Dr Matthew Freeman, Reader in Multiplatform Media at Bath Spa University, has founded Immersive Promotion Design Ltd., a new marketing consultancy for the world of Extended Reality. It supports Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) businesses to better communicate with their audiences about the magic of immersive content.
The company builds on sector-development research funded by StoryFutures Academy and Bristol+Bath Creative R+D, and brings together expertise from the BBC VR Hub, Limina Immersive, StoryCentral, Raucous, Bath Spa University and beyond. Last year the team partnered with The National Gallery, Anagram and Studio McGuire to build research-led and audience-tested promotional campaigns for live VR and AR experiences. This led to the creation of new promotional strategies, prototypes, industry bibles and teaching resources for how immersive experiences can be better marketed to today’s audiences.
Talking about Immersive Promotion Design’s success so far, Matthew said: “Many people have recognised the enormous potential of immersive technologies like virtual and augmented reality to transform the creative industries as we know them. Up until now, however, the immersive sector has struggled to reach bigger, more mainstream audiences – the kinds of people used to streaming Netflix but not yet interested in VR headsets.
“The challenge is obvious: How do you communicate the magic of being in a VR experience via social media, posters and trailers? Immersive Promotion Design Ltd. provides a step towards establishing a new promotional language for VR and AR, opening the door to a bigger, more diverse immersive audience. We are very excited to see where this journey takes us.”
Visit www.immersivepromotion.com to find out more.
McCann has further strengthened its strategy team with the promotion of Kathryn Ellis and Gideon Wilkins to managing partners.
Kathryn has over 15 years of experience in leading brand, business and communications strategies, alongside holding the position of associate lecturer in Advertising at Southampton Solent University. She is a leading voice on growing and retaining female talent within the industry, and her acclaimed research in this area has formed the basis for her many keynote speaker appearances at IPA and Creative Equals events, as well as her published work. Whilst at McCann Bristol she has been integral in rebranding the Royal Mint, launching Motability’s first ever direct to consumer campaign and taking Pink Lady apples global.
Gideon joined McCann Birmingham in 2019, having previously held the position of Global Brand Guidance Director at Kantar where he led the Unilever account. In just 18 months, he’s been instrumental in further innovating the McCann strategy offering, enhancing its signature planning and research capabilities, as well as introducing a host of exciting new talent and skills.
The promotions follow the 2020 appointment of Gary Armitage as Regional Head of Strategy, Mastercard last year, and are the latest steps in expanding McCann Central’s 30-strong division of strategy, research and planning specialists, who sit at the core of its effective creative.
Dean Lovett, CEO at McCann Central, commented: “Strategy, planning and research are a fundamental part of everything we do here at McCann and in our pledge to help our clients play a meaningful role in people’s lives. Every day, our expert strategists, planners and researchers uncover insights to guide our creativity and – crucially – create positive results for our clients, which is why we are delighted to be further strengthening our strategy team.
“It’s an exciting time for our business and we recognise that a strong strategy team is central to continuing to deliver the world-class work for which we are known and building on our celebrated philosophy of, ‘Truth Well Told’. We’ve always prided ourselves on the strength of our offering but thanks to these latest developments, we are now the strongest we’ve ever been.
“We’d like to congratulate Gideon and Kathryn on their promotions. We have no doubt that, along with our brilliant team, they will continue to ensure our creative work is the bravest and best it can be, and more importantly truly effective for our clients.”
The McCann strategy team brings different agency disciplines together to build campaigns with a shared, consistent approach. Its strategists’ experience, skills and capabilities include brand planning for digital communication and creative development, from analysis of consumer trends, needs and segmentation, focus groups, workshops and co-creation, to campaign creative and proposition evaluations.
We’re all far too familiar with the term “crisis” after everything this year’s thrown at us. Crisis communications is a key area of PR that may play out in a reactive way, but actually, is something that companies can and should plan ahead for.
