Kaspersky campaign: a viral campaign, but not as you’d know it

As you know, we love stats. So when Kaspersky Lab (world’s fourth largest IT security company) turned to Earnest for its first ever global launch campaign – armed only with lots of statistics and a big launch target, we got pretty excited.

And, the stats are pretty interesting.

So, let’s start with some scary stuff:

• In the last year, there’s been a 33% increase in malware aimed specifically at Smartphone users
• 91% of businesses surveyed by B2B International in 2011 had been affected by some kind of IT security attack
• 17% of these had lost financial information
• And 9% had been targeted directly – in other words, far more sinister than just a random virus…

So far, so good? Not really. One thing the IT security industry does NOT need are more scary stats – we’re all kind of fed up with it and most IT folk also don’t really buy it. It’s marketing hype.

From fear and loathing to hope and optimism

So now, and more importantly, let’s look at some more positive things. The things that they do want to hear. The opportunities that our changing world brings us.

• Cloud services will be worth $44bn by end 2013.
• There are 1 billion mobile devices accessing the internet
• 21% of organisations are virtualising their front office environments

This gave us the eureka moment. IT teams across the world are under pressure – they’re being asked to perform small miracles every day – from “we need you to support 11,000 iPads next month” to “we’re moving our payroll system to the cloud – is that OK with you?” The key issue is clearly that it’s hard to know what’s round the corner: both opportunity and threat…

The concept then needed to bring this together. Kaspersky’s brand philosophy is ‘always ahead’ – they have experts all over the globe who tirelessly fight cyber crime, looking for new virus issues and in many cases stopping them before they start. It’s less of a ‘business objective’, more of a full on obsessive mission! We articulated this as ‘BE READY FOR WHAT’S NEXT’ – a positive rallying cry that could work well across multiple geographies, languages, cultures.

So, here’s what we launched with. A high impact campaign. Delivered in 8 languages, reaching over 200,000 IT decision-makers across 20 countries. Multi-lingual campaign microsite, direct marketing, email, online advertising, video, animation. A global campaign, created and managed from one place (12 Great Titchfield St), with our team connected up to Kaspersky marketing teams across the world.

Be Ready animation from Earnest on Vimeo.

And, it’s been a resounding success. The campaign’s ongoing, so results are changing every day – but the sales people are busy chasing up a heap of qualified leads

What do you mean, viral?

So, why the original title to this post then? Well, the model Kaspersky operates is one that many other global companies probably are familiar with. Core strategy and campaign themes are built centrally, but regions are given enough autonomy to ensure they’re doing the right thing for their local market. The age old global/local challenge.

So, when we launched this campaign, a number of the key regions (EMEA) signed up to the campaign, and the emerging markets focused instead on their existing activity. However, the campaign went so well, and theme resonated so strongly across the world, that now other regions outside our core remit have all taken the campaign on, given it their own unique twists and gone out to market. And there you have it, a campaign that went viral – inside Kaspersky.

The salient point here is that it’s hard to implement and embed a global campaign framework. The traditional ‘command and control’ approach tends to be used, and tends to end up with lots of disenfranchised marketers and ultimately a right mess.

The difference was that by creating something first, and allowing it to spread and be bought into by local marketers – we ended up with a global campaign platform, which people actually embraced as opposed to being forced into.

What do you think? What are the challenges and what works? We’d love to compare notes!

This is the week that was: Searching for the answer

As the unfortunate folk in Scotland were blown around by 165 MPH winds, David Cameron refused to bend his back on the latest European bailout package and here at Earnest we were once again soothing sore heads after a cracking Christmas shindig.

All the while the world of B2B ticked along – with journalists, bloggers and tweeters sharing their news and views. Don’t leave the page and go looking for it online though…we have gathered the best from the week and packaged it up in one handy blog post for you.

