Mad 4 Blog

It’s almost impossible to believe that it’s been 20 years since Mad 4 Marketing began as Intermedia back in the autumn of 1992. But when we reflect on all of the hard work that’s gone into sustaining and building our advertising agency, it all comes into perspective. Today, we’re a thriving small business that’s led and run by women. We’re an active part of our community in Broward County. We’ve been recognized by the South Florida Business Journal as one of the fastest-growing private companies in Florida. And we’re happy to announce these successes in what happens to be our 150th blog post on Mad4Marketing.com – wow!

In September, Mad 4 Marketing officially hit the two decade mark, and we couldn’t be prouder. What are some of your proudest moments – in marketing or business in general?

Advertising agency owners from across the country joined to publish a book. The intention was to share insights or areas of specialty that helped make each of their companies successful. By working with Agency Management Roundtable, we put together a book of our best practices titled “Agency Owners’ Secrets: Our Best Marketing Advice.” Ask us how you can get a copy of this tomb that’s stuffed with successful agency owners’ top tips.

Mad 4 Marketing was honored to be asked to contribute the following chapter:

What is your Partnership Plan?

 Multiply your marketing outreach by creating connections with community partners that touch your target audience.

 As an agency owner, I know that many businesses associate advertising companies with creative. You see great ads on television, a super website or an impactful billboard and remark: “How clever is that!” But after 20 years in this industry, I can say that it’s equally important — if not more important — to create partnerships for our clients.

Whether your company is focused on serving consumers or businesses, you need impactful name recognition in the community. When it comes time to get in touch with your target audience, you want that foundation of trust right at your fingertips. But these resources don’t pop up overnight. They need to be researched, initiated and nurtured. Even the most stable of connections or networks needs your energy and attention in order to stay fresh and relevant. Personally, I believe that the time and effort it takes to cultivate and keep those relationships is invaluable.

My agency becomes intimately involved in our clients’ business strategies. We develop or refine branding platforms, link creative with brand positioning, prepare marketing budgets and manage deliverables. But on top of that, we seek out partnerships that position each client in its respective community. Even in our digital world, reputation and word of mouth heavily influence those who are spenders and decision-makers. Therefore, that partnership remains a hefty factor when it comes to our marketing plan for each and every business.

So how do we go about developing the most effective Partnership Plan for our clients? It starts with analyzing the existing Partnership Gap by going over these types of questions with you:

1. Who doesn’t know about you that should?
2. Who has a negative perception of your company or its products?
3. Who do you believe has the most synergistic businesses to yours?
4. Which community leaders, local celebrities or sports figures could easily relate to your business or products?
5. How about nonprofits? Do you have a passion that relates closely to your business or product offerings?

One example of how we apply this Plan is the approach we took when one of our health care clients wanted to expand into a new county. They faced different competition and had less name recognition than in their home region. Through our extensive connections in the new county they were targeting, we showed them how to integrate with the local community and meet many of its key players personally. We also helped them create effective sponsorships with local companies. This not only ensured better name recognition and streamlined communication to the potential customer base, it created a reciprocal feeling of goodwill and drove new patients to their doors.

Another element we emphasize on behalf of clients is synergy between businesses. When a government agency was looking to provide commuters with a monetary gift incentive, they needed a financial partner to help facilitate gift cards that fit some unusual criteria and large quantities. Through our connections we were able to develop a program and secure the tools for them to exceed their objectives in obtaining new commuter customers.

We also optimize synergies between our own clients whenever possible. When the local college asked us as Agency of Record to promote a new marine engineering program, we hooked them up with our marina management client. This allowed the college to have access to the marina and their accompanying shipyards for a day-long photo shoot, providing the marine program with enough images to be able to produce several collateral pieces in addition to a trade show booth and a new website. The college saved money by avoiding stock photography fees, permit fees, and overall wasting of time searching for venues. The marina benefitted from this introduction by the additional exposure, and having the relationship in place to be able to hire these well-trained students as they graduated.

