bd2.blog -

In$tagram

Filed Under: industry news, the web by Will Bentley

Apr.13, 2012

I’ve blogged many times before about the return of the seemingly distorted dotcom bubble deals – the eye-watering valuations of online businesses just because they are online – but of these, the acquisition of Instagram by Facebook for $1 Billion this week must surely top the lot. Instagram is a business which hasn’t yet reached its second birthday, hasn’t earned a single penny in revenues and employs just 13 people. But it must seem to Facebook that $1 Billion is a fair price to pay to get their hands on Instagram’s staggering popularity which has seen it gain 30 million registered members who use it on a regular basis – this includes the likes of Justin Beiber, Jessica Alba and even Barack Obama – and apparently a new member joins every 2 seconds. Between them, these members have posted a billion pictures on to the internet through the Instagram app.

Whilst I use Instagram myself, and I do think it’s pretty cool, it’s hardly a revolutionary bit of software. It let’s you apply the kind of funky retro filters to your photos, such as polaroids, sepia, duotones or saturated effects, which you can buy as Photoshop plugins in for a few quid or as apps for pennies. But it’s on your smartphone, it’s quick to use and really easy to create some very nice images which you can then share immediately online through platforms like Twitter and Facebook.

And I do get it; I mean the reasons why Facebook would want to buy Instagram. Facebook now has a staggering 845 million users, many of whom use it largely because they like sharing photos with their friends, but Facebook hasn’t been doing so well on mobile largely due to Instagram. So it makes sense to swallow it up and I guess anything Facebook wants to buy will be that much more expensive because it’s them – in the same way any football player’s transfer fee doubles when Man City comes a knocking – but [and this needs to be read out loud in the style of Dr Evil for maximum impact] one billion dollars? Really?

Despite this massive number, opinion seems divided on the real value of the deal – is it evidence of another crazy dotcom bubble or is it as astute as Google’s acquisition of Youtube which cost them $1.6 Billion and seemed comparably over the top at the time, but they’ve got the biggest brand in online video and have made vast sums from advertising. Or is it part of some sinister plan by Facebook to collect more personal information to sell to advertisers. I don’t suppose Kevin Systrom, the 28 year co-founder who apparently stands to make $400 Million from the deal, is too worried either way.

Doom and gloom or boom?

Filed Under: bd2 news, industry news by Will Bentley

Apr.02, 2012

I read recently that ‘there’s no recession in digital’ which, judging by how hard it is to find new developers and our heavy workload (which leaves us creaking at the seams), would appear to be true.

And if there were any doubts, new research from leading accountants BDO, points to a ‘two speed recovery’.

The firm predicts a widening gap, in its latest Industry Watch report, between those businesses able to take advantage of new technology and high-growth markets and those who can’t. Businesses who can grow online sales, exploit export markets and differentiate both product and service will set themselves apart from those who are dependent on the high street and UK consumers.

“There are real growth opportunities for North West companies, but the current two-speed economic recovery is more distinct than ever.” Said Dermot Power, business restructuring partner at BDO in Manchester. “Businesses that develop innovative products, distribution channels and a strong customer proposition will gain significant competitive advantage – irrespective of sector.”

BDO also believes that the technology, media and telecoms sector will be a ‘hot sector’ over the next 12 months, whilst property and construction, leisure, and business services sectors, are generally expected to continue experience difficult market conditions.

This research certainly supports our current experiences, which are of a huge volume of projects from new and existing clients and a bulging pipeline of opportunities, which has led us to try and add more resource into our development team. That search is proving harder than we thought, which is further evidence of the strength of the digital sector, as there seems to be a real skills shortage, especially in the asp.net/sql framework.

Footnote: This might not be blogging etiquette, but we’d be keen to hear from any reasonably experienced .net developers who’d like to work for a growing business on some exciting projects for a wide variety of clients, including several ‘blue chip’ businesses. We offer a great package, a flexible approach and even include fresh bean coffee and free lunch everyday! Please contact will@bd2.co.uk for a job spec or a chat.

Creative Wigan launched

Filed Under: bd2 news, industry news by Will Bentley

Mar.06, 2012

Last Friday afternoon saw the highly successful launch of the new Creative Wigan Directory site with over 200 of the great, the good, the creative and the digital attending Leigh Sports Village for a champagne reception and key speaker presentations, followed – somewhat inevitably this being Wigan – by a buffet of pies.