Social network development of the week

It seems that in the board rooms of the big social networks the key strategy is to watch what Facebook does and follow suit later, sometimes in a matter of days or in Twitter’s case this week, a good matter of months. Despite the conflicting opinions on the use of Facebook for business to business marketing, it is rare today to find an organisation without its very own page – showing off its brand and allowing current and potential customers to interact with its people online. Twitter has now announced it is going down the business page route – allowing organisations to be much more creative with the way their Twitter page looks and enhancing the experience for those visiting the page.  Good news for us marketeers.

Search tip of the week

When planning a campaign, the element of search should be at the heart – after all 9 out of 10 business buyers say that when they are ready to buy they will find you and 93% of B2B buyers use search to begin the buying process.  Planners often however concentrate on the ‘head’ keywords – those most popular and the most likely the target audience will be searching for. However the often missed long tail keywords should not be forgotten. The long tail comprises more specific phrases that are searched for less often but can be hugely beneficial for your search ranking…the guys at SEO copywriting this week explained why.

Email success advice of the week

Today 97% of small businesses use email to connect and advertise their services to potential customers. With the use of social media hogging the spotlight it is important to remember that some of the classic marketing techniques still give some of the best results. There is still one problem that is the hardest to crack – how to get those receiving your email to open it. Ashley Zeckman gave her top 5 tips – from timing to avoiding spam filter traps. Well worth a look.

Sales apps of the week

As your sales team spend the majority of their day out of the office, the trusty smartphone becomes the tools of the trade. This week Entrepreneur gave us the top seven must have apps on the phone of any sales person worth their salt, putting the likes of business card scanners and sales force in their hands. Top stuff.

Top virals of the week

There is nothing better than stumbling over a video online that you find so funny or breath taking that you just have to share it with your friends or followers. Brands know this and the power of the viral has been one of the biggest growing ways for businesses to get their message on screens across the world. 2011 has been full of YouTube minutes of magic – so take a trip down memory lane with the Unruly media top 20 shared ads chart.

Global campaign of the week

We don’t like to blow our own trumpet too often here at Earnest, but this week B2B magazine covered our most recent global integrated campaign for Kaspersky Lab. There is a blog post on the way, giving much more of an insight into the campaign from planning, to creative to roll out, but in the mean time here is a quick overview.

Infographic of the week

Never fear! We didn’t include one last week, but this infographic on how and why content is shared online should more than make up for it.

This is the week that was: Revealing the new b2b buyer

It was the week that tens of thousands of public sector workers took to the streets in protest at changes to their pensions, Jeremy Clarkson wished he’d kept his mouth shut and YouTube decided to give its website a spit and polish.

Here at Earnest, the hangovers finally cleared after bagging 6 B2B Marketing Awards at last week’s celebratory do, allowing us to bring you another week’s finery in B2B marketing…

Frugal thinking of the week

…goes to ROI guy, Tom Pisello and his  fine blog post considering how economic pressures (frugalnomics) will define how people buy in 2012.  Tom outlines four tangible ways we can overcome some of the challenges through effective content marketing. From how to convince buyers of the cost of doing nothing to how to overcome scepticism and really engage those folk holding the purse strings, it’s well worth a read to help shape your strategy for next year.

Mobile web trend of the week

With mobile Internet usage set to overtake desktop Internet usage by 2014, Forbes looked at the implications for search. From considering how mobile users are more likely to conduct shorter keyword searches through to the potential of Geo-targeting, it’s a compelling read for us marketing folk.

Head scratcher of the week

Back to the buyer… Tony Zambito took a look at how buyer decision-models are changing and how marketing and sales need to adapt. Armed with the fact that buyers are typically 70% into their buying processes before encountering direct sales interaction these days, Tony argues that the stages of the buying cycle are not as clear as they once seemed. It’s all about understanding why buyer decision models are transforming, recognising that there’s more than one model and adapting accordingly. Easier said than done, but food for thought.

