Effort: The Secret to Branding Success

Posted on May 10, 2012 by The Primm Company

When most people think of the term “branding,” companies like Apple, Ford, Polo, and Nike come to mind. But branding isn’t just for multi-billion dollar companies. Any company can set themselves up for branding success; it just takes a little effort.

The first issue most small companies face is of cost. While, yes, Nike does spend what seems like a trillion dollars on advertising, a small business can create a branding campaign that will produce results for a very reasonable price.

Secondly, branding is about consistency; but that does not mean you have to be boring. Consistency means delivering the same message to the public until it sticks. Apple, for example, ran the “Mac vs. PC” campaign for some time. While all these ads had the same message, it was almost always a different topic in each spot.

This applies to all forms of advertising your company uses; everything from social media to television ads need to have the same level of consistency. The easiest way to be consistent is to know your target audience. Without knowing this, you are speaking to everyone and your message will not convey its purpose. For instance, do not advertise children’s toys on a late night television talk show. Rather, advertise during Saturday morning cartoons or in the afternoon when children are coming home from school. If your potential customers don’t see your ad, what good is it?

Finally, the brand you and your company are trying to convey needs to be portrayed by your employees as well, so that customers can see that you really are what you are declaring yourself to be.

By doing these few things, you and your company are on the right track to building brand awareness.
Over time, properly executed branding campaigns produce long-lasting results.

If you’d like to increase brand recognition for your business, give The Primm Company a call at 757-623-6234.

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Pinterest and Car Companies

Posted on May 8, 2012 by The Primm Company

Hate to say we told you so, but it looks like companies are finally starting to grasp the power of Pinterest. With Pinterest quickly becoming one of the top social media sites, big car companies like Peugeot and Honda are already on board.

These companies are not only just posting pictures, they are interacting with users on the site (a.k.a. “pinners”). This is not such an easy task for a global car company that has nothing to do with the typical pictures people upload to Pinterest.

Honda recently enticed pinners to have a “Pintermission,” meaning that they told top pinners to take a 24-hour break and gave them $500 to go visit places that they (the pinners) pinned pictures of. Some places included exotic locations and famous landscapes. The purpose of this campaign was to engage their target audience (young females) towards the Honda CR-V model. Of course, Honda chose Pinterest because of its popularity with the young female demographic.

Peugeot, on the other hand, didn’t target any audience specifically. Instead, they took advantage of Pinterest’s layout and created a puzzle with pictures of their vehicles. If a pinner successfully figured out the puzzle, which incorporated clues from Facebook and Twitter, they would win a prize. The puzzle competition helped Peugeot garner more fans on Pinterest and other social media sites at the same time.

Shockingly, most other major car companies are not taking advantage of Pinterest. Even scarier is the problem we’ve seen happen over and over…with domain names, Facebook, Twitter, and now Pinterest: Some pinners have already reserved the names of major car companies, thus creating a problem when the companies try to create an account and can’t use the name. This will probably become a legal issue, and things will eventually get sorted out for brand names…but any possible campaign may be dead in the water until then.

To claim your brand name on Pinterest and creatively take advantage of this emerging social media powerhouse now, give The Primm Company a call at 757-623-6234.

Source: Ad Age

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Television Still Makes an Impact.

Posted on May 3, 2012 by The Primm Company

While social media is the hot new thing, television has stood the test of time. In America, 99% of households have at least one television, but only around 70% of Americans have a computer at home.

The barriers to entry may seem high with television, but the rewards are well worth it. Television ads allow the audience to learn about the product through sight, sound and motion. Plus, we can take full advantages of the nuances of the spoken word (tone, inflection, accent, etc.). When done well, this makes your company more appealing to consumers. The more senses you reach in a positive manner, the more chances you have to deliver your message.

Television commercials play to a wider audience than radio or print ads; television is the number one media channel in America. In 2010, the average American spent 4.5 hours a day watching television, but only 96 minutes listening to the radio and 30 minutes reading the newspaper.

All companies want to gain attention from potential consumers, and television does this. Television users are more alert than most other media users, which means your ad is more likely to grab their attention, and keep it.

If you are interested in advertising on television, The Primm Company will help you from concept to production to media scheduling. If you’re ready to take advantage of the number one attention grabbing tool for companies the right way, give us a call.

Sources: AllBusiness.com, Census.gov

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“Creative” Shouldn’t Mean “Risky”

Posted on April 26, 2012 by The Primm Company

The average person is bombarded by so many different sources of media every day that they simply tune out noise not relevant to them. Companies need to stand out in order to gain attention, which will hopefully lead to more sales. However, there is a difference between standing out creatively and simply standing out without thinking.