BBC North West presenter Dave Guest did an excellent job fronting the event, managing both to involve the audience and to maintain a fairly rapid pace. First off, local MP Andy Burnham, who has formerly held cabinet positions including Secretary for Culture, Media and Sport, had a great perspective on the creative and digital sector and the value of it to the local economy.

He was followed by Winston Higham, the chief executive from DW Sports Fitness, one of the town’s biggest businesses with 70 fitness centres, 66 stores, 2,600 employees and a turnover in excess of £140M. Whilst a captain of industry now, Winston has been on both sides of the fence being a designer by profession, so is well aware of the challenges small businesses face in getting in front of bigger businesses. A natural raconteur, he entertained everyone with tales from the early days of his unique career.

Brian Cannon, designer of iconic album covers for Oasis, The Verve and Super Furry Animals, has had an equally fascinating career which has taken him all over the world working in the music scene right back to Wigan where he’s now working locally on design and photography projects as well as lecturing to give the benefit of his experience to the next generation of designers.

Wigan Rugby League legend Phil Clarke, who also presents RL coverage on Sky Sports, gave an insight into his other interest – a successful online sports software system thesportsoffice.com. In setting up and running this venture he has been on a big learning curve with digital technologies and has also learnt to value the support he’s had from local businesses to deliver the solution.

Then, as a local practitioner who started up on his own, I explained how frustrating it can be trying to get into, and get work from, leading local private and public sector organisations. But that it can be a real ‘win-win situation’ as the quality they demand can be found locally, often with better service and lower rates. This led into a dem of the new directory which aims to make it easier for those organisations to source from the local talent pool, preceded by a promotional film from Unit 4.

The presentations were wrapped up by Councilor David Molyneux who again stressed the importance to the local economy of buying local. The consistent theme of the event, and the clue’s in the title as they say, was to raise awareness of the creative and digital talent in the town and of everyone’s pride in Wigan. And the overriding message is that the online directory aims to make it really easy for the businesses and public sector organisations in the borough, and beyond for that matter, to source and access the creative and digital talent on the doorstep. And, above all, to look local first.

I hope too that the site will be used by the businesses and individuals within the sector itself and that it will enable and encourage collaboration. Through the Creative Wigan group we’ve met and worked with local video, photography, copywriting and voice-over specialists to deliver some of our own projects and would look to it as a first option.

I’m delighted we’re able to put something back into the town’s creative and digital sector through providing the directory itself, but thanks must also go to Wigan Council for its support for the event, specifically Keith Molloy, Claire Walsh and Wendy Coyle, for their help in organising and funding it. And finally, thanks to Ray hanks and Andrew Patrick for their input over the last couple of years.

Creative Wigan

Filed Under: bd2 news, industry news by BD2

Feb.09, 2012

Emails have gone out to invite all creative, digital and ICT practitioners and businesses in Wigan to add their details into the new Creative Wigan online directory. The directory has been borne out of the Creative Wigan initiative which started about 2 years ago with the aim of supporting the creative and digital sector in Wigan. It’s something we’ve been involved with and keen to support from the start, and through it, we’ve met some great people, formed some good relationships and collaborated with some of the group on video, photography and web development work to deliver some of our own projects.

There’s undoubtedly plenty of talent in Wigan but, much as in the sector across the country as a whole, it’s comprised predominantly of individuals, partners and micro businesses who naturally prefer to spend their time painting, sculpting, writing, filming, developing, crafting and generally being creative. It quickly became apparent that the key issues for most people in the sector, are those of funding and of work. Whilst we can’t help with funding – which is either problematic from banks or off the agenda altogether from the public sector as the age of the grant is over – we did come up with an idea to help with the latter; finding work.

We’ve designed, developed and donated an online directory which aims to make it really easy for the businesses and public sector organisations in the borough and beyond, to source and access the creative and digital talent on their doorstep. It’s a very user friendly website which includes the directory on the home page with service providers grouped into categories such as ‘design’ and ‘film’ which can then be filtered by tags, or specific services, such as ‘graphics’ or ‘post production’. The basic contact details are all provided immediately and by clicking on these, the user is taken to a full profile with references and links.