Deadline push back of the week

You know how it is. You needed that campaign out of the door yesterday. The brief’s out to the agency – but because the clock’s ticking you’re putting the squeeze on them to get those fab new concepts back over pronto. For Cafe Creative, an agency in Hungary – enough was enough. Sick of being asked to do more work in less time, they put together this video short. We know deadlines are tight but only getting 30 seconds to put together an ad campaign – well that really is pretty tough.

Tech launch of the week

…goes to Nokia and the launch of its Lumia phone in London,  with a light show extravaganza on the banks of the Thames. No burning platforms this time round but 800 windows of the Millbank Tower, former home of the Labour Party, were covered with vinyl to capture images beamed onto them by 16 projectors on the other side of the river. The result is pretty breath taking – but isn’t it time for a b2b brand to embrace the power of 4D projection and show them how it’s really done?

This was the week that was. And not an infographic in sight. We hope you had a good one.

This is the night that was: Earnest wins 6 B2B Marketing Awards

It’s sore heads and big smiles a plenty in Earnest Towers as we dote over the spangly array of awards that now adorn our office.

The B2B Marketing Awards bash is now a firm fixture on the industry calendar – and just gets bigger and more sparkly every year. This year – with a record breaking number of award entries by the great and the good in B2B – it was never going to be plain sailing.

Little did we think this would be Earnest’s year.

Having made the shortlist in 5 categories, we tried to tame our nerves during the dinner with some wild speculations as to how many we might win – for some reason, ending up at a somewhat optimistic 1.8. Yeah, we’d had a few glasses of wine even by then.

What we didn’t anticipate was walking home with 6 awards:

Best Integrated Campaign, Best Use of DM and Best Lead Generation Campaign for our Thunderhead I AM campaign.

Best B2B Website for our AJ Gallagher International site.

B2B Marcomms Agency of the Year.

…and the coveted Grand Prix Prize recognising the best of the best for Thunderhead I AM.

To say we’re delighted would be an under statement.

What we do know is that we’ve been fortunate to work with some great clients, who’ve been willing to stick their necks out and never settle for easy, nor lowest common denominator stuff. Who’ve shared our ambition to build campaigns that push things at a time when it could have been easier to stick with the safer – albeit less effective – old way of doing things. To them, we say a big thank you – you know who you are.

Congrats to all the other winners last night and to the B2B Marketing folk for another fantastic event. Thanks also to Steve Kemish at Cyance for the safe carriage of our Awards post-do. Whilst we’re pretty good at B2B Marketing, we’re not so good at looking after 6 awards following a night on the town.

This is the night that was. Two year’s young – we’re hoping this is just the start. Here’s to 2012!

This is the week that was: The death of the tagline?

As we start gearing up for party season here at Earnest with the B2B Marketing Awards and our very own Christmas bonanza just around the corner, we look back at a week of provocation, u-turns and fancy footwork. The Eurozone enjoyed its new role as world economy trouble maker, speculator Warren Buffett finally decided to get into tech stocks,  and Burlusconi relied on the likes of Ronaldo and George Clooney to save himself from the slammer.

Whilst all this was going on, Earnest Towers was a-buzz with the annual flurry of client Christmas Card briefs, a mega pitch and the enjoyment of the daily addition of yet another parody of the John Lewis ad popping up on YouTube. Fortunately, we also found time to gather the crème de la crème of B2B marketing online just for you…

Content reformat of the week

We may have said it plenty of times, but here at Earnest we are of the firm view content should sit at the heart of any marketing programme worth its salt – with smart repurposing and reuse key. This week it seems IBM took note, and turned their CMO study into a nice little video to reach those who prefer to sit back and watch a video than trawl through the written word. Top move from IBM, although being hyper-critical, creatively it’s all a bit say what you see.  To show CMOs are in the driving seat – we get to see a CMO in the driving seat. Data explosion – yes you guessed it, we get shown some exploding data. Anyway, the content stacks up so here it is for your delectation:

Debate of the week

When you think of any brand, whether it be B2B or B2C, one of the first things that comes to mind is its tagline – well that’s what us marketing folk would like to believe.  There are of course some more memorable than others – IBM’s ‘Smarter Planet’ seems to stick in the mind more than Hitatchi’s, mmm, what was it again? This week Chris Koch pondered whether the age of the tag line has been and gone – arguing that they are the last bastion of classic, one-way marketing. However, for some it is not taglines that are the problem but how they are conceived and substantiated. Have tag-lines had their day. What are your views?

