Digital

Happy Second Birthday CMA Blog!

It is very gratifying to see a project take flight from an idea. It is even more gratifying to see that it creates a legacy. Especially when the legacy has been building and involving a community.

The community is you. It happens here and spreads out. It happens out there and is talked about here. And the marketing space in general is a better place as a result.

Seems such a short time ago, but it was in fact two years ago that the CMA Blog was launched as a CMA Digital Marketing Council project. And, it has flourished. So, happy second birthday CMA blog! Two years young and continuing to influence and educate.

Special thanks to all the contributors who are keeping the conversation going. And, big thanks to Sandra Singer of the Canadian Marketing Association for keeping her finger on the pulse every step of the way.

It could not happen with out you/us!

P&G Increases its Internet Ante

At the CMA's 2nd Annual Business of Ideas Forum, Tim Penner (President of Procter & Gamble Canada) reportedly announced that his company was increasing it's online marketing spending from about 3% to 20% in the next year.

You may ask what could have triggered such a large shift? Below are some observations that I gathered through articles, conferences and monitoring P&G's marketing over the last 4 years.

Step 1: Global CMO Criticises Media Stakeholders

P&G's transformation started in 2004 when Jim Stengel (Global Marketing Officer) challenged US advertising executives at a conference and told them that core problems of media cost inflation and declining efficiencies was hurting marketing clients. Stengel assessed the Media industry was providing "C-" services. His message was...find another model and prove it's effectiveness through better measurement (better industry standards and more robust testing methods). According to the Wall Street Journal, P&G subsequently shifted 8% out of television and into alternative media.

Step 2: Testing DM & Emerging Media

So P&G started to test different forms of direct marketing and it dipped it's toe into mail, banner advertising, online contests and other interactive web elements. Direct Marketing was easier to measure and was seen as a natural "consumer involvement" lever.

P&G's mailing activity increased and there were a number of mail tests with brands. In Canada, some of these tests were with retailers (Shopper Drug Mart) and other mailers directly with brands.

In the US, P&G began experimenting with two separate viral groups of influential consumers: teens and mothers. Starting in 1999, P&G created a group of teenagers called "Tremor" (it took over 2 years to build a critical mass of 280k). Similarly, "Vocal Points" is panel of 650k engaged mothers who provide their feedback on products and who also help spread the "word of mouse" for new product launches. P&G finds that the one-to-one approach is especially effective when marketing sensitive products such as dandruff or tampons.

In 2006 at various trade shows I attended in the US and Canada, I noticed that a number of contacts mentioned that they were called by P&G for roundtable table discussions on internet marketing. The discussions were open ended listening sessions where the brand marketers tried to understand each online medium and key success factors.

P&G has significant experience with banners but is also using paid search.

Step 3: Aggressively Growing their Email Permission Base

With a critical mass of consumer opt-ins gathered through contests, P&G underwent a major email acquisition strategy to grow their Canadian permission lists to 1 million consumers. (Cdn DM News 02/01/06).

P&G's core email property is a newsletter called "Everyday Solutions". P&G have been an Epsilon/Doubleclick email customer since 2004 and has been consistently testing the email medium. P&G has one of the better approaches of relational newsletters and transactional alerts in their CPG sector.

Step 4: Focusing on Measurement

P&G used measurement through each of the previous steps and online measurement is becoming one of it's core competencies. At the end of the day, the new marketing is about measurement. Online marketing is perfect for sequential A/B tests, multivariate tests and a scalable/fast rollout.

Given their marketing discipline, I suspect that P&G examines both "above the line" and "below the line" impact. A quote from a senior US P&G exec confirms this…" Procter measures everything. We are a very data driven company, and every time we ran a program, we did a control group...and the results were significant". Leaders in online marketing have the formula and are quietly widening the gap.

Conclusion

So why is P&G upping the ante in online marketing?

This was all part of a multi-year strategy and shift to find a new optimal mix of mass media and targeted media that will drive profitability. While other CPG marketers hesitate about online, P&G is upping the ante. Now is the time for all eleaders to find their formula and stake their cyberturf.

