A special podcast dedicated to the launch, in Belfast Harbour Commissioners, of the 2009 Edition of Ireland's Blue Book. Ireland's Blue Book is an exclusive listing of luxury accommodation in Irish Country House Hotels, Manor Houses and Castles, along with some of Ireland's top restaurants.

In the podcast I interview some of the property owners and assess the effectiveness of a very traditional marketing tool - the brochure- as a means of communicating. It seems that notwithstanding the internet, there are still huge numbers of potential tourists for whom a tangible marketing tool works when researching their options.

in this podcast a series of interviews with the keynote speakers from the 29th National Marketing Conference organised by the Marketing Institute of Ireland.

Michael Tchong ( Pictured ) has an intuitive sense for reading the future which has earned him an international reputation as one of the savviest thinkers of the information age, tracking consumer trends and translating them into emerging opportunities for marketers. From his California base Michael has developed a host of successful media and technology companies to help consumers and businesses harness the potential of new innovations, including Ubercool, the next-generation social-engagement marketing company aimed at trendsetters.

Malcolm McDonald enjoys a global reputation as a leading authority on marketing. He’s the chairman of six companies and works with the operating boards of some of the world's leading multinationals across the globe, including IBM, Tesco and BP. Formerly Marketing Director of Canada Dry, Malcolm has written over 40 books and more than 100 articles and papers. He was until recently professor of marketing at Cranfield University School of Management.

Martin Thomas
 has run just about every type of marketing communications agency during the past 25 years. He began his career in public relations, before moving into advertising, via sponsorship, entertainment marketing and new media. At the end of 2006 he decided to go out on his own with Snapper Communications - so named, not because he likes fish, but because he was accused of getting ’snappy’ in his last job, which he took as a sign to move on. He now spends his time consulting, training and writing for a number of major brand owners and agencies. In my interview with Martin I ask him to define the central thesis behind the book he has recently co-authored with David Brain - Crowdsurfing.

On this show, and interview with Marc Coleman, Newstalk's chief economist about his keynote presentation at the 29th Marketing Institute of Ireland National Marketing Conference. Ron Immink, Chief Executive of Bookbuzz,biz tells me about the concept that seeks to get executives thinking strategically through facilitated learning. The books mentioned by Ron on the show are “Break from the pack”, by Harari and “44 strategies of war” by Robert Green, and the "Wisdom of Crowds" is by James Surowiecki and 'The Herd' is by Mark Evans. Campbell Scott, CEO of IGO People discusses the new beta version of a social networking site with a difference.

In this podcast an extended interview with Camillus O'Brien from marketing consultancy True North and Frank Osinga from BiTS in Communications of Amsterdam who have jointly introduced to Ireland the BiTS Method™ which allows clients to achieve profitable marketing communications. Also in the show I talk to Marketing Institute of Ireland, Chief Executive Tom Trainor about the line-up for the National Marketing Conference taking place on Wednesday November 5th and we have a Brief Word on Branding with Gerard Tannam.

In this podcast we talk to Paul Moran about the 2008 summer media performances, Volvo's sponsorship of amateur golf in Ireland is put under the spotlight and finally Andy Owen previews his forthcoming seminar 'Discover the Secrets of Successful Direct Marketing' being held in Dublin on September 18th in Radisson SAS Royal Hotel. More details at www.persuadersonline.com

Richard Delevan is my guest presenter for this show. Recorded on July 4th, it assesses the state of Brand America in the world today, and asks how much a nation brand can actually be managed. Richard's guests are Harry Browne from DIT, Pat Kinsley from Neworld brand consultants and Simon Anholt, consultant in city and nation branding. The link to the Andy Owen 'Discover the secrets of sucessful direct marketing', taking place on September 18th is HERE.

Interview with Michael Wallace, Commercial Director for Loadzajobs.ie about the trends in online recruitment, plus Brent Koepke, Creative Director from Fareed, Zapala Koepke, an Orlando based hospitality marketing consultancy about the state of the creative sector in US advertising. Brent also shares with us some specific case-studies of best practice.

Interview with Colm Carey from The Research Centre where we discuss the trends in qualitative research, practical qualitative research case study examples such as Bulmers marketing, and the rational and emotional drivers of purchasing behaviour.

