Impossibletoevaluate,solet’ssticktooutcomes.

TheUKGovernmentalsohasanonlinepetitionsitethatstatesthatifapetitionraises100,000signaturesitwillbeconsideredfordebate in the House of Commons.As a snapshot while writingthis, Inote that ‘Stop thebadgercull’had214,172signatures.Apetitiontoask IainDuncanSmith, theDepartmentofWorksandPensionsSecretaryofState, toliveon£53aweeksocialbenefits(asheclaimedhecoulddoinamediainterview)raised500,000signatures.Theorganiserofthepetition,DominicAversano,said“Ithassentapowerfulmessagetothisgovernment,showingthelevelofoppositiontotheirviciouswelfarecuts”.Soonlinepetitionsareapotentialpublicaffairstool.

Online petitions do not change behaviour among the targetontheirownbut,integratedwithotherpublicrelationstacticsinastrategicapproach,andthepotentialisimmense.“Butpetitionsareanoldfashionapproach,justrejuvenatedthroughdigitalmeansIhearyousay.”Thefirstpetitiontoparliamentthatmyquickresearchfoundwasin1783tocampaignfor theabolitionofslavery.Wellyes,thisdemocratictoolhasbeenrefreshed.Butalsoconsidertheexternal environment. Publics have becomemore active. Peoplethinkittheirrighttospeakoutagainstperceivedinjustices.Totakeaction. And these publics are not just one demographic group:students.Peoplefromallwalksoflifeand,lookingataglobalscale,of all communities have felt empowered by digital campaigningopportunities.ThinkabouttheMiddleEastSpring,thedemocraticchangesinSouthAmerica.Allwereaidedbydigitalplatforms.Theadventof24/7newsandpeoplegeneratednewscontenthashelpedaswell.

Should businesses be fearful that someone with ‘an axeto grind’ may seriously damage their reputation?Well that is apossiblescenarioiftheorganisationdoesnotengage.Butpetitions

Alan Anstead runs a charity, Equality, that works for and with the Roma ethnic group in the UK. He also campaigns on local

issues that concern him and is CMC’s Director of Public Relations Qualifications.

Alan Anstead first studied for the CIM marketing qualifications with CMC nearly 20 years ago. Since then he has had a career in Government and NGO communications. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, CharityComms and the

National Social Marketing Centre.

andsocialmediaarepartofawider,democraticcommunity.Theoldskillsofrhetoric(whichisademocraticprocessofdiscussionandargumentationinmyview,withoutthenegativeconnotationsthatmodern language usage seems to have given it) have againrisen.Publicinteresthasgainedasharperfocus.Itismuchmoredifficulttocheatorlie.Massivecorporationshavetoexplaintheiractions.LookatthetaxevasionclaimsagainstStarbucks,AmazonandGoogle.Whatsocialmediaparticularlyallows,fromthepointofviewof theorganisationunderattack, isengagement.Tohaveaconversationwiththataxegrinder.Andthereforethepossibilitytolimitreputationdamage.Bettertohaveapublicdiscussiononasocialmediasitethanhaveamediaarticlewrittenthatishighlyfavourabletotheactivist.

So are we at a new crossroads in activist behaviour? Thecampaigning organisations think so. Brie Rogers Lowery, UKdirectorofChange.org,recently toldaGuardianinterviewer that“Itenablespeopletoholdpoliticiansandcorporationstoaccountformuchmore.”DavidBabbs,founderandChiefExecutiveat38degreessaid“Whatwedoisgiveourmembersavoiceondecisionsthat affect them. It’s people coming together to challenge thepowerful.Powerisnotgenerallygiven,it’staken.”

Thereareevenbiggerglobalcampaigningorganisationsoutthere.Avaaz–meaning“voice”inseveralEuropean,MiddleEasternandAsianlanguages–launchedin2007withasimpledemocraticmission:toorganisecitizensofallnationstoclosethegapbetweentheworldwehaveandtheworldmostpeoplewant.Itnowhas21millionmembersacrosstheworldandrising.Thereissomethingquitesatisfyinginsigningapetition,seeingyournameandcountry’sflagcomeup,followedbypeoplefromothercountriesonthetickerwhoallsupportthesameissue.

Clicktivismorconcernedpublics?Ignorethematyourperil.Jointhemforatrulydemocraticfeelingfromadesiretoshapetheworldanditsissues.

“THE bAlANCE OF POWER IN PUblIC RElATIONS WAS HElD by THOSE WITH mONEy (gOVERNmENTS AND CORPORATIONS), NOW THE DIFFERENTIATOR IS THE SCAlE OF THE EmOTIONAl PROPOSITION.”

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DIRECT mARkETINg: AgE Uk

Laurie Young provides a case study on the popular charity Age UK and discusses how it became an expert in direct and digital marketing.

This is an extract from his book, The Marketer’s Handbook.

age UK is a national British charity. Its purpose is to campaign, research

and provide services to older peoplewhile influencing decisions and issues atgovernmentpolicylevel.ThecharityisthelargestAgeConcerncharityinafederationofaroundthreehundredlocal,independentAge Concern charities (the “federation”).AgeConcernEnterprisesLimited(“ACEnt”)andAid-Call Limited (Aid-Call”), wholly-owned trading subsidiariesof the charity,wererecentlymergedtoformonetradingorganisation.Theirprimepurposeisto,costeffectively,raiseincomeforthecharitywhilstalsopromotingitsaims.

ACEnt’sproductsandserviceswere:generalinsurance,funeralplans, energy services, legal services, independent advice andlotteries. (ACEntwas authorised by the British Financial ServicesAuthoritytoconductgeneralinsurancebusiness.)However,alltheseproductsweresoldundertheAgeConcernbrand(makingiteasiertointegratetheorganisations)andallweredesignedwiththeneedsof theover50s inmind.The incomeraised throughselling themflowsbackintoAGEUKandthemembersoftheTradingAlliance,tosupporttheircharitableactivities.Thetwoorganisationsemployabout two hundred and fifty staff, located in London,Ashburton(Devon)andthroughouttheUK,infieldandhomebasedroles.Atthetimeofwriting,thereareoveramillionAgeConcerncustomerswhogenerateupwardsof£40millionincommissionandgiftaidincomeandinexcessof40,000Aidcallcustomers.

Oneof themost excitingopportunities available to theneworganisationwasthecreationofasingle,UK-widedatabasewhichholdsthenamesofapproximatelytwomillionpeople.This,togetherwiththeneedtokeepcoststoanabsoluteminimuminacharity,haspromptedtheorganisationtobecomeexpertatdirectanddigitalmarketing.DirectMarketingisrunbythecharity’scentralmarketingteamanditsaffinitypartners(suchasE.ON,DignityandFortis).ResponseisdirectedtotheAgeUKwebsitewherecallcentresarerunbythe‘productpartners’usingACEnt’sbrand.Thecharityhasstructureditsbusinessmodelsothat:• Theproductsareprovidedbythirdpartyproviders(Fortis for

insurance,Dignityforfuneralplans,E.ONforenergyplans)andcanbesoleorcobranded.Thecharityisseenbythesepartnersasalargeaffinitygroup.

• Itprovidesmarketinginvestmentandactivity,althoughsomeof the third party providers conduct marketing activitiesthemselves,withACEnt’sagreement.

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• Freehypothermiathermometer• Freecarbonmonoxidealarm(worthc£20)• Choice of additional free and discounted Energy Efficiency

measureswhencustomersjointhescheme• Face-to-faceadviceandassistanceataround150AgeConcerns

acrossthecountry• Largeprintbills,billsinBraille,talkingbills• Freeenergyefficiencyadvice• Passwordschemeformeterreadingsforextrapeaceofmind• Servicesforcustomerswithpriorityneeds• ExclusivediscountsfromE.ONforAgeConcerncustomerson

loftandCavityWall installation.Thesemayalsobe installedfreeofchargeforcustomersaged70andoveroronqualifyingbenefits.

With Powergen and E.ON, the charity has built a customerbase of approximately 220,000 over the last decade.They havegainedanaverageof65,000newcontractsperyearoverthelastthreeyears.Throughthistheyhavegaineddetailedinformationontheircustomersuseofenergyandthathasallowedthemtocrosssale their portfolio of products to energy customers using directmarketing.Thiscustomerdataisheldontheirmarketingdatabaseandisusedfordirectmarketingpurposes.Theyusesalesroutestotheoldermarkettodevelopacustomerpropositiontoreduceenergyconsumptionandmodifybehaviour.Thecharityhasdevelopedasuccessful energy efficiency scheme selling thebenefitsof cavitywallandlofttopupthermalinsulation.

MikeAbrey-Bugg,generalmanagerofAgeUKsaid:“Overthelast ten yearswehaveproved that youcan satisfy customer andcharity requirements whilst satisfying the commercial equation.Wehavegivenpeople in later life theconfidence toswitch theirenergy, safe in theknowledge thatwe,acharitywill ensure thattheirinterestsarelookedafter.Andintheprocesswehavesecuredarevenuestreamforacharitytoactivelycampaignfortheinterestofpeopleinlaterlifeaverypleasingresult.”

• ThemainchannelstomarketarethroughtheTAMs(ThesearefacetofacechannelsthatlookratherliketravelagentstalkingacrossadeskinlocationsupanddownthehighstreetsoftheUK),locallyonaface-to-facebasisandviadirectmailshots,outboundtelephonemarketingandwebsitepromotion.

• ItprovidestheTAMswithinfrastructuresupportintheformofmarketing, compliance, FSA guidance, market information,riskmanagement and training (particularly sales, marketing,productknowledgeandFSAregulatorycompliance).

• InScotland,andNorthernIreland,ithasjointventurecompanieswiththelocalAgeUKcharities.Theseare50/50jointventurecompanies that run thesalesactivities in thosenations,withACEntprovidinginfrastructureandfinancialsupport.

THE ENERgy OFFER“AgeConcernEnergyServices”waslaunchedinSeptember1999withtheprimeaimofhelpingolderpeoplebenefitfromthesavingsthatcouldbeachievedbyswitchingtheirenergysupply.Todothis,thecharityjoinedforceswithE.ON,oneoftheUK’sleadingenergysuppliers, todevelopapackageofcompetitiveenergypricesandcustomerservicedesignedspecificallyforolderpeople.

Thecharityhadconcernsaboutthewayenergycontractsweresold,so theproductwasonlyofferedviaTAMsordirect throughthecallcentrewhereservicestandardscouldbemonitored.OverthelasteightyearsithashadapositiveimpactonthewayenergyissoldandinfluencedthewayE.ONdoesitsbusiness.Theproductis marketed through direct marketing campaigns with responsesdirectedtodirectsaleschannelsandthewebsite.

In recent times, when the industry was affected by risingwholesalecostsandhadtopassonpriceincreasestocustomers,AgeConcern and E.ONworked together in an effort tomitigateincreases forAgeConcerncustomers.On severaloccasions theywereabletoachieveadelayinpriceincreasesuntilafterthewintermonths, or a mitigating cash-back for customers.They currentlyhavearound400,000contractsandthepenetrationacrossgasandelectricityistwoproductspercustomer.

Therearethreebespokeproductswhicharepositionedtogivebestpriceeither to lower thanaverageoraboveaverage (higher)users.Thefeaturesoftheonlineproposition(whichisthesameastheofflineproduct)are:• Dedicatedcustomerserviceline,freetocallandnotautomated,

withafacilityforthehardofhearingandaccessibilityofavideophoneforthedeaf

• AguaranteedColdWeatherPaymentof£10forallgascustomers(£20forthoseaged80andover)

• Gas customers aged60 andovermay receive an additionalpayment above this guaranteed amount for each day thetemperature drops below zero between December andFebruaryeachyear

Laurie Young MBA, DipM, FCIM, FIOD, FRSA Laurie Young is a senior executive experienced

in all aspects of marketing, with significant expertise in the marketing of services. A proven manager and leader, with strong

consultative and communication skills, he has worked internationally with many different organisations and cultures, including

PricewaterhouseCoopers; Unisys; and BT. Laurie is currently Chairman of the Board at the Strategic Planning Society (SPS).

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asMatthewBishopsaysinEssentialEconomics,trustis“oneofthemostvaluableeconomicassets,hardtocreatebuteasyto

destroy…”Certainly,thecurrenteconomiccrisisisevidenceofjusthowfragiletrustis.Beforethecrisis,therewasasurplusofpeoplewho trusted too easily.Then their investments disappeared, theircounselors didn’t knowwhat todo, and their respected advisersturnedouttobecrooks.Thechainoftrustbroke.Nowthereisatrustdeficit.Thewholeeconomyisholdingitsbreathwaiting forconfidencetoreturn.Butdoingnothingmakesthingsworse.

DavidRhodesandDanielStelter,in“SeizeAdvantageinaDownturn”(HBRFebruary2009),warnthat“inactionistheriskiestresponsetotheuncertaintiesofaneconomiccrisis.

Butrashorscattershotactioncanbenearlyasdamaging.”Adisorganizedresponsecanproduceapanicanddistractpeoplefromfindingopportunitieshiddeninthebadnews.Companiesmusttakedecisivebutmeasuredactionintoughtimestosecuretheirfutures–actionthatcanrequire,ifnotacompleterenewaloftrust,aleapoffaith.

bROkEN TRUSTBY DON MOYER

Don Moyer has collected his series of cartoons as a book, entitled 64 Drawings. It is available from Blurb at

www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/949041

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22

THE glObAl ECONOmy OF CITIES

Philip Kotler and brother Milton talk us through the global economy of cities in this fascinating feature.

This excerpt is taken from their forthcoming new book: “Growing your company in the Global Urban Economy.”

much of the growth of nations is tied to the growth of their cities.

Citiesarethesourceofanation’swealth,nottheotherwayaround.Itisinitscitiesthat most of the investment, trade andconsumptiontakeplace.

Yet development economists havespentmostofthelast60yearsfocusingonnationgrowth,notcitygrowth.FollowingWWII,theUnitedNations,WorldBank,InternationalMonetaryFund,aswellasthehegemonicpowersoftheUSandtheSoviet Union have pursued policies ofbuildingNationaleconomiesastherouteto economic development and growth.After the collapse of the Soviet Union,Western powers have continued thisstrategyofnationbuildingtothisday.

There are strong reasons whybusinesses and governments must startfocusingoncitiesandmegacitiesastargetsfordevelopment.First,forthefirsttimeinhumanhistory,weliveinanurbanworld.Morethanone-halfoftheworld’spopulationliveincitiesandgenerate80%percentoftheworld’sGDP.Asof2007,380citiesoftheMcKinseyGlobalInstitute(MGI)indexof600topglobalcities,accountedfor50%ofglobalGDP.By2025,the600largestcitieswillgenerate60%ofglobalGDP.ManymajorcitiesintheUSandEuropearedeclininginpopulation.TheycannotbereliedonbyWesternglobalmultinationals to provide growth opportunity. Second, the fastestgrowingcitiesareinthedevelopingnations,especiallyinAsiaandLatinAmerica.Theyareexperiencingarapidgrowthinthemiddleandaffluentclasses.This iswheremoneycanbemadeand it istheemergingcountrymultinationalsthatareinthebestpositiontoexploit theseopportunities.Westernmultinationalsmustwakeupandmovetotheseopportunitiesbeforeitistoolate,otherwisetheyarecondemnedtolowornogrowth.

Considerthefollowing.Largeandmidsizecitiesindevelopingcountriesoftenhaveagrowthratefarexceedingtheirhostcountries.(Cities refer tostandardmetropolitanareasofmunicipalities.Cityregions extend beyond the SMA. Megacities exceed 10 millionin population; large cities range from 5 million to 10 million.)Furthermore,thesumtotalofanation’scitiescomprisesthegreatestpartoftheirGDP.Indevelopedcountries,citiesprovideasmuchas80%ofnationalGDP.IntheUS,citiescontribute79%ofnational

PHILIP KOTLER

MILTON KOTLER

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Country growth (pa)

City growth (pa)

Brazil 3% Rio 4.2%

San Paulo 4.3%

India 5% Mumbai 6.3%

Delhi 6.4%

China 5.5%

Shanghai

Beijing

Gunagzhou

>20%

GDP.Indevelopingcountries,therangeis40to60%Chinesecitiescontribute60%ofnationalGDPand85%ofitsGDPgrowth.

Beneath the shell of nation building, developing economieshavethrivedthroughtherapidgrowthofcitiesandtheirdynamicinterplayofdemography,education,lowlaborcosts,externalandinternalinvestment,transplantedglobalindustriesandindigenousindustries, government investment and enterprise policies, andindigenousentrepreneurialspirit.ContinuingurbanisationdrivestheGDPgrowthatamuchhighergrowthratethanitwouldotherwiseachieve.

National institutions play a facilitating role in attractingexternalinvestmentandtrade,butitistheenterpriseofdevelopingmegacitiesandlargecitiesthataretheengineofnationaleconomicgrowth. Inmostcases,urbanGDP indevelopinganddevelopedcitiesexceedthegrowthrateoftheirhostcountries;ordeclinelessthannational economicdecline.Nations are thebeneficiariesofurbanwealth,nottheprogenitors.

According to McKinsey, the top 600 cities in the worldinclude20%oftheworld’spopulationandgenerate$34trillion,orroughlyhalfofglobalGDP.Between2010and2025thetop600willdouble itsGDPto$65trillionandcontribute67%toglobalGDP (McKinsey, 2011).Howcan this be?Why is the economicdevelopmentofAsiaandotherdevelopingareaseclipsingWesterneconomicdominance?

Theanswerisreallyquitesimple.Sincetheriseofnationstatesinthe18thcentury,comparativepoliticsandeconomicshavealwaysbeen based on country data.The same holds more recently forcomparativeGDPdata.CountrydatadoesnotreflectdifferencesincityGDPorcitycontributiontocountryGDP.Forexamplein2011,thetop15citiesinIndiacontributed56%ofIndia’sGDP,whileonlyincluding7.5%ofitspopulation,(Professor Vidur Saghal).Citiesaretheeconomicpowerhousesofcountries.

Further, top city annual economic growth exceeds host countrygrowth.

City-building,notnationbuildinghasbeen thekey to the riseofemergingmarkets.Themegacitiesandlargecitiesoftheworldhavean80%higherpercapitaGDPthantheirhosteconomies.By2025,only12ofthetop25citieswithannualhouseholdincomeabove$20,000 in purchasing power parity (PPP) will be in developedregions,namelyTokyo,NewYork,London,Paris,Rhein-Ruhr,Osaka,LosAngeles,Seoul,Chicago,Milan,RanstadandMadrid.Thirteenof the top 25 will be in developing regions, namely Shanghai.Beijing,Moscow,MexicoCity, SaoPaulo,Mumbai,Cairo,HongKong,Taipei,Shenzhen,Istanbul,DelhiandBuenosAires.

The key to the shift of national wealth from developedto developing countries lies in the rapid urbanisation of vastpopulationsoflow-wageworkersandeducatedprofessionals,andthemergingofcountryside, townsandcities into largecitiesandmegacities. Jane Jacobsandotherurbananalystspointedout thewealthcreatingeffectofcities.Whiletheseearlierwritersfocusedontheurbanisationofdevelopedcountries,thereistodayafarlargerimpactofcities in thedevelopingworld.AccordingtoMcKinsey,“China’s economic transformation resulting from urbanisation ishappeningat100timesthescaleofthefirstcountryintheworldtourbanise–theUnitedKingdom–andat10timesthespeed”.

