3 of 13 Key Marketing Initiatives

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Debbie Szwast | November 06, 2013 | Stevens & Tate

In the past few years, the retail marketplace has changed significantly. New technologies are impacting consumers’ attitudes and purchasing decisions. To stay successful, businesses need to evaluate and update their marketing strategies, programs and processes on a consistent basis. As the new year approaches is an opportune time to do so.

Stevens & Tate released a white paper discussing 13 key marketing initiatives to improve success. Below are a few items you can start focusing on today to make an impact in the upcoming year.

1. Media Plans and Strategies

The media landscape is constantly changing—new technologies and trends are emerging rapidly and existing platforms continue to evolve. This is providing new opportunities to market to your target audience. To reach today’s consumers, create a strategy that not only reaches them where they are looking, but also addresses what stage they are in the buying cycle.

Remember that media planning is not one size fits all. Develop your media strategy around your core audience, focusing on mediums where they are most engaged. However, don’t overlook the value of creating integrated campaigns with related messages across multiple platforms. This allows you to significantly increase your reach and frequency to build awareness, interest and interaction among those who matter most.

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The Connection Between Search Engine Marketing and Social Media: How They Go Hand-in-Hand to Enhance Results

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It may not be surprising that search engine marketing is the greatest way to drive traffic to your website. In fact, take a look at your website analytics right now and I can almost guarantee that search engines are among the top five producers of website traffic. Now consider this: social media—overall content, interactions, and links about your brand—plays a significant part in the search engines’ algorithms to determine search ranking results. So, even if you have questioned using social media as part of your attraction marketing strategy before, I urge to you to look more closely at the impact you could make to your brand by getting involved in social to help your search engine results.

Obviously, the goal of search engine marketing is to help make your brand show up in top rankings within the search engines when people conduct queries. There are a few key actions that you can take to help make this happen. This includes:

  1. Making sure the backend code of your website is properly optimized
  2. Enhancing your website with current, relevant content—this is a significant factor in rankings
  3. Refreshing and updating your website content frequently
  4. Including more links from outside, reputable sources that link back to your website
  5. How often your website is shared in social media
  6. How often people visit your website from social media

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New 5 unique packaging

5 Unique Household Packaging Designs You’ll Never Expect

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Mark Beebe | October 23, 2013 | Stevens & Tate

Have you ever heard the phrase “Don’t judge a book by its cover?” These days product packaging has become so intricate and unique that it can entice customers to purchase the product. The new wave of product packaging and design has a big impact on sales. You could put every piece of product in a brown box and call it a day; this is why product packaging takes much deliberation and creativity to get it perfect. Who knows, maybe the packaging alone could be the driving force of the sale. Read more

Are Smart Phones Making Us Dumb?

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Mark Beebe | September 18, 2013 | Stevens and Tate

As you know or might not know I am a fact guy. Love and eat facts all day. I am fascinated as to how many people use the smart phone to send texts, check email or watch a show in the car. Let’s start this blog off with a few deadly facts:

  1. In 2011, 3,331 people were killed in crashes involving a distracted driver, compared to 3,267 in 2010. An additional, 387,000 people were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver, compared to 416,000 injured in 2010.
  2. As of December 2012, 171.3 billion text messages were sent in the US (includes PR, the Territories, and Guam) every month. (CTIA)
  3. At any given daylight moment across America, approximately 660,000 drivers are using cell phones or manipulating electronic devices while driving, a number that has held steady since 2010. (NOPUS)
  4. Sending or receiving a text takes a driver’s eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent-at 55 mph-of driving the length of an entire football field, blind. (VTTI)

A quarter of teens respond to a text message once or more every time they drive. 20 percent of teens and 10 percent of parents admit that they have extended, multi-message text conversations while driving. (UMTRI) Read more

Did The Tivo Revolution Destroy The Metric System?

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Remember the big THREE…CBS, NBC, and ABC?

These three companies were running the demographics back in the day and competing for shares. ABC Roots in 1977 was watched by 36 million viewers, still the third-most watched U.S. TV program ever. ABC made one smart move when in 1970 it aired Monday Night Football. 667 games later ESPN has managed to own this brand. But this is still a simple metric to watch.Right?

