The struggling MTV is enjoying a ratings rebound that began in January, for its first consistent gain in three years – and since July, ratings are up 22% among its core 12-34 demo.

One big win which has generated plenty of buzz for the network is Jersey Shore, which is now in its second season. The show launched season two on July 29 to 5.3 million viewers, almost quadruple the number that watched the season one premiere. And it is continuing to pull more than 5 million viewers a week. In fact, the show is nabbing the biggest ratings the network has seen in seven years.

I remember the good ole days when MTV used to play actual music videos.  Now it’s all reality television crap.

The 411 On Jersey Shore

Reality television series that follows eight housemates spending their summer on the Jersey Shore & Miami Beach. The show debuted amid large amounts of controversy regarding the use of the words “Guido/Guidette”, portrayals of Italian-American stereotypes and scrutiny from locals because the cast members were not residents of the area.

Prior to the series debut, UNICO National (which is the largest Italian American organization) formally requested that MTV cancel the show. In a letter to the network, UNICO called the show a “…direct, deliberate and disgraceful attack on Italian Americans…”.

MTV responded to the controversy by issuing a press release which stated in part, “the Italian-American cast takes pride in their ethnicity. We understand that this show is not intended for every audience and depicts just one aspect of youth culture.” Since the calls for the show’s removal, several sponsors have requested that their ads not be aired during the show. These sponsors included Dell, Domino’s and American Family Insurance. Despite the loss of certain advertisers, MTV has not canceled the show. Moreover, the show has seen its audience and ad revenue increase.

Ratings Up 22%, Ad Revenue Up 4%

Since July, MTV’s ratings have jumped 22% among its core demographic, viewers aged 12-34. In the second quarter of 2010, Viacom’s advertising revenue rose 4% compared to last year, for the second straight quarter of positive growth. Viacom expects that number to continue to rise.

Four “Jersey Shore” stars have gotten huge raises to return for next season. Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, Paul “Pauly D” DelVecchio and Jennni “JWOWW” Farley will each earn about $30,000 per episode next season for MTV’s biggest show since “The Osbournes.” This does not take into account outside sponsorship deals either.  The show’s success now earns Pauly up to $80,000 a week for his DJ work while Snooki earns up to $20,000 for a personal appearance and The Situation has a profitable line of “pre-workout” vitamins.

A Short Lesson In Jersey Shore Vocabulary

Grenade (adj): A word used to describe the ugly friend.

Landmines (n): Thin ugly girls.

G.F.F (n): “Grenade Free Foundation.” Promoted by “MVP”

MVP (n): Mike, Vinny, Pauly.

GTL (n,v): Gym, Tan, Laundry; how they make the guidos.

Juice Head (n): Someone, usually a hot, tan, male, who may or may not steroids in order to gain muscle mass, see “Juiced.”

Confession

I can’t in good faith write this post without coming clean. This train wreck of a show has sucked me in. It’s like crack! It’s so bad for you but once you try it you’re hooked. I actually feel dumber from having watched the show. I know it’s wrong but I can’t stop. HELP!

(OMAHA, Neb. – August 30, 2010) The work of Bozell employee Carrie Ratcliff is to be featured in upcoming publication LogoLounge: Masters Library, Volume 3: Shapes and Symbols, the third master series book from LogoLounge.com. The third volume will be released in 2011 by Rockport Publishers.

Ratcliff’s featured logo was designed for Hyp-Yoga. Hyp-Yoga combines hypnosis and yoga for an innovative fitness and weight loss solution. The circular symbol is derived from a meditative symbol of Japanese Zen Buddhism. The circular motion of brush strokes symbolizes the rejuvenating journey of connecting what the mind wants the body to do and what the body actually does. The tall sans serif font represents poise and strength, two important variables of yoga. The earthy color tones are calming, natural and approachable.

“To be featured in a LogoLounge.com Masters volume is something that many designers aspire to achieve. I’m glad that a logo I believe in will be accessible to other designers across the country. What an amazing opportunity,” said Ratcliff.

