Top Ten Weekly Vacancies

SLA Sales Consultants is a dynamic specialist sales recruitment organization with a combined industry experience spanning more than a decade.  Our aim is to provide a fresh and forward-thinking approach to both client and candidate solutions.

Please see below for a list of our top ten vacancies this week:

Digital Publisher – Digital Media – Crawley

Business Development Manager – London – Financial Software

Advertising Manager – Publishing – North London

Business Development Executive – Healthcare - London

Sponsorship Account manager – Energy - London

Marketing Director – London – Digital Marketing
International Sales – Digital Media – City of London

Delegate Sales Executive - Financial Markets - London
Advertising Sales Executive – Print Publications - London
Media Sales Executive – Stockport

For more information you can contact us in one of the following ways:

Email: info@sla-sales.com

Phone: 0844 693 3022

Crowdsourcing – What is it?

Image sourced from: http://mashable.com/2010/05/26/creative-crowdsourcing/

Crowdsourcing has been described as distributed problem-solving. It is a marketing technique in which companies involve the public in their product choices and sales as much as possible. A recent example of this is Coca Cola’s latest ‘name on a bottle’ idea. This has not only boosted their sales (as everyone wants their name on a bottle) but has also drawn massive attention and revitalised recognition of the company. Coca Cola has been around for years and has done well in keeping their name and their business so possitively renowned. Their use of crowdsourcing has contributed towards this. They have also previously re-sold limited edition Coca Cola flavours, chosen by the public, which had been taken off sale some years before.

Walkers are another good example for crowdsourcing results as they hold regular competitions, the latest regarding the flavouring of their crisps. The aim was for the public to send in their ideas for new flavours and if the company liked the idea they would then produce a bag of crisps with that specific chosen flavouring. They then held a competition with the public again to decide which of these flavours would become a permanent part of the walkers range.

Wikipedia has built their brand on the basis of crowd sourcing. Instead of hiring their own writers and editors they gave the public the chance to create their own information and descriptions for their site. This has resulted in Wikipedia becoming the most successful encyclopaedia known worldwide.

Crowdsourcing is an excellent way of creating loyal customers and keeping your company products relevant to your consumers.

There are many types of useful crowdsourcing;

-          Crowdsourcing Design – This is where you have the ability to put forward your ideal design specifications where a group of designers will then work to produce that for you. Hundreds could be produced and if one meets you requirements you have the chance to purchase it. This can initially reduce the cost and improve the quantity and originality of your company designs.

-          Crowdfunding – Crowdfunding is a way for start-ups or anyone needing to raise money for a project to ask for donations. A target is set and if the money is not raised to the full amount than all donations are to be refunded.

-          Microtasks – Microtasking is when you split a large job into a number of sections and then send each section to an individual for them to work on. This improves the speed of the process, keeps the work load down and also keeps the cost down.

-          Open Innovation- An Open Innovation is when an idea or problem is put out to individuals from all over the world and from all different levels of expertise. They then all work on the subject together. This gives a number of perspectives to the situation and also introduces you to contacts you possibly wouldn’t have met another way.

Crowdsourcing is ideal to gain higher quality results, ideas, techniques and support from sources in all areas of the world and expertise. It keeps costs down for companies and allows you to keep up to date with what’s happening with business ideas across the globe. This is a good way of sourcing hidden talent.

A further example of how crowdsourcing can be beneficial to your business is by using this kind of public interaction to repair any complaints on your product or company. A simple question can be asked, for instance ’what improvements can we make to our products/promotions?’ These kinds of questions not only show consumers that your company cares about what you are selling but also that you are willing to change products to provide consumers with what they want. This will keep your customers loyal to you and allow you to keep up to date with your consumer’s needs.

Crowdsourcing from external sources means you will not need to provide training, there will be no need to pay a salary after the deadline is met, you could get free marketing through social media sites and also instant possible hiring potential without the hassle of sourcing and interviewing etc.

