Get the Grease

The old adage “the squeaky wheel gets the grease” is most often used to describe the value of complaining. It conjures images of a cranky old man demanding a new bowl of soup because the temperature is a tad off. But I’ve never thought of it that way. I think it’s the perfect idiom for standing out in a crowd – in a positive way. For brands looking to stand out in a crowded market, – and just about every market is crowded these days – the squeaky wheel is your marketing, and the grease is your profit. How do you make your marketing squeak?

Start with these six tips:

Be Bold: Know what you want to say and say it. The best campaigns aren’t afraid to take chances. Exude confidence in your brand, and you’ll win the confidence of your audience. Boldness is leadership. Be the leader in your market.

Be Relevant: If you want your marketing to resonate with its intended audience, provide that audience with content relevant to them, and to your brand. Know your audience demographically, geographically and emotionally. Know their needs and desires – and provide them with a solution. Without relevant content, your efforts will disappear faster than free donuts in the office.

Be in the Right Place at the Right Time: Go to your audience; don’t wait for them to come to you. Determine your audience’s pain points and provide them with a solution at the right time. If your product is a snow shovel, don’t advertise in July. Develop a timeline for your campaign and try to anticipate events that would trigger a need for your product or service.

Be Creative: Creativity is the soul of individualism. There will never be another Steve Jobs, another James Brown or another Andy Warhol. Great creative separates you from the masses. Be different. Stand out from the crowd. Create something beautiful and compelling.

Be Available: Marketing is a conversation. In the digital age, brands can interact in real time with their audiences. Utilize technology and be present and timely. Start a conversation; you might just win some new evangelists for your brand!

Go forth, and get the grease!

For more marketing tips, contact us. (Look right!)

Marketing by Jacob Tyler in San Diego

Attention Retailers: Facebook Product Ads Have Arrived

Remember the days of catalogue shopping? A slew of catalogues would arrive on your doorstep – JC Penny, Eddie Bauer, Sears, etc. – and you’d flip through hundreds of pages to find the items that you wanted or needed. While a 300-page catalogue full of products could be exciting at first – with seemingly endless possibilities to quench your retail thirst – it was often cumbersome. There’s not a person on earth that could possibly want or need every product in the JC Penny catalogue. Product catalogues worked much like Encyclopedias (remember those?) – you had to physically search for products that matched your desires.

The days of receiving 5-pound catalogues in the mail are largely gone (though the Yellow Pages continues to mysteriously appear on my doorstep). But catalogues aren’t. Have you ever been to Ikea’s website? It features thousands and thousands of products in hundreds of countries. A virtual catalogue. Ikea is a phenomenal business with an international reputation. But what about smaller retailers? Are consumers willing to wade through hundreds of web pages of products to find what they’re looking for? In today’s climate of endless choices, probably not.

I’ve written before about the importance of brands reaching out directly to engage consumers in the virtual spaces they inhabit. With more than 700 million daily users, Facebook is the world’s most populous virtual space. Facebook is an important channel for retailers to engage audiences. And with Facebook’s latest evolution to its advertising service – “Product Ads” – retailers can now promote individual products from their catalogues to consumers. The service, introduced in mid-February, could be a game changer for brands with extensive product lines.

Facebook’s announcement described the new service: “Product ads offer businesses a number of ways to highlight different products on Facebook. Marketers can upload their product catalog and create campaigns targeting certain products to specific audiences, or let Facebook automatically deliver the most relevant products to people. Products can be shown in single- or multi-product ad units.”

The new service should take a lot of the guesswork and tedium out of how to reach the right audience at the right time for brands. However, brands must continue to raise the bar on creative presentation and engaging content. Does your brand’s creative stand out from the crowd? Contact us using the form to the right – we’d love to help!

Internet Marketing in San Diego | Jacob Tyler

Copy That: 9 Essential Copywriting Rules for Brands

No development in history has moved the human race forward more than the written language. From cave drawings to the printing press to the Internet, words move our world and shape our beliefs. Words are our greatest form of communication, regardless of medium. Like art and music, words have the power to elicit emotion and influence opinion. Effective and emotive copywriting is essential for every brand. Great copy is more than just stylish wording – it moves people, drives action and connects with its intended audience. From great taglines like Nike’s “Just Do It” or Burger King’s “Have it Your Way” to crisply-written websites, email messages and blog posts, a brand’s copy will help direct its audience to take action ­– and help achieve its business goals. The following nine essentials for effective copy will help your brand reach, engage – and close its audience.

