Employment is set to improve due to a surge in private sector recruitment, claims a new survey.

A net balance of 5 per cent of employers are looking to hire staff, the largest figure since winter 2008, according to the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development.

This is due to 29 per cent of private employers looking to re-hire, up from 5 per cent in the previous quarter. Meanwhile the public sector saw a negative balance of – 43 per cent, the lowest in six years.

John Cheney, CEO of web-based CRM company Workbooks, says: ‘After securing £2 million in angel investment we have recruited seven new members of staff and will hire another ten in the next six to nine months. Although we’re still not through the worst of it, there seems to be an uptick in companies thinking about hiring.’

James Turner, director at IT company Postcode Anywhere, says his business is undergoing strategic hiring: ‘We recruited four more people this year and will take on another ten in the next 12 months. This is part of our plan to position ourselves for the upturn so when business returns to normal we will be able to leap forward.’

However, while the survey suggests good news for employment prospects in the private sector it also shows that public sector employers have ‘woken up to the scale of the financial challenge they will have to face’, says Alan Downey, head of public sector at KPMG.

The latest figures show that unemployment has risen to 2.5 million, the highest rate since 1994.

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More than ever, it’s crucially important for brands to be timely, relevant and engaging. In the first truly digital UK general election, we’ve already seen that the main political parties could do a lot more to improve their websites and online campaigns. But what about companies?

Here are some examples of brands who have jumped on the election bandwagon, by launching topically-themed marketing campaigns and products. 

1. Tyrrells Crisps

Tyrrells Crisps has launched Political Potato Crisps, a range of limited edition gourmet crisp flavours based on the three parties, which will be sold at Selfridges during election week. A “Hung Parliament” flavour, combining all three flavours is also in the works. Tyrrells polled 2,000 people across the UK, encouraging them to vote on their favourite flavours.

Verdict: 2/10 - Another gourmet crisps brand (see below!) is doing a similar campaign and a quick Google search for “political crisps” provides links to the rival brand. In addition, the website itself provides little opportunity for the user to further engage with Tyrrells, beyond signing up for their newsletter and visiting their Twitter and Facebook page. 

Image credit: Tyrrells

2. The Real Crisps Company

The Real Crisps Company has launched a similar campaign by launching limited edition packaging for their “Handcooked Sea Salt Politi-crisps”. The dedicated microsite allows users to vote on their favourite packaging in their area, view user-generated videos, enter a prize draw and see “regional poll results” in their area. A live Twitter feed on the page also pulls in comments from Twitter, and buttons on the page allow the user to share content via Facebook, Twitter and through email, something the Tyrrells page doesn’t offer.  

Interestingly, all three of the different Politi-crisps varieties are the same flavour, Sea Salt, perhaps revealing a broader message about the political parties more generally…? 

Verdict: 5/10 - The campaign is very similar to Tyrrells above, so scores low on originality, but a quick Google search reveals significantly more coverage, including links to blogs and Flickr. The dedicated microsite allows for slightly more opportunities for consumers to interact with the brand and share content via social media channels. The real question here, though, is would you really want a snack with either Gordon Brown’s, David Cameron’s, or Nick Clegg’s face on the packet?

Image credit: News: Lite

3. Ikea Kitchens

Ikea has launched a website, called Domestic Policy, where consumers can find kitchen designs inspired by the three main political parties. Scrolling over the different parts of the Brün, Kamerun and Kleggi kitchens reveals different in-jokes about each of the parties. For example, the “Presse” products warns the user to “use sparingly and carefully”, revealing an insight into Gordon’s Brown’s notoriously tetchy temper. The Kamerun kitchen features a shiny “Etontabl Bullingdone” table, whereas the Kleggi (“this week’s most popular kitchen”) features a “Vincekabl Tidy” for keeping economic mess at bay. The site then directs users to design their own kitchen on the main Ikea website.

Verdict: 7/10 – For sheer wit, creativity and originality, this site gets a respectable seven out of ten. As content is king, it’s unsurprising that this viral effort is getting a few Tweets, mentions on blogs and in the traditional online press. 

