Enjoy!

For more information on Google Buzz read the Wall Street Journal site article which goes into great detail about the development of the new social networking competitor.

Either way, if you want to book yours then let us know and we can reserve it for you.

You guessed it, it is an automated response. Check out this link to find out how.

http://www.ehow.com/how_5842327_setup-twitter-autoresponder.html

How about that for efficiency!

It hadn’t occurred to me that the creators would go to the extent of creating a website to accompany the concept. But then when I began read about the campaign as a whole and understand the scope, I found it works on so many levels, across a multitude of media.

The standout from other competitors in the market has been a great success “Times Online reports, citing Hitwise stats, that the site increased its market share of UK insurance comparison site visits by 76 percent since the campaign was launched in December 2008.” With the ongoing viral campaigns, tv ads, soft toys of the characters (you can even follow Aleksandr on twitter), it seems that the campaign still has the legs to carry it on throughout this year – All this from a concept concived by a couple of drunk creatives in a pub who decided that Compare The Market sounded quite similar to Compare The Meerkat. …simples!

So what do this mean for the typical business owner? Well they suddenly need to think about how to put together an online marketing plan. Do you sign up to Facebook? What about online PR? Should you start Pay Par Click advertising or create a Banner Ad? What about Blogging, RSS or Feeds?

All of a sudden, an understanding of a variety of new technologies is critical to taking advantage of the online marketing opportunities. No longer can you simply write a new plan and then carry it out. You need to either take on an Online Marketing Manager or find a suitable company to manage it all for you. Outsourcing your online marketing might be the right way forward as you would be taking on the expertise of a number of specialists and at the same time, drastically reducing the monthly outgoings required.

Either way the new technologies cannot be ignored, perhaps the first step is to start talking to someone who can help to shape the online marketing plan and to focus on the right places online to start marketing.

Daly Telecom recognised the need to future-proof their business, viewing the situation as an opportunity to expand their client base and move into new markets.

It was clear that the name needed addressing first and foremost, whilst it may be familiar to the current client base, it restricted their product offering and development into new markets. We had to establish a name that not only retained the 25 year heritage within the industry, but also provide a solution to take the business forward in an ever-changing and fast-moving industry. The solution, as it turned out, was simple – a removal of the reference to telecommunications, combined with the retention of the Daly name and reference to communications, joined together, created the individual name – Dalycom.

The new brand and design style has been applied to a variety of visual assets to create a consistent and coherent business message.

Who remembers the £11m Abbey rebrand in 2003 shortly before the Santander takeover? Abbey adopted a soft, all lowercase, pastel coloured brand identity with the new tagline, ‘turning banking on its head’. Rebranding certainly isn’t new to Abbey customers.

It is, after all, five years since Abbey was taken over by Santander and in that time we have seen the incorporation of the Santander ‘flame’ logo, typeface and colour into the Abbey branding. What’s left to change, other than the brand name? As for the other two brands, their takeovers are still fresh and for that reason the rebrands could be seen as more risky.

However, bank customers are extremely loyal and Santander’s decison to roll out the rebrands by the end of 2010 suggests steady change rather than a swift one. Lets not forget that it will be an enormous rebranding exercise, and customers can probably expect some technical glitches along the way. Perhaps most interesting will be the advertising campaigns, direct mail and incentives that will follow, all in the name of turning one, or in this case three recognised brands into one ’super’ brand.

Here are a few key points to consider when writing your email subject line:

Keep it short and simple. There is a danger of making subject lines too long, and because of over-communication, people today tend to like simplicity.

Think segmentation. It’s important to test different subject lines for different customer segments. What works with one group may not work for another. In this way you should always test every subject line before sending your email out to various audiences.

Question almost everything. Subject lines that pose a question can work very well. A subject line that can grab the curiosity of the recipient stands a better chance of getting opened.

Make it about them, not you. An oversight that is often made with subject lines is failing to take the recipient into account. For example, We’re Having a Sale’ could be tweaked to read, ‘You Can Save Money’ because it drives home the value proposition you want to deliver.

Don’t be afraid of free. Often the word ‘free’ in a subject line is avoided because it can trigger a spam filter. However, it may be worth the risk when conducting a split test of your emails, providing you closely monitor the ‘open’ rates of each alternative subject line.

Inform before you sell. By describing what’s in the email in the subject line, a recipient may be much more willing to open it. By informing first, followed by selling, you can stand a much better chance of success simply because the email had been opened.

Hopefully these pointers will help you when considering your email subject line. But always remember to consider the following.

State clearly and succinctly what you are offering and how it will benefit your recipient. Throughout your campaign planning, put yourself in the position of the recipient. What makes you want to open an email? What makes you want to click on the link? If you know your audience, then you know what they want. If you’re not sure how they will respond, test the list in small increments and measure the results.

Good luck.