Get To The Grapes

Posting stories, video, photos helps you connect with followers

Premium content from Sacramento Business Journal by Debi Hammond, Contributing writer

Date: Friday, January 6, 2012, 3:00am PST

You already have the tools to reach more people more often and more efficiently than ever before.

For years, small businesses looking to market their products and services have been at a disadvantage because of limited budgets. With the advent of social media, small businesses now have a marketing tool they can afford.

Yet few companies, especially small ones, have strategically incorporated social media into their marketing mix. Many have amazing content but don’t use the “social” tools available to distribute it. Think you don’t have great content? It’s time you dig a little deeper. See if you have any of this content to share with your customers.

• Pictures

• Press releases/news

• Video

• Charitable work

• Personal stories

Social media provides the perfect platform to engage your customers on a more personal level and, depending on the size of your organization, your employees as well. You might not feature a personal or behind-the-scenes story in an ad campaign, but social media is the perfect way to tell that story. In fact, that’s what people want — something authentic to your brand. So don’t be shy — tell your story.

The next time you post something to your website, ask yourself where else you can promote it. In today’s world, your website is simply the first step in telling your story. To truly engage your audience, you need to embrace all of the distribution channels available to you and connect with your clients.

For complete article, visit the Sacramento Business Journal.

To generate awareness and to support Theo, Merlot will make a generous donation for every “Like” or post to our Facebook wall that includes: “I support Super Theo!”

Thank you to everyone who has and will support Theo this holiday season! Here’s to you – and Super Theo!

In college I had a professor that said “if you turn in a press release with a misspelled name, the wrong name, the wrong phone number, etc., just once, you will FAIL this course.  Three people failed.  He said this because we were provided a text book that included the correct spelling and information and he expected us to use it – to cross check and ensure the information was correct. It was a great lesson to learn because when it happens professionally, it can be a serious mistake and if not too serious, an embarrassing one to say the least.

In our business it’s absolutely vital that we  get an editor/reporter/producer’s name right when a news release or other information is sent to them.  Case in point, here is a 2.5 minute video of Ron Lopez, news director at Fox40 outing the CA State Fair’s PR group  with a reminder about how important it is to double check your labels before sending.

This tirade was tweeted by Fox last year:

“CHECK THIS OUT: FOX40′s Ron Lopez has an issue with a letter he received from the CA State Fair – http://bit.ly/9KiVSN”

A back-to-school t-shirt garnered JCPenney a lot of bad press that started via social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.  The retailer known for its aggressive back-to-school advertising and promotions should have known better than to promote a shirt that reads: “I’m too pretty to do my homework so my brother has to do it for me.”

In fact, according to Deborah Belgum, senior editor for California Apparel News, and Ellie Krupnik at The Huffington Post, JC Penney just made a big marketing mistake with a little t-shirt.

The t-shirt was taken off the retailer’s website 8/31/2011 and the following statement was provided to the Village Voice:

“J.C. Penney is committed to being America’s destination for great style and great value for the whole family. We agree that the ‘Too pretty’ t-shirt does not deliver an appropriate message, and we have immediately discontinued its sale. Our merchandise is intended to appeal to a broad customer base, not to offend them. We would like to apologize to our customers and are taking action to ensure that we continue to uphold the integrity of our merchandise that they have come to expect.”

The beauty of social media is that it gives consumer a voice. But it also gives retailers and businesses a voice. And when used properly, a business can enjoy a real dialogue with its audience.  JCPenney had the opportunity to go beyond the “corporate statement” and reach out to their audience on a more personal level.  They failed.

For the entire article click here.

It’s imperative for companies to start integrating their marketing initiatives. Utilizing tags is just one of many ways to do this.  Many business owners are afraid to use them because “no one really uses those things.”  Really? According to publisher Conde Nast, Allure magazine had more than 400,000 interactions since January 2011. via The New York Times.

Not sure how to get started? Click Here for a Microsoft tag.

