(Note: Picture above from: http://newslite.tv)

I, for one, was. My general morning rush meant I happily recieved the crisps from a lady in the street as a free promotion without really looking. Only realising half way across Waterloo Bridge that my crisps has the Liberal Democrat candidate Nick Clegg on the front and I had apparently chosen the Lib Dems by accepting my crisps. I was, to say the least, a little perplexed.

I inspected the packet further and realised the different coloured crisp packets at outside the station were in fact not flavours, but parties, and that this was an interesting little piece of marketing.

The back of the crisp packet informed me that I ought to visit their website http://www.therealcrisps-election.com/ to register my vote and also requested I add them on Twitter and Facebook. On the notes on the packet it also said the crisps were a sampling pack not to be claimed on expenses (which I found quite funny) and had a disclaimer stating the use of the image of Nick Clegg is in no way an endorsement of the crisps from him. No mention that the use of his image and the Liberal Democrat Party were not an endorsement of the party by the crisps though – something I would have thought mandatory since the crisps are likely to be seen alone separate to the other party packets which could give the wrong impression.

While I was pondering this (still walking on Waterloo Bridge, it’s a long bridge) I also noticed how many people had eaten theirs and littered the packets, missing the information entirely, and how many other people looked a tad confused by them. Presumably having done the same as me and not realised what the message was.

I was left with the distinct impression I had missed the point. It took me a while to realise REAL was a brand, having not heard of them before, and that this was a crisps promotion. I also felt the people handing them out needed better signage and posters to explain what they were doing so we knew to look for the small web address on the back of the packet. I also wasn’t sure why I would go online to vote with no incentive.

I checked out the site regardless when I got into the office – it was down. Too many visitors? I am unsure. But after a while it was back up and I could have a look round the site and see what this political crisp related marketing strategy was all about.

Voting was indeed accompanied by an entry into a prize draw for some rather good prizes, although these were hidden in a very undesigned popup window and seemed much an afterthought. The website design apart from this was clear, fun and had a nice real time animation of voting percentages on the front page. There was however no number of votes counter, so the percentages of people voting on parties due to receiving the free promotional crisps is unclear. There was quite a buzz about it on Twitter and elsewhere online though, so I suspect the marketing campaign was fairly wide reaching and was getting them attention.

My main thought was that the prizes ought to have been more prominent to drive more traffic, and also that the action wanted by the unsuspecting free crisp eater could have been clearer on the packet. ‘Vote online now and win’ would be the phrase that springs to mind as being missing from the design of these packets.

 Had I not been interested in finding out what the marketing strategy was and who was behind it – I might not have visited the site. As a designer and marketing professional with a strong interest in viral and social media marketing strategy however, I needed to find out who these people were. Overall, a fun and interesting marketing idea, but one which I feel could have been better executed to achieve a higher response rate. An interesting one to add to the list of companies using the election to market their own products and services (Marmite anyone?) and one to watch out for.

Which pack did you get? Did you realise the promotors aim? Did you vote? Are you more likely to vote in this crisp related marketing promotion than the real election? Let us know!

(Note: Picture above from: http://newslite.tv)

The crisp packets come in 3 designs – which feature the faces Gordon Brown on red, David Cameron on blue and Nick Clegg on yellow all contain sea salt crisps - and seem to be being given away at shopping centres and train stations around the country today – keep your eyes peeled and check out http://www.therealcrisps-election.com/ to register your vote. Or check out http://www.realcrisps.com/ to see the company behind the political based promotion.

In response to the new Tory ads a range of spoofs have gone viral. The spoofs are not merely anti-tory responses to the adverts but also responses to the posters themselves – the first of which featured a rather heavily airbrushed Cameron photo which had many reaching for photoshop within minutes. The posters are a strong simple idea with a instantly recognisable aesthetic style, and due to that very fact are a prime target for spoofers. Like the ‘I’m a PC’ adverts before then, these are just too easy to spoof and sites such as http://mydavidcameron.com/ are there with downloadable PSD files so you can photoshop away to your hearts content then upload and share your spood poster with the world back to http://mydavidcameron.com/ or onto http://ivenevervotedtory.wordpress.com/ in a LOLcats style viral communal joke.

