Hi, my name is Anibal do Rosario, I’m an experienced Online Professional and you’ve reached my extended online résumé.

(Please note: This experimental page is still work in progress; a humble “minimum viable product”, if you will. I hope I can keep iterating & pushing updates fast in the coming time).

 
• Questions or suggestions? Reach out to me via my LinkedIn profile »

• 1-Minute Summary: You can read my short bio here »

Résumé (draft)

My LinkedIn profile is focused on my Online Media experience. This page contains my complete professional background; if short on time, please check one of the two links above instead.

SPECIALITIES

    ✔ Service Design
    ✔ Online Product Development
    ✔ (Digital) Marketing Strategy
    ✔ Corporate Identity Development
    ✔ (Re) Branding
    ✔ SEO
    ✔ SEA
    ✔ E-mail Marketing

+ I care strongly about:

• End-users
• Honesty
• Transparency
• Autonomy
• Quality
• Service
• Customer Intimacy / Customer Delight
• Privacy by Design

CERTIFICATES

Google AdWords Qualified – Search Advertising
Google | License 496758 | December 2010

LANGUAGES

• English (Full professional proficiency)
• Dutch (Native or bilingual proficiency)
• Creoles and pidgins, Portuguese-based (Native or bilingual proficiency)
• Portuguese (Elementary proficiency)

EXPERIENCE

Product Manager Online
DTG

September 2012 – present, Amsterdam Area, Netherlands

Main responsibility as Product Owner Traffic for DeTelefoongids.nl is gaining more quality traffic for our advertisers and extending our reach as a platform.

• SEO Product Management:
— Defining the Product Roadmap / Backlog for SEO
— Backlog Grooming and testing of SEO Requirements & User Stories
— Quality Assurance of all User Stories from a SEO perspective
— Content Management

• SEA Strategy for DeTelefoongids.nl
• SEM Agency Management

• Syndication Partnership Management of 3rd Parties such as:
— Vinden.nl / Zoeken.nl
— StartPagina.nl (Sanoma Media)
— 123People.nl (Yelster Digital)
— Tupalo
— Your organization? Call: +31(0)651263488

• Product Management Syndication API and DTG Developer Platform
• Managing Traffic Budget / Online Media Spend for DeTelefoongids.nl
• Liaise with Finance and Legal departments, in close conjunction with the Product Lead, w.r.t. negotiating new and existing contracts with our (prospective) partners, agencies and vendors.
• Liaise with our Web Analyst and external consultants on traffic reports.

About the organization: DTG -formerly know as “De Telefoongids BV”- connects consumers to businesses via its own online and offline media such as:
• detelefoongids.nl website
• mobile apps for all major mobile platforms
• leading local directories such as “De Telefoongids & Gouden Gids” (Yellow Pages)

The combined online IYP / MYP Search & Find Services of DTG engages over 4.5 Million Unique Users on a monthly basis, making the DTG websites and mobile apps rank among the top-tier of high-traffic online destinations in the Netherlands.

Furthermore, DTG has the most complete Local Businesses database, with relevant and up-to-date information on over 600.000 businesses and +6 million households in the Netherlands.

In the past few years DTG has evolved from being an offline publisher, into becoming the leading online marketing services agency for small businesses in The Netherlands. Offering media advice, as well as a broad range of online presence & performance products tailored to small businesses; ranging from lead-generating AdWords campaigns, to mobile websites.

http://www.detelefoongids.nl/

http://www.dtg.nl/

SEO Copywriter
De Telefoongids BV

June 2012 – August 2012, Amsterdam Area, Netherlands

Note: De Telefoongids has been rebranded into DTG. Hired as a temporary employee via a staffing agency.

Responsibilities:
• SEO detelefoongids.nl website, On-Page: Keyword Analysis.
• SEO Copywriting for various online sections of detelefoongids.nl based on Keyword Analysis.

http://www.detelefoongids.nl/

http://www.dtg.nl/

Marketing Consultant
rosariomultimedia.nl » internet strategy

April 2011 – May 2012, Amsterdam Area, Netherlands

Marketing and Digital Strategy consulting for various Start-ups.

• “The EN Project” (work title) -Business Consulting & Design Corporate Identity. Not involved with the Online Marketing Strategy / website.
–About the organization: “The EN Project” is a fashion label / distributor, currently operating under the radar.

