Coca-Cola calls pitch for design agencies roster - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic

Coca-Cola calls pitch for design agencies roster - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic: "Coca-Cola calls pitch for design agencies roster by Ed Kemp Marketing 30-Oct-07, 08:35 LONDON - Coca-Cola Europe is to create its first pan-European design roster and has begun talking to design agencies. It is believed that Coca-Cola will hire more than 10 agencies. Those chosen will be briefed to handle activity across design, digital design, brand identity, packaging and in-store marketing. The agencies have already been asked to pitch in a process being managed by Creative Brief. It is not known whether Coca-Cola plans to create separate rosters for each design discipline or a single roster. The brief will span the entire Coca-Cola drinks range, which includes Oasis, Capri- Sun and Minute Maid. Coca-Cola UK is also reviewing its media agency arrangements. The £40m review, which spans its whole portfolio, was called in July. Universal McCann, Vizeum, Starcom and Naked Communication have been invited to pitch. Mobile is another area under review, as the firm looks to increase its commitment to global SMS on-pack promotions. In the UK, it is promoting its Coke range through the launch of its first loyalty scheme. The 'Coke Zone', created by Carlson Marketing, offers consumers points that are redeemable against special offers and 'money-can't-buy' prizes. E"

E-Mail Open Rates Hinge on 'Subject' Line - eMarketer

E-Mail Open Rates Hinge on 'Subject' Line - eMarketer:

E-Mail Open Rates Hinge on 'Subject' Line

OCTOBER 31, 2007

Turning off Caps Lock doesn't hurt either.

Personalized e-mails boost open rates, according to a MailerMailer study. The e-mail service provider found that personalized "subject" lines in particular increased the number of times recipients opened their mailings.

The "subject" line is so important that, even when marketers have recipients' permission, the wrong line can still mean trouble.

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"The e-mail’s 'from' and 'subject' lines become key elements that help recipients quickly decide whether the e-mail is spam," said David Hallerman, senior analyst at eMarketer.

"Yet legitimate marketers confuse such seemingly simple issues by sending messages from different groups within their companies," Mr. Hallerman said, "and hence with various 'from' lines.

"Or they use 'subject' lines that they hope will entice the recipient but are often not clear enough," he said.

A December 2006 study by the E-Mail Sender and Provider Coalition and Ipsos confirmed how crucial "from" and "subject" lines are. About seven in 10 US Internet users said they judged these lines when deciding whether to report an e-mail as spam.

The MailerMailer study also found that open rates have continued to decline, as they have since 2004, as more people started using e-mail programs that disable the “automatic image downloading" setting.

To track open rates, HTML e-mails contain an invisible image measuring 1x1 pixel. When a recipient enables images to display, the sending servers can track when the image was displayed and by whom.

Even though open rates have gone down, click rates remain steady, suggesting that people are still reading their e-mail despite the lower-reported open rates.

E-Mail ROI High, Response Rates Low - eMarketer

E-Mail ROI High, Response Rates Low - eMarketer:

E-Mail ROI High, Response Rates Low

OCTOBER 30, 2007

Next to search, e-mail spend is tiny. But that's OK.

Spending on direct marketing commercial e-mail in the United States will hit $600 million in 2008, according to the Direct Marketing Association. That number represents an increase of nearly one-quarter over 2007.

The numbers are dwarfed by spending on non-e-mail Internet direct marketing—such as search and display—which is expected to hit $23 billion. But judging by the DMA's data, the spending figures belie e-mail's low cost and high ROI.

eMarketer spoke with Anna Chernis, senior research manager at the DMA, about e-mail response rates.

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"E-mail produces the highest response rate for lead generation—especially for house campaigns—of direct mail methods we have studied," Ms. Chernis said.

"E-mail is in general the lowest-cost way to run a campaign," she said. "Sometimes the response rate isn’t so great, but the cost is so low that it is part of most campaigns."

The DMA also found that commercial e-mail's ROI will hit $45.65 for every dollar spent in 2008.

Ms. Chernis noted that the group's separate study of direct marketing media response rates did not indicate much about ROI because the cost to send additional e-mails is tiny compared with sending more pieces of direct mail.

