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The Mobile App-trap
If it’s not the latest news about Facebook, or jaw-dropping valuations of businesses such as Skype or LinkedIn, I suspect you’ll be mostly hearing about the incredible explosion in mobile and tablet usage and yes, of course the very latest must-haves in app development.
Like many you’ll probably be enthusiastically working out how your business can benefit from this new-found ability to nuzzle up close to your customers, and like many you’ll probably also be picking your way through the pitfalls and confusion which ensues.
The recent episode of UK TV show The Apprentice in which the teams had to create a mobile app, is a great illustration of some of the challenges to be faced. Lara O’Reilly summarises these challenges nicely in her article “Brands Should be Fired up by Apprentice App Task” in Marketing Week . Read more..
Defining, directing and managing your own digital data is crucial for success
“Trust no one; trust only what the experiments and the data tell you”
Sir Paul Nurse – President of the Royal Society “Science under Attack” 2010 BBC Documentary
Ok so perhaps we shouldn’t take the first part of this statement too literally, collaboration after all is an essential part of marketing development today but when it comes to consumer insight however, parallels can certainly be drawn from the sentiment of the latter half of Sir Paul’s statement.
This BBC documentary was about why public trust in key scientific theories has been eroded, but as Sir Paul Nurse discussed the issue, my mind detached itself from the messages on the cathode ray, and onto one simple and firm held thought – make sure you have full access, availability and understanding of all the facts.
I mean, in simple terms, why not, the data is yours, why shouldn’t you?
Read more..
Empathy will drive your business
I’m having one of those freaky weeks when everything I read, listen to or stumble across is talking about the same thing – the importance of the emotional versus the rational part of the brain.
My series of coincidences began when I started reading a fascinating book by Jonah Lehrer – How We Decide. In the book he eloquently explains what influences our decisions and, amongst many other things, why sometimes we’re inexplicably struck to act on something we just can’t quite put our finger on… And it got me to thinking about how technology might have impacted on our ability to make decisions. The chapter that made a big impact on me was about how we’re basically hard-wired to be humane – purely because of our ability to sympathise with others. But what gets to us, isn’t just the thought that someone might be sad, upset or angry – we also rely on visual cues – facial distortions or other visible signs of distress to keep our actions in check.
Getting valuable insight from data
It’s true that the amount of data now being generated within our increasingly digital society is vast, every action and reaction is catalogued and stored. Why do we then find that, ironically, businesses still fall back on traditional measurements and struggle to infuse digital data up to the very top of companies? Do you yourself believe that the responsiveness of the business is occasionally hampered by the lack of real time data usage and reaction? Of course digital data brings opportunity, but also raises challenges in taking this information and making effective and informed decisions. Appreciating and using the right data is key to your success within (digital) marketing.
A simple principle for using this data should be to make decisions based on what it shows. This is most straightforward in the implementational digital channels where the people looking at the data know what it represents and understand the detail within it. Where this becomes problematic is at a board and senior level where all too often the data is too detailed or not clearly presented and understood in terms of direction or message.
What’s the UbaGLU blog all about?
So here it is our first blog post. A little later than we expected, but it’s been a busy initial 18 months at UbaGLU where we’ve found a real need for taking the experience we gained in client and agency roles and applying that knowledge to bring a neutral perspective of the digital landscape.
During this time it’s been our privilege to work across a range of industry categories with clients who have varying needs and levels of digital knowledge.
And in spite of this varying knowledge, each client has had one thing in common at the outset – the conviction that digital understanding and integration is essential in order to drive their business forward and build long lasting consumer relationships.
Without this conviction and appreciation of the need to embrace the unknown, it will be hard for businesses to last the journey and adopt the wholesale changes required in today’s consumer controlled world.