LogoLounge.com was created to keep designers informed of the newest trends and up-and-coming designers. By the time traditional design books hit the shelves, the logos are already out of date, so LogoLounge.com features both an online and printed option for designers. LogoLounge.com typically receives around 35,000 entries for each book, and Masters Series books highlight exceptional work in specific styles. The featured logos are chosen by a panel of internationally renowned designers and represent the best in current logo designs. Their website offers current trends, logos in the news and featured designers. For more information, visit http://www.logolounge.com/default.asp.

About Bozell
Bozell is a creative marketing communications company with offices in Omaha, Nebraska and Overland Park, Kansas. Bozell combines qualitative and quantitative methodology to get close to its clients’ customers. Bozell then uses advertising, digital marketing, dialogue relations, technology and innovative creative to provide targeted solutions for local, regional and national clients. For more information, visit www.bozell.com.

(OMAHA, Neb. – August 30, 2010) The work of Bozell designers Rachel Boshart and Carrie Ratcliff is to be featured in upcoming publication LogoLounge 6, the sixth book from LogoLounge.com. LogoLounge 6 will be released in February of 2011 by Rockport Publishers.

Boshart and Ratcliff’s designs were among 34,000 logos from around the world submitted to a panel of eight international judges. Only 2,000 of these were chosen to be featured in LogoLounge 6, four of which were designed by Boshart and Ratcliff.

Boshart’s logo design was created for TownCommons.com. This logo serves to unify the Omaha community through design, representing it with one collective voice. It uses positive and negative space to show the many elements that intertwine to produce one city. It makes the community feel approachable and cohesive.

Ratcliff has three designs in LogoLounge 6, including a second logo for TownCommons.com. Ratcliff’s logo features simple shapes of trees intersecting to create city buildings, suggesting both can coexist to form one community. The overlapping lines also represent interaction, collaboration and the sharing of information.

The Bras Across the Bridge logo is another of Ratcliff’s designs to be featured. This was created to promote an event to raise money for breast cancer research. The straps are the pink ribbons which represent the cause and the dotted lines represent the bras linking across the bridge. The design is approachable and accessible, representing optimism and hope.

Ratcliff’s final design is for NorthStar, an Omaha foundation dedicated to meeting the needs of North Omaha’s male youths with various programs and support. This logo is strong on its own. The modern star above the lowercase “n” is a youthful interpretation of the typical North Star. It emulates academic achievement and adventure.

“It’s such an honor to be included in a book like LogoLounge 6 alongside designers that we respect and admire,” said Boshart. “It’s also a great opportunity to see what other designers are doing and maybe get inspired by some of the newest and most innovative work out there,” added Ratcliff.

LogoLounge.com was created to keep designers informed of the newest trends and up-and-coming designers. By the time traditional design books hit the shelves, the logos are already out of date, so LogoLounge.com features both an online and printed option for designers. LogoLounge.com typically receives around 35,000 entries for each book, and books are released every year and a half. The featured logos are chosen by a panel of internationally renowned designers and represent the best in current logo designs. The website features current trends, logos in the news and featured designers. The next book, LogoLounge 6, will be released in February of 2011. For more information, visit http://www.logolounge.com/default.asp.

About Bozell
Bozell is a creative marketing communications company with offices in Omaha, Nebraska and Overland Park, Kansas. Bozell combines qualitative and quantitative methodology to get close to its clients’ customers. Bozell then uses advertising, digital marketing, dialogue relations, technology and innovative creative to provide targeted solutions for local, regional and national clients. For more information, visit www.bozell.com.

Monitoring social media campaigns can be difficult. There are some wonderful tools out there but most require registration or paid subscription. Google just launched a new service that simplifies the real time monitoring of updates made from Facebook and Twitter.

The system dubbed “Google realtime” is as easy to use as any Google search. Simply type in your search term or wrap your term in quotes if you want an exact match, and click search. The system will then provide you hour-by-hour results for the current day.

