We had discussed how direct sales companies work in the charities sector. A marketing guy working with Blackcode Advertising happened to see that post and called us, to give us this valuable information…

He told us that direct sales companies nowadays get involved with humanitarian causes worldwide. They build or renovate school buildings, they conduct or support events to raise funds for cancer patients, they contribute towards buying study material and books for schools in backward areas, they help people in badly affected places like Sierra Leone, they fund orphanages and take care of the destitute…

All this, he said, is done along with the routine marketing and promotion related activities. He added, “This is good, not just because it helps lots of people worldwide and creates goodwill for the companies, but also because it gives us sales and marketing guys an opportunity to remind ourselves that it’s not just profit making and money-minting that constitutes life. We are only too elated to engage in such things”

http://www.isspdublin08.com/ wishes everyone a Happy Valentine’s Day. We’ll take a break from writing blog posts, articles, the Enza Marketing Review etc. and take the occasion to wish everyone in Ireland and all across the world a very happy Valentine’s Day.

Let love enter hearts all across the world and let the world be filled with love, happiness and peace.

Mike, my friend working with the Birmingham based ANB Promotions Ltd., comments, “It definitely is a good trend. The charities sector is now not just a sector for most companies. They approach it with a service mentality”.

Yes, he is right. Direct sales companies today see the charities sector from a totally different perspective. Of course they do good business there and get ample support for their clients- leading charities and not-for-profit organizations. But when they are on to it, the approach is not just of a business-minded marketer. They see it as an opportunity to serve society.

This may seem an ‘off the world’ thing, a more idealistic than realistic thing to happen, but then it is happening all around us. Direct sales companies go about enlightening people on the need of making donations and also creating awareness on what all charities and such organizations are doing.

They also help people make donations directly into the bank accounts of the charities and organizations.

This friend of mine works with Web Listings Inc., a US based company that optimises websites for clients. He had come across this info while surfing the web and passed it on to me too.

It’s in fact about web-designing in China. The Chinese, when they do website designing, make sure that the sites they design have elements that speak about their culture and their life. They make sure that their websites contain cultural symbols, calligraphic elements and things pertaining to their festivities.

The plus of this is that the Chinese websites teach users much about Chinese culture and also make it different and appealing. The colours too are chosen in a way as suits cultural ethos and lifestyle.

Real inspiring news indeed!

A flight to New York next month would see two dynamic marketers from Manchester flying to the US. The endeavour of these two achievers, representing Oracle Advertising, would be to help expand the direct marketing business in New York.

Jack Burnett and Jon Fremaux, two guys who turned big achievers in 2011, work with Oracle Advertising, which is a Manchester based direct sales company. In February, they would fly to New York, where their endeavour would be to help the company grow into White Plains.

Say Jack and Jon, “We are very excited about going to the US and being involved in the growth into White Plains”. We too are excited about you guys. All the best.

Major companies in UK, including Appco, 3D Organisation etc have always been encouraging online and card transactions. People too find it convenient, in many ways.

The latest reports show that Visa card transactions in Ireland have gone up 76 percent last year. Figures show that cardholder expenditure in Ireland in 2011 amounted to €13 billion and when we take Consumer Spend in Ireland, €1 in every €8 spent is through Visa cards.

Reports indicate that there are about 3.4 million Visa Cards currently in use in Ireland. Another good news is that fraud losses on Visa cards in Ireland as well as in the whole of Europe has reached an all time low in 2011.

Dave, who works for Clover Advertising, was reading this aloud from some site, for me and other friends to hear. He is from Dublin and hence cannot contain his happiness at the news.

The news that Dave was reading aloud stated that the dairy and meat sectors were the strongest performing categories, both representing about 30 per cent of total food and drink exports. Coming in second were the prepared foods, which accounted for 17 per cent of total sales. Seafood came third, with 4.5 per cent.

Dave also explained, from what he gathered from the news, that the UK was the primary destination or market for Irish food and drinks exports last year and accounted for 41 per cent of total Irish food and drink exports. The increase this year was 6 per cent. The second largest market was the European Union, with 34 percent of the total exports.

While the value of exports outside the European market grew by 20 percent in 2011, exports to Asia too have increased greatly.

“It was on April 20, 1912 that Bram Stoker passed away”, reminds a friend who works for TC World ltd. He is a fan of Bram Stokers and has always been after different adaptations of the Bram Stoker classic.

Abraham “Bram” Stoker was born on November 8, 1847 and was a short story writer, novelist and was also known then as personal assistant of actor Henry Irving and business manager of the Irving’s Lyceum Theatre, situated in London.

It was in 1897; at the age of fifty that Bram Stoker wrote ‘Dracula’ and his fame rests mainly on that, though he had penned many other novels and short stories. His other works include The Primrose Path, The Snake’s Pass, The Watter’s Mou’, Miss Betty, The Jewel of Seven Stars, The Lady of the Shroud etc.

This post is our homage to Bram Stoker on his 100 Death Anniversary year.

2011 has been a good year for us at.isspdublin08.com. All along we have been sharing with you interesting things about Dublin and Ireland. We have discussed everything from movies to elections to social issues. We have had immense support from all people, including our friends working in companies like Enigma Marketing, Clover Advertising, Enza Marketing etc who have been sending us stuff from the net.

We are immensely thankful to all those people who have made our endeavours successful by regularly reading our post and passing them on to friends. We are thankful to friends who pass us stuff, making us think and write things. We are thankful to people who made it all happen for us.

We look forward to the same kind of support in 2012 and hope to keep giving you things to read in the New Year too.

Here’s wishing you all a very happy new year once again…

I met yesterday, at the local library here, a guy who works for Enigma Marketing. He is a lover of books and has always been an admirer of Seamus Heaney. He said that he is really happy with this news; he was sure that people like him would find these papers much useful.

Seamus Heaney, who now lives in Dublin, personally packed up 12 boxes of his manuscripts and notebooks. These include draft poems, essays etc and are estimated to be worth millions. He drove to the National Library with his son Michael to deliver the manuscripts.

The 72 year of Dr. Heaney has said that he has no qualms about donating his collection free of charge, though he could have earned a fortune if that had been put up for auction. Many institutions and libraries around the world would have paid great sums to have acquired the manuscripts, which are simply priceless.

It’s to be remembered that Seamus Heaney has an intimate connection with the National Library and had even penned some of his poems in the reading room there.