It’s long been a saying among advertising people: Word of mouth is the very best way to convince someone to try a product or service. Credible PR was a strong second. Advertising, however brilliant, came in third.
The problem is that we now have word of mouth on steroids. It’s called social media. It grows daily in size and influence. Blogs, chatrooms, twitters, microsites are being consulted every minute for advice on what car, vitamin, organic deodorant to buy. What financial planner, plumber, stock, bank (HA!), longterm care insurance, yoga instructor is the best.
Social media is a vast conglomerate of micro advertising. Bigger and more powerful than Interpublic, WPP and every other ad conglomerate.
So the question for those of us in agencies is do we fight it or join it. At Brogan & Partners, that’s easy. We financed a sister social media agency two years ago to service our current clients and to attract others . Go to Google and type in “social media agencies.” You’ll find Ignite Social Media at the top of the list.
It’s not often you get to mesh your work life so neatly with your personal life. I guess I’m just one lucky gal–although some may think differently.
In August of 2007, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. In addition to surgeries and chemotheraphy, my diagnosis gave me a jump start into the world of breast cancer advocacy. I’ve found new meaning in helping other people, advocating for research and raising money.
At the beginning of this year, I was able to combine my worklife with my passion for raising awareness and education. Pretty cool. In January, my long-time client, the Michigan Department of Community Health announced the Michigan Breast and Prostate Cancer Tax Check-off. And Brogan & Partners, along with our sister company, Ignite Social Media created the materials and social media components. With April 15 just around the corner, please consider making a donation on your Michigan Income Tax Forms to these two great causes.
In the past two weeks, HoneyBaked (another agency client) with our help announced their support of FORCE (facing our risk of cancer empowered). This is an organization that is very near to my heart–helping women who have the BRCA gene putting them at an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer. I’ve shared my thoughts on how they are helping in my own personal blog.
So, indeed I’m lucky. While I’ve always loved my job (all 15 years at Brogan & Partners), I’m finding ways to incorporate my personal goals and missions into my everyday work life.
Have you had a similar experience? Have you had the opportunity to work on something that truly makes you happy? Share it with me.
Has anyone thought – “what was the first form of advertising?” Well I have – and just recently I thought about its relevance to today…It was outdoor. Dating back to the Ancient Roman and Greek era – when merchants would paint their merchandise on a wall or a rock - OUTDOORS. And it’s been with us ever since! And even though there are so many new and innovative advertising ideas (for example: Tattoo My Forehead) Outdoor is here to stay. The newest Outdoor phenomenon are the digital boards. They have the clearest picture, which can be viewed day or night. Advertisers are rotating approximately every 6-8 seconds. I wonder what’s next for the Outdoor medium. Have you seen any creative boards lately?
Social marketing, social media marketing - what’s the difference anyway? While there has been confusion between the terms for several years now, since social media marketing first emerged, never have I seen the two work together in as innovative a way as reported in “PimpThisBum employs irony on homeless man’s behalf“, Tracy Sabo’s recent article on CNN.com. In short, social marketing is the marketing efforts that promote behavior change - Oughta Marketing in Brogan terms - you “oughta” stop smoking, you “oughta” exercise, etc. Social media marketing, on the other hand, is marketing through conversations using new media; getting other people (hopefully those with a lot of online followers) to talk about the merits of your product or service.
I applaud Sean Dolan’s marketing savvy. Whether he meant to or not, Sean hit on a truth about marketing emotional or controversial messages. He used humor, and in doing so he appealed to the curious, skeptical nature that is in all of us (or at least, most of us). Then he chose a tactic, social media, as a way to reach out to people, inspire immediate action, and, in the process, improve the life of Timothy Edwards. So I ask you, how could anyone complain about that? Yet some have.
As we’ve learned over and over through social marketing exercises, you can’t please everyone. And with social media marketing there is always a risk - the risk of losing control, of being criticized. But at the end of the day, these two innovative marketing constructs made a difference and in the process, may have inspired new ways to help a lot of people. You won’t hear me complaining about that.
Just when you think you’ve seen it all when it comes to places brands will slap their logos these days, along comes this…
KFC, yes the fast-food chicken giant, has found another way to impact consumers with their brand message. As a way to tie-in with their “Fresh” advertising campaign, KFC has created a private/public partnership with the city of Louisville, Kentucky to help fix potholes around the city. In exchange for helping out, KFC gets to stamp the fresh pavement with “Refreshed by KFC” in a chalky stencil.
If you think this is just for fun, stop laughing. KFC hopes to roll out this goodwill marketing program in other cities around the U.S. soon.
I know a few streets they can help with right now here in the Detroit area!
Looking for help getting your brand noticed? Let the Brogan & Partners team put creativity to work for you!
Time to call my wife and tell her I’m bringing a bucket from the Colonel home for dinner.
Imagine. You start making YouTube videos of yourself wearing makeup that you sell on eBay. Fast-forward 18 months and you’re about to launch a global cosmetics line. That’s what happened to Lauren Luke, a young single mother from Northeast England.
Her capitalization of the most popular user-generated content site got her noticed by big whig - Anomaly partner Duncan Bird - one of the 5 million viewers who’ve watched her amature videos. Now he is the manager of her soon to be launched cosmetic line that is partnering with the same manufacturing, branding, and design company that works with L’Oreal and Estee Lauder.I wonder if we’ll be seeing any traditional advertising coming from Ms. Luke any time soon…or just more YouTube videos that lead you to her web site www.bylaurenluke.com.