Crowdsourcing does have a number of disadvantages too. These disadvantages include what can be referred to as ‘debatable ownership’. Although online contracts need to be agreed to before anyone can submit any work, there isn’t a lot that can be done to ensure the same work isn’t also posted anywhere else. If the same work is found elsewhere than both have to be taken off of the market. Another disadvantage is the inconsistency of design work that will appear in your advertising. If your designs are constantly produced by a number of different individuals then there will be a number of obvious differences in them. This can be damaging in the sense that your company will not have a trade mark as such or a distinctive pattern in your work, possibly making your products unrecognisable to some extent.

Overall, putting these disadvantages aside, Crowdsourcing appears to be an effective way of cutting your companies costs, gaining a variety of information and ideas throughout the world and also staying up to date with your consumers.

So, SLA would like to ask all our clients for their thoughts and feedback on “What improvements can we make to our services?” J

The Print Publishing Struggle - Employment Cuts

Unemployment levels have been on the rise over these last years, impacting all industries. Print publishing has not escaped this struggle and is forced to make the same sacrifices. Newspapers such as The Telegraph are investing more in digital publishing and cutting their print publishing to counteract their current losses and stay up to date. Could this be the beginning of the end for print publishing?

The Trinity Mirrors are making cuts of up to 75, full and part time, editorial jobs within their newspapers; People, Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror. With the economic struggles and success of digital publishing the Trinity Mirrors feel these cuts are necessary. The company’s priority is to cut staff from their voluntary departments first as much as possible. Trinity Mirrors, aiming to make as many cost effective changes as possible, will look into the partial merging of these three newspapers, as these are currently three separate titles.

Image sourced from: http://www.lineup.com/media-channels/print/

“The Daily Mirror editor, Richard Wallace, will take on management responsibility for the merged "content and production hub" in addition to his current role.”[The] restructuring proposals for its UK national titles which represent the next stage in its aim to create one of the most technologically advanced and operationally efficient multimedia newsrooms in Europe," Trinity Mirror said a statement. The publisher added that the new operation will give editors greater "flexibility" and "increase the range and depth of regional coverage" with the recruitment of a number of district reporters.” - http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/feb/01/trinity-mirror-job-cuts

The Independent is trying to avoid what they call ‘compulsory redundancies’. The National Union of Journalists has successfully negotiated between management to avoid this issue. The Independent’s aim to create a ‘seven day operation’ will put as many as 25 jobs at risk. This number was calculated from the ideal cost cuts the company are aiming to make.

"I am happy to confirm that we are now confident that if those taking voluntary redundancies complete documentation drawn up on the basis of agreements already reached with them, compulsory redundancies will not be necessary to achieve the savings required by the company in the changes to a seven-day operation," said Doug Wills, group managing editor of the Independent, Independent on Sunday and Evening Standard.” - http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/apr/04/independent-avoid-compulsory-redundancies

The National Union of Journalists has stated these cuts will make The Independent the smallest editorial team within a national newspaper.

“   "We still have serious concerns about the editorial quality and individual identity of the newspaper titles once the seven-day integration takes place," said Barry Fitzpatrick, deputy general secretary of the NUJ. “But importantly we have stopped people being forcibly pushed out the door."   “-http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/apr/04/independent-avoid-compulsory-redundancies

The Times are also amongst these publications with their struggles and are aiming to cut at least 20 of their editorial jobs. These job cuts will leave less than 10% of the paper’s editorial team unemployed in an aim to cut costs and reduce losses. Unlike other publications the Times and Sunday Times will not be merging as there are too many editorial reasons and commercial benefits gained from keeping them separate titles. The Times have previously relied on their losses being subsidized by the profits of other International titles, for instance, The Sun. The choice to subsidize any losses is no longer an option for these publications as the other companies are not making the profits they used to either.

