So, if you’ve visited any marketing blogs in the past month, you’ve likely seen the coronation of the latest social media pin-up gal: Pinterest — the visual content curation site.

We don’t take anything away from this little gem’s success. What started as a female-dominated medium with recipe swapping and fashion wish lists recently reached feverous Beatlemania-esque squeals for it’s rapidly growing, invitation-only membership (from Oct. 2010 to Oct. 2011, the site grew 8,000 percent from 40,000 to 3.2 million unique visitors). Demographics show users remain female-dominated at 80 percent, with 55 percent of users between 25 and 44. In other words, this site grips a pretty desirable group for most businesses and marketers.

Now, before CMOs rush into their next meeting demanding a Pinterest presence and then asking what it is (remember those first Facebook and Twitter meetings?), they should take a few minutes to learn about how business can best approach this new social superstar.

1. Visual Industries are a No-Brainer
Products requiring little explanation to this market hold the inside track. Apparel, travel, home improvement? Please step to the front of the line. This plane is already packed and taxing down the runway, so hurry up, please. Don’t have a spring line to show? Your invitation may require a bit more creativity … but don’t count yourself out just yet. Think of aspirational angles for what your product or service can achieve.

2. Good Pins Showcase Great Strategy
Is your target innovative? Sophisticated? Hip? Don’t just slap up a catalog of product shots while forgetting the target insight you use for your other outreach. Is your pin appropriate for this audience? Is it relevant enough to display and entice repinning? With so much competition, this is not a time to throw something up just to see if it sticks. Smart companies will pin strategically. The rest become annoying — and embarrassing — clutter.

3. Keep ‘Em Coming
With some sources reporting an average user spends about 72 minutes per month on the website, there’s a lot of pinning going on. Traffic on most explorer and activity walls moves pretty rapidly, so small campaigns risk becoming overwhelmed. Make certain you keep an appropriate inventory for any Pinterest promotion.

4. If You Invite Company, Clean Up the Place
Pinterest links provide paths to your site, whether it’s a product homepage or blog. Check your current images and copywriting. Traffic may no longer arrive simply from personal interaction and search engines. They may tag along with Pinterest friends. Be certain to make them feel welcome.

5. Don’t Let Them Pinpoint Narcissistic Traits
Just like we learned on Facebook and Twitter, a varied feed builds interests. If posts are only self-serving you’ll lose followers quickly … and possible brand traction along with it.

We think Pinterest holds a lot of opportunities for those who approach it thoughtfully. Strategic moves also outlast the rush of the crowd every time … and there are a lot of dead Facebook fan pages to prove it.

Summary: The Account Manager runs the day-to day operations of allocated projects inclusive of spot TV, radio, online and other opportunities as they arise for a Fortune 500 client.

• Manage client expectations with the ability to recognize critical issues and resolve them.
• Provide strong leadership, strategic insight and proactive solutions (internal and external).
• Manage workflow, analytics, project tracking, timelines and budgeting.
• Fiscally responsible for all allocated initiatives.
• Provide growth and leadership for the Account Coordinator(s).
• Must be extremely detail oriented, personable and thick skinned with a go-getter positive attitude and the ability to articulate written/verbal communications clearly.

Ideal candidates will have experience in the following areas:

• 2–4 years account-management experience inside an advertising agency and with large clients.
• Expertise in broadcast (spot TV and radio), project management, production processing, testing and reporting. Sponsorship, online and print experience a big plus.
• Relationship management with key client contacts and multiple agencies/vendors.
• Proactive strategic thinker with experience in brand marketing, consumer product, research and client reporting functions.
• Management of monthly, quarterly and annual account financial management/reporting/billing.
• Excellent oral communication as well as presentation and writing skills (both long-form and PowerPoint).
• Ability to supervise and mentor coordinator-level staff and increase overall team productivity/morale.

Only qualified applicants will be considered. Salary is negotiable based on experience and relevant qualifications. To apply, please forward résumé and cover letter to jobs@sanderswingo.com.

