Can you guess the last Christmas scene in our Advent Calendar?

Today Alice received a card from one of her candidates to thank her for all her hard work.

It is always really nice to hear that placements are going well and that we have helped somebody to be happier in their work. Well done Alice on a fantastic job and thanks to our candidate who sent it – you know who you are

Your man Aspiring in Hong Kong

Hong Kong (HK) is a former British Colony and since 1997 China has resumed sovereignty. The current political system will remain in place until 2047 with the rights of the people upheld by an independent judiciary

HK established itself as a regional hub for Asia, a top financial centre and the gateway to China. The economy is characterised by free trade, entrepreneurialism, low taxation and minimum government intervention. It is the world’s 10th largest trading economy, with the mainland of China as its most significant trading partner. HK is also a major service economy, with particularly strong links to mainland China and the rest of the Asia-Pacific region.

Times are changing and since China took back sovereignty relations between the people of HK and their parent have become strained. HK is also no longer a regional hub. P&G, Unilever, Google, Yahoo, FB, WPP etc and most Heads of APAC are now based in Singapore. This is because Singapore is better located for ASEAN countries and companies of any real size are already in situ in China and India. HK is also no longer a gateway to China for big companies – they are already there. It is a gateway for SME’s, however it takes a lot of SME’s to make up for a Coca Cola. So HK has been reinventing itself. It is still a major financial centre and is seen as a conduit for mainland Chinese to get their money out of China. Hospitality & retail sectors are booming as mainland Chinese flock to HK because they trust the quality of the products they can buy. They are also buying property which is now among the most expensive in the world.

Hong Kong Island from Kowloon (yes I booked Hotel on wrong side and all my meetings were on the island!

May be on wrong side of water but those kind people at Intercontinental upgraded me to a room with a hell of a view

• Currency: Hong Kong dollar (12.5 $HK to 1GBP)
• GDP: HK$1,823.2 billion (GBP 146) (2011)
• GDP per capita: HK$266,026 (GBP 21,345) (2011)
• Real GDP growth: +5.8% (2011)
• Labour force: 3.74 million (2011)
• Population 7.1m (93% Chinese descent, 89% Cantonese speakers. Written Chinese is understood by both Mandarin and Cantonese speakers, it is the intonation used that defines the language)
• 57% female

There is a real energy on the streets of Hong Kong, that doesn’t mean there isn’t time for a break

With the vast majority of Hong Kongers being ethnic Chinese the culture is typically Asia – regardless of British Rule for so many years until 1997. There is the typical mix of religion, the exchanging of business cards and items of value with two hands, the importance of relationships, respect and face, combined with typical Asia directness.

Hong Kong office workers will often start at 0930-1030 end 7pm ish. 2 hours lunch. Many have 1.5hr commute to new territories so rather, stay later, socialise with colleagues, have a meal as don’t want to go home where they all share flat with grand parents, parents and siblings. Not unheard of that Grandparents have one room, and rest of family share other room.

MTR in HK, MRT in Singapore – all as busy as a london tube in rush hour

Nice way to go to work on the ferry between Kowloon & Hong Kong island

Ferry returning to Kowloon

HK is a vibrant city with a real sense of energy on the streets. There is a large ex-pat community and plenty to do. Not as expensive as Singapore it is more of a party town.

When I arrived in HK i ‘literally’ bumped into my oldest friend – Geoorge Hamilton, as we came through customs. Already committed to taking a friends daughter Ali Redwood out to supper, I suggested she bring a friend as she would be suffering an evening with two old gimmers! We end up at Dawn to Dusk until 3am – not bad for a couple of old timers and very patient for Ali and her friend Amber

Ali and Amber put on a brave face with a couple of old gimmers for company

Income tax 13-15%, Zero % on dividends. Accommodation from HK$15-25k per month (£1200-2000) and flats are small – another reason why people spend a lot of time out – partying

Climate is more changeable with hot, humid rainy months from June-September – then cooler, drier autumn (stunning when I was there) through to a real evening chill in winter before it warms up again in spring. Climate is tropical although there wa ss mog when I was there.

A big difference with Singapore is that chewing gum is allowed which creates employment  for others

Two ladies scraping chewing gum off the pavement

It all started with a Facebook post from a loyal Samsung fan to the company’s Canadian Facebook page. “I was just wondering if I could get a free Galaxy S3?” asked Shane. And for good measure included a picture of a dinosaur going ‘RAWR’.

Artist or not, Shane is now the proud owner of a Samsung Galaxy S III with his artwork adorning the backside — and he got the customized phone for free.

Samsung Canada didn’t respond to Shane’s note until the next day. As seen on the screenshot of the Facebook message, Samsung Canada politely explained that there is no way they could give everyone person who asked a free phone. Samsung would go out of business, explained the Facebook message. But as a parting gift, the company included a picture of a kangaroo.

However, the quirky nature of his post and the smart response from Samsung caught everyone’s attention. Samsung were very smart in their reply, especially in regard to the drawing of the kangaroo. It humanised them and gave them a personality, rather than doing what people would expect and sending a very corporate reply, or maybe even no reply at all. The story quickly went viral on Reddit and across social media.

When Shane sent his little note to Samsung Canada in May, the phone had yet to hit the market. Samsung had just unveiled the phone and it wasn’t scheduled to hit the Canadian market until late June. But that didn’t stop Shane, a self-professed Samsung fan, who indicated to Samsung Canada that he already owned Samsung HDTV, Samsung notebook and a first-generation Samsung Galaxy S. But he wanted Samsung’s latest smartphone, too.

So the phone arrived from Samsung Canada. A one-of-a-kind and according to the note, it’s the only customized Galaxy S III in Canada. Best of all, it’s a gift from Samsung Canada to Shane, apparently a sort-of thank you for the story that viral in May ahead of the Galaxy S III’s launch.The phone not only has custom backart but also a special background that matches up artwork on the bezel. Samsung Canada says it’s the only one of its kind in Canada but it’s likely the only one like it in the world.

In one of the best brand-on-brand twitter interactions ever, with cinema chain AMC Theatres expressing its displeasure with Oreo after they asked fans if they ever sneak cookies in when they go to see a film. AMC’s quick comeback, “NOT COOL, COOKIE” sparked an impressive 200-plus retweets.

Credit for the post goes to Shane Adams who is interactive marketing manager for AMC. While it’s unlikely that this will spark any sort of long-term rivalry, it’s still nice to see a company having some fun with another brand in the vein of the Taco Bell/Old Spice. It’s also a telling example of why witty @AMCTheatres has 136,000 Twitter followers, compared to Oreo’s 53,000.

This brand ‘feud’ began with Old Spice taking a pop at Taco Bell, the maker of Fire Sauce, in a seemingly unprovoked tweet.

