When was the last time something took you by surprise? I’m away in Marseille for a long weekend and was walking along the cliff tops overlooking the sea, when I came to a section with five or six benches looking out to see. Dotted along this section of pathway were about a dozen people standing with their backs to the sea. Each carrying a flower and periodically reading with drama and gaelic passion from what looked to be a script. Each would find someone, a passer by, to direct their prose too.

Now, I don’t speak much French which made the experience even more delightful, enjoying the rhythm and cadence but having no idea what was going on. It transpired that each was a member of an acting troop and were practicing their delivery. Bravo is what I say, it made my day.

Similarly the other day I was using Google mail when I went to send an email with an attachment, except I like thousands of people every day I forgot to add my attachment. Imagine my surprise and delight of being given an information box telling me that my email had the phrase “find attached” however I hadn’t attached anything was this a mistake! Brilliant – Bravo Google. Another satisfied customer.

Phil Wright has been working in the creative comms industry for over 15 years and is a director of Oxford Creative.

Social Networking tools are steadily becoming engrained in our lifestyles, and the increase in Socially optimised smartphones only goes to cement their future. So how does this trend help produce more effective communication? It all comes down to how well you know your audience.

It makes sense that the switched on, technologically savvy business person should embrace this phenomenon with open arms. However many would argue that the prevalence of social networking, whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or the myriad of other flavours is costing business a fortune in un-productive hours spent… well, doing pretty much anything but working. So where should you draw the line?

Here’s an interesting article from Business Week referencing a new book by Cliff Atkinson “The Backchannel” where Atkinson makes the argument for embracing Twitter to the extent of actively encouraging your audience to tweet whilst you are speaking.

See what you think here… http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/dec2009/sb20091214_245145.htm

Phil Wright has been working in the creative comms industry for over 15 years and is a director of Oxford Creative.

Sunday was a hot day and the sun shone brightly as thousands of us ran through the streets of London, listening to the music coming from the DJ stands and live bands placed around the 13.2 mile course.

Before I had even passed the start line, I decided to stick to a pace of 5.6 miles an hour with the help of my new GPS watch, as this is a speed that I am comfortable with when running long distances. This tactic was quite unnerving at first, as everybody else seemed to be running past me but I just turned up the volume on my ipod and blocked everything else out of my mind. If I was going to make it through the course without stopping then I would have to go at my own pace and not follow the crowd.

As the miles increased, I gradually got in to a steady rhythm and started to take in the exciting atmosphere around me. People running in various charity t-shirts and others in a selection of fancy dress costumes including a group of giant bananas and men dressed as pink fairies for Breast Cancer Care. Macmillan teams were dotted around the course to support us and I was so happy to see my family at the 12 mile mark cheering me on! The last mile seemed to take forever but as soon as I saw the Sony Ericsson green arch, marking the finish line, I had enough energy to speed up and sprint to the end.

I made it! In a time of…. 2 hours and 21 minutes! Running the whole way without having to stop so I am very pleased with the result! I managed to raise £655 for Macmillan Cancer Support and my Just Giving sponsorship page is still receiving donations.

I would like to say a big Thank You to everyone who made a donation – You’re all brilliant!

I can’t quite believe it but I am running in the Sony Ericsson London Half Marathon this Sunday!

It all started with an email I recieved back in January, advertising “Run to the Beat” – London’s Music Half Marathon. I only really started running about a year ago and have completed a few 5K charity runs for Cancer Research UK and High Wycombe 10K last July. A half marathon would be a huge challenge but the email grabbed my attention and I thought what an excellent idea, so I signed up. I decided early on that I would run to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support – A charity that means a lot to me personally and a great reason to get motivated for the long period of training that was about to begin.

Training started the very next day with a 2 mile run along local country roads. As I hadn’t been running on a regular basis for months, I started to feel out of breath during the first mile. This wasn’t going to be about finishing in a certain time, it was going to be about actually managing to get to the end in one piece!

