Considering the current economic climate, marketers, and specifically, public relations directors are requested more and more to prove the VALUE of their work. So how does one news release go from its natural state as a plain old Word document to a valued part of your communications arsenal? The Proof is in the Pudding.
Unlike Bill Cosby’s “Instant” JELL-O Pudding, results don’t come together in 5 minutes. But with a little research and a plan for calculating the coverage, you could be headed in the right direction.
When you buy an ad in a publication, the outlet provides impressions figures, target audience types and a big fat bill on your desk. When you send a press release or public relations outreach to a publication you don’t get the big bill, but you also don’t get the guarantee that the piece will run. (That is why we at BBR Creative’s PR Department advocate only distributing the most newsworthy stories — but, that’s for another blog entry.) (more…)
As a child, one of my favorite things to do was play “Connect the Dots.” I was consistently amazed that, when it was complete, a page full of scattered dots ultimately made a picture or told a story.
While I treat every day in my life as a myriad of new experiences (and am pretty quick to post them on Facebook), I often wonder how one’s feelings about certain experiences directly affect another person’s emotional journey through the world around them - the people they meet, the places they visit, the things they acquire.
It has been said that effective advertising achieves an emotional, benefit-driven connection between a consumer and a brand. Where though, does effective advertising take into account the emotional, benefit-driven connection felt among consumers as it relates to a brand ⎯ particularly when measuring results to determine effectiveness?
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Recently, I attended a conference for non-profit organizations and was fortunate enough to hear a lecture given by Lonnie Stockwell, CPA, on “Managing in a Changing World – Understanding Today’s Generations.” At first, I wondered, what a CPA could possibly tell me about generations. But as he began his presentation, I quickly realized I was in for a treat.
We as marketers, whether referring to the creative side of things or the analytical side of media buying, should remain mindful, if not diligent, in identifying the target audience for each campaign before we begin concepting and planning. But in hearing the lecture, it became even more obvious to me that not only do we need to identify this target audience, we must understand them and the way they think and process everything on a daily basis.
What seems like only a few years ago, the average lifespan was 48. Now it is 85. That means that we currently have four generations we need to speak to instead of two. Those generations are as follows: The Matures (born 1909-1945), The Boomers (born 1946-1964), The Xers (born 1965-1980) and the Millennials (born 1981-2000). Communication is critical in marketing your ideas, but each generation has differences that could make or break a message or placement of that message. Below is a brief description of each generation and the traits attributed to them:
The Matures are 68 years and older and have strong beliefs in duty, sacrifice, ethics and family. They are motivated by money, public recognition, responsibility and a desire to lead. They don’t like computers, consider respect paramount and firmly believe in person-to-person contact.
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Facebook has officially floored me. Not by becoming a social networking giant that has officially amassed more active users than Spain has citizens. And not because Columbia Pictures has given the green light to a movie based on the inception of the thing. But because Facebook has lured my father away from … whatever it is my father does in his free time.
No amount of statistical data or cultural etchings could have prepared me for this. This is huge. This is Dad. Embracing technology. The same Dad who once phoned to tell me he “broke the Google.” Dad, who still struggles with the concept of text messaging. Whom I, therefore, occasionally text, “LOW BATTERY.”
So how did I know that my dad was on Facebook? Did he poke me? Did he leave an embarrassing-though-admittedly-endearing salutary message on my wall? Nope. He waited until I paid a visit to his and my mother’s home to tell me in person. Well, kinda. The conversation went something like this:
Me: Do you guys have any sodas?
Dad: So, you’re going see Neko Case on Nov. 21?
Me: Uh huh…
Dad: That should be fun. I checked her out; she has a great voice.
Me: Uh huh.
Dad: And who’s this “Stephanie” girl?
Me: You’re on Facebook, aren’t you?
Which is fine. Facebook has a lot to offer — particularly to concerned fathers and mothers. It often fills the void left by sporadic telephonic updates on the part of the creative underclass. That’s a fancy way of saying, “Twenty-somethings like me don’t call our folks enough.” And no amount of, “I see you forgot to bring a sweater” comments on my photo albums can change how I feel about that. At least not yet. (more…)