Taco Bell shot back asking Old Spice: “Is your deodorant made with really old spices?” To which Old Spice replied: “Depends. Do you consider volcanos, tanks and freedom to be spices?” Nicely done by both sides. Now, who will organize the taco-eating contest on top of a tank next to a volcano?

Sainsbury’s has renamed its tiger bread after receiving a letter from three-year-old Lily Robinson which said the bread looked more like a giraffe, that went viral.

In May 2011, Lily wrote to the supermarket, suggesting that the bread should be called giraffe bread.

She received a letter back saying that renaming it was “a brilliant idea”.

Her mother posted the letters on her blog and was soon posted and shared across social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

Lily’s letter said: “Why is tiger bread called tiger bread? It should be called giraffe bread. Love from Lily Robinson age 3 and 1/2″.

Chris King from the Sainsbury’s customer services team wrote back: “I think renaming tiger bread giraffe bread is a brilliant idea – it looks much more like the blotches on a giraffe than the stripes on a tiger, doesn’t it?”

But he went on to explain how it had got its name: “It is called tiger bread because the first baker who made it a looong time ago thought it looked stripey like a tiger. Maybe they were a bit silly.”

He included a £3 gift card, and signed the letter “Chris King (age 27 & 1/3)”.

Sainsbury’s gave in to popular demand.

“In response to overwhelming customer feedback that our tiger bread has more resemblance to a giraffe, from today we will be changing our tiger bread to giraffe bread and seeing how that goes,” the supermarket said.

Tiger bread is typically a bloomer loaf with a pattern baked into the top. Rice paste is brushed on to the surface before baking, forming the pattern as it dries and cracks while it bakes.

Sainsbury’s said that Chris King had now left the company and had returned to university to study to be a primary school teacher.

At Loony Letters.com, they have set themselves one simple task – to annoy as many companies and organisations as possible.

‘Our weapons? Paper, a pen (or a printer, if we’re feeling lazy), envelopes, stamps, and a slightly contorted mind.

Join us as we navigate the world of businesses, public figures, and customer services teams, as we push the boundaries of sanity, and hopefully brighten a few office workers’ days at the same time…’

If you have a spare half an hour, this website is very entertaining!

When Twitter user Clayton Hove slung a wry comment onto the internet about Smart Car, he probably didn’t expect such a dry, witty and obviously dedicated response.

Hove simply told his 4,000 or so followers: ‘Saw a bird had crapped on a Smart Car. Totaled it.’

It was intended as a throwaway remark – but Smart Car went to work to prove him wrong, calculating exactly how many pigeons it would take to ‘total’ a Smart Car.

What they came up with, it turns out, is 4,500,000 – and a piece of social marketing genius which money cannot buy and earned them huge coverage and many new followers and positive feedback.

But it was a point well-made, and now – thanks to the image spreading on Facebook and Twitter – millions of people are now aware of the Smart Car’s ‘tridion safety cell’, which protects the driver as they motor around the place.

Hove was both taken aback and proud of the response, admitting defeat at the hands of team. He replied: ‘Outsmarted by Smart Car. Best. Social media response. Ever’.

Carrot:  Hi Betty, So could you describe what gamification is for those who may not know what it’s all about.

Betty:    Gamification is a hugely flexible tool to help make something that isn’t a game more like a game. Gamification is used in almost every industry in the world and it can be used to alter behaviours for the better, increase audience/user/Playspondent™ engagement and it’s also used as a tool to increase profits, revenue, employee retention and more. By applying all the mechanics that games use for your survey, website, app or whatever it is, you are ‘gamifying’ it. For example, games use: rules, a feedback system, a way to share your achievements, a way to share your feedback, progressive complexity in the game which utilises your growing skills…so by applying all of the elements of a game to something that isn’t a game, you are gamifying it.

Carrot:  And what made you want to get into gamification? Because you weren’t always in that area were you?

Betty:    No I haven’t always been in Gamification no, but I have always played games and am very creative. I’ve always wondered what life would be like if it was as interesting as the games I played. I actually used to work as an artist selling work in two London galleries to help pay the bills, and I did my Degree at the London College of Fashion studying womenswear pattern-cutting (like tailoring) which is a far cry from market research but of course all very creative! This is partly why I’ve been banging on about Creativity in Research for so long – I’m glad that in itself has inspired the industry!

Carrot:  Right yeah, that’s a big jump isn’t it?

Betty:    Definitely. My background’s very creative (art, web design, graphic design etc) so even when I was working in my market research roles I was still doing my creative things after working hours. But I’ve always played games, my whole life, and so when I was in market research (even though I had great jobs to work with and great people), I felt like I was bored, like something inside of me wasn’t being fulfilled and not only that but I just thought “really? Is this what people are being sent to do? These awfully long and bland surveys?” All those years ago I wondered what would happen (and if it was even possible) to make surveys into games.

I used to work at a panel company and I used to be able to see what would go out to the respondents and the surveys looked like nothing else on the web! When I worked at a small fieldwork agency sometimes I would help edit the screeners (surveys) and I just thought “oh god this is just a bit diabolical really” and I knew I had to do something about it. (laughs)

I thought if we were able to make surveys more like games surely the response rates would be higher? At that point in my career (just over 2 years ago now) the response rates were really dire in the UK and so at the time I was working at a software organization and the CEO there said to me, as he knew I was creative (I was doing a lot of marketing for them, and came up with their slogan and helped redesign their websites and all sorts), he really wanted more visibility in the research industry by the way of conferences, so he asked me to write a paper and submit that to CASRO.

Carrot:  Oh I saw that, I watched that the other day!

Betty:    Oh did you, oh how embarrassing, that was my first ever conference talk I ever did, I was so nervous, I was shaking…

Carrot:  Oh, you didn’t look nervous at all, it was really good.

(conversation about listening to and watching oneself in a recording ensues!)

Betty:    So I didn’t know what to write about, so I just thought, “bugger it I’m just going to write about what I want to write about”. So even though the organization wasn’t doing anything with gaming  (I hadn’t even spoken about it to the CEO) and because I’d never written a conference paper before, I treated it as if it was a university dissertation! I’d never spoken at a conference before and I was naïve to how research industry speakers present. So I didn’t know that most presenters promote the products of their company within their presentations and I went all out doing something else!

I did a piece of research alongside my paper with SSI speaking to hundreds of people about gaming, I did a 5000 word essay, I did a bibliography and that’s when I launched the Research Through Gaming Facebook page – it was originally a page to gain insights into how and why people play games for the sake of the CASRO paper. Not a lot of people know that! Anyway, so when the paper was picked I was half excited but half nervous, worried that the organization I worked for might get upset with me because I was talking about this ‘gaming thing’ and they weren’t developing anything for this area. Not that I didn’t offer to head up a department within that organization! I’d actually, (behind by bosses back), bought two URL links which would have served as sites for the gaming part of the company. I said to my boss “look I really want to head up this department, I feel really strongly about this”, but they declined so I did it on my own. Jo, it was getting to the point where I was thinking about it all night, I wasn’t sleeping…

Carrot:  Yeah you were just…

Betty:    Right I have to do it,

Carrot:  Well that’s amazing.

