We are experiencing the changes that mobile devices have made in our daily lives over the past decade. The multi-function phone is a lifeline and we’re using it to supplement work and play activities on a regular basis. Surveys indicate that being able to update others and get real-time information on the pocket-sized device is becoming more popular across all age groups. Now, brands want a piece of your undivided attention on that hand held computer and they’re going to creative lengths to get it.

Take the Super Bowl as an example. If you watched it, chances are there was a mound of food, endless beverages and friends (new or old) to share both with. So, why then did we all have our phones or tablets out before, during and after the game?

• To distract us from the sights and smells of the BBQ clad little smokies?
• Only if you’re still tied to a new year’s resolution.

• To impress our friends with the latest technology or downloaded application.
• Quite possibly.

• To enhance the experience of the biggest event in February?
• Well, that’s what the digital marketers were telling their VP’s anyway.

Sure, the New York Giants won by slight margin, but the brands that pushed U.S. consumers into a new marketing arena won by a landslide. The digital marketers made a big splash and rolled out specific apps and websites, specific for those tuned into the game, that were interactive and in real-time. Chevy’s Game Time app, the clear winner at my Super Bowl shenanigans, facilitated contact with five additional national brands and kept us engaged throughout the four-hour commercial.

The Dual-Screen Experience Sets Precedent

In the days after the game, marketers and analysts went to shifting through Google, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube (and a few more tech driven apps) data to make predictions about how the Super Bowl will be watched in 2013.  Joel Ewanick, global chief marketing officer at General Motors in Detroit, reported that the Game Time app was downloaded more than 725,000 times and garnered 12 to 13 million page views. (perspective: Angry Birds reports 500 million downloads across all platforms)

The attention was focused on how football, commercial and half time entertainment fans would be using their devices. An industry report estimated that 60% would use their mobile devices while watching the game. Uses are still being tallied. Scrolling through tweets, re-watching commercial spots or getting in on the only “act-now” offer by Best Buy top the list so far.

Google’s data shows that a majority of game watchers were also multi-tasking mobile users. Google’s official blog stated that 41% of searches related to Super Bowl ads were made from a mobile device.  Other studies, pre and post game point to the same result. Harris Interactive’s study suggested that 47% of viewers age 18 and older expected to check their device up to 10 times during the game. Google’s timeline of search traffic indicated that commercial breaks were slightly more active than game-time.

Searchenginewatch.com indicated that digital analysts expected an increase in use over the 2011 championship game but users surpassed expectations with 30 million YouTube views before the kick-off. Most of the traffic went to pre-released commercials and brands that skipped the 30-second ad spot and took advantage of the search traffic created by the brands that did.

According to users, Madonna was the MVP and game stats weren’t as important as the halftime show.  Twitter users seconded that emotion and put up 10,245 tweets-per-second about the show during the half. The end of the game though took over Twitter’s universe by storm. In the last moments, users posted an astounding 12,233 tweets-per-second which is still only good for second place. This is 8,000 plus increase over last year’s game, which topped out at 4,064 tweets-per-second.

I think it is safe to say that we’ll be experiencing more entertainment using two screens. Those enjoying broadcast television will use one screen to watch what everyone’s watching. The other will be a personalized ‘dashboard’ of information relating to what’s on the tube or interactive experience likely sponsored by a brand.

Live event marketing planners will adapt to engage users on their mobile devices as well. Expect a combination of text-to-win, text-to-vote and broadcast tweets to enhance the experience.

Did you multi-task during the big game? And no, we’re not referring to balancing the plastic plate full of snacks while re-enacting a great play or commercial. Leave a comment and let us know if you watched the polar bears, downloaded an app specifically for the game or kept up on a twitterfall.

Stephanie’s data usage on her phone is also on track to break records this month. Congratulate her on this achievement with a tweet, @boldstephanie.

It’s like they always say: Once you go BOLD, you never really leave the fold. (Okay, nobody has ever actually said this, but still, it rhymes.) First, earlier this year, Darla Miller returned to KK BOLD after a short absence. And now another former staffer has returned after an even longer time away. We’re very happy to welcome Tracy Meschke back to our team.

Tracy Meschke has returned as a media buyer and is happy to be back at KK BOLD in the media department. Tracy says “It feels like coming home after moving away for a while.” Tracy has been working in advertising for 13 years. She is originally from a ranch in Solen, but has lived in Bismarck for the past 22 years. She lives with her husband, Ryan, and their three children, Judson (8), and boy/girl twins Jayger and Piper (5). She loves to shop, walk, bike and spend time with her family.

