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Last week RAJAR announced that 90% of the UK adult (15+) population – 47.3 million people – tuned in to their selected radio stations in the first quarter of 2013, up by approximately 608,000 on Q1 2012, though the total number of hours listened to radio (1.03 billion) was down marginally, -3% year on year.

Daniel Todaro of Field Marketing agency Gekko comments:

Highly impressive figures last week to see listeners are going to digital in record numbers. DAB sets continue to fly off the shelves and we’re not too far away from seeing over 50% of the UK own a DAB set. It seems a far cry now from the negativity that initially surrounded a potential digital radio switch-over.

However, the move towards that switch-over remains a marathon, not a sprint, and there’s lots that can be done to build upon the great foundations laid by the accomplished Digital Radio UK ATL campaign that’s been capturing the nation’s imagination for the past few months; one that’s already been shortlisted for an Arqiva Award.

Change is still a difficult thing to accomplish, but the success of the Digital TV switch-over should give plenty of cause for confidence and optimism that the public can embrace change if handled with sensitivity and correctly guided at a pace they’re comfortable.

A next step for Digital Radio UK would be to support the ATL investment with experiential activity in order to create a real seamless, multichannel experience to drive that educative and awareness-raising process.

Particularly with a summer devoid of the types of events we saw in 2012, there’s vast opportunity for brands to fill that void with exciting and engaging shopping centre activity to really surprise and delight consumers who may previously have viewed digital radio with trepidation.

By pairing up with the stations proving popular, such as the Absolute Radio Network’s burgeoning brands, a clear message of the great entertainment on offer can really be driven home.

With BMW also now fitting DAB as standard in their cars, we’re well on our way towards a fully digital future.

Daniel Todaro, managing director of field marketing agency Gekko, warns that in an ‘empty’ year, without World Cup or Olympics-style events to stimulate sales, retailers and manufacturers must make the most of opportunities such as Mother’s Day and Father’s Day and offer potential customers a compelling in-store experience

Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Bank Holidays, Back to School and Christmas are all key occasions for electrical retailers, as consumers hit the high street with the specific intention of buying something.

Traditionally, each year we’ll see the usual raft of short and sharp sales promotions around these events, designed to grab a few impulsive shoppers, with the main investment going towards a big summer campaign.

However, while retailers have been spoilt in recent times, able to piggyback off the World Cup, Olympics, Jubilee and Royal Wedding, 2013 offers next to nothing in comparison to get consumers excited. Therefore, this year it’s imperative that electrical stores make the most of those annual calendar hooks. The ‘empty’ summer of 2013 won’t give retailers the same sales drive, so they must capitalise elsewhere to create a special emphasis to drive sales.

Father’s Day in particular is looming and represents an excellent chance for electrical retailers to push the ‘dad’ market. Long gone are the days when a pair of socks or slippers would cut it, now it’s all about something he can use and enjoy like an iPod or Kindle Fire. A targeted marketing campaign with a timely promotion can provide the lure to get people through the door, while in-store staff can talk customers through the top products and drive the sales. Likewise, Back to School represents another key trading period with compulsory requirements for a demographic that is growing by the year.

The continuing recession in ‘empty’ 2013 means that naturally consumers will cut back and put off spending. Therefore, the lure of promotions around calendar hooks can encourage people to splash out on bigger-ticket items and white goods. Having an experienced and knowledgeable brand representative makes all the difference for the consumer. They not only help to find the right product to meet the individuals needs, but also improve customer service by supplying expert advice, driving standout within crowded categories.

It is now more usual to see modern demonstration in-store focused on ROI [return on investment] and ensuring a sales upswing from the activity rather than simply brand recognition. Furthermore, this brand experience in-store is often driven by staff trained to sell ancillary products, rather than a simple desire to shift the big-ticket items alone. Information and add-ons at the point of sale will also help to boost the average basket value, as customers look to purchase extras such as batteries and cases for products. In-store activity provides the opportunity to home in on an occasion like Father’s Day and make for a much more immersive and successful store experience for the shopper.

Both multiples and independents naturally stock more than just one brand alone and will be primarily concerned with providing service and impartial advice. With products often stocked in hundreds of locations, brands need to ensure the multiples charged with selling their wares are doing them justice. Knowing what the latest situation is out in the channel in real time is even more relevant and valuable on peak occasions such as Father’s Day.

Meanwhile, the slightest slip in standards around stock levels and availability can result in a lost sale within seconds. Likewise, the ability to respond to such issues and prevent them from arising is a big advantage both in terms of short-term sales and the overarching brand experience.

