New clothes for the Emperor again! Pt.2

Time for some pragmatism, Time for a digital idealogy!
To be effective in digital strategy “Discover yesterday, enjoy today and visualise tomorrow”.

5 Digital Idealogies

1. Ensure relevant and manageable self-sufficiency
2. Turn existing assets and activities into profitable pilots
3. Prioritise your housekeeping - search, social, information architecture and content strategy
4. Always follow the chronology of strategy > creativity > technology
5. Test! Test! Test! There are no rules of engagement!

New clothes for the Emperor again! Pt.1

The digital galaxy is like the ‘Emperor’s New Clothes’ to anyone associated with the sales and marketing process.

The new technology, new challenges and the inevitable new sales initiatives that follow can leave budget holders completely bewildered.

Just another week at Idealogy…

Life is nothing unless it’s rich and varied – and the working week at Idealogy is all of that.

For example, this week, week 39, has been a fascinating mix of rush projects for US Trade Shows, preparation and delegate experience for upcoming Brand workshops in Italy, production of Press adverts for premium kitchen products in Norwegian newspapers, a little promotional activity for a ‘soon-to-be-famous’ Drummer, some brand reputation monitoring around the product recall activity for a leading Skincare brand, and a colourful and eclectic mix of web and email campaigns, product packaging, topped off with a liberal sprinkling of interior, environment and retail design.

Of course, there’s always the personal…on the down side, a good family friend passed away unexpectedly in Melbourne, Australia, (as good a place as any!) one of the Director’s daughters has just begun 4 years at University in London, learning Physiotherapy, the Christmas Party is planned and booked, and we’re all off to our Digital Director’s Wedding Celebration on Saturday.

Oh, and the first of the new Board Meetings happened as well…with plenty of actions for everyone to get their teeth into!

Still, at least we’ve got Sunday to get over it, before it all kicks off again.

Week 40 here we come!

Posted by Idealogy

“They think it’s all over…………”

Well it may never be! Ever...so here’s a football story that proves the point.

The antagonism between certain factions at Idealogy, a decade long enmity between certain Leeds Utd and Saints followers reached a crescendo on Saturday 13th March. A small group from both camps, together with over 30,000 other souls, attended the fixture at St. Mary’s Stadium, and if you don’t want to know the result, then look away now…
The Saints 1 The Whites 0

Which, for the majority was a great result, celebrated rudely as you would expect. But, in reality, it only squared up proceedings for this season at one win a-piece. So, as Simon Johnson, our Digital Director and most fanatical Leeds supporter would maintain, bragging rites were only short lived. However, before we get ahead of ourselves, Simon still holds the upper hand with his side set to gain automatic promotion to the lucrative Championship, whilst Saints only have a Wembley visit for the Johnson’s Paint Trophy (before you ask, it’s not his!), and another season languishing in League One. The good news for Saints fans is that we’re now Swiss owned and rich enough to make Soloman blush (which we’re not 100% sure that he ever did!).

So, on we all go again! Nothing is concluded and it’s going to be at least another term before hostilities can be resumed, shirts exchanged and name-calling can become really unpleasant. Let’s look ahead to a World Cup, another 9 months of arm’s length bickering and, hopefully, two meetings in the 2011-12 season.

Like they say, “It’s not over until the…”

Posted by Simon Dover

Sucking up Digital Data for all it’s worth!

The Beige Information Leech.

The past 4 years have seen a massive transformation in Idealogy’s business mix. Today, digital media represents a staggering 45% of all revenue and the business has had to adapt to that new model, as digital touchpoints have become an increasingly powerful and challenging piece of integration.

Sitting at the head of that revolution has been Simon Johnson – for well over 10 years, Idealogy’s very own Beige Information Leech - building valuable network partnerships and absorbing the torrent of material, protocols and web measurement disciplines that his ill-defined and constantly changing world pours out into the ether. In an amazingly short period, Simon J. has gone from being an IT warrior, to web-site project manager, all the way to Digital Director, heading up the fastest growing revenue stream in Idealogy’s portfolio.

Today, he has total responsibility for websites of all sizes and complexity, and for both B2B and B2C clients. As part of that role, he manages site architecture, design, campaign support, programming and content, e-mail traffic and data harvesting. Add to that his partnership management – key relationships that drive the engines for all Idealogy web and digital services – and his role within the business is pivotal.

And his appetite for this voraciously data hungry environment is legendary. His love of Social media and it’s opinion forming impact is a constant reminder to the business that we need to communicate with as many people as possible, all of the time, as we manage our own and our customers’ reputations and personalities through the forums of Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, MySpace and YouTube. He pushes the business relentlessly – the results are impressive, and progressive.

So, there we have it. Simon Johnson. A man partial to his grapes. His chiropractor. Leeds United, his football team. Online gaming (whatever that is!) And the colour Taupe. Which is supposed to be soothing, but most would call it neutral. So it’s an odd choice for a man so committed to his craft and the assimilation of stuff.

Simon Johnson - Beige by name. Information parasite by nature!

Posted by Idealogy