Marketing

Growth by digital design

Two years after leaving corporate life, Josh Burgisser built Burgs Digital into a full-stack marketing agency. He talks to David Nothling-Demmer about the attention economy, why video isn’t optional for small businesses showing up online, and convincing his own father to become a client.

Returning Xmas gifts

How’s your Xmas gifts returns policy?

Online retailers are being urged not to make gift returns a nightmare this Christmas for customers. One of the most important ways an online retailer can make themselves more attractive to shoppers looking online for Christmas gifts this year is to provide a strong returns process to build trust and confidence with consumers. Mark Presnell, managing director of eCommerce Integration Specialists Convergence, a company that integrates eCommerce sites with backend software and processes, said eCommerce is not only handicapped by the inability of shoppers to touch, smell, and try on a product, but also by fears around the returns process. “For one, having to return an item is a pain for anybody, but the complexity of online returns only increases shopper

Robbie Lawton - Werk

How to create TikToks to promote your brand

Werk’s Robbie Lawton presents a Tiktok tips to help you harness the entertainment platform’s marketing and promotional benefits. If you run a business, chances are you will eventually use some form of social media platform for marketing purposes. TikTok isn’t strictly social media but rather an entertainment platform and while it was adopted early on by teens, it has steadily gained a broad and diverse user base, making it a prime platform for any brand seeking the elusive attention of millennials and Gen Z. When Werk was launched at the start of 2019 by myself and my partner Benjamin Johnson, we were watching TikTok mature from crawling to walking in terms of its audience and content pool. As a creative

Lina Montero Soto sml

Giving marketers the secret sauce

Good Gravy is promoting itself as a marketer’s ‘secret sauce’ – a nimble team of advertising experts with a recipe for success. There’s a lot that’s wrong with the traditional agency model, explains Good Gravy founder, Lina Montero Soto (pictured), including high fees to pay for all the overheads and reliance on often overwhelmed interns and inexperienced juniors to do the lion’s share of the work. So, when she and core team members of the newly branded, indie agency (themselves all alumni of traditional agencies) sat down for a long-overdue chin-wag, they created a plan to establish a business that could tackle creative problems from a marketers’ perspective. That plan included fair fees and direct access to seasoned advertising professionals. “We

Sarah Geel sml

Getting the best from your sponsorships

How can organisations still get bang for their buck from sponsorships in this digital age? Sarah Geel reveals all. Since the rise of large-scale events, sponsorships have become an invaluable opportunity for businesses big and small to get their brand in front of new and engaged audiences. When done well, sponsorships can provide organisations with an incredible return on their investment and complement all aspects of a business. But how can they be created and communicated successfully – especially as we enter a pandemic-induced era of digital, hybrid, and scaled-back events?   Authenticity: the secret to success In its simplest form, sponsorship is a way of advertising your business’s brand through financial support of an event or campaign in exchange

With Impact Prized Life Founders v2

The startup out to fix corporate gifting

Helen McLaren and Clare Gallaher’s start-up business aims to eliminate the token “eco-friendly” gift box and introduce a new authentic and unique gift experience. “Sustainable and ethical sourcing is a hot topic and priority for all businesses in New Zealand, but what does your corporate gifting strategy say about your business?” asks Helen McLaren, co-founder of With Impact. “The gift box industry satisfies a major share of the corporate gifting market and is exponentially growing each year – but the gift box industry lacks innovation and a commitment to sustainable values,” she says. “It’s time to step away from the token “eco-friendly” gift box and welcome in the revolutionary new era of corporate gifting. Together, we can do gifting better.”

Impaired eyesight

Are Kiwi e-commerce sites failing users with disabilities?

Few Kiwi e-commerce sites meet even the basic accessibility standards for Internet users with disabilities. It’s vital online shopping outlets rectify this or risk getting left behind.  That’s the view of Mark Presnell, managing director of e-commerce integration specialists Convergence. He says making the customer journey easier for people with disabilities is not only the right thing to do, but also good business. “The lack of movement on disabled customer needs is a potential blind spot for local companies since about one in four Kiwis are limited by a physical, sensory, learning, mental health or other impairment,” he said. WebAIM, a non-profit measuring web accessibility, found last year 96.8 percent of all home pages did not meet Web Content Accessibility

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