A few weeks ago, I posted an ad to sell a storage cabinet on Craigslist and within 4 hours, I received 3 emails, 2 texts and one phone call. So, I contacted the first interested party and set up a showing for the next day and poof, that cabinet was gone with the wind. Cost to me: $0.00. I had $70 in pocket and the buyers went merrily on their way with a storage cabinet. I started thinking, as many others have, how exactly does Craigslist make money and who is this Craig anyway? In my research, I learned that Craigslist is on pace to make more $100 million in revenue this year based on analysis by classified advertising industry consultants Advanced Interactive Media Group. So then how do the newspapers advertising sales agents feel after a year of withering ad revenue and dwindling classified sections? (Another rewrite for this sentence because newspapers don’t feel, people feel. Not sure how to rewrite, sorry). Well probably not ecstatic as more and more people are using the internet to list and search for classified ads and often times as with my sale, the cost is nothing. Craigslist charges only for a tiny percentage of ads; $25 for a job posting in most markets and a small $10 fee for a brokered apartment. But that small percentage will generate over $100 million in fees this year for Craigslist, not bad for an office of only 30 employees located in the Inner Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco.
And about the founder Craig Newmark? Craig remains fairly low-key, he works in customer service and wants to keep Craigslist simple. When asked “Do you think you would increase your revenues by allowing ads? Why do you not have them?” Craig’s reply, “Why? How would that serve the community?” That’s a slightly understated answer coming from the founder of a site that has more than 50 million US users and ranks #7 worldwide in terms of english-language page views.
Social Media websites can be powerful marketing tools when you do more than just inform your fans and followers about your company/brand.
A recent study by eMarketer has revealed that the brands have had the most success driving consumers towards purchases have done so by using one of the two following methods: They offer either coupons or discounts or they position themselves in front of their social network followers during sales and other special events/promotions.
Twenty-five percent of respondents to a survey conducted by Chadwick Martin Bailey claimed that coupons and discounts were the main reason they became fans of a brand of Facebook. Another twenty-one percent said it was because they were already customers of the brand they became fans of.
See below for the results of another survey, by Morsace, that illustrates thirty-seven percent of Facebook users joined fan pages to receive coupons and discounts.
It’s no secret that people in advertising think differently from other industries. We are looked to by our client partners to be uniquely creative, produce lasting messages and drive long-term success. Each of us has our own individual interests, responds to things in our own way, and vary by our roles. But from a categorical standpoint, it is safe to say that advertising professionals have similar minds that differ from the rest.
Ironically for me, this is perfectly exemplified with my twin brother. Although we may look identical, most similarities stop with what you see. To us, it’s a phenomenon we’ve never been able to pinpoint or associate with a tangible reason. Today, a lot of our discrepancies and conversations revolve around our contrasting careers. As I enter the advertising arena each day, he enters wearing steel-toed boots and a hard hat as a construction project engineer. When we’re together, I often point out advertisements, of all forms, and ask him what he thinks. Most of the time I might as well be talking to myself. Even if the catchy words and effective design pulls me in like a tractor beam, it is more likely to fall short of any connection or appeal with my brother. Although I find it odd, can I blame him? I guess not. It’s no different than him pointing out a building’s electrical this, mechanical that, or every safety hazard he sees– as if no building was ever built correctly. I immediately drift off; the mere sounds of the foreign technical terms and uninteresting explanations have me wondering what I’ll have for dinner. So how can this be? Why do we think so differently? And more importantly to me, what does it say about the ads we create and who they’re connecting with?
Xyte Technologies, a consumer research firm, recently brought its behavior-based segmentation model to advertising and marketing to try and answer these questions. It not only sheds light on our brotherly disconnect, but puts data behind why we (advertisers) sometimes fail to reach the consumer. Sadly, it finds the ads we are creating may speak only to us more than we’d like. That is why it is paramount to our success that we engineer ads that speak to potential customers, and not to our clients or ourselves. Unlike most ad agencies that try to think in their client’s shoes, we always want to be thinking in the customers. It’s this meaningful dialogue with consumers that connects a brand to its audience and a company to profits.
So what's the next big thing? How often do New Yorkers "tweet"? What are Happynomics?
Part of being an effective advertiser is recognizing current trends and figuring out a way to connect your business to the latest buzz. Just consider Social Networking for a moment. A few years ago Twitter & Facebook were basically unknowns. Today, they can hardly be ignored and we've seen our clients benefit greatly from jumping on board with these trends.
So what's in store for the Future of Consumerism? The answers to these and other intriguing questions can be found by clicking on the link below. Enjoy!
There are strengths and weaknesses with all options available to use for advertising your product or services.
Radio is intrusive and local, it offers mobility and low production costs. You can target your message by station format and/or time-of-day or day-of-week. One weakness of radio is that it offers no visual but with the right copy, the listener can create their own "theatre of the mind" image. Radio is looked upon as a frequency medium, however, it can be quite expensive to build reach without purchasing a number of stations.
