Last week we released consumer research revealing that nearly 90% of people in the UK want to take control of the type and timing of the promotional messages they receive.

Our online survey of 300 UK consumers found the overwhelming majority want an alternative to regular targeted promotions. 86% would be interested in a service that enables the requesting of offers for relevant products, in real-time, and almost half (48%) said that the targeted offers they receive at present are not relevant.

The shift in consumer attitudes that will support advances in VRM (Vendor Relationship Management) presents a huge opportunity for businesses that market better, and that properly eliminate waste: to get ahead of the competition by offering a better experience to their customers.

You can read more about the research in our press release.

Today I received an email from Vocus. They were writing to me – via a rented list – to introduce the Vocus offer:

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Last year, Burberry opened their new London flagship store in Regent Street.  The store – which takes concepts from website user-experience design and applies them to a real-world retail space – has generated a lot of coverage and buzz, so we visited the store to see what Burberry is up to and what we can learn from it.

Burberry has long pioneered the art of multichannel marketing and selling. The brand has nearly 15m Facebook ‘likes’ and 1.5m Twitter followers. The last few years have seen the introduction of various successful interactive digital concepts, including social-networking site The Art of the Trench and, most recently, live-streaming of the catwalk shows.

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Our most recent campaign for Hertz UK went live last week and today has been featured on Adweek as ‘Ad of the Day’. Here’s what Adweek has said about the campaign:

“Fake-product advertising can be irritating, but this campaign, from London agency Corke Wallis, gets everything right. The video is extremely well produced and believable—the retraction demo, in particular, is hypnotizing. And the banner on the website is just so unassuming that you have to smile. Being fooled never felt so good.

Now, can someone work on a real prototype for this, please?”

Big thanks due to our partner Paul Dixon of MoveMakeShake for his vital work on production, direction and CGI effects.

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Social Distribution: customers passing on product recommendations to their family and friends when making a direct purchase from (for example) an insurance company or broker.

It doesn’t sound like a revolution.  Haven’t people always done this?

For the past month we have been working on a brand project in Insurance.  The product is an add-on policy that has real (money-saving) value for many consumers, but most don’t know that this kind of product exists and so are not searching for it.  As a result, conventional direct response channels for customer acquisition don’t work.

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A recent article in the Economic Times quotes Unilever’s chief executive Paul Polman, saying, “Indian Innovations relevant in Europe now”.

On the same page in a separate article, I read about PepsiCo losing market share to local players such as Haldiram, Balaji Namkeen and ITC who are not only upping volumes like Pepsico but also expanding their Indian brands to western markets.

India, which once looked to the west for new inventions in any sector is now causing sleepless nights for those very same companies. Globalisation coupled with recession in the developed world have turned the tables for emerging economies in the area of innovation. The Indian models of ‘smaller size packs’ or sachets to try products is gaining traction in the West where recession is forcing people to spend less. This model allows them to stay with their preferred brand at a more affordable price point.

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The proposed takeover of British car maker Aston Martin is sending car lovers and Bond fans in a tizzy the world over. There are two very different contenders; an Italian Private Equity firm, and the Mahindra Group. Detractors for the Mahindra bid are stating that the two brands are incompatible. One (Aston Martin) represents uber luxury whilst Mahindra is a brand catering to the masses (its automotive heritage started with Indian tractor manufacturing).

Those who think they are incompatible are missing an important point. Mahindra’s brand positioning “Rise” perfectly represents its aspirations to acquire Aston Martin. The word ‘Rise’ was chosen after customers and employees expressed a common desire to succeed. In the automotive world, it is safe to say that an Aston Martin is the ultimate prize. Mahindra’s desire to rise, married to India’s new confidence and global ambition is a perfect compliment to Aston Martin.

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Some thoughts inspired by our work with EVRYTHNG.

The internet of things is becoming a reality. Soon people will be sharing photos and ideas with the products around them, just like with their friends. Objects that are still fairly dumb will soon be able to do all sorts because they too will have internet profiles.

Imagine a bike that knows how much it’s worth, when you’re wearing your helmet and when it’s been stolen. Or imagine a camera that can tell you when you’re near a great location for a shot - or a bottle of spirit that will pay for itself if you can get six friends around to drink it with you. All this is happening right now and it means you can:

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There’s a piece on MyCustomer.com today – “Is Facebook’s ‘want’ button the saviour of social commerce?” – which talks about a US-only pilot scheme:

“A new application called ‘Collections’ that allows retailers to create a catalogue in Facebook and post ‘like’, ‘want’ or ‘collect’ buttons on product images within newsfeeds.”

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‘Showrooming’ is a useful US term for window shopping at a physical store then buying online, probably from a different retailer; and the practice is gaining pace, fuelled by mass smartphone ownership and improvements in bandwidth and mobile devices.

Yet research from BDO published this week suggests that nearly 90% of retailer CFOs are not concerned about showrooming.  Complacency? Perhaps all these CFOs are justifiably confident that their multi-channel strategies are in good shape.

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