Press Release from Business Wire : The Marketing Group Plc

STOCKHOLM, (BSW) -

THE MARKETING GROUP PLC, a 360 digital company, today announces the strategic acquisition of Augustus Group Ltd and its subsidiary business Imagine Group, a 'reality-TV' content company, which creates unique content for multi-channel audiences.

The integration of Imagine Group forms a key part of the strategic vision for THE MARKETING GROUP in alignment with the rapid, upward trend in the global marketing sector that sees multi-channel video production as the future of content marketing and content production companies as the cornerstone of growth. Figures show that by 2017, video will account for 69% of all consumer internet traffic (Cisco) and 64% of marketers expect video to dominate their marketing strategies (Nielsen) in the near future.

Alongside Imagine Group , Augustus Group Ltd consists of two other subsidiary businesses that consolidate the digital b2b expertise of the group - Marker Limited (A sister company to previous acquisition Marker Metro) , who deliver best in class b2b digital product development - and Astute Limited , a market leader in integrated digital solutions for b2b clients.

The deal to acquire Augustus Group Ltd and its subsidiaries was agreed at a strike price of 6.47 per share (based on 10 day volume weighted average), with a total value of 43,200,000 Euros. Following this acquisition, the total number of Ordinary shares issued by The Marketing Group will increase from 22,743,337 to 29,420,307. This requires the creation of 6,676,970 new ordinary shares, over 80% of which will be subject to a 360-day lockup period.

This transaction this brings the total shares under lock up in The Marketing Group to just over 70%

The acquisition again proves the success of The Marketing Group's strategic portfolio approach - the agglomeration model - designed to offer clients a true, global marketing service with a full spectrum of specialist services and world-class talent.

Jeremy Harbour, Executive Chairman, The Marketing Group comments, "This acquisition really changes the game for the marketing group cementing our position as a serious global player, we are still at the very beginning of this journey, but we have the expertise and the resources to really make a big statement in this industry, keep watching as our plan unfolds."

Financials

-0- *T EBITDA (The Marketing Group) for Year ended 2016* 4,656,828 EBITDA (Augustus) for Year ended 2016* 4,865,057 Post-acquisition EBITDA 9,521,885 Earnings Per Share (Current) 20.4 cents Earnings Per Share (Post-acquisition) 32.3 cents *T

*Based on forecast proforma

Augustus Group Ltd Headline Financials

-0- *T 2015 2016 Company T/O EBITDA T/O EBITDA Astute Limited 12,183,691 3,894,956 12,793,095 4,115,053 Marker Limited 1,727,235 35,240 1,797,391 367,092 Imagine GroupEntertainment 2,574,890 276,971 4,137,960 382,912 TOTAL 16,485,816 4,207,167 18,728,446 4,865,057 *T

Established in 1998, Astute is a multi-lingual, market leader in technology focused B2B integrated demand generation, servicing blue chip companies on a local and global scale.

Astute serves these global technology companies by helping them to reach out to new customers, but also by cross-selling and up-selling into their existing ones. Its diligent and tailored approach to each client ensures that the company segments the clients target audience and match to specific industry databases.

Astute creates synergies between considered, segmented campaign lists and its client's services; connecting the two has become like breathing for the group and led to its trusted reputation in the industry.

As the marketplace has evolved, Astute has developed alongside it to offer a comprehensive portfolio of services covering lead generation, data supply and management and an entire channel marketing division, providing data, re-seller recruitment and inside sales to manage channel partners. It has also branched out to provide social media content creation and event management.

Key client experience includes EE Limited, 1&1 Internet Ltd, VMware International Ltd, Vodafone Group Services Ltd, VMware UK Ltd, British Telecommunications Plc, Unify Software & Solutions GmbH & Co. KG, Hewlett Packard Ltd, Virgin Media Ltd

Marker Limited specialises in creating enterprise-quality web, cloud, tablet and mobile apps that fundamentally support, strengthen or enhance our clients' product and service offerings. These are typically manifested as: HTML5 responsive web apps (i.e. web applications you can access using desktop, tablet and mobile browsers), iOS apps for iPhone and iPad, Android apps for phone & tablet and supporting services and infrastructure, such as cloud services, API's, and Content Management Systems.

Marker Limited service offering spans the entire product development lifecycle, from strategy development, ideation, product research and validation, through to development, and post-launch additions, enhancements and support.

Key client experience includes Serko Limited, Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Limited, Open Country Dairy Limited, Digicel Asia Pacific, Bidvest, Express Couriers Limited, Frucor Beverages Limited, St john, MYOB and Sanofi.

Imagine Group Entertainment ("IGE") is the leader in unscripted ("Reality TV") content in Asia and was established 6 years ago by Riaz Mehta is the CEO and Founder of the Group.

The Entertainment world sees an ongoing battle between traditional TV channels and online platforms such as Netflix, Iflix, Hulu etc. Content remains at the centre of the entertainment universe regardless of which platform it is consumed on. IGE is one of the rare production companies in Asia as it is creating leading original reality TV shows that are now being formatted in different languages in various countries.

IGE's production quality is internationally recognised by various awards and nominations including The International Emmy Award nomination for The Challenger Muay Thai.

Key client experience includes Fitness First and Dulux.

This acquisition is classified as a Related party transaction as commercial entities in which Chairman Jeremy Harbour has an interest in who have provided financial support and services to Augustus Ltd will receive a total of 849,973 shares as part of this transaction, and a commercial entity that Director Callum Laing discharges managerial responsibility for will receive 849,972 shares. These shares are 100% locked up. Due to this conflict of interest, both Jeremy and Callum abstained from the vote to acquire Augustus. There are no materially declarable new clients, shareholders or suppliers as a result of the transaction.

The Marketing Group in brief

THE MARKETING GROUP PLC was incorporated in May 2015 with the purpose of gathering successful marketing businesses under one roof. During the first half of 2016, The Marketing Group acquired 12 companies with specialist skills and geographical reach. The Company comprises a series of independent marketing teams, each with specific expertise and innovative services. The consolidated group supports the subsidiaries with management and coordinating activities as well as a common operating platform. For more information, please visit the Company's website www.marketinggroupplc.com . The Company's share is listed on Nasdaq First North Stockholm from 8 June 2016 and Mangold Fondkommission AB, +46 8-5030 15 50, is the Company's Certified Adviser and liquidity provider.

This information was brought to you by Cisionhttp://news.cision.com

Contact

The Marketing Group PLC Hannah Middleton, +65 8193 7625 Director and Communications Director hannah.middleton@marketinggroupplc.com or Jeremy Harbour, +65 8661 1776 Executive Chairman jeremy.harbour@marketinggroupplc.com

This material is not an AFP editorial material and AFP shall not bear responsability for the accuracy of its content. In case you have any questions about the content, kindly refer to the contact person mentioned in the text of the release.

End of the Business Wire's Press Release

Source: Press Release from Business Wire : The Marketing Group Plc

Pawtucket, Rhode Island issues Marketing RFP

The City of Pawtucket, Rhode Island seeks an agency to assist in the design, implementation and maintenance/administration of its multi-faced digital and traditional marketing needs.