Recently, a company called Turtlebeach, which specializes in video game headsets, wanted to stand out. Their message was simple: “As real as you want it to get.” They wanted video gamers to think that by using their headphones their gaming experience would be more enjoyable. So in order to show off how realistic Turtlebeach headphones are, and how they make you feel as if you are living in the game, they sent a gamer into an “Iraqi” war zone and videotaped it for a viral video miniseries. Thankfully, they were in Turkey, not in a war zone, and everybody was in on the act except the gamer who was being filmed. As you can imagine, this marketing campaign came under heavy fire from the public, no pun intended.

Another case of possibly going too far is at this year’s recent South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival. At the event, homeless people were given a wi-fi hotspot to carry around, allowing the public to have internet access anywhere. In exchange, the homeless people were paid and had the opportunity to ask for donations. There were outcries from people, stating the festival and the wireless internet provider were dehumanizing the homeless participants.

Regardless of how edgy and innovative these campaigns were, they drew a lot of attention for the wrong reasons.

Despite these disasters, brilliant creative campaigns do exist. HomePlus grocery store in Korea was facing an obstacle; they were losing out to another big chain due to their lack of stores. Knowing they did not want to increase their amount of stores, Tesco had to think outside the box. Watch the video below to see how they made themselves more available to the busy worker.

Creative marketing is only effective when done right. If you’re interested in a creative marketing campaign, give The Primm Company a call at 757-623-6234.

Source: AdAge

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Playing on the Obvious

Posted on April 24, 2012 by The Primm Company

Too many times companies try to shock and awe the public with outlandish, creative ads. Sometimes these creative ads are funny and ridiculous, and at other times they are just plain irrelevant. It has got to make you wonder: Why not just highlight the obvious benefits instead of having Charlie Sheen in your next beer ad? #notwinning

For instance, most of us when shopping for a winter jacket would rather pick the warm comfortable jacket than the one featured on the cover of the latest fashion magazine. Instead of showing off against the new “in” product, just highlight the obvious benefits of your already great product in order to compete.

Play to the obvious benefits that you and your company have to offer. In the late 50’s, Volkswagen played to the fact that their VW Beetle was a small car. Volkswagen didn’t brag about the interior or radio to outdo their competitors’ ads; they just kept it simple and obvious. To this day, many still consider that ad campaign to be one of the best of all time, and this shows that simple and obvious do work.

By keeping the message simple, you can get your point across easily. And if done so creatively, you’ll make a lasting impression.

Want to reflect an obvious benefit but don’t know how to do so creatively? Give The Primm Company a call at 757-623-6234.

Source: Rohit Bhargava’s “Influential Marketing Blog”

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Facebook Timeline Increases Interactions on Brand Pages

Posted on April 17, 2012 by The Primm Company

Facebook, the world’s biggest social networking site, recently made the “Timeline” platform mandatory for all brand pages. Some people are skeptical of the change, but in this case, change is good.

The new platform still has a variety of tools that can help any business succeed. Some tools include analytics for determining your page’s reach and growth, the ability to exchange personal message with users who like your brand, and the ability to show users your location via a map. Some of these tools existed before the change, but now they’re more obviously placed for everyone’s convenience. According to mashable.com, “Brands are getting an average 46% more engagement with Timeline.”

By using the new Facebook platform, businesses can essentially create… well… a timeline that starts from the minute your business joined Facebook. This helps your brand connect with consumers by allowing them to see your current activities or, if they are interested, activities that occurred eight years ago. Businesses can highlight milestones they’ve achieved and share their accomplishments with fans. All these features make your brand seem more connected with users who visit your page.

Things are also becoming more visual with Timeline. In order to gain a user’s attention, your page must be visually appealing. With Timeline, users are interacting with photos a staggering 65% more than with the older Facebook platform, proving that now more than ever your business needs to have a visually appealing page.

So if you want to stand out in this new style of Facebook and gain more fans, give The Primm Company a call at 757-623-6234.

Sources: Mashable, Journal News

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Apple’s Lesson in Keeping Ads Current

Posted on April 11, 2012 by The Primm Company

Apple Inc., arguably one of the world’s most dominant companies has made a critical error. This error is not some design flaw in their newest gadget, but a failure to spend their ever-so-big advertising dime correctly.

