Although he believes the legislation to be over-protective, Jonathan Erwin looks at new ways of tracking consumer behaviour and urges companies to show customers the positive benefits of doing so.

Moves to control the way internet browsing habits are monitored and used to direct online advertising campaigns are set to have a major impact on the work of digital marketers and advertisers when new privacy legislation is enforced in May. 

In brief, the regulations make it clear that UK businesses and organisations running websites in the UK need to get consent from visitors to their websites in order to store cookies on users’ computers. The European Directive on which these Regulations are based was revised in the UK with the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations last year which included added powers for serving a monetary penalty on an organisation when ‘very serious’ breaches of the regulations occur. It also introduced new powers for the Information Commissioner to investigate breaches of the Regulations by obtaining information from certain third party organisations.

A brief history in cookies

Briefly, a cookie is a small file that a website puts on a user’s computer so that it can remember something, for example the user’s preferences, at a later time. The majority of businesses and organisations in the UK currently use cookies for a wide variety of reasons – from analysing consumer browsing habits to remembering a user’s payment details when buying products online.

Cookie-less tracking

Some US companies are already migrating to server-to-server tracking which eliminates the need for cookies altogether. Cookie-less tracking is also arguably more powerful than cookie-based tracking because it minimises tracking issues which can be created by consumer browser settings, mobile browsers, new web browsers and plug-ins that block and/or remove cookies. Server-to-server tracking can improve the overall reliability of performance-based tracking by sending data directly through a link or piece of code on a web page. 

My own company was one of the first to comply with the new legislation by doing away with cookies – and, by the way, we are also committed to doing our bit in the war on spam by operating our own database hygiene tool, which dramatically cuts down on the amount of emails sent to irrelevant email addresses. Our Pure List technology is already being used by several well known daily deals sites to better target customers on their email lists.

Caveat emptor – but understand the pros and cons

The rationale behind these new European Union directives is sound enough if the aim is to protect the public from being trailed around the Internet when they may prefer not to be. But we are in danger of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut here. 

No-one is saying there should not be an option for a consumer to decide, but consumers do actually benefit from the use of cookies since they enable websites to remember passwords or settings for the next time they visit a particular site, speeding up the whole process for them. It can also be argued that this so-called behavioural advertising is tailored to an individual’s requirements since cookies track only those web pages they are interested in. They should understand these benefits.

The solution to this issue is to better educate people rather than bring in heavy-handed measures which hamper the activities of digital marketers and advertisers, as well as the many web users who welcome the use of cookies and those who have no objections to them.

The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) has made a start by creating a website – http://www.youronlinechoices.com/uk/ – to help consumers understand the concept of behavioural advertising. However, it can be argued that more could have been done at Government level to let the public know the benefits of cookies, how they can be blocked or disabled. Instead we are left with clunky new legislation which is an encumbrance for everyone using the Internet, whether you are browsing sites as a consumer or you are tracking web habits to help target advertising campaigns.

Jonathan Erwin is managing director, Aspect Web Media. 

Websites – whether independent, comparison or brand-owned – together continue to be people’s main financial service research routes, each used by around three out of ten consumers, according to new research.

Also revealed are people’s main reasons for selecting the financial brands they use – they include the priority of an easy-to navigate website, personal recommendations and a high-street presence.

The results are from the latest fast.MAP/UK DMA Financial Services Tracking Study.

The good news for marketers is that slightly fewer people – 39 per cent; down from 41 per cent in March 2011 – based their buying decision on cheap rates rather than knowledge of the brand. For the last three tracking waves (this latest research is the sixth wave, in December 2011), around four out of ten buyers have judged best value rates to be more important than recognition of the company concerned.

People’s order of preference for marketing tools remains the same as in the March 2011 survey. But there has been a drop in the percentages of those selecting each method, an indication that their interest in financial services products is declining.

In March 2011 and June 2010, more than three-quarters of financial services customers “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that a clear and easy-to-use website was the most important marketing tool for the brands they trust and use. But now, only two-thirds do.

Similarly, although 49 per cent still agree that they “like to know of other people who have used the brand and get their views”, this is the second most important motivation; ten per cent fewer people thought so than in March.

But, for more than four out of ten, the third priority remains “being visible on the high street”.

For the third time since June 2010, fewer than two out of ten people think “seeing a regular presence on the TV with advertising” is necessary, keeping it at the bottom of the table as their least-important requirement.

The on-going financial uncertainty in Europe, people’s general disaffection with the banking sector and the drop in disposable income caused by government cuts, have all contributed to a decrease in people’s motivation to find out about financial products.

Between March and December 2011, there was a marked decrease in the use of all the methods traditionally used to investigate what financial products were on offer (with the exception of “articles in newspapers”, in which interest has remained constant).

