As holiday decorations in stores change and the first snowfall passes, I can’t help but think about the busiest retail season of the year that is right around the corner.  As an email marketer, this means increased frequency, and a higher tolerance to frequency from your subscribers, as well as promotions kicking into high gear.  However, as an email recipient, the next few months represent the most clutter I get from brands all year long!

I’ve put together my top 6 tips to hold your holiday (and all campaigns in general) together as you finalize your messaging and creative and start sending messages.

1. Reinforce that you know me and get personal. – Use the profile information you gather and personalize your messages to me.  Include my name, information about store hours or shipping windows based on my location, reference prior purchases and cross-sell relevant items to complement what I already own.

2. Understand my buying patterns and deliver timely and relevant messages that match up to them. – If you analyze your data and apply some common sense and a little marketing savvy then it will be easy to segment your subscribers and understand where each group is in the bigger picture.  Let’s simplify this: I bought a warm winter coat within the last year (that should last longer than that.)  This tells you that I need warmth but probably won’t want the same kind of coat.  How do you then sell me winter wear when you have great deals? Market a coat in a different category to me (dress, sport, or something I don’t own), Market other winter items to me – gloves, pants, shoes, etc. if they’re part of your offering.  ** The big key here is don’t tell me that the item I bought last year is now cheaper or technology is significantly lagging because you’ll just frustrate me!

3. Give me something exclusive for being a subscriber: value, content, discounts, etc. – Be unique and tie the exclusive content in your email to the action you want me to take (see below.) Don’t have a 20% off coupon in print, social media, email, and on my website.  If I don’t get anything special why would I remain a subscriber when there are much more passive ways I can get the same deal.

4. Make me want to open your email and load images with interesting visual design that renders well on my client. – Understand if I’m more likely to read my email on my smart phone, tablet, or computer and design so it looks the absolute best there and be different. Imagine what kind of success you could have if your email was personal, focused, and not cluttered!

5. Share similar peoples comments and feedback that are like me (because I trust them more than you)  – Pull in feedback on related items from other channels (social, reviews) into your creative.  This is a great way to let your customers be your voice and also grow following and participation in other channels.  It also makes the copy more interesting if it’s from a “regular” person.

6. Inspire me to take action and reward me for it! – Use a clear call to action (never more than two though, especially this time of year), make it easy for me to convert, pre-fill my information, and reinforce the fact that you know how I got into your conversion funnel and reward me as I move through the steps (hopefully 3-4 max).

You may think that it’s too late to implement these steps into your holiday campaigns but as with everything there are varying levels of implementation so start somewhere and pull out a test segment. Let performance guide you to continual optimization and really solid insights move your campaigns into 2012 as you are planning that email marketing strategy and calendar.

The Apple IIe to my current array of Apple devices are just a few of the things my mind ran to when I heard the news of Steve Jobs passing early yesterday evening.  From an irony perspective, I was in the midst of finally upgrading my MacBook Pro to Snow Leopard so that I could go to Lion when the news came across.  I sat back and had a chance to reflect, as the disc whirred in my optical drive.

My first computer in the early 80’s was an Apple IIe.  My mother was a Math teacher at the time and she was on the forefront of the technology curve and was embarking on her own path that would turn her into a Technology Specialist.  Besides writing ‘go sub’ routines my favorite pastime in Computer Class was opening up the CPU and pulling the audio cord so we could play “Hard Hat Mack” and “LodeRunner” without the teachers knowing.  From the IIe I moved on to the Macintosh SE.   For those of you that don’t remember, that was the first ‘all in one CPU/monitor’ package, and it was fairly popular in the schools.  At this time, I was also introduced to Apple Talk and the ability to network 5 or more computers together and even add in a shared printer!

As I entered the business world I drifted away from Apple at about the same time that Jobs drifted away from Apple.  But, as my business world changed so did my ability to experience the change of Apple’s market strategy, which included Jobs re-entry to the company.

I have been an early adopter ever since.  I remember ‘spinning’ the slide wheel on that first, bulky iPod and
realized how much the world was about to change.  With each successive release it seems like I have upgraded until I moved over to the iPhone and was able to integrate my phone and audio devices together.  I was on the original list for the iPhone4 and waited in line to pick mine up on day one.  I am typing now on my MacBook Pro and am the proud owner of not just an iPad but also the new iPad2.  I have also spread the ‘Apple fever’ to my children.  My girls, 11 and 9, both have iTouch 4’s and our favorite thing to do is FaceTime at night before bed as we live a 1,000 miles apart.  That smile I get from them and the ‘live’ kiss sums up for me what the mind and spirit of what Mr. Jobs means to me.  He, and Apple, have helped ‘connect’ the world in ways that we only dreamed about less than one generation ago.

 
The above image is from www.Apple.com

Most marketers are now beginning 2012 strategy and planning sessions, as well as budget reviews.

However, given the economic situation these days, it may also be prudent to take a look at your current media mix and spend some time to adjust your plan that will actually affect business for 2011.

Our CEO, Michael Kogon, wrote a great blog post on 6 Marketing Steps You Should Take Before October 1st, with insights into tactics that will be beneficial to your company's revenue.

Are you adjusting your marketing strategy this year?

On Monday of last week I had the (mostly) pleasurable experience of speaking on an IAB mobile advertising panel in New York. I say mostly because, technically, 10% of me burst into flames on the subway and never actually made it. 

Panels like these used to be the stuff of software geeks, carrier overlords and some gnarly, unholy combination of the two. The conversations were invariably technology focused as people scrambled to make sense of a fragmented industry growing at a bewildering pace. It took a few years longer than it should have, but at some point walled gardens, WAP decks and SOAP APIs gave way to use cases, ROI and sound design principles. 

The conversation has shifted again, and now people are beginning to contextualize mobile as part of a branding continuum, where digital, traditional and emerging media converge to tell a story that engages people in motion. Simon Bond, CMO of BBDO, pointed to a study his firm had done which found people are more likely to wake up and reach for their mobile device rather than their lover (or themselves, for that matter). Razorfish is doing really ground-breaking stuff in mobile advertising, working with publishers and networks to create dyanmic new ad models. Michael Collins of Joule talked about how the metrics mobile provide are on par with - even exceeding in many cases - the analytics available on the desktop web. 

