Precision Marketing articles from April 2008

Precision Marketing archives from April 2008

Brands face call centre crackdown.
April 4, 2008... Brand owners are facing a major crackdown on their contact centre operations as part of a blitz by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and PhonepayPlus (PPP) to eradicate bad practice. Speaking at the DMA (UK)'s contact centre open...

Glenfiddich awards CRM to Kitcatt Nohr.
April 4, 2008... Glenfiddich, the William Grant & Sons-owned whisky brand, has handed its #2m direct marketing account to Kitcatt Nohr Alexander Shaw. The appointment was made following a pitch which saw Partners Andrews Aldridge and Wunderman knocked...

FirstPlus switches direct brief to WWAV.
April 4, 2008... FirstPlus, the Barclays-owned loans company, has hired direct marketing agency WWAV Rapp Collins to handle all of its offline activity. The agency will be tasked with producing a raft of direct marketing campaigns across television,...

IN BRIEF: Anglian boosts digital activity.(Anglian Home Improvements )(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Home improvement company Anglian Home Improvements is ramping up its digital activity with the appointment of Latitude to carry out a raft of campaigns. The agency will handle Anglian's pay-per-click (PPC), digital display and affiliate...

IN BRIEF: Craik Jones digital chief exits.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Craik Jones' head of digital Patrick Rona is believed to have quit the agency after less than two years, without a job to go to. Rona was hired to run the digital function at Craik Jones Watson Mitchell Voelkel in September 2006. He joined...

IN BRIEF: Traveline SW seeks agency.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Traveline Southwest, the government funded transport information service for the south west of England is seeking an agency it handle its #2m marketing account. South West Public Transport Information will appoint an agency to handle a...

AA poised to award brief to Maher Bird.
April 4, 2008... The AA is tipped to appoint Maher Bird Associates to its advertising and direct marketing account, as part of plans to consolidate the business into one agency to have a greater focus on direct response. The account is currently split...

Coca-Cola in data shake-up to pinpoint sales potential.
April 4, 2008... Global drinks brand Coca-Cola is overhauling its marketing activity to pinpoint which areas of the country hold the greatest potential for selling its soft drinks brands. The company has appointed data marketing specialist Serendipity 2...

Persil hands digital to OgilvyOne.
April 4, 2008... Unilever-owned Persil has awarded its worldwide digital marketing account to OgilvyOne London, following a competitive pitch. The account will cover both the Persil laundry brand and the Omo brand, which the product is known as throughout...

Jackson fronts Virgin TV push.(Virgin Media Group Ltd.)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Virgin Media is kick-starting a new campaign with the launch of its first TV ad starring Samuel L Jackson. The 'TV Liberation' campaign, created by Rapier, highlights Virgin Media's Video On Demand content and how it puts people in charge...

IN BRIEF: Google allays privacy fears.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Google is attempting to dispel consumer fears over privacy issues in the wake of its DoubleClick acquisition with the launch of a one-stop Privacy Centre. The Privacy Centre on the website has been created in an effort to prove Google's...

IN BRIEF: Learndirect bolsters roster.(Ufi Ltd. appoints Glue Media)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... UFI, the Government-backed learning initiative behind Learndirect has appointed Glue London and Collective to handle its digital account. The agencies will join Grand Union on Learndirect's digital roster. The agencies will be responsible...

IN BRIEF: Telemarketing tops anger scale.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... UK consumers find telemarketing to be the most irritating marketing channel while personalised direct mail is one of the least irritating, according to new research. The survey, carried out by Pitney Bowes, asked consumers to rank marketing...

Barnardo's account pooled into Bluefrog.
April 4, 2008... Children's charity Barnardo's has consolidated its direct marketing business in to Bluefrog, by handing the agency its donor development account. The agency has been working for Barnardo's donor development team on a projectby-project...

Govt calls for take up of Gift Aid.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... The Government will reach out to 5,000 charities this autumn by launching targeted marketing tools in a bid to promote the uptake of Gift Aid within the sector. The campaign will feature direct mail packs being sent to charities across the...

IN BRIEF: Clients 'distrust online media'.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Nearly two-thirds of marketers do not trust online media owners and fear they are not getting what they pay for. Research from the 2007 Global Marketing Effectiveness Report by The Fournaise Marketing Group shows that 68 per cent of marketers...

IN BRIEF: Britain losing faith in charities.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... The majority of British consumers do not trust charities, according to a new survey which shows that confidence in the not-for-profit sector has dropped by nine per cent to 42 per cent. The survey, conducted by think tank nfpSynergy, also...

