MG MGB GT (Chris) versus Bajaj Hidec (Andy)
0-60: MG Wins (Bajaj tops out at 37mph)
Fitting people in the back: Bajaj wins (back seat of the MG best suited to small parcels and lapdogs).
Fitting people in the back legally: MG wins
Having doors: MG wins
Doing 80 miles on £4.44 of diesel: Bajaj wins
Being red: draw
Having circular headlights: draw
Crucial sell memory chips for computers. So far, so mundane. But I’ve been buying the stuff for seven years. It started because getting memory for Macs used to be an expensive business laden with worries about compatibility. Crucial were far cheaper than other suppliers, guaranteed their memory would work, and offered a handy online ‘configurator’ (ugly word) that made it easy to find the memory chip for any given Mac. So they offered good service.
In the last seven years I’ve ordered nothing but Crucial memory. Mac memory is easy to get these days, but why change? Crucial have made it easy to keep using them. I don’t know what I’ve spent with them, but it could be up to four thousand pounds.
In that time I’ve also seen a lot of Crucial banner ads on sites I visit. Response rates to these ads are entirely measurable: clicks through to Crucial’s site are definitely tracked, and in theory where I hover my mouse could also be tracked and measured as a proxy for my engagement with the ad (but probably isn’t).
I’ve never clicked on a Crucial ad. Does that mean money wasted? One short way to end the question is if the ads are pay-per-click (CPC). In that case Crucial pay out nothing.
Chances are though that these are pay-per-impression (CPM) ads, so there is a cost for Crucial in showing me them. So does that mean money wasted? After all, I’m already a customer, and I never clicked an ad. The part of me that loves direct response would say yes, money wasted, sell me something new instead. But there’s another way to look at this: Crucial remain my default choice for computer memory. Brands are an example of the power of defaults.
Advertising Crucial repetitively reinforces Crucial as my default choice for this product. On a competitive basis, if Crucial buy out that media, that prevents another memory supplier catching my attention by placing ads in that space.
So far, so much basic brand theory. I thought this worth posting because we are very involved in understanding and expressing both the measured (in the direct-marketing sense) and non-measurable value of advertising. The internet offers a wonderful blend of the two.
My current default position is that if an advertising response can be measured, it should (obviously if it can’t, then it can’t). That’s necessary, but not sufficient: it’s my belief that the most effective advertising campaigns will be built to meet a clear business goal, and their value will be measured in part by direct response elements; however understanding the full value will also require softer measures less amenable to statistics, such as conversation and opinion tracking, and fascinating aspects such as fan activity and product ambassadors (obligatory Lego reference).
Got an opinion on this? Send me your thoughts: andy@teamrubber.com
Nice piece about Bristol on TechCrunch UK: Silicon Avon - startups doing it ‘Bristol fashion’
Bristol Open Coffee ran again this week, with a nice number of people for free-ranging conversation. Things we kicked around included:
Next Bristol Open Coffee: September 9th 2008. Thanks to Starbucks, Park Street for hosting.
Ofcom is reporting that UK online ad spend (£2.8bn) is now ahead of mainstream TV ad spend (£2.4bn). Online spend is also six times larger than radio, and more than outdoor and magazine spend combined.
We’re doing a lot more community engagement for brands these days, so this was an interesting article: Do Startup Companies Need Community Managers? (Via ReadWriteWeb)
Behaving well in communities is important; for brands it demands diligence, sensitivity to community values, and a thick skin. Quiet confidence in the brand is essential - people always criticise brands, but online communities can expose brand managers to this in a very direct way which can be troubling when first encountered.
Resist the natural urge to duck and cover in these situations - you might learn something which is truly valuable for your product or service. Also don’t be defensive - and remember a golden rule: don’t feed the trolls.
Meanwhile don’t let risk-aversion dictate the course of every action: open-ness and honesty can work wonders, encouraging brand ambassadors, reinforcing positive brand values, and helping gather real market intelligence
We think the most compelling way for brands to engage online is for brand managers and marketing staff to do it themselves - but if you need it, we can help you get started.
Nick Sturge at Set Squared passed on this interesting blog post from David Manners about high-tech business in Bristol.
Going down to Bristol these days is to get a taste of what it must have been like to live in 19th century England when the railways were being built.
There’s a proliferation of new companies. Everyone in the West Country is talking about so-and-so’s new start-up, or what so-and-so might be planning for his next start-up.
That fits with my experience, and we’ve found Bristol’s a great place to build things like The Viral Ad Network. There are creative, inventive, hard-working people here, strong networks (iShed, Open Coffee, Bristol Media), and nice places to meet. It’s good to be part of something.
Neatly bringing together two recent posts (Radiohead House of Cards video, Lego album cover art), here’s House of Cards rendered in Lego
And no, I’m not a Radiohead nut, but I do love Lego.
This is an interesting article about the management of meetup.com ‘giving up control’ and allowing employees to set the company’s priorities and projects.
Developing effective ways to collaborate and organise is the biggest challenge faced by bright, creative people working together to do something great, so I’m always looking for ways to work smarter, better, with more panache, flair and fun.
The comments about meetup add some fascinating extra details to the picture: employees are publicly supportive of the move, (some) vocal users hate the new product.
On that basis, I don’t know if meetup have taken a bold creative step to set talent free, or executed a staggering abdication of leadership. What I am sure of is that in our kind of business, ‘control’ is an illusion. Management can guide, lead, direct, inspire, but it’s no easier to ‘control’ talented, inquisitive creative people than it is to herd cats.