• Casasa.nl -SEA consulting (2nd opinion) for a new online initiative in the housing industry.
–About the organization: http://www.casasa.nl/

Note: Volunteer job as a service to friends. Goal: To keep the strategic marketing cogs in my head spinning and stay current on industry developments.

http://www.rosariomultimedia.nl/

Digital Strategist / Columnist
rosariomultimedia.nl » internet strategy

June 2005 – May 2012, Amsterdam Area, Netherlands

rosariomultimedia.nl was a side project which initially saw the light of day as a study project, becoming my vehicle for online consulting projects for smaller clients. Since 2008 it has mainly become a vehicle for hosting AniBlurbs; an independent, online collection of columns, essays and links containing my thoughts on Online Marketing Strategy, Service Design, Tech, Innovation, Business and more…

http://www.rosariomultimedia.nl/AniBlurbs/

Blogger
@AnibalDoRosario Online Cases

June 2010 – December 2011, Amsterdam Area, Netherlands

@AnibalDoRosario is my online repository for Internet Marketing & Online Strategy Cases, Facts and Figures.

Whereas AniBlurbs is an online column discussing the “Why?” (Strategy), @AnibalDoRosario is about the “What?” and the “How?”; taking a more practical, hands-on approach towards Internet Marketing & Online Strategy.

http://www.anibaldorosario.com/

Medior Online Marketer
eFocus

August 2010 – April 2011, Utrecht Area, Netherlands

Responsibilities as part of the Online Marketing team:
• Developing SEA Campaign Strategies in close conjunction with Lead / Senior Online Marketers.
• Creating, managing and optimizing new and existing Google AdWords PPC campaigns, in close conjunction with Lead / Senior Online Marketers.
• Consulting, research and implementation of:
— SEO
— E-mail Marketing Campaigns
— Web Analytics
— Online Media selection- & procurement
— Content Management
— Social Media Quick Scans

Accounts:
Kluwer, Estée Lauder, Clinique, Sanidrõme, InfoSupport, iBlue makelaars, Event Company, ShopWorks, eFocus, Medicore, Cure4Finance and ZNetwerk.

About the organization: eFocus is a Dutch Top 10 Full-Service Internet Agency: Web Development | Online Marketing | Conversion Optimization

At eFocus Online Marketers develop and implement Online Marketing Strategies and Campaigns. We focus on increasing (relevant) traffic and business to your online channel via Search Engines (Paid and Organic), Online Campaigns and E-mailings.

http://www.efocus.nl/

Online Marketer
Persoonlijk Zorgnetwerk

February 2010 – June 2010, Amsterdam Area, Netherlands

Note: Originally hired as an Online Marketing Manager for subsidiary Factuurdesk / GroenVerhagen.

Responsibilities:
• Strategic Marketing Plan Factuurdesk / PZN
• Repositioning Factuurdesk and PZN
• Reformulating Strategy, Mission & Vision
• Rebranding Corporate Identity and website for Persoonlijk Zorgnetwerk, in conjunction with management.
• Marketing & Communication, eCopy, press releases, cross- & up selling and Social Media for the following subsidiaries:
— Factuurdesk
— ePGB
— ZoekPgbZorg
— Thuiszorgnieuws.nl
• Forging and maintaining strategic partnerships.

Notable Achievements:
Convincing management that Online Marketing was not the solution for our problem, rather we had to restructure and rebrand first, making use of single-sign-ons, cross-selling, offline promotion, strategic partnerships and branding in conjunction with Online Marketing.

About the organization: Our main goal with
Persoonlijk Zorgnetwerk (formerly known as “PZN”), is to deliver solutions to any questions which care providers and those requesting care as well as those in need of care, might have, with a strong focus on the Dutch Home Care: http://www.persoonlijkzorgnetwerk.nl/

• Factuurdesk.nl – Online invoicing and time registration/tracking solution for small to medium sized teams and businesses: http://www.factuurdesk.nl/

• ePGB.nl – Online Personal Home Care Budget accountability, invoicing and time registration solution, for those holding a Personal Budget: http://www.epgb.nl/

• ZoekPgbZorg – The largest Dutch online marketplace connecting Home Care providers with those in need of care: http://www.zoekpgbzorg.nl/

• Per Saldo Hulpgids – Online niche marketplace connecting professional Home Care providers with those in need of care: http://www.persaldohulpgids.nl/

• Thuiszorgnieuws.nl – Dutch news site covering the latest developments in the Dutch Home Care & Guidance industry

http://www.thuiszorgnieuws.nl/

twitter: @Thuiszorgnieuws

Internet Marketer
GAMsystem

May 2009 – October 2009, Amsterdam Area, Netherlands

Note: Merged by VC into Payter, a mobile NFC payments platform, eventually closed down due to the Late-2000s recession. Spiritual succesor: IAM system (iamsystem.com)

Responsibilities:
• Responsible for gamsystem.eu (B2B)
• Responsible for gamplaza.com. (B2C)
• Strategic Sessions with Marketing / Business Development and CEO regarding:
— Proposition and Positioning
— Exploring new business models (e.g. White label, cloudbased, et cetera).
• Managing external IT / Internet Agency
• Customer Service
• Developing custom Management Information- and Mailing applications for / and in close affiliation with our B2B partners.

Additional Responsibilities:
• “Flying Creative Keep” designing new GAMcards.