Another good example is establishing a rapport with political figures. For a major music company, we aligned with those that have a passion for the arts. This effort made the politicians more aware of the importance of music education (benefits to reasoning and math skills, etc.) so they could support or sponsor bills regarding funding of music/arts education programs. The positive exposure led to increased sales of the music company’s products for years to come.

What about clients who have governmental or regulatory constraints? We pride ourselves in delving into your environment so that we can minimize those constraints. When asked by a local governmental entity to coordinate an extensive employer outreach program to large corporations, we were able to pick up the phone and get our client in the door without the potential hassles they might have otherwise encountered. And even on a smaller, grassroots scale, we were able to open many corporate doors for a casual food restaurant franchise owner who wanted to get additional exposure for their lunch menus and catering business by bringing tasting samples and promotional materials to local businesses. In a very short period of time this increased lunch traffic and catering orders.

All agencies can find great vendors to produce a variety of marketing and promotional materials for their clients. We take this a step further by looking at where you can streamline your vendor relationships and bring savings to the bottom line. Knowing the strengths of partners is another way we go beyond creative to make a difference to clients’ profitability. We always keep our ears perked up for those types of resources that are beyond the ordinary.

A partnership that benefits both sides is sustainable!

What’s the key to sustainable and strong partnerships? Exploring and developing liaisons that can develop into mutually beneficial relationships. By understanding a client’s business plan and assessing their Partnership Gaps, your ad agency can begin building them a successful Partnership Plan.

In light of recent online security breaches – including the unresolved shutdown of Sony gaming systems throughout Asia after a recent hack attack – some advocates are pushing harder than ever to protect Web users’ privacy. This includes forcing advertisers to ask for permission before they can implement tracking cookies and other means of gathering and storing personal information.

Despite recent implementation of a similar policy in Europe, American marketers may not have to fear that this type of legislation will come to our shores anytime soon. And that’s because of an effort that’s recently been launched that asks website visitors to voluntarily opt out of info-gathering – and the fact that they’re not using it.

A recent AdAge article shows that an “Ad Option Icon,” which directs those who click on it to ways that they can opt out of information-gathering, is not widely used by those who encounter it. Of those who do follow through on the icon, only 10% complete the steps to turn off tracking and protect their information.

But that may be because they don’t fully understand what’s at risk or how the icon should be used, mistaking it for another ad rather than a helpful tool. With only 60 advertisers currently trying out the icon, it may simply not be familiar enough to set a precedent in terms of reactionary behavior. However, the founder of the Digital Advertising Alliance attests that 300 marketing companies should be signed on soon – spreading the word and increasing the validity of the trials.

Despite concerns that current online ad consumers seem largely dismissive of the opt-out availability, the same audience base may come to use or even expect it once they’re more exposed to the concept. Experts expect that as the trend grows and legislation formalizes to meet it, more and more online advertisers will participate and thereby promote the concept, brand and logo. After all – isn’t that their specialty?

Providing an opt-out option that’s widely used and understood may be beneficial to Internet advertisers in the future, since it may bypass the need for opt-in policies – which would undoubtedly limit marketers’ means of gathering and analyzing traffic and demographic information.

Last week, we talked about the importance of point-of-sale marketing. And now you’re probably just wondering what’s next. So this week, we put together a list of top tricks you can incorporate to make the most of your POS.

1. Take advantage of the chance to learn more about your customers. While you’re ringing them up and have their undivided attention, gather information about the people who are clearly already interested in your product or service. You can engage directly with customers and collect contact information. Invite them to tell you more about themselves in order to pass along coupons or enter a sweepstakes—such as leaving a business card in order to enter to win a free lunch. This information will help you better target your future marketing endeavors.

2. Don’t underestimate the impact of well-placed signage. Whether waiting in line or signing on the dotted lines, your client or customer is going to linger while they cash out. And they need somewhere to look. Leave them with a strong visual impression to seer into their memories and reinforce their impression of their total engagement with your company; after all, a last impression can be just as important as the first. You should promote your brand and website through logos and iconography. You can focus on new or bestselling products. You can make a big impact without going overboard, but passing up the opportunity to place brochures, enticing imagery or informative signage within your customer’s scope at point of sale can be a giant oversight.