Pawtucket is a city of 71,148, persons founded in 1671, at the strategic falls of the Blackstone River and the upper tidewaters of Narragansett Bay. It is a city with a special place in the industrial history of the United States. For it was here at the Slater Mill Historic Site that Samuel Slater successfully constructed and operated machines for spinning cotton yarn in 1793. The past decades have seen concerted efforts to diversity the economy of the State, and Pawtucket has participated in that undertaking. In the case of Pawtucket, major political reforms preceded extensive physical changes to the city.  The City of Pawtucket today includes: major residential areas with 30,000 housing units, an employment center with 300 industries and 1,000 commercial and service establishments, and convenient links to the other major metropolitan areas by Interstate 95.

Scope of Work: Digital Media City Web Site

Assist the City, on an ongoing basis, in developing a strategy to enhance the user interface and experience while using the City's website. This strategy would encompass site design changes, e-commerce integration and ongoing maintenance. The artwork that appears on the City's website, www.pawtucketri.com, needs to be maintained on a routine basis to reflect the many events and seasons that occur in the City.

Social Media

The City is seeking an agency that provides a full range of capabilities and specialized expertise, including, but not limited to, a minimum of 5 years of proven social media marketing experience, thorough knowledge of top social media sites including but not limited to Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Instagram, etc.

Will work with the City to develop a comprehensive social media strategy that tracks analytics and implements best practices based on data.

The following services are required:

Concept development, implementation, and management of the City's Facebook page; Concept development and implementation of a Twitter page; Consultation services in the following areas:

Provide direction on how to successfully integrate social media marketing with our web site and e-mail marketing Copywriting and posting of content; Use of images; Audience development; Data analysis.

E-mail Marketing

The City wishes to develop a program designed to keep its citizens and businesses  from inside and outside the Pawtucket informed of events taking place in the City as  well as promote important initiatives.

Marketing/Branding

The City wishes to have a consultant available to assist it in its marketing and branding efforts.

This will include, but may not be limited to the following:

Development (design and write copy) of materials (handouts and presentation) for marketing and branding initiatives; Design and supply display advertising of various kinds as needed; Creative services, such as design, illustration, photography, and videography; Assist the City in developing a cohesive marketing strategy integrating web, social media, mobile marketing, display advertising and traditional means to bring awareness to Pawtucket and promote initiatives important to the City.

Proposal due by August 11, 2016 to:

Pawtucket City HallPurchasing Office137 Roosevelt AvenuePawtucket, RI 02860

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Source: Pawtucket, Rhode Island issues Marketing RFP

How the secret sequel of found-footage pioneer ‘Blair Witch’ has unleashed 'misdirectional marketing' age

The news struck at San Diego's Comic-Con International last week like a bolt of Harry Potter lightning: "The Blair Witch Project," that paragon of Gen-X horror, was coming back.

And it wasn't only coming back in the way that most movies "come back" at Comic-Con — two years from now, with 10 teasers and scores of comments in between proclaiming it the greatest or worst movie of all time. It was coming back soon. Like, seven weeks soon.

That's because a horror movie no one had paid much attention to titled "The Woods," directed by modern genre darling Adam Wingard, was in fact a "Blair Witch" sequel. The film, as the studio Lionsgate revealed, was in the can and ready to drop, ready or not.

Right away there were questions about how much "Blair Witch" would resonate today. After all, the original, an ersatz documentary about a trio of young people lost in the Maryland woods, came out 17 years ago — this weekend in fact.

The fan base that turned it into a spectacular hit was definitively of another generation; the sweet-spot 24-year-old viewer of the present would have been in second grade when the movie came out, part of the original phenomenon only if they were precocious or born to very permissive parents.

What's more, it was not clear whether "Blair Witch" had much story left on the bones. A sequel had already been attempted in 2000, and the franchise would seem to have run its course. The first film's directors, Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick, had long moved on to other projects.

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Maybe most important, the novelty had come off the film's concept itself. The original 1999 "Blair Witch" was ingenious in how it pretended its events were all real, with footage from an attack it described with documentary-like seriousness. So ingenious, of course, that some thought it was real.

Since then, we have seen found-footage films many times, including in horror movies and in other genres, all the way to raunchy teen comedies. We once shuddered watching young people outside Burkittsville looking for a child killer haunted by a dangerous witch. Now we shuddered watching them at a suburban pool party.

But that didn't stop many from going crazy at Comic-Con. And the reason — fittingly — was marketing.

As every film fan knows, the original "Blair Witch" was a triumph of promotion, a coup of release strategy as much as production. It was, basically, the first viral hit.

After the film sneaked up on everyone at Sundance, the indie distributor, Artisan, embarked on a then-unheard-of campaign: It attempted to tantalize and tease on the Web. It did so by suggesting a real crime. There was a site asking for help to find the missing subjects (actors) and listing cold-case information. There were interviews and police files. Some people actually bought it. And even if plenty of people knew it wasn't real, the debate was part of the fun.

The effect was to make everyone want in, even if they didn't know what they wanted in on. I remember walking by the Angelika theater in New York on this weekend in 1999. There were lines around the block. Many had no idea what the movie was. They just wanted to be a part of it.

In these early days of the Web, before every movie came with 10 online clips and a raging Talmudic debate — as a person working on "Star Wars" put it to me recently, "where fans scrutinize a dot in the corner of an image asking if it's a new planet when it was just a piece of dust on the lens" — there was "The Blair Witch Project."

Not so for the new "Blair Witch." It's telling that the film was revealed at Comic-Con. The contrast with Sundance is sharp. Sundance was (and to a great extent still is) about discovery. Knowing as little as possible ahead of time, and coming out with a sense of something new and fresh, is the point of the thing.

Comic-Con is fundamentally about the opposite. It's about clarifying the details of what's already known — and, in many cases, thanks to an endless number of fan blogs, hashed to death.

What kind of chemistry do the Justice League mega-celebs have onstage? How did that "Fantastic Beasts" clip look? Will the new Marvel heroes have the same cachet as the old ones? Will any of this stuff we keep hearing about be any good?

Even the "surprises" are not surprises, as anyone who's followed the Brie Larson-Captain Marvel rumors could tell you.

That's what made the "Blair Witch" development so startling. Here was something that we genuinely knew nothing about, at the place where fans know all.

Dropping a secret in a place of no secrets, a legitimate piece of news where everything has been revealed, was bold by the sheer virtue of its juxtaposition — like putting a lib rary in the middle of a construction site.

And that's what made it all such a contrast with the original "Blair Witch." The first film came into a 1999-era Web that hadn't yet matured — one that people didn't use for video, music or much more than reading some print stories online. It was far from a corporate marketing tool. And here came "The Blair Witch Project" to create excitement, to make noise in a quiet medium, to make the Web as it made itself. People discovered the Internet and its ambiguities by discovering "Blair Witch." Yes, a corporation was behind it. But it was not doing corporate-y things. (And it was a smaller corporation. anyway.)

Today's Web is all about noise, all about jockeying. Today's Web is all about Big Hollywood looking to get you to come in on a Friday night. Today's Web is all about studios, feverishly and sometimes flailingly, trying to re-create the excitement of the original "Blair Witch." When they fail, ot hers help. Trade stories inform who's meeting on a project; fan blogs assess whether that's a good thing. And then trailers and other official marketing material come in to tell us how we should all see it anyway. Phenomena aren't made. They're promoted.

The new "Blair Witch," though, went against this grain. It stayed away from the noise. It made people think a different movie was coming. It lit up Twitter by being very far away from Twitter. Then it told us there was something we didn't know. It even screened at Comic-Con, going from nonexistence to finished film in the space of minutes.