Nevertheless, as time went on and training got tougher, I became more and more motivated to complete the 13.1 mile course in good time and without stopping to catch my breath. Soon, Macmillan were sending me my runners vest and regular updates on training tips and sponsorship advice. My online sponsorship form has recieved regular donations after promoting my charity run via email and Facebook.

Training has been enjoyable but tough. Training periods have gradually increased over time and my diet has had to change in order for me to sustain my energy levels and run greater distances. I have completed a couple of 10 mile runs in preperation for the race and regularly run 6-8 miles now with my breathing finally under control.

13,000 people will be taking part in this Sunday’s London Half Marathon. 200 of us will be running for Macmillan Cancer Support. We are hoping to reach our target of £80,000 – enough to fund a Macmillan nurse for 2 years.

It’s nearly time and I think I’m ready for the challenge!

I am sometimes asked by work colleagues and clients for comparisons between different web analytics products – Which product should be used and how do they differ in the way that they compile data? As a result, I discuss below the differences between dynamic tracking and log file analysis and the pros and cons of implementing each method.

Dynamic tracking products, such as Google Analytics, may produce different traffic statistics compared to a log file analysis tool. This is because Google Analytics uses client-side code to gather information, whereas most log file analysis products contain only server-side information. By gathering data directly from user browsers rather than log files generated from web servers, the results can differ dramatically.

Below is only a basic summary of the two methods as there are many more features of web analytics that could be discussed in more detail but this will give you a general understanding as to how different methods are used.

Tracking Code

Google Analytics Tracking Code (GATC) is pasted in to each HTML page within a website. This code is a combination of HTML and JavaScript which is used to track page views and other traffic data. GATC is usually placed at the bottom of each pages code (directly before the closing tag) but it is recommended that the code is placed within the header to avoid any possible issues with a page loading at a slower rate, therefore ensuring that the code is executed correctly. Discrepancies in results may arise at this early stage of implementation as the site owner may not paste the tracking code in to all site pages, but log-file analysis tools usually provide statistics for all pages unless configured otherwise.

JavaScript, Cookies and Cached Pages

Google Analytics uses cookies in order to track visitor activity. These cookies hold a unique visitor ID and are considered safe and non-intrusive by most internet users today, but many people block cookies from being set by their web browsers to prevent personal data from being captured or reported on. A user who deletes their cookies will still be tracked by Google Analytics, but they will be identified as a new visitor to the site leading to inaccurate session results.

Alternatively, log file analysis products use a visitor’s IP address to track user sessions. This can be very unreliable since two or more visitors can share an IP address and it also makes it more difficult to determine whether a user has previously visited the site.

If JavaScript has been disabled on a users’ browser, Google Analytics will be unable to track activity because the GATC cannot be executed. However, log file analysis products are unable to report on cached pages correctly, leading to a significant undercounting of page views. This is because cached pages are saved on a users’ local machine and so are not served by the web server. Google Analytics detects all displayed pages regardless of the source (as long as the visitor is connected to the Internet) resulting in more accurate page-view counts.

Robots

Internet bots, also known as web robots, are software applications that run automated tasks over the internet and scan site content. Since robots are not actual users, their activities need to be excluded from web analytics results. Log file analysis products find this difficult as they need to know about the robot in order to detect it, but there are thousands of robots and new ones appear on a daily basis. Google Analytics does not have this problem as robots do not execute JavaScript and therefore, their activity is not included in its reporting.

Summary

It is important to understand that any web analytics report should be considered like a survey as all statistical products are rarely able to track 100% of site visitors. The reasons for this conclusion range from browsers that block JavaScript to deleted cookies, cached pages and robot tracking. Log file analysis products record every time a file is requested, regardless of who requests it, whereas Google Analytics is a more accurate solution as it handles sessions more reliably and consistently even though it may miss some visits.

If you haven’t heard them already…

check out our radio adverts on Jack FM (click here to go to Jack FM)

…or listen to the advert directly by clicking here

Oxford Creative has teamed up with Jack FM to promote our services. Working with Jack FM and its irreverent style has proved to be a natural partnership which has enabled us to promote our services to local businesses throughout Oxfordshire.