 “John Witherow, the Times acting editor, has told staff that the age of News Corp titles being subsidised was coming to an end.” - http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/jun/10/the-times-cut-20-editorial-jobs

“Times Newspapers' latest accounts show a total loss of £28.7m for the year to 1 July 2012 up from £11.8m the year before on turnover of £361m. This included a charge of £12.7m for a redundancy scheme and its operating loss for the year was £13.3m, up from £9.5m in 2011. The last round of job cuts at the Times and Sunday Times resulted in about 100 editorial posts being axed in late 2011 out of a total of 700 across the two titles.” - http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/jun/10/the-times-cut-20-editorial-jobs

Cuts are continuously being made across all suffering print publishing companies. The majority of these losses are a likely result of the changing economy. This has resulted in print publishing being put on the back burner for now, due to digital publishing being cheaper and more convenient for the customer. Although the economy plays a vital part in the success of a business this could just be a case of print publishing becoming outdated, when faced with the growing success of digital publishing.

Top Ten Weekly Vacancies

SLA Sales Consultants is a dynamic specialist sales recruitment organization with a combined industry experience spanning more than a decade.  Our aim is to provide a fresh and forward-thinking approach to both client and candidate solutions.

Delegate Sales Executive – Telecoms – London

Senior Delegate Sales Executive – Publishing – London

Sponsorship Sales Executive – Business Intelligence – London

Advertising Sales Executive – Consumer Media – North London

International Sales Executive – Digital Media – Central London

Advertising Manager – Media – North London

Exhibition Sales – Retail – London

Sponsorship Sales – Life Science – London

Mobile Sponsorship Advertising – Digital Online Media – London

Outdoor Media Sales – Ambient Media – Central London

For more information you can contact us in one of the following ways:

Email: info@sla-sales.com

Phone: 0844 693 3022

PRESS RELEASE - SLA announces sponsorship deal with Medway Youth Trust and Kent Foundation

SLA Partnership Limited is proud to confirm their official and on-going sponsorship deal with two of Kent’s leading charities; Medway Youth Trust and Kent Foundation.

SLA recruitment specialists, comprising of SLA Sales Consultants Ltd, SLA Digital Forensics Ltd and SLA Search & Selection Ltd understand how difficult forming a career or building a successful business can be for someone who isn’t quite sure where to start. MYT and KF are there to help individuals with these first few steps and SLA feels that with their commercial experience this is an ideal collaboration.

As well as donating £6000.00 per annum to help support these two incredible charities, SLA will provide support and advice to young talent through mentoring sessions and workshops.

Medway Youth Trust’s Chief Executive, Graham Clewes, said:

“SLA’s support through their money, time and expertise is a tremendous boost for Medway Youth Trust and for our careers and employability work with young people in Kent and Medway. I am particularly struck by Sarah Landry's and SLA’s desire for a long term partnership to help us in our work and I hope their lead will be an encouragement to other companies". - http://www.medwayyouthtrust.org/slasupport.html

Also welcoming the deal, Paul Barron, Director of Kent Foundation for Young Entrepreneurs:

“This is a significant commitment by SLA to support our work and we are grateful to them for their commitment and generosity.  As well as the money, their expertise in the job market will be invaluable in transforming ideas and initiatives into reality for those people that we engage with. Like all charities, we have to work really hard to find financial backing and I am delighted that they have chosen to back us at this challenging time.”- http://www.medwayyouthtrust.org/slasupport.html

Sarah Landry, Managing Partner of SLA Partnership Ltd commented:

“We pride ourselves on taking a thoroughly professional approach to our business, using our industry expertise and experience to provide candidates and clients alike with a service that is efficient and user-friendly. This is an ideal fit with the work of these two charities who, like us, look to encourage ways of achieving aspirations and ambitions. We focus on providing a quality of service to find a perfect match and I believe we have now achieved this with our sponsorship deal for Medway Youth Trust and Kent Foundation.”

Keep your eyes posted - SLA is also funding a sponsored golf event for these charities in Spring 2014. Details of this event are yet to be disclosed and we will be in contact regarding team participation.

Medway Youth Trust

http://www.medwayyouthtrust.org

Medway Youth Trust was first established April 2008. Since then, they have been presented with two national awards for the quality of their work. The silver Hear by Right Award was presented to them along with the Matrix Award for their support for young people, their involvement in having young people help run the charity and also for the services they provide.

