Sarah-Jane Morris

iPerceptions/4Q do Vegas - Shop.org and BlogWorld Expo

Next week, we're hitting up Sin City to attend both the Shop.org show and BlogWorld Expo.

You can find myself, Account Execs Michael Gerstel and Jeff Talajic, and our CEO Jerry Tarasofsky at Booth 138 at Shop.org at the Mandalay Bay from September 15-17. I'll be attending BlogWorld Expo at the Las Vegas Hilton on the 20th and 21st, so if you'll be there, email me at smorris@iperceptions.com and we'll set up a time to meet.

Looking forward to forging some new relationships... hopefully what happens in Vegas next week won't have to stay there!

Michael and Jon talk Internet Retailer and Ad-Tech

The iPerceptions team has been rather busy of late traveling across North America (and beyond) hitting up the show circuit. Recently, several members of our sales team attended the Internet Retailer show in Chicago and the Ad-Tech show in Miami. One recent Friday afternoon after pizza, we decided to see if we could go viral and filmed ourselves chatting about these respective shows and their outcomes. Take a look at this video featuring our own Senior Marketing Analyst Michael Whitehouse interviewing someone who you've surely met if you've been to any of these shows, iPerceptions Business Development Manager Jon Zell.

Reflections on the Online Marketing Summit

In my effort to readjust to EST and snowy conditions, I haven’t had the chance to sit back and take inventory of all of the incredible learnings that were conveyed to me last week at the Online Marketing Summit in San Diego, California. In typical multi-tasking online marketer fashion, I figured I’d reflect in the form of a blog.

The brainchild of BusinessOnLine executive Aaron Kahlow, the OMS is a show like no other. Sales pitches are not allowed; in fact, any hint of pitch is met with a friendly “boo”, both in crowd situations and in smaller group and one-on-one settings. Instead, OMS facilitates peer-lead educational sessions. In San Diego, these sessions covered everything from SEO to Analytics to Usability, and everything in between. Most online marketers can relate to wearing many hats in an organization and are consequently hungry for knowledge in all areas of the industry. Not only that, but it’s imperative for online marketers to stay ahead of the curve and be aware of the many industry changes and developments that are happening at a head-spinning pace. The OMS allows fellow marketers to impart the learnings they have gathered working day in and day out to optimize their online efforts. On top of this, experts from a variety of online disciplines volunteer their time in the form of teaching sessions that include brief presentations and lengthy Q and A sessions. More often than not, the most salient bits of knowledge were delivered during these question and answer periods.

Some of my favorite sessions included B2B Search Marketing led by Ben Hanna at Business.com, who helped me realize that the world of SEM need not be dominated by Google in order to see results. Another hit with many (myself included), was Thursday afternoon’s keynote panel, featuring Jeff Hayzlett, Chief Business Development Officer at Kodak. Jeff’s insistence on selling, despite the boos from the crowd, was a both hilarious and clear reminder of what it is we’re trying to achieve at the end of the say – sales! Jeff put the new marketing in clear focus: to quote him, we’re moving from a “broadcast” world to a “narrowcast” world. Messaging is no longer one for all, but multiple for many. Props also go out to Bill Bruno of Stratigent.com for keeping his audience engaged by tossing cookies around the room during his Analytics Case Study on Friday morning.

Coincidentally enough, on my plane ride in, I read Seth Godin’s latest book, “Meatball Sundae”. There was no better book to set the tone for this trip. Session after session, conversation after conversation, it became completely clear; innovations are not only the domain of online marketing these days, but the shift to the “new marketing” is affecting business as a whole. Companies need to serve their users and customers right here and right now. The people have the power, and marketers need to listen up.

iPerceptions Sponsors Web Analytics Association and eMetrics Breakfast Series

We're excited to announce that we're sponsoring a series of breakfast events organized by the Web Analytics Association and eMetrics.

The first breakfast already took place this morning in Toronto, Ontario and went very well.

The events feature three presentations. The first will be led by Jim Sterne, founder of the Web Analytics Association, author of iPerception's sponsored white paper "We Know What you did Last Summer but we Don't Know Why", and overall industry leader. Following Jim's presentation, our own Michael Whitehouse, Senior Marketing Analyst, will present an iPerceptions' client case study, and finally, the local city host for each event will speak. Breakfast will be included.