At Definition 6 we are bringing serious innovation to our mobile clients. From mobile websites that predict behavior and present contextualized experiences, to mobile marketing applications that leverage unique combinations of variables like speed, distance, orientation and time of day, we are helping our clients deploy mobile marketing strategies that transform their businesses.

Check it out:
 


It begs the question - how is your firm using mobile marketing and advertising to build your brand? If you aren't, somebody else is. 

Background: It’s almost impossible to describe the smartphone market accurately without sounding overly prone to hyperbole. Worldwide, nearly half a billion smartphones will be shipped in 2011. By Christmas of 2011, one in two Americans will have one. Gartner predicts that in 2011, 85% of all handsets shipped globally will be able to access the mobile Internet.

In Q1 of 2011, Android supplanted Apple as the #1 smartphone OS in the U.S. While smartphone manufacturers jockey back and forth with one another for frontrunner status, swapping places with every latest hardware entrant, only feature phones (where the OS is proprietary firmware, and NOT a third-party development environment) are left in the starting blocks; there is little churn in the segment. In fact 2011, according to Nielsen, will be the year smartphones overtake feature phones in global mobile shipments.

For brands looking to build or maintain a mobile presence, the smartphone onslaught simply cannot be ignored. Nor can it be oversimplified. Too many American marketers think mobile is merely a stripped-down digital experience, a checkbox extension of their digital initiatives created automatically through the advent of rich smartphone browsers. The reality is that, worldwide, more people access the Internet through mobile devices than personal computers. It is the first screen, not the third. That over 95% of domestic digital marketing budgets are earmarked for non-mobile initiatives is an unpardonable lack of imagination, courage and good sense.

Smart brands and advertising agencies must consider several factors when evaluating how to create a mobile presence for smartphones. First the upside of browser-based mobile applications:  

• Write once, run anywhere: This is the siren’s call of mobile that promises cost efficiencies by keeping the time spent creating, maintaining and updating applications to a minimum through the utilization of a tool-based multi-platform design paradigm.

• Universal browser availability: A rich browsing experience is all but universal in the smartphone market. If a brand presence can be defined and made accessible through a mobile web browser, it reduces the number of headaches to resolve for platform-specific nuances as long as you stick to the lowest common denominator.

 

• Support of advanced features available in HTML5: There are some components of HTML5 that will be a boon to mobile devices. Unlike mobile browsers of old, HTML5 promises offline support. Also, video in HTML5 is standardized, which will make adding video content to websites much easier. HTML5 also supports a GeoLocation API, allowing web developers to capture critical location data.

• Layout standardization: Web browsers depend on a layout engine at the presentation layer. While there are myriad mobile browsers available, WebKit and Gecko are the layout engines used by most, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and Chrome.

Unfortunately, there are also downsides to a browser-only approach, including:  

• Browser diversity: The most prevalent smartphone browser in existence is the Blackberry, which has its own layout engine used by precisely nobody other than RIM. At the very minimum, creating a browser-based smartphone application that works on a majority of devices will require at least two completely separate development efforts.  

• Limited HTML5 support: When Steve Jobs lambasted Adobe’s Flash in 2010, he pointed to HTML5 as the author of its death spiral. Somebody forgot to tell RIM, who supports the Opera browser while remaining ambiguous about HTML5.  

• Hardware-specific amenities: Downloadable applications are typically able to access many features baked into the hardware that a browser-based application simply cannot. From the iPhone’s popular “shake” feature to other phones cameras and GPS chips, in order to unlock the richest of features from a mobile device, you have to think thick-client.

While the debate continues, what is certain for brands is to contemplate the merits of downloads vs. browser-based applications on a case-by-case basis. Mark Donovan, comScore SVP of Mobile concludes, “with mobile media consumption on the rise, the discussion of how consumers are accessing content -- whether it is via application, browser or both -- continues to be an important factor for companies looking to invest further in their mobile brands.” In every scenario, however, it is important to consider what will not work, and that, specifically, is to think that just because an HTML-based application works on a personal computer, it is sufficient for a mobile device. Mobile users have limited and hugely variable display capabilities, awkward and difficult input mechanisms, and the mobile mindset differs vastly from the PC user’s mindset.

In future posts, I’ll talk about mobile application design principles and dissect smartphone platforms in an effort to provide color for brands contemplating including them in mobile marketing strategies.

Another great Ragan event took place last week in San Jose, CA at the Cisco headquarters, and while we didn’t see the same antics that went on at the last event in Las Vegas, we still managed to have an incredible week. As a resident New Yorker, and not a car owner/driver, I was a bit apprehensive at first about driving in San Jose, by myself, as I'm not the best with directions.  My fears were proven true on the first attempt to attend the pre-conference workshops, where I got lost and ended up in a landfill.  When I asked for directions, the attendant told me he "only knew how to get from his house to this place" and I found myself surrounded by trucks, and in a bit of a pickle.  Eventually, I was saved by my Android phone and Google maps.  I missed the pre-conf sessions but oh well, at least the weather was nice.

When I finally made it to the conference the next day, the energy was incredible.  We were tweeting so fast that the Twitterfall couldn’t keep up, which resulted in #RaganCisco trending in San Jose, and in various other global locations!



Held at the Cisco headquarters in Silicon Valley, there were presenters you’d expect to see from this area including Cisco, Adobe, SAS, Facebook, Yahoo! and PayPal.



The conference kicked off with Cisco’s SVP, Corporate Marketing, Marilyn Mersereau, sharing an anecdote of a recent Cisco social media “crisis,” where a customer was not satisfied with his wireless router. After becoming frustrated with customer service, he did what we now see as a natural response – create a YouTube video called “Cisco Sucks.”



