New Legislation Improves Field Marketing Jobs
Recent legislation affecting agency workers’ rights could have a major impact on many field marketing agencies. The new changes, which came into effect on October 1st, mean that after 12 continuous weeks of employment in the same role, agency workers will have the same basic employment rights as staff hired directly by a business.
Previous changes have seen agency workers able to benefit from the national minimum wage, the right to work 48 hours or less during an average week and a paid holiday allowance, but it was often argued that the legislation did not go far enough.
Following the new changes, field marketing jobs will be an even more attractive option for many people looking for work – as soon as they start, agency workers will now have equal access to both facilities and permanent employment opportunities provided by their hirer. This means that they will benefit from access to an internal-only jobs list, opening a new path from temporary work to permanent work. It also means that employers with staff-only canteens or on-site gyms will be forced to give agency workers access to those facilities.
Pregnant female workers will also see their lot improve considerably. Whilst previous laws did not require employers to give pregnant workers paid time off for medical care, the new rules mean that employers must give pregnant agency workers paid leave for antenatal appointments. They also mean that employers must provide alternative work, or pay without work, for pregnant workers that are unable to continue their assignments due to health and safety concerns.
The nature of field marketing work means that often the most cost effective way to fill jobs is to find an agency that holds a database from which to draw workers. This helps to keep employment costs down; the geographically specific nature of field sales solutions means that employers benefit from finding local workers to complete the work in each area targeted by a field marketing campaign. It also allows employers to have more control over the specific people chosen to complete each assignment, enabling them to tailor their recruitment decisions to each individual task.
Critics of the changes have argued that employers seeking to circumvent the new rules could easily do so. Nevertheless the new Agency Workers Regulations represent a significant step forward for agency workers’ rights and are certain to encourage many more people to seek work through field marketing agencies.
Hybrid Netgear Routers Hit the Shelves
A new generation of combination routers has arrived on the market, providing all the flexibility of wireless technology and all the reliability of wired connections in a single router body. Netgear’s new WNXR2000 will provide users with a groundbreaking level of adaptability.
Since the advent of wireless networking, many home users have been reluctant to look back. This can hardly be surprising for those of us that remember the days of unsightly and cumbersome cable networks snaking through our homes and between office server cabinets. Not only did these pose a serious danger of injury, they were also easily damaged and made even the tidiest network setup look a mess. At the same time, wireless networks can be notoriously unreliable in homes with a lot of wireless clutter (microwave ovens, cordless phones, etc) – so there are disadvantages amongst the advantages of wireless.
Although wireless routers with ethernet capability have long been available, these still pose the traditional problem of using cabled internet – wires either have to be strung through walls or snaked along skirting boards using an elaborate and frustrating system of cable tidies. There is an alternative system available, called the HomePlug AV powerline network, that provides networking capability through existing electrical circuits instead of external cables.
Now there is a single solution to all these networking woes. Netgear has released a new hybrid router that combines the flexibility of wireless with the reliability of wired – but without the mess of ethernet cables. The HomePlug AV system and a wireless fidelity network are both available in the new Netgear routers. This will bring a number of significant advantages for complex network users, particularly those who combine a network of PCs, laptops and mobile phones with high-speed video streaming to a home entertainment system.
Netgear are not the only company to offer one of these hybrid routers. Competitor D-Link has also fielded a comparable offering; the DHP-1320. According to PC World, the DHP-1320 actually has several advantages over the Netgear WNXR2000, including better integration of Wi-Fi and HomePlug AV, faster speeds, and the thoughtful inclusion of a USB port. Naturally both products offer something of a compromise solution, and we can expect later models designed along these lines to offer more impressive features. As the technology is in its infancy, many users will find the performance of these groundbreaking routers to be unsatisfactory in some areas – but it is hard to deny that the product releases represent a significant step forward in the networking arena, and users operating networks via ageing Thomson routers are certain to be jealous of those enjoying the new hybrid technology.
Fancy Dress Costumes UK.com Eases the Task of Searching for Halloween Costumes
That time of year has come around again. Autumnal weather and shorter days point toward the one of the biggest fancy dress times of the year – Halloween. As the 31st of October rushes up to meet our busy lives, the pressure is on to find the time to sit down and research what to wear and where to buy it from. With so many sites offering an amazing array of fabulous fancy dress costumes it can be a daunting task to check them all and find the costume that you want, at the price that suits already over-stretched budgets.
