2010 was a great year for music in Britain with some amazing album releases. Album reviews were flying off the shelves for breakthrough brands, but it was the old guard that ruled the roost at the top of the album charts. The top 5 best selling albums in Britain is filled with established acts and while there aren’t any that I can pick out as favourites of mine, you can’t always ignore the numbers. When there is that many people buying an album there’s got to be something about it that has grabbed the attention of the masses.

5. Plan B, The Defamation of Strickland Banks

The only breakthrough album release of 2010 fell to London wide boy, Plan B, or Benjamin Balance-Drew as he’s know to his mum. The release of The Defamation of Strickland Banks, his second studio album, in April 2010, led to an instant number 1 in the UK album charts. It sold over sixty eight thousand copies in its first week and went on to sell a whopping eight hundred and twenty six thousand copies throughout the course of the year. Album reviews were fairly positive overall with ratings ranging from six out of ten to four out of five, but his move away from his rapping routes prompted one album review from the Telegraph to describe it as being “populist” although the overall tone of the review was generally favourable

4. Rihanna, Loud

The ups and downs of Rihanna’s personal life has been well documented by the media, but when it comes to her albums it always seems to be on the up and up. It including high grossing hits Only Girl in the World, What’s my Name and S&M. Released in November 2010 the album the album went in at number 2, selling in the region of 91,000 copies, but later climbed to the number 1 spot. Though it was released late in the year, it still managed to sell 839,000 copies in total. Rihanna’s Loud received average to favourable album reviews from the mainstream press.

3. Lady GaGa, The Fame / The Fame Monster

When Lady GaGa first appeared on the music scene it was as though she appeared out of nowhere and was suddenly everywhere. Now it feels like she’s always been there. The illusion of her meteoric rise to musical prominence has been fuelled by the trash media and paparazzi that she seems to target so much in her music. The love hate relationship continues in The Fame / The Fame Monster and while it was originally released in November 2009 as an EP as a re-release of The Fame, it still went on to be the third best selling album of 2010 in the Britain.

2. Michael Buble, Crazy Love

Who’d of thought it. Michael Buble had the second highest grossing album of 2010, epitomising the fact that you can never underestimate the buying power of easy listening loving ladies everywhere. The smooth singing Canadian has turned into a power house of selling album selling prowess and in 2010 he really hit the mark with Crazy Love. Michael Buble’s fourth studio album, Crazy Love is another crooner loving record and went straight in at number 1 in October 2009, but maintained sales all the way through 2010 to guarantee it a place in the top 5 best selling albums in Britain in 2010. Selling more than 1, 227,000 copies, but to be fair, it doesn’t really matter how many albums he sells, he’s never going to get into the Rat Pack.

1. Take That, Progress

Back during the 90s Take That were the bees knees with the girls at my school. They wore Take That emblems around there necks and probably cried like crazy people at the news that they were breaking up. It is these same girls, now women, that have secured Take That’s resurgence to musical hegemony of a certain persuasion, making their album, Progress, the biggest selling album of 2010 in Britain. Released on 15th November 2010 and returning Robbie Williams to the Take That fold after his long dark days alone in the California sun, it inevitable charted straight in at number 1. Despite the release being so late in the day in 2010, it still managed to sell in excess of 1.8 million records. Album reviews were very positive, giving it an average of around 8 out of 10 in both popular and industry media, but more than anything, it gave Robbie something more than just aliens to believe in.

Lean thinkers have referred to “ensuring that relevant customer requirements are available in all phases of production, and that they are not lost when progressively transformed into design solutions, production plans and products.” Customer requirements are however only part of the information flow in design.

Information Waste

In Lean there are 7 classic wastes:

• Over-production Producing more than is needed right now
• Transportation Movement of product that does not add value
• Motion Movement of people that does not add value
• Waiting Idle time created when material, information, people, or equipment is not ready
• Processing Effort that creates no value from the customer’s viewpoint
• Inventory More materials, parts, or products on hand than is needed right now
• Defects Work that contains errors, rework, mistakes or lacks something necessary

Some Lean thinkers add additional wastes:-

Making Do – Drawings, documents and information required to complete the task are not available and the task is started despite these not being available, or the task is continued when supply ceases

Unused Creativity – Effort available to the team but not used to create value

From these wastes the following information related wastes can be identified

• Waiting – unable to do work because information is not available or time is spent trying to identify information that needs to flow
• Over Processing – excessive steps to produce the output caused by resources or activities necessary to overcome a lack of information
• Making Do – continuing with production in the absence of required information
• Defects – drawings and design requiring rework and resources and activities used to correct or verify information
• Unused Creativity – team members making do due to lack of information when they could be employed creating value

Information Flow

In design the “flow” is information to each workstation so that the output in the form of information for the next step in line (which could be further design or construction) can be completed on time and to budget with minimum waste.

