Out of Home (OOH) digital video display is gaining popularity as a way for marketers to reach the ever discerning consumer. These digital displays are being used by numerous venues including grocery stores, hospitals, restaurants, and colleges/universities in storefronts, on public buses, billboards, gas pumps and bus stops. A 2009 Arbition study of the effectiveness of OOH video marketing revealed that digital media displays reach 53% of American adults a month – including me.

Recently a new burger restaurant opened up near my neighborhood in Chicago. The restaurant serves up custom built burgers to cater to the most discriminating of tastes. As I watched the progression of the construction unfold, nothing struck me as extraordinary about this restaurant visually. I decided to check out their menu online – definitely not trying to reinvent the wheel with the menu. Even after walking by this new restaurant for nearly two months after it opened, I had no desire to ever stop in, until the day I saw the glow. Walking home one evening, I couldn’t help but notice the bright vibrant glow coming from the restaurant’s front door. I had to stop and look. There it was, a digital media display showing one of the most amazing looking burgers I had ever seen. I could literally see the juices dripping from the burger on display. That did it for me. I had to at least try one of those burgers. I proceeded to visit the restaurant later that week with four of my friends.

I would consider myself a pretty savvy consumer. I am an educated college graduate with a  knowledge of the advertising that marketers often use to ploy people into purchasing. OOH video displays are not necessarily a ploy, but rather a response to our ever-increasing “visually stimulated society”. Everything about the burger restaurant’s digital display caught my attention. It was short, to the point, and showed me exactly what I wanted to see without wasting my time. In case I wasn’t convinced by the photo, also on display was a comment from Oprah Winfrey dubbing their burger as one of the best in America. Anyone (especially Chicagoans) know that aligning yourself with Oprah is tapping into a huge consumer base and fan following.

If the restaurant had their OOH video display up one month earlier, they would have had one more month of my loyal support and probably others’ support as well. As digital media displays become more affordable to businesses, it is no doubt that we will begin to see them in places we never thought we would. But as digital video displays inundate our lives, will consumers become desensitized to their draw? Will shopping malls and grocery stores become mini Times Squares, packed with flashing lights and displays? Will this advertising always work as well as it did on me?

Do you think your company could successfully launch a product exclusively with an iPhone application? No television, no print, no radio. Volkswagen of American has given it a try. In October of 2009, Volkswagen launched an iPhone game application free to iPhone and iPod touch users.  The application features the new 2010 GTI model in a simulated racing game, allowing users to tweet to other players in real time. The application also allows the users to browse through a digital showroom, exploring all aspects of the 2010 GTI automobile.

You may be wondering what the draw is to a marketing plan like this.  For the consumers, it’s a win-win situation.  The application is free, fun and enters each phone owner into a contest to win a limited edition GTI from Volkswagen each time he / she plays. But the real winner here may be Volkswagen.  In a recent article outlining the launch, Advertising Age reported that in 2006 Volkswagen spent $60 million on a “traditional” advertising campaign for the GTI’s introduction.  Estimated annual costs for the new mobile services are only reaching about $500,000.  Even more staggering are the differences in potential buyer outreach that both means have.  Advertising Age said, “Apple reports that they have more than 50 million iPhone and iTouch users worldwide”. This is nearly double what an average network spot sees in viewership, even a 30-second commercial spot can cost up to $150,000.

While the low cost probably has the Volkswagen folks smiling, they should also be happy about the immeasurable benefits of the PR buzz this campaign has created. Being the first to think creatively always gets noticed whether it is good (as this one appears to be) or bad. Take, for instance, the recent energy drink mobile application which completely demeaned women down to mere categories in a man’s iPhone. While most would completely agree this was flop (and tasteless) the negative press that was generated still got the company name at the forefront of consumers’ minds. As the saying goes, “There is no such thing as bad press.” Perhaps not the best marketing strategy to go by, but sometimes it is worth the risk to be different. Creativity (in good taste) is certainly encouraged.

This cost effective one-channel advertising could become a revolutionizing marketing tool, when executed properly. Volkswagen believes this new campaign will be effective because they are directly targeting the consumers they are hoping to reach — tech-savvy and youthful.

