Gone are the days of writing out a hand written letter to your celebrity crush and mailing it to their address listed in Tiger Beat magazine.  I remember back when I would send letters asking for autographs and pictures to Kirk Cameron, Mackenzie Aston, NKOTB, Milli Vanilli and The Corey’s.  Ahhh the good ole’ days. 

But now that is a thing of the past.  Nowadays all kids have to do is fire up their computers or smart phones and go on Twitter.  Justin Bieber (a.k.a the Kirk Cameron of his generation) is literally surrounded by over 2 million girls following him on Twitter. For someone to be that close to their celebrity crush is amazing to me.  Girls who never in their life thought that they would get to talk to their celebrity crush now can.  If the celeb chooses to write back this is certainly something that she will remember for the rest of her life.  Just the gravity of it all is really astonishing!

Also, from a celebs perspective this method has got to be easier than trying to answer thousands of fan letters a week. And if you are Justin Bieber you have 2 million girls at your disposal.  Two million girls!  I can’t imagine anything better to a 16 year old boy. 

If I had this technology back in my day I can only imagine how it would have played out.  Instead of playing Girl Talk with my girlfriends we would each be glued to our smart phones desperately trying to seek out every word, every photo, and every moment that Kirk chose to share with us. Instead of ripping out Kirk’s centerfold in Tiger Beat we would simply download his picture & print it out or share it with everyone socially. 

Granted even though access to celebrities is much more attainable now in the online world, a little part of me feels sad that now it’s all so easy.  Where is the fun and adventure in that?  I must have drafted over 20 letters to Kirk before I composed “the one” that was going to make him have to meet me.  I waited anxiously for months checking the mailbox for a return letter from him.  I bought all of his magazines, t-shirts, stickers, posters and watched every episode of Growing Pains religiously.  I was devoted.

Now I know what you all must be thinking, did she get the damn letter from Kirk Cameron?  Unfortunately I did not but I did receive a letter and photo from Mackenzie Aston. During the entire time I was writing to Kirk I was also writing to Mackenzie.  I know how could I betray Kirk like that?  Well it was something that just happened (isn’t that what all people say).  Kirk wasn’t giving me the attention that I needed so I ran into the arms (a.k.a. fan club) of Mackenzie. 

I’m sorry you had to hear it this way Kirk.

I definitely don’t put myself in the category of a designer or design professional. Quite honestly, I can barely draw a straight line with a ruler. Like most people however I have an opinion. I can tell that I like something or turn my nose up in disgust if it doesn’t fit my tastes. My tastes usually land in the guy zone. I like nature, tech and sports, but I will never turn an entire room of my house into a shrine for an athletic team.

Every now and then something catches my attention and makes me take a second look. The other day I was walking through Target and the packaging design for a product hit me between the eyes like a 2×4. My first thought was, “What the heck was that? I need some of those!”. Upon further investigation I realized that this sweet design of dark mystery wasn’t that of the latest caffeine infused gum or Gatorade sports powder. No, this was the packaging for Kotex feminine hygiene products. While I may not personally be in the market for Tampons or Pads, I was almost tempted to buy a box because they were just plain cool. Then I thought about how many hours of SportsCenter and Boxing I would need to watch in order to regain my guy points lost during the purchase and decided it wasn’t worth the hassle.

For those people who don’t believe in the power of design take note. If great package design can tempt a man to buy Tampons maybe us guys can effectively use design to get our women to buy that HDTV, Laptop or Cable sports package we have been wanting.

Bringing web content to TVs is a role that’s still very much up for grabs.

Google has partnered with Intel and Sony to create Google TV, an ambitious attempt to mold its Android software into TVs, Blu-ray players, and a Google set-top box called Buddy Box.

Google TV will be delivered on set-top boxes that use Intel Atom chips and run an Android-based platform, though the technology will also reportedly be built directly into Blu-ray players and TVs from Sony. Additionally, Google is working with Logitech to build a keyboard-equipped remote control.  This would be your remote for everything from what I understand.    

Google TV combines two proven ingredients from Google: Android and its Chrome Web browser. It replaces your TV or cable/satellite tuner’s program guide with a simpler version that indexes both what’s in your 100 or 200 or 300 channels and what’s on the Web. It emphasizes search instead of browsing.  Popular sites like Hulu don’t have to enable content locking out Google TV users.  Boxee (partner & provider of Apple TV) had this happen to them last year. 

Google TV offers:

• Search: It’s built into the TV experience. Search for “Survivor” and get a list of results that include live TV (select to watch now), episodes airing later (select to record to DVR) and web content related to it.
• Integration with Android phones: Over WiFi, an Android phone can become a remote and you can even go so far as to use voice search, too.
• Partners: Sony, Intel, Dish Network, Logitech, Adobe and Best Buy. Power names for a power launch, expected this fall.

