When someone once asked me what Pinterest was, I described it as “a way for adults to digitally play house.” And while a few of us have been busy planning our “Dream Homes” and “Fantasy Nuptials” for quite some time now, companies and brands are just starting to see value in Pinterest’s lucrative 3.3 million-strong user base.

Why is that?

Pinterest provides another unique opportunity to engage with consumers. The site has only been around for two years, and already these aspirational “pinboards” have turned into real results for retailers. Very recently, the social bookmarking site was cited as one of the top sources of referral traffic to retailers, as data from Monetate found that for five different apparel retailers, Pinterest referrals jumped to 389% within the July-December 2011 period.

However, apparel retailers aren’t the only ones benefitting. Greek yogurt brand, Chobani, quickly understood that like the other social success stories, it’s not about you and your brand, but rather the content you share. Instead of focusing on their products, they opted to focus on consumers’ desire to find new recipes and created pinboards of recipes that feature Chobani yogurt as a key ingredient. Similarly, even vacuum cleaner brand, Oreck, found its place on the site by creating beautiful flooring pinboards that serve as a subtle reminder that your floors also require upkeep.

Although Pinterest is still in its infancy and it’s ROI is yet undermined, it’s safe to say that companies and brands using the site are getting discovered, highlighting new uses for their products or sides of their personalities formerly unseen and getting conversions.

Now that’s Pinteresting.

They shared examples of client work and discussed the dos and don’ts of job hunting, but the overarching theme of the presentation was to trust in a good idea while recognizing that it ultimately goes through a gauntlet before it’s out the door. Here are some other tokens of advice the students left with:

Your creative is only as good as the strategy behind it. You’re not making art for art’s sake, you’re making art to accomplish objectives. Art directors and copywriters need to work hand-in-hand for this to happen.

Make the work you want to see. You got into this business because of your ideas. Put your best work forward even though it might change later on. Similarly, when you begin the job search, put the work you’re most proud of in your portfolio, it might be your last opportunity to show it off.

Intellectual curiosity is everything. “You’re not going to work on Nike right out of school and many of you may never,” John advised the students, “…so you better develop an intellectual curiously that makes everything you work on become interesting.”

Have chutzpah. The job search can be tiresome, but don’t get discouraged. Be audacious, put yourself out there and network.

The students were appreciative of John and Sean’s honesty, and later dropped by Broadhead for a tour and Q&A session with other members of the team. We had a great time getting acquainted with the Miami Ad students and hope they did with us.

Who actually watches the Super Bowl to watch football? And who watches for ads that averaged $3.5 million dollars to run? I do, along with every other person who works in advertising in the world.

It’s true, advertisers treat the Super Bowl like it’s Christmas. Just picture all of us sitting around the TV, screaming at the :30 spots as if they were awesome football plays or unexpected turnovers. We wait all year to see them: the good, the bad and the awesomely funny.

Here are some of the highlights:

Matthew’s Day Off

For those who know and loved Ferris Bueller, this was a trip down memory lane. With nearly 12,000,000 YouTube hits before it even aired during the Super Bowl, Broderick has made the Honda CRV cool again.

Here We Go

This Bud Light ad pulled at our puppy heartstrings by featuring a rescue dog named “WeGo” as Anheuser-Busch plugged its Facebook page by promoting efforts to rescue dogs. This was a slight disconnect for a beer company, but it definitely achieved the warm, fuzzy feeling it was going for.

It’s Halftime America

This Chrysler ad featuring Clint Eastwood instilled a sense of patriotism in anyone who has felt the impact of the recession. Highlighting the triumph of Detroit bouncing back despite being one of the hardest-hit economies in the United States, Eastwood left many in tears as he ended the “Imported from Detroit” spot with, “Yeah, it’s halftime, America, and our second half’s about to begin.”

In addition to the new ads we saw last night, we took an informal poll here at Broadhead to see which spots we’re all still talking about that have stood the test of time…

Imported from Detroit (2011)

The Force: Volkswagen Commercial (2011)

Terry Tate, Office Linebacker (2006)

Betty White for Snickers (2010)

Cat Herders (2000)

For those who think that advertising as we know it is dead, take heart in that fallacy. Though we will continue to see a decline in print at the expense of online and social properties, broadcast mediums will continue to flourish. In fact, over the next three years it’s expected that television and radio may increase their market share, accounting for $1 of every $2 media dollars spent. Online will continue to grow, accounting for $1 of every $4.