Luckily, it did not go viral, but it did get about 1,500 views. In this new reality where social media gives power back to the people, brands are held to a higher standard. Customers now have a very public medium to complain about things when they unhappy.

In response to this video, Ms. Mersereau told us that she bought the customer (whom she thought was very cute, and happened to be a fellow Canadian like Ms. Mersereau) a new router from Amazon.  Her philosophy here was that the router was a small price to pay to appease this customer, and she had hopes that he may go back to his viewers to tell them the problem was rectified. No word yet if this has happened. Although this seemed to rectify that particular instance, it does raise the question – how sustainable is that model? Thus, we dove into the Ragan Social Media Best Practices for Communicators event.

The conference was jam-packed full of great speakers, with Carlos Dominquez, SVP, Cisco, wishing everyone a happy @Cisco de Mayo (as it was Cinco de Mayo) in his opening keynote, and well, we were already ready for some margaritas! He then went on to define the role of a “Tech-Nowist” – “someone who embraces change, understands what technology is available, experiments with it, learns from the experiments, and leverages it for a competitive advantage.”



Other hot topics included internal adoption of social media tools for higher efficiency at large corporations like Adobe and SAS, social media CRM (a huge leap forward where social media will become scalable with the use of data: recent example of SalesForce acquiring Radian6) as presented by Altimeter Group, Shel Holtz on creating compelling content (content vs. context brought up yet again!), and of course, how to measure the effectiveness of social media, specifically when presenting to senior leaders in your organization to create more internal adoption.

The conference ended with an inspirational talk from Brian Solis at Altimeter Group, empowering us to not to social media CHAMPIONS, but instead, be LEADERS. Entitled “Engage or Die,” his twitter-friendly presentation focused on collaborating internally at companies, before promoting messages in social media channels, stating that the consumers only see one brand – we can’t be comfortable in silos anymore, sounding a lot like our unified marketing approach at Definition 6! We all know the world is changing rapidly.

We need to be comfortable with that change, and lead the way on how to act/react appropriately. One thing I’ll leave you with is something that Brian mentioned which epitomizes the current social media disconnect between some brands and consumers. He did a bit of role-playing where he described the point of view of why brands want to be involved in social media (using Facebook as an example) and what consumers are looking for when they “like” brands. Brand: "My customer will want to 'like' us on Facebook because they are really looking for more information on our products/services. Customers want to get more information. They want to engage with us to create a community." Customer: "I’m going to 'like' this brand on Facebook because I want coupons, specials, discounts or win free stuff. I want the ability to purchase items within my social networks."



By just having people follow your brand on Twitter or Facebook is not enough. If you don’t provide value to the consumer, they will essentially break-up with you on those social networks. How much harder will you need to work to gain them back? In fact, You need to have a strategy that provides value over time. Without that, you may as well not bother. Oh and you will want to plan for an F-commerce model, which sounds like it should be a bad word, when in fact, this is the future. For more recaps, check out Cisco’s blog for day one and day two or search on Twitter for #RaganCisco to read the top tweets.

As always, you can hear more of my thoughts by following me on Twitter @RachelConforti.

It’s that time of year again. A time for reflection and a time for predictions. On the outside chance you did something this year besides monitor your RSS feed from Defining Insights, we thought this would be a good time to reflect on the top posts of the last 12 months.

For those of you that don’t know, Definition 6 has a very open corporate blogging policy. All of our employees are welcome (and encouraged) to contribute to the blog. With a team that spans many different areas of expertise, we find this is a great approach to keeping our customers and other friends up to date on the latest trends in digital marketing and emerging technology.

It’s also an opportunity for us to share successful approaches to unified marketing, helping you develop and leverage strategies that deepen relationships and improve marketing ROI. Without further adieu, here are the 6 most-read posts of 2010:

#1 “Nike ‘Write the Future’ Ad Breaks Viral Video Record” by Jon Accarrino

It should come as no surprise that the leader of Definition 6’s social media operations published the most-read post of 2010. Before joining Definition 6, Jon launched many of NBC’s first social media initiatives, including the Twitter accounts of many of the Today Show stars you know and love.

Leading up to this year’s World Cup action, Jon had the foresight to write a quick review of Nike’s ‘Write the Future’ ad. As fans took breaks from vuvuzela tooting to search the Web, many stumbled across Jon’s post.

You can read the original post (and watch the video again) here.

#2 “Best Practices for Facebook Pages” by Ashley Reed

Definition 6’s social media team must know a thing or two about producing and sharing content on the Web, because its Atlanta-based social media manager Asheley Reed wrote the second most-read post of 2010, “Best Practices for Facebook Pages.”  Ashley’s post was jam-packed with practical information top brands can use to get more out of their Facebook marketing efforts. If your organization has a Facebook Page (or is thinking about launching one), you may want to check out Ashley’s post here. Of course, you might also find value in here “Why People Like Brands on Facebook” post as well.

#3 “How You Like Me Now?” by Matt Timpson

Matt Timpson gives us a great argument for why companies should open blogging to more employees. Matt doesn’t work in marketing, he’s not a client manager or on the sales team, he works in the engineering department.  But he contributed one of the most-read blog posts of 2010, an in-depth analysis of Kia’s 2010 Super Bowl ad (you know, the one with the Sock-Monkey, Squeak-Monster and the Robot?). With an unassuming title “How You Like Me Now?” (a nod to the music used in the spot), his post climbed the charts. If you are familiar with the commercial, you might find his analysis interesting. It’s hard to believe Super Bowl spots are right around the corner.

#4 “Babes... And Some Other Basic Truths About Re-Connecting With Audiences Online” by Al Leach

Al Leach leads the national strategic communications practice for Definition 6. Needless to say, he has a way with words. While the content of Al’s post is written from the point of view of a veteran communications professional, the lighthearted headline and lead demonstrates a point about capturing attention in a short attention span world. Al’s post presents 4 self-proclaimed “truths” about communicating with audiences today - a great read for any communicator. Read Al’s post here.