Online marketing is effective for many marketing scenarios; it is measurable, has a high ROI and creates a Sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA).

Geoff Linton is VP at Inbox Marketer and a Professor at Conestoga College in Kitchener-Waterloo.

To AJAX or not to AJAX: A Cambodian’s Perspective

Did you know that Canada is a Top 10 leader in global usage of broadband internet access? We are.

Did you know that Canada is in the Top 25 in terms of global internet penetration? We are.

Did you know that Cambodia has approximately 44,000 internet users (in total) translating to less than 1% of their population?
They do.

For a country with almost 14 million people (Cambodia), internet adoption, historically, has not been high.

For a country with over 33 million people (Canada), internet adoption, historically, has been very high.

According to Wikipedia and the CIA World Facts Book, in 2005, oil and natural gas deposits were found beneath Cambodia's territorial water, and once commercial extraction begins in 2011, the oil revenues could profoundly affect Cambodia's economy.

For now, they are still a developing nation.

Yet more often that not, when I am completing an online form with my mailing or contact information, the “Country” dropdown menu seems to think I live in Cambodia. It’s the first country that pre-populates the field when I type in “C” and the next country on the list after Burundi.

In this case, alphabetical listings decrease usability.

There are several solutions to this:

1. Sophisticated eCommerce sites know their customer base and they will pre-sort their dropdown menus to include, for example, the USA and Canada, at the top of the list.

2. IP Location software can pre-populate forms for users who have basic, visible data points. Take the simple example of a user login from Canada. The purchase form may be quite complex as some businesses need more information to prevent fraud and to ship and bill accurately. Certain dropdown information such as country of origin, postal code, IP and domain name can be identified and pre-loaded in to the fields using tools such as: http://www.ip2location.com/

3. Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), is a group of inter-related web development techniques used for creating interactive web applications. A primary characteristic is the increased responsiveness and interactivity of web pages achieved by exchanging small amounts of data with the server "behind the scenes" so that entire web pages do not have to be reloaded each time there is a need to fetch data from the server. This is intended to increase the web page's interactivity, speed, functionality and usability. Type recognition also allows real-time intelligence with the database / lookup tables which can significantly increase speed and ease of use, such that a user would be able to type “CAN…” to get “Canada” rather than Cambodia, Cameroon or Cape Verde.

Milliseconds of time are saved for the user. And I need my milliseconds.

Joy Boyson is Director, Business Development, Technical Marketing at The Marketing Store in Toronto, ON Canada and a member of the CMA Digital Marketing Council. She can be reached at joy.boyson@tmsw.com

Online video isn't the future, it's the present

Google Canada hosted a showcase last week in Toronto, complete with recent case studies and numbers from YouTube.

The following stats had several jaws hitting the floor:

• 10 hours of content is uploaded to YouTube every 60 seconds
• YouTube contributors produce 3000x more output than Hollywood
• Hollywood would need to premier 57,230 feature films a week just to keep up
• YouTube currently boasts 200M+ worldwide unique visits a month
• 25% of surveyed registered YouTube viewers watch more video content online than they do on TV

YouTube Demographics


• 55% suburban, 26% urban, 19% rural
• 71% employed, 15% students
• 47% married
• 69% college educated
(source)

Several case studies were featured, including a YouTube, HP and Fox Searchlight program called “Project Direct”.

Other highlights;
Mark Nicholson from ING Direct presented the Canadian Superstar Saver Search,
Paul McGrath from CBC presented some digital strategy including “The Hour” channel on YouTube

Here’s a little Advertising on YouTube primer to get you started:

Domain Name Disputes: Honey or Vinegar?

One of the more unusual aspects of my job as General Manager of a large private portfolio of domain names is that I see all the "poison pen" letters from lawyers representing clients who believe (usually incorrectly, I should add) they are legally entitled to a domain name that we own. Since we own over 150,000 domain names, we get quite a few of these letters every week!