B2B Marketers’ wake-up call of the week

Following a Forrester report launched last year talking about the number of CMOs looking to upend their marketing function and bring them kicking and screaming into the modern age, Accenture responded this week with a report showing that progress is actually slowing. Today, just 8% of B2B companies are heavily leveraging social media and only 5% reported a strong link between social media and strategy. This left a call to action – for organisations to accept change, tear down the boundaries and participate personally. So there.

Thinking outside the box of the week

Of course every argument has a counter argument, and this week the Havard Business Review put forward the point that while of course social is important, organisations need to separate the ‘social media’ function from the rest of the Marketing function. HBR argues the case for moving beyond social media as a technology tool and working out how to apply it to do things that were previously impossible or simply too expensive. The social organisation. An interesting take on where the world of social is moving.

Relationship to develop of the week

As has always been the case with Marketers and PRs a like, trying to get a brand out there and well known to the masses involves pulling a few strings to make sure the right people are talking about you (and importantly in the right way). Today influencer marketing, or knowing the right bloggers, tweeters and conversation engagers online is more important than ever. This week MarketingProfs gave some top tips on how best to do this – from identifying the right influencers through to interacting and engaging with these very important people. Well worth a look.

Infographic of the week

So back to where we started… content marketing and the rise of the inbound marketer. This infographic shows which one will clearly come out on top… are you on the left or the right?

That rounds up another ‘This is the week that was’. And for all you good folk attending the B2B Marketing Awards bash this week, please drop by Earnest’s table and say hello! Have a good one.

This is the week that was: When social media put its brakes on

As the Christmas lights are turned on in Oxford street we look back at another eventful week. Italy joined Greece on the teetering edge of economic meltdown and Berlusconi finally agreed to give up his part-time job running the country. Meanwhile media mogul James Murdoch was put in the pressure cooker once again and accused of being a mafia boss by a very brave Tom Watson. Back in the world of business Adobe finally waved the white flag to HTML5 and took the decision to pull the plug on using Flash on mobile devices.

Here at Earnest we have been busy at work, with some big pitches, global campaigns and your usual content gathering to share herewith.

Social brand good news of the week:

When Google launched its brand new social network Google + earlier this year, hopes were high that it could take on Facebook and become the new online hangout. After the initial excitement and flurry of users to sign up, ‘plus’ has hardly set the digital world on fire. This week, however, Google has opened up brand pages for businesses, making it clear they will not charge for the service. With the majority of brands having a Facebook presence today, will this announcement mean more businesses are hoping their customers will push the + button instead of the ‘like’ button? Or is it simply yet another social network to embrace and manage? Luckily Marketo has already compiled the top 5 things you need to know about Google +.

Customer influence insight of the week:

For organisations across the globe the rise of social media has meant that their brands can be talked about and shared by people that the traditional outbound marketing tactics would not have reached. But there has always been a negative side to brands being free to wander, unchecked across the blog- and twittersphere. The big issue though is when a customer feels negatively towards you they are free to let the world know (so long as they can find it online). MIT Sloan looked at what influences customers’ comments online, giving the top 4 lessons for managers listening to social media and top 4 lessons for social media strategists. Just remember – be prepared to act, don’t be afraid of disagreements and don’t over react to negative comments.

Research paper of the week:

With budgets being cut and organisations wanting more from their marketing departments, the pressure is really on for B2B marketers to win over the businesses buyers of this world. This week Marketo released its B2B benchmark report – examining the top challenges for B2B marketers as well as the best practices to overcome them… a lot of text to get through but well worth it.