Once the preserve of big multi-nationals, this year has shown that even small companies can be propelled into the spotlight, so it’s worth discussing what might need to be in place. I gave my comments in a crisis PR feature in this month’s South West Business Insider. As I said in the article, there’s no one-size-fits all response as your communications approach should vary with the kind of crisis you’re facing. However there are some golden rules as I’ve outlined below:
Please feel free to get in touch to find out more about the kinds of PR support we offer small and medium-sized businesses.
Back in the day (and by the day, I only mean a few years ago), your email address used to be the passport to the internet; now it’s your mobile number, your mobile and apps that unlock everything. The average global Android user spent 27% of waking hours on mobile in April 2020, up from 20% in 2019 (App Annie).
A mobile is in peoples’ hands every day – in lockdown we’re carrying it into every room! It’s actually harder to keep people off mobile than driving them to it. Therefore, we need to ensure we’re making the most of the various ecosystems that brings with it. Brands need to start thinking of mobile as a way of life, not just a device or a screen size.
CRM is at the core of apps
Customer relationship management (CRM) is at the core of apps – a good app becomes a customer’s focal point for interaction with a brand. For example, apps like Amazon and Sainsbury’s Nectar etc used to be an evolution of a website. Now they are the default destination for looking up anything to do with your history with the brands, as well as the easiest way to use their services.
In today’s day and age, it’s the easiest way to start and build personalised conversations, so brands can use it for rewards; changing behaviour; keeping users sticky; building trust; and getting a good understanding of the user’s needs and order history. I say easiest. You can’t just bosh out an app and assume some Field of Dreams magic will happen. You still have to prove the value to your audience; you have to put their needs ahead of your own gains.
And those gains are plentiful! As well as making your customers more sticky, more likely to keep using your service over others, you will start unlocking insight into their spending patterns, their hard transactional data and their behaviour and preferences.
Prove your app deserves space on their phone
Customers are so much more likely to use an app if it’s good. If it’s seen as a bit rubbish, they won’t want to interact with it or share it. Same with a mobile website – don’t immediately force people to get your app or ram it down their throats. Deliver them a great experience on the site first, prove your app deserves the space on their phone and that it will be useable. The worst thing you can do is put more barriers between your users and the content they want.
The key is to make sure you’re understanding the user’s ecosystem. Align your needs with customers and don’t put any barriers in the way. People want a frictionless experience – sending you from an email to an app where passwords are already stored and customers can use single sign on, etc. Customers expect the mobile experience to be seamless and relevant. It’s your job to facilitate that. Helping them is ultimately going to help you. A good customer experience means your customers will spend more. According to a research from PWC, 86% of buyers are willing to pay more for a great customer experience.
Don’t do it just because you can
We do a lot of cool stuff with mobile, in email particularly. People on their mobiles are more likely to be able to see all the interactive innovative coding. That being said, we make sure to never do it just because we can. Time and again I see people using ‘in-email’ technology because it’s available, not because it improves the user journey. It’s about the fundamentals of the next course of action for a user, and if that’s using mobile then great. Every interaction a customer has with your brand will inform their experience, regardless of which channel this interaction occurs on.
It’s also easy when thinking about mobile experiences to ignore or forget about the journey for desktop users. People want to be able to have the experienced tailored to them wherever they are. In email that means not scrimping on designing a less interactive experience; play to the strengths that a bigger screen has. For web-based journey’s, make sure the right tools are in place for people to effectively complete that journey outside of the app you’ve spent so much time developing. Whether that’s making sure the login process is as smooth and frictionless as possible or that the service you are offering is just as easy and exciting, don’t keep forcing people down the channel you’ve chosen.
Mobile devices and apps have quickly become a huge part of our everyday lives. It’s a wonderful opportunity for businesses to strengthen brand loyalty, recognition and streamline the customer experience. Just remember, while mobile is an exciting and worthwhile avenue, as with everything, you need to do it well.
Put the customer experience first, prove that you have something to offer and remember to prioritise those personalised conversations.
The premise of influencer marketing is pretty simple. Choose someone with clout in your target market – someone trusted, admired or looked-up to – and associate them with your brand, product or service. Awareness goes through the roof, positive perception is sent soaring, and you achieve cut through that’s otherwise hard to find.