"Blair Witch" '99 broke ground by making noise on the Internet. "Blair Witch" '16 broke ground by hiding from it.

Hollywood marketing has changed a lot in the last 17 years, and will likely change plenty more. But the idea of people not knowing something about a film, that it's better for studios — and even for fans — that viewers come in to a movie with ignorance instead of an opinion is gone.

In some ways this is good, it makes for more informed choices, and it means studios are less likely to slip one past us. Will Smith recently told an audience at the Cannes Lions conference, "Back in the '80s and '90s, you had a piece-of-crap movie, you put a trailer with a lot of explosions and it was Wednesday before people knew your movie was [crap]," Smith said. "But now what happens is 10 minutes into the movie, people are tweeting 'This is [crap].' "

What's lost in that, though, is the idea that greatness can be stumbled upon. Some of the best film experiences of my life, and I would guess many of yours, happened precisely because I had no idea what I was abo ut to see in the theater. That it doesn't much happen anymore is a shift, from the idea of the fan as a naive person being wowed to the citizen-scholar looking to see if the film matches up with a canon. Both are legitimate ways of consuming pop culture. But they're very different.

Seeing how successful the "Blair Witch" reveal at Comic-Con was, other studios will no doubt try to emulate it. There will be attempts at misdirectional marketing (it's not a term yet, but wait), at going big by saying little. It's hard to see the tactic being effectively replicated. But then, neither was the trick from the original "Blair Witch."

An earlier version of this post stated that "Blair Witch" director Adam Wingard is Australian. He is American.

Source: How the secret sequel of found-footage pioneer 'Blair Witch' has unleashed 'misdirectional marketing' age

This Week in Content Marketing: How Brands Could Inherit the Web

PNR: This Old Marketing with Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose can be found on both iTunes and Stitcher.

In this week's episode of This Old Marketing, Robert and I discuss two major business acquisitions: Yahoo! by Verizon and Dollar Shave Club by Unilever — and ponder their implications to content marketers. Next, we're excited about the innovative new content marketplace Medium has launched that could become a category killer. Finally, The New York Times' T Brand Studio has morphed into a full agency, a move that may not bode well for traditional Madison Avenue advertising firms. Rants and raves include an award-winning documentary for an iconic guitar, why your team should create a "stop" list, and why media companies may implode as brands get better at content. This week's This Old Marketing example: Houghton.

This week's show

(Recorded live on July 25, 2016; Length: 1:03:36)

Download this week's PNR This Old Marketing podcast.

If you enjoy our PNR podcasts, we would love if you would rate it, or post a review, on iTunes. 

Today's episode sponsor

Ahrefs: Ahrefs is offering a 14-day free trial plus a special 30% discount of their marketing toolset for PNR podcast listeners only. The discount will only be active until September 1, 2016. Go here for more: http://cmi.media/pnr141a

1. Content marketing in the news

Yahoo sells core business to Verizon for 4.8 billion (9:17): The internet is an unforgiving place for yesterday's great idea, and Yahoo has now reached the end of the line as an independent company. The board of the Silicon Valley company has agreed to sell Yahoo's core internet operations and land holdings to Verizon Communications for $4.8 billion. The lesson: Be exceptional at one thing and focus on that. Don't dabble in lots of things, which was Yahoo's downfall. The potential (but not likely) upside: Verizon could create an incredible content network from the media brands it has acquired via AOL and Yahoo.

Unilever buys Dollar Shave Club for $1 billion (19:30): Dollar Shave Club — which was built on the idea of, well, inexpensive razors — has sold itself to Unilever for an all-cash deal worth $1 billion. Unilever seeks to leverage the data the spunky retailer has acquired about its male audience, as well as its innovative direct-to-consumer business model, explained on the Stratechery blog. Robert and I love the way Dollar Shave Club embraced the role of disruptor, with its subscription-based business model and entertaining YouTube videos. We agree that any company can do this; all it takes is an innovator's mindset.

Medium is launching a creative exchange for writers (26:05): One of Medium's goals is to help writers and publishers get paid for their work on the popular blogging platform. Accordingly, it has launched The Creative Exchange, a program that seeks to connect creators with brands. Robert and I agree that this is essentially a content studio or agency that is recruiting creative talent from its writing population. This opens up some fascinating opportunities for creatively rewarding top talent, which should give it a significant advantage over existing freelance writer marketplaces.

T Brand Studio is now a full-fledged agency (31:44): When The New York Times' T Brand Studio opened for business two-and-a-half years ago, it sold marketers, including those at Netflix and Cole Haan, on the idea that it could create splashy, multimedia articles that could be taken for Times journalism. It's now expanding into an agency, with a full array of marketing products and services. The big advantage publisher-owned content studios offer versus traditional media agencies is distribution. Robert and I discuss what this development means to traditional agencies.

2. Sponsor (40:30)

Episerver: As a digital marketer, you face both external and internal challenges — from declining organic reach on social to software issues that sap your team's productivity. At the same time, you're tasked with managing content that increases lead count, boosts sales, or raises customer loyalty. Four Steps to Simplify Digital Experience, a new guide from Episerver, covers the four fundamental steps of the digital customer experience, and gives hands-on advice on how to work more effectively using Episerver's CMS and Digital Marketing platform. Each step is accompanied by concrete examples that show you how Episerver helps you simplify the digital experience for your customers. You can download it here: http://cmi.media/pnr141b.

3. Rants and raves (42:16)

Robert's rave: Robert is a musician. That's why this article about guitar manufacturer C.F. Martin's award-winning documentary has him on his feet and cheering. Martin released this 40-minute film in May, titled Ballad of the Dreadnought, in recognition of the 100th anniversary of its influential "dreadnought" guitar shape. Since then, it has been shown at six film festivals and has accumulated over 30,000 online views. It's a wonderful documentary — but for some reason it hasn't been promoted online very well, which Robert finds rather frustrating.

Image source

Joe's rant and rave: I love Robert's column in this week's CMI content strategy newsletter, which explains why every content and marketing team needs a "stopping" list. This is often harder than it sounds.

I also have a minor rant: This New York Times article explains how brands are increasingly using native advertising and sponsored content as "gateway drugs" to get into content advertising. But as they get better at the latter, they don't really need media companies to distribute their messages. I predict this may cause media companies to implode and that brands will eventually inherit the web.

4. This Old Marketing example of the week (51:56)

Houghton: Houghton International was a chemical, oil, and lubricant company that was founded in 1865. Its first commercial product, launched in 1867, was a rust preventative. Starting in 1908, the company produced a customer-focused magazine called the Houghton Line. Its initial audience was Houghton agents, but readership grew so fast that it was expanded for distribution to customers and prospects. When it was retired in 2008, on its 100th anniversary, Houghton said it had become the longest-running industrial publication in history. In 2015, the Houghton Line was resurrected for a one-time issue to celebrate the company's 150th anniversary. It contains a collection of material from past issues, including wise and witty quotations, social and political commentary, letters to the editor, a Prohibition-era short story, and much more. The Houghton Line is an outstanding example of This Old Marketing.

For a full list of PNR archives, go to the main This Old Marketing page.

Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute

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Source: This Week in Content Marketing: How Brands Could Inherit the Web

Why A Digital Marketing Agency Should Build Your New Website

Hiring a Digital Marketing Agency to build your new website is wise if the goal of your new site is to increase both traffic and leads. If you want to grow your business, don't hire a firm that just builds websites: While the firm might give you a great-looking website, the site it builds for you will lack key components that make an effective website.

Advantages of a Digital marketing agency includes :

1. The entire team working on your website will have years of marketing experience — copywriters, designers, developers, project managers, etc. — trained in creating web content, designs and functionality that attract and convert website visitors. I believe websites should be able to increase sales since its your online office .Your website will be designed and written with conversion goals and a conversion funnel in mind from the earliest stages.

2. Your website will feature multiple calls to action applicable to any stage of the buying cycle. These calls to actio n will be planned, refined and implemented throughout all phases of content and design production. (Because a marketing company is judged on the amount of leads it is driving, you can be sure strong conversion elements will be a robust component of your website.)

3. Best practices will be implemented for call-to-action text and design. The placement, colors, design and content of each call to action play an important role in how well it works. Marketing companies with years of experience in perfecting these CTAs will be able to get the strongest results.

4. Best practices for user interface will be implemented — your site will always be easy to navigate. Companies solely focusing on website design sometimes get "carried away" and design for design's sake; an Internet marketing company will make sure your website is easy for visitors to use and obtain information.

5. Your website will be built with a strong base for SEO, rather than a slipshod base or none a t all. For instance:Your site map will be developed around supporting keyword research done at the beginning of the project, to ensure you have all the necessary pages on your site to drive the greatest amount of relevant traffic possible.

6. Site speed improvements will be implemented at all possible places. (Page loading speed is critical for SEO.) Which are one of the most important thing to satisfy users browsing your website .Content will be written for targeted keywords so it is optimized from the start and does not have to be redone down the road.

7. Your site will launch with all necessary optimized content and correct title tags and meta descriptions.You won't have to make scores of costly updates to your new website when it's time to start your monthly SEO campaign.

With an Digital marketing Agency , every detail of your new site will have been designed, written and developed with the goal of getting as many people to the site as possible and converti ng them into sales leads when they get there.

Since the marketing team is involved in your site from the beginning, once the site is live and the real marketing campaign starts, your account manager is ready to hit the ground running and has had time to provide plenty of input beforehand. This accelerates your campaign's performance and puts more leads in the pipeline more quickly.

Source: Why A Digital Marketing Agency Should Build Your New Website

The Most Important Question Of All: WHY Do I Need a Website?

Most business owners understand that they need a website. It's 2016, after all, and they've read numerous online articles, even seen it in major paper-print publications, and they know that their competitors all have websites. They even know that a website can generate leads, can convert customers, and can improve customer relations. Without a specific purpose, a website is of little benefit. Everything, from the content that's created to the Calls To Action that are employed, and even the branding of off-site content, will be driven by that purpose.

In preparation for developing your own business website, there are many questions to ask:

What do you want to achieve?

Will you use it to communicate with clients and customers?

Will you connect with potential business partners?

However, before you can hope to enjoy the benefits that a new corporate website can offer, the most important question to ask yourself is WHY?

Why do you want a website?

Why does your business need a website?

Why do your competitors have websites?

Do you want to:

Generate Leads For Your Sales Team?

SEO, PPC, content marketing, email marketing, newsletter marketing, social media optimisation, video, local, mobile marketing. There are myriad ways in which you can marketing a website and generate visitors to a website.

Set up a lead capture form and route the contact details through to your sales team to create a constant flow of targeted leads that are inexpensive and highly engaged.

Convert Leads Into Customers?

Alternatively, you can all but do away with the traditional sales team, and use your website to make the conversions. Optimise pages so that they are ready to turn interested visitors into paying customers and enjoy potentially massive returns on investment. You can still use offline marketing and conversions, but you don't necessarily need to increase your sales team when you establish an online presence.

Look for ways to tie your physical and online marketing together to create a powerful, multi-channel marketing plan.

Make Sales?

With an eCommerce website, you can run a store the size of a large department store without the overheads. You don't even need to stock the inventory yourself which means that you could potentially sell thousands of items every week, all from your home office.

Dropshipping, order fulfillment, digital goods, and warehouse fulfillment services can all be used to reduce the physical space you need and ensure that you can offer a full retail service.

Have A Digital Portfolio That You Can Show To Potential Clients?

For some professionals, a portfolio is a must, but there is no need to have to carry your portfolio case around with you. Architects, graphic designers, web designers, and photographers are just some of the professions that can direct potential clients to a portfolio style site.

Even simple platforms like WordPress can be customized to offer high quality and great looking portfolio pages.

Expand Your Reach Beyond Your Local Area?

The web is a global marketplace. You can market your services to far-flung corners of the globe providing you with an international exposure that you simply wouldn't achieve without an online presence.

Consider whether your products or services would still be profitable after exchange rates, whether there is global demand for what you offer, and the rates of competition in different countries before you commit to this level of global marketing.

Improve Your Customer Service And Retention Rates?

With top quality customer service, you can expect to enjoy long-term clients and repeat business. You can use your own website to offer customer service features, and you can also use other online real estate that you own to help. Many customers use Twitter and Facebook to communicate with businesses, and by showing off the positive relationship you enjoy with your customers, you could use your customer service skills to further improve conversion rates.

Display a feed of your positive customer service, from Twitter or Facebook, on your website to improve page conversion rates.

Protect Your Brand?

Whether you're online or not, there is a very good chance that your customers and your competitors are. Potential customers may look for business reviews, and there is at least a chance that your competitors are finding ways to disrupt your business marketing channels. Set up a website and not only can you monitor your reputation but you can manage and improve it too.

Set up alerts for brand mentions, establish social media profiles, and register as many top level domains as are relevant to your business in order to protect your brand.

Network?

Knowledge is power, and by establishing an online presence you can meet like-minded people that are looking to share information with you. Join professional networks like LinkedIn, search for industry and role specific discussion groups, and don't be afraid to share information. You never know what you might learn, and you may also develop mutually beneficial relationships with fellow business owners.

Look for major influencers in your industry simply by searching on Google, and try to connect with the owners of websites, blogs, forums, and social accounts that you regularly read.

Develop Business Opportunities?

In the same way that your customers and potential customers are likely to be online, so too are your suppliers and potential business partners. Suppliers want to ensure that you have the business structure while any joint venture or other partners will want to check that you have the credentials that they are looking for.

If you're looking for investment then research angel investment sites, crowdfunding campaigns on sites like Kickstarter, and check LinkedIn Groups to locate potential interest.

Reduce Time Spent Communicating With Customers Or Potential Customers?

Small and even larger businesses can find it a drain on resources if they have to speak to clients and potential clients all the time. Establish a website, add FAQ and guides, and you can effectively answer the majority of your customers' queries without ever having to pick up a phone or attend a face-to-face meeting.

You can use virtual assistants and live chat services to offer 24-hour support; not only does this improve your customer service reputation but it can give your business the appearance of being significantly larger than it really is.

Reach Specialized Markets?

Unless you live in a major city or a major hub for the type of service you offer, it can prove difficult to tap into highly specialized markets. Whether you run a Live Action Role Playing website or specialize in organizing tattoo conventions, running your business offline could mean considerable travel in order to tap into these highly specialized markets. Consider becoming the hub for your specialist market yourself.

