Author: The Ultimate Account Guy

Most of the time advertising is looked at for the messaging and design. But matching the characters and the environment in the spot to the target audience is one of the most important aspects to a successful spot. This is something the Ultimate Account Guy looks at a lot. When this aspect is off, it leads to a feeling of something missing. It’s a nice finishing touch to complete the painting.

The Bisquick Shake n’Pour spot is a great example of matching the casting and set design to the target audience.

They resisted the urge to go with the gourmet kitchen with the six burner stove and stainless steel appliances that is so prevalent in many of the foreclosed houses these days. They resisted the urge to go with the primped and polished mom.

You know the one I’m talking about. The one that wakes up with perfect hair and make up fully done.   They selected an actress that if you saw walking down the street, would look like any other mom. She’s the happy, dutiful mom that is excited to be able to give her children a breakfast they’ll love and doesn’t have to worry about messing her Prada shoes.

The kitchen design is even better. This product is not going to be used by a lower income family because it costs a little more than the other mix. This product will not be used by a wealthy family because they do not make name brand pancakes from a plastic bottle. Who is going to use this product? Middle America. And that is exactly who this kitchen is patterned after.

The classic white sink, white counter tops and white stove reeks of flowing plains of Kansas, or the rolling hills of North Carolina.   All in all, I think this is a great spot. It’s not going to win any awards. But it does what advertising is supposed to do. It makes the consumer aware of the product and its benefits and it does a great job of it.       -The Ultimate Account Guy

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Author: Anthony Mora

How many people do you know that react well to threats or ultimatums? The media is no different. When pitching the press, you are trying to position yourself as a media resource or an ally, and an ally does not issue threats.

You want the a href=“ http://anthonymora.com/media.html ”>media  to understand that you can help meet their needs by giving them interesting stories. You are not going to make your story more interesting to a newspaper editor or TV producer by threatening to take your story to his or her competitor.

If your story is hot or timely, and various media outlets are pursuing you, by all means, use that interest to your advantage. Inform the media outlets that there are others interested and that you need to make a decision as soon as possible. Try to negotiate the best coverage you can. But, even in that situation, you never want to threaten the media.

If you can convince the media that you have an interesting story that meets their needs and that you are an expert in the field, the media will feature you. Those are your primary objectives. You can threaten, scream, cry, and badger the media, but all you are going to do is alienate them. Plenty of people do these things every day. Of course, you’ll never see them in the media.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2008
For further information visit:   www.AnthonyMora.com

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Author: Alison Redfern

In today’s business environment there are more and more ways of reaching your target audience. More of your customers are on line, with emails, websites and social networking sites. This gives your business greater opportunity to reach mass audiences when advertising and promoting your company on line.

But does on line marketing get the right message across for your company? And how will people remember your company and refer back to it?    There is still a lot of importance to be placed on print media for companies who want to portray themselves as exclusive and expensive.

How can you impress potential and existing customers with an on line banner compared to a luxuriously printed brochure with a smooth matt laminated cover, shiny UV varnished images, specially cut out shapes and onion-paper inserts?

People still like to be tactile – newspapers, magazines and even books are all available on line, but they are also still around and being purchased in their original print versions – they like the feel of something expensive as well as the more subtle and beautiful look, rather than the harsh glare of a computer screen.

A printed brochure, flyer or business card can be kept to refer to at any time.    Sure, on line marketing has its place in any company’s advertising budget, as we said, a way to reach the masses, but this also comes with a more hit and miss result because it less targeted at a particular market.

A well-designed brochure or direct mail postcard, printed on a high quality paper and with special effects and offered or delivered personally to the customer helps them sense your exclusivity and makes them feel important to be part of that.

They then buy into the exclusivity by purchasing your product or service.      Remember, that while online marketing is fast and far-reaching, print media can give your company the look and feel of a ‘real’ product or service and should not be left out of your marketing mix.

About the authors:Redline Company is a marketing company in Marbella, Spain specializing in doing what we call complete marketing  -  info@redlinecompany.com   -  www.redlinecompany.com

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Author: Shah Dayan

In the world of advertising companies are constantly trying to find new and innovative ways to stand out from the sea of billboards, television, radio and newspaper ads.  And since for many companies every dollar spent on advertising is important you want to make sure it is spent wisely and effectively.

