New approach allows advertisers to map and assign value to various touch points, gaining a more complete picture of a campaign.

Microsoft engagement mapping is similar to the "last mile touch point mapping" which is being undertaken by my agency for the last 6 months or so. http://www.pulsesuite.com/ The difference being that while the MS's Engagement Mapping is a new approach to managing and measuring the effectiveness of online campaigns - our approach has been to map the touch points at the last mile which impact the actual path to purchase. Read more about Microsoft's Engagement Mapping here.

This type of engagement mapping tool will become really powerful when it can measure not only ad views that lead to a purchase, but also any other type of online or social interaction. This is probably the end game that Facebook is aiming at with Beacon. Imagine the value advertisers could derive from a tool that looks at how your online activity leads up to a purchase. I.e., did you see a friend talk about the product on a Facebook wall post? Did you read a blogged review? Did you see the product talked about in a YouTube video? Did you look at any ads when all that was happening?

Our approach on our last mile tools has been similar where-in we and understand reasons why a shopper changes his brand in the last mile - which are the touch - points that help in the brand choice. This information is a must have when planning a last mile / retail engagement. Know more about these last mile tools at www.pulsesuite.com

How Digital Marketing Can Help Reinvent Direct Marketing - From Adage

Found this to be really relevant and hence requesting all to read thru. "traditional direct is stuck in the limits of a one-to-one model created and perfected for a previous age" - how true!! Read the article here.

Shop Floor - The New PRIME TIME.

I started documenting the changes in the way shoppers behave when taking a decision on the brand purchases sometime back and have collated the top 10 trends, as I see them, in this white paper.

The trends strongly reiterate the urgency and the need for brands to focus on the “shop floor” in the same manner as they have traditionally focused on the prime time on TV to advertise and promote themselves and their products.

This whitepaper on the changing shopper behavior and its reasons is now available for a free download from here. You will however, need to register on the site and then log into it to download the whitepaper.

There is a lot more information on each of the trends; do email me if you wish to know more – I will be happy to share the same with you. You will also find some of the additional information on each of the trends on this blog over the next few weeks – so do subscribe to either the RSS fee or by way of email for regular updates.

Happy reading! And look forward to your views.

Anatomy of Recession-Proof Business.

There was a debate on about running this campaign "Anatomy of Recession-Proof Business", and, I thought I should get a quick reaction from you guys!
Read more : about endure
Read more : about prevail

Retailing in the Recession - a playbook.

Just got this whitepaper from WPP's retail knowledge initiative - The Store titled "Retailing in the Recession". This is the 1st in a series of "playbooks" to help retailers and brand owners succeed in today’s unpredictable climate. I believe you will find this insightful although it does tend to address the US market trends - however, a number of them are applicable for Asia as well.

I have linked it here for a free download, although you will need to register on the site to access the document. When on the site, also check out the demos of the last mile effectiveness measurement tools.