A scenario can occur in a design office where an absence or shortage of knowledge and information threatens to halt production (of deliverables). The pressure of deadlines (push planning) requires work to continue and assumptions are made to fill in for the missing knowledge or information. This builds in the necessity to make corrections of the assumption later, or contingencies are made that the assumption may be incorrect and the design is “over-dimensioned.” The result is unplanned work.

Making do has been described as an “art” in the construction industry and that the response to lack of input availability is making do on a “massive scale”.

The conclusion is that the reduction of making do in design requires control and optimisation of the flow of information and knowledge in the design team and between teams.

Information Sources

Typical types of information include emails, letters, meeting notes, call records, drawings, electronic data and photographs. A distinction may be drawn between “data” and “information”:-

Data – Individual facts, statistics, or items of information.

Information – Knowledge communicated or received concerning a particular fact or circumstance or Knowledge gained through study, communication, research, instruction, etc.

In the project environment typically a large mass of data will exist which continually grows in size. Information that adds value to an output is a subset of the total data.

Management activity should therefore focus on Information as it is this which forms the value stream in the design process. An 80/20 rule may apply whereby only 20% of the data collected is used in creating value.

Applying lean 5S to information management produces:-

• Sift (shine) – Ensure information is accurate and up to date
• Sort – Structure information so it can be easily navigated and found
• Set in Order – Store information in a single location that is available to all working on the project
• Sustain – Make sure teams use the system and continuously improve
• Standardise – Set protocols for information management

With the volumes of information within organisations increasing exponentially increasing attention is being paid to the challenges it produces, and the risks it creates.

In the absence of information management there is lack of certainty as to where information is, who has relevant information, and limited certainty as to its availability and currency. One consequence is that time is spent in search of essential information with which to continue production.

Smoothing the Design Workflow

To smooth the design workflow there must be a means of delivering the required information to the workface at the time it is required. It is however difficult in design to fix with certainty the time when information is required and in consequence information is delivered by “push”.

The concept of “pull” should be applied so that designers acquire information when they are ready to use it without the overload caused by “push”. There is then a likelihood that the information to be used in design will be current, correct and the best available.

Users need to be confident that they will find the information they are looking for and that it is current and up to date. All team members must use the system consistently and for all information.

Key principles of a strategy for managing project information within a Lean production (design) environment become:-

• Identify valuable information as distinct from data and manage it
• Users will only use a system if it has direct value to them or they understand the indirect value for another team
• Information should be available in real time as soon as it is acquired
• Minimise duplication of information
• Minimise out of date information
• Minimise duplication of effort
• Information should only be delivered as it is demanded by users (pull)

Information Management Strategy

To achieve 5S in an industry which is heavily dependent on the flow of information and knowledge requires a system that can provide:-

Single source of all Information to:

• Minimise duplication
• Minimise out of date or superseded information
• Provide Information on demand as it is needed

Be accessible to all project users at any time and be user friendly to:

• Provide direct value to users
• Enable users to supply information to others working on the project
• Provide real time access with notification of changes and additions

Conclusions

Reducing making do generated by lack of information can be attained by the adoption of relatively simple strategies.

How to Create Advertising that Sells Review

David Ogilvy is known across the world as “The Father of Advertising.” This How to Create Advertising That Sells Review looks at one of the strongest, if not THE strongest, works on the rules of advertising. It’s based solely on market research and will deliver on the promise.

Ogilvy was an advertising exec sensation who was sought after within his industry. He compiled more than 40 years of advertising research into one amazing piece. It only contains 1900 words. It ran during the 1960’s and 1970’s in newspapers for his company. Ogilvy wrote Confessions of an Advertising Man, quite probably the most prominent and celebrated books authored on Advertising. He started his lengthy vocation employed by Gallup. Knowing what Gallup does, that’s likely to be most perfect point for an advertising man to start a stunning profession.

So We Begin… Part One

In this Ogilvy quintessential masterpiece “How to Create Advertising that Sells” Review, we’ll cover the initial 7 maxims. Now, covering seven rules out of 38 can appear to be insignificant at first glance. However, one would at their wit’s end to stuff this quantity of information concerning the ad biz into a more condensed study.

Maxim One: Position

Ogilvy considers Dove soap as the ideal illustration. They have a few choices for the campaign. Would selling clean hands be their best option? OR, would selling soft skin be a better option? The decision ad execs made that day was the first-rate answer for Unilever as proprietor of the Dove brand. When getting ready to sell a product or service, begin here.

Maxim Two: The Promise

With making a very large promise, Ogilvy said the ad can’t be wrong. Make the “obligation” exclusive. Make it a real contender. Lastly, the product or service had MUST ACCOMPLISH the promise given. If it can’t, start over.

Maxim Three: Image

When considering branding a person or business, create the “most sharply defined personality” for the brand. When every ad campaign goes in several different directions and lacks a concise focus, that business is likely to fail. A big picture is what is missing. Advertising should be based on a campaign, not a single ad. Lacking a consistent theme from one ad to the next is a kiss of death. With social media, coming across as a slightly bi-polar is easily possible. Successful social media campaign ideas have to pull together this idea as a foundation. Make the brand image consistent every place, every time.