Sadly, the Creative Wigan initiative, backed by Wigan Council and made possible through the tireless enthusiasm of Ray Hanks and Andrew Patrick, has come to an end as the funding, unsurprisingly in the current climate, won’t be extended. Although it’s hoped that the directory at least will leave a positive legacy to help promote the sector and that the friendships and collaborations will continue.

But there is going to be one last ‘hurrah’ to the launch the directory.

It will take place on the 2nd of March, from 12 til 2, at Leigh Sports Village. Presented by Dave Guest from BBC North, confirmed speakers include; Andy Burnham MP and Shadow Minister; Winston Higham, Chief Executive of DW Sports Fitness and former Marketing Director of JJB Sports plc; Phil Clarke, Sky Sports presenter, former Wigan and Great Britain RL captain and Director of online business The Sports Office; Brian Cannon of Microdot, designer of iconic album covers for Oasis and The Verve; Will Bentley Managing Director of bd2 Wigan’s largest agency who have designed, developed and donated the site; David Molyneux, Wigan Council Deputy Leader.

This will be followed by a buffet of, obviously, pies and an opportunity to network.

All Wigan businesses and public sector organisations are welcome along with everyone from the creative and digital community. It would be handy to know if you’re planning to come though so we know how may pies to get in, please let bryony@bd2.co.uk know or email info@creativewigan.com. There’s a bit more info at www.creativewigan.com which will be the URL for the new directory when launched.

Web economy to double by 2016

Filed Under: the web by BD2

Jan.27, 2012

A new study from Boston Consulting Group, commissioned by Google, estimates that the value of the web economy in the leading [G20] countries is set to double by 2016. The study predicts this growth, from £1.5 Trillion to £2.7 Trillion, will be driven largely by the increase in mobile phone users as the cost of smartphones continues to fall – cheaper versions now cost only $100. By 2016 it’s anticipated that 80% of all internet users will access the web using a mobile phone.

The study also estimates that by 2016 nearly 50% of the world’s population will be using the internet given that around 200 million people a year are going online for the very first time. The report outlines of the emergence of a “new internet” in which web access will not be seen as a luxury and that the majority of web users will live in emerging markets – by 2016 China is expected to be home to 800 million users which is more than the US, India, France, Germany and the UK combined although the research further underlined the UK’s position as one of the most advanced e-commerce economies.

The internet will continue its move towards social allowing customers and companies to engage with each other. The report also states that “this trend will be coupled with another huge technology shift that will fundamentally change the nature of how to run a business – the rise of the so-called “internet of things”, where all kinds of devices from sensors to cars to radiators will be connected to the web…technology giant IBM estimates that by 2015, one trillion devices will be internet-connected.”

The impact of the online world is also affecting the offline one as the research shows that every household also researches many purchases online before buying them in traditional stores. This aspect is difficult to quantify, according to David Dean,a managing director at BCG: “During the research we discovered very quickly that there is no approved way of measuring the internet economy…official statistics simply do not capture the sideways move of old technologies into the digital world, for example when a widget maker starts upgrading its devices so that they can be hooked up to the internet.”

The report concludes that businesses have to adapt to the digital economy by changing their people, processes and structures to meet its demands highlighting that entrepreneurs building a digital business are outperforming rivals who do not embrace the web economy and that referring to the “web economy” will soon sound as comical as speaking of an “electricity economy”.

“Understanding the economic potential of the web should be an urgent priority for leaders… with a powerful case for countries and companies to get online and reap the rewards of an age of data,” states Patrick Pichette, Google’s chief financial officer.

bd2012

Filed Under: bd2 news by BD2

Jan.04, 2012

The turn of a year always prompts some navel contemplation [‘where did that go?’], the inevitable resolutions to get fit and some crystal ball gazing. For bd2, 2011 was a great year with some exciting, ever bigger and ever more complex projects undertaken or underway for an ever growing client base. The combination of which led to business growth of 34% – which we’re quite chuffed with given all the general economic doom and gloom.

2012 promises to be equally exciting with some large scale web-projects in production – we’re soon to launch our most ambitious integrated e-commerce site for longstanding client Ralawise and have begun to develop a major intranet based ‘vehicle’ for HP Enterprise Services.