Maximize radio dollars by looking at all dayparts and obtaining guarantees on rotation throughout days of the week and hours within each daypart. Look at stations other than the leader and leverage one station's delivery against others you are considering.
Don't forget about added value. It can come in many forms including no charge spots, billboards, and sponsorships or streaming exposure to catch those who listen on their computers while at work.
So with the Super Bowl (the pinnacle of advertising) around the corner I thought I'd pass along two ads that will be joining the Vikings on the sidelines and WON'T be seen during the big game. The first spot is from infamous "banned" ad brand GoDaddy.com and the second is from Mancrunch.com both ads got the nix from CBS.
While the cost of an ad in the Super Bowl fell from $3 million last year to $2.7 million this year it's still no small investment. With that said, these brands are are getting HUGE viral exposure without spending a dime on media. To date these ads have gotten almost 500,000 online views. So, you make the call! Shameless marketing ploy OR shrewd marketing move?
Technology can be daunting to say the least but for businesses new and old it opens new doors to advertising and marketing. Part of our job is to be up-to-date on technology to come since advertising will be part of all new technology, whether it be directly for it or incorporated into it. The future for advertising is looking exciting...possibly reaching people as they walk by your store or advertising a cheaper price for an item that someone is scanning at that exact moment. There are so many possibilities that will come alive in 2010, they really are endless. Here's a good read that I stumbled across in my current search on what's to come in the new year and I don't mean to be cliche but, I'm like a kid in a candy store.
Last week I get a call from one of our favorite clients and their vendor is asking for a logo in a dst format. So I ask, "do you think they meant eps format?" "no, they requested a dst file." he says. So, after a little google research, sure enough there really is a .dst file format. Turns out it is an embroidery format, a CAM (computer aided manufacturing) file that contains instructions for creating embroideries or other stitched decorations with a sewing machine; including codes such as "stop," "jump," and "trim" that tell the machine how to move the needle.
On the creative side of the advertising arena, we get a lot of different file type requests but it seems that there are more and more each day: jpeg, gif, pdf, eps, wav, etc. But a dst? OK, so now we've heard it all, right?
If you are wondering what a specific file format stands for, there is a very helpful and thorough website that explains file formats in detail as well as listing programs that can open or create these files. The site is called fileinfo.com
So, the next time you get a call from someone asking for a dst file, simply visit http://www.fileinfo.com/ for a simple explanation.
Black Friday is almost upon us and that means retail craziness for many businesses. So are you ready? In a recent Consumer Reports Holiday Poll, 66 percent of shoppers will be buying something for themselves in addition to holiday shopping for friends and family.
So what are the categories most likely to benefit from self-shoppers? Food, wine, electronics and clothing are at the top of the list with clothing in the far lead. An estimated 46 percent of shoppers planning on buying clothing are also projected to pick up a little something for their very own closet. Gender can also be a factor in self-purchases. Guys will typically be the buyers of video games/electronics while the gals will splurge on the food, wine and clothing.
If you're in the retail business hopefully you've put the word out that your products and services should be first in line as consumers make the mad rush for Black Friday bargains. To learn more about how our agency can help your business push sales in the right direction, drop us a line. We're here to help!
For this week I thought it would be nice to give a quick Photoshop tutorial with a free downloadable file. I know, we're giving away our secrets and free things....what's wrong with us? What better to give away free than a few quick glossy buttons. Here is the final image.
I'll give you a quick rundown of how to get there or you can cheat and just download the file at the end of this post. First, make a new Photoshop document (file>new). The document I made was 500px X 450px at 72 pixels/inch, color mode of RGB. Click the advanced tab and use the sRGB IEC61966-2.1 color profile (this is the recommended color setting for web images) then click "ok".
The size of your file depends on what you're using it for so you'll have to be the judge but if you're trying to follow along grab the rounded rectangle tool and make your box roughly 370px X 90px because these settings could change if your button is a different size. I also put a 20px corner radius on the button.
Double click the layer in your layers palette (don't double click the box on the left of the layer or the name, try the far right side) and apply the following layer styles:
Drop Shadow:
Gradient Overlay:
For gradient overlay you'll have to click on the gradient bar to adjust the gradient. You can play with the colors but for this tutorial I used a lighter gray at the bottom (left side), then a darker gray at a location of 47%, then the same gray as the first at a location of 51% and then finally a lighter gray at the top (right side).
Inner Glow:
For inner glow I used roughly the same color as the darkest part of the gradient overlay.
Stroke:
This is what you should have after all these layer syles are applied.
Now just add a little text to your button. The font I used is Trade Gothic Bold Condensed 20. Add a light drop shadow like before, just a little smaller and add a gradient overlay with a fade from light gray to white. Voila! You have a fancy, new web button. You can adjust the colors as you want. Below are a few versions that I made quickly.