Maxim Four: ONE LARGE Idea

Ogilvy said it’s normally a very basic concept. It just takes one idea, though. It required because it “gives the customer a jolt” and makes them pay attention to the ad. It’s no secret that a business must stand apart from the competition in order to get noticed. Agreed? But, in order for a customer to take action, it’s a completely different thing. Developing over-the-top, complicated ideas are amazingly easier than coming up with ONE Straightforward, uncomplicated LARGE idea, according to Ogilvy. It requires pure genius. They will withstand the test of time.

Maxim Five: Superior

Its common sense, but it’s often overlooked. Consumers consider an unattractive product with an “inferior image.” The world in which we live is extremely visual. The way things appear always alters perception, without exception. It’s always been this way. Garbage in… Garbage out.

Maxim Six: Don’t Be Boring

Be very charming. Attempt to engage the viewer and get him or her involved. “Make him hungry.” Next, get him to participate. It isn’t difficult to be interesting, but pushing for involvement is slightly harder.

Maxim Seven: Innovate

Be the starter of trends. Don’t blindly follow crazes and trends. Ogilvy discovered that ad campaigns that followed trends were RARELY successful. He recommended engaging in some market testing with real consumers. It IS a bit precarious to head off into an uncharted direction. Market testing allows ad developers to exercise caution and gain a level of security.

Maxim Eight: Glory Hogs

I bet this was extremely controversial for the time. In fact, it’s probably still controversial because of society. It’s expected that we give a list of our accomplishments and qualifications. Any awards are expected in this list. Ogilvy felt creative awards for ads deludes creativity in people and steers them away from goals. What is the goal? In successful campaigns, the goal is the quest of sales. Ponder upon on what persuades the consumer and not what gains awards.

Review in Summary

So, this was the first quarter of David Ogilvy’s How to Create Advertising that Sells Review. Pretty amazing? Considering how old it is, it is still so relevant and very timely. The value of this document is priceless. Hundreds of thousands had to be spent on worthless, unsuccessful ads in order to gather data and determine what creates success. So, figure out what will be sold and remember to sell the sizzle. Make a large promise, and then deliver. Create a laser-focused brand and place it at the front of each ad. Create ONE LARGE idea. Continue the thread through every campaign. Favorable visuals correspond with more successful campaigns. Boring is bad. Take out some insurance and start a trend. Think profit not recognition.

Part two of How to Create Advertising that Sells Review promises more value along with breathtaking, profit-generating maxims by the advertising legend.

In a conventional highway design model, the data consist of points and lines that define the outline of the planned works. Other information critical to successful completion such as design data and specifications is disassociated. In typical engineering application data is not only stored in different locations, it is often linked via a human or paper intermediary. This segregation of data occurs because, in the common file based data management environment, there is no direct link between a drawing and a document. Changes in one may not be reflected in the other. This state of affairs is accepted historically as the design process has evolved to produce a final paper output with documents and drawings as separate entities. This is the focus of established design processes that have evolved over the years.

In a typical large highways project under the Early Contractor Involvement model, systems such as Business Collaborator (BC) share information among the parties. However in a typical application the data set held on BC is incomplete. BC is often used to issue information to team members rather than as an information or knowledge repository. The effect of this approach is to create duplication between data stored in the collaboration system and data held internally on file servers. This duplication may further increase inside the design organisation as different teams or groups maintain their own file systems. Multiple asynchronous copies of information may be held (and relied upon) that are not subject to a consistent update policy.

The lack of compatibility means that it is not possible to go to a “single source of truth” for project information it is necessary in many cases to know first what is being looked for and where it may be stored. This increases the workload to locate information and introduces a risk that it may not be found or when found may be (dangerously) out of date. A user cannot be totally confident that he has discovered the true and complete information needed to complete his task. The secondary effect of this is that often it will be easier for a person to go direct to the source of the information and the result is uncontrolled information. Additional workload is created within teams from making and responding to these requests. Multiple requests may be made over time for essentially the same information.

Should information need updating it is not possible to be confident that all versions on the system have been updated, and team members, as a result, have low confidence that information on the system is up to date. The output may, therefore, be subject to additional and unnecessary validation and control stages. Authors may hold back information in which they have little confidence, but is still useful information. This creates additional inefficiencies.

Where out of date information is held on the system this may result in rework when new information comes to light or it is corrected. A culture of making do emerges where tasks are commenced even though faith in the information is reduced, or it is known that input data will be subject to change. To enable work to advance assumptions are made to avoid future correction that in themselves may require correction at a later date. Hidden contingency is built in to cover these assumptions increasing base costs and extending project time.

Within many organisations the culture of “design iteration” remains embedded as it is implicitly accepted that information will change through the design cycle and that the design will be changed several times in response to this changing information. Supported by better information and better management of that information it should be possible to deliver better designs, earlier and cheaper, by eliminating wasteful iteration, risk and rework.