Establish a forum, develop a blog, and become a thought leader within your industry and your potential customers will come looking for you, they will share your website with like-minded people, and you will reap the rewards.

Attract Local Customers?

The web might be a global marketplace, but it is also hugely beneficial to those that are looking to market locally. An increasing number of searches are being conducted on mobile devices, while many people use search engines and social media to find relevant, local businesses. With an online presence, you can ensure that your local demographic has a better chance of finding you, the way they want to find you.

Claim your Google Business, build local and topical citations, and encourage reviews from satisfied customers in order to help ensure that you hold a prominent position in local search results.

Looking For New Talent?

The Internet not only offers a means of connecting businesses and their potential customers. Many people use the Internet to conduct job searches because of the convenience and simplicity that it offers, as well as the access that it provides to a wide range of careers.

Set up a careers page of your own, use major job boards, and look for industry specific job websites to help attract some of the best possible candidates for any open positions you have.

There are many potential uses for a website and just as many reasons to establish a corporate website for your business. The site could be as simple as a two or three-page brochure site, or it could be as complex as a responsive eCommerce site offering tens of thousands of products. Regardless of the type of business you run, the first step to enjoying online success is to determine exactly WHY you need a website in the first place.

Images: "WEBSITE word cloud, business concept / Shutterstock.com"

Tweak Your Biz is a thought leader global publication and online business community. Today, it is part of the Small Biz Trends stable of websites and receives over 300,000 unique views per month. Would you like to write for us?

An outstanding title can increase tweets, Facebook Likes, and visitor traffic by 50% or more. Generate great titles for your articles and blog posts with the Tweak Your Biz Title Generator.

Source: The Most Important Question Of All: WHY Do I Need a Website?

9 Companies Using Live Website Chat in a Creative Way

Live chat technology has been around for a while. And while customers increasingly demand immediate attention, businesses have been relatively slow to adopt a live chat strategy - particularly in the SMB space, where deals are still built on relationships.

Live chat is often solely thought of as a customer support tool and tends to be overlooked from a sales and conversion perspective.

Forrester data shows that 55% of US online adults are likely to abandon their online purchase if they can't find a quick answer to their question. 77% say that valuing their time is the most important thing a company can do to provide them with good online customer service.

Sure, customers can call an 800 number, send an email or fill out a contact form when they run into hiccups in their decision-making or purchasing process, but for every second that it takes a business to respond, the customer's likelihood to purchase exponentially decreases.

Live chat fills that void, providing an immediate line of communication to get customers' questions answered without leaving the page or picking up another device.

99% of first time website visitors are not ready to buy. A marketer's job is to recognize their prospects' intent, nurture them through their education and evaluation stages and deliver high quality leads to their sales team so they can close the deal.

Depending on your goals, users may or may not flow through your funnel as you'd like. While it does make sense for businesses to build sophisticated conversion paths, launch personalized email/website nurturing campaigns and use A/B testing to refine website copy and calls-to-action, the overwhelming majority of businesses are missing a key step in between - simply talking to their visitors.

Live chat allows you to pull up a virtual stool and talk to your website visitors at their peak point of interest.

So how do you begin evaluating whether live chat is a good fit for your sales and marketing objectives? We've gathered 9 inspiring examples showcasing some creative ways that businesses are leveraging live chat in their environments. Take a look and try to think of how you might mimic or adapt these strategies to enhance your customer experience and drive growth within your organization.

1) Betterment: New Client Onboarding Assistance

Betterment, a leading online investment advisor, uses targeted proactive chat invitations to engage with top tier clients when they sign up for a new account. Dealing with people's money demands the utmost credibility and trust.

Rather than solely relying on their established UX flow to move clients down their investment funnel, proactive chat offers the opportunity for advisors to provide instant, personalized financial services to new clients so they can invest with confidence.

2) SnapEngage: Proactive Chat on 404 Page

There are few things more frustrating than not being able to find what you're looking for, and arriving at a 404 page often results in visitors exiting a website. Rather than providing a list of suggested links that may or may not be relevant to their visitors' search, SnapEngage immediately fires an automated proactive chat invitation when website visitors land on their 404 page so they can quickly guide them to the content they're looking for.

3) Canyon: Multilingual Chat Support

Canyon Bicycles has a popular following around the globe, supporting a diverse set of customers speaking different languages. They use intelligent chat routing rules to immediately connect customers to the most appropriate members of their sales and support teams in their visitors' preferred language.

4) Petplan: Facebook Fan Page Chat

"With 1.09 billion people logging in daily (a 16% increase year-over-year), [Facebook] is still the most popular social network around. Not to mention, Facebook owns 77% of all social logins." (Check out How to Use Facebook for Business: 25 Facebook Marketing Tips and Tricks)

Petplan Pet Insurance has a 'Chat with us' tab on their Facebook page, allowing fans to communicate with their team in real-time without leaving Facebook, and serving as yet another lead generating channel for their sales and marketing teams.

5) U.S. Patriot Tactical: Text-to-Chat Customer Support

U.S. Patriot Tactical uses SMS-to-Chat services, allowing clients to start a live chat with their support team via a simple text message. They display their 'Text-to-Chat' phone number on their website, order receipts and packing slips to quickly facilitate communications around order inquiries, status and returns.

6) Ruffwear: Targeted Proactive Chat Invitations

Ruffwear not only uses creative [dog] agent photos to engage with visitors; they also trigger targeted proactive chat invitations specific to visitors' needs on particular pages of their website (i.e. Dog Boots Fit Guide). Their helpful messages provide a good balance between self-help resources and the opportunity to receive personalized support with the click of a button.

7) Aid In Recovery: Real-Time Online Counseling

Aid In Recovery uses live chat to offer immediate assistance and assessment for people struggling with addiction. Operating in an environment where every second counts, Aid In Recovery relies on chat to get patients the help they need, the moment they ask.

8) Maids In Black: Simple Pre-Chat Form

Maids In Black uses a simple pre-chat form to gather basic information and offer visitors the opportunity to send an email or connect with a live chat agent. Keeping the form short with only a couple fields eases the path to engagement for visitors while also allowing the Maids In Black team to route chats and emails to the appropriate teams.

9) Mavenlink: Advanced Lead Qualification

Mavenlink relies on live chat to serve as a powerful front-line lead qualification tool for their marketing and sales teams. They pass an extensive list of contact details and custom operator variables (recorded by agents during a chat) to their CRM so they can appropriately assign leads and assign follow-up tasks to their sales team after a chat closes.

That's it! What companies do you see using live chat in a creative, useful way?

Want to learn more about leveraging live chat to turn your website visitors into actionable leads? Download the free ebook by SnapEngage.

Source: 9 Companies Using Live Website Chat in a Creative Way

Movable Ink Hires Forrester Alumnus and Contextual Marketing Pioneer as Vice President of Strategy

New York: Movable Ink, the provider of contextual email technology, today announced that Rob Brosnan, former Principal Analyst for Customer Intelligence at Forrester Research has joined as Vice President of Strategy.

Brosnan brings to Movable Ink extensive foresight and knowledge of the opportunity that technology and creative innovation provide marketers to deliver rich, highly personalized customer experiences. As Vice President of Strategy, he will lead and advance Movable Ink's mission to help marketers build enduring relationships with customers through the context and content of their interactions. Brosnan will guide the firm's corporate strategy and product roadmap as well as provide research and thought leadership to Movable Ink's clients and the industry at large.