The2025MGIIndexconstituentplayerswillchange.136newcitiesinthedevelopingworld(100inChinaalone)willenterthe600cityindex.Oneoutofeverythreedevelopedcitiesinthe2007600indexwilldrop.

Thekeyelementofnewwealthcreationwillderivefromtheconsumptionof485millionhouseholdswithanaveragepercapitaincome$20,000per annum in2007, to735millionhouseholdswithanaveragepercapitaincomeof$32,000.

bUSINESS STRATEgy IN CITy ECONOmIESJane Jacobs brilliantly dismantled national theories of wealthcreation, by demonstrating in utterly realistic terms the fact thatcitiesandtheirregionsarethetruegeneratorsofnationalwealth.She argues that cities grow through different stages: 1) Markets

“WHy IS THE ECONOmIC DEVElOPmENT OF ASIA AND OTHER DEVElOPINg AREAS EClIPSINg WESTERN ECONOmIC DOmINANCE?”

Source PriceWaterhouseCooper

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for imports;2) Import replacement;3) Industrial andcommercialtransplants;4)Technology;5)CapitalformationandInvestment.

Jacobs demonstrated how greatWestern city regions joinedwithotherimportingandexportingcityregionswithinanationtoactuallycreatethewealthofnations.Thecityisthecoreofthecityregioneconomy.Asthecorecityflourishesinimportreplacement,itbeginstoexportitssurplusproductionandinnovations.

Imports are continually converted into replacements andexports and thewealthof city regions grow.When the city coredeclinesinenergyandinventiveness,thecityregiondegrades.

Jacobswroteanearlierbookin1961,TheDeathandLifeofAmericanCities,inwhichshetracesthecompetitiveracebetweencities and city regions within the US and the various reasonswhy some citieswon and others cities lost. Every city competesformarkets, jobs, transplants, technology andcapital.Citiesmaybe permanent, but there is no permanence of their wealth andeconomicpower.

Jacobswitnessed theriseofTokyoandothermajor JapanesecitiesandtherisingwealthofJapan,thoughshedidnotlivetoseethedecliningeconomicgrowthofTokyoandothermajorJapanesecitiesduringdecadesof stagnation in the90snor for thatmatterthedeathofDetroitandtheeconomicdeclineofmanyprominentAmericanandEuropeancities.HoweverJacobshasbeenrightallalong.Thechangingeconomicfortuneofcityandcityregionsrestsontheshiftingsandsofmarkets,jobs,transplants,technologyandcapital.

Letuslookathowherfiveforcesshapetodayandtomorrow’sglobaleconomy.

1. mARkETSThere aremore jobs in the topdeveloping cities than in the topdevelopedcities.Youcanfitthe2025projectedpopulationofthefive global top per capita income developed cities (Oslo,Doha,Bergen,TrondheimandSanJose)intoonejobdistrictofShanghai.Mostofthetopperformingpercapitacitieshavesmallpopulations,richnaturalandhumanresourcesandspecialiszedmarkets.

Thedevelopingworldadded886millionnon-farmjobsfromthe period of 1980 to 2010, or an increase of 61%, versus 164millionnewnon-farmjobsinthedevelopedworld,oranincreaseof9%.

In 2008, there were 80 million middle and wealth classhouseholdsinthedevelopingtop600worldcities;and172millionsuchhouseholdsinthedevelopedworld.By2025,11of thetop25globalcitiesinGDPwillbeinthedevelopingworld;while14remaininthedevelopedworld(9intheUS).

Turning to the number of households with annual incomeover$20,000(middleandwealthclasses)inthetop25hotspotsin2025,12willbeinthedevelopedworld;13inthedevelopingworld(sevenoftheseintheBRICcountries).

FinallytothefastestrateofcityGDPgrowthin2025,China

alonehas15of the top25greatestcityGDPgrowthrates in theworld. In a number of households above $20,000 GD/PPP perannumonlyNewYork,LosAngelesandChicagointheUSrankinthetop25cities;matchedbyShanghai,BeijingandShenzheninChina.Morebroadly,12ofthetop25citiesinhouseholdincome$20,000GDP/PPPperannumwillbeinthedevelopingworld.

Thekeytothegrowingmarketconsumptionoftopdevelopingcitiesistheglobalreachofmultinationalcorporationsinmanufacture,brand power and retail chains, aswell as the rise of indigenouscompanies and their production power, styling, advertising anddistributionthoughtheirownretailchainsandmalls.

2. ImPORT REPlACEmENT Most Western multinational B2C and B2B companies initiallyexported their goods and services to developing cities. In shortorder,theseimportswerecopiedandsoldbydomesticcompaniestoconsumersatalowerprice.Themultinationalstransplantedtheirproductiontohostdevelopingcitiestoprotecttheirbrandsandtotakeadvantageoflowcostlabortoexporttotheirhomecountriesandglobally.Theyworkedoutdistributionandpromotionoftheirgoodstosupernumerarylocalconsumers.

Multinational corporation investment added great economicgrowthtodevelopingcities,whileimperilingtheproductiveeconomyoftheirhomecountry.Indigenousdevelopingcitiesalsosubstitutedimportsandgrewtheirownbrandsandpositioninthemarketplace.Inaddition,becauseoflowlaborcostsandgovernmentpolicy,themultinationalsoverproducedforthedestinationdevelopingmarketandexportedgreatsurplusesallaroundtheworldtootherdevelopedmarketsandtootherdevelopingmarkets.Chinesecompaniesdidthesame,competingwiththemultinationalsinthehostmarket,andeventuallyexportingaswell.

3. TRANSPlANTSThemajorsourceofgrowthsince1980hasbeenthetransplantationofmanufacturingfromdevelopedcityregionstothecityregionsofdevelopingcities.

Many factors − low wages, improved education and skilltraining, infrastructure, logistics, local supply, large metropolitanconsumermarkets, low interest financing, favorablebilateral andglobal tradepolicy,andinvestment incentivesofhostcountries−have joined forces tomove the industrial core of the developedworld to the developing world. The epicenter of middle classconsumptionandpercapitawealthismovinginconcertwiththisindustrialandcommercialinvestmentshift.

Developingcitiesaremarketingtheirinvestmentadvantage,inconcertwith central and local government policy andmonetary,fiscal and trade support. They compete among each other forforeigndirectinvestment(FDI).Itisimportanttonotethatitisthecities thatmarket transplants, not the central governments.Tradedelegations led by Mayors from every large city in China send

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marketingdelegationstoUScitiestodemonstratetheirinvestmentopportunities.Notealsothat thesedevelopingcitydelegationsgotocitiesintheUS,nottotheFederalGovernmentforinvestment.

With continuing large scale and rapid import replacementthrough transplants, FDI, and indigenous production, developingcities will establish and widen their lead over developed citiesin decades ahead. The only hope of economic growth for lowpopulationdevelopedcitiesisinnovationforexport.Thisbringsustothenextelementofcityeconomicgrowth:technology.

4. TECHNOlOgyChinaandmanyotherdevelopingcountries require jointventurestructures for foreign investment.This is partly for thepurposeofaddingcapitalassetsandrevenuetoState-ownedcompanies,butalsoforindigenouspartnerstolearnthetechnologyofhighvalueproductionandcopythisknowledgefortheirownbrandedproductsandcomponents.Indigenousjointventurepartnersarealsolearninghow to efficiently manage large scale business operations andmanagementprocessesandorganisations.

Foreign MNCs accept this condition of joint venture andtechnologytransferfortheshort-termbenefitofmarketaccessandsalesrevenuestomeettheirglobalbottomline.MNCsareconstantvictimsofIPtheftwhetherbyajointpartnerorthirdparties.Copyingis the core of city economic growth. All cities grow by importreplacements,whichisafancywordforcopying.Nolegalsystem

orprocedurescanstoptheheartofcityeconomiesfromcopyingand growing. They must reproduce what they import to growtheireconomiesandthenexportatalowerpricethanwhattheypreviouslyimported.

Notonlydodevelopingcityregionsreplaceimportsfortheirhomemarket, but they export surplus throughout the world, ata price that noWesternMNCs canmatch. In fact, theWesternMNCsoutsourcetheirproductiontothesecompaniesandbecomeessentiallydesignandmarketingcompanies.Retailchains in thedevelopedworldimporttheseforeigngoodsdirectly,orasprivatelabelbrands.

AsChinesecompaniesabsorbmoreWesterntechnologyinitsmanufacturingbase,theyalsoinvestinnewtechnologies.Huaweiinvests 10% of its sales revenue in R&D, far higher than anyAmericancompany.Inaddition,theChinesegovernmentinvestsinR&D.Underthe12thfive-yearplanwhichrunsuntil2015,Chinawill increasepublicR&Dexpenditure to 2.2%, and to 2.5%by2020.

Whatallthismeans,isthatChineseandotherdevelopingcityregionswillcatchupwiththeWestintechnologyandfromtherebecomemajorexportersofvalueaddedgoodsandservices.

5. CAPITAl NewYork,London,Paris,Frankfurt,TokyoandSingaporearestillthemajorglobalfinancialcentersofcapital;butHongKong(legally

“WESTERN mUlTINATIONAlS mUST WAkE UP AND mOVE TO THESE OPPORTUNITIES bEFORE IT IS TOO lATE, OTHERWISE THEy ARE CONDEmNED TO lOW OR NO gROWTH.”

FACT: In the US, cities contribute 79% of national gDP. In developing countries, the range is 40 to 60% Chinese cities contribute 60% of national gDP and 85% of its gDP growth.

FACT: In 2011, the top 15 cities in India contributed 56% of India’s gDP, while only including 7.5% of its population. (Professor Vidur Saghal)

FACT: “China’s economic transformation resulting from urbanisation is happening at 100 times the scale of the first country in the world to urbanise – the United kingdom – and at 10 times the speed.” (McKinsey)

FACT: There are more jobs in the top developing cities than in the top developed cities.

FACT: mcDonald’s earns 66% of its revenues overseas. Apple received 65% of its sales revenue from overseas sales. Even Amazon is getting 45% of its sales overseas.

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enough todo84%of itsbusiness in theUS;andMcKesson, thelargestUSdrugdistributor,does91%ofitsbusinessintheUS.

But there is slippage.McDonald’searns66%of its revenuesoverseas.Apple received65%of its sales revenue fromoverseassales.EvenAmazonisgetting45%ofitssalesoverseas.TurningtotheindustrialsectorweseeIntelwith88%ofitsrevenuesoverseas;DowChemicalat67%overseas;IBMat67%overseas;GEat54%overseas;andFordat51%overseas.

Ifwetake50%overseassalesasthetippingpointforatrulyglobalUSmultinationalcompany,itislikelythatwewillseemostof theUSFortune500andFortune1,000companiessellingover50%abroadbytheendofthedecade.WiththeexceptionofIntel,Ford and IBM selling a small share of foreign sales directly togovernments,mostof thesesalesaretoforeigncompanies.Theseprocuring companies and consumers are in cities. Currently thelargestcitydestinationofUSforeignsalesareWesterndevelopedcountriesinEurope,Japan,KoreaandAustralia.Whilewedonothave the figures on the percentage of sales to developing cities,it is a fair betwith European and Japanese economic stagnationandrapiddevelopingcitygrowth,thatamajoritypercentageofUSmultinationalforeignsaleswillhavetoshiftfromdevelopedcitiestodevelopingcitiesbefore2025.

It is the strategic challenge of every company to figure outthe locations and rates of this shift.They have enough researchcapabilitytoseethecitypathoftheirbusinessshiftoverthecomingdecade,iftheyacceptthepremiseofcitymarketeconomies.TheyneedthecompetitiveintelligencetoseewheretheirWesternMNCcompetitorsaregoingandwhenandhow.TheyhavetotracktheriseandcompetitivestrategiesofnewdevelopingmarketMNCsandtheglobalcityspacesinwhichtheyplantooperate.

They have to change the culture of their headquarters andstakeholderstounderstandtwobasicchanges.First,don’tputtoomany resources indevelopedcitymarkets.Theyaredeclining inconsumerandbusinessgrowth;whiledevelopingcitymarketsaregrowing.Second,forgetglobalregionsandcountriesandfocusoncitymarkets,bothinthedevelopingaswellasthedevelopedregions.WesternfailuretoaccomplishthisculturalshiftwilladvantagetheriseofnewMNCsindevelopingandservingglobalcities.

OPPORTUNITy ANAlySISDevelopingcitieswithhighsavingsculturesarereluctanttospend.Thosewith spendingcultures are ready tobuy.Citieswithmanyinstitutionsofhigheducationand research instituteshavea largestockof talent forR&Dand innovation.Newerdevelopingcitiesthat have not yet replaced their imports have fewer indigenouscompetitors than older cities. Cities with agile entrepreneurialpolitical leadershiparemore inviting toWesternMNCentryandgrowththanbureaucraticcities,whichareprotectionisttowardtheirownindigenouscompanies.Somecitieshavehighlysuitableandoutward lookingpartners for jointventureandstrategicalliances;

partofChina),Shanghai,Beijing,Mumbai,NewDelhi,SaoPauloandtheMEEmiratecitiesofAbuDhabi,DohaandDubaiarenotfarbehind.

Theessentialmatteristhatmoreproductiveglobalcapital(notsafehavencapital) isflowing to the480developingcitiesof theMcKinsey600thanto the120developedcities.Thus, justas theWest off shores itsmanufacturing, it is off-shoring its productivecapital.

Western MNCs are keeping billons of off-shore profits off-shoretoinvestindevelopingcityregions,insteadofbringingtheseearnings back to their home countries for taxation and limiteddomesticinvestmentopportunity.

Developing countries now receive over half of global FDIinflows.Inthefirsthalfof2012though,ChinasurpassedtheUSandbecametheworld’slargestrecipientofforeigndirectinvestment.

bUSINESS STRATEgIES FOR DEVElOPINg CITy mARkETSMcKinseyreportedthatin2012,“Only19%ofsurveyedbusinessexecutiveswere reporting that their company’s senior executivesweremakingbusinesslocationdecisionsatthecity,ratherthanthecountry level and that they expect that share to remain constantover the next five years.” Further, 36% make strategic businessexpansiondecisionbasedonregionalinvestment,andleavethetaskofallocatinginvestmenttocitiestoworkinggroups.Astonishingly,61%ofseniorexecutivesdon’tplanatthecitylevel“becausetheyareperceivedasanirrelevantunitofstrategicplanning.”52%don’tusecityinformationintheirdailywork.Iftheseseniorexecutivesarelookingforcustomers,theyareoverlookingthemostsalientfactofwherecustomersare.Theyarenotinregionsorcountries,butinthecityregionsofcountries.

When seeking locations for improved access to knowledgeandtalent,30%reportthatthesedecisionsaremadeatacitylevel.Thissmallpercentagemaybewiseforidentifyingmanagementskillandtechnicaltalentforoperationsandinnovation,butitisapoorsubstituteforfindingwhereentrepreneursandconsumersare.ItmaylocateSiliconValleyorBangalore,butitfailstolocateTianjinandWuhan,orJakartaandLagos.IndeeditmayidentifyMinneapolis,Chicago,Manchester,Munich,Frankfurt,Lyon,orStockholm;butnoneofthesecitiesareamongthetop23cityregionsofhigh/middleincomehouseholdsof2007,norwilltheybein2025.

CORPORATE CUlTURESenior executives ofWestern MNCs have been in managementpositionsfordecades.It istoughtounlearnamindsetofthirtytofortyyears,especiallywhen thatmindsethasbeen successful formanyyears.MostUSconsumerandserviceMNCsstilldoagreatpartoftheirbusinessintheUS.Butthispictureischangingveryfast.Asof2011,Wal-Martstilldoes76%ofitsbusinessintheUS;Nikedoes50%ofitsbusinessinNorthAmerica.MarriottisstillAmerican

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others are too restrictive, distrustful and reluctant to deal withWesternpartners.Everycompanyneedsanopportunityroadmapandcriteriaforranking.

TARgETINgTheMcKinsey600citiesindex,withits430developingcities,istoovastalandscapeforstrategicinvestment.Whichcitiesshouldyourbusinessinvestinandaccordingtowhatcriteria?Whattimeorderand investment scaledo you set for your companyamong theseopportunitydevelopingcities?

Belowthecitylevel,whatdemographicsegmentsshouldyoutarget?Whatbrandsaremostsalienttothechangingdemographicgroupsinthesefastgrowingdevelopingcityregions?

CHANNElSWhatmixofdistributionchannelsdoyoudevise?ChinesecitieshavethehighestnumberofinternetusersandfastgrowingeCommercesales. India’scitieshaveaslowerrateofeCommercegrowth.TheEmiratescitiesarehighwealthcentersforluxurygoodsandtravel.They want elegant retail channels. African emerging cities needmore standard household goods and services and favor big boxchains. Chinese cities have millions of luxury and middle classconsumers,aswellasmillionsmoreincountrysidetownsandruraldistricts.Thechannelshavetobehighlydiversified.

PROmOTIONHowdoyouadvertiseinthedevelopingcitieswithdifferentcultures?Cultural variation and taste differ enormously between differentcities,eveninthesamecountry.ThepeopleoftheMiddleEastarehighlysensitiveandalientoWesternoutlook.HowdoesaWesternproductachievecredibilityinthemassivecityregionofCairo?

PRICINgHowdoyouprice forprofit invastdevelopingcities thathaveaheritageofflexiblepricingandpricenegotiation?Whatsystemsdoyouneedtocontrolpriceflexibilityinthedistributionchain,aswellasthesupplychain?Speakingofdistribution,developingcitieshavefarmore fragmented intermediaries than indevelopedcities.Thedistributionpiehasmanymoreslices.

ORgANISATIONIfwehavetomovefromregionalandcountrycompanyorganisation,howdoweorganise forcity regions? If thewealthofcompaniescomes from developing and developed city regions, companieshavetohaveseniorexecutivesatthecityregionlevel.Theycannotsucceedwith tacticalworkgroups.Themostpromisingapproachistotargetthefastestgrowingcityregionclustersandseatseniormanagementatthecityregionclusterlevel.

Wearefacinganewgenerationofmarketing,differentfromthepastandwithastilluncertainfuture.Whatwedoknowforcertain,

REFERENCES

PriceWaterhouseCoopers, The BRICs and beyond: prospects, challenges and opportunities

McKinsey, ibid

Developed regions compose the United States and Canada, Western Europe, Australasia, Japan and South Korea

Jane Jacobs, Cities and the Wealth of Nations, 1984, Random House

McKinsey Global Institute, Urban World: Cities and the rise of the consuming class, June, 2012, p.3

Jane Jacobs, Cities and the Wealth of Nations, ibid

Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, 1961, Random House

McKinsey Global Institute, ibid.

Foreign Direct Investment, The Economist, October, 2012

Capital Inflows, Globalization 101

MGI, Urban World: Cities and the rise of the consuming , 2012, p. 49

Philip Kotler (M.A., University of Chicago, Ph.D., M.I.T.) is the S. C. Johnson Distinguished Professor of International Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. He has

published Marketing Management, 14th edition, and 50 other books on different phases of marketing and economics. His research

covers strategic marketing, innovation, consumer marketing, business marketing, services marketing, e-marketing, and social

marketing. He has consulted a number of major companies and is the recipient of 14 honorary degrees from abroad. He was cited in

2011 as the number 1 academic business school professor.

