What do One World Trade Center, White House Correspondence Dinner, Bronx Zoo and Cinco De Mayo All Have In Common?

By Cynti Oshin

Guest Blogger

These are amongst the top ten searched terms on Google today, April 30, 2012. And if you’re writing a blog, hoping to drive traffic to your or your client’s website, use these terms and you’ve just hedged your bet rather substantially.   But, if you want to be strategic and increase your chances of building a targeted audience, then make sure you include relevant 'high value' words.  In our case, relevant key words might include brand strategy, marketing strategy, advertising, communications, business development, etc.  But even that’s not enough to build and keep an audience.

Consider your audience, what do they need?  What can you offer in exchange for their time?  I am providing a quick tip on blog best practices.  Ideally, that’s of value to you, our reader.  What does your reader want?  What is relevant?  Are you an insurance company?  Is your reader looking for information about vetting the best policy?  Are you a design firm?  Is your reader looking for current trends?  You get the picture.

Bottom line: Make the blog relevant to your reader.  And, make it work hard for you. 

We’d love to hear your thoughts about blogging, what’s worked, what hasn’t.  Tell us about it here.

And since we know there’s a whole bunch a people interested in the White House Correspondence Dinner – check out Obama’s monologue.  If he doesn’t get reelected, perhaps he can go into stand up.  Or not.

http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends

Super Bowl Ads, Beyond Disappointment.

By Cynti Oshin
Director Client Services/Business Development

The annual buildup to the great reveal of some of our biggest brands' television spots during the Super Bowl is almost as important as the build up to the game itself.  As someone said, there are two kinds of Super Bowl party attendees, the shushers during the game and the shushers during the advertisements.  Needless to say, I am a commercial shusher.  Or, at least I WAS.  Yesterday's parade of dum (sic) dum (sic) dum (sic) ads was my biggest disappointment of the year.  However, that should tell you how lucky a girl I am.  

While watching the Go Daddy, Doritos, TaxACT, Teleflora and other spots, I longed for the original E-Trade baby spots, Volkswagen's Empire Strikes Back, and even the MacIntosh spots of yesteryear.  Of the roughly 36 advertisers who ran spots during the game, I can count on one hand how many I found anywhere from mildly amusing to 'spot on' brand strategy execution.


What did you think?  I am completely off base?  Tell me why, I'd love to know.  And only 364 more days until we can have this conversation again.

Source: Adage.com

A Boy. His Cereal Box. QR codes, Marketing, Advertising, Creative Strategies and More.

By Cynti Oshin

Director Client Services/Business Development

Close your eyes and picture this.  A teenage boy shuffles into the kitchen with bedhead and a mission.  Eat cereal while reading the box.  The same box he has been reading since he opened it 2 weeks ago.  With the exact same thing on it - not a single piece of copy, image or offer has changed since the day before.  Yep, the same box.  He places his bowl, spoon, cereal box and milk on the table.  He grumbles something to his mother, rubs his eyes, and plops himself down into his chair. The chair legs create that loud scraping noise as he drags himself up to the table.  He pours his cereal, then milk and plops the cereal box down with only the cereal bowl between them.  The boy leans down within 3 inches of his bowl, almost in a sideways v-shape on the chair, assuming the ideal position to mindlessly shovel cereal into his mouth while reading the cereal box, again.  For the 12th time.

Now imagine the exact same scene, with one difference.  He has his spoon in one hand and his smart phone in the other.  Mindlessly shovels cereal into his mouth while scanning the QR code which has miraculously taken him to....wait for it....new content!  And voila, a whole new universe has opened up.  Could be a microsite, could be a daily offer, could be a tie in with a concert promoter, action sportswear company or whatever.  Point is, could be anything and could change on a daily basis if you wanted it to.

So now picture his dad is at the other end of the table.  Same position, same drill, spooning cereal while reading the box with relevant content for his demo.  Crazy?  Nope.  And it's possible now.  Brilliant, I say.  Just brilliant.

Source:http://usat.ly/ApA8nN

What Bill Cosby Knows About Marketing and Advertising

By: Cynti Oshin

Director Client Services/Business Development

Recently, I was reading posts from allthatinspires.me and came across this, presumably from Bill Cosby. 

So very true.  

Not only does this resonate with me personally, but also in my role as a brand strategist.   It is imperative for brands to understand that not all products or services are for everyone.  At Stanton & Everybody, together with our clients, we work to keep this at top of mind.  For instance, Barrier Motors is clear that they have a very specific customer who can afford a more upscale brand of auto.  To pretend to be an option for anyone else would only frustrate that consumer when he or she entered the showroom to find out the trek was a waste of time. Northside Shoes understands that to try to attract an audience looking for a highly technical climbing shoe would lack integrity and frustrate this consumer.  Northside delivers a well priced, quality outdoor shoe for all ages, helping families afford to get outdoors.  Not a shoe to help you climb Mt. Everest.

In the end, when you know who your customer is, you are able to speak directly to them with integrity and clarity.  When you are able to create a marketing/advertising strategy that clearly communicates who you are, what you do and why it matters to your customer, you will build loyalty and ultimately advocacy – with your customers spreading the word about your product or service. 

