An incredible 3D experience – no 3D glasses required!
I love out-of-home (OOH) media! The creativity in this medium never ceases to amaze. Last weekend Miami Beach’s Art Basel provided a great backdrop for an incredible state-of-the-art OOH execution – the international art festival’s first-ever 3D art installation on an 8,000 square foot canvas. The canvas? More »
The Future of Online Video
I’ll be heading to the Internet Summit today and have been researching some of the panels I’ll be attending. One in particular I find very exciting is Online Video. Most of our clients are asking for video and we’ve been working to find outlets to share their message. Forrester Research shows that by 2012, $7.1 Billion in advertising will be spent in the online video environment. This makes perfect sense if marketers are watching the increase in online video consumption.
Relevantor Content Platform Headlines the Internet Summit
I came across an intriguing article about a new content platform three weeks ago. Relevantor is a content optimization solution that promises to increase conversions and visitor engagement by delivering relevant and appropriate content to every visitor on your website. More »
Pitching Tips for PR Newbies
For those of you who are new to the PR world, you will quickly learn that calling media is often essential to making sure your message is heard. After compiling media lists and sending emails to target media, calling to follow-up is crucial. Media receive hundreds of emails a day, so making sure your pitch or release is seen can ensure coverage for your client.
As I started my internship at Howard, Merrell & Partners, my supervisors asked me to pitch to media. At first thought, I was really nervous but I came into this internship willing to come out of my comfort zone and learn new things. I put my nerves aside and began pitching.
There are several lessons I learned when calling media. So, before reaching out for the first time, read through this simple list of do’s and don’ts that’ll help set you on the track for coverage! More »
A New Media Channel for Breast Cancer Awareness (Somewhat NSFW)
Marketers are forever searching for a new medium to cut through the clutter and get their message heard. Faced with the challenge of creating awareness for Toronto’s Rethink Breast Cancer’s annual fundraising event, on budget of next to zero, C+B Toronto figured they’d use a fitting medium that’s relevant and attention getting: women’s breasts.
Hiring women (who were actual breast cancer survivors) to hit the streets of Toronto (where toplessness is legal – note guys – a reason to consider moving to Toronto) with headlines promoting the event painted on their chests, the campaign created buzz, attention, and was deemed hugely successful by Rethink Breast Cancer.
And, as always with these type of “buzz” efforts, a little luck is always helpful. Deal or No Deal comedian Howie Mandel happened by, had his picture taken, then Tweeted about it.
Regarding the fundraising event Mandel said “Well, now I’m aware of it. My wife was looking for a sale — and I found half off!”
Cross Platform Targeting – The Next Phase of Digital Media
I was sitting in a mobile advertising meeting a few weeks ago and we chatted for awhile about mobile targeting techniques. As you know, advertisers can target by geography, demographic, content, etc. You can even “geo-fence” which means drawing a radius around a particular location or event to serve your ads. Most Mobile vendors own or are part of some type of network to reach a mass audience through mobile website and application banners. We do a lot of retargeting here at Howard Merrell to prequalify our clients’ audience based on their visit to the landing page other industry trade sites. This subject brought up a great question which I couldn’t wait to explore. Is it possible to serve an ad to someone on their computer and then serve an ad to that same person on their phone or iPad? After a little research the answer is Yes. New technology companies have been popping up across the country within the last few months that do just this. Exciting!
So now that we know it’s possible, how does it work? The linking is done through your home modem. Right now companies are able to link your personal devices through your home internet connection. For example, if you access the internet via your iPhone, then use your laptop, these companies determine that both devices are owned by the same person and then serve you ads based on your user profile.
This in turn opens up a whole new world of brand frequency across the internet. Searching for shoes online? Visit Zappos.com, browse around a bit, get bored and move onto local news. There’s a Zappos ad! A few hours later, you’re on your iPad looking at reviews for restaurants in the area, and you see another Zappos ad. This is no longer a coincidence. This of course does spur some questions. What if a user connects to multiple modems throughout the day? What happens if you connect to a public Wi-Fi service at the coffee shop? The technology is still being flushed out and as of now this process has some holes. But all-in-all it’s the future of digital. Some say its “Big Brother”, I say its smart advertising!