About the organization: GAMsystem provided customer registration systems (GAMcard) and loyalty programs to the Hotel And Catering Industry, municipalities, foundations and more.

http://www.iamsystem.com/

Customer Care Representative Estate – ING Retail Sales & Service Call
ING Nederland

December 2008 – May 2009, Amsterdam Area, Netherlands

Note: Hired as an temporary employee via a temporary staffing agency.

Responsibilities:
Service Representative during rebranding / transition from “Postbank” to ING, consulting & servicing family, notaries and/or friends with regards to bank and savings accounts of customers who’ve passed away.

[Being a strong Service Design / Customer Intimacy advocate, this was especially interesting as an "in-between / recession" job, as it allowed me to talk directly with the consumers during a major rebranding of a Triple A-brand and experience firsthand (confirming my theory on) the large chasm at large corporations between Promise / Advertising / Branding on the one hand, and Delivering Service / Consumer Perception on the other.]

Account Manager Interactive
ACA/JES

November 2007 – April 2008, Amsterdam Area, Netherlands

Had a multi-disciplinary role at this agency at a time when leading Online colleagues left the team. The online success we’ve managed to achieve together with our clients lies in part in the basic groundwork those team members have laid out in the past.

Responsibilities:
• Interactive Project- and Account Management for the Royal Dutch Navy key account, co-responsible -together with their own Online / Recruitment department- for their Online Marketing strategy and Online Media-purchase.
• Online Media Strategy / Planning and “sparring partner” for
— Royal Dutch Shell
— Rabobank
— UWV
• Managing AdWords Accounts for aforementioned clients.

Additional responsibilities:
• Online Evangelist
• Training the Media Executive on (implementing) Interactive Marketing.
• Internal Audit of our custom CMS + Report and recommendations.

Notable Achievements / Results Royal Dutch Navy:
• Fully booked “Infodagen” -Recruitment Days- for the first half of 2008 (key campaign objective).
• Record-breaking amount of applicants in April 2008 (the last record dates back to 2005).
• Conceived three huge web projects, of which two were green lighted and set on track just before I left.
• Recruiting Successfully Awards: 3rd Dutch Recruitment Site 2008 (http://www.intelligence-group.nl/).

About the organization: Rebranded into “ACA Communicatie”.

http://www.werkenbijdemarine.nl/

http://www.aca-communicatie.nl/

Content Manager
Dance-Tunes

January 2007 – August 2007, Amsterdam Area, Netherlands

Note: part internship.

Responsibilities:
• Directly supporting the General Manager and the Head of Content with acquiring New Business (i.e. record labels).
• Main point of contact for several record labels.
• Drafting / negotiating Licensing-Agreements with record labels.
• Managing the Music Download store, promotions, et cetera.
• Updating the B2B website for record labels and partners.
• Maintain contact with Interactive Agency.
• Writing and managing weekly newsletter (E-mailings in Dutch and English) to over 94.000 addressess.
• Converting, Tagging, Uploading and Managing MP3-tracks.
• Clearing Licenses and Mixing, editing and uploading podcasts for events such as Sensation, Trance Energy and many others.
• Graphic Design.

Additional responsibilities:
• Advising the Marketing Manager with regards to tone-of-voice, staying authentic to our core audiences.
• Consultant / “ear-to-the-ground” regarding:
— A&R
— User Experience & Web Design
— Social Media (Dance community)
— SEO

Notable Achievements:
• Coined the pay-off “It’s Your Download Store”
• Redesigned E-mailings

About the organization: Start-up. Largest Legal Music Dowload Store in the Benelux directly behind iTunes at the time; subsidiary company of leading Dutch dance event organizations ID&T and Q-dance.

http://www.dance-tunes.com/

Managing Director / founder
Que?! Crossmediabureau b.v.

August 2006 – January 2007, Amsterdam Area, Netherlands

Responsibilities:
• Writing Business Plan, Elevator Pitch
• Daily Management of two creative teams
• Project Management
• Account Management
• Managing Project Budgets
• Leading weekly meetings
• “Editor-in-chief” role / copywriting check
• Staying in touch with teachers on a daily basis

Notable Achievements:
Of the 21 “educompanies”, QUE?! was the only one to receive a ++ (A) grade from the Rabobank for my QUE?! Business Plan and Elevator Pitch.

About the organization: QUE?! was an “educompany” with 17 students employed, creating project based “shadow campaigns” whilst pitching against rival Crossmedia Firms.

Assignments for leading Dutch Ad Agencies such as:
• Ogilvy
• Publicis
• KesselsKramer

http://www.anibaldorosario.eu/

http://www.ma-web.nl/

Sales Employee
Praxis DIY – Flagship Store

June 2002 – December 2006, Amsterdam Area, Netherlands

Praxis Mega & Tuin (Amsterdam South-East) was the Biggest DYI store in The Netherlands at the time and part of retail giant Maxeda (former VendexKBB).

