By Kathleen Ramirez, Fahlgren EVP and Corporate Media Director

(You fill in your own blanks.)

There is no denying that what was once called the traditional media landscape is fast becoming an antiquated term. Most discussions surrounding the changes with media inevitably make their way back to something related to digital applications and technology.  

Our view is that technology has morphed from an additional vehicle to a great enabler and equalizer. We know Americans are more and more adept at multi-tasking. A recent Experian Simmons report revealed that approximately 90% of us watch TV in a typical day and upwards of 70% use some other media while doing so. Surfing the web, using cell phones and emailing were cited as activities most often done while watching TV. 

What does a traditional landscape really mean to today’s overly connected and overscheduled consumer anyway?

Ask a different person….you’ll get a different answer.

So here’s the point of the title of this article….it’s not necessarily the technology or explosion of choices people have today.  It’s understanding where it all fits in the hearts and minds of consumers. 

Read the rest of this entry »

By Amy Dawson, Senior Vice President/Healthcare Account Director

When most consumers can walk out of a store and send a Tweet or Facebook post to hundreds, if not thousands, of friends every company should be on high alert. 

Call it what you want - a conversation, a buzz, or 24/7/365 action - but the social media phenomenon can make or break a brand, product or company in a matter of days, or even hours.

 Here’s an example: in less than 24 hours, I found these posts on Facebook:

• “Not happy with Delta! Why did Bill not get charged for his checked bag and I did? I’m even a FF member and he is not!! Grrrrrr”
• “Capital City Appliance customer service is completely inflexible and forgot that the customer is always, well, the customer! Beware!”
• “Dell’s customer service sucks.”

I didn’t even look at Twitter, LinkedIn or other social networking sites I use… who knows how many more I’d find.  So how can smart brands protect themselves from social media backlash and recession proof their business at the same time?

It’s Almost All About The Experience

A quote in a recent whitepaper from the Peppers & Rogers Group, “Winning on Service in an Uncertain Economy,” sums it up best:

“The good news is that those companies who are making an effort to build customer loyalty through exceptional customer service are finding themselves at least partially insulated against this economic backlash. In tough economic times, people like to deal with companies that genuinely care about them. We are more careful about what we spend and who we spend it with. Companies who have been mistreating, ignoring, or otherwise abusing their customers will suffer the most.”

As the report cites, succeeding in down economic times requires a renewed focus on creating an exceptional customer experience.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Katherine Zuehlke, Account Supervisor

It’s 6:30am and my toddler is letting me know she’s ready to start the day.

We do the same thing every morning. I put her oatmeal in the microwave and like clock work, she points to the TV and says, “Dorda.” Only a mother would know baby talk, but my daughter wants to watch Dora the Explorer while she eats her breakfast.

Every morning we watch Dora the Explorer on Nick Jr. She’s only a toddler but already my daughter is a creature of habit and knows when she eats breakfast she gets to watch TV. And she already has a favorite brand - Dora the Explorer. 

The funny thing is I don’t mind one bit. I have found myself indulging in her desire to have everything Dora. Because I think it’s cute every time she sees something Dora and says “Dorda,” I end up purchasing that product for her. Our last trip to the grocery store was an event; we got Dora crackers, soup, bandages and an electric toothbrush - all things that we already had at home but she didn’t care about that.

Her choice of consumer products is based on whose face is on the packaging. She asked for crackers the other day and wouldn’t eat the normal box of animal crackers because she wanted the Dora animal crackers instead. The animal crackers tasted exactly the same but the package was different and my toddler knew it.

She also knew the difference between her regular pink toothbrush and her new Dora toothbrush - both Colgate products but one was the definite winner in my toddler’s eyes. Colgate and Nick Jr.’s Dora the Explorer, both well-known brands, partnered together to produce a toddler’s dream toothbrush.

Colgate transformed their child’s electric toothbrush and gave it new appeal reaching a very important audience - moms of toddlers.

Brand Extensions

Brand extensions have helped companies build their brands and become top-of-mind in consumer purchasing behavior for decades. In 1979, Edward M. Tauber coined the term “brand extensions” to describe leveraging a well-known brand name in one category to launch a new product in a different category.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

By Alaina Sheer,

I’m a single mother. 

Finding time to even brush my teeth is a miracle in its own right. Single parents are perhaps one of the hardest demographics to reach but a growing one. And if your brand can reach me and actually drive me to a purchase you can reach anyone. 

Just before the new year I decided to take a last minute trip to Chicago. 

I took a few minutes to search for a hotel on Hotels.com and felt instantly overwhelmed. I had no time to search through all of their options. What I needed was a hotel on or near Michigan Avenue for less than $100.00.

The days leading up to my trip quickly passed and I had yet to book a room.

Then I reported my dilemma on Twitter. 

And you’ll notice, within just a few minutes a representative from the travel website Resideo.com had replied to me with a recommendation. You’ll see up there in my dialogue that their first suggestion didn’t quite fit. I responded back with a thank you expecting them to quickly give up.

Instead they responded back after some research with a hotel that fit the bill.

I clicked through to their website and immediately booked a room. 

So how did Resideo find me?

They weren’t following my Tweets and I wasn’t following them. They are probably using a tool like TweetDeck to monitor the constant buzz of conversation on Twitter. When anyone mentions the word “hotel” or “vacation” TweetDeck alerts them and within seconds Resideo can respond.

Read the rest of this entry »