Media Spectrum

I’ve been working in the media department of a marketing firm since I first graduated from college in 19$$ (did you really think I was going to give away my age). Over the years I’ve seen quite a lot of changes in media… some good, some bad (some I could even categorize as “what were they thinking?”) But basically, media can be divided into two categories… traditional and non-traditional.

Traditional media includes television, radio, newspaper, magazine and outdoor advertising. Non-traditional media (also known as new media) includes Web/Internet, out of home, e-mail, promotions and guerilla advertising.

Television really hasn’t changed much in its lifetime, except to say that over time individual show audiences for the main networks have dropped. The basic cause for this has been the proliferation of cable channels. Even though any one cable show’s ratings really don’t even come close to a network TV program’s ratings, multiply it by the number of cable channels available, and you have your answer. In addition, the amount of time people are spending on computers at home in the evenings isn’t helping either. In fact, the largest network audience drop is in the teen and young adult categories… the people with the highest index of primetime computer usage. Once the home of glorious 25 to 35 household ratings when I started in this business, networks now get excited by anything over a 7, get downright giddy should one of their shows acclaim a 10 rating, and they nearly hurt themselves should the Nielsen gods show them to have a program that actually has a 12 household rating.

Radio isn’t doing much better. Although there has been no great gain in the number of radio stations in any market, the audience levels and the “time spent listening” numbers have dropped severely. Why listen to formats that constantly interrupt your listening with commercials, when you can listen to an iPod, MP3 player, or computer music with no commercials. An unlike radio, these venues guarantee that you will listen to 100% of what you want to hear.

I’m sure you have all heard of the death of newspapers. Well, maybe… maybe not. There definitely have been some newspapers that have gone out of business. Especially in markets that previously had two papers. Especially in the current economy where clients have pulled way back on the advertising budgets. Plus, middle-aged people are more inclined to get their news on their computer via the Internet. However, that being said, there are still many people who want the paper in their hand while they drink their morning coffee.

Magazines are going out of business at an alarming rate. Time and the economy are the two culprits behind their demise. 15 years ago people had enough time to read many magazines per week/month. However, now we are all running around like chickens without heads try to get everything accomplished. And well, something had to give. Plus, again the economy has caused marketers to seriously cut back their adverting budgets, so only the primary publications were able to survive.

Billboards are probably the only traditional media vehicle that has remained constant. In fact, with such a mobile society, viewership of billboards (posters and bulletins) has actually gone up over the years. Although a hard medium in terms of creative design, good messaging and location makes this an extremely efficient advertising medium.

Okay, let’s move on to the non-traditional media. If you’re under 80, you almost definitely have an e-mail account. In theory, it’s such a great medium for one-on-one and two-way marketing. However, direct marketing companies and freelancers have completely ruined this venue for serious marketers. Between the plethora of worthless junk e-mail, and virus-enclosed emails, people are hesitant to even give their e-mail addresses out to anyone other than their accepted friends. This advertising vehicle has become an almost worthless marketing vehicle except in the case of opt-in marketing e-mail. But in terms of acquiring new customers, opt-in email is after the fact. However it can certainly help in terms of new purchases from an already existing customer.

Over the years out-of-home advertising has expanded to more than just billboards. Today it includes such things as bus and subway ads and wraps, transit shelter advertising, bench ads, hot dog umbrella ads, mobile vehicles and projection media, where video ads are actually shown on sides of buildings after darkness has set in. The trick in out-of-home advertising is to catch the customer by surprise, when they are not expecting to see marketing messages.

Internet/Web advertising is relatively new, since the Internet has only been available since the 1980s. If nothing else, every company should be doing Google word search marketing. Since you only pay for actual click-throughs to your Web page, it’s the most efficient for of marketing, with the ROI of getting a client, or possible client to your Web page being 100%. Web site and Web page sponsorships have also become efficient if you’re dealing with a site that has the ability to geo-fence your marketing message. What this means is that your message would only be shown to site visitors that are situated in areas that you have previously set up with the site that you are advertising on. Now, not all sites have this ability, so make sure you ask about this feature when you discuss your advertising plans with them. Also, be careful in picking your Web ad size. Most people have trained themselves not to look at the top few inches of a Web page that usually contains a banner ad. You’re better off running tile, skyscraper and empire ads that are along the side of the site’s content. Or better yet, try to get “ads” that are embedded within the copy of the page. Many B2B companies now send out monthly, weekly or even daily newsletters that you can sponsor. But remember, seeing your ads too often can actually turn a prospective customer off toward your company.