Milton Kotler has over forty years of professional experience in marketing strategy and management. He is Founder and Chairman

of Kotler Marketing Group USA (KMG, Inc. – founder in 1984), headquartered in Washington DC, and Chairman of Kotler

Marketing China, with offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Milton Kotler is an economic advisor to the Mayors of Xian, Dalian

and Harbin and Zhengzhou. He has delivered public seminars in over 100 Chinese cities and is author of A Clear-Sighted View of

Chinese Business Strategy, Renmin University Press, Beijing; 2003 and co-author with Philip Kotler of Market Your Way to Growth: 8 Ways

to Win, Wiley, 2013

asbornoutinthedata,isthatglobalcityregionsinthedevelopingworld will dominate market economics and be a fundamentalsourceofcompanygrowthandprosperity.

Keep up to date with Philip and Milton via their websites:

www.pkotler.org

www.kotlermarketing.com (US)

www.kotler.com/cn (China)

www.kotlerongrowth.com Milton Kotler’s China Blog

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PERmISSION mARkETINg – WHy IT mATTERS

permission Marketing was coined by Seth Godin in 1999.Itistheopposite

of traditional ‘interruption marketing’where customers are bombarded byunwelcome communications:TV, email,onlineads(Sutherland&Canwell,2004).Compared to traditional advertisingPermissionMarketingfocusesonconsent;it allows prospects to volunteer to bemarketedto.Theideaisthatifaprospecthasvolunteeredthentheywillpaymoreattentiontothemarketingmessage(Godin,2007).

This seems like common sense, sowhy is it important, andwhyamItalkingaboutitnow?SethGodinwritesthatPermissionMarketing is the tool thatunlocks thepowerof the internet.Thisisbecausewiththeinternetcomesmoreclutter,moreadvertisingchannels, more ways for customers to be flooded with ads andpromotions.Thismakes‘permission’evenmorevaluable,arguablythemostpowerful trend inmarketing (Godin,2007). Sohowdoyouobtainpermissioninthefirstplace?Youofferanincentive.Thisincentivecanrangefrominformation,toentertainmenttoprizes.

PERmISSION mARkETINg – DATE yOUR CUSTOmERSSethGodincomparesPermissionMarketingtodating,sayingthatitturnsstrangersintofriendsandfriendsintolifetimecustomers.Takenote,becausemassmarketingisnolongerpullingintheresultsthatitusedto.

PERmISSION mARkETINg IN A DIgITAl AgE

Marketing Executive and A-grade delegate, Lorna Brocklesby explains why communication requested by the customer has a greater impact compared to uninvited marketing messages. Obtaining customer consent is

the only way marketing can thrive. An increasingly cluttered environment means that gaining permission from prospects to send them information about your products or services is a must.

LORNA BROCKLESBY

“ANTICIPATED, PERSONAl AND RElEVANT mESSAgES DElIVERED TO PEOPlE WHO WANT TO gET THEm IS THE CORE OF mARkETINg FOR THE FORESEEAblE FUTURE” Seth Godin

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gODIN’S 5 STEPS TO DATINg yOUR CUSTOmERS ARE AS FOllOWS:

1 Offer the prospect an incentive to volunteer Theywillthenoptintoyourcommunications.

2 Using the attention offered by the prospect, offer a curriculum over time, teaching the customer about your product or serviceMarketerscannoweducatetheirprospectsaboutthebenefitsoftheirproducts.

3 Reinforce the incentive to guarantee that the prospect maintains the permission

4 Offer additional incentives to get even more permission from the customerGainevenmoreknowledgeaboutyourcustomer.

5 Over time, leverage permission to change consumer behaviour toward profitsNowthatyouknowalotaboutyourcustomeryoucantailoryourofferingtomeettheirneeds

(Godin, 2007)

The more you get to know your prospects (the more youcommunicatewith them throughpermission), themore you cantailoryourproductstosatisfythem.Theprospectwillfeelprivilegedto be receiving your product/service based on the dating stepsbecause the messages they have received from you have beenrelevantandpersonalised.

Inthisway,PermissionMarketingcutsthroughtheclutterandallowsmarketerstospeaktoprospectsasfriends,notstrangers.Apersonalisedandanticipatedmassagehasalotmoreimpactthanarandomadvertoremail.

THE ClUTTERIsitreallythatbad?Yes,consumersarebombardedwithallsortsofadvertsonadailybasis.Theinternethascompoundedthisissue,frombannerstopop-ups−itisimpossibletosurfthewebwithoutbeinginterruptedbyadverts.Marketersareconstantlyfightingfor

“IT’S AlmOST 30 TImES EASIER TO gET INTO HARVARD THAN IT IS TO gET AN ADVERT INTO THE FACEbOOk NEWS FEED.”

customers’ attention – and it does not stop there!The increasedamountofadvertising isnot justaproblemforconsumers; it isaproblemformarketerstoo.SethGodinpaintsthisverysignificantpicture:

• Consumershavealimitedamountofattention.Wecan’twatcheverythingorremembereverything.

• Consumerschoosetobuythethingstheynotice.Iftheydon’tnoticeyouradvertisingthenthechancesofthembuyingyourproductsorservicesareslimtonone.

• Themoreproductsthatareoffered,thelessmoneythereistogoaround.IfyoubuyaSnickers,you’reunlikelytobuyaDairyMilkaswell.

• Interruptionmarketershavetospendmoremoneytogetnoticed.Reducingyouradvertisingspendinaclutteredenvironmentwillleadtoadecreaseinsales.

• Spendingmoremoneyonadvertisingleadstomoreclutter!Asthenoiseincreases,thepercentageofmessagesthatgetsthroughtothecustomerdecreases

(Godin, 2007)

Somarketersarebetweenarockandahardplace.Themoretheyadvertisethemoreclutteredtheworldbecomesandthelesseffectiveitis.Thelesstheyadvertisethelesstheyarenoticed.

Herearesomefactsaboutthedigitalspaceweliveinandhowbusyitis.Didyouknowthatitisalmost30timeseasiertogetintoHarvard than it is togetanadvert into theFacebookNewsFeed(Rosales, 2013).

• Everyminuteoftheday,e-mailuserssendapproximately204,166,677messages

• Googlereceivesover2millionsearchquerieseveryminuteoftheday

• Facebookusersshareapproximately684,478piecesofcontenteveryminute

• Twitteruserssendover100,000tweetseveryminute

• Only1outof500storiespostedonFacebookactuallymakeittotheNewsFeed

• Approximately47,000appsaredownloadedfromAppleeveryminute

• Everyminuteoftheday,approximately571newwebsitesarecreated

• WordPressuserspublishapproximately347newblogpostseveryminute

(ICAP Center for Social Media, 2013)

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PermissionMarketinghasbecomeimportantbecauseoftheinternetandbecausemassinterruptionmarketingisnolongeraseffectiveasithasbeen.Permissionisonlygoingtoincreaseinvalue.Marketersare constantlyfighting for attention throughadvertsonFacebookor Twitter, through TV commercials, in magazines, by email –everywheretheycan!Ontopofthattherearesomanyplatformsfromwhichmarketerscanreachconsumers.Wearelivinginaveryclutteredworld(Godin, 2007).

lEVERAgINg CONTENT TO DRIVE AWARENESS, PERmISSION AND SAlEIs there light at the end of the tunnel, for consumers aswell asformarketers?YesbecausePermissionMarketing is about gettingsomething in return; arguably thebest incentive is great content.Informationiswhatdrivesawareness,permissionandsales.Contentisthewayforward.Ifbrandsofferfreecontentofgoodqualitythen

prospectswillnotmindpartingwiththeircontactdetailsbecauseitwillseemworthwhile;afairtrade.

Astudyrevealedthatthemainreasonsconsumerssignupforemailsarebecauseofanofferorsale(61%)orfordiscounts(59%)(Moth, 2013).The downside to this is that discounts cannot besustained;itisnotalongtermstrategy.Inaddition,pricereductionsdevalueabrand.Thisiswherecontentcomesintoplay.Contentmarketing allows brands to gain permission from prospects tocommunicatewith themwithout jeopardising their reputation,orthereputationoftheirproducts.

So,contentmarketing ties inwithpermissionmarketingandbothconceptshavebeenaidedbytheweb.• Ifyoufrequentlymakeupdatestoyourwebsitei.e.ifyour

companyblogsandpostsnewcontent,itwillimproveyoursitelistingsonGoogle.Youwillgainmoreexposureandmoreauthority.

“AS NEW FORmS OF mEDIA DEVElOP AND ClUTTER bECOmES EVER mORE INTENSE, IT’S THE ASSET OF PERmISSION THAT WIll gENERATE PROFITS FOR mARkETERS.” Seth Godin

Source: Smartinsights.com

http://bit.ly/smartrace C

reated by: Danyl Bosom

worth and D

ave Chaffey

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• Twitter,Facebookandothersocialnetworksareagreatwaytoshareandspreadcontent.Ifyoupostvaluable,freecontentthenyouwillgainmorefollowersandlikesandyourcompanywillbetalkedaboutmore.Contentisrecommendedandsharedbyothers.

• Gaincredibilitywithinyourindustry.AsamarketingCollegeitisimportantthatwesharevaluablemarketingnewswithourcustomers.Similarly,ifprospectsreceiveusefulcontentfromusitwillshowthemthatweareaworthwhileorganisation.

• Greatcontentisapointofcompetitiveadvantage.

This is why it is important to not put all your content behindsubscriptionbarriers.

Take a look at Socialmediatoday’s infographic opposite,the Inbound Marketing Funnel. Customer advocacy stems fromrelevantcontentbecausecontentmarketingearnsthatallimportantpermission.

E-PERmISSION mARkETINg It’sbeen14yearssinceSethGodinpublishedhisbookandit’sclearthat PermissionMarketing is still extremely relevant today, if notmore so.DaveChaffeyhasconstructedhisownsetofprincipleswhichdetailshowPermissionMarketingcanbeachievedusingwebandemail.

DAVE CHAFFEy’S E-PERmISSION mARkETINg PRINCIPlES:

• Reduce interruption marketing

• Select the best mix of communications tools

• Think Request Marketing

• Achieve Opt-in

• Offer selective opt-in to communications

• Create a common customer profile

• Use powerful incentives to gain opt-in and offer a range of incentives or engagement devices

• Maximise learning, minimise attrition

• Enable Opt-out

• Learn more through time

• Vary online offers through time

• Create an outbound contact strategy

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SbyREDUCE INTERRUPTION mARkETINg

Interruptionwillalwaysbeneededwhenstartingadialoguewithprospects. This should be the only time interruption marketing(sendingrandomemails)isused.Weallhatespam,sodon’tdoit!

It’s not difficult to seewhy consumers feel overwhelmedbymarketingmessages.Arecentreportfoundthat16%ofbusinessessendmorethan1millionemailspermonthand19%sendbetween250,000and1millionemailseachmonth.To theconsumer thiswillfeellikealot,especiallyiftheyareunanticipated‘interruption’emails.

THINk REqUEST mARkETINg ForPermissionMarketingtofitinwiththecultureofthewebitmustbe a customer controlled experience. It shouldnot be about thecompanytryingtogainpermission,itshouldbeaboutthecustomerrequesting information. Dave Chaffey writes that this is a subtlebut importantdifference.This iswhy it is important tooffergreatcontentandnottohideitbehindsubscriptionbarriers.Ifcustomerswantyourcontentthentheywillgetitandintheprocessgiveyoutheirdetails, they’llgiveyoupermission.Thecustomershouldbeincontrol.

OFFER SElECTIVE OPT-IN TO COmmUNICATIONSThe customer should be able to choose which method ofcommunication theywould like tobecontactedwith.Again thisreiteratesthepointthatbecauseofthewebthecustomerhastobeincontrol.

Dave Chaffey writes that there are 4 main options for communications preferences:• Content:Tickboxesfornews,products,offers,events• Frequency:Weekly,monthly,quarterly,oralerts• Channel:E-mailordirectmail• Format:Textvs.HTML

mAxImISE lEARNINg, mINImISE ATTRITIONItisimportanttolearnasmuchaswecanaboutourprospectsandcustomerswithoutbeingannoying.Onceprospectsrespondtoourincentiveweshouldsendthemanonlinedatacaptureform.

Minimise the attrition of these lists by following Chaffey’s basic steps:• Ask the optimal number of questions.

Iftheincentiveisgoodenoughthenrespondentswillbepreparedtotakethetimetogivetheirinterests,particularlyifitisexplainedthatthiswillbeusedtoprovidetailoredcommunications.

• Devise powerful incentives, powerful enough for someone to fill in the form accurately.

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• Explain how the customer data will be used. Explainthatthedatacollectedwillhelptheinformationandexperiencedeliveredtothecustomer.

• Reassure them about privacy. ‘We will not share your data!’

CREATE AN OUTbOUND CONTACT STRATEgy Startbyreviewingtheemailmetrics,seewhat’sbeensuccessful,theoptimaltimetosendanemailandhowfrequently.

Think about: frequency; interval; content; links with othermessages/communications.Thereshouldalsobeacontrolstrategy,someonemonitoring all forms of communication; thiswillmakesureallcontactgoestoplan.

PERmISSION AND THE COOkIE lAWThe‘cookielaw’cameintoforceinMay2011andstatedthatstoringandaccessinginformationonusers’computersandotherdevicesis only lawfulwhen the user has given consent.The cookie lawhasbeenchangedbecauseofprivacyconcernsmostlybecauseof‘primarycookies’whichareusedtocreateadetailedprofileofanindividual’sbrowsingactivity.

Thismeans thatbecauseconsumersnowhave toopt-inandagreetotheuseofcookiestheyshouldviewwebdisplayadvertisingasanticipated,personalandrelevant.Thefactthatopt-insarenowappliedtoeverycookie(unlessessentialtoservice)meansthatwebadvertising is personal, it’s tailored to our interests andbasedonwhatyoulookatonline.

Emailhoweverisdifferent.Theuserhasagreedtoreceiveemailsandsohasalreadygivenconsent.Ifthemarketerisclearaboutthekindofdata theyarecollectingandhowitwillbeusedthenthecustomer/prospect will expect certainmeasurement and trackingactions.Thekeythinghereisthatthemarketeristransparentandtellstheirprospects/customersabouttheuseofcookiesandothertechnologythatstoresdata.

jUST REmEmbER…E-permissionmarketingtodayisaboutacquiringqualityopt-insonwebbrowsers,mobiles,appsandsocialplatforms.Theenvironment

Lorna Brocklesby, Marketing Executive of Cambridge Marketing College has recently completed the CIM Professional Certificate in

Marketing and has a degree in History from the University of Dundee.

is much more splintered compared to when Seth Godin firstpublished his PermissionMarketing book in 1999.The clutteredweb environment makes marketing more complex but it alsoprovidesmoreopportunities.

DaveChaffeybringsPermissionMarketingintothedigitalageby detailing howGodin’s principles can be achieved usingwebandemail.The2011cookielawisanimportantfeatureoftoday’slandscapebecauseopt-inispermission.Customersshouldnowtakeintoaccountnewdatastoringtechnologieslikeprimarycookiesandexpectmore intrusive but tailored communications. It all comesdowntopermission,aboutlearningasmuchaboutyourcustomeraspossibleandaboutdeliveringpersonalandanticipatedmessages.PermissionMarketing takesadvantageofnew technologiesbetterthanotherformsofmarketing.Itwillcontinuetoevolveandwillremainatthecentreofmarketingstrategy.

SOURCES & REFERENCES

Godin, S. (2007) Permission Marketing. London, Pocket Books.

Sutherland, J. and Canwell, D. (2004) Key concepts in marketing. Hampshire, Palgrave Macmillan.

http://socialmouths.com/blog/2013/05/08/facebook-image-optimization/

http://www.smartinsights.com/content-management/content-marketing-strategy/inbound-marketing-funnel-infographic/

http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/11214-marketing-emails-account-for-70-of-spam-complaints

http://www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/social-media-strategy/e-permission-marketing/

ICAP Center for Social Media, (2013) Fun Facts, [online] http://www.iacpsocialmedia.org/Resources/FunFacts.aspx (Accessed 12 August 2013)

Rosales, F. (2013) Photos Dominate Facebook’s News Feed, Here Is How To Optimize Them, [online] http://socialmouths.com/blog/2013/05/08/facebook-image-optimization/ (Accessed 12 August 2013)

Moth, D, (2013) 10 useful tips and examples to boost your email signups, [online], http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/62294-10-useful-tips-and-examples-to-boost-your-email-signups (Accessed 12 August 2013)

“FACE IT: yOUR ATTENTION – THE TImE yOU HAVE AVAIlAblE TO ‘PAy ATTENTION’ – IS AN INCREASINgly SCARCE RESOURCE” Seth Godin

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HOW mARkETERS CAN mAkE VISION AND VAlUES WORk

Hugh Davidson’s speech at the Cambridge Marketing College’s Annual Dinner in 2002 does not appear to have dated and is even more relevant today than when it was first delivered. If its theme, that we as marketers, should lead the management of vision and values in organisations, had been more widely acted upon, some of the turmoil of the last decade could have been

avoided. Charles Nixon, Founding Director of the College, asked Hugh to reprise the original speech, and add an “Afterthought for Marketers”, reflecting further learning from the past turbulent decade.

In writing his book which underlies this article, Hugh travelled over 55,000 miles and interviewed 125 global organisation leaders in North America and the UK, in order to understand how best to manage Vision, Values, and Branding, and make

them work on the front line at all levels. Too often, vision and value statements never travel far beyond the Boardroom and are seen as irrelevant by the key frontline and back office people capable of delivering them.

when I wrote the first edition of Offensive Marketing, many

decades ago, I had three hopes for the future of marketing. First, that mostmajor companieswould, in time,haveaMarketingDirectoronthemainboard.Second, that marketers would play amajorroleinmergersandacquisitions.And third, that they would lead long-termplanning.

Those 40 years have gone, andwherearewenow?Let’stakethefirst.AccordingtotheMarketingSocietyandtheCIM,only20%ofmajorcompanieshaveaMarketingDirectoronthemainboard.100%haveaFinanceDirector.

I thinkyouknowaswellas Idowhereweareontheother‘hopes’. There’s little involvement by Marketers in mergers andacquisitions.Over60%ofacquisitionsstillfailtobuildshareholdervalue.Thereisasimplereason–mostareactivatedbyinvestmentbankers in search of fees, and financial people.They both focusonthepast.Thekeytosuccessfulacquisitionsisunderstandingthefuture.Whodoesthisbetterthananybodyelse?Marketers.That’sabattleIthinkwemayhavelost,althoughIhopenot.Andwedon’tlead long-termplanning.That’s something that FinanceDirectorshavetakenover.

THE bIg FUTURE OPPORTUNITyWhen Charles briefed me to give this talk, he said, “Tell themsomething inspirational, get them really excited andmake themhappy”.SoIthinkweneedachangeofpace.Let’slooktothefuture,becausethere’sabiggeropportunityonthehorizon,muchbiggerthantheoneswe’vemissed.Andit’sthereforthetakingbymarketers.

HUGH DAVIDSON

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Here it is... Marketers have a major opportunity to lead the management of vision and values in organisations.They’reprettypoorlymanagedtodayandyouhavethecompetenciestofixthem.

I decided to write a book about this a few years ago, andexaminedalltheresearchonmanagingvisionandvalues.It’smainlycovered in books on leadership.Most of thewrittenmaterial onvisionandvaluessayshowimportanttheyare,andtellsyouhowtodesignstatements.Butthere’shardlyanythingabouthowtomakethemwork inpractice,everyday,everywhere,with receptionists,telesalespeople,andothersinthefrontlineorbackoffice.