I make sure that we respond to each and every one of these inquiries, and now that I've seen and dealt with over a hundred of these letters I wanted to make a suggestion to the marketing community at large:

"You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar."

Admittedly, I didn't come up with this age-old concept, but I'd like to remind people that you will have better luck resolving a dispute - any dispute - by playing nice than by being hostile.

For instance, the next time you think that someone owns a domain name that you think you are legally entitled to, don't make your first move a "nasty lawyer's letter."

Instead, just reach out to the current owner with a courteous phone call or email (which you can get from checking the public WHOIS records) and let them know you have some questions or concerns. You might discover that the current owner is a lot nicer than you think, is not a hardened criminal, and is more than willing to negotiate in good faith. You might even learn that the original basis for your complaint is flawed and that - surprise, surprise - you aren't legally entitled to the domain name after all.

Not only will you save yourself the time, hassle, and significant expense of going the legal route (fighting a domain name dispute can cost many thousands of dollars), but you will begin the dialogue on a positive and constructive basis, not an adversarial one.

I go out of my way to help the small minority of folks who approach me nicely and are willing to listen to and consider our side of the story. Between us, we can usually resolve the situation within a few days. Unfortunately, I can count these "honey" folks on the fingers of one hand.

I'm not so sympathetic towards the "vinegar" folks - those who courier me three-inch thick stacks of legal documents that make all sorts of false accusations, ridiculous demands, and set unrealistic timelines for a response. (One company did this to me, quite deliberately, on Christmas Eve last year.) Sadly, these "poison pen" letters make up the vast majority of inquiries I receive. Sure, we respond to them as well, but I'm not going to cut them any slack or do them any favours. Why should I?

In the end, this boils down to one simple suggestion: be nice. ;+)

Comparing Apples to Apples.

Recently, I have had the same conversation with two separate people. We were talking about the Dove Revolution campaign. The people with whom I was speaking both said they couldn't believe how well that spot had done at Cannes. It did well in the interactive category. They were aghast that what was basically a television spot would do so well in an integrated category of an award show. After all, there was no real interactive component. How dare they. There was no "online experience" to be had. Nothing to do but watch the spot. I've heard this lament time and again about various campaigns. In fact, the same argument has been waged in the pages of Marketing Magazine recently where, in the letters to the editor section, one Creative Director took another Creative Director to task for arguing that a television spot or outdoor billboard posted on YouTube does not make it "online creative". Perhaps not. But here's where I have to play devils advocate.

To my mind, the internet is obviously a place where you can interact with creative. But it's also much more than that. It's also, like television, a place where you can build a brand and create awareness. Like a direct marketing campaign, it can generate a lead, collect customer information, be extremely personalized, and provide an offer. Like a retail promotion, it can get you to enter a contest and win something spectacular.

Of course, the online space is a discipline. There's a way to produce online creative that is obviously different from how you develop other creative, and you have people who specialize in the space. But it's also a channel with the power to build awareness, generate a response, and engage a consumer.

And that brings me back to the campaign that started the conversation in the first place, the Dove Revolution spot, and the reason I'm writing this post. This was my role as the devil's advocate in my conversation with my friends.

The Dove campaign won at Cannes because it was brilliant creative. Plain and simple. It didn't matter where it appeared. It ran online, but why can't the online space be used to build a brand and generate PR? People who work in the online space know its potential. But do they harbour, dare I say it, some bias that online advertising can only be immersive and clickable? Only "interactive"?

Then, after having had both conversations, I had a revelation. Perhaps the award shows themselves (like Cannes) are creating this controversy and encouraging this argument. Perhaps the problem isn't the creative. Perhaps it's the way the work is submitted and judged. Maybe it's the categories in which the creative must be entered. Was the Dove campaign competing with work that was more experiential? Were apples being compared to apples? And if not, why not? Why don't interactive award shows create categories that break the work down into the objectives of the campaign. Mass/Awareness online ads should compete with online ads that were created to do the same job. Promotional campaigns should compete with campaigns against those objectives. And so on. Perhaps they'd have to rethink how the whole award show is built. Perish the thought!