Of course in true Google style they want to be able to gather information about you.  They want to learn about your TV viewing habits and sell ads around that behavior. You don’t have to like it but you also don’t have to use it.  As a marketing professional and consumer I really don’t mind this tactic.  If ads come to me that are catered to my lifestyle and behaviors fantastic. Also, if I can play a small part in stopping overactive bladder or erectile dysfunction ads from coming into my house on a regular basis then I say go for it.     

Many Questions are still left Unanswered

Set-top boxes that play video games, let you watch videos, view photo slideshows, and listen to music are great ideas, but what about the rest of the Web? The fact is that Web content is text heavy with a large number of blogs, news sites, and social networks that people visit on a daily basis.  But you tend to sit quite a few feet back from the television in your living room, which makes it harder and less comfortable to read text. So how probable is it that you’ll want to use your television for Twitter, Facebook or Instant Messenger chats?  I would have to say no in my case as I have a difficult time reading text on my laptop unless it’s magnified to 100%.  But I’m no spring chicken anymore either. 

There are also many questions as to how Google will incorporate advertising into its TV platform.  Will ads on Google TV devices be delivered through websites & traditional TV programming or will they be delivered through another alternative like Android apps?  This could really shake things up for marketers if this takes off.  The New York Times reports that Google’s biggest motivation for developing Google TV is to “ensure that its…search and advertising systems, play a central role.” I agree.  They would be foolish not to. I have no doubt that Google ads will be pushed into the Google TV platform somehow.  It’s just a matter of when and how. 

eMarketer estimates that digital video ad spending will jump 48% this year to $1.5 billion. Though, with lower-quality online video playing on high-definition screens, that audience for web video probably has a ceiling.

There is no doubt that this will have a major impact on how we plan & buy media and create ads for our clients.  Not only will we be creating online ads for computers but these will now also need to be created (sized & reformatted) for digital TV screens as well.   But will it be as simple as reformatting an online ad for TV?  Probably not if you think about the creative messaging implications. 

Will consumers now be able to essentially click on a Google TV ad to get more info or even buy a product?  Will this translate the same as web or will there be a clear distinction between the two?  I don’t think anyone knows yet.   

This is truly an awesome technological advancement to see and only time will tell if Google can really make it happen.    

To help understand the true impact check out this video on Google TV.   http://mashable.com/2010/05/20/google-tv-3/

At this past weekend’s Big Omaha conference, Scott Harrison gave a presentation about his background and how that led him to run Charity: water. The entire room was still. Silent. And I’m pretty sure we were all thinking the same thing: Wow. What I’m doing in the world really doesn’t matter much when you get right down to it.

Scott’s story is inspiring. Resemblances of the turned-my-life-around story we’ve heard before aside, what he’s done is identify one of life’s core requirements and done something about it in a meaningful way. People need clean water to live. To operate on a daily basis. To do anything more than just barely get by. That’s why the story hits us so hard – we take so many basic things about life for granted because it’s part of our society. Turn on the tap, hit the water fountain outside the restroom, fill your cup at the quickie mart. We have water everywhere.

Besides the story and the inspiration of actually making a difference in the world, there’s something else that struck me about Scott’s presentation. To help promote the effort and get more participation from the public, he eliminated the barriers often cited by the masses as reasons NOT to donate to charity. He has ensured that 100% of the public’s donations go to the direct charity efforts. All of it. Every penny. So if I give $20, all of it goes to the $5,000 total needed to build a well that can deliver fresh, clean water to 250+ people.

He then puts it into clear perspective that nobody can argue with. The slide he shows of a New York City (and many other places) $16 martini next to a $16 bag of rice that can feed a whole lot of people is about as simple and direct as you can get. How easy would it be for any of us to give up ONE drink out per week and donate it to a deserving charity? The answer is VERY easy. Incredibly.

So it’s easy and you’re assured that every dollar you donate goes to actually making a difference in people’s lives. Other organizations provide funding for the organizations operational costs and fees. Even credit card processing fees are fully reimbursed by the organizational funding so that every dollar the public gives is solely dedicated to the cause at hand.

Then they push it even further. They post photos and video of the projects on their website. They add well locations to a world map that’s accessible online. You can see exactly where the money is going and the people and places that are being helped. Every detail of what you’re contributing to is right there for you to see.

A message like this was a lot harder to get across before the Internet and websites were around. Now, with what is now simple technology, we’re almost right there in the village where people are being helped. We can see and know that our money can help real people.

They’ve broken down the barriers to giving, and broken down the barriers to saying, “No” to giving.

So that could be why Charity: water is now a cause I have donated to. And I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t donated to nearly enough causes. Ya gotta start somewhere, though – right?

