Read my interview with Alice Stone, designer and founder of Lily And Lionel on Drapers.

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Read my interview with Holly Watson, Website Manager of Rokit.co.uk on Drapers.

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Read my interview with Helen Brown, founder of Catwalk Genius on Drapers.

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Read my interview with Jamie Murray Wells founder of Glasses Direct on Drapers.

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Self styled commercially focused search engine marketing agency Maven Metrics was set up last year by Lucie Follet.

I caught up with Lucie to get her thoughts on the search marketing industry, why she has set up automotive parts websites and her plans for new bottled water company Sip’s online marketing campaign.

Maven Metrics is described as being commercially focused. How do you think this approach makes Maven Metrics different to other search marketing agencies?

The main difference with us is that we have worked in other, highly commercial and competitive environments – specifically non-marketing, ‘non meedja’ industries. In my own case, I worked in Investment Banking as a Japan equity sales/analyst until 2002 and also operate my own niche websites which I use as a test bed for hands-on work for any tips or advice I find in blogs and forums.

This combination of being commercial and hands-on is unusual and not always found in larger agencies. It’s not uncommon to find individuals working in SEO and especially web analytics who are so hung up on terms such as ‘conversion rate’ or ‘measuring engagement’ or the anthropological nature of blog networks that they have forgotten the commercial purpose to the website and how this relates to the bottom line – it has become totally abstract and a mere blip on an excel sheet.

I personally find this quite alarming.

Many search marketing agencies are becoming full service, or becoming part of media agencies. Do you think there will be demand for specialist search agencies? Where are you taking Maven Metrics?

Arguably, it could well be said that such large behemoths pose a very real threat to smaller, specialist search agencies as they have the name and client base to pull them through, regardless of the quality of their work and leave smaller agencies to mop up what little there is left.

For example, I am always suspicious when I hear of large, well known pr agencies launching ‘digital marketing arms’ yet when you cast an objective eye over their own websites, you often find all manner of things which make you wonder whether they can actually ‘walk the walk’, (absent or duplicate meta tags, non-search engine friendly flash etc.) There’s no doubt that they perceive online to be nothing more than a convenient money-spinner and they benefit from their clients’ ignorance in all things online.

Realistically, we can’t change that and have to work double-hard to get the business. We get most of our business through word of mouth referrals and, perhaps surprisingly, we do receive unsolicited approaches from companies who have found their experience with larger agencies to be unsatisfying, both in terms of lack of personal attention but also on value for money.

It has to be said, though, most companies are not this enlightened or have too many layers of internal politics to be able to make such a choice and will plump for what they consider to be the ‘safe’ option – which is not always the case.

Tell me more about your niche automotive websites.

I import car parts from Germany and operate several niche automotive sites including one for Volkswagen and Audi water pumps. This one in particular was set up as an arbitrage site to take advantage of perceived flaws in Original Equipment (OE) parts which are, on the whole, manufactured in China.

The obvious benefit to me in doing this – aside from an additional income stream – is to keep my hand well and truly on the commercial pulse.  For example, at present, my North American sales have dropped considerably on a YOY basis on account of the unfavourable exchange rate and as I am not importing huge quantities and cannot forward fix my rate, I am having to raise my prices. So I am more than sympathetic to those retailers who are trying to sell into the
US – it’s not easy in such price-sensitive times – and it means that you have to work extra hard to build up online coverage.

You’re doing the online marketing for Sip water. What are the advantages of marketing an up and coming brand online?

Sip is a great company to be involved with, mainly for the fact that the founders are both incredibly open to the idea of using SEO and web analytics and are always hungry to learn more.

Not only is this attitude extremely refreshing, but it means that it is entirely possible to work in sync with the sip PR dept so that at all times, we can monitor just exactly how useful, say, a particular article in a particular magazine or event sponsorship has been in terms of visits to the site. This approach is ideal and is one I would highly recommend to others.

What is the online marketing focus for Sip? Is it driving brand conversation across the web or driving traffic to Sip’s website?

At present, the sip site is not selling online – yet.

