Nick Baggott's CRM and Digital Marketing Blog

End of year summary

What a year.

23 countries, 17 clients and plenty of work. Fingers crossed, I am not affected by the credit crunch yet, but I have been sensible saving cash just in case!

Highlights have been seeing the pyramids in Mexico, historic Buenos Aires, swimming in the dead sea, having dinner in a fabulous restaurant overlooking Stockholm qand of course watching football in Brazil.

Worst traffic award goes to Moscow, narrowly beating Sao Paulo and Mexico City.

So, thanks for everyone that has helped me - Tamie, Gisselle & the teams at Microsoft, Imparta for introducing me to o2 and Lloyds TSB, CIM and Diann at Clear Direction deserve a special mention, but of course thanks to all of the alliance partners, clients and business partners.

Fingers crossed for next year. I have high hopes for a couple of new clients and relationships with agencies like Wild Card and Nixon McInnes and Chemistry of course.

Good luck to you all and thank you

Yoobot from British Heart Foundation

My 10 year old is addicted to Yoobot. It is a wonderful game made by the British Heart Foundation. It allows kids to build their own virtual character and then feed it, give it exercise etc and watch him or her grow up. The message is clear - eat well and do some exercise and you'll stay healthy.

The great thing is, my son is playing the game becasue it is fun, not because it is educational. His friend at school introduced him to it, so I guess that is true viral marketing. An excellent interactive experience for kids. I even noticed that his character is now wearing a BHF branded T shirt that he bought with virtual money online

e-consultancy online engagement report

e-consultancy have recently released their 2009 online engagement report. Here are some highlights from the Exec Summary carried out amongst 1,300 marketers (2/3 of which are UK based):

- only 45% have a defined online customer engagement strategy

- 51% say that a deteriorating economy has led to a greater emphasis on customer engagement

- 38% say they are focused on increasing value from the customer, whilst 34% say it is about creating value for their customers

The survey also askeed them which channels thewy will focus on: 59% say e-newsletters, 41% user ratings & feedback, 37% user generated content, 36% blogging & 36% branding in social networks like facebook.

The survey reflects my experiences. I see many companies showing a desire to build customer engagement online, but many of them have little idea how to do this, which channels they should use or how they can measure it. I guess that is why I am so busy!

South African Tourism You Tube Channel

The South African Tourist Authority have created an interactive YouTube channel. To win a holiday for two in RSA, you have to upload a video of what South Africa means to you. There are a few up there already. There's a facebook group too.

Check it out at http://uk.youtube.com/southafricantourism