She added that just because a given media type is effective does not mean it should be used forever. Direct mail is so prevalent in financial services that marketers are looking at other media as a supplement.

Still, response rates remain one of the primary methods by which US marketers assess ROI, according to a Penton Media Custom Research study commissioned by PROMO Magazine.

That said, even with online marketing, some metrics remain out of reach. Ms. Chernis said that market researchers have yet to determine lift, such as for brand awareness, from multimedia versus single-media campaigns.

Nintendo Wii campaign searches for Britain's brainiest family - Brand Republic Login - Brand Republic

Nintendo Wii campaign searches for Britain's brainiest family - Brand Republic Login - Brand Republic: "Nintendo Wii campaign searches for Britain's brainiest family by Nikki Sandison Brand Republic 24-Oct-07, 16:00 LONDON - Nintendo is promoting its Wii game Big Brain Academy by hosting a TV-style game show to find Britain's brainiest family in shopping centres around the UK. The campaign, created by BD-NTWK, aims to get families to compete against each other for a chance to take a place in the national final, hosted by GMTV's Lorraine Kelly,..."

Agencies line up for Pepsi digital brief - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic

Agencies line up for Pepsi digital brief - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic: "Agencies line up for Pepsi digital brief by Noel Bussey Campaign 25-Oct-07, 08:30 LONDON - Pepsi is talking to digital agencies as it looks to re-evaluate its digital marketing strategy. The company is in early discussions with agencies and plans to hold an official pitch towards the end of the year. The winning agency will be briefed with web build activity as well as extensive online campaign work. ADVERTISEMENT The initial briefs will concentrate on youth marketing and will focus on how its digital strategy can be better used to target the youth market. In the UK, the company does not have a retained agency. However, in the past it has used the regional agency Graphico for one off briefs. Graphico's latest work for the client was to re-launch the Pepsi Max website, www.maxyourlife.com, in October 2006. The site encouraged uses to create and upload video clips showing how they 'maxed' their day. This was backed by the launch of a branded content channel on www.youtube.com, which was managed by MindShare Interaction."

IDM to launch email marketing certificate with Responsys - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic

IDM to launch email marketing certificate with Responsys - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic: "IDM to launch email marketing certificate with Responsys by Alex Donohue Brand Republic 24-Oct-07, 14:00 LONDON - Email marketing company Responsys and the Institute of Direct Marketing are to launch a certified qualification in email marketing for the industry, offering practical training and an examination. The six-month course, which is based in London, will give participants classroom tuition, assignments, practical training and a final examination by the IDM board of examiners, offering candidates an IDM Responsys Certificate in Email Marketing. Responsys said the courses, which run twice a year beginning in September and January, would give marketing professionals a recognised qualification demonstrating their ability to manage resources, form a business case and maximise the performance of email marketing campaigns. The agency added that the European email marketing industry, which is worth around £1.1bn, currently gave retailers an average 100-fold return on investment on targeted email campaigns. But a shortfall in qualified staff has led to many online marketing departments being unable to exploit revenue, retention and data in email marketing. John Nugent, vice-president and general manager at Responsys for the European, Middle East and Africa region, said: 'T"

Coke to roll out first rewards scheme - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic

Coke to roll out first rewards scheme - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic: "Coke to roll out first rewards scheme by Ed Kemp Marketing 24-Oct-07, 10:00 LONDON - Coca-Cola Great Britain is poised to launch its first ever UK rewards programme, as revealed by Marketing magazine in March. The rewards scheme, called ‘Coke Zone', will span ‘Coca-Cola', ‘Diet Coke' and ‘Coca-Cola Zero' and will offer consumers a series of rewards and money-can't-buy prizes. Special codes will be displayed on 500ml bottles and 2 litre packs of ‘Coca-Cola', ‘Diet Coke' and ‘Coca-Cola Zero'. Consumer will be able to then enter the codes through a dedicated website or via SMS in order to collect points. These points can be redeemed on-line with more than 60 reward scheme partners from the entertainment, fashion and music sectors. The scheme will launch as a trial in November. Coca-Cola then plans to roll out the scheme early in 2008. Should the scheme prove successful Coca-Cola plans to roll out ‘Coke Zone' across other Coca-Cola Great Britain brands. The official spring launch will be supported with a marketing campaign was created by Carlson Marketing and will span TV, online and in-store activity."