ToestablishbestpracticeIdecidedtodosomeresearchandvisited 125 major organisations across the world, mainly in theUSAandUK, travelling55,000miles in theprocess. I sawabout70companies,andtheyaccountedforover20%ofAmericanGNP.Thisinvolvedinterviewingglobalchairmen/CEOsofcompanieslikeDuPont,BP,EsteeLauder,AT&T,FedEx,Nordstrom,DowChemical,JohnLewis,Tesco,Diageo,Procter&Gamble,Gillette,andsoon.

It seemed possible that companies had a lot to learn aboutvision and values management from non-profit organisations,soIalsovisitedabout65ofthese,includingtheNewYorkPoliceDepartment,ScotlandYard,BostonSymphonyOrchestra,SavetheChildren,andfiveofthetopAmericanHospitals.Italkedtoheadsofuniversities, includingCambridge, theUniversityofCalifornia,Cornell, Oxford, Caltech, Imperial, and many schools as well.TheserangedfromprivateschoolslikeEton,totheNorthCampusContinuationSchoolinOakland,California,whichhad110pupilswhoweremostlyeitheronprobationortripleexpellees.

The output of all this researchwas a book,The Committed Enterprise,andsevenbestpracticesformakingvision,valuesandbrandingwork.I’llcomeontothosealittlelater.

Oneofthebigdifficultiesintalkingtopeoplewasterminology.Youknowaboutthisasmarketers,becausewhenyoustarttalkingaboutbrandspeoplesay,“What’sabrand?”,“What’sbrandequity?”,“Howdoesabranddiffer fromaname?”There is aminefieldofterminologybecausepeopleusedifferentwords–mission,purpose,goals, objectives, strategies, visions, principles, ethos – often todescribethesamething.Iconcludeditdidn’tmatterwhichwordswereused.Theyallpointedtothefactthattherewereonlythreefundamentalquestionstoask:

Purpose, Vision and Value address the three big questions:

1 What are we here for?

2 What is our long-term destination?

3 What beliefs and behaviours will guide us on the journey?

Thethreebigquestionsoflifearecriticaltoanyorganisationand any individual. So,what arewe here for?Theword peoplepreferred for thiswasnot ‘mission’–mostbusinesspeople really

dislikedthisandfeltithadbeenabused.Theylikedpurpose,soI’musingthistocover:“Whatareweherefor?”Second:“Whatisourlong-termdestination?” ‘Vision’,mostpeopleacceptedthisword.‘Vision’doesn’tmeanthisyear,nextyear.Itlooksaheadfor5,10,20years.Andthethirdissueis,“Whatbeliefsandbehaviourswillguideusonthejourney?”Nearlyeverybodyacceptedthat‘values’ wasthekeywordtousethere.

WHy PRACTICAl VISION AND VAlUES mATTERHerearesomeexamplesofwhatIthinkarestrongvisions.It’sprettyhardtofindthem,becausemostcompanieshaveveryblandvisions.They are usually developed by consensus, and neither bold norambitious.

ExAmPlES OF STRONg VAlUES

“A computer on every desk and in every home.”

(Microsoft, original version)

“The best care to every patient every day.” (Mayo Clinic, c.1910)

“Making communicating with pictures as easy as using a pencil.” (George Eastman, Kodak, c1920)

Only34%ofcompanieshadwhatIconsiderastrongvision.ThechartshowstheoriginalMicrosoftvision.Thethingaboutvisionsisthatyouachievethem,andit tookMicrosoftabout20yearstoreachthisone.

They’venowgotanewvisionbuiltaround the internet.TheMayo Clinic was the best of the 125 organisations I visited.Anabsolutelyoutstandingplace,itisalwaysrankedintheleaguetablesnumber1or2outofthe6,200Americanhospitals.ThatvisionwasdevelopedbytheMayobrothersattheturnofthecenturyandtheMayostilltriestoachieveiteveryday.ThirdlyyoucanseeGeorgeEastman’soriginalvisionforKodakwhichI thinkthecompanyatonetimeachieved.However,thisexampledemonstratesthatwhenvisionsaremet,theyneedtochange.UnlikeMicrosoft,Kodakgotleftbehind.

Somepeoplesay,“Whatawasteoftimeallofthisstuffis”,andoneof thecompanies reallycaughtmeoffguard,because IwastalkingwithaseniorpersonwhomI’veknownforalongtime.He’saverygoodexecutivewhomIrespect.ButthemessageIgot,whichhewastooconsideratetospellout,was,“Hugh,youreallyarewastingyour timewith this visionandvalue stuff. It’s just psychobabble.Whatmattersisperformance.Thatshouldbethevisionandvalue:results, targets,newbusiness,makingithappen,gettingouttherewithcustomers.”

IlefttheinterviewalittledepressedandmomentarilythoughtperhapsI’dgotitallwrong.Wanttoknowthenameofthecompany?

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ItwasWorldCom,oneof theworld’s largestTelecomcompanies,which,in2002,filedforbankruptcy.

bENEFITS OF STRONg VISION AND VAlUES

1 Chart long-term direction

2 Build customer focus

3 Motivate employees and partners

4 Provide clarity re principles and behaviour

5 Basis for differentiation in service businesses

So here’s your list of things that make vision and valuesworthwhile,andIthinkthesewillresonatewithyouasmarketers.Firstofall,ifyouareacompanywithavision,youwillhavealong-termdirectionandthat’sgoodformarketerssincethecompanyismorelikelytocreateanenvironmentwhereyoucanbuildcustomerfocus.Ianalysedallthevaluesinorganisationsseen,andtheaveragehad5.1values.Abouta thirdof thesewere ‘marketingdriven’ ...aboutcustomerfirst,customerfocus,superiorquality,innovation.Anotherthirdwereaboutpeople,andmostoftherestwereaboutethicsoroperationalexcellence.

WHy CEOs NEED HElP FROm mARkETERSSoclearlystrongvaluesmotivateemployeesandpartners,becausepeopleknowhowtheyareexpectedtobehave,whatthey’retherefor,andwheretheyaregoinginfuture.Inservicebusinesses(andinEuropeandtheUSAover70%ofbusinessisinservices),thepeoplewhodeliver theproductgiveyoudifferentiation,and theirvaluescreatethisedge.Theyarethebrand.

Inresearchinthe1980s,98%ofCEOssaidasenseofvision

was themost important trait in aCEO,butmost didn’t have theconfidence that they possessed it. If you did the research today,you’dgetabetternumber,buttheproblemofconfidenceandskillswouldstillbethere.Let’shavealookatthekindofcompetenciesneeded todelivervisionandvalues,and thinkaboutwho in theorganisationpossessesthem.

Someofthesemaybefamiliar:analytical ability.I’msureyou’reall good at that, althoughmarketers in general need to improveon this score.Understanding a company’s critical competenciesis a core skill for marketers. And customers, markets. Do weunderstandthose?Communicationandbranding skills,creativity;which group of people?, which function of the organisation hasthoseskills?Isitfinance?Financepeopleknowhowtocutcosts,and how to manipulate numbers, but they’re not very goodat driving the top line, because they’re not trained to do so.Marketers possess all these critical competencies. They are the key people to help the Board and the CEO make vision and values work.

However vision and values are pretty poorlymanaged, andthere’s a good reason for that.They are cross-departmental, butthere are no exams in visions and values, and no formal set ofcompetenciesorknowledge.Soit’sdifficulttomanagethem,andalotofpeopledabblewhoarepoorlyqualifiedtooperateinthisimportantarea.Thefewstudiesdoneindicateabout60%ofnewvisionandvaluesfailtomakeanyimpactwhatsoever,andveryoftenthey’vedisappearedinacoupleofyears.

WHAT THE CEO RESEARCH REVEAlEDDuringmyresearch,Idevelopedthesevenbestpracticesandratedall125organisationsagainstthem.Excellenceisachievingallsevenbestpractices.(Seediagramabove)

Needs of key stakeholders understood and linked throughvision and values

Vision is clear, memorable, motivating, ambitious, customerrelated, and translated into measurable strategies

Values support the vision, are based on key factors forsuccess, and turned into measurable practices

Consistent communication by action, signals, words

Recruitment, training, appraisal, rewards, promotion and succession, all re�ect values

Organisation’s branding expresses vision and values

Rigorous measurement of how e�ectively vision and valuesare implemented

Buildingfoundations

Strong vision

Strong values

Communication

Embedding

Branding

Measurement

Seven best practices (BP) in making vision and values work

BP steps Best practice de�nition

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

The seven best practices (BP)

The seven best practices (BP)

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Only 6%of those researched, and that included Johnson&Johnson, and the Mayo Clinic, achieved all seven. The averagecompanyonlygotfour.Asthesevenbestpracticesaresynergisticandworktogether,fouroutofsevenisnot55%,it’sabout33%intermsofperformance,sothere’saverylongwaytogo.

Here’stheformulaIdevelopedforThe Committed Enterprise:

“Committed customers plus motivated employees

equals a satisfied finance provider”

That’sa formulaforshareholdervaluewhichwillbefamiliarto you.Theproblemwith companies likeWorldCom,EnronandAndersen,isthat,likesomeothercompanies(andtherearemanymoretocomethroughIcanassureyou),theyhavetriedtotaketheshortcut.Theyhavefocusedonthefinanceprovider,andtriedtogetquickfixresultsthroughmanipulationandcost-cuttingratherthanonimprovementincustomerfranchiseorinmotivatingemployees.Sotherightwaytoshareholdervalueisthemarketingway.

Aboveisthemodelformakingvisionandvalueswork.Youstartatthetopwiththevision.Ithastobestrong,andwe’llshortlyhavealookatthesixcriteriaforastrongvision.

It’s not enough to just have a vision.That’smerely a set ofwords.You’vegot to turn it intohard,measurable strategies andobjectives.The visionmay last 20 years or 30 years, and you’llchangethestrategiesandobjectivessupportingitovertime,asyoueventuallyachievethevision.

It’sthesamewithvalues.Valuesaremeaningless,justthingsonplasticcardsaswesawintheEnroncase.Sowhatyou’vegottodoistakethosevalueslikeinnovationorcustomerfocusandprovideaclearpictureofwhattheylooklikeinpractice,everyday.Soyouhaveavaluewordorphrase,backedbyanumberofbulletpointsthatturnthemintomeasurablepractices.

Thenyouembedalltheseinyoursystemsthroughrecruitment,appraisal,rewardandsoon.Sowhenyourecruitpeopleyoudosoonacombinationof:“Aretheycompetent,anddotheymeetthe values?” They must meet both criteria because you’ve gotto recruit values. The same applies with appraisal and reward.Theresultofall thisisdecisionsandbehaviourwhicharevalue-basedandperformance-based,backedbyanorganisationbrand.Sothepromisesyou’remakingoutsideinthemarketplace,withbrandslikeTescoorIBMorProcter&Gamble,arematchedbythesubstanceofthevaluesinsidetheorganisations.

Everyday decisions and behaviourOrganisation brand

PracticesObjectives,strategies

Vision Values

Systems for translating vision and values into everyday behaviour are shown inside the box above

Recruiting,training

Appraisal,reward

Personalobjectives Structure Succession

Best Practice 5: Embedding Systems

Best Practice 5: Embedding Systems

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THE SEVEN bEST PRACTICESHerearethesevenbestpracticesandwe’vecoveredsomeofthesealready.

• Building Foundations –Youstartoffbybuildingfoundationsbecauseyoucan’tchartthefutureuntilyouunderstandthepast.Youneedtoknowwhereyou’vecomefrom,whereyouarenowandwhoyouare.Whobetterthanmarketerstodothat?

• Strong Vision–Thenyoudevelopstrongvisionandtherearesixcriteriaforstrongvision.Only34%ofcompaniesmetthese,comparedwith63%ofnon-profits.Innon-profits,peopleworkforthevisionandvalues,lessforthemoney.Incompanies,peopleworktomakealiving,andyoutrytogetthemtobealignedwithvaluesaswell.It’smuchharder.

• Strong Values –Thewrongwaytodevelopvaluesistocomeupwiththoughtslike,“Let’sbenicetopeople”,or“Let’sbehonest”,“Let’sbecustomerfocused”.Thatisexactlythewrongwaytodevelopvisionandvalues.You’vegottostartoffbyfiguringoutwhatarethekeyfuturefactorsforsuccessinyourmarketplaceorcategory,andthenyoubuildthevaluesaroundachievingthosekeyfactorsforsuccess.Inthatway,ifyoumakeyourvalueswork,theybuildcompetitiveadvantage.Otherwisetheyareirrelevant.

• Communication–Thekeytypeofcommunicationisbyaction.Alotofyouhereareseniormanagers.Yousaythings,youpreachthings,youbehaveincertainwaysandpeopleknowwhattherulesare.Butwhatthey’redoingiswatchingyoucloselyeverydayandseeingwhatyoudocomparedtowhatyousay.Soit’snotwords,it’sactionandsignalsandbehaviour.

• Embedding –Wesawthatinrecruitment,training,appraisal,whenyouappraisesomebodyyoudosoonacombinationof“Didyougettheresults?”and“Didyougetthemtherightway?”Anybodycangetresultsinayear,buttomakeresultssustainableyou’vegottogetthemtherightwaybyusingvalues.

• Branding – Theremustbecompletealignmentbetweenwhatyou’repromisingoutside,andthesubstanceyou’redeliveringwithintheorganisation.Ifthereareanychinks,anymisalignment,itwillsoonbespotted,firstbyemployees,thenbyconsumers.

• Measurement – Thenyou’vegottomeasure,measureallthestakeholderdelivery;employees,customers,financeproviders,partners,andsoon.Largerorganisationsshouldusebothquantitativesurveysandanecdotalevidenceinmeasuringtheirsuccessinmanagingvisionandvalues.

SO, TO SUmmARISE:Strong vision and values create differentiation. They build motivation, trust, customer focus. Vision and values are not well managed. Marketers are best equipped to help the CEO. This opportunity will build their board influence. They should follow the seven best practices.

AFTERTHOUgHT – jUly 2013Thedecadesince Igave this lecture in2002hasbeen turbulent.Nooneimaginedthatin2008theWestwouldexperienceamajoreconomiccrisisaffectingalmosteveryhousehold,andthatby2013itwouldbefacingafifthyearofnilgrowth,withmoresuchyearsforecasttocome.

Theresultingfinancialausterity,increasedunemployment,andpersonalhardshiphasfocusedunflatteringattentiononthevaluesandpracticesofbanksinparticular;ontheirimprudentandrecklesslending,andunwaveringaddictiontotheshort-termbottomline.

InhisbookThe Big Short,MichaelLewisinstancesaMexicanstrawberrypicker living inCalifornia,whospokenoEnglish,andhadanannual incomeof$14,000.Hewas lent everypennyheneededtobuyahousefor$724,000.

The Western financial crisis has placed the importance ofstrongvaluesevenmoreprominentlyon thepublic radarscreen.My2002lectureconcentratedonprinciplesratherthantactics,andso,hopefully,ithasnotdated.VisionandValueshavebecomemoreimportant thanever,but short-termpressures in2013aregreaterthanin2002–andtheyarestillnotwellmanagedorcoordinated.

Lookingbacktothe2002lecture,IcanseethatImadesomemisjudgementsabouthowwellcertaincompaniesmanagedVisionandValues, notablyGoldman Sachs and BP, both ofwhich hada torriddecade.However, I standby theessentialcontentof theLecture,11yearslater,andinparticularthinkthe7BestPracticesremainvalid.

Reviewing the 2002 Lecture,with the benefit of a decade’sevents, led me to a number of ‘Afterthoughts for Marketers’, asfollows:

1. Weak values were a major cause of the 2008 financial crisisThemostimportantvalueforanycompanyistofocusonthewelfareof its customers, striving to continuously improve the benefitsdelivered. This precept has been ignored by many companies,sometimesresultinginbilliondollarfines.Inthecaseofsub-primelending,banks slicedanddicedoften toxic loans to low incomecustomers,chargedhigh ratesof interest,got themratedAAAbycreditagencies,andsoldthemontothirdparties. Intheend,noone knewwhat theseneatly ribboned toxicpackages contained.Customerswholosttheirhomescertainlyknewtheconsequences,buttheyhadbecomeinvisibletotheoriginallender.

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When the customer becomes invisible to product/serviceproviders, trouble always follows. The 2008 financial crisisrepresentedadisastrousfailureinvaluesbybanks,andhassinceblightedthelivesoftensofmillionsofcustomers.

2. The period 2002-2013 has starkly divided business sectors into ‘Value Adders’ who follow positive values, and ‘Value Extractors’, who pursue predatory practices‘Value Adders’ are found mainly in highly competitive markets,where customers gain real bargaining power through productknowledge, wide choice, and frequent purchase. They includesectors like FMCG, supermarkets, internet/portal search, expressdelivery,andmuchbusiness-to-business.

‘Value Extractors’ are a familiar feature among retail andinvestmentbanks,energycompanies,travelandCityprofessionals.

Most ‘Value Extractor’ categories are highly regulated tohelp protect customers, and enforce ethical standards.However,regulators and commentators increasingly recognised that strongregulationalonewillnot stampoutpredatorypractices, and thatfundamentalchangesinvaluesandculturehavebecomeessential.

3. Some ‘Value Adder’ companies and brands are thinking deeply about “What are we here for?”, and integrating values with purposeUnileverisagoodexample,withitspurpose‘tomakesustainableliving commonplace’, echoing the aim of its founder, “Tomakecleanlinesscommonplace”.Thisincorporatesanumberofexistingvalues. KeithWeed, the global CMO is responsible not only formarketing, but also for Community Social Responsibility (CSR),Sustainability, and the Unilever brand, so integrating all theseelements.

4. In the past decade, there has been greater recognition by CEOs of the importance of strong values, and their impact on corporate reputationOne symptom of this was the recent insistence by the CEOs ofBarclaysandUBS, two leadingbankshitbybillionsofdollarsoffines,thatallemployeessignuptoaspecificstatementofethicalpractice.Thisisasmallstepintherightdirection.

However,CEOsdonotseemtorealisethattheiroftenexcessiveremuneration is viewed bymany ordinary people as unfair, andundermines their company’s values. Furthermore, a life spent infirstclass travel,chauffeurdrivenvehicles,conferringwith senioremployees and customers, peer CEOs, City professionals andbankers,isunlikelytoenhancetheirunderstandingofthefront-linemarketplace.

5. The internet is placing relentless pressure on companies to strengthen their values, and ensure they are practised by allOrganisationswhicharenotopenandhonestwill eventuallybeexposed by consumers or whistle-blowing employees. Google,FacebookandTwitterareprovingeffectivemechanismsforrevealinghidingplacesandpublicisingpoorbehaviour,butsomeoftheirownvaluesandpracticeshavealsobeenquestioned.

6. Vision and Values still boil down to two simple propositionsThey are interlinked. Vision charts an ambitious and inspiringdirection.Valuessteerbehaviouronthejourney.Thepropositionsare:• Everyorganisationneedsalong-termvisiontoinspirepeople

togivetheirbest• Valuesareprimarilyabouthowwellyoutreatpeople–

especiallyemployees,customersandpartners(includingcontractworkersinBangladesh).Allshouldbegiventheopportunitytoreachtheirfullpotential,andbetreatedfairly.

There is still a big opportunity for marketers to lead and manage Vision and Values, and it’s growing bigger every day. Don’t lose this one like too many in the past. It’s waiting for you. Just take it.

