Zia Zareem-Slade's Blog

How do you spend yours?

zia.zareem-slade — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:26:00 GMT

I was sitting in an all day client workshop yesterday, working very very hard....and doing some of this....

Given the varied and wonderful world of EMC Consulting, I'd love to see pics from your days....

Come and discuss how creative, analytics and multi-variate testing co exist

zia.zareem-slade — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:25:00 GMT

It would seem that I'm not the only one thinking about how creativity and brand ownership will be impacted by the growing use of analytics and multi-variant testing (see previous post) as it's the topic of discussion at the next Fantastic Tavern event, so come along and get stuck in....but make sure you sign up. In the words of Kicks Like A Mule from the song The Bouncer - "If your names not down your not coming in." (Thanks to @fulljames for remembering that one)

Event: The Fantastic Tavern

Subject: Multi-variant Testing (MVT)

Date: Thursday 29th October 2009

Time: 6:30pm until bar close

Venue: The Boston Room, The Old Tea Warehouse, 4 - 8 Creechurch Street, London, EC3A 5AJ

To register for TFT please email Michelle Flynn on whisper@thefantastictavern.com

You are invited to join me to take a closer look at the opportunity for business created by the practice of multi-variant web testing, where every nuance of the interface you created can be tested for its comparative performance against a range of options and a control. In and of itself, the practice is fascinating and delivers incremental value – hard, unequivocal return of investment – fast.

On the 29th of October, I’ll invite Jo Robb, Multi-Channel Development Manager for B&Q and Matt Walton, Head of Online Sales at Virgin Media, to make brief presentations about how their customers have benefited from multi-variant testing and what this has meant to the bottom line. Is it easy to do? What are the key challenges you have had to overcome? What’s the value lead-time? David Ellis, EMC Consulting UK’s Head of Performance Management will join them. He will give us a brief perspective on what works and what to avoid – turning frequently asked questions and ambitions into tips and hints.

I’ve seen the facts; variant web pages can work more optimally than the control. However, there’s something about the philosophy of it that makes me feel nervous. If the ‘machine’ says that a picture of two businessmen shaking hands (selected by an ‘untrained eye’) elicits more positive response than a version that ‘the agency’ especially selected after weeks of brand development, is it right to take the short term advantage over brand consistency? Should a process or empirical committee edit a copywriter’s crafted headline? Hasn’t science always been part of the design process and this idea is now just becoming part of the web, what may have been for some, the World Wild West of great design? I have a point of view – we all might - but The Fantastic Tavern is delighted that panelist James Deeley, Senior Creative and Art Director at EMC Consulting is going to ignite the debate. How does he balance the ‘nature or nurture’ conundrum from the perspective of the designer?

As per usual, if you have a question that you’d like pitched to the expert panel, let me know (matthew.bagwell@emc.com) and if you cannot make it on the night itself, don’t worry, you can follow the debate as it grows by following me on twitter (@mattbagwell) or the TFT feed itself (#tft).

To register for TFT please email Michelle Flynn on whisper@thefantastictavern.com

A big thanks to EMC Consulting for fueling the debate with food and drinks.

Now, I wonder what the machines would have made of this post?

Creative versus Analytics: clash, crash or co-produce?

zia.zareem-slade — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:19:00 GMT

As someone once responsible for the P&L of a ecommerce operation, I’m delighted to see Multivariate Testing [MVT] tools and good web analytics come into the market without costing the earth - or anything at all if you use Google Analytics and Google Optimizer. Being able to continually optimize the funnel is, in my opinion, the absolute bedrock of running any sales operation online. For years it was hard, dependent on IT and expensive to do well. Not anymore….

Here at EMC Conchango, we run optimization and MVT services for our clients [we’re also proud owners of the Google Conversion Professional accreditation (for more click here)], but let’s get back to our clients. They’ve been producing some fantastic results: achieving a 12% uplift on registrations simply by changing some copy and button layout is not to be sneered at. In fact, in these challenging times, sweating what you’ve already got is essential to ensuring performance.