The Apple iPad 3 was introduced in mid-March with much anticipation. Although it has been almost a month since the product was introduced, Apple has yet to change most of their iPad 2 billboards to their new iPad 3 product offering. To top it off, some of the billboards are located in high-priced areas like New York City’s Lincoln Tunnel entrance and San Francisco’s Bay Area.

Apple appears to be burning a hole in their advertising budget pocket by advertising an out-of-date product. The only savior for Apple may be that they can white out the “2” and repaint “3” next to their iPad on their billboards since both iPads look similar.

Even more embarrassing is the fact that Apple, a company that is wildly considered to be “ forward-thinking,” somehow didn’t see this one coming.

The big message: If you’re going to use your money for advertising, make sure it’s working to your advantage. Give The Primm Company a call today to discuss your next successful advertising campaign.

Source: AdAge

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Going Viral

Posted on April 3, 2012 by The Primm Company

Viral videos have become somewhat of a hot bed of controversy, humor, and creative advertising lately. This is primarily due to the fact that viral videos can be made to target any kind of emotion or topic. Videos range from companies like K-Swiss and Old Spice to Volkswagen and Ford to countless others.

Currently, the most popular viral video is the Kony 2012 campaign launched by the organization Invisible Children. According to Business Week, Invisible Children only expected their video to reach 500,000 views by the end of the year. A little over a week since its release, however, the video had 112 million views. This is due to the video’s strong call to action and emotional appeal to viewers.

Grabbing your audience’s attention is key when trying to get your video to spread throughout the web. Nobody wants to watch something boring. Depending on your video’s purpose, you may need to make the video so humorous that people can’t resist sharing it with others or so motivating that it makes viewers want to donate money to an important cause. These two examples, though, appeal to just two of many different emotions and causes that can be targeted when creating a viral video.

The main goal of going viral is to have viewers share your video through other forms of social media. By having viewers share your video, your company grows through word of mouth… digitally.

Not all viral videos are created equally, but this goes to show that with the right form of networking and use of social media, the sky is the limit to how far your message can go. Give The Primm Company a call at 757-623-6234 if you’re interested in web video production.

Source: Business Week

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Radio Has Reach.

Posted on March 26, 2012 by The Primm Company

Radio to and from work.
Radio at work.
Radio at home.
Radio in the garage.
Radio during car trips.
Radio at the gym.
Radio at cook outs.
Radio alarm clocks.

…Do you see where this is going? Radio is a popular media outlet. In fact, according to the Radio Advertising Bureau, radio reaches over 90 percent of adults in a week. Considering the fact that people spend a vast majority of their time in cars with the radio on makes that 90 percent figure seem quite plausible.

Radio is a great tool for companies trying to advertise to a specific target market. Radio ads can target a specific demographic based on age, location, interests and more.

When advertising on the radio, it is important to grab your audience’s attention quickly and get them to remember your message, because radio listeners are often driving and unable to take notes. A carefully crafted message with clear calls to action will make all the difference.

The good commercials make listeners feel as though they are participating in a conversation, thus creating a very personal touch to the message.

Radio is a great form of advertising, especially when seeking to build your brand awareness. It’s even better when coupled with other forms of advertising such as television or social media. If you would like more brand awareness/recognition, give The Primm Company a call.

Source: Radio Advertising Bureau

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To Tweet or Not to Tweet #McDStories

Posted on March 19, 2012 by The Primm Company

Before your company decides to “tweet” something, you might want to think twice before you click that “post” button. While social media is a great way to connect with clients, customers and friends, it is also a forum for critics.

McDonald’s found this out the hard way. In January, the company came out with a Twitter campaign dubbed #McDStories.

The campaign was supposed to encourage customers to share their fond memories of McDonald’s on Twitter. However, the campaign backfired and “tweeters” used the hash tag #McDStories for the exact opposite reason it was intended — to bash McDonald’s.

In one case, a Twitter user reminisced of how upon walking into a McDonald’s location it smelled as if there was Type Two Diabetes in the air. This “tweet” and many like it were definitely not the feel good stories the campaign #McDStories was looking and hoping for.

Fortunately, McDonald’s acted quickly and the campaign was shut down within the first two hours. Nevertheless, the #McDStories hash tag is still gaining momentum and is still used as a joke among Twitter users.

This instance proves that, as a business, you must always be aware of how others may perceive you– especially in such an open channel of communication such as social media.

Social media is fun and effective, but businesses walk a thin line when they allow the world to participate in their marketing. Make sure your business makes safe decisions.

Sources: Forbes, Huffington Post

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