Although not a new strategy, influencer marketing is growing and has been proven to be effective: a survey by Mediakixs revealed that 80% of practitioners have found influencer marketing to be an effective tool. And it’s a real money-spinner – according to Influencer Marketing Hub’s 2020 Benchmark report, Influencer marketing is estimated to be worth $9.7 billion, with the market growing by 50% each year since 2016.
The same report reported that brands are recognising this growth, with 66% of respondents saying they will increase their Influencer marketing budgets next year. Although most commonly used for B2C markets, we’ve all clicked on a social post or read an article simply because we recognise the face in the thumbnail, so why shouldn’t it work in a B2B environment too?
We had the opportunity to put this theory to the test last year. Our clients at Panasonic TOUGHBOOK (the world leader in rugged computing) wanted some means of elevating their brand beyond its already-lofty position, and we believed an influencer strategy could be the way to go.
As we were approaching a B2B market, it was clear from the start that this wasn’t a campaign to be built around the audience reach an influencer has. What was more important was finding somebody who was a perfect fit for the TOUGHBOOK brand, and someone we could build a credible, engaging story around.
We needed someone who matched the ruggedness and strength of the TOUGHBOOK devices, someone who could match the brand status of TOUGHBOOK as world leader in rugged IT, but also someone that could offer more than just audience reach. Luckily, we were able to secure the services of global rugby icon, former Wales and British and Lions captain and absolute giant of a man, Sam Warburton.
We used the formidable (but endlessly friendly) presence of Sam to create a multi-channel campaign, incorporating the more traditional B2B marketing channels, such as LinkedIn and display ads, but also exploring newer territory, such as YouTube ads. Using a combination of campaign keywords and razor-sharp targeting, we ensured that our ads would capture the attention of a new audience for TOUGHBOOK, as well as engaging with the more typical audiences in a different way.
Despite a month or two of delay due to the pandemic and national lockdown, we figured out a way to finally come together for some socially-distanced filming days. This allowed us to capture some amazing footage of Sam doing his thing on the rugby pitch, but also displaying his well-honed studio skills, discussing leadership and parallels between sport and business leadership with Panasonic TOUGHBOOK MD, Kevin Jones.
In five short weeks, following the film shoots, we were ready to go live with a whole range of assets; a mini-series on Leadership, seven videos for YouTube pre-roll ads, a campaign specific landing page, blog content, downloadable digital guide, a selection of display and LinkedIn ads, and social material for Sam to share on his Instagram and Twitter feeds.
As with most things Sam Warburton touches, the end results have been pretty impressive. We set ourselves a simple goal of raising awareness of the TOUGHBOOK brand, which we achieved very quickly. The landing page is the fourth-best performing landing page Panasonic have ever created, with over 18,000 visits in the seven weeks that the campaign has been live. Over the first three weeks, we were even outperforming the main TOUGHBOOK site in terms of website sessions.
This was an experimental campaign, with the simple goal of gaining increased brand exposure in a niche market, made possible by the courage of a client who was willing to push boundaries and try something different. And from such a positive start, we’re looking forward to more of the same in 2021, building on the high levels of awareness we’ve established and turning that into a raft of bottom-line boosting sales leads.
Let’s just hope Sam keeps his boots clean for us…
If you’d like to find out more about how we can help your business reach its potential, get in touch with us today at [email protected].
If there’s one thing we can be certain of in 2021, it’s the uncertainty that lies ahead. But just as we all look forward with optimism to the roll-out of the COVID vaccine, at P+S we believe there’s also an antidote to uncertainty.
And in this article – the second part in our ‘Ones to watch in 2021’ series – we look at some of the creative, innovative technologies and marketing techniques that are likely to rise to greater prominence in the coming 12 months.