IN BRIEF: Banks alert as phishing attacks soar.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Phishing attacks on UK banking customers have rocketed by 70 per cent in just over a year, with the first three months of 2008 witnessing the steepest rise in activity. The Quarterly Fraud Report, which was carried out by online brand...

DIGITAL: Lastminute appoints Tequila for CRM task.
April 4, 2008... Lastminute.com is overhauling its pan-European customer relationship management (CRM) strategy to improve offers to its existing customers. Tequila has been tasked with working with the online travel and leisure retailer, as well as...

DIGITAL: UK online sales 'worth #12.8m'.
April 4, 2008... UK consumers are the biggest online spenders in Europe, according to a new survey by Mintel. The report shows that UK Internet sales were worth 18.5bn euros (#12.8m) last year, compared to just 13bn euros in Germany, the next largest...

DIGITAL: Why Big Brother's not so bad after all.(usage of web tracking systems)
April 4, 2008... Big Brother is a strange phenomenon. Love it or hate it, it's impossible to deny that the concept of observing others is addictive. We are all fascinated by tracking people's behaviour and watching the mini soap operas unfold before our eyes....

DATA: ICO: 'Think before you report data breaches'.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Company heads should think carefully before telling customers, employees or regulators about a breach of personal information, according to new advice from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). The ICO has published the new advice...

DATA: EuroDirect launches Cameo tool in Brazil.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Consumer marketing intelligence specialist EuroDirect has launched its Cameo classification tool in Brazil to complement its wide range of UK and international consumer classification systems. Cameo Brazil has been developed using the...

DATA: Datalinx goes out of business as slump bites.(Datalinx Ltd.)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Datalinx, the West Yorkshire-based data consultancy, has gone into administration. The company, based in Elland, offered a comprehensive range of specialist services, including business and consumer data and customer relationship...

DATA: Listening is the best way to understand.(Column)
April 4, 2008... When I leave my house for work every morning, I see almost every brand of car in my road. When I visit neighbours, I notice that none of them have the same fridge, television, mobile phone, computer as me. Personally, I think this is great,...

ANALYSIS: Why hard-core smokers need more than a quick fix.
April 4, 2008... What role does marketing have in helping people to quit smoking? We asked the great and the good of the direct marketing industry whether a clever campaign could ever convince them to kick the habit Ask most people who smoke whether they...

ANALYSIS: Marketers still wary of online media owners.
April 4, 2008... Despite the fact that online ad spend is set to rise again this year, there are still cracks in the relationship between advertisers and online media owners. For the sector to grow, these problems must be resolved Online advertising...

ANALYSIS: Is the tide turning in direct marketing's favour?
April 4, 2008... The reputation of the direct marketing industry has taken something of a hammering over the last few years. The latest research from the DMA (UK) suggests that this may be about to change Whisper the words 'direct marketing' to most...

CONSUMER INSIGHT: Facing up to hardship in the UK's tower blocks.
April 4, 2008... Communities across the UK struggle to survive in high rise accommodation. If the downturn in the economy continues, they are likely to experience even more difficult social economic conditions High rise hardship communities have very high...

OPINION: Why interaction is key to engagement.(Brief article)(Column)
April 4, 2008... There are a lot of column inches dedicated to the demise of traditional communications as we know it - direct mail is in decline, TV ads are ignored and one in eight people no longer believe ads are telling them the truth - versus the rise...

LETTER: Digital marketing is still 'failing to connect'.(Letter to the editor)
April 4, 2008... In regards to your recent Editor's View, 'No time to gloat' (precisionmarketing.co.uk), I think that you face up to the cold light of day reality for digital marketing. While exciting technology and the thrill of the Internet linger in...

LETTER: Data costs need to be transparent.(Letter to the editor)
April 4, 2008... It was very interesting to read your feature 'Price over value' (PM March 21) investigating the cost implications of data analytics. In truth, the cost of data analytics varies widely depending on the tasks asked of it. A simple data...

LETTER: Data hygiene starts at home.(Letter to the editor)
April 4, 2008... The recent creation of the Suppression Providers Alliance (SPA) is undoubtedly a move in the right direction, giving the industry a much needed single voice and 'power to its punch'. At last a group which is really pledging to help raise...

VIEWPOINT: An economic downturn is a direct opportunity.
April 4, 2008... As the nation braces itself for the impending credit crunch, marketers are preparing to slash their marketing budgets. But for direct marketing the crunch could be positive There is little doubt that the long-term risks of slashing...