However, as someone who works closely with the best User Experience and Creative talent, the use of analytics and MVT presents me with a conundrum. I see a clash between data driven, actionable insight and brand, creative, experiential and differentiation. Let me explain: most brands invest millions paying people to ensure brand differentiation and now that differentiating on price, service or product is no longer sufficient, we spend a lot of time talking about the need to delineate via experience. And produce creative, branded artefacts to drive that experience. But what happens when, in a MV test, the variable of a piece of copy - on brand, well crafted - doesn’t perform as well as the vanilla version? What happens when your perfectly mixed colour palette is usurped by users in favour of something ‘off-brand’? If you follow the MVT route do you end up with a website totally ‘designed’ by analytics? Where are the boundaries?

And how will creative teams need to adapt in order to absorb the evidence or constraints as they may see it? A whole new layer of feedback and reassessment? We’re already seeing tests which have shown that ‘best practice’ usability, as espoused by the likes of Forrester, has not performed as well as more ‘home grown’ versions. So how will the creative process change to accommodate all this evidence, data and analytics?

For most of you who are in the role of best practice or creative, fear not! We’ve got time to work out the answers and shape how we move forward as so many companies are still behind on embracing good analytics or MVT practices. But as these organizations start to realize the power of these tools, it will be interesting to see how we evolve. For the planners and performance measurement people amongst us, more data, more actionable insight = more fun!

I’ve no idea how it will pan out but it’s certainly something that’s worth discussing and debating so we can shape where it all goes next.

QR Codes Get A Stylish Makeover

zia.zareem-slade — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 08:07:00 GMT

The humble QR code has not taken over here in the UK quite as much as some of us would have thought or hoped.

In Japan, the QR code is so ubiquitous that it is no longer merely an advertising tool but a standard part of the communications mix...as a result they can now be found being used on places such as, yep you guessed it....grave stones. Simply scan the little box of info and get directed to the memorial site of the deceased - makes sense really!

Anyway, to celebrate the launch of the Marc Jacobs mobile site in Japan, the designer gave them a stylish makeover:

if more QR codes looked like this then perhaps we'd see their popularity increase.

Mr Jacobs, if you fancy sprucing mine up then feel free.....I'd be delighted...

Collaborative innovation for a $1mln prize

zia.zareem-slade — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 07:36:00 GMT

At EMC Conchango we're always looking at how we can drive true innovation for our clients. I was interested to read in the recent Experience Planning newsletter about the latest venture from Netflix and AT&T. What seems to have started out as a creative way of solving a business challenge has led to some interesting insights into how to optimise collaboration and innovation, and of course for the lucky team a chance to win $1ml.

The full article can be found here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/technology/internet/19unboxed.html?_r=3&ref=business

Conversion, conversion, conversion – EMC Conchango become Google Conversion Professionals!

zia.zareem-slade — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:26:00 GMT

This week it was announced that we, EMC Conchango, are one of the first partners to be accredited by Google in their new Conversion Professionals program. Not only are we delighted to have been selected after a rigorous process of interviews, exams and more interviews but more importantly we’re delighted that Google has got behind the whole analytics and optimisation piece.

Analytics and MVT (multivariate testing testing) are things we have been talking to clients about a lot over the last few years. And while we already provide services in this area it still amazes me that so many organisations overlook these tools – particularly in light of the economic situation we are in.

After all, if it was my website and someone told me that I could increase conversion by 2% – 12% then I’d be very, very interested! The way we talk about it is that not having analytics or MVT in place is akin to not having store managers, footfall counters or clear stock positions in your stores!

To see what Retail Week have to say about it then click here or for the full NMA article here for the full Google Conversion Professional microsite click here or to talk about the services we offer in this area then email us on Experience.Planning@emc.com

WOW marketing: The difference cultural values can make.

zia.zareem-slade — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:53:07 GMT

Fancy hitting $1 billion in gross merchandise sales despite what’s going on in the economy? Or how about debuting at #23 on the FORTUNE Magazine’s ‘100 Best Companies To Work For’ list? If either of these sound interesting to you, then ask yourself what are your company’s core cultural values?

