Friday, April 27, 2012

Marketing: How Large Conglomerates Succeed

by Natalie Bell
@nebell90


Take a good look at the map above -- I bet you will be surprised.  Did you know that the majority of these small goods are owned by ten corporations?  This graphic comes is from the French blog Convergence Alimentaire.  The blog gives explains the impacts of having a small number of companies own a large number of brands -- environmentally, economically, politically, and consumer-wise.  What we PR/Marketing people think of is how the companies survive if they are selling their own similar brands as competitors.

For instance, take a look at Proctor & Gamble.  They own multiple types of laundry detergents -- each of whom compete against the others for consumers, at least from the outside.  Taking a deeper look into the detergents, however, each brand features a different benefit.  Tide is the classic detergent that focuses on cleanliness of washed clothes; Gain targets people who are highly concerned about the scent of washed clothes; Downy attracts consumers with a priority for soft washed clothes.  By advertising each brand as being the best for each purpose, Proctor & Gamble ensures that, in the end, their company gets almost all detergent revenues.  

Other companies are doing the same thing: Pepsico owns five fast food chains, but they all have unique menus from the others.  Coca-Cola sells three different energy drinks all targeting different audiences.  These products do not have extreme differences.  So what makes them different in our minds?  Marketing, my friends, marketing.  Creating unique ideas for each brand makes the products unique to consumers.  Without this created brand image detergents would all seem the same.  Energy drinks would be the same.  Marketing allows for choices and preferences between similar products, and what kind of world would we be in without choices?  

Thursday, April 26, 2012

4 Ways To Reach Out To Bloggers On Pinterest


by Shelly Gustafson

Visually inclined bloggers have found a home on Pinterest - where they have an outlet to easily post their favorites photos and videos as well as interact with other like-minded bloggers and fans.

But can PR and marketing teams use Pinterest directly to effectively reach out to these influential individuals?

The answer thus far is both yes and no.

Yes, because Pinterest simply gives more insight to the blogger’s world and interests rather then simply reading their blog. Perhaps you’ll find through combing through the various pins and boards that an influential mommy blogger has a secret love for gardening or is on the search for healthy recipes for her kids.

However, reaching out to a blogger through Pinterest should be handled with extreme care. Pinterest thus far has developed as a very simple concept, much like Twitter did, and marketing and commercialism is still finding its place among the shuffle.

This, of course, does not mean you can’t utilize Pinterest to get you and your product noticed by these bloggers in a more subtle way. Below I’ve listed a few ways to slowly integrate yourself into these blogger’s world via Pinterest:

1) Get involved yourself. Join Pinterest and start your own boards with your interests and ideas on display.

2) Follow, Follow, Follow Similar to Twitter you can follow too many people on Pinterest and end up being overwhelmed by your feed. When you are starting out its incredibly important to start following the right people and for PR and marketers the right people are often the influencers in their field.
But don’t limit yourself to following a couple bloggers – look at who they follow and what interests them as well. Do they have favorite companies that they follow and interact with or perhaps other bloggers that you can add to your influencers list?

3) Repin / Like / Comment Pinterest offers three options for someone to show agreement or appreciation for another users contribution and all three of them end with you being listed in the individuals Pinterest update.
  • Repin 
    • This option should be used when you really like someone’s pin and want to add it to your own personal boards. It will remain there until you remove it however so use with caution.
  • "Like" 
    • The pinterest equivalent of the “retweet” a like on Pinterest shows a little less commitment that a repin but will still add you to the bloggers daily pinterest feed. 
  • Comment
    • Commenting on a pin will allow you to be associated with any repins that other individuals may do, so it can give you an even bigger reach. 
4) Contact Via Email 
Once you’ve establish yourself on Pinterest and feel you have a good feel for the bloggers style and interests reach out to them via email. Mentioning that you enjoy their boards on Pinterest can only help your cause and may even jog their memory back to some of your repins/likes/comments. 









Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Video Boosts Brand Engagement, Study Reports


by Dave Sniadak


We've seen a dramatic shift since 2010 in how advertisers are using video campaigns - online, interactive, and through traditional media buys. Accordingly to an Adap.tv industry survey of 638 agencies, brands, publishers and ad networks, nearly three out of every four advertiser (73%) is setting out to build brand engagement with their video initiatives. This shouldn't come as a surprise to those of us who advise our clients how to utilize video in their marketing and advertising efforts. 

However, what is slightly surprising could be that in the past 24 months, the attitude towards online video has shifted so dramatically from brand awareness to brand engagement. How dramatic? In 2010, only 18% of advertisers saw value in brand engagement with video. In just two years, attitudes have spiked by 55% in favor of engagement. 

The cross-platform integration of video - thanks to the strong saturation of tablets, smart phones, and even smart TVs - allows companies to deliver their message simultaneously on a multitude of mediums. No longer are companies forced to simply buy a flight of cable spots that go out and fall flat. Now, for example, we can buy the cable time on ESPN, while coordinating buys on ESPN.com, and even ESPN's mobile app.

The ability to hammer home a message with video has never been greater than it is right now. However, do advertisers run the risk of over-delivering content to a video soaked consumer base? Fresh content is crucial to ensuring a successful campaign. Keep that in mind as you dial up your next media buy.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Mr. Bubble Does it Again!

by Natalie Bell
@nebell90


Bragging is often frowned upon, but sometimes you just have to toot your own horn.  Last month our team at Axiom was thankful for winning the PRSA Classics award for Mr. Bubble's 50th Birthday Bash. We now have received more good news about the party -- we are finalists for the PR Daily Award for Best Event Marketing!  All the hard work of our team and members with The Village Company paid off. This gives us a chance to reminisce with these highlights from the Mr. Bubble event:

  • Creating Bubble Land in Water Park of America with giant bath tub and world's largest bubble bath.
  • Filling the water park and lazy river with Mr. Bubble beach balls.
  • Inviting Mommy bloggers from across the country to enjoy the party.
  • Presenting (and savoring) the Mr. Bubble replica cake.
  • Fox 9 News joining us for the event and showing live footage.
All in all, the day was a huge success and something to remember.

Mr. Bubble and his cake.

Children enjoying the giant bubble bath.


Wednesday, April 18, 2012

The "New" Addiction? Tablet Users Report Peace of Mind, Creative Boost, According to Viacom

by Dave Sniadak
Very interesting findings were just released from Viacom this week, talking about how tablets are now the "second screen" of choice for television viewers. The media and research company calls this latest trend "Tabletomics," or the science of using tablets to consume media, technology, all while enhancing creativity. Move over laptop, there's a new screen in town. But beyond that, it seems that tablets are the new "cup of coffee" we so often need to have attached to our hands - without it, we start to get jittery and shaky.

Viacom found that tablet owners feel an emotional connection to their devices. Research findings show that more than 50% of respondents said their tablets bring peace of mind, almost half (49%) said they're managing their daily duties better, and by simply having a tablet in hand, almost 4 out of 10 people feel more creative (39%). Sound familiar? I feel the same way about my morning can of Pepsi.

This video posted on Stuart Schneiderman's blog on Viacom.com shows how consumers are using their tablets to perpetuate the consumption of media beyond simply sitting on the couch and watching their favorite shows. What it doesn't show is how our addiction to tablets is creating a divide between personal connection. I'm alarmed by the footage of the family sitting on the couch, all using a different mobile device, instead of sitting on the floor, playing with toys or board games.

Is it time we have a technological intervention? When do we pull the plug and force ourselves, as a society, to say "We've consumed enough technology for one day! Turn it off!"? I guess we'll simply have to ask our Facebook friends what they think, right after I update my calendar on iCal and finish this documentary I'm watching on my Whispersync app.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

April showers...make for a great time to watch online videos!

by Nick Egner

How does this have over 5 million views?

With Youtube being as vast as it is, it can be hard to find good content. With social media being saturated with an overwhelming supply of content, how in the world are you going to find the good stuff? Lots of video sharing sites and social media channels are basically just user generated filters that allow people to update and share the videos they find most interesting. Are you yearning for more high quality, on-line video content? Well, I can’t promise you that, but here is a look at a few places on the net you might find yourself lost in a sea of cute cats, laughing babies, and Tupac’s ghost at Coachella.