This means that our task at this point is twofold – a/increasing awareness amongst potential distributors both UK and ex-UK and pushing them to the optimised, multilingual pages on the sip site and b/using the optimised blog to highlight offline press coverage we have achieved to get people to find out more about the brand. It is working – since the site’s launch in February, unique visitors to both the site and blog have increased on a month on month basis.

What exciting projects are on the horizon for Maven Metrics?

In addition to working with new clients, we are also building up our preparation to launch a new site which will act as a go-between for PR firms representing brands and consumers.

Our experience of working with PR firms, especially in the health, beauty and lifestyle sectors, has shown us that there is still very little knowledge and appetite within PR co’s for proactively targeting consumers online, other than to send out the, hopeful press release and sample to a relatively short list of ‘themed’ blogs.  Given the current economic outlook, this will become increasingly more important.

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Maven Metrics

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You may know James Layfield as one of the youngest ever Managing Directors in Richard Branson’s Virgin group.

James, named in the Top 30 under 35 UK Entrepreneurs by Growing Business Magazine, caught the entrepreneurial bug from Richard Branson and went on to found youth marketing agency The Lounge Group.

The best marketing agencies understand their client’s clients. With a network of 8,000 under 35’s, The Lounge Group has the upper hand on devising campaigns that work to the youth market.

In this interview I ask James what he learned from working with Richard Branson and how The Lounge Group fills a gap in the market.

You once worked alongside Richard Branson. Did any aspect of working for Richard’s Virgin group inspire you to set up The Lounge Group?
As Branson’s youngest ever MD I definitely learnt a few things. I was inspired by his ability to trust and give responsibility to good people, he taught me to have the confidence to bring in people to the businesses that are better than me.

He also showed me the importance of culture to driving the success of a business and that passion and drive far outweigh any sort of experience when it comes to getting the best job done and yes, it made me want to start the Lounge for a market that I was passionate about.

Your agency has a clear focus - working on campaigns aimed at under 35s - was this a case of wanting to work on young brands, spotting a gap in the market or both?

Unlike nearly everyone who starts an agency I did not come at it as an ex Account/PR/Creative type wanting to go it alone. Instead the decision to start The Lounge Group was inspired by a need that I had seen whilst I was a Marketing Director for Virgin.

Having seen what was out there I knew that there was the market for an agency that was genuinely in touch with younger consumers. So The Lounge Group is first and foremost an excellent business that has been crafted to fill a gaping hole in the market. 

Tell me about the most fun online campaign The Lounge Group has worked on.
To be honest all of our campaigns are fun to work on and nearly all of them have an online component but I don’t think any of them just live online.

Our consumers don’t just live online so nor do our campaigns. I really love the work the team have been doing recently for the launch of Sure Girl, check out our Bebo page.

You have a peer network of 8000 people, can you explain who these people are, what they do and how you keep in touch with them?
Our network are the heart of our business, they are the ‘clever bit’ they are the bit that means we are not like any other agency. Our network ensures that The Lounge Group is more in touch than any client or agency.

They give us our edge and they make sure that our campaigns resonate and get the results our clients expect.

Finally, what happens when you’re above the age of your target group?!
That is the magic of The Lounge, we believe that “only the market gets the market”. So we don’t pretend to be “down with the kids”, in fact one of our team is over 70 – this is not a joke, she really is.

We deliver genuine insight based on our network, so no matter how old we get The Lounge will always be more in touch than anyone else.

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Visit The Lounge Group’s website

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Editor of the TechCrunch UK & Ireland website, Mike Butcher has seen many start-ups come and go.

In this interview Mike reveals the most unforgettable start-up name he has come across and reveals which dot.com he would have conceived if he could go back in time!

Is it me or do start-ups seem to have similar names?
What can I say? Most good names have gone; at least in English. This is why you see common “misspellings”, like Digg.com.

I am also increasingly seeing more EU-based start-ups use .eu. Another favourite is .tv.

What’s the most unusual or unforgettable start-up name you have come across?
iliketotallyloveit.com - German startup.

What would you say makes one start-up more successful than others operating in the same space? Is it the technology, branding, marketing strategy or a mixture?
It completely depends on circumstance. If you have no unique intellectual property - like an amazing new technology - then your only other USP is speed to market share.