Ultimately, the customer journey remains paramount and its importance for brands can’t be ignored, especially when a promotion is linked to above-the-line comms activity. From first sight of the advertising campaign, that journey must be a seamless and consistent one. Premium brands in particular need to adopt a through-the-line approach to ensure sales are closed successfully at the point of purchase. The more sophisticated a product and the higher the value, the more vital it is that a representative is on hand to emphasise the full capabilities and value of the product. Without impartial guidance, cold feet could result in a consumer resorting back to a purchase decision based solely on the cheapest price.

With the continuing threat of customers using electrical stores as showrooms before they go online to buy, brands need to be savvy. Change customer’s minds about buying a gift online and offer them an experience and after-care that will get take them through to the tills rather than Amazon’s checkout. Within this year where opportunity to celebrate and push sales is sparse, electrical retailers must pull out all the stops.

Read the full article at: http://ertonline.co.uk/default.aspx.locid-05nnew3jv.Lang-EN.htm

Here’s an idea: why don’t corporations fill those empty retail units with their own catalogue of brands, whilst also giving opportunities to ambitious start-ups?

Mary Portas has been practically unavoidable in the media these past couple of weeks, which can only mean one thing: she has a new TV show to promote!

Actually, she has two.

Portas kicked off the “charm” offensive by calling out none other than Sir Terry Leahy for “talking crap” in the Radio Times. Leahy had suggested that the disappearance of family butchers from the high streets is a sign of progress and “the best way of ensuring that the better organisations come through”.

Now, Leahy’s fundamentally wrong to suggest that the disappearance of local butchers is a good thing. Particularly in the FMCG sector, small independent retailers are crucial to provide not just choice, but specialist expertise too (and a more pleasant shopping experience). A visit to the local butchers entails more than the action of purchasing a leg of beef. It’s the social aspect, the expertise and the positive feeling that comes through engaging with the local community. Most of all, it is fun and fulfilling (and much less likely to contain traces of horse).

But it’s equally frustrating to see Portas placing herself as the supposed saviour of the high street. For such an “in the know” expert, I’d love to hear why Portas doesn’t place her own wares on the high street, as opposed to selling it through department stores.

Surely with her unrivalled expertise, it would be a runaway success? But let’s be honest, while Leahy may be looking at a hefty bill for the ill-fated Fresh and Easy venture, considering he turned Tesco into the UK’s biggest retailer, and that he’s the one with the knighthood, I think I’d trust him over Portas on retail execution.

What is abundantly clear to me is that Portas is already preparing her exit strategy from this doomed initiative (an over 65’s employment agency is already lined up for her new show). A second FOI request has revealed the extent to which the Portas Pilots have fallen off the government’s agenda, and sadly the British high street continues to struggle on. According to one recent survey, the retail chains shut an average of 20 shops a day last year alone.

Initiatives are needed that truly bring life back to dead commercial business districts, so here’s an idea: why not get brands to sponsor the high street? It’s about time corporations demonstrated a bit of social responsibility and gave back to the communities from which they profit so ostensibly.

Take Unilever’s vast portfolio of brands: Marmite, Walls, Lynx, Pot Noodle, Dove to name a few. Why couldn’t they take over empty retail units utilising these brands, and then also offer space to small business and students, in order to showcase and sell their products and talents?

The high street is so much more than the point of purchase and it’s so incredibly vital not just to our economy, but our society, too. What better way to engage a community by injecting some belief, inspiration and positive energy to our failing economy?

Daniel Todaro is MD of field marketing agency Gekko.

Read the full article at: http://realbusiness.co.uk/p/19578

Don’t call it a u-turn. Don’t call it a failure. And definitely don’t call it a crisis.
 
Microsoft is furious at the Financial Times for running a story about its imminent Windows 8 update earlier this week that it claimed represented “the biggest admission of commercial failure for a major product launch since “new Coke” was withdrawn 30 years ago”.
 
According to the FT, despite selling 100 million licences “interest in Windows 8 has flagged” and a new update called Microsoft Blue will be rolled out shortly that it speculates could restore the Start button and provide a “boot-to-desktop” option to bypass the new “unloved” tile-based interactive Windows 8 interface altogether.
 
This has not gone down well with the Redmond-based software giant. And in an official statement, Microsoft said: “It is unfortunate that the Financial Times did not accurately represent the content or the context of our conversation about the good response to date on Windows 8 and the positive opportunities ahead on both Windows 8 and Windows Blue. Our perspective is accurately reflected in many other interviews on this topic as well as in a Q&A with Tami Reller posted on the Windows Blog.”

Daniel Todaro, MD at Gekko, adds: “Windows aren’t going to re-release the 7 OS; instead they’ll try to learn from their mistake and forge ahead. Blue is very specifically an update to what already exists (much like Windows 3.1 was once upon a time), not a regression. While it won’t be a full-blown u-turn from Microsoft, the urgency for a damage limitation exercise from Microsoft to prevent this from becoming a total catastrophe cannot be understated. The lesson that Microsoft has to learn (and quickly) is the basic art of change management. Microsoft tried to run before it could work, walk, likely scared into doing so by its late arrival to the established touch screen/tablet phenomenon. As a result, the rush to adapt its product to these trends saw Microsoft neglect the decades of brand equity they’d already built within the desktop space.
 