Know your audience: You wouldn’t talk to your grandmother about the new features in iOS 7 and you wouldn’t discuss James Joyce’s Ulysses with an eight year old. The same goes for copywriting. Determine whom the audience for your product or service is, and write in a voice that speaks to them accordingly.

Write with a purpose and a defined strategy: Why are you writing? What do you want to achieve? If your business’ goal is to sell more ceiling fans, write copy that will help achieve that goal. You’re writing copy to make something happen, not to impress your high school English teacher.

Get the tone and voice right: Your brand’s personality is driven by its tone and voice. Whether your brand is light-hearted and fun, or serious and professional, the tone and voice in which you write must be uniform across all brand communications.

Write short sentences: Nothing burns the eyes (and loses attention) like run-on sentences. Short sentences promote readability and comprehension – two things you need your copy to include if you wish to win more customers. If you’re trying to decide between a comma and a period, go with the period.

Employ vigorous English: One of Ernest Hemingway’s rules for writing, “vigorous English” refers to the active voice. Active voice opens the door to the party and announces its presence. Passive voice tip-toes around outside, waiting to be let in.

PRO TIP: Try to reduce the number of times you use the word “is.”

Never waste a word: Never say in two words what can be said it one. If your first word isn’t strong enough to enforce your point, find a better word.

Sell benefits, not features: No one really wants to know how the sausage is made. Tell your audience how your product or service will benefit them and improve their lives.

Be original – and creative: It’s a crowded marketplace out there. For most products, there are multiple options at similar price points. Creative, original and memorable copy can cut through the clutter, and “make the sale” for your product or service.

Spur action with words: Always include a call to action as you lead potential customers down the path to purchase. Identify the next steps, and show your audience how to get there.

Does your brand’s copy need a touch up? Contact us to discuss how we can help by using the form to the right!

San Diego Branding Agency | Jacob Tyler

5 Simple Rules to Create Impactful TV Ads

Every brand wants new customers and will do what it takes to engage them. Though there are now a bevy of mediums through which to advertise, TV remains the most prestigious – and most expensive option. As we saw during the recent Super Bowl, brands are willing to shell out some serious cash for TV ads. Despite rising prices, the big brands continue to utilize TV. But what about growing brands that want to reach a target audience through TV? Often, these brands have smaller budgets, and need to make all 30 seconds really count. The biggest mistake many new brands make is the desire to create a spot that simply tells the story of the brand. While a brand story is important, it’s not enough to win hearts and minds in 30 seconds. Follow these five simple guidelines, and you’re on your way to an engaging and effective TV that gets results for your brand.

  1. Reveal the “why” – Tell your client’s story but make sure you make clear why they love what they do. The end product or service is just that… a product or service! You need to create a connection with the personality of the brand, not just its offerings.
  2. Have a hook!  – How does the ad influence you and others?  Did you touch the consumer with an emotional response?  Most successful ad campaigns engage the consumer on an emotional level. Make your creative speaks to our common humanity. Think about when you see a great movie – no one moves or speaks when the credits role.  Did you touch the consumer like this?  If not, you just created another ho-hum ad.
  3. Create relatable characters – Why do we all love “Flo” from the Progressive commercials?  We can relate to her and the simplicity of her character.  People buy from brands they can identify with.  They need to believe your client’s product or service is the best on the market, but they first need to believe in what  – or who – represents your brand.
  4. Create stories that highlight the brand or product – How many times have you watched a commercial and thought, “What was that commercial about?”  Make sure to highlight the benefits of your product. Benefits don’t need to be the focus of the ad, but they must be perceived.
  5. Get creative!  –  Create something memorable, beautiful and enduring. The best part of creating TV spots for brands is the amazing time you have in the creative process from storyboards to post production.  Have fun, get your creative juices flowing, and enjoy the process!

Want to learn more about how to promote your company? Contact us via the form to the right!

5 Simple Rules to Create Impactful TV Ads

Designing Our Life Experiences

Have you ever really thought about how design influences your everyday actions? Most of the time, we’re unaware of the subtle visual queues that guide our daily lives. Whether it’s strategically placed road signs on the freeway, color-coded packaging or the product flow of a supermarket, design is all around us, influencing our thoughts and behaviors. In many cases, a simple design can make a huge logistical difference. Take, for instance, University of Phoenix stadium in Glendale, Arizona – host of this year’s Super Bowl. The stadium has five main sections of seating around the perimeter. Instead of using three-digit numbers like most stadiums, University of Phoenix Stadium uses the numbers 1-5. Outside of each section, a 30-foot high corresponding number directs visitors to their section. Once inside, visitors are guided to their seats in a similarly linear fashion. It’s an easy design that that dramatically improves game day logistics.

