“I think I understand… but can you give me an example?” Sure! Greg Pfeffer (professional stud muffin and digital guru) has a new business. He wants to grow his business because he wants to get more dates. Successful business = more dates. Simple, right?

To help Greg’s fairytale come true, we looked at ways to help his business grow through online marketing campaigns constructed from two (very willing) groups of audience volunteers. These guys (with the help of the JAR team) each constructed a mock campaign using JAR services like search engine optimization, mobile marketing, and social media strategy.

While the experts planned out their campaign, we entertained the audience with a classic game of analytical term charades. Lucky for us we had the very talented, Ms. Annie Kim, improv expert, to lead the group. From “Squeeze Page “ to “Feedback Loop”, the JAR team acted out a list of words and audience members shouted the correct answer. Winners received gift cards to the most awesome wine shop in Dumbo, Blanc & Rouge.

Campaigns are finalized. Improv winners have their prizes. Final question, which team will Greg decide to use for his website so he can get those dates?

The answer? Both! Greg decided that to maximize his business (and credit card for all of those dates he will hopefully be going on…), he would need a nice combination including: key word search, mobile marketing, social media strategy, and focus on his KPI’s (key performance indicators) to ultimately increase his company’s ROI.

Good choice, Greg. For all you lucky ladies out there, Greg Pfeffer is available and currently accepting applications. He enjoys yellow labs, long walks on the beach, and taking his lady-friends to the hottest spots the East Village as to offer.

We loved being a part of Creative Week New York. We’re heading down to St. Anne’s Warehouse tonight to celebrate the week’s success in Brooklyn. Come say hello!

We know this by the staggering amount of people, who have fallen prey to an infomercial at least once. Gary Vaynerchuck, a social media and wine expert, once suggested a “drawing a line in the sand” approach to understanding how people think and behave, especially when it comes to changing technologies. He describes the “line in the sand” as something people would vow to never do (e.g., I would never use Twitter.), and then staying true to your brand and its values.

In 2012, you’ll be hard-pressed to find people who still feel this way unless they choose to live in the stone ages of technology. Granted, there are still many folks who fail to see the point of Twitter and while I would love to explain its relevance, this would lead to a whole other blog post.

Twitter has gained a lot of influence since its founding in 2006 by providing brands, celebrities, and average folks a radical platform to leverage their influence and make an impact. Nowhere is this more evident than the countless online businesses targeting of anyone and everyone using this platform who, claim to “increase your following” and/or guarantee you X number of followers by Y date. To know there are businesses out there solely dedicated to “guaranteeing your following” is proof that having a large following carries a certain cachet in the digital world. If you could wake up with 50,000 more followers tomorrow versus your current 500 followers, would it make a difference?

Of course it would. It would mean you have more influence, more people care about what you have to say and most importantly, your opinions would matter to a whole lot of people, right?

Wrong.

You would then have 50,000 people who have never heard of you or your brand, owe you no loyalties, and don’t care about you or what you have to say. Compare this with 500 true followers that you have earned, people who have invested the time to get to know you/your brand through your tweets, reply to you, retweet you, and sometimes even favorite things you’ve said in 140 characters or less because they care about what you have to say. The latter points to a relationship cultivated organically, over time, which cannot be duplicated and certainly cannot be established overnight.

Why take a weight loss pill when you can eat right, exercise more and create a healthier lifestyle for yourself? A pill is the easy road. A road that people think exists, but likely has horrible ramifications in the future (phen phen anyone?).

If you care about your brand and where it’s going, you need to know when to draw the line in the sand.

What’s the something your brand would vow never to do under any circumstances, especially, if it would run the risk of jeopardizing the brand’s values? Find that. Stick to it no matter what. Then always remember the adage, old quote, “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” Your followers will love and trust you more for it.

My colleagues and I were part of a welcoming/check–in crew at this event. The table was complete with color–coded name tags, stacks of names and lots of sharpies. After writing down about fifty names, it hit me that no one has yet requested to have their Twitter handle as their “name” instead. In a digitally forward community, I was amazed that not one person would have requested this change. I was also amazed that we were still looking for attendee names by rifling through pages upon pages of paper in a list of names ordered alphabetically by last name.