So click the link or tune in on 106.8 FM.

Oxford (hyphen) Creative – Backed by Boffins

Firstly, we would like to thank you all for signing up to our newsletter. It has been a tremendous success with many of you showing a great interest in our Free Website Offer!

However, as the competition is now closed we are delighted to announce our lucky winner…is Adam from Simply Stash Limited!! Adam… see you on Friday!

Even though our competition has closed, we’re still offering FREE site evaluations. Drop us an email with the details and we’ll set the wheels in motion.

And with offers, info and lively discussion about the web, there are still plenty of reasons to subscribe to our newsletter…

So sign up today.

The Oxford Creative Team
— Backed By Boffins —

Government show an understanding of effective communications

Here is another good example of how the rules of effective communications can be used for success. It emerged in the news yesterday that plans to raise taxpayers’ contributions to MPs’ pensions have been dropped, ahead of a Commons debate. (see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8117846.stm for the full article).

What’s this got to do with communications? Lots! The government have taken on board two of the key rules to effective communications, all be it at the last moment!

They’ve proved that they know their audience; they understand the mood of the country. In the current climate after the MPs expenses scandal they understand that to ask the taxpayer for more money to line their pockets would be political suicide.

In order to succeed a communication has to be relevant. Fortunately for the government someone noticed that this motion fell far short of being relevant, the timing was wrong and the taxpayer would not feel that what was being suggested was neither measured nor appropriate.

Instead by dropping their plans the government has made an attempt to communicate their empathy and understanding of the mood of the nation.

We’ll be looking more at knowing your audience and relevancy of communications in the next part of my blog on producing effective communications.

Phil Wright has been working in the creative comms industry for over 15 years and is a director of Oxford Creative.

The key to success

This series of articles will dramatically increase your chances of success by turning basic communications into effective communications. 

How often have you heard the phrase “communication is the key to success”? I would argue that this statement is misleading and that some communication is possibly more damaging than no communication at all. So in these articles I have decided to focus on how to produce effective communications. By implementing the simple steps outlined here, you will dramatically improve your communications; and take huge strides in achieving success.

I realised that I wanted to write this article, but it is such a large subject that I have split it into 4 parts. This first part focuses on the basics, what are the fundamentals in effective communication. In future articles we will look at presentation techniques including the pitfalls of PowerPoint, the importance of a critical eye and the review process. But for now let’s get the basics right.

Set clear objectives

Setting clear objectives may seem like common sense, but do you really think about what you’re setting out to achieve? Sure you know the subject you want to discuss, but have you thought about the outcome you’re looking for? I’m constantly amazed at the number of people who think there is only one way to deliver a message. If you don’t know what your communication needs to achieve, then the chances of it doing what you want are purely down to luck.

So think about why you are communicating, what information you need to share. Do you need your audience to take action after the communication? Are you looking for initial hand-raisers or customers prepared to sign on the dotted line? Do you need people to take out precise details or a broad overview of your subject?

Each objective may require a different approach to your communication; remember one-size doesn’t always fit all. It may be that you can’t hit all of your objectives from one communication. Be honest, if you can’t don’t try. All you’ll end up doing is diluting another part of your message.

I can’t stress this enough, but keep referring back to your objectives. You’ll surprise yourself at how easy it is to stray off message. Be critical of your material, you will only achieve the outcome you desire if you are continually referring back to your objectives.

Engage your audience

This is critical. If you haven’t engaged your audience then there’s little point in doing anything else, you’ve lost them and you’ve lost your opportunity. An engaged audience is attentive, they hang on your every word. They are interested in what you have said and what you’re going to say next.

It stands to reason, but so often when putting together a presentation or other communication, you get so tied up in your subject, you forget about the most important part – your audience. Put on a show, be expressive, be impassioned, talk with enthusiasm, and raise the expectations within your audience.

