Definition 6

Brands Embrace #TimelineMovie Maker for Pages: The Early Collection

Jeremy Bromwell — Fri, 25 May 2012 18:33:52 +0000

Since it's launch this past Tuesday, I've seen some amazing brands take advantage of Timeline Movie Maker for Pages to share their story in a cinematic, engaging way.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Facebook Washington DC

Cabaret Divertimento

(I have no clue about this show but it's just FUN to watch)

Marines (Happy Fleet Week!)

The U.S. Army

Livestrong

Channing Tatum Unwrapped

Where's Waldo?

Neeta Shankar Photography

Guns N' Roses

(Even while on tour in Europe they posted this - really awesome!)

Mercedes-Benz Turkey

The Ultimate Fighter Live

Aruba

Just this small collection of movies really drives home the fact that regardless of what product or service your brand offers and how you position it on Facebook, and other social media channels, every brand has a story to tell.

What's your brand story? Have you used Timeline Movie Maker for Pages to tell it? What other movies are you seeing out there? Post your comments below!

[HOW TO] Create Timeline Movie Maker for Pages

Jeremy Bromwell — Wed, 23 May 2012 14:07:00 +0000

It’s finally here. We’ve just launched Timeline Movie Maker for Pages.

Here’s a quick guide as to how you can create a compelling movie for your Brand on Facebook.

1- Before we get started, you must be the admin to a page for a brand so make sure you see the admin options when using Facebook and that you have a published fan page.

2- Go to TimelineMovieMaker.com and click on the text link “make a movie for your Facebook Page.”

3- Select the Facebook page you'd like to make a movie for after you grant the app permissions and then click "Make Movie".

4- The movie will auto populate based on the content you have publicly shared on your page, including photos, videos, and a few status updates. After this initial video plays, you will have enhanced editing capabilities to change out the images and curate your brand's own story.

5 - Also – with this release – you will have the ability to create custom “status updates” or messages that will appear in the video. These do not need to have been actual status updates from your page, but allows brands to create custom messages to their communities.

To best display your message in the movie, keep your message under about 400 characters. Once you edit the message simply click "Update" and you'll see the copy!

6- Once you are done editing, select your music track and click ‘Save Changes’.

7- After viewing this version, you will have the option of sharing the unique URL on your brand's Timeline. You can also edit the movie again or replay it.

There have also been some updates we made to the user experience for Timeline Movie Maker for people, including additional languages have been added, a more robust editing tool and customized text on URL’s for sharing purposes.

To create your brand’s Timeline Movie visit TimelineMovieMaker.com to get started. Here's a link to view the Definition 6 movie.

Post your link in the comments below after you share it and show me what you got!

AMC’s #ThePitch – Why The Wrong Agencies Win Every Week

Chris Thornton — Fri, 18 May 2012 18:23:00 +0000

So, like every other self-respecting modern-day MadMan (and woman), I’ve become totally hooked on AMC’s new show, “The Pitch.” Because who doesn’t like to look at themselves in the mirror while simultaneously being filled with pride and revolted in disgust and self-loathing?

Three episodes in and there are numerous things I have found fascinating about the show. One is how un-fascinating the show is to non-industry people (“Wow…all these people sound boring and I have no idea what they are talking about… kind of like you” – My girlfriend). I’ve been impressed with how well the producers capture a few specific moments, like the excitement around getting the initial brief, the struggle of moving from ideation to execution, the battle between creativity and strategy, and the anticipation of the team walking into the board room for their moment of judgment.

What I’ve been amazed by so far is in the three episodes I’ve seen (I missed the “Mister Sparky one”), the wrong agency has won. Sure, I know this is my opinion and I don’t have the whole story, but based on the tweets of my peers, I don’t think I’m alone here. With the parts of the brief that were seen on air, the agencies that lost absolutely had the best ideas and they delivered the strongest results against the brief. So where’s the disconnect? Am I (and all of these other agencies) that far out of touch with what our clients really need? Why do so many agency people think the wrong agencies were awarded the business?