3. Be sure to hire and train the best staff to interact with your public. Personable, knowledgeable POS checkout staff can make a huge difference when it comes to how your customer feels about their visit and your brand as a whole. Someone who is dressed neatly, smiles, acts respectful and can answer any product information will make your customer feel comfortable and associate positive feelings with their visit.

4. Set yourself up for return visits. Whether you’re dealing with a first-time or return customer, there’s never an excuse not to set yourself up for the next visit while they’re standing in front of you. At point of sale, you can mention upcoming products and developments. You can give them a coupon for future visits. You can talk about how you can make their next visit even better. Get them thinking about their next visit like it’s a fact; talk to them as if you already look forward to seeing them again.

Now that you understand how vital it is to utilize every inch of visual space and juice every moment of interaction between your customer and checkout representative, you’re ready to get started. Looking for specific advice that applies to your type of business or your brand in particular? Ask Mad 4 Marketing to consult with you on some ideas that are sure to boost your revenue through a strong impact at POS.

“Simply stated, point of purchase is where the action is.” – RJ Reynolds Tobacco

It’s only fitting that this strong marketing quote comes from tobacco powerbrand RJ Reynolds. Tobacco companies are currently under the gun about point of sale (POS — also known as point of purchase or POP) advertising to children, which is not banned under current guidelines (while other media and interfaces are much more limited by advertising legalities). This makes tobacco companies focus on this outlet even more.

These companies know the importance of making an impact while an individual is at the register and ready to buy. They spend big bucks ensuring that their products are front and center at convenient stores. Those worried about influencing children to smoke argue that this placement puts the tobacco product amid candy and family-oriented objects, not only appealing particularly to kids but also making them seem like common, everyday and harmless objects, according to a report by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

They also target those who have quit smoking by making advertising unavoidable at any food store. As stated by Phillip Morris: “We should have Marlboro positioned in the store to take advantage of the impulse shopper.”

How can my company benefit from POS?

Point of sale (or point of purchase) is your chance to communicate directly with a captive audience who is definitely already interested in your products and services. Whether interested clients and customers are interacting with business representatives at a meeting, cashier clerks at a store or just your website interface, the impression they receive as they achieve the ultimate goal — trading their hard-earned money for your product while entrusting your company over your competitors’ — is invaluable.

This is your make-or-break moment, what all of your other advertising is leading up to. It’s imperative that your POS has the look, feel and benefits to help your business drive even more POS transactions.

Ask Mad 4 Marketing how to integrate POS techniques into a 360-degree campaign, for all types of business. You can also check this blog next Monday for some extra tips and tricks.

The Super Bowl just keeps stepping up its game when it comes to selling, promoting and popularizing its commercials, which cost $3 million for 30 seconds on average this year.

For the first time ever, Hulu.com showed commercials during Super Bowl XLV through a specialized “channel” (AdZone 2011) that allowed viewers to not only watch and replay their favorites, but also vote. By the end of the night, Hulu had announced the three top-performing commercials: Volkswagon’s “The Force,” Bridgestone’s “Carma” and Doritos’ “Housesitting.” By asking thousands of viewers to actively rate and comment on the commercials as they were concurrently aired on cable TV, Hulu could quickly map popularity in a quicker and more specific way than can be estimated through television “views”—gauging who had the game on while the commercials aired, without knowing who was actually watching or what they thought.