Since the first ads have gone to press the Conservative party brought out several other poster series which are now also available as templates on http://mydavidcameron.com/ ready for usage. The resulting posters made it onto news headlines and the better ones have been passed around the web to the point where I suspect the number of people viewing spoof ads outweights those who have ever seen the original posters…

Since the adverts went live the Conservatives have taken another tact, now utalising an image of Gordon Brown as the focus of their new poster campaign from M&C Saatchi.  Far less of a target for online hoax versions than the previous campaigns but some spoofers were already creating alternative messages within days of the posters being hung.

Equally the new Labour posters depicting Cameron’s head onto 80s throwback DCI Gene Hunt sitting on a Quattro with the slogan ‘Don’t let him bring back the 80’s’ has been the target of spoofing to be a very pro-tory message championing the Conservatives hard hitting inititatives on crime.

It is interesting to see how these hard hitting and high risk stratagy posters will fare. It has been decades since the famous ‘Labour isn’t working’ poster which is still arguably the most influential political poster in modern British history – but it does leave you wondering: How would such a poster have fared had it been released in a day and age where comedy spoofs can be circulating on twitter and blogs within minutes and effectively turn the gun on the shooter.

Q – Tell us a little about how EmailMoxie.com started.
A- EmailMoxie.com started as a place where I can put down my thoughts, observations, and learnings about email marketing- and share them with anyone who is interested. Email marketing is fascinating because it is always evolving and people are always asking what other people are doing and looking for examples. Email Marketing is like a big game of follow the leader. Everyone is looking at what everyone else is doing and them imitating them. For example, one question many of my clients, co-workers, and network friends would ask me frequently is what is a good creative for a welcome campaign. Instead of providing some sort of vague answer I created a post on my blog that not only displays 45 welcome creatives from the best in the business, but also lists the subject line and other statistics. (see the August 11 2009 post on emailmoxie.com) EmailMoxie.com is a great place to learn more about email marketing. It’s as simple at that.

Q -Digital campaigns, especially email marketing, are thriving despite the recession – why do you think this is?
A- There are many reasons that email marketing is thriving despite a recession. Here are a couple of the most interesting.
1- The first is that email marketing is a much less expensive form of marketing compared to other online and offline marketing. (I don’t want to say email marketing is cheap because that is an overused and inaccurate phrase). More subscribers and customers can be reached for a lot less money using email marketing than mailing print catalogs, purchasing air time on the radio or television, or making a large bill board on the side of the road.
2- The second reason is that digital campaigns and email marketing are a necessity for a business, service, and organization to be successful and competitive. Email Marketing is no longer a luxury or novelty. It is an important and well integrated part of every business from the bakery down the street to a multi national corporation. Email Marketing is here to stay.

Q – What do you feel are the main strengths of email marketing as a
medium?
A- The main strengths of email marketing are:
1-Its cost point compared to other types of marketing.
2- Its flexibility. Email Marketing is always changing and improving. Also, email has become an acceptable and often preferred method of communication. Email is comfortable for many people.
3- Its rules and regulations. CAN-SPAM and other regional email regulations are something that all email marketers need to take seriously.
4- Its participation and popularity. There are tons and tons of folks who LOVE email and email marketing. These passionate, and sometimes crazy people, keep email marketing interesting and strong

Q – What are the 2 most common pitfalls you have seen companies fall into when creating email campaigns? How could they be avoided?
A- Great question. The two most common pitfalls I have seen companies fall into when creating email campaigns are 1- Not segmenting their subscriber list properly 2- Not testing the email thoroughly before deployment.
1- The days of load and blasting (i.e. sending to the entire list each email every time is diminishing). However, marketers need to be sure that the subscriber segments they are sending the mailing to is correct. You dont want to send a welcome email, for example, to someone who is already on your list. The way to avoid this error is to check your segments and keep your data fresh and clean. Check, check and check them again.
2- It is no fun for an email marketer when an email is sent with an error. Maybe the subject line is not correct. Maybe links do not work or images are not displaying. The way to resolve these issues are to not let them occur. A thorough testing and quality control routine prior to any email being deployed is a must.