This was all slightly disappointing but got me thinking about how many brands make the same mistake of failing to harness, and leverage, its social media outlets to drive conversation. If in 2012 your brand is asking “IF we should participate in the conversation,” you’re late, but that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the whole party.

Many brands now understand what social can do to ramp up sales and awareness but the truth is, social is bigger than that. If done right, it can nurture a kind of stickiness that can’t be created overnight: culture.

How is culture built? I find that the best way to define something is to understand what it is not.

Here’s the list of how culture IS NOT built:

• Pushing your product/service at every chance you get (turn off)
• Assuming your client/customer already knows about your product/service (another turn off)
• Failing to address the “not-so-nice” comments you may have received regarding a particular experience around your product/service (missed opportunities)
• Ignoring your community (there is absolutely no excuse for this one)

The truth is, as anything else worth doing, there is no easy answer. However, if you’re living and breathing the brand at every chance you get, you’re doing it right. Surprisingly, this approach is the most underrated but carries the most weight. When you’re in love with your brand, it shows. On top of that, you’ll probably discover a creative genius even you never thought you had in you. When you become borderline obsessed and crazy and don’t exactly know how to do the “controlled crazy” thing, give us a call. That’s when we step in!

Times are a changin’ over at Facebook.  Many individuals have chosen to make the switch over to the new Timeline profile page for their personal accounts, and brand pages are following suit, being converted to the new layout by Facebook on March 30^th.  With change comes uncertainty.  But, fear not!   A recent study by Simply Measured is easing marketers’ and brands’ apprehension about the switch by reporting a 46% increase in engagement or more engagement per post with the Timeline for brand pages.

When Facebook announced the upgrade for brand pages on February 29th, they promised the Timeline would help “showcase brand’s unique stories and identities.”  The new layout gives brands the opportunity to emphasize powerful images to their fans.  Brands are now able to tell a more engaging company story by adding pictures and sharing every awesome milestone your company has accomplished such as grand openings and new product launches.

Still a bit nervous about the switch?  Below are the main changes implanted by the Timeline for your brand page:

• The following is viewable “above the fold”: Category, About, Photos, Map (available for Place Page, Custom App, and Additional Custom Apps.
• Your custom tabs are not lost forever with the Timeline, but are now called “applications”. They will be aligned just under the header image to the right and will be able to accomplish the same things we did with the custom landing tabs.
• You can designate a couple of these apps as “favorites”; these will show up underneath your header image and to the right. To access additional applications, visitors will have to click the downward-pointing arrow to the right of your favorite apps.
• The pin-post feature can be used to promote and drive traffic to the custom apps or draw attention to certain posts. The post will remain at the top of the Timeline for a week.
• Fans and non-fans are able to message businesses privately. While businesses cannot initiate a private message to others, they can respond to incoming private messages.

Still have questions?  The JAR Group can help you re-vamp your social media strategy beyond the Timeline and increase your fan engagement to maximize brand awareness and your ROI.  Contact us if you’re interested in finding out how the JAR Group’s social media services could grow your brand’s online presence.

Thursday, The JAR Group was a proud sponsor at The Social Consumer 2012: Case Studies and Roundtables presented by the Business Development Institute and PR Newswire. Held at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, the agenda was packed full of industry experts including Michal Shapira of The Wall Street Journal, Jenn Dervin from JetBlue Airways, and BJ Emerson of Tasti D-Lite, just to name a few.

JAR’s very own Hide Harashima and Dan Vassallo were moderators at two roundtables, “Getting Insights from Social Analytics” and “Measuring ROI for Social Media Campaigns”, respectively.

I was fully impressed by The Wall Street Journal Digital Network’s media strategies. They implemented an incredible outreach to expand their typical WSJ demographic by including non-traditional outlets for the brand, like Pinterest. Knowing what folks were interested in, they were able to reach out to them through other forms of media showing this new audience that WSJ is more than just “news”. This cross distribution proved to be incredibly successful and today, their WSJ Facebook page now receives, on average, 100 “likes” or comments per post.

Jenny Dervin, VP of Corporate Communications for JetBlue Airways was very insightful on how to build an audience for your brand. One word: ENGAGE! Your markets are your conversations and that is what you are trying to build.