Mission Statement:

“We exist to improve the life chances of young people.” http://www.medwayyouthtrust.org/index.php?id=19

Additional:

“Chief Executive of Medway Youth Trust, Graham Clewes, said “anyone who thinks that young people do not care about people or the world in which they live would change their mind after just five minutes at one of our Youth Forum meetings. The young people have a wide range of experiences and backgrounds and are all at different stages of learning, work and getting their lives on track, yet they are united in wanting to make a difference to Medway Youth Trust and to all young people in Medway.”

http://www.medwayyouthtrust.org/myt-presented-with-two-national-awards.html

 

Kent Foundation
http://www.kentfoundation.org/

Kent Foundation was first launched in 1985. Since then they have gained a wider range of services to help support and develop young people when starting up a business, celebrated their 25^th birthday, held fund raising events and recently received a Global Entrepreneurship Week Badge of Honour.

Mission Statement:

'Ensuring young people of Kent get the support they need to be successful in starting and growing a business, so contributing to the overall success of Kent' - http://www.kentfoundation.org/about-us/

Additional:

Kent Foundation for young entrepreneurs aims to be visionary in our approach and we see ourselves developing into:  "an authoritative source of intelligence about business start-up and business growth activities of young people in Kent" - http://www.kentfoundation.org/business-resources/ 

 

           http://www.sla-sales.com/                                       http://www.sla-forensics.com/

                                                

                                                       http://www.sla-search.com/

  

                                                   

Meaningful Brands: A Personal Approach

Image sourced from: http://www.outbox4.com/the-importance-of-branding/

The Advertising world is recently changing its tactics and approaching its consumers with a new angle. This new angle is aiming to give a ‘face to the company’. This different take on advertising is aiming to create a relationship with the consumer on a more personal basis. This will not only hopefully give companies a better understanding of their consumer’s needs but also build loyalty between the two.

It makes sense that if a company is more ‘human’ to the consumer, then they appear more approachable. Customers, if a problem arose, are more likely to forgive and return to a company that has treated them well and delivered products well in the past.

The ways in which companies are trialling this is by producing advertising that will relate more personally to the consumer. For example, if a company was trying to sell their latest dog food, they would create an advertisement that would aim to ‘pull on the consumers heart strings’. This leaves them feeling that this food is the only food good enough for their dog. Although this technique has been used for decades it is also a clever tactic as the product quickly progresses from a choice to a need for the consumer. Results show that the straight forward ‘Buy me! Buy me!’ approach has fast worn out, consumers nowadays want to feel connected to the company as oppose to just another customer.  

Other ways in which companies are communicating better with their clients is through social media. By asking questions and creating competitions they are not only showing interest and rewarding their existing customers they are also enticing new ones. This is another cost effective way of keeping up to date with what the consumers are looking for by collating their data directly.

This approach was demonstrated well by The Guardians article ‘What is The Future of Branding in the Digital Landscape?’

“Dean Johnson, vice president, Brandwidth Innovation Lab

Advertising versus UX: Successful brands now disrupt consumer narrative. Sounds like buzzwords but means the brand talks to its audience at an acceptable level, and introduces products and services in a meaningful way. A two-way conversation, rather than an ignored billboard or skipped web or TV ad.

Social media and brands: Social media is the most important brand channel – but only if staffed by humans rather than viewed as yet another broadcast opportunity. Our Citroën Click campaign was massively successful for the client as we crowdsourced the first Facebook car – and put the end result into production. You can't do this every time, but the audience understands this and still feels part of the brand.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/feb/25/brands-digital-future-media

Sky has taken this angle further by raising awareness through their programmes. Recently they broadcast a series called ‘Lily Coles Amazon Adventure’. They took a supermodel (Lily Cole) and placed her in a Brazilian rainforest. This is a perfect way of giving the viewers what they want, but also raising awareness as well. This approach is ideal as a way of providing an engaging TV series for their customers as well as providing awareness of the environment and their affiliation with WWF.