Responsibilities:
• Help setting up the Seasonal Shop-in-Shop Stores (Garden Machines, Furniture and Accessories & Christmas), in close conjunction with my Department Manager.
• Order and maintain Shop inventory.
• Maintain contact regarding sales & service with suppliers:
— Bosch
— Kärcher
— Black&Decker
— Weber
— Ubbink
• Training new employees.
• Sales and Customer Service.

Note: part-time from September 2004 onwards due to study and full-time internship / job combo.

http://www.praxis.nl/

Project Manager Exposure Support
Sell-Plan Nederland BV

February 2006 – August 2006, Weesp, Netherlands

Note: part internship.

Responsibilities:
• Far East procurement
• Traffic
• Project Manager for various clients (Enterprise and SMB) in
— Telecommunication & Pharmaceutical (premiums)
— Retail (POS)
— World Cup 2006 tie-in merchandise
• SEO consulting for www.sell-plan.nl

Clients:
• Vodafone Nederland
• Casema (now Ziggo)
• Proost&Brand Papier
• Tros / Mooi Weer De Leeuw (Public Television)

About the organization: Sell-Plan offers solutions in two Sales Promotion areas:
• Branded Premiums, Gifts & Merchandise, including Fulfillment and Distribution.
• (Event- and Company) Merchandise.

http://www.sell-plan.nl/

Sales Employee “Oasis” (Garden Department)
IKEA – Flagship Store

May 2001 – April 2002, Amsterdam Area, Netherlands

Location ranked as 11th IKEA store in size & revenue worldwide at the time. Part of the team responsible for rebuilding, as well as running the temporary Garden Department during the major rebuild of IKEA Amsterdam (2000 – 2002).

Responsibilities:
• Help designing and setting up the temporary Seasonal Shop-in-Shop Stores (Garden Furniture and Accessories & Christmas), in close conjunction with my Group Leader and the Interior Design department.
• Order and maintain Shop inventory.
• Sales and Customer Service.

http://www.ikea.com/

Team-Leader / Assistant-Manager (freelance)
Granton Marketing

January 2000 – February 2001, Groningen, Netherlands

Played a pivotal role in setting up the Groningen branch of TDA.

Responsibilities:
• Taking job interviews
• Coaching & giving Management- and Sales training to the Sales- and Promotion team (approximately 15 to 20 Sales-Promoters and their Leaders)

• Planning Direct Sales-Promotion campaigns in the three northern provinces of the Netherlands for clients such as:
— McDonalds
— FC Groningen
— various local SMB’s such as restaurants, cinemas and barbershops.

• Next to the above still active as a “Canvasser” (Sales-Promoter) on a daily basis.

Notable Achievements:
• Recruiting and building three Sales teams -in conjunction with Management- effectively growing from 4 to 45 team members within the first 2 months.

• High rolling team for seven consecutive weeks in the Netherlands with a weekly revenue north of ƒ12,500 (roughly € 5,672 / $ 8,180).

• Top 5 Benelux office in revenue for 6 consecutive months. (out of a total of 17 offices)

About the organization: An “Offline Groupon, 10 years early” concept. Triple Dutch Advertising Groningen (TDA) was part of Cobra Group Plc. -aka”DS-MAX” in the US.

Specialized in Direct Marketing, Direct Sales- and Promotions, WOM / One-2-One Marketing.

http://www.cobragroup.com/

_______________

Independent Distributor / Canvasser
Granton Marketing, Amsterdam

SEP ’99 – DEC ’99

Direct Marketing, “Canvassing” (Direct Sales- and Promotions), WOM / One-2-One Marketing for the following services in the Greater Amsterdam Area:

• UPC Business subscriptions (B2B)
• Granton Discount Cards for local SMB’s such as restaurants, cinemas and barbershops.

About the organization: An “Offline Groupon, 10 years early” concept. Triple Dutch Advertising Amsterdam (TDA) was part of Cobra Group Plc. -aka “DS-MAX” in the US.

Cobra Group Plc.
_______________

Store Clerk
Edah Supermarkten, Amsterdam

APR ’99 – AUG ’99
_______________

 
Sales Employee
Habitat Amsterdam | Classic Art Galleries, Amsterdam

FEB ’99 – MAR ’99
_______________

Store Clerk Part-time
Albert Heijn, Amsterdam

NOV ’97 – JAN ’99
_______________

EDUCATION

2005 – 2008 | Mediacollege Amsterdam – Ma
MBO-4, BOL/4: Media Management

Extracurricular activities:

1) Managing Director “educompany” QUE?! Crossmedia

QUE?! Crossmediabureau is an “educompany” with 17 students employed: Project based “shadow” assignments for Dutch ad agencies such as Ogilvy, Publicis and KesselsKramer whilst pitching against rival Crossmedia Firms.