These speakers, along with an awesome presentation by Tasti D-Lite’s VP Technology, BJ Emerson, were all focused on transparency, reaching your audience in real time, and engaging with those interested in your brand. These corporations have prime examples of successful marketing plans that brought insightful strategies I will definitely start putting into practice!

A few of us were perched up at our sponsor table for meet and greets with the attendees.

We had a lot of traffic in our little area, but I think these books are really what drew them in! They were a hit!

We’ll be sponsoring another BDI event on April 19, The Social Customer Service Leadership Forum. Register early! AJ Lawrence, our CEO, will be a panelist along with Robin Carey of Social Media Today and Morgan Johnson, social Media Strategist of JetBlue Airways.

See you next month!

Comparing my life to one of these books both excited and scared me. What if I make the wrong decision? Why can’t I skip ahead to the next chapter? Why can’t I know the ending now? What if I’m not ready to take on the responsibility that waits before me? Can I go back to the previous chapter and choose again?

It’s enough to drive one mad!

Throughout my teens and 20’s, I put this to the test and encountered many crossroads, both big and small, but like most young adults I was fearless and believed my invincibility cloak would see me though. Thankfully that worked quite well until I reached my 30’s.

At age 32, I had 6 years of music supervising films, television and ads under my belt and was increasingly becoming concerned about the state of the industry and my position in it. The new kids on the block (YouTube, iPhone and Facebook) came in like a digital tsunami and swept half of our clients’ consumers online. This then transformed into stretched or disappearing music budgets, where I was often asked “Can we get more for less?”

It became clear that my invincibility cloak wasn’t going to save me this time, so instead of sitting on the sidelines waiting for my clients to figure out a way to reengage their customers online, I jumped on Google to do a little research of my own. One night after a couple months of reading articles, blogs and studies on the digital wild west, I typed in two words “digital” & “marketing” and the first thing that popped up was NYU’s Digital Media Marketing program. It took very little time to piece together that this program was the next chapter of my story. With my ongoing fascination in marketing and current frustration with deteriorating budgets for traditional media, enrolling was a no brainer.

So in Fall 2011, I began my first two classes (Web Analytics and Digital Strategy) and was amazed to see such a diverse group of people equally eager to stay on top of the digital world of marketing. I was in heaven! What’s not to love about being with likeminded people who are not fighting, but embracing the digital landscape with cutting edge ideas and tools.

6 months later I had the pleasure of meeting and joining The JAR Group, a fast growing digital agency who chooses to break away from the pack and look for new ideas where others don’t. One way I noticed this is how The JAR Group hires their staff. Like the author of the International best-selling book, “The Medici Effect – What Elephants And Epidemics Can Teach Us About Innovation”, JAR believes that bringing in people from different backgrounds, experiences and cultures is the single best way to create market share, profit margin and cost savings.

What company wouldn’t want a team who could do this for them?!

I don’t know about you, but I think this 30-something, post-music supervisor will fit into this family quite nicely.

1. Be Human. Be Real. – What separates Tim Tebow from other Super Star NFL players is his level of awareness about himself and others. Here’s what Rick Reilly had to say about him,

“Every week, Tebow picks out someone who is suffering, or is dying, or who is injured, flies them and their families to the Broncos game, rents them a car, puts them up in a nice hotel…gets them and their families pregame passes, visits with them just before kickoff, gets them 30-yard line tickets down low, visits with them after the game (sometimes for an hour), has them walk him to his car, and send them off with a basket of gifts.” (Read the full article here: http://es.pn/xDUFOa)

Does your brand have this level of commitment to the community you serve? Your brand is an extension of who you are as a company and its culture, what you do “off the field” carries just as much weight as it does “on the field.”

2. CARE - Absolutely. This deserves its own category. There is NEVER enough “CARE” for brands, big and small. If Tim Tebow has time to visit his fan just before kickoff, brands have no excuse but to do the same before a product launch. However, if product launches are the only time your brand reaches out to the community, well then that’s not really caring, is it? Obsess over questions like, “What ways is my brand extending our CARE to my customers/clients/community?” If you or your brand is not addressing this question, you’re missing a fundamental building block for the future of your community.