“ "We have 10.5 million customers across the country … and many of them are not people who naturally would be thinking about environmental issues, much less the rainforest," says Graham McWilliam, group director of corporate affairs.”

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/jun/11/media-brands-meaningful

People are complicated characters, which do you think is more effective- the urgency or emotional approach?

Top Ten Weekly Vacancies

SLA Sales Consultants is a dynamic specialist sales recruitment organization with a combined industry experience spanning more than a decade.  Our aim is to provide a fresh and forward-thinking approach to both client and candidate solutions.

Digital Sales Specialist – Online – London
Digital Publisher – Online and Digital Media – London
New Business Sales Manager – Saas – City of London
Senior Sales Manager – Saas - City of London
Field Sales Executive – Exhibitions – Central London
Account Manager – Exhibitions – Central London
Business Development Executive – Corporate Hospitality – London
Exhibition Sales – Home Leisure – Essex
Sponsorship Sales – Business Meetings – London
Sales Executive – Advertising – Manchester

For more information you can contact us in one of the following ways:
Email: info@sla-sales.com

Phone: 0844 693 3022

The Battle for Brand Advertising: Google vs. Facebook

Image sourced from; http://boostlikes.com/blog/2012/10/google-beats-facebook-display-revenue

Nate Elliott, Forrester analyst, recently gave a presentation, at his firms Forrester Forum conference in London, which he titled ‘The Database of Infinity’. This presentation focused on the battle for brand advertising between Facebook and Google. In this presentation he made a prediction that Facebook would lose this battle as Google collect a broader range of data, which is collated from a number of sources.

According to Elliot, three things are essential in successfully marketing with affinity data. These three recommendations are;

§  Being able to give the data meaning by analysing it properly and professionally.

§  Collating sets of data from a number of sources over the social world.

§  Supplying effective and unique advertising formats that will create a positive impact for the brand.

“Elliot said: “For 15 years, The [Google] page rank algorithm has sifted through billions of data points to figure out exactly what information people might want to see at any given moment in time – and they’re good at this.” http://www.mediaweek.co.uk/news/1184671/Google-will-beat-Facebook-battle-brand-advertising/

“The situation appears to indicate that Facebook has a strict policy regarding Google: Even though Google (via clients using DoubleClick) is one of the largest distributors of ads on the web, those advertisers won't be allowed inside Facebook unless they use a non-Google company to do their buying.” http://www.chron.com/technology/businessinsider/article/Google-s-Ad-Chief-Referred-Questions-To-Facebook-4579208.php

“Forrester principle analyst Nate Elliot told the analyst firm’s Forrester Forum conference in London on Wednesday, that Google has built its search empire on the ‘database of intent’. This is the mass of data created by search queries-there are more than 100 billion individual searches a month on Google alone- that allows advertisers to server highly relevant ads, based on what consumer actually buy. The next stage, according to Elliot, is the database of affinity- compiling data on what people like rather than what they are looking for then and there-which will be used to create similarly well-targeted ads based on what people like, sucking in brand ad spending in the process.”  http://www.themediabriefing.com/article/the-database-of-affinity-can-publishers-avoid-the

An argument could be made that Facebook also collates a large mass of data, therefor holds a fair chance when competing with Google. However, Facebook generate the majority of their data from their own network, which can narrow the information that is gathered. Google, on the other hand, collate their information from a broader range of sources, giving them a better variety of data.

Elliot is also in favour of Google succeeding as they have more experience in handling and managing this data, making analysing and using the data much easier and more useful for them. Google also has the advantage of Google+ and Google Ad to boost their sources that collate this data.

‘“They will realise the marketing value of social isn’t trying to market to people on social sites, it’s using data to improve marketing everywhere else,” he says’ http://www.themediabriefing.com/article/the-database-of-affinity-can-publishers-avoid-the

When choosing a supplier for your advertising, your first step is to decide whether you want to approach the consumer from a social and more personal angle, in a relaxed surrounding such as Facebook, or if you want to approach from a more precise angle and targeted audience in a professional surrounding such as Google.