LEADER: Brace yourself for the demo brigade.
April 4, 2008... So, has Hamish McLennan's love affair with Al Gore come back to haunt him? You may remember it was the global chief executive of Y&R who invited the former US vice-president to speak at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival on...

Creative Critique: 04/04/08.
April 4, 2008... Paul Kitcatt, Creative Partner, Kitcatt Nohr Alexander Shaw 'The people have spoken. The bastards.' Those were the immortal words of Dick Tuck, on hearing of his defeat in the 1964 California State Senate elections. But what would the...

VERTICAL MARKETS: Driving changes in behaviour.
April 4, 2008... Car manufacturers are facing increasing pressure from the green lobby. New plans which could see 20 per cent of all marketing space devoted to information on CO2 emissions are the latest challenge to the industry The automotive industry...

VERTICAL MARKETS: Networking for business.
April 4, 2008... Brands are gradually turning to popular social networking sites to market to consumers, but are such sites seen as an accepted platform for B2B activity? A recent report by Ofcom confirmed what most of us suspected - that Brits spend more...

ADDRESS MANAGEMENT: The word on the street.
April 4, 2008... It would be difficult to argue that data cleansing is fun. Like many onerous tasks though, it is vital. Ignore it at your peril David Reed Data cleansing is like filling out your tax return - you know you have to do it, but put it...

LIST/INSERT FILE: Home catalogue releases buyers.
April 4, 2008... Mail order company Traditional Garden & Country Home is releasing its updated list of nearly 300,000 names through Go Direct Marketing. From practical problem solvers to space saving storage, garden furniture and decorative features, this...

LIST/INSERT FILE: File ideal for charity appeals.
April 4, 2008... The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) is releasing its file of upmarket charity responders through HLB. Consumers on the list have all completed and returned a health survey from the charity, and received a free copy of WCRF's...

LIST/INSERT FILE: Fashion buyers are mature targets.
April 4, 2008... Clothing retailer Nightingales is unveiling its file of buyers for rental through Evolution DM. Nightingales sells women's clothing and accessories. Customers are recruited predominantly by direct mail and online, and are then regularly...

LIST/INSERT FILE: Company offers pet enthusiasts.
April 4, 2008... Guidefigure Marketing is releasing its database for rental through Independent Direct Marketing. The company provides point of entry sampling in the UK pet companion market. It currently distributes 600,000 marketing packs a year to a...

LIST/INSERT FILE: Coopers unveils affluent file.
April 4, 2008... Coopers of Stortford is launching its database of mail order buyers for rental through McCarthy O'Connor List Outsourcing. The company offers a wide range of products including garden and outdoor equipment, household, personal and health,...

MOVING PEOPLE: Kelly joins AKQA business development team.
April 4, 2008... Sam Kelly has been appointed business development manager at digital agency AKQA, where he will work alongside business development director William Lidstone. Kelly joins from WPP agency Good Technology where he was responsible for its...

MOVING PEOPLE: WDMP strengthens account teams.
April 4, 2008... WDMP has made a raft of appointments across its account handling teams. The agency has hired Sally Schofield as group account director to head up its Norwich Union Direct and Healthcare accounts. Schofield joins from WFCA Integrated where...

MOVING PEOPLE: Sponge hires business development director.
April 4, 2008... Mobile marketing solutions provider Sponge has recruited Jon Beverley as business development director. Beverley brings 14 years' experience in digital media to Sponge having recently returned from New Zealand where he built two mobile...

MOVING PEOPLE: Scott joins OTM as chief executive.(Linda Scott)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Transactional mail and customer communications specialist OTM has expanded its management team. Linda Scott joins as chief executive, bringing with her 17 years' experience in the electronic document market at companies including Microgen...

Nice Work: Emma Church.(Mailtrack)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Emma Church Account director Mailtrack Responsibilities: One of my main responsibilities as an account director is to help our clients get the most out of their relationship with us. My role is to anticipate my clients' future...

Thomas blasts 'outdated' data laws.
April 18, 2008... Information Commissioner Richard Thomas has branded EU data protection laws 'outdated and bureaucratic' and is urging Brussels mandarins to overhaul the legislation. The move has been sparked by a raft of data protection blunders in the...

Vodafone axes head of direct marketing.
April 18, 2008... Vodafone head of direct marketing Richard Broadbent is the latest casualty of the company's mass redundancy programme. Broadbent's exit follows last month's departure of Vodafone head of brand and marketing Dominic Chambers and chief...

