A friend recently commented on the hubbub around the Apple Watch and the wearables category, in general, noting that most of the data provided by these devices actually is useless. Sure, we’re all counting steps and strides and hours slept, but we’re not really doing anything about it. And as our culture becomes more obsessed with measuring everything, we seem to move further away from knowing what we actually need to know.

For the professional—or even the serious amateur—the case for constant activity data is real. You absolutely can improve training and performance when you have more and better data. For everyone else, though, the link between the data and the improvement is much weaker. We track our steps, but are we getting any healthier?​​​

A similar situation exists for marketers, as well: We have access to vast amounts of data about our campaigns, visitors, engagement, social sharing and everything else under the sun (or rain, if you are tracking the impact of weather on the performance of your campaigns). Today’s CMOs, along with their staff, must be ever more deeply versed in data, analytics and metrics. Hundreds of tools and platforms for capturing, analyzing and optimizing marketing data are readily available (though many with hefty price tags) for our use. Why? Because the prevailing assumption is that data makes us better marketers.

That is the big lie, and it’s a lie that we are quickly allowing to consume us and change our behavior, for both good and bad. Data should be able to expand our perspective and yield new insights, but I’d argue that it is mostly overwhelming our vision and creating new blind spots.

Much like runners who are so obsessed with the data on their watches that they miss the gorgeous morning fog rising or the pothole right in front of them, marketers are losing sight of many important elements as they dig deeper into metrics on an almost real-time basis. The analogy of forests and trees never loses its relevancy.

Yes, data is essential in today’s marketing environment. The more data we have, the more opportunity we have to connect the right dots. Good data can help drive increased efficiency and effectiveness in all types of campaigns. Marketing data is really in its infancy right now and the possibilities ahead are incredible, yet there are also real dangers. Data can make us passive marketers, waiting for an answer that will never come before we make a change. Data can make us hyperactive marketers, making frequent and endless changes in the hope that something will work.

​Authored by Norman Guadagno, vice president of client engagement at Wire Stone, an independent digital marketing agency based in Sacramento, Calif.

Source:ama.org

Mobile Marketing Association Strengthens Presence in India; Welcomes Preeti Desai as Country Manager

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), the leading non-profit trade mobile marketing association, today announced the appointment of Preeti Desai as Country Manager in India, in order to strengthen the association’s presence and commitment toward developing the mobile marketing industry in the country. The MMA serves the growing mobile marketing ecosystem in India with support from GroupM, the country’s leading media investment management company, in a collaboration that was recently extended for the third year running.

“The MMA currently leads the growth of mobile marketing and its associated technologies in Singapore, India, China, Indonesia, and Vietnam,” said Rohit Dadwal, Managing Director, Mobile Marketing Association APAC. “Preeti’s appointment marks MMA’s continued commitment toward building and implementing mobile marketing best practices in India. Her solid industry experience, and vision will be crucial in helping us pave the way forward for the mobile industry in the country.”

Some of the MMA’s priorities will include increasing the adoption of existing MMA Best Practices and Guidelines; recommending adaptations for local market conditions where appropriate; promoting education and skills development for practitioners; and developing suitable measurement metrics and tools for the industry. Preeti Desai’s appointment as country manager for India is a step toward ensuring that all players in the mobile marketing ecosystem get adequate support.

Preeti joins the MMA after several years Rediff.com India where she was Vice President Strategic Alliances, evangelizing the spliced TV advertising opportunity to the leading SME's across sectors and geographies.

Between 2004 and 2006, Preeti was the Founding President of the Internet and Mobile Association of India, working with industry and government stakeholders and end users to address key industry challenges, raise awareness of Internet and mobile effectiveness, and set up industry standards and benchmarks.

“India, a young and highly mobile market, presents the ideal opportunity for innovation in mobile and is only set to grow in the next five years. However, brand investment in the medium is still relatively limited.

With the market evolving as quickly as it is, this is an opportunity that we need to capitalize on immediately,” added Rohit. “GroupM has been instrumental in helping the MMA set up its presence in India over the last two years and I’m very excited to be working with their visionary team once again in order to shape the mobile marketing conversation in the country.”

The MMA also announced the 2015 return of its two flagship events, MMA Forum India and the SMARTIES™ India Awards taking place on 16 September 2015. The MMA Forum (MMAF) India, is one of the largest mobile marketing events in India, welcoming major brands, mobile specific and traditional agencies, operators and technology enablers from across the mobile marketing landscape. The SMARTIES™ India Awards submissions are now open and will close on 24 July 2015.

Delegates will come together to connect and learn from experts and peers in the industry about best practice in mobile marketing and the future of the industry. The event will be followed by the 2015 iteration of the SMARTIES™ India, which aim to recognize innovation, creativity and leadership in mobile  marketing across a range of categories while building a library of case studies for mobile marketers to reference. The entry deadline for the SMARTIES™ India Awards is 24th July 2015.

With a view to cater to a wide spectrum of target audience and expand its readership base, The Indian Express Group has launched the Jaipur edition of its flagship brand, the Indian Express on July 5th 2015.

This is the national daily’s tenth edition in the country.

The paper is priced at Rs 4 on all weekdays and will be a 20 page edition, with both an up-country and a city edition. The Jaipur edition of The Indian Express brings with it the trademark brand of ‘Journalism of courage’ that the newspaper espouses. With a focus on unbiased news delivery, the newspaper will offer exclusive investigative stories and opinion pieces written by some of India’s best minds.

The newspaper will offer the Pink city residents 20 pages of high quality news, containing all that a reader would need to know.  With customized pages, dedicated to new ideas across governance, opinions and explanations, war-torn conflict zones, relationships, skilling and education among others, The Indian Express Jaipur edition will bring more daily life to the daily.

