By now, we have all seen small advertising posters hanging in the washrooms of our favorite bars, fitness clubs, and restaurants and maybe even our offices. Once you get over the idea that these ads might be a bit intrusive, what would you say are the sorts of ads that would work particularly well in a restroom? After you stop laughing you might think of products you generally associate with a bathroom like cleaning products, hand lotions, air fresheners or candles. What about products that are sold in the bar or restaurant where the bathroom is located like beer, liquor or soft drinks? Many people go into restrooms to freshen up – is it really a far-fetched to promote makeup, cologne, breath mints or hair products?
Excluding the occasional cougar, college kids and adults 50 plus don’t generally go to the same bars. And in most establishments there are separate restrooms for men and women. Yes, I am talking about segmenting by age group and gender. You could put an Old Spice cologne ad in one men’s room and an Axe body spray ad in another and thereby reach completely different demographic segments. Just such a tactic was used by Degree deodorant, which ran a sampling campaign in New York City fitness club locker rooms. Knowing that men between the ages of 21 and 54 frequent such establishments and presumably work up a healthy sweat it was a perfect opportunity to hand out free mini-deodorants. The indoor billboard poster had a dispenser right beneath a picture of some intense dude repelling from a helicopter who looked to be deep behind enemy lines with the Degree deodorant tag line featured prominently within.
If it works to get people to try out new products couldn’t it also work to remind people to wash their hands to protect them from getting the H1N1 Flu? How about a memorable Drunk Driving message located in a lively bar restroom? You can literally bring the message to people right when they are going to make a decision that can affect their health and safety. Maybe there is something to this place based advertising idea.
Since the devastating earthquake in Haiti, we’ve seen an incredible outpouring of generosity from all sectors of America – individuals, companies, celebrities and a host of institutions who have given their money, their time and their talent to help the victims.
What’s so remarkable and inspiring in the age of instant communications, is how immediately we all came together—the non-profit community, federal government, businesses and the media – to help. Within hours of the tragedy, Americans were asked to do something and once again, they answered the call, demonstrating their extraordinary generosity.
At the Ad Council, we witnessed that generosity first-hand. Immediately following the tragedy, we reached out to the White House and the American Red Cross to offer our help. Within three days of the earthquake we had a television PSA featuring First Lady Michelle Obama on the air urging Americans to give to the Red Cross. We also had the privilege of partnering with former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush for a PSA to help raise awareness of their newly established Clinton Bush Haiti Relief Fund.
And just last Friday we collaborated with the Creative Artists Agency Foundation and the Red Cross to launch another PSA that featured Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Morgan Freeman, Reese Witherspoon, Tim McGraw and Jake Gyllenhaal.
Today it seems that we all stay in touch with family, friends and colleagues through social networking sites. Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are fun ways to find out what your friend’s weekend plans are via their Facebook status or how your colleague is stuck in line waiting for lunch by following them on twitter.
Social media is a great resource for many reasons but most importantly, it gives a voice to important issues, political campaigns (who can forget Obama’s presidential online campaign) and in my position, helps leverage the critical issues of the Ad Council. Twitter, which is the third most used social networking site, allows each of us to interact in real time. It gives “ordinary” people the opportunity to follow their icons, senators and even their favorite celebrities (doesn’t everyone follow Kelly Ripa like myself?). The biggest misconception about these sites is that they aren’t simply for entertainment purposes. They have the ability to get an important message such as where to donate for the victims of the Haiti earthquake or the benefits of adopting foster children.
A great feature on Twitter is a “Twitter party” which gives you the ability to interact with experts about topics ranging from books, to world issues to the new technology gadget. While most of us have attended a birthday, anniversary or retirement party, have you ever been to a Twitter party? What exactly is a Twitter party? A Twitter party allows organizations and companies to interact with their peers as well as interview spokespeople, post reviews, and host giveaways. It’s a great opportunity to reach thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of people with your important message! Recent examples of twitter parties include ones on Myrtle Beach Hotels and several kids and tweens book parties.