Let the war of Advertising between these super giants begin!

Top Ten Weekly Vacancies

SLA Sales Consultants is a dynamic specialist sales recruitment organization with a combined industry experience spanning more than a decade.  Our aim is to provide a fresh and forward-thinking approach to both client and candidate solutions.

Please see below for a list of our top ten vacancies this week:

Digital Publisher – South London – Media
Business Development Manager – London – Payment Solutions
Sales Manager (French Market) – London – Media
Sponsorship Sales Manager – London – Defence
Conference Producer – London – FinanceInternational Media Sales Executive – City of London – Cross Platform Media
Sponsorship Sales Executive – London – Corporate Meetings
Digital Advertising Sales Executive – London – Digital Advertising
Sales Executive – North London – Print Publishing
Advertising Sales Executive – Tackley – Media

 

For more information you can contact us in one of the following ways:

Email: info@sla-sales.com

Phone: 0844 693 3022

Phone Hacking Scandal: How Much Privacy Are We Really Entitled To?

In an industry where secrets sell better than anything else, are we the ones pushing the media to extremes to satisfy our own needs?

In recent news Rebekah Brooks pleads not guilty, along with a number of her colleagues, to charges concerning conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office and charges relating to the perversion of the course of justice. It is apparent that many are outraged by the scandal, however it begs the question of how much is too much?

This is perfectly demonstrated with Hugh Grant’s view on the hacking case not so long ago;

“Grant first mooted the possibility of legal action over phone hacking in May last year after he said he was shown evidence by police that his phone had been hacked. Grant also fronted a Channel 4 documentary about the tabloids on the eve of the publication of the Leveson report in November and has subsequently pledged to campaign for a new press law until the general election in 2015.”      http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/phone-hacking-scandal-hugh-grant-406272

These views were also demonstrated in the Milly Dowler case;

“Surrey police were told the phone of missing schoolgirl Milly Dowler had been hacked by the News of the World in 2002, but did nothing about it for nearly a decade, an official report by the police watchdog has revealed. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said that chance after chance to raise the alarm about phone hacking was missed by the force, with the truth only being revealed by the Guardian in 2011” http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/apr/24/police-dowler-phone-hacking

In this case, Southwark Crown Court held the pre-trial hearing Wednesday for Rebekah Brooks on several hacking charges, during 1^st January 2004 and 31^st January 2012. The second account between 9^th February 2006 and 16^th

October 2008. Amongst these charges was a further involving her personal assistant, Cheryl Carter, who was accused of conspiring with Rebekah between 6^th and 9^th July 2011. Cheryl also pleads not guilty. 

“Former news of the world journalists, the paper Mr Murdoch closed in July 2011 during the phone hacking scandal, also appeared at Southwark Crown Court and pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiracy to illegally intercept mobile phone communications” – The Independent http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/former-murdoch-editor-rebekah-brooks-and-senior-journalists-plead-not-guilty-over-news-international-phone-hacking-8645600.html

“David Cameron has acknowledged in private that he may be sitting on further cache of emails and texts to and from Rebekah Brooks after a limited search was carried out for the Leveson enquiry.”- The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/rebekahwade

“Rebekah Brooks has pleaded not guilty to phone hacking, conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and conspiracy to pay officials. The former News Of The World editor denied five charges during a pre-trial hearing in a packed courtroom at Southwark Crown Court. Brooks appeared with several other defendants, including her husband, Charlie Brooks, a racehorse trainer, who pleaded not guilty to allegations of covering up phone-hacking evidence. –Sky News http://news.sky.com/story/1099699/hacking-rebekah-brooks-pleads-not-guilty

                             

Photograph sourced from The Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/8639673/Rebekah-Brooks-former-CEO-of-News-International-resigns-over-phone-hacking-scandal.html?image=5

Although the public are generally outraged with the concept of phone hacking we are still left wondering, is this really a step too far by the media or were these journalists simply doing their job to feed our ever growing thirst for invasive and celebrity news?