The most exciting venue for non-traditional media (at least in my opinion) is promotions/guerilla marketing. This can range from a low key whisper marketing campaign all the way up to scooter squads and brand ambassadors. When a promotion is done correctly, it has a great chance of being covered by the local news. And if it’s truly great and out of the ordinary it possibly even land on a network newscast. It does have some drawbacks though. It takes a real left-brained person to organize and carry it through. Lots of Is to dot and Ts to cross for everything to run smoothly as planned. That’s why you really should be working with professionals who do these kinds of things for a living every day.

Guerilla marketing can also include another venue. I like to call it “whatever you can think of.” This can include everything from ads printed on deli cups, to graphics on the floor at supermarkets or department stores, to Post-It notes attached to a newspaper or magazine ad, to one of my favorites… ads on sailboat sails. You’re only limited by your imagination.

No matter what medium you are going to use, you need a media process to get the most out of your expenditure. At dio we use the following media process steps:

Media Compilation
Historical Dissection
Plan Evolution
Plan Dissemination
Plan Endorsement
Implementation
Post Determination
Future Plan Evolvement

If you have any questions, or even want to discuss any of the above thoughts, feel free to contact me, Lee Karon, Media Director at dio at (717)764-8288 x108 or at lkaron@diousa.com.

Flippin' Out on Social Media

I bought my iPad in May. Friends challenge me on why I would get this “thing” – and didn’t “get” my explanation was that I wanted a wide-screen iPhone for my sofa to feed my Facebook habit, news habit, and Netflix queue update needs. My real passion now is to use it as a reader for the New York Times – Wake up Sunday, make tea and start sifting through the “un-paper” in an easy to hold, easy to navigate format – one that I don’t have to leave the house for.
Of course this weekend, the Times did not fail to enlighten me; this weekend the NYT tech coverage turned me on to Flipboard, a new app that blew me away. Why?

It’s a digital magazine you can flip through with content from your favorite social media, news, and entertainment outlets – a one-stop platform to check your own tailored digital magazine with a fun interface, intuitive ease of use, and stunning graphics. The linear worlds of Facebook and Twitter are turned into smart layouts. Actually the word “magazine” does not work, as this is a living interactive, very sexy journal of YOUR content.

Facebook was becoming a drag on the iPad; since they have not released an iPad app, and it is really hard to deal with the grainy pictures of friends on the high-res screen. As far as twitter, I am still green to adoption, a casual observer warming up to the way it feed off my news junkie side, and allows me to receive sound bites from stars, thought leaders who make up my little personal tribe

Unfortunately, there is a waiting line to get your Facebook and twitter account integrated; however with the news feeds (Love “cool hunting”) aggregating the latest information from blogs and news sources, this is one sticky app you should definitely give a try.

Of course I have to look at this all from a marketing perspective, and there is great opportunity. We all know that word of mouth “buzz” helps increase sales for great products, services, music; however Flipboard can bank on these conversations immediately by aggregating and serving up direct transaction offers to users at the same time as they get “organic” awareness from a friend's trusted testimonial.

The next stage for Flipboard is the integration of a startup they purchased called Ellerdale, which will enable Flipboard to analyze its users favorite artists, geographies, literature, etc. based on reading and usage patterns. This will allow the site to offer a highly personalized experience akin to Pandora’s music server… the more you use it and provide input, the tighter the content is delivered to your tastes.

There is a social conundrum however… Let’s take a look at Netflix. They used to really know my indie art film tastes and would always give me great recommendations; however those recommendations have been greatly skewed after renting Disney and teen films this summer for my friend’s kids! The implication from a social perspective is if I will now need to edit my Facebook friends to just those with opinions I really value, lest my Facebook inclusions of third cousins, childhood friends, tourists, and those six-degrees of separation folks start skewing my content delivery!

I digress… give Flipboard a try – I’d love to hear what you think, and we’d love to discuss how the changing social media can benefit your business.

FREE Social Media Webinar - Driving Sales with Social Media

RSVP here for our upcoming FREE interactive Social Media Webinar!

Driving Sales with Social Media
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
2-3pm

Join dio's Social Media Strategist, Katy Halter, for an informative look at how Social Media can drive your business' sales. From Facebook to Twitter, Blogs to YouTube, she'll give you both an overview of how the social sites work and will entertain live discussions about how to best leverage social interactions for your industry.

Sign up NOW! Only 20 spots available!

The AP Needs Your Help!

The Associated Press is updating it's stylebook to reflect social media and new media that have become an integral part of our everyday personal and professional lives. But they need your help to define what is worthy of including in the guide book!

Check it out - you can tell AP what to include at this site. While the page layout is pretty jumbled with all of the comments and suggestions, kudos to AP for sourcing their content in a 'social' way.

