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+++ NEWS +++
Consumers Prefer Relevant Advertising
April 28, 2006
Revenue Science and the Ponemon Institute have released a study that found 63 percent of consumers prefer advertising based on their interests.
The study also found that 55 percent surveyed stated that online ads of interest to them "improves" or "greatly improves" their overall online experience.
"This study shows that not only do consumers prefer relevant advertising, but also that advertisers should consider behavioral targeting methods for providing consumers with more relevant ads as long as privacy and anonymity are assured," says Dr. Larry Ponemon, founder and chairman of Ponemon Institute. "The tables are indeed turning and the advertising community would be well served to pay attention."
+++ NEWS +++
Share loyalty, get results
Business XL , November 2005
Following on from Doug Hargrove's letter (Business XL October 2005) about using information on customer buying habits, I'm intrigued by the growth of loyalty schemes and the way they are used (and sometimes misused) by the businesses that have adopted them. As the name would suggest, they are intended to boost customer loyalty through getting to know who customers are and understanding their shopping and preference information. But loyalty schemes are typically backed by very sophisticated CRM engines, so their implementation and associated maintenance costs tend to restrict their use to just those retailers with very deep marketing budgets.
That said, there are many thousands of businesses in the UK that would benefit from the information generated by such loyalty schemes but just cannot afford to implement one - the associated cost having to be borne by the business before any benefit is achieved.
Given that loyalty schemes typically operate by asking customers to exchange information about themselves in return for news updates, discounts and money-saving offers, surely it is possible to achieve this via some kind of shared resource. A technology is needed that allows businesses of any size to club together to deliver promotions in a highly targeted, cost effective and measurable manner.
It sounds ideal, but many existing marketing services -including some loyalty schemes - still fail to hit this nail on the head. Business small and large should be able to run targeted, cost-effective promotional campaigns that generate both sales and CRM information about the customer base without the need to invest huge sums of money in the process.
+++ NEWS +++
Tracking, targeting and timing
Marketer, 18th November 2005
How many businesses can say honestly, hand on heart, that they know their customers inside out? I would argue very few indeed. The importance of obtaining high-quality demographic information has been a hot marketing topic for many years now, but businesses are still getting it wrong. I believe the efficiency and process of'getting to know your customer' can be improved if the right tools are used to obtain the right information in the first instance.
Many businesses make the age-old mistake of looking at a customer's recent purchase and assume they understand their buying habits - but people change and what is of interest at that time may not be two months down the line. All too
often businesses end up mis-targeting the customer altogether, wasting valuable marketing budget and at the same time destroying the possibility of any ongoing relationship.
Surely technology is at the stage where businesses have no excuse for 100% accuracy ioo% of the time? Simply bombarding customers with irrelevant promotional material when there is no excuse is lazy and a waste of money. Perhaps what needs to change is how businesses actually obtain customer information and how they use it to achieve the desired results?
What is needed is a technology that allows you to deliver promotions in a highly targeted way (whether that is by the customer's postcode, town, county or individual demographic information), directly to the people who have already expressed an interest in the products being promoted. Tracking and reporting on each individual consumer in terms of exactly what they are buying, what they are interested in, when they are interested in it and why, is vital.
It sounds ideal, but for many businesses, this level of customer targeting is still a million miles away. Targeting customers really needs to leap a big step beyond simply monitoring buying habits with no real sense of understanding.
When this happens, businesses can truthfully say they know who their customers are and can finally benefit from the previous myth of true one-to-one marketing.
+++ NEWS +++
The high street must take on online retailers
Retail Week , 18th November 2005
Following on from Doug Hargrove's letter (Business XL October 2005) about using information on customer buying habits, I'm intrigued by the growth of loyalty schemes and the way they are used (and sometimes misused) by the businesses that have adopted them. As the name would suggest, they are intended to boost customer loyalty through getting to know who customers are and understanding their shopping and preference information. But loyalty schemes are typically backed by very sophisticated CRM engines, so their implementation and associated maintenance costs tend to restrict their use to just those retailers with very deep marketing budgets.
That said, there are many thousands of businesses in the UK that would benefit from the information generated by such loyalty schemes but just cannot afford to implement one - the associated cost having to be borne by the business before any benefit is achieved.
Given that loyalty schemes typically operate by asking customers to exchange information about themselves in return for news updates, discounts and money-saving offers, surely it is possible to achieve this via some kind of shared resource. A technology is needed that allows businesses of any size to club together to deliver promotions in a highly targeted, cost effective and measurable manner.
