A recent piece in Marketing magazine by our very own CEO, Tash Whitmey on the changing challenges and opportunities for marketers posed by data.
Yes, in response to popular demand, we’re bringing data out of the dark ages and the clutches of the IT department and into the hands of marketers by talking about how it can informal all aspects of marketing from deriving killer insights to creating custom user experiences in real time.
As well as a dedicated data consultancy in EHS 4D Discovery, we have unbeatable data skills, across both our London and Cirencester agencies. The main point Tash makes though is that it’s not just about doing data but using it to craft compelling strategy and creative, 1+ 1 = 3 if you like.
Not many people can say they do that.
Do a have a read and tell us what you think:
http://bit.ly/ehs4ddrmktg
With bandwidth increasing for the average internet user in the UK, the complexity of content that is able to be quickly shared is going up, especially for image files, which are easier than ever to create and edit online with ubiquitous cameras on cellphones and near universal editing software access. Image files are now utterly trivial to share, and the increased ease of doing so means that more are being placed online.
But with such an impossibly huge influx of content (Facebook has over 48 hours of video content uploaded per minute – you can only imagine how many images are uploaded in the same period), how does the very best of the crop stand out from the undifferentiated ocean of duckface Facebook profile pics? Enter social image sharing sites to provide a peer-reviewed filter on what’s hot and what’s not in whichever category you’re interested in (which, let’s be honest, is probably funny pictures of cats).
One such site (currently in private beta) is Pinterest, which has aimed itself squarely at being to images what Twitter is to text (even to the extent of including a small PinIt! Button for potentially ‘shareable’ content and the ability to RePin other users’ content)!
Pinterest works like this: users upload pictures to ‘Boards’ which anyone can create. Boards are like an area of shared interest – you might have one dedicated to adorable animal photos, for example – where Pinners post pictures related to the theme. It’s also possible to create more private boards – the example given on the site is helping to plan a wedding by the bride and groom uploading pictures of potential elements like dresses, while the wedding guests comment on which ones they like best.
More popular (and newer) pictures move to the top of the page (it’s possible to ‘like’ pictures), so you’ll tend to see the cream of the crop on whichever topics you follow. Tagging images with additional data about what they contain is also encouraged on the site – like tagging a cool present with how much it costs and where you can purchase (with a URL link) it, so it’s possible to use the site to shop for the current ‘coolest’ items directly.
Notably, the site bucks the general trends of the internet by having a majority of female users, giving the site a fairly unique community with unique behaviours – users have discussed having ‘wedding’ boards (despite some being single women!), where they collect pictures of the best Dresses etc. for the Big DayTM itself. More universally, it’s common to have ‘wishlist’ boards of items that you’d like to eventually buy (or have bought for you as a gift).
In all, with an Alexa rank of 36 in the US, Pinterest seems to have gone from the ‘yet another startup with potential’ stage to being a credible contender in the addendum to the less specialized offerings from other social sites, and it’s certainly one with applications for marketing –it seems likely that it’s only a matter of time until a larger brand (perhaps one with particular appeal to women) dips its toes into a more pin-or-be-pinned world.
But for now, I’ve just seen a picture of a life-size edible stormtrooper cake, and I just HAVE to share it.
By Oliver Horner, Social Media Executive
Call to arms by Daniel Ritterband, the GLA’s Director of Communications in this weeks’ Campaign: “So if London doesn’t already have a reputation as the global hub of innovative digital communication, 2012 is our chance to ensure we capture the crown” – read the article and watch this space: www.molpresents.com
You may have seen Samsung unveiling their brand new Smart Window over in Vegas at CES this week (the woman with the overly square jaw certainly seemed excited!).
While we wait for it to be released to the general public, we’ve been working on our own prototype, albeit with more modest raw materials!
In case you’re wondering, it’s the window that’s massive, not Nigel’s small hands!
Wow, now that’s what we call a firework display and soundtrack to keep the cool in Cool Brittania and nicely heralds an amazing line up of events that the Mayor Of London has lined up for the Summer Like No Other, with an online hub c/o your friends here at EHS 4D.
Watch this space… http://www.molpresents.com/
You may have read about our Baublebot in a previous article but now it seems to have gone viral with clients raving about their personalised baubles!
Whilst many clients and friends of the agency have been asking for their own since seeing one of their friends’ baubles, above is a picture taken by one of our clients this afternoon sent with a big thanks to everyone involved.
