Applegate Media Group

Based on the study conducted by Jupiter Research and Verse Group, marketers believe that the current economic crisis is accelerating their need to find new ways to position their brands across multiple delivery platforms. This represents a challenge because 89% of marketers say their marketing efforts are under greater executive scrutiny due to the suffering economy.

To meet these priorities, marketers should:

1. Quantify and measure the value of marketing programs and investments. Set clear performance targets and measurement methods and employ marketing mix models that link programs to targeted customer behaviors and corporate performance.      
2. Build an integrated and complete view of their customers and prospects and take time to truly understand them. This includes developing a dedicated marketing database with complete customer interaction history, supplemental data indicating future behavior, as well as demographic and psychographic data. Using this data to flush out clusters drastically improves the success of marketing campaigns.
3. Anticipate customer needs. Stay ahead of the curve on trends and developments that are shaping customer choices and make an extra effort to collaborate with customers. One way to do this is by monitoring and engaging in blogging and other social media.
4. Add value to marketing messages. One estimate puts the number of marketing messages a typical US consumer sees per day at 3-5,000. As a result, customers are tuning marketing communications out and demanding control over who can market to them.
5. Move beyond “spray and pray” marketing. Replace the same message sent to all customers and the same media delivering the message with customized media plans and messages tailored to different customer segments.
6. Implement centralized rules but decentralize decision-making. This entails developing broad rules centrally for universal use at touchpoints with customers and interpreting them locally using all contextual information available. The touchpoint, the local context, how the rules were adapted and the results are fed back to the center for analysis and rule evolution. The whole model continuously evolves as the environment in which it operates changes.

 

With the current economic turmoil and explosion in marketing touchpoints – many of which are outside of a marketers’ control – studying the current structure of the organization, the strength of their marketing assets and the behavior of their customers is becoming increasingly more important.

What are your organization’s top marketing priorities this year? Share your challenges and we’ll share potential solutions.

 

 

 

 

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According to the study just released by Kantar Media, U.S. media spending grew 5.1% in Q1 of 2010 compared to the same period last year. Spot TV benefited the most, advancing 22% as advertisers were buying time they had not locked down in last summer’s upfront buying season. Significant increase was also recorded for national radio, part of an overall rebound that halted radio’s three-year decline, Sunday newspaper supplements, newspaper inserts, and network TV, which benefited from the Winter Olympics.

Not all media enjoyed the revenue increase as the spending was down for syndicated TV, magazines, local newspapers and out-of-home.

Among major ad categories, automotive increased its spending the most, with manufacturers increasing by 20% and dealers by 16%. Among the top advertisers, Pfizer had the biggest increase – a whopping 46%.

Overall, the numbers from the study show a conservative, but steady growth as companies gauge consumer confidence levels and focus on fine-tuning their ad messages. In the coming months, we expect the growth to continue or intensify. We also expect an expansion in cross-media ad campaigns and the need to measure their performance more effectively, emergence of new mobile ad models to take advantage of rise in popularity of smartphones, and an increase in commercialization of social networking sites.

What are your expectations for the rest of the year and how can we help you meet them? Reply to this post, call us at 887.515.5557 or email at info@applegatemediagroup.com.

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Unlike virtual reality, augmented reality does not create a simulation of reality. Instead, it takes a real object or space as the foundation and incorporates technologies that add contextual data to deepen a person’s understanding of the subject. For example, by superimposing imaging data from an MRI onto a patient’s body, augmented reality can help a surgeon pinpoint a tumor that needs to be removed. In this case, the technology used might include headgear worn by the surgeon combined with a computer interface that maps data to the person lying on the operating table.

When it comes to consumer use, emerging augmented reality applications are based on two approaches:

1. Printed codes – Users hold up a specially coded printed sheet in front of a webcam or video camera and a computer monitor. The code is translated and a holographic 3D image, that can be rotated and manipulated, is displayed.

2. Mobile devices – Users hold up their smart device to view a physical environment – a park, a city street, or a subway station. Multiple layers of information are overlaid on the phone’s screen – the available real estate, nearby bars and restaurants, etc.

There are dozens of video examples of how companies have used augmented reality for different applications – automotive, military, medicine, industrial, etc. We chose three that show how it can be applied in advertising.

 

Example #1: Papa John’s (click here to activate video)

By placing a code on their pizza box, Papa John’s has integrated their online and offline advertising strategies. The code takes customers on an “augmented reality road trip”, allowing users to drive a 1972 Camaro. Papa John’s offers and promos are seen alongside the road throughout the ride.

