Moonlight
24 February 2010
This evening sees me, the future Mrs. Myself and a couple of our good friends taking in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (Snakes on a Plane wasn’t showing tonight apparently…) at the Moonlight Cinema in Melbourne’s beautiful Royal Botanical Gardens. This is sure to be a fantastic night out for many reasons, not least because it promises to be a gorgeous evening to watch the sun set over the lake and disappear behind the city whilst dodging the bats flying overhead at dusk. No friends, the best thing about tonight won’t be any of these images but the fact that I’ll be paying just $11 per person for the privilege of being there!
The reason that I enjoy mate’s rates at the Moonlight Cinema is that I am a member of their Movie Club. Membership to this select (well, not very select) group permits the punter to pre-purchase tickets at a considerable discount to full price and redeems them at the box-office on the night. As you may appreciate, this appeals strongly you my romantic side. But, what’s in it for them?
Well, the first and most obvious benefit to Moonlight Cinema is that they take money off me in advance of actually providing any services. That’s good business sense but the more interesting aspect is that they now have the ability to track a million and one things about my movie going habits, including but not limited to;
• My purchase habits. Do I buy a block of advance tickets and use them over the year or just buy them as and when required?
• What sort of movies do I like?
• Am I more likely to show up in the week or at weekends?
• Am I a big softy who doesn’t show his face as soon as the temperature drops below 20C?
• Do I bring friends or go alone?
Now, I have no idea if they use any of this information – I’ve certainly seen no evidence of it in my inbox – but the opportunity exists for them to target special offers and communications relating to specific movies, midweek specials, pre-purchase discounts and a multitude of other things to the people who are most likely to be interested. The return on campaigns like these, if deployed in a timely and targeted manner, could easily bridge the gap to cover that 25% discount that I’m getting.
NM
Channel Complexities
11 February 2010
I’m not the first person to say there’s no such thing as ‘the best direct marketing channel’. The right channel (or mix of channels) depends on the exact message and purpose, although all to often the channel is a second thought or default choice. But really, channel can be equally if not more important than making the timing and message relevant.
A non marketing example I have come across lately is save the date cards for weddings. I finally got round to making up my save the date cards for my wedding next year and after researching lots of wedding websites the general theme was that you needed something physical that was creative and small. While postage and stationary might seem an unnecessary expense for a simple save the date message, realistically there is nothing better at ensuring people really do save the date than having something small that they can pin to their fridge or pinboard as a constant reminder, especially when this message is sent a year in advance! Another non marketing example is Christmas cards. From a cost and environmental point of view it makes sense to email Christmas greetings in an online ‘card’, but Christmas really isn’t the same without a bunch of Christmas cards on your mantelpiece and so the message doesn’t resonate as well. Maybe I’m just being a traditionalist - I guess time will tell.
Significantly though, channel isn’t necessarily as simple as choosing email, sms or direct mail. There are different mediums within direct mail with doordrops, unaddressed mail, and personalised mail. Equally with web usage on mobiles, the boundary between sms & email is becoming increasingly blurred. And the notion that every customer touchpoint is a marketing channel makes things even more complicated. Several Torque clients have already used inbound call centres to deliver a customer specific, relevant message at the end of an inbound customer call with great effect. Other Torque clients have tailored website homepages to include the key messages for the customer who has logged in. I had experience in the UK with an airline that delivered ‘surprise and delight’ and ‘apology’ marketing messages for loyal customers at check-in, and I also worked on the Tesco loyalty programme, where customer specific coupons are delivered via the till receipt and statements.
I suspect channel will get a lot more complicated as it proliferates in the coming years. For example, I don’t think it will be long before ATM’s are used to support ‘hand raising’ and targeted communications. Ultimately the world is really your oyster when it comes to touchpoints to deliver direct, targeted communications. Some channels/touchpoints will work well (in certain situations) and some won’t. The balance from my perspective always revolves around relevance and convenience. And there’s nothing I hate more than receiving a non relevant message at an utterly inconvenient time. Ultimately the only marketing managers who will know what works for their messages are the ones who try, test, and learn.
NL
Olly swims for CanToo
05 February 2010
Our very own founder of Torque Olly Rees will be competing in a challenging 1km ocean swim in Manly on February 7th to raise funds for CanToo- an organization that provides funding for young cancer researchers. All of the money raised from Can Too participants goes directly to Cure Cancer Australia to fund cancer research projects.