Or Here for a QR Code.

Are you using QR Codes? If yes, how have you used them successfully? And if not, why not?

Published: Friday, August 5, 2011, 3:00am PDT

Premium content from Sacramento Business Journal – by Debi Hammond , Correspondent

Wowing customers is within every company’s marketing budget

Almost every business owner envies Apple. And why shouldn’t they? The company has an amazing brand and even more amazing profits, and it’s doing it in the midst of the worst recession since the Great Depression. In fact, in 2010 Apple became the most valuable brand, surpassing Google , according to the sixth annual BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands study published by global research agency Millward BrownbizWatch .

If you’ve ever purchased an electronic device of any kind, you open the package, pull out the product, toss the packaging and begin using your device. That’s it. The end. Your brand experience is completely unremarkable. However, when you open an Apple product, you’re enchanted by the feel of the packaging, the beauty of the graphics and the attention to every minute detail. But it’s just packaging, right?

Wrong. It’s a company that cares about every aspect of the customer’s experience right down to the expendable packaging. The magic that Apple seems to possess is simple: It shows its customers it cares. Where most companies’ attention to detail stops with the product, Apple begins and ends with the user’s overall experience with the brand. It is this care and attention to detail that inspires recession-weary spendthrifts to open their wallets on premium priced products such as iPods, iPads and iPhones.

I know what you’re thinking: I have a small business and can’t afford that kind of detail in my product or packaging. Even though that level of branding may be beyond your budget, it’s helpful to analyze companies of all sizes for the smart business decisions they’ve made and the exceptional reputations they’ve earned. Those lessons are often applicable to your small business.

Let’s look at another example of a top-notch company that has made a name for itself for customer service.

(more…)

The California Milk Processor Board altered a PMS-themed ad campaign after two weeks because of criticism to its subject matter.  The original campaign portrayed men as the victims of temperamental women who were well, “pms-ing.” The goal of the campaign was to highlight that milk can actually soften the effects of PMS symptoms, according to ad campaign spokeswoman Tatum Wan.

As a marketer, I found the campaign clever and humorous.  Ah humor… The Super Bowl is watched by millions of people, many of whom are not football fans. Why? Because of humorous, heart-warming and sometimes quite inappropriate (but funny) commercials.  It will be a sad day when ALL advertisers give in to the pressures of the very few overly sensitive consumers that take themselves far too seriously.  In fact, I thought AdRants did a pretty good job of summing it up in a July 22 post by Steve Hall who wrote: “Unlike many, we have no problem with this campaign. Why? Because if we can’t poke fun at ourselves, what’s left? If we can’t inject a bit of humor into our lives, we might as well all become monks. Oh wait, even they know how to have fun. If we can’t take a moment and just chuckle, we’re going to turn into a world filled with cause groups that will dumb us down to the point where we all turn into emotionless robotic automatons.”

The question we’ll soon be asking ourselves is “Got funny ads?”And the answer will be “No.” Because after all, great humor must have an element of truth and it seems as though the small but humorous element of “truth” hurts too much.  The original URL was www.everythingidoiswrong.org, but now consumers are being redirected to  www.gotdiscussion.org, which is meant to “encourage discussion of the issue,” which I can promise you is not nearly as funny as “everything I do is wrong…”

What are your thoughts? Humorous or humiliating? I’d like to know… See one of many articles here.

Merlot Marketing is a growing and dynamic agency offering opportunities to work on local and national client campaigns. As an award-winning, full-service agency, we specialize in brand strategy, advertising, public relations, social media, media planning and buying, and events and promotions.

The Social Media Strategist is responsible for helping our clients map out Social Media strategies and initiatives to participate in the conversation, engage in meaningful exchanges and create lasting relationships and communities with clients’ customers.  Our ideal candidate will be resourceful and detail-oriented.  Any employee may be required to perform other duties which may be necessary or desirable to support the agency business.