In the mean time, don't blame the Dove campaign for being beautiful. Just let it compete with its own kind.

Name that Spot!

I just saw a car commercial while watching one of my guilty pleasure shows (don't ask) and paused it before any branding revealed itself. I turned to my wife, who had seen the spot several times, and asked her who the commercial was for. She couldn't remember and neither could I. We both took a guess and we were both wrong. The logo isn't actually revealed until the end of the spot. Go figure. Here are descriptions of 5 current spots running on Canadian television (including the spot in question). See if you can name the products they're for.

1. A team of contortionists form the shape of a car.
2. A woman puts her baby to bed. An alarm goes off and the baby is now a teenager getting out of bed. In the next shot, we see him kissing his mom goodbye and leaving the house as the mother looks on lovingly.
3. A computer is pulled out of an inter-office envelope while a cool song is playing in the background. (Come on, that one’s easy.)
4. A woman is climbing on a rock wall as a grandmother repels down beside her. A microwave then drops down on a rope. The grandmother opens it, takes out the product (still hanging from the rope) and feeds the younger woman this product.
5. Two identical fish float unto a white background to a cool song.

Clearly some of the above spots are more effective and memorable than others. Some are easy to connect to their product because the product is central to the concept of the commercial. The creative doesn’t overpower the message or the product. Or the brand is so consistent across all media that the spot could only be for that product.

The key benchmark for evaluating whether a TV commercial works or not is, can you remember what the commercial was for after being entertained by it. Do you remember it the next day or a week later. If the answer is no, the spot in question wasn’t worth the money it took to produce it, or the cost of the media. It wasn’t worth a dollar. It’s that simple.

Usability, Recession, and the Blessed Trinity...

Sorry for the delay my CMA friends! The digital user experience trenches have been busy and the war is far from over. Actually it is just getting very interesting! This post features some tidbits on my fav topics....usability, recession, and the blessed trinity: Facebook, YouTube and Google.

Is Customer Experience Recession-Proof?
CIO Insight talks about improving online usability, adding new online functionality, making online interactions more enjoyable and improving cross-channel interactions....finally I'm not the only one who knows "The Secret". And he told two friends...and-so-on-and-so-on......

From one power user to another, I ask you - could it be true? Are Facebook's 15-Minutes Up?
Say it ain't so! I have not reached 1000 BFF (Best Friends Forever)!

Thank gawd! It has finally happened and users everywhere are filled with glee!
YouTube Balances Higher Quality Videos with Usability

Customer-centric approach 'took Google to the top'
And it is this simplicity that has strengthened both the company's brand identity and its usability, Mr Wallington claims..... and never mind that yummy Google-bottom line! DOH!

Enjoy!
Tara

Teaching Marketing Is Getting Tougher And Tougher

I'm pretty certain people like Professor Kenneth Wong will have their say, but the more time I spend with University students, the more concerned I am about the health of Marketing education.

There's no denying that young people today live in a world where wikis, YouTube, Facebook and text messaging are as prevalent in their lives as electricity was in ours. Take a look at the recent news item where a student at Ryerson University faces expulsion for using a Facebook Group to enable a virtual study group for a chemistry class (which the university saw as cheating) - Globe And Mail - Ryerson Student Cheered At Expulsion Hearing. Companies are going to be facing some serious challenges as the students become the workforce of the future.

On one side, it's challenging to have classes at the University level on topics like Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Web Analytics, Email Marketing and Digital Media buying, because there are few teachers available with the knowledge and insight... and even fewer approved textbooks. It's an area of study that is truly organic - constantly changing and evolving. Even some of the best Marketing companies out there still struggle with these competencies as agencies scramble to build them as centres of excellence within their own organization.

Strangely enough, on the other side, most students studying Marketing and Advertising at the University level are lured to the more traditional marketing agencies (working creative for 30-second spots, etc...).

Where's the disconnect?

Is Digital Marketing still not a large enough segment of the Marketing pie to get the attention? Is it a lack of education? Or, do young people not see the opportunity going forward as more and more ad dollars shift into the Digital side?