A workplace like KK BOLD can be very difficult to get away from (partly due to our superior tracking skills), so we’re always pleased to see familiar faces come back where they belong. Welcome back, Tracy, and please, never leave again. We get so lonely, is all.

Windfall is an enormous new undertaking that has, without hyperbole, affected every aspect of how Red Wind does business. Windfall is powered by the EPICENTRAL Print System, manufactured by TransAct Technologies, Inc., which Red Wind is the first casino in the entire nation to utilize. The system is installed onto all of the casino’s 975 slot machines. Players are randomly selected and provided with personalized rewards that print directly from the slot machine. Red Wind is then able to market directly to their players, providing the casino with a competitive edge in the market and fostering greater customer loyalty.

KK BOLD has been working with Nisqually Red Wind Casino for months in anticipation of Windfall’s launch in the last few weeks. As part of the enormous marketing promotion, we have produced four individual TV spots, four radio spots, print advertisements, billboards, on-site signage, digital signage, direct mailers and e-mailers to spread the word. The EPICENTRAL Print System is a contractual exclusive to Red Wind, so central to Windfall’s marketing has been hyping that it can only be found at Nisqually Red Wind Casino. Also, because of the enormous scope of Windfall’s effect on Red Wind’s business model, their monthly newsletter, the Breeze, had to be redesigned to reflect the changes Windfall would bring about. Essentially, an enormous amount of work has gone into the marketing of Windfall, and the results are starting to come to bloom.

Nisqually Red Wind Casino general manager Quinton Boshoff says that the program has been in effect for several weeks, and the first reviews from customers are “overwhelmingly positive.” He adds that both visitors and the casino are seeing immediate results. “For Nisqually Red Wind Casino, it is all about providing our players with the greatest value,” adds Boshoff. “Whether you are a regular player or a first-time guest, you will have a unique, personalized experience.”

The launch of Windfall has firmly positioned Nisqually Red Wind Casino as a national leader in the Indian gaming industry in implementing the latest innovations in communicating with patrons, incentivizing additional play and driving traffic to other parts of the casino property. KK BOLD is extremely proud to have assisted Nisqually Red Wind Casino in this extraordinary promotional launch, and we both look forward to seeing just how much more benefits there are still to be gained from this Windfall.

The latest trends in marketing and a few that leave a little to be desired:

HOT

• Attending KK BOLD lunch and learns. Who doesn’t like a free lunch? Oh, and learning new ways to market your company.
• Strategy, strategy, strategy. Develop one now. Enough said!
• Using social media tools.
• Google instant preview. Time is money, right? This will save you time!
• Dynamic ads.
• Making connections for your business using YouTube.
• Pinterest. Not just for DIY crafters, check out the marketing boards, too!
• Participating with your consumer AND listening to them.
• Tablets.
• Google’s remarketing tool. If you aren’t using it, you should be.
• jQuery. It’s the ticket these days.
• Cross-platform compatibility. It’s essential to design and development for TV, print, web and mobile.

NOT

• Wasted efforts. Get educated on what works before it’s too late.
• Under-performing marketing investment.
• Being behind the learning curve.
• Animated gifs. Anyone remember the dancing baby?

• Flash sites. Flash doesn’t allow the speed and scalability a new site needs

Darla Miller is the business development director for KK BOLD, a graduate of the University of North Dakota, loves everything about UND hockey, the Minnesota Vikings and marketing, especially new marketing trends, and is a huge fan of bullet points and creepy undulating dancing baby gifs. Follow her on Twitter @bolddarla.

Honda: Matthew’s Day Off

So there’s a few points to be made about this advertisement. First point to be made: No. This should not have happened. Second point: Anything that pretends to be Ferris Bueller but does not involve either Cameron or Sloane is not really Ferris Bueller. Third point: If you can’t get Ben Stein to say “Bueller, Bueller, Bueller,” then please don’t waste our time. Fourth point: Considering the entire point of this commercial is pointing out that, while Ferris Bueller was a young and vibrant high school kid playing hookie for the day to drive a Ferrari 250 around Chicago, whereas now, 30 years later, Matthew Broderick is an aging actor skipping a day of movie filming so he can drive his Honda CRV SUV around Hollywood, isn’t that a highly depressing message to be sending, and how exactly does that sell cars? Does it? Because I don’t think it does.

I’m not sure if I can keep going now, as depressed as I am, but I will give it my best effort.