Since the tracker was launched in December 2008, four research routes have been regarded as most important – all consulted by around three out of ten customers.

These are: 

1. Websites of trusted brands 
2. Comparison websites – favourite in all but the June 2010 wave
3. Independent websites
4. Friends and relatives – currently fourth favourite and around ten per cent down on previous tracker waves, but the most favoured information source in June 2010 and March 2011.

All the above, except websites of trusted brands, have seen a nine-month decline in use of around ten per cent.

Some of the other information sources have also seen a steady, though longer-term decline. For example, literature received from banks or building societies, use of which peaked at 34 per cent in July 2009, has steadily declined to 24 per cent now. 

Use of other marketing material has remained steadier since December 2008, eg email marketing, which has historically fluctuated between seven and nine per cent, in December was being used by eight per cent.

People’s trust in the marketing information provided by banks declined significantly between March last year – when 60 per cent trusted it either “implicitly” or “somewhat” – and December, when 51 per cent did.

Insurance company information also suffered a decline in trust from 53 to 49 per cent.

However, despite the constant bad news from the private and company pension sectors, as annuity rates continue to fall and final salary schemes are abandoned, there has been a one per cent increase in trust in their information, to 46 per cent.

Mortgage lenders, credit cards and investment companies have also enjoyed a one per cent increase in trust in their information over the same period, to 32 per cent, 44 per cent and 35 per cent respectively.

Paul Seabrook is director, fast.MAP. Email him here or call: +44 (0)20 7242 0702. 

As the ‘digital evangelist’ for Google, he will share his unique perspectives during his welcome session, titled ‘Business Optimisation in a Digital Age’; exploring balancing multimedia channels, grounding your digital existence in driving economic value and how to optimise all four channels of the ‘Clear Line of Sight Model’. 

Winner of various awards, including the 2011 Most Influential Industry Contributor from the Web Analytics Association, Kaushik has become a key voice in the industry. He hosts a blog, Occam’s razor, and has written two bestselling books, ‘Web Analytics: An Hour A Day’ and ‘Web Analytics 2.0’. 

Mik Grehan, global VP content, Incisive Media, said: ”Avinash will set the scene for what promises to be another thought-provoking and highly informative SES London conference. This event is considered by many to be the leading search marketing conference in Europe and 2012 will be no exception. We’ve worked on providing educational opportunities for marketers at every level along with new tracks and valuable networking opportunities.”

Register to attend SES London here. 

AMV BBDO will work alongside Eurostar as lead creative agency in the strategic development of its pan-European advertising. In partnership with CLM BBDO, which will take responsibility for activation in France and Belgium, they will deliver a suite of communications for the UK, France and Belgium, with the first campaign due in the autumn. 

The decision to appoint a new creative agency was a consequence of Eurostar’s strategic decision to develop a unified and coherent approach across all of its different markets.

Lionel Benbassat, director of marketing and brand for Eurostar, said: “In September 2010, our business transformed from a partnership into a single, unified, corporate entity with ambitious growth plans and an increasingly international outlook. To underpin this new direction, we require creative agencies that can execute our brand strategy across all of our global brand communications, as a well as from a local perspective.

“During the pitch process, AMV BBDO and its partner CLM BBDO showed they were best equipped to deliver our objectives and demonstrated a real understanding of the market, the opportunities and the challenges we face. They are a great fit for us and we’re looking forward to working with them during what will be an exciting period of growth for our business.” 

Farah Ramzan Golant, executive chairman of AMV BBDO, said: “Eurostar is a unique brand with an appetite for edgy creative work as it blazes a trail of change in European travel. We are thrilled at the opportunity to partner with Eurostar as it leverages its position going forwards.”

Valérie Accary, CEO of CLM BBDO, added: “It’s an honour to partner with a brand that has brought so much to Europe. We are excited to participate in a new chapter of their creative and business excellence.” 

In 2011, as part of this same, strategic process, Eurostar unveiled a new visual identity and its first pan-European advertising campaign, to reflect the evolution of its business and its new, consistent brand personality.

This appointment follows a final stage pitch process, which included CHI & Partners with JWT Paris and Leg with Euro RSCG London. 

More than 9,000 consumers voted to determine the results of the 2012 Product of the Year survey, advising fellow shoppers on the most innovative products in the consumer marketplace. 

Notable winners are multi-tasking products such as Nuromol, a new painkiller combination which contains both ibuprofen and paracetamol, and new Flash with Febreze, an all-purpose cleaning spray with built-in freshness. 

New takes on established and well-loved brands also continue to resound with consumers this year, with Sensodyne Repair & Protect, a toothpaste which incorporates technology to repair teeth, and Gillette Fusion Pro Glide Power Razor, a battery-powered razor with new thinner blades – both scooping awards. 

