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June 4, 2013 · Press, Sparking Conversation

Do-Not-Call Mondays: The Perks of Being Unavailable

Do-Not-Call Mondays: The Perks of Being Unavailable

The first Monday of every month, this company shuts out the world. Here’s why.

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Clients of our ad agency know not to call us on the first Monday of the month.

Our phones are off. We don’t check e-mail. All 50 of us go into a room and focus on innovation–improving how we do things.

I think it’s critical to set aside time to take a breath, look around, and think. You need that level of clarity in order to innovate and grow.

Often, we use the time to hone our creativity. We’ll play a game to come up with pitches. I’ll ask an employee her favorite food–OK, salad. I’ll ask another what he did last night–watched football. Then we create a 30-second spot for Kleenex, involving salad and football.

Or we may talk about what’s annoying people. There was a frustration that design-team members weren’t responding to emails for hours at a time, because they were focused on their work. So we came up with a system that flags them when there’s an urgent need.

Being unavailable to clients for a full day forces us to be proactive about meeting their needs. And if somebody can’t make the meeting because of too much going on, that tells me either we’re doing something inefficiently or we need to hire more people.

May 17, 2013 · All, Press

When Marketing to Millennials, the Key Is Choice

From Friday, May 17th, 2013 MediaPost: Engage: GenY – When Marketing to Millennials, the Key Is Choice

Millennials have quickly become the most coveted target demographic for brands. The reasons for this are clear. This group (generally considered to be consumers between the ages of 18 and 32) is the wave of the future. According to comScore.com, they account for about 79 million people in the United States and will make up 50% of the U.S. workforce by 2030.

However, while Millennials seem to be in abundance, some brands have found it difficult to capture their attention due to their unpredictable media consumption habits. At any given point, Millennials can be exposed to a commercial ad on television, a pop-up on their smartphone, or a PSA from online radio; the list seems infinite. With options galore, brands have to place more emphasis on the behavior of Millennials, and one of the most valued characteristics that they search for in a brand is variety.

May 14, 2013 · Press

Red Shirt Entertainment’s Frank O’Brien to be Honored at Camp AmeriKids Charity Program Event

Red Shirt Entertainment’s Frank O’Brien to be Honored at Camp AmeriKids Charity Program Event

Camp AmeriKids, the non-profit organization dedicated to serving underprivileged children that have been affected by HIV/AIDS and sickle cell disease, will honor Frank O’Brien for his dedication to both charity and the arts later this month. The Founder and Executive Producer of culturally-focused production company Red Shirt Entertainment, as well as Founder of New York-headquartered global marketing agency Conversation, will officially be recognized with the Making A Difference award at a ceremony on May 30. The event will take place at the Museum of Arts and Design, located at Columbus Circle in New York.

“Frank O’Brien has given back to the community in a variety of different ways,” said Susan Turcotte, Director of Development at Camp AmeriKids. “The combination of his past charitable contributions and the work he is doing with Red Shirt – giving opportunity to performers of many different ethnicities and providing them the tools they need to recognize their talents – makes him a very deserving recipient of this award.”

May 13, 2013 · Press

How Colleges Can Engage Prospective Students Socially

From Thursday, May 9th, 2013 MediaPost: Engage: Teens – How Colleges Can Engage Prospective Students

As the spring 2013 semester concludes, college admissions officers must shift their focus to a new group of prospective students. Admissions departments need to recognize that this group is constantly connected to the Internet and their social media accounts. Therefore, the antiquated recruitment practices of many institutions must shift to include multi-channel, digitally inclusive tactics. In order to reach these potential applicants, they need to actively engage them through these platforms. According to a survey conducted by Zinch, about two-thirds of high school students use social media to research colleges, and more than one-third of those students use social media to help decide where to enroll. It’s a channel that provides colleges with an effective way to keep their audience of current students informed while targeting prospective teens who are embarking on one of the biggest decisions of their lives.

Make School Assets Easy to Find

With each passing year, the number of prospective applicants increases, making the collegiate landscape increasingly competitive. A way for colleges to break through the competition is to connect and have a presence via social media and on college board platforms. One notable college review website is CollegeProwler.com. It is a student community with comprehensive college profiles that allows prospective students to research colleges of interest. Some features include a filtered college search, scholarship finder, and a wide-ranging ranking system for colleges, which highlights categories ranging from healthiest dining options to the best recreational activities. Colleges have the freedom to monitor these review sites, read the feedback and take action to improve their rankings.

May 13, 2013 · Press

Hospitality Industry Reduces Print and Increases Mobile

From Wednesday, May 8th, 2013 MediaPost: Marketing: Green – Hospitality Industry Reduces Print and Increases Mobile

Mobile spending is forecasted to increase across a range of industries as the year progresses. Retail marketers, especially, have already seen the value of mobile advertising and are using it as a platform to drive sales. However, for some areas of the hospitality industry, mobile has served a very different purpose. By infusing mobile into daily business practices, hotels and restaurants further their sustainability efforts while improving the overall experience for the consumer.