#5 “The Gap Logo Fiasco” by Chris Wojda

Work for an iconic brand? Want to generate a lot of buzz this year? Have an intern redesign your logo and swap it out on your website - the blogosphere will go wild and you’ll be top of mind for a couple of weeks (at least). While that’s not exactly how it played out, some suspect Gap’s re-branding efforts from this past summer were a publicity stunt. With ‘serious’ re-brands, you would typically see signs at stores change. In this case, it was really just the logo on Gap’s website. Regardless of what the strategy really was, Gap made a lot of noise with its logo ‘fiasco’ this past summer. One of Definition 6’s leading brand strategists, Chris Wojda, couldn’t resist chiming in with his ‘two cents’ on the whole mess. Read his take on Gap’s logo swap here.

#6 “Unified Marketing: A New Model for a New Era” by Michael Kogon

One of the most significant events for the agency this past year was our own re-branding effort. As most of you know, Definition 6 is now a Unified Marketing Agency. Definition 6 CEO introduced positioning and why we feel so strongly about this model in all that we do. The fact that this post rounded out the top 6 posts of 2010 shows that not only did the message resonate with you, but also that we continue to see coincidences with the number “6” in everything that we do. To get the full scoop on what our Unified Marketing Agency positioning is all about, read Michael’s post here.

Chris Thornton is Chief Marketing Officer of Definition 6 and was recently named “CMO of the Year” by the Technology Association of Georgia’s (TAG) Technology Marketing Association. Chris also serves on the board of the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association (AiMA). When he’s not blogging, you can find Chris tweeting at @CMORocks.

It is a very difficult task for brands to choose a new marketing agency. There are lots of promises - and just like prom night - everyone is looking their best. But once the decision is made, reality sets in.

You thought you knew what you were getting, but then the estimates change, timelines extend and the people you thought were going to work on the project and no longer available. Make sure you get the truth before you sign the contract.

So how do you avoid making the wrong decision and ensuring you get the truth upfront before you hire an agency? Here are three suggestions that can save you the headaches later on:

1. Process. Process is key. Great ideas are magic, but creating them is a science. Can your agency clearly show their process and demonstrate its value? How do they manage you through this? What are the key milestones and deliverables.

2. Impact. Impact on your business. Cool ideas that don't increase revenue aren't really cool? How do they plan on measuring the results? Does your agency talk about ROI?

3. People. People create and execute ideas. Who is really working on your project?

Given the importance of your unified marketing strategy, not to mention the financial and resource investment, it is essential you spend the time upfront to ensure the both you and your agency understand the rules of engagement. You should have clear project definition and criteria for evaluating success.

This will manage expectations for all parties involved, reduce cycles spent on dealing with distracting issues but most importantly it will reduce the risks associated with the project and keep you in control.

Sean-Michael Daley is Group Account Director for Definition 6's Dallas Office.


(Image Credit: "How Could You Say No?" by kennymatic)

When running an direct response campaign, there are a lot of variables at play. Choosing the right combination can be the difference between a successful campaign and a campaign cut short due to poor performance. To set yourself up for success, conisder these factors when planning your direct response strategy:

• Content: Content is a crucial component of any successful campaign. The content decides how long a user is going to be on your site, what would be the location of the ad on the page and how much will the user engage with the ad.

• Audience:  When planning your campaign, it is imperative that you chose to run it in front of the right audience. As simple and as obvious as it may sound, it is often an overlooked feature of a campaign.

• Recency and Frequency: While deciding who to show the ad and who not to, a key decision parameter to use is how recently the ad was shown to the user in question and how many times has the user already seen the ad.
   
• Re-targeting:  Re-targeting allows you to target users who have been on the advertiser's site either browsing or looking for more information. If you can identify such users within your network, you can be assured that these users will engage much better than other users.

• Standard Targeting: Basic targeting can save media dollars for your advertisers which could result in an efficient successful campaign. If you are showing an ad which is relevant to a certain state, there is absolutely no advantage in showing that ad to users who are outside that region.  

With all that being said, it boils down to smart planning and execution. Knowing the goals and objectives with successful planning will make for a successful campaign.

To learn more about direct response campaign planning, and how it fits into the larger context of a unified marketing strategy, please visit our site.

Part Two:  The National Basketball Association (NBA)

In Part One of my look at the presence of natural social networks in sports, I looked at social media's impact on professional soccer. In this part, I'll look at the National Basketball Association.

Let's start by taking a look at the top corporate brands on Facebook:



At first glance, it appears that one of the most effective tactics utilizing social media is providing promotional privileges for fans to get their pick-me-up.  Starbucks, Coca-Cola, and Red Bull are all in the top five. What can brands in other industries learn from the natural social networks formed by sports?  

The NBA, at #9 on the list, is actually ranked 1st in “Page Value” by the same site.  Its success in the social media space is likely driven by its success across the globe, with a powerful fan nation both online and off.  

For over three decades the league has been expanding internationally with marketing programs growing the game in over 240 different countries.  

The international growth demonstrates the sport’s ability to translate across culture, gender, and level of play. In an interview with Emilio Collins, the Senior VP of Global Marketing Partnerships for NBA Entertainment, he explains how the nature of the game facilitates social inclusion. “The game can be played a variety of ways, 1 on 1, indoors or outdoors, male or female.”  

Participation fueled the craving for content, which proved profitable for the NBA.  In fact, Collins cites content distribution as the NBA’s number one source of international revenue.  150 different broadcast partners and numerous highlight shows provide fans their daily fix of the league’s core attributes: passion, teamwork, intensity, history of the franchises, and tradition of the league.  Combined, this is the caffeine equivalent to sports fans.  

Most importantly, the league has maintained its brand identity throughout its development.  Collins states this simply, “Basketball is the NBA.  One entity, one brand associated with the sport.”  The sweat, tears, and slam dunks all make up the National Basketball Association, and the fan nation follows religiously.

So what can other brands learn from the NBA?  “Make your consumers as passionate about your brand as you are,” suggests Collins.  Find those defining attributes that make you brand stand out, and offer a powerful identity to encapsulate those attributes.  

