What’s Brewing in 2011?
We attended An Post’s breakfast seminar this morning in The Westbury Hotel, titled ‘What’s Brewing in 2011?’ The theme of the seminar was Relationship Marketing for 2011 and guest speakers included Estelle Gorby of Acorn Marketing, Geoff McGrath of RMG Target and Gary McLoughlin of Dialogue Marketing. Amie Peters, Head of Direct Mail at An Post opened the seminar with two interesting insights – only 10% of Ireland’s marketing budget is used to target people over 50 years old, while they hold most of the wealth, and there is a real opportunity for businesses targeting new mums, as Ireland’s birth rate will continue to grow until 2018. Estelle Gorby from Acorn Marketing brought us through her three steps to running a successful RM campaign, as well as how Mosaic profiling works. Geoff McGrath from RMG Target spoke of what he saw as the main trends in the areas of Direct Marketing and Digital Marketing for 2011 and how campaigns work best when there is an integrated approach. Geoff gave examples includes An Post’s ‘Open Your Mind’ campaign, Gillette’s blogger outreach in Turkey and the launch of Tesco’s new club card iPhone app in the UK. Closer to home, Copān Bar venue in Rathmines, recently ran an augmented reality game based in Dublin as part of an innovative marketing campaign surrounding the launch of the new venue. Players are asked to find Copān posters and use their smartphones to scan QR codes and interact with the game for a chance to win entry to the launch event. Gary McLoughlin from Dialogue gave his seven step plan for success –
1. Set clear objectives
2. Involve key staff
3. Identify and understand your target market
4. Differentiate
5. Interact with consumers
6. Measure
7. Customise your solution be it a product, service, communications strategy
Although it was a snowy morning, there was a good turnout out for the seminar, which provided all who attended with a clear and concise review of Relationship Marketing, successful case studies and clear steps for best practice.