Image credit: Ikea Domestic Policy

4. Marmite Love Party vs. Hate Party

Marmite. We all know you either love it or hate it, and Marmite has taken this further with this spoof election viral. The campaign features dedicated Facebook pages for The Love Party and The Hate Party, political broadcasts on YouTube, as well as radio, TV, poster and press ads aiming to get the public to vote online.

Ironically, the YouTube videos for The Hate Party include comments from users who appear to be engaging in somewhat serious election banter. Additionally, Nick Griffin also appears to be riled by the ads, accusing Unilever of modelling The Hate Party on the BNP (Unilever have clearly stated that there is no link between Marmite and the BNP). 

Verdict: 9/10 - Anything that appears to irritate Nick Griiffin gets a thumbs up from me… more seriously, Marmite have done a good job of further developing “you either love it or hate it” theme, as the ads are innovative, engaging and obviously get consumers talking about the brand. 

Image credit: Love Party, Hate Party Facebook pages.

5. And finally … Ann Summers “Election Manifesto” paid search campaigns

Yes, “Election Manifesto” wasn’t the real name for this innovative paid search campaign from the naughty goods retailer, but the real title was a tad NSFW…

As some might recall, Ann Summers also targeted the key words, “BA Strike” a few months ago, and they’ve done it again with the election. A quick search for “David Cameron” on Google results in a couple of cheeky ads from the adult retailer: 

Ann Summers even has a dedicated landing page, outlining their “policies“(again, NSFW). 

Verdict: 9/10 – Ann Summers’ paid search ads are timely, opportunistic and funny, and the real political parties could do well by learning a thing or two. 

Image credit: Andy Beez on Flickr

Seen any other examples of election-themed marketing? Love or hate these campaigns? Let us know which marketing campaigns you’d vote for in the comments below. 

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On the heels of Groupon’s $135 Million round (and $1 billion valuation), Living Social has stepped up to the plate with a new $14 million C round, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with U.S. Venture Partners, Grotech Ventures and Steve Case’s Revolution, LLC participating.  The new money gives Living Social a total of $39 million to match its Daily Deal against Groupon, and 150 + other deal-a-day entities that have emerged in their wake.

The new money will be used to rapidly expand  Living Social’s reach. While it doesn’t come close to the full Groupon investment, it may actually equal Groupon’s budgeted spending, since a lot of that money has been designated to pay back investors and founders.

Living Social is currently in 14 markets and adding four more: Portland, Orange County, Charlotte and Philadelphia. Dozens of markets are expected to be launched by the end of the year. This count is  compared to 50 markets served by Groupon., which says it will be in 100 markets by year-end.

Living Social CEO and co-founder Tim O’ Shaughnessy, a former AOL executive, tells us that the company has realized that The Daily Deal is “an opportunity that needs to be fed.” While the DC-based company’s origins are in social Facebook apps such as Virtual Bookshelf, the Daily Deal is now getting ”the majority” of the company’s attention.

O’Shaughnessy also says that while the guts of the daily deal offers may be quite similar from company-to-company, he believes that Living Social is differentiated in several  important ways: one, it puts feet on the street in each of its markets, instead of relying on telemarketing. There is at least one salesperson in each market, he says.

Another differentiator is that the company is beginning to launch in large suburban markets, such as the San Fernando Valley outside of Los Angeles, and Escondido outside of San Diego.  O’Shaughnessy believes the suburbs have their own appeal to consumers. Some users may choose to get a suburban offer for routine bids, and a metro offer for weekend fun, he suggests. That’s one way to boost the amount of inventory, he says.

“We’re looking at getting more hyperlocal. We are getting a good volume for most of the merchants we’re working with in smaller (population) centers.”

A third differentiator is Living Social’s viral effort, where consumers receive their coupon  for free if they get three friends to sign on from a provided custom link. The”Sell 3, Get 1″ offer has been available from the get-go, says O’Shaughnessy, with certain categories outperforming others on a regular basis.

While Living Social is launching solo in most of its markets, it also has attracted local media partners, such as The San Francisco Weekly and The Washington Post. The Post deal was made two months ago with Living Social, which is headquartered in DC.  It is based on a revenue share. It doesn’t utilize Post sales teams, but will eventually offer deep integration of the Daily Deal into the paper’s local content, including its metro pages, its sports pages and going out guide.

