Newsletter

How social are you?

When John Battelle and Tim O’Reilly described ‘the web as platform’ at the first Web 2.0 conference back in 2004, they predicted applications would be written for the web rather than the desktop, and that user generated content would be harnessed to create value and collective intelligence.

Over the past five years applications that enable social interactions, whether business or personal, have experienced exponential growth. Social media activities include socialising, fact-finding and entertainment of various kinds. Social Media is changing the balance of power in business, offering customers with a new channel through which to voice opinions and engage brands, while also providing a new channel for the sales and marketing mix.

Today, a Google search for ‘social media’ will return around 625,000,000 results. Social networking leader Facebook has over 500 million members and has grown by 40% increase in the last six months alone. Microblog site Twitter has 105 million user accounts, 15 million of which are active and generating an average of 27.3 million tweets per day. There are around 126 million blogs online (as tracked by BlogPulse) with 70% discussing brands.

In a new Foviance whitepaper, we look at ‘Social Media and Customer Experience: a perspective on the landscape’. We examine who uses social media, its impact on business, how companies are beginning to engage via these new platforms, and how we can expect social media to evolve in the future.

 Download your copy of ‘Social Media and Customer Experience: a perspective on the landscape’ today.

This whitepaper was announced in the Foviance September Newsletter

Welcome to this latest edition of your Foviance newsletter. In this issue we look at the changing face of mobile customer experience and the rapid developments we’re witnessing in 2010: the year of the mobile.

Firstly, Xavier expands on the boom in mobile retail apps. Sean opens up the debate on future direction of targeted mobile advertising. And Jamie enlightens us about ‘Yam-Yams’ and the fickle world of mobile gaming.

I hope you enjoy this latest newsletter.You might also enjoy reading and commenting on some of our consultants’ thoughts and opinions on our regularly updated blog pages.

I would be very interested to hear from you directly with any feedback.

Paul Blunden, CEO, Foviance

In this issue:

Making the most of retail apps
Going local with mobile advertising
Cross-channel experience for Yam Yams!

The application (app) market is booming. The advent of the iPhone and its application concept just three years ago generated new ground for online revenues. Thanks to this development of the smartphone market and the emergence of app marketplaces such as Ovi (Nokia) and Android Market, the app business is at the exciting beginning of its story. Read more about: Making the most of retail apps

The mobile advertising market is growing rapidly, presenting fresh challenges for any brands wishing to get their messages in front of this important new target audience.

According to recent figures from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), the trade body for digital marketing, the total spend on mobile phone advertising in 2009 rocketed by 32 percent year-on-year to a new high of £37.6 million – and all that despite an overall contraction in the advertising sector in 2009. Read more about: Going local with mobile advertising

I have a friend Luke, who is a big gambler, big to me anyway as he’s happy to squander more than a month’s worth of wages over a weekend on horses, football and whatever else is happening at the time. He’s an alpha male, he’s loud, he can down a few pints and he enjoys life.

So when I think about my world of marketing, brand and user experience, I often look at him and consider that he is somewhat absolved from the matter, almost that he is not capable of being understood as an individual or won over as a customer on the grounds of such squandering. Read more about: Cross-Channel Experience for Yam Yams!

Welcome to this latest edition of your Foviance newsletter. In this issue we examine how gaming companies can instil confidence and loyalty in their customers, and find out a lot more about them into the bargain. Many of the issues discussed trasfer directly to other sectors and are therefore relevant  to us all.

Neil underlines the importance of applying measurable analytics to the customer experience of gamers. Jamie highlights the value of focus groups at a Bingo summit, and provides an update on the latest in mobile gaming trends. Finally Mariana examines the phenomenon of gaming attrition in the wake of this year’s Football World Cup.

If you enjoy this latest newsletter, why not visit our website? You might also enjoy reading and commenting on some of our consultants’ thoughts and opinions on our regularly updated blog page.

I would be very interested to hear from you directly with any feedback and any ideas for topics you would like us to discuss in future issues. Think of it as free consultancy!

Paul Blunden, CEO Foviance

In this issue:

A winning analytics strategy for gaming firms

Eyes down, it’s time to focus on Bingo

Reducing player attrition

Mobile gaming: the state of play

Even the very largest gaming businesses online today may be playing a weakened hand when it comes to delivering a truly efficient web analytics strategy.

Over the last year I’ve spoken to numerous companies who, although generally data rich about how their customers bet and how they acquire those customers, often have little visibility of what those people are actually doing on the site. Without ignoring the value of customer data, they have still forgotten to focus and invest in key areas of their customers’ behaviour and lifecycle – missing out on valuable analytics. Read more about: A winning analytics strategy for gaming firms

At the Annual Online Bingo Summit and Awards on 8-9 June 2010, Foviance took the stage with a rather unique panel that roused the audience and gave great insight into their customers.

The Summit, now in its fifth year, is the place where operators, game developers and providers come together to learn, debate and discuss all things bingo. It’s a great event with some fantastic speakers, panel debates and networking opportunities. Read more about: Eyes down, it’s time to focus on Bingo