As Principal Analyst for Customer Intelligence Professionals at Forrester, Brosnan advised clients how to build customer relationships and create competitive differentiation through marketing technologies such as cross-channel campaign management, marketing automation, and real-time interaction management. While there, he helped conceive the term "contextual marketing" and wrote much of the original content on the topic and its potential to transform marketing.

After Forrester, Brosnan joined contextual marketing software firm StrongView as Senior Vice President of Strategy. He later served as the company's Chief Product Officer where he oversaw the development and operation of StrongView's contextual marketing platform, including product marketing, management, and development. He held this position through StrongView's acquisition by private equity firm HGGC and subsequent merger with marketing automation firm Selligent, also owned by HGGC.

"We're in a period of profound change for marketers. Combining customer context with relevant content is transforming the way brands deliver experiences that maximize value for both consumers and companies," said Brosnan. "True innovation requires a combination of new technology and creative strategy, and Movable Ink is well positioned to help marketers achieve this. Their holistic approach to contextual marketing is different from others in the email world, and I see great opportunities ahead for Movable Ink as the leader in this exciting space."

"Rob joins our team at a perfect time as we continue to scale the company and cement our position as market leader in contextual email," said Vivek Sharma, CEO of Movable Ink. "As a skilled market strategist with deep knowledge of how marketers can enact change through technology and brand innovation, Rob will be invaluable to the next phase of our growth and continued market dominance."

Source: Movable Ink Hires Forrester Alumnus and Contextual Marketing Pioneer as Vice President of Strategy

4 Obstacles Preventing Conversions on Your E-Commerce Website

You could be attracting highly targeted website traffic, with buyer-intent, through SEO, social media and email marketing, but that doesn't guarantee it will convert into sales.

Sometimes a simple problem with your website will create an obstacle and kill your conversion rate. Here are four common obstacles that could be responsible for preventing your website from converting and generating revenue.

1. You don't offer any visible special offers.

More of your website visitors will convert if they feel like they are receiving a special offer, such as an instant discount or free shipping. Many websites offer these, but they don't make them visible. You need to make sure you place there directly where every single visitor will come in contact with them.

One of my consulting clients operates a fairly large e-commerce website and they were experiencing huge traffic numbers but low conversions. When I was hired, I created a two-step exit offer that presented visitors who were leaving the website with a discount code they could use for immediate savings.

Their conversion rates went through the roof with this one simple change. Without any other changes, the company's sales grew significantly larger.

2. You don't offer a pleasant mobile experience.

A mobile-friendly website is mandatory -- there's no way around it. Check to see if your website passes Google's mobile-friendly test here. It's important to understand that a passing grade alone won't necessarily guarantee that your website is going to provide a pleasant user experience.

There are many things to consider when optimizing a website for mobile traffic. Make sure you use text that's large and easy to read, have only one call-to-action for your visitors to focus on, avoid large paragraphs of text and make sure visitors can access every feature using just one finger.

There are plenty of pre-built solutions if you are on a limited budget or don't have access to an in-house developer. Shopify, for example, offers plenty of customizable e-commerce website templates that provide excellent mobile user experiences. Check out e-commerce website Chummy Tees for an example of how clean and responsive the software is.

3. Your website speed is incredibly slow.

If you visit a website and it doesn't load fast what do you do? You leave. I leave. We all leave. Your website visitors aren't any different, making it very important that your website speed is fully optimized.

Not only will someone leave your website because it loads slowly, but the will also never return, preventing future sales as well. There are several free tests you can run to audit your website speed and load time, like GTmetrix and Google's speed test. Consider upgrading your website hosting to a dedicated server or use a content delivery network (CDN) to improve your website performance.

4. You require customers to create an account to checkout.

I won't purchase from a website that requires me to create an account before checking out, and I can guarantee the majority of your visitors are the same way. Consumers want to complete the transaction as quickly as possible. If you require your visitors to create an account it makes the checkout process longer, while also acting as revenue repellant, pushing away visitors who refuse to create an account.

Don't entirely eliminate the ability to create an account; some visitors, specifically repeat ones, enjoy the convenience of stored information, such as a preferred payment method and shipping address. Simply make sure you offer a "guest" checkout option, as well, allowing visitors to quickly complete purchases and be on their way.

Jonathan Long is the Founder & CEO of Market Domination Media®, an online marketing agency that provides online marketing consulting. Jonathan also created EBOC (Entrepreneurs & Business Owners Community), a private business forum. Follow him on Twitter.

Source: 4 Obstacles Preventing Conversions on Your E-Commerce Website

Local Marketing Tips for Small Businesses

NEW YORK, July 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- With the continuing evolution of the digital landscape, small business owners are oftentimes overwhelmed with how they should dedicate their marketing efforts and budgets. When marketing campaigns are initially planned, many local marketing tactics are often overlooked in order to focus on the latest and greatest marketing trend.

Recognizing the importance of local marketing and the role it can play with your business is only the first step. If you are looking to draw in more customers and establish loyalty for generations to come, your local marketing efforts should be prioritized. To strengthen these efforts, consider the following:

Get listed.  Ensure your business is listed in all relative directories such as Google Maps, Yellowpages.com and Local.com so that your business gets found on local search results. You'll also need to monitor these sites to correct mistakes and control your presence.

Website.  With modern consumers expecting brands to be online, building a business website enables you to reach a wider customer base and helps to establish credibility in the marketplace.  Having a well-designed website can be an effective way to compete with larger brands in your industry and doesn't need to break your budget either.

For further discussion on the remaining local marketing tips, read the latest article posted to PR Newswire's Small Business PR Toolkit here.

PR Newswire's Small Business PR Toolkit is a comprehensive resource that provides small businesses and entrepreneurs the tools to develop an affordable public relations and marketing plan that helps generate interest from potential customers, engage with key audiences and grow their businesses. The toolkit features relevant content such as informative white papers, interactive webinars and how-to articles and premium access to educational resources, as well as the opportunity to take advantage of special offers designed specifically for small businesses. To request information on how PR Newswire can help your small business, click here. You can receive updates on new Small Business PR Toolkit content by following @prnsmallbiz on Twitter.

About PR NewswirePR Newswire, a Cision company, is the premier global provider of multimedia platforms and distribution that marketers, corporate communicators, sustainability officers, public affairs and investor relations officers leverage to engage key audiences. Having pioneered the commercial news distribution industry over 60 years ago, PR Newswire today provides end-to-end solutions to produce, optimize and target content -- and then distribute and measure results. Combining the world's largest multi-channel, multi-cultural content distribution and optimization network with comprehensive workflow tools and platforms, PR Newswire powers the stories of organizations around the world. PR Newswire serves tens of thousands of clients from offices in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific regions. 

Cision is a leading global media intelligence company, serving the complete workflow of today's communication professionals.

Contact:Amanda EldridgeDirector, Strategic Channels201-360-6906Amanda.eldridge@prnewswire.com

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Source: Local Marketing Tips for Small Businesses

Are Your Marketing Efforts Making Inroads with Customers?

If your marketing efforts appear to be sputtering out of control as of late, what do you plan on doing to correct the situation?

Unfortunately, too many business owners are not able to answer that question, a question that has multiple implications on their business fronts.

With that being the case, it is important that you never take your marketing efforts for granted.

Yes, some marketing campaigns will fall short of their intended goals, but the key then is to analyze why they did just that.