Whatever the answer - and, my guess is it's a combination of all three, the shift is happening.

While Marketing is never recession proof (usually the exact opposite), when dollars do get pulled, it's looking like they are getting shifted to cheaper and more strategic channels (like Search Engine Marketing and Email programs) than being entirely yanked from the Marketing line of business.

Bottom line, we need more Marketers understanding the Digital side of advertising. And, if you don't believe me (after all, I'm heavily vested in this area), just take a look at the statistics.

Privacy Concerns in Social Networking

Social interaction in the online space is becoming more and more frequent. Most people are unaware however that every Facebook, MySpace, msn, iChat, email message leaves an information footprint and this trail can be picked up by third parties. In this new wild west of virtuosity, some companies have brazenly admitted to offering services or products to people within the social networking arena with little or no regard for privacy or the expectation of privacy.

This hopefully is where the government can and will intercede. The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) outlines what information organizations can and cannot gather about consumers. Unfortunately, this legislation does not directly impact consumer privacy in the social networking arena. The impact of this is that the privacy rights of consumers might be at risk - consent and awareness of how information is being used varies depending on the channel being used.

Responsible marketers are already aware of these sensitivities and have put measures in place. The many “cowboys” in this new frontier however will take advantage of the information available and use it to their advantage. These marketers are preying on the most vulnerable users of technology – the youth, who are most likely to engage in social networking without considering the possible implications on their privacy.

Social networking and social media are hot button items at the moment and there are many layers to discover. CMA’s Marketing Technology and Database Intelligence Council is hosting a breakfast Roundtable that will explore how social media may be strategically applied to business and integrated with an organization’s marketing plan.

Microsoft!

The last time Microsoft spoke publicly about its annoyance with Google and plans to wage war against Big G was back in September 2007.

Eager to challenge Google`s internet advertising and search empire, they hired Brian McAndrews from aQuantive as MSN general manager to draw up battle plans. “We are hell-bent and determined to allocate the talent, resources, money and innovation, to absolutely become a powerhouse in the ad (and search) business,” said Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, at the company’s financial analyst meeting back in July. Rest assured since then, they've been very, very busy.

So it came as not a shocker 10 days ago when Microsoft announced its intention to purchase Yahoo! for $44.6 billion in a decisive bid that, if effective, accelerates its marketing efforts tenfold growing web based services and advertising share.
Well timed overtures.
The bid is well timed to take Yahoo! under its wing. Even after recent management shakeups, the company is still lethargic with slow growth, a poor quarter and weak share price. So the 62% premium over the $13 stock price is a sweet deal indeed.

According to a letter sent to the Yahoo! board of directors, "while online advertising growth continues, there are significant benefits of scale in advertising platform economics, in capital costs for search index build-out, and in research and development, making this a time of industry consolidation and convergence. Today, the market is increasingly dominated by one player who is consolidating its dominance through acquisition. Together, Microsoft and Yahoo! can offer a credible alternative for consumers, advertisers, and publishers."

Faster PCs mean less software CDs.
While Microsoft has a lock on computer software, including Windows on 90%+ of the world’s computers, the reality is people are changing how they interact with PCs as they spend more time on the web downloading free applications and services to run. Services that also include Google`s free web based word processor and spreadsheet programs, Google Docs.

Further proof of online migration can be seen at any Future Shop too. The software CD section is now a tiny footprint of its former self.

Armchair quarterbacking the play.
In Canada, although way too early to tell what impacts will be (even if passes the US Justice’s competitive smell test), the deal could affect Rogers Communications and their customers the most. That’s because they have a deep partnership with Yahoo! for content, advertising and web services. Will that partnership end? Will they align with someone else? It’s pure speculation of course, but wondering about the possibilities is way more fun than wondering what’s next for Britney.

If I were Google, I would subscribe to a MSFT newsfeed and keep both eyes focused on this new, combined competitor. In short order Microsoft could own the most popular website on the planet. And with a track record of dogged determination and winning at all costs, nothing says ‘IT'S ON’ like an exclamation point at the end of their name.