Betty:    Thank you. I knew starting a business on my own and at that age (I was 24) would be a huge sacrifice. A sacrifice personally with relationships and day-to-day life, financially and a sacrifice on my future as well (if it all went wrong!) No one can understand that pressure unless they have done something similar. I removed the safety net of my 9-6 job and did it because I believed this is what the industry needed.

But anyway! I guess the short answer is, for me it was an amalgamation of wanting to be creative but still loving research and seeing a gaping whole in the market for clients AND respondents and really believing that RTG can make, (as cheesy as it sounds), the produce of our industry, (the survey), BETTER in so many ways.

Carrot:  Well the difference, when you see one of those surveys over the normal, standard questionnaire, is phenomenal isn’t it I mean, you know the ones we Tweeted about the other day, they’re just so engaging, so different.

Betty:    Yeah, you Tweeted about the one which was about slavery – that was fantastic. I mean even though that wasn’t gamification in it’s true form, it didn’t matter for that survey, because it was still simple to understand and engaging and more importantly you wanted to do it and what I liked about that and other ‘modern’ surveys (surveys that people really put time and effort into) is that they coincide with the look and feel of other ‘stuff’ on the web. When I see the traditional surveys from ‘Old MR’ they look like something from when the Internet was first launched, do you know what I mean? Really old school, basic.

Carrot:  Like radio buttons?

Betty:    Exactly. I’ve seen surveys from magazines that I absolutely love – you look at their websites for example, beautiful websites, easy to use, then they send you this survey, and you think, “well you wouldn’t design your website like that, you’d never make your magazine like that, why would you send me a survey like that?”

Carrot: Yeah, it’s just not mainstream yet (that style) at all. And the agencies they’re using or the in-house team are not adopting those techniques.

Betty:    No obviously not at all, I think for some companies, they must have in-house researchers who are obviously used to doing the same things, over and over again. They are thinking “well if it’s not broken don’t fix it”. The sad thing is though it is broken. People just don’t want to do them.

Carrot:  When I was working at the Market Research Society, and that was years ago, but even then they were talking about falling response rates, and they’d talk at conference about the response rates, and that was 8/10 years ago.

Betty:    Yeah you go to these conferences and pay £800 or whatever to hear people talking about response rates and you think, “great, thank you, but can we talk about who is doing what about it please”!

Carrot:  Yeah, instead of talking about the problem, talk about how to solve it!

Betty:    Exactly. This might sound like I’m blowing my own trumpet (and I’m really not that way inclined), but I would go to these listen to the papers at these conferences and would think, “I bet my idea for using games for research would just blow everybody away! Much more than what is being spoken about here.”

Carrot:  So you did!

Betty:    Yes I did!

Carrot:  So I guess that kind of moves us on to the next question which is how is the research industry embracing gamification? Is it a growing area or is it an area they’ve not yet got to grips with?

Betty:    Research Through Gaming and the work I have done so far has hugely inspired the industry and we’re really happy for it. Our work so far and being open enough to speak about that work as we have done all over the world through conference talks and interviews has allowed others (individuals and organizations) to learn about this technique through us being so keen to educate and not just through our conference talks and interviews but in our blogs and articles, papers, videos etc and so these people can now dabble in it for themselves. However, Research Through Gaming remains the industry’s first and only company actively specialising in the Gamification of research a with our home-grown software systems to run Gamified Surveys and the fact that we are game-designers and software developers as well as researchers.

Gamification is growing in MR and that’s the important thing. There are of course people and organizations in emerging markets that don’t understand Gamification and how it can be used in research but they want to and that’s the exciting thing. I get emails, Linked In messages etc every day because people want to learn how to make their surveys better through Gamification.

I’ve gone to conference talks where I’m speaking to people in Columbia and Venezuela and in Mumbai and they haven’t even got a clue what gamification is but it’s ok because they have come to learn so just by doing that, it shows us all that people want change. So part of some of my talks in emerging markets such as those has to be about what Gamification is and what we’re doing about it here at Research Through Gaming so they can understand better on how to use it for themselves.

I hear of some organizations dabbling in gamification and in that sense it’s pushing the industry forward which is great as that will also educate more clients on the method however there are some people, (as with any methodology) that are sceptical about it. Perhaps they think we are trying to make fun out of something quite serious? but actually what we are doing is using Gamification to make the research more engaging, to get the respondents to be honest and open and for our clients to get the data they need.

I mean in terms of where Gamification is in MR, there’s only been a couple of research on research studies. I’ve done comparative focus groups with children and have conducted comparative focus groups with adults and now Research Through Gaming have great case studies of the games we’ve made for our clients.

Carrot:  When you talk to clients, are they taken aback by it or are they thinking it could really tie in with their brand?

Betty:    Our clients think Gamification Research really ties in with their brands but more than that, I have had clients who are just tired of being fed the same thing that doesn’t work and they’re tired of not being listened to. They’ve heard about Gamification so want to find out more about it. Clients have been screaming for innovation for a very long time and in learning about Gamification, it is one of the innovative approaches they’ve been waiting for. I have had clients email or call me when they first get in touch and they say “we spend x million a year with x MR agency but it’s just notworking anymore, the surveys are boring, they’re too long, we’re just not getting response rates that we used to”. And what they’re saying to me is that it’s been like this for years and “we’ve been telling the agencies that we’re working with and nothing’s been done about it”.  And so, when they see the demo that we do, they’re really taken aback in a positive way, but obviously they’re still really concerned about the data because again no matter how beautiful it all looks and you’re making a lovely game, they want to know how…

Carrot:  How robust it all is ?…

Betty:    Yeah exactly. The focus is on good quality data, but what they now understand is that gamification is thebridge to get them there…to get them to that good quality data, to get people really engaged. They sound so fed up, by the time they’ve phoned me, they’re so fed up!

Carrot:  Well it’s a good position for you to be in! So I guess that kind of covers the next question which is more about the particular target audience, what you’re saying essentially is that there haven’t been many studies done on who it’s more appropriate for or whether one group is more into it than another?

Betty:    People always ask me if gamification can be used for adults as well as children. What I say is: just look at the gaming industry now. Look at how wide the audience is for the gaming industry. You’ve got 2 year olds on their parents iPads being very confident about how to find their games and play them and you’ve got Nintendo Wii’s in retirement homes. I read once that the average Farmville gamer is a middle aged, single mother in the USA. It just makes you think that if in the gaming industry audience is so wide, why can’t it be that wide for gamification in research? And not only that but who wouldn’t want to do something where they really feel like they’re being listened to, they’re getting feedback on what they are doing, they feel like they are really achieving something? They feel like they are making a difference essentially and not only that but just by the way you’ve designed the survey makes them feel like “ These researchers actually give a shit about what I’m saying, they’re making an effort with this”. Who wouldn’t want that?

