This seems like joined up thinking

The News of the World's new glossy magazine, Fabulous, will be linked to an online shop when it launches this weekend.

Readers will be able to "click and buy" frocks and other items from more than 450 brands featured in Fabulous's celebrity fashion shoots through an interactive shopping function on the fabulousmag.co.uk site.

Internet sales boom in 2007

Check out the latest internet retail figures. They are very exciting. Its clear from these numbers that 2007 was the year that online retailing came of age. Not surprising really as we have been tracking real consumer adoption throughout the year but huge and rapid growth nevertheless.

There is no doubt that the whole online shopping deal has improved significantly over last 18 months. Retail sites are far better, payment is secure, goods arrive and on time and real value is being passed on the consumer. why bother with the overcrowed high street? Point is made by the 4.4m people who shopped online on Christmas day!

The figures:

• Internet sales in 2007 were £46.6bn, up from the £30.2bn in 2006.

• 15pc of UK consumers making their retail purchases online.

• Nearly 1 pound in every seven spent on consumer goods in 2007 was spent over the internet.

• A jump of more than 50pc since 2006.

Survey conducted by Capgemini and the IMRG, the online retailers' industry body.

Quote of the day

If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough"

Mario Andretti (racing driver extraordinaire)

UK is a nation of social networking obsessives

Our thanks to Brand Republic for this insight. Its interesting in that it compares UK with EU neighbours.....

LONDON - UK adults spend more time on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace than their European neighbours, with as many as one in four adults saying they regularly log on to the sites, according to an Ofcom report.

The UK adults who visit the sites spend an average of 5.3 hours each month on them and return to them an average of 23 times a month.

The analysis is matched by the investment made by advertisers in the UK, where companies spend more money per person on internet advertising than any other country. The UK currently spends £33 per person, twice as much as France, Germany and Italy combined.

The finding is one of many that shows the UK is ahead of its European counterparts in terms of the latest digital trends.

The report compares the UK with eight European countries as well as Japan, Canada and the US. It was carried out to help determine future policies, provide information to the UK advertising and media industry, and assess where the UK market stands on a global scale.

Ofcom has also researched how internet audiences around the world are broken down by gender. Across all the countries studied the divide is 52% women to 48% men.

In the UK, the split is 50-50, except in the 18-34 age group, where far more women are surfing the net.

Ofcom has suggested this pattern is related to the increasing popularity of social networking sites.

Other findings revealed that Europeans watch less TV than the Americans and Japanese. In the UK, the average is 25.2 hours a week, or 3.5 hours a day. That is less than Italy and Spain but more than Germany and Ireland.

People in the UK also listen to more radio than in any of the other eleven countries surveyed, while the medium is least popular in Japan.

Ed Richards, Ofcom chief executive said: "The report shows that convergence, bundling and the move to digital communications is a powerful global phenomenon.

"It's important to understand international comparisons so Ofcom can develop better policies to serve the interests of consumers and citizens in the UK."

Only in Germany?

BERLIN (Reuters) - The owner of a small German computer company has fired three non-smoking workers because they were threatening to disturb the peace after they requested a smoke-free environment.

The manager of the 10-person IT company in Buesum, named Thomas J., told the Hamburger Morgenpost newspaper he had fired the trio because their non-smoking was causing disruptions.

Germany introduced non-smoking rules in pubs and restaurants on January 1, but Germans working in small offices are still allowed to smoke.

"I can't be bothered with trouble-makers," Thomas was quoted saying. "We're on the phone all the time and it's just easier to work while smoking. Everyone picks on smokers these days. It's time for revenge. I'm only going to hire smokers from now on."

How Apple changed the mobile sector for ever

Lots and lots has been written about the Apple iPhone. It's been critical and commercial success. An estimated 3 million units have been shipped so far and Apple's share price is at an all time high. Wired Magazine has just published a piece (rather grandly) entitled The Untold Story: How the iPhone blew up the wireless industry. Its well worth a read.

For those of you that don't have time (it is quite long) the piece basically says that Apple with its iPhone (which took 3 years and $150 million to develop) has forever changed the mobile-phone business, wresting power from carriers and giving it to handset manufacturers, developers, and to you and I the consumer.



On behalf of mobile dependant consumers everywhere we say thank you Apple

Xmas comes but once a year, but how often do your customers interact with you?

