At the risk of being called a heretic, I think most of what I read through Twitter is rubbish. Banal statements linking to tedious photographs. And it’s even worse when companies and organisations get in on the act. Their worthy utterances just make them look like they are jumping on the social media bandwagon especially when it seems they think it’s enough just to be there, as if mere presence is some kind of magic bullet.   What I am tweeted from companies and organisations is often just the first line of a ‘on message’ blog or the opening sentence of  a press release. Rarely has any thought been put into creating a targeted headline, something that might intrigue me, grab me, excite me…like a headline should. The thing about Twitter is that you have 140 characters to express yourself and capture someone’s attention. And just as you can’t bore me into reading your ad, nor can you bore me into reading on from your tweet.     And while I’m in full moan mood, where’s the coherent CRM strategy for Twitter? Far too often I see no discernable creative plan to the style of messages put out, and to any thought of encouraging my interaction? I thought tweets were the start of a conversation, and I like conversations with intelligence and a change of pace to the way things are expressed. But if every ball in your over is a slow long hop, then where’s the game in that?   From a business perspective, Twitter is the tool that the old grandees of direct marketing would have wet their pants about, but I’m sure they’d tut-tut at how so many companies are using, or rather misusing it.
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Tags: twitter, boring, online crm

This is a blog about an iphone application (or ‘app’ as we i-lluminati like to say). And the only reason I’m descending to such geekery is that I believe such digital technology is going to fundamentally change consumer purchasing behaviour.
The app in question is called ‘Red Laser’ and it turns your iphone into a combined barcode scanner and price comparison site. Not only will it read almost any barcode through your iphone, it will also immediately search the internet for prices for that product. You can then select the cheapest supplier and go straight to the relevant page of their website to order it.
It’s brilliant...for us as consumers. For retailers, the picture is rather different. By providing potential customers with real time prices from alternative suppliers, applications like Red Laser can only erode margins. ‘Oh I do love this streamline LCD 1080 HDTV, Mr Comet sales assistant, but look, it’s £120 cheaper on Amazon. Can you match that?’
With more and more of people buying a wider range of products online, such technology is another nail in the coffin of the traditional retail model. Especially now it’s easier than ever to find the product you want in a store, then buy it cheaper online.
Now the sales bit...Daisy have teamed up a specialist ecommerce company to ensure we can offer our clients not just high quality web design and copy but the best in online transactional functionality too. So whether you are a business looking to improve your online performance or a charity looking to maximise internet donations, scan the barcode below.

red laser: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/redlaser/id312720263?mt=8
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Tags: i-phone, ecommerce, buying behaviour, applications