Iris to expand after winning £5m loan funding - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic

Iris to expand after winning £5m loan funding - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic: "Iris to expand after winning £5m loan funding by Nikki Sandison Brand Republic 22-Oct-07, 11:40 LONDON - Integrated agency Iris Worldwide has won an interest-free loan of £5m in the Sunday Times/Bank of Scotland Corporate £25m Entrepreneur Challenge. Iris, which provides services in advertising, direct and digital marketing, public relations and sales promotion, plans to use the three-year loan to expand overseas. It will open offices in places such as Hong Kong, Brazil, Russia and South Africa to add to the offices it has already opened in New York, Sydney, Delhi and Singapore."

Dare and i-level part company with the AA - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic

Dare and i-level part company with the AA - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic: "Dare and i-level part company with the AA by Kunal Dutta Campaign 18-Oct-07, 12:00 LONDON - Dare has resigned the digital ad account for the AA, after the company served notice on its digital media agency, i-level. Dare has worked with the AA since August 2005, while i-level picked up the media account - worth £5 million at the time -- in May of the same year. However, the company has since substantially scaled back its investment in digital marketing. The future of the accounts is not yet clear. Sources close to the business suggest that Rapier, which handles through-the-line activity for the AA's insurance and financial services, could inherit Dare's portion of the business, which includes web build and advertising. The AA, which has just completed a £6.2 billion merger with Saga, has recently seen a lot of change in its marketing department, which has thrown its wider agency arrangements into question. Above-the-line advertising and media for the AA is currently held by Delaney Lund Knox Warren & Partners and PHD respectively."

Iris scoops global Shell digital business - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic

Iris scoops global Shell digital business - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic: "Iris scoops global Shell digital business by Staff Campaign 18-Oct-07, 12:00 LONDON - Shell has appointed Iris to handle its multimillion-pound global digital account, following a pitch against undisclosed agencies. Iris will now work as the lead digital agency for the petrol giant, and will initially produce campaigns for its retail, fuel and lubricants accounts. The agency's brief will include web development, online advertising and electronic customer relationship marketing. Iris already works with Shell on cross-promotional activity. The incumbent lead agency, Digitas London, continues to work with Shell's corporate department, and is currently redesigning the Shell.com website. In May, Iris hired Drew Thomson, the former chief executive of Airmiles, as its chairman to spearhead the agency's expansion plans across Europe. One of his first initiatives was to create a through-the-line strategy agency, jointly owned by Rise Communications, called iRise. Both Shell and Iris declined to comment."

E-Mail Usage High, Marketing Spend Low - eMarketer

E-Mail Usage High, Marketing Spend Low - eMarketer: "E-Mail Usage High, Marketing Spend Low OCTOBER 11, 2007 Are e-mail marketers getting shorted on budget? More than one-half of US e-mail marketing executives get 20% or less of their firm's e-mail budgets, according to StrongMail Systems and JupiterResearch’s “Maturation of Email: Controlling Messaging Chaos Through Centralization” report. E-mail marketers appear to get shortchanged when it comes to e-mail budgets, especially considering the medium's wide usage. JupiterResearch found more than one-quarter of the e-mail that consumers received in their inboxes was marketing. But there are reasons why e-mail spending growth will stay moderate in the short term. 'The key reason is cost,' said David Hallerman, eMarketer senior analyst. 'Because e-mail is a low-cost medium, even relatively large increases in the number of commercial e-mails will not be reflected in large spending increases.' E-mail marketing spending comprises payments to e-mail service providers, list rental and the costs of in-house e-mail. E-mail advertising, on the other hand, is defined as ads running in third-party e-mail newsletters. eMarketer predicts that US e-mail marketing spending will reach $1.65 billion in 2011, up from nearly $1.5 billion in 2007. In essence, the annual growth rate will slow from 5.6% in 2006 to 1.5% in 2011. Moderate "