INployees - A Power Ballad about Customer Service

Geico recently created the following power ballad video about their devotion to customer service. The surprising part is that it was created for the enjoyment of its employees.

(PS- Can you figure out who the celeb in the wig is at the end? Hint - He's not Jimmy Buffet, but they do share names).



This is a great example of INployeesTM in action at Geico - meaning employees that are living and breathing the Geico brand in everything they do.

For more information on INployees, check out our whitepaper section on our Web site at www.diousa.com.

Thanks to BrandFreak for finding this gem.

uFinancial's Matt Dobbie is featured in Central Penn Business Journal, PA Business Central!

Matthew Dobbie, Senior Managing Partner of uFinancial, wrote an article about the recent changes in Roth IRAs that was featured in both Central Penn Business Journal (Fri. Feb. 19, 2010) and Pennsylvania Business Central (Fri. Feb. 26, 2010, but online now).

The article in CPBJ: http://www.centralpennbusiness.com/article.asp?aid=74498

The article in PA Business Central: http://www.pabusinesscentral.com/2000/02/2010-roth-ira-conversion-is-it-right-for-you/

Way to go Matt!

SNOWpocalypse and Social Media

Holy SNOW Batman! With record breaking snowfall totals and incredible new white landscapes across the entire East Coast, it's no wonder that words like SNOWpocalypse, SNOWmaggeddon and snOMG have been coined across social networks to describe the recent weather conditions.

As people were stranded inside their homes, watching the white out from the comfort of their couches, many turned to social channels such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to document the historical weather as it happened.

This video, picked up by news stations across the country, shows the snow accumulation of over 30" in D.C. last weekend in just 30 seconds of time lapsed video footage.



Twitter became a crowd-sourced weather report for days at a time. Users reported on snow accumulation, road conditions, and personal accounts of the storm through tweets, pictures from their phones, and links.

The District of Columbia's Department of Transportation even set up an interactive map to show the status of snow clearing on all of it's city streets. It's pretty interesting to play with, check it out: http://snowmap.dc.gov/snowavl.asp

On Facebook, users began to organize massive snowball fights in major cities. They also posted many new pictures to document their use of the snow outside their front door as a beer cooler or the before and after effects on their front lawns, including many great snowmen.

Personally, I'm part of the stranded passengers meant to be on one of the 5,700 flights cancelled this past Wednesday. With plans to return from vacation last Sunday night, I've had my flight cancelled and rebooked four times since last weekend. My itinerary was impacted by both sets of storms and thanks to Southwest's diligent customer service, I will finally be returning home a full seven days after expected. Truly though, Southwest has been amazing about alerting me to the cancellations over 24 hours in advance in all cases, and has even proactively called me to fix a mistake in my reservation. I couldn't ask for more from an airline (other than open airports) when I'm stranded far from home. I was happy to tweet their praises to @SouthwestAir, and got a personal thank you from their team for doing so.

After all of the media hype and most East Coast'ers ready to be rid of all things white and frozen, some have dubbed it all just a bunch of SNOverkill.

I think we're all ready for a little sunshine!

BrandBowl: Twitter's response to the Super bowl's Ads

During this year's Super bowl, there was another competition taking place that captured the attention of Twitter users all across the U.S.

No, I'm not talking about PuppyBowl. I'm referring to the battle of the brands: BrandBowl, hosted on Twitter by Mullen and Radian6. Using a special hashtag - #brandbowl (a Twitter user's way of organizing similar tweets), the two agencies were able to track the thoughts and tweets of viewers worldwide in real time. At several points in the evening, #brandbowl even became a trending topic, meaning that the hashtag was among the top ten most mentioned words across the world on Twitter.


So how did the brands that advertised during the big game fare in this battle? According to the competition's site, Doritos took home the top honor thanks to their consumer-generated (crowd-sourced) spots. My favorite spot of the Doritos set was "House Rules" with the adorable, mom-protecting, date-scaring kiddo. Interestingly, Doritos hosted it’s own competition called “Crash the Superbowl” wherein consumers sent in their home-made spots in hopes of getting it voted high enough on the Doritos site to be aired during the game, but also in hopes of taking the top spots on USA Today’s Ad Meter. The top three :30 spots took home additional prize money. The genius in this is that Doritos used a social media, user-engagement platform to select commercials that they didn’t even have to create. Furthermore, when the spots took home the top rankings, both the brand and the consumer won. What is that called again? A win-win-win-win situation, I think?

Second place was Google with their simple storytelling of “Parisian Love”. The spot elegantly pulled at the heartstrings while also demonstrating the features of Google, all told from within the search box. As Google’s first TV spot, this was a home run for the search engine brand.

