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Listening to and acting speedily on what's said on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter can lead to more relevant, less formulaic advertising.

One day, Paul Mead, Dominic Stinton and Chris Whitson found themselves stuck in a lift between the fourth and fifth floors of Greencoat House in London SW1.

LONDON - Many of the UK's top brands are threatening to wreck established customer relationships as they expand online, a new report argues.

They are doing so by ignoring the basic marketing principles in their email communications.

This is one of the findings of a year-long study, e-Orchard, conducted by Stephens Francis Whitson. The agency reviewed the email marketing campaigns of more than 200 brands.

The report claims to have uncovered evidence of brand owners bombarding customers with irrelevant, mistimed and inappropriate emails.

It looks like some fundamental marketing principles are being ignored in the digital channel. That’s why we created our e-orchard; to educate ourselves, and our clients, on the email channel, and to identify best and worst practices.

Insurance is a very tough market with nearly 400 providers and a raft of aggregators, creating a consumer perception that the cheapest deal is found by switching every year. To tackle this, the company used research and insight to develop a data-driven service proposition which improved renewal and cancellation rates. The judges were very impressed by the focus on customer satisfaction and the way technical and operational resources were combined.

Everyone my age remembers Raleigh for the Chopper and Grifter. One girl I know still owns a 70s Shopper and rides it into work every day. Anoraks also remember the TI Raleigh race team and the company's Tour de France success.

There’s more to CRM than selling. Chris Whitson, planning partner of direct marketing agency Stephens Francis Whitson, feels it’s not just about the relevance and timing of offers – a good CRM strategy must also achieve a balance between sales and service. “A daily email containing the latest special offers is not CRM”, he says. “It’s hard selling.”

Received this piece of DM from morethan a few days ago. Good use of my pet data (probably from a previously requested quote) and I really liked the touch at the end with their Marketing Director signing off as a "dog lover".

Justin Basini

Web: www.basini.com

Blog: justinbasini.blogspot.com

The New Football Pools is launching a television and online campaign to coincide with the new football season featuring TV presenter Tim Lovejoy.

In the 30 second TV ad Lovejoy is transported through time to illustrate the game’s heritage.