Resolution Media At The House of Blues

By Anne Unterfenger, Marketing & Business Development Intern

and Kiley Peters, Manager, Marketing & Business Development

RM hosted its first digital marketing event at the end of July.  Surrounded by the beautiful ambiance of The Foundation Room at the House of Blues, we sipped cocktails and dined on fancy appetizers with the other 40 guests in attendance.  Guests ranged from RM partners, such as Google and Yahoo, to a well-known sporting goods brand, household product names and major health care system representatives.

Matt Spiegel (CEO, Omnicom Media Group Digital), David Gould (President, Resolution Media) and Dave Tan (VP, Innovation and Product Development) spoke about the importance of viewing digital as a platform rather than a channel.  After a top level overview of the digital platform and the various ways it can be used to know, engage and retain consumers, the night wrapped up with an iPad giveaway. 

As the number of guests started to dwindle down, more socializing and networking topped off the night. The night was a success with many new introductions made, additional conversations to be had and another event to plan.  Thank you to all of those involved and hopefully we can pull off another success sooner than later!

(Photos Courtesy of Brandon Harper)

Are You Truly Excited About the Brand You Work On?

By Dave Tan, VP, Innovation & Product Development

Recently, I had the great fortune of attending a top tier sport brand’s product road show to hear about coming product launches, marketing plans and overall goals and objectives for 2011.  I went in with the pre-conceived notion of having their directors and c-level marketers talk about products within a presentation, walk through financials and a few BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) for the next year and beyond. It’s the standard product PowerPoint road show that many of us have seen and been a part of.  Depending on the brand or service, it can get pretty bland, or it can be a huge showmanship presentation like what Apple does every June at WWDC.   What I witnessed last month was very different.

Granted, this brand is a famous household name that many of us regularly purchase, but a fellow executive and I came away big fans of the brand again.  That fandom was something we both probably haven’t felt passionate about since playing collegiate sports.

How’s that?  The truth.  The simple truth, and one that I feel needs to happen more often across the marketing industry.   Brands and their marketing teams should consider stepping up a bit and marketing themselves to their partners.  It’s a subtle tweak, but it’s a mutually beneficial investment. By making the effort to market your brand to your partners, your partners, in turn will be more enthused and dedicated to your brand and deliver even better marketing messages to your target consumers.

How did this brand market to us? By creating an environment to fully immerse all attendees in the product-oriented theme.  The event was an event spectacle in itself as over a course of four hours, I was placed in a high school football stadium, a professional fitness gym, a pro sports locker room, and a branded presentation room.  Beyond the tactile experience, we (over 200 marketers, publishers, media owners, agencies, and partners) got the opportunity to hear in-person from a cross-section of their target consumers.  From a high school football trainer, to amateur endurance athletes, to a professional athlete and a movie star trainer, we were able to gather unique and unbranded insights lending a tremendous amount of credibility and a different kind of product sponsorship.

 Again, this was directed at 3rd party partners, agencies, media outlets, publishers, and marketers-not at their target consumers.  That simple distinction is what captivated me.  This brand spent an enormous amount of time, energy, money and resources planning and executing what they felt was the best way to market themselves to their extended “paid” partners.  They did a great job, and I think it’s safe to say, we are all that much more excited to be working with this brand now and I know, I personally, have a stronger drive to help this brand meet their goals in whatever way I can.

This kind of initiative just helps push a relationship past being a “just a vendor” to a trusted and dependable partner.  This transcends sports marketing brands, as I know that a few of our other clients have gone above the norm and given away products, or designed in-person experiences to team members so that they can experience and truly believe in their client’s product or service and market with a truer passion.
So I ask: when was the last time you were excited about the brand you were working on?  If you aren’t, it may be a wise move to take the extra step and experience it before devising a search or digital marketing strategy.  It will pay off in the end.

Are You On Facebook? Is Your Brand?

By Nancy Adzentoivich, Director, Client Strategy & Development

I ask you to think about this question for a moment, if you would. I bet 99% of you answered yes to the first part – of course you’re on Facebook, you’re probably a digital marketer or in some way more aligned with the web than most people (seeing as how you’re reading this blog post). But what about the second part of the question? Is your company, your brand or your client represented in some way on Facebook? If you answered yes, good job! If you answered no, why not?

The latest Kiplinger report states that according to Nielsen data, in June 2010, internet users spent more time on Social Networks than they did using email. This is a 44% increase over one year ago. We are spending nearly one quarter of our internet time interacting with our social networks. Are you surprised? Think about how many times a day you check status updates, check-in on FourSquare, Tweet or comment on a YouTube video. Chances are people like you and me spend even more than 25% of our time on social networks. I know I do (if you discount the time spent working, of course).

So why did I open up with a question about Facebook, specifically? Well, the latest report also shows that of all social networks, Facebook claims 85% of social networking time, and they just hit the 500 million member mark. That’s 200,000,000 more people than live in the United States folks. THAT’S A LOT OF PEOPLE!

Granted, many of us prefer to not be bothered by commercialism when posting status updates about our plans for the weekend, the newest milestone in our relationship or what we ate for lunch. However, most of us “Like” brands, promotions or similar such things without even giving it a second thought. I, for one, am a Fan (or Friend, or Liker) of Audi. I see updates from the car manufacturer once every couple of days. They told me about the new A7, let me click to videos and read reviews (not that I am an Audi owner, just an admirer, but someday….). I also “Like” the TV shows Fringe, Weeds and TrueBlood. Over the past month I have been treated to mini-webisodes, behind the scenes looks at filming, schedule updates, etc.-  priceless information for someone like me who has limited time for televised entertainment. I rely on my DVR and my Facebook to keep me up to date on what I need to know.

I know what you’re thinking – this Facebook thing is just a fad. Well, according to the Kiplinger article, Facebook has (from time to time) surpassed Google as the most visited site on the web.  Predictions are that this trend will take hold and be sustained for the long term. Remember, 5 hundred million people.

A few years ago I was writing about the importance of being on the Search Engines (Google being numero uno), and often heard the whole “the Internet is a fad” argument. Um, guess what – it wasn’t a fad! So, now I implore you, please hear me when I say “Get ye to Facebook young marketer!” Don’t abandon Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask, AOL or Business.com…but follow the people. The people have proven that they have the power. The people will show you the way. Let them “Like” you. Let them evangelize for you. If you have a product or service that promises real value to the individual you too can become successful on Facebook.

A few quick tips for beginners:

1.    Honesty is king in social media – do not make false claims. The People can see right through you.
2.    Don’t try to sell anything. Nobody is buying – yet.
3.    Do engage in relationship building. Talk, listen and participate.
4.    Remember, it’s not mass-communication, it’s micro-communication – on a 500,000,000 person scale.