There is one company though that has set out to shorten that search by putting, for now, three suppliers costumes in one place (they say that they have at least another 3 companies lined up to be added soon). Fancy Dress Costumes UK.com have created a ‘one-stop’ place to search three of the biggest online suppliers’ costume catalogues in one, convenient, place.
The Owner, Mr. Watson said ‘We are adding more costumes on a daily basis at the moment, with the aim of reaching over 15,000 costumes listed by the end of the year. The classic Halloween fare has already been uploaded but we know from our research that people are expanding their fancy dress requirements beyond the traditional ’scare’ costumes and branching out to all genres of costume categories. Our site has thousands of costumes already listed and we beleive that searching our site will reduce the time taken to narrow down the choice and purchase that perfect costume.’
So we went and looked around the site and indeed there are many thousands of costumes to choose from. The site itself is set up to display costumes by search or category. Once the costume has been selected; hitting the ‘buy it now button’ takes the costume seeker directly to the actual costume at the supplier they can buy it from. Then it only remains to select the delivery option and pay for the item(s) and the supplier dispatches the costume to your door.
Mr. Watson went on to say ‘We decided to list all the costumes, rather than gather them into suppliers groups like other aggregating shopping websites, in this way we hope to keep the search more within the customers control.’
With time being an ever increasingly rare commodity for most people, the ability to search three websites in one place does indeed save time. For those of you that haven’t ordered yet we can only suggest that you decide relatively soon if only to be able to take advantage of the cheaper delivery options; rather than leave everything to the last minute and have to use the next day delivery choice which inevitably costs more money.
Field Marketing Agencies Boost Employment
At a time when British politicians seem to be harbingers of economic doom and gloom, some businesses are still performing well. Sales and marketing agencies have been able to offer employment to large volumes of people from a broad range of demographics in spite of the nationwide tightening of belts.
Field marketing is one of several fields in which many businesses have survived the difficult economic climate. When people have less money to spend it becomes even more important to ensure a product is made irresistible to the consumer. Businesses that fear falling revenues may be encouraged to invest more in marketing an existing product because this often provides a greater return than developing something new.
Some smaller businesses that did not invest in sales and marketing at all before the recession may find themselves making fewer sales than before. For this reason new marketing contracts are being drawn up all the time and marketing businesses continue to grow. Along with this growth comes a multitude of opportunities for people searching for work.
Unlike other careers that offer similar potential for progression, field marketing does not necessarily require formal education. Examples of some field marketing jobs you might not have considered before include people selling shots from a tray at busy bars and charity fundraisers in bustling town centres. Although these are towards the start of the marketing ladder, people who perform extraordinarily well in these roles may find their responsibilities increasing over time. The person selling shots may eventually find themselves in charge of designing special offers and drinks deals for a nationwide bar franchise and the charity fundraiser may find themselves inviting businesspeople to large fundraising galas.
Field marketing in particular offers a number of employment opportunities to people from diverse backgrounds. Field marketing agencies will often try to employ local people to complete demonstration work, and these will usually be selected via a profiling system. In other words if a product being demonstrated throughout the country is aimed at sports enthusiasts, sports enthusiasts will be selected for those field marketing jobs. This strategy enables marketing agencies to achieve the best possible sales figures by building a relationship of trust between salesperson and consumer.
There is often a strong incentive for people employed by these agencies to be productive, as some element of payment is usually performance related. There are also some excellent opportunities for career progression within the marketing field. Talented people with little prior experience of marketing may find themselves able to sell products naturally, and marketing agencies are likely to offer top performers further work.
During these tough economic times, robust employers (such as some marketing agencies) who are still taking on staff make an invaluable contribution to the national recovery and should be celebrated.
BT vs Sky: A New Brand Image for Vision
The premium television market is dominated by a handful of providers and services, and BT will be doing everything it can to make its Vision service stand out as offering some of the best TV packages amongst stiff competition. One of the things BT has done to make its Vision service more marketable is create a new logo and colour scheme that will aim to forge the service a distinct identity, separate from associations between BT and outdated terrestrial television services.
The new logo features an ambiguous triangular shape that falls somewhere between the V in Vision and the play button on a TV remote control. BT hopes that this new logo will add personality to its Vision service. Although BT Vision is fundamentally different from television services offered by rivals, the operator must still convince consumers that it offers a competitive deal in questions of BT vs Sky or Virgin.