This year’s Product of the Year consumer survey resulted in some interesting findings on Britons’ shopping behaviour: 

• The downturn is still having its effect;  over a third of consumers (41%) are giving up luxuries, such as beauty treatments and takeaway coffees, in order to save money
• The majority of consumers (89%) spends less than an hour in the supermarket, reflecting the on-going trend for smaller basket shops and the growth in online shopping
• Only a fifth (22%) of consumers are spending more time in the supermarket than they did two years ago

CEO of Product of the Year Management, Mike Nolan, said: “Congratulations to the Product of the Year Award winners for 2012. It’s great to see that brands are still developing top rate product innovations despite the tricky economic climate. This year’s winners reflect the growing consumer demand for multi-tasking products – it seems doing one job is no longer enough, consumers want more bang for their buck!”

The awards ceremony, presented by comedian and former brand manager, Hugh Dennis, was held at One Marylebone in London’s West End, and was attended by some of the biggest manufacturers in the business, including Reckitt Benckiser, Procter & Gamble, GlaxoSmithKline and Nestlé. 

TNS Research International once again carried out the research, offering an industry sector understanding and collating the survey from more than 9,000 people in the UK.

Tom Walker, director at TNS Research International, said: “With more than 9,000 members of the British public taking part in our survey, this is the largest and most representative consumer vote on new products in the UK. With families in Britain feeling the squeeze, only the most exciting new products are able to find their way into people’s trolleys.  

“So, congratulations to the winners, who have succeeded with products that really meet people’s everyday needs and catch their imagination, too.”

The SDL board believes the addition of Alterian’s integrated marketing platform capability will bring strong synergies and enhancements to SDL’s GIM strategy to help global businesses engage with customers in the language, media and moment they choose. 

SDL – which has more than 2,000 employees in 60 offices across 35 countries –  says there is an excellent strategic fit in combining the marketing analytics, campaign management and social media capabilities from the Alterian product suite with that of SDL’s major global Web Content Management, eCommerce and Structured Content capabilities.

Mark Lancaster, executive chairman of SDL, said: “Understanding what your customers are interested in by analysing what they are looking at, and for how long, is key in developing your web and customer engagement strategy. We already have best-of-breed web content management technology, user guidance content management technology and leading language technology. Adding Alterian’s marketing analytics, social media and campaign management technology will provide customers with a superb integrated solution for managing customer engagement and improving customer experience. We are very pleased to have completed this acquisition and look forward to working with Alterian employees, partners and customers.”    

This extra special online event will showcase the most successful direct and digital marketing campaigns from around Europe, the Middle East and beyond. 

Organised by educator Markedu in co-operation with the Global Marketing Alliance and Direct Marketing International, the web event will introduce you to leading marketing practitioners and members of direct marketing associations from around the world, who will share their expertise and discuss the merits of selected campaigns. 

Co-organiser Michael Leander (pictured), of Markedu, said: “A direct and digital marketing campaign which makes money for its brand is, of course, top of the wish-list for all marketers. But they also hope to deliver creative originality, a promotion which has broad appeal and – in today’s multi-media world – one which successfully leverages all channels and consumer touchpoints.

“During the International Direct Marketing Day online event, you will meet leading marketers and special presenters who will share with you the best campaign insights, to inspire you to improve your own marketing efforts.

“This event is a truly international direct and digital marketing occasion, bringing together some of the very best marketing practitioners from all over Europe and the Middle East.”

Sign up now to ensure your place by filling in the form here. You can attend all day or just log in to the sessions you prefer to view. The agenda will be online within a few days.

The verdict of the district court in Krakow is open to a possible appeal, reports Post&Parcel.

Although Poland has to fully open up its postal market to competition from the private sector from 2013, under EU postal legislation, the country still currently has restrictions against anyone other than Polish Post delivering mailpieces lighter than 50g.

The restrictions mean that private sector companies delivering sub-50g letters would have to charge at least 2.5 times the rate charged by Polish Post.

For years, private sector mail company InPost, part of Integer.pl Group, has been bypassing the restrictions by offering delivery services in which small metal plates are added to individual letters to bring them into the competitive market.

The company has previously argued that the plates were seals, protecting mail against unauthorised opening, but even at the higher weight category was delivering the letters for a lower rate than Polish Post’s equivalent sub-50g rate.

Last Wednesday, the commercial division of the district court in Krakow threw out Polish Post’s demand for compensation for what it saw as an illegal act circumventing Poland’s monopoly protections.

Polish Post had been demanding that InPost should return 60.71m PLN ($18.97m USD) in “improperly obtained financial benefits”, plus interest since November 2010, claiming that InPost had engineered its mail in such a way that it illegally circumvented the requirement to charge a rate above that of Polish Post.

The Post had also wanted InPost banned from accepting, transporting or delivering any mail items posted in a manner that would prevent them from being assessed against the protections of the universal postal service.