“The theory and ambition wasn’t by any means misplaced; risks need to be taken and change needs to be embraced in this sector. But people don’t like change! You have to manage the change process incredibly carefully, understanding every possible critique before it can be asked and preparing a readily available solution in anticipation. Windows 8 came along and consumers couldn’t understand how to use it, what the benefits were or even why they needed it. Unfortunately, they completely neglected to ease that transition, alienating millions in the process.”

Read the full article at: http://www.mycustomer.com/feature/experience-marketing-technology/windows-8-update-how-can-microsoft-manage-its-customer

As Jessops and HMV are saved from oblivion, Daniel Todaro, managing director of field marketing agency Gekko, considers using the internet to drive sales in-store and help ensure the future of face-to-face retailing.

It might have been freezing in March but the sun certainly shone on Jessops when it was revived with fire from a dragon.

It really is fantastic news that Peter Jones has bought the company and rather than just moving it online, he’s revitalising the current model to create 40 new stores. With so much of the high street littered with empty stores, it’s encouraging to see a company come back from administration and open for business. It’s not an easy decision to plough cash into a defunct retailer but it’s the right one and the high street needs more champions to restore it to former glory.

Recent news has also confirmed that HMV is being brought back from the brink by Hilco. The new owner is planning to concentrate on music and merchandise rather than film and electronics with a £50 million rescue package. Like Jessops, Hilco is amending the business model but keeping the stores to maintain the high street presence to give customers that interaction with knowledgeable staff.

The interest in music and the digital imaging category is one that will continue to remain popular so it makes sense to retain the businesses even if it means amending previous models. Unlike Blockbuster, the near extinction of the photography retailer is one that shouldn’t have been a formality, and is one that could have had wide reaching implications for the entire tech retail sector. The loss of Jessops on the high street would have meant there was no credible specialist chain for the imaging category, leaving the plethora of camera product ranges to battle it out within the broader electrical retailers (competing alongside laptops, sound systems, white goods etc). Consequently expert in-store advice for amateur photographers on cameras would be hard to come by on the high street. Beginner and professionals would yet again be pushed to explore reviews and advice online; while it’s a useful source of information, it’s by no means rigorous.

Amazon and other online suppliers might be the easy option for those wanting to buy a camera from the comfort of a sofa, but if we keep neglecting the specialist bricks and mortar, they simply won’t be able to survive; exactly the plight of Jessops and HMV. An over-reliance on such online merchants is going to be of detriment to us all; we’ll ultimately be the ones who lose out on the day out at the shops.

As a nation of shoppers, in the UK we’re blessed with choice, choice to purchase from a specialist focussed on a specific category; a USP that Apple amongst many others work to amazing effect. A visit to the local hardware shop for example entails more than the sole purchase of the product. It’s the social aspect, the expertise and the positive feeling that comes through engaging with the local community. But most of all, it is fun and fulfilling. Humans are social creatures and while digital is a marvellous thing, it can’t, nor should it ever replace legitimate face-to-face human interaction and the manner in which it can bring people together. Communities are dying being put off from venturing into boarded up high streets. Jessops stores will aid other retailers to survive by drawing consumers back to the high street. Is challenge now is to move on from the negative press and be the drivers of a high street renaissance.

The shopping experience has always been much more than the point of purchase, which is what makes it so valuable. It would be naive to say shopping online should be banned but encouraging the use of click could drive a transaction. Taking the pain out of roaming endless stores by doing it online and then collecting in-store will still allow people to get on the spot advice and support on products. Jessops have taken this idea on board and reflected it into the new business model with plans under way to relaunch the website with a focus on click-and-collect.

Peter Jones has had the right idea about bringing 40 new stores into the equation for Jessops and HMV is set to follow suit. By bringing back 300 of the most passionate staff that lost their jobs in January Mr Jones is already off to a good start to restore the company’s digital imaging expertise. The best way to keep the iconic brands going and safe from returning to administration is by investing further in staff and retaining that vital in-store experience. The new stores will provide face to face interactions for customers who need advice and information on products.  Keeping a national high street presence will allow staff to drive sales and extra add ons with in store demonstrations; something you ultimately can’t get online.

Field Marketing agency Gekko are proud to have made the shortlist of the ‘LondonlovesExcellence Awards’

The LondonlovesExcellence Awards are presented by www.LondonlovesBusiness.com and London Chamber of Commerce & Industry and are billed as London’s most sought-after business awards. These awards are unique for two reasons: first, they are led by one of industry’s most respected figures, Willie Walsh, Chief Executive of International Airlines Group and President of the London Chamber of Commerce. And second, together with Willie Walsh, they will be judged by arguably the best line-up of business figures, entrepreneurs and public figures assembled in decades.