Augmented reality app of the week:

Here at Earnest we have been banging on about Augmented Reality for a long time now. Over a year ago we looked at how Augmented Reality may have an impact on the world of B2B marketing, and more recently we have seen some really nice examples of it being used in the mainstream by the likes of Tesco and VW. This week however, we were particularly impressed by Blippar’s showcase – using object recognition to enable augmented reality. The voting on Marmite is a particular favourite of ours.

Social media slowdown of the week:

Just when everyone was getting used to social media and integrating it into all of their campaigns, the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts comes along and ruins the fun. Its research shows that social media use by the largest companies in the world has stalled, or perhaps is even re-trenching, evidenced by the sheer number of Fortune 500 companies who look like they’ve lost interest in all matters social. Is this because customers and consumers don’t want it, or the big cos still simply don’t get it?

Infographic of the week:

With so many different channels and marketing programs available today, keeping on top of which ones are working and which are not is a tough task. This infographic shows where money is best spent and where you are literally flushing money down the drain.

So another week gone by, another week closer to Christmas. That was the week that was, we hope you had a good one.

This is the week that was: Taking a look into the future

As the clocks went back last week, Europe’s leaders really wish they could turn back time as the EU economy tail spins into further disaster. Meanwhile protestors have been showing their disdain at the bankers outside St Pauls Cathedral and Vince Cable has been trying to save his own money, where he can, by not paying his taxes.

Still – there were plenty of good things in the world of B2B to report, and here they are for you in one handy blog post.

Business turn-around of the week

It seems only days (and it has only been a matter of weeks) ago that we were bemused at the suggestion that HP was going to scrap its hardware arm to concentrate on developing and selling software. It was clear that the effects were being felt from a poor selling tablet device and a similarly unsuccessful smartphone. This week however, the powers that be at HP decided to make a U-turn and keep its computer business. Once one of the biggest and most popular organisations in the world, it could now be time for HP to clean up its act (by which we mean cut down the public squabbles) and get its PR engine into action – launching a new vision for HP’s future to the world.

Future scope of the week

There is no doubt about it – the rapid changes in technology are not only changing businesses and how they work, but also how people live their lives and interact with each other. Future scoping – or envisaging how the world may look in years to come, has helped push the boundaries of technology development. Last year one of the most popular B2B Virals was ‘A day made of glass’ – showing us how surfaces we take for granted may change our lives in the future. This week Microsoft launched another of its future scoping videos- showing off some very cool concepts (even if it is a bit long).

Email advice of the week

Many may say that the old marketing channels are dead – and happily chuck email into that mix. Email marketing, especially in the B2B space, continues to prove a popular and useful channel for campaign planners in businesses. Although the concept of sending out an email with the right content may seem simple, there is a plethora of advice online about the right time to send emails, how often to send them and the optimal length of copy. This week Polly Lambert gave her advice on one issue that is always the first stumbling block – what to put as the subject line to ensure the recipient opens up the email. After testing four different versions the results may well surprise you…

Don’t miss list of the week

Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn hog the screen time of any marketer in today’s world. For publishing and sharing content, as well as talking to customers – these are the tools that we all know and love to use. There are hundreds of other useful digital tools that are being missed, and this week Alastair Turner gave us his top 10 – from the presentation jazzing ‘Prezzi’ to the community building Yammer. Well worth a look.

Innovative marketing of the week

Here at Earnest we are always big fans of the interesting and innovative ways VW promotes and advertises its cars. Last week we were impressed with the use of stop motion film in the recent TV ad campaign and this week we have seen VW push its marketing to another level with augmented reality billboards. With so much noise out there both on and offline brands really have to make sure they stand out from the crowd – and this is certainly one way to do it (quite literally).