Replacing Traditional Menus with Tablets

Many restaurants offer daily specials or seasonal menus that constantly need to be updated and reprinted.Some higher-end restaurants will even include the date on the specials menus, forcing restaurants to discard them at the end of each day. Rather than reprinting dozens of menus each day and wasting paper, other restaurants are investing in mobile. A digital menu allows for flexibility, as Revolution Grille, an eclectic American restaurant based in Toledo, Ohio, saw when its tablet menu was launched last summer. The ability to change a menu provides opportunity for the restaurant to tweak dishes or even replace ones that may not be as popular among patrons. For an industry that has to worry about controlling food waste, disposing of paper properly should not have to be of concern anymore.

April 19, 2013 · All, Press

Transit Advertising Has Become A Growing Platform for Marketers

In an evolving marketing world where consumers are often watching TV with a second screen in their hands and fast-forwarding through commercials, transit advertising has become a growing platform for marketers. Airports, bus vestibules and subway cars all foster an environment that makes travelers exceptionally receptive to advertising messages. Believe it or not, airports are actually a place that consumers want to be exposed to advertising. While in an airport, travelers are mentally preparing for new experiences and willing to embrace new messages in their surroundings. Though sometimes overlooked, airports attract a captivated audience and foster an ideal environment for advertisers.

The Sky is the Limit

Transit advertising, specifically advertising in airports, offers unique value to marketers. First and foremost, you can’t cap the amount of impressions you will make with the placement. Sure, you can forecast traffic, but a well-designed and placed ad can offer long-lasting value. Secondly, it’s quite difficult to ignore transit advertising. Unlike a television that can quickly be turned off, the majority of people walking through an airport terminal will take notice, at least unconsciously, of the advertisement. Most importantly, transit hubs deliver an extremely varied audience. With “targeting” becoming a buzzword that has been reverberating through marketing departments, advertisers have seemingly forgotten the value that a general awareness campaign can offer a brand.

April 11, 2013 · Press

Facebook Is Losing Its Luster

With a user base that has surpassed one billion, Facebook would be the third-largest country in the world, having a population greater than the United States and with only China and India in its sights. However, the once-burgeoning social network is starting to lose its fan base. Facebook is losing its luster. Teenagers, the trendsetters of all things digital, appear to be leaving the social party in favor of other platforms, specifically ones that appeal to more niche categories and capitalize on specialization, exclusivity, and most importantly, privacy.

What has changed at Facebook? 

The phrase “Facebook Friends” has become a loose term to umbrella everyone who has access to your page. For many, the spectrum ranges from friends and family to colleagues and business contacts. Unlike the Boomers, who appreciate the convenience of Facebook’s integration features, teenagers have increasingly lost interest in the content that is being published on the News Feed. The intimacy that Facebook once offered has been commoditized in a way in which people no longer really care about the majority of the updates from their “friends.” Now, these savvy teenagers are becoming more sensitive to the fact that the content they post is being shared with the rest of the world. This, coupled with the freedom and excitement people originally, but seemingly no longer, felt when sharing their personal stories on the Internet, has driven people away.

April 8, 2013 · Press

Which iconic luxury automobile brand has the drive to finish first?

Lincoln
Ford 2012 Net Income: $5.7 billion
Cars sold in the U.S. as of 2012: 82,150

Cadillac
GM 2012 Net Income: $4.9 billion
Cars sold in the U.S. as of 2012: 150,000

March 15, 2013 · Press

Selling The Story To Extend Focus Beyond The Product

The word “engagement” has become a buzzword for marketers lately, but many brands do not fully understand its definition: to ignite excitement that leads to participation. A call-to-action does not always need to equate to a transaction. Yet, not every campaign must directly sell a product in order to be considered successful. In many scenarios, brands have grown their businesses by building relationships with their target audiences, eventually turning consumers into brand advocates. For many, social media has become the driving vehicle for consumer interaction. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have transformed the meaning of campaigns in order to sell a story, extending focus beyond just the product.

March 14, 2013 · Press

MediaPost: Engage Teens: Don’t Forget About Video When Allocating Your Social Media Spread

Most brands include the usual suspects in their social media arsenal – Facebook, Twitter and the ever-growing Instagram – thinking all bases are covered. However, video platforms like the immensely popular YouTube, as well as newcomer Vine, continue to be successful routes to the teen psyche for a number of major brands.

YouTube Craze

A 2012 Nielsen study determined that YouTube was not only the fourth most popular web brand of the year, but it was also the top online video source. Many brands have seen success through corporate YouTube channels, something that can earn them the attention of a much-desired teen audience. According to audience measurement site Quantcast, 26% of YouTube users are under the age of 18. Another (surprising) Nielsen study revealed that the site is teens’ first choice for listening to music, which shows just how popular the video service is with their age bracket.

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