Winners will be announced at a gala dinner on June 25^th, hosted by Katie Derham and bringing together more than 350 senior guests representing London’s business leaders, entrepreneurs and government, to acknowledge and celebrate the fantastic achievements of London’s business community.

Sir: Ed Miliband’s veto plan is absurd (‘Retail leaders attack Miliband plan for local veto on high-street shops’, thegrocer.co.uk, 11 April). It’s headline-grabbing, but for all the wrong reasons why on earth would you be willing to jump into the mire so carefully crafted by Cameron, highlighted by the already-failing Portas Pilot initiatives? The coalition appointment has failed on so many levels, so why try and take part?

Initiatives are needed that truly bring life back to dead commercial business districts, so here’s an idea: why not get corporations to sponsor the high street? Why couldn’t P&G, say, take over empty retail units and offer not only a selection of its own brands, but also give space to small business and students to showcase and sell their products and talents?

It’s time for corporations to demonstrate their social responsibility. They may not pay all the tax they’re obliged to, but they could at least help inspire the people who buy their products.

Daniel Todaro, MD, Gekko

Read full article at: http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/opinion/letters/brands-on-high-streets/238573.article

Waitrose’s decision to grow its gardening and floristry range is based on good business sense (sales of plants up by 25% last year and the growth of the industry as a whole on the rise), but its success will depend on how committed it remains to the sector.

Any foray into new territories by established brands such as Waitrose are likely to enjoy success initially, even if just for the novelty value.  However, for it to enjoy continued success in a market which is clearly set for bigger and better things, it needs to show customers that it is serious about the sector and demonstrate consistency, innovation and originality. The advantage Waitrose has, of course, is that its customer set is known to include those for which gardening is a key interest, alongside cooking, an area which Waitrose has managed to successfully build upon in terms of its product offering  The route they need to take with the gardening sector is to similarly offer expert advice on the products and lines they are introducing and guide its customers to support a hobby they are already invested in.

In terms for the brands in this sector, the key for them is to recognise Waitrose as a major player, competing with the likes of B&Q and Homebase. Once Waitrose has the brands on its side, it will have a much easier job of winning the customers over.  By engaging with customers directly, hosting in-store activity alongside brands and showcasing its strengths as a platform for these brands to interact with people, Waitrose will have a real chance of establishing themselves as a real contender in the gardening market.

Rupert Cook, Business Development Director, Gekko

The latest Bellwether report predicts that 2013 will bring a rise in marketing budgets and confidence overall, with positivity about company performance the highest that it has been in a year, despite businesses expecting to face challenging times ahead.

Here, Newsline has captured industry reaction to the report’s findings, with opinion from adconnection, MEC, Essence, G2 Joshua, Dialogue, Jaywing, Volume and Gekko.

It’s no surprise to see ad spend predicted to dip in 2013, only to rise again triumphantly in 2014. It’s well documented the lack of activity for the nation to get excited about this summer, and the continuing industry pessimism clearly reflects the cautious approach marketers have.

Looking to the future, marketers need to heed the lessons of the year past. While the summer of 2012 represented a wonderfully unique period, in which Britain was able to shine at its very brightest, to view it as an anomaly would be foolish.

The ’empty’ year we face ahead in 2013 is an issue on the lips of many, but the solution already lies in front of us – the power of face-to-face human interaction. What characterised the London Olympics wasn’t just the remarkable success of our athletes, but how the whole occasion was brought to life by the huge army of volunteers and their unrelenting, inspirational and uplifting enthusiasm.

Just because there’s no major global sporting event or Jubilee to highlight the summer ahead, it doesn’t mean marketers should immediately cast aside what is an incredibly power and valuable marketing tool. In austere times consumers do want value, but most of all they want relevant, engaging experiences.

Of course, the uncertainty of the economy (and welfare in general) is having an effect on consumer shopping habits and behaviours; and I imagine this is being acknowledged by brands when budgeting to some extent. While 2013 requires brands to be brave, the brave will win if they get the message right. With no distractions ahead, what better time to surprise and delight?

Daniel Todaro
MD
Gekko

Read the full article at: http://mediatel.co.uk/newsline/2013/04/11/bellwether-report-industry-reaction/

Paid internships are not just for the FTSE 100. SMEs who offer paid roles for young people can attract greater talent, add value and ultimately boost business.

Daniel Todaro, managing director of Gekko argues: “Unpaid interns may be a method of balancing the books right now, but how about in ten or twelve months’s time when the business has little continuity, low morale, employees fearing for their jobs, and zero stability. The old adage of spending money to make money could not be truer, and that investment has to be in people first.”

http://realbusiness.co.uk/article/18893-paid-interns-mean-talent-value-and-profit