Package design influences behavior too – like the nutrition labels on our food. As any aspiring dieter knows, the standard US nutrition label can be more than a bit confusing. As people become increasingly aware of their food choices, nutrition labels have become a point of contention for many nutritionists and doctors. But according to psychologists Peter Helfer and Thomas Shultz of McGill University in Montreal, there may be a better way to label our food.  In a recent issue of the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, they argue that a simple one-number label called “NuVal” might be a better way to go. In their study, the pair compared the traditional nutrition label with two alternatives: a “traffic light” style design and the new, single-summary “NuVal” design. Both the traffic light and NuVal designs outperformed traditional labeling. The study, which you can read more about here, is an interesting look into the way design influences our choices.

As we move further into the digital age, the concentration on intuitive, behavior-altering design has moved to the forefront. Mobile devices are a prime example of design in action. Steve Jobs famously believed that simple, gorgeous design was the basis of success for Apple’s products. He insisted that the inside of the iPhone – which the consumer would never see – be as visually effective as the outside, believing that whole design would drive ingenuity. Today, the design of that first iPhone – a short seven years ago – has not only influenced our behavior (who knew what a “swipe” was a decade ago?) but has bled into all of our digital designs, including responsive website design. As we increasingly blend our digital experience with our organic experience, digital design will be at the vanguard of creating designs that influence, simplify and guide our actions and decisions. For brands, design will guide how consumers interact with – and make decisions about – their products and services. Whether it’s a website, packaging or a brand’s physical location, design has an enormous impact on the success of its operation. Think about how your brand utilizes design. Are you guiding customers along their journey from prospect to evangelist? Fill out the form to the right, let’s talk.

Web Design by Jacob Tyler in San Diego

Is Your Facebook Ad Relevant? With the Social Network’s New Scoring System, It’s Easy to Tell

More than one billion people use Facebook. Chances are, a large portion of your audience uses the ubiquitous social network too. Just about every brand has a Facebook page (or should), but with the rise of Facebook advertising, more brands are paying to get their product or service in front of the Facebook community. With built-in demographic and geographic options, as well as retargeting information gleaned from cookies, Facebook ads are a great way to reach a predetermined audience. However, in order to reach a large audience, brands must create relevant ads. Facebook is understandably concerned about flooding users’ feeds with promotional material. Users do not want to have to sift through multiple ads to find posts from friends and family. As a result, Facebook ad space can be relatively scarce. To handle the tidal wave of requests from marketers, Facebook ads operate on a bidding process. Advertisers can set bid prices on Cost Per Click (CPC) and Cost Per Mille (CPM) – the cost you pay per 1000 impressions. It’s not quite as random as it sounds; Facebook provides a suggested bid you’ll need in order to “win” the auction.

Of course, the amount of clicks and impressions you receive depends largely on how relevant your ad is. Targeting the correct audience for your products or services and creating an eye-catching design is key.  And starting this week, you’ll no longer have to guess about your ad’s relevance – because Facebook will now quantify it for you. Based on shares, clicks, likes and “hide” options, Facebook will provide advertisers with a score of 1-10 for an ad’s relevance. This score will not only help advertisers gauge their efforts, but will factor into whether or not a bid is accepted – and could even compensate for lower bids, making Facebook advertising less costly for more effective ads. The following article from Ad Age is a good primer on the new feature. http://adage.com/article/digital/facebook-starts-telling-brands-relevant-ads/297085/

Want to learn more about how Facebook advertising could fit into your brand strategy? Contact us using the form to the right!

The Jacob Tyler Super Bowl Ad-wards

It’s that time of year again: the advertising orgy known as the Super Bowl. Each year, brands line up to pay a sum greater than the GDP of the country of Burundi to spend 30 seconds on the world stage promoting themselves to the largest TV audience on the planet. In between commercials, a football game is played. This year’s Super Bowl audience was the largest ever, making it the most watched TV program of all time. The effectiveness of the ads is debatable, but brands certainly got a lot of eyeballs on their products. To honor the financial sacrifice these brave brands made this year, we’re dolling out some awards. Without further ado, the Jacob Tyler Super Bowl Ad-wards:

Best Set Design/Logistics Nightmare: Bud Light for “Coin”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9A1NowrnGI

Expanding on their “Up for Whatever” campaign, Bud Light treated an unsuspecting bar patron named Riley to a real life game of Pac Man. The set was constructed in downtown LA, populated with 20-somethings to cheer on the action and Michael Buffer to kick the game off. We’ve got to say, it looks really fun. Maybe real life Donkey Kong for next year?

