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Recent News and Updates
A few good ads
posted by McKenna @ January 23rd, 2009
Last week I was suffering from insomnia. Which meant I was up late reading magazines and watching TV, two things I rarely have time to do, and I saw some interesting ads that I would have otherwise missed.
I don’t know if it was my sleep-deprived state or what, but some of these ads seemed exceptionally good. And they weren’t viral, online or otherwise hyped-up “new” media approaches.
This TV spot from Acura totally mesmerized me. I normally find car ads overblown yet uninspired. This one is neither, and it captured my attention.
This 3D print ad from Kleenex also caught my attention. The tactile component made it jump out to me – much more than anything else in the magazine. I couldn’t tell you what other companies advertised that month, but I definitely remember this one. In fact, I pulled out the insert and stuck it on my office door. I still can’t stop touching the ultra-soft tissue in the middle.
Then I saw a TV ad selling Italian language CDs. At first, I scoffed, thinking that nobody would part with their money on language CDs right now. But then I checked myself and thought: This is brilliant. I’m sure there are many people unable to travel abroad this year, due to the economy. Why not bring a little bit of Italy to them?
Each of these ads relied on a strong strategy and relevant messaging to drive their success. And they were willing to put their advertising dollars into strategies that worked. (In fact, the Kleenex ad is the broadest sampling program in the brand’s history.)
What traditional media are calling out for your ad dollars this year?
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Recent News and Updates • Special Events
Super Bowl Splurge
posted by McKenna @ January 20th, 2009
When I saw this headline after I Googled “Super Bowl Spending,” I thought it was current. Whoops. Looks like 2009 isn’t the first year that the economy has affected the Super Bowl.
Wait, what’s that? The economy might not drag down consumer spending (at least for electronics, which represents a big chunk of spending around the big game) or Super Bowl advertising?
Ad prices are higher than ever — $3 million for a 30-second TV spot. Ticket prices range from $1,800 to over $5K for one ticket.
Huh?!
Maybe all those people who foreclosed on their homes have extra cash to spend on a big-screen TVs or tickets in the nosebleed section of Raymond James Stadium. Maybe advertisers think this is their way of helping to stimulate the economy. At least GM isn’t making its situation worse.
Now I wonder how much more (or less) these advertisers are paying their agencies to create and produce ads for the Cards-Steelers game. Have they chopped creative budgets to adjust for the higher placement prices? If so, will this affect the quality of the ads this year? Enquiring minds want to know.
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Recent News and Updates
It’s not you, it’s me
posted by McKenna @ January 15th, 2009
I know, I know – I’ve heard it all before. You have a great service. You’re a fantastic company. You have amazing products. You win awards and influence your industry. You are really nice to work with. You do great things with great people for fantastic results. I know all that.
But it’s not all about You.
It’s all about Me. The consumer, that is.
It’s tempting to tell customers about all of your company’s great assets. After all, you have a great story to tell. But if you want to get people talking about your products and services – and who doesn’t want some positive chatter about them? – you really need to get over yourself.
A few nights ago, I heard a maddening interview with GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz. It’s actually kind of shocking that Lutz’s handlers – or whichever PR people aren’t currently embroiled in crisis control – let this interview happen.
I think it’s fair to say that Lutz still believes it’s all about GM. In fact, it seems fair to say that Lutz also believes it’s all about him and how he can’t fly on the corporate jet anymore. (I’m crying inside for him, too.)
It’s clear that GM is fighting a losing battle right now, and Lutz’s inability to make it about the customer is digging him even deeper.
So what’s the solution to something like this? How does a business like GM change? And how are you going to avoid GM’s fate this year?
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Social Media
The Good (Internet) Samaritan
posted by McKenna @ January 12th, 2009
A recent Tweet from a frustrated mother whose 3-year-old wouldn’t sleep got me thinking: How does the Good Samaritan concept apply to the Internet?
This particular Tweeter, who goes by the name Thordora, got the cops called on her. Fortunately, there wasn’t much of a story beyond her Tweet – her daughter was safe and sound in her bed. But the story has sparked renewed interest in other stories like it, especially the sad tale of Abraham Briggs.
This brings up the question of anonymity, right to privacy and all that fun stuff when using the Web. But for many people, those concepts are hoity-toity ideas that have no bearing when a child’s (or anyone’s) life might be on the line.
A lot of people – especially mothers – have taken Thordora to task for writing that Tweet. One blogger on ParentDish said “she got what as coming to her.” She continues:
“There is such a thing as social responsibility over the Internet. People use the web to create a community. As with a real community, those in a virtual simulation care for and are concerned about all the members, even if they’ve never met. They’re also just as vigilant about protecting that community.”
So when do we use social media for the social good? Is that even important? If you had read this Tweet from Thordora, what would you have done?
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Trends
A recession-proof business: The holy grail
posted by McKenna @ January 6th, 2009
Over the holidays, the big topic of discussion was the economy. I come from a long line of entrepreneurs (I am the first person in three generations to not work for myself), and my circle of friends is heavy on the self-employed side. I expected a lot of worry and wringing of hands over cookies and cocktails.
I was wrong.
