Ofcom Consumer Experience Report 2010

Ofcom's 2010 report into consumer communications experiences is out now.

Highlights include:
PC/Laptop penetration now at 78%

• Take up of fixed line telephony has fallen from 94% to 84% in 10 years
• Conversely mobile has grown from 62% to 91% in the same time
• Mobile is starting to replace fixed line and mobile only homes have nearly doubled from 8% to 15% in 5 years.
• Cost of mobile is actually lower in the UK than in other major markets (hard to believe as that may be)
• Broadband penetration is up to 73%
• Mobile broadband (as main connection) at 11%, up from 8% last year
• Digital TV penetration now at 93%

See the whole thing for yourself here.

More sensory branding

Another great example of sensory branding, this time from Roche - the world's largest cancer-treating drug company - and McCann Erickson Portugal.

Breast cancer is the cancer with the highest incidence in Portugal. 4,500 new cases are detected annually and the death rate is one of the highest in Europe. The marketing challenge was to "create a simple, low-cost action that would raise awareness of the importance of self-examination".

The innovative solution was to distribute 50,000 stress balls with a stone inside, designed to simulate a lump. Each ball featured the tagline: "You don't see breast cancer. You feel it. Do the self-exam.", and was accompanied by a 'how to self-examine' leaflet.


The balls were distrubuted to women on the street, in the workplace, in hospitals and at theme-related events. And the results? A 22% increase in mammograms and a 28% increase in hospital visits.

Presentation Zen: getting your point across

We've all experienced 'death by PowerPoint', and I'm sure we've all been guilty of producing 60+ slides of mind-numbing bullet point, after bullet point, interspersed with dodgy Clip Art. Come on....admit it.

Ever nodded off at a conference? Or completely lost track of the point the speaker is trying to make? Or from the other side of the lectern, ever felt like you've lost your audience? Finding those blank stares from your audience off-putting?

Then read on...we've got some medicine for you.

It's easy to slip into - what we know, what we've always done. But it's lazy. And it's not productive. Great communication is getting your point across effectively and succinctly whilst captivating, educating and entertaining your audience.

In our quest to improve our own presentations and presenting we've been on a journey to learn from others and have assembled the following collection of tips, examples and stimulus.

Hopefully they'll provide you with enough inspiration to challenge your current presentation techniques and perhaps even advance you (and your audience) on a journey to Presentation Zen:

1. Left brain/right brain - a few tips from Seth Godin on avoiding Really Bad PowerPoint.

2. Scott Schwertly of Ethos3 argues it's all about storytelling - well Hollywood are pretty successful at drawing audiences into their presentations, night after night.

3. Where to put stuff on slides to improve composition and draw the viewer in - the rule of thirds.

4. Leave behind the projector and use a hard copy when presenting to a small audience.

5. Neat way to visualise the key point of your story using words and wordle. (Our blog's beautiful 'Word Cloud' sits at the top of the page)

6. The example below shows how PowerPoint, if done well, can get an important message across eloquently and with style.....and it presents itself! For more inspiring examples jump here.

THIRST

View more presentations from Jeff Brenman. (tags: design crisis)

7. Presentations and inspiring talks. Learn (steal, borrow) from some of the best.

8. Best 10 presentations ever? You decide.

Credit and thanks to Team Zen for source material.