Mad 4 Blog

We have previously mentioned the importance of being transparent when advertising on the Web. As page viewers become increasingly frustrated by pop-ups, covert ads and run-arounds, they reciprocally appreciate websites that are up-front about what elements are sponsored–as well as those that tailor advertising to most accurately reflect products and topics that readers may actually want. When distrust brews toward online advertising, the entire framework of interactive marketing–and how it can positively impact and support websites and businesses–is compromised. Earlier this year, popular review site Yelp.com came under fire for practices that walked too close to the fine line between acceptable and deplorable ethical behavior.

Yelp is a website that features every kind of business (from restaurants to dental practices) and allows anyone to sign in and post a review about that business–good or bad. That way, interested parties can get an unbiased, comprehensive overview of that company. Yelp offers free listings as well as paid memberships which come with additional features such as enhanced content control, videos and photo slide-shows. Paid accounts may also add sponsored posts–which means that their business page can come up first in a search for chosen key words, or an ad can even show up on a competitor’s page. Cost may depend on impressions or clicks, according to individual account terms.

Problems began to arise when it seemed like Yelp was ’selling’ positive reviews to paid members through ‘Favorite Reviews.’ This feature pushed better reviews to the top of the page, and confused the matter of what were reviews and what could be constituted as advertisements. Even when these were genuine reviews–that is to say, not written by a company exec–the confusion and doubt that page visitors experienced when they saw positive reviews highlighted was enough to draw ire and attention to the site’s other questionable policies.

Another practice that bore review was Yelp’s filter, which automatically removed some reviews according to a quality control algorithm. Because only paying members had the filter in place, which most often managed to weed out negative reviews, this device made business pages seem even more like ads in disguise. For example, when soliciting paid accounts from businesses that were currently listed for free, Yelp made offers that essentially said negative reviews could disappear…for the right price. Many of the businesses that were contacted found the offer extortive, and some went so far as to contact authorities. The wording seemed to take advantage of a not-quite-illegal loophole–but one that could still be considered immoral.

In the spirit of total transparency, Yelp now offers readers the option to view every single review written, regardless of relevance or content–but only through a special, segregated link. Some critics have frowned upon this compromise. They believe that all posts should be shown at all times–or that the filter removal should be more prominently feature on the site (it is currently tucked into the bottom of review pages). However, having this option—and other changes that Yelp has made in recent months—have thus far been enough to satisfy contemporary ethical guidelines for transparency on the Internet.

A few weeks ago, we talked about Viral Marketing for Websites. But viral marketing, the art of using word-of-mouth buzz to spread your brand, can be used for more than interactive marketing; in fact, it has endless possibilities in the world of business. Here are a few popular examples you can use to inspire your own viral marketing strategies:

Movies:
• Blair Witch Project – This 1999 movie was produced on an extremely low budget. To get the most from their marketing investment, moviemakers hyped the film as footage from a real event. The intrigue caused by this theory, and the consequential debate over its authenticity, skyrocketed its popularity both before the movie came out and while it was in theaters.
• Cloverfield – In 2008, this scary movie showed teasers in its ambiguous trailer, which did not state the movie’s title or plot. This mystery instigated hype and drove curious throngs to the movie’s website for more information. Characters in the film each had their own social networking profiles, and companies mentioned in the film were also given their own websites, so that fans could investigate further.

Television
• Mystery Science Theater 3000 – When this show originally aired in the 1980s, fans had limited access to live viewings. However, at the end of each episode, they were encouraged to make videotape copies and pass them along to friends. The closing credits told viewers explicitly to “Keep circulating the tapes!” This encouraged hand-to-hand marketing and conversation about the show.

Web
• The Big Word Project – This project invited participants to submit their websites and blogs as entries in a “new” dictionary. Each entry linked a word to one definitive web page, which encouraged web participation via free promotion.
• The Mike O’Meara Show – Podcasters participated in an extensive viral campaign on Facebook, encouraging fans to visit their website to download and share radiocasts of the show. A click-through link made the message accessible.

Business
• The Pyramid Scheme - This widely used business technique spans many industries. Participants “higher” in the pyramid directly benefit from the success of those “lower” in the pyramid, which encourages members to recruit new candidates and allows incentives to flow seamlessly throughout the system as a reward for each person’s continued success in the viral marketing effort.
• Burger King – After a popular television commercial aired showing a man making a chicken do various outrageous activities, a website was launched where visitors could make a man in a chicken suit perform various actions, such as dancing and cartwheeling. This interactive campaign was so popular, it ran from 2004-2007. The tag line stated “Chicken the way you like it.”
• Blendtec – The speed and strength of this line of blenders is demonstrated by YouTube videos in which founder Tom Dickson blends various ordinary items. Viewers can comment on the results and share these videos with friends.

Chris Madsen, CEO of Mad 4 Marketing, was named to the Junior Achievement 2010 Business Hall of Fame at a ceremony held March 3 at the JA World Huizenga Center at Broward College in Coconut Creek. Madsen was honored along with fellow laureates David Fee of Lotspeich Company, Michael J. Grimme of AMC Liquidators and AMC Furniture Outlet, and Wayne Huizenga, Jr. of Huizenga Holdings, Inc. The Business Hall of Fame honorees share a high level of achievement in business and have demonstrated business excellence, vision and innovation, and community responsibility.

