The ever changing face of my PC screen...

You know, sooner or later, we won't have TVs. We won't have videos or DVDs. We won't even have a record/CD player in our homes. Why? Because our PCs are fast becoming the centre of our entertainment world. I'm not going to start talking about media centres here, as that's something for another day...

However, what has interested me this year, is the amount of live/streaming video which is being put online. The BBC and ITV are both showing Euro 2008 matches LIVE via their websites. Even just four years ago for the European Championships to be streamed live would have been unthinkable and/or technically not possible. But the BBC and ITV have realised that a) This is increasingly where their customers are heading and b) That there is a very real demand for this type of service.

I can speak from my own experience in both of these cases, as I can often watch sport online while my girlfriend decides to choose something less interesting :) It's not just the beautiful game which you can watch online. The BBC iPlayer has dozens of shows online, as does 4OD, along with many, many other video sharing websites. For those a bit more technical, you can even watch TV programs from around the world using many of the live streaming software programs which are freely available.

I'm interested to see the big players' moves in this arena. For many 'techy' types (like myself I guess) the thought of using your PC/laptop as your TV is not anything new. A small minority of people have been doing this for quite some time. But in the years to come, I think we'll start to see all traditional programming provided over the Internet, probably available for free and probably available at any time you want. This will most likely be funded by advertising, and if you look at some of the shows online already, you will start to see adverts appear prior to your program loading (many believe this is how YouTube could be monetised in the coming years)

It will be interesting to see how much more time we find ourselves set in front of our PC screens in the future. We could end up in world where it really is the only thing that we need, not only for work, but also for entertainment. This culture shift will also have a massive knock on effect for the advertising industry, with advertisers being able to communicate their messages to a much more refined audience and hopefully achieving a much better ROI.

How not to do email marketing (some people just don't get it)

Email marketing is always a bit of a touchy subject with our clients. Can I send an email? What are the rules? If I've met someone at a business event, can I add them to my email marketing campaign? There are many rules about what you can and can't do when sending emails, but they are best covered in another post.

What does get me annoyed about 'email marketing' (in its vaguest form) is when companies just collect business cards and then send out emails to all of the people they have email address for, just advertising their business. There is no point in saying to people 'Hey, we're a really great company' unless they really want to know about it (which is very unlikely). If you are going to make email marketing work, then you need to give people something, like great news, informative articles or access to whitepapers on a particular subject.

I received an email last night from a local company who will remain nameless. It went like this;

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You may see *company name* appear in the local and national press over the coming months.

This is part of *company names* unique licence and recruitment drive designed to increase our client customer service even further.

It is our vision to have a local *job description* in the majority of postcode areas by the end of the year.

If you would like to receive a complimentary copy of any press releases, articles printed, or to find out more about our recruitment drive, please contact *persons name* by emailing *email address* or call *company phone no*.

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When I get emails like this (and unfortunately I do), it makes me want to say SO WHAT! I have no interest in your company, don't want to receive your email and all you achieve by doing this is revaluing your company image.

Unfortunately, some companies still don't get email marketing and as a result turn away potential customers. If you are going to, or want to start, we recommend speaking to a company who can advise you on the best way to carry out an email marketing campaign.