Tasha Harrison

Rupert Murdoch has declared war on Google. He has long accused the search giant of being responsible for the decline in the newspaper industry. Murdoch now wants to remove his sites from the Google index. He will start charging for content next year and is looking to do a deal with Microsoft for content to appear on Bing.

Murdoch has a massive problem. Less people are buying his newspapers, because the content is free online, and if he starts charging for content people can simply get their news from another source. If he removes his sites from Google he will reduce the number of visitors, which in turn will effect the advertising revenue on the sites. His competitors will still offer news for free – unless he can pursuade them to join him on Bing, behind a pay wall. And then, of course, there’s the BBC, who will not only continue to offer free content, but keep creating better and better online services.

I think that there is a chance that Murdoch’s plan could work, in the end something has to change.  He does have a knack of not only making a great deal of money, but also of forcing consumers to buy his products – how many sports fans have given up being angry about having to pay for Sky Sports and view it as an essential, a little bit like paying your gas bill?

It’s Christmas everyone! You know when it’s Christmas when the adverts start. The ‘Holidays are coming’ Coke adverts used to actually make me dance a little inside when I was a kid, such was the power of advertising. Now I am more cynical I can’t help but cringe at all the cheesy nostalgia. M&S have won my prize this year for the most painful Christmas advert, but is it actually quite enjoyable at the same time?

Last week I wrote a blog post about how smart phones, and the iPhone in particular, have become the centre of our communications.  One example of a company really taking advantage of new technology and opportunities is Arsenal FC. Before you click away and think that a football team doesn’t have anything in common with your business, think for a moment as the fans as customers. They pay for a product, which is football, and they buy merchandise, which is all associated with the Arsenal brand.

Arsenal probably don’t need to do as much marketing as they do to consistently sell out each game. Their product, the football, is good enough to do that. By communicating constantly with their supporters and offering them terrific services they add value to their overall offering. Which helps when they ask their season ticket holders for £1,000 every year.

This is why the Arsenal iPhone App is such a genius idea. In my pocket I have fixture information, latest news, video clips (so I can show off Cesc Fabregas to my mates), picture gallery, access to ticket news and information about each player (great for solving arguments in the pub). I didn’t even notice paying £2.99 I was so excited.

Its main strength is its simplicity. They haven’t tried to create a community in an app, they’re just giving people the main information. It integrates perfectly with the website, so the news is constantly updating, and it also takes its video content from there. It is almost the perfect app.

Compare this to Manchester United and Chelsea. They’re just not quite there yet, but they are close.

We’re all busy people, always have been. The most overused excuse in business is that people don’t have time. Which is why social networking seems like it’s going to take too much time to be worth it. Many people read about Twitter and LinkedIn and learn how great they are for their business, which they can be, but, having joined up and filled out their profiles, realise they don’t have enough time to really make the most of them. It can be pretty intimidating when you first get on Twitter and follow a few people. You’re not really sure what you’re supposed to do and you quickly realise that it’s not just a load of people talking about making tea, as many people suppose.

The most important thing when joining an online network is to make sure you’ve got enough time to invest in it and to ensure that it is the right network for you and your business. This can be a matter of trial and error, but if you invest the time at the beginning you will find that the benefits far outweigh the time it costs you.

Just when no one thought technology could move forward any quicker Apple launched the iPhone. The effect of the iPhone on how we live can already been seen. It is crazy for me to think now that I looked online at Google Maps and printed out directions to where I was going. That’s almost as insane as me carrying an A-Z about all the time. Now I just happily type the destination into Google Maps on my phone, which tells me exactly where I am and guides me to where I need to go.

If I’m going to a party or a gig that I have been invited to on Facebook I don’t even need to remember the address, I can arrive at the nearest tube, vaguely in the vicinity and Facebook will conveniently link the address on the event page to Google Maps.

I’m off to see a new client and I never bothered to write down their telephone number, but I’m running late (not going to get lost because of Google Maps) so I simply visit their website and there is their number.

In fact, I never need to remember anything ever again. Aeroplane tickets are sent via email – on my phone. Train tickets – email me a number to use at the station to pick them up. Event tickets – soon to be bar code on my phone. Voucher coupons for my supermarket shopping – barcode on my phone. The possibilities are endless.

The most important point I’m trying to make is that my phone is now the centre of my entire existence. And thanks to apps (applications to download onto your phone) people are adding functionality to my phone everyday. This, plus the ridiculously easy to use interface, makes the iPhone probably the most useful item I have ever owned, by miles.

This is why we need to all take notice of how businesses can tap into this emerging market. How can marketers use this information to connect with consumers? By integrating mobile into every campaign and moving it to the centre of all of our thinking.

For further reading see:
Mobile Platform Status Report
Mary Meeker on the iPhone and Mobile Marketing