Madsen, who founded Mad 4 Marketing in 1992, built the Fort Lauderdale based marketing and advertising firm into a full-service agency with annual billings in excess of $7.5 million. The award-winning agency has met with success for clients in the public and private sectors through a variety of traditional and non-traditional advertising campaigns encompassing interactive marketing, branding and innovative strategies.

“My experience with Junior Achievement touches every aspect of what I do today as a business owner,” said Madsen. “Years ago I led a group of Junior Achievement students. Guiding them through the process of bringing a product to market was phenomenal and helped me make the decision to be an entrepreneur.”
Junior Achievement is a non-profit organization which ensures every child in America has a fundamental understanding of the Free Enterprise System through a series of business, economics and life-skills programs that enhance the education of young people. Junior Achievement reaches more than 50,000 kindergarten through twelfth-grade students in South Florida annually.

Community service is important to Madsen, who is well known for her commitment to the South Florida community through her work with a host of organizations. Her civic involvement includes positions on the boards of directors of the Fort Lauderdale Film Festival, Governor’s Council for Sustainable Florida, Leadership Broward Foundation, The Commonwealth Institute, Women’s History Coalition, Nova Southeastern University and the Urban League of Broward County. Madsen is also the past president of the Florida Women’s Alliance and the Stranahan House, serves as an Executive Committee member of Broward Workshop and the Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce, and is on the Advisory Committee of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Her long list of awards and accolades includes the South Florida Good to Great award, Women’s Connections Woman of the Year Award, South Florida Business Journal Woman of the Year Award, March of Dimes Women of Distinction, and the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce Small Business Leader of the Year Award, to name a few.

Every fashionista worth her Balenciaga bag knows that the September issue of her glossy magazine is the most critical issue of the year, complementing the hype from New York City’s Fashion Week with cold-weather ensemble suggestions featuring the newest fall styles. The September issue traditionally expands from approximately 300 pages to somewhere over 700 pages (or 840 pages, according to the most recent record set by Vogue in 2007). Naturally, the September issue of any fashion magazine is the one that sells the most copies, and correspondingly sells the most interior magazine ads. It is these print ads which largely finance the continued production of the magazine.

Which is exactly why it’s such a grave concern that the past two years have shown a steady decline in magazine ad sales, which culminated in the dramatically dangerous dip in sales this year. Many magazines showed up to a 22% decrease in ad sales from recent years, including a loss in the double digits for some of the most well-known fashion and beauty magazines. This year, Anna Wintour oversaw a quick-fix brainstorm where funds were spent encasing the slimmer-than-usual September issue of Vogue in wrappings with a chic leather handle and buckle-clasp, proclaiming, “CAUTION (still) HEAVY.” Tongue-in-cheek, it was a clever sales gimmick–but only a temporary band-aid on the much more permanent (and far more solemn) problem of decreased ad sales.

And it’s not just fashion magazines that are suffering. From National Geographic to Scientific American, all magazines are feeling the drought. In fact, all print ad sales have dropped an average of 30% since last year. In an economy where newspapers across the country are closing down on a regular basis, the magazine industry must be apprehensive about its own future. Advertising experts caution that magazines should take heed of their recent losses. Magazines are advised not to cut their losses and bury their heads in the sand, blaming the economy and waiting for the slump to pass. One of the more likely culprits is the world’s increased wariness about its investments; caution has moved investors to examine new and alternative advertising options in pursuit of more aggressive and traceable ROI–such as web and mobile marketing.

This may also be why digital revenue for magazines is on the rise, with income from non-static sources doubling between 2006 and 2007 alone (presumably in direct proportion to a greater overall effort by magazines to modernize). And it’s advised that magazines continue seeking cutting-edge alternatives for their marketing strategies. Through interactive marketing, magazines will be able to rebuild relationships with their audiences in a new, modern way-before the chance is lost for good. In the past year, newsstand magazine sales have decreased by an estimated 12%. Better-than-ever subscription costs simply haven’t been enough to salvage proceeds in this economy. With competition from online blogs, newsletters and, well, digital magazines, it seems like print magazines are going to have to sharply redirect their focus and funds if they hope to survive.

Hopefully, they will embrace digital solutions and come up with smart, strategic plans to save print magazines from extinction. Because tech-savvy as readers are today, it’s still just not as easy or rewarding to flip through a laptop from a cabana chair on the beach.

Welcome to the NEW Mad 4 Marketing Blog where our brain trust of marketing and creative professionals will keep you in the loop with the latest industry trends.

Why have we decided to start a blog?
Blogging is currently the most popular corporate social marketing trend, for many good reasons. Major corporations across the product and service spectrum such as Coca-Cola, Wells Fargo, Hewlett Packard, and many others have set up corporate blogs in order to communicate in a less formal fashion and connect on a personal level with their customers. Blogs can be structured in an infinite number of ways and the content of each blog is completely unique and customizable. The qualities most blogs share (especially when set up the right way) are as follows:

• Blogs benefit a search engine optimization strategy by adding regularly updated content under the company domain
• Blogs incorporate RSS feeds which enable readers to easily read recent posts without actually visiting the blog. Many social networking sites such as Facebook enable you to sync your blog via the RSS feed with your page on their site in order to extend the information to people within your network.

Blogging can turn your website into a valuable knowledge resource that customers turn to for regular updates on the company, products, and/or services.  If you are currently reading this blog about blogging, you can see exactly how effective this marketing medium can be. We invite you to come back and visit our blog regularly for weekly updates on the latest marketing and advertising trends or add our feed to your RSS feed syndicator.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… C: wait… SD: wait…