That is were vehicle advertising comes in.  Also known as vehicle wraps or vehicle graphics it is the process of covering a car, truck, van or bus in an advertisement.  This can be either fully covering the vehicle or only partially such as a door or window.  In effect your are turning your vehicle into a moving billboard that will get noticed wherever you go.

This can be especially effective during outdoor events and allows companies and organizations to target specific demographics.  And a well designed vehicle graphic can draw the attention of thousands of eyeballs everyday.

Many people tend to forget or block out most other forms of advertising.  When you are bombarded with a sea of billboards and traditional forms of advertising it quite often just becomes background noise.

But some research has shown the vehicle advertising tends to stand out more which leaves an impression on people who will remember the ad more often.  Think about it yourself.

If you are driving around, to and from work or just running errands which of the cars do you notice?  Would you notice the thousand mini vans or countless number of SUVs?  Or do you remember the bright red Ferrari that came up beside you.

It’s the same for vehicle advertising.  Your eye is immediately drawn to something different.  Cost is another very important consideration in any companies advertising budget.  With tradition forms of advertising you would have to factor in different costs that are associated with each.

For example with billboard advertising there is the cost of designing and printing the ad as well as an addition monthly cost for renting that one space to display your advertisement.  With vehicle adverting you would still pay for the design, printing and application of the graphic wrap but there would be no additional monthly costs involved.

If you were to wrap an existing company car or truck the monthly payment would be the lease payment you would be paying for anyway.  The cost for wrapping the average vehicle can be in the neighbourhood of about $3,000.  And depending on the amount of use that car or truck gets the wrap advertisement an last for three to five years.

Far longer than any flyer, newspaper ad or billboard.  It is important for companies and organizations to consider various forms of advertising to get your message out to the people that are most relevant to you and your business.

But you also want to ensure the you get the maximum impression for the advertising money that is being spent.  Vehicle graphic wrap advertising can have the advantage of turning your entire fleet of cars, vans and trucks into a mobile sales force that gets noticed.

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Author: Brian Solis

I’ve been on a recent whirlwind speaking tour recently, sharing and learning all things related to the socialization of marketing and service as well as how to measure these new strategies and tactics.

From San Diego to New York to SF back to New York and then Vegas and SF again, I was reminded that no matter how grand an expert one purports to be, the truth is that we’re all still trying to figure this out as it continually changes - together.

I’m not talking about what to do or how, but what must be done in order to ensure that this global renaissance paves the way for permanent residence in every media property and business through value, education, and reform.

The world of Socialized Media is maturing and along with it, our knowledge, expertise, reach, and personal and represented brands are only flourishing. It will continue as long as we realize that these new social tools and networks require an entirely new commitment and embodiment of what we personify and how we can be a genuine resource to the people who define the communities that are important to us.

In Technorati’s 2008 State of the Blogosphere report, the company observed that blogging is becoming mainstream, leading the way for an Active Blogosphere - defined as the ecosystem of interconnected communities of bloggers and readers at the convergence of journalism and conversation.

I’d also add that as the Active Blogosphere further permeates our daily information consumption and distribution processes, that the Social Web equally becomes pervasive. But, it’s so much more than an Active SocialMediaSphere.

As networks become densely populated and new communities arise and thrive, we’re experiencing a fundamental shift in content creation, distribution, and consumption, thus creating an Active and Participatory Media society that is inspiring and seeding a more literate and enlightened generation.

Blogs and social networks are now part of our daily lives.   * comScore MediaMetrix (August 2008)   - Blogs: 77.7 million unique visitors in the US   - Facebook: 41.0 million | MySpace 75.1 million   - Total internet audience 188.9 million

* eMarketer (May 2008)   - 94.1 million US blog readers in 2007 (50% of Internet users)   - 22.6 million US bloggers in 2007 (12%)       * Universal McCann (March 2008)   - 184 million WW have started a blog | 26.4 US   - 346 million WW read blogs | 60.3 US   - 77% of active Internet users read blogs.