To adopt new ways of working and managing information, we must first recognise that deliverable and document focused systems are based on a paper model. In such a model information is collated into paper based documents such as reports and drawings. Information based methodologies eclipse paper and focus on delivering the right information to the right person at the right time. How information is delivered, and consumed can be variable, depending on the receiver. It is not necessary, therefore, to maintain information in different forms just because the consumer of that information has different needs. Information kept in different forms may result in omissions when updated if one of the forms is overlooked.

Much current technology for managing and indexing information is based on the assumption that information arrives in paper form or a paper analogue (e.g. email). In fact, what is essential is that the information can be found by those needing to know it. Such information is better found, not from the paper mindset of looking through all likely documents, but through search.

Traditional filing systems are based on a paper methodology with information collated into folders (files) browsed as a file analogue. The division into files can be arbitrary and at odds with how information is sought by the user. Within a traditional filing system, vertical navigation is straightforward, but horizontal navigation between folders is more difficult. The analogy would be that to move from the east wing of a 40 floor building to the west wing it was necessary to take a lift first to the lobby. If the constraint of the paper is broken, and the appropriate technology adopted, it becomes possible to obtain information by whatever method (for example full text search) is best and most effective.

It is clear, therefore, that paper based approaches to information management in a world in which almost all project information is either electronic or convertible to electronic form creates an unnecessary overhead. Search based approaches will locate information more thoroughly and more efficiently. We are used now to the internet and Google, would we gladly give up Google to use a library instead? By continuing to use deliverable and document focused systems, as opposed to information focused, this is in effect what we force teams to do.

An effective information system must provide assurance as to the quality of the information being delivered. The current position of document controller on a project will change to information manager in order that the system is properly managed and controlled.

Your store displays are key to attracting customers and selling your products. When you are creating displays, you should have a clear plan and purpose for each display.

Effective retail displays should:

• communicate a wide variety of information to consumers
• play an integral part of a coordinated sales strategy
• tell a visual story
• speak for you even when you are busy with other customers

Displays are an invitation to a customer to look a little closer at what you have to offer. It is a non-threatening way of enticing your customer to explore your product. With current technology, displays can be very powerful multimedia experiences, or with a little thought and design, simple, inexpensive presentations of merchandise can be dramatic statements.

By putting more thought and planning into your merchandising and display, you can have an impact on your bottom line. It might be a difference of one sale each day. Even if that sale is only $5.00, you have increased your monthly sales by $150.00. Imagine if each of your store displays could do that!

Consider all the potential display areas in your store. Take into account the store windows, the ends of aisles, the back wall, columns or pillars, point-of-sale displays, front tables, etc. These are all opportunities that can be maximized to become effective sales areas.

To present your merchandise in the most effective manner possible, your displays and merchandising need to do the following:

1. Attract Attention

When you are placing merchandise, you are not simply making it available to customers. There are many products out there competing for your customers’ dollar. How will you stand out from the rest? You may have the exact product they are looking for, but it may never be seen. How can that be, when it is right there in front of them?

Have you ever misplaced something, and looked high and low for it, and finally found it – sitting right in front of you all along? It is similar with consumers. People are bombarded daily with media messages all selling something. Stores are full of merchandise competing for attention. This becomes information overload, so the brain sorts out which information is relevant and which is not. People notice their favorite stores and develop particular patterns of shopping based on preferences and needs. These preferences become ingrained habits.

Strong displays help break through these habits and routines to attract attention. Suddenly, the brain is saying – “Wait a minute! This is new! It doesn’t fit in to my sorting system. It looks exciting and might be relevant to my needs.”

This is the goal of your display, to attract the customer’s eye and get him or her to stop for a moment for a closer look.

2. Communicate a message

The most obvious message you need to communicate is that you have products available for sale. If this was the only job you had to do, you could leave the products in boxes or on tables and let the customers fend for themselves. However, most consumers don’t want to work this hard. You need to at least let them know what type of merchandise you have available and what it will cost them. It is also helpful to say what this merchandise will do for them, whether it is a new product, if it will suit their needs and taste, how it works, etc.

Some messages you can communicate through displays:

• Product selection
• Product information
• Product demonstration
• Price
• Lifestyle
• Season
• New merchandise

3. Use displays to encourage action 

• Get the shopper to stop or enter store
• Encourage shoppers to move through the store and browse
• Encourage them to try out or touch the merchandise
• Create desire for impulse purchases
• Suggest complimentary merchandise
• Create a sense of urgency (Why should the shopper buy now?)

4. Use displays to leave a lasting impression. 

• Encourage the customer to return
• Update displays regularly
• Customers expect to see change, newness, excitement

Displays are key components of your sales toolbox. They will be most effective when planned to complement other selling strategies such as advertising, store identity and design, and customer service/personal selling.

Review your product displays. They should be boosting sales or they are not doing their job.