The answer is presentation. The agencies with the strongest presentation won. This creates a couple of problems…the first of which is that clients need to be able to see through some of the “dog and pony” show (or as we like to say at Definition 6, “the cotton candy and frozen margaritas”) to understand the idea and select the agencies that understand the objectives and the brand the best. I have been confident of the outcome at the end of the presentations, saying to myself, “The winner is obvious…there is no way they can select the other agency,” only to find myself shocked by the moment of truth. Maybe that’s just good editing, but each time the client has said basically the same thing…”The other group really took it farther and thought it through more.” That’s really not a true statement. In each case, the other agency simply did more free work and more spec creative. I would actually say the losing agency thought through the idea more carefully and found more insight and opportunity for the brands. Unfortunately, the time spent developing that insight left less time for the creative executions. That requires more imagination from the client to see the vision.

However, let’s be clear that the reverse is also true – presentation IS important. Conveying an idea or concept that can be digested and understood easily is critical to winning the business. These agencies have done a great job finding insight in the audiences of these brands, but they have failed in gaining insight into their own target audience…the brands themselves. These brands need to not only hear the idea, but see it, feel it, and touch it. A lot is decided in that two hour presentation. Brands need to know that the idea is more than just an idea, and the agency has the ability to execute that idea and make it come to life. To a brand, the ability to execute can be just as important as the idea itself, because the best idea in the world, if poorly executed, still won’t work.

Create that balance between good ideas based on strategy and insight and good execution across a multitude of platforms and tactics…that is what brands want to see and what agencies need to deliver. Now, go make life pop…and don’t be a zAMbie.

Mobilizing the Hospitality Industry [VIDEO]

Mark Emery — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:33:00 +0000

Mobile Practice Lead, Mark Emery, delves into mobile solutions for the hospitality industry. Using key examples from the work Definition 6 executed for La Quinta Inns & Suites, Mark explains some best practices brands may utilize for a successful mobile web strategy.

Mobilizing the Hospitality Industry

Mark Emery: The hospitality industry was really quick to develop e-commerce websites back in the late 90’s during the first tech boom if you will. Shortly after, they began to get into mobile as well and they were some of the early investors and adopters of mobile technology. They built lots of mobile websites and applications 10-12 years ago. Unfortunately for many, that’s where the investment stopped. Where we’re at today is we have consumers on faster and faster devices running on faster networks expecting rich experiences that are not delivered by a lot of hospitality websites simply because they were built a long time ago when you had to build for slower networks and devices.

La Quinta’s Mobile Solution

Mark Emery: Whereas most initial investments in mobile websites are really extensions of that is happening on the PC or desktop web, the new La Quinta mobile solution is the result of taking a look at what the mobile audiences want from the ground up and developing mobile content that is optimized specifically for a mobile audience. It’s the question of developing an optimized experience versus porting what’s already happening on the web. To do that effectively it takes looking at your audience form the ground up.

La Quinta Re-Invents Mobile Booking

Mark Emery: La Quinta identified the booking process as a uniquely painful experience on most hotel websites and got serious about re-imagining / re-inventing that experience for their mobile audience. What they came away with was the LQ-Instant Hold™. The Instant Hold feature of their mobile website and downloadable applications allows the user to book a hotel room without entering a credit card or filling out a complicated form and simply entering a 10 digit mobile phone number.

La Quinta’s Innovative Mobile Experience

Mark Emery: The La Quinta Instant Hold is definitely unique. In fact, they’re actually trademarking the instant hold. Another is this website experience we developed for them is contextually aware. It’s predictive in nature so when I go to LQ.com on my mobile device as a new user, I’ll be asked for my permission to use my location and it will immediately show me results of hotels in my area. If I’m a repeat customer or perhaps I am on on-site or even post-stay the mobile website changes its performance and changes its behavior based on where I am at in that whole revenue cycle.

Tips for Brands Entering the Mobile Landscape

Mark Emery: If you have a website at all, which you probably do, your mobile users are already using your website on mobile. They’re probably not getting what they want (or they are) in which case the first thing I would recommend doing is taking a look at your web analytics and take a look at a few things there. Check out what types of devices are accessing your site currently and where they’re jumping off, how much time they’re spending on the site, what they’re able to get and what they’re not able to get. You’re actually able to glean a lot of useful data about how your website is performing on mobile devices by simply looking at your web logs.

Why is it So Important for Brands to Address Mobile?

