Archive for November 2011
Strikes and baton rounds
30 November 2011 | 
Author 
These two news items were adjacent on the BBC News website:
Do you think they may be related?
Posted in Odds and ends | 
Tags: baton round training, BBC News, public sector strike | 
No Comments »
Groupon promotion results
This is fascinating, a wonderful example of the visual display of quantitative information…that works: http://hbr.org/tablet/0711/vision-statement
Paul Butler used a computer programme to ‘scrape’ Groupon’s archive of deals in through February 2011. He captures the price of each offer, the number of people who purchaesed the coupon for it and the city wherer it was sold.
By multiplying the cost of the coupon by the number of users, he arrived at the gross revenue generated for each offer(which Groupon and the retailer then split).
Have a look for yourself: http://hbr.org/tablet/0711/vision-statement …my thanks to Harvard Business Review for publishing this.
So do you think this looks like success? And if so, who for?
Posted in Marketing | Tags: coupon, Groupon, Harvard Business Review, Paul Butler, visual display of quantitative information | 1 Comment »
Online promotion gone wrong
Mmm, I’m less than impressed: attempting to visit the Coinstar promotion website coinstarbonus.com I ended up looking at Haygarth’s website. Haygarth may well be the Coinstar agency but it is not what I wanted to see.
After a bit of fiddling I discovered that the www. bit was required. So this link works: www.coinstarbonus.com
It really is a bit of an elementary set-up mistake though. I wonder how many other people have simply given up?
PS:
I should mention that the Coinstar service is quite useful. On Sunday my daughter Tilly and I staggered off with some 2,000 1p coins, 2,500 2p coins and loads of 5p coins and other shrapnel. These had been skulking around at home for ages and delivering no benefit to anyone. Frankly the 8.9% charge at the Coinstar machine seemed quite reasonable.
What’s the alternative to Coinstar? Well, spending the shrapnel and loose change as you go is clearly one solution…but I’m not very good at that. The other option is to bank it; and banking loose change is not easy e.g. Nationwide will only take 4 bags per day.
PPS 28/11/11
They’ve fixed it now. It was going to haygarth.co.uk
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Posted in Consumer marketing | Tags: Coinstar, Coinstar agency, Coinstar alternative, Haygarth, Nationwide, online promotion, www.coinstarbonus.com | 1 Comment »
Will retailers cut NFC out of the loop?
Starbucks’ decision to cut NFC out of the loop could encourage more retailers to take the same route and develop bespoke mobile phone payment apps, instead of waiting for stores and handsets to become NFC compatible.
via Will retailers cut NFC out of the loop? | Opinion | Marketing Week.
Five Foursquare tactics to attract customers
Flash mobs, fun, specials…these are all some of the benefits to be derived from using location based social networking for retail marketing.
I’m often asked how businesses should start turning a rather dull brochureware website into something more dynamic. The truth is it needs more than a Facebook account to make this leap; it needs a strategy, commitment and resources.
Assuming these things are in place Foursquare can play a useful role. This article from the Harvard Business Review suggests some simple and effective ideas.
Foursquare recently passed one billion check-ins. For businesses of any type — but especially for retailers — Foursquare allows brands to attract, reward, and engage customers in ways that were never possible before. Innovative retailers are leveraging the growing popularity of check-ins to create fun, meaningful, interactions that encourage long-term loyalty. Here are five ways to use Foursquare to build loyalty this holiday season and beyond:
via Five Foursquare Tactics to Attract Customers – Carmine Gallo – Harvard Business Review.
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Posted in Marketing, UK retail marketing | Tags: brochureware, Facebook, Flash mobs, Foursquare, Harvard Business Review, location based, retail marketing, social networking, strategy | No Comments »
First, let’s fire all the managers
I do enjoy the Harvard business review. The article below challenges the norm and delivers some food for thought.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could achieve high levels of coordination without a supervisory superstructure? Wouldn’t it be terrific if we could get the freedom and flexibility of an open market with the control and coordination of a tightly knit hierarchy? If only we could manage without managers.
>>> the full article via First, Let’s Fire All the Managers – Harvard Business Review.
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Ballymorris Pottery Celebrates National Year Of Craft
It often makes me chuckle at just how commercially savvy my artist cousins are; I think we are heading in to role reversal sometimes.
Hannah Arnup is a cousin of mine. She is a potter and sculptor and produces fine work. Through her business Ballymorris Pottery she is blazing a trail and I’m often getting emails and news alerts about her activity. Here’s the latest:
To celebrate the National Year of Craft, Ballymorris Pottery in southeast Clare is holding a One Day Event from 11am to 5pm on Sunday next (27 November 2011).
The pottery will also be holding a special sale with reductions of up to 70% on selected pieces to clear the way for new work.
I think I may have to use her as a case study!
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Posted in Marketing | Tags: Arnup, artist, Ballymorris Pottery, case study, Hannah Arnup, National Year of Craft, potter | No Comments »