marketing

Branding. It's a tough game. As a communications agency, we've considered slipping into the "imaging" business only to pop back out since GOSH not only is it tough, it's ridiculously subjective.  "No, no, no, not the right color, tone, vibe, historical reference." TOO frightening for our stomachs. But, we get it, and that's important in our business. Let the other brains do that heavy lifting...

And as a communications agency we know good commercials when we see them. They are engaging enough to do 2 things:

1) Not make us want to flip the channel...

2) Give us enough good content to actively look forward to seeing them again...

Now, if a commercial meets this criteria it's a good one in our books, and definitely worth the trillions of dollars brands spend to produce them.

Take those E*Trade commercials that feature those cute and somewhat surely kids. LOVE THEM. Can watch them over and over again. I never get sick of them. Ever. If I was going to do my own trading, I'd have to go with that brand. I'm hooked.

So, Miss Lohan, I know you have your own brand to protect, and protect it you should (!) but lighten up on E*Trade. No offence, but have you really been that damaged by the commercials?  Really think about it, compare it to past debacles and you may find it's not that bad after all.

Source: uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu

As a communications agency that does a whole lot of things that could be called marketing (and always has, even when it wasn’t popular), I started thinking about changing the way we positioned ourselves. Should we be a “marketing” agency? With the advent of WOM and the launch of our Consumer Engagement Marketing division and the various ways in which we help our clients build their brands, not only through awareness but also via business development strategies, it just seemed a natural evolution. Until I started really thinking about it… In the IMC process, the agency lineup generally includes advertising, pr, digital, cp and media buying. Not marketing, so much. To re-position your company as a marketing firm might just make it difficult to pitch yourself.  Today, specializing might be the best thing to do. But specializing doesn’t mean you have to only do one thing, not really. If you are a communications agency you can add in business development when needed, or brand alliances, or even online viral marketing and content ideation. If you’re a media-buying agency you can come up with brand building platforms that reach well beyond what is considered your scope of work. Advertising agencies are definitely dipping down into digital in way they haven’t in the past. It’s all a big mix, which makes the case that a “marketing” agency could encompass all of these things and have a great place to live. But, I still think it just might be a case of all things to all people, but still a master of none…

Just a thought. We’re sticking with communications, albeit pr on steroids.
 

Working on the Consumer Engagement Marketing team, we don’t have textbooks to help us out when we have a question. Blogs on social media trends are our Textbooks 2.0, and we thought it’s about time we share our appreciation for all the great tips and thoughtful guidance we got from our favorite bloggers.

MASHABLE—We LOVE Mashable and follow their updates almost religiously. Their blogs are the words we live by. One of the largest blogs on the Internet, it’s also one of the “funnest”—at least for us, semi-geeky girls on the digital division. Thanks to Mashable, I can find my way in the ever-changing universe of Social Web 2.0 (or, better to say, I don’t feel completely lost anymore.) Plus, I know all about upcoming iPhone applications and can shamelessly show off my erudition in front of my boyfriend’s pals. What I love the most about Mashable is reading user comments on the posts: witty one-liners or three-paragraph-long “reviews.  The responses help us look at the news and trends from different perspectives.

TECHCRUNCH—Here at BBC, we live in a very feminine environment (just two guys to our more than a dozen girls) and work with mostly female-oriented products. But we also read TechCrunch — and truly enjoy it. After all, every girl needs a break from all that tabloid craziness once in a while.

CISION BLOG—Coming from a traditional PR background and working as “digital communicators,” we have to be adapting to the changing media landscape every day. Luckily, there’s the Cision Blog – a great resource for news and trends from the worlds of PR and digital. They cover all we need to know about the present state of the PR industry, evolution of social media, and provide useful tips on media analysis, monitoring, and research.

ROTOR BLOG—Rotor Blog is a great destination for news on social networking and online communications. The blogger, Maris Dagis, is the 25-year-old CEO of an IT company and blogs from Latvia. The content is always fresh and interesting; all the posts are super-easy to comprehend, and there is something appealing for everyone, from online fashion and style news (check out his blog post on StyleCaster) to finding the perfect personal trainer online.
 
NETWITSTHINKTANK.COM—This blog publishes great information on social media for non-profits, how to fundraise via Twitter, how to recruit volunteers on Facebook, how to leverage web technology for charities. Net-Wits-Think-Tank has it all. It is also a great place to read about the growing role and power of social media in online marketing. Our pro-bono client charity:water is often mentioned in this blog because of its success at maximizing the potential of various social media tools. For instance, all the funds charity:water raised via Twestival back in February 2009 and all the donations it received via YouTube’s Call To Action tool were among the success stories, described on the blog.