Mark Emery: Really there are two reasons; One, simply because consumers are holding powerful devices and expect really rich experiences on those powerful devices. They’re accessing data on high speed networks. Something like 60% of all smartphone data traffic happens over a Wi-Fi connection here in the United States so they’re expecting demand rich experiences. The second one is simply the fact that our work, our lives as Americans and as global citizens for that matter is increasingly transient. We’re always on the go, we’re always in movement. Creating a mobile website and a downloadable application for people that are in motion was a smart thing for La Quinta do and it would be a wise thing to do for other organizations in the hospitality industry to take a look at.

#RaganCisco Social Media Conference [slideshow]

Rachel Conforti — Tue, 08 May 2012 19:38:00 +0000

San Jose is buzzing with Ragan Cisco conference attendees tweeting furiously as we take in all the juicy nuggets of info from great speakers at this conference for Social Media and Communications.

From Gamification to Social Media Optimization (yes, it does exist!) to SoLoMo (Social, Local, Mobile) we've hashed out all the nuances in the world in which we live today.

A summary of top takeways:

- Globally, more people own cellphones than toothbrushes

- 85% of B2B buyers are engaged in some type of social activity during work

- Interactions will shape new age of social

- Content must be interesting first, branded later

- Gamification will become even more robust and widespread for areas like internal HR performance reviews, ways for brands to connect with audiences in meaningfull ways

Check out the hashtag #RaganCisco on Twitter to follow along as we wrap it up today and check out our slideshow below for all the pictures from the event

The Dogs of Definition 6: Meet & Greet

Bryce Kervin — Tue, 08 May 2012 17:52:00 +0000

We recently ran a blog giving readers a little of insight into the Dogs of Definition 6 and a little bit of history behind the four-legged friends we have around the agency. Now it's time to learn a little bit more about some of the office pets.

Meet: Finny and Abby (Jeff Katz)
Bio: Finn is a Blue Reimaraner and Abby is a Bichon Frise. They're both clocking in at 3 years old AND these two were born one month and a day apart, Abby on 8/8/2008 and Vinny on 9/9/2008. Freaky, we know!
Fun Fact: Abby's grandfather, J.R., was the Westminster Champion in 2001.

Meet: Suki (Katie Turcotte)
Bio: Katie rescued Suki when she was just 6 months old in Tampa, Florida. She is a Finnish Spits and part Chou and has been through K9 training as well as some agility courses.
Fun Fact: Suki waits for Katie everyday on the stairs during lunch and she's a bit camera shy!

Meet: Gizmo (Walker Hutchinson)
Bio: Gizmo is a full bred American Boxer with 8 years under his belt. Walker picked up 'Mo from a family here in Georgia and has been bringing him into the office ever since.
Fun Face: Gizmo is the only dog allowed on the couches of Definition 6. The Network Engineering department was even reorganzied around Gizmo's favorite couch.

Meet: Thor and Gracie (Stacie Oden)
Bio: Thor is a 2 year old German Shepard Rescue pup and Gracie is a 7 year old Matese Yorkie born in Florida.
Fun Fact: Stacie hid Gracie in her dorm at UCF for an entire semester! Gracie even began to attend some classes with Stacie and obtained a minor in Biology.

Meet: Aspen (Stuart Lake)
Bio: Aspen is a 9 year old Border Collie/Labrador Retreiver adopted from an Atlanta Animal Shelter
Fun Fact: Aspen loves to jump and play in dirty water which mixes fantistically with her white coat. She also loves belly rubs and coming into Definition 6 with her dad.

Is 9PM The New 10PM in Primetime TV?

Frank Radice — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:42:00 +0000

With upfront season in full swing, I've been thinking about Primetime TV viewership and I had to ask myself - Is 9PM the new 10PM??

Five years ago if a network's primetime show didn't hit a 5 demo in 18-49 viewers, it would be in deep trouble.

Today, the 10pm demo, for the most part, seems to be around a 3 or lower.

Why is that?

A few things come to mind.

One: DVR's are everywhere now. It's not just a TiVo anymore. Every cable company has one, and they are quickly replacing the old set top box (and let's not forget the Roku, the Xbox, the Boxee, Apple TV, and any of the other cool device out there).

And research is also showing that tablets like the iPad are quickly becoming the second screen of choice for content consumption, while services like Aereo allow you to watch and record your favorite show in their cloud for later viewing anywhere.