There are many great websites that provide generic best practice information security tips for the workplace. However, employers need to be aware of two major risks of asking employees to rely on them for their security awareness.

The first risk is making sure that your employees visit one of the good websites, rather than fall foul of one of the ‘lesser’ sources. Simple enough to solve – send your staff an email of the information security websites that you approve of. Job done!

The second risk isn’t so simple to address. Your organisation is unique, with its own specific processes, procedures and information types. It may even draw unique cyber threats that other industries and organisations don’t have to contend with. Unfortunately, any best practice that your employees draw from generic security websites is unlikely to be fully applicable to these unique aspects of your organisation.

For example, generic websites can talk about the dangers of phishing, but they can’t talk about the specific dangers of spear phishing attacks that are unique to your industry or organisation. Generic sites can talk about how ‘sensitive information’ should be encrypted when copied onto storage media or transported on laptops, but they can’t define what ‘sensitive information’ means in the context of your organisation.

Benefits of the specific source

Many organisations are addressing this second risk by bringing the source of security best practice in-house. This ensures that employees have fast access to a comprehensive portal that covers the breadth of required information security awareness. In most cases this is achieved by way of a distinct information security micro-site held within their existing intranet framework.

This delivers the immediate benefit of allowing you to tailor all information security best practice to your organisation, making it fit for purpose for the work your employees do and the way that they do it. The types of information can be discussed within the context of the organisation’s own information classification system. All handling procedures can refer specifically to organisation processes. The unique risks of the industry or organisation can also be addressed, with relevant real life case studies providing additional weight.

Compiling an in-house resource also provides many other advantages. The content can be re-tasked for your employee information security awareness training sessions. It can also become the central information hub from which organisation-wide information security communications campaigns are run. No matter how campaign messages are conveyed to employees – whether by posters, presentations, plasma screen animations or quick-guides – the information security micro-site is always cited as the first port of call for further information.

Building an information security portal

Naturally there are many factors that contribute to a successful information security portal. Two key priorities are to plan a clear information hierarchy and aim for maximum build flexibility.

Getting the information hierarchy right plays a huge role in dictating the success of the project. If users have trouble finding what they want to know, you run the risk that they’ll try and find it on a web search, which takes them outside your control. Information security is a complex topic, and a clear information hierarchy not only makes it easy to find topics, it can also help employees to see how all the various topics inter-relate. This can make the entire subject seem much more mentally accessible and therefore easier to employ.

Build flexibility gives your site the longest possible shelf-life and makes it a highly versatile communications tool. Like any website, users are encouraged to return if they feel it is a dynamic source of valuable information. For example, home page flexibility in particular can allow you to tailor it to specific information security awareness campaigns. You should also ensure that the clear information hierarchy takes into account that the site will grow over time. For example, as new threats emerge or as new processes are introduced to the organisation.

Before embarking on a portal project, it’s a good idea to ask a cross-section of your employees what they would like to see and what would help them most. Although many will almost certainly provide generic answers, look closely at the way they are responding. This is an excellent opportunity to test the temperature of your organisation’s attitude to information security. If a large proportion of your staff members have no opinion, it could indicate that they aren’t that interested in handling their work securely – something that certainly needs to be addressed.

Great reviews and testimonials help sell your book; therefore any actions you take to promote your book should include such reviews and testimonials. They can be gold. They help persuade book lovers that your book deserves a place on their shelves. They also help convince bookstore chains, individual bookstores, and libraries to stock your book.

Where do you start? The answer is as early as possible. Most reviewers want an actual copy of the book. An e-book won’t work, although that perception is changing. If reviewers can get an advance copy prior to publication, so much the better. Some reviewers will accept galleys but they expect to receive copies of the finished book later. For example, the School Library Journal will accept galleys. These must be received at least two months prior to the publication date. This gives the Journal time to review your book and print the review in their newsletter, either close to or shortly after publication date. You should be aware, however, that some reviewers do not accept self-published books.

There are several ways to let potential reviewers know about your upcoming book. The obvious one is a press release. As well, social media is playing an increasingly large role. If you have a blog, you can discuss your work and its availability. Better still, you can contact those bloggers with an interest in your book’s topic. They may be willing to write a review and post it on their blog. You could also have a fan page on Facebook. You would encourage your followers to write their own reviews to post on your fan page, and on their own pages.

You are also going to request reviews from newspapers and magazines, especially magazines that have a particular interest in your topic area. The odds of your getting a review in a national newspaper or magazine are pretty small. Getting a review from a local newspaper or magazine, as I’ve done, is more likely. Find out the name of the person to whom your request should go. If you have friends with contacts in the media, especially radio, TV and newspapers, ask them to help you.

Testimonials come from people who have read your book and found it to be of value. It could be a business book with advice on accounting, something technical, such as how to use digital cameras, or simply a piece of fiction that gave special insight to an issue or situation. Sometimes a delighted reader will send you a spontaneous response. More likely you’ll have to contact those with your book and ask for a testimonial. That happened with one of my business books. I first called them, then followed up with e-mail. Out of about 20 requests, five actually responded. This brings me to my final point.