REFERENCES

Stengal, J (2011) Grow - How ideals power growth and profit at the world’s 50 greatest companies, Crown Business

Davidson, H (2012) Only consumers can make Capitalism Work, Market Leader, Quarter 3, June

Davidson, H (2002) The Committed Enterprise – Making Vision, Values and Branding Work, Elsevier

Lewis, M (2011) The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine, W. W Norton & Company

HUGH DAVIDSON M.A, FCIM Hugh graduated in Economics and Law from Cambridge, then qualified

as a barrister in the top 1%. He preferred Marketing to the Law, and managed three Top 100 brands – Fairy Liquid, Daz, and McVities – before

becoming President of Playtex International in Canada and Europe.

Hugh co-founded Oxford Strategic Marketing in 1988, and, since 2004, spent much of his time as a social entrepreneur, running the H and S Davidson Trust, which he and his wife Sandra founded. This co-funds

innovative and higher risk pilot projects, with Oxfam and Save the Children, mainly with very poor girls and women in Eastern India.

Aim is for successes to be scaled up by larger organisations. Most are succeeding. One was awarded a UN Equator Prize (25 awarded globally

for poverty reduction, every two years).

Hugh is Fellow and former Chair of the Marketing Society, Fellow of CIM, has written 6 books, including the classic “Offensive Marketing”,

and “The Committed Enterprise”, and has worked in 18 countries.

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HOW TO USE INbOUND mARkETINg TECHNIqUES TO ACqUIRE CUSTOmERS

AND ImPROVE ROIIt is claimed that Inbound Marketing delivers significantly better ROI than traditional “outbound” techniques, by using

compelling content to manage customers through a “sales funnel” process. This article critically evaluates the merits of Inbound Marketing and explains what you need to know and do, in order to implement these techniques.

WHAT IS INbOUND mARkETINg?

inbound Marketingisaphraseyoumaybehearingmoreandmorethesedays.

The term has been with us since about2006 and is increasingly common. Youmight also have heard it described as“Content Marketing” – the phrases areprettymuchinterchangeable.

SowhatisInboundMarketing?Well,thebestplacetostartistocontrastitwithmoretraditionalformsofmarketing.

Thinkofapressadvert,atelesalescampaignoradirectmailcampaign.Alloftheseareformsof“outboundmarketing”–inotherwords,themarketercraftstheirmessage,andsendsitouttoatargetmarket.Ifallgoeswell,andtheirnumbersareright,theirmessagewill hit enough interestedpeoplewhoare ready tobuy, and thecampaignwillachieveapositiveROI.

InboundMarketing turns theprocesson its head. Insteadofmarketingtothemassesinthehopeofsinglingoutafew,youcannow tap in to groups of peoplewho are already looking for, ortalkingaboutwhateveritisyouoffer.Ormaybethey’rediscussingproblemsthatyourproductorservicecouldhelpthemwith.SearchEngines and SocialMedia nowmake it easy for you to listen tocustomerdialoguesandaddsomethingtotheconversation.

Solet’sassumethatbyfocusingonSearchEnginesandSocialMediayou’vefoundpeoplewhocouldbenefitfromyourproductand brought them to your website.The next step is to get theircontactdetails,andtheirpermissionforfurthermarketingcontact.Todo that, youhave to give them somethingof value – apieceofvaluablecontentthathelpsthemsolveaproblemortoachievesomethingthat’simportanttothem.

You’veprobably seen freeguidesorWhitePapersoffered inreturnforanemailaddressonmanywebsites.ThisisanimportantpartofanInboundMarketingplan,andmoreandmorecompaniesarerealisingthatitmakesmoresensetooffervaluablecontentandbuild trustoveraperiodof time, than to tryandpush fora salestraightaway,fromacustomerthatdoesn’tknowthemyet.

Onceyouhavetheirdetails,youcankeepintouchandprovidefurther,valuedcontentandevengraduallygathermoreinformationabout them as you build trust. Inbound Marketing helps youmaintainthattrustuntilcustomersarereadytobuy.

It’simportanttorememberthatyourprospectorcustomerisin

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controloftherelationship.Ifyoupushtooearlyortooaggressivelyforasalebeforethecustomerisreadytobuy,youruntheriskthattheycouldoptoutoffurthermarketing.

So here’s a summary of the key elements of Inbound Marketing:• Itinvolvestargetedactivitytoappealdirectlytopeoplewho

havesearchedforyourproductorservice,ortalkedaboutit

online.

• Youattractthoseprospectstoyourwebsitethroughproviding

usefulcontentinreturnfortheircontactdetails.

• Youmaintaincontactandbuildtrustoveraperiodoftime,

byprovidingfurtherrelevantcontentandmeasuringtheir

interestinit.

• Oncealeveloftrusthasbeendemonstrated,thesalesteam

willfollowupwarmopportunities.

• Ultimately,theautomationand‘pre-qualification’of

prospectsmustimprovetheROIofsalesandmarketing

activitiesbyprovidingmoreleadsandcustomers,more

cheaplythanoutboundmarketingtechniques.

IS THIS APPROACH REAlly A NEW ONE?BynowyoumightbethinkingthatInboundMarketingisnothingnew.You’dberight–manyoftheelementsofit,likeSocialMedia,SearchEngineOptimisationorblogginghavebeenwithusforyears.

Eventheideaofgivingsomethingofvalueinreturnforcontactdetailsandpermissionforfurthermarketingisnotnew.SethGodinwrote about this as long ago as 1999 (a lifetime ago in Internetterms)inhisbook“PermissionMarketing”.

What’s more, the whole process of finding new prospectsand communicating to themuntil they are ready to buy, is veryreminiscentofanevenoldertheory-theSalesFunnelapproach.

So what is genuinely new about Inbound marketing?• Theideaofbringingmanydisparateinternetmarketing

techniquestogetherinoneintegratedmarketingplan,isnew

tomostcompanies.WhilstSearchEngineMarketing,Social

Mediaandbloggingarenotnew,therealityisthatmost

companieswillhavefocusedontheminisolation.

• Theabilitytoautomateandmanageallofthesemarketing

activitiesfromonecentralplacehasbecomearealpossibility

onlyinthelastfewyears–evenforSMEbusinesses–thanks

totheemergenceofinboundmarketingsoftwareplatforms.

• Theconceptof“always-on”marketing,inwhichprospects

consumeyourinformationwhenitsuitsthemisalsonew.Not

longago,allmarketingactivitywouldhavebeenplannedas

partofacampaignwhichrantoaparticularschedule.Now

customerscanfindyou,exchangeinformationandreceive

contentinstantlyatanytimeofdayornight.

• Ratherthanjustlookingatanindividualcampaignand

seeinghowcustomersreactedtoit,InboundMarketinglets

youseehowindividualpeoplehaveinteractedwithallof

yourmarketing–whichemailstheyopened,whichlinksthey

clickedon,whichcontenttheydownloaded,andmore.

In short, InboundMarketingmakes it easy and practical forbusinessesofany size tocarryoutverypersonalised,one-to-onemarketing.Bybuildingtrustandcredibilitycombinedwithdetailedknowledge on each individual prospect, their marketing will bemoreeffectiveandefficient.

WHAT DOES INbOUND mARkETINg SOFTWARE AllOW yOU TO DO?Let’slookinmoredepthatInboundMarketingsoftware,whichIalludedtoabove.ToimplementandmanageanInboundMarketingplan,realisticallyyouwillneedsomeformofsoftwareplatform.Withoutone,youcan’tachievetherightlevelofautomationneededtoenablecustomerstoconsumeyourinformationwhenitsuitsthemandtocollectdataonyourbehalf.Inthelastfewyears,anumberofnewprovidershavelaunchedsuitableservices.

An Inbound marketing system will allow you to:• Createleadgenerationformsandlandingpagestocollect

data

• Provide‘gated’,contentthatcanonlybeseeninreturnfor

contactdetails

• Tracktheindividualbehaviourofprospectsandthecontent

theyhaveviewed

• Runtargetedfollow-upactivitiesbasedonprevious

behaviour,orhandleadsovertoyoursalesteam

“IF yOU PUSH TOO EARly OR TOO AggRESSIVEly FOR A SAlE bEFORE THE CUSTOmER IS READy TO bUy, yOU RUN THE RISk THAT THEy COUlD OPT OUT OF FURTHER mARkETINg.”

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Providers includeHubSpot,Act-On,Marketo andOptify, tonamebutafew.Allofthesearecloud-basedserviceswithamonthlysubscription.Thepricesandfeaturesvaryfromoneprovidertothenext.SomecanevenintegratewithyourSocialMediaaccountsandallowyoutoupdateyoursocialprofiles,orhelpyouanalyseyourSearchEngineOptimisationperformance.

Ifyou’reconsideringsigningupforInboundMarketingsoftware,thoroughresearchisessentialtofindtherightcombinationofpriceandfeatures.You’llbeencouragedbythefactthatalloftheInboundMarketingprovidersI’venamedheredefinitelypracticewhattheypreach–theyalluseInboundtechniquesthemselvestoprovideyouwithusefulcontentratherthanpressuringyouforanimmediatesale.

Pricingwillusuallyvarybasedonthefunctionalityyouwantand the number of contacts already in yourmarketing database.Providerswillnormallyofferafreedemonstration,andusuallyevena short-term free trialaccount.Thiswillenableyou to trial somecampaignsandseewhetherthesoftwarewillberightforyou.Whenitcomestofindingtherightsystemforyourbusiness,thereisnorealsubstituteforthoroughresearch.

WHy IS THE INbOUND mARkETINg APPROACH NEEDED NOW?Internet usage is now so widespread that most individuals haveconstantaccess.Regardlessofwhere theyareandwhat theyaredoing,theyareneverfarfromaninternet-enableddevice,beitaPC,smartphoneortablet.Whethertheyarelookingasaconsumer,orlookingtobuyaspartoftheirjob,mostcustomerswillstarttheirsearch for a new product or service online. Inbound Marketingmakesiteasierforthemtofindyouandtoenteradialoguewithyou.

Theotherbigadvantageoftheinternet,isthescalabilityandefficiency it offers. Imagine you are a consultant offering yourservicestobusinesses.Beforetheinternet,theobviouswaytoshowyourexpertiseandbuildtrustwastoofferafreeconsultation,butthiscouldbetime-consumingwhilstearningyounothingandpossiblyincurringexpenses.Now, thanks to theefficiencyof the internet,youcanpackageupyourexpertiseinapieceoffreecontent,andproviding this content to 100 people involves nomore cost andeffortthanprovidingittoone.

Convenienceisnottheonlyreasonpeoplechoosetolookfornewproductsonline.Manypotentialcustomersusetheinternettoresearchyourproductinrelativeanonymity.Yoursiteislikeashopwithoutpushysalesassistantswheretheycanbrowseinpeace.Ofcourse, togetyour freecontent, theywillneed togiveyou theiremail address, thus giving up some of that anonymity, but theycan easily unsubscribe giving them control of the relationship.Nowadays,whenmanycustomersare resistingandopting-outofpushytechniquesliketelemarketing,marketersneedtoacceptthatthecustomerisincontrol.

TheInboundMarketingapproachworksformanybusinesses,becauseitismoreintunewiththewaycustomersliketointeract

withyou,thantraditionalmarketingtechniquesare. myths and misunderstandingsThatexplainsthebasicsoftheInboundMarketingapproach,butlikeanynewmethodologyithasitsfairshareofmyths,misunderstandingsandhype.

Some of the most fervent advocates claim that inboundmarketing techniqueshave“killed”outboundmarketingactivitiessuch as telemarketing and personal selling.The reality for mostbusinesses is thatconcludingany salewill still involvepersonalone-to-one contact, be it by phone or face-to-face. Daniel Pinkrecentlywrotethatthegrowthoftheinternethasdonenothingtoreducethenumberofpeopleworkinginsales,butithashelpedtomakesalespeoplemoreeffective.

InboundMarketingwon’t kill off telemarketing or personalselling, but will in fact make themmore effective and efficient.Instead of “playing the numbers game” and ringing round everyprospectonyourdatabase,nowyoucanseewhichofthemhaveshownthemostinterestinyourcontentandconcentrateyoursaleseffortsonthemfirst.

The”always-on”natureofInboundMarketinghasalsoledsometomake theclaim– somewhat tongue-in-cheek– thatmarketingcampaignsaredead.Theyclaim thatbecausecustomerswant toreceivecertaincontentwhenitsuitsthem,therewillnolongerbesuchthingsaswidespreadscheduledcampaigns.Again,therealityissomewhatdifferent.

InboundMarketinginvolvesprovidingusefulcontenttoyourprospects justwhentheyneeditmost,so itstands toreasonthatsomeofyourbestcontentwillbeverytopical.Whentherearenewdevelopmentsinyourmarketandyouhavedevelopedcontenttoanswer your prospects’ concerns, you aremore likely to benefitfromaspecificcampaignto“push”thiscontenttoyourprospectsallatonce,ratherthansimplypostitonyourwebsiteandwaitforyourprospectstofindit.Aslongasyouareofferingsomethingofinterestandvaluetoyourprospects,scheduledmarketingcampaignswillstillbeeffective.

So,itseemsthatInboundMarketingisasubtlebutimportantshiftformanybusinesses,evenifitisn’ttheseismicshiftthatsomeofitsproponentsaretryingtosuggestitis. How to make a success of itIfyou’vedecidedthatInboundMarketingisworth–attheveryleast–furtherconsiderationforyourbusiness,whatarethecornerstonesof a strategy that you need to put in place?Well, I’ve alreadydiscussedsoftwareplatformsandtargetingtechniques.So,themostimportant thing left toconsider lies right at theheartof InboundMarketing–thecontent.

Howyoudevelop thecontent tomake Inboundworkcouldalmostbeanotherarticleonitsown,buthereare3quick,simplethingstoconsiderwhenyou’reattheplanningstage:

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1. Look far and wide within your business for sources of content– many of the best Inbound Marketers spread the contentcreationprocessamongtheirkeystaff,notjustthemarketingdepartment.They will create and share content from theirtechnical, customer service, product development or evendirector-levelpersonnel.Ofcourse,marketing shouldalwaysguideandsense-checkthequalityofthefinalcontent,buttheyshouldn’tkeepanirongripovertheprocess.

2. Develop customer personas – Inbound marketers alsorecommendtheprocessof“PersonaDevelopment”.This isaprocess that’s largelybeenborrowed from theworldofWebUserExperience(or‘UX’)whereitiscommonplace.Thissimplyinvolves making up several personas that represent typicalcustomers for your organisation, giving them a name andlisting theircharacteristics.Forexample, ifyou’reaspecialistemploymentlawyeroneofyourpersonasmightbeJohnSmith,who’sanin-houseHRmanagerwhofoundyoubysearchingforinformationondisciplinaryprocedures,andalsoneedshelpwithHealth&Safetycomplianceandsicknesspolicies.That’sareallyover-simplifiedexampleforthepurposesofthisarticle,but several detailed,well-researched personas can help yousegmentandtargetyouraudiencebetter.

3. Use a multimedia approach– remember thatnotallofyourprospectsandcustomersliketoreceiveinformationinthesameway.So, ifyouhave information thatwillbeuseful to them,don’tjustassumethattheywillallwatchyournewvideoforexample.Whenyourcontentreallyaddressesapainpointforyourcustomers,it’sworthtakingtheextratimetopackagethatcontent up for differentmedia, such as a video, then a FreeGuideorWhitePaper,thenmaybeaSlidesharepresentationoronlinewebinar.Bytestingovertime,you’lllearnhowpopulareachmediumiswithyourprospects,sogivesomethoughttoallofthemediayoucouldrealisticallyuseaspartofyourplan,withthebudgetandresourcesyouhave.

FIRST STEPSIfyou’renowgivingseriousconsiderationtoadoptingtheInboundMarketingapproach,butaren’tquitesure,youdon’thavetodiverightinandincurlargecosts.Anapproachthat’sworkedwellformeinseveralbusinessesistotestInboundMarketingonaverysmallscale,withnexttonorisk.

Rob Watson fell in to a career in insurance underwriting straight from school. Whilst still in insurance, he later came to work with

marketing people and discovered the career path he really wanted, and left work to study full-time for a marketing degree. Having

completed his degree, he has worked in senior marketing roles since 1999, completing the CIM Postgraduate Diploma along the way. He has been a Chartered Marketer since 2005, and in the same

year began working part-time as a tutor on the CIM Professional Diploma. He is now a freelance Internet Marketing consultant

specialising in Inbound Marketing techniques, through his website – clicktosale.co.uk

All you need to do is:• Pick a topic or new development in your sector that your

customersandprospectsmightneedtoknowmoreabout.

• Createapieceofcontent–asastartingpointI’dsuggestashort

freeguideorarticle.

• Offerthatpieceofcontentonyourwebsiteforfreeinreturnfor

emailaddresses.Youdon’tneedInboundMarketingsoftware

forthis–itcouldjustbeasimple“mailto”link.Itshouldbe

prominentonyourwebsitethough–preferablyyourhomepage

asaminimum.

• Measuretheresponserateoversayamonth,oraquarter,and

follow-upwithcustomerswho receivedyourcontent, toget

theirfeedbackonit.

Justbydoingtheabove,youwillhaveaclearideaastowhetherornotthereisanappetiteforcontentamongyourcustomersandprospects.Ifthereisagoodleveloftake-upandpositivefeedback,InboundMarketingcouldhelpyougrowyourbusinessverycost-effectivelyandprovidewordofmouthandrecommendations.

SUmmARySotosummarise,InboundMarketingmaynotbeforeverybusiness,but for therightbusiness itcanacquirecustomersmorecheaply,drivingimprovementsintheROIofsalesandmarketingactivity.

Inbound marketing involves:• Findinggroupsofcustomersonlinewhoarediscussing,or

searchingforyourproductorservice,ordiscussingproblems

youcouldhelpthemwith.

• Providingthemwithvaluablecontentthathelpsthem

overcomeproblemsandachievetheirgoals,inreturnfortheir

contactdetails.

• Nurturingleadsbyprovidingfurthervaluablecontent

automatically.

• Followingupsalesopportunities,oncealeveloftrusthasbeen

builtup,whichshouldseeabetterrateofsalesconversion

andrevenuethanwithoutInboundMarketing.

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THE CHANgINg CONSUmER bEHAVIOUR

the Internet and the rapid development of technology have

affected the individual’s professional and social lifeandhaveirreversiblychangedthewaypeopleshareinformation,ideasandexperienceswitheachother.Changesin social behaviour have created newopportunitiesforbrandstocommunicatetheir messages across and reach out totheiraudience.

Yet it is also due to technology, that organisations todayface new type of challenges. Consumers can afford to be moredemanding and more selective than ever before thanks to theavailability and accessibility of information via the Internet.Furthermore,thedevelopmentofmobiledeviceshasenabledthemtoaccessinformationonthegoaswellastosharethisinformationsimultaneously with others. Additionally, consumers are moreeasilyinfluencedbywhatothersaresayingaboutabrand,thanbythe statement a company ismaking about itself. In otherwords,consumersaremoreempowered thaneverbefore.

Forexample,“millennials”–orthegenerationagedbetween18to30-yearolds–areverydifferentfromthegenerationthatcamebefore them.They actively use Facebook orTwitter to broadcasttheirviews,ideas,andcreativeoutputgloballyandsharethemwithmillions of other people.According to the FT-GlobalMillennialsSurveyof18 to30-yearolds,40% feel theycouldeffect changeglobally and 62% feel they could effect change locally (Murray,2013).With so many young people considering contribution tochangetobethenewvalue,brandsareunderpressuretorethinktheirownvaluesinordertokeepabreastofthisfast-changingworld.