Pinterest.com
I know Pinterest at first glance looks like every girl on Facebook’s place to pin their dream wedding dress, or those cute shoes she saw at Neiman's, oh and I know that purse Sally just pinned would look great with them too. Being a guy on Pinterest is like going to the department store with your girlfriend/wife every single time you log in. But there is hope. Pinterest has taken strides to be a player in the realm of video sharing. In fact they just added Vimeo to their pinning prowess. Pinterest has also added a hot link on their opening page to go directly to a page of recently pinned videos. With Pinterest becoming an on-line market place, is it gearing up for marketers to add more content? For now it is just a nice addition to an already addicting website. Take a look at a (very manly) video pinboard I created to get an idea: http://pinterest.com/nicholase/videos-to-show-you-are-cool/.

Chill.com
I was just introduced to this site. It has a very similar feel to Pinterest, but is strictly for videos. You are able to follow people (like Pinterest) whom you feel have similar tastes as you. Through creating “collections” of videos, users are able to group videos together. There is even a “chill” button you can add to your bookmark bar for easy sharing. Ok, no joke, this is Pinterest. It is exactly like Pinterest for video content. And really, that isn’t that bad of a thing. I could see falling into a time warp on this site. Nice big thumb nails on the home page, user comments are easy to access, and it seems to be quite a streamlined style even though there are a ton of little icons that I have no clue what they are for. I don’t know, I say give it a shot.

Reddit.com/r/videos
OH MAN! It’s the holy grail of time you will never get back! This is the Steven Hawking level of accelerated time. Honestly, if you haven’t heard of reddit, you might want to think twice about checking it out. The idea is that people post videos they like. The reddit community then up or down votes the content depending on if they like it or not. So all the best posts rise to the top while all the worst fall to the floor. Rebeca Black is hanging out in the basement of Reddit. This is a tried and true method of discovering really top notch content out there in the depths of the interwebs...and some cat videos.

With Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter being the crowned juggernauts of social media sharing, it is nice to step away and explore some alternatives. And when I say “step away” I mean sit in your chair and be as unproductive as possible! Enjoy your total waste of time!

Monday, April 16, 2012

Branded Entertainment Done Right With Denny's

by Mike Reiber
Branded entertainment -- particularly comedy -- can be a dart board experience. Sometimes it hits the bull's eye. Sometimes not.

One you should be sure to check out is Denny's "Always Open" webisode campaign produced by the digital content group owned by actors Will Arnett and Jason Bateman. The campaign is a series of provactive 3-4 minute interviews posted on Collegehumor.com. Saturday Night Live alumnus Dave Koecher interviews celebs while they share a booth at Denny's. Celebs included in the series include Jessica Biehl, Conan O'Brien's pal Andy Richter and others. Last year's interviews included Jason Bateman and Will Arnett and nabbed more than 6 million views. Links to the videos were tweeted by a variety of celebrities.
The interviews underscore the fact that Denny's is always open and represents a welcoming place. The webisodes remind me of a modern day Seinfeld for millenials.

Clearly, Denny's has hit the mark.


Friday, April 13, 2012

LinkedIn Targeted Updates

by Natalie Bell
@nebell90

LinkedIn has been available to professional individuals for nearly a decade.  Initially, the site began very small and grew slowly.  As other social media outlets gained popularity LinkedIn worked to improve.  The site opened up to students in addition to working professionals.  Companies are now able to have pages.  People and companies can post status updates.  One feature that Facebook and Google+ had over LinkedIn was the ability to  post updates to specific audiences.  Google+ has it's circles, Facebook has it's lists, and now LinkedIn has Targeted Updates.

So what are the benefits of Targeted Updates?  As a marketer overseeing our company page, I find this very exciting.  We are working to update our page and add new features -- perfect timing for a new feature to be introduced!  Targeted Updates allows you to send updates to specific subgroups of your followers.  The post will show on the news feeds of those you choose, but be visible to everyone who visits your page.  This means that the people who see the update are the ones most likely to be interested and engage with your company.

