Andy and Anthony do a brilliant job of sharing what’s grooving in our space. And, although I always look forward to learning what smart peers are deeming worth a review, I sometimes feel that I’ve just bought couture and have no place to wear it. So for my one and only ‘thoughts for a Friday’ before I leave–I want to share some ideas that, as a team, we truly believe we could apply to our clients’ business here and now:

First and foremost: Feel empowered to talk turkey with your clients. Digital is ubiquitous, so, as a business, we all need to feel really confident to have these conversations. Remember–digital is just another aspect of the overall programme. Get to know the business well; get on top of what is strategic for their business; ask a lot of questions; and behold–you have a sense of what is smart to execute online. Our clients deserve the best possible service–and sometimes that is sitting down with them and asking why. Like any element of smart advertising and marketing–the business motivation is something we have to have our heads completely wrapped around before we sell a single button or banner. So the most powerful tool in digital–is your inquisitive, strategic mind. I promise, clients love the opportunity to see a thoughtful team at work on their behalf. (No URL for this one . . . just a big spoonful of confidence.)

So, when we get to the bottom of the request–what are we hearing? Our clients talk a lot about blogging. A blog, is simply, a Web log. I happened upon Campaign Monitor’s blog the other day (http://www.campaignmonitor.com/blog/) and found it to be a great use of the forum. It creates community, journals news and shares ideas relevant to their business. It is up to date and easy to navigate. So if you want an example of a solid blog–I’d reference this. Also check out CNN’s blog library: http://edition.cnn.com/exchange/blogs/index.html. There are a couple of things that I like about this: they’ve created a space for myriad of blogs–neat and tidy targeting different communities/demographics, and the blogs are not trying to be anything other than what it says on the tin.

Along with the requests for blogging it seems our clients have really embraced HTML email. Ciaran would confirm that this is one of the best ways to reach a mass audience, so we want to ensure what we are creating actually does the job it is intended to do. Take a look at some standards to get a sense of where we are in the industry with this type of communication http://www.email-standards.org/. And by the way–please no requests for Flash email–it simply isn’t stable or consistent at this stage in the game. And don’t forget–you’re an online consumer too–you know what you like. You know what kind of email you open, what you delete, and what you immediately define as spam. When you receive these types of messages review them thoughtfully. Your personal views on this can be terrifically relevant.

MPU.MPU.MPU!! These are groovy if the media placement is spot on. And Paul Gasson is a pro at cranking these out as either animated gifs or in Flash. I would always recommend that for any online media (button, banner, MPU . . . ) we are thoughtful about the creative. That really makes it. We don’t want to slam these together for the sake of it. And it’s also smart to incorporate these as part of a campaign, as it will be much more cost effective! I’ve attached a little MPU I found the other day. It uses a slider with static images for the background. (Paul already had a peek, and said we can execute this type of creative.)

Our clients are also asking–or we’re suggesting–microsites. Our very own Genzyme and Techs in the City are great examples of microsites. A microsite is a site that features a campaign, promotion, game/quiz . . . It also has its own URL. We are about to leverage our campaign site template to build some content for Royal Mail, which will be focused on a women in business conference they are sponsoring. If you do a Google search ‘microsite,’ you will get a batch of examples and explanations. If you have a minute this is worth doing–it can be inspiring and thought provoking. There is no reason why we have to wait for our clients to come to us . . .we can go to them with ideas to elevate their brand, their campaign, their tough to find positions . . .

Having said all this, though, a bit of couture is a must on a Friday, so amidst the day to day banner making, email executing, and microsite creating, I do like to feel inspired. Check out Advertising Age’s Digital A-List: http://adage.com/digitalalist/. Ah, lovely stuff . . .