Most of my friends and family say their deep client base will help them weather this recession. And – surprisingly – many said they are focusing now more than ever on marketing their services to qualified customers.
In fact, one acquaintance said his graphic design firm unfailingly improves during recessions. He’s owned his business for nearly 30 years and has weathered several deep recessions, so I’m pretty sure it’s not a fluke.
He said that when layoffs happen in the marketing departments of his corporate clients, they still need that marketing work completed. The work doesn’t simply disappear. It just gets shuffled around until they find a more economical way to finish it – and sometimes that means calling an outside vendor like my friend’s business.
And there’s always marketing work to be done. Some say that tough economic times are the best times to put the pedal to the marketing metal. Committing yourself to marketing your business successfully – with a strong strategy and targeted goals – in this economy can reap great rewards.
As Yoda says: “There’s no try – only do!”
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AgencyThink • Social Media • Trends
Writing print’s obituary?
posted by McKenna @ December 24th, 2008
At a recent company meeting, a coworker stressed that all of us, every employee of Avicom, must become skilled in video and social and online media. Not just in using it for personal use, but supporting it in a meaningful way for our clients. He said we must build our individual skill sets to include video, multimedia, Web and social media – and whatever else might be coming down the pike.
And all I could think was: Really? We must? Who says?
Most of my background is in newspaper reporting and copywriting for printed marketing materials. These skills have served me pretty well in my career. So I felt a little chagrined that I was being told to abandon my hard-earned experience to chase emerging technologies and ways of communicating. I kind of resented the assumption that print has less value – or none at all – just because new technologies are changing how we communicate.
But in the end, it’s not my coworker’s opinion that counts. I want to hear from clients: How do you plan to use print and online media or video in 2009? Are you changing your media mix in the face of new technologies? In your marketing efforts, is print dead?
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Social Media
Social giving
posted by McKenna @ December 23rd, 2008
This year, technology is making it easier than ever to donate to our favorite charities. For example, residents of Columbus, Ohio, don’t even have to drop a few coins in the red kettle – they can just text the word “kettle” to the Salvation Army, and the phone carrier adds $5 to the texter’s phone bill.
Wow.
The economy’s in a slump, jobs are on the line and charitable giving has taken a hit. But that doesn’t mean we have to strike charitable donations from our lists this year.
Here are three great ways to make a difference and donate wisely:
- Around this office, when a coworker needs help, we are often quick to ask how we can help – with food, money, even certificates for massages. I wish I had known about Lotsahelpinghands.com the last time we needed to set up a meal chain for a coworker in crisis. It would have made coordinating our efforts that much easier.
- Charity Navigator has a holiday gift guide that helps you choose the best charity for your buck. It also rates charities to let you know which ones are the most fiscally responsible.
- Charity Choice lets you give someone a gift card that allows them to choose which charity to donate the money to.
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Recent News and Updates
Yammer vs. Twitter
posted by McKenna @ December 12th, 2008
A colleague and I recently argued over the best way to micro-blog. I had recently signed up for Yammer for work, but my friend claimed that Twitter was perfectly fine for both personal and professional use.
Then two coworkers looked at us like we were, well, pointlessly twittering and yammering. And I realized that our argument was relevant only if our coworkers – and our vendors, clients and bosses – knew what we were talking about.
In case you have been too busy updating your Facebook status working, Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows you to send and read other users’ updates (a.k.a., tweets), which are text-based posts limited to 140 characters. It encompasses a huge audience: Twitter had a fivefold increase in visitors during September 2008, increasing its users to 5 million.
On the other hand, there’s Yammer – Twitter for the workplace. The company launched in September 2008, and more than 70,000 people have already signed up for accounts. Proponents like Yammer because it generally contains less frivolous information than Twitter, and can help coworkers keep up with important, ever-changing conversations.
So, what do you think: Is Yammer better for the office? Or is Twitter OK? If you have these accounts, how often do you update them? Or is all of this a moot point because both systems are useless?
Let us know what you think.
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Recent News and Updates
Six words – is that enough? Yep.
posted by McKenna @ August 18th, 2008
Sum up your life in six words. That’s what hundreds of SMITH storytelling magazine readers did in 2006, and some of those insightful phrases were recently turned into a book.
Think it’s easy to boil down the essence of a one’s experiences into a few pithy words? It’s not. Just ask any company trying to develop a killer tagline. And if you think six words is short, consider some of the most successful taglines:
Just do it.
Got milk?
Drivers wanted.
Makes six words look like War & Peace.
A perfect tagline’s beauty lies in its simplicity and brevity. But developing something short and sweet can turn sour pretty fast. For something so simple, the process can require a significant amount of time and effort.
Here at Avicom, we’ve written a few taglines in our day. One thing we’ve learned is that it takes the perfect union of research, strategy and creativity to develop a phrase worthy of becoming a tagline. When short and sweet meets strategically sound, we know we’ve found a winner.
In honor of the six-word biography, here are six things to remember when developing a tagline:
1. Determine the key message you want potential customers to remember.
2. Use a common language your audience will understand.
3. Be honest – say something about your company that’s undeniably true.
4. Use words that evoke a positive feeling about your brand.
5. Keep it simple.
6. Be original.
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