Archive for the ‘About Reform’ Category

To App Or Not To App? The rise and rise of mobile

October 31st, 2011

Where is your mobile right now? Are you using it to read this blog? Are you looking at an app? Are you browsing a web page? Are you on a call? Are you texting? Is it on the table next to you?  Has your five year old got their hands on it? When did you last let your mobile out of your site for more than two minutes? How many of us take our mobiles to the bathroom with us? How many of us will actually happily let another person use our mobile and not check it upon its return? Wherever your mobile is right now it can’t be denied that we have become entirely dependent upon the device. And yet brand and businesses have yet to capitalise on this.

Is it safe to say mobile apps are currently the way to go or should businesses and brands spend extra building an efficient optimized mobile site? Are we going to see mobile web take over apps down the line? Probably, yes, however apps seem to be where the hearts of the purse holders are right now.

So what do the numbers look like? Nielsen published data showing that 36% of US mobile consumers have smartphones, and ComScore research shows that the average mobile in the US has 34 apps with an average of only four used daily. App downloaders with Apple iOS and Android OS smartphones have more applications on their mobile phones than those with other kinds of smartphones, with an average of 48 apps on iPhones and 35 apps on Android phones.

There are positives for both apps and mobile websites. The latter offer a wider customer reach as they aren’t as phone model specific, and the barriers to use are lower as customers aren’t required to download anything. A mobile-optimised site also often allows more search functionality and more scope for being unrestrained in terms of design. It is also arguably easier to make relevant changes and updates whenever you like on a mobile website.

The advantages of having an app are bedded in the fact that the iPhone and smartphones are dominating the mobile internet space currently. An app is more appealing to iPhone and smartphone owners, and with the location based services available these apps provide fantastic visibility for the brand. Apps can redefine usability and interaction on mobile phones; act as a container for traditional content such as videos or games; provide an economical avenue for additional marketing exposure; and be a direct connection to festival goers (for example), keeping them informed and up-to-date with schedules, announcements, and alerts.

With the mobile industry heading towards mobile web and with generic top level domains (GTLDs) fast approaching surely it is going to change the way we discover and experience brands via our mobile.  The app v mobile website argument will continue to rumble on. What’s important is to look closely at your customers before making any decisions. Which is more appealing to them? At Reform we can advise your business on which option is the best for you. We don’t just tell you to build one but prove to you with research which is best for your business or brand.

Blog post by Anthony Dobson, Business Development Executive at Reform

From riots to dinosaurs – how digital continues to amaze me

September 22nd, 2011

I am a student from Birmingham City University, working at Reform on my placement year. A couple of months into my digital year in industry there are few things that have struck me…

When I tell people I am working in digital for my placement year, a common reaction is to imagine a fantasy world, impregnable, with very techy people playing around with code on computers.  I don’t think that could be further from the truth at this moment in time. Digital is becoming more and more crucial to daily life and I for one welcome this.

Social media was recently blamed by many for enabling the London riots. However, I think the key point to remember is that it’s not social media itself that is the problem, its how people use it. For all the Blackberry messenger organised rioting, there were also some fantastic campaigns on Twitter and Facebook which help to restore faith in humanity, focusing on communities cleaning up and coming together.

This is the kind of reassurance that digital can provide, and it even extends to nations. During the earthquakes in Japan, Twitter, Facebook and Skype all helped families to reconnect and confirm the safety of loved ones. Analogue phone lines could not cope with the extreme high levels of people trying to contact each other, but digital platforms enabled contact and granted peace of mind in times of immense trauma.

And what about the power of social media to spread fantastic stories that would not be heard otherwise? The best example in the last few days is the story about one man’s experience with Marks and Spencer’s customer service. In case you haven’t already seen it, one customer who was overcharged for a sandwich was told in response to his complaint that he would receive a gift card in compensation. When he didn’t receive his gift card he asked politely for a hand-drawn picture of a smiley dinosaur to be included with the gift card (presumably as a joke?!). Wonderfully he actually got what he asked for, including a message apologising ‘unfortunately art was never my strong point…’ Check out the picture of the dinosaur – it’s actually quite good!