For example, take the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, cited as the turning point in the NBA’s international growth by Collins.  This is when the world met the Dream Team, setting the stage for the perfect storm of sport, strategy, and brand.  “Kids got to see how inspirational the sport can be, and they saw the domination of our players.  And as a result, we saw all points of our business grow—the distribution of media, participation rates, and the increase of international players,” said Collins.  In effect, the NBA only had 17 international players in 1992.  Now they have 85.  

Regardless of industry, businesses can learn a great deal from the NBA’s success.  More companies need to find passion in their product or service offering and package this into one voice, one brand.  Once established, this brand should serve as Team Captain to employees, fans, and followers, directing the entire team down a path to victory.

Just as athletes communicate during the game to adjust the game plan on the fly, utilize social media to listen to your consumers and respond with innovative marketing strategies.  Finally, commit… to your team, to your fans, and to the game plan.  The NBA has done just this, and fans and teams alike are enjoying its success.

How does Definition 6 create stronger banner ads? We start by thinking smart. We use a compelling design and target smart placement - these are the two important things that we need to make banner advertisement succeed.

For quite some time, banner advertisements have been getting bad reviews because online marketers have shifted to pay-per-click strategies and other seemingly more attractive, higher return methods of increasing web traffic and sales.
Marketers and advertisers alike have been griping about how frustrated users tend to ignore all their marketing efforts completely. Searching for the close button on the banners as soon as they show up.

Thanks to the advancement of technology, the problems about loading and viewing ads have all but disappeared while new targeting technology is now within reach. The flexibility that PPC programs along with the brand of recognition building and the power of attention has been grabbing visual display recently.

If you are looking for some strategies on how to create and place your banner ads in strategic places that will help you save time and money as you build your brand and grow your business, here is a short list to cut your quest short. Here are some of the most effective ways that you can use to make your banner ads a sure win.

• Design customized banner advertisements for every website: If all your banner ads on all the websites that you put them on seem too identitcal, they will not stand out and will simply blend in to the background. You need differentiation in your media mix to catch a visitor's attention. If your design is too distracting or too loud, it will encourage a careless attitude from the viewer.
   
• Make sure that the colors, images and fonts are consistent - your designs should complement your site to maintain a consistent brand impression through the action. You don't need a flashy banner ad to make an impression - but sometimes rich media can be more effective for engagement.
   
• Make use of compelling designs and texts - Banner copywriting is actually a very daunting and time consuming task. Since it involves putting an entire company message into a few words or one very short sentence that will oblige the viewers to click, you should make sure that you choose the images carefully in such a way that they will be a logical match to the copy as much as possible.

Finding the optimal banner ad strategy for your campaign varies for each client. To learn more about media strategy and execution and how you can leverage it as part of your unified marketing strategy, please contact us.

Unified marketing is our strategic framework for creating experiences that deepen the emotional connections between brands and people. It sounds easy enough, right? Consumers are a moving target. Brands move fast too. At some point, they interact – you need that experience to be a meaningful one.

Thinking in terms of campaigns is short-sighted. I believe successful brands need to think more in terms of unified experiences – across any interaction a consumer has with your brand, regardless of medium, stage of the relationship or any other factor you can think of.

How can you get into the unified marketing mindset? It all starts with insight. Insight is essential to everything we do with unified marketing strategy development. We believe to truly optimize your marketing, the effort needs to mirror the environment – in this case, always-on and always-evolving.

The art and science of creating brand impact and enduring customer relationships revolve around immersive experiences. Here’s how we approach unified marketing for our clients:

• Find & Define the right target audiences. It’s not just about demographics, but rather about understanding the nuances within your customer base and targeting the right segments of your audience based on behavior and psychographics.  Go after the right audience at the right time with the right message.

• Engage and Connect to create brand engagement through rich experiences that add collective value and resonate with your audiences on an emotional level.

• Build and Maintain customer relationships through the use of brand nurture relationship marketing and social relationship environments and tactics.  It’s about continual and on-going value in an always-on, always-changing world.

• Understand and Optimize for maximum impact. Improve your media mix and strategic messaging by incorporating appropriate testing, analytics, monitoring and intelligence to make more-informed business decisions in real-time.

Unified Marketing Strategic Framework enables us to more effectively plan, execute, and dynamically optimize your marketing initiatives.  It links our marketing strategy and our creative design to our technical planning, development delivery and optimization. Through this approach, we help clients build more meaningful brand experiences that unite brands and people in motion, driving more interaction and transaction.

Learn more about our unified marketing approach in What We Do or see the results of our programs in Our Work. Thanks!

As you can see from our new website, Definition 6 is now a Unified Marketing Agency. It might look like something that happened over night, but it is an approach we have been refining for years now.

There is only one constant in marketing today: change. Customers change. Technologies change. Mediums change. You change. As an agency, we too must change to help clients better manage business performance. It’s something we’ve been doing for 13 years now.

Unified marketing is our most dramatic transformation yet. It’s an evolved approach to marketing that is designed to challenge conventional wisdom in the agency world.

While some are looking to add more capabilities, we’re looking to develop a better model equipped for the realities of marketing in an always-on and always-evolving marketplace.

Unified marketing is our new approach to strategy and execution. Rather than thinking in terms of campaigns, we think in terms of real-time experiences - every time a person interacts or transacts with your brand. Our unified marketing strategy framework is designed to help clients create experiences that unite brands and people in motion - in real-time.

Experiences come in many forms, and not all points of engagement are predictable - but smart brands can plan to build collective, dimensional relationships with customers with each and every experience.

Our Unified Marketing Approach

Our unified marketing approach is designed to help you identify where your best opportunities are to engage and connect with your most valuable customers. We create meaningful - often one-of-a-kind - brand experiences that are relevant to your audiences and build collective value.

Unified marketing is a departure from start and stop, short-sighted and disconnected marketing campaigns. It’s the beginning of a mindset that looks at relationship building as a constant, persistent effort across all experiences.






