We’re building our first mobile sites as our b2b clients look to harness the accessibility and capabilities of smartphone technologies following the b2c trend which has seen mobile and tablet use grow exponentially in 2011. This growth is set to continue as Tony Foggett, MD of Code Computer Love, commented recently: ‘If 2011 has been the year when mobile technologies emerged in earnest, 2012 will be the year when brands really start to take advantage of smartphone and tablet usage. Mobile offers an amazing marketing platform with which to innovate from.” Social media will also, undoubtedly, continue to grow in importance for b2b as it has for b2c with its unique offering of engagement and dialogue which is driving all brands to show a compassionate side aligned to a genuine corporate social responsibility strategy. With broadband speeds providing a near broadcast TV experience, the use of video will also continue to grow. But the key to success online, whatever the platform or media, is an integrated strategy – aligned with your offline marketing strategy – and quality content “As current digital platforms mature and more emerge, content will remain a key differentiator for e-commerce and brand building activities in 2012. The importance of clever creative thinking and technology remains – if not becomes more important.”

To meet this need, we’re opening a new 750sq ft photography studio at our premises to provide a resource for still photography such as product shots including all colourways, 3D rotates and zooms along with roomset, as well as video for corporate sites and e-commerce requirements such as catwalks for clothing and apparel. Having the studio on site will allow us to provide a very cost effective service and a very rapid response as we’ll be able to shoot, re-touch, colour balance and add product images to sites in a couple of hours.

March will see the launch of our ‘Creative Wigan’ online directory which we’ve developed and donated to the local creative sector to enable prospective clients from both public and private sectors to source services from creative, digital or ICT businesses on their doorstep. The launch event is penciled in for Friday 2nd March with MP Andy Burnham now confirmed it’s hoped he will be joined by other local MPs, leading public sector figures and captains of industry to help raise the profile of the local talent within the sector and, if the anticipated 100+ do turn up, it might get some media coverage too!

Brand Values

Filed Under: branding by BD2

Dec.16, 2011

The contribution any brand makes – whether it’s business or consumer focused – in society and culture, is undoubtedly playing an increasingly important role in the decision, or otherwise, of customers and prospects to engage with it. This challenge often goes beyond the remit of the marketing department and can even lead to a complete rethink of the relationship between a brand and its target audience.

In his new book ‘Screw Business As Usual, And Make Your [Huge Piles Of] Money By Doing Good’, that well known, lime-light-loving, bearded billionaire, Richard Branson, contends that as long as entrepreneurs can make profits, or even indeed ‘huge piles of money’, while helping others, why would you do business any other way? He argues that a business with a social conscience will save resources, drive higher profits, be more satisfying than even the material wealth it creates and attract and retain employees who – motivated by their love of the company’s social mission – will work harder.

“Fuel is nearly 30% of our costs,” says Branson of his Virgin Airlines business, noting that waste is enormously expensive and reducing resources is both good for the environment and for keeping down costs. He seems to be ‘walking the talk’ by claiming that the airline will be using 100% clean-burning fuels by 2020. “The airline industry could become one of the cleanest industries, rather than one of the dirtiest industries in the world.” Branson also suggests that “…most successful people in life do not start with the money-motive whatsoever.” Whilst you could argue ‘that’s easy for him to say’ having made his billions, he points to new businesses such as Google which started out to “make a difference in people’s lives” and their financial success is a happy by-product.

Branson’s sentiments echo those in the “Creating Shared Value” paper, published in the Harvard Business Reviewby Professor Michael E. Porter, which proposes a redefinition of capitalism in order to create a value model where benefits are both financial and to society as a whole.

In order for brands to come to terms with this shift, they need to understand the changing drivers of the decision makers within their target audience, and with it, rethink the role their brand plays in society; To think about what the brand really stands for across all touchpoints; And to make sure the brand strategy delivers real and genuine tangible benefits which demonstrate a commitment for mutual benefit – whether that’s also helping the environment, donating a portion of profits, or supporting a causes.