I encourage you to do the same »

Those lips have been around for a while.  Is it just me or have they taken on a more lascivious posture within the past year or so?  In fact, they’re familiarly disturbing.  In all honesty I don’t spend a whole lot of time ruminating about the Dairy Queen lips – but when I see the ads and watch “the lips” in action they do evoke a vague sense of unease.  I mean how are a pair of lewd and in your face lips portraying the brand that has historically focused on wholesome family values?  And then dawned on me as I drove down the street with my radio on.

I was listening to a local station detailing their upcoming concerts and accompanying paraphernalia.  They urged their listening audience to watch for the mass quantities of merchandise bearing the Rolling Stones lips and tongue logo.  My first thought was “how will we be able to tell it from the Dairy Queen lips?”  And suddenly it all became clear.  Dairy Queen’s lips are startling reminders of the provocative lips and tongue logo designating the Rolling Stones.

Is this a coincidence?  Good question.  It starts to become suspect when you consider the fact that the Dairy Queen target audience consists of the parents of today, who are the later baby boomers and the gen Xer’s, along with all of their children.  The same folks who were – and still are – the avid admirers of the Stones and everything that they represented.  It came as quite a jolt.  And mostly because I had to ask myself “has the big adventure for the “Stones era” parent ceased to be the wild and reckless bashes of their youth and instead evolved into a family outing to fill their burgeoning bellies with the new big excitement in their lives – ice cream?”  Oh that would be sad.

On average 98% of the visitors who browse your site will leave without converting – whether that conversion is an action as simple as joining an e-mail list or as complicated as buying a product.

How Does Retargeting Work?

Retargeting works by anonymously observing consumers’ behaviors while they are visiting your website. Targeted messages are delivered to those consumers after they leave– based on whether or not they completed a desired action. While behavioral marketing in general uses online actions to identify, reach and convert good prospects, retargeting focuses on consumers who have actually been to your site.

Here’s an example of how it works. Let’s say you’re the new Cowboys Stadium with tickets that you want to sell. You can put a piece of code on the tickets page of your website, which will let you later show relevant ticket ads (such as last minute discounts) to everyone who has visited that page, as they subsequently browse sites in the Google content network (or whichever network you are running on).

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You can also run a number of retargeting campaigns at the same time. For example, you could offer discount game tickets to users who’ve previously visited your tickets page, advertise VIP hospitality packages to users who clicked on your “Hospitality Suites” page, and advertise a sale on team merchandise to users who previously visited your online store.

It doesn’t matter where the traffic is coming from to your site (print ads, TV, radio, online) as long as the traffic volume is there.  Retargeting is a great way for businesses to reach users who are likely to be highly receptive to their ads and special offers. It helps advertisers and websites get higher returns.

Retargeting can effectively optimize value across all your marketing efforts. The TV spot or online ad running for your business leading consumers to your website was not cheap, and retargeting helps ensure those dollars turn into revenue.

You can also use Search Retargeting for display advertising.  Yahoo!’s Search Retargeting, for example, is a customized display targeting solution that lets advertisers capture user interest from search terms and retarget the user with display ads throughout the Yahoo! Network. For example, if a user searches for the keyword “sandals,” indicating strong purchase intent, an advertiser can target that user with a tailored display ad for footwear.

Remember to retarget your past website visitors even if they have already made a purchase with you.  Don’t be shy to keep in contact with them.  The trust is already there, they are familiar with your brand and service, and more than likely they have an interest in another one of your products…….Up-Sell and Cross-Sell!

Purchasing of retargeting ads is made on a cost-per-click (CPC) or dynamic cost-per-thousand (CPM) basis and requires that a website have at least 500 visitors per month to be eligible for retargeting.  You can also specify how long a person remains on your retargeting list.  You may only want someone to be on the list for a period of 10-days to ensure they are not overexposed to your message.  Frequency capping can be implemented, such as only serving an advertiser’s retargeted ad to the same user once within a 24-hour period.

 Possible downsides of retargeting 

• Not everyone visits the websites that are on the Yahoo & Google content network.
  • Even though the Google content network reaches over 80% of internet users there is a chance that consumer X may travel to a site not in the network after he visits your site.
    • The Google content network reaches 80% of global internet users — making it the world’s #1 ad network.  
• The CTR will more than likely be lower than what we usually see on display & PPC campaigns
  • This is due to a higher number of overall impressions being served while clicks may be lower
  • Very similar to the Facebook model.  Facebook advertising is great because you have the ability to run thousands of impressions for very little money.  The downside is that your overall CTR will more than likely be very low. 

 Upside of retargeting 

• Advertisers have the opportunity, for very little money, to retarget consumers who we know have visited the website for one reason or another.
  • These are your most valuable prospects – they have already shown interest in your offerings just by visiting the site
• This allows your company to continue to grow their customer relationships
  • Continue the conversation. Deliver product ads. Build your brand. Give your customers what they are looking for – and forge a relationship with your online visitors.
• You can retarget anything that you want.  You can create one script code and put it on multiple pages (or top 3 trafficked pages) to build your retargeting bucket.   This allows your retargeting audience size to grow.  