 
2a) Internship, Sell-Plan, as Assistant Project Manager Exposure Support
2b) Full-time Job, Sell-Plan, as Project Manager Exposure Support
 
3a) Internship, Dance-Tunes, as Assistant Head-of-Content
3b) Full-time Job, Dance-Tunes, as a Content Manager
 
4) Full-time Job, ACA/JES, as Interactive Account Manager
 
5) Side project, rosariomultimedia.nl
 
6) Part-time Job, Praxis DIY, as a Sales Employee
_________________

2004 – 2005 | Mediacollege Amsterdam – Ma   (Formerly “GLA”)
MBO-4, BOL/4: Multi Media Design

Extracurricular activities: Initiated side project rosariomultimedia.nl
_________________

1998 – 1999 | Grafisch Lyceum Amsterdam – GLA   (Now “Ma“)
MBO: Graphic Design
_________________

1994 – 1998 | CSG Pascal   (Now “Comenius Lyceum Amsterdam“)
HAVO: Dutch, English, French, Biology, Chemistry and Geography
_________________

1993 – 1994 | CSG Pascal   (Now “Comenius Lyceum Amsterdam“)
VWO
_________________

CONNECT WITH ME

• About.me: http://about.me/anibaldorosario
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/AnibalDoRosario
• Google+: https://plus.google.com/100871007103232803068/about?rel=author
• LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/anibaldorosario
• @AnibalDoRosario Online Cases: http://www.anibaldorosario.com/

About AniBlurbs | Anibal do Rosario in English (Wie is Anibal do Rosario | Over AniBlurbs in het Engels)

Anibal do Rosario (1981) is een Digital Strategist, continue op zoek naar de ideale balans tussen creativiteit en meetbare resultaten, met een sterke focus op de eindgebruiker.

Creatieve generalist die goed op de hoogte is van de technische (on)mogelijkheden van alles wat interactief is en daardoor een bruggenbouwer tussen diverse disciplines zoals Web Development, Webdesign, Grafisch Vormgeven, SEO, SEA, Customer Service, Marketing en Sales.

Anibal heeft samen met andere ervaren professionals mooie resultaten weten te boeken op diverse (Online) Marketing projecten voor zowel kleinere partijen uit het MKB, als diverse Triple A merken.

Professionele achtergrond

Ervaring heeft Anibal de afgelopen 13 jaar opgedaan met:

• Retail;
• Direct Sales & Promotie;
• Webdesign;
• Entertainment (Dance);
• e-Commerce;
• Identity & Branding;
• (Online) Marketing Strategieën.

Ervaring aan bureau- en opdrachtgeverzijde

Anibal heeft ervaring in Online Marketing opgedaan door samen te werken met ervaren professionals, in projecten aan bureauzijde voor diverse overheidsorganisaties en Triple A-merken, zoals de Koninklijke Marine, Shell, UWV, Rabobank, Vodafone Nederland en meer.

Daarnaast is hij aan opdrachtgeverzijde actief geweest, zoals bij Tech start-ups Dance-Tunes.com (een dochter van ID&T en Q-dance) en GAMcard.

Ontwikkelen van (Online) Marketing Strategieën

Anibal is tevens verantwoordelijk geweest voor het ontwikkelen van de Marketing Strategie en Corporate Identity / Rebranding voor Persoonlijk Zorgnetwerk – het bedrijf achter onder andere Factuurdesk.nl, ePGB.nl & ZoekPgbZorg.nl.

Hij heeft deel uitgemaakt van het Online Marketing team bij “eFocus Strategy & Webdesign”. eFocus is door Emerce recentelijk eind 2009 uitgeroepen tot #1 full-service internetbureau.

Neem direct contact op met Anibal »

Leg contact met Anibal:

• About.me: http://about.me/anibaldorosario
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/AnibalDoRosario
• Google+: Anibal do Rosario op Google+
• LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/anibaldorosario
• @AnibalDoRosario Online Cases: http://www.anibaldorosario.com/

Pagina verzorgd door Anibal do Rosario

“The truth is, advertisers and brand marketers are entering a brave new world — one where code is on par with content. The 21st-century ad isn’t something to be looked at, it’s something to be used… …”Consumers” are now “Users.” So are “Marketers” now “Developers”?”

“…having someone who at least can help a creative team understanding how the software should look is very helpful. “I think having somebody like that, even if they are not the ones coding the app, helps bridge the gap between the technical and the creative…”

Source: AdAge – Agencies Need to Think Like Software Companies

Business Value = Subscribers * Demographics
Business Value = Eyeballs + relevance * intent

Last week’s talk of the town among media in crowd and digerati was that spending on Online Marketing in the UK finally has taken pole position from Offline Advertising.

Make no mistake: this is significant. (Remember this is BBC territory!)