COVID has made us all change the way we do things. Face-to-face meetings, business travel, exhibitions and events have all been on pause, meaning we’ve all had to become more open to innovative ways of working. My hope is that, even as things level out, people will retain that attitude and continue to explore new avenues, looking at how we can combine physical and digital marketing techniques and become even more effective in engaging with our audiences.
Over the past year, I’ve seen a marked increase in the number of companies encouraging their staff to become involved in the marketing efforts. This includes everything from TV ads (PC World have been using employees, for example), to video blogs (like our own here at P+S),to guest content on written blogs, and staff featuring prominently across corporate websites. This isn’t new, as such, but it’s certainly becoming more and more important, especially in B2B sectors, where authentic people, telling authentic stories, give commercial messaging real credibility.
Promotional giveaways and merchandise have always been a useful tool in the marketing mix. But the inexorable rise of environmental awareness (and action) means we now need to be thinking about giveaways that are sustainable and friendly to the planet, rather than glossy, gimmicky gadgets. A whole industry has arisen around this, with responsibly sourced materials being used to create everything from mouse mats to rain macs, and renewable energy sources being called on to power USB chargers, desk fans, lamps and much more.
It’s also impossible to ignore the impact of the pandemic on our ability to send prospects and customers physical items at all. Remote and home working mean marketing departments no longer hold relevant postal address details on their target audiences – even if they’re longstanding customers. This, allied to the predominance of environmental considerations, means digital giveaways will become even more popular in 2021.
Virtual production rose to prominence late last year with Disney’s The Mandalorian. This year, I see it shifting from high-end productions to become far more prevalent in commercial film making. Instead of shooting against a green screen, actors are surrounded by massive LED screens, with minimal physical props in the foreground. This removes the need for compositing and lights the cast perfectly, making it a more viable option for marketers looking to up the production values of their film work without requiring colossal budgets.
With the current pandemic showing no signs of slowing down, people are more aware than ever of their own health. At home, fitness and mindfulness have become go-to solutions for alleviating stress placed upon us by the current restrictions and wearable devices, fitness and mindfulness apps have seen a boom in popularity over the past year.
With almost all of the leading tech businesses having some form of wearable tech, and apps being more accessible than ever due to the digital-first mindset of the current generation, health tech has become smarter, more intuitive and more reliable.
Even healthcare professionals are now relying on technology to manage the backlog of appointments, using apps such as Babylon Health, Ada and even FaceTime to consult with patients without the risk of face-to-face appointments.
You know the drill. Go big at Christmas on the festive food and fizz, regret it all for a day or two, and then return to work bursting with ideas and inspiration (if not mince pies and perspiration), ready to tackle the year ahead.
Well we thought we’d help you get ahead of the game this year, and really hit the ground running, with some marketing and design tips, trends and technology to look out for in 2021.
With Google’s BERT algorithm putting more emphasis on interesting and varied content, rather than just key words, and people naturally spending more time browsing due to COVID, and they’re converting more when browsing, we all need to produce more regular, more varied and more relevant content, that can deliver value and keep traffic high, and conversions growing.
While people are going to have to focus on their content, I think considering how people actually interact with that content has never been more important. Take the humble PDF, for example. With so many more engaging alternative formats, why opt for something static that doesn’t look great on a phone or tablet, and doesn’t make for easy updating? We’ve been having great results with platforms such as WebFlow, that can deliver so much more.
Over the years, I’ve lost count of the times my mum has said to me: “OMG… we used to wear that when we were young.” And I’m certainly noticing the same trend in digital design. A lot of old techniques are being adjusted and modernised for today’s market. It’s all down to technology, such as browsers, moving on at light speed, so we can adopt ‘old’ digital approaches far more successfully and effectively.
No-one can deny the influence of the environment and sustainability issues. Especially in the technology we’re using. Dark mode for browsers and devices was introduced at the end of last year, to save battery life and counteract the negative effects of bright white light. We should also be looking out for things like default low-def playback settings for online video, which can have a hugely positive impact on our collective carbon footprint.