Targeted Updates gives you the availability to post to very specific groups based on their page information.  Followers can be broken down through five categories: industry, job function, company size, geography and including/excluding company employees.  Before posting you can sift through your followers to get a narrowed audience and create a higher chance of engagement.

The video below gives a quick explanation and tutorial for using LinkedIn Targeted Updates.



Monday, April 9, 2012

The Dish on Google Consumer Surveys

by Ashley Haugen
@AshleyKaia

As marketers we wouldn't be able to function without consumer research (and maybe a little caffeine). We rely on feedback from target markets to give energy and motion to our projects. Which logo is best? Which slogan do people remember? What changes should I make to my product for it to be a hit? We all rely on these types of questions to get the answers needed to steer us in a clear direction that can otherwise be murky.

So what happens when you need research that is fast and reliable-but won't blow the company budget?  Google has an answer for you. The company recently released Google Consumer Surveys, a low-cost way to perform market research in a "fast, accurate, and affordable" manner.

This is how it works:

  1. Businesses create quick micro-surveys about their product, which is then embedded on publisher sites. Google pays publishers a percentage of what they charge businesses for the survey. The charge is $.10 per response for the general US population or $.50 per response for custom audiences. 
  2. Readers are presented with the survey when trying to access certain content, such as articles, photos or video, serving as a "soft" paywall.  It looks something like this: 


Early adopters include Adweek, the Star Tribune and The Texas Tribune.

Google Consumer Surveys has filled a void for both publishers and marketers. Publishers get paid for hosting the survey, businesses get valuable market research, and Google gets a check from the business. The surveys are short enough and incentivized, so they won't be as much of a deterrent to access premium content like traditional paywalls or "register" requirements are. Google does it again, however I'm not yet sure about those glasses...

For more information, check out Google's video:

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Spring Cleaning, Office Edition: What Will YOU Find?

by Dave Sniadak




This post is a little off topic, but certainly worthy of discussion. While doing a little spring cleaning in our offices, we discovered a few unusual finds tucked away in our desk drawers. The items ranged from old business cards to condiments, hard hats to handcuffs. My favorite happened to be an old Axiom polo shirt, complete with what appears to be small blood or ketchup stains (let's go with ketchup). Strange, right?

Needless to say, it was time to purge some of these items from our desk.
So, the question remains, when you open your desk drawers, what unusual items will you uncover this spring? Share some of your favorites with us here, or post your pics at our Axiom Social Hour Facebook page. The best entry may just receive some of our junk.

Monday, April 2, 2012

Marketing to the Socially Conscious Consumer

by Ashley Haugen
@AshleyKaia

Research suggests that there is a segment of socially conscious consumers that marketers should pay attention to. A recent report by Nielsen aims to help cause-related marketers better define their strategy, and offers insight into the beliefs of these consumers.

Nielsen’s Global Corporate Citizenship Surveyed more than 28,000 Internet respondents in 56 countries. Results show that 46 percent of global consumers are willing to pay extra for products and services from companies that have implemented programs to give back to society. Nielsen defines these consumers as socially-conscious consumers.

Of these socially-conscious consumers, over half believe companies should support causes for environmental sustainability, education in science and technology, and the eradication of poverty. 





Of all 18 causes, companies going "green" was of the most importance. But why should this matter to marketers? “Knowing what causes are most important to the socially-conscious consumer may help brands prioritize their social investments,” said Nic Covey, vice president of Nielsen Cares, Nielsen’s global corporate social responsibility program. “The next step is to understand precisely what causes are important to a brand’s individual customers."

Another key finding: Socially-conscious consumers are more likely than other survey respondents to use social media to help make purchase decisions (59% vs. 46% of all respondents). Companies that wish to appeal to this segment, must have a strong and clear social media presence. Highlighting their efforts in social good not only appeals to consumers, but effectually drives sales. (Doing the world some good along the way doesn't hurt either.)