Matt Somers is a coaching practitioner of many years’ experience. In 1999 he founded Peak (now known as Matt Somers – Coaching Skills Training) and has since worked with a host of clients in North East England – where the firm is based – and throughout the UK and Europe.

Matt understands that people are working with their true potential locked away. He shows how coaching provides a simple yet elegant key to this lock and how releasing potential in this way transforms the performance of all organisations.

Through their work with client organisations Matt and his team have found that coaching represents the most effective way of developing sustainable high performance as it is an intervention that is both performance focused and yet performer centred. The firm has developed coaching interventions for organisations as diverse as Toyota Europe, Citigroup and the City of Edinburgh Council.

‘Matt is definitely not a “low achiever”!

The programme remained interesting and stimulating over the 2 days. Matt held my attention well and has helped me grow and develop myself. An excellent course with an excellent trainer!!’

Leila Hashemi, Customer Relations Advisor

Toyota Europe

‘This course has made me very self-aware…invaluable! Would recommend to all’

Sharenya Kumar, Training Officer

Citigroup

‘This course was fun, informative and useful. I would recommend it to anyone wishing to develop their coaching skills’

Karen Saunders, Team Leader, Supporting People

Edinburgh City Council

Matt is a regular speaker and the author of many articles on coaching. His book Coaching at Work was published by John Wiley in 2006 and its follow up, Instant Manager: Coaching by Hodder & Stoughton in 2008.
Matt holds a MSc in Human Resource Development, is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development and an active member of the Association for Coaching, who have quality assured our core programme.

To find out more about ‘Coaching Skills Training’ please visit our website at www.mattsomers.com

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Helping managers motivate their people to higher levels of performance

At last an alternative to constantly having to tell people what to do and how to do it!

Read more »

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Orange has won the rights to sell the Apple iPhone in the UK, ending O2’s two-year exclusive agreement with the technology group.

The French-owned group is to sell the smartphone in its stores and online from later this year. Similar announcements are expected to follow from other major British phone companies.

In a statement, Orange said: “Orange UK and Apple have reached an agreement to bring iPhone 3G and 3GS to Orange UK customers later this year.”

The group declined to give pricing details. The gadget arrived in the UK in 2007 with a hefty price tag. The basic handset cost £269 but Britons also had to sign-up to a contract costing £35-£55 a month for a minimum of 18 months. That put the cost of the handset and contract at between £899 and £1,259 over 18 months.

The auction for the exclusive UK rights to sell the iPhone two years ago was one of the most fiercely contested mobile battles since the £22.5 billion auction of 3G rights 2000.

O2’s win marked a huge coup for the group, providing it with a major advantage in the battle to win and retain customers.

In February, O2 revealed it had sold one million iPhones in this country while the launch in June of the latest model, the iPhone 3GS, has accelerated weekly sales.

As well as helping O2 to win subscribers from other networks, it has also substantially boosted the company’ mobile data revenue as subscribers have used the phone to access the internet and download applications.

Vittorio Colao, chief executive of Vodafone, conceded earlier this year that the company’s UK business was being damaged because it did not have the rights to the iPhone.

The loss of its exclusive deal comes at a bad time for O2, which has already been toppled from top position in the UK mobile market by the recent tie-up of Orange and T-Mobile, the German owned mobile operator.

The merger will create Britain’s largest mobile network with a market share of 37 per cent.

When the iPhone was launched, in 2007, Apple struck single operator deals in the UK, Germany, France and the US.

But, in a bid to maximise sales, the California-based group began signing agreements with more than one operator in each country.

The iPhone was originally sold by O2 as a contract-only phone although today it is available on pay-as-you-go as well.

A spokesman for O2, said: “This is not unexpected. We are proud to have been able to offer it first but our relationship with Apple is a very very strong one and will continue to be. It is not like it has been taken away from us.”

Source : The Times

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Sainsbury’s will serve as the exclusive online partner of the newly-added food vertical of the official website for The X Factor (http://itv.com/xfactor) and will provide this year’s 12 finalists with cooking lessons. Fans will be able to view the lessons online.

When the finalists move into The X Factor house, Sainsbury’s will provide its resident food experts and stars of its latest ad campaign, the Try Team, to teach the performers how to cook healthy meals.

The Sainsbury’s Try Team is made up of 12 food experts, who were introduced in June as part of a TV campaign alongside Jamie Oliver. It has carried out demonstrations across the UK in stores and at foods shows encouraging consumers to experiment with food and cooking.