THE POWER OF ONlINE CONTENTMore often than not relationships start with a conversation.

Onlinecontentcanbeapowerfultooltostartaconversationwithyourcustomersassoonasitisnotregardedinisolation.Therefore,brandsneedacontentmarketingstrategythatisbasedonprofoundcustomerknowledge.Contentmarketingshouldbedrivenby theobjectiveofaddingvaluetothecustomer’sexperience,whichoftenmeansthatorganisationsneedtolistentotheiraudienceinthefirstinstance.Often,establishing relationshipof trustand respect isanaturaloutcomeofanongoingconversation.

DESISLAVA ALEKSANDROVA

CONTENT mARkETINg: THE CORE TOOl IN THE SUCCESSFUl

mARkETERS’ ARmOURyDesislava is a Marketing & Communications Manager and wrote this research piece as a College Associate

to assist with research for the College. She chose to research Online Content along with the support and guidance of tutor and Course Director, Terry Nicklin.

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Oneofthebiggestadvantagesofonlinecontentforbrandsisthatitislessdisruptivefortheconsumers(forexample,incomparisonwithadvertising)whilstleadingtohighengagementfromtheirtargetaudience.Itmarksashiftfrompushtopulltechniquesandoftencanwinabrandmorefollowersandfansthanastandaloneadvertisingcampaign.

CONTENT mARkETINg AND SOCIAl mEDIAWith more and more people using smartphones and tablets1 toaccessdigitalcontent,itisnotsurprisingthatthemethodsofcreatinganddistributingcontentareconstantlyevolving,drivenbytheuser’sdemands.

Existingandemergingsocialnetworkingwebsitesofferbrandsthe opportunity to shape their content marketing strategy byenablingthemtosegmentandbettertargettheiraudiencebasedondemographical,geographicalandotherdifferentiators(e.g.interest,hobbiesetc.).

For example, a report2 by GlobalWebIndex showed thatbetween Q2 2012 and Q1 2013, Twitter’s fastest growing agedemographic was 55 to 64 year olds, registering an increase inactiveusersof79%.BothFacebook’sandGoogle+’sfastestgrowingagedemographicwas45to54yearolds,growingby46%and56%respectively.Thismeans that socialmedia is not reserved for theyoung generation; we observe at least three generations activelyparticipatinginsocialnetworking,whichallowsforcontent tobetailoredaccordingly.

CONTENT mARkETINg AND mObIlE mEDIAAccording to the Nielsen’s Social Media Report 2012 mobileengagementwithsocialmedianetworkshasincreasedsignificantly–46%ofU.S.respondentsusesmartphonestoaccesssocialmedia,with16%connectingviaatablet.IntheAsia-Pacificregion,59%usemobilephonesand28%usea tablet toaccess socialmediasites.TheMiddle East andAfrica are leadingbefore Europewith48% in totalusing their smartphonesand10%usinga tablet. InEuropethesefiguresare33%and8%respectively.

Mobile media in combination with location-based services(LBS)isturningintoaneffectivetargetingtool.Infuture,LBScouldbe responsible for a large amount of website traffic. Inevitably,local relevancy will become essential for customer engagementespeciallyintheB2Csector.

Itisimportanttonotethattheuseofsocialmediaonmobiledeviceshasbeengreatlyfacilitatedbythedevelopmentofeasytoinstall,navigateanduseapplications.Brandsthatwanttoincreasetheirengagementwithconsumersandencouragesharingof theircontent shouldbeeither looking todevelopamobilewebsiteorlaunchtheirownapp.

Thereportalsorevealedthatmorepeopleareengagingwithsocial media whilst watchingTV – 38% of smartphone ownersand41%oftabletownersusetheirdevicedailywhileinfrontoftheTVscreenwithsocialnetworkingbeinga topactivity.Peoplewere also looking up relevant program and product informationontheirmobiledeviceswhilstwatchingTV.Forexample,12%ofsmartphoneusersand24%oftabletusershavelookedupcouponsordealsrelatedtoanadvertisementtheysawonTV.

Thisresearchisindicativeforthedifferentengagementtouchpoints that a customer haswith a brand.A successfulmarketingstrategy should take these facts into account in order to delivertailoredcustomerjourneys.

CONTENT mARkETINg AND THE CUSTOmER DECISION jOURNEyThe role of social media in the customer decision journey isgrowing.Socialmedianetworkinghastriggeredashift frompushmarketingstrategiestosocialadvocacy.Morethanever,consumersare influenced by third party opinion, and are likely to make a

In termsof thegeographicalaspect,a forecastbyeMarketer.com3showsthatIndiaandIndonesiaareexpectedtoseethebiggestgrowthinsocialmediausagein2014-23%and18%respectively.UsageintheUKispredictedtoriseby6%andtheU.S.byjust4%.Byregion,theMiddleEast,Africa,Asia-PacificandLatinAmericawillseethelargestgrowthrates.

Thisforecastmeansthatorganisationslookingtoreachouttoemergingmarketswillbewisetousesocialmediaasatooltoengagewithcustomersabroad.However,cultural,politicalandeconomicalfactorsmaymeanthattheyneedtoresearchintothosemarketsandthehabitsandbehaviorsoftheiraudiencewhendevelopingtheircontentmarketingstrategies.

Finally, there are also emerging platforms for niche content,suchasfoodcontentsharing(e.g.www.foodspotting.com),cycling(e.g.www.mapmyride.com)andother,whichopenopportunitiesforbrandstotargetverynicheaudiencesiftheyhavetherightmixtureofcontentandtools.

“ARE CONSUmERS ARE mORE EmPOWERED THAN EVER bEFORE?”

“ARE bRANDS ARE UNDER PRESSURE TO RETHINk THEIR OWN VAlUES IN ORDER TO kEEP AbREAST OF THIS FAST-CHANgINg WORlD?”

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A• Mobile devices and apps will become the focus for innovation in terms of achieving customer engagement. LeveragingmobilemediaandLBSforcontentmarketingwillmakeadifference.Ensuringthatcontentcanbeaccessedonthedevicescustomersusewillbeessentialforcreating

multiplecustomertouchpoints.• More companies will be relying on real-time content

marketing. Ascustomersincreasinglyusesocialmediachannelstogetopinion,organisationswillrelyonreal-timecontentmarketingmanagedbysocialmediateamsinordertolistentothoseconversationsandengagewiththeiraudience.

Ultimately, whatever content marketing approach anorganisation adopts, it needs to add value to the customer’sexperienceandbeinlinewithhis/herpreferences.Afterall,it’snotsomuchthecontent,buttheresponsethatmatters.

purchasing decision based on their online engagement with thebrandoronlinerecommendation.

According to Nielsen’s Social Media Report 20124, socialmediausersparticipateatleastonceamonthinthefollowingsocialactivities:•70%hearothers’experiences•65%learnmoreaboutbrands/product/services•53%complimentbrands•50%expressconcerns/complaintsaboutbrands/services•47%sharemoneyincentives

Itisnotsurprisingthatbrandshavebeenincreasinglyrelyingoncontentinthepastyeartoraiseawarenessandengagewiththeircustomers.

AN EVOlVINg CONTENT mARkETINg STRATEgyAdynamiccontentmarketingstrategywhichissupportedby

the use of modern platforms and emerging technologies, and isfocusedonthecustomer,willplayanimportantroleforbrandsinthefuture.Wearelikelytoobservethefollowingtrends:• Interaction of consumers with brands via social media will

continue to grow. Brandsshouldusesocialmediaasanextensionpointoftheirbrandedwebsiteswiththeaimofdrivingcustomerengagementandtraffictotheirwebsite.Integratedcontentbetweenacompany’swebsiteanditssocialmediaprofileswillbeessential.

• Content will continue to play a significant role in the context of ‘dynamic customer journeys’. Consumersarelikelytobeinfluencedbysocialmediainrespectoftheirpurchasesinthefuture.Brandswillhavetoensurethattheircontentisrelevant,interestingandofhighvalue;thatitissomethingpeoplewanttoread,watchandshare.

Desislava Aleksandrova is Marketing and Communications Manager at IT Governance, a leading IT security firm. She holds an MA in

European Studies and the CIM Professional Diploma in Marketing. Desislava’s professional interests lie in brand development, content

marketing and communication strategies and how these can be aligned with the customer journey using modern marketing tools.

“ORgANISATIONS lOOkINg TO REACH OUT TO EmERgINg mARkETS WIll bE WISE TO USE SOCIAl mEDIA AS A TOOl TO ENgAgE WITH CUSTOmERS AbROAD.”

FOOTNOTES

1 According to the Financial Times, half of UK consumers own a smartphone, up from 44% in 2012, while a fifth own a tablet computer, up from 7%. www.ft.com/cms/s/0/48e73568-c5fb-11e2-99d1-00144feab7de.html

2 Gesenhues, A. (2013). Study: Mobile Users & Older Generations Are Driving Social Media Growth Around The World. [Online]. 1st May 2013. Available from: http://marketingland.com/study-social-network-growth-across-the-globe-driven-by-mobile-users-older-generations-41982 [Accessed May 2013]

3 Is Your Social Media Strategy Global? eMarketer [Online]. 4th

May 2012. Available from: http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Your-Social-Media-Strategy-Global/1009022

[Accessed may 2013]

4 State of the Media: The social media report 2012. Nielse. Available from: http://www.slideshare.net/ShamirRamjan/nielsen-social-mediareport2012-15469366 [Accessed May 2013]

REFERENCES

Murray, S (2013) Transition: Technology puts power in the hands of the many, Financial Times. www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cb619b24-c848-11e2-8cb7-00144feab7de.html#axzz2bl3AppKw (Accessed 12 August 2013)

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Scoop.it is a content creation tool that allows you to keep up to date on topics of interest. Cambridge Marketing College are curating great content on emerging themes and digital marketing.

This will soon be available as a monthly email to those who subscribe.

Emerging Themes in Marketing by Cambridge Marketing Colleges

Digital Marketing & Social Networking

Cambridge Marketing review

Market Leadership & Planning

Emerging Themes in Marketing

Digital Marketing & Social Netw by Neil Wilkins

Market Leadership & Planning by Cambridge Marketing Colleges

Scoop.it is a content creation tool that allows you to keep up to date on topics of interest. Cambridge Marketing College is curating great content on emerging themes and digital marketing.

47

THE EmPEROR’S NEW ClOTHESAlistair explains why marketers shouldn’t be cautious

but instead speak the truth, by managing the facts.

most of us are familiar with the story,usually credited to Hans Christian

Andersen, of the vain emperor who was persuaded by an unscrupulous trader to buy a new outfit made of material so sheer it appeared invisible.Thecrookedtailor convinced the emperor that onlythosetoofoolishorunfitfortheirpositioninhiscourtwereunabletoseeit.Fooled,theemperorboughtthestory,hook,lineandsinker.Fearfuloflosingtheirjobsorheads,sodidhiscourtiers.Oncethenewoutfitwascompleted,theemperorparaded through thestreetsnakedandall theonlookersweretoofearfultospeakup.Onlywhenthelittleboypointedandlaugheddideveryonerealisethetruth.

HansChristianAndersen told this storyasacautionary tale.Indeed the sourceof the story canbe tracedback toAesopandtoothersbeforethen.Despitethisuncertainprovenance,thestorystillhasrelevancetodayandIwouldarguethat it isofparticularsignificancetomarketers.

We live inaworldwherewehave longsinceaccepted thattomorrowwillbringthe next big thing.Indeed,anentireindustryhasdevelopedsimply to satisfy thedemand forgossipandnewsaboutit.Youdon’thavetotryhardtothinkaboutthelatestsensationinthemusicworld,orthemostrecentitemoftechnologythatwillmakeyouwonderhowyouever livedyour lifebefore itarrived.How about the new broom sweeping through a political party,claimingheorshewillsavetheworldorperhapsthat‘musthave’itemofclothingthatyousimplycannotbeseenwithout?Whatevertheexampleyouhaveconjuredinyourmind’seye,itiscertainthatyouwillbeabletocategoriseitasasocial,political,environmental,legalortechnologicalissue.Soundfamiliar?

“WE ARE TAUgHT TO ObSERVE THE ENVIRONmENT AND FREqUENTly AUDIT THE TRENDS TO DECIDE WHAT IS mEANINgFUl AND WHAT IS NOT.”

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Yousee,asmarketerswearetaughttoobservetheenvironmentandfrequentlyaudit thetrendstodecidewhatismeaningfulandwhat isnot.Wearetaught toanalysetheseissuesanddeterminewhethertheyareopportunitiesorthreats,andwhethertheywillplaytoourstrengthsorweaknesses.Inshort,wearetaughttomanage by fact.

Sowebecomecynicalandstreetwise;welearntospottrends.Theeffectivemarketeroftodayisessentiallythelittleboyfromthisfablewho,likehim,darestospeakthetruth.Theparallelsdonotstopthere;thereisaheroandavillaininthisre-bootofthestory.Thegoodnewsforadvocatesofgoodmarketingpractice,theheroes,isthereisplentyofmaterialavailablewithwhichwecandemonstrateourskills.ToolswithwhichwecandemonstrateeffectiveROIandgatherdatahaveneverbeenmoresophisticatedorfreelyavailable.Thevillainsaretheroguetraders, thesnake-oilsalesmenandtherascalswhopretendtoknowbetterthanwe,whatthenextbigthingwillbe.Thereisseeminglyneverashortageofadviceavailabletothosewithaproductorservicetopromote.

Inmyownexperience,thereisanongoingbattleinbusinessbetweenthosewhomanagebyfactandthosewhodon’t.Inthelasttwelvemonths Ihaveworkedwithclientswhocouldnot tellmewho theircustomerswere. Incredibleas itmayseem, it is true...Ialsoadvisedalargeorganisationthatbelievedithadaninternalcommunicationsproblem–itdidnot,butseemedhappytobelievetherumours.Thentherewasaprofessionalservicescompanywhosesalesweredecliningbecauseithadfailedtomaintainarelationshipwiththepeoplewhoreferredclientstothem.Imustnotforgetmypersonalfavourite,theorganisationthatmaintainedaninventoryofproductsthatneversoldbecauseitthoughtcustomerswantedthem.

Ineachofthesecases,theclientsharedsomethingincommonwiththeothers;ithadforgottentomanagebyfact.Sothemalaisespread,andspreadquicklyduetoanuntruth.Itwasspreadbythosewhowereafraidtospeakup.Thisuntruthcouldbequicklyspottedbyanyoneusingcommonsenseanddaringtopointitout.Butwhyis thisaproblem?Needwereallyworryaboutproblemsthatareeasytospot?

Yes.Marketers are paid to offer advice. They are employed by

companieswhoneedthemtopointouttheerroroftheirways.Sowhenthisadviceseemsobvious, is itanywonder thatmarketingconsultants,likeme,worrythattheiradviceisobviousandeasytogive?Surely,advicethisobviouswouldbeobvioustoanyone?Andifitisobvioustoanyone,couldanyoneofferit?Andifanyonecouldofferit,whypayme?AmInobetterthantherascalsandcharlatansIwarnedyouaboutearlier?

ButthenIhavealwaysbeenaworrier.Certainly if my experience of the last twelve months is

any reasonablebenchmark (I think it is) then itwould seem thatthis advice, however obvious it seems to a trained marketer isneverthelessvaluedbytheorganisationthatneeds it.Whetheror

nottheychoosetodoanythingwiththeadvice…ah,wellthatisacompletelydifferentmatter.

Sohavingdescribedthebasicplotandthecharactersof thisstory,wemust turn our attention to the conclusion, themorale.What is the point?

Thepointisactuallyverysimple.Toeveryclientwithaproblem,Iofferedasolution.Thesolutionwasbasedonanalysisofthefactsusingtoolsthatwerereadilyavailable:

For the clientwhocouldnot tellmewho its clientswere, Ianalysed sales figures from the previous 5 years. For the clientwhobelieved ithadan internalcommunicationsproblem IusedGoogleAnalyticstomeasurethereadratesofthecommunicationsitpublishedandobservedthatstaffdidnothavethetimetoreadthem,norweretheyencouragedtodoso.Fortheclientwhowassufferingadeclineinsales,Iencouragedthemtomanagerelationshipswiththeirmostvaluablepartnersandbuiltadatabasetohelpthem.Fortheclientwhomaintainedauselessinventoryofproducts,Iadvisedthem to stop. In short, I became the little boywho pointed andlaughed.

Itseemsthatinthisdayofrapidtechnologicalevolution,thebasics can sometimes be forgotten. Robust analysis, the stock intradeofanyeffectivemarketer,isandalwayswillbethebasisofthevaluethatweoffer.Theabilitytoauditandanalysetheoperatingenvironment,anddrawconclusionsfromtheevidenceisthereasonouradviceisvalued.

Alistair Pryde is a senior marketing professional with experience in primarily the private sector, but also the charity and public sectors. Alistair worked in the chemicals, electronics, software and tourism/

leisure industries before starting his own business.

Alistair is now a full time photographer and the director of his own consultancy, APP Dalmeny Ltd, and spends his time with a diverse

range of clients across the UK and mainland Europe.

Alistair completed the CIM Postgraduate Diploma in 1995 and also has a Bachelor of Arts degree in business and languages. Since 2003, Alistair has been a principal tutor for Cambridge Marketing College and was elected a Fellow of Cambridge Marketing College in 2012.

“IS IT ANy WONDER THAT mARkETINg CONSUlTANTS, lIkE mE, WORRy THAT THEIR ADVICE IS ObVIOUS AND EASy TO gIVE?”

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WHAT’S NExT? Charles Nixon, founder of Cambridge Marketing College and Chairman of CMr’s Editorial Board, provides us with a quarterly update on ‘what’s next?’ in marketing. This quarter, Charles looks at

the some of the latest trends that should be high on any marketer’s list.

INTRODUCTION

Having just finished chairing a series of conferences and

presentations, it seems like a good time to reflect on the themes that have been coming to the fore.Over the last18 months, I have chaired several ofthe UK Marketing Networks series ofOn The Edge Conferences in London,Bristol and Birmingham, together withtheCIM’sDigitalMarketingConferencein Cambridge and presentations at the CIM Future ofMarketingMeeting inNottinghamand theCambridgeEliteBusinessForum.Havingobservedmanyspeakersduringthistimethereareseveraltrends,which Ibelieveareof significance formarketersand it isthesethatIwouldliketoturntohighlightinthefirstofthisregularcolumn.

The term‘WHAT’SNEXT?’ taken fromthe famousTVseries,TheWestWing,isimportantinthatwearenowfacingconsiderablechangeor indeedapotentialparadigmshift in theway inwhichmarketingwillbeconstruedandpracticedaswecomeoutoftherecession.Whiletherecessionofficiallyendedduringthesummer,manyof theeconomicand technological impactsof thechangeswillcontinueformanyyearstocomeanditislikelythattherewillbesignificantchangeinthewayinwhichmarketingisimplementedandthattherewillbenoreturntonormality.Insteadwewillneedtoadapttoanewnormal.

