Corporate Eye

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Archives for October 2012

9 of 10 UK Shoppers Will Shop Online for Holiday Gifts This Year

holiday shoppingNew research from Kinetic reports that 90% of U.K. internet users will shop online for holiday gifts this year, and 52% will do most of their holiday shopping online. Is your brand ready?

The data from the Kinetic research report shows that while more than half of U.K. internet users will do most of their holiday shopping online this year, just 28% expect to do most of their holiday shopping in high street shops and only 20% expect to shop in malls. All is not lost for high street shops and shopping malls though. Those simply aren’t the locations where U.K. shoppers expect to do most of their shopping this holiday season.

The shift to online shopping for holiday gifts is even more pronounced in specific categories. For example, the number of U.K. internet users who plan to purchase holiday gifts of CDs and DVDs online is twice as high as the number who plan to buy CDs and DVDs in stores. On the other hand, U.K. internet users are twice as likely to purchase holiday gifts of homeware and furniture items in stores rather than online. Specific category results follow:

  • Clothing and footwear: Online = 29%; In-store = 42%
  • Perfume and cosmetics: Online = 26%; In-store = 38%
  • Toys and games: Online = 38%; In-store = 37%
  • Jewelry and watches: Online = 17%; In-store = 28%
  • Books: Online = 50%; In-store =27%
  • CDs/DVDs: Online = 58%; In-store = 24%
  • Homeware and furniture: Online = 10%; In-store = 20%
  • Electronics: Online = 32%; In-store = 18%
  • Sport items: Online = 16%; In-store = 17%

One thing is for certain, online shopping is the preferred method of shopping for holiday gifts. Overall, 90% of U.K. internet users planned to shop for holiday gifts online this year, but 84% also expected to shop on the high street, and 79% still planned to shop in shopping malls and shopping centers. However, these study results highlight the transition away from brick-and-mortar retail shopping to online shopping, and this transition away from brick-and-mortar shopping will continue to grow as more people become comfortable shopping from their mobile devices.

Is your brand ready with marketing campaigns and messages that leverage consumers’ transitioning shopping preferences? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Image: Charles Thompson

Business opportunities for inclusive and sustainable development | Part 1 of 2

This year DANIDA (the Danish International Development Agency) celebrated its 50th anniversary, making it one of the oldest international development agencies in the world.  To mark this it held a big pow-wow (sorry, conference) during which a paper entitled “The challenge of, and opportunity for, inclusive and sustainable development‘ (PDF) was presented.

The conference came to the conclusion that global institutions such as the United Nations and G20 had become “ineffective” and that in many countries aid should be phased out in favour of a more commercially orientated partnership approach.  These partnerships should be built with “creative disruptors” including private sector business and finance who are willing to make the difference and tackle the challenges which exist.

Reading through the paper it became more and more obvious to me that there are many, many opportunities out there for a business to become a creative disruptor and ensure that its activities build inclusive and sustainable societies.  These opportunities exist not just for sector specific companies (infrastructure, extractive industries, etc) but for any business which has a stake in inclusive and sustainable development.

However, in order to do this a business also has to face up to the four fundamental challenges the paper presents and look at how its commercial expectations and timescales can be modified to take advantage of the opportunities identified.

So, without any further ado, here are those four challenges and what business can do to turn them into opportunities.

[Read more…] about Business opportunities for inclusive and sustainable development | Part 1 of 2

IPad Mini vs. Kindle Fire – Let the Battle Begin

The iPad mini from Apple has finally launched, and Amazon was ready for it. A visit to the Amazon.com home page in the United States puts the iPad mini up against the Kindle Fire HD in a head-to-head battle complete with six key feature comparisons that are sure to matter to consumers. You can see a screenshot of the Amazon home page below. The six-point comparison shows the following differences between Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD and Apple’s iPad mini:

  • Kindle Fire HD has an HD display with 30% more pixels than the iPad mini, which has a standard definition, low-resolution display.
  • Kindle Fire HD shows 216 pixels per inch vs. 163 pixels per inch for the iPad mini.
  • Kindle Fire HD enables customers to view HD movies and television, but the iPad mini offers no HD movies or television.
  • Kindle Fire HD has dual stereo speakers compared to the iPad mini’s mono speaker.
  • Kindle Fire HD offers ultra-fast, MIMO Wi-Fi, which the iPad mini does not.
  • Kindle Fire HD costs $199, which is significantly cheaper than $329 for the iPad mini.