Here’s why I love my job… I get to learn about so many different issues especially ones I’ve never even heard before(Lymphangioleiomyomatosis??) and meet the people that work so passionately to get these issues seen and heard. Here’s the difficult part about my job… breaking the news that it does indeed cost money to create an outstanding and successful PSA campaign. The most frequent question I get is – “It costs how much?!” And what I often hear back is, “Well, we just don’t have that kind of money right now.” This response has become even more frequent given the economic crisis that we and so many other nonprofits are facing. It’s a sad state of affairs with little flickers of hope but nothing quite concrete just yet.
I am hopeful though. Not just for the many nonprofits out there who struggle so earnestly but for those important issues that are needing a voice. I think what it’s going to take is a little bit of creativity and stepping outside the box to get us through these difficult times. Not every nonprofit needs or has to go down that traditional route of creating a PSA campaign to address their issue. Yes, I can speak with confidence that PSAs have proven time and again to be extremely effective in reaching the right audience and encouraging them to take the appropriate action. But I also think that for nonprofits who need to be tighter on the wallet, which right now seems to be the majority, there are other less expensive options out there.
Caught up in the zeal of communicating an important social message, it’s easy to lose sight of your average website user, and as a result lose him entirely.
The key to better website copy is to understand how people read on the web.
I’ll keep this brief. On an average visit, users have time to read about 20% of the words on a page.
You, like most users, will probably only scan this page, so I’ll bold keywords and phrases,
And use a bulleted list.
These tactics are the conclusions of web usability guru Jakob Nielsen, and supported by his firm’s studies using eyetracking technology. Other recommendations of his – the inverted pyramid and one idea per paragraph – borrow from news writing basics.
Start balancing these recommendations with everything from the wonky intricacies of SEO, to finding the proper voice and tone for your organization, to recognizing stakeholder concerns, and you can appreciate the challenges of writing for the web.
There is no magical formula. The tactics listed here are common fundamentals to effective web copy, but striking the right balance is unique to the context.
Use the links below to learn more. And as a fun exercise, leave comments on ways that I could have composed this post more effectively (I’m sure there are at least a few ).
As marketers, virtually all of us have incorporated social networking and Web 2.0 strategies into our communication plans. Although some are just now getting comfortable with these tactics, others are already looking toward the horizon for what’s next. Web 3.0 is coming quickly and it will potentially put the trust we’ve built with our consumers at risk. To effectively realize the full potential of Web 3.0, we must protect and foster that trust as a sacred commodity.
Although still ambiguous, some describe Web 3.0 as an enormous social network that connects information instead of people. It will ideally allow for incredibly complex queries that provide results based on your likes and dislikes determined through past Internet usage.
WebMD’s founder Jeff Arnold and talk show host Dr. Mehmet Oz recently introduced the new site Sharecare which exemplifies the potential Web 3.0. As somewhat of a Facebook-meets-WebMD, this new health care platform allows consumers to ask questions directly on the site and receive answers from physicians from top institutions such as Johns Hopkins and “Knowledge Partners”. The paid sponsorship line-up includes inaugural partner, Dove, who will provide insight on skin care.
On one of my Southwest flights returning from a media market trip, I had a chance to pause and ponder: What business are we really in when we distribute and promote our PSAs and public relations packages on campaigns to traditional media and throughout the social networks?
Yes, these are wonderful messages designed to change behavior for the common good.
Yet, while management consulting firms give the Ad Council great guidance on how to traverse the mega- digital transition, is there a bigger picture to embrace as we enter the brave new media world of 2010 where social networks take more prominence in distributing our messages?
Then I thought about the legendary management guru, Peter Drucker, whom Time Magazine once called, “perhaps the most perceptive observer of the American scene since Alexis de Tocqueville.”
Lofty praise for a cranky professor, and author of 28 books, who hung up on me and refused to grant an interview for a magazine article back in 1997. Now deceased, the legendary Drucker nevertheless lives on at The Drucker Institute in Claremont, CA (www.druckerinstitute.com). Despite the snub, I combed through many of his books and articles to glean the essence of his management philosophy. And sure enough, it was brilliantly perceptive.