What’s even more impressive is you can also select where the content was posted from geographically. So if you have offices or stores in different physical locations you can select the city and state where you would like to see comments.

This simple to use service provides a great tool for determining social comment trending for any organization.

Bozell employee, Bryan Mohr, and his radio show c0-host, Michael Shearer, were highlighted in Shout!, an Omaha arts & entertainment newsweekly, focused on Omaha’s young professionals and creative class. If you would like to find out more about Shout!, please visit their site.

The Weekly Grind has a Whole New Meaning
By Meghan D’Arcy

Many outlandish yet intriguing creations have been conceptualized while bellying up to the bar, though most of them are quickly forgotten, and those that aren’t are laughed at the next day over a Tylenol and water breakfast. Koozies, the tuxedo t-shirt, Baileys in Guinness, but a talk-radio show for young professionals?

Well that’s exactly where The Weekly Grind was born. After a few too many Scotches and a chance encounter with local radio host Tom Becka at Dundee Dell, Bryan Mohr, a 29-year-old copywriter for Bozell, and his future co-host Michael Shearer, the 30-year-old sales director of Ameripride Services, decided they were tired of listening to “some gray-haired old dude who’s 60” talking about issues they didn’t care about. Armed with liquid confidence and not much else, the pair charged ahead, gaining sponsors and a radio spot before they’d even overcome their hangovers.

That was February 2009, back when Mohr admits, “We were horrible.” A lot has changed since then. They still provide an off-the-cuff radio show, only loosely planned the day before at a coffee shop, which discusses local young professionals and the issues that affect them. They keep things relevant by looking at what is going on in Omaha, and trying to talk to all the right people. But now they don’t have to chase down their guests and plead with them to go on-air, the guests come to them. Like recent guest Wendy Townley, whose new book, Nerdy Thirty, is about turning 30 and all the lessons she has learned. In fact, they’re all for promoting young professionals and their business endeavors, focusing on events, charities and young people doing great things in Omaha, like upcoming guest Ben Cohoon, race director for the Market to Market Relay.

At 10 a.m. every Saturday on Omaha’s KOIL 1180 AM, they go on-air and “just let it rip.” Their natural and unpolished style is part of the appeal of the show for young people. They’re not over-researched or biased; as the show goes on, they “grow with the really organic conversation.” Quite the opposite from other talk-radio shows, ahem Rush Limbaugh (not that we’re mentioning any names), which don’t consider young people’s perspective.

Mohr, who met with me this week, says that one of his top guests has been Mayor Jim Suttle during his campaign in 2009. Although, he had to admit that his favorite guests have been the guys from Lucky Bucket who shared their Brew of the Gods on-air in the studio room. Tough day at the office.

Other recent guests include United Way of the Midlands, Mustaches for Kids, local musicians and an author who criticized Omaha for building two stadiums. Hey Mister, leave the city alone!

What gets these guys out of bed at an unnatural hour on a Saturday to sit in a studio and talk for two hours? Their love for the city of Omaha and all it has to offer. Mohr admits that he’s “not going to say it’s 100% there yet.” But he does say that Omaha is becoming a professional hot spot. He contends that the art community is growing and thriving, bringing hoards of creative young people here, along with their fresh perspective and innovative ideas, in fact, this is a common thread on The Weekly Grind.

“I think what young professionals want when they get out of college is a place where they can have a billion options to choose from to go have drinks and dinner, as well as good career opportunities,” Mohr said. With several Fortune 500 companies and increasing entertainment options, Omaha is quickly joining the ranks of other young professional Meccas, such as Portland, Seattle, Chicago and Austin, whose tech boom made a tiny college town explode into one of the top American cities for young people. And just like Austin, Mohr believes that the growing creative community in our fair city is what’s going to get us there. “We’re not big now, but if we keep building this creative community with great minds, maybe some day Omaha will become a bigger city,” Mohr said. Hear, hear!

To hear more from Mohr and Shearer, tune into The Weekly Grind Saturdays at 10 a.m. on Omaha’s KOIL 1180 AM, or visit theweeklygrindradio.com.

