The Experimental Bit

The Occasional Musing

24 Sep 2016
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Sometimes Partnerships Simply Work

September 24, 2016

Bdaily & HTAFC

Love working in the football sector and jumped at the chance of forming a partnership with Championship club Huddersfield Town on behalf of Bdaily in 2015.

Yorkshire

Being tasked with forming new business relationships in the Yorkshire region, i immediately thought of the club after being in touch with them several years earlier when i business idea crossed my path. Approaching them, engaging in partnership discussions and eventually signing the deal, was one of my most satisfying accomplishments to date and the fact it was such a successful partnership, we renewed for for another season.

The fact that i love my football, love meeting new people and can list Yorkshire as one of my favourite UK places does help and the fact it got covered by one of my fave football sites, Soccerex, was the icing on the cake.

 

Official Announcement

Bdaily has renewed its partnership agreement with Huddersfield Town for a second year.

Sarah Callender, managing director at Bdaily, said: “We’re delighted to renew our partnership with Huddersfield Town and look forward to working alongside John and the team again off the pitch and supporting the team on it.

“Last season was all about getting to know each other and working effectively together. After a successful 2015/2016, this coming season will allow us to further grow and engage with businesses in the Yorkshire regional as a whole, while actively supporting local businesses with their marketing plans.

“Our partnership with the club has undoubtedly helped towards successfully raising our brand in the region and consolidated our position as the online news and marketing leaders in Yorkshire.“

Gary Cochrane, regional sales manager for Yorkshire on behalf of Bdaily, also commented: “Having been a longtime admirer of Huddersfield Town’s support for the local business community and having the pleasure of working together over the past 12 months, the decision to renew our partnership was not a difficult one.

“We are looking forward to working alongside the club and it’s partners once again to give them exposure to a wider audience.

“On behalf of Bdaily, I would like to wish Huddersfield Town and all those associated with the club, every success for the coming season.“

Huddersfield Town, Commercial Manager – partnerships, John Williams, added: “It’s great that Bdaily will continue to support the Club next year. This Partnership will see the Club gain coverage through a highly respected and widespread leading business platform.

“The deal also sees opportunities with the Club to reach out to a new business segment that will only benefit the Club moving forward. I’m looking forward to working with Sarah, Gary and all the team”.

rs_htfc-logo

21 Mar 2016
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Five digital display advertising tips

March 21, 2016

Digital Advertising is one of those things you’ve either heard great things about or bad.

One thing is for sure: when digital display advertising is done well and it’s on the right platform for your prospective customers to see, it can lead to a successful online campaign that gets results.

Everyone has their own ideas of how to do this, their own preferred way and how to apply it. Even those involved with digital advertising always have ideas on how to implement that “perfect online advert” that is constantly changing and evolving.

The following is merely a small list of tips on how best to approach advertising your business to an online audience for the first time. Hopefully they’ll be of help.

1. Choose a great media platform to advertise on

If digital advertising is a route you’ve chosen to reach a new audience, then your choice of which website to actually advertise on is of paramount importance. There’s no point in picking a website that your prospective customers do not view on a regular basis, or indeed, one that does not have sufficient audience numbers. If your customers are other businesses, why not advertise on a business-related media website that attracts your target sector?

2. Branding

If you’ve spent a lot of money building your brand over the last few years, it’s always best to continue that through into your display advertising. Your logo, colour scheme and even your strapline, could instantly strike a chord with the audience and, in turn, encourage them to click on your ad before others. If you’re a startup, then talking to a graphic designer in the first instant would be of benefit. Continuity is everything in brand advertising….unless you come up with something special!

3.Have a professional-looking creative

Nothing looks worse than a display ad that looks like it’s been put together by Mrs Jones’s 6yr old nephew during a rushed school break, although if they have the creative flair, it just may be possible to have a brilliant advert. If you know a graphic designer, excellent, if not, have a word with those who own the website you wish to advertise on. They will have their own. Oh, and don’t forget, make sure it’s mobile-friendly!

4.Think of a clear message

Content is King they say, but trying to squeeze too much on an advert will ultimately turn off the viewer or at the very least give them eye-strain. A static advert gives you very limited space in which to get that special offer or announcement over the the reader. Why not do that over 2-3 slides? It will help get your message across and the movement could get the attention above other advertising postions nearby.

5. Click-through to a relevant website page

You may have the most noticeable display ad on the most popular website, but if someone clicks on your pride and joy only to be directed towards a badly designed website or a page that has nothing to do with your message, then you could be in trouble. Make sure that the click-through goes to pages with the relevant information a prospective client wants to read.

12 Dec 2015
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Jenson Button at Japanese GP *** Local Caption *** +++ www.hoch-zwei.net +++ copyright: HOCH ZWEI +++
Jenson Button at Japanese GP *** Local Caption *** +++ www.hoch-zwei.net +++ copyright: HOCH ZWEI +++

So… what’s this ‘Brand Loyalty’ all about then?

December 12, 2015

Brand loyalty, probably a term often bandied about a little too often these days and I guess it means something different to each individual or business.

For me, it means staying loyal to a particular brand because they’ve gone that extra mile for you.