There are four stages to our unified marketing strategy framework:

•    Find & Define the right audiences that represent the greatest brand opportunity for you

•    Engage & Connect through more meaningful and relevant experiences that strengthen your relationship

•    Build & Maintain your relationships to build collective, dimensional value over time and foster reciprocity across your communities

•    Understand & Optimize through insight and real-time data, making better informed decisions to drive better interaction and transaction

This process enables us to continually refine and optimize campaign performance in real-time, ultimately helping our clients build more meaningful brand experiences and relationships.

Proving the Model

We’ve put our unified marketing approach to the test with several clients and are pleased to report the results have been impressive. We’ve also continued to build out our capabilities to support the unified marketing model. Our acquisitions of Creative Bubble and Leach Communications, the opening of our Dallas office, the addition of 100+ new team members, and some of the most impressive work we’ve done to date, are all strategic moves to execute on our unified marketing vision.

We’re beginning to see the results of our work, you can see it through the impact our people are making, and we hope it creates more opportunity for us to work together.

We look forward to talking with you more about our unified marketing approach and how we create brand experiences that unite people and brands in motion.

Note: Please visit the What We Do section to learn more about our Unified Marketing Approach and process.

Google Instant is a new search enhancement from Google that loads new search results with each keystroke you type – it performs queries in real-time. Google is now pretty much predicting what you are searching for before you finish typing your query. Of course, this confirms what we've all known for years, Google IS actually smarter than you.



According to Google, the primary benefits of Google Instant include:

•    Faster searches – Google Instant predicts what you are looking for before you finish typing (Google states this can save a user 2-5 seconds per search)

•    Smarter predictions – Google knows the words people use to search for different things – as you start typing, Google produces a list of search terms (usually including the one you were about to type)

•    Instant Results – you no longer have to hit return to get your search results – your search results load as you’re typing.

Those are some pretty meaninful benefits. For me, I"m most excited about the fact that Google has unveiled some pretty significant innovation around what it does best: search. 15 new technologies contribute to Google Instant and with this launch, it's pretty clear Google plans to maintain its market dominance as the world's most used search engine.

But Wait, Do I Need to Change My SEO Strategy?

The most common question people will want to know about Google Instant is what impact these changes will have on search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. The short answer: none. According to Google, Google Instant doesn’t change page rankings at all, so your current rankings will be intact.

Realistically, SEO strategies will need to change as a result of Google Instant. For starters, marketers should pay attention to what alternative terms appear in Google’s suggestions list under the new Google Instant model.

Google's suggestions can sway users to select a term other than the one they intended to search. Depending on the terms your site is indexed for, and the volume of searches for the particular term each month, websites could notice a decrease (or increase) in traffic as a result of the suggestions.

Search engine marketers would be wise to optimize their sites for suggested terms that may compete with terms they already enjoy prominent ranking.

Closing Thoughts

Google Instant is a significant change in the way Google works. I like the change and feel it’s a great enhancement to the user experience. I also like anything that saves me time in my workday (even if it’s only five seconds at a time).

By improving the user experience and delivering more instant gratification for users, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Google’s market share tick up a bit. As usage increases and user experience improves as a result of Google Instant, organic and paid search strategies may need to evolve to adapt to changes. For now, marketers should hold tight, but earmark some more budget for search enhancements in 2011.

What do you think? Do you like Google Instant? Does it improve your search experience?

BONUS: Want more on Google Instant? Watch Marissa Mayer, Google’s VP of Search, discuss these changes in her interview with TechCrunch:

While talking with a family member about things to do around town, one of them shared their experience at a “Dialogue in the Dark” exhibit.  In the exhibition, blind guides lead visitors through a completely dark environment where they learn to interact by relying on other senses. The activities provide an innovative and powerful tool for reinforcing a trusting collaborative mindset and emotional intelligence.  The exhibit is based upon writings from German-Jewish philosopher Martin Buber’s work The Principles of Dialogue which states: “The only way to learn is through encounter”.

Having to experience life without the sense of sight reminds me of how many customers ask for help in the building of a new website or some other piece of creative,  without wanting to take the time to share anything about who their target audience is, their industry, their competitive landscape, or their vision for the future.  Execution on creative for marketing campaigns without the input required to understand how to support and target the message is like drawing pictures in the dark.  You have no sense of direction to guide you in the creation of the most attractive and appealing designs.

Here are several points to consider when guiding someone on a journey in an area they are unfamiliar with using their other four senses.  Remember these steps are intended to build trust, confidence, and stimulate use of other senses beyond sight.

 “Hearing” the Voice of your Customers

Listening to the Voice of Your Customers can at times sound like an old wives tales to many who choose to shoot first and then aim in their approach to designing great creative.   The process of capturing a customer's requirements to produces a detailed set of wants and needs, and then prioritized in terms of relative importance can consist of both qualitative and quantitative research steps. It usually starts with a series of forensic questions that yields measurable results focused on awareness, credibility, loyalty, accuracy.  This input is valuable in the creative process because it provides the designer with a framework for developing the creative to appeal to the most important needs of an end user.

“Smelling” the environmental ques around you

A designer can learn tremendous insight from your competitors and other industry and non-industry related sites that are generally appealing to your target audience.  Most consumers look at search results and make three to six second decisions based upon how copy and the initial creative “smells”-  that is the first impression of trust and care that one senses when seeing a new site.  People know what authenticity really smells like.

“Touching ” your clients with the right message

We have all seen how a cute picture drawn by a small child can touch our hearts and pull us to act in a certain way.  Planning is an essential key to an effective website that will earn the trust and loyalty of a dedicated customer base.  If you were to walk around a well built house with your eyes closed you could use your sense of touch to know that a solid architecture was used in the construction of the home. A quality user experience has to be the centerpiece of any online strategy.

Share the “Taste” of the success of great design

Whether you are enjoying a meal at a hole in the wall beach shanty or white tablecloth restaurant, you know when you have experienced a meal well served with lots of different flavors that truly satisfies you.  When you are following a process to developing quality user focused creative for a marketing campaign, you will want to experience the comfort of a site map that meets your target audience(s) prioritized information needs.  You will likely have a taste for various design comps and want to add a few savory changes before the recipe is finally to your taste.