For years eyeballs, attention and now -as predicted and long overdue- budget weight have shifted from TV, Radio and Print to Interactive Media, culminating in this milestone.

Why this change from spending budget on Offline Advertising to investing in Online Marketing Strategies?

And why this plea to repurpose the inner workings of agencies (and ASAP at that)?

Well, to answer the first question, here’s a list of activities people in general are currently undertaking (online) instead of massively tuning in on prime-time (or, indeed, instead of buying and reading newspapers) like they used to:

• Checking news anytime, online, for free;
• Discovering and consuming online content, via “Social Distribution”, for free;
• Shopping online, any time they like;
• Spending days on end playing videogames;
• Spending evenings (cocooning with friends or family) watching TiVo or DVD’s;
• Leaving comments and reviewing products on that very same e-commerce site;
• Discussing and reviewing artists, movies, products and brands on niche online communities;
• Logging in daily to update their status in social networks like LinkedIn and Facebook (or even several times a day – thanks to mobile flat-rate data plans and apt mobile devices and smart phones such as Apple’s iPhone, RIM’s BlackBerry and the Nokia N series, to name but a few).

Okay, I’m bound to have missed many, many more, yet even the online media consumption / activities I’ve inevitably missed, share core characteristics with the ones mentioned above, which, when indentified and aligned next to each other, should underline my statement that agencies need some unadulterated tech DNA should they hope to help their clients connect online with their audience.

“Creatives need to be specialists in the spaces where consumers live that are defined by new technology.”

“If agencies are to continue to offer the highest value to their clients, and realize the full potential of new media on behalf of their clients, they need to make sure every department is as technology literate as consumers” -Simon Mainwaring

So, why the need for new fresh Silicon Valley Blood for agencies in this post-Madison Avenue MarCom ecosystem? Well, for starters, all the activities mentioned above:

- are On Demand;
- are personalized;
- are ubiquitous;
- are interactive (vs. passive content consumption);
- put the user in control;

-And… they’ve become a habit.

Habits slowly but steadily ingraining themselves in modern culture on a global scale.

All of these activities have replaced, or are in the process of replacing, the habit of, say, going home after school or work, watching the same mass orientated, one-size-fits-all TV shows like the rest of the populous, within timeslots deemed fit by a few network coordinators, all the while zapping away the interruption marketed ads…

(On a side note, what has also been replaced is blindly following the opinion of a select few elitists, or opinion leaders, so you will. You don’t need (trust?) one or more reporters from the New York Times to tell you that The Dark Knight or District 9 are movies worth an evening out to the multiplex, what book is a must-read or which restaurant should be on your shortlist, as even more so than usual, nowadays people are forming their own opinion by reading online peer reviews or discussing their customer care experience online, no holds barred.

Internet killed the middleman.

And the platforms facilitating this have a reach of millions and sometimes even billions, globally.

This continuous two-way online dialogue is another reason why the one-way message sending, branding specialists need to acquire interactive skill- and mindsets…)

It’s The Internet, Stupid

“Why doesn’t the traditional model work online? In short, the web is too fragmented (millions of videos, millions of web sites), too loosely coupled (countless hyperlinks, embed codes, APIs), and too nascent (too few revenue models, too little clarity about the future) to fit comfortably into a media conglomerate as they exist today.”

“The challenge is that the scarce resources are different: while the media business continues to rely on “talent,” today’s talent may be writing code rather than screenplays. Distribution still creates value, but it can mean a quickly passed link on Twitter or Facebook instead of an 8 p.m. slot on a broadcast network”.

Source: Giga Om – New Media Demands a New Kind of Media Company

But these factors are not the only causes for this disruptive re-allocating of budget.

Sure, everyone agrees that you should “fish where the fish are”, but the main reason that budgets are finally being freed up from political unwillingness or irrational conservatism, is that in these times of crises, true accountability in marketing and advertising has finally become key.

There’s no need for (hiding behind) second guessing or causality in MarCom anymore: Plausible effective advertising maybe was “fine” yesterday, today proven effectiveness by conversion is vast becoming the golden standard.

The current recession has acted as a catalyst for this silk media revolution, merely accelerating the inevitable.

Now the marketer finally knows which half of her marketing euro, dollar, yen or what have you, is wasted on naught and which half is an investment; generating leads or spurring your core hyper targeted audience into action. All in real-time, if necessary, meaning you can act real-time.

“It’s to no fault that many account teams have no concept of what web development entails in terms of budget and time. Too many times there are promises made that cannot be fulfilled. Having a cross functional, technically savvy professional on hand to lay out accurate budget and time frames in real time ensures that the client is not mislead by a traditional account person reliant on third party estimates.”

It’s no longer about the clever award winning Creative Director and his team of witty art-director/copywriter duo’s.