One trend on the rise is a revival of 1990s culture, strongly reflected already in fashion, beauty and music. As this proliferates further, so does the opportunity for 90s nostalgia marketing. Pop culture references can take customers back in time and tap into emotional memories, and provide opportunities for humour, that will build associations and connections with brands.
From Google phasing out third-party cookies to Apple removing device identifiers for tracking and blocking cross-site tracking, there’s going to be a lot of change in how advertisers can get their ads in front of the right people. The optimist in me wants to believe that this will lead to fewer but better advertising but it seems more realistic that Facebook and co. will find new ways to track or amass more power by introducing similar solutions (e.g. Google’s Privacy Sandbox) – albeit with better privacy, which is a big win.
HDR content is going mainstream. The scales are starting to tip when it comes to consumers having access to the necessary hardware. Essentially, all new TVs and most smartphones these days can display HDR content and, increasingly, record it. Gaming consoles have supported it for years and YouTube has just added HDR support for livestreams. So consumers will increasingly expect the improved visuals. I think for high-profile advertising, brands will at some point have to up their game and produce in, and budget for, HDR.
If part one of our tips and trends for 2021 has got you thinking, look out for part two in early January. In the meantime, if you’ve got the beginnings of a marketing plan, and want a bit of help in making it come to life, get in touch. We’ll be more than happy to put our heads together with yours and see where 2021 can take us.
Welcome to the third and final blog in our series on Augmented Reality (AR).
In case you missed it, our first segment introduced AR technology and its impact on markets across the globe, while our second blog explored AR’s potential when it comes to marketing, today. Today’s final instalment delves deeper into the practical use-cases for AR today, along with some of the loftier examples of where its tech could take us.
If you had one, you were of course, lucky enough to be able to afford an extortionately expensive high-end smartphone. You were also probably unlucky enough to be pestered by people who wanted to ‘have a go’ for themselves.
Arthur C. Clarke said, ‘Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.’ And touchscreens certainly had enough magic to magnetise the masses. Now, AR is taking a similar step from the realm of the mystic, into reality. And the timing couldn’t be better.
From the everyday, to the extraordinary: there are opportunities for the world’s biggest brands, most digital-savvy marketers and forward-thinking businesses.
In the age of the smartphone, you could be forgiven for thinking business cards have largely become redundant. But if the line ‘Are you on LinkedIn?’ doesn’t set you on fire, an AR business card could be a stronger opener when encountering potential business contacts in the wild.
Upon scanning your business card, the recipient could be greeted by a showreel video of your products, a short introduction to your business, a tour of your office locations or even live and up-to-date special offers – in fact, there’s limitless potential.
And best of all, creating an AR business card could be a lot simpler than you think. Prototypes already exist which simply work by the recipient scanning a QR code on the card with the camera on their smartphone – no special apps or software necessary!
It goes without saying: this tech doesn’t need to be contained to your business card. Product catalogues, service leaflets and even your quarterly reports can all be brought to life with some clever AR, making your brand not only more appealing – but more engaging, too.
For those of us who treat clothes shopping like a competitive sport, aiming for a new P.B. each time we hit the rails, life could become simpler with the introduction of augmented reality.
One option, which many of us will already be aware of, is ‘virtual try on’ – both online, with the assistance of your laptop or smartphone camera, and in-store through specially-AR-activated mirrors.
L’Oreal was one of the first businesses to introduce AR ‘smart’ mirrors at beauty counters, offering consumers the option to try on cosmetics with ease – and my guess is this will only become more prevalent after the hands-OFF-your-face impact of the pandemic.
Virtual try-ons aren’t just for people, either.
If you’ve visited the Ikea website recently (who hasn’t during lockdown?) you can now ‘try on’ furniture, wallpaper, tiles and more to visualise products in your home. And the same principles can be applied to commercial premises, too.
So if you’re selling high-end office furnishings, commercial signage, or even an air conditioning unit, you can easily make your products more impactful by introducing them directly into your customers’ lives – even if it’s virtually.
This doesn’t need to be just about chasing Pokemon. You can create a treasure hunt for adults which introduces a new level of interactivity between your brand and your customers anywhere you have a physical presence.
