'Disintermediation' is a term normally applied to the Financial Services industry when people talk about the demise of the IFA (greatly exaggerated in my view).  But last week I heard it applied to agencies.  The argument goes that if social media is taking over from traditional media as the marketing channel of choice, and it’s something that clients themselves are keen to manage internally, why do they need agencies? Typically, it's believed that the best people to blog are the customer service department or the CEO and the best people to Tweet are the marketing department or the logistics company. ...

In the next few weeks I become a Dad. So, over the last few months I have spent a lot of time reading about what my wife can and can’t eat or drink, buggies that cost the same as a car, sleeping routines, leaving your baby in the garden with the foxes and a lot more – what did people do before the internet? You may think that, true to form, I am now going to go on a rant about something -  paternity and maternity leave as a business owner, perhaps? But no, I actually want to share with...

I hope I am starting or at least being a part of something, a revolution of sorts. On the 20th October this year I tweeted “People who complain about receiving too many emails. Opt Out from the ones you don't read, instead of deleting them” http://twitter.com/edweatherall/status/5020730534 I also then started telling people at events “ http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/blogs/in-business-blog/make-more-time-your-life-unsubscribe-spam “ Today I got a tweet about a Return Path blog http://savvyb2bmarketing.com/blog/entry/346771/how-to-improve-the-unsubscribe-process-yes-this-is-something-to-think-about Too often people sit with their BlackBerry or iPhone in hand saying “I hate email as it rules my life, I get so many messages”, to which I respond, “Opt Out it's your inbox, or get...

These days, consumers have more choice than ever before, through more diverse channels - from storefront to mail order to online. Expectation is higher than ever. Companies that fail to live up to that expectation find customers leaving without comment - the majority of dissatisfied customers will not complain, they will simply change suppliers. Those businesses that introduce an exceptional level of customer service are differentiating themselves from the competition in an increasingly saturated marketplace. Which is why it is so surprising that business, to a large extent, is still failing to address the issue of customer service. According to...

That was indeed the question I mulled over when travelling home from the recent B2B Marketing conference on lead generation. It’s not often that I think about breasts, and that may have been the result of too much wine, but the parallels between lead nurturing and breast feeding suddenly struck me. You see, there is a line. Like breast feeding, you can nurture for too long and before you know it you’re the subject of a Channel 4 documentary with two seven year olds clamped limpet-like to your teats. You enjoy the contact, the interaction, the reliance and it makes...

I actually wrote this blog last year but was persuaded by my business partner, to just leave it. Now we are having exactly the same conversations, internally as well as with clients and I cannot be silenced anymore.   What is wrong with Happy Christmas?   My business partner says, “No, it’s Season’s Greetings, we don’t want to offend anyone.”   Who are we going to offend?   So the question is - would anyone be offended if a company card said “Have a Merry Christmas”? We are wishing good will to all. Every shop we walk past from as...

I was just on our B2B Marketing LinkedIn Group (a plug already!) and I read a response to a question I have heard a lot lately. “Where do I put my marketing spend in 2010?” Do I keep a good mix or bin traditional marketing in favour of digital, as it’s cheaper. The thing is, in today’s market I think this general talk of shifting away from traditional spend to digital is already outdated. “Digital” is not new anymore, I know we’re not yet hanging out with Star Trek's Captain Picard but come on; we’re online most of the day...

Occasionally someone reports a problem with the office loo. I grab my Fisher Price tools and wiggle a few nuts and washers, call in other directors to look at the problem and give their opinion, maybe even get someone to Google it. The time these clever people at Concep spend trying to solve the problem costs the company more in time and salary than if I had picked up the phone and called my brother in law, a plumber.  George would have charged me by the hour, fixed it and then left but I would never consider bringing him on...

I've always been suspicious of anyone introducing themselves as an 'Entrepreneur'. It's one of those words I find impossible to say out loud. Women don't seem to like the word 'moist', but for me, it's 'entrepreneur'. Eww. I'm less disturbed when the term is used to describe someone else. It's the self-use of the word that bugs me. So, “Richard Branson is an entrepreneur”, is acceptable. “Hello, I'm Bob. I'm an entrepreneur”, isn't. See what I mean? Wanker. So when I was relatively relaxed as introductions were made at a client meeting and the marketing director said, “...and this is...

 When a company is taken over – what should happen to the swallowed company’s brands?   Mergers and acquisitions have characterised many B2B markets for at least the last 10 years – the recent Dow takeover of Rohm and Haas, and BASF’s takeover of Ciba show how valuable consolidation is perceived by senior management, even in the current credit crunch environment.   Much of the communication  relating to the rationale of any merger focuses on “synergies”, and we all know what that means. But what about the brands acquired? When a company’s history stretches back over decades, it’s clear...