It's not easy standing out from the crowd when your audience has come to expect a certain way of work - but that's not to say it can't be done. WPP's smallest agency, NOT NORM, is a key example of this as it bucks the trend and starts making a name for itself with global and local recognition alike. Here's how it's shattering local agency standards. Elaborating on the digital angle, Dee Stephens looks into just how long SEO takes to rank you at #1. The answer's not as simple as one might think, especially as there's no golden metric, single rule or small group of keywords that'll drive traffic to your site. Bottom line? It's all about knowing your audience. Jacques van Wyk adds that marketers must get to know 'Mark and Susan from Randburg' - we send out so much communication as an industry, but does our targeted reader even read it? The short answer is 'yes', but only when it's relevant and based on their interests... Lastly, we look at how EWN was awarded the title of 'digital publisher of the year' at the recent IAB Bookmark Awards 2016, with a special focus on their emoji-strong strategy employed in their Whatsapp news briefs projects, which communicates the news you need to know in the way today's consumer enjoys. Lots of learnings to improve your own business communication there.
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