Midata means businesses must get a handle on consumer data privacy
Consumer data access is an issue that should be high on the agenda of any business that depends on collecting and using consumer data for commercial activities. While some innovative companies have...
View ArticleIntegration disintegration
Taking an integrated approach to relationship marketing is now de rigueur across the industry. However, while many organisations claim to deliver fully integrated campaigns, in reality they are no more...
View ArticleBig Data and CRM: déjà vu?
Recent discussions around Big Data have a certain familiar ring to them. With technologies and techniques being showcased by vendors and assurances being given about improved business efficiencies, the...
View ArticleIt’s pantomime season and data is direct marketing’s Cinderella
Ask anyone in marketing and advertising about a piece of business they’d love to work on and you’d probably hear about a cool new mobile app or you tube clip that’s gone viral or an interactive social...
View ArticleEU Data Protection Regulation: “Amend rather than diss’ and defy!”
Bizarre. Last Friday, I left the DMA’s Data protection 2013 conference inspired – not my normal feeling after a data protection event. The main reason was the words of the final speaker David...
View ArticleDid you miss SXSW? No matter, Harper Reed’s coming to London town
He’s the former hacker turned tech engineer who made a name for himself building a huge data platform for Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. Since then he’s been in demand on the international circuit...
View ArticleDigital consumers in a digital age
The internet has become an integral part of so many activities – whether that is paying bills, booking holidays, shopping or even finding love – and its use is only continuing to grow. While there are...
View ArticleNavigating the treacherous waters of Big Data
“Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.” This quote, often attributed to Albert Einstein, originated before the evolution of data-driven marketing and...
View Article“All marketing is direct” says Harper Reed
Marketers need to create genuine communities if they are going to talk with people one to one in a very real way, Harper Reed, chief technology officer of Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, told...
View ArticleHow Channel 4 made data sharing fun for me – no really!
An email I got from Channel 4 the other day got me thinking about data privacy from a consumer’s perspective. I recently registered on 4oD so that I could watch stuff from the archive, which meant...
View ArticleWho’s afraid of Facebook’s data breach?
Facebook’s data breach couldn’t have come at a worse time, hitting the headlines just as whistleblower Edward Snowden accused GCHQ of eavesdropping on our online conversations and passing on...
View ArticleCustomer insight from Big Data: why marketers must educate their colleagues...
It seems ridiculous to say it but adding three letters (B, I and G) before the word ‘data’ has left marketers up and down the country scratching their heads. If the level of discussion in the media...
View ArticleWhat do the new Facebook Promotions Guidelines mean for brands?
Facebook has announced a major shift in the way competitions and promotions can be administered by Page owners. For many years now it was against the Facebook Promotions Guidelines to run competitions...
View ArticleWant to learn about direct marketing via TV? Watch Made in Chelsea
Don’t laugh, but I was watching Made in Chelsea the other day. I know, I know, it’s abnormal behaviour for a 36-year old man. But I was doing so for ‘research’ purposes after we interviewed Channel 4’s...
View ArticleMade for TV: how direct has found a new audience
When was the last time you focused solely on watching TV? If you own a tablet or smartphone, then you’ll know TV viewing has transformed from a passive pastime to a dynamic, interactive activity. But...
View ArticleTime for data owners to come clean
As the marketing world switches towards omni-channel digital marketing it becomes ever more important that the consumer understands the benefits and pitfalls of the data that is being used to target...
View ArticlePeak marketing email volumes reveal new trends emerging in a maturing channel
The publication this week [8 October 2013] of the DMA’s H2 2012 National email benchmarking report reveals that marketing volumes in the UK hit a record high in November 2012, peaking at an incredible...
View ArticleTime to prepare for greater consumer data privacy
The introduction of the draft EU Data Protection Regulation into EU law is likely to be delayed for at least a year from 2014 to 2015, after Prime Minister David Cameron secured an extended deadline at...
View ArticleOpt-in, opt-out: new legislation shakes us all about
The gripping tale of consumer permissions – tedious, but increasingly important and about to get even more challenging for direct marketers – but the question remains: who is the new legislation...
View ArticleGood and bad news for marketing data in 2014
For the first time in a number of years I look to the New Year with some hope in my heart. While there are undeniable signs of an upturn we have to be careful that we don’t just ‘assume’ that is good...
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