By Jenny Fuerst, Director, Corporate Communications

Fahlgren, Edward Howard to Join Public Relations Businesses

Neil Mortine and Kathy Cupper Obert

Alignment Forms Independent Powerhouse:

Largest Firm in Ohio and Top 30 Nationally

The acquisition, which joins the capabilities of Fahlgren Mortine Public Relations and Edward Howard, is expected to close during the first quarter of 2010 although integration and coordinated new business and marketing efforts will begin immediately.

Check out more details of today’s exciting announcement in the news release.

By Katherine Zuehlke, Account Supervisor

The Rules are About to Change

Last week I got invited to a lunch and learn titled The Obama Factor & FTC Update. Three associates from the law firm Frost Brown Todd came into our offices to speak about this very interesting subject.

One of the topics they addressed was collecting behavioral data online, which to me, as an advertiser is key information to my clients’ businesses. Today, consumers have control over where and how they receive messages. The purpose of behavioral targeting is to send our client’s message to the right person when they are ready to receive it.

 The FTC defines behavioral advertising by tracking a consumer’s online activities over time (e.g. searches, websites visited, content viewed) to deliver advertising catered to that consumer’s interests. Why is this information important? It helps tailor content to each unique individual. I frequently visit www.target.com or www.gap.com for shopping. So when I’m doing a Google search it’s no coincidence that a Gap, Target or even Macy’s web banner is served up on my screen.

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By Craig Lerner, Director of Experiential Marketing

An important element in designing experiential marketing campaigns and events is the length of engagement.

To go beyond awareness, into understanding and delivering consumer action takes time. So instead of thinking about creative based on time (like a :30 spot) think about creating time. That’s the first step in thinking length of engagement.

Fahlgren LIVE meets a client’s target audience in life where they are most receptive to our message and where they actually raise their hands and say that they want to be part of the brand story - for a period of time. So when you can deliver an entertaining experience that the target chooses to be a part of, you can buy time. That’s a great responsibility and a great opportunity. You need to enhance their overall event experience while delivering a powerful brand experience - even a transactional experience (why not make the sale now or at least get them one step closer to a transaction).

This week, Fahlgren LIVE is launching an exciting new event called “Get the Good Stuff” - a game show experience that invites contestants on stage to test their automotive knowledge for a chance to win prizes while a crowd of event attendees gathers to watch.

Fahlgren LIVE Tour Manager Jared Nolan is the host and leads contestants through the game show. As he does so, the script, clues and improvisational banter all communicate key attributes of the NAPA brand to accelerate and deepen the relationship with this valuable audience. And since the brand awareness levels for NAPA are through-the-roof in this crowd, it’s all about delivering understanding to move the audience into trial and preference.

And by the way, “trial” is only a few feet away. Next to the game stage is the 1,800 square-foot pop-up store with great deals for that transactional experience I mentioned earlier.

This new live activation is the centerpiece of an integrated experiential campaign, now in its third year, aimed at turning the over 70,000 Goodguys Rod & Custom Association members and the nearly 2 million event attendees into loyal NAPA customers. And while the game show experience will provide excitement at 21 Goodguys events throughout the year, the overall business results will be driven from integrated tactics that include an in-store promotion, print advertising and public relations. NAPA uses sponsorships, promotional campaigns and events like this to support its Distribution Centers, retail stores and NAPA AutoCare Centers nationwide. It’s an opportunity to entertain wholesale customers and prospects while engaging consumers and drive store traffic.

Each staging of “Get the Good Stuff” keeps attendees in the NAPA brand story for 15-20 minutes.

Just imagine what your brand could do with that length of engagement. We’d love to help take you there.

By Ann Oliver, Account Director

What’s for dinner?

I’ve been asked this question nearly every day for the last ten years or so (prior to that, dinner was complimentery appetizers at happy hour). It’s a challenge to constantly come up with tasty, easy, and economical recipe ideas. Lucky for me I discovered AllRecipes.com about eight years ago and it’s been one of my favorite go-to sites ever since.

Before the buzz words User Generated Content, Multi-media and Online Community became ubiquitous, AllRecipes.com was organizing visitors’ favorite recipes and the community was rating and reviewing them.  Home cooks upload pictures of their delicious creations, users share ideas on how to make it better or offer compliments on the tasty results.

I was really impressed when a co-worker who knows that I am a fan of the site, mentioned a new iPhone app, Dinner Spinner, available free from the site. I do not have an iPhone or iTouch, I use the mobile version of AllRecipes when I’m remote.  But after checking out Dinner Spinner, I’m thinking I may need to make a smart-phone upgrade.  I won’t be the only one. eMarketer predicts 53% of the world’s population will have a mobile phone by 2014 - many of them will likely be smart phones capable of storing applications for everything you can imagine. Like recipes. 

Dinner Spinner, for the iPhone or iPod Touch, allows you to pick out what kind of dish you want, how much time you have and the main ingredient. What’s the “spinner” part of the Dinner Spinner app? You can randomize one of the search criteria or shake your iPhone to spin for ideas–how cool is that?

All Recipes 2008 Year End Report highlights the huge rise in home cooking. It makes sense that eating at home is a trend consistent with a down economy. Maybe a next gen feature of Dinner Spinner could be a search field for cost per serving?

Kudos to Allrecipes.com for providing on-the-go tools that help get dinner on the table and for giving me plenty of food for thought.