The launch will be supported with an extensive marketing campaign, both ATL and BTL programmes.

Commenting on The Indian Express's entry in Rajasthan, Pavita Puri, Group Head - Brand, The Indian Express Group says, "We are thrilled and excited with an overwhelming response to our launch in Jaipur. This is an important region, emerging fast on the national footprint of development. We are committed to making The Indian Express the preferred newspaper of the discerning reader who seeks credible news, knowledge and an incisive point of view.”

The Indian Express Group publishes four newspapers with 31 editions, in four languages (Hindi, Gujarati, English and Marathi) across 15 centres in India. Its flagship newspaper The Indian Express was established in 1932. Its newspaper brands include The Financial Express, Loksatta and Jansatta. The Group has a formidable online presence with over 100 million pageviews per month.

Midas Awards for The World’s Best Financial Advertising Announces 2015 Call for Entries; New Categories Include Effectiveness and Recruiting

The Midas Awards® 2015 competition honoring the World’s Best Financial Advertising℠ is now open for entry.

The Midas Awards is the only awards show to recognize excellence in financial marketing and advertising on a global scale. Each year, Executive Director Alisun Armstrong strategically updates and evaluates the competition and its categories and implements changes to reflect the innovative work currently being produced in the financial advertising and marketing industry. This year, Midas Awards expanded their Use of Discipline categories, introducing both Effectiveness and Recruiting categories.

“The Midas Awards has always celebrated creative excellence, but now we’re adding the option for entrants to demonstrate the results of their campaigns,” said Alisun Armstrong. “The new Effectiveness category allows brands and agencies to showcase the payoff of the creative arsenal employed to engage consumers and boost the brand.”

As agencies and brands continue to expand, the process of finding qualified employees has become more challenging. Creative ways to attract, evaluate, and hire employees are a necessity in this competitive playing field. The newly unveiled Recruiting category will showcase inspired trends in sourcing and hiring the best-qualified candidate.

Last year’s competition marked the debut of The Midas Brand Report, a ranking similar to, but marking advertisers’ performance based on points earned within the Midas Awards. This recognition of innovative brands and their efforts to engage consumers on a multitude of platforms resulted in 10 global brands being recognized for elevating the financial advertising industry.

“The success of these creative rankings briefs, both the Midas Brand Report and the Midas Report, illustrate the importance in showcasing all facets of creative excellence within the financial advertising and marketing community,” said Ms. Armstrong.

The Midas Awards Grand Jury® is recruited from the most prominent international agencies and comprised of the most respected and influential minds in financial advertising. Client and agency leaders from the creative and marketing disciplines, as well as internationally recognized experts in financial policy and communications, will be represented. The jury awards Midas Gold and Silver Ingots to the highest scoring entries, and award the Grand Midas to the entry considered “Best in Show.” The results of the jury are parsed in an annual rankings brief, The Midas Report and The Midas Brand Report —a veritable who’s-who in the world of financial services advertising.

The deadline to enter the 2015 Midas Awards is September 15th, 2015. Enter before August 1, 2015 and receive a 15% discount with code PRM2015. Entry details and competition rules and regulations can be found on the Midas Awards website. View the 2014 winners in the Midas Winner Showcase.

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (NYSE: RDY) today announced the launch of its new visual identity and brand, that will guide its actions across the globe: Good Health Can’t Wait.

The new logo is an expression of Empathy and Dynamism, which helps keep patients at the center of everything that Dr. Reddy’s does. Empathy helps gain rich insights into patients’ needs, and Dynamism enables Dr. Reddy’s to address these needs - innovatively and with agility. The heart depicts empathy and caring while the circles connote dynamism and responsiveness.

The company has also chosen a new corporate colour – Purple, which is associated with creativity and wisdom. Overall, the new identity speaks of Dr. Reddy’s constant endeavour to understand the unmet and under-met needs of patients, and the swift action to solve them.

The objective of the rebranding exercise is to derive a unifying, patient–centric approach, to meet new and daunting challenges that patients are facing. With the healthcare scenario changing rapidly, it is important to be driven by a common goal that adds value to every touch-point for patients and partners alike.

The re-branding will be executed in two stages. In the first phase, the corporate brand has transitioned to the new identity. Phase two will see the new identity transitioning on to the company’s product packaging.

The existing logo and brand identity will remain in place and valid until changes that are pertinent to legal processes, documentation and other regulatory or statutory changes are complete.

Commenting on the launch, Satish Reddy, Chairman – Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories said, “Over 31 years, Dr. Reddy’s has grown from a manufacturer of APIs into a multinational pharmaceutical brand of repute, with operations in over 25 countries. Throughout this journey, we have remained true to our core values, even as we continually transform to keep pace with the changing needs of our patients and partners. Our belief ‘Good Health Can’t Wait’ lends new meaning to our core purpose of accelerating access to affordable and innovative medicines.”

G V Prasad, Co Chairman and CEO – Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories stated, “Our goal has always been singular: to ensure expensive medicines are within the reach of patients. Our focus has always been the patient. While we have expanded over the years, our purpose has remained unchanged: to bring high quality medicines within the reach of all. Today, we wish to re-dedicate ourselves to that purpose because we believe that for every human being, good health is always the first priority. In simple terms: ‘Good Health Can’t Wait.’

Dr. Reddy’s will deliver on its purpose and belief through 5 promises:

To bring expensive medicines within reach of patients who need them

To address unmet patient needs

To help patients manage their disease better

To enable and help partners ensure availability

To work with partners to help them succeed.

Dr. Reddy’s new identity expresses its purpose and belief in a compelling way and reiterates its focus on keeping patients at the heart of everything it does. Together with its partners, Dr. Reddy’s aims to ensure a better world for all, as Good Health Can’t Wait.