Update: The latest news from the Yahoo! camp is they plan to rebuff MSFT's advances, citing the offer as too low and are holding out for a $40 price per share - a whopping 109% premium on the current share price. The last time their stock traded at this level was more than two years ago. Most industry analysts call the Microsoft bid "reasonable and fair."

This is getting more interesting by the minute.

Facebook Stats Primer

Do you want to reach Canadians age ...
any age ≈ 8,462,520 people
13 to 24 ≈ 4,070,400 people
25 to 35 ≈ 2,650,000 people
36 to 49 ≈ 1,238,220 people
50 to 65 ≈ 493,940 people

Do you want to reach people who say they are in ...
Ontario. ≈ 3,864,340
Toronto ON≈ 1,735,060
Woodstock ON≈ 19,120
Norwich ON≈ 440

British Columbia. ≈ 1,281,440
Alberta.≈ 1,091,720
Quebec. ≈ 952,220
Nova Scotia.≈ 364,040
Manitoba ≈ 271,140
Saskatchewan ≈ 246,660
New Brunswick.≈ 183,900
Newfoundland.≈ 133,320
Prince Edward Island ≈ 26,900

Do you want to reach Canadians who proclaim to be:
Liberal≈ 666,200
Moderate≈ 262,300
Conservative≈ 312,840

Do you want to reach Canadians who list themselves as
single ≈ 2,182,020
in a relationship ≈ 1,776,480
engaged ≈ 307,880
married ≈ 1,528,860

Do you want to reach Canadians who listed the following as favorites;
Britney Spears. ≈ 8,040 people
Rick Mercer Report.≈ 11,680 people
Canadian Idol. ≈ 11,840 people
To Kill A Mockingbird ≈ 38,560

Do you want to reach Canadians who work at
Rogers. ≈ 2,980
Bell Canada ≈ 4,840
MacLAREN McCANN ≈ 240
Organic ≈ 100 people
Cossette Communications. ≈ 100
Ogilvy.≈ 80
BBDO. ≈ 80
Leo Burnett. fewer than 20 people

Do you want to reach any cross section of them today? Do you see value in targeting your media down to hundreds of people, and pay for click? Or better yet, do you want to provide real value to any of these people beyond your message?

Do you still think Social Media is a fad?
All numbers sourced: Facebook Ad Manager application.

Numbers current as of 10:30 am, Thursday Jan 31st 2008

C-Level Marketing

It used to be critical for every marketer to understand and apply the 4 P's of marketing. They are Product, Price, Place (Distribution) and Promotion. Seems a bit out of sync these days given the new world of marketing and the evolution of consumer interaction in the digital space.

I'm not suggesting we forget about the 4 P's, not at all. However, I propose we move up the alphabet and expand out. I believe we are now faced with 7 C’s of Digital Marketing. They are Content, Community, Conversation, Creative, Campaigns, Conversion and Commerce.

All play a very significant role together in today's ever changing marketing landscape. As search, social media, social networks, online video, virtual worlds, widgets, mobile and a host of other areas and elements gain in popularity, marketers must continually reformulate the way they approach and engage their audience. Today context is vital along with utility and, to a certain degree, entertainment. And, we can't forget about measurement. The need to quantify the effectiveness of our efforts is greater today (and I'd argue more attainable) than ever before.

Understanding how the 7 C's overlap, intertwine and are used in combination is just as important as the foundation set with the 4 P's. Change is good.

Marketing Campaigns Integrate:How to Make them Great!

I really get a charge out of attending marketing industry events. It’s a great opportunity to meet up with friends, colleagues and clients. At a recent outing, there was one topic that everyone was talking about – in the formal presentations and during informal discussions. The buzz was ‘marketing integration’.

Now, if you’ve been in this industry as long as I have, you too would find this curious; it’s extremely rare that the digital marketing industry achieves complete consensus on any topic. So, I took the time to discuss some specifics on how to successfully integrate marketing campaigns.