MetLife: Everyone

MetLife has, in the past, made use of the license to the Peanuts characters in their advertisements to great effect. And now, in 2012, what they would like you to know is that they have the license to the images of EVERY CARTOON CHARACTER EVER MADE, and that I guess is the point of this ad. MetLife owns every cartoon now. Also, you can buy insurance from them. Good to know, I suppose.

Volkswagen: The Dog Strikes Back

You may recall that at last year’s Super Bowl, Volkswagen was considered by many to have had the best advertisement with their Darth Vader kid ad. Volkswagen is all too aware of this fact, as is demonstrated in this year’s ad. It seems like the advertising agency that makes Volkswagen’s commercials decided, at some point, that their ad featuring a dog getting himself into shape so that he can chase after a Volkswagen Beetle, did not quite measure up to last year’s effort. So, panicked, they hurriedly tacked on a little Star Wars bit to the end of it, as if to tell you, the viewer, “Hey, remember that Star Wars ad that we did last year? Remember how much you liked it? Yeah, that was great! Sorry about this year.” Which is weird, because the dog commercial they made is not that bad. It isn’t. You don’t have to make all of your ads about Star Wars now, Volkswagen. We still like you. Honest.

20th Century Fox: “Star Wars” The Epic Saga Begins

Speaking of Star Wars, how many of you were thinking to yourself, “Hey, I really wish someone would rerelease “Phantom Menace” in 3D”? Anybody? Nobody? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Bud Light: Rescue Dog

No Super Bowl would ever be complete without 183 Budweiser commercials. This one is for Bud Light, and boy, does it ever strain for laughs. See, the dog’s name is “Weego,” and he brings a Bud Light whenever anyone calls him. So, whenever anyone says “Here we go,” this dog runs and gets a beer for them. But is that really something you hear a lot of people say in any given day? Here we go? How many times have you said “Here we go” out loud today? None? Yeah. But this also does advertise for rescue dogs, which is admirable, so forget everything I just said. Adopting dogs is important.

Chevrolet: Camaro Happy Grad

One of the few laugh-out-loud moments of the night. One, because that kid thought he was getting a car for his graduation. Stupid kid. Also, his parents bought him a fridge for his graduation. Really, parents of that dumb kid, a refrigerator? You can understand why he reacted that way, right? It is readily apparent that the apple has not fallen that far from the very stupid tree.

E*Trade: Fatherhood

Enough. Please. We get it. The baby can talk. Please stop.

Doritos: Sling Baby

If there’s any lesson to take away from this Dorito’s ad, it’s probably that computer animation is very difficult to do. Also, sometimes kids taunt old people and babies with their chips. Actually, maybe there’s nothing that can be learned from this commercial. Which is odd, for a Dorito’s commercial, which are usually highly informative and thought-provoking.

Assuming you’re interested, you can see more of this year’s advertisements by going here or here, because there was just too much ground to cover for one blog to handle. If you had any favorites or less-than-favorites, share them in the comments below and we’ll engage in a conversation over the subject. Thanks for reading, and we’ll do this again next year for the 2013 Super Bowl ads, where hopefully there will be considerably less Matthew Broderick involved.

Erik Hagen is a writer for KK BOLD. Despite all of their efforts, he still refuses to drink Bud Light.

For our third straight year, KK BOLD has helped Minot State University to reach out to high school students while they’re in the process of selecting a university with a series of postcards targeted to juniors and seniors in high schools from throughout the area. The first step in the process has involved mailing out postcards to prospective students. For some of these postcards, a video is also emailed to the students. The student receives the video shortly after the postcard. The messaging for the mailers is tailored specifically for the goals/needs of the project.

After each year, we have made adjustments to the program based upon the results and response that we’ve received. As a result, the campaign remains fresh and continues to be effective. All of us at KK BOLD continue to be excited about this campaign and happy to be working with the talented group of professionals working in the Minot State University Office of Admissions, because they share our vision of utilizing aggressive and creative marketing to reach our goals. We look forward to continuing this program for many more years to come.

Creating content, sharing it and tracking its effectiveness is challenging, yet fundamental to the social strategy. Well-thought strategies keep content creators away from the ‘nothing-to-share’ point that lies between an exceptional and a failing social media effort.  A large percentage of self-acclaimed “social media burnouts” did not plan for the big picture with an editorial calendar, and therefore suffered the consequences. The people who really suffered, however, were the users and the brand that no longer had current information online.

Community managers have an important job within social media: make sure users are getting the message. It’s important to remember that users are bombarded with thousands of marketing-based messages a day, and Facebook is making content work smarter to make it into the News Feeds of a brand’s Fans. Edgerank, Facebook’s unpublished algorithm for content distribution, gives every update made on Facebook a score based on affinity, weight and time decay. The social strategies developed by KK BOLD outline a plan to create and publish top performing and relevant content.

