I've made the leap

And am happy that It's all About the Conversation has a new home

Once more unto the breach

Well not quite.

Have gone and set up a website to replace this blog.

Once it's up and running I'll let you know

Gianfranco

White is the New Black - Friday

Or..how to be different on Black Fridays

It Certainly is a Black Friday for Argos!

Best Black Friday Email in my Inbox

Your World Cup ( of Mobile) Wallchart

Everyone needs a World Cup Wallchart!

The full report can be downloaded here

As an aside, apparently you can also use smartphones to make phone calls with.

Mass Marketing vs Personalization Infographic

Managing Customer Expectations via Email with John Lewis

my John Lewis Card Registration Email

Recently John Lewis opened a new store near me. Having made a couple of purchases there, it was obvious that there was a general push on the my John Lewis card.

For those of you who haven't come across the card, it is , in their words ' a membership card that helps us get to know more about you every time you shop, so that we can give you the rewards that are just right for you.'

Of course it's very similar in its approach to the my Waitrose card where the unique proposition is the free coffee and daily paper. my John Lewis offers free coffee and cake. ( Of course I now drive to Waitrose for my free coffee and paper en route to claiming my coffee and cake at John Lewis.)

Anyway, setting aside the arguments about the whole point of  membership/loyalty cards or whether or not they end up attracting the wrong sort of customers ( interesting piece from the Telegraph where Waitrose shoppers are complaining about Tesco customers just coming in for the free coffee), they handled it all rather well.

At the point of purchase I was offered a card. I was given a temporary card and was asked only for my email address as they scanned the bardcode. By the time I had left the store ( admittedly that did involve some coffee and cake time) I had an email in my inbox thanking me for starting the registration

Of course at this point they didn't have my name so Dear Customer is excused. What I really liked was the way in which they very simply explained what I needed to do to complete my registration. Simple as 1 2 3 really.

They covered all bases in terms of having a John Lewis account or not as well. And I checked, the membership number on the email matched my temporary one!

The experience reminded me of when I signed up top the SpaceNK membership programme and highlights the ever increasing multi-channel approach being taken by retailers especially where they have both a digital and physical presence

Full registration was confirmed with an email from John Lewis. Great looking email with lots of opportunities to drive me back to the John Lewis. Although I'm not quite sure how they managed to make the footer look so ugly and out of kilter!

Coke's Positive Contribution to Society

The Social Media Guard

Courtesy of my friends at Zone

WiFi, WiFi..My Kingdom for WiFi

Check-In Data :Privacy Concerns Stall Growth of Social Location Apps

Check-In Data: The Reality Behind the Hype infographic

Who Says Data Privacy Is Dull?

Channel 4's Viewer Promise

MacDonalds Use Sun Dial 'Technology' To Help Remind You What to Eat Next

This might not work in the UK as we don't see the sun for months on end!

Will This Inforgraphic Change When You Send Your Emails?

Responsive Email Design - Stick or Twist?

Every thing's going Mobile. Well actually that's not quite the case for email design.

With the numbers for how many emails are being opened on mobile ever increasing, Litmus suggesting over 40%  you would think that brands would be jumping on their digital teams to ensure that their email designs were responsive.

But look at your emails on your smartphone and take a look to see how many are optimised for that screen. Not many I'd suggest

So why is that?

Is it because brands believe that email has no future ?

Well according to Radicati that might be a mistake with their recent report claiming that the number of worldwide email accounts is expected to increase from over 3.9 billion accounts in 2013 to over 4.9 billion by year-end 2017 and actually marketers are expecting growth in email alongside other digital channels

Maybe its because even with the use of Media Queries that still won't cover all the various operating systems out there including versions of Blackberry , Microsoft and even Mobile apps such as Gmail ( check out the list at Campaign Monitor)

Or is it because the open or click through rates done seem to vary too much whether you bother with an optimised design or not? 

That's what Tim Watson from Zettasphere seems to suggest with this chart take from his report produced in conjunction with Communicator Corp




So we should stick?

Or should we twist?

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken” – Oscar Wilde

To be honest only you can answer because only you know your brand and your audience.

Some questions to ask yourself

• How many of my customers are opening on mobile devices?
• Which devices?
• How well do my emails work on those devices based on what I'm asking my customers to do when receiving the email?
• What would it cost me to redesign to make my emails mobile friendly?
• What would it cost me to make them mobile optimised?
• What will lose as part of any redesign and making my emails simpler?

..and the biggest one of all..

• how much will my customers thank me for improving their overall experience?

Going Mobile with MacDonalds Japan

Okay, a slight con if you were expecting something digital, but look what MacDonalds Japan were giving away for free to make sure you can enjoy your French Fries on the way home !





Still not sure why in this Digital World they are not called Micro Chips ?

The Welcome Email - An Infographic

This infographic is brought to you by ExactTarget, a leader in social media marketing.

Bad Timing

Why would send me an email promoting your new product

...when right at that moment if I go to your website I get this?

Chevy GameTime - Stealing the Superbowl Audience

It's Not The Miles, It's How You Live Them