Analysts, on the other hand, are revealing that Camaro’s ad (where two men voiceover a schoolteacher’s wild drive) may have rated higher than any other Super Bowl commercials, with 119 million viewers in the fourth quarter (when ads typically garner the most attention), according to Nielsen Co. This year’s ad star power involved Ozzy Osbourne, Justin Bieber, Faith Hill and Joan Rivers, though none of these spots (for Best Buy, Teleflora and GoDaddy.com) were among the highest-ranking or most-popular. Consumer-generated Doritos ads dominated the night, with four ads placed throughout each quarter–though the most-memorable (“Pug”) was not the most-watched (“Housesitting”). Strong presences from the past (GoDaddy.com, Budweiser) barely made it on the scoreboard, while E*Trade lagged in near-obscurity, despite being a fan favorite in 2009 (and, to a lesser extent, in 2010).

Maybe the reason that the Super Bowl commercials are increasingly becoming one of the most important parts of the whole sporting event—especially for those who don’t really care about the athletes on the field—is because the pre-game and halftime shows are getting steadily weaker. They fail to take risks and try to appeal to too broad of an audience, thereby appealing to mostly no-one, as far as polls for Super Bowl XLV would indicate (showing about 30% popularity for the Black Eyed Peas, Slash and Usher).

And who can overlook the fact that Christina Aguilera messed up the national anthem lyrics, setting a dubious tone to the whole night’s entertainment? (If you’re a marketer, admit it: Didn’t you sort of suspect that she did it on purpose just for the press? It would seem like a smart, since a perfect performance wouldn’t have garnered nearly the attention, and she’s sense been invited to perform at a number of live events to “prove she can do it right.” If it was one at all, it was a very, very smart marketing tactic.)

As always, don’t hesitate to leave a comment and tell Mad 4 what you think about the entertainment and commercial aspects of Super Bowl XLV.

First and foremost, Happy New Year! It’s officially 2011, time for fresh starts and resolutions to meet all-new goals. As a small business that managed to thrive in last year’s continuously challenging economy, we like to think that a positive mindset and good attitude are essential–and that with these two things in place, a person (or company!) can accomplish limitless achievements.

With that in mind, here are some of the marketing and personal resolutions shared by for those of us at Mad 4 Marketing:

Chris Madsen, Founder/CEO:

• Marketing Resolution: Use social media to network–but don’t forget the importance of in-person contact.
• Personal Resolution: “Find balance.”

Elyse Taylor, Vice President:

• Marketing Resolution: Really make use of those Linked In connections. Stay in touch!
• Personal Resolution: “Spend enough time at home so I don’t have to re-introduce myself to my cats every day.”

Jennifer Stillson, Account Manager:

• Marketing Resolution: Attend more networking events!
• Personal Resolution: “Find time to start exercising regularly.”

Chelimar Miranda, Account Manager:

• Marketing Resolution: Get on Twitter; if you’re already on it, then really make use of it and tweet regularly.
• Personal Resolution: “Eat more fresh fruits & vegetables.”

Sylvain Eudes, Graphic Artist:

• Marketing Resolution: Learn HTML 5.
• Personal Resolution: “Be more awesome.”

Debbie Strong, Human Resources:

• Marketing Resolution: Be kind and pay attention to everyone you meet in business; you never know when you’ll bump into them or work with them down the line.
• Personal Resolution: “When we tend to feel sorry about ourselves, always know that there is someone worse off & less fortunate.”

We sincerely wish you the best in achieving–or surpassing–all of your aspirations in 2011.

Keep an ear to the ground, marketers: A new demographic might be, well, emerging. Last week, New York Times posted an article about a new life development stage that’s being deemed ‘emerging adulthood’–the period between adolescence and adulthood. Coined by Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, psychology professor at Clark University, this term applies to all those 20-somethings who’ve graduated school but may be unemployed, living at home or otherwise dependent on others for getting by–yes, especially their parents. It also describes the increasing collective of young folk who feel no pressure to cohabitate, marry or begin families anytime soon–instead prolonging the period between their childhood freedom and the markers that are typically used to define mature adulthood.

Surprisingly, the term adolescence has only been recognized as its own life stage since the beginning of last century, notes the article’s author, Robin Marantz Henig. Changing youth labor laws and public school imperatives made it necessary to reconsider and redefine the processes of maturing–and acknowledge, for the first time, the gap between childhood and adulthood. Now, due to recent changes in our society, we may be looking at a similar wedge between life stages that will refuse to be ignored: emerging adulthood.