Welcome to Meredith Schneider
We have a new Account Executive in the PR department – Meredith Schneider. A graduate of NC State, she comes to us with solid media relations, writing, event marketing and product promotion experience. Prior to joining us, Meredith worked in French West Vaughan’s Raleigh and Tampa offices supporting a variety of clients in the healthcare, technology, beverage and food processing arenas.
Meredith will be working predominantly on the Butterball account. We’re excited to have her on board. Please join me in welcoming Meredith!
Read the announcement here.
Wordle.net – Make Images From Keywords
Wordle is a great service which will take an RSS feed from your site (or anybody else’s site) and convert it to an image. Larger words are found more often, smaller words are found less.
Here are a couple of examples.
From our very own blog (http://www.merrellgroup.com/blog/feed/):
And from my personal site (http://www.joshuarcraig.net/feed/):
Go try it out for yourself!
There’s More than One Way to Skin a Gato – Part 3
Small potatoes ratings-wise, right?
Well, you might want to consider this.
As early as 2002, the Spanish-language television network Univision was beating out all other stations in the New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles markets in 18- to 34-year-olds throughout the day.
That’s all other stations —
English and Spanish.
And in all three markets, Univision‘s early evening local news drew more 18- to 34-year-olds than ABC, CBS, and NBC.
Combined.
By 2004, Univision‘s North Carolina station, WUVC-TV, beat ABC and NBC outright and tied with CBS for the Number One spot in the highly desirable 18- to 34-year-old male segment.
Which means that as many men 18 to 34 were watching telenovelas on WUVC as were watching Everybody Loves Raymond or CSI: Crime Scene Investigation on WRAL.
In October 2004, the final episode of a Univision telenovela delivered more 18- to 49-year-old viewers than ABC, CBS, FOX, WB, or UPN.
Nationwide.
And in July 2006, Univision scored another impressive landmark.
Its 18- to 34-year-old viewership in prime time beat every network but FOX.
For an entire week.
Top-rated English-language shows may not even register among Hispanics.
In fact, in 2005 only four English-language shows made it into the top 40 among Latino viewers: American Idol ranked highest at 29, with Desperate Housewives, CSI, and The Simpsons trailing behind.*
And Univision is not alone.
Spanish-language television is expanding and targeting specific niches within the larger Latino market.
In fact, today more than 70 cable and dozens of local independent stations offer Spanish-language programming.
Which is good for advertisers.
Because it means we can target Latinos more precisely for you.
:: :: ::
Next time we’ll talk about whether you should advertise in English or Spanish.
And why it makes a difference.
Stay tuned.
*Source: International Communications Research, 2005.
There’s More than One Way to Skin a Gato – Part 2
From Omaha to Atlanta to Lexington to Milwaukee — and points in between — Spanish-language radio stations have been proliferating across the U.S.
(I probably don’t need to tell you that radio stations don’t pop up until after there’s an audience for them.)
Not only is Spanish-language radio enjoying rapid growth — it’s also enjoying dominating ratings.
Take Atlanta in 2004, for example.
In response to the rising Hispanic population in the area, Clearwater Channel’s radio station WWVA converted from general market English-language programming, which was eking out a barebones 1.6 share among the 18- to 34-year-old listener group, to a Spanish-language format.
The result?
Its share of that coveted demographic shot up to 11.3 – a 700% increase.
Overnight.*
Not bad.
But perhaps not surprising.
The fact is that 87% of adult Latinos access Spanish-language radio, television, or newspapers on a regular basis.
They spend 18 hours a week watching television — approximately 50% of it in Spanish. And 15 hours a week listening to radio — of which 50% is also in Spanish.
That’s double the time non-Hispanics spend. Oh, and 29% of them also prefer their newspapers in Spanish.**
So if you’re planning to target the Hispanic market, the Spanish-language media is something you shouldn’t overlook
:: :: ::
Next time we’ll talk about Spanish-language television.
And some data points that may surprise you.
Stay tuned.
*Source: Arbitron. **Source: Bendixen & Associates.
