Mediaboss Marketing

One of the biggest advertising agencies, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, is starting practice units that are devoted to helping clients navigate two areas that are rewarding but confusing: social media and youth marketing.

Ogilvy & Mather, which is part of WPP, the world’s largest ad-agency holding company, is to announce the formation of the social media unit, called Social@Ogilvy, on Monday morning.

The other unit, Ogilvy Youth, is in a nascent stage, or, in keeping with the vernacular of younger consumers, “in beta.”

The new units join others at Ogilvy & Mather that are devoted to areas like cross-cultural marketing (OgilvyCulture). The formation of the units is indicative of efforts by large ad agencies to adapt to the rapidly changing needs of marketer clients, who must grapple with the seemingly continuous changes in consumer behavior.

“Thinking across the disciplines is critical,” said Miles Young, global chief executive at Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide in New York. “You have to redesign your agency around content and domains.”

Social@Ogilvy will operate across all the specialty agencies of Ogilvy & Mather, including advertising, direct marketing, public relations and digital marketing. Clients include American Express, BP, Ford Motor and I.B.M.

The new unit, with more than 550 employees in 35 markets, is derived from what had been a specialty offering inside Ogilvy Public Relations.

“The headline here is that it’s a worldwide practice that connects all the agencies,” said John Bell, an Ogilvy executive who is being named global managing director of Social@Ogilvy.

Although “we’ve had a social media unit for seven years,” he added, “integrated social solutions matter a lot more,” particularly because, by some estimates, brands will spend 17 or 18 percent of their total marketing communications budget on social media in the next few years.

Brandon Berger, chief digital officer at Ogilvy & Mather, said: “Social has become such a huge priority. It’s core to the way consumers behave. They talk about you, and they talk about you online, and it’s measurable, and you can get involved in the conversation.”

Needless to say, social-media services like Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter and YouTube are an integral part of marketing to young consumers. That is underlined by the fact that Ogilvy Youth, although a fledgling, already has a presence on Tumblr.

Ogilvy Youth will be focused on teenagers and millennials, also known as Generation Y. Initial clients include the United Way.

Ogilvy Youth will be overseen by Lauren Crampsie, who is 31; she recently became global chief marketing officer at Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide. The day-to-day operations will be led by Felicia Zhang, 28, who is at the agency as part of her stint as a WPP fellow.

There are two reasons to start Ogilvy Youth, Ms. Crampsie said. One is “thought leadership,” citing a global youth insight study that the unit is hoping to release next month, which will offer a look at, among other things, “a day in the life of teens in 12 global markets.”

The other reason Ms. Crampsie gave is for “recruitment and retention,” in that the employees working at Ogilvy Youth are all to be young themselves.

“I see so many missed opportunities” for the ad agency industry, she said, “with kids right out of school going to work at Google or Facebook.”

“We need to make sure we don’t lose this generation to technology companies and social-media companies,” she added, and demonstrate that Generation Y “can be excited and inspired about agency life.”

Stuart Elliott has been the advertising columnist at The New York Times since 1991. Follow @stuartenyt on Twitter.

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Ogilvy & Mather Staffs Up in Social Media and Youth Marketing

WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

A new survey from Constant Contact®, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTCT - News) finds that social media marketing has become a critical marketing tool for small businesses and nonprofits planning events, with 77% of event planners currently using social media to market their events, and another 14% planning to do so in the next year.

The survey also reports that event planners still rely heavily on email marketing, online event marketing tools, websites, and print advertising to promote their events, indicating that traditional forms of event marketing still play an essential role in promoting an event.

Social Media Marketing Increasingly Important for Events

A full 78% of survey respondents believe that social media is an important marketing tool for their events. Roughly the same percent (77%) currently use social media to market and/or promote their events (advertise or engage on Facebook® or Twitter®, responding to posts in online social forums, etc.) and another 14% plan to do so in the next year. In addition, the vast majority of respondents using social media said their social media efforts to market events will increase in the next year (81%), with the remainder reporting that their level of usage will remain the same.

Forty-six percent of respondents have at least an initial plan for their social media marketing efforts, and another 10% report having a thorough and refined social media strategy. Those that do not yet have a plan see the value in creating one: 34% stated that they were beginning to think about creating one, and while another 9% believe they should start.

“Event marketing has evolved. It’s no longer just direct mail invitations, phone calls and simply hoping that people will come,” said Chris Litster, vice president and general manager of event marketing for Constant Contact. “Now, it's social media conversations, real-time communication and online video—true engagement across platforms to create a holistic event experience from start to finish.”