It sounds ideal, but many existing marketing services -including some loyalty schemes - still fail to hit this nail on the head. Business small and large should be able to run targeted, cost-effective promotional campaigns that generate both sales and CRM information about the customer base without the need to invest huge sums of money in the process.
Smart Scheme Needed for Promotions
David Muir, CEO at BluRoute
The Grocer, 12th November 2005
SIR; Loyalty schemes, as the name would suggest, are intended to boost customer loyalty and enable businesses to know who their customers are by understanding their shopping and preference information.
Associated implementation and maintenance costs restrict the use of such schemes to retailers with very deep marketing budgets.
That said, there are thousands of businesses that would benefit from the information generated by such loyalty schemes but just cannot afford to implement one.
Given that they typically operate by asking customers to exchange information about themselves in return for updates, discounts and money-saving offers, I would suggest it is possible to achieve this via a shared resource.
A technology is needed that allows businesses of any size to deliver promotions in a highly targeted, cost-effective and measurable manner.
It sounds ideal, but many existing marketing services -including loyalty schemes - still fail to hit this nail on the head.
Bournemouth Student Union creates new revenue stream
Advertising-UK.co.uk, 13th September 2005
Promotional targeting service from BluRoute helps to target students 100% accurately and generate funding for commercial activity
31 August 2005 - The Students Union at Bournemouth University (SUBU) is the first University to sign up to BluRoute's new and innovative promotional service. By selecting the service, SUBU is further demonstrating its ongoing support for the welfare of the student population whilst also accessing a new revenue stream in the form of a revenue share from BluRoute. The new revenue that SUBU generates will be used to help fund commercial activity such as student balls, the union bar and on-campus shops.
The BluRoute service effectively matches advertiser's (in this case both local and national businesses targeting students), marketing criteria with the student's requirements. On registering their details, including details of the types of products and services they might be interested in, each student is provided with online access to a selection of promotional offers customised to meet their own needs.
With 15,000 students spread across various campuses in the UK and three to four thousand freshers joining the University every year, SUBU wanted to give its budget-conscious students access to relevant, worthwhile promotional offers.
From SUBU's perspective, this is a breakthrough technology as it provides an opportunity to offer the student's discounts from both big brands and local high street stores. In return for providing advertisers with access to the user base and student demographic information, SUBU is also able to offer them the tools to plan, produce and design promotional offers online via the SUBU website in minutes for free. Promotions can be in front of the relevant students in just 24 hours and the advertiser pays £1 for the lead, but only when a student actually prints the advertiser's promotion.
"Previously students have been mass-targeted as one big group, but it is vital to understand that a fresher wants something completely different to a final year student", said Ed Reacher, sales and marketing co-ordinator at SUBU. "We soon realised that the BluRoute concept could be of real value to our students from a cost-saving perspective, as well as creating a new revenue stream for the union itself; in short, everyone wins. The service is unique and it gives us the opportunity to get in front of big brand advertisers while providing a useful and responsible service for the students".
David Muir, CEO of BluRoute, said: "Poorly targeted promotional offers are a constant frustration for consumers. Students in particular are very image-conscious and discounts from relevant suppliers would be invaluable to many of them. We are delighted to be working with Students Union at Bournemouth University to create a path that leads students directly to those offers that they really want, when they really want them "
Having built its marketing plan around BluRoute, the service is now up and running at SUBU and new students joining the University in the autumn will be informed about the new service prior to enrolment.
Advertising-UK.co.uk >>
+++ NEWS +++
Email marketing is a waste of time
David Muir, CEO at BluRoute
IS Opportunities, September 2005
Dear Sir,
Email marketing is a waste of time. This might sound harsh, but I believe it is true. While email marketing allows for a degree of targeting, this electronic form of traditional direct mail does not and cannot match the buyers' needs - it is simply too vague and is based largely on unsubstantiated assumptions that make accurate targeting impossible.
Such emails typically propose a product or service that the recipient may or may not be interested in - targeting by email is not a precise science. At best it is a gamble in terms of the time spent managing the campaign and the credibility and reputation of the company behind it. Email marketing also suffers from higher - and faster - rejection rates. Rather than physically opening and scanning a document received in the post, the recipient is likely to simply look at the subject line and then delete it. What a wasted effort!
Sending repeated, untargeted mails to someone who isn't really interested in what is being offered is counter productive and can severely damage a brand and its reputation as opposed to generating a sale. It sounds obvious and yet time and time again businesses throw money down the drain, wasting valuable resources on such untargeted and often damaging marketing tactics.
Surely technology has reached a stage where there is no longer a valid excuse for anything less than one hundred per cent accuracy, one hundred per cent of the time - why shouldn't direct mail follow this route too?
