Ever see commercials on television and you remember the funny punch line or scenario, but not what the ad was for?
I was trying to remember who did the ads with the people who are in the act of doing something for which they aren’t qualified. You remember, they have people pretending to be doctors, or lawyers, or nuclear technician. Read the rest of this entry »
Press Release: Sending out releases over the wire services and posting releases for the media help add links to your site because other sites pick them up. Additionally they provide content to keep your site fresh.
Q&A: Add a Frequently Asked Questions page, even if you don’t like them; Search engines do.
Ranking: Avoid linking from a site below yours. To check a page rank for a site on Google you can use a free online resource: http://www.prchecker.info/check_page_rank.php Sites which have high rankings include: Forbes.com 7 (out of a possible 10), Prnewswire.com 8/10, biz.yahoo.com 6/10 and CNBC.com 7/10.
Site map: This is an old technique but having a site map still helps search engines index your whole site.
I got a great question from John Moyer of the Chicago Rush Arena Football team. You can see him interviewed on YouTube. He asked his question through LinkedIn…
“How to brand a person? What steps does a person take to create their presence?
My answer starts with the most important piece of the puzzle: what are your goals?
The first thing you have to know is why are you creating the brand? What do you have in mind? This is the same process whether you’re creating a brand for a business, a city or a person. And you have to remember—you aren’t really creating a brand, you’re uncovering it. It’s already there, you’re just polishing it a little. Read the rest of this entry »
I was asked recently what is the difference between Marketing Communications and Entertainment. Maybe they asked me that because I’ve lived in both worlds for quite awhile.
I’ll tell you, there are more similarities than differences. But you have to look at the best in both fields to see the similarities reveal themselves. At the core, Marketing Communications has to be strategic. There has to be a message that is delivered, even better if there is a call to action.
But at its best, Entertainment has to be as strategic, too. My favorite moment on the entertainment side is the day, back in the early 80’s, when Nikki Sixx walked into our offices at BAM Magazine in Hollywood. Read the rest of this entry »
An important aspect to planning a marketing campaign is the product’s sales cycle. If you have something that works with a call to action, in other words with a short sales cycle, then advertising is usually the best way to get business. But if your sales cycle is long, anywhere from 6 months to a year or two, then you have to look for other forms of marketing. Advertising isn’t going to do it for you.
One of our clients, IFTI, Independent Floor Testing and Inspection, has to live in both worlds.
Two marketing tracks— Read the rest of this entry »
Big splash or ripple… which do you want? You know, the trouble with analogies is they can have different meanings to different people. The lead topic in our most recent email is about the Power of Integration. Our solution is an integrated marketing campaign, not a one-time big ad. An entire, well thought-out plan, can have a significant impact. One that sends waves as opposed to a few ripples! I agree that the one-time big ad gets NOTHING done. Or at least, next to nothing. Unless the big ad is the Apple 1984 spot that ran one time during the Super Bowl and made the Macintosh famous!
Our thinking is to make the biggest splash – or the greatest impact – one has to plan out the entire campaign and not hope that a one shot will do the trick!
Here’s the message … Read the rest of this entry »
Rhonda Silva of Placemaking Group tells us this story and gives the valuable advice… Don’t hang up on the Ad Rep!
How many times has the phone rung while you’re juggling ten things at once, and it’s a call from an ad rep? While your first inclination might be to say, “I’m busy — it’s not the right time — I’m on deadline and can’t talk now,” —- don’t hang up the phone so quickly because you may be cutting the cord to a coveted media contact. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve had a couple books on my desk lately. I’ve reread each of them this past month and their 
At Placemaking Group we tend to do all of our communications, including our Web work, in a simple straight forward style. Now we know that there is a study that backs us up! Here is a report from LiveScience. If you want to read the whole report the URL is at the bottom. But for now, let’s keep it simple! Read the rest of this entry »
A great way to get PR is to make news. It’s always better to make news if it’s positive. Giving out awards on a regular, usually annual basis, let’s the press know when to expect it. If the award is given out in a way that is on the level with no bias, then it can become news. If the award is from a poll of regular people, not within the industry, it has further credibility. Read the rest of this entry »