The Try Team will visit The X Factor house each week to take the finalists through a variety of meals made from healthy basic ingredients. FremantleMedia Enterprises Digital team will film the cooking lessons which will be added to The X Factor website.

Sainsbury’s will create The X Factor-themed recipes that the Try Team will cook with the contestants. These will be available on the Sainsbury’s website, Facebook and on in-store tip cards, so that viewers and fans can also try them out.

Kate Bradshaw, Deputy MD & Head of Online Commissioning for ITV said: “We look forward to working with the Sainsbury’s Try Team to bring The X Factor fans more content and greater insight into life in the X Factor house.”

The first cooking lesson will take place during the first week in the house, at the end of September.

Source : Marketing Magazine

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Coca-Cola’s marketing will evolve into content management as the soft drinks giant pursues “a far more aggressive digital presence”, according to Coke’s top marketer Joseph Tripodi.

Speaking to Marketing Week at the launch of Coke’s 2010 FIFA World Cup marketing plan at FIFA headquarters in Zurich, executive vice-president and chief marketing and commercial officer Tripodi said “dramatic changes” in the nature of consumer engagement are driving the shift in the way the business interacts with customers.

To that end, all eyes at Coke’s Atlanta HQ are on the impressive performance of both CokeZone, Coca-Cola’s online portal in the UK, and My Coke Rewards, its more developed US version. Both sites offer consumers the chance to gather points with every purchase which can be swapped for a range of content, experiences and prizes.

“With My Coke Rewards we have 13 million names,” said Tripodi. “With that kind of database you can build relationships with consumers that are very different from the ones you gain through TV ads.”

As the relationship develops, says Tripodi, so the number of possibilities grow. “You start to evolve your thinking about how to engage them, beyond giving away T-shirts.

“One of the things we’re talking about now is how we evolve as a marketing entity around the world. We’re pushing for a far more aggressive digital presence. What we’re going for more and more will be developing compelling content. Some will be consumer generated, some of it we’ll buy, some of it we’ll create ourselves. The idea is to flex that content out over different digital endpoints.”

Courtesy of MarketingWeek.co.uk

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30th September 2009

Join one of the UK’s most awarded creatives on his crusade against the self-indulgent, the vague and the dull and enlist on his quest for the intelligent, the clear, the engaging and the relevant.

When Steve Harrison launched his book How to do better creative work in June, here’s what leading figures in marketing had to say:

“Steve is one of the dying breed of creative directors that clients crave.” Charlie Smith, Head of Brand and Marketing, Vodafone UK

“I came away with 10-12 things I wanted to share with the rest of the team at glue and it also fortunately gave me some confidence that we’re getting a lot of this right already” Mark Cridge, CEO, glue London

“Steve is one of the few people capable of looking at a notoriously self-obsessed industry and saying ‘The Emperor has no clothes.’ And he’s one of an even smaller number who can look at its problems and say ‘Here’s how you fix it.’” Jon Steel, author of Truth, Lies and Advertising and Perfect Pitch.

“This is essential for anyone who wants to demystify the creative process. Harrison’s simple common-sense approach makes you wonder why so many campaigns fail so spectacularly” Larissa Vince, Campaign magazine

Now here’s your chance to “demystify the creative process” in an audience with Steve Harrison. As creative director at OgilvyOne Worldwide and HTW, he won more domestic and international awards in his discipline than any other creative director in the world – and he did so for such clients as Vodafone, IBM, The Royal Marsden Hospital, Rolls-Royce, American Express, Xerox, BT, Royal Mail and Microsoft.

It will be our pleasure to welcome you to this highly creative and interactive evening on 30 September. Just make sure you reserve your places as there are only a limited number of seats available. Learn how to:

• identify and apply the simple problem/solution dynamic
• draw on the problem/solution dynamic for your big marketing ideas
• use “relevant abruption” to produce big creative ideas
• simultaneously build a brand AND get response

Whatever your sector, discipline, function or experience, you’ll come away with advice you can use and a proven framework to consistently persuade customers that your product is better than the competition’s.

Detailed joining instructions will be provided by email seven days before the event.

Agenda

Sponsor this event

This evening will be marketed to the IDM’s members and customers, and offers a cost effective route to a higher company or product profile and the opportunity to develop relationships with the 60-100+ senior marketers who attend. In return, IDM members and guests benefit from attendance fees held at 2007 prices.