The beauty is the power of integration. Consider last night’s Super Bowl with 111 million viewers and, according to Google, more than 30 million searches on YouTube related to the game and its advertisers. At $3.5 million for 30 seconds, Honda can feel very good that their “Matthew’s Day Off” investment will continue to pay off for days to come. And in the end, that $3.5 million is going to look like a pretty good value.

We marketers have been given a great gift in social and online properties. Never before have we been able to maintain a pulse on trends and truly converse with customers in real time on a broad basis. Never before have we been able to efficiently evolve our campaigns week to week to better connect with customers. And never before have we been able to provide our clients the degree of relevant metrics that we can provide today.

For agencies and clients willing to listen, consumers are willing to share. It’s a great time to be in marketing.

Seriously?

Last time I checked, agriculture is the only segment of the economy that has not tanked over the past five years. And with increasing needs to grow food more sustainably with fewer resources, including water, it seems we need more great young minds tackling these problems, not less.

But I’m no expert. I encourage you to read the response written by Allen Levine, Dean of the Food and Agriculture school at University of Minnesota. Levine appears to be a much more suited to interpret Department of Labor statistics. After all, with a job placement rate of nearly 90% for graduates from the food and ag school within a few months seems impressive to me, especially at time when unemployment for college grads is higher than it’s been in generations.

I suppose you can’t really blame the blogger for not knowing the facts. With less than 2% of us living on farms of any type today, it’s plausible that he really has no clue where his food comes from.

Admit it.  We all have a little control freak in us.  The need to dictate how a particular situation will take place and play its way out.  Why?  It’s because control equals comfort.  But, I’m here to say there has never been a better time to give up a little control in your marketing efforts.

As marketers, we often give lip service about having a conversation with our audience.  But, seldom is this a true conversation in the normal sense of the word.   Traditional marketing is one-way communication in many ways.  Here’s the ad in the magazine, on TV or the radio; here’s the direct mail or collateral; and here’s the info on our product web site.  Basically, it’s a monologue run by the marketer and the audience is getting the information in the way the marketer wants them to. Or, worse yet, they’re ignoring what you’re saying.

One-way messaging is out. Building conversation is in. There’s still a place for many traditional “communication” vehicles in the mix, but they’re sharing more space in campaigns with ideas that create a real dialogue between marketers and consumers – and between the consumers themselves.  And, if marketers loosen the reigns and let the dialogue occur, and even foster it, there are major dividends to be had.

Case in point. This recent survey shows consumers are 71 percent more likely to buy a product if someone referred it to them on social media. Let ‘em talk about you, embrace it, and you’re likely to sell more.

A little control given can be big profits gained. We’ve developed a Content Control Continuum™ (shown below) to help our clients map the inverse relationship between control and credibility in their marketing plans.  Check it out. The key is getting the right mix of tactics with varying levels of control to end up in the right spot to maximize your impact.  Every brand is different, and what works for some may not work for others.  But, right now is the time to lose a little control and find out what’s best for you.

]]> http://www.broadheadco.com/uncategorized/there%e2%80%99s-never-been-a-better-time-to-lose-a-little-control-2/feed 0 http://www.broadheadco.com/blog/the-impact-of-online-video http://www.broadheadco.com/blog/the-impact-of-online-video#comments Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:23:09 +0000 Alex http://www.broadheadco.com/?p=2016 In the U.S. today, 108 million people are going to watch 1.3 billion videos. At least that’s what Brian Hayes of comScore told us in his 2011 MIMA Summit presentation. While that number initially blew me away, it makes sense in the current context of things.

Social and entertainment sites are still in full swing, undergoing exponential growth and for the first time ever, causing users to spend more time online than portals. YouTube integrates so seamlessly with social media channels that it’s actually considered the second-largest search engine in the world today. Clearly, consumers are infatuated with video. Websites that incorporate video report higher conversion rates and fewer abandoned shopping carts compared to sites without, and companies with big ticket products move more of it when it’s accompanied by a product demonstration video. Incorporating video is only half the battle though; you need to help consumers find it.

So how do we make this part of our strategy?

Consider the purchase cycle. At some stage, a search engine is likely involved. How can you refine your SEO campaign to direct people to your video? If you already use YouTube to host content, the good news is that your video will be organically ranked–so use the keywords your customers are searching for! Similar to a PPC campaign, YouTube also offers a “promoted video” option that will also contribute to your video campaign’s natural results in the long-run.

It will only be a matter of time before video integration becomes an essential part of the online experience. Engagement value is going to drive online advertising and provide more opportunities for us to not only reach once-elusive audiences, but also engage them with our brands, products and services in new ways.

How do you think video will continue to shape the online experience?

We were recently working with a prospective client to grow adoption of active pasture management by horse owners, the stereotypical Rural Lifestyler.