Two: …and this is probably a function of the first thing…there are so many places to get content, and so much targeted content on cable and online, that the hours of material anyone can watch at any given time, is just too much to bear.

Three:…and this is just anecdotal of my colleagues in New York; hard working people are going to sleep earlier and waking up earlier (again, this may have something to do with DVR's). I mean, why not, right? Especially when you can watch "LAW" at night and catch "ORDER" in the morning on your digital device!

Another reason may be simply that the big three (or four) networks are just not programming what people want to see at 10pm.

That is the traditional home for drama's and procedurals…but the biggest numbers are now coming from the 9pm non-scripted shows like "Dancing with the Stars" and "The Voice."

Maybe the premium cable nets, programing high end shows through the 9pm and 10pm slots without commercials, are causing the erosion.

And maybe that tiny sliver of "un-plugged" viewers is starting to grow.

If everyone could create multiple revenue stream, none of this would matter much. Get paid even without the eyeball analytics (or without commercials in some cases.)

Just create great programs and let people find them wherever they are, regardless of what time they are on.

In the end, it always comes back to great content that can cause conversation (either in person or online, especially social media channels.)

So, let 9PM be the new 10PM.

I will just go to sleep early, and watch my favorite stuff somewhere else, some other time, and be happy about it.

The Dogs of Definition 6: Part 1

Bryce Kervin — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:51:08 +0000

Company culture, especially within advertising and marketing, is an important aspect to productivity. At Definition 6 we’re constantly thinking of how to create another winning brand experience for our clients like Coca-Cola or HBO. The juices are always flowing and the gears are always grinding. It’s nice to add a little of flavor to the mix. Around the offices of Google you may find massage chairs and around the offices of Nike, hot showers. But around Definition 6, on any given day, you will find man’s best friend. We like to keep our K-9 companions close by in both of our offices in Atlanta and New York.

The daily grind can be a difficult pill to swallow, but our four-legged friends really shine some light into our office. COO and President, Jeff Katz, dropped a little bit of Def6 dog history on last week. This what he had to say, "Dogs have been a part of Definition 6 since the early days when our CEOs dog had her own Board of Director’s seat. You can’t help but smile when you see the D6 dogs interact. We all know their schedules, when they make their rounds, they know the treat givers, the cat lovers and ball throwers. Agency life can get stressful and believe it or not some of us may even be tempted to raise our voices, but for some reason people tend not to raise their voices when our 4 legged companions are in the room...

The privilege to bring your dog comes with great responsibility and the “dog owners” group does a pretty good job managing the canine community and helping new dogs (and their owners) get acclimated or sometimes encouraged to stay home. Like all of us at D6 our pups work hard and play hard."

The dogs of Definition 6 have become a staple and many local businesses in the area remember us for the wagging tails upon entry in our Atlanta headquarters. Having our dogs around the office is one of the aspects that excited me about working at Definition 6. I loved that the office allowed pets, and I can attest that my dog is much happier coming into work every day with me instead of being left at home. Traffic coordinator, Amanda Hilyer, is grateful she can bring her pug into the def6 offices daily. "My dog is a huge part of my life. I take her everywhere and having the opportunity to take her to work is awesome! When I'm at work I don’t worry about her being locked in the house, having to go potty, or being late to feed her. It is one less stress in my life and gives me something to laugh at on hard days. I love bringing CoCo Chanel to work every day! Thanks Michael and Jeff!"

Social Media Director, Jon Accarrino, loves bringing in his pups and they love it too. “Frankie & Brandy, love to come to work. If you haven't already met them, Frankie is a not-so-miniature Dachshund (he has a food obsession) and Brandy is a Vizsla-Beagle mix. Sometimes I drive into work and bring both dogs, but usually I just bring Brandy. She's a service animal and I have special permits that allow me to bring her places most dogs aren’t like the subway.”

Jon's dogs even tweet! “They both tweet under the same Twitter account: @TurdsandTreats or you can find photos of them on their Facebook fan page: TurdsandTreats." The dogs add some very funny and very furry character to the office, they brighten up everybody's day. It's hard to be in a bad mood when there is a 70 pound black lab at your feet.

Look out for the next dog blog to meet some of the office pups.