Timelines:

1'21" Talking about The Research Business

2'24" The emotional part of purchasing

5'35" The characteristics of qualitative research

9'10" Engaging customers

15'20" Barry's Tea and Bulmers cases

21'00" Involving senior management in the research process

Verge, Ogilvy's Global Digital Summits examine the latest trends on how digital media is being used by consumers and businesses. Verge has been run in many international markets across several continents. Verge's first Dublin Summit took place on Friday, June 13, 2008, at the Guinness Storehouse. Speakers at the event included some of the leading international experts in the field including Shelly Lazarus, chairman and chief executive of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide; Paul O'Donnell, chairman OgilvyOne EAME and Maeve Donovan, managing director, The Irish Times. In this special podcast you can hear interviews with: David Wheldon, Global Brand Director, Vodafone Group, Patou Nuytemans, Ogilvy's digital leader in EAME and JP Donnelly, Group Chief Executive Ogilvy Group Ireland.

Interview with David Murphy from Salesonline.ie about the impending establishment of an Irish chapter of the Internet Advertising Bureau. In the interview we also discuss general trends in internet advertising. Plus Gerard Tannam from Islandbridge,com returns for his regular look at branding; this month's topic is Branding in the Downturn.

In this Persuaders Marketing Podcast an interview with Dick Stroud, author and lecturer on the subject of marketing to the 50 plus segment. Dick, who manages his own consultancy 20plus30 was my guest at The Persuaders Pudding Club held on June 12th in the The Westbury Hotel in Dublin city centre. We had about 40 attendees and his presentation, sans Powerpoint, was warmly received by those there, who represented a diverse range of marketing professionals from agencies, research companies and clients. There is also an interview with Ann Murtagh, who was our host for the evening from the Westbury.

The An Post Direct Marketing Awards have celebrated and recognised the best in Irish Direct Marketing. The 2008 Awards were presented at The Mansion House on Thursday 8th May. It was a fantastic evening and The Persuaders was there to record some of the proceedings. In this short podcast I interview some of the finalists and winners including Gary Brown from RMG Target, who scooped the Agency of the Year title.

This podcast was recorded in New York on May 1st at the launch of the new campaign ‘Discover Ireland’s Wonderful West’. The campaign was designed to highlight the many attractions of the Western regions from Kerry to Donegal, including ease of direct access from many gateway cities, the good value fares and inclusive packages available, as well as showcasing a range of compelling offers from local industry. Advertising, direct marketing, eMarketing, lifestyle and media promotions, publicity and co-operative activity with carriers, tour operators and industry partners all form part of the campaign. This will be additional activity over and above Tourism Ireland’s core overseas marketing programme for 2008. The new campaign focuses mainly on the US market which is the most lucrative in terms of spend and length of stay; €2.4m will be spent in the US. It will capitalise on the direct services to Shannon this year by four major carriers (Aer Lingus, Continental, Delta and US Airways) from six important gateways (New York, Boston, Chicago, Newark, Atlanta and Philadelphia). While direct transatlantic access into Shannon Airport will be reduced in peak season this year, there is still a considerable capacity of 6,700 seats per week to target. In the podcast I interview representatives from Tourism Ireland, Failte Ireland as well as Irish trade participants and attendees representing US tour operators who feature Ireland.

Out of Home Advertising is the topic discussed in this MediaDialogues special edition of The Persuaders Marketing Podcast. Out of Home Advertising is the last mass medium. How will it adapt in the age of personalisation? The Cream of International and National Experts on Out of Home give their views on the challenges and opportunities facing the Out of Home Industry from the point of view of Agency, Client, Specialist and Media Owner.

In this podcast an interview with Simon Anholt about the Anholt City Brands index where he discusses the metrics that are involved in the index and the challenges for city branding. There is also an interview with Irish Search Engine specialists Vazumo and towards the end of the interview I speak to John Fareed of Fareed, Zapala Koepke about the changing nature of luxury in hospitality marketing.

Prangle is a free online resource for journalists, providing the latest news and information. Prangle is a web feed that cuts through the spam and clutter to put key new releases where you can find them quickly and easily. In this podcast from The Persuaders Marketing Podcast series I interview founder Douglas Dalby who left The Sunday Times to work full-time on Prangle. We discuss the way that traditional press is adapting to the online environment, and the background to the setting up of Prangle.ie

It's official - the Boomtown Rats had it completely wrong. Well, if Irish marketing recruiters Prosperity have their way. Working with branding consultancy Gospel TM the company have developed a bold communications message built around the proposition that the route to happiness firstly lies in being happy in one's career. The theme of 'happiness' in all its manifestations has provided Prosperity with a rich vein from which to mine persuasive messages across all media platforms. Listen to my discussion with Gary Mullen from Prosperity and Marty Wright from Gospel TM to find out more.....

Albert Maruggi started Provident Partners, a full-service marketing firm, to work with clients who want to communicate in different ways and actively build their businesses. The company holds as its philosophy - The thoughtful pursuit of being different, while relating to what’s common, is the art and science of business communications. In my interview with Albert we discuss how he is advising his clients on social media ( indeed if social media is a term that's relevant ) and also some other topical issues in today's multi-media marketing environment.