Here’s what I concluded after hearing what other industry leaders had to say: there is indeed consensus that the growing complexity in planning, implementing and measuring online/offline marketing campaigns has caused agencies and in-house marketers alike to seek ways to work together ‘smarter’. Specifically, marketers in all industries are looking for ways to:

• Simplify campaign/program administration and coordination;
• Ensure consistency of messages and brand throughout campaigns; and
• Ensure compatibility of evolving online and offline technologies.

All of these goals are laudable (and worth striving for) because they help businesses control their marketing costs and achieve/improve measurable results.

But, integration – i.e. trying to bring all campaign-related suppliers ‘under one roof’ – isn’t required to achieve all of these goals, nor is it a panacea. At ThinData, we have successfully achieved these same goals by taking an approach that can be best described as establishing respected-partnerships. Some of the critical elements of this approach include:

• Strong Project Management. This is one of the cornerstones to success. Clear, concise, and updated instructions that are regularly communicated between suppliers help to prevent confusion and conflict.

• Focus on the Client. Keeping clients actively involved and at the centre of the campaign helps to ensure that their goals – which naturally evolve – remain relevant throughout short- and long-term projects.

• Creating a Safe Learning Environment. Marketers in different agencies have different biases and skill levels. Bringing out the best performance in everyone requires jointly establishing practical ground rules for meetings, communications, acceptable standards and dealing with unexpected contingencies.

Here are some metrics that you can use to determine if integration is working for you and your clients:

Project Metrics – Projects are on time, on budget and run smoothly.

Business Metrics – Reduction in costs and risks regularly associated with project disruptions.

Interpersonal Metrics – Shared enjoyment working with respected partners and jointly discovering opportunities to innovate.

Client Metrics – Clients express their appreciation for working in collaboration throughout projects and regularly contract with you and your respected partners.

By adopting this disciplined approach to integration – as opposed to applying a more traditional method to integrating suppliers – you, along with your clients and respected partners will successfully address campaign complexities and truly thrive.

If, as a member of the interactive and digital marketing community, you have struggled with or overcome the challenges associated with marketing integration, I would be interested in your insights. Send an email to ceo@thindata.com or share with us here on the CMA Blog.

From the User Experience Trenches…websites, mobile, IVR – we’ll cover it all!

As a User Experience Expert who lives usability on a daily basis, I thought it would be beneficial to provide the CMA community with some valuable ‘must reads’ – they are all free online posts. Books available for download on user experience (UX) & usability tend to be outdated at best. I promise that my recommendations will always be worth your time and certainly will make an impact on your user experience! I will try to post a blog update every two weeks as the world of UX moves almost as fast as lightning!

So, for January 2008 here are my ‘must reads’ to help you make your digital experiences more consumer friendly and therefore more profitable – one click at a time… enjoy!

Website Usability in a Nutshell
Using a variety of best practice case studies, this paper, “A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Obvious: Web Usability 101” outlines three key design practices for usability and suggests how they can positively impact a company’s bottom line. It also provides concrete guidelines on how to test for website usability on a shoestring budget. The 20 page report is designed to be read and digested in under 20 minutes.

News sites, Large and Small, Can Measure Usability
Through a variety of methods, newspaper professionals can enlist consumers in evaluating their websites' designs. This is a great read if you have a heavy content-based website.
http://www.ojr.org/ojr/stories/080117stewart/

Airline Websites Tested for Usability
A new report from www.webusability.es looks at the usability of several airline websites, including leading budget airlines and two national carriers. A great read for anyone who works on a travel-based website or has a shopping cart!

Also take time to download a brief two page document showing two example usability problems found on many websites. It offers problem descriptions and better yet – solutions!

Searching for Better On-Site Search Usability
This article examines why, not every site needs, nor should have, an on-site search feature (AMEN!) but also why those that do must be sure that the search isn't just an after-thought (PREACH!).

Yours in user-friendliness,
Tara O’Doherty

PS – if you come across any hot reads (only the good stuff please) that you think I should include in my next post do email me at: tara.odoherty@momentum.com