Broadcast Account Supervisor — Austin, Texas

Account Manager — Austin, Texas

While it seems unlikely that this funding avenue for L.A. waiter/actors and Brooklyn barista/songwriters keeps Goldman Sachs executives up at night, a few recent success stories demand a serious look at the crowd-sourced funding phenomenon. Startup marketing may no longer live exclusively in b-to-b, as consumers get in on backing the products and companies they desire.

In Austin, Texas, entrepreneurs sought to open the nation’s first package-free, zero-waste grocery store. When their idea fell short of the funding needed to open the doors to their bulk-bin bonanza, they turned to an online crowd-sourced funding campaign. The move not only greased their financial tracks, but also created marketing gold.

Utilizing the site IndieGoGo, the start-up posted a short concept video and established $25-$2,000 tiers for a $15,000 fund-raising goal. Within two months, they reached that goal with a variety of very non-Wall Street investment incentives, including t-shirts and growlers of beer. Naturally, many of the supporters were local, potential customers. Others, from California, Canada and the U.K., simply supported the brand concept.

Along the way, the company picked up more than 2,500 Twitter and 5,000 Facebook followers, as well as more than 120,000 YouTube views — all for a store that will not open until later this year. Many followers living thousands of miles away from in.gredients’ doormat, left notes already pleading for expansion. The company’s video pitch, constant online-engagement and a generous dose of blog and traditional media clips (including Time and Rolling Stone) established a solid brand without boundaries.

With the success of crowd-sourced funding now moving realistically into the entrepreneurial world, sold marketing — including brand stories, segment targeting, digital outreach and incentives, not only plays a role in getting customers in the door.

It may just be essential for getting the doors open in the first place.

1. This year looks eerily like last year. You haven’t seen any movement. The adage no news is good news does not apply here. Sure, you feel better than if you lost ground, but a lack of momentum only holds so long before things start to head south.

2. You’re continuing to give out those logo mouse pads because, after all, you paid for them. OK, so maybe it’s not that bad, but content can look dated quicker than you realize. Scan all your materials for any hot trends you were riding … if they’re past their prime, they possibly serve more harm than good. While we’re at it, look at your keyword data. How current is your lexicon?

3. You’re not hitting measurement projections. This one seems like a no-brainer, but you’d be amazed how often people keep campaigns in place by focusing their creativity on excuses instead of outreach. Granted, sometimes projections may be off for a specific reason (e.g. bad weather during a regional promotion), but more times than not, you’re viewing musty strategy. And while we’re at it … stop blaming everything on a slow economy. It’s a fact, not an alibi. Smart companies look at how to best appeal to wary consumers. If you simply wait for the news to change, you might be the next dismal paragraph.

4. Measurement projections? If you have no idea what we mean in number three, we should talk. Remember, measurement does not stop with ROI. Your tools should look at holistic audience growth and conversion as well. If you haven’t been monitoring Click Through Rate (CTR), Conversion Rate, Cost Per Action (CPA) for your online and mobile campaigns as well, you might find yourself exhausted by swimming in a whirlpool.

5. You’re Justin Bieber. Today’s star is tomorrow’s reality-TV nightmare. If you’re riding high, it’s probably time to start looking for your next splash. Just ask Leif Garrett.

Sometimes the cure to what ails you might be a simple tweak or refocused promotion. Or, you might need to start digging at the roots in your audience definition or segmentation. Either way, ignoring those first something’s-not-right sniffs never proves pleasant.

Of all the social-media trends, we’ve curiously followed the location services most closely — specifically, Foursquare since its 2009 launch. Early on, it became apparent that Twitter could transform over-sharing of your favorite sandwich to a legitimate marketing communication. But how willing would people appear in transitioning cyber-stalking to a physical level with geo-location sites?

Apparently, we’re fairly willing. While it’s been a slow expansion beyond the realm of early adopters and the 35-and-under crowd, it seems this inexpensive mobile marketing continues to persistently tug at the holdouts, leaving many doom-and-gloom predictions cold.

Oh, how easily concerns of security can be dismissed with the offer of a free bagel upon check-in.