Those that know me, will never try to contact me on a Sunday during a Grand Prix no matter what time of the day.

The reason?

I’m a huge Mclaren F1 fanatic, obsessive, freak, call it what you want and nothing comes between me and my McLaren fix. The landline is unplugged but the mobile is on, albeit to converse with other self-confessed petrolheads, scrutinising each tyre change and overtake as it happens, much to the ridicule of my wife and Xbox-loving son.

McLaren have had better seasons. Possibly better decades come to think of it, but don’t get me started on that. I’ll suffer in silence.

Why my loyalty to McLaren when there are more successful teams with much cheaper merchandise to go with it? Well, i guess it’s just that little bit of brand loyalty coming to the front again.

Checking with Google for the right definition of Brand Loyalty, comes up with this little gem:-

“True brand loyalty occurs when consumers are willing to pay higher prices for a certain brand, go out of their way for the brand, or think highly of it”

…..and I guess that’s right in my case!

My favourite team’s merchandise isn’t cheap. To wear the same cap, jacket or have the logo on a simple keyring as the drivers will cost me….a lot! So why do it and why follow a racing team with a passion that’s best reserved for the local football team?

A few years ago, I entered a simple competition set by the official McLaren account on Twitter. I say a competition, it was more of a retweet, but I like to say I won it anyway. The prize was a book. That’s all I knew.

A few days later, a very large box came and I put it to one side, as it was approaching Christmas and we has all sorts arriving from online shopping sites etc.

Two days later, checking my emails, I was surprised to receive one from the McLaren marketing team and it read as follows:

“Dear Gary

Due to administrative issues you may have received a copy of McLaren – The Cars book rather than the stated prize, McLaren – The Wins. We apologise for this confusion and have now sent out the correct book, McLaren – The Wins. There’s no need to return the other book to us.

Merry Christmas!

From all of the team at McLaren”

That morning, another box arrived and opening both boxes together, found inside each one, was a big, thick, glossy book full info about cars, pics of drivers and everything a fan could wish for and although i had a decent prize in my hand, all i thought about was that email and what it said….“There’s no need to return the other book to us….Merry Christmas!“

mc

 

They went that “extra mile”. They didn’t have to, but they did and you know what? because of that one line in an email, i’ll continue to be a proud member of Team McLaren, buy their merchandise, enter their competitions and support them through the lean times. They’ve got me.

Now i’m not saying that every brand or company should be giving out freebies all the time or anything like that, but, i believe that those that go out of their way to do that little bit extra for their customers, will leave a lasting impression on them and maybe, just maybe, when times are hard, that customer will place that order, renew that campaign or simply follow your company because they like you.

Can that be a bad thing?

30 Jan 2015
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LinkedIn Has A Sense Of Humour

January 30, 2015

b2b-LinkedIn-LogoThere’s a few things some of us can’t do without. For me it’s my mobile and it’s social media apps. A rare day away from the ncjMedia office this morning and it seemed like a good idea to catch up with my connection’s posts and update my LinkedIn profile at the same time.

After thanking some new connections for their invites, I was ready to press the save button to my summary update and then it happened….ERROR 503. Social media paranoia set in and just to make sure it wasn’t just my mobile having problems, Twitter was tapped and, yes, it was happening to everyone else. It was time for a cheeky Tweet before disappearing to make more coffee.

Those that know me also know that I believe Social Media should just mean that. It’s a “social” platform and a great way to connect with people. My Tweet went along the lines of:

Just as i’m updating my profile, goes down with an error 503. Couldn’t handle the “awesomeness”? haha

Not only did I get a reply from LinkedIn Help, but they also saw the humour that was meant with the post.

Too much awesome might just bring it down. Back up as of 10am. Thanks for bearing with us! /Kat

I like this Kat in Customer Service and therefore I like LinkedIn. Customer service with a sense of humour.

linkedin

18 Jan 2015
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Dare

January 18, 2015

Always known to tinker now and then (for the better), I’ve added a video to the header of my Blog. I always look for videos with “an edge”, so Gorillaz “Dare” gets the top spot for the time being as the cartoon character is the original “hipster”.

You’ve got a choice to view below or scroll upwards and get the full effect on the header area. Don’t forget to click the play icon for the audio (just like all good websites).

15 Nov 2014
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Feelin’ Creative

November 15, 2014

Sometimes when you’ve got those late night projects to do, a little music helps you along while getting those creatives juices flowing.

Came across this song quite by accident a few days ago (God knows how) and haven’t stopped listening to it yet. The Alabama Shakes have a great album and are definitely worth checking out.

What’s your verdict?

01 Nov 2014
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Movember

November 1, 2014

Made_in_Movember_Icon_1I’ve decided to sign up to Movember 2014, a global movement raising awareness of Prostate Cancer, Testicular Cancer & Mental Health.

Mo Bros take action by changing their appearance by growing a moustache for the 30 days of Movember, to spark conversation and raise funds.

To find out more about what it’s all about check out this link: Movember UK or please donate here: My Movember Challenge

I’ll be posting a  few updates as i attempt to grow the MO. Meanwhile here’s another great video from those wonderful Mo Bros organising all this. Why not sign up and join in the fun? Let’s raise money for charity….in style!