Unicef hunts agency for global business.(Broadsystem)(Brief article)
April 18, 2008... Unicef is hunting an agency to handle a major global direct marketing account. The United Nations Children's Fund is in talks with a number of agencies and is expected to hand over a brief to three selected agencies at the end of April....

IN BRIEF: Experian beefs up marketing.(Brief article)
April 18, 2008... Experian is strengthening its Integrated Marketing Division with the establishment of a new dedicated group called the Product Manufacturing Group. The new division will be led by Experian's Integrated Marketing Division managing director...

IN BRIEF: Goldfish chief White exits.(Brief article)
April 18, 2008... Goldfish marketing director Martin White is understood to have left the company without a job to go to. The move follows Barclays' purchase of parent company Discover UK's credit card business for #35m. The deal, which also included Morgan...

IN BRIEF: Play.com expands operations.(Play.com )(Brief article)
April 18, 2008... Play.com is exploring new marketing opportunities to expand its fastest growing divisions, books and clothes. Play.com is already the UK's third largest online retailer, and number one for DVDs, games and CDs. It is now increasing investment...

Industry tributes pour in for WWAV 'godfather' Albert.
April 18, 2008... The direct marketing industry has paid tribute to WWAV co-founder Chris Albert, who died two weeks ago after a long illness (precisionmarketing.co.uk). Fellow co-founder John Watson first met Albert in 1978 when he set up Trenear-Harvey...

Mothercare switches brief to InBox Digital.
April 18, 2008... Mothercare is bolstering its digital marketing strategy - moving away from traditional direct marketing techniques - and has appointed Inbox Digital to the business. To renew it focus on digital marketing, Mothercare struck a partnership...

Jump targets parents with tax relief offer.
April 18, 2008... Children's savings brand Jump is promoting the fact that it now qualifies as a Child Trust Fund investment, with a major push targeting parents. The campaign, created by Tangible Financial, will launch later this month to encourage new...

Boots seeks head of insight to exploit Advantage data.(Brief article)
April 18, 2008... Boots is understood to be hunting a head of insight, as part of plans to fully exploit the raft of data it holds on Advantage card customers. The move follows the departure of group brand director Andy Fagan, who left last month without...

Volvo push targets new audience.
April 18, 2008... Volvo is aiming to attract a new audience through an acquisition drive that will promote its edgy C30 R-Design model. An integrated campaign, created by EHS Brann Cirencester, features direct mail, inserts, email and support material and...

Horse charity seeks agency.
April 18, 2008... The International League for the Protection of Horses (ILPH) is hunting an agency as part of plans to ramp up its direct marketing activity. The charity, which is also planning to rebrand, is looking for an agency to devise a raft of...

IN BRIEF: Land Rover links with Red Cross.(Brief article)
April 18, 2008... Land Rover is appealing to its customer base in an effort to raise money in support of the British Red Cross Appeal Week. The car manufacturer will be contacting all of its previous customers as well as those who have expressed an interest in...

IN BRIEF: Flourish wins Scope business.(Brief article)
April 18, 2008... National disability organisation Scope has appointed Flourish to handle its direct marketing account. Flourish won the account following a four- way pitch. The agency will focus on increasing support for Scope's flagship Time to Get Equal...

IN BRIEF: Web-based ID theft rockets.(Brief article)
April 18, 2008... The theft of people's personal details is fast becoming a lucrative business with data being sold for as little as #5, according to a new report. Internet security expert Symantec Internet Security Threat Report says there is a "maturing...

Anthony Nolan seeks bone marrow donors.
April 18, 2008... Leukaemia charity The Anthony Nolan Trust is aiming to recruit 1,000 new bone marrow donors and raise #250,000 with its next campaign. The charity has appointed Tangible Response, formerly Target Direct, to the task, following a pitch...

N&P mortgage push bucks trend.
April 18, 2008... Norwich & Peterborough Building Society is bucking the trend over the promotion of mortgage offers by launching a campaign to push its new home loans brand Astra. The campaign is designed to raise awareness of the new range of mortgage...

IN BRIEF: Online sales fight off credit crunch.(Brief article)
April 18, 2008... Online retailing is showing no signs of faltering in the current economic climate, with the predicted growth of the channel in 2008 expected to be the highest in five years. New research from Verdict Consulting shows that in 2008, online retail...