People, though usually well meaning, can be notoriously slow in delivering a review or testimonial, even when they have agreed to do so. You have to be persistent. It may take several calls, multiple e-mails before you get a result. Or you may not hear at all. The problem is that the testimonial is never urgent to those you approach, only to you. And don’t offer an incentive to complete that testimonial. It can bring up issues of integrity. So be persistent. If one source won’t cooperate, keep going to others until you get what you need. Great reviews and testimonials add credibility to your sales efforts. You need them. They help sell books.

Anyone who is regularly online will have seen it more than once, if they’re really interested in Social Media Networking, they’ll have seen it tens of times over the last few years: Big Brother. Stories, articles, essays and a whole mess of scaremongering about what happens each and every time a person logs onto the Internet. Someone, somewhere is watching over them, peeking over their shoulder and following each and every move whilst they are surfing. They know what has been purchased on Amazon, what is searched for on Google, each status update on Facebook and Twitter. The curtains may have been drawn and the door locked, but no one is ever alone on the Internet.

In Europe and the United States there is a great deal of legal pressure on politicians, not so much pressure from the public because they know better, but from civil rights organizations and the like, to limit the ability of some web sites to gather information. Much has been written about Facebook and Google gathering information, and there have been many diverging opinions: the information is entered voluntarily, so be it! It is, however, much more than that.

The Internet is the biggest potential marketplace ever. The discussions might be about markets such as China and the United States, about emerging markets and First and Third World markets but they have nothing compared to the potential of the Internet, because the Internet brings every single country together, almost into one melting pot, and has all the possibilities at anyone’s fingertips for exploitation. Not necessarily in a bad way, not all exploitation is bad, but in a way which could define how the market evolves, what offers are made and how web sites and online stores are designed and geared up for the customer of the future.

In short, someone out there is gathering information on you and your habits.

Most of the information being gathered is harmless. It is information individuals have entered themselves – such as by Facebook – and it is information on what is needed, desired or enjoyed – such as by Google, Yahoo, Bing and any other search engine one might care to mention. It is information about what has bought – where else can Amazon get its recommendations from other than from individual buying habits?

And the rest of the information?

The rest is a gathering of individual surfing habits. Which web sites have been visited and how long has the visitor stayed there? Where did they come from and where did they go? Which page did they land on and which search words did they use to get there?

What would happen if a single person or a company could use all this technology at their fingertips to see what each person does on other sites? What if they could set up a little bit of spying software on another site and see whether someone visits when that site has no other connection to them?

This has happened here from the moment a link was made to this site. Not in a bad way, but everyone visiting this page has been checked by others. They’ve been checked by Google (Google Analytics), by Alexa, by Facebook. Even if the visitor doesn’t have a Facebook account, they’ve been checked and the visit logged.

Why and how?

Why. Facebook is a site which gathers all manner of information to advance its own advertising strategy. A person doesn’t need to be registered for Facebook to want to know what interests them, to be able to build up a global picture of what is popular and what is on the way out. Each time there is a Facebook symbol on a web site, even if no one presses Like, they’ve been seen, their visit has been noted. The page has loaded in a browser and the Like button has been loaded direct from Facebook.

How do webmasters know when others are hot linking to their photographs and images? The visit, on another web site, has been logged and, eventually, evaluated.

And when a person thinks that they’ve only been surfing safe sites? Think again.

A few days ago I installed a new tracking checker on my personal system. It tells me how many other companies are watching my every move, how many spies there are out there. I went through my normal surfing routine, a little bit of Twitter, a touch of Facebook, some StumbleUpon, a hint of Google+ and a few sites with adult content. The result after only two days, that is perhaps seven or eight hours of actual surfing from one web site to another, was seven hundred and sixty-eight hits by Facebook alone.

Let’s get one thing right out of the way: in the majority of cases Facebook, and all the others tracking, do not know who an individual is. They can’t put a name to their activities, or a face. That is, unless they happen to be logged in to Facebook while surfing elsewhere. Unless they happen to still have the Facebook cookie saved in their computer cache. Facebook and others can see where a person is on the Internet, where they’ve been, which country they are in and, probably, also which area from the IP address, but they don’t know who an individual is.

Is this a bad thing, this gathering of information for marketing purposes?

Perhaps there will indeed come a time when Minority Report – the film with Tom Cruise – is not just a threat but a reality. A time when a person’s features can be recognized from afar and advertising is adapted to their needs, their interests. At the moment it is all limited to offers made when someone log into the web sites of their choice and based upon the information they’ve given up voluntarily. But some of that information is already being used to influence other people in their buying choices.

Who hasn’t seen the little addition on Amazon: people who bought this book also bought…

This is the thin edge of the wedge, this is just the beginning. This is the information other people have put in to a web site being used to influence you, the visitor. It’s one thing to say that an item might interest you based on what you’ve purchased before, but quite another to have information based on what other people have looked at or bought.