An area that may often go overlooked with this idea is the possibility of a re-launch in the event that the results don’t quite match up with the expectations or supplemental advertising later in the campaign life cycle. While having to “relaunch” a second marketing campaign because the first was not successful is never an ideal situation, Volkswagen does have one advantage if the iPhone marketing is a bust – money. The budget is so much smaller than previous campaigns that Volkswagen might find it less painful to allocate funds for a second (or extended) go.

What do you think?  Leave us your comments on whether or not you think one-channel mobile marketing campaigns will be a successful technique in the near future.

With the swarms of consumers blogging about everything under the sun, opinions spread like wildfire. It is imperative that companies respond promptly and adequately to negative conversations online.

Defending your brand has become more important then ever, so why are so many companies still not regulating these outlets? In a recent conference in New York, Ad Age columnist Pete Blackshaw, discussed how businesses can defend against negative press on the internet. Below are a few of his tips to remember when you begin to monitor your brand online.

1. “Empower the influencer.” Blackshaw emphasized the need to make information available to those who may be looking for it, like bloggers and social media users. Companies need to utilize search engines on their home websites and keep information up to date and positive. The likelihood of a negative blog decreases if there is an ample amount of information refuting the writer’s opinion.
2. Use tools to monitor what is being written about your brand on the internet. Free applications such as Google Alerts and Summarize make it easier for companies to keep an eye out. Check every so often to see who is talking about your company online and determine if a response is necessary. Keep in mind that with today’s social media landscape, replication is everywhere. It is no longer just a few hundred people reading a blog from the net, but rather, (possibly) thousands of people tweeting and re-tweeting harmful press about the brand.
3. Timeliness is everything. Making amends with a dissatisfied customer before damage is done is the key. Any number of people could have been influenced by the bad press before the company came in for damage control. The value of a customer (even just one) is great. Customers allow businesses to keep their doors open, after all.
4. Watch what the competition is doing. Learn from their mistakes instead of your own. If they are getting it right, take the opportunity to make sure your business is on par with offers.
5. No Customers? Just because a business may not have “traditional” customers doesn’t mean it should let the World Wide Web determine the integrity of the brand. Just like above, address the problem and take a stance.

According to Jack Loechner from the Center for Media Research, modern media trends indicate that 67% of online Americans are now “digital video users”, users that have streamed or downloaded digital video content. Services like Netflix and Hulu have greatly gained in popularity recently. Hulu, for example, has grown from 9% awareness in September of 2008 to 41% awareness in April 2009. In the short video market, YouTube continues to dominate with a 4% increase of awareness, from 83% to 87% between September 2008 and April 2009. [Source: Ipsos MediaCT, September 2009]

In addition to an increased usage of digital video content, Jack Loechner states, “Consumer willingness to accept advertising within the online digital video medium is paramount. A positive sign is that a clear majority of digital video users feel it is reasonable to have advertising embedded in both online full-length TV shows and movies, as long as the content remains free-of-charge.” A majority of respondents in the Ipsos MediaCT study found it acceptable to have advertising as a part of free online video. Amidst the current digital landscape, perhaps online video users have realized that in order to have a quality product, revenue must be generated. Users prefer the rather non-intrusive advertisements that play before the start of the show instead of a subscription service that requires payment.

With the rise in popularity of online video content, network and cable TV have taken notice and put forth their own initiative to capture the market. A few popular TV shows, such as NBC’s Heroes and Showtime’s Dexter have webisodes, which function as supplements to the series plotline or an expansion of secondary characters. These online supplements, in addition to full episodes available on the channel’s website, help maintain viewers’ interests in the series during the mid-season gap. Besides webisodes, some series like CSI New York and Gossip Girl have mobile tie-ins. CSI takes a bold step and offers a ‘Second Life’ type interactive story available exclusively on the cell phone.

With a wealth of interactive web content, full TV shows, and even sponsored YouTube clips, the cross platform landscape is ripe for advertising and branding opportunities. Given the online video users’ willingness to accept free quality entertainment at the price of intermittent advertising, it is clear that this medium has plenty of room for expansion in the near future.

