Tag Archive: advertising
Here at Blumilk, our central aim is to better connect our clients to their customers and audiences via effective marketing and communication services. We know we’re doing our job right when our clients are expanding their customer base, being chosen for awards, and establishing their authority within their sector or field.
It can be daunting for companies large and small to choose an agency to deliver a project, strategy, or campaign. It takes time from both sides to find the most effective fit and to develop a working relationship so that we can better understand a client’s needs and requirements.
Here at Blumilk, we have 20 years experience providing marketing and communication services for clients across multiple sectors on both a regional (e.g. Northern Power Grid and Alnwick Gardens) and a national level (e.g. various NHS trusts and CCW). Here are some examples of what we have recently produced:
Central to this track record is that we have a very collaborative approach for all our projects and campaigns, preferring to create a collaborative bond with our clients, rather than simply consulting them. We do this by taking the time to get fully understand their business needs, challenges, and opportunities from conception to completion, and have found that this yields the best results.
We would like to take this opportunity to welcome all our new clients (you know who you are!) and to acknowledge and appreciate our existing clients who we have been constantly building a long-lasting relationship with. We are proud of the work we produce and we are more excited than ever to see what the future holds, and to see how we can find gaps to evolve and innovate.
Would your business benefit from creative and digital business solutions to help you better grasp your opportunities? Don’t hesitate to drop us an email or get in touch with us here to find out more about how we will help you excel!
Investing in intelligent research.
Examples of effective customer insight are popping up all over the media. The reality is that customer research has been going on under the radar for decades. However, in the past couple of years, it has become more popular for companies to shout about what they have conducted. By sharing their research companies are improving their customer connection, they are creating a reachable, human image.
The most recent customer insight story involved handmade food chain Pret a Manger. Pret a Manger announced last week that they would be opening a Veggie Pop-Up store on the back of extensive customer research. Pret’s CEO Clive Schlee wrote a blog last summer discussing the idea of opening new cafes that only serve non-meat options. And after receiving 10,000 votes, this June sees the result of this customer insight exercise.
Pret a Manager’s Group Marketing Manager, Mark Palmer commented that ‘a lot of brands say vote for a change when they’ve already made up their mind. It is just lazy. If customers are good enough to give you their time, you need to listen. Marketers find it hard to listen, they usually have their minds already made up. That is a mistake because if customers want to be part of your brand, you need to take them seriously.’
Blumilk could not agree more. Here at Blumilk we always work with our clients to boost their customer insight and to create customer-centric campaigns.
There are countless ways to maximise customer insight and to promote your successes. Blumilk strives to help our customers find the perfect, most cost-effective options for their goals. However, there are some fundamentals that we suggest our clients focus on.
Utilising Customer Insight
Data
Data is one of the most valuable things your business owns. Invest time in making sure your databases are current, up-to-date, and ensure that they contain the information you need.
Communication
If you don’t communicate with your customers on a regular basis then conduct a survey out of the blue, don’t expect a great response. You need to build a relationship like any other human interaction. A regular basis can be once a month, but if your customers come to expect that email or letter on their doormat containing relevant information, you can expect to see a more positive response.
Research
Research is especially tricky. Customers will rarely give something for nothing and that something may be as simple as finding out their favorite brand of coffee. Successful research comes from intelligent engagement. Blumilk work with our clients to build strategic engagement plans in order to gain the most from their research.
Want to learn more from your customers? Have an idea for your next campaign but need help executing the details? Why not give one of our specialists a call on 0191 232 4401 and start your creative journey with Blumilk.
Reference: www.marketingweek.com/2016/04/20/
Virtual Reality hits the mainstream.
Virtual Reality has been in existence for over 20 years in various forms or another but this year is set to be huge for the VR market.
At this year’s SXSW, South by Southwest Interactive, the annual Austin, Texas, tech festival there is an abundance of VR experiences on offer. Austin Texas is playing host to companies such as Samsung, Google, and even McDonald’s who are showing off their VR efforts.
One of the main reasons that companies love the advancements in VR technology is that they’re able to submerge their customers and potential customers into an artificial world entirely of their own design. This allows the companies to connect with customers in a more direct and personal way than any other media.