Carrot:  Yeah definitely, did you see that article I sent over, in advertising where they’re saying that it’s evolving already from the format of doing x win x ? (http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2012/09/03/bringing-the-offline-online/ article with quote from Magnus Jakobsson,DDB Stockholm’s Creative Director about the future of gamification within the advertising industry.

Betty:    Yeah, I thought that was really interesting! Gamification has already been evolving for years and Research Through Gaming know that all too well from the software developments and games we design because we have anticipated those changes and indeed, we’re paving our own evolutions! I’m still talking to people now about the basics of gamification because that’s what a lot of my audiences demand – the understanding of the basics whether that’s in the workshops I run or the emerging markets I speak to when I am at a conference. I actually write separate articles and blogs for the basics and separate blogs, articles, talks etc for people who already know about Gamification Research and now want to know where it is going to cater for both types of audience

TODAY, Gamification is already light years ahead. If you can imagine gamification as a tool you can use it with lots of other technologies and platforms – there’s no reason why you can’t have gamified augmented reality surveys from your mobile phone that you scan with a QR Code that you see on a poster out and about which means that you’re doing it in real time etc.

I think that researchers need to come to terms with the fact that there are many layers of methodologies and technology is hugely important.

You know a couple of years ago before I started RTG, when I’d go to conferences, there were very few people that would ever talk about technology outside MR. I was always very inspired by Kristin Luck from Decipher because she was one of the only speakers that would speak about tech and now the industry at large are understanding it’s importance and use in MR – I’m hearing about tech more and more. I’ve noticed there are more conference talks which refer to programming too which is great!  Researchers are understanding that research and technology, even the programming language that you’re going to use on your surveys makes all the difference. I hear all the time that the mobile phone is an extra limb for people so the response rates are higher because people are doing surveys out and about, on the go, on their mobile device. So if you, at the start, at the first instance, at the first step, if you have programmed your survey in a programming language that doesn’t allow your survey to show on a mobile device….you’ve affected your response rates straight away. Instantly, you’ve buggered yourself before you’ve started. If you code in Flash for instance, who’s going to be able to do your survey on their iPad or iPhone? No one. This is why Research Through Gaming code all our Gamified Surveys in programming languages that are playable on mobile devices.

Gamification is just part of it all and people don’t realise how flexible Gamification is. You can gamify a question in a survey or you can gamify the entire survey itself or you could gamify the entire process of taking part in research which is one of the objectives of my company. Research can grow exponentially if all research is combined as one and gamified. It’s a big objective but we’re working towards it.

Carrot:  But it’s true about the technology side of things. It’s probably about 18 months ago when I came across Aurasma, which is the free augmented reality tool out there, and I got so excited, I thought “ooh we can use this on everything, on all of our advertising”, you know all that kind of thing, but at that point QR Codes, even though they’ve been around for ages, people were only just getting to grips with QR Codes so I kind of had to drop that and go back to using QR Codes because there was no point, in a way, no point having all that stuff on our adverts because people weren’t sure of how to use it. So I know what you mean when you’re talking about it being still at a basic level when there is so much out there that you could be doing but you’re having to take people back to basics to begin with, to get them on board.

Betty:    Exactly, and you know what, and because of that, this is why the big market research agencies are in trouble.  They’ve been relying on these million dollar tracker studies to survive but what will happen if their clients go elsewhere? It’s a lot of their clients that are getting fed up. These are the clients that are moving forward, they’re the clients with innovation teams but see no innovation in the research agencies they’re working with.

Betty:    The massive MR agencies should be quaking in their boots (if they’re not already) at the young, small innovative companies because they can see that clients, big AND small brands are now coming to the smaller, innovative companies. There has been a shift and that shift will continue until it becomes the norm. The clients are coming to us because they don’t want to use tired methods anymore. That’s why you see in the history of MR and even now, lot’s of the big agencies buy and completely swallow the small, growing innovative agencies with so much promise. They are scared and they are desperate to be seen as innovative but that is something money can’t buy.

Betty:    I know this is getting a little deep here, but I guess it comes down to what you’re really in it for. I mean, don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with it, but there’s a lot of people who go into work, whether they work in market research or not, they go in there, to make money, pay the mortgage, pay the bills whatever, that’s fine. But then there are those people who really do want to make a difference to help the industry evolve and they’re the people that are experimenting, and want to try something new. Lots of people have mouths to feed and bills and so on but I just think if you’re in a position where you’ve been in market research for 10 or so years and you’re still wanting to work in research for another 20 or so years you’ve got to keep up with the times. God I’m rambling on so much here!

Carrot:  Not at all! So what would your predictions be for gamification for research for the next 18 months?

Betty:    I see gamification being utilised, as I mentioned earlier, with lots of other technologies and on other devices. Research Through Gaming are already pushing the envelope on that front as well, we have some plans! I definitely see gamification being used in more intelligent ways not just gamifying your online surveys but gamifying a shopping experience maybe, where you’re taking part in research as you’re going around the aisles, with your mobile device scanning a QR Code, you know, maybe using augmented reality and even things like 6th sense technology, if you ever get an hour or so watch the 6th Sense Technology video. It’s actually one of the ResearchGames™ I outlined in my 2010 white paper ‘The Future of Research Through Gaming’ where I called them SSRG’s (Sixth Sense Technology based ResearchGames).

Carrot:  Oh is it Pranav Mistry…that’s amazing that stuff isn’t it?

Betty:    Oh god isn’t it, I mean the possibilities for research just makes your mind explode, because there are so many options…so many possibilities!

But I think that the innovative and smaller agencies are going to take over the MR world.

Carrot:  Right yeah, like niche focused technology based agencies?

Betty:    Yeah definitely, I think they are just going to take over, I think that the bigger companies are going to want to put big money on the table to buy the smaller companies and I hope the smaller companies say “NO, we will not be bought out. We will grow on our own and remain powerful”. I think that the smaller agencies are going to gain more power and yes, lots more technologies going to be used with research, because I mean with things like augmented reality, people automatically think of games consoles but augmented reality has been used in a huge amount of marketing already…

Carrot:  Well yeah, yeah, is it Blippar? The company behind it, they’re doing really well,…but they do some great stuff with all the Cadburys stuff, yeah really cool stuff.

Betty:    Yeah, so market researchers are going to become more tech savvy, because well, they have to be or they will become obsolete.

Carrot:  Ok, so is there quite a good network for all you guys? You know the smaller agencies, the technology based agencies. Are you all in contact with each other, is it all friendly rivalry or..