If you’re still not convinced that Foursquare goes beyond the hipsters and tweens, look at their check-in statistics from Black Friday this past holiday season. Yes, the hipsters came in first, placing Starbucks at number one, and the teens met their friends at McDonalds, which came in second. However, Wal-Mart sat solidly in third place at 150,000 check-ins that day. Others in the top 10 included the not-so-trendy locations of Target, Best Buy, Home Depot and Costco. Clearly, these check-ins were about promotional campaigns and associated discounts, not bragging rights as the man-about-town.

With more than 15 million global Foursquare users, the geo-location numbers don’t scratch at the social-media giants of Facebook and Twitter. However, with more than a half-million business locations now registered and an average of a billion check-ins per day, Foursquare’s momentum seems to be growing as it evolves into a more business-savvy tool.

The key to this success rests clearly on merchants’ abilities to motivate users. One standout last year was Starwood Hotels’ check-in reward program. Foursquare check-ins earned loyalty-program users an additional 250 points during the peak travel season. In less than two months of their summer promotion, Starwood distributed almost 10 million points. The program’s success prompted a second round for the holiday season.

So while others may dismiss these check-in promotions, we’re continuing to check them out. If momentum holds, 2012 could finally serve notice of their arrival.

Summary: The Account Supervisor “runs” the day-to day operations of their allocated area of business inclusive of Spot TV, Radio, Online and other opportunities as they arise for a Fortune 100 client.

• Manage client expectations with the ability to recognize critical issues and resolve them strategically and diplomatically.
• Delegates without giving up responsibility, control, and authority.
• Provides leadership, setting the standard for other levels of account service personnel.
• Develop strong strategic insights and proactive solutions (internal and external).
• Manage workflow, analytics, project tracking, timelines, budgeting.
• Fiscally responsible for all allocated initiatives.
• Must be extremely detail oriented, personable, thick skinned with a go-getter positive attitude and the ability to articulate written/verbal communications clearly.

Ideal candidates will have experience in the following areas:

• 4-6 years account management experience inside an advertising agency and with large clients.
• Expertise in broadcast (Spot TV and Radio), project management, production process, testing, and reporting. Sponsorship, Online and Print experience is a big plus.
• Relationship management with key client contacts and multiple agencies/vendors.
• Pro-active strategic thinker with experience in brand marketing, consumer product, research and client reporting functions.
• Management of monthly, quarterly and annual account financial management/reporting/billing.
• Excellent oral communication as well as presentation and writing skills (both long-form and PowerPoint).
• Ability to supervise and mentor Manager and Coordinator-level staff and increase overall team productivity/morale.

Only qualified applicants will be considered. Salary is negotiable based on experience and relevant qualifications. To apply please forward resume and cover letter to jobs@sanderswingo.com

Summary: The Digital Account Supervisor “runs” the day-to day operations of their allocated area of business inclusive of digital, sponsorships and other opportunities as they arise for a Fortune 100 client.

• Manage client expectations with the ability to recognize critical issues and resolve them strategically and diplomatically.
• Delegates without giving up responsibility, control, and authority.
• Provides leadership, setting the standard for other levels of account service personnel.
• Develop strong strategic insights and proactive solutions (internal and external).
• Manage workflow, analytics, project tracking, timelines, budgeting.
• Fiscally responsible for all allocated initiatives.
• Must be extremely detail oriented, personable, thick skinned with a go-getter positive attitude and the ability to articulate written/verbal communications clearly.

Ideal candidates will have experience in the following areas:

• 4-6 years account management experience inside an advertising agency and with large clients.
• Expertise in digital (website development, content creation planning/management, banners, social media, mobile and emerging media) as well as project management, production process, testing, and reporting. Sponsorship experience is a big plus.
• Relationship management with key client contacts and multiple agencies/vendors.
• Pro-active strategic thinker with experience in digital, brand marketing, consumer products, research and client reporting functions.
• Management of monthly, quarterly and annual account financial management/reporting/billing.
• Excellent oral communication as well as presentation and writing skills (both long-form and PowerPoint).
• Ability to supervise and mentor Manager and Coordinator-level staff and increase overall team productivity/morale.