This weekend saw M&S reporting their first sales decline in over 2 years, as Xmas spending was hit by "consumer confidence". The word on the high street seems to be "concern", as consumers keep more of their money in their pocket. The bricks and mortar situation is hindered by not being able to successfully translate a database full of customer names into a real time sales driver on the high streets in the run up to Xmas.

Online sales over Xmas are reported to have continued the growth seen last year. With an avalanche of e-money flying through the e-tills, it will be interesting to see how marketers and CRM experts within the online retail giants interact with their customers over the next few months.

I'm waiting with interest to see how my online favourites communicate with me.

Xmas 2006, I bought almost all my presents online. This year however I did very little shopping online. Smart CRM systems would pick that up, tag me as a "shopped last year but didn't return despite our enticing pre-Xmas emails" and treat me differently. Maybe establish why I didn't spend my money this time round. Maybe just make me an offer I can't refuse to entice me back to the site and transact again.

I fear however that I'll just be treated like everyone else, and receive the usual mass e-mail. I live in hope that someone will treat me like an individual, but I'm not holding my breath. Come on businesses, gain insight from me as a customer, translate it into a compelling offer which will motivate my return to the fold, and then watch me spend money with you again. It's almost too easy......

08 - its all about mobile stupid

Welcome to 08 from all of us at Market Evolution.

Its sure to be an exciting year.

Last year we correctly predicted 07 was the year social networking took off and firmly established itself. We predict that this year will be dominated by mobile.

Heres a stat to kick us off:

The market for text messages alone last year was over $60billion globally, more than 4 times the size of the entire music industry.

As usual we will be monitoring consumers mobile behaviour and you will be the first to know whats out there and happening

Happy New Year

Last Post 07 - inspirational thoughts

Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won't, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can't - Anonymous

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work - Thomas Edison

Every worthwhile accomplishment, big or little, has its stages of drudgery and triumph; a beginning, a struggle and a victory - Mahatma Gandhi

Once you say you're going to settle for second, that's what happens to you in life - John F. Kennedy

In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable - Dwight D. Eisenhower


Some people dream of great accomplishments, while others stay awake and do them – Anonymous

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover - Mark Twain

There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are now afloat;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose the ventures before us - William Shakespeare

Genius is 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration - Thomas Edison

If you kick it around enough, it starts to look like a ball - Skip Shuda

Base your decisions on where you are going not on where you are. - James Arthur Ray

Those who say something can not be done should step aside for those doing it - Anonymous

HAPPY CHRISTMAS and NEW YEAR

in stormy weather cling together

BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4 have formed a commercial joint venture to launch a single online destination housing their on-demand TV content next year. Currently called ‘Kangaroo’, the new service will unite BBC iPlayer; ITV.com; and 4OD. It will house more than 10,000 hours of content with a focus on catch-up TV and archive programme.

Bad day?

So you think you are having a bad day? Have a look at this 4 minute video. It'll make you feel so very much better. Either that or fill your head with ideas!

Enjoy

glumbert - Bad Day at the Office

300lb Gorilla wanting to be your pet

Good morning and welcome to a new week and another story on Google.

This one appeared in The Sunday Times a couple of week ago. Written my our friend John Arlidge its an excellent 'take' on whats up in the Googleplex.

John raises some serious issues for us all about our personal privacy.

Read it

Homegrown traffic?

It's fascinating to see just how much traffic from outside the UK the Newspapers get online.

If you look at the figures below each of our examples generate well over 50% of traffic from abroad.

Traffic outside the UK accounted for 61% of Guardian Unlimited's traffic or 11,186,395 users during October, with the remaining 7,221,363 users in the UK.

Mail Online, recorded 9,697,917 unique users from overseas, or 72%, and 3,833,257 users within the UK.

Sun Online's six web properties have 5,006,572 unique users outside the UK, or 54% of its user base, with 4,187,434 UK users.

Times Online's recorded 63% of its traffic from overseas, equivalent to 7,880,105 unique users, with 4,561,777 users in the UK.

Telegraph.co.uk recording 6,721,354 unique users or 61% outside the UK and 4,386,671 domestic users.

What does it mean?

Well it means that UK newspapers are strong and respected brands that travel well.

It also means that domestic advertisers will worry that 50%+ audience isnt relevant - price negiotation will surely follow

Are online ads the answer for Newspapers?

US Newspaper ad sales continue their long decline, down 7.4 percent in the third quarter.

Ok this is a well established trend but what we all really want to know is will the shift to online replace the lost print ad revenues?.