Betty:    Friendly in the most part with some healthy rivalry thrown in! I have had to deal with some people who have spent a lot of time picking my brains and being very false in order to gain insight into RTG games and technology but aside from that, it is friendly rivalry. I speak to small and large organizations alike, partly because our clients are from large and small organizations as well but also because of the conferences I speak at, you tend to get a rich mix. With the smaller agencies that I follow on Facebook and Twitter I see their updates and we get small doses of what they’re doing – it’s really exciting. Sometimes I see somebody who is a one man/woman band tweeting “I’ve got 5 proposals to write today” and I’m like ‘Yes! You go girl (or boy)!’. The small agencies are busy, recession or no recession. I know that there are individuals within other companies that are experimenting with gamification but I don’t know of any other company that is actively specialising solely in the gamification of research

Carrot:  So you are unique…

Betty:    Well yeah we are the first! When I started RTG last year nobody else had started a gamification company for research and now look – the whole industry is talking about it!

Carrot:  Well, when you try and research the subject your name, just comes up all the time, so you’re definitely the spokesperson for the sector or whatever you’d call it, the movement?!

Betty:    Ah well thank you…

Carrot:  Well great, I wish you all the luck, thanks Betty!

Research Through Gaming Ltd was founded in 2011 by Betty Adamou. RTG are the worlds first and only company specializing in Games for Surveys. It was voted Grit Top 50 Most Innovative Firms of the Future and have coined the term Playspondent (TM) to describe the respondents taking part in their surveys.

Here are 6 ladies from Carrot Pharma… We introduce Lexxy, Debbie, Jo, Alice, Emma and Lisa!

Can you identify which 5 ladies drew a picture of themselves and match them to their drawing?

There should be one lady without a drawing – she is the decoy…

WHO IS THE DECOY? … you decide.

The article challenges this theory in its interview with Adam Gammall. Originally having set his sights on the music industry, Adam now works full time as a consultant at Sparkler research after a successful internship.

His passion to work within a creative environment spurred him to seek paid internships at well-known record companies, but he found the environment quite stifling and was disappointed with the lack of responsibility given to him.

After revisiting his University’s career centre, he spotted a paid placement at Sparkler, which appealed to him as it mentioned that interns would be involved in decision-making and would be working with senior members of the team.

After being at Sparkler for 18 months Adam is now confident that he has picked the right career path and believes his career has progressed much quicker than it would if he had stayed in the music industry. Having said that, he also admits that he had never have considered a career in market research before because of his misconceptions of the industry.

So why does market research have this reputation? Jane Frost, Chief Executive of MRS believes that outsiders often assume that research is very much about ‘cold calling’ and ‘students with clipboards’.

Is this the general consensus amongst our graduates? And if so, should action be taken to change this view? A survey by the Guardian last month found that graduates are placing less importance on salary and employee benefits, and are instead increasingly interested in jobs that ‘make a difference.’ This year 51% named this as a key factor when looking for a job, which has hugely increased from just 4% last year.

This could suggest that graduates are more likely to look at market research careers now than in the past, as the industry typically involves a lot of charities and can be instrumental in helping these charities succeed.

Another factor that may increase the numbers of students looking to work in market research is that more and more graduates are looking at career paths outside their degree subject. With just 29% of respondents managing to win a place on their chosen graduate scheme, students are forced to look into other areas which they may not have previously considered.

From this perspective, the statistics suggest that something should be done to change the attitudes within universities. Graduates make up an important part of the market research sector, in positions such as Research Executives, and with grads climbing the career ladder to be earning manager salaries within a few years. Mintel are doing a great job of showcasing themselves to graduates with a nicely shot video on their site which gives students an insight of what it is like to work in market research and gives them the opportunity to learn through others who have joined market research from a graduate level.

It is plain to see from the clip that market research is certainly not just about cold-calling and clip boards, but about pursuing an interest, and learning every day. And that is something we should be communicating to graduates.

So what do you think? Do we need to do more to draw young people to our industry? What are you doing to attract graduates to your company?

It may be a surprise to some people, but even in these challenging economic times, the market research industry continues to be short of well-trained and experienced candidates. It is a mistake therefore for those of you looking for a change, to spread your CV far and wide assuming this is the best way to secure a new job. If your CV is properly targeted and in line with vacancies and companies relevant to your skills, you need make a few applications and certainly only one per company. This will generate far more interest from companies  than you think and increase the likelihood of you being offered the most suitable job in the market.

The market research industry is relatively small and highly specialist – there are also  specialisms within this sector, (eg a crude differentiation being qual v quant). Companies looking to recruit therefore require candidates with very specific skills and experience. This is one of the key reasons for them briefing several recruitment consultants with the same job, so they get to choose from a wider pool of relevant candidates.

Those of you who are looking for a new market research job will soon realise there are a number recruitment agencies that specialise in market research but are advertising the same roles presented in a slightly different language. This is when it is time to be careful with your applications and that you haven’t without realising, sent your CV to 5 or 6 different agencies. Some of them may send your CV to companies without a discussion with you first  and then you have already lost control of your CV! Signing up with a maximum of 2-3 agencies should provide you with more than enough choice of interesting positions.

Even in a niche market, recruitment consultants have different styles and methods of working, some which are more helpful to candidates than others. Any recruitment consultant that suggests you allow them to put your CV forward for jobs or companies  without telling you first, should be avoided. A speedy submission process only benefits them, not you. There is no danger for them, that a decent rival consultant who takes more time to brief you properly will get a fee. If they are first to get your CV to the client, they will get the fee if you accept and take up a job offer having had no regard for your best interests.

A long list of vaguely relevant companies with the suggestion of speculative approaches is another tactic to be avoided. This simply prevents another consultant representing you at a later date, often for up to 12 months.

Any half decent specialist recruitment consultant in market research should have the skills to identify and brief you on relevant roles without needing to send your CV all over the market. They should also advise which companies and roles will best suit your career objectives.  However, if you have lost control over your CV, no matter how good you are, they will be unable to work with you effectively. Many of our clients simply won’t consider candidates with duplicate applications because it’s a signal of being disorganised or unfocussed – even if you are totally unaware that your CV has ever been sent to them.

Do’s in the job hunting process

- Choose your recruitment consultant carefully and try and establish a rapport with them

- Tell them clearly they are to brief you on their client and vacancy before they submit your CV .  Remind them that your details are confidential.

- Keep a record of when and to whom your CV has been sent and be prepared to let other consultants that you contact know

Most market research recruitment specialists have in-depth knowledge of the market place and will be willing to share that with you. This can add an insightful dimension to a job hunt and increase your chances of landing your perfect job with an attractive salary.

 A great opportunity has just come up for someone to join the senior management team as a client services director and who will bring their energy and own ideas to help further delight clients.

You will need a strong market research track record on your CV, with a focus on quantitative projects and ideally involving time spent on the agency side.  Good leadership skills are essential, as not only will you optimise the business you can achieve from your key accounts, but be responsible for leading your team from the front. Above all, you will have a talent for generating key insights from research data (quant & qual) and delivering cutting edge and inspirational presentations to clients.