Marketing quandary of the week

There is no doubt that Twitter is a great tool to communicate and interact with your customers. Not only this but happy customers = your brand plastered across the blogosphere and twittersphere. What happens, however, when your customers are not so happy and have something bad to say about you… reply straight away or leave it well alone? EMarketers this week gave its balanced view on the right steps to take and why.

Business challenge of the week

Look around you – whether you are in the office, on the tube or getting your chicken and bacon baguette from prêt (an excellent choice by the way) everyone has a smartphone in their hand or next to their ear. The gargantuan rise of the smartphone is changing the way any business workforce goes about its day to day job… however according to CIO.com mobile technology is one of the top issues facing every IT department. This week CIO looked at the three major challenges facing organisations from a mobility perspective and what they can do to turn this into a real opportunity moving forward.

Infographic of the week

On the note of the growing mobile workforce, our infographic of the week shows you in a one tidy visual just how things are changing. Are you seeing the same in your business? Let us know.

So that was the week that was. We hope you had a good one too.

This is the week that was: Getting inside the minds of CMOs

As we brush off the dust from the winter coats and ponder the annual question of why there are Christmas adverts on the TV already, there is another week of news to digest. There was one more addition to the history books as Col. Gaddafi left us for the next life. At the same time the UK government debated leaving the EU, and the city of Manchester was split down the middle after the football shock of the season.

And as BlackBerry grovelled to their customers with app handouts; the business, tech and marketing world rumbled on. Here are the highlights. If you don’t want to know the score… look away now.

European marketing advice of the week:

Planning, developing and rolling out a marketing campaign in the UK can be a stressful, costly and time consuming task – let alone the difficulty in guaranteeing leads and a healthy ROI from the money you put in. When these campaigns are expanded to Europe and beyond the issues are multiplied. One of the most costly, and often difficult stages in any campaign comes right at the start when collating and gathering the prospect data. This week Marketing Profs looked at 6 rules for marketing to Europe, surrounding data in reflection of the new e-privacy directive – from ensuring data is lawfully and fairly processed to data not being kept longer than necessary. Important advice to take on board.

Advertising shift of the week:

First it was TV and print advertising that controlled the pockets of the media spenders and then came along online advertising – proving extremely successful for businesses looking to push their products – not to mention very lucrative for the likes of Google delivering ads to the unsuspecting public. However, with the rise of the smartphone, mobile advertising is now ruling the waves with ad awareness over three times more than online and purchase intent quadrupled. A shift CMOs should be keeping a beady eye on to ensure their ads are not as useless as a 96 sheet at the British museum tube station.

Tech battle overview of the week:

As well as a flooding of praise for Steve Jobs across the blogosphere after his death, there were also a number of honest articles about his ruthlessness in business. Of course, for Apple to make it to the top of the tree they had to battle their enemies, just take a look at the latest battle with Samsung. However it is not just Apple on the war path, the other tech and online giants including Amazon, Facebook and Google are drawing the battle lines every day. This is a great overview of who will come out on top and why.

Social spending patterns of the week:

According to Forrester three-quarters of interactive marketers in Europe use social media or plan to use it by the end of 2011. Despite this, spending is still low with organisations spending an average of just under 30,000 Euros per year on the activity. This blog from Forrester takes a look at the social spending patterns across Europe and how they are set to change in the future.

Paper of the week:

Getting inside the head of a CMO is always useful, taking note and learning from how different organisations are doing things across the globe. Last week IBM released their global CMO study. Questioning over 1,000 CMOs across a number of industries around the world, the study looks at trends that affect them revealing how they are responding to the evolving scope and needs of marketing. You can download the study here.

Twitter slip up of the week:

This week the award sadly goes to us, after a direct message was sent out to all of our followers claiming we had seen a blog bad mouthing them. Apologies to anybody who was affected. The sad truth is, as great as Twitter and the likes are, there are still people out there looking to ruin it. Hopefully we will make up for it with many more great Tweets for you to enjoy. Our advice – if it looks like a dodgy link don’t click on it.