There's still time to register for the Montreal and Ottawa events, tomorrow and Thursday respectively, and you can trust the iPerceptions team will be out in full force for the Montreal event (our head office is located in Montreal).

Did I mention the free breakfast? ;)

We hope to see you there!

Crazy Cruise Reminds Marketers to Pay Attention to the Web

So, have you seen this clip of Tom Cruise embracing the doctrines of Scientology? If you didn’t already think he was nuts (are there any of you left?), you will now.

The video, which initially appeared on Defamer.com, has already had 663,534 views since yesterday, and that's just on Gawker.

This video is yet another testament to how the internet can have a massive impact on a brand (in this case; Tom Cruise®, a bonafide celebrity brand - no matter how ill-managed) in a matter of days, sometimes hours. Sure, Cruise’s eccentricities are already well-documented, but this latest scandal was never meant to be publicized and is sure to damage his already-weak celebrity image.

Web-weary marketers beware – brands are no longer built or dismantled over decades. Things can change in an instant, and marketers need to be aware of the power of the online market. This may not be news to those of us so tuned-in as to be reading a blog for an online customer satisfaction provider, but some marketers continue to work in the stone age – an age where they can hide from their markets. These marketers need a wake up call. Point 30 from the notorious “Cluetrain Manifesto”:

Brand loyalty is the corporate version of going steady, but the breakup is inevitable—and coming fast. Because they are networked, smart markets are able to renegotiate relationships with blinding speed.

Doesn’t look like the Cruise camp, or at least his Public Relations firm, has woken up to the realities of the internet.

Happy Holidays from iPerceptions

iPerceptions Wants Fans

Always quick to embrace the latest and greatest emergence of Web 2.0, we’ve created our very own “fan” page on facebook. We’re really looking to make this more of a conversational, interactive space online as opposed to just another stagnant and static “branded” point of presence. Come and tell us what you think about what we do, what you’d like to see us do and what we don’t do enough of. After all, we love nothing more than giving online users a voice. It’s what we do best.

To become a “fan” of iPerceptions, log in to facebook and do a search for us. Once at our branded page, look on the top right and click on “become a fan”.

We’re looking forward to interacting with you. We’ll try not to spam you too often.

Sometimes, Turtles Just Ain’t Enough

Every Thursday evening, I come home from another productive day at iPerceptions and look forward to putting my feet up and watching an episode of one of my favorite shows, “The Office”. It should be noted that the British version will always hold a special place in my heart, but I think I can relate more closely with NBC’s American version of the show - could be some sort of cultural relativity issue I suppose. Disclaimer aside (hipsters have deemed that it’s cooler to prefer the British version of the show), last week’s episode got me thinking about our daily pledge here at iPerceptions.

The episode centered around Dunder-Mifflin’s (the fictitious paper company made famous by the show) upper management taking the company into a “younger, sleeker, more modern” reality by building a new, interactive website and equipping the sales team with Blackberries – essentially bringing the company from Web 0.0 to Web 2.0. Intimidated by what he sees as the cold, unfeeling future of technology and isolating nature of the internet, Michael Scott (manager of the quaint Scranton, Pennsylvania branch) rebels against these changes by making personal visits to past clients lost to some of the bigger paper companies, convinced that customer face time and attention to specific needs will win them back. While the clients appreciate and recognize Michael’s attempt at the personal touch, they make it clear that they also require an easy-to-use website to order paper online and cut costs. The personal attention along with the elaborate gift basket Michael brings along to win back their hearts isn’t going to cut it – even if the Turtles go a long way.

What Michael doesn’t realize is that his fear of this impersonal online world is ultimately unfounded – upper management can have the ease of a robust online space without losing touch with what their customers really want. That’s where our pledge comes in. iPerceptions and the iPSI are facilitating a new kind of direct relationship between the customer and the marketing department that has never really existed. We allow the voice of the customer to be heard all the way up the ranks, allowing for the customer to hold the power and be a real catalyst for change. Once upper management has their way and brings Dunder-Mifflin into the Web 2.0 world using customer-centric tools such as the iPSI, Michael Scott won’t need to resort to time-consuming personal visits – gift basket in hand - to lost customers, he’ll just need to listen to what they have to say.