There will also be opportunity for further career development,  to become  involved in the future decision-making and direction of the business. This role would therefore suit someone who is ambitious and interested in the wider commercial issues facing this exciting business.

They have a successful and talented quantitative research team, and need an additional experienced quant specialist to join them. They are looking for a candidate at around AD level with a solid  research agency background and plenty of consumer brand based ad hoc quantitative knowledge. You will definitely need to confident in working on segmentation and NPD based projects and really interested in what makes today’s consumers tick. They will teach you the brand consultancy elements of research that perhaps you are lacking in your current role. If you are interested in getting involved in bigger strategic thinking on clients’ brands, love the numbers side of research and have further potential waiting to be unlocked then this could be a great move.

Carrot Intelligence

and Carrot Digital!

They key, of course, is to find the legitimate jobs that don’t require you to pay up front to become a secret shopper or participate in a focus group. Here are a few of our finds :

TaskRabbit - An online Girl/Guy Friday job warehouse.You sign up to be a TaskRabbit, submit an interview video and may be asked for some light background check. nce approved you will be off earning money doing odd jobs like picking up laundry or weird bicycle parts-whatever is needed, legal and that you agree to do.

According to the Today Show Financial Guru Jeanette Pavini, there are now trial lawyers who will pay you to be a part of a mock jury.
Before heading to the courtroom, some attorneys test their cases on a mock jury. These mock trials are done in person through market research groups paying about $250 a day. Check out eJury.com for more details, but please note if you have a lawyer in the family or are married to a lawyer, you are disqualified from participating. Jury selection is chosen according to your location and demographics.

Quirks – An online directory of secret shopper, mock jury and focus group gigs. Check here for companies hiring for market research focus groups, secret shoppers and more. This one stop directory offers job listings, as well.

Our client is a leading education consultancy that delivers campaigns, strategies and insights that engage young people, parents, consumers, teachers and opinion leaders. This is an organisation where their work has a high impact on their clients who include some of the biggest names in Retail, Digital Media and Technology. Overall, this is a great organisation with experts coming from a range of backgrounds including teaching, sponsorship, branding, advertising, research, social policy, publishing and digital media.

We are searching for a talented Quantitative Research Manager to join a growing and increasingly high profile research team. This is truly exciting role where although you will  focus on quantitative market research, you will work on a broad range of mixed methodology insights. Unique in their offer, this consultancy builds bespoke approaches, deliver insights and advice on future direction.

Contact Bridget Barry  Bridget@csarecruitment.com   or 07581 577491

Our client is a leading education consultancy that delivers campaigns, strategies and insights that engage young people, parents, consumers, teachers and opinion leaders. This is an organisation where their work has a high impact on their clients who include some of the biggest names in Retail, Media, Technology, Telecoms, online and Charities.

We have an exiting role for a talented Qualitative Research Manager to join a growing and increasingly high profile research team. This is a hands on research role where you will focus on qualitative market research, on a range of insightful projects.  Unique in their offer, this consultancy builds bespoke approaches, deliver insights and advice on future direction.

Contact Bridget Barry  Bridget@csarecruitment.com   or 07581 577491

This intriguing role is with a successful, independent research agency led by a team of commercially savvy directors. With a strong reputation in the world of customer engagement, PR, reputation and communications research they are growing fast.

They are looking for an exceptional Qualitative Research Director to join them and help expand their already impressive research offer further into customer brand organisations. A fascinating and very different research role to the norm, projects will often involve customer opinion research and how this correlates to brand reputation and beyond.

ref 14957

Contact Caroline Steane on caroline@csarecruitment.com  or   020 3 178 7984

The People’s Republic of China covers 3.7m sq miles, has a population of around 1.3b, the major language is Mandarin – but with many local dialects, 90% of the population are Han Chinese – but that leaves over 100m from other ethnic backgrounds.

GDP growth averaging 9-11% last few years. Government providing short term stimulus for higher growth in 2nd half of 2012 as growth has ‘slumped’ to 7.8%. The Labour force numbers 940m (13 Britain’s!!) and Unemployment is 4.1%

Between 2000-2010 33 new airports were constructed and an equal number renovated. By 2015 China will have 230 airports, 4500 aircraft and 450m travellers. In 2010 Beijing overtook London Heathrow as worlds second busiest airport by passenger numbers.

 The family car is no longer a luxury item. In 2010 18m vehicles were sold making it the world’s largest market. By 2020 this figure is expected to grow to 30m

The average Chinese motor complete with diamante emblem

China is the world’s fastest growing consumer of power. They produce 50% of worlds coal total (3b tonnes) generating 79% of world’s electricity. The effect on environment has not gone un-noticed and China is now global leader in every clean and renewable energy market investing GBP 35b in 2010 with increases every year.

China is officially atheistic but there are 5 state registered religions, Daoism, Buddhism, Islam, Catholic & Protestant Christianity.

There are 4 major hierarchies:

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP)

The National Peoples Congress (NPC) – legislative body, 5 year membership and meets once a year – responsible for the 5 year plan (roadmaps for regulators and provincial officials)

The Government

The Army

The supreme decision making body is the CCP politburo headed by the General Secretary of the CCP. However most provinces and even cities are bigger than a lot of countries, so Provincial Governors often interpret/apply CCP policy differently – region to region

By end of 2009 875,000 people (mainly male aged in 30’s) were classified as £millionaires. This has increased. Many are 2^nd generation offspring of Government officials

People tend to save and not spend as there is no free health etc – they save in case they need hospital. Govt introduced policy to cool inflation (now at 2.2% and driven largely by food prices) People pile savings into property to gain a better return on capital. 80% of Chinese own property (right to buy scheme aka Maggie Thatcher)

18 m are moving into cities every year until 2030. It is a modern style Industrial Revolution. It is the world largest ever human migration, over 200m have moved into cities in last 10 years. So construction industry will continue to grow at break neck speed.

The economy only opened in 1978 so is just 34 years old. The countryside is emptying and now over 50% people live in urban area (norm in developed countries is 70% so will continue to rise).

The very wealthy are buying lots of luxury property and leaving it empty (stigma to 2nd hand goods inch property)

8 million students graduate every year, but most need training. There are many graduates with great qualifications who struggle to get the work they thought they were qualified for.

Most 18 year olds takes the ‘gao kao’ (high flyer exam). For many children, especially those from rural areas this is their only chance of a better future.

Photo from web showing students in ivf drips for extra energy to help them revise

This has been partly caused by the 1 child policy (in place only for Han Chinese). In the rural areas if first child is a girl you can now have another go. People in country need boys to work the land so if have 2 girls they may travel to another province where they are unknown to have another go, then return. With no benefits system – they have to fund their families.

Everyone needs a ‘Hukou’ – household registration system – to access to public services in local area. If the couple are single children themselves then they can have 2 of own, or you can buy a permit for another at cost of £30k.