Did you fail to target the proper audience? Was your message short on pertinent consumer information and more loaded towards trying to make a sale? Were you ignoring the importance of social media in marketing your brand? These are but a few of the questions you need to be able to answer.

So, are your marketing efforts making inroads with customers?

Let the Professionals Point You in the Right Direction

In order for your marketing initiatives to truly take hold, remember these pointers as you strive to add more customers:

Is the right team in place? – Depending on the size and scope of your business, you will either do your marketing campaigns via an in-house team or outsource such needs. Either way, having the right people in the right places is crucial to achieving success. For instance, if you decide to go outside your business and get marketing professionals, look at several factors. First, how long have each of the digital media agencies you review been in business? If they're newcomers on the block, don't automatically assume they can't help you. Some newer agencies will come to the table with fresh ideas, ideas that younger minds oftentimes bring. That said you can never totally discount the importance of experience. Going with an agency that has been around and seen and heard just about everything, they can prove just the answer for your needs. Secondly, what are other businesses saying on social channels about your prospective agency of choice? This is but one reason social media is so important to your brand's survival. You may pick up some feedback from other business heads on a number of agencies (their professionalism, whether or not they get back to customers in a prompt and courteous manner etc.). In doing so, you will have a better feel for those you should steer your ship towards and those to steer clear of;

Message matters – Once you have your marketing team of choice in place, you must make sure your message resonates with the buying public. Remember, today's consumers can shop in myriad of places, so you have to clearly demonstrate why it is your brand should get top billing. One of the reasons you should strongly consider a digital media agency to guide you is those companies are professionals at crafting just the right message to lure more customers your way. Given that many consumers have limited attention spans, you must tailor a message that will resonate quickly and passionately. That message can and should be delivered via not only your website blog, but also through catchy videos, social media sprees, and even podcasts. As for that last item, if you are new to the podcast arena, don't discount the marketing punch such initiatives can have;

Follow-ups necessary – Finally, your marketing pros likely already know this, but do you know how important it is to follow up with customers? Unfortunately, too many businesses drop the ball when it comes to stellar customer service. As a result, they lose the chance of gaining that person's loyalty, something that is proving all the more critical in today's world. Make it a priority to have your staff follow up with customers on a regular basis. Even if the customer's experience was fine and dandy, most of them will appreciate the fact you took a minute out of your day to see how their shopping and buying experience with you went. For example, if you run an auto repair place, a quick call or email to the customer who just had his or her vehicle serviced by your establishment is a no-brainier. Nine times out of 10 (along with good service), that call or email will make them lean towards coming back to you the next time their vehicle needs attention.

In order to make inroads with your customers, market your business with the right message, all the while having the right people spreading that message.

Source: Are Your Marketing Efforts Making Inroads with Customers?

Marketing Tips from the Presidential Race

With so many screens (tablet, desktop, mobile) and channels (email, search, social, direct) in play this presidential election, it's safe to say this presidential race is much different than in year's past.

For some help decifering the marketing trends of this election - and how marketers can learn from them - let's turn to Adobe's Kristin Naragon who provides the following takeaways:

• Move Away From Batch-and-Blast 

o Email is still the workhorse of marketing, despite newer and emerging channels like SnapChat, Instagram, and messaging apps. In fact, email marketing yields the highest ROI for marketers, returning $39 for every dollar spent. However, when it comes to email, batch-and-blast is not effective. As we saw last month, this method is what landed Donald Trump's first email campaign in the spam folder. 

  Pro Tip: Send with context in mind. Poor email list management and failing to target your message to appropriate segments of your mailing list leads to poor ROI and may have a negative impact on your brand equity. If the emails are being flagged as spam or receiving a high rate of complaints, you're heading into hot water. Curate your list carefully before sending, and make sure the content is relevant and timely to the right recipients. 

• There's No Campaigning Without Cross-Channel 

o Gone are the days of isolated TV, direct mail and email marketing; today it's essential to take cross-channel approach. Analyzing both online and offline behaviors of your target audience allows politicians to discern the unique characteristics of each demographic, or even down to individuals. The value of data is in the ability for politicians to serve up content based on individuals' preferred channel of communication. 

  Pro Tip: The job of a campaign manager or political marketing executive is to know their pool of voters. Campaign management needs to be as much about web analytics and content management as it does about email execution. A/B Test Your Subject Lines 

o In 2012, the Obama campaign tailored its email campaign with one simple subject line: "Hey." Obviously this worked since Obama was reelected. This grabbed the attention of millions of Americans because it was casual, as if you were opening an email from any old friend. 

  Pro Tip: The lessons from this email campaign aren't just a recipe for making money, but can lead to increased open rates, click-through rates and increased engagement. The best way to learn what works best for your audience is to A/B test subject lines for optimization. In just a few tests, you'll learn what your recipients are more likely to respond to. Maybe it is a simple "Hey." 

• Up Your Design Game 

o As attention spans shrink, good design and optimization are paramount. In a survey we conducted, consumers ranked display (65%) as the most important aspect when it comes to content experience in their personal life, and 54 percent listed overall good design, such as appealing layout and photography as important. 

  Pro Tip: Consumers are multi-screening more than ever before, so it's essential that you optimize your content and design to address this. 

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Source: Marketing Tips from the Presidential Race

Digital Marketing Executive Hosts Webinar for Fitness Industry Leaders, Today

On Tuesday, July 26, 2016 at 2:00 pm (EST), New Paradigm Partners presents an online webinar entitled, "Marketing: The Greatest Shift in the History of the Fitness Industry". Guest speaker Bill Konstand, president and CEO of TAG Digital Marketing (TAG), an internet and digital marketing agency in Orlando FL, will address the marked trends in digital innovations (such as social media, mobile internet and local search) and best practices for gym and health club marketing

"You are not alone if you are struggling to allocate your marketing dollars in the right direction," says Konstand. "The fitness industry is currently experiencing an enormous shift when it comes to best practices to plan and market your business."

The webinar, highlighting best practices in digital marketing, will benefit marketing/sales managers, general managers and owner/operators across the fitness world.

"The gym and health club industry was once completely reliant on traditional marketing sources like print and direct mail but that has all changed," continues Konstand. "In 2016, over 90% of all prospective gym members will use search engines like Google to research new gyms at the moment they are ready to join."

With online marketing and reputation management expertise, TAG offers proven search engine and social media strategies to help gym owners generate revenue through improved visibility and lead conversion.

For more information about the webinar, go to http://www.tagdigitalmarketing.com/ or call 1-407-398-6649.

Source: Digital Marketing Executive Hosts Webinar for Fitness Industry Leaders, Today

Calfee to retire as Web.com Tour president at year's end

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – The PGA TOUR announced Monday that longtime executive Bill Calfee, who has served as President of the Web.com Tour since 2006, has decided to retire at the end of this year.

Further, the TOUR announced that Dan Glod, Senior Vice President and Chief of Operations of the Web.com Tour, is being promoted to President, effective January 1, 2017. Following the transition, Calfee will continue to assist the Web.com Tour on strategic initiatives through 2017.

"We greatly appreciate all that Bill has done for the PGA TOUR since joining the staff 25 years ago," Commissioner Tim Finchem said. "In particular, he has played a tremendous role in the growth and success of the Web.com Tour. As a former member of the PGA TOUR, Bill has maintained a keen sense of awareness of the members' best interests while applying his experience to help build the overall quality and business aspects of the Tour. Overall, he has been a great asset for the entire PGA TOUR and we are pleased that Bill will consult on important aspects of the Web.com Tour over the next year as Dan settles into his new role." 