The drop-in headset prices mean that the technology is more accessible now more than ever. This increased availability has meant that Virtual Reality is not just for big businesses. With Samsung Gear4’s coming in at just under £80 and the release of Playstations VR technology coming to the UK this Christmas at under £280, Virtual Reality will soon be in every home.
Blumilk pride ourselves on being at the cutting edge of technological advancements, especially in the commercial world so invited our friends at Vector 76 to our Newcastle office to fill us in.
UK Virtual Reality veterans, Vector 76 have been trading since 2008, years before the technology we see today was developed! Blumilk asked the founder and owner of Vector 76, Shaun Allan his thoughts on the development of Virtual Media options for companies.
‘Virtual Reality is the finishing piece of the jigsaw. Companies can immerse their customers and clients in a custom built world which can take hold of every sense and emotion’.
Blumilk believe that for those ready to take the small steps into the world of Virtual Reality, the opportunities really are endless. We are excited to go on this journey with our customers and as always offer the most cutting edge, creative solutions.
Check out Vector 76’s website HERE
Reference: http://phys.org/news/2016-03
A closer look at the over saturated App market.
Smart phones have enabled users to search the Internet, connect with friends and keep up to date with the latest news effortlessly. News and news feeds are personalised with the user getting notifications on topics that matter to them. Blumilk’s Projects Manager Scott McBride believes that if, “companies are looking to capitalise on this market they need to have everything ready immediately and become the source of personalised information users choose. “Scott adds, ” this is becoming increasingly difficult in the current saturated marketplace.”
So how can organisations make their digital marketing stand out and get consumers to commit to their brand? Here’s what the Blumilk Digital Team advise…
1) Unless you’re Facebook, don’t rely on an app.
Forrester Research finds that the average UK smartphone owner spends 89% of their app time on just five apps: Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, Stocksand Maps. It makes more sense to try and grow your digital offering by using these apps for exposure. There has been a massive increase in Facebook advertising over the last 3 years. Some subtle – a suggested post because your friend likes the company or band, others more blatant – adverts on your newsfeed. Facebook’s recent addition of Canvas gives companies a space to develop Facebook optimised sites to reduce load time and increase engagement. Use these tools to reach your short term goals, then build from there.
2) Make sure your content is optimised for the device it is being viewed on.
There is nothing worse than trying to find information on a website and coming to a page which is not responsive to the device. Google forced people to seriously consider building websites with responsive frameworks last April by penalising non-responsive sites. If your site is not responsive, you immediately give the impression that your organisation hasn’t even begun to consider how to make your website user-friendly.
3) Ease of getting in touch.
You need to consider why you have a website in the first place. Is it a selling tool? Is it an information resource? Or is it to back-up your offline marketing? In all of these cases, it needs to have a clear and easily accessible call to action. This can be to call immediately, submit an enquiry, or download an information pack.
One example of making use of digital technologies to maximise the ways a customer can get in touch is on the Sintons Law Personal Injury website (www.sintons.co.uk/personal-injury). Simple contact forms and telephone numbers are clearly visible, Live Chat allows instant messaging with a Sintons representative and there is even Skype for face-to-face conversations. All of these are incorporated into mobile and tablet versions of the site for a seamless transition into the mobile world.
James George Dunn, Senior Developer in Blumilk’s Digital Team says: “As we research user behaviour and the technological possibilities of mobile digital marketing, we need to make sure we don’t lose site of the strategic objectives being aimed at and become distracted by what a website looks like.”
James’ advice to clients is straightforward: “Whether it’s to increase sales or achieve a social objective, you need to make sure visitors can engage with your site when and how they need to. If you don’t there’s a high chance they’ll turn to a competitor who will.”
Customers need brand purpose over snappy slogans.
Marketing has changed so much since the days of one slogan campaign. Blumilk’s Marketing Manager, Rebecca Lovell believes that ‘marketing campaigns have the capability to touch millions of people and with this capability comes the opportunity to be a positive force.’