YouTube = 10 percent of all internet traffic (source: Ellacoya Networks)    YouTube & Wikipedia among top brands (source: brandchannel.com)    Five of the top 10 websites are social (source: Alexa)   Over 100 million blogs exist (source: Technorati)   120,000 new blogs launched every day (source: Technorati)   1.5 million posts per day (17 per second) (source: Technorati)

Everyone is a Social Media Expert      You’re a purveyor of new media, but then again, so is everyone else it seems. So what are you going to do to rise above the fray while also delivering true, incontestable value to those you’re helping?     Are you an evangelist or a consultant?     Are you an extension of your company brand or are you an employee?

Are you a leader, follower, or are you meandering through your profession? Are you confined to the role of a social marketer or do you represent something with longer-term value? At the end of the day, everything that’s transpiring around us is actually improving the existing foundation for our business, from service to marketing to product development to sales to executive management, and everything in between.

Social marketing revitalizes and empowers every facet of our workflow and its supporting ecosystem. Seeing the bigger picture and tying our knowledge to the valuable feedback from our communities will help us guide businesses towards visibility, profitability, relevance and ultimately customer loyalty.

In every single case, it doesn’t just take an expert; it requires a champion to make an impact.   You are that champion.

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Author: Darlene Siddons

This is really an easy answer, while both vision map videos and vision boards are both great for manifesting your hearts desires, only vision map video is effective for advertising/marketing purposes. Videos are the newest and hottest method of advertising now on the web and I encourage you to check it out and move into this new technology.

Advanced technology for advertising has hit with a vengeance and it is made available in all sorts of new technologies that you can use to attract and maintain clients and customers, hence, vision map videos and/or just videos.

This is something you want to implement into your marketing program, these are even great for contacting customers that haven’t made a purchased for awhile and also to send a thank you; short zippy fun videos will get your customers attention.

Video advertising is merging in all areas of the web; youtube has been around for quite awhile and it is no longer something that just entertains us or informs us, it has taken a serious turn into massive advertising possibilities, you can use keywords for your individual videos and now you can setup a sponsored video account and promote your video; which sort of resembles Adwords.

All of this information is telling you that advertising with videos is on it’s way in for a formidable method of advertising. Actually it is already here.

This is something that all virtual assistants and business owners need to be aware of and get familiar with, as this is something your competition is going to be using and you don’t want to be left behind, especially when it comes to advertising on the web.

There are businesses that cater to business owners and virtual assistance to make personalized videos for businesses and individuals, one of these businesses is Vision Map Video; you can of course take on learning how to make your own and there are definite programs you can get to assist you in making the videos.

Whatever, your method is to make or have made your videos, now is the time to set in motion your video advertising program, Most of your classified, social bookmarking, directories websites all have areas to upload videos; which is perfect for advertising your businesss/services. Now is the time to check out all the areas that you advertise and search out where and how to upload videos on them.

So often we just get use to our usual procedure and don’t pay attention when new possibilities have been added. So start paying attention and when you see spots for videos check them out.

Spring is on the way, so now is the time to revamp your marketing campaign and make it as “fresh as spring” and start using videos for your new marketing campaign. If you don’t want to learn something new, let a professional make one for you and step into the new advertising technology of vision map videos.

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Author: Ayokunle Bankole

As an entrepreneur, identifying the marketing tools and strategies that work well for your kind of business is paramount to her overall performance.An enormous marketing budget doesn’t necessarily translate to large sales. It’s effective marketing that generates large amount of sales.  As a small business owner, it’s erroneous to think that until you have a huge advertising or marketing budget, that’s when more sales will flow.

Wrong! Doing the right thing for your small business is what matters.  For some months now, I have taken time to study resources on small business and the marketing tools and strategies available to them (without really having to deep your hands too far into the savings). I have applied these principles to my consulting work and it’s working!  CUSTOMISED BULK SMS MARKETING WILL WORK FOR YOU TOO…

Bulk SMS is one of the most effective, yet cheap marketing tool available to a business. Though the use of direct mail and other forms of direct marketing are still in use, SMS marketing has taken the centre stage. Companies now make use of this strategy to inform, educate, advice and promote their products and services to target audience, customers or clients.