IN BRIEF: Bellwether reveals record budget cuts.(Brief article)
April 18, 2008... Direct marketing budgets have been slashed by their highest rate in eight years, according to the Q1 2008 Bellwether Report. One in five companies reported a downward revision to existing budgets, while just 13 per cent of companies signalled...

IN BRIEF: Govt ditches jail plans for fraudsters.(Brief article)
April 18, 2008... The Information Commissioner's calls for tougher laws on data thieves have been ignored as the Government has shelved plans to send data fraudsters to jail, due to a surprise amendment to a proposed new law. The new law will contain a clause...

DIGITAL: Endsleigh in affiliate blitz to boost quotes.(Buy.at)(Brief article)
April 18, 2008... Endsleigh Insurance is extending its affiliate marketing programme in a bid to increase quote applications for its insurance products. The company has appointed Buy.at to promote its insurance products and services across its network of...

DIGITAL: RSPB focuses on 'the moment'.
April 18, 2008... Bird and wildlife conservation charity RSPB is urging potential members to visit its website to upload their 'moment with nature'. The charity is continuing its 'moments' theme in a bid to shift perceptions of the charity and raise...

DIGITAL: Change is in the air for search market.
April 18, 2008... From May, Google will no longer protect trademarks in the UK and Ireland now it is allowing open keyword bidding. This decision, meaning competitor brands can appear in sponsored links when a user searches on a trademarked term, has caused...

DATA: Kia plots 'forecourt' single customer view.
April 18, 2008... Kia Motors (UK) will be able to access its customer database on forecourts for the first time, as part of a new customer management strategy. The car manufacturer has appointed Occam to build a single customer view in a bid to gain a...

DATA: Information Arts picks up Vodafone and Thus.
April 18, 2008... Vodafone and business telecoms firm Thus have appointed Information Arts, the B2B relationship marketing consultancy, as their strategic data partner. Information Arts won both accounts following a competitive pitch. Vodafone has...

DATA: Chordiant tool tackles risk management.
April 18, 2008... Chordiant Software has launched a tool which allows businesses to make realtime decisions on lending, enabling them to identify profitable customers and manage their risk. The Chordiant Decision Management version 6.1 has been designed to...

DATA: Brokers should do better than ABC1.
April 18, 2008... Over 50 years ago the National Readership Survey (NRS) first created its 'social grade' system, grouping readers of newspapers and other publications, based on the occupation of the chief income earner in each household. The resulting method...

ANALYSIS: CRM stages comeback as economic fears grow.
April 18, 2008... In times of recession, marketing departments shift their focus from acquisition to retention. With the current economic uncertainty, the importance of CRM is becoming more apparent than ever With the fear of a recession tightening...

ANALYSIS: Budgets shrivel as crunch bites into finance firms.
April 18, 2008... Following the publication of two reports which offered contrasting views on the financial sector's marketing spend, observers could be forgiven for being confused Given the state of the financial market, it may come as little surprise...

ANALYSIS: Marketers adopt softly, softly approach over legacies.
April 18, 2008... Legacy donations are crucial to the charity sector. In an attempt to secure donations, charities are waking up to the fact that they must not appear aggressive when pursuing their legacy strategy A legacy donation is the biggest gift a...

OPINION: National carrier or a national disgrace?(Column)
April 18, 2008... There has been plenty of media coverage of British Airways recently, what with planes not quite connecting with runways, the threat to BA's dominance through the open skies policy and the T5 debacle. (I am still curious to know why thousands...

LETTER: SMEs can reap rewards of alternative services.(Letter to the editor)
April 18, 2008... I agree with your point that the SME community should make sure it considers the option of an alternative to Royal Mail for their postal services ('Why are SMEs so reluctant to switch postal operator?' PM, February 22). I am pleased to...

LETTER: CRM can reduce cleansing needs.(Letter to the editor)
April 18, 2008... After reading the article on address cleansing ('The word on the street', PM, April 4) I'd like to raise an important point. While there will always be a need to use data cleaning products, reliance on using them with their associated...

LETTER: Call centre clean up 'encouraging'.(Letter to the editor)
April 18, 2008... I read with interest your article last week on the crackdown on UK contact centre operations by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and PhonepayPlus (PPP) to eradicate bad practice ('Brands face call centre crackdown', PM, April 4). It...

VIEWPOINT - Integration: The key to avoiding desperation.(Viewpoint essay)
April 18, 2008... In today's uncertain economic climate, customer retention is even more important than ever. Companies' ability to integrate online and offline analytics could be crucial In consumer marketing we are seeing the impact of the 'Martini...