(OMAHA, Neb. – Aug. 19, 2010) – Bozell, an integrated marketing communications consulting firm, has named Scott Bishop as manager of social influence, Meghan D’Arcy as project manager,  Jake Dunn as interactive developer and Emily Wenstrom as content and engagement developer.

Bishop joins Bozell has manager of social influence and will be responsible for managing all client social media plans and relationships. With a strong background in social media, marketing and sales, he previously owned the social media consultancy CraveEngine. Bishop also served as marketing manager for McGraw-Hill and as business consulting and marketing rep for Franklin Covey in Chicago. He graduated from Bradley University with a Bachelor of Science in business administration.

As project manager, D’Arcy will provide account service, public relations and copywriting support for multiple client accounts including Right at Home, Vic’s Corn Popper, Writelife, Market to Market and College World Series. She came to Bozell from Ireland where she researched, studied and taught at University of Limerick. She also previously taught high school English and served as a writer and researcher at Sunguard Analytics, both in Vermont. D’Arcy received a Bachelor of Arts in English and Fine Arts from Saint Michael’s College and a Master of Arts in Linguistics from University of Limerick.

In his role as interactive developer, Dunn is responsible for the development and maintenance of client websites and their supporting systems as well as the development of custom web applications and email marketing campaigns. He provides support on multiple client accounts including Randy Brown Architects. Prior to joining Bozell, Dunn served as an interactive developer at David Day and Associates.

As content and engagement developer in the Dialogue Relations department, Wenstrom will provide media relations, research and editorial support for multiple client accounts including Right at Home and TD Ameritrade. Prior to joining Bozell, Wenstrom served as managing editor of Capital Area Women’s LifeStyle Magazine in Lansing, Mich. and as resident ink slinger at Motion Marketing and Media. She has also worked with several publications ranging from traditional daily newspapers to monthly magazines. She is a graduate of Calvin College, holding a dual Bachelor of Arts in English and Mass Media.

About Bozell
Bozell is an integrated marketing communications company with offices in Omaha and Kansas City. Bozell combines qualitative and quantitative methodology to get close to its clients’ customers. Bozell then uses advertising, digital marketing, dialogue relations, technology and innovative creative to provide targeted solutions for local, regional and national clients. For more information, visit www.bozell.com.

They measure all kinds of media usage these days, how much time you spend with it, how often you zip and zap it when it gets on your nerves for one reason or another and how much you get out of it.

One thing they don’t look at is which ads will chase you away from the environment in which the ad is featured and possibly motivate you not to return – either during that program/issue or possibly any programming/issue in that environment.

In my case the ads that will always get me to retreat – change the channel, put down the magazine, etc. are any ads that feature cruelty to animals. Not only will you not get a donation from me, you will cause me to abandon the ad environment altogether.

Now I’m sure some of these ads are big money generators or they wouldn’t be run by so many organizations, but I’m a huge animal lover and I will not tolerate those cheap and tawdry tactics. Tell me the good things you’re doing for animals, don’t show a sick looking creature locked up in a crate with a horror story or a tacky sad song.

When I know a network or magazine, etc. features these manipulative ads frequently I ban it from my existence. And I would not want my media buys to be impacted by this sensationalized bullying.

While animal cruelty ads are the number one reason I will “change the channel” there are others as well. I always avoid networks that show horror flick promos while I’m eating a meal – and for that matter I tend to avoid them in general.

As a marketer it is worth evaluating your medium with this concern in mind. How do you think a McDonald’s barbeque special commercial would fare run between two pods featuring animal cruelty? I know it would affect my appetite – that is if I hadn’t already abandoned the channel permanently before the McDonald’s spot even ran!

The median age of the broadcast nets’ viewers has climbed at twice the rate of the general U.S. population.

According to a report by veteran media analyst Steve Sternberg for Baseline Inc., CBS’s median age last season was 55 (up from 45 in 1991), ABC’s was at 51 (up from 37), NBC’s was 49 (up from 42) and Fox’s stood at 44 (up from 29).

