Re: UKNM: Three cheers Amazon UK

[Ray Taylor]

From: Stefan Magdalinski <

stefanisness [dot] org

>


>> you get from high-street stores it was obvious this book had never been

>> thumbed by a bearded intellectual.

>

>I doubt you read the same books anyway.


You're probably right there.


>> But I think the thing that impressed me most was the integrated invoice

>> and address label, printed on a single sheet of A4 so that the label,

>> complete with barcode, could be peeled off and stuck on the package.

>> Online commerce is all about the back end logistics.

>

>Re: VC stuff

>If I remember rightly, this was all there when it was plucky UK-startup

>BookPages. As was the vastly superior(to amazon US) search capabilities.

>But would anyone invest in them in the UK?


Doesn't have to be new or original to be good. And if Amazon have absorbed

good ideas from BookPages good luck to them. Never felt the need to take a

look at BookPages before, so can't give a view on their offering.


>I suspect they're doing just fine without you.


I'm sure you're right about that too. Amazon have so much VC funding that I

doubt the few hundred thousand dollars pa I could save them would make much

of an impression. We tend to work with clients with smaller online budgets

than Amazon (with one possible exception).


>As a previous bookpages

>customer, I got a silly (but good) package through the post with an

>amazon keyring and bookmark. I got an email voucher for a discount

>against my first amazon.co.uk purchase. I've seen clever (if not

>particularly inspired) ads in other media. Amazon's co-branding,

>co-marketing initiatives (everything from the virgin.net deal to the

>little link sites you can build to them) have been ground-breaking.

>

>All these things work 100 times better than poxy banners.


Wow! you're able to quantify results from these kind of campaigns? I'm

impressed. Do let us in on the stats.


>I'd be curious to see some samples of your work. Nothing on your

>website.


We don't produce "work" in the way I think you mean, or at least nothing

much I could give you "samples" of. We broker "poxy banner" advertising so

you would have to visit the relevant sections of the online media we buy,

and/or visit our clients' sites, in order to see our "work". But if I told


you who our clients were, a clever bloke like you, Stefan, might steal them.

Plus, some of them are other advertising agencies and might not want people

to know that their media is placed by another agency (some do mind, some

don't, but I haven't got around to asking them all yet).


Or did you mean me, personally? I guess if you want to see some examples of

_my_ work you could take a look at the following:


1. KPMG-published (I researched and wrote it) Internet Advertising in the UK

at: http://www.kpmg.co.uk/uk/direct/industry/ice/internet/adint/


A teeny bit dated now of course but might prove a useful intro to the

uninitiated.


2. www.tesco.net - I write some of the "gizmo" and other stuff in net news


.. or 3. pick up a copy of the London Evening Standard on a Monday, which I

write for from time to time. Seldom about Internet but I used to be a staff

journalist and I just can't get out of the habit.


Only the first item is relevant to internet marketing but I'll tell you what

I'll do, Stefan. Email me off list and, if you promise to be discreet, I

will point you in the direction of a couple of live campaigns. Likewise, if

any other members of this list want to know more about what we do.


Yeah, I know the rules say you are supposed to put a big long list of

everyone you have ever shaken hands with on your web site. But what are

rules for?


And thanks to Stefan for participating in our online r&d and giving me a

rare opportunity for some self-promotion ;-)


Ray Taylor +44 181 639 0015

NMC/Adplan www.nmcadplan.com

Internet advertising? It's easy when you know someone who knows how