Industry News
Protean extends global footprint with new addition
Global marketing communications and brand strategy expert Rich Heimsch has joined Protean, set to build on the company’s longstanding US presence from his base in Chicago.
Joining Protean with nearly three decades of experience in the electronics industry, Heimsch’s career has seen him undertake a variety of sales, marketing and operations roles. Protean has worked alongside Heimsch at DEK for the last nine years, a successful partnership that brought the electronics brand to market prominence in the surface mount screen print sector.
Taking this proven partnership to new levels, the alliance will unite Heimsch’s skills sets in branding and global marketing strategy with Protean’s integrated marketing portfolio. Commenting on the move, Heimsch claimed, “I am very much looking forward to extending my longstanding relationship with Protean, confident that we can repeat the success we shared at DEK for other global business brands.”
Click here to visit Rich’s brand new Protean blog.
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New website goes live
After months spent in development, Protean has now launched its new-look website – www.protean.co.uk.
The comprehensive overhaul was undertaken to ensure continuing compliance with technological advance, an increasing global footprint and an evolving brand. The new site features a range of innovative additions including a blog by new director Rich Heimsch, video streaming capabilities and advanced graphical techniques.
Commenting on the updated site, Protean MD Greg Robinson commented, “Search Engine Optimisation is increasingly becoming a priority for progressive businesses striving to maintain a competitive edge. As an integrated marketer, web technologies naturally form an integral part of our portfolio, and our new website reflects this.”
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New challenge for email marketers
New research from Adestra has indicated that 54% of UK consumers admit to providing false information online, adding to the challenges faced by contemporary marketing specialists.
According to Adestra Marketing Director Paul Crabtree, “By filling in false information, consumers themselves are creating more spam – a real challenge for email marketers…Tracking behaviour is essential to marketing strategy and using techniques through ESPs such as customisation/personalisation, behavioural segmentation and multi-channel marketing, marketers will be able to trust their data again.”
The findings reinforce the need for effective eDM strategies in order to fight spam and to fulfil key marketing objectives.
For more information on Protean’s eDM expertise, see our article in this edition of ProActiv or link to the website.
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A PR revolution? The Skype is the limit
Yahoo! and eBay have announced a new partnership in a deal spanning search, graphical advertising and “click-to-call” functionality. According to some observers, the deal could lead to the emergence of internet telephony as a valuable PR tool.
Under the terms of the deal, both companies will develop click-to-call advertising on their US websites, using Yahoo! Messenger with Voice and eBay’s Skype service. In practice, the service will enable users to click on a link in an advert to call the advertiser directly from their computers.
In a recent blog, Immediate Future MD Katy Howell suggested that Skype could be used as a useful PR tool. With current subscriber totals standing at 100m and with over 2m new users signing up every week, Howell explains, “Talking on the phone is personal. It’s a more natural experience for customers and presents a more human face for companies (if done well!).”
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The race is on for Search’s second place
As marketers increasingly turn to Search Engine Optimisation as a fundamental component of a progressive portfolio, new research from Hitwise indicated that MSN and Yahoo! are currently tied as the UK’s most popular search engine.
The internet research firm found that Yahoo! Search and MSN Search each accounted for over 7% of all UK searches, in the four weeks leading to May 20th 2006. However, with an impressive 77% of UK internet searches, Google remains the dominant force in this field.
Hitwise Director of Research Heather Hopkins reinforced the importance of Google for marketers focusing on search listings, commenting: “Consumers are moving among these three internet brands and seem to clearly distinguish the users of each. UK consumers use Google to navigate and search the web, MSN to communicate and Yahoo! for content.”
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