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn are all social media sites that are quickly becoming a part of the daily routine – and not just in the lives of individuals but to all types of businesses, both big and small. Social sites are being used for multiple purposes with one of the latest being to promote companies and connect with the everyday consumer. But it’s more than just showing up and being present, that’s the easy part. How can you, as a business, use social media to actually increase your bottom line and boost your overall sales?

Find Your Audience

The first step to successfully utilizing social media is inviting both current and potential customers to become a part of your networking sites. You want current customers to discuss and promote their experiences with your products or services and potential customers to learn about your business and what you have to offer. Finding your customers is the first step you must make to ensure your messages are being heard by the right people.

Know Your Audience

Connecting to your followers is a vital step in establishing your online presence. Help manage their expectations when visiting your sites by maintaining a consistent image and tone from page to page and try to not constantly repeat yourself. For example, if you are utilizing multiple social networking sites, don’t have the same exact message posted on Facebook as what you have posted on Twitter. Not only are readers going to become uninterested in your repetitive messages, but what you say to one social networking audience may not be right for another audience. Tailor your messages to your specific audience. What you say on LinkedIn shouldn’t be the same thing you say on Twitter, because the audiences are very different.

Engage a Conversation

Photos and videos are great ways to not only promote your products and services, but to also  showcase your business as a culture and demonstrate what a great work environment your business has. Be transparent enough so that you can relate to your customers and so they can feel like they are a part of your company. Use social media as a conversation piece with your current and potential customers to make them feel included. Keep up with the discussion boards, allow for client feedback, and keep the interactions open for constant discussions.

Provide Incentives

You should also give your social network followers something special that only they have. This can be exclusive coupons, promotions, notifications of upcoming sales, or anything that will give them more of a reason to continue to follow you and will give others reasons to join.

When using social media to promote your business, remember that it’s more than just creating a site. Just like any other marketing effort, it is best to know and find your audience and give them something useful and engaging to help build your brand and, ultimately, encourage sales.

]]> http://home.sharedmarketing.com/social-media-for-business/feed/ 0 http://home.sharedmarketing.com/marketing-to-commuters/ http://home.sharedmarketing.com/marketing-to-commuters/#comments Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:16:14 +0000 author http://home.sharedmarketing.com/?p=712 Scott M.

How long is your commute to work every day? 1 hour? 2 hours? By the looks of the interstate during rush hour, you may very well be in your personal car during your commute. A 2009 study by Arbitron research found that the average commuter spends nearly 3 hours in their cars every day with a total of almost 19 hours every week. This is up from 15 hours a week reported from this same study back in 2003.

Nineteen hours a week is a significant portion of your valuable time being trapped in one place. So what do you usually do to pass the time? 93 percent of the participants researched in this Arbitron study listen to the AM or FM radio at least 5 minutes or more during an average week, and more than 81 percent of them will continue to listen to the AM/FM radio just as much as they do now despite growing technologies like satellite radio and mp3 players.

With 89 percent of people in the United States aged 18 or older driving in some kind of private vehicle in the past month, it’s clear that vehicles are a huge part of American’s lives. Another trend amongst Americans is stopping at a store on the way home from work in the evening. 82 percent of Americans have reported stopping at a grocery store on the way home from work in the past month, and 58 percent report stopping at a convenience store. Also, 63 percent reported going to a large retail store, like Target or Best Buy. Sometimes these trips are planned, of course, but sometimes they are “impulse stops”. This gives advertisers the perfect opportunity to utilize out-of-home advertising like billboards and radio. When these customers stop on the way home, the radio or a billboard is likely to be the last thing they see or hear before entering the store.

Travelers are, in fact, noticing billboards. 71 percent of people studied noticed advertising messages on roadside billboards sometimes, most of the time, or each time they pass one. 58 percent of respondents learned about a restaurant from a billboard that they later visited. Not only are travelers taking notice of roadside billboards, they are also being influenced by them; great news for advertisers. This medium is still extremely effective.

So what does this all mean? Americans are spending more and more time sitting in their cars commuting a long distance to work or just sitting in traffic. Despite growing in-car technologies, the AM/FM radio is still a popular entertainment source for the majority of Americans. Combine this information with the confirmation that billboards are still doing their job, and you have a promising opportunity to expand on your marketing efforts.