However, the court dismissed the case, despite the fact that Polish Post’s claims were based on a review by Poland’s Office of Electronic Communications.

Commenting on the dismissal, Polish Post said in a statement that it would be considering its options once it had fully reviewed the court’s order.

The company said in a statement: “Polish Post respects the order of the court, but is convinced of the merits of its case. After reviewing the written reasons for the order, Polish Post will take all possible actions to protect the economic and legal interests of the company.”

In a statement commenting on the court’s dismissal, InPost and Integer.pl Group president Rafal Brzoska noted that Polish Post’s claims had been "dismissed entirely", but he added that the state-run postal service does have the right to appeal.

The company president said he fully accepted the judgement of the Krakow court, although it was not necessarily final and binding.

Brzoska said: “The board of InPost and Integer.pl shall ensure once again, based on the results of the inspection carried out within the company by the Office of Electronic Communications, that companies within the Group operate in compliance with the Postal Act and its interpretation.”

The findings of a survey of 217 companies trading in ten different retail sectors, conducted on behalf of the UK Direct Marketing Association’s Response Management Council, show that one-in-ten companies do not respond to consumer enquiries – despite providing contact forms on their websites.

The research indicates that a large number of e-retailers are also losing out on potential sales because they lack adequate systems to deal effectively with customer enquiries. 

The average company response time to a customer’s online request for a brochure is now 5.4 days – up 1.8 days from 3.6 days in 2009. Only half of the companies surveyed offer an online or downloadable version of their brochure; just one-in-three send an email acknowledging a request; and a mere five per cent actively offer to email a brochure.

The majority of companies surveyed also lack the personal touch when replying to customer enquiries, with just 45 per cent personalising their communications when following up requests for information. 

In spite of the overall economic downturn, e-commerce has quickly risen to become a dominant force in retail. According to recent figures published by the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG), 37 million UK consumers now shop online.  

Jo Varey, chairman of the UK DMA’s Response Management Council, says the findings should trouble retailers, struggling in the face of a downturn in consumer confidence: “Research shows the likelihood of a company converting a consumer enquiry into a sale declines the longer they take to reply. In an age of instant communication, why are companies taking more than five days to respond to someone interested in making a purchase? It makes no commercial sense as to why so many companies erect barriers to consumers interested in finding out more about their products. It makes even less sense why ten per cent of companies fail to even respond to enquiries.  

“Companies are rightly spending money on marketing their products and services, but it appears that many are failing to invest properly in the means to convert online interest into sales. This is a false economy: British retailers are undoubtedly losing millions of pounds in sales as a result. This should be worrying for any brand with an eye on the bottom line in these tough trading times.”

The UK DMA’s 2012 Response Management Survey can be accessed via the website. 

UK-based Telemetry says this is a major achievement as it is the first foreign company to be permitted to serve and audit an online video campaign for a Chinese brand within China.

With one billion user impressions a day in China, online video advertising has exploded, with 200 per cent year-on-year growth, according to iResearch. It is expected to be valued at US$1.57 billion by 2013. After The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television ruled that TV advertising during programmes was no longer permissible from January 1 this year, Chinese advertisers scrambled to populate online environments with video advertisements.

The North China brewer, with a one million ton annual capacity and listing on the Hong Kong Stock market, is leading its marketing assault across China with a radical use of online video. Accurately and transparently measuring the audience of its online video campaigns has become a priority.

Telemetry claims to be the only company globally that independently serves and audits online video advertising with 100 per cent accuracy. The company pioneered the first interactive video ad campaigns for Reckitt Benckiser, one of the world’s largest spenders on online video advertising.

Telemetry global VP and ex-Google Doubleclick executive, Marco Ricci, said: “There is a phenomenal demand for a one-stop global solution for online video ad serving – add to that real time independent verification and it’s no surprise to us that we’re already fully operational and contracted across China. Display and search ad serving have been locked down for sometime. We’re about to become the pre-eminent solution, globally.”

Anthony Rushton, co-founder and CEO, said: “Our current serving and verification findings span 42 territories. We have identified inefficiencies of circa 35 per cent in most growth markets and fully expect to detect a similar pattern in China. If the online video ad market is to grow according to expectations, the transparent, independent analysis and verification of campaigns will have to take precedent.”

The history of Harbin beer dates back to 1900, when a Russian citizen of Polish origin, Ulubulevskij from Warsaw, founded a brewery in north-east China (formerly called Manchuria). It was the first to brew beer with corn instead of rice in China in 1959. In the North American market, Harbin beer was first sold in ethnic Chinese supermarkets (which remain its primary point of sales today), but has gradually begun to expand to other Asian supermarkets, such as ethnic Korean supermarkets like Market World and Freshia.