Coca-Cola plans Chinese drinks - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic

Coca-Cola plans Chinese drinks - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic: "Coca-Cola plans Chinese drinks by Jemima Bokaie Marketing 16-Oct-07, 08:30 LONDON - Coca-Cola is to launch a range of drinks based on traditional Chinese herbal ingredients and recipes. The drinks giant has set up a research centre in China to develop the beverages. A spokesman for Coca-Cola said that the company was aiming to launch them in the first quarter of next year. The drinks are part of Coca-Cola's focus on health-related products; other plans include the roll-out of Glaceau enhanced waters, acquired through the purchase of US drinks company Energy Brands (Marketing, 8 August). ADVERTISEMENT Separately, Coca-Cola has agreed a global partnership with Italian coffee brand illy caffe to launch a range of premium ready-to-drink coffee products. The illy caffe brand is sold in 140 countries through more than 50,000 restaurants and coffee bars."

Zurich to promote insurance with homepage takeovers - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic

Zurich to promote insurance with homepage takeovers - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic: "Zurich to promote insurance with homepage takeovers by Jacquie Bowser Brand Republic 15-Oct-07, 12:45 LONDON - Zurich is continuing its £12m 'Because change happenz' marketing campaign online by launching several homepage takeovers on sites including MSN, Tiscali, AOL and Orange. The online homepage takeover campaign, brokered by Zed, commences on Wednesday. It aims to raise brand awareness of Zurich insurance among ABC1 users between 35- and 54-years-old who are in the market for insurance but are not price sensitive. The campaign will feature humorous 'what if' situations based around car, home and commercial insurance. ADVERTISEMENT One homepage takeover sees a webpage smashed through by a gloved hand which snatches a car radio from a vehicle interior shown in the ad banner. Accompanying this is the strapline: 'What if someone shares your taste in music?' Diane Rowe, account director at Zed, said: 'With this campaign we continue to build the profile of Zurich as the insurer, not only for today but for the future. 'Digital is at the heart of our strategy for Zurich, delivering both brand interaction and engagement, and we are delighted that Zurich has embraced the true potential of online marketing.'"

Capri-Sun appoints bd-ntwk to account - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic

Capri-Sun appoints bd-ntwk to account - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic: "Capri-Sun appoints bd-ntwk to account by Ed Kemp Marketing 16-Oct-07, 08:15 LONDON - Coca-Cola Enterprises has hired bd-ntwk to handle promotional activity for its Capri-Sun drink brand. The agency was chosen following a three-way pitch and will be tasked with creating on-pack promotions for the brand. The work will launch early next year. The initial campaign will be based on the theme 'squeezy mischief' and aims to boost sales through a series of competitions. The activity will coincide with the un-veiling of a fresh Capri-Sun pouch packaging design. ADVERTISEMENT The brand, which recently relaunched with no artificial ingredients, ran its first online ads earlier this year. They targeted mothers and ran across sites including Handbag.com, Female First and iVillage. The brand also launched an interactive support centre providing women with help in getting their children to eat more healthily and tips on how to prepare a healthy lunchbox. It also featured advice from child expert Clare Halsey. Capri-Sun is the fifth-biggest-selling juice drink brand in the UK, according to Mintel figures published earlier this year. Between 2001 and 2006 the brand's sales fell by 10.5%. Last year, it generated sales of £51m compared with £54m in 2003 and £57m in 2001. Last year, Capri-Sun ran an on-pa"

Coca-Cola starts push for Diet Coke Plus - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic

Coca-Cola starts push for Diet Coke Plus - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic: "Coca-Cola starts push for Diet Coke Plus by Darren Davidson Brand Republic 10-Oct-07, 12:00 LONDON - Coca-Cola is launching Diet Coke Plus, its new vitamin-enriched drink, with a heavyweight advertising and sampling campaign. The centrepiece of the campaign, created by VCCP, is a 10-second TV spot, supported by print ads and posters. It breaks on October 15 and uses the line 'Plus a little added goodness'."