In Defense of Banners: Part 2

Doug Dimon — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:57:24 +0000

In my previous post, I outlined a few key observations that were made by the panel on which I recently participated. In our discussion, we also spent some time musing on the future possibilities.

The IAB recently announced new digital display ad units (they diligently avoid calling them “banners”). The Rising Stars Display Ad Units are more than simply a bunch of new sizes; they represent a new paradigm in display ads that allow brands to create a complex brand experience for the consumer without requiring them to live the page they are viewing. While the six new formats differ from each other in ways that make them more appropriate for use by certain brands, messaging, or publications, they all provide a larger canvas and much greater opportunity for multimedia and interactive executions.

Are they awesome? Well, yeah. These new formats open up a world of creative possibilities. The depth of content and experience they provide makes me salivate. Some of the implementations I see are really brilliant.

Will they succeed? Dunno. They will clearly be more expensive from a media buy and production perspective. We already established in my previous post that “banners” suffer from the problem of getting clients to invest enough in their production. And how will the consumers respond? If, and this is a big if, we can fill these new units with great content, they may actually give users a reason to enjoy ads again. Wouldn’t it be great if these “rising stars” got the star treatment currently bestowed on Super Bowl ads? It could happen. But it might not. It will take brands with an understanding that this is a fantastic new form of paid media and agencies that are courageous enough to push for their (proper) use.

It’s all about sharing.

People share everything… videos, articles, photos… why not ads? Actually, they already do via Pinterest and YouTube, but imagine if users could share banners right from the page they live on? There’s precedent (sort of).

The brilliant Axion Banner Concerts campaign gave users the ability to embed the ads on fan’s pages… something that added over 43,000 impressions to the nearly 7 million impressions gotten through paid media. Now imagine if anyone could have shared that content from anywhere they saw it… that’s real amplification.

Of course, there are all kinds of issues to work out with this model, but it does open up a lot of interesting possibilities. What if sharing the ad actually drove people back to the hosting page, thereby raising that pages views. Now the publishers win as well and we have the beginnings of an entirely new brand/publisher partnership model. And if we approach banners in the same we approach other sharable media, we will clearly pay more attention to the creative and content.

Or do we chuck the whole idea?

Is the basic idea of digital display media broken? Maybe banners underperform because as a format they are fundamentally flawed, unable to work as traditional display media and too expensive to produce as fully interactive media. If that’s the case (and I’m not convinced it is), what do we do about it. Tim suggested we do nothing and just let them die. The other panelists took exception with that as it essentially dooms the publishers, and none of us wanted to strip the content from the internet. But what we all did agree with was that just because we have been doing something one way, there is no reason to continue to do it that way. Industries have been devastated by choosing to ignore or fight against the fast changes that happen in the digital landscape. So maybe banners will continue to change, but the idea of digital display advertising will (and should) continue to be an integral part to the web experience.

Coming up in Part 3: What to do today to improve your banners.

The Art of Ideation Part 2: Preparation for Battle

John Harne — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 16:33:51 +0000

In my last article regarding ideation, I suggested that conflict, not harmony, made for better team ideation results. But before strapping up your armor to participate in a heated ideation session, there are some critical points of preparation that are needed and the first one is an ideation brief or briefing that will help kick start the team into their critical thinking.

Sun Tzu ended “The Art of War” with a chapter on intelligence and counter-intelligence, but when one is looking for a new idea that is where to start. Prepare your team with a brief of the situation including the core elements needed to create a solution to the client’s problem. There are numerous versions of briefs around the web that can provide direction to help you create an effective one. A good brief is critical to the success of the project. By defining a client’s needs clearly, the team can avoid distraction and deliver real results. Equally important is answering the why, when and how: why are they being asked to solve it, how will the ideas be used and when will the ideas be implemented. An example might be “how would you get young adults or late teens to consume more hot coffee via social media in 2012?” The team might be derailed if they argue the benefits or detriments of coffee as an appropriate beverage for teens or get too carried away by weighing factors like caffeine versus antioxidants that are relevant, but don’t address the solution. To do a good brief, you have to give the team enough understanding of objective, directing them on the task and allowing enough ambiguity for exploration. The result should be solutions based upon their collective thinking related to the customers, the culture, where the product would be consumed or purchased, economic considerations, the product itself, new uses for the product, past accepted uses and practices, past successful or failed campaigns for getting more people to drink coffee via social media and how all these factors influence each other. If you have prior research, personas or previous campaigns, the briefing is the time to make sure everyone has access to the material.