Is your first thought about where you might find them? In the employee handbook perhaps? Afraid not.

Zappos have achieved great success in their 10 year existence, not only financially but also by creating a company that is much loved by their customers – all 10 million of them that is! So loved are they, that on any given day circa 75% of their orders are from repeat customers. Impressive to say the least but at the heart of this success are their core cultural values – that they clearly apply:

- deliver WOW through service
- embrace and drive change
- create fun and a little weirdness
- be adventurous, creative, and open-minded
- pursue growth and learning
- build open and honest relationships with communication
- build a positive team and family spirit
- do more with less
- be passionate and determined
- be humble

At this time of economic turmoil are you and your organisations focusing in on what will drive both short term and long term relationships with your customers?

If you’re still looking for that list of cultural values then one would presume not….

Source: Latest edition of Contagious

A new take on bricks & clicks

zia.zareem-slade — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 08:16:51 GMT

Over the past few years there has been a lot of talk about the death of the high street as a result of the web. It's always been my view that the web will not gobble up the high street or retail park but that the two mediums provide an array of opportunities both for retailers and for us, the customer.

The great thing is that the rise of internet shopping and general advances in technology have shifted the power base and this creates an interesting challenge for retailers to present us with more interesting, exciting, engaging and rewarding environments in which to experience their brands. I have always been particularly interested with how retailers respond to this opportunity within their physical environments.

It's good to see that many retailers now see having a web presence as a hygiene factor, though I am still surprised as to how bland and un-engaging some of these sites are, at least they are aware that the internets not going away. We have seen the more forward thinking brands turn their physical retail experiences into more than simply a shop and probably the best example of this is the Apple store. It's not a shop, it's a showroom, a destination, a place for engaging, playing, and experiencing what it means to be Apple. Apparently Microsoft are thinking of doing the same thing - I wait with baited breath to see how that turns out….

But what has peaked my interest is the news that The Hut - currently an internet only venture is in discussion with shopping centers about the possibility of going all bricks & mortar - but with no staff. The Chief Exec Mathew Moulding has said that shops "would be the size of a juice bar, no doors, and there would just be touch screens and a Chip and PIN reader". He added "It would help brand development. The high street brings a lot of traffic online instantly.”

Well Mr Moulding I salute you - it's great to see web natives looking to the physical as a means of engaging with their customers and I'm also excited to see how the shopping centres, developers and landlords will respond to these sort of discussions. Given all the work we have been doing with MS Surface and Windows 7 we have talked at length with retailers about how these technologies can be used in retail environments to facilitate collaboration and provide richer, more innovative ways of looking at product information, but very few have been thinking about taking a staff-less approach. That's not to say that a staff-less approach is the right thing for all - of course not but it will certainly be interesting to see how this pans out…

And the award goes to...

zia.zareem-slade — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:06:00 GMT

I was recently invited to sit on the Drapers inaugural Etail awards judging panel and naturally I accepted. We had a fun though tough day working through the shortlist, and it was interesting to hear the views of the other judges as to what ‘good’ looked like from their perspectives. The Awards themselves were held on the 29th of January, at Sketch (of Pod toilet fame see pic >>) it was a great night & fun was had by all.

What was great was that Drapers had decided that a big sit down dinner affair was not in keeping with these awards so it was Champagne, Cocktails & canapés all round – fabulous darling!