For example, if you’re attending an expo, you can place AR locators around your exhibition stand to deliver information about your individual products and services. You’ll stand out from the other exhibitors at the event, and be able to engage your visitors more effectively, keeping them attentive for longer so your employees can follow up the conversation too. And, again, it’s a great conversation starter.
If your business has a retail presence, you can replicate this experience in your showrooms – or even choose to implement an AR window display which could be used to great effect on social media, too.
So imagine this. You hear the clunk of your letterbox and head to collect the post. There’s a small, shallow cardboard box with a bold message printed on top.
GRAB YOUR PHONE AND GET READY.
You open the box, and a leaflet drops out: SCAN ME. Opening your phone’s camera app, and capturing the QR code, you’re taken straight to a video, introducing a teaser on an Amazing New Productᵗᵐ.
Upon further inspection, the leaflet introduces you to the brand behind the ANPᵗᵐ – you even watch a video about the team and see they’re local. In fact, their interactive office location map shows they’re just a mile away, where you can pop into their showroom for even more information.
It might sound otherworldly. But at Proctors, we’re making virtual, reality today. We can help you to create an irresistible campaign, whether it’s wowing shareholders with your next quarterly report or enticing new customers with clever interactive artwork in a viral social campaign.
Talk to us, and let’s discuss your possibilities at [email protected].
Extensive economic changes provoked by COVID have resulted in the biggest challenge for a decade as more UK Agencies seek a business valuation and assistance on rebuilding value. As a result, we are offering each agency the opportunity to receive a free valuation of their business helping them to prioritise tasks to rebuild value, or raise finance and investment, or buy-out shareholders or sell their business.
No one can anticipate how long the economic conditions will remain or change further as we enter a second lockdown, so we intend to email valuation updates to each registered Agency who complete our algorithm. The effects of economic and Covid crisis are not limited to short-term view, the longer-term impact also requires agency owners to consider significant interventions to protect cash-flows and rebuild value.
So whether you’re seeking or raising finance, thinking of selling your agency or reviewing the strategic direction of your creative agency, for a limited period we are offering a free confidential valuation.
To new agencies, the process involves 3 simple steps.
First step:
To help us calculate the Agency’s value, answer a few questions for our algorithm to work through the risks and value drivers.
Second step:
Tell us a little bit about your Agency, including your email address, so we can send you a confidential agency valuation report.
Third step:
Based on the information provided, we will email valuation updates when ‘significant circumstances’ change the algorithm value multiplier.
As more agencies complete our valuation algorithm, we are able to refine and improve the accuracy of valuing UK creative businesses, which we intend to use for the benefit of our customers. If you have any questions please call me or email [email protected], or take advantage of our free www.ouragencyvalue.com/report/
Following 3 years of meteoric growth, going from kitchen start-up to over £2.5 Million in expected retail sales, ‘Optimal health’ pioneers Hunter & Gather appointed Noughts & Ones to bring their new brand identity, packaging design and innovative unsweetened sauce products to life by delivering a new Shopify store.
Noughts & Ones delivered bespoke Shopify theme designs that incorporated a number of tailored technical integrations including ReCharge Pro subscription functionality, Gorgias customer support and LoyaltyLion rewards.
“This newly evolved design enables us to grow as a brand by being really stand out, bold, and clearly communicating our aim of “Providing You The Tools to Thrive” through products that are always free from refined sugars, grains, and Inflammatory oils!” – Amy Moring, Co-founder
The first 14 days have seen an immediate impact with:
👍52% increase in online store sales
👍5.87% average Conversion Rate (3.34% above industry average)
👍3.2% increase in AOV (Average Order Value)
In addition to the new Shopify store, Noughts & Ones are delivering data-driven development as part of an ongoing strategic partnership to ensure that Hunter & Gather continue to grow their D2C offering and provide their customers with the tools to thrive.
Discover more from Noughts & Ones here 👉 noughtsandones.com
You need to load content from reCAPTCHA to submit the form. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More Information