A collaborative approach also allows brands to engage with, and enable, their staff, customers and network to produce new platforms that benefit the shared ideals of the business and society. People are usually more supportive of ideas and change that they have contributed towards themselves. By leveraging new technologies, companies are able to engender brand buy-in not only from their clients, but equally as importantly, from their staff as well.Collaborative initiatives, now readily enabled by new social media channels, focus on driving engagement by gaining support and adoption by the most motivated and influential users and providing them with a platform to develop their own ideas by enlisting the broader support of their own social groups.

New KPMG report highlights how technology has changed UK shopping habits

Filed Under: industry news, the web by BD2

Dec.05, 2011

“The Converged Lifestyle” report from KPMG, released today, highlights how far UK shopping habits have been transformed by technology and point to the fact that not only has e-commerce become widely adopted, it’s now the preferred method of shopping for many. In the survey, 77% of British shoppers said that they prefer to buy goods like CDs, DVDs, books and video games online which compares to 65% globally.

Whilst consumers around the world are quickly adopting new technologies, the report found that UK consumers and businesses are more advanced when it comes to adopting new technologies as online shopping and the use of social media are more widespread in the UK than in other parts of the world. This is borne out by the report’s findings which show that 88% of respondents in the UK reported downloading an app to their mobile, 74% of consumers said they were more likely to buy flights and holidays online and 60% used some form of online grocery shopping. By contrast, in the US, whilst around the same amount would book flights, only 21% said they were more likely to buy groceries online.

KPMG’s European Head of Technology comments: “The survey reveals that consumers around the globe adopt new technologies at a rapid pace and at the same time are increasingly willing to accept their data to be tracked if they get something in return. This represents a huge opportunity for all players in the digital ecosystem – retailers, advertisers, telecom operators and the financial industry. From buying goods on their mobile phones to keeping up with friends on social networks, consumers are increasingly reliant on a range of technologies that perform important – yet often overlapping – tasks. This new ‘converged lifestyle’ will have huge implications for retailers. The integration of various channels will become increasingly important as retailers begin to see many of their consumers move to online and application-based purchases. As the ubiquitous smartphones empowers the consumer retailers will need to understand the opportunities and risks that mobile devices present.”

The survey also reveals the extent to which smartphones and tablets are changing shopping behaviour, as highlighted in our blog of 18th November. 45% of UK respondents said they now use their mobile devices to locate the nearest store, 32% to research products and services, 30% for online coupons and 20% scan in barcodes to for product information. However, the report also shows that consumers’ concerns over privacy and data security have increased over the last few years and the majority of respondents said they still prefer to purchase luxury goods in store.

The report summarises that ‘we have more choice in devices than ever before and that this choice increasingly serves one purpose: to enable consumers to get what they want, when they want it and where they want it’.

buzz builds brands

Filed Under: uncategorized by BD2

Nov.29, 2011

The media landscape continues to evolve and the way we view media is changing just as quickly. Internet-based TV is coming of age through the growing number of smart TVs and mobile streaming, which adds to other new channels including social media which continue to grow exponentially. And the divergence of media across these many and increasing channels – online, mobile, social, viral, web – demands ever more radical thinking and fresh ideas to create or maintain visibility of a brand within the broader cultural mix, ideas which are cost effective, successful and measurable.

For consumer brands, that have historically relied heavily on TV advertising, this places an increased urgency on finding ways to maintain visibility in culture – ways that can be measured, are efficient, and reach big audiences. Some of these ideas are relevant to brands with smaller marketing budgets and in business to business marketing, as the principles are just as applicable. The focus is on creating a viral ‘buzz’ to generate interest and high cultural capital to gain high rates of media impressions.

The power of some of these channels is evident not just in marketing brands, but in causes – the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street movements have used them to gain literally world changing impact. Whilst the scale and driver for these issues is altogether more significant than mere marketing, there is no doubt they reflect a mood for change leading more and more organisations to become genuinely involved with corporate social reasonability issues. That’s not just publishing a bland statement on a website page, but to actively support relevant agendas be they ecological, charitable or even political. Examples include companies with a strong CSR focus at their very core such as Innocent Smoothies and The Cooperative or initiatives such Nikes’ recent auction of its ‘Back for the future’ mags on eBay raising $11.3 Million for the Michael J Fox Foundation.

