INDUSTRY TALK  On this weeks show we are joined by community legend Thayer Prime. We talk about her awesome name, and how she got started in tech. Thayer provides some killer tips on how to break into the industry, discusses how brands are attempting to engage with developers, the challenge of marketing to developers and her latest project, recruiting for the Government Digital Service.
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INDUSTRY TALK  I had a client agency meeting in London a while back and around the table sat 12 people all of us pontificating about a product predominately bought by women. Represented were developers, project managers, media strategy, creative and the social guru. Out of 17 all were men and nobody saw the irony. This is something we should address urgently?
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INDUSTRY TALK  Do people really want high quality products? Do they even want standard products designed for specif problems? Is creating something personal, even of moderate quality, much more satisfying that consuming something made by others, even something of high quality? I suspect for many it is and this is a growing market.
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INDUSTRY TALK  For those search stars out there, have reviewed Google's latest research paper on the 'Impact Of Ranking Of Organic Search Results On The Incrementality Of Search'. It addresses how often an ad impression is accompanied by an associated organic result (i.e. organic result for the same advertiser)? and how the incrementality of the ad clicks vary with the rank of advertiser's organic results?
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INDUSTRY TALK  KONY is big in 2012. For those that had left the planet it is a film and campaign by Invisible Children that aims to make Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest and set a precedent for international justice. Its an example of how traditional areas of public apathy can rapidly bubble to the surface, its a market condition brand managers should take note of.
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INDUSTRY TALK  There has been much debate for many years amongst experts in the digital marketing industry as whether or not to employ local based content writers in-house, or writers from overseas. There are benefits to hiring both, something which we will discuss shortly, but is there an ethical reason to stay local and give business to employees in your own country?
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INDUSTRY TALK  After the recent news that we in the UK could be sliding back into recession, it might appear a strange time to argue for increased investment in digital marketing channels, such as search. Inevitably, battening down the hatches and hoping for the best will be the default strategy for many retailers.
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INDUSTRY TALK  Facebook is to announce its IPO dates this week with an asking price of reportedly up to $50bil. They are selling the future promise as profits were $350M last year. Tipped to reach one billion active users in August 2012 (see graph) will Zuckerbergs juggernaut continue unabated, or is that the ceiling even the beginning of the end? My view is that we will not see 1.5Billion fb active users.
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INDUSTRY TALK  I remember, back in 2008, preparing a presentation on social media and how it was starting to have a huge effect on customer services. My advice was unreservedly to get involved in the conversation asap. In the 3 years that have passed consumers have taken to the social channels like ducks to water but has the pendulum swung too far with extreme service requests and even brand bullying starting?
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INDUSTRY TALK  We continue the discussion about how technology is impacting and changing the way we market and perceive brands. In particular the mostly over looked importance of sound and music in brand identity. Listen in on an excellent discussion between industry experts about the impact of music & musical identity on brand associations, positioning and strategy.
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INDUSTRY TALK  Digital ministry is all about how technology is impacting and changing the way we market and perceive brands and in this mix we sometimes over look the importance of sound and music in particular. So why in this multi-sensory world have so many brands resisted the use of music and remained much more one-dimensional?
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INDUSTRY TALK  Twitter and Bing rekindled their relationship, You Tube shook hands with Disney and here we have another one, in a partnership between digital games giant Zynga and the electronics retails store Best Buy! The two have teamed up to sell Farmville merchandise on the Best Buy site. Is this a reaction to Rovio making a business out of selling its Angry Birds toys?
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INDUSTRY TALK  I was lucky enough to be invited to a dinner earlier this month hosted by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) in London. The guests of honour were some of the senior team from Facebook, including the hugely charismatic Andrew Bosworth (or "Boz" as he likes to be known), the company's Director of Engineering.
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INDUSTRY TALK  'You ignore the Internet at your peril' Eric Schmidt told his audience at last month McTaggart Lectures.'The Internet is fundamental to the future of television for one simple reason: because its what people want' So has the internet finally brought the sweeping change its promised for year to the TV content supply chain?
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INDUSTRY TALK  Watching the TV the other day listening to more bad retail news with reports coming in that the latest CPI index has risen 3.7%. This got me thinking, how is this index measured and does it take into account the people making purchases online?
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INDUSTRY TALK  Cookies, the ID currency of the web are under attack. Privacy concerns, side-lined for years have now prompted European and US law makers led by some would argue populist politicians to move to take some action against the evil cookie, so is it time to prepare for the storm?.
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INDUSTRY TALK  On Wednesday 8th June, Jack Matthews CEO of Fairfax Media Metro was interviewed by Paul McIntyre for the Lavolta Fourth Estate Domain. In this very intimate chat, Jack uncovers some of the strategic thinking behind Fairfax's efforts to monetise digital publishing and to continue to strive for quality content. So make a coffee, go full screen and watch this enlightening talk.
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INDUSTRY TALK  I believe next month should be official open season on all who call themselves social media experts. All the social snake oil sales guys that have jumped on this crowded ban wagon need to be outed. This is possibly a bit extreme and maybe even illegal but I am getting just a little fed up with large strategies hinging on the opinion of the so called social expert .
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INDUSTRY TALK  The smartest guy I know just admitted that he does not know whats going on. Even though he make every effort to read the latest developments on industry blogs and rushes around the world to conferences he admit its all somewhat over whelming. He is the honest one, as I believe anyone who claims to know whats happening may be delusional.
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INDUSTRY TALK  This statement goes to the very heart of the relationship between client and agency, and is especially relevant to the ever-evolving traditional agency structure.
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