To sponsor Olly go to the CanToo Website
1. On the menu bar click on Sponsor a Participant.
2. On the drop down menu click on Online Sponsorship
3. Enter his surname “Rees” and click on Search
4. Tick his name and enter your sponsorship amount. Click on Add Sponsorship
NB: You MUST enter the amount in figures only i.e. 5000.00 (Only Joking!)
5. You must fill in the compulsory fields. Click on Submit.
Stay tuned for an update on Olly’s performance in the event!
Torque-aholics join FebFast!
02 February 2010
The very benevolent Torque employees- Johann, Paige, and Timur- have made the bold decision to completely give up alcohol for the entire month of February! This decision to have a booze-free February is in support of FebFast which is an event that raises money to support organisations working in research, prevention and service delivery concerning the use of alcohol and other drugs by young people.
This year’s proceeds from registration payments and fundraising go towards the Australian Drug Foundation, Mater Health Services – Adolescent Drug and Alcohol Withdrawal Service (QLD), Ted Noffs Foundation (NSW & ACT), Youth Substance Abuse Service (VIC) and FebFast’s grants program for smaller grass-roots organisations.
If you would like to sponsor the team for the event, please click on the link below and donate to team “Torque-aholics” with all proceeds going to the above charities.
www.febfastfundraising.com.au/torqueaholics
Good luck Torque-aholics!
An incomplete slice of the Apple Pie
28 January 2010
Image sourced from: Gear Fuse
It’s difficult not to get caught up in all the hype surrounding the launch of the iPad. Whilst the specifications of the product have come as no real surprise (other than it not being called the iSlate) actually seeing the device in action brings with it a certain degree of excitement for most consumers.
I’m not sure I agree with Steve Jobs proclaiming that it has created a category, as arguably the Net Book has occupied this pseudo Smart Phone / Laptop space for sometime now. As one tweet suggested this morning ‘It’s a netbook in a cocktail dress’( @delic8genius). That said, it seems highly likely that the iPad will redefine a category and probably categories associated with it… Rich Content Books? Audio Visual Magazines? iPad sized Handbags/Man Bags anyone?
Probably the most frustrating part of the announcement from my perspective is a) The lack of Flash support (and therefore not a complete web browsing device) and b) That developers are still reliant on the Apple App Store for application distribution.
I have no problem with Apple wanting to take a cut of the application revenue stream but by forcing developers to use the App Store, Apple is largely forcing developers to focus on the Consumer application market and ignore the potential for Business users.
Here at Torque we are passionate about bringing our solutions to life through the development of bespoke web and desktop applications for our clients and we would relish the opportunity to put applications in Marketers hands through a device such as the iPad. It’s clear that the iPad’s primary target audience isn’t the business user, but how great would it be to put live Business Intelligence applications into the hands of employees on their device of choice (probably the iPad).
Of course, as with everything in the tech world, there are ways around this and techniques you can use to ensure that a business focused application on the app store can only be used by the intended users. However the fact remains that this closed and tightly controlled environment seems to go against the open source sentiment that has been at the heart of the development of the web over the last 10+ years.DP
November Company Day
30 November 2009
November saw one of our bi-annual all company meetings take place in Melbourne. In case there was any doubt as to when the photo was taken, one particular Movember participant has helped carbon date the occasion.
Torque Melbourne is on the move
26 July 2009
We are delighted to announce that Torque in Melbourne has moved into new premises.
Please note that from Monday 27th July, the new address of our Melbourne office is:
230 Lennox Street
Richmond
Vic 3121
All other contact details are unchanged.
The right stats, in the right place, at the right time
16 July 2009
The Torque team at the Melbourne office are all signed up a highly competitive footy tipping mini-league, courtesy of the NAB AFL Footy Tipping Competition. So every Monday morning we see how we faired tipping that weekend’s footy team winners. Usually this involves a bit of ridicule for those who forgot to put their tips in, and a comparison against one entrant who uses a self-built ‘Random Number Generator’ which predicts the winning footy teams randomly. Needless to say this entrant is currently bottom of the league!
What I’ve realised though, is how well designed the NAB footy tipping system is. Firstly, you get a reminder email, usually around Thursday to put your tips in for that weekend. If you got the email any earlier it would probably be too early in the week to think about doing your tips. But get the email any later and no doubt it would get lost in that end of week work rush. The main thing that impresses me though, is the web layout of the page where you enter your tips.