The sponsor package comprises:

• Sole sponsorship of the event and billing with the IDM
• Logo and link on all event promotional material, including:
  • Member and customer communications
  • Solus emails to our member and customer database
  • Event webpage on the IDM website
• Exhibition stand within the refreshment area
• Mention of sponsor in opening and closing speeches
• Title and holding PowerPoint slides displayed during event
• Insert into the delegate pack
• Opportunity to offer added value items/research/case studies to delegates in post event correspondence
• 4 delegate seats

Event Sponsor Package @ £500 + VAT

To secure this opportunity contact Lisa Turner on 0208 614 0255 or email lisaturner@theidm.com.

Venue

Our venue is the CBI Conference Centre, Centre Point Tower, 103 New Oxford Street, London, WC1A 1DU. Download map.

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Firms are increasingly looking to social networking site Twitter as a more economical means of e-marketing, according to Deborah Collier, chief strategist at e-business consultancy Echo E-Business.

Collier says: “Email marketing offers a channel to directly target subscribers, however the return on investment, particularly for smaller businesses, is still fairly low in comparison to other media channels.

The biggest email marketing value for many businesses, particularly in the B2B markets, is in relationship and brand building over a period of time, supporting the overall sales process. Now we have Twitter to do that, and it’s free.

“From restaurant bookings to product launches, Twitter has now become a de facto tool, not only for relationship building, but also sales.

“It’s important to remember, however, that it’s not what tool you use, but also why, how and when to use it. With any strategy it’s important to ensure that you are in the right place at the right time, and that your message is communicated effectively.”

Courtest of Recruiter.co.uk

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Simple, inclusive and enjoyable, holding a coffee morning in the workplace on the 25 September is an excellent opportunity to get staff together and engage them in a common cause.

One of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs, Dragons Den’s Deborah Meaden, is helping Macmillan to raise awareness of the business benefits of getting involved in the World’s Biggest Coffee Mornings. Deborah says; “It is easy in this digital age to forget just how important face to face contact is in business. There couldn’t be an easier way to get your colleagues together and build relationships than joining the world’s biggest coffee morning. And the icing on the cake is that all the money raised will help Macmillan reach and improve the lives of over two million people living with cancer in the UK.”
 
The world’s biggest coffee morning is one of the biggest fundraising events in the UK, with over two million people taking part last year. Supported by businesses and retailers of all sizes, over 50,000 coffee mornings are expected to be held across the country. Macmillan provides essential information, expert medical care, emotional support and financial help not only to people diagnosed with cancer but also their family and carers.

Charles Byrne, Head of Corporate Partnerships and Events at Macmillan says: “With the widespread cutting of  budgets, supporting a fundraising event like the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning provides a simple and cost effective way to improve morale among staff, while raising money for people affected by cancer.”

This year npower aims to beat last years total of £108,000 raised and is looking forward to taking part again this year as employee engagement levels for the world’s biggest coffee morning are huge with almost every site taking part.

Carol Hart, Community Involvement Manager at npower explains: “We have a large and diverse workforce at npower, so finding something that is fun and engaging for everyone is no simple task. We’ve been supporting the world’s biggest coffee morning since 2004 and with almost all of our employees taking part, it’s something that is very important to the business.”

“The world’s biggest coffee morning is really enjoyable, it raises money for a cause that will affect us all – either directly or indirectly – and it brings people together. I’d recommend it to any business or workplace.”

To find out how to make your coffee count click here

Source : The HR Director

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T-Mobile and Orange plan to merge their UK businesses, creating a mobile phone giant with 28.4 million customers.

If completed, a deal between Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile and Orange owner France Telecom would see a firm with sales of 9.4bn euros (£8.2bn; $13.5bn).

It would be the UK’s largest provider, overtaking Telefonica’s O2, with about 37% of the mobile market.

It is the second large corporate action in two days, after Kraft Food’s £10.2bn takeover proposal for Cadbury.

Orange and T-Mobile said their deal – due to be signed by November – would “bring substantial benefits to UK customers”, and promised expanded network coverage, better network quality and improved customer services.

However, it is likely that competition authorities in the UK and EU will probe the deal.

‘Efficiencies’

Both brands would remain separate for the first 18 months after the deal was completed while branding options were reviewed.

Orange chief executive Tom Alexander would lead the new company, with T-Mobile’s UK boss Richard Moat as chief operating officer.

Orange employs 12,500 people in the UK, while T-Mobile has a UK workforce of 6,500.

A spokeswoman confirmed there would be “efficiencies” that could be made across both businesses – but said it was too early to give details of any impact on staff.

Integrating the businesses would cost between £600m and £800m, the firms said. This bill would include decommissioning mobile phone masts, cutting back the network of stores and streamlining other operations.

Over time, savings should reach about £3.5bn, they added.

Source : BBC News

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