Who really was William Shakespeare? In over 150 years nobody it seems has found out much about the man. That is until Jeremy uncovered the shocking truth about Shakespeare. Jeremy is one of our graphic designers and a local Staffordshire historian. Two years of research has led him to conclude that Shakespeare was none other than this man.... Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford. Read on here...

I attended a DMA-organised door to door practitioners seminar in Bromsgrove today. The event was chaired by Graham Dodd, MD of The Letterbox Consultancy. The most interesting speakers were: Richard from TBDA who spoke on getting the most out of door drops; Colin from The Front Door who ran through some recent customer research; Carl from Manning Gottlieb on planning and targeting and Peter Rainey from Royal Mail who spoke on what was being done to offer a more flexible service.

Here are a few nuggets I picked up:

• When targeting door drops, hit areas where brand awareness is strongest
• Follow-up TV advertising with door drop activity (eg Virgin Money)
• 0.1-0.2% response rates ‘about industry norm’ for financial services door drops
• Financial Services door drops have been known to outperform response to personalised direct mail
• Allowable cost per response for Virgin Money life insurance is £124
• Door drops can now be targeted beyond postal sector to the ‘postman’s round’ (at a premium)
• Door to door view by one agency speaker as 'the best acquisition chanel'
• The Tussauds Group (Alton Towers etc) successfully use multiple drops to the same households (via Newshare distribution)
• Clever radio barcodes are now available to track that leaflets have successfully been delivered!

Last night the IDM ran a seminar in Manchester on 'Online Success Stories: Achieving Excellence on the Web'.

Jonathan Wall, Marketing Director of dabs.com talked about the rapid growth of dabs, their acquisition this year by BT and their approach to maximising online sales.

Strenthening customer loyalty was a key issue. With competitors 'just one click away', the importance of brand advocacy was central to retaining customers. Delivering excellent customer service (same day despatch, no quibble returns, quick access to customer service reps) is combined with having a continual presence on the web. This is being achieved through constant exposure on shopping comparison sites, supported by catalogue marketing, some brand advertising, inserts in specialist press and of course through paid search.

Jonathan stressed the importance of having an etail site that was functional. By that he meant the ease at which customers could find their way around the site, search for items, and go immediately to the check-out.

Key insights:

• Customers are at their most profitable 24-36 months after acquisition. i.e. it takes time for them to get used to you and use you regularly. Fostering loyalty in the first 24 months is therefore particularly important
• Give thought to how items appear on your site. Ensure that the order in which your products appear. Rank by: product views (popularity), conversion, shipment and profitability.