In between global economic meltdown, a royal wedding, the Arab spring and Kim Kardashian’s marriage there’s been plenty happening in 2011. So has it left you breathless, tired out and not in a Christmas mood? Or are you positively bursting at the seams for some Yuletide fun? Checking across our office it’s clear that people are falling into two distinct camps, one that is positively cheery and the other completely humbug.

This got us thinking about how the year had left people feeling about Christmas. As always these days, Twitter is a great place to look for immediate opinions on subjects. And with that we’ve decided to do away with a Christmas card - instead, this season we’re using Twitter to help people spread Christmas joy or humbug, dependent on their mood.

We’ve created a microsite, which acts as a pinboard for people’s tweets that are hashtagged #traxmas or #trahumbug. The tweets are then converted into hashtag snowflakes and dependent on how cheerful or miserable the messages are the scene changes. At the last check it was 74% cheery so things are looking quite rosy for Christmas at the moment.

One thing is for certain, regardless of the final result it’s generated a lot of interest and delivers an engaging way of presenting and recording the mood on Twitter. If you’d like to add your opinion to the scene visit http://traxmas.realadventure.co.uk today and add your Tweet!

I’ve read much about the potential demise of the ‘big idea’ in marketing. That social media is in danger of turning the creative business into the message business. But actually I think it’s the reverse.

Creatively, the likes of Facebook and Twitter have raised the bar

It’s not simply about coming up with a great TV execution that ports visually online and is replicated in print. It’s about adding more heart to the idea and looking to see how we can make more creative use of social media channels to enhance and add depth to a campaign.

The truth is we need to do this

Consumers have become much more selective and harder to please. Simply talking at them won’t cut it. They want to play with brands in their own time and way. In much the same way they like to watch their favourite TV shows when they want to, not when the schedules decree. Social media enables us to offer that flexibility. And people like that. Brands that get this, get ahead faster.

Above the line is now a door

It’s the entry point to potentially far richer experiences that deliver (often immediate) genuine rewards and dialogue. There are very few consumers who don’t like hearing their own voices or being recognized on a bigger stage.

The result? Overall higher ROI, better brand loyalty and awareness

We’ve extended the efficacy and longevity of campaigns by developing additional films and features (from games to quizzes and competitions to simply asking pertinent questions) for Facebook and Twitter. They elicit conversations, active participation and encourage further engagement. Everything feeds back in to the original idea, making it bigger and more inclusive.

But you don’t need a massive ATL budget to make it work

A good idea takes root anywhere, so even more modest budgets can make social media work creatively to support existing campaigns or even actively create engagement independently. You just need to factor in the requirements of these channels into your concepts. Remember, we need to engage people. Give them real reasons to respond and engage. Reach out to your audience in a manner you know they’ll love.

Saying social media is killing the big idea is missing the point

It’s not just about messaging and chat. People who say that are missing the point. It’s like saying that every company has just one phoneline. The truth is social media can message, provide support and engage and entertain.

It’s equally crazy to say everything needs huge amounts of social media exposure

Does the campaign REALLY merit social media elements above and beyond a basic level? Is the return on investment going to justify the investment of time and money? So think carefully.

As a creative the challenge is very much on to see how we can expand our ideas to have relevance and return within social media. And here’s the best bit, you don’t need huge amounts of money to make it work. In fact you don’t necessarily need a massive TV budget. Just a good idea and plan.

UK websites have been granted one year by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in which to comply with new legislation concerning the use of cookies. It requires website owners to obtain ‘positive’ consent from users, before a cookie is used to retrieve information about their online browsing behaviour.

The revised EU e-Privacy Directive, which becomes law today, means that websites will be moving from an ‘opt-out’ to an ‘opt-in’ in terms of a user’s acceptance of website cookies. We are in the process of finalising a plan of action for complying with the directive; this will outline a number of steps to be taken in the interim, to ensure that our clients’ websites are fully compliant by next year.

We commonly use Google Analytics to track the performance of our websites and online activity through the use of cookies. Using an analytics package (and therefore cookies) is essential for us to be able to determine performance, identify areas for improvement, set goals and ultimately improve our clients’ websites and users’ experiences.

The UK  Government is currently working with leading web browser manufacturers including Microsoft (Internet Explorer), Google (Chrome), Mozilla (Firefox) and Apple (Safari) in order to identify how web browsers could incorporate a more prominent method for users to ‘opt-in’ to cookie usage. This would be the ideal solution to minimise disruption to the user experience.

Everything is going online, apparently: grocery shopping, newspapers, music, booking holidays. We use Facebook or MSN to talk to friends rather than telephoning, and I’m not sure when I last bought an envelope…

But the largely unstoppable momentum of e-banking, e-shopping, e-everything seems increasingly driven by companies trying to drive down cost without passing these benefits back to their customers.  I haven’t had a paper electricity bill for nearly 3 years, since they suggested I did everything online, in return for which I would get a £15 annual saving on my bill. Not much, you might say, but definitely more than nothing.

Those generous days seem to be long gone. I’ve banked with First Direct for nearly 15 years, and handled most of my transactions online for the last couple. But every time I log on, they smack me in the face with this…

No hint of  ‘what’s in it for me’, nor a word about the savings FD will make from not having to process, print and despatch 12 monthly statements. Hmmmm.

And only last week, my mobile phone provider (from whom I also get broadband) wrote to inform me

More and more customers have asked us to provide full details in their bills, so we’re replacing the summary bill with itemised one for everyone. You’ll now be able to see exactly how you’ve used your phone - down to the time, length and cost of each call.

As it costs more to provide you with these itemised paper bills, these will cost you £1.47 per month.

I seem to remember a few years ago, when I was first a customer, I had itemised bills as standard. It was a great help for deciphering business vs personal calls. But now I have to pay for the privilege. I was going to shame them with a clue, but nothing rhymes with their name. Hmmmm.

Not everything is better online. The Argos and Ikea catalogues are staple items in households across the country. Glossy magazines and weekend newspapers help us create small windows of tranquility. Paper bills delivered through our letterbox can be important reminders to review what we’re spending, a useful event each month that makes us feel secure, or at least enables us to take action.

Online accounts put the onus on the customer to do the work, so I logged onto my electricity account for the first time in ages yesterday and discovered my account is in credit by over £100. They evidently thought I didn’t really care that I’ve effectively been overpaying and they’ve been sitting on my cash for months. So I’ve taken action on that.

Online relationships with brands can be more convenient and easier for all parties, but they should still be a dialogue, they need work, and they should not be taken for granted.

SEO should never be seen as an activity separable from the build of a website. It should be totally integral to that build - taken into account when defining

- the site architecture (how do I structure the site in a way that search engines will like?)

- the design (should I use graphical headers and if so, how can I make these search-engine friendly?)

- and the copywriting (what keywords should I be including in my copy?).

The guys over at cre8pc.com have some interesting view on web usability and SEO. Including “No matter how hard you try, there is always something wrong with your website“…there are always improvements that can be made to usability that affect conversion, referral and traffic.

Here’ their list of top 10 things that drive visitors crazy - that we should all take note of when designing our sites.