Digital is connecting more and more with the real world and we get to hear about real people and their experiences so much more than we ever could previously. What I love about the digital industry is that it’s volatile, it’s unpredictable, it’s challenging and it’s here to stay. Another plus is that apparently I’m a computer genius now that I work in digital. (It is worth bearing in mind that this is coming from my mother who is amazed because I know Ctrl+C…).

By Karen Hawey at Reform

Happy Birthday, Reform!

July 8th, 2011

Our second year spelt data and growth for those businesses who dared, against a backdrop of traditional retail fallout.

Reader, please indulge me for a paragraph or two, while I have proud founder moment…

Reform is two years old this week. My baby is out of nappies, standing on its own two feet and has the world at its oyster. I write this blog from our office in New York – we have an awesome view across the rooftops and water towers of mid-town Manhattan – and on Monday I am meeting our newest client, a large US retailer who will be launching a new brand and ecommerce proposition this autumn, under Reform’s digital stewardship. Back in London we’re having a second birthday party this week for clients, partners and our extended family of fellow digital industry professionals. In year two we won assignments from Debenhams, Austin Reed, and Getty Images – the latter for whom we’re implementing a 7-market international search strategy across North America, Europe and Asia.

And most importantly, we finished the year in profit again. So I have a lot to feel proud about in terms of Reform’s achievements.

Wise business mentors warned me that year two would be difficult. The terrible twos. Apparently years two and five of a start-up business are the hardest, although the pessimist in me fears that the years in between – years three and four – are unlikely to be a walk in the park!

Year two certainly threw some curveballs our way: selling digital management consulting isn’t easy, we found; even though so many businesses are crying out for our skills and expertise to identify and realize incremental revenue growth through digital. Board directors are scared – scared of the impact of the recession on their bottom lines, and scared of what they don’t know about digital in this brave new world. We have a responsibility to educate and empower them to test new commercial and operating models. The braver ones put their trust in Reform, and in digital, this year.

A second year of marriage is the year of cotton. For Reform, the second year was definitely the year of data. Data goldmine or data minefield? Data is omnipresent; it already underpins all decision-making in digital planning: data which informs customer targeting, acquisition, engagement and broader business planning insight. Yet still, most businesses can’t see the wood for the trees in terms of the value opportunity of data. So we ran an event in February called “Unlocking the formula for growth: why understanding data is key to business success” where we looked at the practical applications of digital data sets such as search, social and web analytics, and we heard from BT’s Chief Customer Innovation officer how this business was tackling the challenge of converting data into meaningful and actionable insight.

Data is also a double-edged sword. In inexperienced, untrained or silo’d hands, it is all too easy for digital insight to be taken at face value, as Rory Sutherland, vice-chairman of Ogilvy Group explained at this year’s Google Zeitgeist:

“One of the unfortunate byproducts of the digital revolution is that our ability to process and communicate that which is numerical, sequential, rational, proportionate and intuitive, has leapt ahead of our real understanding of human psychology and human nature. So there is a kind of imbalance that’s created, which, in many cases, leads to inefficiency in the value creation that businesses can actually achieve.”

Our ambition for year three at Reform is to continue to help businesses to unlock the revenue potential that digital and data proffers.

The UK high street has suffered its worst year of trading for 25 years and just this week Jane Norman and TJ Hughes closed their doors to shoppers. You can’t help but wonder if these retail businesses had started out on their digital journey sooner and taken advantage of the exponential growth in online shopping habits, that their decline in revenues could have been reversed.

In a year when Marks & Spencer see a 30% uplift in sales from customers who watch movies on their YouTube channel, and where etailer ASOS made their first million (£) via its mobile commerce platform, it seems ludicrous that culturally and commercially, ecommerce operations within retail businesses are silo’d, that bricks and mortar stores see their online shop as an internal threat and compete for customers.