Forthepolitician,thereisalwaysaconstantseriesofnewideasandnewpolicies thathave tobefiltered inorder toproduceaneffectivegovernment.Forthemarketer,thesameistrueinthefactthattherearealwaysnewideas,newtechnologyandnewtheoriesthatneedtobeconsideredandfilteredtoproduceeffectivestrategies.Anditisoftenoneofthemajorenjoymentsbutalsoproblemsforamarketertoconsiderwhichnewtheoriestofollowandwhichnewtechnologytoconsider.Sotheaimofthiscolumnistopresentsomeofthenewthemesthatseemtobecomingintoplayinthemarketingworld.ThistopicofemergingmarketsiscuratedonScoop.it.

SEOOf the presentations thatweremade at the various conferences,theonethatkeepscomingbacktotheforeisthatofSearchEngineOptimisation(SEO).Itisquiteremarkablehowthistopiccontinuestoberepeatedandrevisited.ItseemsthatmanycorporationsstilldonothaveafullgraspoftheimportanceofSEO.Addedtothatis the fact that there are constant changesby the search enginesthemselvesastothewayinwhichtheycarryouttheirrankings.The

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iterationsofPandaandPenguinviaGooglehavemeantaconstantneed tokeepup todatewith theprocesses.Whatappears tobebecomingamajorpartoftheprocessisnowtheengagementandinteractionofsocialmediawithacompany’smainwebsite.FurthertheuseofGoogleauthoring,tovalidatethequalityofthecontentonsocialmedia,togetherwiththeimportanceofGooglePlushavenowmeant thatmuchof the socialmedia thathasbeencreatedforvariousengagementpurposesisnowbecomingcriticalforSEO.

Theelementsthatnowhavetobeaddedtothis,ofcourse,aretheothersocialmediasectionssuchasLinkedIn,Twitter,Facebook,Pinterestandmanymanyothers.Aconstant reviewbymarketersisnowrequiredastowhetherornotthecreationcostofmanagingthese various socialmedia is being returned in terms of visits towebsites and eventual sales.Whilst the use of Google analyticsis common the use of other tracking software are becomingincreasinglyimportantincreatingdashboards.AverygoodreviewofthetoolscanbeseenatDigitalMarketingDepot.

The other aspect that this invokeswas the content ofmanyotherspeechesduringtheyear–guestblogging.ThroughtheissueofGoogleauthorship,thequalityofwritingonblogshasbecomesomething thatGoogle now ranks. So guest authoring and guestblogginghasbecomeanimportantpartofthewayinwhichsitesmove up the rankings and quite naturally the quality of these isbeingevaluated.

Oneoftheproblemsofthelastfewyearshasbeenthatmanysocialwebsitesandmicrositeswerecreatedbylargebrands.Manybrands think that theymustdive into themarketplacewitheverynew platform.However, they have struggled to find a reason tobethere.Theyhave,therefore,employedagenciestocreate,quitefrankly,drivelandmadeupcontentjusttofillthespace.Volumeofcontentisnolongertheissue,itisthequalityandmeaningfulnessofwhatyouarediscussingthatisnowbeingtakenintoaccountandquitenaturallytoo.ThisleadsGoogletonowtakeauthorshipintoaccount.

SEOisalsoenhancedbythepowerofvideo.Severalspeakersquotedanunsourcednumeric,thatsayspeopleare57timesmorelikely toclickona linkwithavideoattached to it than theyarewithoutanypictureatall.Howthisstatistic isarrivedatwasnotdiscussedanditisoneofthoseapocryphalstatementsthatisoftenrepeated,however,therewassignificantdiscussionaboutthefactthatvideoisnowanimportantcomponentofmostwebsites.Havingrecently also judged the Marketing and Advertising RecruitmentAwards,itisalsofairtosaythatmuchvideoonwebsitesisofanappallingstandard.

Finallyinthearea,theimportanceofLinkedInandGooglePlusneedstobeconsidered.LinkedInnowhasasignificantnumberofusersandisbecomingtheB2Bsocialmedianetwork.Whilstthereareothernetworksaroundtheworld,withintheUK,theUSandintodegreeWesternEurope,LinkedInnowdominates.Thisrequiresa considerable double-effort by most corporations to build their

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andGalaxies. How does your website interact with all of thesesizes?Thefrustrationthatcanensuefromtheconsumers’pointofviewintryingtogaincontactorcommunicationwiththecompanycanleadtocommentsonsocialmediawhichcompaniesthenhaveto respond to.The answer seems to beResponsiveWebDesign,wherebythewebsiteconfigurationrespondstothetypeofdeviceaccessingit.Sizingitselfandarrangingthenavigationaccordingtothescreencharacteristicsoftheuser.

POPUlATIONIt’s long been understood bymostmarketers in theUK that thepopulationprofile isagingas lesspeoplearebeingbornand theolder are living longer.Theopportunities that thisbringsand thechangesintargetingarefairlywellknownbutwhatperhapsismoreinterestingisthatnowthemajorityofpeoplewholiveontheplanetandtherearenow7billion(growingat90,000perday)nowliveincities.Atthebeginningofthiscentury,thatfigurewasjustunderthe50%markandislikelytorisetosomethinglike70%by2050.Thathasatremendousimpactonthewayinwhichweconsiderourmarketingandindeedperhapstosomedegreethehomogeneityofthemarketplace.

Occurringalongsidethistrendisalsotheriseofthemiddleclass.Whilstthestatisticsaresomewhatunclear,thecommondescriptionofmiddle class i.e. someonewho earnswell above the poverty

“WHAT APPEARS TO bE bECOmINg A mAjOR PART OF THE PROCESS IS NOW THE ENgAgEmENT AND INTERACTION OF SOCIAl mEDIA WITH A COmPANy’S mAIN WEbSITE.”

companyprofileaswellastheirpersonnelprofiles.LinkedIngivessignificantinputcapabilitytobuildprofilesandmostcorporationsare not taking full advantage.GooglePlus has reached over 500millionusersandasaresultisnowasignificantsocialmediainitsownright.Whilstdismissedbymanypeopleintheearlystagesandstilluncleartomanyothers,itisbecomingadefactorequirementfor anyone operating on the internet because of the importanceplacedbyGoogleinitssearches.

Ux Anothertrendthatcameoutoftheconferenceswastheimportanceoftheexperiencethatusershaveintheirjourneywithacompany.A presentation was made by Gregory Roekens, who was ChiefTechnologyOfficeratWunderman,andisnowChiefTechnologyOfficeratAMVBBDO.TakingthethemeofthePineandGilmorebook,TheExperienceEconomywhichwaspublishedinthemid-nineties,Gregory set about discussing the fact that a customer’sexperience of the journey in using the product through all theonlinemediathatisbecominganimportantissueformarketers.

Aswiththeconceptofintegratedmarketingcommunicationsafewyearsago,theneednowisforanintegrateddigitalmarketingstrategy. The idea that the customer may be able to downloadoneofyourproductsthroughanApp;listen,watchoruseitviaatablet,interactwithyourwebsiteonamobilephoneandthroughacomputerisbecominganimportantconsideration.Formanyofus,intheworldofB2B,thismaynotnecessarilyseemsoimportant,however, there is significant pause for thoughtwhen one thinksof thewideningdiversityofplatformsonwhichpeopleconsumea service or product.The mobile phone, the tablet, the laptop,the desktop and an increasing variety of deviceswithin each ofthesebroadcategories,requiresconsiderationinthemindsofthemarketeras towhat theservicelookslikeandacts likeoneach.There isnosuchthingnowasastandardtablet.Therearemanytablets, such as the iPadmini, the Kindle Fire and others of theAndroidvariety.Thereisafullsizetablet,aspertheoriginaliPadandtherearelargescreenmobilephonessuchasthenewNokia

“WHIlE THE RECESSION OFFICIAlly ENDED DURINg THE SUmmER, mANy OF THE ECONOmIC AND TECHNOlOgICAl ImPACTS OF THE CHANgES WIll CONTINUE FOR mANy yEARS TO COmE AND IT IS lIkEly THAT THERE WIll bE SIgNIFICANT CHANgE IN THE WAy IN WHICH mARkETINg IS ImPlEmENTED AND THAT THERE WIll bE NO RETURN TO NORmAlITy.”

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“IS THE WORlDWIDE WEb REAlly COmINg TO THE END OF ITS USEFUl lIFE?”

Charles Nixon: founded Cambridge Marketing College with, Ian Brownlee in May 1991. The College has gone from strength to

strength to become the leading Professional Marketing College in Europe with 10 centres around the UK and delegates from over 100 countries. First employed as Government Relations Officer

for Courtaulds where he liaised with civil servants and politicians on government policy, Charles became Senior Economic Analyst at the International Wool Secretariat before heading to Warwick

Business School (WBS) to take one of its first MBAs. Whilst there he helped write the Business Plan for the Warwick Science Park and

so confirmed his interest in High Technology. Following WBS he joined Arthur Andersen Management Consultants (now Accenture),

before joining Mercury Communications, the then embryonic rival to BT. At Mercury, Charles was Head of Market Research and

Market Planning, helping the new company segment its market, plan for distribution, and research customer needs in order to introduce

new products. He later joined Extel Financial in time for the Big Bang and the city revolution.

level,thenumberwillrisetoabout50%oftheglobalpopulationbyagain,2050.ThisrapidgrowthofmiddleclasswillmanlyoccurinwhatusedtobecalledtheThirdworldbuthasbecometheemergingEasternmarketplacetogetherwiththeSouthAmericanandindeedsomeAfricanmarkets.Thisnowraisesaveryinterestingdilemmaformanybrandsastheytrytotransitionfrombeingmarketsthatweretryingtofishatthebottomofthepyramid(takingaC.K.Prahaladapproach) tonowhaving tomove theirbrandsupmarketascoretargetaudiencesbecomemoreaffluent.

mObIlETheimpactformobiledeviceshasbeentalkedaboutmanytimes,but the true impacton theway inwhich theworldwill functionhasyet tobe thought through.Whilstmanypeoplenowwill seestatisticssayingthatthemajorityofpeoplebrowsetheinternetontheirmobilephone,evenwatchingadvertisementsontheirmobilephone,theimplicationsforbusinessopportunityarestilltobetrulyinvestigated.ThegrowthoftheAppisatrulyphenomenalmarketand does indicate that themobile devicewill become themainoperatingplatformformostpeopleinthenext20years.Whereasmostpeopleinthe80sand90swereintroducedtocomputersbymeansofadesktopcomputer,theimplicationnowisthatpeoplein the 21st centurywill be introduced to computing viamobiledevice.ButIthinkwehavetostopthinkingofthemobileasbeingthe iPhone handset that everybody has in their mental pictureof amobile device. It ismore appropriate to think of the tablet,whether it’s an android, a Kindle, Samsung or iPad as being themorelikelydevicebywhichfundamentalchangeinmarketplaceswilltakeplace.Already,officefurnituremanufacturersarehavingtoaccommodatetheneedforlessfurniturespaceasaresultofpeopleusingiPads.

We now have the phenomena of BYOT (bring your owntechnology) to work whereby people are now so umbilicallyattachedtotheirowndevicesthattheywanttocontinuetousethosewhilsttheywork.Theimplicationforstructureofofficeandofficeenvironmentsisfundamental.PeopleinarecentBBCprogrammetalkedaboutwheretheydoworkasbeinganywherefromacafé,apub,aparkbench,agarden,aswellastheofficecomplex.Sotheubiquityof themobiledevice isbeginning toallownotonlyinstantconsumptionbutpuremobilityofproduction.Thisalsolinksto perhaps the other phenomena being talked about, that of 3Dprintingorfabricating.Herealotofspeculationisbeingmadeaboutthewayinwhichmobileprintingdeviceswillallowustoproducerealobjectsinasmallscalethatcouldeffectivelychangethewayinwhichweconsumemassproducedproducts.However,thetrueimplicationhasnotyetbeenworkedthrough.

A POST-SCRIPT Onefinalcommentontheinternetandsocialmedia.Thereisalreadydiscussionastowhetherornottheworldwidewebiscomingtothe

endofitsusefullife!Thecommentsarenotthattheworldwidewebastheinternet,isnolongerimportant,itisthattheworldwidewebisnottheonlymeansofusingtheinternetandthatwebsiteswhichwereoriginallycreatedmainlyforE-commerceandthereductionofcostsintermsofbrochurewareareincreasinglybeingreplacedbydialogueandcommunicationsbetweenpeopleandcustomersthrough the generic term ‘social media’. One very successfulcompanynowhasonlya twopagewebsite.Theremainderof itsactivity,whichisextremelysuccessful,isthroughitssocialmediapresence onmost of themain platforms. Given that most of itscustomersarepresentonthesocialmediaplatforms,thisis,fromtheirperspective,theidealstrategy.Thereisnorequirementforan

e-commercefacilityonawebsitebecausemostofitcanbecarriedoutonthesocialmediaplatforms.Mostofitsdiscussionswithitscustomers takeplace insocial forums.Mostof thedevelopmentofitsnewservicestakesplacethroughcrowd-sourcingandmostofthereactionsanddevelopmentstoitsproductsandservicesarehappeningonthesocialmediaplatforms.Anextremecase?Yes,butonethatmaybeindicativeofthefuture?

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INTERESTINg FACTS AbOUT THE NETHERlANDS The Netherlands has the highest population density (493inhabitants per square km - water excluded) of any Europeancountry with over 1 million inhabitants. Worldwide, onlyBangladesh andTaiwan, among major countries, have a higherdensityofpopulation.

Dutch people are the tallest in the world, with an averageheightof184cmformenand170cmforwomen.

HISTORyOrange-colouredcarrotsappearedintheNetherlandsinthe16thcentury. Before that carrotswerewhite, yellow, black, purple orred.Orangecarrots are said tohavebeenbred inhonourof theHouseofOrange,wholedtheDutchRevoltagainstSpainandlaterbecametheDutchRoyalfamily.OrangeisstilltheofficialcolouroftheNetherlandsandasignofpatriotism.TheDutchnationalfootballteamwearsabrightorangeshirt.Andthecountry’slargestfinancialinstitution, the INGGroup,makes abundant use of the nationalcolouronitslogoandonthedecorationofitsbanks.

CUlTURE & SCIENCESTheDutchcompany‘Philips’inventedtheaudiotape(in1967),thevideotape(in1972),theCompactDisk(in1982)andtheCD-ROM(in1985).

TulipswereimportedfromtheOttomanEmpireandbecameverypopularinHollandintheearly17thcentury.Nowadays,theNetherlandsistheworld’sfirstproducerandexporteroftulips.

KeukenhofParkisthelargestflowergardenintheworld.

mARkETINg IN THE NETHERlANDS

Each issue, we’re going to look at marketing from different countries. The College offers most of his courses worldwide now

and this quarter, we get an insight of marketing in The Netherlands, courtesy of our Brand Ambassador, Theo Dingemans.

gOVERNmENT & POlITICSTheNetherlandshastwocapitals:Amsterdam(theofficialcapitalbyconstitutionsincethe19th century) andThe Hague (the seat ofgovernmentandfirstcapitalsince1584).

ECONOmyFamousDutchcompaniesincludePhilips,Akzo Nobel, Royal Dutch Shell (half-British),Unilever(half-British),Heineken,IKEA (formerly Swedish) as well as thebanksINGandABN-AMRO.

The KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines) isthelongestrunningnationalairlineintheworld.Itwasfoundedin1919.

TheNetherlandshaslongbeenoneoftherichestcountriesintheworld.ItsGDPpercapitawasestimatedtobethehighest in theworld in1820, and the2nd highest in Europe in 1900 (afterBelgium).Nowadays, it stillenjoys the4thhighestnominalGDPpercapita(or3rdatPPP)withintheEuropeanUnion.

The Global Connectedness Index 2012, computed on datafrom2005 to 2011, ranked theNetherlands as theworld’smostinternationally connected country. The ranking is based oneconomicdepth(sizeofthecountry’sinternationalflowcomparedto its domestic economy) and geographic breadth (number ofcountriesitconnectswith).

bRIEF DEmOgRAPHICS OF THE NETHERlANDS

Population:

16,783,092

Density:

404 per km²

Growth rate:

0.39%

GDP (nominal) 2012 estimate

Total

$773.116 billion

Per capita

$46,142

Currency

Euro (€)

United States dollar (US$)

top20brands2012 company

1 Shell2 Rabobank3 ING4 Philips5 Randstad6 Dove7 Heineken8 Aegon9 KPN

10 Lipton11 Albert Heijn12 Unilever13 Rexona14 Knorr15 TNT16 Axe/Lynx17 Amstel18 BAM19 Gall & Gall20 Delta Lloyd

Source: http://brandirectory.com/league_tables/table/dutch-50-2012

main marketing magazines“Tijdschrift voor Marketing”, “Marketing Tribune”, “Emerce” and “Media facts”.

business journal/newspaper“Financiele Dagblad” and “Cobouw”.

main marketing journal/info siteshttp://www.marketingonline.nl

main annual marketing conference or main business conference Marketing conferences are held in The Netherlands but do not have a regular character. But to name one: There will be a second conference on June 7 called: “InnoMarketing” about how to market Innovations.

Some famous Dutch companies :Royal Philips Electronics: one of the largest electronics and home appliances companies in the world. Royal Dutch Shell: Anglo-Dutch oil company. Unilever: Anglo-Dutch company owning many of the world’s consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. ING Group: the world’s largest banking/financial services and insurance conglomerate in 2012. ABN AMRO: Dutch bank. AEGON: insurance company. Heineken and Amstel: brewing companies Mexx and McGregor: fashion brands. Vedior and Randstad: human resources and staffing services companies. Akzo Nobel: healthcare products, coatings and chemicals. KPN: telecommunications company owning such operators as BASE (Belgium), E-Plus (Germany), Simyo (France and Spain) and iBasis (USA). Getronics: Information and Communication Technology company. IKEA: international home products retailer (founded in Sweden but headquartered in Holland).

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THE mARkETINg mANIFESTO by DAVID jAmES HOOD (REVIEWED by lARRy FIlE)DavidHoodisamarketingandcompetitivenessspecialistwhohasworkedinthefieldforovertwentyyears,observingwhatisgood–andnotsogood–aboutthe way that we professionalsoperate in the commercialrealities of the 21st century.Hehasseenenoughandheis

speakingout;andheisnotinamoodtopullanypunches.The Marketing Manifesto has fifteen clear and concise

chapters, each of which is a mini-manifesto in its own right,zeroing inon thekey issues facing the industry,highlighting thecoreconflictsthathavearisen,andthenputtingforwardproposedsolutions formarketers topursue.Overall, it isa rallyingcry forurgentandradicalchange(thatfavouritephraseofpoliticians,“rootandbranchreform”,springstomind...).Aquickglanceoverafewofthechapterheadingswillgiveyouaflavourofwhatfollows:• Whatthehellisamarketer?• Marketing,financeandaccountantsunite!• Theproblemwithmarketing...istherepugnantword!• Marketingleadership:itistimetostepuptothemark.

As professionals, we are always preaching that our brandsneedtobeperiodicallyrelaunchedorrefreshed, inorder tostayrelevantforconsumers.DavidHoodappliesthesameprincipletomarketingasafunction,statingthatmarketers(ofallpeople)havebeenslowtograspsomeoftheseismicchangesthathaveimpactedtheworldofbusinessoverthelastdecade,andarethereforetryingto play a completely new game according to outmoded andunhelpfulrules.

