Super Bowl Ads – Effective or Not?

Posted by: Kirsten Taylor // February 1st, 2012

I’m not the only one who watches the Super Bowl just for the ads, and companies know it. At the Super Bowl this year, a 30-second spot is going to cost $3.5 million, and according to the Brand Keys Super Bowl Engagement Survey, about half of the ads will fail to engage customers, drive positive behavior or sales, or build the brand.

According to Media Life Magazine, companies with $3.5 million to spend on a 30-second spot probably have a high awareness to begin with, and are seeking innovative ways to achieve this awareness.

However, wthr.com warns that brand recollection still needs to be a priority. For example, last year’s Darth Vader commercial was highly discussed but because it sought to entertain, very few remember the brand. (Ahem, it was Volkswagen).

@KirstenETaylor

Read More 0

Influence Metrics Separate Eyeball Quality From Eyeball Quantity

Posted by: Neil James // March 17th, 2011

How Influence Metrics Separate Eyeball Quality From Eyeball Quantity

What’s more valuable to an advertiser: one person who reads Vogue cover to cover or five people who casually glance through it in the doctor’s office? For publishers, the difference between the engaged and casual eyeball has been non-existent; an impression is an impression. But as Greg Shove reports in a new article for Ad Age, How New Influence Metrics Will Make It Harder For Traditional Web Publishers to Survive, new metrics designed to measure online influence such as Klout, PeerIndex and UberVU are allowing advertisers to ascertain the quality of eyeballs being sold by online publishers. Media buyers are taking notice, Shove reports, as these metrics are finding that traditional, monolithic entities are not delivering the same quality of reader as their smaller, independent counterparts. Shove cites a recent article detailing Marc Jacobs’ new handbag launch attracting only three comments on Vogue.com, but 125 comments on Fashionista.com, a site with half the users!

@NeilAndrewJames

Read More 0

Will Consumers Pay For What Has Always Been Free?

Posted by: Mark Palony // December 3rd, 2010

Media consumers have been feasting at the content buffet free-of-charge for a long time. We have become so accustomed to accessing the latest news and information online, that we would never consider pulling out the debit card to pay for the privilege. And now, we live in a new era where mobile has changed the content delivery paradigm. But will that be enough to change the model by which we consume content: moving us from free to paid? That question will be answered at some future date, but it is being discussed, debated and tested on a daily basis.

Antony Young, CEO of Optimedia-US, submitted this article on the subject to Advertising Age. In it, he summarizes a talk given by James Murdoch of News Corp fame at the Monaco Media Forum and adds a thought or two of his own. It’s an interesting evolution to consider, training the consumer to pay for content they have been receiving for free, and News Corp appears to be experiencing some success for the effort. The level of success is up for debate, but it is certainly demonstrable.

As the use of mobile continues to expand and new  products are developed to fill the applications demand, what will the future of news delivery look like and will consumers be willing to pay to have it at the tips of their fingers? Again, the answers are in the distance, but Young and Murdoch are involved in the discussions and we should be too.

Read More 0

So You Want to Be a Social Media Marketing Star?

Posted by: Mark Palony // December 2nd, 2010

To say there’s been an explosion in the use of social media is a gargantuan understatement. In the past few years we’ve seen social tactics – blogging, podcasting, online video – adopted by individuals and companies alike.  While some have been wildly successful, most have struggled to find the magic bullet that will make them required reading by the audience they seek.

There are several reasons some make it to the top of the social media mountain while others wander the foothills, and Mashable has done us the favor of identifying 5 of the most important through profiling the business leaders who excel at practicing them, including:

  1. Understand your own expertise: We communicate best when we know the subject matter. Straying too far from your core can lead your audience to lose faith in your credibility.
  2. Know what your audience wants: Even if you are the leading expert in your chosen field, if there’s no audience for the message you’ll be shouting into a black hole.
  3. Success requires involvement: Reaching the top comes through active participation. It doesn’t have to be full time, but timely and insightful content, or comments on the content of others, will help you grow credibility and audience.
  4. Use multiple channels: Blogs, Twitter, LinkedIn groups – there are so many channels you can access to spread your knowledge and expertise. Don’t be stingy, use more than one, but use them wisely.
  5. Be human: When engaging in social media on behalf of your company, be sure to let your own personality come through. People want to engage with other people, not a digital sales brochure. If you come off as corporate, you’ll bleed any audience you were fortunate enough to build.