RELATED: Q&A with Calfee on Web.com Tour Finals, Tour's future | Calfee's player profile

A 1971 economics graduate of the University of Maryland, where he was Scholar-Athlete of the Year as a senior, Calfee competed on the PGA TOUR from 1976 to 1985. He started his own financial planning and investment consulting business in Tampa, before being hired by Finchem in 1991 as the TOUR's Director of Player Benefits and Services.

Calfee became Vice President of Player Relations in 1993, and in 1995 was placed in charge of Competitions for the PGA TOUR, PGA TOUR Champions and the Web.com Tour. In 1999, he was named Chief of Operations of the Web.com Tour before stepping into his current role in 2006.

"I've been extremely fortunate to spend virtually my entire career with the PGA TOUR as a player and on the business side," Calfee said. "I'll be forever grateful for the opportunity that Tim offered to me to come work at the TOUR in 1991, and later to oversee the Web.com Tour. I feel we've made tremendous strides in building the Tour over the past decade, both in terms of growth and consistently producing tremendous players on the PGA TOUR, and I'm proud to have played a role in that."

Bill Calfee congratulates James Hahn on earning a TOUR card at the 2012 Web.com Tour Championship. (Chris Condon/PGA TOUR)

Under Calfee's watch, the Web.com Tour has had a number of significant developments, including Jacksonville-based Web.com being introduced as the new umbrella sponsor in 2012 through a 10-year agreement.

"Sponsorship of the Web.com Tour has proven to be a good fit for us and an important part of that has been Bill's passion and commitment to the Tour, sponsors and players," said David Brown, Web.com's Chairman, CEO and President. "I've thoroughly enjoyed working with Bill over the past four years and sincerely appreciate his strong commitment to looking out for our best interests and providing value for our involvement. Bill will be leaving with a strong team in place and I look forward to seeing how the Web.com Tour will continue to evolve in serving the greater golf community."

Another major development under Calfee's guidance was the Web.com Tour's role of becoming The Path to the PGA TOUR in 2013 by awarding all 50 TOUR cards each year, half from the final Regular Season standings and half based on performance in the new four-tournament Web.com Tour Finals that were implemented. 

Bill Calfee congratulates 2015 Web.com Tour Player of the Year Patton Kizzire at The RSM Classic. (Stan Badz/PGA TOUR)

The Tour also has developed a stronger international flavor, evidenced this year with 86 members representing 21 countries outside the U.S. and six tournaments being held in five Latin American countries.

The Web.com Tour's overall influence on makeup and success on the PGA TOUR has continued to increase, as well, as approximately 75 percent of TOUR members this year have Web.com Tour roots. The number of PGA TOUR victories by alumni since the Tour's inception in 1990 has risen to nearly 450.

Glod has served in his current role since 2014, working closely with Calfee on business operations and strategy. He came to the PGA TOUR in 2003, starting in Business Development/Corporate Marketing with various roles of increasing responsibility, culminating as Vice President in 2010. Glod has also held leadership roles with PGA TOUR Champions and THE PLAYERS Championship. A graduate of the University of Florida, Glod began his career in golf as a Golf Professional in 1995 and spent several years in the financial industry prior to joining the TOUR. 

Source: Calfee to retire as Web.com Tour president at year's end

Content marketing is relevant and consistent communication, say experts

Some of the topmost brands in the country were honoured on July 22 in New Delhi at exchange4media's Pitch Top 50 Brands 2016 award ceremony. The event an exchange4media Group initiative saw companies like Facebook, Hindustan Unilever, Reliance Industries, State Bank of India and Tata Group being rewarded for their commendable work.

Selection of the awardees was made by an esteemed jury with the help of a three-tier screening process. The jury comprised of eminent marketers and was chaired by Tata Group spokesperson Dr. Mukund Rajan.

An intense panel discussion on content marketing preceded the award ceremony. The discussion focused on the definition of content marketing and the scope for growth in the domain. It was chaired by Avik Chattopadhyay, Co-Founder, Expereal.

 Content marketing

Chattopadhyay initiated the discussion by mentioning the Panchtantra. He stated that content marketing wasn't new and that he had seen the Panchtantra being translated and read in different parts of the world.

"What has really changed over the years is that earlier it was a one-way process. It was all about me. Now it has become a two-way process", said Chattopadhyay.

Building on content marketing's definition, Radhika Binani, Chief Product Officer at Policy Bazaar flagged the broad contours of such form of marketing. "Content marketing is relevant communication, consistent and measurable", said Binani.

Binani asserted that the content marketing wasn't about putting out a certain number of videos or infographics on the web but consistently supplying content for fulfilling users' needs.

Satinder Juneja, Vice President, Marketing at NIIT Technologies claimed that the first lesson that you learn in a marketing book is to be different. "Content is an experience", said Junega. Reflecting on the last ten years, Juneja commented, "we are still learning the shape and size of content marketing."

Controlling customers

Members of the panel engaged in a thorough discussion on whether marketing sought to influence or control the customer's behaviour. Panel chairperson Chattopadhyay stated that he had witnessed an "immense urge" among organizations and individuals to control consumers. However, Binani differed.

"As marketers we don't want to control consumers mind but influence them," said Binani. Ashwin Padmanabhan, Chief Operating Officer at Reliance Broadcast Network emphasized on the necessity of according the consumers their due importance.

"Very early on in my career I realized that starting from the consumer is essential", said Padmanabhan. He stated that companies today had a lot of data about their consumers but the real challenge was concerning psychographics and mapping human emotions.  

"You can't control the consumer. They have their own mind", said Padmanabhan. He argued that the consumers choose what they want and at which place. He even said that they had the power to reject companies. "We don't want to control but create bonds with consumers," he added.

Investment, co-creation & measurement 

Claiming that content marketing at HCL was relatively new, Anand Ramakrishnan, Head of Content & Digital Marketing at HCL Technologies said that a lot of companies are moving into content marketing. He described content marketing as "using content for marketing" and suggested that his role in the company was to act as an evangelist for content marketing since HCL embraced it only one year ago.

"To do content marketing well, you need scale", said Ramakrishnan. Hinting that investment in content marketing was still quite shallow, he batted for better measurability. "You need a supply chain of content that is always coming and you are processing it", he added.

Juneja argued that the challenge before marketers was that of distraction. He advised companies to realize that the attention level of customers was 140 characters and urged them to work towards enriching user experience.

"I would want to go down to experience. I want it to be memorable for the audience," said Juneja. When asked about the measurability of content marketing, Binani stated that they monitored the increase in traffic and how that helped in propelling revenue.

"There is no set pattern (measurability), we keep refining it", she said. Padmanabhan concluded the discussion by highlighting the immense potential of crowd-sourcing. "We work with content creators on a real-time basis. The role of broadcasters is changing. All of us can create content and broadcast it. We want to tap into that potential," he said.     

&TV was the presenting sponsor of the awards. The Gold Partners were Sakshi Media Group and the Associate Partners were 9X Jalwa, Blogmint, Firstpost, News Wiz, India Today and Laqshya Solutions.

Source: Content marketing is relevant and consistent communication, say experts

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