And it is also a simple fact of life which cannot be avoided. I may well have been able to block over three thousand tracking attempts during my few hours of surfing, but did they catch all of them? More to the point, aside from Facebook, who is tracking me? The Big Bad Wolf is not an advertising company checking on who has been looking at their banners or pop-ups. The Big Bad Wolf is those tracking companies who gather information, press it all together and then sell it to others. The anonymous, faceless people we have nothing to do with. Are they just marketing companies, or is the government, any government, hiding behind them? Has the CIA found me, or you and decided to track our movements because a web site visited published a photo of someone, or MI6 because there is a comment posted about Kate Middleton’s figure?

Enough of the scaremongering. To be honest and there is not a great deal about this gathering of information that’s all that bad. Information has always been gathered, evaluated, passed on and it always will be. Every single time someone goes shopping in the Real World their purchases are recorded: the credit or debit card company; the store; the wholesaler; the manufacturer. No names in most instances, but the information has been gathered. A tin of peas has been purchased, restock the shelves and order a new tin.

Are there any benefits to this mass gathering of information?

If a product isn’t popular it gets removed from sale. If a whole range of products suddenly go viral, more are produced. If a web site suddenly falls in the ratings, it gets improved or it vanishes. If an advert gets no clicks at all, it needs to be re-evaluated and a new marketing strategy pounded out.

The people who are surfing through the Internet are changing its features with each click of their mouse. Their surfing activity is the basis for what follows. A visitor to any web site doesn’t have to press Like to show appreciation, it is enough that the records show they stayed on a site for five minutes, read through an article, even if they didn’t comment or purchase. The visit alone is showing the manufacturers, the advertisers, the service industry where interest lie with the result that they are going to have to tailor what they have on offer to meet our (silent) demands. We, the Internet users, are shaping the future, just by being here. And that can only be a good thing.

Even so, nearly eight hundred blocks on Facebook alone in so few hours?

I have written so far about the marketing strategies of various Internet web sites, of advertising and the collection of data from individual visits to web sites while surfing through the Internet. Now I wish to take it one step further following an announcement by the German telecommunications company O2, a daughter firm of the Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica.

The collection of information through Internet sites, as illustrated above, is simple, cheap and effective. An Internet user surfs to a web site of interest and his or her movements through the web are logged, collected and evaluated by a whole range of different tracking devices, from spy software through cookies, links to social media networks and search engines or analytical tools. But what about the general movements of a person during their daily lives? Is it possible to follow a specific person, or a group of people, as they move through a city? Is it possible to collate the information gained from these movements and come up with an overall picture which might be useful to marketing companies, to advertisers, to the marketplace in general?

It is a well known and accepted fact that people who use modern smart phones, as well as older versions, can be tracked. The mobile telephone needs to be in constant contact with a transmission device, a node or similar, so that it is available should the user wish to telephone out or to receive calls from other people. As long as the mobile device is switched on it sends and receives a signal which places it within a certain area, within reach of a communications point to retain this high level of connectivity. A person moving through the streets of Berlin, New York, London, Paris or any other modern city as well as all minor cities, smaller towns, villages and the countryside with a mobile device is constantly followed by these connection signals as long as their device is switched on. Information on their position may, with the right technology, quickly be collected and, in the case of an emergency for example, directed to the appropriate authorities, even without the use of a Global Positioning System (GPS).

The German telecommunications company O2 is investigating the possibilities of using this information on the movement of individuals for marketing purposes. Being able to watch the movements of an individual or a group as they travel from one shop to another within a major city, or from one position to another on longer journeys, can give information about where the most interest in a town lies, where the shops and stores have the best pull and even, with finer tuning, how long a person remains in one position, in one shop or store.

Not, in and of itself, too much of a problem until you take it to the next step in the process.

Couple the information on a person’s movements with further information, such as age and gender, and it is possible to build up a very accurate picture of the movements and interests of a group of people within a certain age group – such as young women aged between 18 and 24. The necessary information is already there, voluntarily given by the customer during the process of buying or renting a mobile telephone. Date of birth, address, gender and, in some cases, income and educational levels are all included in the basic application process for a contract between telecommunications company and customer.

Here, because of the sudden lack of anonymity, we come into a gray area as far as data protection is concerned, and a potential earner for the telecommunications industry. Combine the information with actual sales, with positioning in an entertainment area of a city or the main shopping street, and it is possible to build up an individual picture of each and every person using a mobile device at any time of the day or night. Here we are verging on the private sphere, the gathering of information which can be narrowed down to a specific person.

What is the difference between an individual person using the Internet and being tracked and an individual using a mobile device?

With Internet tracking there may well be several hundred people using a connection point into the Internet, an IP address linked to an Internet Service Provider, at any one time. With mobile device tracking the link is direct to a specific mobile phone, to a specific person who has purchased or rented this device. It is possible to link directly to a name and an address without needing to go any further along the chain, without needing to find out who was using a specific IP at a certain time and then checking their communications protocol or whereabouts at the time of connection. It is possible to track movements without the person being tracked actually being active, without them having logged into the Internet or even making a telephone call.