To steer clear of beauty pageants that want you to show your pretty pictures and to avoid having to draw pictures in the dark, look for every opportunity to show your prospects and clients how to use their other senses in developing great creative.

I've decided to break with the tradition of mystical subterfuge that we creative types like to use to keep our methods secret.  I’m going to come clean about the three easy steps to create successful online video marketing. I know this will likely get me scratched off the list at all the best industry events, but I can no longer hold my tongue in good conscience.

Step1: come up with an engaging concept.
Step2: produce a well-made, compelling video.
Step 3: post the engaging and compelling video.

Yea, I know… not much of a secret. The truth is people seem to view online videos as some sort of crazy alternative marketing.  It’s as if there is some secret ingredient that gets sprinkled over the computer while posting that makes it different than something you would see on television. The truth is that it is not the content that is different, but rather how it is consumed. Television is a fairly passive medium and people are more likely to watch something simply because it is in front of them. This is changing thanks to the DVR culture, but it is still largely true. Viewing a video online, however, is a much more deliberate act. People have to want to watch it. And, hopefully, they will pass it on to others so they can watch it. For this to happen it needs to really be engaging. Clearly the intent of all brand marketing is to engage the consumer, but online video needs to be or you won’t have an audience.

This fact makes it all the more absurd that many people believe that successful online videos can be created by anyone with a webcam. Certainly, there have been many such “successful” videos (witness the most viewed Youtube video ever), but this is the exception not the rule, and is rarely true when it comes to brand marketing.  I’m not saying that you need to have a million dollar budget, or hire the top Hollywood director, but you do have to approach it with clear creative intent, even if the end result is unscripted, or “low tech”. The principles that hold true for any successful film or video still apply: good narrative (whether plot or visual) and solid construction. Brands would never air some poorly produced piece with half-baked creative on television, yet they all too often treat their online video offerings as amateur hour.

Your video has to connect with your audience on some level, through humor, compassion, awe, outrage, etc. It has to offer the viewer some intrinsic value that will create an attachment and drive them to become a brand advocate. Once again, this is not a new marketing concept. What is new, is the tremendous advantage online video offers in this endeavor. At its core, a viral video is a social media tool. People love to share things with their friends and online video gives them the tools to go beyond the water cooler chat (did you see that spot on TV last night with the blue thing… hilarious!) to actually presenting your video to a person that trusts them. This is why an online viewing number that is a fraction of the viewers of a spot during a primetime show represents a much bigger win for the brand: the online viewers are active participants. Do it right and those participants become advocates.

There are specific factors that do distinguish online video from a televised spot: no length requirements, resolution and audio playback quality, trafficking to specific market, ease of deployment, etc. But do not let those differences cloud the fact that at it still needs to be approached with the same level of detail and planning as any on-air piece. Just because it is simple and inexpensive to get your video on the web, don’t treat like a second class marketing strategy. It has massive potential to influence your customers.

I recently had an opportunity to participate in a webinar about the current trends and thinking around integrated marketing strategy, particularly in the areas of interative marketing.

The digital evolution has completely changed the way companies interact with their customers.  Companies can longer push their agenda to drive business, but must find ways to add value at every single touch point.  How can companies effectively create a unified message across so many disciplines to evolve the way consumers think of their brand?

A good part of my strategic discussion revolved around reinvention of the idea of brand, and what it means to be a marketer for a company in the 21st century. Some specific takeways I think I cover in this presentation include:

1. How to organize and integrate your marketing operation to create a cohesive message
2. How to identify early in the process if you are achieving your goals
3. How to optimize your branding efforts and align them with your sales organization

If you're thinking about integrating your marketing programs, or just looking to improve the performance of your existing integrated marketing programs, perhaps you'll find the presentation relevant to your current discussions.

To view my presentation from the webinar, please click on the presentation below:
Questions or comments about the proposal? Please feel free to reach out to me through Twitter.

Far too often agencies lose sight of what's really important. They become entrenched in the many details of just running a successful Paid Search campaign. That usually translates into weekly meetings where metrics like Impressions, Clicks and Average Cost-per-Click are heavily discussed. Don't get me wrong, these metrics indirectly indicate how your paid search campaign is tracking against your business goals but who has time to try and put those pieces together? When you have multiple stakeholders breathing down your back for various reports and executive summaries on those reports, do you really want to be bothered with figuring out how to make a 20% increase in clicks week over week sound important to those stakeholders?

Let me offer a little story to help drive the point home -

A bright recent college grad is considering investing. He calls on three highly recommended investors to have a meeting. In the meeting he reaches into his pocket and puts the change he finds on the table. He asks the first investor, “What do you see?”

The investor replies, “I see thirty-six cents.”

“You are very good with math, thank you.” says the college grad. He turns to the second investor and asks, “What do you see?” The investor thinking he has certainly outwitted the first investor replies, “I see a 2007 Quarter with George Washington’s portrait, a 1996 Dime with a portrait of Franklin Roosevelt and a 1943 Penny with a portrait of Abraham Lincoln.”

The college grad replies, “You are extremely observant and detail oriented. Thank you.” The college grad then turns to the third investor and asks the same question, “What do you see?”

The third investor replies without hesitation, “I see you paying off your college loans and buying a sports car.”
“You’re hired. Let’s meet again on Monday,” said the college grad.

After walking out of the room the two befuddled investors turn to the smiling investor and ask in unison, “What the hell was that?”

The smiling investor replied, “You see, in 1943 pennies were struck in silver. The pennies struck in copper were rare errors and are highly valuable. Being that he is a recent college graduate, he should put that money towards paying off his loans. I also noticed he was reading a sports car magazine when we entered. After a few investments, He will be able to use the left over money to invest in a little fun. That’s really the big picture.”


Most agencies are like the first investor. They get the math right. They understand tracking, reporting and all the intricacies of tactical execution but those agencies really have no clue what the larger corporate initiatives are of their client because they are too narrowly focused on making sure the campaigns they are running have excellent performance when judged by Paid Search KPI's.

