CardMarketing 2.0

Get a thick felt tip pen and write the number 113,658,468 on a large sheet of paper and stick it to the door of your office — preferably in full view of all your colleagues. 113,658,468, is the number of websites, according to Netcraft, an internet services company, that were in existence as of April 2007.

Usability is at the heart of Web 2.0 and at the heart of usability is 'filtering', 'drilling down', allowing consumers to reach their ideal card product in two or three clicks. Citi Cards is the latest issuer to go large on the user experience, integrating a new simple navigational tool on its home page that allows consumers to select their preferred card features and quickly drill down to the card or cards that suit them best.

Barclaycard is set to launch a new card this summer for the growing number of people wanting to carry eco-friendly plastic. Barclaycard Breathe is a new breed of green credit card made out of PETg, which is much less damaging to the environment than traditional PVC-based plastic.

I've read a fair few advertising and marketing books in my time – from Seth Godin through to Sergio Zyman – but do you know what? It was about the worst thing I, a person in marketing, could have done. Thankfully, I've got a poor memory and most of it, almost immediately, I forget.

Now that's what I call initiative. Wired reported recently how Helene Blowers, IT director at North Carolina's Charlotte & Mecklenburg County public library, was so fed up with her staff not knowing about Web 2.0 and shooting blank looks at an increasingly inquisitive public that she did what 99.9% of the population wouldn't have done and created a website, Learning 2.0.

We all want to know what people do when they visit our sites, and chances are we've spent a fair few euros, pounds or dollars trying to find out just that. But dammit, these analytics packages are real expensive and a major schlep to understand. Page after page of statistics, graphs that have an effect similar to a mouthful of washing up liquid, and all so very dull.

... and we're not talking phones. Seems games developer Electronic Arts is lining up to launch a Sims-branded credit card. The official Sims 2 site is currently allowing people to vote for one of four card designs. The site doesn't give away much other info other than that people should "stay tuned for more info" but has already caused quite a lot of interest in the Sims-related blogosphere.

The good news, according to a report issued by Forrester Research last month, is that CIOs are keen to snap up Web 2.0 products such as blogs, wikis, podcasts, RSS, social networking and content tagging. The not so good news is that a) most would prefer to purchase such products as a suite and b) the vast majority – 91% – would be more interested in buying a suite if it was offered by a major vendor. You know, bigcos like Microsoft and Oracle.

Snazzy-looking RSS gadgets, which more and more people are using to personalize their homepages, are really taking off. Like really taking off. We covered in an earlier post how 2007 was the Year of the Widget (and how issuers should integrate widgets – another term for gadgets – into their marketing strategies) and recent figures certainly confirm this.

Like most financial services sectors, the cards industry has its own terminology that can be confusing to the man in the street. Words and terms we all take for granted, from APR and SVR to handling fees and moneyback, can often be confusing. Well maybe the New York Times has the answer.