“Guys,
I LOVE MY BAUBLEBOT! I did wonder why nothing happened when I had completed my design, now I know. However, I wish I had put a bit more thought into it knowing I would get something so lovely”.
Fantastic news for everyone involved!
We’ve been doing some digging online and have found a fantastic article by Elliot Reuben from our Planning department from July 2011 questionning whether Google+ is destined to go the same way as the likes of Google Buzz and Wave before it:
A long time ago, in a company blog far, far away (don’t look for it, it isn’t there anymore*), I wrote about how Google had dropped the ball with Wave & Buzz. Rushing to judgement on Google+ is not smart, but I’m seeing a lot of the same signs and I think Google have a very small window of opportunity in which to make things right before their adoption rates start to atrophy.
Read the rest of the article here.
Do you think it’s taken off or been more of a Google- so far?
Whitbread’s Head of CRM & Loyalty, Gavin Hawthorn is delighted to be working with EHS 4D and commented: ‘they’re the perfect choice to help us create an industry-leading customer relationship strategy across all of our brands.’
The direct and digital agency will be working to deliver CRM programmes across Premier Inn, Premier Inn’s Business Account, Beefeater, Table Table, Brewers Fayre and Taybarn brands.
MD of EHS 4D Cirencester, David Williams, says: ‘I’m ecstatic to have the opportunity to work with such an ambitious group of well-known brands. As an agency we’re really trying to push things digitally and I think this is something we’ll be able to do with Whitbread. I’m looking forward to a long and successful relationship.’
The agency had previously worked with Whitbread on a project-by-project basis for flagship hotel brand Premier Inn – impressing with an array of digital work on the Weekend Rewards and Great Night Giveaway promotions.
This win comes off the back of a successful year for the agency – which experienced an incredibly impressive 41% growth in 2011.
Having spent the year launching award winning social media campaigns on Facebook for Peugeot and mobile apps that help whisky aficionados match malts with their favourite food for Diageo, we realised we had completely forgotten how to create print based relationship marketing materials, let alone how much a stamp costs.
The annual agency Christmas card challenge was therefore exactly that – a major challenge, but worse, worse than the worst client brief.
As a result we reached out to technology for a solution and built the baublebot – a web driven robot 3D printer to create customised Christmas baubles as client gifts. Each of our clients and special friends received an email with a link to a website where on entering a unique code, they are able to select a pattern and their own text to be printed by the robot on to a ceramic bauble.
A confirmation email states the time that their bauble will be printed, enabling them to log on and watch it being printed on a webcam.
“With the Robotville exhibition down at the Science museum and robots on the tele at every turn, this is clearly their year”, said Nigel Clifton our Head of Creative “so we thought we’d put them to work and send Rudolph packing. Getting technology, creativity and strategy working together like this is what we do, I mean Facebook is soooo next year”
You can check out what the elves are up to here.
EHS 4D has been appointed by The Greater London Authority as digital agency to support its London 2012 activity in an open pitch against 40 agencies on the COI Digital solutions design, development and delivery roster.
The project is to create and manage all digital activity to promote and support the £90m ‘Summer Like No Other’ – a packed programme of free events, cultural festivals and celebrations that The Mayor is hosting throughout summer 2012 so everyone can take part in the London Experience, regardless of whether or not they have tickets for Olympic or Paralympic events.
Focussed around an online hub it will be a ‘must see’ for Londoners through 2012 in the build-up and duration of the London 2012 Games. It will build excitement about the Games, enabling all Londoners to access information about the events and festivals across the city as well as persuade them to get involved, sharing their experiences.
EHS 4D’s appointment was followed by the selection of St Luke’s to handle the advertising activity.
“Both agencies really stood out from the crowd. They clearly understood our objectives and our audiences and their ideas will drive awareness of and engagement with London’s celebration. They will help us make the most of this investment in our city, touching as many people as possible and add to the legacy of London 2012.” Said Daniel Ritterband, Director of Marketing at the Greater London Authority.
“Opportunities like this don’t come along very often, so we were delighted when the GLA chose our idea for a hub to inspire and engage Londoners with the fantastic line up of world class events planned for next year”, said Nick Corston Business Development Director at EHS 4D. “More than a web site it will connect and share the excitement across the city through multiple touchpoints including web, mobile and social media to provide a lasting legacy to this moment of our lives as Londoners.”
Posted January 30, 2012 4:10 pm by EHS 4D 0 Comments
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