3. Be CURRENT - On Tim Tebow’s website (www.timtebow.com), you’ll see strong calls to action. You’ll see relevant social media plug-ins that help his fans connect with him. You’ll see updates of his latest tweets front and center “above the fold.” In the current digital age, there is no excuse for your brand not to have the social tools to connect with your community. First of all, it’s free. Second, it has the potential to substantially increase the size of your community in a short amount of time. This is true for brands of all sizes. In a matter of seconds, a single persons’ opinion about your brand can be amplified to hundreds of people instantly. You/your brand can choose to embrace real time connections with the community, or always be chasing a step behind.

4. Have a PERSONALITY - CBS analyst Shannon Sharpe reported, “The fans love this guy.” (Full article here: http://bit.ly/yLTL3p) His personality is contagious. Tebow’s featured video on his website is two minutes and thirty seconds long. In that time, he has given a snapshot of who he isn’t afraid to be. HIMSELF. There’s nothing worse than a brand without a clear sense of who they are. Not only know your brand, but OWN it. If your brand’s personality is dependent on a marketing strategy, well then that’s an area your brand needs to work on. Ultimately, you need a brand VOICE.

5. EXECUTE - It is not a fluke that Tim Tebow was the first round NFL draft pick for 2010 and the first ever sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy. The last minute touchdown, against the Steelers, showed the NFL community that he CAN execute under extreme pressure. If your brand isn’t delivering on its goals, don’t be afraid to drop what you’re doing and re-asses your brand model. In this industry, actions speak louder than words.

6. Have CHARACTER - This is what Tim Tebow has to say after the devastating loss against the Patriots, “Any time you’re getting beat like that; it doesn’t change how you fight. It didn’t matter whether it was the first play or the last play or whether we’re down by 42. … I wanted to be the same player.” (Full article here: http://www.tebowzone.com/) If brands can carry that same attitude even with the most disappointing results, which every brand will inevitably face, it will not only force you to think about the core of your brand but it will also inform the choices your brand makes in the future.

7. Have Original Content - Unless you’ve been living under a rock these past weeks, you’ll know that Tebowing is now an official dictionary term defined as, “to get down on a knee and start praying, even if everyone else around you is doing something completely different.” (www.tebowing.com) Dedicated and loyal fans have made “Tebowing” into a trend and has spread across all media channels including a local New York News Channel. You’ll see lots of schwag (T-shirts, hats, cups, etc.) with a Tebowing logo which is instantly recognizable. Does your brand have this kind of influence to the community your brand serves? The real question is, does your brand give fans something great to talk about? Maybe getting your own dictionary word is a reach but we think that serving original content is a good place to start for any brand.

8. Get INVOLVED - The truth of the matter is there is no way your brand can understand your community by sitting on the sidelines and reporting in from the outside. Being involved means active participation in the conversations taking place around your subject matter.

9. Have a MESSAGE- In the world of social media, there is heavy emphasis being placed on specific platforms brands use to deliver the message when the truth is, it’s the MESSAGE that counts. Consider Tim Tebow’s virality across various platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, G+, etc. It wasn’t the platform used, it was the MESSAGE.

10. Be Humble- Despite the historic loss for the Broncos against the Patriots 45-10, there’s one thing that cannot be taken away from Tim Tebow. According to the ESPN Sports Poll, Tim Tebow is now America’s favorite pro athlete but here’s what Tebow had to say in response, “…I hope people see I’m real and genuine. I hope they see that I make a ton of mistakes but that I always get back up and try again.” (Full article here: http://es.pn/wWCdpB) It’s not hard to see why Tebow has over a million fans following him on Twitter. Can your brand be humble enough to admit to mistakes but show willingness to care genuinely about the community? Remember that, in the end, your brand is an extension of who you are as a company and its culture.

In the early days, we had a barter economy; we would trade our resources and/or services to sustain our livelihood. You get half of my cattle and in exchange I get a bag of salt (it was very valuable back then!). It was not only necessary for survival but also for establishing good merchant relationships to garner future transactions. In reality, not much has changed, other than the platforms used. This is because of (you guessed it) technology. Though the word “platform” may be used in various contexts, I would like to make it synonymous with two words (just for now and sake of clarity): Digital space.