Which start-ups have amazed you with brilliant marketing techniques?
Now and again you see funny virals. But most start-ups are bad at marketing, or just not old enough to do it well.

And why should they? Marketing is for dull old businesses. Start-ups should - and usually do - compete on merit.

Are there any start-ups that you have been sorry to see go?
Yes, but usually you find out later that there was some fundamental flaw which meant they were doomed to fail.

Many were too early to market, or their founders were just out and out crap. Shit happens.

And finally, If you had the chance to go back in time, what internet brand would you have launched?
PlanetAll.com. It had many of today’s start-ups contained within its business model.

It had a big exit, but if it had been managed right it would be like Facebook, MySpace and Google wrapped into one today.

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Read more about Web 2.0 and mobile start-ups at TechCrunch UK & Ireland

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Author of 12 books and an expert on everything to do with branding, Jonathan Gabay is one of the most respected names in the world of marketing.

When he’s not writing influential books Jonathan travels the world spreading his knowledge on marketing, branding and communications.

This week I spoke to Jonathan about the re-launching of our favourite chocolate brands, how internet only players can compete with established names online and managing online reputation.

What do you think of Mars, Nestle and Cadbury’s bringing back old confectionery brands such as Marathon, Wispa and Opal Fruits?
The ancient Greeks had a term:  νόστος = nostos = returning home, and άλγος = algos = pain/longing .

The power of nostalgia in branding is one never to be underestimated.  However, FMCG companies have to be careful of the time between relaunching brands.  You can’t reintroduce a chocolate bar for nostalgia’s sake if it was only off the market for a question of a few years.

Snickers is renaming to Marathon for a limited period. Do you think there is a risk of confusing a generation of young people not familiar with Marathon, or is the logo and branding on the packet stronger than the name?
The trouble with reverting to an old brand name and then going back to a new one is that it shows a lack of confidence in a brand:  My opinion? Stay in for the long race not just a quick Marathon.

Cadbury’s brought back Wispa in response to several online petitions. What do you think is the primary motivation for people to join Facebook groups such as ‘Bring Back Wispa’?
Fun, nostalgia and sense of the consumer having a say in a much-loved brand.

An online petition has brought a brand back but do you think the internet generation will ever create a FMCG product? Will we see online petitions like ‘the campaign for Banana flavour KitKat’?
A brand leader is like a conductor of an orchestra.  If he (or she) totally dismisses out of hand what the audience wants, they could end up conducting nothing more than a one-man Penny Flute.

YouTube is one of my favourite internet brands. The word ‘tube’, which itself has connotations to traditional TV sets, is appropriately enclosed in an TV shaped box, ‘You’ adds a sense of personalisation, and the tagline ‘broadcast yourself’ says it all in two words. What’s your favourite internet only brand and why?
Google.  It is useful, distinctive and even has the accolade of being a verb in the Oxford dictionary. I also like Leonbaileygreen.com.  Fun, informative and sharp why thank you!.

What can internet only brands do to compete with online offerings from established bricks and mortar competitors?
The question should be reversed.  Give it ten years and most of the high street will be on the Wi-Fi street.

Do you think big brands are actively doing enough to achieve positive first page results on Google for their brand names?
I hope so - I teach a lot of them how to achieve that aim!

With universal search Google now shows news results alongside some brand name searches, making online reputation management more important than ever. Is reading a bad news story on a brand, when you’ve searched for it, more damaging than coming across the bad news story in a newspaper, or is it the same?
Someone famously said that “all publicity is good publicity” That’s not necessarily true, especially on the web.  Brands receiving bad PR could always be consoled by the PR men saying “today’s news is tomorrow’s fish and chip wrapping paper.” Pieces on the web linger much longer and because people read in short bursts on the web, they sometimes see the bad news headlines and just take it as read, rather than delve to find out more of the real truth behind the story.

And finally, what do you think is the next big trend in the world of branding?
More personalization and more permission based intrusion. That includes everything from the world of technology with customizable computers and interactive video ads on the go, to FMCG chocolate bars that come in banana flavours.

See more about Jonathan Gabay on the Brand Forensics website.

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