Web Wisdom

12 Jan Is Barbour International the new Burberry check? Nikki

Having done a great job of reinventing themselves with a new tailored cut and a snazzy yellow gold International logo, it appears that Barbour may have scored an own goal. We all remember Burberry's check being adopted by the masses in the late 90s. Now the International is becoming streetwear, worn increasingly by TOWIE followers.

Although a high turnover of sales must be welcome, it presumably isn’t what Barbour had in mind. With jackets costing a minimum of £180, price obviously isn't a barrier. So what is it that is appealing to a new working class demographic?

 read article Branding | Retail | Strategy
10 Nov How To Account for Christmas shopper mindsets on and offline Nikki

Christmas shoppers change their shopping patterns throughout November and December.  Monday December 5th has been predicted by Amazon to be Cyber Monday, the day when most  online Christmas transactions will take place. However retailers should account for well established Christmas shopper behaviour patterns both on and ofline. In my 9 years spent as a marketing head at Selfridges, we had well defined expectations and strategies for our instore Christmas traffic.

 read article Digital Marketing | Retail | Strategy
06 Oct Our favourite Steve Jobs quote Nikki

He may have been known as a control freak by those who worked for him and his obsession with every detail was the obvious foundation for Apple's success, however Steve Jobs always had a clear and honest vision for his own lfe.  Way back in 1993 he said in the Wall Street Journal "Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me… Going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful… that's what matters to me."

 read article Tea break | Video
24 Aug Websites - the 30:30 rule Nikki

One of the important things to bear in mind when designing a website is the different needs that users have. Some will be accessing your homepage for quick information - your contact details for example. Others will be visiting your site to find out more about your brand and decide whether they want to become a customer or not.

 read article Digital Marketing | New Website | Strategy
22 Jun First Playstation, now Club Penguin Nikki

Until now, kids' faith in technology has been unshakable. For kids who relegate DVDs and email to the realms of 'old technology' there have been a few shocks this spring. Firstly we had the suspension of the Playstation network and then this week, Disney apparently forgot to renew the Club Penguin url. This meant that kids were met with a picture of an old bloke playing golf instead of cyber seabirds. How analogue can it get!

 read article Digital Marketing | Tea break
24 May Who's doing well on Facebook commerce? Nikki

As Facebook continues its drive for world domination, savvy businesses are already using F-commerce tools to drive brand presence and sales.  Whether with a simple link to their main site, or with full transactional capability, here is a handful of the most inspirational FB shops:

 read article Digital Marketing | Retail | Social Media | Strategy
18 May Can Mary Portas rescue the High Street? Nikki

The news that Nick Clegg has called Mary Portas in to rescue the British High Street has stimulated much debate today.  Certainly it seems that something must be done.  18 months ago flash discounting provoked an instant sales spike for most retailers.  

 read article Retail | Strategy
28 Apr Retailers doing the Royal Wedding Nikki

London stores are decked out in their wedding finery - so who's doing it well?  The Apparatus role of honour goes to:

Windows

Liberty wins our vote for its dry British humour

Runner Up: New Look for being bang on the mood of the nation. 

Point Of Sale

Body Shop

Merchandise

John Lewis

Budget Busting

Swarovski

Booby prize

Shockingly for us goes to Selfridges for not trying very hard and being too commercial

 read article Retail | Tea break
15 Apr The funniest reviews on Amazon!! Nikki

The most entertaining Amazon review pages?  We're just wondering how the Paul Ross canvases would look in the newly decorated Apparatus offices, it could really set off the Farrow & Ball. 

Maybe Tuscan whole milk will be our tipple for the weekend to accompany our fresh whole rabbit.  As we feast we'll be wearing our

read article Digital Marketing | Tea break
04 Apr Great Brand Extension Nikki

Havaianas, the cult flip-flop brand, has circumvented seasonality by introducing a range of wellies into the UK.  A triumph of strategic thinking, they echo the range of colours and designs of the flip flops and are priced comfortably below Hunter (the current object of desire).  Launching at Easter, well in time for the festival season and the British summer, they are bound to be an example of great brand extension in action.

 read article Retail | Strategy
23 Mar iOS conversions not showing in search Nikki

A study by Marin Software has shown that the growing use of iOS devices (iPads, iPhones & iPods) is having a serious effect on paid search results - up to 80% of conversions are being missed. 

 

 read article Digital Marketing | Pay Per Click Advertising
25 Feb Stop ponsing around down South Nikki

Resign London - we like this.  Yes we do have all that 'fancy art crap' up here in Europe's second media hub.  Northern creatives, leave the soot and dust of the South and come back to real people, house prices you can afford and a great standard of living.  The campaign comes with a pre-written letter of resignation.  Happy Friday!

 read article Tea break | Video
03 Feb Tea break time - 3/2/2011 - The Day The Routers Died!!! Nikki

The last IPv4 address apparently went 2 minutes ago!!!  Sing along ...

 read article Digital Marketing | Tea break | Video
03 Feb IPv6 scaremongering - should you worry? Nikki

Media coverage today is stating that the world will run out of IP addresses tomorrow - what does this mean for your website? 

 read article Digital Marketing | New Website | Search Engine Optimisation
31 Jan How to do Happy Mondays 2011 Nikki

Fab films on Sundays.  To ensure we all greet Monday with a large hurrah we're building a library of inspiring films to be watched on winter Sunday afternoons.  The deal is that they must be suitable for family viewing (don't want to damage the little apparati) and we'd like them to make us think and feel something (good preferably).

So far we've covered:

 read article Tea break
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