Facebook, as you’re probably familiar with this popular social networking platform, occupies the same space. You can connect, share and post all within a click of a mouse. It is a remarkable thing. For most, Facebook has become the single most powerful vehicle we share news and information. In addition, a new social vehicle emerged in 2006 which allows all of the information to be shared in real time. Welcome to Twitter. Everyone can now share a “Tweet” (a 140 character limit) of anything they want the world to know and “Follow” anyone they find relevant to their interest. Just like that, everyone is potentially connected to each other. In this day and age, “The world is at your fingertips.”

In the digital space, everyone gets to create his/her own “brand.” In other words, the traditional days of marketing which, almost always, required a middle-man (the publisher) are now largely over. Anyone can now publish anything anywhere through various publishing platforms in this digital space. Thousands of businesses (corporate brands) have caught on to this and now use social media as part of their overall marketing strategy (a smart move.)

Many businesses now hire “Digital Agencies” to develop marketing strategies to track, measure and increase their corporate brand visibility in the digital space. You might be asking yourself why the “digital space” is so much more in demand than traditional media streams (TV, Newspapers, radio, etc.). There are several reasons: a.) When people are operating in the digital space, they’re actively participating and b.) For the first time, these platforms have made it possible for businesses to directly engage with their consumers and establish relationships with them in the digital space. Now, corporate brands have an opportunity to put a face to the name and do business while being human. (isn’t it also cheaper?)

So what do I do? I work for a Digital Agency.

Each holiday season The JAR Group has been operating, we have celebrated our client’s successes by partnering with a local business to show our appreciation for local entrepreneurs. It is our belief that a culture of success starts with the community that surrounds us. One of The JAR Group’s communities includes Dumbo, a creative tech forward neighborhood. So it’s only appropriate that we partnered with a local gallery to host our holiday party.

Finding the perfect location for your company’s holiday party is sometimes a challenge. The venue needs to be distinct to your office culture, while remaining true to your budget. This year, we met the perfect match with a private dinner party at Spring.

We are proud to be a member of the NY Digital District in Dumbo and choosing to host our office holiday party in the neighborhood was a no-brainer. Spring could not have been more accommodating to our needs. Anna and Steve, the owners of Spring recently started hosting cocktail and dinner events at their beautiful gallery space.

As far as party decorations, we left that in the hands of the experts. Spring set up a long dining table in the center of the gallery that really made our 17 person dinner party seem united. Exceptional designer lights in the shape of upside down lamps hung from the ceiling as we took in the unique artwork that lined the walls. The friendly staff was on hand to provide insight into the art and make sure our wine glasses were never empty.

In addition to its chic art gallery décor and vibes, Spring’s partnership with Chef Heather White is deliciously on point. From working hands-on to create a personal menu, catering to individuals ‘ vegetarian requests, and providing an out-of-this-world pumpkin ricotta tart, the food definitely spoke for itself. Some other menu highlights include fluffy sausage calzone pastry and a seasonal mushroom ravioli in chive butter – all made with fresh ingredients and cooked right on scene!

Here at The JAR Group, we take great pride in creating value for our clients. Similarly, it was such a lovely experience to have our holiday party at Spring, where our satisfaction was their main concern. Thank you Spring gallery! We also thank each of our clients and partners who allowed us to celebrate another successful year.

Happy holidays and we hope to hear from you in 2012.

AJ is a serial entrepreneur and has been a digital marketer for 20 years. Before founding The JAR Group, AJ started 5 companies and currently is an angel investor and advisor for start-up companies. A.J. is on the steering committee for NYU FACES (Finding a Cure for Epilepsy and Seizures), a leading not for profit focused on improving the quality of life for those with Epilepsy.

Hide has been at four start-ups before building up a business within a corporation. A serial product developer, Hide developed successful product launches that were competitive advantages in the industry. He helped scale the technology business, and with 8 acquisitions, he was responsible for integration of systems, processes, and the technology team.

Together, with AJ’s agency experience and Hide’s technology and data management experience, they are in the process of developing an online tool to allow businesses to manage their vast amount of data to provide insight to make more informed business decisions.

EOC’s Job$mart Career Hour brings students and executives together to discuss career-related issues and topics and to assist students in gaining a greater knowledge and understanding of the various industries and organizations. For more information on the Baruch Executives on Campus program, go to blsciblogs.baruch.cuny.edu/eoc/.

We thank Baruch’s Executives on Campus for allowing us to be a part of their graduate student programming.