Responsibilities

This person will be responsible for senior level leadership/guidance to key accounts and will serve as the primary point of contact for client social media programs and campaigns. They will spearhead ideation and strategy formulation to ensure strategy recommendations are in alignment with the client’s goals and brand positions. (more…)

Merlot Marketing is a growing and dynamic agency offering opportunities to work on local and national client projects and campaigns. We are an award-winning, full-service agency specializing in advertising, public relations, brand strategy, media planning and buying, and events and promotions.

Merlot Marketing is currently looking for a Part-time Graphic Designer to support its creative team.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Ability to work in fast-paced agency environment – juggling multiple projects and requests
• Strong time management skills and the ability to multi task
• Ability to conceptualize and provide original ideas within established brand themes and standards
• Strong sense of design composition and typography
• Intuitive understanding of what makes a truly great interactive experience
• Mastery in the Adobe Creative Suite applications and other industry tools
• Mastery of HTML and CSS/table-less layouts  (actionscripting & javascript a plus)
• Experience with content management systems (CMS), and SEO techniques
• Understanding of web technologies and how designs are implemented
• Experience working alongside and collaborating with developers and project managers
• Excellent verbal and presentation skills
• Develop and manage projects from creative concept and production through final execution
• Work independently as well as with the team
• Strong production knowledge, from basic file handling to color space and special processes
• Support concepts and designs and produce creative for agency and agency’s clients
• Work within defined (and aggressive) timelines and budgets
• Organized and detailed oriented
• A positive attitude required and sense of humor a definite plus!

Should be proficient in all current design programs:

• InDesign CS2/3
• Illustrator CS233
• Photoshop CS2/3
• Acrobat 8 (PDF work flow)
• Flash CS2-CS3
• Strong Knowledge of HTML/CSS
• WordPress
• Dreamweaver CS2/3
• PHP/JAVASCRIPT/SQL a plus

Other requirements/experience:

• BA or BS in graphic design, marketing, advertising or related field
• 3+ years AGENCY experience in print AND interactive design
• Website administration experience a plus
• Local candidates ONLY

This is a part-time position (approximately 20 hours per week to start) with opportunity to move into full-time work. Salary is based on experience and qualifications.  Qualified candidates please email a cover letter, link to online portfolio and resume to creative@merlotmarketing.com.

Rance Crain, writer for Advertising Age wrote a rather lengthy article entitled “Why Many Super Bowl Ads Failed to Score.” His premise?  Marketers keep forgetting that the best ads are simple and direct. And he’s right.

Years ago, Kelly Johnson, lead engineer at the Lockheed Skunk Works coined the acronym KISS; which stands for ‘keep it simple stupid.’  Simple and direct simply works. Remember “Bud-weis-er?” It doesn’t get much simpler than that.

To borrow from Mr. Crain’s article, he noted that The Financial Times ran a story this week on the “infomercial king” of the U.S., British-born Anthony Sullivan. Mr. Sullivan says his job is to pitch products, not to market them, and he likens those who practice the dark art of marketing as “black-suits-wearing namby pambies.”

He continued by stating that ‘the basics of selling, or how to put a crowd “under the ether,” as he says, haven’t changed: The pitch has to be succinct, compelling and direct.’ He notes that far too many ads are quite the opposite in that they are simply too complex, confusing and oblique.

And finally, he summarizes the article this way: Good ads are simple and direct. Bad ads aren’t. It’s all a matter of discipline, a characteristic that advertisers have a woeful lack of these days. No wonder the informercial king calls them namby pambies.

So, who did get it right? Volkswagon. I mean, really? Does it get any simpler than that?

And some who didn’t:

Brisk Tea: I thought he advertising an energy drink or something.  The brand association was simply odd. I don’t see Eminem as a ‘tea-totaller,’ if you will.

Go Daddy
It’s so tired, played and inane and I can’t even get myself to show you…

Snickers?