Agencies that are like the second investor take pride in surface level knowledge and cool reporting gimmicks. They all too often skip over the actual math and performance. They are usually guilty of having flashy sales people in place of strategy driven Account Service team members.

The third investor is the agency you want to partner with. They won't bog you down with details of pay per click performance metrics that get in the way of you understanding what that performance means to your business objectives. They understand all of the tedious details in paid search marketing but provide summaries in a way that is meaningful to your business. Do you want to talk to your VP or CEO in terms of Click-Through-Rates or in terms of increases on efficiency in customer acquisition? The third investor also picked up on an interest the college grad did not mention. A good agency should note the goals you mention as well as ask for confirmation on the ones that may be implied.

When choosing your agency make sure they are asking the questions that show they are interested in not only displaying their paid search expertise but also helping your business grow.

I've been hearing the phrase "Drinking from the fire hose" more often than usual lately. The curious thing is that it's coming from Interactive Media Professionals (including myself), as much as from end users. With the exponential growth of the Internet and its related technologies, we now have access to more information, in more places, in more ways than ever before. Web 2.0, Social Media, Application Software Development, Mobile and related technologies are having a profound impact on Interactive Marketing Strategies. Many agencies are capable at traditional & online media marketing, or they may have strong technical capabilities--but, it is rare to find an agency that has all of these abilities and deep technical resources such as Definition 6.

To follow the fire hose analogy--anyone faced with that situation would get out of the way. The high volume and velocity of incoming data require some type of control and direction to be useful to ourselves, our clients, and our business.  Developers, interactive designers, and marketers are faced with the same questions as consumers--how to manage the onslaught of incoming information. Interactive Ad Agencies are faced with the additional responsibility of creating new tools to distribute information in a clear and meaningful way. These interactive professionals are the firemen holding the hose. 

At the height of the dotcom boom, an old colleague used to remind me that technology is simply a way of doing things. As the old broadcast model of advertising becomes obsolete, and user discovery & social interaction drive engagement, the function of marketing itself must now change to meet these communication challenges. This new model now poses new questions about where marketers should be, how they communicate, and when that interaction will occur.  I still remember the first  7-Eleven convenience store that opened in my neighborhood, and discovering that name comes from its operating hours—--it was a big deal to be open until 11PM! Marketers didn’t create more ads to attract customers from 9-5, they simply changed to meet customers on their own terms.

Integrated interactive marketing campaigns must be open and immersed in the culture to create value and be relevant. Successful marketers are positioned alongside their target market, making use of tactics such as Branded Content and Branded Entertainment to engage the user, enabling them to discover that value on their own, and decide what truly fulfills their needs. This is not an easy task, and creating meaningful user interaction grows out of qualified analysis of users and their interactions. Those of us in Media and Advertising have been exposed to these ideas before, but never before have these been more important to interactive design. Today's consumer has become a partner in the design process, and defines how we approach our interactions with them. Social media tools such as MySpace, Facebook and Twitter provide marketers with a limitless cache of information to help segment, target and engage users as never before— which only highlights the need for efficient processing of data.

Our obligation to clients is to find the relevant information, manage and organize it, and disperse it to potential customers.  To do this, we interpret client requirements and translate those requirements into a meaningful Interactive Experience. We need to collect and analyze enough user data to create strong, branded messages that reach the intended target. In addition, we must combine data with the tools and applications that make it meaningful to those target consumers.

In this new age of discovery, the true Integrated Interactive Agencies are taking the time and effort to find the tools necessary to do the job, or when needed, create them. With information coming constantly from every direction, those who are efficient at organizing, managing, and presenting it will be successful. Otherwise, we're just spraying a fire hose.  If we attempt to do that, consumers will just get out of the way.

Intuition can guide you to the place of innovation, and analysis guides you to the method of innovation.

Driving down costs is the goal of every business in every industry. Identifying and nailing down Cost Drivers in a Interactive Media Agency is one of the most challenging aspects of Innovation due to the service model and diversity of projects. The more diverse the services and the more capabilities an organization has, the harder the cost drivers are to innovate. This is the challenge.

Create Measurability

In order to analyze data, you need to collect data. The first step is to establish a normalized set of information, and discover commonalities that you measure over time. It's difficult in service business models to identify measurable practices since commonality between projects may not exist. In contrast, it is much easier to find measurable actvities within consistent services. For example, in the realm of public service such as law enforcement, response times can be measured which can lead to innovation in terms of communication technologies, route mapping, and routine patrolling route generation to optimize the response times and measure improvements. In the same light, commonality and metrics need to be put in place so that you can innovate. Without this baseline set of metrics, most improvements are subjective and can be hit and miss.

Measurability and Interactive Marketing

Interactive marketing strategies and improved search engine optimization follow the same metaphorical principle. Because optimization is always a moving target, you have to establish a control on your marketing practices and only change a few independent variables at a time, such as keyword density, or keyword targeting in ads, in order to see their effect. In the case of organic search results, the effect of changes may take weeks or even months before they actually show results. To top it off, search algorithms and prioritization change "without notice." To discover these changes requires a scientific mindset for the search engine optimization consultants.

The cost drivers in Search Engine Marketing involve keyword market prices. Camping a commonly used keyword for PPC can cost you a fortune. Using longtail strategies and finding ways to effectively identify your product, service or company is the innovation point, and only good analysis and keyword research will get you there. Consistency is the rule of the game to establish and maintain hold of brand loyalty, market share, market segment, and also online in terms of keyword ownership, and search engine rankings.

Internet Application Development

With Internet Services, the identification of cost drivers needs to be built into the process by abstracting out parts of the process that show commonality and measurability. This should be the starting gate through which your innovation charges. Like online marketing, application development is a moving target. New technologies explode onto the marketplace on a regular basis, tempting you to change how you do business. Again by using a scientific approach, by controlling your process and making sure you change a few things at a time, you can drive changes from the right point of view rather than hype, and effectively make improvements on your cost drivers.