And when that happens, it’s a magical thing.

allthatinspires.me/80119432 

The Power of Brands as Archetypes

By: Cynti Oshin

Director Client Services/Business Development

What do Herman Cain, Joe Paterno, Dorli Rainey, Kim Kardashian, Andy Rooney and Daniel The Miracle Dog all have in common?  These are all ‘brands’ either embracing the public definition of who they are, what they do and why it matters (if it does at all) or fighting hard against it.  Here is how I see it:

·         Herman Cain – Libya? Cuba? Foreign Policy?

o   Outlaw (wishes)

o   Jester  (reality)

·         Dorli Rainey – 84 year old, pepper sprayed during Occupy Seattle protest.

o   Innocent

·         Kim Kardashian – Paris Hilton of 2011.  Received a $8MM+ paycheck to don a wedding
          dress.

o   Lover – (wishes)

o   Jester – (reality)

·         Joe Paterno –

o   Magician (before)

o   Hero – (after, if he does the right thing and takes on advocacy for victims of sexual abuse.)

·         Andy Rooney – Oh, how we will miss him.

o   Sage, Regular Joe

·         Daniel The Miracle Dog - Survived the ‘pound’ gas chamber and subsequently adopted.

o  Hero

Did I get these right?  Don’t know about archetypes and the power these have in building emotional  connections between a brand and the consumer?  Read The Hero and The Outlaw,    Building Extraordinary Brands Through the Power of Archetypes by Margaret Mark & Carol S. Pearson.  Great book, just ask Rick.

Happy Halloween!

By: Julie LeVeque

Advertising Assistant

I had the opportunity to attend the KUBE 93 Haunted House with a few Stanton & Everybody co-workers and our client, the Haunted House Sponsor Seattle Goodwill. KUBE 93 put so much detail and hard work into each segment of the Haunted House which is definitely worth seeing!

Also featured at the site, includes banners for Seattle Goodwill, where you can go to your nearest Goodwill store and create  your very own custom costume.  For some ideas, check out the Seattle Goodwill transit ads that are circulating the city. We hope you have a fun and safe Halloween!

The Groupon Model as a Marketing Strategy: Not Working So Well

By: Cynti Oshin

Director Client Services/Business Development

 "Yesterday, Lisa asked if people would tire of coupons. Today it was announced that Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, thinks not. He's just joined the Groupon board and his Seattle based venture capital company, Maveron, has invested an undisclosed sum in the company. The last time Schultz joined the board of a company in which Maveron invested was, well, eBay back in 1998. It quickly went public. Today, eBay's worth is somewhere in the universe of around $39 Billion. We'll check back in with you in 2023 to update you on the value of Groupon." February 10, 2011

It looks like I already have an update how things are going.  Back in February, I wrote about the continued interest in coupons and specifically about the anticipated growth of Groupon with the backing of Howard Schultz.  The question had arisen about whether consumers were tiring of coupons - and was this still a viable way to incentify trial and grow business.  It was clear that Howard Schultz saw value in the Groupon model of doing so.  Apparently, this specific coupon model isn't working out so well for consumers OR for businesses.  There's quite a few bugs that need to be worked out.  As a marketing strategy, this has proven to be a nightmare for some - the challenge to fulfill demand while still maintaining an acceptable margin has proven daunting.  Further, it appears that those who are predisposed to using Groupon are not likely to become brand advocates and return.  They're looking for the next best deal - not brand loyalists. 

I promised to check back in with you in 2023 to update you on the success of Groupon.  I'm checking back in just a little bit earlier.  It's not doing so well.  Its value has been dropped by 2 to 3 times in the last 6 months.  That was as of last Friday.  Uh oh.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2016566002_apusgrouponipo.html

When Did the Anthony Weiner Brand Derail?

by Cynti Oshin
Director Client Services/Business Development

Was it last week? Was it yesterday? Did it actually derail? Or is he still on brand? I’m very curious what you think.

When I look back on Rep. Weiner’s brand message, it appears that his ‘why’, why he gets out of bed in the morning is to be a ‘fighter for New York”. He is an ‘every man’ or in the brand archetype vernacular – a Regular Joe fighting to “uphold New York values”. www.weiner.house.gov

This isn’t a conversation about marketing strategy, communications strategy, or even public relations. It is about being true to your brand and what it means when you compromise it. Weiner says he won’t resign as he did not break any laws. But what about fighting to uphold New York values? Are there New Yorkers who feel that their values include honesty and integrity? And don’t include out and out lying? I’m guessing yes. Lots of them.

Would this be a different conversation if last week Anthony Weiner admitted to his constituents, to reporters, to the nation that he was a regular guy, doing admittedly some really, really stupid stuff? That his humanity was showing and it wasn’t pretty? That he was very sorry and that he needed to address some pretty unfortunate tendencies? And most importantly, that he needed to come clean so that he could continue to do the work he set out to do, however imperfect as he may be?

I believe it would be an entirely different conversation. Instead, he went off brand, he ranted at reporters for asking the same questions over and over again, demanding an honest answer. His reply to their queries, if he did, was to point the finger at someone else. He had been victimized, somebody did this to him and the press was only making it worse.

So, my question is, did that misstep mean a derailment? Has he moved so far off the Anthony Weiner brand that he can’t ever get it back? Only time will tell if he is able to. I, for one, hope he can’t. You?

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/rep-anthony-weiner-picture/story?id=13774605