Online marketing strategy and interactive marketing plans

AvantBrand has been assigned to develop and implement the interactive campaign of LGAF, the integrated online services of the Greek municipalities. This is only one example of elaborate online marketing strategies which we have developed. Another example of such work, for Romtelecom, covers initial analysis of the existing strategy, SWOT and recommendations as well guidelines for implementation.

In the last 12 months, we have witnessed an increased need by large Greek brands and business as well as public organisations to look for well-executed online marketing strategies and interactive marketing plans which form a structured pillar of their whole business strategy. Interestingly, this development also covers smaller brands which are quickly taking up the opportunities offered by the Internet.

Online marketing strategy training

We recently organized a two-day training session for senior business leaders in Bucharest to improve their skills to understand, plan and implement online marketing strategies. Session was done in collaboration with the head of Edelman Digital Europe and a leading Romanian branding and online marketing company, Grapefruit.

The 15-strong group of attendees learned about the possibilities linked to the use of social media and various online tools, SEO/SEM, European best practice on digital marketing and how to create sustainable relationships between business and customers in the online environment.

Internet attacks and online crisis management

AvantBrand has carried out several crisis management projects where attacks against brands and companies’ reputation have been initiated in the Internet. The sectors in which we have worked cover telecoms, banking, energy, pharmaceuticals and consumer goods.

We use our proprietary Alexandrian Online Monitoring Platform and specialised consultants who can combine the state-of-the-art technical infrastructure and profound business understanding to ensure that the client knows exactly what is going on in the Internet regarding the brands in question. Based on the analysis of what has happened, past experience and scenario building for the future, we advise the client what the right action would be. This can vary from traditional crisis management using mainstream media relations to using social media and internet as a medium to pass crucial messages and to engage in dialogue which aims at building trust and reputation.
Eurobank
AvantBrand helped and supported Eurobank in the finalisation and launch of their new Internet banking system in 2008-2009. Our company elaborated the communications plan and the internal communications activities and supported the client in the implementation of these plans.

After the launch, AvantBrand curated and produced content on interactive and Internet banking to improve Google first page results and helped in SEO initiatives.

HOL IPTV site construction

AvantBrand designed, developed and implemented the site of the new IPTV offering of Hellas Online in the spring 2009. The fully featured website included some flash-elements, but in order to ensure good SEO most of it was coded in HTML. The implementation covered also copywriting and content development and the AvantBrand continues to provide content management service to HOL.

Online monitoring for various sectors

AvantBrand currently provides online monitoring services to clients in four industry areas (telecoms, energy, consumer electronics and retail business). Our clients are large international and domestic companies as well as Government agencies, companies and/or institutions.

The Alexandrian Online Monitor  is first Greek online buzz and blog monitor and was launched by AvantBrand in the autumn 2007. It has been used by more than 20 Greek brands since. The proprietary aggregator search engine works on basis of keywords looking for coverage in any language from all blogs, portals, chat sites, social media platforms and bulletin boards. The findings are analysed by one of our associates against the credibility and popularity of the author of the comments and reported to the client. The report includes a live link to the ongoing online discussion and a brief description of the original post, assessment of positivity or negativity of the post(s) and possibly recommendations for reaction. Frequency of the report will be decided with the client. AvantBrand also provides a license for client organisations to use the Alexandrian Monitor on their own should clients so wish.

Our clients make use of this intelligence report even on daily basis. Sometimes, we propose to use a longer-term perspective to findings by providing trend analysis of online reputation, customer care and engagement with social media. Those AvantBrand clients who are either institutional or regulatory bodies, use the online conversation intelligence to develop better consultation and policy procedures.

Internet and social media tools for political communications and campaigns

Together with its sister company, Communication Effect (a strategic public relations and communication company), AvantBrand published a detailed survey on the usage and penetration of Internet and Social Media in political communications and campaigns in Greece (insert link to the survey 4 months ago!).

For the 2008 General Elections in Greece, AvantBrand developed a communications platform for political campaigning called Kampania.net. This platform was used successfully by several politicians from both leading parties as it includes a complete mix of simple tools and techniques which can be organised in a strategic communications and campaign plan that accommodates individual needs and local requirements in the domestic market. The platform was improved in the wake of the new general elections of 2009 and used by candidates of both leading Greek political parties.

Online marketing and integrated campaigns

AvantBrand was assigned to plan and implement the integrated online marketing campaign for “Smart Business in Greece”, a project by the University of Athens for Economics and Business (UAEB, ex-ASOEE) under the auspices of Ministry of Development. AvantBrand was in charge of the whole online strategy, harnessing the right mix of online media and platforms, ie

• successful  site and blogger engagement (www.knowhow.gr/smartbusiness)
• LinkedIn networking and Group activation
• Twitter and Facebook accounts
• Video production and YouTube channel operation
• Offline network stimulus in order to support the online outlets

Content management for onine marketing and integrated marketing campaigns

AvantBrand and Communication Effect team has supported several clients in online content management from summer cosmetics (sunscreens etc.) marketing to technology (printing & imaging) and entertainment. Some further examples cover clients such as Romtelecom, Information Society S.A., The Greek Telecoms and Postal Authority.

The company’s own blog scores regularly high on search engines on themes and for which the AvantBrand is working. In addition, Stathis Haikalis and Teemu Lehtinen are active in the Greek blogosphere, Twitter, LinkedIn and other fora.