Sun Tzu’s ideas require time to implement. Creative ideas require time as well. In fact, studies have shown that our best thinking is done when we are relaxed and not directly focused on the problem and that requires time, hours, even days. So once your team is briefed, turn them loose and give them a minimum of a day to come up with their solutions. Attempting to hammer out a solution by keeping the team together is the least effective technique I know to get genuinely new solutions. When teams tackle problems together it is very easy to get into a virtual loop and follow it, just as people who are lost tend to walk in circles. With regard to relaxation, I have seen brainstorming consultants fill a room with little toys in an attempt to relax their corporate teams but the reality is they are still confined and tasked with a deadline in a room where any sense of fun or play is merely contrived. Dismiss the team and actually give them the hours to do it their own way. It is not mere coincidence that companies like Google and Nike have everything from table tennis to warm showers on their corporate campuses. So instead of focusing really hard on the problem, engaging in another activity or merely relaxing can be more productive then being together until ideas are forced.

Relaxation is the real key to productive ideation. The simple act of walking can trigger ideation. Einstein once said: “The legs are the wheels of creativity” and “Creativity is the residue of time wasted.” He knew how important relaxation was to his thinking. So for your next brainstorming session, have your team go do something relaxing or engaging that is not directly focused on the task. Encourage everyone on your team to keep notes of ideas that might be forming if they can, when they can, but without rules. I recommend the use of moleskin style notebooks or even notes on the smartphone to keep track of ideas. Work in a style that is individualistic to you and you cannot go wrong.

In my last part of this blog series on creativity I will address the presentation of ideas and the techniques to using criticism and conflict to sharpen the final output of brainstorming or ideation.

Photo via

Key Marketing Lessons from The Hunger Games

Paul Hernacki — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 15:37:00 +0000

By every measure the Suzanne Collins’ books and the subsequent movie have been massive successes. Most of us who have read the books have found them almost as hard to put down as did the teenage girls that first made them popular. The story is riveting, fast-paced, vivid, and induces emotion.

While the story isn’t really intended to be a lesson in marketing, it’s hard for someone who works in the marketing and advertising industry to read the books or see the movie and not recognize the key ways in which marketing and branding play a major role in the story.

For those who aren’t familiar with the storyline, I won’t re-cap everything; you can read more on that at Wikipedia or the official site. Fair warning, there are spoilers if you keep reading.

The heroine of the story, 17 year-old Katniss, suddenly finds herself swept up in a demented and futuristic annual reality television show, where she will be forced to fight to the death against 23 other children and teenagers, all from the enslaved and poor Districts that are subject to the wealthy and controlling Capitol. She knows she has little chance of winning and is most likely headed to her death. She and the other “Tributes” will be paraded around the Capitol in ceremonies and interviews, all of which will be televised to the entire country. They will be rated and scored for betting odds on their possible success. The entire country of Panem will be glued to every minute of the near 24x7 event and broadcast for weeks.

One fascinating aspect of this rather sick concept of a show is that the Capitol allows extremely wealthy patrons to pay large amounts of money to become Sponsors and send gifts to individual competitors during the actual Games in a sprawling outdoor arena. These could be weapons, food, water, medicine, or other things they need to survive and win. So to improve your chances of surviving, you need to stand out to the audience. It sounds a lot like good marketing might just be important.

Here are some key marketing lessons from The Hunger Games:

Establish a Brand Position

Every Tribute in the Games is assigned a personal stylist and prep team, along with a coach and mentor. It’s part of their job to help you stand out and get sponsors. Here’s where Katniss’ team excels. From the very first moment, they make her more than a contestant and person. They make her a brand – one that stands out. With a costume that is literally lit on fire as she rides on a chariot to be introduced to the throngs at the Games opening ceremony, she instantly becomes more than “the girl from District 12”; to all those watching, she becomes “Katniss: The Girl on Fire”. She has a stone-cold, serious look on her face, and yet it is at the same time beautiful, mysterious, powerful, and spectacular. She is memorable. This is followed up in her big pre-Games public interview where her stylist puts her in a beautiful dress that again ignites in synthetic flames as she twirls around – all to the delight of the audience while the announcers reinforce her brand of “The Girl on Fire”. She cements this all with an incredibly gutsy, if not rash, show of attitude and bravado in the secret training halls of the Gamemakers, that nets her the highest contestant pre-ranking. This makes her seen not only as deadly, but a possible winner. And everyone wants to back a winner.