This also means that the sole focus in marketing and advertising isn’t about “sending content” anymore, but it’s about the underlying technologies that facilitate dialogue between brand and stakeholders, and empowers them both.

It’s about, for example, creating branded tools that might prove useful in everyday mundane tasks for the user: Apps-as-a-Brand-Utility. Eyeballs. Attention.

Now it’s about the pragmatic award winning Managing Director and her team of developers and creative technologists.

“Code” and “(meta)data” have earned their rightful place next to “design” and “gut-feeling”, thus switching the demand from pure creative output to actionable insights based on real-time data; apps and open platforms for effective communication, feedback and co-creation. All of this fundamentally challenging the very raison d’être and modus operandi of traditional agencies.

“Various models have evolved over the years but the successful ones have at their core a few talented individuals who “get it” when it comes to the nuts and bolts of technology, the subtleties of strategic brand building and the figures that justify an ROI…

…the more multidisciplinary people an agency can employ without forcing generalists into specialized silos, the better equipped they’ll be to provide true integration.”

As it is becoming increasingly clear that consumers are changing their daily work-, leisure- and decision-making(!) systematic from Analogue- to Digital based; brands/advertisers and traditional MarCom specialists will have to adapt & change their Tech know-how (what vs. why), their thought patterns (creative top-down factories vs. embracing digital natives and co-creating), and their priorities (branding vs. true empirical accountability) to match this new reality or ultimately end up like that frog in the slow-boiling pan.

The long-term solution however, is not going to be purely a technological one, but rather an anthropological and sociological one; the real challenge lies in the cultural change and organizational restructuring needed to save traditional agencies from the same dark fate (or worse) as the music industry and newspaper & magazine publishers. Out with the old…

[Yes, the very fact that it’s 2009 and I’m posting this rant as being new(s), means that somehow there’s still a need for summaries and musings like this, however obvious and stale it might seem to fellow digital natives and digerati in-crowd alike. Yet, I believe that this needs to be heard and echoed. I’m merely trying to add a drip in the quite -possible very pretentious- hope all the accumulated drips will eventually flood the ivory tower of cognitive dissonance that some board rooms and CEO’s (across all traditional agencies and entertainment outlets) dwell in.]

Read more thoughts about Apps-as-a-Brand-Utility, the future of advertising, “Creative Technologists” and the ideal DNA composition for successful marketers and agencies in the 21st Century in this excellent article by Allison Mooney on Advertising Age.

Cutting deep in your Marketing budget (and thereby seeing it on default as a cost instead of an investment) is a short term tactic that isn’t going to help your company weather these uncertain times ahead of all of us. Instead it would be more sustainable to take a long term approach; a more critical look at what channels your spending this budget on and whether the story you’re telling is in line with the quality of your services or products.

And though your Marketing Department may stop talking about your company, products or service, the consumers are not: Au contraire; their conversations (in the Social Media space) are increasing exponentially!

Furthermore don’t forget to also take into account that most of your competitors are probably not as comfortable with such a progressive world view and will focus instead on the short term outcome. This means that by keeping your budget stable, but spending it more wisely, you could seriously gain competitive advantage.

“So, then since online has the reputation for being measurable, we’ll just cut back in our offline efforts.”

Contrary to popular belief among some of my peers, right now is NOT the time to cut in offline Ad spending: If there’s one thing we’ve learned so far, it’s that in times of Crisis there is a peak in the amount of readers, visitors, viewers and listeners to (in this particular case financial) news papers & websites, TV and radio. People are looking for guidance and a steady rock to cling on to. This means that if you have a relevant story to tell there’s never been a better time to reach out to your customers and core audiences than right now!

The core thing to keep in mind here is of course that the Old Media are by their very nature geared towards Branding, and thus, -though it’s not really scientifically-rock solid-proven-effective in generating revenue- it is a perfect instrument to instill customer thrust in your brand, if handled the right way and in conjunction with Social Media Marketing and other forms of Online Marketing.

The key challenge would be timing, as you wouldn’t want to have a multi-million dollar tagline -Here Today, Where Tomorrow?- proven meaningless overnight…

One way to manage your Marketing budget would be to higher or lower it every Financial Quarter, in a wave as it were, analyzing the results and reacting accordingly. Moreover reallocate the money spent on different channels based on campaign directive. So, depending on the field or sector your operating in, decrease the amount of money spend on Branding through offline channels and shift the resulting saved money towards Online Results Based Marketing, such as SEA and in optimizing the Task Completion Rate by Primary Purpose on your website…

Yep, I’m not advising you to plainly look at Conversion Rates, I’m suggesting to take a more holistic approach ;) Back in 2006 Google’s visionairy Web Analytics Evangelist Avinash Kaushik already foresaw that the Focus (should be) Shifting from Conversion to Task Completion Rate by Primary Purpose.

