Interactive Seven 2009 Supplement - Marketing Week

MWIB_260209_p023 19/2/09 17:29 Page 23
INTERACTIVE WEB 2.0
It’s a kind of
Web 2.0
magic trick
Arthur C Clarke’s third and
final law of prediction is:
“Any sufficiently advanced
technology is
indistinguishable from
magic.”
Web 2.0 presents new
challenges for companies in
how they manage their online
presence easily and cost
effectively while still
delivering an engaging and
exciting content for their web
audience.
You may be using AJAX,
Flex, Video and other great
new web toys, but it is for your content that your audience visits
your website for – this is your true “magic”.
When your website delivers a rich media experience, user
participation and dynamic content while upholding web standards,
it is often costly to keep all parts of the site up to such a high
standard.
A content management system (CMS) is an excellent way to gain
production line type advantages of even the most complex parts of
your website.
We at Little Forest can help you by changing your existing CMS
or creating a new one for you, to achieve the goal of “managing
your magic”.
We love helping companies take control of their web presence.
Whether you want to be able to upload the latest data to your sexy
new Web 2.0 iPhone application or change the banner on your home
page without the need for code developers, we can help.
Our work empowers our customers with an easy and friendly
way to frequently update their marketing “magic” on their web and
mobile platforms. By fully utilising your own CMS you allow your
marketing team to help your web content to stay fresh and relevant,
thereby giving more value to your own customers.
Many of our customers see great cost savings in their marketing
by enabling their CMS to support all the most important areas of
their website. This saving is realised by not having to pay web
developers and designers every time you make changes to your
website.
We lead in ensuring that your content managed website still
supports all the web’s best practices such as search engine
friendliness, usability and accessibility.
Most importantly, our mission at Little Forest is to make sure
your “magic” always amazes your audience.
Gavin Colborne, Managing Director, 20 Windsor Road, Worcester
Park, Surrey KT4 8EW. t 020 7193 2014,
e info@littleforest.co.uk
The friendly
match
Social networks may not be a big
money spinner for brands, but they
are indispensable tools to build
awareness online, boost loyalty and
support campaigns. By David Benady
As internet users while away long hours socialising in online
communities, brands are adopting imaginative strategies to
make themselves heard amid the cacophony of web chit chat.
From anti-perspirant Sure’s involvement with Bebo’s drama
Sophia’s Diary to brand fan pages on sites such as MySpace and Facebook,
brands are leaping into social networks in a big way. But just how
effective these steps are at boosting sales is another question.
Facebook’s failure, so far, to “monetise” its service is evidence that
the social interaction offered by Web 2.0 is far from the honey pot for
brands that some had hoped. And, while optimising search terms through
Google AdWords can deliver massive sales for travel, insurance and e-
commerce brands, social media lack a similar “killer application” that
can convert the services into lucrative engines of growth.
Even so, marketers are undaunted. They believe social media offer
brands the chance to build a presence online, enhance loyalty and promote
messages and reputations. On some estimates, social network sites
account for a fifth of online page views.
But Mark Tomblin, planning director at online agency TBG, believes
many brands struggle to stand out in online communities. “There is a
problem with social networking from a marketing point of view. Do people
really want their conversations interrupted with commercial messages?
Probably not,” he says.
However, MySpace UK managing director Anthony Lukom insists brands
are benefiting from social media. “We are living proof of that,” he says. “If
you are in a pure communication
mode, you don’t want people interrupting.
But we have a portal aspect
where people are connecting with
content through MySpace. We work
with brands and show them how
they can interact and talk to their
audience and give them something
they want.”
He claims that MySpace, which
is owned by News International, is
the only profitable social network.
Brands can either build “custom
communities”, where they have
Tomblin: The problem with a their own fan pages, or advertise
marketing/social media mix is that directly to users. The site, which
users don’t want to be interrupted claims to have 125 million reg-
Marketing Week Interactive 23