Tuesday, 8 May 2012

Listen pal, mobile is changing!

Although I never met him, I’m sure that Alexander Bell would be amazed at the world that he had a hand in bringing to life with his work on the ‘acoustic telegraph’ over 130 years ago. Having said that, mobile marketing is so much more than just using a telephone you can walk around with, and the telephone you can now walk around with does far more than transmit your voice. This has enormous potential for marketers wanting to create engaging tools, content and experiences for their target market.

Augmented Reality (AR), allows users to literally see the world the way your brand wants them to see it, through their mobile device. For example, Sony Pictures are embracing this withe their new Spiderman AR App, among many others that are popping up on the App store.

Geolocation, as we’ve discussed in a past entry, is a tool that helps your customers identify where they are in relation to your offers, outlets or other customers, and gives marketers the opportunity to deliver instant, relevant and location aware content. It’s more than just Foursquare now, it can be embedded in almost any App you want.

Biofeedback, now your mobile device can tell you if you’re sleeping solidly, exercising enough or even take your pulse, all through some incredibly intelligent uses of your devices inbuilt technology. Add to that a third party sensor, such as Nike’s Fuelband - and it’s taken one step further. You’ll know exactly how far you’ll have to run to burn off the pizza your phone had delivered to you 15 minutes earlier.

Mobile Wallets, It’s all well and good that your mobile device can help you find your favourite service, access an instant offer based on the outlet you’re in, and allow you to uncover hidden secrets around you – but now, the only plastic you’ll need to reach for when it’s time to pay the bill is your phone. With MasterCard, PayPal, Google and soon rumoured to be Apple all providing you secure methods to pay almost anybody for almost anything – even the ANZ has had a go. It seems as though the morning pocket-patting ritual of “Wallet, phone, keys” will soon be replaced by “phone” – meaning you’ll be able to sleep in an extra 15 seconds – (and using your Sleep app, you can be sure it’ll be REM sleep too).

It’s a massive change that has been taking place for a little while now, and we’ve been keeping our fingers on the pulse. THE DM GROUP have had their fingers on the pulse of this for some time now, so go old school and use your phone to give us a call.

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Tuesday, 1 May 2012

What’s the interest in Pintrest?

In 1996, I experienced something that really turned me off making public predictions; the success of the Spice Girl’s ‘Wannabe‘ and the band’s subsequent meteoric rise really left me wondering. Sure, after that I was right about Peter Andre, Second Life and MySpace, which only led me to become cocky, and only recently scoff at both One Direction and Pinterest.

I’m back in my box again…

If Pinterest’s skyrocketing user numbers, record online retail sales referrals and number of boards dedicated to hand carved Avocado hors d’oeuvres weren’t proof enough of it’s continued success, it’s win in today’s Webby Awards for best Social Media site must have its founders beaming. The fact that Facebook wasn’t even nominated however (and Google + won the people’s choice award for the same category) is what I found to be of most interest.

OK, so Facebook did pick up an award for the People’s special achievement for Social Change, but could it be that the social times, they are a changin’?

With Facebook fast closing in on the 1 Billion user mark, it would take a braver man than me to predict that the end was nigh, but clearly people are shopping around for different online social experiences, tools and niche environments.

At clickDM, we’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about how the social graph is changing, how audiences are responding and how brands need to react to make sure that all opportunities are explored. We’ve got a number of practical applications for businesses in all types of industries already mapped out too.

If you want to see how we can help your business make the most of these changes – or just want a good hand carved Avocado hors d’oeuvre recipe, give us a call, we’d love to chat.

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Thursday, 19 January 2012

Steeling market share

It’s difficult to create a memorable television commercial. It’s a fight against the short attention span, ADD society of today who have programmed themselves to blur out everything on screen in between their featured presentation. However, the other day I managed to break through and pay attention to this TVC gem.

This is a great brand message for Hyundai, moving the perceptions of their audience further into that of a quality car manufacturer. It may not be the most exciting TVC but the message is strong and single minded, ‘Hyundai makes quality steel’. Hyundai has taken a unique selling proposition and created a need for buyers that may not have existed before, ‘my car needs quality steel’.

Who knows if better quality steel means that your car will be stronger, safer and last longer…I don’t. But because Hyundai decided to sell me a unique aspect of their car production which no other car manufacturer has done, it must be true. Now I believe that all the other cars I have owned in my time have been inferior.

I need quality steel. Hyundai has quality steel. Therefore, I need a Hyundai!

John Brunckhorst
Hyundai lover &
Account manager
trademarkDM

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Wednesday, 21 December 2011

You’re a card

Ever wonder whether traditional direct mail still has a place in today’s online insta-world? Consider Christmas cards for a minute.

Millions of us become direct marketers at this time of year, dispatching about 70 million cards throughout Australia.

And when you think about it, the humble Christmas card between friends is a neat example of business principles like relationship management and brand image. How many friends haven’t seen each other for decades but faithfully maintain a connection via an annual piece of cardstock printed with snow and evergreen trees? And what is the dreaded family newsletter insert, if not a slightly dodgy press release cranked out on the home inkjet?

Sure, faster and cheaper media are available today. And e-cards can do all sorts of things you can’t in print. But there’s nothing quite as personal as opening an envelope and reading your friend’s handwritten news. Christmas cards have been around since 1843 and just quietly, I think they’re looking good for a bit longer.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to start making this year’s list.

Prue Oxford

Senior Copywriter

THE DM GROUP

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Friday, 2 December 2011

Let me tell you a story

I have a friend named Pete. Basically everyone has one in their crew. Closing in on 30, overly outgoing, tries hard to be a bit loud and goofy (his gangly frame helps him achieve the goofy part), holds a pretty boring job and you can find him in his board shorts, t-shirt and sandals on most days. You know who I’m talking about.

Well Pete happens to find it necessary to tell stories…a lot of them…horrible ones. I don’t mind stories but these couldn’t be any more uninteresting.

It’s not like the material is unimportant because, in truth, we can all relate to the stories he tells. The problem is we don’t care about the people in Pete’s stories. To make a good story work is to get your audience involved and emotionally invested into what happens to your characters.

Take Pete, perhaps you are still reading now because you feel as though you could relate to Pete from the description I gave. If you are going to care about my story, you have to first care about the person or people in it.

Always think about how you will portray your characters to the audience. This seems simple, but is usually overlooked and then you’ll end up telling a story like Pete.

John ‘Pete’ Brunckhorst
Account Manager
trademarkDM

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