 

Example #2: GE (click here to activate video)

General Electric uses augmented reality to let users experience the power of their smart grid technology. The digital hologram brings the smart grid concept to life.

 

Example #3: Layar (click here to activate video)

Layar uses a cell phone camera and GPS capabilities to gather information about the surrounding area. It then shows information about restaurants or other sites in the area by overlaying them on the phone’s screen. When the phone is pointed at a building, Layar can show if any companies in that building are hiring or locate the building’s history on Wikipedia. Originally available in the Netherlands only, Layar is now also available to US Verizon customers who own Droid phones.

There are similar applications available for use on other smart phones. The Yelp app, for example, has an augmented-reality component called Monocle. It is activated when iPhone 3GS users start up their Yelp app and shake their phone three times. Monocle uses iPhone’s GPS and compass to display information, including distances, ratings and reviews, about local restaurants.

 

Limitations and Future Implications

Augmented reality is an emerging technology and as such, faces challenges that need to be overcome in order to achieve wider use. Some of the challenges/limitations are:

– Many augmented reality projects rely on specific or customized hardware and the mechanisms that correlate data added by technology with the real world are often technically complex. Despite the overall decrease in hardware costs, augmented reality projects can be expensive to develop and maintain.

– GPS is only accurate to within 30 feet and doesn’t work as well indoors. Developers are working to improve image recognition technology, which may be able to help.

– Cell phone screens may be too small for people to rely on. For that reason, augmented-reality enabled contact lenses and glasses will provide users with more convenient, expansive views of the world around them.

– Information overload and an overreliance on augmented reality could cause people to miss out on what’s right in front of them. Some people may prefer to use their augmented reality smart phone applications rather than an experienced tour guide, even though a tour guide may be able to offer a level of interaction, an experience and a personal touch unavailable in a computer program. Also, there are times when a real sign on a building is preferable to a virtual one, which would be accessible only by people with certain technologies.

– As with many web applications lately, there are privacy concerns. Image-recognition augmented reality applications will allow us to point our phones at total strangers and instantly see information from their Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or other online profiles. Although people willingly put information about themselves online, it could be unpleasant to meet someone and have them instantly know so much about our life and background.

Despite the limitations and challenges, augmented reality will change the way we perceive and experience the world around us. As it relates to advertising industry, augmented reality’s evolving functionality will create even more powerful opportunities to integrate print and digital campaigns, support point of purchase sales, and introduce innovative product placement ideas.

• admin posted on June 7, 2010
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Long-tail keywords are lower-volume keyword phrases containing three or more words. These longer keyword phrases are typically used for more specific searches. Long-tail searchers know exactly what they are looking for and are typically searching to fill a specific need or solve a problem. An example of a long tail search would be “award-winning media planning and buying agency”. The intent of this search is much more specific compared to a short tail keyword such as “media agency”. The first phrase indicates the searcher is in detailed research or buying mode. The second phrase indicates the searcher is in the initial research phase.

Because individual long tail keyword searches typically do not bring a lot of traffic, the appropriate strategy for marketers is to target high quantities of long tail keywords. The most efficient and effective way to implement this strategy is by blogging.

To find and target long tail keywords, consider the following:

– Free online keyword research tools

For example, Google Adwords Keyword Tool can help determine a range of long tail keywords when you type in a popular, competitive keyword. The tool will also allow you to gauge competitiveness, search volume and average cost per click.

– Competitor analysis

Online tools such as SEMRush will uncover a list of keywords used by your competitors, as well as their rankings in organic and paid search results.

– SEO consultants

These are search engine optimization service providers you can hire to carry out optimization projects on your behalf.

– Enterprise platforms

One of the most popular platforms is HitTail, a web tool you can use to get long tail keyword suggestions. HitTail will give you a tracking code to put on your website and then use the recorded data to give you a list of topics to write about in order to improve your search engine results.

The top 4 advantages of using long tail search terms on your blog or website are:   

1. Rank viability

Since long tail keywords are less competitive, it is much easier to achieve top search engine rankings than with short tail keywords.

2. Targeted traffic

Targeted traffic to your website or blog will increase because the number of your individual pages with long tail keywords will go up over time. The aggregate result is more visibility and thus more traffic.

3. Conversion rate increase

The searchers using long tail keywords are further along the buying cycle than people who are making generic searches.

4. Readership increase

If your posts are done effectively, they will meet your viewers need, keep them on the site longer and potentially entice them to subscribe to your RSS feed. This is even more likely if you have related posts. Your audience will expand, allowing for greater monetization potential.

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