 Anyway enough of the intel

I arrived at Beijing airport to an army of young women armed with all sorts of cameras. I was honoured that they thought I was that interesting only to discover then they were waiting for a celebrity to come through

What do you mean you are not her for me?

Beijing has some very modern hotels. My room had a robotic loo. It saluted me every time I went to the bathroom and paper is not required as the controls have water jets for front and back bottoms, they can oscillate, move backwards and forwards and dry you afterwards – terrific!

No paper required – oscillate was good

Next morning and we strolled round the corner for the first morning of seminars.

Watch out Beijing, here they come

In the afternoon we decided to go on the subway to the Forbidden City. The tube was not as crowded as expected although the map was a little tricky to read. At least the rule were clear – no guns allowed

Yea, Ok – we get off at ……

No guns – phew

We reached Tiananmen Square and entered the enormouse entraces to what turned out to be a long walk to the forbidden city.

On the way I thought we must have taken a wrong turn when the army turned up

Listen lads – did you come on the tube? Only you have no guns

We declined the services of a plethora of freelance guides. It was only on reaching the ticket area that “do you need a guide” seemed eminently sensible when offered the service of Vanilla, a very well spoken guide with a great sense of humour.

If you ever visit – seek out Vanilla, she was excellent

Small fact on superstitious numbers. 8 suggests wealth, so popular. When you say 4 in Manadarin is sounds like the word for death – so unpopular. Apparently many buildings have no 4^th floor!

You can tell it’s a male dragon as it has a ball (it’s true)

So in the forbidden city we were shown where the emperor lived. We had to negotiate foot high thresholds which kept out ghosts. You have to cross with left leg first and naturally bow as you cross over.

Inside is the Emperors palace, the last one was deposed in the Cultural Revolution. The Emperor had a pretty good job. He married his Empress but would only live with her for 3 days – occasionally calling her for a bit of love. He had many concubines, literally hundreds, many of whom he may never sleep with. If he wanted one they would be brought to his bedroom, where there would be 16 identical beds – all 4 posters and covered so you could not see who was in bed. While this sounds like a great game, it was actually to keep the Emperor safe from attack at night. If the Emperor had a favourite concubine for a while, she would be moved to a villa near his and he would deign to visit her.

The concubines were protected by 2000 eunuchs. Poor people would take their young boys to the place knowing that they would be fed and looked after – as long as they …… became eunuchs.

 We were very lucky to meet the last emperor’s nephew who is a world famous calligraphist. As it was the day of my 24^th Wedding Anniversary he drew and signed a special message – you can ask me for more details.

The Emperor’s nephew meets one of England’s finest

You may wonder why I took a photo of t-shirt

I know what you are thinking – wrong – think NYC – I love Beijing! Filthy mind you have

Language is a serious barrier. We are very lucky as English speakers that so many people have learned our language. However not in China and it is a real problem if you don’t speak Mandarin. For example we were in a restaurant in the centre of town and couldn’t communicate so I picked up a chop stick and started rotating it as if it was like a bbq spit – simultaneously making duck noises. So many thanks to Craig an American lawyer who popped over to our table and said he thought he ought to help when he heard the duck noises!

Faced with this you would make duck noises – no/ ok what did we eat then?

The following day I considered a taxi but took the subway instead. Beijing has a real problem with pollution. It was 3pm on a sunny day when it felt more like a cloudy autumn day. It was like that for our 2.5 days in Beijing and then we headed for Shanghai

Taxi – seems more like a wheelie oven

3pm on a sunny afternoon

The highlight in Shanghai was attending the Queens Jubilee Party. Meeting a couple of Beefeaters and Richard Branson plus a massage were highlights – many thanks Liz.

Yep, think I can fit that in

Between you and me I don’t think they are real beefeaters. Who let the Irish man in (that is Brian – top fella)

Always important to have a massage at these events

Richard was there as well

No, it’s Brian again!!

All in all China needs much more than 1 week. It is an amazing place, friendly people, bustling and Shanghai in particular seemed like a lot of fun.

As for setting up a recruitment business in China - it’s complicated

Our client is at the forefront of research in the consumer space and often works in partnership with a range of world renowned global and UK focussed brands. Consumer driven, this team focus on brand and comms, market understanding and innovation. The have the most impressive client list spanning well known household brands within the FMCG and drinks sectors.

There is lots up for grabs here in terms of working for a friendly, fun and challenging agency where there is lots of scope for development along with an ongoing training programme with a view to really maximise potential. What is great about this team is that you really will work on all aspects of the research process in a client facing capacity whilst having the support internally. You won’t get “stuck” into doing all the mundane churn and you will follow a well recognised career path that will always open doors for you.

A team player with outstanding interpersonal and communication skills, you will have a good grounding in quantitative research and a genuine passion for brands.

27 – 28 June 2012, Grand Hall, Olympia

The UK’s Premier Marketing Show

Marketing Week Live, brought to you by Marketing Week, gives you direct access to unrivalled, reputable and influential experts that are shaping today’s marketing  – ensuring your campaigns deliver!

Today we have left Carrot HQ for London, along with hundreds of other companies and individuals, to get involved with Marketing Week’s Marketing and Insights conference. So far there have been speakers from brands and agencies such as RAPP, Coca Cola, Diageo and Lexus.

There’s a great atmosphere down here and we’re really enjoying meeting lots of different people from different companies. There are some amazing ideas flying around and we are getting a real buzz from being in such an interactive environment!

Read more about the event here. 

Jo x

I was advised to get the hotel to organise a car from the airport (actually a normal taxi would have been fine) – but having a uniformed chauffer did add a nice edge to the start of my trip.

Always important to have your uniformed chauffeur to hand

Thailand has a population approaching 66 million and is transforming its economy from agriculture to one that is very diverse. The first ting I noticed was huge advertising hoarding on buildings – they know how to advertise – nothing is left uncovered.

Outdoor advertising on a big scale

The country is located at the heart of Asia with important strategic land boundaries with Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos & Cambodia. A survey last year stated that Thailand was the most optimal location for establishing a production/sales base in the coming 5-10 years

The economy grew 7.85% in 2010 but the floods in 2011 slowed growth to 0.1%. Economic growth should climb back to about 4.5-5.5% in 2012, after an eventful year in 2011 precipitated by natural disasters.  Main drivers for this year are flood rebuilding expenditure and ambitious programmes by the new government to boost performance. The Thai economy is open and market orientated and the Thai Board of Investment offers tax incentives and more to those seeking to invest.

Comparable stats for economic growth stats and forecast

Entrepreneurs are everywhere from street vendors to major businesses. The overall feeling in the Business district is that this place is going somewhere. 12 of Forbes Top 100 wealthiest are Thais. If there is a family business, convention states that children and cousins will work in it. Many may start off elsewhere and then join

Breakfast vendor – something made of cheese I think

Thailand is a constitutional Monarchy with a parliamentary government. Despite military coups and frequent changes in government the economy continues to grow. The UK is Europe’s biggest investor in Thailand, who in turn is ranked as 19th out of 183 nations by the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business survey in 2011.