The “It Takes a Village” Award: Newcastle Brown Ale for “Band of Brands”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaqRwWwXau0

In a wonderful sendup of the Super Bowl ad frenzy – and a clever financial gambit – Newcastle recruited 37 other brands to pitch in money for this 30 second spot featuring a couple hurriedly trying to mention all of the brands before time runs out.

The Tearjerker Award: Budweiser for “Lost Dog”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAsjRRMMg_Q

Because, puppies. Not everyone agrees though. The wolf lobby was none too pleased.

Best/Weirdest Newcomer: Loctite Glue for “#WinAtGlue”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKe7j9tSwW4

The little-known brand leaped into the spotlight with this delightfully odd spot that features a group of socially awkward people in fanny packs getting down to a glue-themed reggae mix. Your move, Crazy Glue.

The “Wait, What?” Award: Nationwide Insurance for “Make Safe Happen”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKUy-tfrIHY

Super Bowl Sunday is generally a feel-good day for families and friends to get together, eat food, drink beer and be merry. But it’s also a time to be reminded that THE WORLD IS INCREDBILY DANGEROUS AND IF YOU ARE NOT CAREFUL KIDS WILL DIE. Nationwide’s controversial spot drew a ton of criticism and some pretty funny memes. When grilled about the appropriateness of the ad, Nationwide said they wanted to “start a conversation.” Mission accomplished!

Best Dad Ad: Dove for “#RealStrength”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKUy-tfrIHY

Dad ads were big on Super Sunday with spots from Nissan, Toyota and more. But Dove takes the prize with a heartfelt spot featuring dads being dads.

The Guilt Trip Award: Weight Watchers for “All You Can Eat”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppPpgdCHzAE

Weight Watchers’ spot puts the gluttonous American diet and its marketing on trial in front of Super Bowl fans who are undoubtedly taking part in a gluttonous American afternoon and encourages us to “take back control.” Thanks for ruining my super-sized pulled pork sandwich, Weight Watchers.

The Q Score Award: Left Shark for “Halftime Show Featuring Katy Perry”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAtCSio876c

OK, this isn’t technically an ad, but any mention of the 2015 Super Bowl that doesn’t include Left Shark just doesn’t seem right. During the halftime show, a pair of sharks joined Katy Perry onstage for a dance routine. The shark on the left – now forever known as “Left Shark” – was hilariously out of sync – and quite possibly drunk – causing the Internet to explode. Left Shark went from total obscurity to the undisputed star (with apologies to Malcolm Butler) of Super Bowl XLIX. How’s that for a jump in Q score? #WeAreAllLeftShark

Want to discuss how you can make a big impact with your brand? Fill out the form to the right – let’s talk!

San Diego Branding Agency by Jacob Tyler

Going Native

Digital advertising tactics continue to evolve, but there’s one that seems to be growing faster than any other – “native” advertising. Second only to display ads in usage, native advertising was estimated to be a more than $3 billion industry in 2014. In a nutshell, native advertising is sponsored content on a website or social media platform that mimics the host page’s layout, design and content. A more cynical type might call it “camouflage” advertising. At first glance, it can be difficult to determine what is an ad and what’s not. But the goal isn’t deception; it’s to increase brand awareness in a more subtle fashion than display ads – which are often immediately ignored. Some studies suggest that native ads have similar viewership rates to editorial content, and the format seems to enhance brand awareness by getting more “eyeballs” on a brand in a repetitive fashion.

The technique isn’t new – print “advertorials” are basically the same concept, and have been around almost as long as the printing press. And like advertorials, native ads offer more than just a brand mention or a strategically placed logo. Native ads often feature content a visitor might find helpful or interesting, generally related to the topic a visitor is already searching. The tactic seems to be working for brands, which continue to invest more of their budgets in native ads. But the real winners in the native advertising game have been media outlets. After years of revenue crisis as the traditional print model all but vanished, digital media platforms are cashing in on native ads. Online-only platforms like the Huffington Post and Buzzfeed are pioneers in native advertising space, but traditional outlets, like the New York Times and the Washington Post are getting in on the action too. Native ads have undoubtedly been a boon for media outlets, but are brands getting their money’s worth? With surging numbers of brands utilizing native ads, it sure looks that way.

Want to strategize about your advertising? Fill out the form to the right so we can chat!