ESPN’s third season of Monday Night Football was the most watched series on cable television in 2008. It set an all-time cable viewership record for the third straight year and drew the year’s three biggest cable household audiences and 13 of the top 15. In three seasons on ESPN, Monday Night Football has registered seven of the top 10 all-time biggest household audiences in cable history, led by the Eagles-Cowboys telecast on 9/15/08, which attracted cable’s largest household audience ever (an average of 12,953,000 homes).

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When In the Windy City, Do as the Chicagoans Do.

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There is something to be said for Chicago natives. For as much as we hate the city sometimes, we love it twice as much.

Saying where you’re from comes with a sense of dignity unique to the Windy City. Your El stop is a badge of honor. The Sears Tower will always be the Sears Tower and Comiskey will never be called “The Cell.” We laugh when people get confused over the concept of neighborhoods, and pride ourselves even more on the one we call home. We stay away from Navy Pier like the plague and will never be caught dead taking reflection pictures with the Bean—again.

To natives, Chicago is more than a city. It’s home.

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Will Apple’s iTunes Radio Put a Lock on Pandora’s Box?

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Apple recently announced an addition to its new iOS7 software, which will incorporate its own version of Pandora’s Internet Radio service titled, iTunes Radio. The service will function very similarly to Pandora, but will harness the data accumulated through the user’s iTunes account in order to see what music the listener currently likes, has liked in the past, and takes both into account when selecting new music for them.

Unlike Pandora, iTunes Radio will feature the ability to “tune” each station selection based on whether the listener wants more of the music to be familiar or new to the—a feature foreign to Pandora listeners.

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In Life and Advertising, Can Less Be More?

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We are busy. Everyone is busy. Each of us manages many different tasks throughout the day, but how often do we pause to think about what we’re really doing? Are we just checking things off our never-ending To Do list, or are we engaging mindfully in actions that will bring us closer to our goals? As we approach the second half of 2013, I am looking at our company’s goals and asking, Are the sales and marketing activities we are engaging in leading to positive future indicators, driving results, and ultimately winning sales? Read more

The Biggest Marketing in the History of Marketing is to get you relaxed

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So a common conversation I hear often begins with “Does marketing work”?

If marketing didn’t work, how did you know about the new shows or movies coming out? What signaled you that the new iPad minis were shipping? Marketing is everywhere from bands to what telephone service you choose.

But in my estimation the greatest marketing out there is that of alcohol. Think about how 90% of adult Americans believe a party must include alcohol. Did you not have fun at your seventh grade birthday party? How did that culture shift happen over time?

Placement, Placement, Placement

We could discuss the last 100 years but for the purpose of this blog, I want to look at a snapshot of today. Alcohol is everywhere, in ads,radio, on television, but more importantly, the product placement of every television show, movie which confirms that alcohol must be present in order to have a “great” party or to have a great meal. Do you know the billions SPENT on that placement is assuring your mind that it’s okay to drink BECAUSE everyone else is doing it? Read more

Is Crowdfunding as a Social Media Strategy Here to Stay or Just a Passing Fad?

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Have you heard about the Veronica Mars Kickstarter miracle? In just 11 hours, the ever-loyal fan-base of the cancelled show guaranteed that their favorite adult Nancy Drew-esque sleuth would return, this time to the big screen, to the tune of $2 million. The excitement for some is palpable. What exactly is crowdfunding? Is this the sign of a new way of doing things?

According to Wikipedia, crowdfunding is  “the collective effort of individuals who network and pool their money, usually via the Internet, to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations. Crowdfunding is used in support of a wide variety of activities, including disaster relief, citizen journalism, support of artists by fans, political campaigns, startup company funding,motion picture promotion, free software development, inventions development, scientific research,and civic projects.” Kickstarter is one of many burgeoning crowdfunding websites that have appeared on the internet in the last few years. And while the Veronica Mars Kickstarter project is not the first of its kind (there are 31 crowdfunded films currently showing at SXSW), the sheer amount of money raised speaks volumes for the power of the voice of “the people.”

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