Third was Focus on the Family with their Tim Tebow spot taking a stance against abortion. As Joe mentioned before, this spot got more PR value than any other brand due to its obviously controversial nature. While other spots were voted up because of their humor or cleverness or emotional value, quite frankly, I believe this spot landed in at number three for none of those reasons. Simply put, everyone was talking about it and that was enough to bubble it up to the top.

Other brands that landed high on BrandBowl 2010: Snickers, Budweiser, Bud Light, Hyundai, Kia, GoDaddy, and Coca-Cola. As Joe mentioned, the worst spot of the night was clearly GoDaddy's, so it's likely that the #brandbowl hashtag was used to report how much everyone hated their overdone tactics of hot girls selling domain names.

Since BrandBowl 2010 only tracks buzz, and was unable to capture opinions on a larger scale, it's difficult to say that these spots were "the best" or "the most popular" or even "the winners."

But the Twitterverse spoke and they definitely took home top honors for the "most tweeted."

Super Bowl Winners and Losers

This year the game for me was a winner. Unfortunately, the spots were the losers for me. In fact most of them were an interruption in my life (And people who know me know I don’t care much for NFL Football.) To me the Super Bowl is a celebration of smart creative individuals and brands, showcasing their talents to nearly half of America. And then they play that important game.

As a Creative person I always try and find the germ of the idea in the spots and then analyze why they went bad or good. Was it the Executive Creative Director putting his thumbprint on it? Did the agency President think it should have his stamp and twist on it? Did it fall short in the production or did the client muddle with the agency and crush a killer concept. I’m not being a creative hater here. At dio we had a spot ready to roll for a local Super Bowl media buy but the client pulled the plug at the last minute. The interesting thing is, and not to brag, but our spot for uFinancial told more of a story than 60 percent of the spots that aired, and I know strategically would have created a connection with the local audience. Oh well, maybe next year!

To me the big winners were:

Dodge Charger: Man’s Last Stand

They are selling these cars to MEN. The creative connects with the demographic watching the game, especially the line about being civil to her mother. Lets face it men, we’ve all been there. Celebrate you manliness with a go fast mean machine. This is a spot well done. I’d buy one but my wife says no because I wrecked my last manly go fast machine.

http://adage.com/brightcove/single.php?title=65106415001

Dove: Manthem

Great montage of “manthem” to the William Tell Overture. This spot is driven with incredibly powerful music and voice over to celebrate all the accomplishments you’ve made with a very simple message - Now that you’re comfortable with who you are, isn’t it time for comfortable skin. How much clearer can that message be? I love the spot; I’m just not giving up my Old Spice.

http://adage.com/brightcove/single.php?title=64892881001

Audi: Green Car

We’re all trying to be a little “Greener”. This spot takes a smart yet funny approach to how we could all do a little better to be green. This spot is full or great scenarios, hot tub water too high, ryes’ in the compost piles violations and the ever so dreaded statement, please step out of the car and put your drinks on the hood. (Glad it wasn’t a tofu doughnut joke.)

http://adage.com/brightcove/single.php?title=64892835001

Spots that didn't connect with me.

I wouldn’t call any of the spots I didn’t call winners, losers. I think all the spots had some sort of merit. The production quality was good on all of them except the strange Sketchers Exercise Shoes spots that ran about three times. I think the Google spot was good story telling but I’m not so sure why they spent the money to run during the Super Bowl. The Boost Mobile Shuffle left me scratching my head. The Bud and Bud Light seemed like they were a huge stretch in reality, rather than embodying the beauty of truisms. Then we have the stick with no pants in Career Builder and Dockers. They reminded me of creative that was embodied in bathroom humor that creatives know to stay away from. The Coca-Cola stuff was just plain and simple strange. I don’t sleepwalk for soda or watch the Simpsons, so why would that motivate someone to purchase a shitty can of Coke? Hell, you can’t even find that stuff in the bottle that you patented a billion years ago so show the fuckin’ can. The Denny’s Chickens Across America - mediocre creative but the offer is so huge they will have every seat filled on Tuesday the 9^th.

Now I’m going to get to my biggest disappointment of the night - Go Daddy. Guys or girls, you need a new shtick. How many times are you going to play the same joke over and over and over? I don’t know if you focus group test that crap-ass creative, maybe it tests well, that’s why you want to run it over and over. Maybe it’s time you take it from in-house and hire a real dam agency or marketing firm to come up with something new. The hot ladies are fun a couple of times but now it’s boring and everyone knows what’s going to happen. And please don’t send me to your Web site to see the ending. Yep, you’ll be able to quantify your media spend to your shareholders by the number of hits on your site. But it’s getting old and we know to go to your site to purchase a domain name and host for $1 a day. I’ve actually given this too much thought, and I certainly don’t want them to get any free PR or a viral effect.