Click the image below to view it at full size.

amazon home page kindle fire hd vs ipad mini

Another smart addition to the Amazon home page is the quote from the popular tech site Gizmodo, which offers what Amazon hopes is an unbiased, expert opinion about the Kindle Fire HD’s superiority over the iPad mini. In the quote, Gizmodo’s writer questions Apple’s iPad mini advertising messages by asking, “… your [Apple’s] 7.9-inch tablet has far fewer pixels than the competing 7-inch tablets! You’re cramming a worse screen in there and accusing others of compromise?”

Of course, this comparison is for one model of Amazon’s Kindle versus one model of Apple’s iPad mini, but it’s presented in a way that draws attention to differentiators that matter to consumers. Amazon’s Kindle has to battle against the coolness factor of the Apple and iPad brands and communicating tangible reasons why consumers should not choose Apple and iPad is very smart.

Naturally, the iPad mini offers its own differentiators, but in the growing tablet market, Amazon is boldly attacking its primary competitor and the market leader head on. What do you think? Will it work?

How to do CSR in just 10 days

Recently British Gas (BG) were round at my house.  We had a problem with the boiler and .. well, after three visits they still didn’t fix it.

In the course of all this we had a new carbon monoxide alarm fitted, which BG helpfully charged £29.95 for.  Somehow we forgot to pay this so a few weeks later a letter from Moon Beever arrived.

This isn’t a strange version of an Andy Williams song but a long established firm of solicitors in Central London which specialises in litigation and debt recovery.

On the left hand column of their website there is a permanent section entitled “Community Services” under which is the logo for Macmillan Cancer Support.  “Oooh,” I thought. “Interesting!”  So I clicked on it .. and it took me to the Macmillan Cancer Support website.  Not so interesting.

There’s nothing exciting about Moon Beever’s association with Macmillan and I suspect it’s more about donating to a friend’s legacy (Debbie’s Fund) rather than corporate responsibility.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m sure the firm are acting will all best intentions and they should be applauded for the terrific fund-raising they’ve done.

However there must be many SME businesses out there who want to “do something” in CSR but think it’s horribly complicated or painful. I’ve come across a very simple way you can fulfil your CSR ambitions in only 10 days.  And here it is….

[Read more…] about How to do CSR in just 10 days

When Trademark and Patent Litigation Damages a Brand

Trademark and patent protections are vital to brands, but is there a time when too many lawsuits (or threats of lawsuits) over trademark and patent infringements can start to negatively tarnish consumers’ perceptions of a brand and damage the brand? If you look at the history of Apple’s patent suits, the answer is yes.

Matt Assay of The Register shared the graphic below from Verizon (published by Forbes) that depicts the “insane” number of smartphone competitor patent lawsuits. However, from the average consumer’s perspective, most of these lawsuits go unnoticed and don’t affect their perceptions of the brands behind them.

Click the image to view it at full size.

smartphone patent lawsuits

For the average consumer, brands like Apple, Google, and Microsoft dominate the buzz about mobile tech lawsuits with short-term buzz about associated brands like HTC and Samsung popping up occasionally. Consumers hear about the big brands hiring employees to focus on trademark and patent litigation, and a natural progression of human emotion ultimately follows – when people start to root for the underdog. That’s where smaller tech brands can position themselves to carve chunks out of mobile tech market share.

When does trademark and patent litigation shift from protecting a company’s assets and brand equity to bullying and arrogance? Fortunately, social media buzz can help brand’s identify reputation shifts, but operating from a position of brand dominance and leadership often leads to brand arrogance, a topic I’ve written about before for Corporate Eye.

We’ve seen brand arrogance hurt brands in the past with Microsoft offering one of the best examples, but Apple has been heading down the same path of brand arrogance in recent years. Will consumers’ perceptions of the Apple brand (or other brands heading down a similar path) be so tarnished by perceived arrogance that they’ll turn to another brand? Will Apple (and other brands heading down the same path) recognize the problem and fix it before it’s too late?