NO - and not by a long way

While online ads keep growing up 21 percent to $773 million industrywide, it is not enough to make up for the decline in print ads. Print ads in the third quarter in US were $10.1 billion. That is $1 billion less than they were in the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, online newspaper ad sales rose only by $135 million. After six straight quarters of decline, print ad sales are at 1997 levels—lower if you adjust for inflation.

Mark Thomas on Coke

Mark Thomas, broadcaster and investigative journalist, has just had his latest Dispatches investigation aired on C4. The subject this time is Coca-Cola, global multinational, with one of the most recognised brands on the planet. Always within an arms reach of desire, in almost every country on earth, Coke is the real thing, known by billions from the age of 3 to 103.

From that viewpoint, it's an easy target. Operating in so many countries, it's always going to be exposed to varying standards of corporate responsibility. Child labour, death squads operating against union members on company property, chemical contamination and water theft, tonight's rap sheet is long and serious.

At this point, I need to admit I'm a fan of Mark Thomas. Given my commercial/capitalist existence, and central/right wing clients, I'm sure the feeling would be one way, but I do admire and respect his tenacity and focus.

As you would expect Coke didn't fare well in the programme, and as it developed, I did wonder how the PR team in Atlanta would handle the fallout. In the end, they issued a statement saying that just because allegations were repeated, it didn't mean they were true, and they urged consumers to visit the company website for the real facts.

Who to believe? Like everything in life, apart from a zebra crossing and a grand piano, nothing is black and white, just varying degrees of grey. Interesting for me here is the battle between marketing and PR. One pumping the red and white message across the globe, the other ducking and diving to deal with TV shows like Dispatches. One trying to generate a desired consumer response, one trying to minimise the effect of an undesired consumer response.

Few organisations have a seamless link between PR and Marketing, but in this digital age of rapid and fluid consumer communication, it's only getting more not less important. Synergy between the 2 functions needs to become a focus, but are the disciplines getting closer or not right now? Any evidence out there?

End of the world is nigh?

MOSCOW (Reuters) - At least 30 members of a Russian doomsday cult have barricaded themselves in a remote cave to await the end of the world and are threatening to commit suicide if police intervene, officials and media said on Thursday.

Media reports said the cult members believed the world would end sometime in May next year.

Periscope Snapshot

For November's Periscope digital lifestyle survey we asked our UK online panel about their interest in and use of the huge number of TV programme download services. The topline results are presented here and make for interesting reading. High (ish) levels of interest and usage but low levels of payment (surprise, suprise).

For a full screen version please click on the slideshare icon bottom right

| View | Upload your own

Water Cooler moment - watch this (5 mins)

This is a graphic example of social media at its absolute very very best. Please take a minute to watch this inspirational video and please be sure to think about the powerful message.

glumbert - Shift Happens

Mobile VOIP - it will save you money

Many of us who are by now well versed with landline VOIP have had our legs crossed for some time waiting for the VOIP revolution to hit mobiles. It seems that it has . FT wrote a good piece this morning in Paul Taylor's excellent Personal Technology section which lists and explains the various services that have recently sprung up. Its worth a read.

Having read the piece its heartening that services are arriving but it strikes me the mobile VOIP thing is all still alittle clunky, too many stages, too many clicks, some delay etc. That said mobile VOIP has arrived and we can begin to watch our mobile bills come tumbling down - which is no bad thing

Digital collides with sport

It's not often I see an idea and am totally grabbed by the fact it is unique, visionary, and combines the old world with our new digital environment. The fact that it is a subject close to my heart only makes this more interesting.

myfootballclub.com was launched earlier in the year, with the intention of getting people to buy a share in a "yet-to-be-bought" football club for £35 per share. Get enough people signed up, and then the collective could go buy a club. Nothing that radical there, that's what supporters trusts exist to do.

The twist with this though is that there was no club at the outset, but more radically, all share owners would have a say in the running of the club - transfers, team selection and major club decisions. The digital platform would allow all share holders to vote on everything, meaning either chaos or consensus.

Today, with a warchest of £700,000 myfootballclub.com has announced it's buying Ebbsfleet United FC, currently 9th in the top division of non-league football. Managed by former Coventry City centre-back Liam Daish, Ebbsfleet are about to become part of a unique digital - sport - social community experiment. Liam will keep the shareholders updated with all information, coach the players, and then the fans will pick the team.

Success or disaster? This real life Championship Manager will be interesting to follow over the rest of the season. I'm hooked already