For example, consider the ‘Share a Coke’ campaign by Coca Cola which ran across the summers of 2013 and 2014. The ‘Share a Coke’ campaign was incredibly successful producing 998 million impressions on Twitter 235,000 tweets from 111,000 fans using the #ShareaCoke hashtag, but what a lot of people don’t know is the campaign stemmed from the idea to connect.
Blumilk feels like Coca Cola’s thought process to the campaign was one of the key contributors to its success. The campaign was designed to connect customers not only with each other but with the brand and every aspect of the campaign was cleverly tailored to delight the customer even down to the specially created font ‘You’ which was designed specifically for the campaign.
Customers want sustainability and a brand with purpose. Brands need to demonstrate they have goals beyond profit and delight their customers with engaging marketing messages. John Rudaizky, partner and global brand and external communications leader at Ernst and Young commented that ‘Purpose is about galvanising and driving people forward. What we found is that overall if people have a greater sense of purpose, profit will follow.’
Blumilk helps our customers explore their values, build sustainability, and tailor purpose which all translate to an increase in revenue. Call us today and delight your customer with your next marketing campaign – 0191 232 4401
Reference: https://www.marketingweek.com/2016/02/15/why-brands-must-prove-their-purpose-beyond-profit/ and http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/stories/history/advertising/share-a-coke/#
Blumilk Ask is Facebook’s Canvas the best way to spend your marketing budget?
Facebook initially unveiled Canvas last year but the option is now widely available and growing in popularity due to one main key feature… It’s fast!
Canvas is fully interactive shopping feature designed specifically for mobile use. It allows companies to create customised, miniature, mobile versions of their website that include video, imagery, and other interactive content.
However, Mark, Blumilk’s Head of Digital asks: ‘Is Canvas something to be ‘seen to be doing’ rather than ‘something you must do’?’’ With so many advertising options out there should you use your marketing budgets on a service which is still relatively new and requires a great deal of time and investment to get off the ground?
Mark believes that, ‘with so many well established options which produce great engagement rates and view times that organisations should explore what they want to achieve first. Clients need to decide what they want from their campaigns to discover the right digital solution to suit their audience and budget.’ There is nothing more upsetting for Blumilk than seeing organisations waste valuable, hard earned marketing budgets on ‘quick fix’ of ‘trendy’ advertising options.
This does not mean to say Canvas might not be the right option for your campaign! For example, BMW unveiled an extremely attention grabbing campaign recently.
Their use of flowing images and creative artwork invites the user to engage. At Blumilk we pride ourselves on two things in particular. First, we’re at the forefront of digital advancements. And, second, we have an impeccable skill of delivering intelligently creative solutions for our clients which meets their budget, targets and audiences.
Reference: http://adparlor.com/blog
Instagram extends video adverts from 30 to 60 seconds.
This week saw Instagram extend their video adverts from 30 to 60 seconds. While most people will comment that this change is proof of Instagram’s growth and evolution, others worry that it is one step too far.
Are our social media platforms being overrun with too many lengthy advertisements? Blumilk are inclined to agree with this statement. Our Marketing Manager Rebecca commented that, ‘with Facebook’s Instant Articles, Twitter’s Moments, Instagram Spotlight videos’ and Youtube’s mandatory adverts, every minute of our lives are becoming saturated with advertising. And, although this may seem controversial for a marketer to say, I believe that there is a balance to be had and by increasing the videos to 60 seconds may be placing advertising above the everyday Instagram user.’
Dan Calladine for the Drum believes that, ‘It’s likely that ‘Instagrammers’ will get used to the longer ads very quickly as it’s easy enough to scroll through ones that don’t interest them.’ Blumilk ask, should users have to scroll past things they don’t want to engage with? Should there be a hide option for certain strands of companies that the user might not be interested in?
The first two companies to make the most of this video change were Warner Brothers and T-Mobile. T Mobile used the launch to promote the upcoming Super Bowl and Warner Brothers released a 60 advert for their new film, ‘how to be single’.
With 400 million active users on Instagram and 2015 generating very similar engagement rates to Facebook and Twitter promotions, you can see why Instagram made the decision, but Blumilk want to hear from you! What are your first thoughts on the change and how long do you want your advertisements to be?
Tweet us @blumilk with your thoughts.