The BT Vision platform offers users a unique service in which they effectively pay for the availability of programmes to watch on an ‘on demand’ basis. Users can pay for content in different ways; BT offers a three-tier subscription service (Bronze, Silver and Gold packages) that covers content within predefined categories of entertainment, for example Music, Sport, and Film. On the other hand users that would rather pay per view for the on demand content, a BT Vision box can be purchased for £199.99. Users will pay additional charges on their monthly BT bills starting at 39p each time they want to watch a programme from the on demand selection.
It is hoped that the new logo and colour scheme will attract more customers to the BT Vision brand. Despite an internal target of acquiring between 2 and 3 million subscribers by the year 2010, BT has so far managed to attract only 600,000 users to its service. Sky is predominant in the UK pay-TV market, catering for more than 10,000,000 TV users according to information released in June 2011. The most expensive Sky TV packages offer over 100 different channels to consumers. Virgin Media had 3,800,000 TV customers earlier this year.
Nevertheless BT has recently added Sky Sports 1 & 2 to the list of services available on Vision; at the time of writing they also offer the cheapest Sky Sports subscription available on any network. Users can pay as little as £12.30 per month to add one of the two sports channels to their BT Vision service, or £17.40 for both. BT will be hoping that sports fans on a budget will look to Vision as the most cost-effective way of catching this season’s Premier League action.
Car and Motorbike Breakdown Cover Crucial as Winter Approaches
Now that we are well into autumn, all motorists would do well to consider getting some form of breakdown recovery cover. As many of us will already know, car and motorbike breakdown cover plans can be a real life saver if the unthinkable happens and you find yourself stranded by the roadside. Never is this truer than during the winter months, when breakdowns are most likely to happen and few of us can afford to foot the bill for roadside assistance.
There are a number of common causes of winter breakdowns, but by far the most likely to affect you is a battery failure. Battery failures are a problem all year round but there are a few winter-specific issues that make these even more probable during the coldest part of the year.
The first is that battery power output drops in the cold. Likewise the ability of a cold battery to absorb charge is significantly lower than the ability of a warm battery; you will notice that your battery recharges slower during the cold winter months. If you have ever seen a dead battery suddenly spring to life after a brief stint in the airing cupboard or on top of the boiler (neither is advisable), you will already be familiar with the heat contingent properties of battery charge.
Additional strain on car and motorbike batteries is also caused by an increase in electrical load. Because many of the electrical components of a car or bike (e.g. lights) are used more in the winter, the battery has far more work to do – and if it is already beginning to show the signs of age, winter could be its death knell.
Mechanical and electrical failures are another major cause of winter breakdowns. Neither mechanical nor electrical systems function as well in the cold as they do in warm weather. Although systems designed specifically for use in cold countries will tend to far better than those designed for use in warm countries, there is only so much manufacturers can do to ensure your system continues to function in the cold. If your motorbike or car is getting a little long in the tooth then you will find electrical and mechanical failures more likely.
If you are not already covered in the event of a breakdown, do not panic and rush into a deal without first assessing your options. There are a multitude of different companies that offer breakdown recovery services and some of these will be better than others – likewise some will be cheaper than others. It is crucial to check the specific terms of a plan before you sign up to it – some will offer a valuable tow home service whilst others will not. Some plans will also offer you a complementary car or alternative onward travel arrangements, but you are likely to pay a premium for these services. Compare breakdown cover across all major providers and plans before you arrive at your decision.
Lifetime Achievement Returns to FMBX Awards
For the past three years, there has been one conspicuous absence from the field marketing and Brand Experience (FMBX) award ceremony: the Lifetime Achievement Award. However it has been confirmed that this year will see the return of the Lifetime Achievement Award to the FMBX list.
Many people in the industry were sad to see the Lifetime Achievement award disappear from an otherwise comprehensive FMBX award list. Whilst most of the awards are given in honour of a recent and specific achievement, this award recognises a lifetime of dedication to driving industry standards forward and creating jobs and opportunities for others.
In previous years the award has been given to celebrated industry professionals such as Alison Williams, Tony Stratton, Mike Cottman, and Patrick Rooney. Unlike other awards, the Lifetime Achievement Award can recognise a contribution to the field marketing and brand experience industry that extends beyond the simple provision of a good service within it, improving the quality and accessibility of the industry as a whole. The Lifetime Achievement Award also takes into account field marketing jobs and opportunities created by the recipient.
The Field Marketing and Brand Experience Awards are a significant date in the European marketing calendar, attended by somewhere between 400 and 600 industry professionals. The awards themselves recognise the greatest achievements within face to face marketing campaigns and are judged by an expert panel of industry clients. In the past, these have included budget holders and campaign leaders from Hitachi, Microsoft and LG Mobile, to name just a few.