+++ NEWS +++
Customer targets are too
frequently missed
David Muir, CEO at BluRoute
Marketing Week, 4th August 2005
How many businesses can say that they
know their customers inside out? Very few indeed. The importance
of obtaining high-quality demographic information has been
a hot marketing topic for years, but businesses are still
getting it wrong. The efficiency and process of "getting
to know your customer" can be improved if the tools are used
to obtain the right information in the first instance.
Many businesses make the mistake of looking
at the customer's recent purchases and assuming they understand
their buying habits - but people change and what is of interest
at that time may not be two months later. All to often businesses
end up mis-targeting the customer altogether.
Surely technology is at the stage where
businesses have no excuse for anything but total accuracy
all of the time? Simply bombarding customers with irrelevant
material is lazy and a waste of money. What needs to change
is how businesses obtain customer information and how they
use it to achieve the desired results.
What is needed is technology that allows
you to deliver promotions in a highly targeted way, directly
to the people who have already expressed an interest in the
products being promoted. Tracking and reporting on each consumer
in terms of what they are buying, what they are interested
in, when they are interested in it and why, is vital. It
sounds ideal, but for many, this level of customer targeting
is still a long way away. Targeting customers needs to go
beyond monitoring buying habits with no real sense of understanding.
When this happens businesses can say they know their customers
and can benefit from true one-to-one marketing.
+++ NEWS +++
Brands need to aim a lot higher
David Muir, CEO at BluRoute
Precision Marketing , 8th July 2005
How many industries are content to accept a 1 per cent return on investment? Not
many, I'm sure. So why does the advertising and marketing community continue to waste valuable budgets by accepting such returns?
Far too often, we hear of consumer frustration at the hands of poor and ineffective promotional targeting. Yet this doesn't deter advertisers from making the same mistakes over and over again, effectively ignoring the damage this will do to their brands further down the line.
The timely delivery of marketing material is crucial. A consumer might not be interested in a particular offer now, but they may be 'in the market' in a month's time. When they are in a position to buy into a brand, do you think they will trust the one that has continuously bombarded them with lots of irrelevant promotions?
It's no secret that technology is now more sophisticated, and marketers are able to use intelligent data and promotional tools more effectively. Brands therefore have no excuse but to target consumers 100 per cent accurately, 100 per cent effectively, 100 per cent of the time.
The alternative is consumer mistrust, damaged reputations, flawed brand value and wasted resources — which adds up to money down the drain. Surely it's a no-brainer.
+++ NEWS +++
Industry seems content with small returns
David Muir, CEO at BluRoute
Media Week, 5-12 July 2005
How many industries are content to accept a one per cent return on their investments? Not many, I'm sure. So why does the advertising and marketing community continue to waste valuable budget by accepting such inferior returns?
Far too often we hear of consumer frustration at the hands of poor and ineffective promotional targeting. Yet this doesn't deter advertisers from making the same mistakes over and over again, effectively ignoring the damage this will do to their brands further down the line.
Timely delivery of any piece of marketing material is crucial. A consumer might not be interested in a particular offer now, but they may be "in the market" in a month's time.
When they are in a position to buy into a brand, do you think they will trust the one that has continuously bombarded them with lots of irrelevant promotions? It's unlikely.
It is no secret that technology is more sophisticated and advertisers are now able to use intelligent data and promotional tools more effectively. Brands, therefore, have no excuse but to target consumers 100% accurately, 100% effectively,
+++ NEWS +++ This wandering star is ready and waiting for Destiny to call David Muir, Chief Executive Officer at BluRoute
MicroScope: 5 Minute Interview - 04/07/05
What have you got in your pockets?
Excluding the normal collection of coins, tissues and scrunched up receipts, I have a 'two rupees' coin presented to me by my CTO on his return from his last trip to the sub-continent — a reminder to me that, no matter how inexpensive the original quote might be, nothing can prepare you for the added expense of two companies which both speak English but don't really communicate well with each other.
Who would you most like to have a date with?
One of my colleagues keeps telling me that I have a date with Destiny. My problem is that I do not know when or where the date will be — but, if you know Destiny, tell her I am ready and willing. I can be reached by mail, e-mail, phone, mobile. GPRS, 3G, MSN. Instant Messenger, Skype...
What did you want to be when you grew up?
I always wanted to be taller and wiser, but I guess I thought of this when I was lying down, so now I am very much wider and not very much wiser.
How did you get into the IT industry?
Via an age-old issue that I feel very strongly about. Poorly targeted promotional offers are a constant frustration for advertisers and consumers, and the impact that such bad targeting can have on a brand is so significant that it can tarnish the reputation of the whole industry. I enjoy the challenge of working with a company that has pioneered a technology to overcome this.