A well drafted and targeted SMS campaign is able to bring you new businesses, clients, or repeated calls from prospects.  USEFUL TIPS WHEN SENDING A CUSTOMISED BULK SMS…

1. A targeted list of recipients’ number can be more effective than mass marketing. However, you may find new prospects from your mass marketing effort.

2. Make sure you use a sender ID known by your audience, or at least be consistent in the case of a first time. Your sender ID is the name that appears above the message when a recipient receives your message. Your sender ID may be the name of your business or web site, but it must not be more than 11 characters (including space).

3. Avoid ambiguity. Be direct when drafting your ad copy.

4. Make your 160 character message worth reading by always giving the reader useful information.

5. The ad should promise the reader some benefit that will accrue from accepting the ad’s premises.

6. The ad should be persuasive enough to make the reader call you.

7. Put a contact information in the body of the message; for example, your phone or e-mail address.

8. What action do you want from your audience? Is it to call, email, or just visit your site? Or probably you just want to give an information.

9. Don’t merge several ads in one campaign. Make sure to send different messages for different products or services.

10. Don’t bombard your recipients with a lot of sales messages, otherwise they will lose interest in whatever you have to say

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Author: Gopal D

To ensure that your MLM business grows you have to continuously reach new customers and recruits for your team.  A good advertising campaign is necessary.  It may cost a little, but ads that promote an appealing network marketing opportunity can prove quite successful. The great thing is that in today’s world, much of your advertising can be done online, for free.

It is impossible to be successful in any business without getting the word out to the right prospects so have a multi-faceted marketing campaign in place. Advertising for network marketing absolutely must be done in order to find leads, promote sales, heighten company branding and to close deals with consumers.   The cheapest and most effective form of advertising comes from word of mouth.

Talking to family, friends, and their referrals can help promote your MLM’s product/services and perhaps spark interest in those wanting to start their own franchise.  Home meetings, telephone marketing, meeting for coffee/meal etc…are all great ways to communicate what your business has to offer in a casual and fun way.

Other ways to promote a business is through direct mail campaigns using flyers, business cards, classified ads, and a multitude of online strategies. The best methods of direct mail campaigns today is through post cards, or catch cards. Post cards offer more ad power for less postage than any other direct mail design. Most recipients of post cards will at least look at one side of the card whereas mail ads that must be opened and unfolded will many times only see the inside of a trashcan.

One way to make sure that the main message is promoted through post cards is to always include a banner or short ad on the mailing address side.   Post card campaigns have grown in popularity as one of the most cost effective and productive methods of direct mail advertising today. Using local media can be effective by purchasing low cost ads in newspapers and business magazines. More expensive ads can be purchased for television and radio spots but only if you have the budget for it.

Content offered through email campaigns, Ezines, blogs, and articles can prove to be very effective in attracting potential customers.   Building relationships with your mailing list members can possibly lead to new recruits to your organization.  As long as you provide useful content to your readers and don’t come off too pushy they will trust you.  They will be attracted to you, and in turn to your business.

Update your blog daily and post to other people’s blogs.  This interaction with other like-minded individuals online can only help brand your name and widen your scope with respect to building your stable of customers and business partners.   As a business blogger you can establish yourself as an expert in your field and add pertinent information to other blogs.

Online forums/discussion groups/chat rooms can also be good advertising for network marketing and provide visitors with an opportunity to interact. Other content driven methods are through link exchanges and back linking with similar sites. Traffic exchange sites can also drive a steady flow of traffic whereby you earn credits for visiting other people’s web sites and they in turn visit yours.

Banner ads, email promotions, pay per click and many other methods of online network marketing advertising are available for varying fees. There are many paths you can take when marketing your business both offline and online.  Stay diverse and work consistently to brand your name and business using quality content and valuable relationships.    Gopal (The Musical Mad Scientist and Entrepreneur)   www.boom.thevfusiongroup.biz

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