MarCom Professional

In order to bring together some of the posts from thinkbda.com, we have created an ebook of 6 of our most read blogs from Winter 2008.

The blogs contained include:

1. Marketing in a recession - can you afford not to?
2. Branding - what's your big idea?
3. The new email marketing - talking to customers individually?
4. Discover the power of storytelling
5. Logo design tips - what does an image say about you?
6. Going tribal - two UK websites thriving from tribal marketing

The ebook is FREE and you can download your copy here.

We hope you like what we have put together and do keep reading our site. More...

And so the marketing machine that is ‘X Factor’ rumbles towards securing Simon Cowell another Christmas # 1 this year. At the time of writing, 150k copies of Alexandra Burke’s cover of ‘Hallelujah’ have been downloaded thus far, making it the fastest selling download of all time and virtually guaranteeing it to be the soundtrack to many people’s Christmas.

Whilst Ms Burke might be a talented singer, nobody can doubt that her song’s popularity has a lot to do with the amount of time, emotion and money people have invested into her over the course of X Factor. More...

So was Monday ‘Mega’ for you? Well, apparently it was for 2 million Brits, who preferred the convenience of a few mouse clicks to fighting for a parking space on the high st.

A few Mega Monday facts:

• Online sales were up 14% on 2007
• £320 million was spent at online retailers
• £20 million more than last year
• £13.6 billion is expected to be spent online in total this ‘Clickmas’
• For the first time in 14 years high st sales have fallen for a second successive month

What’s amazing is that ‘Mega Monday’ was only the third busiest day of the year in terms of traffic to online retailers, because the web isn’t just a virtual checkout till, but is also a valuable research tool. More...

Come and dress a Christmas Elf! We're running a draw that lasts until Midnight on the 22nd of December. All you have to do to be in with the chance of winning a magnum of Champagne is submit an elf. Good luck, and have fun!

Well, Christmas is upon us, and many people will be hoping Santa leaves them a snazzy new smartphone in their stocking this year. And it won’t be just thoughts of an iPhone keeping people awake on Christmas Eve, because Google’s G1 and Blackberry’s Storm will also be vying for space under the tree.

Sleek touchscreens, 3G+ internet and a plethora of apps have seduced people into putting a smartphone at the top of their Christmas wish list, replacing watches and shoes as this year’s must have accessory.

The demand for smartphones is great news for marketers. It means they can grow out of simple text and banner ads, and take advantage of swifter web speeds and slicker interfaces to deliver richer marketing messages, and let their creativity free from the bottle. More...

It often sounds like a lot of hot air and hype. But when content is spread virally it can boost brand awareness, fill your database and turn people into internet superstars, sometimes overnight.

Viral marketing has the potential to reach more people than multimillion pound branding campaigns. It’s not easy to do though.

Being able to intentionally create content that people happily share with their friends and colleagues is a challenge, particularly if you’re a marketing agency.

Word-of-mouse marketing

Viral is the evolution of word-of-mouth for the digital age, bigger and better than before. More...

A month out from 25 December, and we’re putting the finishing touches on our Christmas communications to clients and contacts, which should hit their letter boxes and inboxes around 10 December. Incorporating a Christmas card personalised to each recipient, an emailer and an online ‘game’, it’s an opportunity for us to connect with - and amuse - the broader ‘tribe bda'.

But I’m the New Business Person. So it would be somewhat disingenuous for me to deny that Christmas, apart from being fun and Christmasy and smelling of plum pudding, also provides businesses with a fantastic opportunity to touch base with prospects in a way which won’t be perceived as stalking. More...

A little bit early for Christmas, but a fun game anyway.

Internet marketing used to be simple: you’d dump your brochure online and pray a small percentage of visitors would click buy. Well, this approach is generally flawed, because it’s like having a shop window display to attract customers and then not talking to them when they arrive.

The internet might be a cold, robotic medium, but people still have human needs and behave in a similar way to how they do in the real world, something smart marketers are starting to capitalise on.

Whether it’s teenagers arguing about bands on MySpace, internet marketers sharing advice on E-consultancy or any of the thousands of forums sprouting on every topic under the sun, people are grouping together based on shared passions and interests. More...

A little bit early for Christmas, but a fun game anyway.