A happy ending to the year
It might be very chilly outside, but at Geronimo we’re all warm and fuzzy on the inside after ending the year on a high.
December saw us pop an award on the festive mantelpiece for ‘Most Effective Direct Marketing Campaign’ from The Financial Services Forum for Direct Line. Plus a commendation for ‘Most Effective Integrated Campaign’ too.
And we’ve had some great results in a tricky year. For Direct Line motor we’ve broken all quotes and sales targets – vroom, vroom!
Here’s what our client said:
‘Geronimo came to us with a fresh, new strategy to tackle the challenges we faced in 2009. It changed our marketing approach over night and has been absolutely key to this year’s incredible success. It’s now an integral part of our marketing planning and together with the Geronimo team we’re set to take it even further in 2010′.
Kerry Chivers, Marketing Director at Direct Line
What matters to us at Geronimo is having happy clients and a happy ending to 2009.
Happy Christmas from Team Geronimo
SMiB Conference London October 23rd
Geronimo’s Head of interactive, Eaon Pritchard will be doing a turn at the Social Media in Business Conference in London on October 23rd.
The theme is ‘conversations matter’, Eaon will be doing something on consumer empowerment and engagement . How the digital revolution has changed the way purchase decisions are made and why understanding this matters for marketers and business.
Other contibuters include Chris Hambly, Neville Hobson, Joanne Jacobs, Judith deCabbit Lewis, Benjamin Ellis and Will McInnes.
Check out the SMiB site for full details.
It’s at The Strand Palace Hotel, London, WC2R OJJ
Geronimo knows what matters on a hot day!
Geronimo focus on what matters most to their clients and their customers. And what mattered yesterday when the temperature finally soared to the late 20c’s, was a deliciously cool ice cream!
The Geronimo ‘do you scream for ice cream?’ van was despatched quick smart to their clients, taking advantage of our last really hot summer’s day.
Speaking about the activity, Marketing Manager, Rachel Dyer said: “At Geronimo we’re always encouraging our clients to surprise and delight their customers, to engender a personal connection and brand loyalty. With a not so great summer behind us, we decided to make the most of what’s left and surprise and delight our clients. And the ice creams went down very well indeed!”
women on the web
In 1995 only 5% of internet users were women.
It’s easy to understand why there weren’t many female adopters in the early days of the web. It was just a massive store of information, in effect a huge library so why would we bother? Whilst men may (in a pub-quiz, top-five loving, Nick Hornby sty-le) enjoy delving through endless reams of information, there is nothing compelling about facts.
Whether gathering dust on shelves or whizzing about in the ether, facts on their own don’t spread.
Now the web has evolved and become an enabler, a connecting force and story creator - it has truly been given a place in the lives of women. And the stats reflect this, with us now accounting for 50% of Internet users.
In ‘Inside her pretty little head’ Jane Cunningham and Philippa Roberts identify key areas that motivate women. Under the guise of ‘codes’ they propose that to motivate women you must appeal to at least one of these to resonate with the female psyche. Specifically the four areas identified are Altruism, Aesthetic, Ordering and Connecting.
Bearing these four codes in mind, has there ever been a medium more suited to women than the web?
It provides freedom from hassle and the ability to save time with online shopping, reassurance through research and comparison sites (all appealing to the Ordering code), in-depth learning and detail (Altruism code), as well as enabling the quick and easy passing all of this information and opinion on to family, friends or anyone that’s listening (Connecting and Altruism codes).
The web is now seemingly built for chatting and sharing, gathering and exchanging – and that’s why women are thriving online.
As a result of this alignment of web-functionality and innate female drivers, a multitude of female sites are springing up.
Our primary view of the world is not a competitive but collaborative one – thus the connectivity, personalisation and sharing aspects of web 2.0 enable these to happen better, quicker and further than ever before. From shopping and chatting, to communities and gossip – these all serve a thread of the female codes. No longer are lone women sat isolated at kitchen tables; they are online, sharing, advising, commenting. In essence doing as they always have done, but on a wider, global scale.
Combining this with a growing awareness of the female influence on purchase decisions – us women as the purse holders - means we are driving innovation within the digital space, creating apps to further service our needs.
Taking the hassle out of the weekly shop and suggesting dinner menus was just the start, as the latest addition to online fashion retailer Zappos, MyZappos service shows.
It now provides a virtual closet of identified possible purchases, which friends on Facebook and followers on Twitter can view, comment and advise. Using social media groups to recreate the in-store ‘shopping with a friend’ reassurance – in an easy, accessible way. You get to virtually try before you buy.
One quote I heard (though irritatingly can’t remember where from) was ‘There will be no Web 3.0 – social media sites such as Facebook and MySpace will be the web’.
This places the web firmly as a channel to aid and be embraced by females – open, social exchange is where we thrive. The web is not a means unto itself but a channel through which our normal social behaviours can be amplified. It’s not changing our behaviours, just making them easier and faster to happen.
So keep a look out, for a continuing rise of women online not only changes marketing tactics but also the shape and functions of the space itself.
Becky
Scott Cooper joins the Geronimo planning team.
Geronimo has recruited Scott Cooper, a Senior Planner to further strengthen our planning department. Scott joins us from Archibald Ingall Stretton, where he was the lead planner on O2 Business and Corporate accounts.
Scott has also worked client side with Amex. His financial credentials will support existing clients, and extensive B2B experience help drive our continued growth in this area, our B2B client list includes Direct Line for Business and SEAT Fleet.
Scott will work with Chris Dickens, our Head of Strategy, to deliver strategic planning across all of our clients, supporting their value creation proposition to clients and their customers.
Managing Director Andy Snuggs said:
“In this tough climate you need to invest in order to grow. We’re working with our clients differently to create value for them and their customers, and great strategic planning is at the core of this. Scott’s CV speaks for itself and with his finance and B2B experience he’ll fit right in at Geronimo.”
Scott added:
“Geronimo impressed me as an agency that seeks to genuinely understand the big picture before designing the creative response. Working in this way allows them to add real value and make a big difference to clients and consumers alike.”