Have you ever been to a presentation about your organization’s social media strategy and seen this slide: “Over 2,000 Facebook fans; 500 Twitter followers and 3,000 MySpace friends!”? “Great,” everyone at the table thinks, “we are officially in the social media space – we have friends and fans – but now what?
Though 88% of executives at US non-profit organizations are currently experimenting with social media, only 51% report using it actively and 79% are uncertain about how to demonstrate its value for their organization, according to a survey conducted by Weber Shandwick and KRC Research.
Until we truly demystify social media ROI (which I believe will take good old-fashioned time) and in light of this recent study, perhaps our efforts are better spent learning how to present what we do know and make sure your organization’s executives don’t fall off the social media bandwagon. After all, the use of social media for social good continues to be an online trend, making social marketing messages popular and in demand.
It’s here. Hanukkah ends on Friday, Christmas is right around the corner, retail stores are bursting at the seams with holiday shoppers and seasonal staffers. Our mailboxes and inboxes are clogged with coupons and catalogs, and our bellies with far too many cookies.
It’s the hap-happiest season of all. Just ask a fundraiser.
Chances are that you’ve noticed that in December, nonprofits take center stage. And for good reason. From St. Jude’s celebrity-studded, tear-jerker ads to the Salvation Army’s industrious bell ringers, nonprofits understand that the holidays provide a prime opportunity to tug at your heartstrings. Nonprofits know that now is the time to ask for a year end contribution or remind you that a donation in honor of a loved one is the gift that truly keeps giving. And of course, with a December 31 deadline for getting your tax deduction, charities have an unparalleled opportunity to literally cash in on the end of the year.
But does all of this year-end goodness come at a cost for the rest of the year?
Don’t get me wrong. There is not one nonprofit in the world that doesn’t absolutely love and appreciate – and often count on – the influx of support and generosity that comes with the end of the calendar year. For many nonprofits, however, the number of donations received during the month of December is disproportionate with the rest of the year.
“Wow, reading this blog actually makes me think that TSA might know what they’re doing.”
-Infrequent flyer (February 11, 2008)
That’s a post the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) received one month after launching their blog. Sure, it’s a backhanded compliment but it’s the kind of comment a lot of Federal government and agency blogs might like to receive.
What’s admirable about TSA’s blog is it embodies what many Federal government blogs should aspire to: engage the public, provide helpful & timely information, respond to complaints and promote transparency.
We all have complaints about airplane travel and all the rules — that’s partly why TSA launched their blog a year ago. They received more than 2,000 comments in the first three days and most posts get 50-100 comments each. How do they respond to all of these comments (many of which are cranky)?
Very simple: They moderate all of them. And they respond. Here are their rules for the road:
Develop vetting process for posts
Moderate all comments
Allow anonymous commenters
Don’t delete comments simply because you don’t agree with them
The result is a thoughtful, very responsive and at-times humorous (“we are not in cahoots with the Heat Miser, but snow globes are not permitted in your carry-on luggage”) communications tool. You may not like what they have to say about upcoming holiday travel but at least they’re giving you timely information and will quickly respond to your legitimate gripe or question.
By now, we have all seen small advertising posters hanging in the washrooms of our favorite bars, fitness clubs, and restaurants and maybe even our offices. Once you get over the idea that these ads might be a bit intrusive, what would you say are the sorts of ads that would work particularly well in a restroom? After you stop laughing you might think of products you generally associate with a bathroom like cleaning products, hand lotions, air fresheners or candles. What about products that are sold in the bar or restaurant where the bathroom is located like beer, liquor or soft drinks? Many people go into restrooms to freshen up – is it really a far-fetched to promote makeup, cologne, breath mints or hair products? .jpg "Twitter Bird Dancing"){kind=icon}
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Have you ever been to a presentation about your organization’s social media strategy and seen this slide: “Over 2,000 Facebook fans; 500 Twitter followers and 3,000 MySpace friends!”? “Great,” everyone at the table thinks, “we are officially in the social media space – we have friends and fans – but now what?
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