Only time will tell, but demise by brand arrogance isn’t a new phenomenon. What do you think? Which brand do you think is too far down the path of brand arrogance to save itself? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

How To Create The Perfect Corporate Facebook Page

The days of Facebook being just a ‘new idea for businesses to try’ are long gone, as Facebook has now become one of the essential marketing tools of any self respecting business. But simply creating a Facebook page for your company is only the first and easiest step, and turning your page into a lead generating haven can seem like an uphill battle. But if the correct measures are put in place, your page should become a lead magnet in no time. Simply follow this step by step guide to create the perfect corporate Facebook page:

 

Assuming you have not yet created your company’s Facebook page, click here to begin the process and follow the steps from step 1 onwards. If you already have a page that you want to further optimise, please skip ahead to step 2.

 

Step 1:  Creating a search optimised page

From the word go, Facebook will ask you to narrow down your company using categories, company information and more to ensure your page is found by the correct searches by users. And because your category and company name are not changeable it is vital that you consider this information carefully before saving.

 

Step 2: Optimising your images and ‘About’ section

You can now upload a profile photo and cover photo. Use something that is going to clearly and concisely show what the company is for the profile photo, such as a recognisable logo, as this is what will appear in searches. For the cover photo, you can be slightly more adventurous. Many companies choose to display a current promotion or image they have had made especially for social media which shows the brand’s personality, as social media is all about getting to know the brand. A great example of this in action, and also of engagement with the audience is Unilever’s ‘Featured Fan’ campaign.

 

Your ‘About’ section has 2 parts. The first is the main description in which you sum up your company in 2-3 sentences. You will then have the chance to add a much lengthier description to appear when the ‘About’ section is clicked. So it is important to have some form of call to action in your main description, as this is where you must really work to encourage the visitor to click through and find out more about your company. Many companies also opt to include their website address in the main description for ease of access. In the lengthier description you can then describe your brand’s values, history, services and products, any information you feel is relevant. You can also add in location information, website details,  links to your blog and other social media, and any other relevant sites.

 

Step 3: Keep The Fresh Content Flowing

If you want visitors to Like your page and keep them returning then you need to offer them something in return. That is why a fresh flow of relevant and interesting content is vital to the success of your page. This content could come from anywhere, be it your own company’s blog, other interesting blog posts that link to back to your industry, news articles that your audience would find of interest, useful tips and advice, and most importantly conversation starters.

Conversation is the main aim of social media, as people visit your page to get to know the brand, take something away (content/useful information), and most importantly feel like they have the opportunity to have their voice heard and listened to by your company. People use tools such as opinion polls, multimedia (images, video, etc) and calls to action to engage visitors. Costa Coffee is the king of engagement at the moment with their ‘Your Toy in Our TV Ad’ campaign for their UK Facebook community. (See step 5 for how to monitor audience engagement).

 

Step 4: Attract Your New Audience

Once you have an exciting and optimised new page filled with fresh content, it’s time to start showing it off! There are many ways to build an audience, such as placing a ‘Like’ button or link to your page on your website, blog and other online channels, using incentives or ‘like-gates’, such as 100% Organics’ Facebook shop which offers exclusive deals for fans. There is also the option of using the Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising service offered by Facebook, which allows you to target and attract a fresh and relevant new audience, and is ideal for all company sizes and industries as there are no minimum budgets or limitations to how wide or narrow you can tailor the target areas.

 

 

Step 5: Monitor engagement and measure success

So you built the page and populated the perfect page, and you have gained the fresh new audience, but the key to making your page a consistent success is to be constantly engaging your audience. Keep checking the page for likes, comments and messages from visitors, and be sure you aren’t ignoring any of them, as this can have a strong and detrimental effect on your brand’s reputation.

You should also take advantage of the Facebook Insights feature, which shows you the reach of your page on a whole as well as how the audience engaged with each individual post, including the virality percentage. This is a valuable tool when assessing your brand’s online presence and impact, as well as for planning future campaigns.