by Shaun Quigley, Interactive Practice Director, Washington D.C.
Nothing beats TV or radio to get the word out. But it’s the brands who use their mass channels to get consumers to participate that win the day. So, what happens when two regional brands put digital at the core and go head-to-head under a unified creative platform? Engagement!
A fierce but friendly rivalry between country music star Trace Adkins (BC Powders), and racing Hall of Famer Richard Petty (Goody’s Powder) is unfolding at PICKaPOWDER.com.
Radio tags, concert giveaways, race day promotion and media relations all drive to the site, where users pick Team Trace or Team Richard to earn a chance for a VIP experience at a concert or at the track. The site uses Facebook Connect to personalize the experience for each registrant, and leverages the spokesmen’s fan pages to keep driving people back.
In the first 10 days, the site had more than 170,000 page views and a 40% conversion rate (unique visitors to registrants).
That the inexorable march of digital technologies has claimed yet another victim from the “traditional” communications world is, in and of itself, not particularly newsworthy. What is newsworthy in this case is the victim: one of the most trusted and recognized brand names in American broadcasting.
National Public Radio recently announced its decision to formally change its name to NPR, stating that dropping the word “radio” reflects the way in which many of today’s audience members tune in to the organization’s programming: increasingly through web sites and Internet-connected digital devices…in essence, “non-radios.” In fact, with so many web sites under their management, consuming NPR content is as likely to involve reading as it is listening.
For an organization that has been a leader in digital adoption – even going so far as to offer an iPhone app that skins digital delivery with a throw-back transistor radio-like user interface – the move is indeed smarter and faster. However, it’s not without controversy among the organization’s affiliate radio stations, many of whom fear that losing the word “radio” signals a seismic shift in NPR’s priorities and future funding allocations. The battle lines are forming as you read this post. Read all about it here:
by Shaun Quigley, Interactive Practice Director, Washington D.C.
Two whitepaper gems from the Mobile Marketing Association:
First, best practices to create an effective mobile couponing campaign. It provides a framework for mobile coupon delivery, redemption and clearing. http://www.mmaglobal.com/mobilecoupons.pdf
Why use mobile couponing?
introduce new products
load the distributor’s pantry and increase shelf space
drive trial
promote sell through
build your database
improve attendance at events
Next, MMA’s U.S. Consumer Best Practices Guidelines. Verizon, Sprint/Nextel, AT&T and T-Mobile have all agreed to these guidelines. They’ll show you the best way to implement a shortcode program. http://www.mmaglobal.com/bestpractices.pdf
Enjoy! And don’t forget to have a look at “Get Moving with Mobile,” 45 minutes of ideas, learnings and best practices to get your mobile marketing strategy up and running: http://bit.ly/aHgp6c
Ken Johns, Brunner’s VP, Director of 1:1 has just published a great article over at Mediapost.com on using email marketing to reach moms.
Ken discusses findings from research recently conducted by Brunner among more than 400 women with children age 12 and under living in their households. It turns out that even the busiest moms make time to check their email accounts on a regular basis. Here are a few of the highlights:
Nearly 96% of respondents said they check email at least once a day.
More than 80% of them actually look forward to checking email.
Most important, eight in 10 moms indicated they want to receive offers
and information from preferred brands via email.
Read the full Mediapost article here for more of Ken’s insights into reaching moms via email, understanding their preferences and establishing personal bonds with this valuable market segment.
by Rick Gardinier, Senior Vice President, Chief Digital Officer
See Shaun Quigley, Brunner Interactive Practice Area Leader, lead Brunner’s “Get Moving with Mobile” webinar discussing how to plan and budget for mobile and how to fit mobile into your overall marketing strategy.
by Rick Gardinier, Senior Vice President, Chief Digital Officer
Shaun Quigley, Interactive Practice Director of Brunner Digital, speaks about helping non-profits use the social web to communicate with their members and other audiences.
by Rick Gardinier, Senior Vice President, Chief Digital Officer
I’m as big a fan as anyone when it comes to brands having a strong Facebook presence to engage their customers. We’ve made it work for many of our clients, and we even put heavy emphasis on Facebook for our own brand. But something has been gnawing at me for a while and I couldn’t put my finger on it until now.
I believe that the proliferation of Facebook, and the continued integration of other ubiquitous social tools like Flickr, and common promotional platforms like Wildfire are making many brands look, and act, exactly the same!
Wall posts are even starting to SOUND the same. Because marketers all use social media these days, everyone is following everyone else and then DOING the same things. What’s the real difference between the J.Crew page and the Gap page?
Honestly not a whole lot. Brands need to continue to engage consumers in social media. That much we know, and this will be true from now until the end of time. We won’t ever be able to go back to a time without it.
But brands also need to remember to find their own voice. They need to remember what makes them different and why consumers liked them in the first place. They need to take a step back and focus on creativity and ideas. They need to think about DIFFERENTIATING themselves more than they are currently doing.
by Rick Gardinier, Senior Vice President, Chief Digital Officer
If you follow Brunner’s updates fairly closely you’ve no doubt heard about our new mobile marketing division. And if you know Brunner you probably know us as an integrated, full-service agency with a strong digital bent. So if we are integrated, why did we launch a separate division solely dedicated to mobile?
Well we believe that mobile marketing is going to be the next big thing that marketers will want to focus on. And we also believe that its highly specialized and complex in order to do it right. So, we’re putting the same emphasis on our mobile practice that we did 15 years ago when internet marketing first arrived. And why now? We’ve reached a critical mass of talent and solid case studies, and we’re starting to see a growing demand from our clients for everything from iPhone and Android apps to iPad designs. Why Mobile? This short video explains it from several points of view!
This is an open-ended conversation about creativity in the digital age. While "creativity" is the operative word, it's not restricted to a single department. Here, it's about ideas, and the conversations that surround and produce them. Won't you join us?
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ed integration of other ubiquitous social tools like Flickr, and common promotional platforms like Wildfire are making many brands look, and act, 
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