On the right hand pane there is a stat summary which shows the list of footy teams in order of where they currently sit in the league. It also shows each teams performance for their last five games with a W or L flag for wins and losses. As you go to enter your tips and hover over the first game of the weekend, the two teams involved will be highlighted in the league list so that your attention is drawn to the relevant stats to help you decide which team should win this week, based on past performance. That isn’t all though. In the table you can also hover over a W/L flag to see details about each win or loss. Namely who did they play and what was the score. So you might see that a team is on a winning streak but after reviewing the individual game stats you’ll also see that actually they have only narrowly managed wins over some pretty ordinary teams. So maybe they will lose this week?
This all got me thinking about how important it is to have the right stats exactly when and where you need them. While footy tipping is clearly an important decision, there are other decisions that this principle applies to. As the opportunities and usage of data driven marketing grow, Marketing Managers increasingly face the danger of too many decisions, too much information and too little time. It is data visualisations and reporting such as this that maintain simplicity while being highly relevant to the task at hand. The best insights in the world are worthless if they are merely a needle in a haystack of less important or relevant stats.
NL
Knowing your customer (The Curly Joe's way!)
20 May 2009
In these straitened financial times, it is more important than ever for businesses to have as greater understanding of their customers as possible.
This is especially true for businesses that have easily identifiable alternative suppliers of the same goods and services because, and you don’t need me to tell you this, if you aren’t looking after your customer then there are plenty of people out there who are more than happy to do it for you!
Managing and developing customer relationships are something that many companies are happy to spend an ever increasing proportion of their marketing budget on. That is for the simple reason that they recognize that there are tangible and, equally importantly, measurable benefits to be gained from knowing the needs of customers and delivering on them in a timely manner.
But, we mustn’t fall in to the trap of thinking that effective customer relationship management is the preserve of big-spending multi-nationals. Independent shop keepers and pub landlords (amongst others) have been developing personal relationships with their customers for hundreds of years; it’s larger companies who struggle to replicate this sort of relationship rather than the other way around. This is why collecting relevant and accurate data on customers’ personal details and spending habits is so important. At least, if they don’t know you personally then your bank or mobile provider can do a pretty good impression. Rest assured, companies such as these spend a significant sum each year trying to make sure that they have the systems in place to make this possible - some with more success than others...
I recently had a great experience that shows that you don’t need to be multi million dollar company to implement effective CRM. Credit where it is due to Curly Joe’s of Brunswick, purveyors of fine takeaway foods to Melbourne’s northern suburbs. Along with my first delivery from Curly Joe’s came a fridge magnet with a 4 digit number stamped on it (my VIP number no less). My personal problem with ordering takeaway is the fact that my address is notoriously difficult to locate -it doesn’t even exist on Google Maps! Now, in addition to the fact that their name is permanently stuck on my fridge, daring me to order out every time I go to cook, they’ve made it even easier for my lazy side to prevail. When I call them up to order, all I have to do is quote my VIP number and they know who I am and where I live; no spelling the street name out, no lengthy directions required. Curly Joe’s knows the way to my house better than most of my friends. This simple, inexpensive piece of information gathering has put Curly Joe right at the top of my list of local takeaways. I wouldn’t think of going anywhere else!
NM
P.S. I recommend the Lamb pizza.
P.P.S I've just visited their website and see that they have a recommend to a friend option. Another great, inexpensive way of gathering customer and prospect information!
Building an optimisation culture
12 March 2009
I came across this very interesting article, which is well worth a read if you have a couple of minutes spare in the coming week.
There are a number of areas in the article that really resonated with me, and make it well worth a read.
Firstly, that "less than half of American and British marketers use analytics to measure their online campaigns" - and you can be sure the number will be similar in Australia. Whilst at first glance this seems bizarre - a lot of on-line reporting is free and easy to get - it uncovers what I believe is the more deep rooted problem that most marketers don't like to report hard measures against their campaigns. Which is great news for those brave marketers who are measuring (and optimising) their marketing - and building a culture where measurement is encouraged and embraced.
Secondly, I thought the following quote was very apt in these trying times: "Most campaigns would perform better if people only realized how many times a visitor engages with your campaign and then abandons only to search or reach for your “home base” later. This recession will weed out many of those who don’t pay attention to this".
And finally, the thought that "New isn't always better" I felt was particularly relevant to on-line analytics. It is always better to get an older system reporting the right things accurately, than a shiny new one which is nearly right.
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