Only qualified applicants will be considered. Salary is negotiable based on experience and relevant qualifications. To apply please forward resume and cover letter to jobs@sanderswingo.com

• Hang On to Your Chads, America
No matter who’s in the race, election years always prove a little tricky, as topics rise and fall in consumers’ minds with every news cycle. If the past few months’ polling serves as any indication, we’re dealing with a very fickle voting public and should expect all sorts of issues to be thrown on the wall until something sticks. Economy, environment, taxes, healthcare? This could be a wild one.

• Exchanging Panic Rates
Consumers are scared of the euro issue even though they aren’t sure why. This makes the topic even more dangerous. Should we see the American economy gain some strength but stories of austerity measure across the pond continue, U.S. consumers may still hold their pocketbooks close. However, on the bright side, with many analysts predicting a possible even exchange between the dollar and euro by next fall, look for new movement in the travel industry and related products.

• QR Codes’ Luck with the Ladies
Quick Response or mobile-action codes caught on at astounding rates with print advertisers and every neighborhood realtor. They saw a 476 percent growth in magazine-ad use from January through September of this year. Surprisingly, fashion, beauty and celebrity magazines showed strong growth in QR-code use, killing the widespread fallacy that those funny black-and-white graphics would be confined within tech segments until gaining strength. Signs point to huge adoption rates among females. Revlon led in usage, followed by Cuisinart, Garnier, Delta and John Frieda.

• “American Idol” Dreams On
Preseason predictions of the revamped show’s 10th season forecasted a 15 to 20 percent drop. Well, look who pulled a Monday Night Football and stayed strong despite the changes in lineup. The new cast was not enough to make a comfortable audience tune out, and it retained the number-one rating, and more importantly, held a 79 percent higher rating among 18-to-49-year-olds than the next biggest show. Why should you care? A couple of kids singing pop covers proved the best argument for brand loyalty heading into 2012.

We’ll be back in a few weeks to hash through the latest in the new year. Until then, we wish you all a safe and happy holiday.

Gluten-free is now one of fastest-growing segments of the specialty-food market and the fastest-growing products in the global food-allergy and food-intolerance market. Its foods and beverage sales reached $2.6 billion last year, adding to the annual growth rate of 30 percent from 2006 to 2010. With sales predicted to exceed $5 billion by 2015, foods once only on the radar of those with Celiac Disease are now a major player. So what factors induced this brownie bonanza?

Growing Diagnosis of Need
The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy reports that Celiac Disease affects approximately 1 in 133 people — about 2 million people in the United States. European diagnoses far outnumber those in the U.S., which only saw a recent surge. As awareness and diagnoses grow, industry sees a population with growth potential.

Celebrity Factor
One of the fastest ways to jump-start a bandwagon is to make it first-class. Tennis-star Novak Djokovic claims that part of his successful year, which included a number-one ranking and three Grand Slam titles, stemmed from his new gluten-free diet. Elizabeth Hasselbeck, who was actually diagnosed with Celiac Disease, chats about her gluten-free adventures on ABC’s “The View,” and Gwyneth Paltrow blogs about her conversion because the actress views it as healthier.

It Does Everything but Windows
A survey of those intentionally seeking gluten-free products revealed many channels of motivation, some supported by science, others still out for debate (placing it firmly in the news). Of those shoppers, 46 percent believed gluten-free products were healthier, 36 percent viewed it as a weight-loss aid, 24 percent associated gluten-free with quality, and 13 percent claimed benefits regarding hyperactivity/autism.

Why Not?
Amazingly, according to a study by Packaged Facts this year, only 15 percent of consumers intentionally bought a gluten-free product. More than half didn’t realize they were gluten-free. How’s that for a Pepsi challenge? You expand to your specialty market without the risk of alienating a larger crowd. In addition, foods that are naturally gluten-free, such as milk, honey and water, now often add the “gluten-free” mantra to packaging with no additional precautions or expense beyond labeling.

The FDA looks to regulate gluten-free labeling in the coming months as a response to this roaring trend. But for now, grab a gluten-free reindeer by the horns and chomp away. Everyone’s doing it.