While there are other reasons some are successful, but if keep an eye on these five you will dramatically increase your chances of reaching the top of the social media mountain.

Read More 0

USING SOCIAL MEDIA TO BYPASS THE MEDIA FILTER

Posted by: Mark Palony // November 4th, 2010

I’ve grown weary of hearing people say they were taken out of context. The fact that we’ve been in the throes of another election season has made matters worse, but my “context fatigue” is a long-standing affliction. It is a constant source of mental and physical aches; the results of shaking my head every time I hear someone make this claim.

Why do I shake my head? Because people have been taken out of context – sometimes intentionally – since news and interviews were invented. It’s called the media filter and it’s made up of writers, editors and space constraints that make it nearly impossible for you to communicate your story your way. Simply put, no one’s words are 100 percent safe – a fact that won’t change despite complaining and gnashing of teeth.

You’re probably saying to yourself, “Tell me something I don’t know,” and you’d be right. But sometimes, we have to consider the fundamentals before we can see new ways to tackle old problems.

Through most of history, companies have produced content, press releases and articles– to distribute to the media in hopes of “getting picked up”. Unfortunately, too many companies are still wedded to their traditional ways, meaning their corporate message is strained by the media filter before it is delivered to the market.

But there’s no reason to accept the status quo when you can use technology to distribute your message, unfiltered.

The Internet has given birth to a host of wonderful communication vehicles such as blogs, Facebook, YouTube and other multi-media channels. Each gives you the power to distribute content you produce through channels you own. It is the ultimate message control. Context you create, context you own, all there in its entirety for the world to consume exactly as you intended.

Regardless of format, you now command the message and the channels of distribution. What’s more, you also have the opportunity to directly engage your market when they respond. If you are not now, you should be using the Internet to distribute your message unfiltered, unadulterated and in context.

I’m not here to announce the death of traditional public relations tactics. On the contrary, they are just as necessary today. But with access to technology that allows you to reach out directly to your audience with your story told your way, why wouldn’t you take advantage?

@MarkPalony

Image: All the President’s Men

Read More 0

Targeting the Affluent? Avoid This Media Vehicle.

Posted by: Neil James // September 15th, 2010

It used to be if you were a brand that marketed to the affluent, The Economist, Wall Street Journal and Forbes were reflexive choices for media vehicles. However, as chronicled by Jack Neff in an article for Ad Age, Magazine Readership Off Sharply Among Affluent, a recent Ipsos survey has found that magazine readership has dropped 16 percent among heads of households whose annual incomes exceeds $100,000 . Why is this happening? According to Ipsos, 6.8 percent of surveyed affluents own either a tablet computer or an e-reader such as the iPad or Amazon Kindle – a figure that’s only expected to grow. Despite this shift, the Ipsos survey also found that average weekly hours of TV viewing among the affluent has remained constant with more than half of affluents reporting considerable or some interest in the ads.

@NeilAndrewJames

Read More 1

Key Elements of a Social Media Policy

Posted by: Neil James // August 11th, 2009

Should employees be encouraged to use social networking to enhance marketing outreach? Or will such activity impede productivity in an already tight economy? And what about reputational risk? These and other questions are clearly on the minds of every C-suite executive.

Recent research we undertook with our friends at Ethos Business Law found eight in ten businesses have concerns about the potential liabilities of social media. Yet, only one third have a policy in place to govern social media use, and just nine percent said they have conducted relevant employee training.

Instead of ignoring the need for responsible guidelines, organizations of all sizes should begin to define their strategy regarding social media, and most importantly, the rules for employee engagement. By doing so, management can take advantage of the benefits offered by these new communication channels while mitigating undue risk. But remember, social media is a far different animal than traditional technology. A company’s current policies on IT matters are usually not sufficient.

Read More 0

Companies Remain Uncertain – And Do Little – About Potential Risks of Social Media

Posted by: Neil James // August 6th, 2009

Social media has become a fixture on communication agendas across the country, fueled by the fact that Americans’ spent 73 percent more time on such social networking sites in the past year alone. But according to a new survey, social media use is also generating its share of corporate heartburn.

Recent research we conducted along with Ethos Business Law confirms that confidence exists in social networking as viable communication outreach, but so do worries about the potential liabilities involved. Concerns regarding social media use were acknowledged by some eight in 10 businesses participating in the national study, which was conducted over the month of July. Fifty-one percent fear social media could be detrimental to employee productivity, while almost half (49%) assert that using social media could damage company reputation.

Read More 0