In the second of the Marketing from the Middle of Nowhere series with Alex Gibson and Sharon McIntyre, a look at off-the-beaten-path hotels and lodges that have made their location a must-visit tourist and lifestyle destination for distinct audiences In the show we discuss how a distinct positioning can be developed to help these accommodations compete with local competition, but how they can also make a mark on a more global stage by marshalling the local advantages they have in tandem with the global distribution opportunities that the web offers. Main sites mentioned on the show...

Ice House hotel

CafeParadiso

Wickaninnish Inn

Nipika Mountain Resort

Trendwatching

Park Hotel, Kenmare

In part one of this podcast we talk to three of the participants at the Irish Direct Marketing Association digital media conference, Tom Bazeley, Managing Director, Lean Mean Fighting Machine, Jonathan Forrest, Cybercom and Jay Stephens, Myspace.com In part two an interview with Justin Kirby, writer on word of mouth marketing from DMC who writes the Connected Marketing blog.

Marketing from the Middle of Nowhere™ A series of case-based discussions between two international marketers & academics, Alex Gibson and Sharon McIntyre, about best-practices for marketing small businesses in a global marketplace. The Irish Gibson and Canadian/Irish McIntyre select a shared industry (such as ecotourism), or a shared marketing technique (such as pricing strategy); choose a local successful small business; and then examine the how the respective businesses have excelled. A sense of "place" anchors the discussions: Ireland and Canada have similarities including mythic natural landscapes, sparsely populated geography, proximity to market-giant neighbours, and innovative small businesses. While international listeners and readers may not initially place, for example, Tralee (Ireland) or Edmonton (Canada) on a map of the world; they will think of these towns as wellsprings of off-the-beaten-path innovation, after hearing of the global marketing success of Stockbyte in the online photography industry, and Bioware in the video gaming world. The cases will demonstrate that, in an internet-enabled marketplace, a marketing-savvy small business can thrive and carve out a global market niche. In fact, running a business "from the middle of nowhere" can often be a strategic business advantage. Companies mentioned in this first podcast in the series are

Cartrawler.com

iStockphoto.com

AbeBooks

Wowjobs.com

Interview with Sver Hogen from Flytoget, winner of the HSMAI Norway marketing awards for their campaign for the rapid rail service linking Olso with its main airport, plus our regular look at issues in Small Business Branding with Gerard Tannam.

Gareth Moxham is Managing Director of Bird's Eye Food in Ireland. Arriving in Ireland in 2006, he has a wealth of experience in several blue chip marketing operations in the UK. In the interview Gareth discusses the marketing challenges faced by the FMCG marketer today. Don't foget that you can now leave comments on podcasts and suggestions for future topics on my Skype Voicemail service. You can call from ANY phone to + 353 1 443 4745 - I would love to hear from you.

An interview with Tomi Ahonen one of the most influential writers today on Mobile Marketing trends. Recorded at the time of the launch of the iPhone, my interview with Tomi is extended to the broader area of mobile phone technologies, user behaviour and marketing strategies. Tomi has published 5 influential books and has a highly respected blog on the evolution of marketing communities around mobile technology which can be accessed HERE

Sales Lead podcast. Interview with Paul Lanigan from Sandler Sales Institute Ireland about the sales lead process, sales lead generation and the managing the relationship between sales and marketing functions. Plus interview with Paddy Power, Marketing Director of Paddypower.com about the marketing strategies employed by Europe's most innovative online betting company.

Happy New Year to all the listeners to The Persuaders Marketing Podcast. This podcast has four interviews:

1'45" Cathy Mc Govern from Inspiration discusses a viral marketing case study on the campaign for the Dublin On Ice event.

8'40" Des Kavanagh from Ogilvy, discusses the creative execution behind the most recent Carlsberg ad from his time at its creators, Irish International.

13'55" Small Business Branding Podcast - our regular look at this issue in association with Islandbridge.com - in this segment an interview with Garbiel Dooley from Dooley Estates about the challenges in branding an real estate business.

26'40" Seamus Bagnall, editor of Irish Marketing Journal gives me his thoughts on the Irish marketing highlights from 2007.

In this episode of The Persuaders Marketing Podcast, an interview with Niall O'Grady, General Manager - Marketing for Permanent TSB, who recently won the Marketer of the Year Award from Marketing Magazine. Plus, we discuss the background to the latest Guinness advertising campaign 'Tipping Point' with Grainne Wafer, Marketing Manager for Guinness Ireland.