Tell a Great Story, and Engage Influencers and Advocates

Katniss comes into the Games with an already interesting story to the viewers. Her father was killed years ago in the coal mines, and Katniss is really the sole provider of care and food for their family. Her 12 year-old sister Prim, was the one originally selected to be sent to the Hunger Games. Knowing this would mean certain death for the sister she loved so much, Katniss volunteered (an extremely rare occurrence) to take her place. It’s a good background story, but she’ll need more to really generate the needed interest of sponsors.

There are two Tributes in the Games from each of the 12 Districts, one boy and one girl. Both are coached by a mentor, who is a prior winner of the Hunger Games. Katniss and her male counterpart from District 12, a boy named Peeta, are coached by a man named Haymitch. At the urging of Haymitch, Peeta declares that he’s in love with Katniss during his publicly broadcast pre-Games interview. This is, of course, dramatically tragic in that there can be only one survivor of the Hunger Games. To the audience and potential sponsors, Peeta and Katniss are now “The Star-Crossed Lovers of District 12,” whose last moments together will be televised for the audience’s entertainment. They become the hottest subject of discussion and attention. Katniss and Peeta continue this storyline (which has at least some partial truth to it) during the televised games, working together, helping each other, and even sharing their first kiss during the Games, to the delight of the viewing audiences. All of this creates a most compelling story that builds upon Katniss’ brand and results in the charity of sponsors and their money, which brings key gifts to her in the arena to help her survive. Combining Katniss’ impressive skill with a bow and arrow, her general survival skills learned from taking care of her family, and some truly likeable and impressive other actions, and she becomes captivating as a story to everyone watching. She’s far from soft, but also unwilling to be the cold-blooded killer the Capitol wants her to be. Her story resonates with both the audiences in the Capitol and the Districts in ways both similar and very different.

As fans of the book series know, Katniss, as a brand, becomes even bigger in the subsequent novels as she transcends all of this to become the “Mockingjay,” a symbol of so much more than a Victor of the Games. And the lessons on branding and marketing continue throughout the series.

OK… so I admit it. I’m a fan just like my teenage cousins and all their girlfriends. But now that I’ve written this blog post, I can feel like I’ve rationalized it for work-related purposes, right?

May the ads be forever in your favor.

Top 5 Things You Need to Know About Facebook Timeline for Brand Pages

Jon Accarrino — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 20:26:45 +0000

In their third major layout change, Facebook officially transitioned user's profile pages to a new layout called Timeline a few months ago. But they delayed the transition for brand pages to March 30th, 2012. The delay for brands was to give them extra time to update their pages and apps. Even though Facebook has been reminding brands for months, it appears by all the confusion this past week that the forced migration to Timeline still caught many businesses by surprise.

I recently wrote an article on the top 5 things all Facebook brand page administrators need to know when it comes to Timeline. From new layouts, image sizes, apps and content to strategically using cover photos, the article outlines step by step the ways in which Facebook Brand Pages can increase traffic to your website, and can engage your audiences in new ways based on new abilities to interact as a result of the layout changes.

Read the full article at Ragan.com.

Hey Marketers! Listen to the Music Play

Bryce Kervin — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:44:21 +0000

The shift between the marketing portion and music portion of the SXSW event was vividly apparent. They were two completely different conferences and few people were bold enough to attend both. The marketing conference was chock full of early adopters (on the borderline of early obsessors) when it comes to technology or social media. Every marketer is looking for the next big thing, and whether it is a sexy new social media idea or the new tablet rumored to kill the iPad (ie. Ping, ConnectU, Friendster, and the HP Touchpad), they’re always looking for what’s hot. Conversely, the music business is always a few steps behind. It looks to be like the music business is wary of new technology, skeptical of ‘socially shared’ music, scared shitless of any emerging music platform, and have no clue what to do about all of this. At its core, music really boils down to the basic notion that people just want to listen to the music they love, where and when they want to listen to it.