Q – I have seen the email marketing industry evolve over the last few years – what would you say has been the most important advancement and why?
A- There have been so many important advancements. Here are two of the biggest ones in no particular order.
Social Media – Email and Social Media seem to be more compatible than many folks give them credit but they do not depend on one another. Facebook (twitter, digg, etc.)will exist without email and email will exist without Facebook. Because of this they work well together. Social Media allows like minded friends to not only share their ideas, thoughts and desires but also their emails. This is good stuff for email marketing!
Email Education, Organizations and Best Practices There are quite a few great organizations dedicated to protecting and advancing email. These hardworking people help email and email marketing tremendously. They are always thinking and looking for what is next. Simple ideas like forward to a friend, and playing video in an email, have helped email marketing.

Q – With the number of different email clients out there there have been calls for standardization of email coding, something companies such as Microsoft have so far failed to listen to with their last releases such as Outlook 2007. Do you think this is starting to change as the industry grows?
A- No, I dont think this is starting to change nor do I think it should. Email clients will always be different. There will never be universal standardization. This is something that email marketers need to both fear and embrace. The fear comes into play when an email renders correctly in one email client and not another or deliverability issues per email client. The positive of diverse email clients is that email will not become stagnant. The Email Clients will always be challenging each other and trying to beat one another. This competition is good for the email clients and good for email marketing.

Q – Do you feel new communication channels such as blogs, twitter and social networking may one day replace the email channel?
A- No, I really dont. As I said earlier Email and Social Media seem to be more compatible than many people give them credit but they do not depend on one another. Facebook (twitter, digg, etc.) will exist without email and email will exist without Facebook. Because of this they work well together. People will always be checking email as long as emails are being sent.

Q – What predictions do you have for the email marketing industry in 2010?
A- I see 2010 as the year that nothing huge happens in email marketing. This is not a bad thing. Email Marketing will continue to grow steadily and will evolve slowly. I do not see a Twitter moment happening in email marketing this year. By a twitter moment I mean having something come along that totally changes the game. This will not happen this year in email marketing. The biggest drive that I see is how to make email look its best on smart phones and how to connect more with social media and email. These two items are in no way groundbreaking but they are important.

Q – Lastly – what is the one piece of advice you would give any company thinking about starting or renewing their email marketing strategy this year?
A – Test, test, test and education, education, education (okay, this was two pieces of advice) Instead of basing ones email strategy on what one thinks or feels will happen, run some tests. Test the subject line, the creative, deliverability etc. Also, keep on top of the latest and greatest in email marketing. One great way to do this is by reading my blog

Jordan lives in Los Angeles, California and can be contacted by email at JordanLane@EmailMoxie.com or by going to www.EmailMoxie.com

These are the Single Serving Sites, a term writer Jason Kottke termed in February, whimsical one page single purpose site,  usually doing exactly what their domain name implies, or sometimes nothing at all. But they are amusing as a concept – I should know – I’ve visited them.

The examples that spring to mind are http://www.isitchristmas.net/ and http://www.isitaprilfools.com/ – which say Yes or No based on the date (although I suspect that the April fools one will say No even on the correct date as it seems to have no JavaScript behind it) and the newest one I have spotted is http://isgordonbrownstillprimeminister.com/ – which says Yes… The entire site is about 3 lines of code and a google analytics link.

http://kottke.org/08/02/single-serving-sites contains a list of over a hundred such sites compiled by Ryan Greenberg who also wrote a rather good paper on the phemonenon which he has hosted on http://isthisyourpaperonsingleservingsites.com/.

But these sort of sites aren’t a new idea – they have been around for some time now – with http://www.purple.com/ displaying a purple screen since 1994.

So why are these sites so sucessful?

