What You See is What You Get

Throughout life you’ll hear of acronyms for all sorts of things. Years ago in a college computer class I heard the term WYSIWYG and it always stuck out in my mind; I guess because it sounded funny (pronounced wizi-wig). Not because of what it actually means: What You See Is What You Get.

Anyway, during preparation for a new business pitch I suddenly realized that WYSIWYG could actually be used to describe BG’s philosophy in regards to client relationships. There are some agencies out there that promise a potential client the moon and present themselves as being capable of solving all of the client’s problems in the blink of an eye just to land the account. Often times the client soon finds out that their dream agency is in fact just smoke and mirrors when deadlines are missed, phone calls aren’t promptly returned and invoices that are higher than expected show up in the mail. BG is not one of those agencies.

Not to toot our own horn too loudly, one of the things we really pride ourselves on is our high level of client service. We are in constant communication with our clients so they always know the status of the jobs we are working on for them, we inform our clients of costs upfront, we do not make promises that we cannot keep, and above all we are honest, so there are never any surprises which lead to a disappointed client.

Happy clients tend to lead to long, productive relationships, and since we’ve had the joy of working with many of our clients for more than a decade I think the “WYSIWYG approach”, as I like to call it, is definitely an effective one!

You can read more about why our clients enjoy working with us on the BG website bonergroup.com. Click on testimonials.

Web advertising goes local. Finally!

I just hate when I prove myself wrong! Which happens with increasing frequency these days as new technology is constantly introducing (or perhaps more accurately, bombarding) itself into our daily lives. As forward-thinking as I like to think I am, I instinctively fight these new advances with statements of “this is of no use to me!”

Yet, inevitably, I embrace them and soon find myself at a loss without them. And so it goes with new media opportunities that stem from the new technology. When a media rep phones to set an appointment to present the latest new media I cringe and even, dare I say, mumble, don’t we have enough media already!!”

And so I find it a bit odd that I have skipped all of my usual early denial and posturing and moved right into downright excitement at the new geo, contextual and behavioral targeting opportunities for local and regional advertisers. National advertisers have long had at their disposal the ability and budget to advertise on the major search engines and a broad spectrum of popular websites to reach their target audiences. Meanwhile, local advertisers have been extremely limited, with largely their local newspaper, TV and radio station websites as the only options. But times are a changing!

Several months ago Yahoo! entered into partnerships with newspapers across the country to provide local advertisers accessibility to their network of sites. By integrating their technology platform with the newspapers’, Yahoo! has significantly expanded the online reach for local advertisers.

In our local market, the Palm Beach Post’s online reach increased from 26% to 67% with the addition of Yahoo!. In addition, Yahoo! offers geographic and behavioral targeting, a huge improvement in strategic placement. Advertisers can now place their banners in front of advertisers who exhibit online behavior in sync with their products and services. For example we have used geo and behavioral targeting (BT) with a hospital client to promote their stroke and cardiac services to online users in Palm Beach County. These are users who have surfed the Yahoo! family of sites for health information, specifically related to the circulatory system. We saw increases in the click-through rates from when we were only able to target specific channels within the Palm Beach Post’s website.

And perhaps even more exciting are ad networks that bundle websites, blogs, RSS feeds, etc and sell them to advertisers in packages, simplifying the buying process. Now with one media buy, advertisers can place their ads on hundreds of the most popular sites. And, contextual targeting allows the advertiser to further target their banner placements by areas of interest that relate to their product/service. Ad networks have been around for a while. But again they were not really accessible to local advertisers because of minimum spend requirements that priced them out of consideration.

But now, local advertisers can conveniently and affordably access local ad space across networks of nationally-recognized popular websites as well as a mix of relevant niche sites. A small sample of the hundreds of sites available include CNN, New York Magazine, Readers Digest, Business Week, Facebook, LinkedIn, Major League Baseball, Auto Trader and Men’s Fitness. And remarketing technology allows advertisers to follow online users who click on their banner ad and surf their website by tagging them and then serving their banner ads to them as they continue to surf the web for the next few days.

So, yeah….I am ecstatic about these new opportunities with no hesitancy or uncertainty about the value they bring our clients. Bring it on!!

Fabulously Original or Foolishly Fake, That is the Question!

As an artist, it goes against my grain to take credit for anything I didn't create myself. If I put even a scrap of something someone else created into a logo, or anything else I work on, I don't consider it my creation at all and I won't lay claim to it as my own.

Artistic temperament aside, including unoriginal work in your client's logo is simply bad business. When a client seeks out an agency, that client is relying on professionalism and the agency's ability to create a logo that accurately reflects the nature and purpose of their business. If clients wanted cookie-cutter logos they could go to Google images and find one for themselves. Instead, the client is counting on the agency to be innovative and not just copy and paste random clip art to which everyone and his brother have access. By using original work, an agency avoids placing its client in the embarrassing position of coming across obvious elements of its own logo in another company's brand.

It is normal to be inspired by or get ideas from someone else's work, but to use it as your own is unethical. And in the end you risk your own integrity, your agency's integrity and your client's confidence in you.

Tweet for Success

When Twitter first came on the scene I must say that I was a little skeptical. Even after using it myself I still wasn’t convinced that it was a useful marketing tool. I mean how much can you really say in 140 characters?