As you can imagine, pasture management is neither a term most Rural Lifestylers are familiar with nor overly interested in undertaking. Their view of pasture management is moving the horses out until Mother Nature replenishes their lush green grass.

We had our work cut out for us.

But there’s trend in our favor with Rural Lifestylers. They are information seekers, even more so than their agricultural cousins. In a recent survey we conducted for a client, more than 60% of rural lifestylers actively participated in online forums, 83% read animal blogs or informational web sites, and half sought product advice online.

So we know they seek information and content. The trick to reaching them is the language you use and identifying the pools where you can find them. Content strategy is really no different than media strategy. We’re just delivering a different package to a much broader swath of channels.

In practice our goal in content marketing is not only to create platforms for discussion, it’s to monitor the conversations, modify our message and actively participate. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are Obviously a great foundation for that practice. However, they’re not the only game in town.

We’ve also invited leaders and influencers to join “conversation hubs” created around lifestyle-based partner segments. We promote events on popular social networks using a combination of profile pages, event notices and widgets. Most importantly offline events are given online legs so that more in-depth discussions and participation can be continued.

Content marketing is a great tool for targeting the lifestyler audience because it’s an audience that seeks information and wants to learn. And if you can make it interesting, it can also deliver a great Return On Investment.

Check out a recent project we did for USDA APHIS to connect a diverse audience from outdoor enthusiasts to equipment renters.  A little humor goes a long way in delivering a message.

Written for AgriMarketing

I recently sat down with our VP|Creative Director, John Walker, to get his perspective on our agency and trends as they relate to the creative process. Take a look!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWnmXzVygZM

Farmers don’t use social media.

Now these people won’t deny that there are always those few “early adopters”. But they aren’t the norm. They’re all young and, as children of current farm owners, they don’t really have any power.

I beg to differ.

Farmers and ranchers – of all ages, parts of the world, ideals and farm sizes – are taking to their laptops, iPads and smartphones to tap into social media tools. And, they’re not just sharing photos of grandkids and keeping up with relatives. They’re using their online voices to make agriculture more accessible.

At any given #AgChat or #FoodChat conversation (Tuesday nights on Twitter), you’ll stumble upon farmers and nonfarmers from all walks of life, farming methods and backgrounds. You’d probably be shocked to learn that more than 2,500 people from eight countries on four continents have participated in these conversations since 2009. What are they talking about? Soil and water conservation, increasing yield, technology in agriculture, hunger around the world, giving thanks for food, nutrition, food marketing – all of these, and more, have been conversation topics throughout the last two years.

It doesn’t stop there either. Hundreds of farmers and ranchers are blogging about their operations, posting photos of day-to-day farm activities, explaining what they’re doing through YouTube videos and running Facebook pages where they can interact with consumers.

Still want to hear more?

- During November 2011, more than 4,650 tweets were sent by 1,216 people during the #FoodThanks campaign – an online, farmer-led movement to raise awareness about how lucky we are to have a diverse, easily accessible food supply in the U.S.

- In August 2011, more than 125 farmers and ranchers from across the country gathered in Nashville, Tenn. for the second-annual AgChat Foundation Conference. They came to learn about social media platforms, mobile technology and connecting with people outside of the agriculture community.

- As of 2010, more than 850 people had registered in the Follow Farmer database – an online source for finding farmers and ranchers on Twitter

- All across the country, commodity organizations, student groups, Farm Bureaus and more are operating their own social media training sessions for members

- Between April 2009 and August 2010, the #AgChat hashtag was tweeted more than 98,000 times by 4,777 people.

Now, try to tell me again that farmers don’t use social media.

The question is, though, what does this mean for us as marketers?

First off, it does not mean that we’ve stumbled upon a whole new group of people to push products on. If you think that’s what it means, you’re still confused about the “social” part of social media.

However, it does mean that we have a large base of customers who want to have conversations in the digital space. They don’t just want to talk about products, though. They want to talk about everything agriculture. That means on-farm challenges, generational transitions, confidence among consumers, threats from activists and more.

The opportunity for marketers lies in the fact that your client or company has a chance to be a part of these conversations. Participation has so many benefits: the chance to build awareness, gain insights from customers, increase trust and grow credibility among an important audience.

Still want to ignore social media as a key part of your strategy? Go ahead. Whether you’re there are not, the people whose purchases keep your business successful are having a conversation. Can you afford not to be part of it?

Want to find farmers in the social media realm and learn more about how the agriculture community is taking to the online world? Check out the video below from the AgChat Foundation and visit the Follow Farmer database.