The Government has consumer price controls in place to damp down inflation on core needs. There is a push to print lower denomination coinage so when prices rise they can be by smaller amounts. They therefore won’t jump purely on the physical ability to pay the exact amount from the existing coinage.

Population growth is low as to combat aids condom use is very high, plus family planning policies effective.

The government has introduced a minimum wage to £6 a day which some say will increase unemployment – the current rate is 0.7%. As with most of Asia there is no benefits culture – people have to fend for themselves or get help from their families.

Families traditionally live together across a number of generations. This is changing with married couples leaving home and buying condos, usually close to rail connections. Many urban property companies negotiate with transport/rail providers to build stations near their developments and even rail extensions as ease of commute is key to selling property. It is also a sign of the growing middle classes with many couples working.

Thais employ domestic staff from neighbouring countries such as Myanmar as Thai domestic staff are considered expensive

The skytrain runs throughout the city and is very popular.

The Sky Train

Off we go – tut tut style

Religion is mainly Buddhist, although Islam is dominant in the disputed south which borders Malaysia (region used to be a principality)

Temple among the skyscrapers

95% of population have televisions, mainly due to high competition between hundreds of cable and satellite operations offering great deals

Face and respect is as important as elsewhere in Asia. For example if you need to give a client advice on how to improve their strategy you can’t just criticise or show faults – need to be careful with words and how you go about it. If you get it wrong they may carry on smiling – but the relationship could be dead

Key industries agriculture, food processing, manufacturing (cars and electronics), tourism

Political landscape is currently stable but prone to challenges. Thaksin the last PM has been convicted in his absence of corruption, his sister is now PM and backed by the Red Shirts (who campaign for poor people) and who just happen to be bankrolled by … Thaksin! The military are powerful and prone to the occasional coup. When the Red shirts occupied the Central Business district in 2010 businesses had to close for 2 weeks before the army moved them on.

Infrastructure is improving but road networks can’t keep up with car sales so city traffic bad.

Central business district

There are public hospitals where Thais can show ID to receive treatment and pay a nominal amount 70p per treatment

Education is free until college although kids are often given lunch money – which is given to the teacher to ‘assist their childs progress ‘and the start of the corruptive state of mind.

Expat life

Buying property is good value with a 1 bed flat (50m2) at about £40k. 2 bed (80m2) is £60 – 100k. Landed property £150k-500k

Renting a high spec 2 bed apartment is about £1500 a month and can be as low as £800

Income tax ranges from 10% – 40%

Getting around is easy by car (dependent on traffic) but also a sky train and mrt in Bangkok. Very friendly society and the beach or mountain is only a 90 minute drive away, ideal for summer sports enthusiasts

Taxis are everywhere although you may find it difficult to wear a seat belt as I could never find anything to stick it in to

Burberry taxi trim!! But what do you stick your seatbelt into?

Schooling via good international schools. Medical care good (there is medical tourism to Thailand so must be good)

360 degree views from the roof of the Banyan Tree Hotel – worth a visit

It was a lightening 3 days but yet another country that is buzzing with opportunity

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The Carrot ladies are limbering up for another Race for Life this Summer, after taking part last year and raising money for Cancer Research. It is a great cause and a great way to keep fit so we might see you there!?

The race is at Tatton Park on the 24th June and so we have some time to try and get some sponsorship beforehand. We aren’t aiming for huge sums of money but every little helps and we would like to contribute something if we can! If you would like to help us, please visit our Just Giving page.

Carrot Intell has had a makeover! It is now called Carrot Intelligence. The company hasn’t changed, we have just tweaked the look and feel to refresh the brand Hope you like it!

Jane, a recruitment consultant here at Carrot, had her first Beer Festival meeting last night and is excited to be involved for the 14th year running! She organises the food for the Festival which takes place on the 11th and 12th May this year at Macclesfield Rugby Club. The festival raises money for the Seashell Trust, a charity based in Cheadle Hulme, for people with sensory impairment, profound and multiple learning difficulties and communication difficulties. It is the oldest deaf children’s charity in the North West and it operates a school, college and residential homes including a supported tenancy.

Tickets for 2012 are available on sale via the website and pub outlets will be selling tickets shortly. Please note when purchasing tickets, the evening sessions are over 18s only. Please bring ID to avoid disappointment as entry checks will be made.

The saturday lunchtime is a family session and children are welcome.

For more information visit www.macclesfieldbeerfestival.org.uk

Location based advertising (also known as hyper local advertising) is a form of advertising which uses it’s target audiences whereabouts to generate targeted messages to consumers. Obviously this form of advertising is growing more and more as brands take advantage of new technologies, social media and trends.

Social networking sites have moved from the stationary computer and into people’s pockets as more apps are being downloaded and mobile versions of the websites are available for smart phones and tablets. There are also many ways that people can share their locations with other users.

Sites such as Foursquare rely on users checking in to different locations and places, Facebook has many location based features such as the ability to ‘check in’ and Twitter also allows location based tweets. Areas are recorded using a phone’s GPS which is found in most new handsets (iPhone, Android, Blackberry etc) and this alerts advertisers where a person is and how best they can be targeted. Using this real world position, Location Based Advertising is able to deliver relevant ads for products and services that are in close proximity to that consumers’ current location.

LBA can therefore advertise a business or service that is relevant to a person’s destination. For instance, you could be sitting in Starbucks and receive a voucher or coupon for an extra coffee, or an offer for the bakery across the road who is attempting to tempt you over from their competitor.

This actually happens on a regular basis with Location Based Advertising, as this form of advertising has been proven to be effective.  For a business, it is a powerful thing to know a potential consumer is close. All they need to do is present them with an incentive to enter their shop or use their service and this is exactly what LBA does and how it works.

GPS maps are designed using things called ‘geofences’ which are ultimately invisible borders around a certain area. In busy city centres a geofence will represent a small area of maybe 3 or 4 streets so that once a person walks within the geofence’s perimeter, they are served with a location based ad. This makes it easier for advertisers to target their target audience as it allows them to know when they are near.

In built up areas, geofences are usually kept quite small as it proves more effective for advertisers; an ad for a coffee shop in a city centre is not going to appeal to a consumer who is 3 streets away as your average consumer will not feel compelled to walk a distance, and this makes the ad less relevant. On the other hand, a coffee shop in a small town on a major road might have a geofence that stretches for 3 miles or so in order to reach people as they are coming into the town. Finding the “sweet spot” of the size and shape of a geofence is very important to advertisers.

It is being predicted that Location Advertising will become the norm in the future and as smart phone users grow so will this form of brand communication. So keep your eyes peeled