Relevant content gives its creator the ability to build a connection with their online community, which creates long-term reputation and trust.

Content is not limited to written stories, blog entries and news releases made by the business to support marketing efforts. Content is also pictures, links, podcasts, events, reviews and shared information from secondary sources. In some strategies, content is divided into categories, topics and timelines. In others, there is a combination of place and time with specific content for a specific channel.

Social media needs relevant content to survive. IF YOU AGREE, 1-CLICK TO TWEET!

Make sure it’s fresh, expressive, authentic and interesting to 95% of the audience. Create a plan to repurpose marketing material with a social twist. Lastly, aim for updates to meet the 80/20 rule for maximum impact. After all, social media isn’t about you, it’s about the user who happens to be a past, current or potential customer.

If social media marketing isn’t working for your brand, review the strategy. If the social strategy is the missing link in your efforts, admit it and start drafting one. Need some assistance? KK BOLD’s social media department wants to help you see results from your online efforts.

More ways to benefit from a social media strategy are here.

Stephanie is logged-on nearly 24 hours a day. Some say that’s a little much. She thinks its just about right. Tweet her a social media question or add her to your network on LinkedIn.

On January 18, KK BOLD hosted another in our series of Lunch & Learns at the KK BOLD offices. We filled a room with eager learners who heard from four KK BOLD departments: Public Relations, Creative Writing, Web Development and Social Media. The topic: successful social media marketing. The goods: how to use platforms, when to use them, how to track them and what’s next in social media. Presenters from our staff included KK BOLD creative director Clay Hove, public relations director Jason Matthews, social media director Stephanie Sandstrom and operations director Kalvin Kingsley.

Over the past 18 months, we’ve educated dozens of individuals on how to get a step up in the social media world. In the future, we expect to begin hosting events at our Minot branch and add a new set of topics at our Bismarck location. More lunches, more learning. We look forward to seeing many more of our clients at future events. The topics may change, but you can always count on the sandwiches.

Number 3. Visa
Visa is everywhere you want to be. Most anyone reading this right now is either under 18 or has a Visa card of some type. Or is Amish but a little bit rebellious and using a bit of technology.

Point is, if you fit Visa’s target demographic, you are likely a Visa customer. Yet Visa is one of the most frequent sponsors of sporting event broadcasts that the world has ever known. Why is this? Is Visa wanting us to get more of their credit cards? If so, why? I can only use a Visa card once to purchase my gourmet towel heating and macramé pez dispenser with kung-fu grip attachment. What do they care if I have an extra Visa card?

Except: Did you know that Visa didn’t start out as Visa? It was initially a card called BankAmericard, issued by (you guessed it) Bank of America. The card was almost a colossal failure after one year of existence due to a massive amount of fraud. Bank of America had to act fast and use public relations, direct mail, and every other method available to them to clean up their good name. Not as easy in 1959 as it is today. In fact, Bank of America reportedly lost around $20 million when you calculate in the actual fraud, the advertising, and the overhead. That’s roughly $147,890,418 in today-money.

Maybe an ongoing branding campaign to keep yourself widely known as the most trusted name in credit cards is actually a small price to pay.

Number 2. Coke
There is a common misconception (it may not really be all that common – in fact it may be something that only I ever misunderstood) that Pepsi and Coke are near equals and so they have to advertise a lot to make sure that the other guy doesn’t come out on top.

In truth, while Pepsi was waging war on Coke and trying to make it look like they were neck-and-neck, Coke’s worldwide sales figures dwarf Pepsi’s. In fact, this 2010 article talks about how Pepsi has, for the most part, given up trying to match up with Coke.

Except: When was the last time you remember seeing a commercial for Coca-cola? Specifically to convince people that Coke tastes good and you should drink it? Probably a long time ago, right? That’s because Coke mostly only promotes something new to their lineup (Coke Zero, anyone?). Also, the advertising that Coke does make use of is generally more of a public relations spot than a true advertisement. Millions of Americans now associate the Christmas season with Coke due to hyper-caffeinated cute-as-a-button polar bears that want nothing more than to guzzle Coke and feed it to their tiny little baby bears. (What Coke’s ads don’t show is the wanton acts of carnage that the sugar-rushing bears wreak upon unsuspecting remote polar villages.)

