At Figaro Digital we are busily getting ready for our last event of the year; the Winter Digital Marketing Conference. As the final (and dare we say the best) event in the industry calendar, we can’t wait to see everyone thoroughly immersed in all that our jam-packed agenda has to offer. With an incredible schedule of thought leadership presentations from a line-up of industry expert speakers from IBM Watson Marketing, Ticketmaster, Phrasee, Blue Cross, and more, this is not one to miss.
Throughout the year and in the run up to the big day we have been publishing content produced by the brands, agencies, and technology companies that will be speaking at the Conference. Have a look through some of the amazing interviews and articles below.
Superstar Pets: Digital Innovation at Blue Cross
Animal Welfare charity, Blue Cross, has been helping sick, injured, and homeless pets since 1897. The charity’s vast legacy means that they are no stranger to change and the transformation of their relationship with their audience. This is evident in their innovative campaign, the Superstar Pets app, which is the first use of technology facilitating organic customer generated content for pet adverts that ran from 22 March until 6 May 2018.
The app, supported by TV dancing stars Katya and Neil Jones and their dog Crumble, aimed to help millions of users make their pet a Facebook superstar and put the nation’s pets at the heart of the Blue Cross message. Figaro Digital spoke to Cressida O’Shea, Brand and Communications Partner at Blue Cross, earlier in the year to find out how the charity is innovating to keep up with their evolving audience and the inflated spend of larger charities in the hugely competitive animal welfare sector. Find out more here.
Maintaining Equilibrium: How The NHS Stays Relevant At 70
NHS Blood and Transplant are embracing digital innovation as part of their marketing strategy. They have realised the need to constantly evolve with the times and are hoping to implement AI and chatbots as part of their targeted outreach to donors.
As 2018 marks the 70th birthday of the NHS, Figaro Digital caught up with Gareth Humphreys, Head of Insight, Strategy and Innovation at NHS Blood and Transplant, to see how their digital strategy has evolved. Every year around 200,000 new donors are needed to maintain the supply of blood to hospitals and research indicates that many young people have a neutral attitude to blood donation so regular marketing campaigns are needed to recruit new donors. Gareth discusses some key ways that his team ensures that donating blood remains relevant in a digital age. Read on to see how NHS Blood and Transplant are keeping up in the digital age.
Why It’s Time To Rethink Customer Loyalty
In the digital age, customer or brand loyalty is a tricky one. Many in the industry and beyond bemoan the Millennial generation for having killed loyalty card schemes with intensive and thorough pre-purchase online research. In fact, in August 2018 Retail Week reported that 76 per cent of consumers research online before making a purchase, either online or in-store. Floris Oranje, Managing Director Digital Marketing at Dept, suggests that this has resulted in significant challenges for brands to maintain relationships and achieve loyalty. In their research of 1000 UK consumers, ‘How Brand Loyal are UK Customers?‘, Dept concluded that it is time to leave traditional loyalty schemes behind and adopt a new approach to loyalty.
From looking at the state of the market with the decline of the three most renowned loyalty card schemes – Tesco Clubcard, Boots Advantage Card, and Nectar – to ‘In-The-Box’ Innovation, Floris explores some of the elements of digital loyalty he will be covering in his presentation at the Conference. Read the article here to find out more.
Ethical Marketing: Putting The “Why” Back Into “Please Buy”
Riverford Organic Farms sell veg boxes to 50,000 households across the UK every week and are staunchly proud of their values – being 100 per cent organic, having the best relationships with other growers and producers both ethically and financially, and being a force for good in the community.
In the run up to his talk at the Figaro Digital Winter Conference, Daniel Lennox shares some of the things Riverford have learnt on their journey of ensuring the Riverford brand, and what it stands for, doesn’t take a back seat in their digital marketing. From rebranding and focusing on their brand story to maximising how they tell this story, Riverford have put the “why” back into “please buy” and want you to do the same. To find out more about their approach to ethical marketing read the article here.
Uber And Airbnb Have The Best Referral Schemes: Or Do They?
It is often thought that tech giants Uber and AirBnB have the best referral schemes, having written the metaphorical referral rulebook. However, Robin Bresnark, Director of Client success at Buyapowa, argues otherwise and suggests that, “as is common with many in-house software projects, their schemes have evolved very little over time and now look desperately neglected and unloved compared with industry-leading programmes from the likes of River Island, Boohoo, Expedia, Vodafone, and Travelex.”
To prepare for his presentation about the psychology of referral marketing in new customer acquisition at the Conference, Robin outlines the areas in which Uber and AirBnB fall short of their constantly evolving and innovative competitors’ referral marketing schemes. From customisable emails to the Pareto Principle, this article covers the five simple but serious ways that the likes of Uber and Airbnb have fallen behind the curve. Find out more here.