Posted by Ryan.Graczkowski on May 20th, 2011
We’ve all seen Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, right? Willy Wonka, eccentric entrepreneur and lover of chocolate sets up his biggest promotion to date. Using his worldwide distribution network, he sets out five golden tickets inside. These golden tickets represent a trip to his factory, and opportunity to see the inner workings of the business.
Obviously, of course, we’re talking about Corona. Corona is not setting out any golden tickets. But they do have an interesting promotion going out, and it’s made all the more intriguing due to its past success and how they’re integrating modern digital marketing techniques in to make it work.
Also, for the sake of parallelism, they are launching the biggest promotion they’ve ever done too.
The Corona Beach Getaway is a chance for customers, ages 21 and up, to win any one of a hundred chances for a trip down to Mexico. You don’t win it by finding a golden ticket or anything like that, but there are specially wrapped bottles that can be found that will let you take part.
Posted by Ryan.Graczkowski on May 18th, 2011
As marketers, you know that there are a lot of times when the name of the game is speed. How fast you can get back to people in those conversations, how quickly you can let people know about your promotions, etc.
Websites are regarded as the best possible solution, from a digital marketing standpoint, because it’s a constant, steady presence. And all of our talk about social media marketing doesn’t change that. Social media, after all, is a mode of conversation. You eventually do want to get people back somewhere where you can show them your wares. That’s the entire point of the conversation.
Getting the site up and running typically means an IT guy. And that’s really where the snag kicks in. Not that we’re saying you don’t need an IT professional, not at all. But rather, it’s wiser to note that the necessary development can take time. And sometimes, as a marketer, it’s hard to afford that.
Wouldn’t it be better though if you could save everyone some trouble and get straight to your marketing without all that time spent in development hell? Yeah, we think so too.
Posted by Ryan.Graczkowski on May 13th, 2011
Who likes food?
I do. I like food a lot. Here in Raleigh, it’s been described by a chef friend of mine as a foodie’s paradise. The reason for it is that it’s a place where there are tons of different restaurants. Not just in terms of how many different restaurants there are, but in terms of how many cultures are represented here as well.
There’s another city out there as well that’s acquiring a reputation as a foodie’s paradise. That place would be Philadelphia, and it’s at the center of a new marketing campaign that they’ve decided to start.
The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation (GPTMC) has partnered with Foodspotting, a foodie social media platform to promote the local food scene.
Posted by Ryan.Graczkowski on May 10th, 2011
All right, let’s get one thing straight. This is a business blog. This is not a political place, and we aren’t attempting to come down for or against The Man in any particular way. Nonetheless, if news should come along where the government decides they want to do something, and it affects your digital marketing efforts or your brand advertising, then we have something of a responsibility to you. We have to let you know about it. This keeps you abreast of developments in the marketplace and will ultimately help you formulate the proper strategy.
You’re welcome.
MediaPost is reporting that the head of the Senate Commerce Committee is unveiling a new bill today. This act, the ‘Do-Not-Track Online Act,’ is calling on the legislators to establish guidelines for a universal do-not-track mechanism. In English, that means that the government wants to get around personalized ads. They’re worried about companies taking and using user-information without the consent of the consumers. Naturally, it will vary on a case-by-case basis, but even this would depend entirely upon explicit consent from the consumer.
Posted by Ryan.Graczkowski on May 3rd, 2011
So you probably know what secret shopping is. In case you don’t, it’s having someone be paid to wander through your store to see if your service is everything it was promised to be. They can be annoying, particularly because they probably don’t buy anything, but they make up for it with their insights into how your employees handle the pressures of your expectations and theirs.
In that case, looking at it that way, it was probably inevitable that someone was going to go ahead and pull the same thing on Twitter. Digital agency IQ decided to undercover as a normal customer to see what sort of response they would get from companies and their Twitter accounts. They didn’t just settle for the local companies they could find; rather, they went after the Fortune 50.
Posted by Ryan.Graczkowski on April 29th, 2011
Right. So you you’re probably looking at the picture of this book and you’re thinking, ‘What in the world are these people at marCis up to? I don’t have time for old-fashioned books. I need quick answers!’
Careful, though. This isn’t just some old book. This is pretty much the old book when it comes to sales and marketing and promotion, and it is probably the most-read book outside of the Bible.
I am referring of course to Dale Carnegie’s classic, How To Win Friends and Influence People.
This is an important book, maybe now more than ever. If you’ve been paying any attention to this blog, you’ve noticed that social media is about conversation. The same principles of face-to-face communication apply in this new medium.
Lisa Buyer gets this. Her article notes that Google and Bing continue using social signals as a way of indicating rank online. Naturally, the higher your rank, the greater your success in this endeavor. But obviously it’s not simple. The new marketing paradigm that drives people is less about influencing people, and more about influencing search.
Lisa has some ideas on that.
Posted by Ryan.Graczkowski on April 27th, 2011
Well, well, well. Looks like someone’s been reading our blog again. You may remember our post from April 21 of this year. In it, we spoke about the need that companies have for a dedicated post for social media advice. And what can I say? It looks like someone’s decided to heed our advice.
The company is VivaKi. They’re a subset of Publicis, a French multinational advertising company. VivaKi is responsible for the digital marketing and media aspects of Publicis’ advertising efforts; they’re the holding company for all their media agencies such as Zenith Optimedia Group, Digitas, Razorfish, etc.
Figures it’d be the specialists.
Posted by on April 26th, 2011
Miami-based ZYR Vodka has selected marCis interactive to grow their social media and email marketing efforts.
ZYR Vodka is a premium spirit brand on shelves in 6 states – NY, NJ, FL, CT, GA & IL. The campaigns will focus on growing their Facebook page to improve customer engagement, increase their brand’s exposure and create general awareness of special events, tastings and appearances.
The email campaigns will be instrumental in keeping customers informed and up to date on various ZYR Vodka activities.
You can view the Facebook page at facebook.com/ZYRVodka and their website at ZYRVodka.com
When it comes to speaking about digital marketing and how the process works on Facebook versus the local newspaper is a different ballgame, I feel fairly justified in saying that we’re dealing with two different paradigms. By this I mean that we’re dealing with two totally different manners of approach, each with different possibilities as far as engaging customers and ultimately driving profit.
This is going to be an article about the numbers. Translation: get excited.