Infographic of the week:

According to the Dachis Group a ‘social business’ is one that is alive with energy and big ideas – collaborative, authentic, customer-centric, trusted, open and real-time. This infographic developed by their partners at Xplane gives a great visual overview of the attributes of a socially optimised business. Thanks to the Thunderhead clan for sharing this with us.

Another dollop of insight to brighten up a rainy day (although it may well be sunny where you are). We hope you had a great week.

This is the week that was: A slice of the BlackBerry crumble

There was a lot going on out there last week. Sadly up to a third of you may have missed many of the best articles as your smartphone became about as useful as a banana and you had to revert back to that strange machine sitting on your desk to check your emails and communicate with all and sundry.

So whether you suffered BlackBerry Interruptus or not, here’s Earnest’s take on the top stories of the week in the world of B2B marketing…

Brand damage of the week:

One poor soul in Slough didn’t have a very good week at all as the great BlackBerry blackout swept the planet. Once a trusty and secure business favourite, BlackBerry has had a hard time of it lately. First the brand got a knocking by becoming the phone of choice for London rioters, then came the PlayBook tablet flop, not to mention the continued ground lost to Apple in the device wars. Still, RIM and BlackBerry have always had the reliability card to play: no dropped calls, fully secure email, robust handsets – that was until the whole service went kaput after a system update. As organisations have become more reliant on mobile, large corporations are already looking to wave goodbye to the problem plagued phone, with RBS the latest corporate giant to trial the use of iPhones and iPads. Is this the end of the road for RIM or will the CrackBerry addiction be too hard to shake for a hardcore amongst the business community? Expect the vultures to start circulating soon – our bet is that RIM will be in new hands by this time next year. WinBerry anyone?

SEO tip of the week:

Here at Earnest we are big advocates of content marketing. There is no doubt that the most successful social media strategies and lead nurturing campaigns are ones that give away useful content to the target audience. Whether it’s a paper from an independent analyst, a whitepaper or just a simple blog post it will get you noticed. Seeding this content is important – and search should be a big consideration. The guys at Paul Writer, India’s only B2B marketing hub, this week shared some advice on when and where your keywords really matter for content marketing, from title tags to page and post URL ‘slugs’. Your content will never be lost again.

Useful tools of the week:

Twitter continues to dominate as one of the most useful tools for sharing content in the B2B marketing space. The majority of organisations have some sort of presence on Twitter today, even if it is just a token nod towards the social side of marketing. Often though the tool is not being used to its full potential – following the wrong people, tweeting at the wrong times and not interacting in the right way. This list of the top Twitter tools should help resolve this problem. Look out for our upcoming blog post on our top 5 and how they can benefit you and your organisation.

Presentation of the week:

With so many mobile stats flying around, we took a look at how the rise of mobile is changing marketing now and in the future. This presentation, developed as part of the Earnest internal training academy, shows our views on where the world is moving and how both marketers and brands need to adapt to make sure that they are not left out in the cold.

How mobile changed marketing

View more presentations from Earnest

App of the week:

While on the mobile theme, we found one app this week perfect for those who are both always on the move but also on the hunt for interesting articles online. The instapaper app allows you to take an article from any website and turn it into an easy to read document while you are offline. Tube journeys need never to be a wasted, sweaty hour again.

Creative website of the week:

You know the score – go to a website, read a bit about the company, check out the work, go to the contact us section (or sometimes just leave). They may all look different but the journey and experience is largely the same. It is refreshing, then, to come across the likes of ‘By various artists’ who are taking a new slant on how they describe who they are and what they do. All we can say is take a look and make sure the headphones are plugged in.

Newest board member of the week:

From the recent goings on at Yahoo to the public spats between HP and Automony, we often get a sneak peek into life at the top in large organisations. These boards, however successful or terrible they may seem to be, are made up of the usual ingredients – CIO, CFO, CEO (and CMO if they are lucky). Lucy Kellaway this week argued in the Financial Times that there should be one person who is never left off the board – the ‘S@#!s on Boards’ (SOBs). These ruthless players prevent things from getting too cosy around the table and keep a steady ship. One thing, Lucy argues, is for sure – there will never be a shortage of SOBs in the economy.