Forms and Uses of Social Media for Events

Facebook is the most popular form of social media; of those using social media to market their events, 89% report using Facebook, followed by Twitter (66%) and LinkedIn® (54%). Reliance on Twitter and LinkedIn appears to be growing, however. Eight percent plan to start using Facebook to promote events within the next year, while 13% plan to use Twitter and 20% plan to use LinkedIn. Eighty-five percent of respondents using social media have a Facebook fan page for their organization, and another 11% plan to create one soon.

The top reason (56%) event planners are currently using social media is to educate/inform about upcoming events. Their goals for future use are greater: 66% of respondents would like to use social media to reach more people, 65% of respondents would like to gather feedback from past event attendees, 63% would like to obtain new/more event attendees, and 62% would like to remain engaged with past event attendees. Those not yet using social media to promote their events cite the number one reason as they don’t know how (54%), followed by it being too time consuming (39%).

“An event — be it a networking gathering, open house, fundraiser, or class — is by nature a social affair, so it makes perfect sense that social media would be a fantastic tool to help plan, promote, and build excitement. If the goal is to get as many people as possible interested in your event, social media is a perfect complement for spreading the word to your core base of customers, members, and beyond,” said Litster.

Social Media Marketing Complements Other Event Marketing Tools

With social media efforts growing, the effectiveness of other marketing tools to promote events remains strong. Email marketing is ranked the most effective of these tools (91%), followed closely by online event marketing/management tools (85%), websites (77%), and print advertising (69%).

These findings suggest that social media marketing is complementary and additive, rather than a replacement to more “traditional” event promotion tactics.

“We’ve seen our small business and nonprofit customers improve their results by taking an integrated approach to their event promotions,” said Litster. “The combination of social media with other event marketing platforms can be powerful, and today’s tools make it easier than ever to integrate them together. The end result: increased event attendance, deeper relationships with customers and members forged, and maximum impact obtained from your events.”

About the Survey

This Constant Contact-sponsored survey was administered in October 2011 to small businesses and nonprofits using Constant Contact’s event marketing product. Results include responses from 474 respondents across a range of business-to-business, business-to-consumer, and nonprofits industries.

Additional Resources:

Ebook: The State of Event Marketing: Getting Social with Small Business Get-togethers

Best Practices Guide: Add Social Media to Your Event Strategy

How-to Guide: Using Social Media to Plan and Promote Your Events

About Constant Contact, Inc.

Constant Contact is revolutionizing the success formula for small organizations through affordable, easy-to-use Engagement MarketingTM tools that help create and grow customer relationships. More than half a million small businesses, nonprofits, and associations worldwide rely on Constant Contact to drive ongoing customer dialogs through email marketing, social media marketing, event marketing, and online surveys. All Constant Contact products come with unrivaled KnowHow, education, and free coaching with a personal touch, including award-winning customer support.

Constant Contact and the Constant Contact Logo are registered trademarks of Constant Contact, Inc. All Constant Contact product names and other brand names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Constant Contact, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.

(CTCT-F)

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Constant Contact Survey Reveals Social Media is a Critical Marketing Tool for Event Planners; Usage Expected to Increase

Phoenix Marketing Associates engaged to grow social media presence for two franchised locations while promoting grand opening festivities.

Phoenix, AZ (PRWEB) February 13, 2012

Phoenix Marketing Associates has been engaged by Savory Investments, the ownership group of two upcoming Famous Dave’s BBQ restaurants to rapidly build their overall social media presence of both the Salinas and Redding, CA stores.

Phoenix Marketing Associates has been tasked with growing their Facebook pages both organically and through a paid campaign which invites fans to join them for their grand opening “Pig’tacular.”

Both the Salinas and Redding Facebook pages have been custom coded by Phoenix Marketing featuring a custom side banner and an interactive campaign which not only induces page likes, but also captures fan data.

In addition, Phoenix Marketing Associates will manage both locations’ Twitter accounts. The accounts will be placed on special software designed to rapidly increase Twitter followers while a structured Twitter campaign is executed. Followers of the accounts will be engaged socially and encouraged to follow the brand on Facebook while receiving a chance to be a part of the grand opening.

“We’re very pleased to add the Famous Dave’s brand to our growing list of marketing clients and look forward to over delivering on expectations,” commented Jason Jantzen, President of Phoenix Marketing Associates.

Phoenix Marketing Associates is known as one of the nation’s emerging marketing firms to cater to the restaurant industry and works with restaurant clients throughout seven Western States; from the single unit owner/operator to the multi-unit franchise or franchisee.

About Phoenix Marketing Associates:

Phoenix Marketing Associates works with small to medium sized businesses across North America to provide targeted and results driven marketing solutions on a contract basis within any budget. Their consultative approach allows for a thorough needs analysis which translates into an effective marketing and PR strategy that saves their clients time and money while providing maximum exposure.

