Hardly the most original call to action, but if you've got this far then "Read This" has worked.
As we bask in the glorious British summer, with the only thing evaporating appearing to be our chances of grabbing the Ashes, here's our August round-up of thinking, news, books and stuff that we think you'll find both interesting and relevant. As our readership is a diverse group, we try and feature stuff that will be of interest regardless of whether you're in B2C, B2B or public sector/NFP organisations.
Our thought piece this month is about Free - prompted in no small part by the book we've reviewed. Free is all around us and is getting bigger - how do you deal with it? First up, if you didn't read last month's recommended
article from McKinsey , shame on you, but it's just as relevant to this month's discussion.
As thoughts start to turn to next year's marketing plan and budget submission, our download is about ways to reduce your media budget, but without seriously damaging your brand. A short series of thoughts and ideas, prompted by a recent article in Revolution magazine, it touches on areas that you may have heard of, but not considered fully, but as many marketers will be faced with resource constraints, it's a useful thought starter - and we hope a conversation starter as we hope you'll give us a call to discuss further.
Download it here. It's free
What we've been up to this month
A snapshot of some of the projects going through the agency this month. August is a funny old month - we're busy, but in a quieter way than normal. And there are still plenty of new business leads coming in, so not everybody's on holiday!
Although it's been a while in the making, we're just putting the finishing touches to an awareness campaign for BA Clubs. Targeted at BA personnel at Heathrow and Gatwick, this is a poster campaign to remind staff of just some of the great sports and leisure facilities on their doorstep. There's sales promotion activity and a roadshow to back this up - more on the results in future editions.
One of our newest clients, Caltec manufacture and supply specialist oil/gas production equipment. It features some patented technology and makes it easier and more affordable to maximise output, particularly from fields that are approaching end of life. We're putting together a range of marketing collateral that helps explain this in simple terms
We sit on the Communications Team of this cross-organisation body that seeks to improve the night-time experience in Central Milton Keynes. Later this month we'll be kicking off the first of a series of focus groups to get some insight form different segments into how different aspects of the night-time economy are perceived.
Book Review
Free - The Future of a Radical Price, Chris Anderson, Random House, (ISBN 9781905211470)
Once you've got past the irony of a book called "Free" having a cover price of £18.99 this is a must read for all marketers, whatever sector you're operating in. Partly an account of how the new economy has flooded our world with free stuff, and how this has become possible, Anderson (the editor of Wired magazine) goes on to identify winners and losers in this new Free universe. But the most valuable thoughts are those on how we are moving from a money economy
towards a reputation and time economy, where the winners will be those that show greatest relevance an interest to a time-starved market.
And finally...
We've been spending a fair amount of time getting to grips with Twitter over the last month or so. Good or bad? The honest answer is, it depends. With a properly defined plan we have seen some businesses and organisations use it as an effective communications tool, but there's an awful lot of rubbish in the Twitterverse too. If you're interested in finding out more, email andy.jones@magenta7.co.uk.
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