Note, for example, that Two and a Half Men is an aging show, with the median age of viewers at 50.  Meanwhile, Dancing with the Stars, another hit, remains on the air with a median audience age of 60.

Alan Wurtzel of NBC points out that there are more older viewers available – the American population’s median age jumped from 33 in 1990 to 38 last year, according to the Census Bureau – and that advertisers have begun to recognize that older viewers have money and are receptive to advertising.  Fox’s Glee has a median age of 38 and CBS’s The Good Wife and the NCIS franchise skew the oldest at 58 and 57 respectively.

Boomers

TV dominates with Boomers.  Boomers specifically watch about 9  hours of video daily.  Boomers are responsible for one-third of television viewers, online/social media users and Twitter users.

(OMAHA, Neb. – Aug. 12, 2010) – Mary Palu, an employee of integrated marketing communications consulting firm Bozell, recently graduated from the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Omaha program.

Now entering its 33rd year, the program is a 10-month study of community issues designed to develop effective community leaders who will strengthen and transform the community. Palu was one of 46 participants who gradated at the Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center on Thursday, June 17. Palu was chosen based on her demonstrated community involvement and career advancement.

“Leadership Omaha was truly a one-of-a-kind opportunity to see some amazing things that are happening in our community; but also to see where there is more work to be done,” Palu said.  “It gives you a really interesting perspective on what it takes to create vision for change and then how to work towards turning that vision into action.”

Palu joined Bozell in September 2004 and currently serves as a Business and Engagement Developer where she oversees strategic planning and development for Alegent Health, the Omaha-metro area’s largest healthcare system.  Her other clients include Tate & Lyle, VT Industries and The United Way of the Midlands.

Prior to joining Bozell, Palu served as an Account Supervisor with Ketchum (San Francisco’s) Food & Nutrition Practice and as a Publicist for Paige Poulos Communications where she conducted media relations and event marketing for clients. Palu has a degree in Family & Consumer Science Education with an emphasis in nutrition from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Palu is also actively involved with many community organizations. She is currently serving as President on the Board of Directors for Friends of Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, is a steering committee member of VOICE Omaha, and a curriculum committee member for Leadership Omaha. “Mary’s leadership skills and community involvement will continue to transform and better the Omaha community,” said Kim Mickelsen, managing principle of Bozell. “We are proud of her for all of her community and professional accomplishments.”

About Bozell
Bozell is an integrated marketing communications company with offices in Omaha and Kansas City. Bozell combines qualitative and quantitative methodology to get close to its clients’ customers. Bozell then uses advertising, digital marketing, dialogue relations, technology and innovative creative to provide targeted solutions for local, regional and national clients. For more information, visit www.bozell.com

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Twitter may have millions of active users, but many, many more millions don’t even have accounts. Which is what makes this latest news, big news. Twitter’s newest feature called “Fast Follow” uses a classic short code approach and makes it easy to follow anyone via SMS, even if you don’t have a Twitter account.

If you see a Twitter @username at a restaurant or store, on a billboard or on TV, or if you hear one mentioned on the radio, you can simply text “Follow [username]” to 40404 and you’ll start receiving all of that user’s updates via text message. The service can simply act as an SMS-based newsletter or text alert program. This would be a great way for bars and restaurants to simply and inexpensively promote daily deals or special promotions.

Certainly this could become annoying really quick if you follow someone who tweets all the time. But it looks like you’ll have some granular control over SMS messages you receive. Even more control if you have a Twitter account. But with SMS, you can turn text messages on or off by sending ‘on’ or ‘off’ to 40404.

You can follow @twittermobile to keep up with the latest mobile developments.

OTHER TWITTER UPDATES:  Twitter is launching an official Tweet Button for sharing articles on websites and counting how many times a URL has been shared, according to documents Mashable has obtained. The Tweet Button could launch as soon as this Thursday. Read>