Naturally,allthismakesuncomfortablebuthugelystimulatingreading.WhileyouprobablywillnotfindyourselfinagreementwithallthetenetsofDavidHood’spersonalmanifesto,youwillcertainlyfindyourselfexperiencingfrequentshuddersofrecognition,ashenails issues thatwe have all experienced at some time: lack ofcohesionbetweenmarketingandsales; thefinancialperspectivethat regardsmarketing as a cost to be cut in hard times, ratherthananinvestmenttosecurethefutureofthecompany;theoftenarbitrarywayinwhichmarketingbudgetsaresetandallocated;thelackofmarketinginputintomergersandacquisitions;andmanymore.

DavidHoodextendshisthinkingtowhatheterms‘TheModernMarketingMix’(replacingtheoldstandard4Pswithnolessthan17Ps),whichincludeselementssuchasPeople, Positioning, and Process. It is thiscomprehensiveandchallengingquestioningof

bOOk REVIEWS This Summer, we gave four members of our Alumni books to review.

Here’s what they have to say:

theentiremarketingprocessthatmakeshisbooksuchcompellingreadingforprofessionals.

Soifyouhavebeenwonderingwhatneedstochangeinordertokeepmarketingrelevant,effectiveandfullyintegratedinthemodernbusinessprocess,thenDavidHoodhastheanswer:everything.larry File is a Director of brand Innovation limited. www.brandinnovation.co.uk

COmPETITIVE SmE: bUIlDINg COmPETITIVE ADVANTAgE THROUgH mARkETINg ExCEllENCE FOR SmAll TO mEDIUm SIzED ENTERPRISES by DAVID HOOD (REVIEWED by AmANDA NUNN)“David Hood’s ‘Competitive SME’ does what it says on the tin.”Aimedatthemanagersofsmallto medium-sized enterprises,

thebookencouragesanin-depthunderstandingoftheirmarketandtheircustomersfromanoutwardfacingperspectiveratherthanthenavel-gazingintrospectionwhichSMEstoooftenseemtoadopt.

The book is not targeted atmarketing professionals so onlygivesanoutlineofbasicmarketing themesrather thanadetailedpicturebutwhatitdoesdo,isencourageSMEstounderstandthatmarketingisnot“just‘creativeadvertising’withabitofpromotionalactivityandsellingthrownin”butinsteadthatwhendonewell,andincludedfromtheoutsetinawellthoughtoutway,itcanincreaseprofitability.

ThebookisdesignedtocomplementthefutureSME,andtheEUinitiativewhichseekstohelpbusinessesgrowandsustainbusinessperformance; develop capability to adapt to changing businessconditionsandmakethemostofopportunitiesinthemarketplace.(Furtherdetailscanbefoundat:www.futuresme.eu.)

With this inmind, the book gives essential advice on how,by implementing a clear and focused strategy and using simpletools,youcansurvive,thrive,andcompete.Itoutlinesasimpleyeteffectivemodelthatwillallowyouto:createandmanageeffectivemarketingandbrandingprocesses;betterengagewithyourmarketcreatingandprojectingrealvalue;increaseyourworthtothemarketwithcorrespondingincreaseinrevenue;maximiseyourresources,howeverlimited;andensurethatyourcompetitiveedgeandUSPareamplifiedandsustained.

Thetoneofthebookisno-nonsenseandjargonfree,brokendownintoeasytodigestchapterswhichcouldbedippedinandoutofasnecessary.

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In summary this is a very readable, practical handbook foranyownersormanagersofSMEswhowant tobeprofitableandsuccessfulbutreadersshouldbear inmindthat theyarelikely tobenefitmorefromthebookiftheyuseitalongsidefutureSME™.

THE bETTER mOUSETRAP – bRAND INVENTION IN A mEDIA DEmOCRACy by SImON PONT (REVIEWED by ACCOUNT mANAgER, PRAbHA PATEl)“The book had my attention from day one. I do not have one note to share with colleagues – I have got pages of them!”

Anybody who has workedintheadvertisingindustryinthe

lastsevenyearscannothavefailedtonoticethechangesthathavetakenplace.Iworkinanagencywhereadvertisinganddesignhad,upuntilrecessionstruck,beenthecornerstoneofourregularwork…cuerecession…andsuddenlytheworldhaschanged.Brandinganddigitalhavepickedupmomentumtothepointwhereprobably80-90%oftheworkthatwedotodaytouchesoneitherorbothofthoseelements.SoIwasintriguedtoknowwhatauthor,SimonPont,withhisbackgroundofworkingforsomeofthegreatandthegoodoftheadvertisingworld,wouldhave tosayabout this fast-changinglandscape.

When I first saw the title of this book I was tickled by themousetrap analogy, but more intrigued by the sub-head ‘BrandInventioninaMediaDemocracy’.Intoday’sagencyenvironment,itisnotenoughtosimplyunderstandabitabout‘branding’or‘digital’soIwasonthelook-outforsomethingthatwouldbringbothworldstogether–explaintherelationshipandtheimpactfeltbythesetwoworldscolliding.When I started reading thebook, Ihoped therewouldbeacoupleofinterestingpointstonotedownandmaybesharewithcolleagues.Whatsurprisedmemostwasthatthebookhadmyattentionfromdayone.Idonothaveonenotetosharewithcolleagues–I have got pages of them.

Thebookisstructuredinsuchawaythatitmakesforaneasyread.Thestyleofwritingisengagingandpacey.Thought-provokingcontent,complementedbyamixtureofgreatquotes,diagramsandexamples–inspiresreaderstolookbeyondtheeverydaynorm.

Iwouldhighlyrecommendthisbooktoanyoneworkingintheagencyworld today.Fromanagencyperspective it iseasy togetsweptalonginthe‘all thingsdigital’whirlwind,whenthereality,whichissummedupveryneatlyinthebookisthat,primarilythegamehas stayed the same (encouraging people to love and buybrands)…itisjustthefieldofplaythatkeepschanging.

PIONEERS OF DIgITAl by PAUl SPRINgER AND mEl CARSON (REVIEWED by SARAH NAgRA)A Brief History of Digital-successstoriesfromleadersinadvertising,marketing, searchandsocialmedia.

Springer and Carsonprovidethereaderwithtwentyin-depth interviews withpioneers at the beginning ofthebigbangofdigital,covering

multipleplatforms,campaignsandindustries.Thereissomethingtointeresteveryone,fromcelebrities,reluctantinnovatorstoopinionleaders.Thepeoplebehindthetechnology,whohavehiddenintheshadows,waitingforabooklikethistothrowthespotlightonwhotheyare,notjustwhattheydid.DenzylFeigelson,DannySullivan,AvinashKaushikmightnotbenamesyouknow,buttheseunsungheroeswillhaveinfluencedyourlives;fromtakingmusiconlinetowebanalytics.

Thebookallowsyoutoeasilydipinandoutofthechapters,andskipthosepioneersthatmightnotcaptivateyourimagination.However, there is something that can be taken from unravellingeachexperience,fromtheirdetermination,waitingfortechnology,waiting to catch up with their “big idea” or the chapter-endingsoundbytesthatcanbeappliedacrossdisciplines.

The majority of this book reflects on the past, rather thanlookingforward.However, ifyouarenewtotheindustryreadasanymanychaptersasyoucan,asit isworthunderstandingwhattheindustrywaslikewhenorganisationsfearedtheonlineworld.lessons to be learnt

Thereisanintriguingconsensusacrossthepioneersaboutwhathasmadethem,theirworkororganisationsuccessful.Firstlytheyareallpassionateaboutwhattheydo,workwithastronggroupofpeopleandneverassumetheyknowwhattheircustomerswant.Ifyouhaveassumptions,validatethemwithrichdataandjustbecauseitworksinonemediumdoesnotmeanitwillworkacrossthemall.Most importantly fromJaronLanier“don’tgetsweptawayby thewisdomofothers”.

Itwouldnotbe surprising if this is thebeginningofa seriesofbooks,asthe“potentialofmuchdigitaltechnologyhasstillberealised”(MalcolmPoynton,DoveCampaignforRealBeauty),andwhoknowsyoumightbeinthenextedition.

As Springer and Carson state in the introduction, the“conversationisjustbeginning”andyoucanfindoutmoreat www.pioneersofdigital.com.

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3. lEARN ADVERTISINg & mARkETINg DEVElOPED by AlEx gENADINIkPrice: FreeThisappsuppliestutorialsonMarketingatabasiclevel guiding you through different sections onyourappandlinkstohelpfulwebpages.

Strengths• Goodataverybasiclevel

withtutorialsaimedattheinexperienced.

• Easytonavigate.

Weaknesses • Notforthosemore

experiencedinthefieldofMarketing.

• Notaparticularlyprofessionallookingapp.

Available on Google PlayCmC rating: 2nd class. great for marketing beginners

1. AD-OlOgy mARkETINg FORECAST DEVElOPED by DOAPP, INC Price: Free With over 10,000 downloads from the GooglePlayStoreandacustomeraverageratingof4.3,

Ad-ologyMarketingForecasthasmanagedtostandoutasoneofthemorerecognisedinformationorientatedapps,givingacontinuousstreamof‘forward-looking’marketingandconsumerinsights.

with over 50 billion downloads, and over 1 million appsdevelopedsinceApplelaunchedthefirstappstoreinJuly

2008,weweresurprisedat the lackofMarketingappsavailable.ManyappswerewellhiddenintheGooglePlayandiTunesstoresandmostoftheoneswefoundhadveryfew(ifany)reviews.Wedownloadedandtestedafewsowecouldratethemourselves.

mARkETINg APPS REVIEWED!Intern Jenna Squire joined us this Summer to review some of the best marketing apps out

there to help you with your day-to-day tasks. Jenna is currently studying Business Statistics and Marketing at the University of Reading.

2. COmPETITION STRATEgy STUDIO DEVElOPED by SOFTNIk TECHNOlOgIESPrice: £20.99 Withthissmartapp,youcansimplytypeinkeywordstoseethepositionofyourcompetitorsitesinsearchengines.

Strengths • Enablesyoutoanalyse

competingwebsites.• AkeytoolforMarketers.

CmC rating: Specialist.

Weaknesses • Isaverytask-focusedapp,

doeslittleelse.Available from the Apple Store.

4. mARkETINg 101: WHAT IS mARkETINg DEVElOPED by DOCSTOC INCPrice: £1.23This app was our favourite. There are videos

explaining how to plan the perfect live event and increase yoursocialmediapresence.Withindepthguidestohelpyouincreaseyouronlineexposure,thisappprovidesalotofinformation.

Strengths• Its‘Resourcestolookat’

featureprovidesdocumenttemplatesformakingplans.

• Thenumerousvideoswithdifferentepisodesforeachdifferentchapter.

• Reallyeasynavigationthroughtheapp.

Weaknesses• Verydependenton

bandwidthduetonumerousvideos.YouwanttobeconnectedtoWi-Fi!

• SomewhatAmerican-orientated.

Theappalsolinksyoutootherfreeappsthey’vedevelopedincludingtheirMarketing,Branding&PRsecretswiththesameformatandmorevideosforfurther‘chapters’ofstudy.Available on iTunes.

CmC rating: 1st class

Strengths• The‘CurrentBuzz’feature

providesthelatestmarketingresearch,economictrendsandthetrendingtopicsonGooglesearches.

• TheappiseasytonavigatewithdifferentareassuchasAdvertising,Consumer,DigitalandSocialhavingtheirown‘Ad-ologyforecasts’andlinkstonewsarticles.

Weaknesses• WhilsttheCurrentBuzz

featureisconstantlystreamingnewsarticles,theindividualsectionsaren’tasuptodateastheycouldbe.

• Theappearanceoftheappcouldbeimproved.

Available from iTunes and Google Play stores.

CmC rating: 1st Class.

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Strengths• Theblogisupdated

regularly.• Popularamongstthosewho

useitasithasa5*customerratingontheiTuneswebsite.

5. mARkETINg 101 DEVElOPED by WAgmOb. Price: £1.23This Marketing 101 app is available for theandroidphoneandadvertisesitselfas‘onthego

learningformarketing’.Awardedacustomeraverageratingof4.5,theappprovidesflashcardsandquizzesforself-assessment.

Strengths • DevelopedbyWAGmob

whohaveover300appsontheGooglePlaystore.

Weaknesses • Thereisalackofinteraction.Available for Google Play.

CmC rating: 2nd class

7. mARkETINg TECHNOlOgy blOg DEVElOPED by Dk NEW mEDIA (DOUglAS kARR) Price: FreeAblogwithover1,000downloadsfromGooglePlay alone, the app discusses the latest news,

bestpractices,productsandservicesforonlinemarketing,inboundmarketing, content marketing, search engine marketing, mobilemarketing,socialmediamarketingandmore.

Weaknesses• Quiteabasicappwithmore

ofapersonalviewontopicsratherthanbeingbasedonfactsandfigures.

Available on iTunes, Google Play.

CmC rating: 3rd Class

8. qUICk WIN mARkETINg DEVElOPED by OAk TREE PRESS Price: £3.99TheQuickWinMarketing app is based on thebookbyAnnmarieHanlonwiththeaimofhelpingentrepreneursandbusinessmanagersstart,grow

orrevitaliseabusinessorlaunchnewservicesorproducts.

Strengths• Easytonavigatethrough.

Weaknesses• Asasimplequestionand

answerapp,itlacksindetail.

Available on iTunes

CmC rating: 2nd class

6. mARkETINg HEAlTHCHECk DEVElOPED by mAlCOlm mCDONAlDPrice: Free 7 valuablemarketing and sales audit exerciseswith referencematerial included forassistance.

Oncesubscribed,youhaveaccesstoanynewexercisesandcontentwhich isupdatedregularly.Theappalsostreamsnewsfeeds fromManagementTodayandReutersBusinessNews.Strengths

• Producedbyaninternationalexpert.

• Goodinternationalnewsfeeds,uptodate.

Weaknesses • Someofthegraphsare

poorintheiPhoneappandblurryintheiPadmode.

• SomeoftheexercisesarehardtocompleteontheiPhone.

Available on iTunes.CmC rating: 2nd class

9. THE lOgO qUIz gAmE DEVElOPED by ATICO mObIlE S.lPrice: FreeWith 30 million downloads worldwide and anaverageratingof4.5,thisappisclearlyapopular

wayoftestingyourbrand’sknowledge.

Strengths • Over500differentbrandsto

guessat.• Youcancompetewithyour

friendsthroughFacebookandTwitter.

Weaknesses• Therearenone!AvailableoniTunesbutGooglePlay has also made similarversionsavailable.

CmC rating: 1st class

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Here is a selection of posts from the Blog that havecaughtmyeye.

gIVE IT UP FOR THE SINglE lADIESCharles Nixon comments on traditions that have shifted as nolonger is the typical householdmade up of a family of four. Infact,a recentarticle in theFT (Cohen,2013)discussed the latest(2011)censusdatawhich shows therearealmost twiceasmanyone-personhouseholds,astherearefamilyhomeswithtwoparentsandchildren.This30%ofallhouseholds(inEnglandandWales)isalsomorethananyothercategory.Companieshavetoadapttheirmarketingstrategiestoreflectthistrend.

Continuingathemeofsingletons,Terry Nicklinmusedontheproductplacement,aswellasskantily-cladwomen,inSkyfall,thelatestmovieintheJamesBondfranchise.

Theexclamationinthefirstfewminutesof“FollowtheblackAudi”hadmelaughingoutloud.Severalmoreexamplesfollowed,some presented naturally, some seemingly more gratuitous, thelatterexemplifiedbywhatwasvirtuallyamini-adfortheWaltherPPKpistol.

Sodoes itmatter?Areconsumersbeingunfairly influenced?Well if the rumours are true thatHeineken paid $45million fortheirinclusion,andthatthemovieisusuallyjustoneelementofanintegratedcampaign,thensurelyit’sjustgoodmarcomsifitworks....Daniel Craig has defended the use of such high profile productplacementvariously,describingitas“unfortunate”,or“afactoflife-Idon’tknowwhatallthefussisabout”.

Anotherfactoflifeformarketersisthatwecangetsocaughtupwithdeadlinesandtodoliststhatweignorethebiggerpicture.Neil Wilkinsofferedsevengreattipsonhowtoriseabovethedailygrindandbecomeaninnovativemarketer:

1. Devote Time:setasidesometimeeveryweekforbeingcreativeawayfromphones,emailsandsocialnetworks

2. Explore What’s Gone Before:searchoutgreatnewinnovationsfromoutsideyourindustrytosparknewideas

3. Ask “What If...”: instead of constraining yourself by asking‘how’,askyourself‘whatif’andsetyourmindfree

4. Process into Product:thinkhowyoucanturnyourservicesandprocessesintomarketableproducts

5. Collaborate: share thoughts with colleagues and partnersbecauseitwillthrownewlightandnewanglesonideas

6. Entertain Yourself: don’t be boring and really stretch yourthinkingbydaringtodream

7. Keep Trying:try,try,trybecausewithexperimentationyouwillunveilopportunity

THE TUTORS’ VIEWThe Cambridge Marketing College Tutor Blog allows our tutors to comment on any marketing subject that

catches their attention. The result is an eclectic mix of articles on big data to Barbie, hashtag usage to Pinterest, and organisations from an Arts Cinema to the Japanese electronics industry.

Themost prolific contributor to theblogistheCollege’sMarketingExecutive,Lorna Brocklesby who does a weeklyFriday Squeeze slotwhere she considers5ResourcesYouNeedtoKnow.Helpingreaderspickthroughtheweek’skeysocialmediastories,shehasenlightenedusonhow to use Hootsuite to find customersandwhatlinksSony,H.Samuel,OldSpiceand Blackberry? Apparently, they couldbe damaging their brands through theiruse of Facebook,mainly by not being innovative in their use ofsocialmedia:http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/63051-four-brands-which-may-be-damaging-their-consumer-image-on-facebook.

Gettingpreoccupiedwith thequantityofyourorganisation’ssocialmediaposts rather than thequalityseemstobeakey traptoavoid.

Itwas the sheerquantityof theworld’smarket ingarlic thatamazed Tony Wilson, following a news report into the illegalimportationofgarlicintotheEU.Asherightlysays,somemarketsareunexpectedlyenormous.

Ifthenewsarticleistobebelieved,thelatestincidentinvolvedtheallegedillegalimportationof£8,000,000-worthofgarlic.

Hangon,thatsoundslikealot.Readingfurtherdownthesamearticlerevealsthattheworld’s

totaloutputofgarlic is said tobearound23million tons,whichequates toaround500billionbulbs (eachconsistingof10or socloves).That’smore than1bulbeveryweek foreverypersonontheplanet.

So what, I hear you ask?Well, I don’t spend a lot of timeconsideringagriculturalorfoodmarkets,andIfindthismarketsizequitestaggering.Twothingsinparticularstrikeme:

1. Some markets are quite unexpectedly enormous. So don’tignore possible opportunities without first quantifying them.500billionunitsisalotofanything.

2. With enormousmarkets, tiny things can be very important:imagine theeffectofa1pprice increase inamarketof500billionunits,forexample.

If this haswhettedyour appetite, youcan read theTutorBlogatwww.marketingcollege.com/blog

KIRAN KAPUR

Possibly the most famous British advertising campaign of all time. Guinness’s success can be largely attributed to the humorous posters released between 1929 and 1969. This ‘Guinness for Strength’ ad first appeared in 1934 and is still one of the nation’s favourites today. Art Director/artist: John Gilroy, Agency: S.H. Benson.

Image supplied courtesy of D

iageo

Cambridge Marketing Press 1 Cygnus Business Park

Middle Watch Swavesey

Cambridgeshire CB24 4AA

www.marketingcollege.com

Tel: +44(0) 1954 234944 - Fax: +44(0) 1954 234950