There has been a lot of chatter lately in the advertising world about online ad networks.  Are these networks the right way to go for our clients?  Are they trustworthy and reliable?  Is it really worth paying a lower CPM if it jeopardizes your brand? 

What the majority of online ad networks do is sell remnant inventory (which they have purchased from other publishers) at a lower CPM.  Typically this will get you exactly what you pay for.  Quite often you will not know exactly where you are running or worse yet you could be running next to questionable content on the web.  This lack of transparency and control can kill your brand. 

Many publishers like Disney have also said enough is enough and will not sell unsold (remnant) inventory to ad networks anymore.  Publishers like Disney would much rather the inventory be used for co-branded initiatives than sold to ad networks resulting in lost revenue for Disney.

Years ago many of us (myself included) jumped on the ad network bandwagon partly due to its appealing price tag for our clients.  Now it seems like online ad network companies are multiplying and coming out stronger than ever for business.  I probably get at least two phone calls a day from a “new” online ad network wanting to pitch me their business.

It seems to me like more advertisers and publishers are rediscovering the value of associating products and brands with high-quality premium content over ad networks.  Don’t get me wrong, I love a great deal just as much as the next person but it’s important to remember you get what you pay for.

It’s no secret that the media landscape is changing. As a member of the advertising, marketing and PR industry and a freelance writer myself, I’ve noticed a major shift in the way reporters and editors get their story ideas.

We’re no longer in a world where the press release is the way to get trending stories. Today, the blogosphere and social networks are where the news is being made and broadcast. Bloggers and social media participants and their followers are criticizing and praising the brands and companies that they like. Since this is where the readers are, you must not be surprised that this also is where the reporters are.

Since 2004, the blogosphere has rapidly grown and whether you as PR professionals or marketers like it, it is providing a place for news, opinion and reviews that have not been “spun” by a PR professional. The most powerful and successful bloggers can clearly and articulately discuss their opinions on a product, service or company with credibility. They’re often well-known in their industry or seen as an influential person whose opinion matters.

As a writer, when I’m looking for a story idea, it is not uncommon to search online to find trending story ideas and potential sources from these credible bloggers. I can find ideas, sources and potential facts and figures (that, of course, need to be verified) easily all over social networks. I search for trusted bloggers, Tweeters and websites whose information I know is credible.

What this means for the PR and marketing professionals of the world is that you can no longer bank on the standard press release. Yes, press releases have historically been the PR tool of choice. And, in some cases, they are still practical, but only if the content is timely, relevant, news worthy and has lots of potential interview sources quoted and opportunities for video, photo and audio. And, ultimately, if the topic is of interest to the reporter’s beat, column, current issue, episode, show or publication.

You should instead be focusing your efforts on generating relevant and timely content in a variety of mediums including on corporate blogs and social media accounts in all formats: print, video, photo and audio. Find stories within your organization that bloggers and reporters and editors alike can grab onto. Provide sources and quotes. Be visual.

Today, many Omahans (yes, that’s what we’re collectively called) are excited about the opportunity to go out and spend some of their hard earned dollars. We just got official word that a Trader Joe’s store is indeed coming to town. The Twitter stream and Facebook updates extolling this glorious day have been pretty steady.

Besides feeling a little genuine excitement about this store coming to town myself, the thing on my mind is how Trader Joe’s, which at its essence is a small grocery store, has such fans that are busy telling everyone they know about a future store coming to their neck of the woods.

I’ve been a fan for years, and a good friend of mine actually finds out today if he gets promoted to top dog at one of the stores in Tucson. I like them because they sell food I enjoy at a great price. And having worked in the grocery industry for nearly 10 years I appreciate how they do business. They just do things right. They also are a great place to work as well as shop. They sell a limited number of products in a small, efficient store and they focus on natural/organic items. The majority of their sales come from their own store brand.  They have a very defined operation, very minimal labor (for the grocery industry) and very dedicated customers. People are known to drive many miles for a trip to the store.

Where does the average business fit into the fan versus customer spectrum? When your customer leaves your store/office/location are they telling others about you or is it just another transaction?

Trader Joe’s is being welcomed into a community and there have been Facebook groups requesting that they come here for over a year now. How many other food retailers enjoy that market position?

Now that we’re all excited, let’s see how it all shakes out. And how soon we start calling for additional locations to spend our money.

Sorry to disappoint you but we’re not addressing a beautiful start to a day at the beach – we’re here to talk soap suds? And both of these suds producers want you to know that they care about us and Mother Nature. Read More