They are funny, simple and appeal to our base sense of humour at the absurd – we know what the site will say – we look just to be amused at the fact that somebody has made it. The fact the site has no agenda or hidden motive, it exists just to amuse us and it’s creator allows it to go viral and spread because we feel it is our joke to share. I suspect if there were even one google adword or banner ad on these sites they would not spread in the same way. These are sites made by regular people with a sense of humour for likeminded people – and that is all. The perfect example for me is http://www.yetanotheruselesswebsite.com/ - there is no content on the site except in the source code where it states: “Well I’ll be, you’re looking at the source code! In case you hadn’t figured it out, there is absolutely no point to this web site.” – an in joke between web developers and other internet professionals as they are the only people likely to wonder what is behind the site and look at the code to see the comment… for anyone else – the site just wouldnt be funny. And this is another reason these sites work so well – they are small jokes at specific targeted audiences which are then virally shared between people who match that criteria – they effectly let us do their marketing just by existing and allowing us to share them with each other. Like a funny bit of graffiti on a wall we point them out to our friends and share them with mroe enthusiasm than any far more useful sites that exist on the web, simply because they make us laugh.

Ryan also noted that the sites: “provide a venue for pop culture references, inside jokes, art displays, collective action, bids for peer approval, humor, and advice. Collectively they offer a perspective on the web as a platform for a unique brand of storytelling.” . Something which I think is key to their sucess. He also notes that these sites fall into different catagories. Some sites answer a question, some show a status or single piece of information whereas others have a single function. What they tend to all have in common is that they are literal visual representations of their URL domain name such as SometimesRedSometimesBlue.com or Thispeanutlookslikeaduck.comwhich contains content which does exactly that.

So is there anything to be learnt from these sites? I would say that they remind us that for all the clever content and SEO in the world we should never forget what the most important thing we can do to gain web traffic is: If you want traffic, give the visitor what they want.

Whether you are creating something for your own company or for your clients, sometimes an outside perspective can make all the difference to a project’s success.

If you need someone to look over your website, marketing materials, brand or email marketing program I can analyse and put together a list of recommendations to improve your business based on my experience in the field.

I also can help with the following:

- Overseeing and creating pitch work for new and existing clients including detailed review / analysis of work and pitching new concepts
- Presenting to clients and client facing work
- Managing the day to day running of the design team, hiring and training design staff including training junior and graduate staff
- Creating and implementing procedures within the design team and for the account managers to use with the design team agency or in-house
- Creating best practices and other documentation
- Preparing and holding training on design and coding to groups of both colleagues and clients

I thoroughly enjoy hiring and training up staff and seeing them evolve as well as working on design projects.

As well as my design skills I greatly enjoy speaking at seminars and conferences; preparing, presenting and holding post talk Q&A sessions. I can speak as an independant at your event or speak on behalf of your company.

If you have a project and need fresh ideas and concepts it helps to bring in someone who specialises in this area – a brainstorming session can be a great way to get a lot of new ideas in a short space of time.

Once you have an idea, you also need that information to be presented in a strong visual way. From mood boards, wireframes and rough brainstorms to drawn out designs and storyboards it always helps to have a designer there to bring your ideas to life.

Whether you are a creative agency looking for some help putting a pitch together for one of your clients, or a department looking to pitch an idea to the board, I can help you put together a winning presentation that accurately and professionally sells your ideas.

Graphic design is a passion – one I have had for many years. I have expertise in a number of fields and the ability to take on a range of projects big and small, either independently or as part of a team.

Design:
- Brainstorming, initial ideas and scamp creation
- Website and microsite design
- User interface (UI) design
- Email and landing page design
- Print design – from businesscards and brochures to posters and magazine layouts
- Logo and brand design

Development:
I have expert experience in the niche area of email marketing html creation, as well as knowledge of CMS and compliant html skills. For larger projects I manage a number of contractors to ensure projects are completed to a high standard and on time. If you need a project coded up as well as designed I may well be able to help.

Whether your existing company brand needs updating or you’re just starting out and need a completely new identity, I can help.

Services offered:
- Brainstorming and consultation / critique
- Research into marketplace and competitors
- Logo and brand guidelines design

Project: Brand identity, flagship store and website

Complete brand identity design and art direction of related materials, web design and store POS materials. Co-designer of flagship store layout and design.

With 5 years’ experience designing email marketing campaigns for some top companies, email marketing is something of a speciality of mine.

Having worked on campaigns and template designs, including multi-lingual worldwide campaigns for clients such as Motorola, Expedia, Tesco, Boots, AXA, RSPCA and British Airways I have a wealth of experience across both B2B and B2C campaigns.

If you have a requirement for your email marketing programme to be reviewed, optimised or designed please get in touch.