The sultry Mica Paris hosted the awards whilst surrounded with models & dancers showing off lots of lovely goodies from the entrants such as Mulberry, Asos, My-Wardrobe.com

And the winners are…

Best Customer Experience : Winner: Asos.com

Best Etail Innovation : Winner: my-wardrobe.com

And the rest in no particular order:

Best Etail Marketing Initiative : Winner: Mio Destino
Best Etailer : Winner: Asos.com
Best Independent Etailer : Winner: Sarah Coggles
Best Multichannel Retailer : Winner: Schuh
Best New Etailer : Winner: Radley
Best Single-brand Etailer : Winner: Mulberry
Best Specialist Etailer : Winner: Soleheaven
Gold Award: Overall Winner : my-wardrobe.com

I was pleased to see 2 of my absolute favourites scoop awards and they were ASOS and My-Wardrobe.com

ASOS don’t stand still, whether it’s website functionality or the breadth of brands they offer they focus on really knowing their customers and creating an affinity with them that finds me just having to place another order. But I was most pleased to see Founder and CEO of my-wardrobe.com Sarah Curran bound on stage to take not one but 2 awards – and of course she had the most fab shoes on. What I love about My-Wardrobe.com is the way in which they extend their brand and our shopping experience past the traditional website experience. In particular MYTV sets the bar for all fashion retailers in terms of video content. The typical catwalk video content is a must have now (thanks to ASOS, afterall how else are we supposed to see how the fabric moves?) but really informative, on trend, well presented content that I can click to buy from – now that’s how it should be done.

Authentic, informative, and snackable…with videos ranging from 60 seconds up to 5 mins there’s something for everyone whenever or wherever they want.

So congrats to all the winners....

Thanks goes to fashshot.com for the images.

Electrical Retailer short circuits...

zia.zareem-slade — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 18:15:00 GMT

Yesterday’s London Paper, shortly followed by the Retail Week site, are reporting tabloid uproar at Comet’s decision to implementing a listing fee of up to £15,431 for manufacturers to be stocked across their 250 retail outlets. While retailers have been playing this game for many years, the current outrage highlights a deeper industry issue around the cost and value of channels. How can retailers like Comet – already very successful online – continue to justify the immense expense of operating physical outlets?

So, Comet, has decided that as a means of generating extra revenue at this particularly challenging time, it’s to charge manufacturers up to £15,431 if they want to put a new product on display in it's 250 stores. Yep, that's right, with all the wealth of distribution options that the internet presents to these manufacturers, Comet thinks it can charge £61.72 per store for carrying the new product.

Now, I may be wrong here but I can't imagine that the manufacturers are going to be delighted at this prospect, in fact if some of the comments on Retail Weeks’ site are to go by then it’s fair to say they are outraged.

It’ll be interesting if the manufacturers simply comply with this or if they start to leverage the wealth of distribution options available through the web and challenge the traditional models of Manufacturer & Retailer.

I can’t help but think that if this scenario plays out, and the manufacturers refuse to pay these new fees then surely Comet is accelerating it’s own downfall?

Think about it from a customer perspective, Jane has convinced the Bob that they just have to have the latest new shiny washing machine, so Bob has a look at Comet.co.uk - no new shiny machine there, but a little click away is Tesco Direct / Argos / Kelkoo / etc etc and there it is in all it’s shiny glory ready to be bought from Comets' competitors!

Alternatively, Bob goes in-store and the delightful, helpful customer assistant say's 'Oh I'm sorry Bob, but brand X didn't want to pay £15,400 for us to put their new washing machine in our 250 beautiful retail environments, so that you can buy it here, helped by me, your happy, friendly knowledgeable assistant." Bob doesn’t think to himself "Those pesky tight fisted manufactures', how dare they not pay for me to buy my washing machine in this wonderful shopping environment" he's more likely to be a bit perplexed and irritated that Comet don't have the product he wants at the price he wants to pay for it and trot off to the nearest store that does.

I wish the very best of luck to both Comet and the Manufacturers. It is indeed a challenging time and I’ll watch with interest to see if the Manufacturers take the opportunity to reinvent themselves and challenge old models. And if retailers such as Comet will move away from draconian quick fixes that are so short term. What would be great is to see them put the customer back in the heart of they are doing and enable them to buy the right product, at the right price, through the channel they would prefer – just a thought.