News: Coca-Cola picks Unilever man as head of innovation - Marketing Week

News: Coca-Cola picks Unilever man as head of innovation - Marketing Week: "Coca-Cola picks Unilever man as head of innovation 19-Sep-07 Coca%20ColaCoca-Cola has appointed a former Unilever marketer, Chad Scales, to the new role of vice-president of brand marketing innovation. He takes over the role this week. Scales’ appointment aims to build on Coke’s new product development in non-core categories as it looks to move away from carbonated drinks. He will be responsible for developing the company into areas such as teas, coffees as well as looking at new packaging. Scales, who was previously vice-president of food division at Unilever North America, will report to Mark Mathieu, senior vice president of brand marketing. Mathieu reports into Coke’s chief marketing and commercial officer Joseph Tripodi, who was appointed last month. He replaced Mary Minnick, who left to join private equity company Lion Capital. Scales will head a team including Gopal Krishnan, who works in production innovation, Mike Shepherd, who works across packaging and equipment innovation, and David Fielding, who heads the teas and coffees categories. Coca-Cola, in recent years, has attempted to diversify away from carbonated drinks. It has undertaken a joint venture with NestlÈ called Beverage Partners Worldwide (BPW), which focuses on black and green tea. The pair are understood to be working on a range of functional"

E-Dialog to release latest email marketing package - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic

E-Dialog to release latest email marketing package - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic: "E-Dialog to release latest email marketing package by Alex Donohue Brand Republic 03-Oct-07, 12:15 LONDON - Email marketing company e-Dialog is to release its latest software package, which focuses on helping marketers to improve the relevancy of their campaigns. The package, called The Relevance Trajectory, is described by e-Dialog as the first of its kind to identify the essential factors that comprise a relevant email marketing campaign and provide a score-based assessment for each element. The company said the rating system used by the package would allow users to improve email marketing relevancy to recipients, by following The Relevance Trajectory's step-by-step process. E-Dialog said that 97% of marketers used email to contact customers, making it increasingly difficult to get messages read, but that customised, well-timed emails increased the success rate of campaigns. John Rizzi, president and chief executive officer at e-Dialog, said: 'The Relevance Trajectory is a series of logical steps of information gathering, opportunity identification, programme development and results measurement that form a roadmap for continuously improving email marketing programmes.'"

Web 2.0 Users Go Shopping - eMarketer

Web 2.0 Users Go Shopping - eMarketer: "Web 2.0 Users Go Shopping SEPTEMBER 25, 2007 But does the tech help persuade them to buy? Web 2.0 users spent about $27 billion online in the United States in the second quarter of 2007, according to comScore’s 'Web 2.0 in Retail Today” report. comScore reported that social networking site traffic rose 33% to 81 million unique visitors in August 2007 versus August 2006. Blog traffic grew 23% to 28 million unique visitors, while online video site traffic increased 20% to 93 million. “[The company also found that] 158 million people, or 87% of the US online population, visited Web sites that used Web 2.0 technology in August 2007, spending an average of 210 minutes per person at such sites,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni at the Shop.org Retail Summit, as reported by Internet Retailer."

Norwich Union slashes marketing budget - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic

Norwich Union slashes marketing budget - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic: "Norwich Union slashes marketing budget by Ed Kemp Marketing 26-Sep-07, 12:00 LONDON - Aviva-owned insurance brand Norwich Union will cut its 2008 marketing spend by approximately £80m next year and will cut back its 430-strong marketing department to 290 staff. According to insiders, staff were notified of the cutbacks earlier today and were told that the marketing budget would be £100m for the 2008 fiscal year. The company confirmed that 140 staff will be let go by next January. ADVERTISEMENT The insurer is also hoping to make further savings through a review of its marketing services agencies (Marketing 7 August). The insurance brand has told existing agencies to cut fees or risk losing the business, according to insiders. The UK's biggest insurer, Norwich Union had been in the midst of a pitch for its NU Life business, but that now hangs in the balance as the firm plans to draw up a roster of direct shops for its other insurance brands, including Motoring, Life, Home and Healthcare. In a statement NU said: 'Following a review of our marketing plans for 2008, we will be reducing our marketing budget and the number of roles across the marketing team by 140. We are operating in an increasingly competitive and changing environment and need to reduce the costs to our busi"