By assigning a team of qualified professionals to each individual situation and utilizing the most current communication and online demand generation technologies, Phoenix Marketing Associates enables businesses to achieve Fortune 500 results on an entrepreneurial budget. For additional information, please visit http://www.PhoenixMarketingAssociates.com.

Media contact:

Laura Strickland

Phoenix Marketing Associates

602-282-0202

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Jason Jantzen
Phoenix Marketing Associates
602-282-0202
Email Information

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Famous Dave’s BBQ Restaurants in Salinas and Redding, California Select Phoenix Marketing Associates for Social Media ...

The trend for the last 3 or 4 years has been for businesses to try to tap into social media as a broadcasting tool. It's not universal, but many (most) see social media as a place to post their messages to prospective clients in hopes of switching on the social media faucet that touches a billion people worldwide.

The promise of social media for businesses, particularly local ones, has only been seen by a small percentage. Most believe there's something there, but they aren't certain that their efforts are going anywhere. In many cases, they're not. It's not that social media is so challenging that only the select few can get in, nor is it that there's no value in it.

It's about intention. Those with the intention of sheer marketing with social media will likely be met with limited rewards. People don't go to Facebook or Twitter to see what they want to buy or which services to select. They go to engage, to have fun, and to experience the virtual filter on the real world that social media has to offer them.

In other words, they don't want to see marketing. If and when they're ready to interact with a business through social media, it's because they have questions or needs that can be fulfilled through easy-access communication. This is the part that most businesses are missing.

The real promise of social media is not just to business, but lies an the center between business and consumer. More internet time is spent on social media than any other category; in fact, it's equal to the next three on the list (games, email, and portals) combined.

Businesses want to take advantage of this fact and many are trying, but customer service management is still 3rd on the list of initiatives they perform on social media with brand reputation management and driving promotions above it. This is backwards. Most businesses can achieve their top two goals by focusing on the customers themselves.

It comes down to a lack of understanding. Those who are able to focus their attention on their customers through social media will gain a better reputation and find it easier to broadcast their promotions as a result. It's counter-intuitive to all other forms of interactions with customers, but it makes sense once one realizes the true capacity of the medium.

This infographic by ZenDesk breaks down the trends in customer service through social media. Click to enlarge.

(Source: ZenDesk. Via: Infographic Design. H/T: Lauderdale Mazda)

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Instead Of Marketing, Businesses Should Be Using Social Media For Customer Support

SIGMA Marketing today announced the launch of Fast Forward Social Media, an expert, streamlined assessment process to help marketers quickly gauge the effectiveness of their business-to-business social media efforts.

Rochester, NY (PRWEB) February 13, 2012

SIGMA Marketing Group, the customer intelligence-driven, direct and digital marketing services firm, today announced the launch of Fast Forward Social Media, an expert, streamlined assessment process to help marketers quickly gauge the effectiveness of their business-to-business social media efforts.

Fast Forward Social Media from SIGMA Marketing Group offers a rapid assessment of business-to-business social media effectiveness, then delivers recommendations on how to best reach target audiences.

“Studies show that over two-thirds of business-to-business companies use social networks in their marketing mix, while few calculate the ROI of their social marketing campaigns,” said Martha Bush, SIGMA senior vice president of strategy & marketing. “That leaves a huge gap in understanding and correcting the profitability of businesses’ social marketing. Fast Forward Social Media fills that gap.”

Fast Forward Social Media will review both online and offline marketing activities as they relate to social media, showing their critical connection. The assessment will also include a thorough analysis of customers’ social media usage, including social profiles, channels and campaigns – and how those efforts stack up against competitors.

The result will be an in-depth report that supplies business with the components of social marketing success:

Learn more about how Fast Forward Social Media can unlock the ROI in business-to-business social marketing, visit [http://sigmamarketing.com/Pages/Social-Media-Marketing-Maturity-Assessment.aspx .

About SIGMA Marketing Group

SIGMA Marketing helps clients like Xerox, Nationwide, AAA and Citizens Bank engage with their customers through Analytics + Strategy + Technology. We turn data into customer intelligence and innovative marketing solutions -- online and offline -- with direct and digital solutions that focus on multichannel marketing strategies, data and technology integration, web analytics and sales enablement. SIGMA builds long term customer relationships and drives Marketing ROI. Visit us at http://www.sigmamarketing.com and at our Fifth Gear Analytics blog: http://fifthgearanalytics.com.

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Jim McNulty
StandPoint Public Relations
(508) 481-2024
Email Information

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Sigma Marketing Launches Fast Forward Social Media Service Determines B2B Social Marketing Effectiveness, Boosts ROI