Do you have something to say or sell? Don’t forget traditional advertising mediums, but also don’t be hesitant to try something alternative like social media. You never know who may be listening.
Marcie Brogan’s age-old philosophy: happy employees are productive employees, which in-turn results into good work and happy clients. But the state of our economy is in and layoffs happening throughout most Michigan companies, it seems hard to imagine offering any perks. But really, this is the time that most employees need the extra boost.
So, what are some ideas to keep your employees walking in with a smile each day?
Here are some of my favorite Brogan ways:
Dogs: who doesn’t love a dog? Every day I bring my furry friend, Mac in with me. He thinks it’s his job to walk up and down the hallway and greet each person with a little tail wag (I’m sure all of the treats he receives is payment enough for him).
Music: It’s one of my favorite perks – Bruce Springstein always brightens my day.
Exercise: Although I’m a bit lazy, some of us work-out during the lunch hour. Employees bring in workout videos, take walks, or lead classes. Those with kids love it because it’s one less thing they have to think about after work.
Agency breakfast: Everyone loves food – period. So, we have a monthly agency hosted breakfast, to supply fuel for our brains : )
Group activities: Anytime I (or a co-worker) sees a good networking event that would be FUN for all, we try to get each other involved. It gives us a chance to chat out of the office, have some laughs, and meet hockey players!
What is your company doing to keep employees up in this economy? Share your ideas – so I can copy them and perhaps others can implement them.
Want more ideas – read this article - it’s a great starting point:
Let’s face it. Cancer. It’s a bully. We all hate it. You can fight it, but it never just… goes away.
Every day, advertising agencies are faced with the challenge of motivating and inspiring consumers. To buy something. To feel something. To do something.
There are thousands of messages each day, but the ones that stick in people’s minds seem to be the ones that have a strong emotional connection. I was recently touched by this video and wanted to share my experience.
It gave me the chills and sent tears to my eyes. Does it emotionally connect with you?
I’ve always been a fan of PSAs. Remember: This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs. A mind is a terrible thing to waste. Just say no. Some of the best TV spots ever written and some of the best I’ve ever written as copywriter, have been PSAs. So a few of us at our agency came up with the idea of trying to create the largest library of public service announcements on the planet. It’s the PSAstation.com. Check it out. We hope it entertains and inspires you and your friends. And maybe if we all try to live a better life according to these public service announcements, we can help make the planet a healthier, smoke-free, drug-free, environmentally-concious, non-violent, tolerant place.
Thanks to the purchase by online coupon portal Coupons.com of Grocery IQ, one of the most popular iPhone apps, iPhone users can now receive coupons to some of their favorite brand products directly on their phone. Grocery IQ lets users compile and share shopping lists, and comes pre-loaded with over 130,000 name-brand supermarket items. Just specify the exact size and variety of the product you’re looking for and abracadabra – up pops the product listed right on your screen. Users will have 3 ways to redeem coupons: by displaying them at the checkout counter, by credit to their supermarket loyalty account and by printing them off an e-mail.
Coupons Inc. plans to expand the user base with a version for other smartphone users later this year.
Of course if you don’t plan on acquiring a smartphone in the near future you can always just go to coupons.com and print out coupons from there! http://print.coupons.com/CouponWeb/Offers.aspx?pid=13306&zid=iq37&nid=10
When Bobby Day wrote the lyrics to Rockin’ Robin in 1958 he probably never thought the words Tweet, Tweet, Tweet would be as popular as they are today. With the help of the social newtork Twitter all the little birdies on J Bird street are tweeting day and night. About everything from shopping at the mall to what they ate for breakfast. But according to Forbes, Twitter is not just for the little birdies it’s also for bigger birdies like Dunkin Donuts and Whole Foods. In the article Twitter Land: Does Your Brand Belong There? Forbes shares with us how some brands are successfully tweeting while other’s chirps are missing the mark.
And if you’re like me…still trying to figure out what the heck a tweet is…for now, just stick to the song. Here’s the J5 version in case you forgot the words.
So…some Detroit City Council members are questioning the wisdom of a regional authority buying and running Cobo convention center. And they are looking for allies—even among the dearly departed. What, for example, would the late Mayor Coleman Young say?
Of course, everyone agrees Cobo needs a big time facelift and expansion. And that Detroit doesn’t have the big time bucks to do this. Still, some Council folks and City residents oppose regional ownership simply because Cobo belongs to the City, it is a City jewel. Some question the fees being paid to the City for Cobo’s parking garage.
For many, however, the biggest problem is that the regional deal does not give contracting preferences to Detroit businesses and residents. And they infer that Coleman Young would stand with them in insisting that Detroit should be Cobo’s primary contracting beneficiary.
This could be hard to refute … unless someone happened to know exactly what Mayor Young wanted to communicate when he expanded Cobo in the late 1980’s. Well, it so happens that Brogan & Partners was Cobo’s ad agency during that time and we needed Mayor Young’s OK for ads and TV spots. And this is what he wanted said about job preferences in communications from 1987:
So SURPRISE! to all those who loved Mayor Young for being completely Detroit-centric.
And BIGGER SURPRISE! to all those who disliked Mayor Young for not being regional enough.