Number 1. Apple
Even if you are not an Apple fanatic (I know several), you have to admit that Apple has done quite a bit to revolutionize how many of us live, work and play. And that’s just it. Everyone knows that Apple is great, wonderful, and has awesome toys. And sure, launch a new product, do a campaign to tell everyone about it. But we don’t really need iTunes commercials anymore. I don’t need to see people using the iPod touch to know that it exists and is very nice.

Yet as recently as the holiday season, Apple was banging the “buy an iPod touch” drum really, really hard. And there’s this thing called an iPad. Maybe you’ve heard of it?

Except: iCloud. Thankfully, Apple does realize that they don’t need to spend big marketing dollars on television and radio spots for the iPad. And they make use of great alternative forms of advertising, like skyscraper ads on websites that will interact with people. But most importantly, Apple right now is making a strong case for switching all of your devices to an Apple product. Already like iTunes? Well, if you had an iPhone, an iPad, and a Macbook, any song you bought from iTunes would automagically place itself on all of your devices. So if they can hook you on just one of their gadgets (such as the tablet forerunner iPad), they can maybe get you to buy all the other stuff. iPad is the “gateway drug” to the den of Apple iniquity.

Bonus Business! Microsoft (Especially any new operating system)
Microsoft could be on this list five times, probably. But we’re going to narrow it down to one item – Windows (specifically, at the time of this writing, Windows 7). We’re still seeing tv spots, magazine ads, banner ads and more, all directing people to make sure to buy Windows 7.

Here’s the thing: Nobody is going to be influenced by these ads.

Sure, lots of people upgraded from Vista to Windows 7 because Vista was a steaming pile of horse crap and Windows 7 made us hearken back to the days of stability that XP had wrought. Windows 7 is a perfectly good product with its share of flaws and qualities. But we don’t need ads to explain this to us.

For Microsoft to expend a considerable any budget on a campaign for Windows 7 more than 6 months after its initial release is a bit like a car manufacturer spending money to advertise the fact that their cars run on gasoline. Yes, it is necessary to make the machine that I purchased work, but you needn’t remind me of it.

The reason Microsoft didn’t make it on our main list? Their initial success had very, very little to do with advertising. Microsoft’s big break was being awarded the contract from IBM to provide the operating system for the upcoming IBM PC. Microsoft never really even advertised MS-DOS.

Need another example of why Microsoft should stop advertising (or call KK BOLD for help, at any rate)? Check out the discomfort level in this promotional video for Windows 7.

Stop, Microsoft. Just stop.

Kalvin Kingsley is the operations director for KK BOLD. He doesn’t honestly believe that Microsoft will be calling KK BOLD anytime soon, but we’ve cleared all of his phone lines just to be safe.

Brands, businesses and associations are redirecting more resources to social media every day. For some, it’s the right time. For some, it’s too late and the pressure to produce high volumes of web traffic, sales and overall exposure is too high. At that point, social media simply cannot meet expectations, and efforts are dropped a short time after the start. The social media strategy outlines smart goals and manages the expectations of those who are waiting on the results. To make sure your efforts aren’t being wasted, build a complete strategy complete with timelines, specific tasks and goals that the daily efforts are expected to generate.

With all of the ‘social’ channels available online, it’s easy to get sidetracked. The strategy identifies at least one channel where a prospective or current customer is and allows for a complete effort to be made in attracting that customer. The social strategy serves as a roadmap and is planned after reviewing the relevant channels and targeted consumer’s online behavior.

Social media strategies benefit brands by sharpening the focus and consolidating efforts for maximum results.

When you expect results but you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for, the plan seems as if it has failed. At that point, we defend our actions while setting other actions in motion. One reaction is to increase efforts with the mindset of “I wasn’t doing enough.” The other is to level off and step back to take another look at the reason a social media effort is made. A social strategy makes arrangements for how daily efforts are measured and sets specific benchmarks to indicate when the plan can take on the next task.

Utilizing a strategy takes results from generic numbers to benchmarks with meaning. The social media strategy sets out specific categories where results are expected. Now, the results are marked, expected and a plan is already in place if they aren’t met. The strategy gives a time frame and sets up the efforts for evaluation. Instead of counting the number of ‘connections’ that were made on Facebook, LinkedIn or Pinterest, a strategy sets tasks in place to realize higher levels of engagement, click through rates and overall edgerank of a message.

Strategy manages multiple tactics and evaluates the results. The results are tracked over time and play a major role in the future of your social marketing efforts. Do you know where to go next? Chances are, your social media insights can give you a good starting point.

More ways your business can benefit from a social marketing strategy.