We Are Team Rubber

Go on, give it a good beating with our latest seeding campaign for SEGA (Samba De Amigo comes out on the Nintendo Wii in the next few weeks)

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

As we all count the days until the ribbon is cut on Cabot Circus, Harvey Nicols have unveiled an adorable series of print ads featuring the Aardman creations dressed in designer attire from the department store.

Though it won’t convince me to splash out on an Alexander McQueen dress or Christian Louboutin shoes as modelled by Lady Tottington, having the well-loved Bristolian duo Wallace & Gromit front the campaign for the upmarket chain is definitely going to prove popular with consumers and their children.

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.

More Ofcom analysis at paidContent:UK

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.

Charlie Cooper, a member of our multi-talented seeding squad also happens to be the UK Female Number 1 Rubiks Cube Solver extraordinaire.

Team Rubber Has Got Talent!

We employed a phone as a stopwatch to fend off speeding up/doctoring accusations!

Watch this and other quality video genius on our Rubber Republic Viral YouTube Channel

Following a lengthly stroll to Team Rubber Towers this morning - pondering why I didn’t have some sort of hairdryer to ride to work (to preserve both leg effort and precious breakfast minutes) - I finally arrived at our front door ready to embark on a new day of web embellishment.

Much to my own bemusement, upon entering the building, I was ushered straight back out by an orgy of joyous faces and skipping new media types. Before I could consider the reason for this commotion, my unborn question’s answer had already been hatched…

Before me stood a truck, with what could only be described the result of a sordid entanglement between a Moped, a Tonka truck and a rollerskate strapped to its back…The day had finally come, Mr Andy Parkhouse’s Tuk Tuk had arrived! (Want more info on the Tuk Tuk? read this article!)

Amazingly, the delivery man lifted the truck straight off the ramp and onto the street!

I prefer to call it Roller-Ped. So do you probably…

Andy took the beast for a ride almost immediately, and shot around the streets of Bristol like an action figure in a rollerskate. Sadly, the Tuk Tuk suffered from some technical issues on Tyndalls Park Road. Luckily however, Matt was on hand with his bicycle repair kit and the know-how to get Roller-Ped back on her three feet.

Check the picture for proof…Roller-Ped pulled a wheelie on Lower Park row, achieving some ’sick air’. In 50 years time, a little blue placard will hang on this street, announcing the spot of Roller-Ped’s first voyage/wheelie on British concrete.

Long live Roller-Ped.

—-

Update by Andy

Ian, I’ve told you, *it’s a truck* not a tuk-tuk

@ Ric Hurst: the truck is a 400cc diesel Bajaj Hidec, from Sanjay at Tuk Tuk UK. It’s the only one in the country as far as I know. Cost was getting on for £4k including VAT & Delivery.

Insurance is about £250 from Adrian Flux, but would be more if I put a logo on the truck or commute in it. I don’t know the MPG, but it cost me £5.63 to fill up the tank. Four speeds and reverse, turns on a speck of a dust, top speed seems to be around 40mph.

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.

Apple are usually pretty tight-lipped when things go wrong, so this email (copied below) I received from them is interesting for two reaons:

1. It’s refreshing to see Apple admit failings - historically Apple have a habit of asking Mac users to believe the Mac experience is seamlessly and endlessly shiny even when it’s not.

   An example of Apple getting it wrong is their toxic policy of deleting messages from their own support forums when they indicate problems with Apple products (I don’t mean to imply that Apple should allow posts of absolutely any type however negative, rather there are better ways to moderate these things in a community than blanket deletion).

2. The message is almost a perfect model of how to admit something went wrong and say sorry. It’s easy to be afraid of both.

– Update –
Apple have followed up the mail with a ‘Status’ blog, another obvious move which shouldn’t scare businesses but often does.

Amazon have a similar status service for their Web Services; arguably Amazon do it better (although their audience appreciate and require this level of detail more than some Apple customers might).

– Apple’s email –

“An important message from the MobileMe team. We have recently completed the transition from .Mac to MobileMe. Unfortunately, it was a lot rockier than we had hoped.

Although core services such as Mail, iDisk, Sync, Back to My Mac, and Gallery went relatively smoothly, the new MobileMe web applications had lots of problems initially. Fortunately we have worked through those problems and the web apps are now up and running.

Another snag we have run into is our use of the word “push” in describing everything under the MobileMe umbrella. While all email, contact or calendar changes on the iPhone and the web apps are immediately synced to and from the MobileMe “cloud,” changes made on a PC or Mac take up to 15 minutes to sync with the cloud and your other devices. So even though things are indeed instantly pushed to and from your iPhone and the web apps today, we are going to stop using the word “push” until it is near-instant on PCs and Macs, too.

We want to apologize to our loyal customers and express our appreciation for their patience by giving all current subscribers an automatic 30-day extension to their MobileMe subscription free of charge. Your extension will be reflected in your account settings within the next few weeks.”

Chris posted a nice link on our Rubber Republic blog to this video explaining Social Media in Plain English. Be prepared for ice cream stall metaphors and appealing cut-out animation!