With further innovations in the smart phone market, such as video devices, payment for services through a smart chip, it is possible to trace their every movement right down to the items they may purchase in any given store, even a parking ticket purchased through an appropriate application on their mobile phone. It is possible to see how long they remain in one area, where they move to and how much they have spent.

For the gathering of information with marketing potential, this is an absolute goldmine. For the individual, the mobile device owner, it is an incursion into their private sphere, into their daily lives.

This form of market information gathering is not music for the future; the first steps have already been taken by O2 in Germany. Information is already available and is constantly being added to each time a person switches their mobile device on. It is only a matter of time before the true potential of this information source is recognized and, data protection laws allowing, becomes common practice.

This form of gathering, of tracking is, according to many professional and civil rights organizations, one step too far. As long as the information gathered comes from a large group and cannot be traced back to an individual it is relatively harmless. With the mobile device potential, the move towards a Minority Report style society is far closer than anyone would wish to believe and, in all probability, far closer than anyone is prepared to accept.

How to Create Advertising that Sells Review Part 4

Best for Last...

Here’s final article covering David Ogilvy’s How to Create Advertising That Sells Review Part 4. We’ll take a look at Rules 28 through 38. Ogilvy said, “It takes a big idea to attract the attention of consumers and get them to buy your product. Unless your advertising has a big idea, it will pass like a ship in the night.” Pay close attention to these next 11 rules. The simplicity is profound. The pay-off is enormous!

Maxim 28: Keep it Simple Stupid

Don’t make consumers figure out the meaning. Keep it simple enough to immediately understand. Simple keeps them moving toward the goal..

Maxim 29: Length

Ogilvy’s research goes against much of today’s ad “proof.” He said effective headlines use 10 or more words. He said 8 to 10 is ideal. The view will remember longer and clearer with this length. He showed that longer headlines sell MORE than shorter headlines!

Maxim 30: Local Ads

Ogilvy also said to use LOCAL headlines when possible. Ads are more successful with the mention of a city.

Maxim 31: Focused Targeting

If a product or service is normally used by a specific group, then state that group in the headline. If it’s a product purchased by fishermen, then it pays to mention them in the headline.

Maxim 32: “The More You Tell… “

Ogilvy said, “The More You Tell, The More You Sell.” Decades of research and millions of dollars-worth of successful ads prove it. Readership drops very little in copy that is 50 and 500 words. There’s no difference. He said, “People read long copy,” contrary to what industry leaders today state. Creating advertising that sells isn’t restricted to brevity!

Maxim 33: Pictures Tell A Story

Ogilvy said this one is harder than it looks but gives a big payoff. Our world is visual. When viewers see the “magic” of story-appeal, they ask, “What’s going on here?” The story element raises curiosity. It causes the viewer to stop and ask. Whenever possible, use photos to tell a story.

Maxim 34: Visual Contrast

Demonstrating a ‘before and after‘ with the service or product is a bonus. It grabs the attention & holds it longer than average, according to Ogilvy. Miley Cyrus is a ‘before and after.’ It’s not even about liking her because many don’t. Miley Cyrus grabs both + and – attention. American’s viewing this picture automatically knows what a transformation this “product” has made. She captures the attention of viewers, as ridiculous as her methods.

Maxim 35: Photographs

Chose pics over drawings. Why? Photos attract more readers than drawings. They “generate more appetite appeal.” Pics are more believable. Consumers remember pics far better than a drawing. Lastly, they “pull” coupons more often & sell more products.

Maxim 36: Captions

Twice the number of viewers read captions beneath photographs than those reading copy. Ogilvy said to think of captions as mini-advertisements. Every caption should include the product brand name and a promise.

Maxim 37: Clean & Simple

If styles don’t effectively & clearly convey something with the viewer, then advertisers might as well pack their bag & leave. Editorial layouts translate better than “addy layouts.” Editorial layouts offer higher readership. Trends returning to that which works is happening… the editorial-style.

Maxim 38: Rinse and Repeat

Ogilvy said sometimes it takes advertising exposure to grow a winning campaign. Quitting too soon is costly. He said that readership actually goes up with 5 repetitions of ads. TV advertisements are shown over & over for this reason. Exposure creates a “sticking” in the mind. So, greatness doesn’t necessarily happen automatically. Normally, it happens with time.

Review in Summary

That completes part 4 of David Ogilvy’s How to Create Advertising that Sells Review. As promised, Ogilvy delivered some of the most impactful maxims for advertisers to live by. Remember: Keep headlines simple. Longer headlines sell! Go local. Call the targeted audience by name. “The more you tell, the more you sell.” Use photos which tell a story. Before & after pics sell better than average. Use photos rather than art or drawings. Captions are mini-ads so don’t overlook them. Use editorial styling. Repetition pays off.