Today’s understanding of emerging adulthood is mostly based on observed and surveyed behavioral patterns from the start of this millennium. However, the life stage is accredited to factors that go as far back as the 1920s–the women’s right to vote–through the ‘70s and the prevalence of birth control, just for example. Advances in science, technology and politics have changed the shape of today’s families; in turn, life path flexibility is encouraging individuals to take more time to figure out what they want and when they want it. When major life goals change, so do their timelines, and this means that the process of arriving at–much less defining–life’s stages must also necessarily adapt.

Arnett’s information seems to be bolstered by a National Institute of Mental Health study that began in 1991 and recently concluded, proving that humans’ brains are not fully mature until about 25 years of age—though it was previously believed that they had matured by the end of the teenage years. Until the mind has finished going through its own primary developmental cycle, perhaps individuals cannot be bothered to make major, long-term and life-altering decisions—or should not be expected to.

This means that on top of external feedback–such as society’s increasing acceptance toward 20-somethings who have not yet secured their adult role in life–these older young adults are also enabled in their delayed commitments to responsibility by internal structures at the emotional, psychological, intellectual and even philosophical level. Arnett’s research shows that today’s emerging adults are likely to be more self-centered than in previous generations, but also more optimistic about their futures and forthcoming opportunities in life–and therefore less likely to settle down before they’re absolutely ready, regardless of traditional timetables.

Next week, look for Part Two, wherein we discuss how to market to emerging adults.

One important aspect of marketing is to constantly evolve and stay ahead of the curve. This includes staying on the cutting edge of technology. In the past few decades, there has been a dramatic shift from traditional print marketing to online marketing. Over the years, there has been an increasing gap between these two formats. And this means that money is wasted by companies launching dual advertising campaigns while trying to cover both bases in terms of distribution and audience engagement. But one company noted this discrepancy and took action to fill the void: USB Insert™

USB Insert™ is a revolutionary marketing solution that seamlessly merges print advertising with the online experience. This option connects your corporeal audience to any abstract content on the World Wide Web. For example, USB Insert™ is suggested as a trade show hand-out or magazine insert. Because it’s small and discreet, it’s easy to pass out and share with others. Once USB Insert™ is plugged into any computer, the user is immediately and automatically directed to your company’s website, online catalog or interactive experience. Your redirect link and the content involved are entirely up to you.

This also frees up the focus of your ads. Your hand-out or brochure can focus on key messaging and enticing creative, saving in-depth explanations for online. And it’s much more traceable than print media, with user tracking capabilities built into the USB card. Because your content is already based online, no memory or storage space is necessary.

How Can It Help My Business?

First and foremost, bridging the gap between print marketing and web marketing reduces your marketing expenses. Rather than do everything in duplicate, you can use one format to cover all of your bases, without expecting your print readers to memorize your URL. At the same time, it’s an exciting way to stand out from the crowd. A simple mailbox flier or event hand-out suddenly earns a second look. Your customer can easily pop out the USB card and plug it in at home or the office. It’s quick, convenient and easy to use.

USB Inserts™ not only pique the curiosity of those who receive them, but also make your giveaways or brochures more interactive. This heightened level of engagement transfers to the user’s online experience. By grabbing and keeping your customer’s attention, this option makes your unique brand message instantly memorable.

Naturally, USB Insert™ marketing is ideal for anyone targeting the coveted tech-savvy youth crowd. It’s also smart for techno-savvy businesses, such as hospitals and colleges. By consolidating your ads, USB Insert™ effectively reduces paper waste and contributes to environmentalism; so it suits businesses with a strong eco-friendly slant.

USB Insert™ is just one outside-of-the-box example of how Mad 4 Marketing uses emerging and nontraditional formats to benefit your business. By staying in touch with digital and interactive developments, Mad 4 Marketing is able to offer clients advertising options that put them ahead of the pack.