View full post on BIA/Kelsey Local Media Watch

Small Business Should Use Their Telephones More

Telemarketing has a bad reputation, and that puts many Entrepreneurs off using it in their business.

This can mean you losing out on a fortune. Because, approached correctly – and that means intelligently and sensitively – it is possible to use the telephone for sophisticated telephone marketing, which nurtures and grows your relationships with your clients and customers.

There’s the key word: relationship. If only more business owners would understand how important relationships are in business, it would make their lives so much easier, especially in difficult economic times.

It’s not unusual for a business implementing successful telephone marketing to see profits double within one to three years. It’s that powerful.

But organizing Telemarketing is not always so simple – so here are some guiding principles you may want to follow:

1. Integrate Telemarketing as part of your total strategy.

Too many business owners see telemarketing as a separate activity from their other marketing.

And this is a big mistake, because experience has shown me time and time again, the whole is much greater than the sum of the parts when all the different strands to a marketing strategy are pulling together.

Your marketing strategy – if you pay attention to the marketing tips I’ve shared with you – calls for an integrated approach involving several media. Your marketing strategy has one purpose and one purpose alone: to make you money. To do that most effectively, it all has to be going the same way.

2. Follow up your mailing with a phone call.

One of the mainstays of effective marketing is Direct Mail. But what isn’t generally known is if you follow up a mailing with a telephone call, you can improve results by 50 – 1000% (yes, one thousand percent – that’s not a misprint).

If you then get the prospective customer on the phone – (and we’re not talking about the hard sell here) and remind them about the mailing you can often take the order right then and there. One way of looking at it is to say that your letter “softened them up” for the call.

3. If you’re unsure how your customers will react to being sold to on the phone – don’t sell to them.

Selling on the phone can be tricky. You can never be quite sure what your prospect is doing when you call, so even the lightest touch with the softest intent can come at exactly the wrong moment.

That’s why it’s important to make your approach as unobtrusive as you can. And if you really are not sure how your prospects, customers and clients will react to being given a sales pitch on the phone, no matter how gentle, don’t do it.

Instead, use the telephone call to ask questions, gather information and ensure their needs are being met. Everyone likes to feel important, and everyone likes to feel someone cares. And make no mistake: even if you call someone to just make sure they are OK, then they’ll appreciate it.

In fact, a very powerful way of upselling your customers and clients, and for getting referrals is to call after you’ve made a sale, just to make sure things are satisfactory and the customer is happy.

4. Use scripts, but also be flexible.

Telemarketing scripts are useful, especially at the beginning of a call, because they set the entire “frame” of the conversation.

But you must also allow some flexibility because your Telemarketers and the people they’re talking to are human beings, not machines, and no two calls are going to be identical.

5. Realise that Practice makes Perfect.

It sounds obvious, but don’t let whoever is making your calls loose on your customers cold.

Make sure they’re not only properly trained, but are also familiar with your marketing strategy, your business, the offers, and any scripts they’re expected to be using.

Practice might take some investment in time and energy, but it always pays off, allowing your team to become more confident and you to spot and rectify mistakes before you let them loose in anger on your valued customers.

The telephone is one of the most powerful marketing tools you have available to you because it taps in to our in-built and very human need to communicate.

What’s more, so very few businesses use it effectively (if at all), you’re going to put yourself way out in front of your competitors.

One other thought…I’ve used phrases like ‘Telemarketers’ here but don’t let that put you off. Ultimately we’re talking about the power of a human being picking up the phone and communicating to your customers. That could be you, could be a colleague, could be a temp working in your business a few hours a week. But however you do it – please test Telephone Marketing. It can be immensely profitable for virtually any business.

Original article by Chris Cardell

Small businesses believe it will take up to two years before the economy returns to normality.



Some 58 per cent say business will not significantly improve for another 12 to 24 months, according to a poll from internet provider Easynet Connect.

Chris Stening, managing director of Easynet Connect, says: ‘The predominant sentiment among small to medium-sized firms seems to be one of cautious optimism. Businesses know that growth will come but do not think it will be immediate.’

Of the 256 owner-managers surveyed, 29 per cent say they are putting their business plans on hold until after the election.

The economy grew by 0.2 per cent in the first three months of this year, according to official figures last week.

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