Think: what will make the audience sit up and take notice? You don’t have to stand up to present wearing a superhero costume, or write your blog in a 50pt typeface, what you need to do is find something in what you’re saying that people will be interested in. If the audience isn’t interested in what you’ve got to say, save your time and energy and do something else instead.

OK so it’s not always easy to find something engaging in your presentation, maybe you have to communicate a very dry subject. So here are some tips that may help you find the right angle for your audience:

• 1. What are the benefits? Features are all very well, but it’s the benefit that 9 times out of 10 will make the sale.
• 2. What’s remarkable in what you’ve got to say? Are there any statistics that stand out, or something in your research that really surprised you? If it got your attention, it will probably grab the attention of your audience.
• 3. Are there any analogies that you can draw on that will help bring your subject to life or make it more relevant to your audience?
• 4. What are you doing that sets you apart from your competition? This could be good or bad, wither way it will gain people’s interest.
• 5. What conclusions are you going to draw? Is there something you can mention at the start that will whet the appetite of your audience?

Know your subject inside out

The more you know a subject the easier it is to discuss it. It’s hard to present something with confidence and enthusiasm when you have questions and doubts in your own mind. Or are worried about not fully understanding the subject you are discussing.

There’s no shortcut to knowing your subject, it comes down to hard work and dedication. The people I consider to be among the best communicators can speak passionately about their subject because they know it and believe in it. They are driven almost to the point of obsession to know everything there is to know.

A good analogy would be an architect. Now any reasonable architect would be able to discuss the general materials and methods of construction of a building, but a great architect not only could talk to you about the stone chosen for the flooring, but also tell you about the quarry it comes from, its method of production, and right down to telling you about Signor Albertini whose family has owned the quarry for the past 150 years and insists on personally choosing the very best marble for this particular range of flooring.

Why is it important to know your subject? Because you exude passion and enthusiasm and can inspire confidence in you and your message from your audience.

Be succinct

Don’t clutter your presentation; ensure you aren’t padding with unnecessary details. If you are clear and concise in your delivery, your key points will stand out, your audience has a better chance of remembering them and everyone will appreciate going home on-time! Remember to review your communication. Here is a quick checklist to help you avoid some common mistakes.

• 1. Ensure your key points are covered
• 2. Avoid unnecessary detail
• 3. “Clear and concise” should be your mantra
• 4. When reviewing think about how each section relates to your objectives (if they it doesn’t relate, then the chances are its not relevant!)

So with brevity in mind we’ll leave it there.

Next time we’ll be looking at the pitfalls of PowerPoint, understanding your audience and the importance of strategic thinking.

Phil Wright has been working in the Comms industry for over 15 years and is a director of Oxford Creative.

Wilting Magnolia

Following on from the news at the start of this year that online bookmarking site Ma.gnolia has had to end its public service due to a data backup disaster, we’re going to explore for a moment data backups.

It appears that Ma.gnolia was built upon an architecturally flawed system despite making regular backups to a separate drive. The main database became corrupted and was dutifully copied to the backup drive. Thus the circle was complete and both the live data and the backup were both corrupt. Despite many days of expert data recovery only a fraction of the data was ever recovered and the Ma.gnolia service was finished.

Don’t get burned

So what are you / your ISP doing to ensure the safety of your data and what lessons can be learned from this horror story? There are some serious questions that you need to ask yourself:

• What systems do you have in place for disaster recovery?
• What would you do if your data was lost forever?
• How long could your business survive while your backup data was located and restored?
• Are your backups safe; or are they kept in the same location as your live data?
• Do you backup sensitive material such as personal data which is covered under the data protection act?
• How often do you carry out your backups?
• Do you use cloud hosting, if so how much do you know about where your data is stored, if anything!

Make sure your ISP is able to offer you remote backup solutions as well as other fail-over redundancy dependant on your specific needs.

Ma.gnolia had a plan; the problem was that it wasn’t up to the job. The most important is to ensure that you have a plan before you start. It’s not the most exciting part of an online venture, but it may well stop your dreams going up in smoke.

 Gordon Buxton is systems architecture expert for Oxford Internet Consultants