Watching the BBC news this morning, I was outraged by Andy Burnham’s advice, or lack of it, regarding swine flu.  As someone who works in marketing and communications, delivering the right message, to the right person, at the right time, through the right channel is key.  Yet, our health secretary didn’t appear to answer a single straight question for all those baffled by the conflicting advice being propagated by our Government, health officials and other esteemed advisors in the media.  When asked how many people had died as a result of swine flu, who didn’t have previous underlying health problems, the health secretary failed to give the answer - apparently, the BBC news, watched by millions of concerned members of the public before they head out to work, wasn’t the time or place to provide an answer.

So, who should we turn to for answers?  One tip for pregnant women concerned about swine flu was to discuss it with their family.  So, if I have got it right, with the Government unable or unwilling to communicate facts and provide clear direction, pregnant woman are to make decisions based on chit chat, anecdotal stories and gut feelings?

I am sure that I am not alone in thinking that the Government’s communication strategy around swine flu is an exemplary example of how not to do it, am I?

Last year, web analytics company compete.com ranked the top 25 social networking sites by monthly visits.  A year later, they re-ranked those same sites to see how the positions had changed.  Facebook.com took the number one position, pushing myspace.com into second place.  Third in the list was Twitter.com, which jumped up a remarkable 19 places in 12 months.  Another high climber, was the business networking site and one of my favourites, Linked In.

In January 2009, in the US alone, facebook.com had nearly 69 million unique visitors to the site.  Worldwide, it has over 175 million active users and the fastest growing demographic is the over 30’s.  For marketers, the growth of social networks simply can’t be ignored.

The weak pound may be bad for Brit’s heading abroad this summer, but, for businesses looking to sell their products and services into Europe and beyond, it could bring a little ray of sunshine.  Assisting businesses with their international marketing campaigns for over 20 years, Beechwood are experts in the translation and localisation of marketing communications.

High quality translations remain an enigma for many businesses.  That’s why we have put together a seven step guide to better translations which can help to improve overseas marketing efforts.

Download our presentation guide Seven Simple Steps to Better Translations

The latest research findings from Forrester and Marketing Sherpa show that in 2009, email marketing is expected to rise in popularity.  Low cost, targeted and measurable, it isn’t surprising that so many businesses are planning to use email to communicate with customers and prospects.  However, with so much competition in the inbox, marketers need to get email savvy and ensure they maximise their ROI.

Click through the Beechwood Guide to creating a successful b2b email campaign (below) to find useful research, handy hints and tips for email marketers.

Beechwood recently polled marketing professionals and asked them, what was the most important factor when selecting a marketing agency?

The results of the survey found that the three most important criteria for selection were:

1. Demonstration of results
2. Industry experience
3. Cultural fit

Given the pressure on marketing professionals in these difficult times to achieve measurable success, it was perhaps little surprise that 50% of participants considered an agency’s ability to demonstrate results as the number one factor.  This was closely followed by industry experience, with 42% considering this to be the first priorty in agency selection.

However, many marketers were keen to point out that these factors alone would not ensure a good fit between agency and client.  As one Senior Marketing Officer for a major financial corporation remarked, “The most relevant factor is how good a cultural fit you sense between the agency and the group managing it.  I’ve seen excellent agencies and great brand teams collide due to a poor cultural fit.  And egos have a huge role in generating the “fit” sensation”.

This week, the Beechwood team went to a Russian restaurant to celebrate Russia’s “Old New Year” (a tradition celebrating New Year according to the Julian calendar).

My colleague Alina used the Internet to search for Russian restaurants in London. Browsing through several social media sites, she read restaurant reviews, looked at photos of restaurants and browsed through menus online, before she chose our venue. The restaurant was in the basement of a London hotel. Off the beaten track, the hotel itself was tricky to find. The restaurant within was even harder to locate, infact, there were no signs to indicate its existence.

Yet, we found ourselve in this busy basement restaurant, where every table was in use. As one of the team commented, “you wouldn’t just stumble upon this place; you would have to know about it”. My point is that the Internet has turned marketing on its head. In their 2008 benchmark survey for technology marketers, Marketing Sherpa found that 93% of those involved in the purchase of technology begin the sales cycle with an online search. Furthermore, 80% of those technology purchasers said that they found the vendor, that’s just 20% who were found by the vendor.

With the explosion of social media in the B2B world, marketers need to identify the online directories, forums and blogs most visited by their target audiences. Contribute to social networks and make sure your business and its solutions are highly visible online…you might not find the buyers, but they will find you.

Surviving the economic downturn will be high on the list of priorities for most businesses in 2009. However, in addition to the challenges, Beechwood believe that there will be some opportunities too.

Many independent studies have shown that in previous recessions, those businesses that continued to invest in marketing and advertising during a downturn went on to outperform those that didn’t. Now is not the time for across the board cuts in the marketing budget, but the time to take a considered approach to allocating the marketing spend.

Looking back at historical success stories, you are unlikely to find the answers for beating this recession. The marketing landscape has changed dramatically; during the last recession did blogging, social marketing, email campaigns and viral marketing even feature on the marketing plan?

With the rapid evolution of marketing over the past decade, traditional media has declined and digital marketing has grown in importance and effectiveness. Across Europe and the US, online behaviour patterns have changed considerably and we spend more time online and less time exposed to traditional marketing channels like the television. Therefore, we have to reassess our channels of communication and select the most appropriate marketing tools.

Technological innovation has broken down traditional national market boundaries and the global marketplace is well and truly open for business. There are opportunities for business, the challenge is making sure you can keep pace with economic change and quickly deploy marketing solutions to convert them.

McKinsey & Company recommend in their report “The downturn’s new rules for marketers”, that marketers regularly reprioritise geographies and target customers to ensure they pursue those with the greatest profit potential.

Finally, I would like to wish all of our clients a prosperous 2009, happy new year!