McEWANHACKETT.COM

Easy. Just work out what it is they want and give it to them. There - you've done it already. If you think of the sites you use each day, which do you find the most satisfying and why? Chances are that the reason you continue to use them is for one of two reasons:

1. There is no alternative (or you're not dissatisfied enough to find an alternative).
2. It does what you need it to do when you need it at an acceptable cost to you.

According to the Childwise charity, children in the UK spend £4.2 billion annually (up from £3.9 billion in 2005). It is suggested that they influence spending decisions up to a value of over £40 billion annually. So it's no great surprise then to see that marketers are willing to pay big money to get a slice of the action in this segment.

However, because we're talking about a vulnerable sector, certain conditions apply...

Finally summer seems to have arrived in parts of the UK (at least those that aren't cloudy or still bailing out their houses from the recent floods). And this has coincided with the 2007 Ripcurl Boardmaster championships in Newquay, Cornwall. Why is this interesting for marketers?

Talking of delighting customers - look at this.

This company provides a selection of tents and caravans at all of the major UK festivals. All you have to do is turn up dump your things and join in the fun. They'll even arrange for your favourite CDs to be there for you too (should there not be enough live stuff I presume). They provide all the gear you need whilst your there and when you leave, you just leave. They'll pack the tent away!

What a great and innovative service. Uberpremium. So if you're someone who fits the description in the title, look no further for a place to rest your head this summer.

What do you think of the new Apple homepage?

I think it's excellent and here's why:

1. It's designed for its audience, and Apple knows theirs. Most people love or hate Apple, so why bother trying to convince non-believers? Just show them the product. They'll make up their mind or not to buy. Apple doesn't mix up values with features. The iMac value is elegance, design and power.

2. Its simple. One product and six nav buttons above "the fold". No confusion, no proliferation of products or services messing up the message.

3. Clear user focused navigation. This speaks for itself.

4. Brand value. People purchase Apple because it works right out of the box, is simple and is truly beautiful. The new front page reflects this: simple navigation, industrial looking design reflecting the product family (I'm struck by the leanings towards the iTunes interface in the new design) and lack of obvious hard sell messages.

5. Use of images to push the sales message. Look at the home page. One headline, "You can never be too thin.Or too powerful" instead of lots of techspeak about RAM, processor speed etc. The image pulls the user in and within 1 click the info on teshnical data is available to back-up the message. But the look will sell.

OK they can do this because they have a multi-billion dollar marketing and sales budget right?

Correct. But by applying some of this to the average website, improvements can be made. Think about your marketing message, is it simple? Does it come through obviously on your site? Are your customers seeing what you want them to see? Do they realise what the value of your service is rather than being confused by the features? Know your audience, communicate directly with them, and simplify the message.

It'll work. Better.

If you read this blog (and you know who you are...) then you know that I read Seth Godins blog regularly. I do this not just because I agree with most of what he says, but because even when I don't he always has a slant on a topic that makes you think differently about something that maybe previously you'd had a fixed view on. This post is a great example of his worldview.

Now in the international education marketing world, maybe its difficult to move the goalposts in the way he suggests - after all we're dealing with smaller budgets, longer term decisions and a more complex marketplace than the world of FMCG.

However, think of the move from the pre-Education UK marketing environment, and then the new launch of the Education UK brand. Isn't this the type of thing that he's talking about? Moving away from something that was (arguably) still good enough to something that spoke directly to international students?

Sure, the cost of doing this is huge and the outputs are inevitably difficult to judge (at least in the short term) and the whole venture is risky. But that means that if successful it does change the world in the way that Seth talks about - both for potential students and educational institutions.

And that means the pressure is on to continually refine the message and deliver better results, but that is what needs to be done in any case in the competitive marketplace we operate in.

And thats got to be a good thing. Hasn't it?

This will run and run. I'm sure the BBC and other traditional outlets will sustain the viral effect on it too....

UPDATE at 14 August 2007

YouTube have taken the video down after complaints from users. The BBC featured the video on PM on the 13 August 2007. I guess that the principal of the school whose pupils made the video may have been one of those complaining. After all does he want his school to be seen as a bastion of privilege or open to all on merit. Whatever happened to all publicity is good publicity?

Today it was announced that, for the first time the average person receives more junk email (spam) than physical junk mail. Predictably, it brought out cries of outrage about wasted time, ineffectiveness and usual lamentations of the travails of modern living...

And as Madonna said "celebrate".

Yes I'm off for a well earned rest, and so this blog will take a break until the start of September. So watch this space....