Infographic of the week:

There were plenty of infographics to choose from, but in light of the recent economy and the highest levels of unemployment for decades we thought we would share quite how arduous it is to get a job at Google, but once you get there the rewards are a plenty (not to mention the free food).

Good news of the week:

Since starting up just over 2 years ago, here at Earnest we have spent our days chasing out the humdrum in B2B marketing. Gaining some great clients over the years we were very happy last week to be announced the fastest growing B2B agency in the country. Onwards and upwards.

So that was the week that was. We hope you had a good one.

This is the week that was – Public bickering and mourning.

It was not just big news for the tech industry but consumers all over the world – this week sadly saw Steve Jobs passing away, leaving behind a great legacy. Although the iPhone 4s did not wow the crowds who had their fingers and toes crossed for the iPhone 5, the forward thinking technology delivered by the new leadership at Apple shows signs of good times ahead.

Here in the UK, while Liam Fox continued to bring his best mate along to every top secret meeting he could squeeze him into, we have been sifting through the top stories to share with our trusty following.

Public battle of the week:

One thing that keeps any PR team sweating is a public dispute between companies. In this sense Oracle’s chief executive Larry Elision is a tough old boss to have. This week a very open war of words flared up between Oracle and Autonomy – recently bought by HP – with Larry claiming that Autonomy was touted to Oracle first by its founder. This is certainly an issue Autonomy wants to keep its head down on, with HP’s shareholders still to officially pass the takeover. Could one of the biggest IT mergers be a risk? Watch this space

Mobile research of the week:

With smartphone sales increasing by 45% in 2011 and over 50% of the UK population accessing online material through their phones, the rapid rise of mobile technology is certainly not to be ignored by organisations globally. From ensuring brands stand out in a busy market, through to the effects of the consumerisation of IT on businesses and their workforce, forward thinking and planning is essential. A special report from The Economist this week delved deeper into the issue. Sprinkled with the odd infographic and ladened with heaps of useful research this is certainly not one to miss.

Social media wake up call of the week:

Our belief has and will always be that you don’t ‘do’ social media. The use of social networking channels in B2B marketing should be engrained and run through the veins of any good marketing plan or campaign strategy. Chris Koch argued a similar case this week – social media success actually has nothing to do with social media. The truth is that most C level executives are not into social, they are in into search. Essentially ‘social’ in its broadest sense needs a cultural shift in order to succeed. Mr Koch’s most important point, however, was that B2B organisations need to adopt ‘ideas marketing’ to really make some traction online – arguing that without offering valuable resources and insight your digital footprint is going nowhere. We couldn’t agree more.

Creative eye catcher of the week:

In marketing and advertising, creative trends come and go. Currently stop motion films seem to be the taster of the day, being shared both online and in the office. These animations, made from a series of still shots, are a great way to show information in a creative way. This week VW showed us how it was done in their latest TV ad campaign. Here are some other nice examples.

Tweak of the week:

The number of homage’s to Steve Jobs shared online this week was quite phenomenal. From infographics to  inspiring videos the tweetosphere was rife with digital well wishers. One of our favourites was this simple tweak to the Apple logo.

Campaign launch of the week:

After hours of rigorous planning, lashings of creative thinking and one too many late nights we were happy to announce the launch of a global campaign for Kaspersky and its Endpoint Security 8 product for businesses. Microsites, emails, webinars and much more made this a truly multi channel approach and one we are proud of.

Earnest’s bit on the side of the week:

We are always keen to promote using new technologies to share content. Our new Sports Marketing almanac shows off some of the great work we have done on our B2C side, along with some social media top tips. Take a look, and feel free to share away.

Great week for us, and we hope it was for you as well. Feel free to get in touch or drop by whenever you wish.