When Reform was founded in 2009 our mission was – and indeed still is today – to help businesses to embrace digital change and to realise incremental revenue growth. As Charles Darwin said, and as we often quote, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one that is the most adaptable to change.”

So reader, why not make your next year the year of digital reform, of business change, and of incremental growth? That’s certainly what Reform’s third year will be all about.

Blog post by Amanda Davie, proud Founder and Managing Director of Reform.

Reform has a Twitter Wall, a birthday gift from our partners at Ultra Knowledge. If you would like to wish Reform a happy birthday via Twitter, please do so using the hashtag #happybirthdayreform. Thanks!

 

The winds of change…

May 14th, 2010

Have you found it strange that so many commentators have been aghast as the new UK government formation has emerged over the last few days? Only a week ago we were off casting our votes at school halls up and down the country – did we realize what momentous change we were about to make at the time? Our vote appears to have delivered a completely new and surprising shape and flavour of government; only time will tell if it will pass the collective taste test.

‘Sense-making’ and ‘sense-guiding’ are how we join up the dots of change, giving meaning to ourselves and others when situations need order. It’s a rather retrospective endeavour, and I’ll give you odds now that future explanations of how our coalition government came to exist will have Gordon’s ‘bigot’ comment woven in somewhere central to the story. We all use it, and as participants in a knowledge-based economy, probably more frequently than most. Our digital world thrives on innovative thinking, surprises, and what can appear like chaos eventually emerging as opportunity. However, the temporal nature of this world throws up anomalies and uncertainties; what is robust and proven today can lost by the wayside tomorrow.

Change is everywhere, and it is no surprise that we seek out some certainties. We need to be able to make informed decisions that can guarantee us at least medium-term stability… don’t we? Whether we are aware of it or not, transformational changes such as our new government are not simply the result of our vote on the day, but a combination of small emergent changes effecting and affecting our environment, social and cultural world views, the economy and even technologies. These changes impact our perception, our ‘sense-making’, of how the shape shifts, with occasionally surprising outcomes.

Reform is in the business of making sense in real time of those incremental changes, whether emergent or planned. We can help realize our clients’ value, potential business development, and increased profitability. Through our process of exploring the business, utilising data, looking at search behaviours and so forth, we develop and deliver planning tools and action plans that enable truly transformational change outcomes, without causing a revolutionary shake down.

Blog post by Mary Keane-Dawson, non-Executive Director of Reform

Analytics & Content Strategy Among Key Topics

January 25th, 2010

As the UK search marketing industry awaits the sound of the Search Engine Strategies 2010 conference wagon wheels rolling into town in February, we took a look at the event’s schedule, to see what some of the key themes and topics will be this year.

Many will be excited to hear the keynote speeches from Avinash Kaushik, Google’s leading Analytics guru and Author, and from Jim Sterne, Author and Chairman of the Web Analytics Association. And indeed the theme of analytics and conversion modeling, conversion attribution and optimisation features frequently throughout the three-day event schedule. Clearly search marketers are no strangers to accountability, but being able to lift search out of its silo and beyond the last click, and to model its success in line with the performance of a brand’s website and of its entire cross-media activity is front of mind for the industry in 2010.   

There are the usual suspects for those new to search marketing such as Introductions to Paid Search and SEO and link building strategies. And it is important that such industry events accommodate the needs of new market entrants as well as stalwarts.

Another theme which has more prominence on the SES conference schedule this year than it has in previous years is the importance of ensuring that search informs and shapes content strategy. On Wednesday 17th February (Day 2) there is a panel called “Developing Great Content” which will explore a range of web content development strategies that are born of the search marketing set (as opposed to the more ‘traditional set’ of journalists, copy writers and designers).

Reform’s Amanda Davie will be speaking in this session, and will be joined by search content and publishing specialists from Site Logic Marketing, SearchEngineWatch, SuccessWorks and SEO-PR.