"I am open to the suggestion that there is [life after death]. But with so many people having died, it's very surprising that more definitive information is not available on the subject"
What's your favourite chat-up line?
The one I would want to attribute to being my favourite would be, "Get your coat — you've pulled". But the one I guess that works best is, "Yes dear".
What do you do to relax?
I'm pretty clear on this one — sleep. Otherwise, what I do is what I want to do — so in essence, it is already relaxing.
What's your favourite song and why?
Born under a wandering star. I like it because you just talk the words — no singing involved. Or if you want to get heavy, try the words of verse two. "Mud can make you prisoner and the plains can bake you dry, snow can burn your eyes but only people make you cry."
I think the commentary on people is key — success is made or broken by people.
What is the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to you?
Being told by a friend to "just follow the noise — we'll all be there" as his fail-proof directions to a party.
I did just that and ended up walking uninvited into someone's (a very deaf person with TV volume turned up) living room three doors away from the party. Don't take instructions too literally — think for yourself!
If you had a dinner party and could invite anyone, dead or alive, who would you invite and why?
I think I would like the dinner party to be controversial, so
therefore I would like to invite a guest who might challenge current thinking.
It seems to me that the introduction of a subject as simple as water divining (with its many scientific, paranormal and weird explanations) would form an excellent vehicle for the discussion.
As for the participants — I would have to research the field of so-called experts in divining, but would have to include Stephen Hawking from a scientific perspective. Each of them could dowse for a bottle of wine hidden in the garden.
What is your favourite place and why?
I feel a Zen moment coming along — I guess I am in that place right now. There's no looking back and the future still has to unfold.
If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?
Simple — I would use it as surety to borrow the same amount again. That way I'd have twice as much — I was never an economics major, but I think I could pull this one off.
If you could make a voodoo doll of someone, who would it be?
I'm afraid I'm a people watcher, which means I annually catch the Big Brother bug. So, with that in mind, I would have to say Maxwell — one of the current batch of contestants/ misfits in Big Brother. I really don't like people with his level of self-importance.
Is there life after death?
I am intrigued by this question and admit to being open to the suggestion that there is indeed an existence beyond what we know of as life. But with so many people having died, it's very surprising that more
definitive information is not available on the subject.
What's your best quality?
Integrity.
What is your most annoying habit?
All my colleagues would yell this from the roof-tops — red-penning. I cannot just say, "That's great — run with it". I always want to tweak it a little (or a lot, as the case may be).
What annoys you most?
I guess I have to say this so that the folks I work with can have their revenge — being 'red-penned' by others.
Favourite joke?
A pessimist says the glass is half empty, an optimist says the glass is half full, but an engineer says, "Why all the wasted space? ".
What is the most daring thing you've ever done?
I do the same daring thing every day. I get up and work
on projects, which put my own and other people's money at risk, along with my own and my team's credibility. To do this day in and day out, you have to have tremendous faith in your own capabilities.
Who is your biggest hero/ heroine?
The team on Apollo 13 — or more importantly, the team behind them who worked through incredible adversity to turn a failed mission into a success story.
"I always wanted to be taller and wiser, but I guess I thought of this when I was lying down, so now I am very much wider and not very much wiser"
How would you like to the and what would you choose as your epitaph?
Here we go again.
www.microscope.co.uk
+++ NEWS +++
No excuse for less than 100 per cent success
Marketing Week - 30/06/05
How many industries are content to accept a one per cent return on their investments? Not many, I'm sure. So why does the advertising and marketing community continue to waste valuable budget by accepting such inferior return rates?
Far too often we hear of consumer frustration at the hands of poor and ineffective promotional targeting. Yet this doesn't deter advertisers from making the same mistakes over and over again, effectively ignoring the damage this will do to their brands further down the line.
Timely delivery of any piece of marketing material is crucial. A consumer might not be interested in a particular offer now, but they may be in a month's time. And when that consumer is in a position to buy into a brand, do you think they will trust the one that has continuously bombarded them with lots of irrelevant promotions? It's unlikely.
It is no secret that technology is more sophisticated and advertisers are now able to use intelligent data and promotional tools more effectively. Brands, therefore, have no excuse but to target consumers 100 per cent accurately, 100 per cent effectively, 100 per cent of the time.
The alternative is consumer mistrust, damaged reputations, flawed brand value and wasted resources -all adding up to money down the drain. Surely it's a no-brainer. David Muir Chief executive BluRoute Salisbury Wiltshire
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