The music business has severely suffered during this down economy and people are scared. The consumer masses are no longer buying CD’s. New companies like Spotify are stealing marketshare from iTunes and even Pandora has taken a hit. And if you think about it, all of those are relatively new revenue streams in the music business. Imagine what kind of hit iTunes will take once more cars have app integration with platforms like Spotify.

Musicians will need to learn how to work within the new music reality of streaming, free content, subscription services, and leveraging brands to help pay or promote their music.

Listening has certainly not decreased. As consumers, we listen every chance we get, hence the popularity for “music anywhere” apps. What if the music industry tapped into those motivations clearly shown by the interactive SXSW attendees? What if they used digital to provide free samples of music prior to an album release? This isn’t anything new - Mac Miller, an indie artist sold 186,000 copies and went #1 on his debut album by giving away all of his music leading up to his debut. That hadn’t happened in 16 years. Radiohead used a ‘name your price’ method for their album In Rainbows. This can also transcend to brands, who could use these opportunities to align themselves with an artist who reaches and influences their audience.

Jay-Z’s SXSW performance is a great example. AMEX hosted a free Jay-Z concert, where the typical ticket cost may average $100 or more. This was a great play. Everybody in attendance had to carry an AMEX card and they provided an amazing show with a ton of earned media surrounding the event.

Green Label Sound, a record label curated by Mountain Dew, has upped the ante when it comes to blurring the lines between brands and music fans. The artist has a great way to make money and Mountain Dew is aligning itself with young indie artists or bands. The opportunity is there between music and an experience with a brand. It’s time to listen to the music…

Oh GOODY!...The New Site Is Live

Margaret Parham Holt — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 16:59:00 +0000

If “Who is Goody?" is the thought that is currently running through your head, stop. Take a second and think of your sister, daughter, wife, or girlfriend's hair rubber band ball, favorite bracelet... and know that Goody has contributed to just about all of them for over the past 100 years. And if you are anything like me, then Goody instantly reminds you of quality hair care and styling products, and are actually a staple in your bag on a daily basis.

So you can imagine my excitement when I was working on a new project to launch a revised website for this brand. Some of their challenges were that the former site was all in Flash (a problem for viewing on iPad, iPhone, other mobile devices and even some browsers), the content was not easily found on the site and the overall look and feel was outdated.

Goody is inspired by the latest trends and innovative technologies and it was time to get their website on that same path. With the internet and social media literally taking over our lives day by day, Goody knew that it was time to build an eye catching website to showcase their new inventions. And with the launch of new products in heat styling, such as the Quick Style Paddle Brush and the Wave Creator Curling Iron, Goody needed a website that would challenge their competition both in style and in practicality.

The site launched in early March and as you can see, the new products are prominently featured on the homepage. The new look and feel is more aesthetic and more content has been created for each product, giving users more of a reason to stay on the site longer.

We also implemented a robust CMS solution for their team to easily edit content to the site, and it is no longer is a flash-based website, making mobile views accessible from virtually any device.

The feedback on this rollout has been great, especially from fans on their social media networks.

You can go view the full site at Goody.com.

AWNY Luncheon Honoring Ad Woman of the Year

Rachel Conforti — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 20:32:14 +0000

New York in Spring is really something special. Sunny, a light breeze, no humidity....it's rare that we get to enjoy this season, as winter normally slams into summer like a bat out of hell. So it was even more pleasant to attend a luncheon hosted by the Advertising Women of NY (AWNY) on Friday to celebrate something that is just as special as Spring in NY - though fortunately for us, not as rare - fabulously successful women in advertising. The AWNY Ad Woman of the Year Luncheon brought together 500 of the city's 'Mad (Wo)Men' to honor Jacki Kelley (Universal McCann), Laura Lang (Time Inc.) and our client, Wendy Clark (Coca-Cola).

From singalongs (yes, a rendition of "Country Road" was part of the toast!) to inspirational tales of Olympic feats, this group of women are truly changing the ecosystem in which we live. Their fearlessness, ambition, strength and hope are second to none. As Wendy's favorite quote states "Lift as you climb," so was the theme of the afternoon. It's no wonder project like Coca-Cola's "Open Happiness" campaign has been so successful under Wendy's leadership. Thanks to AWNY for gathering such a great group of people to honor these women. For the full album of pictures please visit AWNY's Facebook page.