It wasn’t until I started using Twitter for a local charity did I see its potential for small businesses. After posting just a few tweets my audience started to grow and almost every day, whether I post a tweet or not, I usually gain at least one new follower. I also noticed that once I changed my name to include “Palm Beach” many local businesses started to follow me. This is when I started to wonder if Twitter could actually be effective for small businesses? Since most of these businesses have minimal marketing budgets, Twitter allows them to reach an audience that is interested in their product or service with as much frequency as they would like at no cost. Plus, since word of mouth tends to be one of the best forms of advertising for small businesses, Twitter is ideal. It allows users to broadcast messages and also encourages users to “retweet” or spread the news to friends in their network. Tweets can be sent through the web and also through a cell phone making it very convenient for small business owners.

The NY Times even published an article on the subject last month; it mentioned a success story about Curtis Kimball, a crème brûlée cart operator in San Francisco. Mr. Kimball started a Twitter account, which he deems has been pretty essential to his success. He has more than 5,400 Twitter followers who wait for him to post the current location of his cart along with a list of flavors available that day. The demand has been so great for his desserts that he has quit his day job as a carpenter! The article mentions several other success stories as well including small town businesses that grew outside of their local market, those in rural areas that have learned business tips from other Twitter users, and more.

Now if we could just find a way to get Mr. Kimball to bring his crème brûlée cart here!

Local Community Currency to Support Local Business

I recently read an article in Time Magazine that mentioned many small towns issuing their own currency to encourage spending at local businesses. Citizens, in some instances, can buy this currency at their local bank and get more dollars in local currency for their US dollars (ex: bring in $100 USD and get $105 in local currency). This discount is funded by local businesses to promote their business.

As the U.S. suffers through its worst economic contraction since the Great Depression, buying local currency is one major way consumers can help keep jobs in their community. Small businesses employ the majority of most Americans. As such, consumers that spend at local small businesses help their community immensely in terms of employment. It also keeps money spent in the local economy versus buying from major nationwide chains.

The local currency program has been most successful in small towns in New England. Chambers of Commerce nationwide should embrace this local currency idea as a way to help their small businesses to survive the current recession. It is a well-known fact that small businesses pump much more money into the community per capita than larger corporate national retailers. Maybe this is something that communities and small businesses like ours should think about.

Friend or Follower? Join the crowd.

All over the blogosphere Twitterers and Facebookers are on a quest to get the most attention. Some are on a mission to gain the most followers without regard what a particular follower’s soapbox is. Others carefully cultivate their following, picking and choosing a select crowd of like minded individuals wanting to trade ideas and offer dialogue. Who is right? Will the agency with the most followers win and thrive. Or, will the agency with a smaller more passionate group of followers, dedicated to discussing and sharing ideas with and for the agency rise above the crowd?

Some blog posts, such as one written by Bhupendra Khanal, CEO of InReV, discuss how everyone is a potential customer. And word of mouth cannot be ignored. Although this is true, word-of-mouth advertising will be more credible if the source recommending the agency or product is credible.

Quantity vs. quality has been a passionate discussion at BG. We’ve discussed bombarding the net with a hundreds blog postings and twitter updates weekly and monthly. We also talked about sending out only updates with well-chosen topics to be discussed in less frequency. We came to the conclusion that it is important to take the time to create a relationship with our followers rather than just shouting to the masses. It will be through the viral response of our followers that our messages will be seen.

Zephrin Lasker of iMedia Connections posted a blog that supports the idea that quality of followers is better than quantity. According to Lasker, “It doesn’t take an army of fans for a brand to do the right thing with Twitter. You just need to interact relevantly with the right people.”

While it is important that our name gains recognition on the World Wide Web, it is more important that our message is credible, ignites conversation and is savored, shared, and referenced later. We want our advertising messages, as well as our foray into the social media realm to have the personal touch and elicit a visceral reaction. Feel it, talk about it and then take the time to pass it along. We don’t mind. At BG, we want you to follow us, but we would rather you befriend us. We want to call all of our followers our friends.

My Personal iPhone Odyssey

If you knew me you would be familiar with my fear and loathing for all things technological. I long for the days of faxing, snail mail and face-to-face client meetings. Poof! Gone! Thanks to the Internet and its cousin the PDA they are just a distant memory. So when my good old fashioned, simple little cell phone (no camera, no internet access or text capabilities…or none I knew how to operate shall we say…) died after five years of faithful service, I was thrust unwillingly into the land of technology… iPhone City.

So I waited a week for delivery, wondering how this device that has consumed many of my friends and co-workers would transform my life for the better. One month later I am happy to report that I am on the verge of embracing the darn thing. It is useful, cute, and my 4-½ year old is downloading free apps and working diligently on her fine motor skills (or so her daycare teacher reassures me). Although it hasn’t happened just yet, I’m sure one day my very existence will depend on this little device.

I do, however, respect this and other forms of advanced technology such as social media, blogs, vlogs, ezine articles, “lens” (huh?) webinars, and so forth. As Director of Client Services at BG, a small, full-service regional top 40 advertising agency, embracing, understanding and managing these tools for our clients is a critical step in harnessing the relevant, current trends in the market. These are the tools of future growth and success for marketing firms, their clients and basically the world.

To that end, I have successfully managed to integrate my new technology into my role as an account manager, albeit in a modest capacity to date. My iPhone has been useful in snapping photos of billboards for client proof of performance and accessing my emails while zooming down I-95 (kidding!). As I continue to educate myself with seemingly endless new terms and products that others know like the back of their hands, I feel good knowing that many have gone before me and are waiting for me to step into the light. So good, I think I will stop procrastinating now and post a profile picture to my 6-month-old Facebook account.