Marketing Agency in San Diego | Jacob Tyler

Crashing the Party: How Brands Engaged an Audience of 33 Million at the College Football National Championship

People always want to be invited to the biggest party. The parties with the “In Crowd.” It’s human nature. These days, they call it “FOMO” – Fear of Missing Out. But it’s more than that. It’s the desire to engage with others. It’s the desire be accepted by your peers. Because if you’re not in, then, well – you’re out. This year, for the 10th year in a row, I failed to receive an invitation to HBO’s Golden Globes after party. While I was a little bummed, I understood why I didn’t make the cut. I don’t work in Hollywood, I don’t personally know anyone who attended and I didn’t even watch the Golden Globes (or realize they were happening). Still, it stung a little. I could have made some great connections and maybe even drummed up some new business. But alas, there will be other parties.  And now that we’re living in the digital age, invitations are no longer needed to get in to some of the biggest parties of the year.

Take the NCAA football National Championship between Ohio State and the University of Oregon. 33.4 million people tuned in on Monday night to watch Ohio State take home the title. That’s a BIG party. And everyone was invited. Through the magic of social media, anyone with an Internet connection or a smartphone could join in on the fun. Whether it was OSU and UofO fans taunting each other, people taking issue with some of the referee’s calls or talking heads tweeting out stats, everyone was in on the conversation. It wasn’t just individuals at the party. Lots of big brands – and plenty of smaller ones – were in attendance as well.

Today, brands must engage their customers and potential customers in order to survive. The numbers of choices consumers have for each product is staggering. Brands must now go to where the consumers are instead of the other way around. Brands have to be at the party. During the National Championship, they showed up in droves.  AMC Theatres and Marvel Studios were there; reminding everybody how awesome the new Avengers movie will be, after debuting its first trailer at halftime. Nike – a massive Oregon benefactor – was actively chatting up the crowd (and reminding everyone that they sponsor Ohio State as well). CNN, among many others, noted that the lead referee was an uncanny Bob Newhart doppelganger. Bob Newhart himself (still alive, still funny) even joined in on the fun, tweeting a joke in response. Macy’s showed off their Oregon and Ohio State tee-shirts, and Butterfinger – always quick with a joke – capitalized on their name and the unusual amount of fumbles by tweeting this picture. Even small brands, like Garden and Gun – a lifestyle publication from Charleston, SC – got in on the fun, offering up game time recipes.  Everyone – save Oregon fans – had a good time.

The sheer volume of brand engagement during the game – and the witty, personable voice of those brands – is a testament to the effectiveness of customer engagement in the digital age. And though the communication feels off the cuff and natural, it’s part of an all-encompassing branding strategy to reach and engage with customers, no matter what party they’re attending.

If you’d like to learn about how your brand can engage customers, fill out the form to the right and let’s chat!

San Diego Branding Agency | Jacob Tyler

Content is King: Inbound Marketing and the New Consumer

The world of marketing and advertising has changed. You’re more likely to fast-forward through TV commercials on your DVR rather than watch them. You’ve probably clicked that little “x” on the digital ad that popped up on your screen while you were trying to read a recipe for gluten-free kale burgers. You’ve switched the dial on your car radio during commercial breaks – only to learn that seemingly every station has commercial breaks at the same time – and couldn’t escape listening unless you wanted to jump out of your car onto the freeway. And if you have a phone, which I assume you do, you may have gotten a call from someone named “Kevin” calling from Mumbai offering low prices on prescription drugs. I know I have.

What these marketing tactics have in common is that they are coming directly to you – and not at your request. These tactics aren’t new, of course, but they are becoming increasingly outdated. In the digital age, consumers are taking a “don’t call us, we’ll call you” stance on marketing. Today’s consumer doesn’t need to be inundated with direct marketing, because there are a plethora of options for almost any product or service, just a few clicks away.  Consumers are still consuming, and as the economy continues to shake awake from a long slumber, marketers are employing new tactics to reach their intended audiences. One of the more popular tactics is “inbound marketing.”

In short, inbound marketing draws consumers to your company, service or product, instead of the other way around. Inbound marketing can attract consumers who know what they are looking for and convert them into customers by creating relevant, engaging and useful content on blogs, info products or social media. Content that makes your company, product or services stand out from the clutter. Content that doesn’t include a “hard sell,” but positions your brand as a friendly, helpful and educational go-to for a particular market.

The following article from Entrepreneur – The 8 Fundamentals for a Successful Inbound-Marketing Strategy – is a good primer on inbound marketing. If you’d like to learn more about how inbound marketing can enhance your brand strategy, fill out the form to the right and let’s talk!

San Diego Ad Agency Jacob Tyler