The ceremony is hosted annually at the Marriott in Grosvenor Square, Mayfair. Highlights include catering by Gordon Ramsey and high-calibre musical or comic entertainment.
Lancashire Gas Could Drop Energy Prices
Gigantic reserves of shale gas have been discovered in Lancashire, and these could have major implications for the cost of energy in the UK. High energy prices are currently driven by our reliance on imported fuels to create electricity.
Cuadrilla, the company responsible for investigating the Lancashire site, announced last week that tests reveal there could be 5.6 trillion cubic metres of gas available for extraction underneath Lancashire. This would be enough to significantly reduce the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels from abroad as the North Sea reserves begin to dwindle.
Nevertheless the plans have proven controversial. Local residents say they are worried about potential damage to the environment as a result of procedures used to extract the gas. The commercial process, known as ‘fracking’, involves cracking beds of shale under enormous pressure to release bubbles of natural gas. The gas is then collected via a network of pipes. Little research has been done into the environmental implications of fracking, however.
There may be some cause for concern. Earlier this year the area where Cuadrilla had been carrying out tests fell subject to two earthquakes. The UK company then halted drilling to investigate the cause of seismic activity, but the results have so far remained inconclusive.
Lancashire is not the only part of the UK to have been earmarked for fracking. Llandow in South Wales may also be affected by plans proposed by Coastal Oil and Gas. Recently a geological survey has been published that claims South Wales could yield gas reserves worth somewhere around £70 billion. During these tough economic times, that sum will appear very attractive to a government in crippling debt.
There are widespread implications for energy production and value in the UK. If you are currently considering whether to sign up for a deal that has fixed energy prices, it may be sensible to wait until it becomes clear whether the plans to frack throughout Lancashire and in South Wales will come to fruition. If Coastal Oil and Gas and Cuadrilla are successful in their bids to frack UK shale beds, energy prices in the UK may drop considerably whilst there is an overlap between fossil fuel supply from the North Sea and natural gas extracted domestically.
To get a rough idea of the potential implications for energy pricing in the UK, compare energy prices between the UK and countries that produce a much greater amount of energy. Canada has some of the lowest energy prices worldwide, and it is also one of the largest producers of energy. Although the environmental implications of fracking for natural gas remain unclear, it will be hard to resist the temptation of riches.
Workplace Mediation at Capitol Hill
According to a report recently published by the Office of Compliance (OOC), harassment complaints and complaints about hostile work environments are rising on Capitol Hill. Capitol Hill offices are not required to keep personnel records, provide training aimed at reducing discrimination, or even protect whistleblowers – despite being responsible for legislation that forces both private employers and other government agencies to do exactly that.
The Office of Compliance, which is responsible for monitoring workplace conditions and issues at Capitol Hill, has found that over the past few years a growing number of staff members are seeking counsel on how to resolve problems related to discipline and harassment.
The report is not all bad news; safety hazards are down, but with the OOC identifying weaknesses in important areas such as harassment and discrimination, this will seem like cold comfort for many of the affected employees.
The OOC is also responsible for mediating between parties involved in workplace disputes at Capitol Hill. In fiscal year 2010, it received and handled 105 requests for counseling and 86 requests for mediation. Whilst the substantial figure does not necessarily bode well for employees at Capitol Hill, in many ways the system for dealing with complaints operated by the OOC is an excellent model for workplace mediation.
As a first port of call, the OOC offers a counseling service to employees who file a written request. The counseling period normally lasts 30 days; during this period, an OOC counselor discusses the problem with the employee concerned and informs him or her of their rights under the law.
If an employee chooses to continue with a claim after the counseling period expires, the next step is to request mediation. The mediation period lasts a further 30 days, unless all parties request an extension. The OOC appoints a professional with the appropriate mediation training to meet with the parties and seek a solution for the duration of this period. If the parties involved are unable to settle their differences under the guidance of the independent mediators, the next step will be an administrative hearing or civil action.
As far as most employers are concerned, workplace mediation provides a preferable alternative to seeking a conflict resolution in court. Whilst a harassment case in court is costly and damaging to the reputation of an employer, it is also a stressful experience for the employees concerned. According to a spokesperson for the Architect of the Capitol, the growing number of requests for counseling from employees in her department is partly because it “encourages its employees to use this additional resource to help them resolve workplace issues.”