Aligning a brand with a cause can create direct business benefits as building a reputation as a responsible organisation helps to differentiate a business in a competitive environment, and dealing with suppliers who take a responsible approach, is now often part of engagement criteria. Organisations naturally favour suppliers who demonstrate responsible policies, as this can have a positive impact on how they are perceived by their own customers. Increasingly they are not just preferring to deal with responsible companies, but insisting on it. There is a strong argument for brands to present themselves as socially responsible [and environmentally aware] and it’s critical that they accountable and transparent.

Sometimes, if the context of a situation is interrupted by the unexpected it can challenge our perceptions or at least attract our attention as we naturally try and understand what’s going on. Anytime an environment, be it urban, personal, retail or otherwise is affected from what we expect it to be, it can dramatically interrupt our sense of context, gaining our attention and generating that elusive ‘buzz’. Ideas that force an opinion, or divide opinions, and create debate will nearly always create a fair share of ‘buzz’. Often the conversational ‘buzz’ is a reaction of strong opinions and expressing the sentiment of the topic – be it humour, anger, sympathy, or any other potent emotion. These topics become imitated and often morphed to increase the entertainment value of the reaction, which we’ve seen recently in the press and on social media sites – from “Winning” with Charlie Sheen, to planking and tebowing. Ideas that can spark interest and prompt others to mimic and interpret an idea in their own way are growing, driven by the ease of sharing content through social media.

Marketing concepts that use supposedly leaked or risky ideas can allow brands to gain impact covertly, even if it’s only for a short while. Ideas that feel like they’re pushing the boundaries of acceptability or are apparently secret or even that might be mistakes, often spread quickly. Threshers, for example, leaked a voucher worth 40% off booze via the internet which was supposedly only intended for retail partners. The myth that Threshers had mistakenly released the voucher made the word spread faster and faster round the country via email, social networks and blogs. Threshers told the media that they were worried about losing money on the promotion but no doubt ended up making a huge profit and getting more publicity in a month than they got for the previous year. And a recent Diet Pepsi campaign used a video of David Beckham taking seemingly impossible place kicks into a rubbish bin. The clip, posted to YouTube, generated a frenzy of media interest and social media discussion over the incredible shots – were they real or computer generated.

Whilst an A-list celebrity like Beckham generally guarantees coverage, they’re beyond the reach of most businesses. However it’s possible to create that much sought after ‘buzz’ by finding innovative ways to generate new stories, which can translate buzz into real momentum and performance for the brand. ‘Buzz’ builds the awareness and recognition of brands, if it’s original and well-managed it can achieve bigger impact thought using these new media channels – way beyond the equivalent advertising spend.

Take one tablet twice as many times a day

Filed Under: bd2 news, industry news by BD2

Nov.18, 2011

iPad and tablet conversion rates are double that of desktops, and almost twice as high as other mobile devices, according to stats that show the value of tablet users for online retailers. According to stats from Affiliate Window’s M-commerce white paper http://blog.affiliatewindow.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/M-Commerce-The-Complete-Picture2.pdf the average conversion rate for iPad was 3.82% in August, compared to 1.9% for desktop (i.e. non-mobile). The stats cover 81.9m visits to merchants and 1.57m sales, not including In-App purchases except in cases where the customer is taken out of the app to complete the transaction.

Stats from eBay, quoted in M-commerce’s Innovation Briefing http://econsultancy.com/uk/reports/m-commerce-innovation-briefing, echo this trend, with the company stating that tablet users spend 50% more than PC users. Conversion rates are also higher for iPads compared to the tablets, not only are average order values higher [AOV of £69.94, compared to £65 for desktops], but the iPad is converting better than desktop, as well as all other mobile devices. And by some distance too. The average iPad conversion rate for August was 3.82%, with the next best 2.58% for Android. Non-mobile was way behind on 1.9%.

These stats then, would suggest that b2c online retailers should ensure their website is optimised for tablets to take full advantage of the growing number of consumers using them – ipad sales grew 183% in the quarter to June this year. It doesn’t take too great a leap in imagination to see that this consumer trend could follow suit in the b2b arena. The portability of the tablet combined with it’s intuitive and more practical usability than mobiles, added to the ability to go online, either via wifi or 3G, makes it the most convenient way for non-desk based users to reference and potentially order products whilst out of the office.

bd2.blog