By Emilie DeLong, Media Supervisor

Mobile Broadcasting to Come to Northern Ohio

The fact that people are watching their favorite shows outside their living rooms is not news, but being able to watch live local TV for free at speeds up to 100 mph might be. Television stations are working to debut a new service, mobile broadcasting, in Northern Ohio and across the country that allows users to view live broadcasts from their cell phones, laptops and other portable devices.

With DVRs and sites like Hulu.com, it will be interesting to see if people would rather watch live TV when on-the-go or continue to log-in for already broadcast programs. It will also be interesting to see how advertisers determine how to best use this new broadcasting format. As always we will continue to keep an eye on this new opportunity to determine how consumers are accepting it and how best to leverage it for our clients.

For more information on mobile TV check out this article by The Cleveland Plain Dealer on Cleveland.com.

photo credit: masochismtango 

By Jenny Fuerst, Director, Corporate Communications

Addition of veteran communicators broadens expertise

As part of its expanded commitment to meeting the needs of clients interacting with all levels of government, Fahlgren Mortine is increasing its public affairs staff as well as continuing to broaden the scope of its full-service offering.

“The interaction between the public and private sectors is growing more and more complex, and the ability to communicate clearly and effectively has never been greater, ” said Neil Mortine, CEO of Fahlgren, Inc. and president of Fahlgren Mortine. “The additions and changes we are making position us as the leading agency in Ohio in helping public and private organizations work together.”

For more details, please click here for the complete news release. 

photo credit: Manicosity

By John Kirk, Vice President, Creative Director

Fahlgren Wins Regionally

Racing is racing, right? We’ll, it turns out that’s not necessarily so. When NAPA Auto Parts wanted to include both their NASCAR driver and their NHRA driver in the same television campaign and air them to two different racing audiences, we had to make sure those spots played well to both. The key to doing that was removing any reference to the two different types of racing. By focusing on the drivers’ uncanny knowledge of car parts, we were able to tell the story that with over 80 years in the business nobody knows parts, like NAPA.

The campaign features NASCAR driver, Micheal Waltrip and NHRA driver, Ron Capps taking on everyday couples in old-fashioned parlor games. Always featured as guests in the couples’ homes, Michael and Ron win each game with a comedic, tongue-in-cheek ease that leaves the frustrated couples wondering what just happened.

This campaign won Best of Show at the 2009 Columbus ADDYs, and Fahlgren just received news that the campaign, as well as two of it’s individual spots, won Gold ADDYs at the 5th District Regional ADDY Competition. This automatically qualifies them for a chance at a National ADDY Award in June at the American Advertising Federation ADDY show.

Congratulations to ACD/Art Director, Bill Marconi and Copywriter, Steve Chacon. Nice job, guys! Click here to check out the spots.

By Ann Oliver, Account Director

Using Mobile Technology to Reach Moms in New Ways

My daughter was growing bored sitting, once again, waiting for her brother’s baseball practice to wrap up. The usual distractions and games had grown tired, and I was running out of tricks. I checked the time on my Blackberry, noticed the icon for Pandora and had an idea. In less than 90 seconds, my daughter was happily singing along on her very own “Hannah Montana” station I created in the Pandora app. Occupied child, happy mom.

The call for app-based mobile experiences just keeps getting louder. commScore estimates that there are now more than 200,000 mobile apps available across various smartphone platforms, and the numbers keep growing.  That got me wondering, are mobile applications a good way for marketers to reach busy moms?

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By Jenny Fuerst, Director, Corporate Communications

Acquisition Doubles the Firm’s Digital Capacity

Today, Fahlgren announces that we’re acquiring GRIP Technology, a leading Web design and technology development firm located in Columbus. Its services include Web application development, Web site design and development, e-commerce, e-mail marketing, intranets, extranets, search engine optimization and marketing, and strategic Web consulting. GRIP is co-owned by Scott Sanders, Dustin Leggans and Bill Kiefaber.

“It’s no secret that the online world is growing, and our clients are asking for more and more digital work from us every day. It’s an integrated part of virtually every campaign we create,” said Neil Mortine, Fahlgren, Inc. president and CEO. “We are thrilled to be able to double our capacity in this area. GRIP is a natural fit as they complement our team, and we already have a great working relationship. We’ve been sharing clients and projects with them for more than two years. We’re impressed with their offering and client service and delighted to welcome them to the Fahlgren family.”

“Our business model is very client-centric,” said Scott Sanders, founder and president of GRIP and the new leader of Fahlgren Digital. “When I founded GRIP in 2002, I set out to develop a digital agency that was committed to helping its clients reach their business objectives, not just build great Web sites. Technology is only a tool, one part of the equation. It’s our goal to offer more than just great online creative and coding; we provide solutions to meet business objectives. Joining forces with Fahlgren, which shares the same client-centric business model, we can now offer our clients the full support of a leading, independent full-service agency.”

 For more details, check out the news release.

By Jodi Sparks, Account Supervisor

What a difference a year makes

This time last year the Columbus Fahlgren-McDonald’s Team was planning our trip to visit our teammates in Florida. The Miami McDonald’s Co Op (which is also a Fahlgren Co Op) was hosting the McDonald’s All American® Basketball Games. After much work, Columbus had been named as the 2010 Games host city, and we were all going down to see what we were in for.

The Games are actually three different events:

1. PowerAde JamFest® is a high energy skills and dunking contest that let the players strut-their-stuff. The section where the players get to demonstrate their best dunks is like a mini-Olympics where the audience gets to score each dunk. It will be held at Value City Arena on Monday, March 29. 
2.  The Awards Banquet is where we see how well our players clean up as the guys will put on a tux and the girls a formal dress.  It will be held on Tuesday, March 30 at the beautiful new Battelle Hall. 
3. The best way to describe the girls’ and boys’ games is “Witness The Jump From High School to Hall of Fame.”  It will also be held at Value City Arena on Wednesday, March 31.  The events on the 29^th and 31^st will be broadcast live on the ESPN Family of Networks. For more information please go to http://www.mcdonaldsallamerican.com/.

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