Upcoming Interactive Channels that haven´t quite fully lived up to their potential yet like Social Media and Mobile are likely to be confronted with closed wallets and plummeting ad spending, not just because of advertisers cutting back in costs and investments, but also because the consumers themselves are being hesitant to spend money on luxury products and services including Mobile Internet and Mobile Wireless Internet Devices.

Yet again here it would be wise to be wary of and avoid the FUD; for example here in the Netherlands the mobile version of the largest news website Nu.nl (translated: Now.nl) is also the largest mobile news site. It is known that CTR’s in mobile enhanced sites are up to 7% or even higher, putting Display efforts on the desktop internet to shame; so though it’s understandable to make a Pavlov Reaction and eschew Mobile altogether, the contrary might be a better move. Whether your campaign is geared towards gaining a high CTR in the first place is of course a different thing altogether (I’d beg to differ, basing a campaign on CTR alone isn’t the most cost-effective way of spending your Marketing Euro).

As for Social Media, as I’ve pointed out at the beginning of this post: Your target audience, consumers and people in general aren’t going to be less critical, or dependent of peer advice and ratings and they’ll definitely be looking for bargain deals on price comparison communities, so keep joining that conversation!

Opvallend, lekker actueel, grappig, authentiek, direct, ik zou erop klikken.

(PS het gaat om de banner hierboven) Bonus: De kwinkslag naar “Wat vertel jij je vrienden?” als campagne insteek is een schot in de roos, want zeer herkenbaar.

Volgens een onderzoek gedaan door Metrix Lab in opdracht van Microsoft Advertising dien je voor een optimale online brand awareness tussen de 3 en 7 contactmomenten te hebben.

Het staat mij nog helder voor de geest dat ik een aantal weken geleden in een korte periode echt doodgegooid werd met AMC banners van, ik meen, Rabobank Connect.

Dit kwam overigens niet door het ontbreken van een frequency cap, maar gewoon doordat er in het mediaplan goede overlap was met het inzetten van de creative. Zelf ben ik overigens net als het overgrote deel van de internetpopulatie bannerblind, al moet ik toegeven dat ik -door beroepsdeformatie- nog wel eens een banner de volle aandacht geef, zoals dus in dit geval.

I had no choice: Het maakte werkelijk waar totaal niet uit op welke Nederlandse ICT/Online Marketing gerelateerde vaksite of blog ik keek, ik ontkwam gewoon niet aan de banner, vraag me alleen niet wat de precieze strekking was. Uiteraard speelt voor het resultaat van een degelijke display advertising campagne niet alleen het aantal contactmomenten zelf een rol, maar vooral ook de creative zelf en of deze in lijn is met je corporate communicatie en het umfelt.

Destijds was de betreffende rectangle echter niet zo sterk als deze, maar wel onvermijdelijk, dus als men weer een beetje kien heeft ingekocht op alle relevante online kanalen, dan zou dit wel eens een zeer effectieve AMC display-campagne kunnen worden. Of toch niet?

Want wat dan weer wel jammer is, is dat er niet direct een Adwords-campagne bij opgestart is,  zodat de displayadvertising- en de CPC-campagnes, tezamen met een goed gesegmenteerde e-mailing en RSS-vertising, elkaar ondersteunen in het genereren van kwalitatief bezoek naar de werkenbij website, temeer daar de praktijk uitwijst dat het gecombineerd inzetten van diverse uitingen in de communicatiemix conversie verhogend werkt en de (Employer)Brand Awareness kan versterken (Tip: in de organische resultaten bij watverteljijjevrienden.nl word geen juiste content omschrijving weergegeven, maar de gebruikte webanalyse tool: “OneStat.com Web Analytics”).

Dit gaat al helemaal op voor de ICT-doelgroep die de Rabobank hiermee wenst te bereiken, want die gebruiken over het algemeen Firefox als internetbrowser, hebben -net als ik- grotendeels Adblock Plus en No Script aanstaan en zien dus los van bannerblindheid zelfs een prachtige banner als deze helaas sowieso niet staan…

[Disclosure:
Begin dit jaar ben ik via ACA/JES Communicatie (zijdelings) betrokken geweest bij online AMC projecten/advies voor de Rabobank Nederland, ik ben enige tijd geleden vertrokken bij ACA/JES en momenteel heb ik geen betrokkenheid bij deze of andere projecten van de Rabobank Groep of haar (in)directe concurrenten. Los daarvan: zoals aangegeven in de disclaimer rechtsonder in de Navigation Bay^TM: deze Online Column is volledig onafhankelijk; de hier door mij weergegeven persoonlijke visie, opinie of snelle gedachtespinsels zijn derhalve niet die van de genoemde organisaties en/of aan hen gelieerde partijen en dus ook niet noodzakelijkerwijs vooraf door hen ingezien, dan wel beïnvloed. Amen. Verdorie, mooie banner ;)]