For more detail about the “Developing Great Content” session or indeed the SES London conference schedule in it entirety, please visit http://www.searchenginestrategies.com/london 

Are clients right to be doing it for themselves?

November 3rd, 2009

The agency vs. in-house debate for Search is, to an extent a red herring. It shouldn’t be a debate about who does it, but how it is done. Even if an agency is appointed, brands are not devoid of responsibility for the strategic planning piece. Though sadly, many brands absolve themselves of this responsibility, to the detriment of their campaign results.

Whether in-house or via an agency, there are some common considerations for the brand; e.g. who owns the PPC account data (agency or client)? Who owns the third party technology license? Are the business goals and sales targets being shared with the campaign manager (whether in-house or agency)? Who will manage the information flow between the business and the online marketing team? Are campaign management techniques up to date or tired? Who handles the budget modelling? Can the agency influence changes to the website to improve conversion? Who will feed the search marketing (and behavioural) insight into the broader integrated comms planning piece?

We find that there isn’t necessarily a one size fits all approach to managing Search. Many retailers and large ecommerce / online brands derive such a high volume of sales and revenue from search marketing, that it is simply far too business critical to be managed out-of-house.

And all is never as it seems in that many agencies – including search pure plays – subcontract PPC to cheaper suppliers (who tend to be based abroad). Again, this can be both very cost effective and disastrous if the supplier relationship isn’t carefully managed and the strategic goals communicated by the primary agent.

Paid search has become a media for the masses, largely thanks to Google’s sales strategy for AdWords, so agencies definitely have to work extra hard with Search to demonstrate to their clients why their clients shouldn’t simply DIY.

Time For Digital Reform?

August 27th, 2009

Digital media planners (the good ones!) are used to change. More than that, change is in our DNA. Outside of work my friends think I’m slightly barmy – always busy, oversubscribing myself, running around – I don’t do standing still. I’ve never not worked in digital, and I fear my work may have conditioned me :( . Either that, or the worrier in me chose a career in digital. I’m well versed in the “what if’s” of life!

Still, it’s not all bad. Digital planners don’t fear change, they embrace it. They thrive on it. It’s our trading currency. We’re continually telling brands to change and to try something new. Not to throw the baby out with the bath water – to apply tried and tested marketing methods but with a new twist.

And slowly but surely brands are starting to change. They have to, to keep up with consumer change. Now, after fifteen years of digital growth and, let’s face it, significant cultural transformation (some argue that the internet has had the biggest impact on our society since the industrial revolution in the late 18th Century), it’s time for businesses to change too.

A year ago, I left the comfort of a big digital agency where I worked on ‘digitally advanced’ brands, and entered the real world. I was shocked to find that there are still thousands of businesses who have yet to take advantage of this digital reformation. And some businesses who really should know better: retail businesses who aren’t maximising their search marketing and customer acquisition efforts; media owners and publishers who are watching their readers consume digital content, yet they are too scared to reach out to them via new channels; membership organisations who are nervous to test new online community strategies.
I do get it, I understand – businesses are groups of people who are scared to change, worried about being exposed by what they don’t know. And that’s OK. There is a massive education and hand holding process to be done.

As Harold Wilson said: “He who rejects change is the architect of decay”. And the writing is on the wall for businesses who don’t embrace digital change. And none of it is rocket science – it is process change, commercial change, systems change, skills change, strategic change and communications change. Physical change is the easy bit – it’s the psychological change that is the hard part.

Trying out new tactics and seeing which work (and which don’t). Of course there isn’t one blueprint to digital success that fits every business. But we’ve been in the digital space long enough to have tested all the options. We’ve taken the hits and the learnings, so that our clients don’t have to!

Having survived the Recession (fingers crossed!), it’s time for businesses to step it up a gear. To stop being afraid of the dark. This is why we’ve created Reform. We are facilitators of digital change for businesses who are hungry for more success. All our clients have to do is to demonstrate the will to change – and we’ll calmly navigate them through the digital waters.
word-cloud-2