GDPR Summary - Part 1 - On your marks, get set, go!

Companies and organisations that use data at the centre of their sales and marketing activities – and that’s just about everyone reading this blog - will be impacted by the forthcoming EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Yesterday (Monday 15 June), the European Council of Ministers gave its strongest signal yet that it was prepared to negotiate the detail of the GDPR with the European Parliament in order to try and reach agreement by the end of 2015.

Agreement between the European Parliament, Council of Ministers and European Commission now looks like a distinct possibility in November/December 2015 after which there’ll be a two-year transition period before sanctions begin to bite.

However, as the blogosphere went into overdrive, many critics were sceptical that this could be achieved in a 6-month time frame given that both sides will…

Using customer insight to improve product/market fit?

Building a brand from scratch...

I have worked on over 20 branding projects – from start-ups to government institutions. And in every case, we needed to know the environment of the brand, the shareholders, the stakeholders, the key influencers and key beneficiaries. I needed to know who will be affected by change and what change in selected part of environment I want to achieve. With brand building at the beginning - there is nothing. I have a piece of paper and a pen. For past couple of years I strived to work in 3 steps. Target (aim of the action) Tool (defining and choosing the best tool) Action (don't think -  act) So if my aim is to: Achieve product/market fit with my brand I have to: Know my product and know the target market and then implement that knowledge. So everything starts with blank piece of paper on which we have to organize the knowledge that we have…

...at least not as well as the 14 or 15 year old Digital Natives...

This  Ofcom research on the Digital Day sheds some interesting behavioural insight on how children and Youth audiences engage with digital activity compared to adults. These are the 'Digital Natives' which give us a future view of how digital media will be used. Over half of children's time is spent communicating via text, instant and photo messaging - this contrasts to 1/4 of the time spent by adults.  In terms of social networking sites, 11-15 year olds spend twice as much time as adults. So, when it comes to .. how much time do 11-15 year olds spend on media and communication activities? Certainly, the differences in time spent on Email and Text between adults and younger audiences is dramatic. As mentioned earlier,…

New research helps understand consumer attitudes and behaviour by socio-economic personas/categories

Do you know to what extent customers are empowered to shop online and if they are ready to engage with you? GfK was commissioned by the UK Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to research different behaviours amongst online shoppers. They have just published this in-depth research into this area, to help business growth by understanding the range of online customer segments they should appeal to. GfK took a representative sample of the UK population, interviewing over 6,000 consumers, to find out how consumers shop, individual motivations and attitudes, highlighting differences by socio-economic background. The report segments consumers into 5 groups:

5 Segments of Consumers for online buying decision-making

Who do these customer segments represent? Constrained Strugglers:  Less empowered group with an average age of 45 years and highest mix of ethnic background. Tend to…

Six key findings from the Global Reviews UK Home Insurance Providers Digital Marketing Effectiveness Study Q3 2014:

In Q4 2014, Global Reviews conducted a Digital Sales Effectiveness (DSE) study amongst twelve leading UK home insurance brands including Admiral, Aviva, AXA, Barclays, Churchill, Direct Line, Halifax, Lloyds Bank, LV=, More Th>n, Nationwide and Tesco Bank. The aim of this study, which is part of Global Reviews’ ongoing programme of research, was to find out how consumers are choosing particular home insurance providers online, to understand and measure their digital journeys, and the key influencers in their buying decision. By capturing digital marketing and sales journey insights, underpinned by scientific framework using competitor and customer data for the sector, this research unravels some interesting facts for this insurance industry to answer many of the 'Why Questions'. Over 280 ‘in market’ consumers looking for home insurance in the next 90 days were studied as part…

Our multi-device day from Smartphone to Desktop to Tablet

Technology dominates our lives night and day! Really - even when we're asleep, our mobile devices are monitoring some of us. We thought we'd share this nice visual from comScore's recent research which summarises  when we are using tablets, PCS and mobile phones. Find out more by downloading Comscore's whitepaper for insights into Today's Digital Consumer. In media we have always talked about 'dayparting' to target audiences at different times of the day - this research emphasises the need to use mobile to target audiences. Desktop only will no longer cut it! Likewise, when creating digital experiences we need to ensure adaptive website designs that work in different contexts from smartphone to desktop to tablet. Of course, the media use curves above are a simplification, as this insight from the Ofcom digital media…

Practical approaches to connect you with consumers

The face of marketing looks entirely different from it did even a few years ago, and mastering the latest trends has become an ongoing struggle for marketers. But in the fight to stay innovative, many marketers lose sight of what really matters: truly understanding their audience. Assuming that you know what your customers think is shortsighted. Like all humans, the needs, experiences, and expectations of clients and customers change. Taking the time to check in and discuss what’s important to them on a regular basis is the only way to deliver an experience that delights them. Think about the last time you really felt heard. The person didn’t just listen patiently while you talked. She understood what you were saying and why. It felt pretty good, right? Marketers who go above and beyond to make their customers feel heard tune in to underlying customer needs and desires. One…

What influences purchase of your product or service?

Getting cut through is a key challenge for marketers today since there are so many online influences on purchase from search engines and social networks and from media sites to personal blogs and YouTuber vlogs.

So, to be effective in influencing purchase today, brands need to intimately understand the footprint of their brand communications through marketplace mapping and how this relates to consumer purchase decision-making.

To help you understand your consumers' decision journey we have created this new infographic which summarises the latest thinking on how to use online marketing to influence purchase.

[caption id="attachment_39199" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Infographic: Today's consumer journey and the influences on purchase[/caption] Recommended Download: Free digital strategy infographic bundle Members can…

Tools to uncover competitor video content approaches

In the past, competitor analysis meant hours of trawling through your competitors’ social media sites and building time-consuming reports. Nowadays, SaaS based systems can do some of  the hard work for you. All you need to do is log on, input your competitor details and see for yourself exactly what’s going on behind the scenes. Some systems are free and do not even require a login. In this post you will find out about some great tools that will help you uncover great video marketing strategies and ideas.

Changing landscape of video strategy

After Google, YouTube is the internet’s second largest search engine. A growing number of viewers are beginning to subscribe to business channels too. In fact, the number of people subscribing daily has increase three-fold since 2013. As more businesses start to tap into the power…

A new, free report on digital media and technology use [@SmartInsights statistics alert]

Value: [rating=5] For students, researchers and marketers who need to convince others of the importance of digital media Recommended link: Ofcom 2014 digital communications statistics report If you need hard facts and charts for reports and presentations to convince others of the growing importance of digital communications and technologies in influencing the purchase decision today, the Ofcom Communications report is one of the most comprehensive sources available. That’s why we feature it at number 1 in our Top 10 Free Digital Marketing Statistics sources listing. It’s published each August for the UK and includes an international digital media statistics benchmark in its December edition. The latest update for the UK has just been published and in this post I have selected from the 61(! ) charts available to ask what I think are some of the of the most important questions about…