That is a question that is asked of me at times. Would you tell your family how great the client's services are and that they should go and frequent their establishment? Would you go on tv and have your head shaved? Well the latter was recently asked of me. Our client, the Blue Plate Restaurant Company, needed just that. Someone to go on TV and have their head shaved for a promotion that they did for National Bald Day and for the Operation Uplink charity, so I stepped up and did it. Not only was it an easy decision, I mean who wants hair anyways, but it was a chance to do something for a client that was out of the ordinary. We do all that you would expect from a full service advertising agency, such as creating eye catching ads, developing and maintaining websites and creating brand awareness with our unique and innovative ways of reaching the targeted consumer. And we also like to be as involved with our clients as we can. Weather it is eating at one of the restaurants that Blue Plate has, visiting Severs Corn Maze, going to the Twin Cities Auto Show that is put on by GMADA or getting your head shaved on TV. It all comes down to the clients needs.
See our clients are more than just clients, they are our family. Without them we would not be here and wouldn't you do anything for your family?
In the coming years it is estimated that Internet users who consume user generated content will grow dramatically.
The internet is becoming more and more social and interactive. We need to work hard to publish useful content that customers and search engines will like. We can meet a lot of marketing and business objectives by adding user generated content. Letting people 'have a say' about the brands and topics they like will drive traffic to a website.
The way in which consumer generated content works within a particular company's search marketing mix depends on a variety of factors including: content contribution and sharing needs of the audience, ability to create or update content management systems that support user content creation and moderation, a promotion of keyword inspired content.
Integrated Advertising Network works hard to optimize content. We are currently making the change to make our websites more social and interactive.
Local television stations provide plenty of choices for reaching consumers from local news and sporting events to syndicated and network programming. Cable networks also provide a wide-variety of programming (and many are award-winning) but the number of households you're reaching can be vastly different. Be sure you understand the difference between reaching 1% of television households and 1% of cable households. Cable is subscriber based and therefore does not reach all television households in a market.
Cable targets a desired audience demographically and geographically. Most system operators offer zones within their coverage area which provide the ability to reach your primary marketing area rather than the entire television market. Cable viewers are perceived to be more upscale and the Cable Advertising Bureau reports that cable viewers are above average consumers of most products and services. Most cable operators provide no-charge, bonus spots (autofill) which provides your business with added exposure at no additional cost.
The single most-watched telecast in cable history occurred October 5 where 21.8 million viewers tuned to ESPN's Monday Night Football and witnessed Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings defeat the Green Bay Packers. TBS recently delivered a 33-year ratings high with Major League Baseball playoff coverage. The October 6 playoff game between the Twins and Tigers drew 6.54 million viewers! Total viewers for games 1, 2 & 3 of the Twins-Yankees Division Series averaged 6.63 million viewers. All offered exceptional exposure for your business at minimal cost.
There are pros and cons to both cable and television (as there are to all media options). It's important to define and understand what your needs are to determine which (or both) will best deliver your message to your target consumer.
The intent of this blog is not to prove a point or to attempt to give any kind of design lecture but more so it is an opportunity to remind myself and others of an important design principle that I learned way back when in design school and am often guilty of forgetting. The general principle is that white space or absence of content (pictures or copy) can be effective in advertising.
As advertising producers, trying to make the most of our clients' budgets, we're constantly looking for ways to maximize our impact within the confines of premium advertising space. So why would we consider leaving any unoccupied space within a 15 second television ad or in an expensive magazine space? Because white (negative) space can draw a reader in and create hierarchy while enhancing the imagery and copy within its space. As general rule of thumb, when creating a layout, I was taught to use one-third copy, a third photo/image and a third negative space.
White space should not be considered merely 'blank' space - it is an important element of design that enables objects in it to exist. Balancing figure and ground is key to the overall aesthetic and can make the perceived image more clear.
A page crammed full of text or graphics with very little white space runs the risk of appearing busy, cluttered, and is typically difficult to read. Strategic use of empty space can create powerful contrast and give a layout important breathing room which ultimately gives headlines and text better readability. In today's era of information bombardment... with streaming web content on the iPod Touch, BlackBerrys and Kindles, a resting spot for a reader becomes ever-so refreshing; we could all use a spot to rest our weary eyes from content overload.
It's true, building a brand successfully can take some time. Creating brand loyalty is more than just convincing the consumer into buying a product. It's about gaining the consumer's trust and the trust of their family and peers. It's about return business.
Many advertisers can spike sales temporarily with fly by night campaigns offering, "Once in a Lifetime Discounts" but this can actually work against their brand in the long run. Over discounting can skew the perception of a given product or service and once the product stops flying off the shelf or the phone stops ringing, it's back to square one - only now the product or service may be viewed as the "cheap" option.
Communicate to your potential buyers that your product or service is their best choice for VALUE. Letting someone else be the "cheap" option will be rewarding in the long run.