The Tim Tebow – Focus on Family wins my award for the most talked about PR Driven, viral spot that was so soft in the media environment during the game I actually missed it. However, I think they did get the most PR and viral out of all Super Bowl spots. So, well done for the little guy getting noticed.

Till next year! Stay away from people buried alive in Doritos or disrespectful little brats reminding adults to “keep yo hands of my momma” and people with no pants sleepwalking going to Web Sites with scantily clad women and babies talking about your finances. I mean who trusts a kid to handle your retirement anyways?

Joe Easton Creative Director

The $2.5 million :30 Spot Controversy

I am a huge fan of controversial creative. Creative that makes people think, feel and do. I know this is going to ruffle some feathers - The Tim Tebow Super Bowl Spot.

CBS says it will run the spot during the Super Bowl, but will also consider other "responsibly produced" advocacy ads in its Feb. 7 broadcast. OK, so that means pro-choice advocates can purchase equal time. Right? Right. So what’s with the craze of media about why CBS shouldn’t run this spot? The 30-second spot is expected to recount the story of Pam Tebow's pregnancy in 1987. After getting sick during a mission trip to the Philippines, she ignored a recommendation by doctors to abort her fifth child. She later gave birth to Tim, who won the 2007 Heisman Trophy and helped the Florida Gators win two BCS championships. Ok, that seems pretty reasonable. Right?

Let’s think about this. The spot has yet to air and it has gotten more PR than a North Carolina Senator running for President who had a love child to a videographer on his campaign trail. So what’s the value of the PR? I would bet, without having to talk to our PR Director and Media Director, that it has already well exceeded the media buy and cost of production.

Some people feel that the spot shouldn’t be allowed to run. Why? Evidently, the production quality is on par with other spots submitted. So, the pro-choice people can submit their spot that is "responsibly produced" according to CBS. The beer companies can promote their goods. In fact most people don’t know it but the beer companies target “Super Heavy Users” - people who drink 30+ beers a day. So, I’m still trying to find a reason why this spot shouldn’t be allowed to run. (I’m sure I will get a flood of reasons.)

What has this spot made people do? Well for starters, go do a Google search for Tim Tebow Super Bowl Spot and see for yourself. The bottom line is that not all Super Bowl spots have to be funny, make you send something overnight or go online and purchase a URL because a racecar driver tells you to do so. We idolize brands because of TV spots, and if they are done well and are based on solid strategy they make us think, feel and do. Maybe the strategy for the Tim Tebow Super Bowl Spot had a huge PR component to the strategy? If it didn’t, it does now! Congratulations on a spot that paid for its production and media buy without airing yet.

Joe Easton

Creative Director

2010 Olympics – Vancouver: Graphic Identity

At first look you may think “Just another use of modern stock illustrations – silhouettes against a rolling background, a trend that we’ve seen used over and over again.” Of course this popular trend of graphic treatment keeps the look young and modern. This is a good way to start when you’re trying to visually show how you want others to perceive Canada’s personality.

So what is so special about this design? It’s in the details. That’s where we find our story.
 
Within the rolling mountains, hills and waterscape, graphically treated as flowing waves, we find a fusion of natural and urban environments. We discover patterns: from cobblestone pathways to clouds, to fish scales to wood grain, to patterns from architecture within their urban cosmopolitan towns and cities. These textures are used to show the connection and balance between the two environments, as well as the subtle silhouettes of combined imagery. For example, the combination of a tree with a streetlight or an airplane that has the wings of a dragonfly. In the hierarchy of everything, you will find that each combination of imagery is set so that it doesn't pull the viewers’ focus to just one main illustration, rather you can see everything interacting together. These details and combination of environments show a sense of being progressive and unique: attributes of both Canada’s personality and the Olympic Games.
 
Overall, I have a positive opinion about this graphic identity; however, there’s just one negative thing to say.  In some cases it gets a bit busy with the finely illustrated athletes. The background colors of blues and greens, obviously representing the vegetation, water and temperature of winter cause the athletes placed over top of the background to blend in. With so much going on behind the human figures, the viewer may lose sight of the intensity and energy in the action of the athletes – which, ultimately, are the true focal point of the Olympics. In exploring graphic identities, it is important to tell a story, but it’s just as important to keep focus and simplicity in mind.

Elizabeth Shaffer

 Art Director