“With stiff competition in the market, Argos is really struggling hard to survive,” says Ronald (a close friend of mine), from Appco Group Canada, who never misses any business-related news or stories.

Yes, Argos is trying to get over the prevailing market conditions; market analysts anticipate the retailer to shut-down more than 700 stores, in the future.

With the annual profits expected to decline, the parent company (Home Retail Group) does not have much hope on the full-year results.

Currently John is busy reviewing different regions of the retail-business, and is trying to find the ‘missing links’…!

Even though speculations are on about the closure, the Home Retail Group has denied any such plans in the future.

Well, let us see – whether John, with the past work-experiences from Sears and BestBuy will be able to bring Argos back on track!

As the scope, and need of inbound marketing rises, more and more of such summits will take place for marketers to have a keen insight into new marketing techniques. Notable Entrepreneurs like Christos Niarchos and others in the field of direct sales and marketing are a big draw for such business summits, which help to build up a fruitful future on the whole.

The Inbound Marketing Summit commences on June 12, 2012 at Cowell Theater Fort Mason Center IMS bring in an expanded focus on content marketing, mobile technologies and the latest social tools and tricks. You will see innovative marketing professionals meet up, participate in sessions and network with their peers.

The site officials also take credit in their premium advertising products that help brands and companies like Oracle Advertising to get their messages in front of the most relevant consumers via desktop and mobile.

They claim that Facebook Page is becoming the centre of marketing engagements for brands [on the site] and that they are moving away from connections and reaching a critical mass of fans to leveraging (Facebook’s recently launched premium ad formats) to guarantee how many of every brand’s fans can reach the content.

It was only last month that Facebook unveiled new premium ad formats that increase the amount of fans that see posts made on Facebook pages and also allow brands to advertise across the news feed – both on desktop and in mobile – and display rich media on the site’s log-out page.

In business, going up the ladder means a lot. For that the reluctance to step out of comfort zones has to be overcome. Many leading business houses owe their success to this kind of an attitude. Says Li Zhi Jia, the Managing Director of Sirius Star Marketing while doing an assessment of his company’s success in 2011, “Obviously one of the biggest things that worked for us is none other than stepping out of the comfort zone and asking for help…”.This is of utmost importance, in any business endeavour. Companies and entrepreneurs always strive to make things tick by prompting individuals to come out of their shells, their self-imposed comfort zones. They are made to realise that it does no one good by remaining passive when all the others are surging forward. They are made to realise that unless they work for the advancement of things pertaining to the company they represent, nothing would change in their personal lives.

This kind of a thought is instilled and a proper work culture propagated and encouraged. It’s such a kind of thinking and work culture that takes entrepreneurs and companies to great heights in business.

When I shared this news with my friend, Eldose (Who’s working with Sirius Star Marketing), he replied laughing, ‘oh they are in for a big push’.

But, the way they have initiated the campaign should be appreciated. The Green Clubcard points earned by customers for doing things like reusing carrier bags and recycling printer ink cartridges or cans in store, are collected for the program. Each point is worth 1p. The supermarket is partnering with the Royal Society of Protection of Birds (RSPB).

An entirely new approach for funding CSR programs, the partnership hopes to raise £1m in the first year and also increase awareness of deforestation and the need for conservation work around the world to retail rain-forests. Tesco is also donating £75,000 from the sale of its latest range of reusable bags that will be branded with Together For Trees imagery.

“The company is looking to enhance the customer experience on digital channels (especially wireless devices, including the iPad)”, said a friend who’s working with Appco Group US.

And, this did not rule out the possibility of customers paying for orders directly from their phone bills or by mobile payments connected to a credit account, such as Orange Quick Tap or Barclay’s Pingit.  But the company is looking for better features and functions to add in the future.

A sales manager at Enza Marketing says, “We always give utmost importance to promptness. Be it about updating things relating to customers, their needs and their lifestyles or be it about handling their needs, we always try to be prompt. We are also prompt as regards our dealings with client companies. They always want it that way”.
Clients as well as customers always go for direct sales companies that are prompt. Delay would in no way be appreciated and hence promptness is what’s needed.

Direct sales companies also need to be prompt in analysing market trends and in changing with the trends. Updating databases, planning strategies, making the right moves, using new technologies- all have to be done with promptness since things change fast in the industry. What’s new today can be stale tomorrow.

So be prompt if you want to go great with direct marketing.

The call to action comes after it emerged that purchases had dropped to the lowest level in a decade in the UK. Many automotive marketers have somehow managed to outperform others in the market. For example Honda, “it has somewhat managed to come back to its old marketing demand despite supply problems in 2011 after the Japanese tsunami and flooding in Thailand”, said a marketing executive from Appco Group Thailand to me.  The sales were down, but less than the 4.4% drop across the market.

The brand launched its “Love Hearts” campaign last week designed to offer customers the opportunity to choose the most relevant added value service to them, rather than offering a “one size fits all” deal.

While others on the line have tried to come up with homegrown new techniques. Many of them believe that business and consumer confidence alongside new technologies in the market will be the key to growth in the coming year.

More brands are now on their way to launch themselves upwards in an attempt to appeal to these consumers. The science in doing this appears as simple as following the classic rules of luxury branding. While wealthy consumers have become more open to value offerings and become selective about purchases, the rules of luxury prevail. This rule of luxury branding has become common in every country and with marketing firms like Appco Group Australia.

True luxury is still based on exclusivity, rarity and scarcity. And these rules are as simple as that – or complicated, as it might be – for brands looking to target this audience.

Telling a compelling story with integrity makes your place in the shopping universe clear, while also saying a ‘no’ can be powerful. Making people feel special through complementary gifts not available to other consumers, is also a powerful tool, in terms of generating goodwill and word of mouth news.

Studies show that happy chemicals are released in the brain more when anticipating an experience, or thinking of a future experience, than during the actual experience. And, this is true when we are drawn to products we can’t have immediately.

But still, nothing more of a hope can be expected from this up, as consumer confidence is still seriously depressed. So marketers (Appco Group Greece) should treat this month’s modest improvement with caution.

What made this mood change was falling inflation prompted by discounting and recently announced energy price cuts. “Non-economic influences” such as the “hangover from the Christmas feel-good factor” were also offered as reasons for improved optimism among consumers.

But this can be temporary, however, by a warning that the threat of a double dip recession and a drop in GDP could scupper the recovery in sentiment.