Tech

Arsenal and CRM returning £150 million from sponsorship deal

CRM, Football, Sport, Tech, Thought Provoking

It seems that Arsenal are already making back what they invested in their CRM system and Marketing Week reports that it was a key factor in the decision by Emirates to sponsor Arsenal.

he Premier League club announced plans to put a new CRM system at the heart of its marketing activity this year. Emirates, which will receive a number of additional marketing rights from Arsenal as part of its new deal, says the system will lead to more “effective” marketing campaigns through the club’s customer shop, Facebook page and stadium on match-days

It shows the increasing use of CRM by major football clubs in England and this will grow for the increasing amount of revenue that could be generated by fans who don’t attend games.

“If we stop associating members with ticket access that will change the game; it’s about fan experiences. We are investing in a CRM system to register interests and passions so we can then send those people on appropriate journeys of affinity and provide access at an appropriate level.”

The club is looking to pull together customer data from its customer shop, its 10.5 million Facebook fans and official Twitter account’s 1.5 million followers and target them with different offers and membership options as it changes its definition of club “membership”. It will also introduce social sign-ins across its digital platforms to help drive additional value through Facebook.

It would be interesting to know which CRM application they used. Probably not Siebel with all of the links to social networking that the system needs to work.

iOS 6

Finland, Helsinki, Mobile, Tech

I have read all of the negative reviews of the maps feature of iOS 6. One of the apps that I use frequently is RettiGPS, an app that can tell which bus, train or metro to take to reach a particular destination in Helsinki. For some walking parts, Google Maps is really useful in finding a path to the nearest stop. On the other hand, IOS 5.1.1 did introduce the issue where my speakers and HDMI cable no longer worked with my iPhone 4S and that would be nice to have that active again. Better to wait and see if any other issues come up before upgrading the OS.

Nokia 920 PureView Lowlight performance

Arts, Photography, Tech

The most disappointing aspect of shooting photographs on the iPhone 4S is the dismal low light performance. This article from Petapixel piqued my interest about how the lowlight performance of the new Nokia 920 ranked against other cameras.

In order to back up its claim that PureView low light performance is “unbeatable”, Nokia set up a “photo challenge” booth at its launch party and invited passers-by to pit their cameraphones against the Lumia 920. The challenge involved shooting a photograph of a still life setup stuffed inside a dark cubby hole in a brick wall.

One sample comparison shows the performance is clearly impressive.

Nokia 920 sample

Competitor Sample Image

This makes me think there may be a reason to switch to Nokia during my next phone upgrade.

Why Germany is the patent litigation centre in Europe

Germany, Tech, Thought Provoking

Interesting article from the New York Times about why so many patent disputes are being fought out in German courts.

Joachim Henkel, a professor of management at the Technical University of Munich, said big international companies were often seeking to exploit the German system for strategic advantage.

Mr. Henkel said the prominent patent and intellectual property disputes in the mobile phone sector, which have also involved courts in Asia, Britain and the United States, were bogging down cutting-edge companies in court.

“All of these infringement cases in Germany, Europe, the United States and Asia are having a hampering effect on innovation globally,” Mr. Henkel said. “Usually, what masquerades as a patent dispute is in actuality a dispute motivated by business strategy.”

The process has turned the German patent courts in Mannheim, Düsseldorf and Munich into some of the most overworked in Europe.

There is no risk for bringing a patent action as the article states.

Unlike the German patent system, the American system gives judges the option of awarding proportionate damages instead of granting outright injunctions that ban sales of disputed products in cases where “irreparable harm” cannot be demonstrated.

In Germany, if a court determines that a company legally holds a patent, it can issue an injunction to ban competing uses if asked.

There is no option of granting proportional monetary damages.

CRM doing well in the downturn

CRM, Tech

CRM market doing well in the downturn according to All Things D. No mention of Siebel/Oracle though…..

He notes that Microsoft’s customer relationship management product, Dynamics, is showing up in the small-business end of the marketplace, though it’s seen as “short on user interface and features.”

And even though there was little sign of any large deals closing, Keirstead writes that the chance of Salesforce ending the quarter with billings up by about 30 percent is “promising.”

Another good indicator: The results of German software giant SAP, a key Salesforce rival, which on Tuesday reported solid numbers that defied the economic conventional wisdom.

Samsung EX2F First Impressions Review – DigitalCamerainfo.com

Photography, Tech

The more I hear about the EX2F, the more I like it. Low-light performance is a major factor in what I look for in a compact camera. Here is one of the first reviews that I have seen.

The Samsung EX2F is a premium compact camera from Samsung, with one big feature stamped right on the front: 1.4. Remember that number, because it sets the EX2F apart from just about every other compact camera on the market (as of this writing). 1.4, or more specifically, f/1.4, is the size of the camera’s aperture, the opening in the lens that allows light through when you take a photo. The smaller the number, the bigger the aperture; the bigger the aperture, the better your photos are in low light and the more blurred the scene behind your subject looks.

 

Samsung EX2F First Impressions Review – DigitalCamerainfo.com

Snapsort

Photography, Tech

Snapsort is a site I have just discovered. Since I had a crash last week, my Canon S95 is damaged beyond repair. In the same week, the Samsung EX2F has been announced and from the specs, seems like an incredible camera. The problem is that I need a carry-around camera particularly for low-light situations where the iPhone 4S camera just does not perform very well. So I was looking for something that was cheaper and would serve as a backup camera after I get the EX2F when it’s available (or the LX6/LX7?). After digging around amazon and dpreview, I saw the great reviews for the IXUS 220 (or the Canon PowerShot ELPH 300 H for North American readers)  I found the snapsort site and put in some comparisons.

Here is the comparison between the Canon IXUS 220 IS versus the Powershot S95

Surprising? 😉

Time to get that 220 IS before the weekend!