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The Children’s Advocacy Center of Collin County recently held their biggest fundraiser of the year, Gala 2011, at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas. Themed “An Evening in Wine Country,” the event raised an astounding $1.1 million to aid in the fight against child abuse.
Immediately upon arrival to this incredible “must attend” formal engagement, Gala attendees were immersed into an amazing silent auction boasting everything from autographed movie memorabilia to hundreds of premium wines. Adding to the electricity was Tiffany & Co, offering goers a chance at winning breathtaking jewelry while longtime Launch client Park Place Dealerships sold raffle tickets for a chance to take home a brand-new Lexus IS C Convertible.
After nibbling on a variety of hors d’oeuvers while perusing and bidding on the vast array of auction items, the evening continued into the grand ballroom. Beautifully decorated, guests enjoyed flickering candlelight and amazing floral arrangements overflowing with sunflowers as they made their way to their tables.
As a three-course meal was served, a live auctioneer entertained guests, offering bidders a chance at many exclusive travel opportunities, experiences and one of a kind items. Included were trips to Napa Valley and the Caribbean, the chance to drive a NASCAR racecar and exquisite jewelry.
Two-time Grammy Award winner, Kenny Loggins, had the honor of closing out the evening. The artist rocked the stage, performing hit after hit, including “Footloose” and Top Gun’s “Danger Zone.” The brilliant singer-songwriter delivered a standout performance giving CACCC supporters the experience of a lifetime.
Launch Agency is proud to be a continuing sponsor of the CACCC and work in partnership with this incredible non-profit organization. We were honored to produce the event’s Impact Moment, a touching video that reminded attendees of the special benefactors of the evening – the children of Collin County. Special thanks to the all the people and partners who donated time and resources in producing the video: Reuben Miller, art director; Ryan Ingram, copywriter; Alison Hamilton, account service; Laura Carroll, producer; Jon Fullrich, video editor; Manny Rodriguez, videographer; Keith Burtwell, voice over; CUT, sound editor; as well as the children and families who volunteered as talent.
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Not to toot our own horn, but over the past seven years Launch has helped Park Place Dealerships fill their trophy case with some significant marketing awards. This year was no exception. Park Place hauled in six awards for the redesigned ParkPlace.com website which Launch co-designed and developed with eCarlist.
The award list includes:
2010 Communicator Award of Excellence – Best Automotive Website
2010 Communicator Award of Distinction – Website Structure and Navigation
2010 Direct Marketing Association Echo Finalist – 5th Place Website Design
2010 Direct Marketing Association Echo Special Award – Search Marketing
2010 Automotive Website Awards – Best Dealership Website Design
2010 WMA WebMarketing Award – Outstanding Achievement in Web Development, Best of Industry
On top of the marketing awards, Park Place was recognized by the Dallas Morning News as one of the Top 100 Places to Work in DFW, coming in 5th in the large company category. Yet one more sign of why we enjoy working with them so much year after year.
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Last week, I attended the DrivingSales Executive Summit with longtime Launch client, Rob Sumner of Park Place Dealerships. Besides taking in a little Vegas nightlife, we learned how automotive dealers can differentiate themselves and build their brands online.
Scott Monty, Ford’s Digital & Multimedia Communications Manager (a.k.a. social media guru), shared their strategy and how it helped Ford become Ad Age‘s “Marketer of the Year.” We also heard from Jeremiah Owyang, author of the popular blog Web Strategy – one of Ad Age’s “Power 150″ Top Blogs – and Dan Zarrella, award-winning author of The Social Media Marketing Book, along with several industry experts.
Almost universally, the speakers talked about the importance of being accessible, transparent and authentic online. Woody Allen once said, “90% of life is just showing up,” and the same holds true online – 90% is just being where your clients are, be it Facebook, Twitter or Foursquare. As with any relationship, yours should be built on listening and understanding. Listen first and only then respond. Add value to the conversation. Provide support by answering questions and solving problems. (Best Buy allows 200 employees to answer on the company’s behalf.) Encourage dialogue, then advocacy, as you build an online relationship with your clients. Over time, your advocates may help your brand innovate, like Mountain Dew recently did by crowd sourcing to develop a new flavor.
On Twitter, the key is to find and target your influencers, and then personalize your messages towards them. The more fresh and relevant your content is, the more valuable it will be seen – and the more likely it will be re-tweeted. Other tips? For every self-promoting tweet, send 8-12 others about news, useful information, etc. Avoid a negative tone. And for the best odds of your content being read and shared, post on Thursday-Sunday, when fewer people are posting.
Location-based services (LBS), like Foursquare, are growing as smart phones proliferate. 63% of iPhone users are on LBS every week, and the audience is a desirable bunch – almost 40% are considered influencers. You can encourage usage by offering rewards; for example, Starbucks awards discounts to each location’s mayor.
So marketers, take a cue from Ford, Best Buy, Mountain Dew, and Starbucks—join the conversation. Chances are your clients are already talking about you online. By participating in a meaningful way, you can grow your brand and advocates online.
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Like most successful agencies, Launch has focused an increasing amount of energy and resources on interactive communications. We do a lot of email marketing as part of integrated campaigns for our clients, including Park Place Dealerships, and offer this Top 10 List of pointers:
1. Focus on one message with one call-to-action
Keep the message simple and be clear about what the reader’s next step should be. In general, the click-through button should be large enough to see from a few feet back.
2. Remove alternate paths that would distract from the call-to-action
Don’t feel the need to duplicate the website’s navigation. Direct traffic to your end goal.
3. Keep it easy on the eyes
Large blocks of copy are difficult to read onscreen. Make use of bullets. Remember that people tend to read in an F-shape (left to right, up to down).
4. Keep the most important information at the top
Many email users view their emails in a preview pane, so keep the most important information at the top of the email. That may be all some people see.
5. Remember your medium
When designing, remember that there are only a handful of web-safe fonts. If you stray from this list, your copy will need to be saved as a graphic. But use too many graphics, and your email could be flagged as spam.
6. Craft your subject lines carefully
If a subject line doesn’t pique their interest, they may delete the email without opening. To improve your open rate, keep your subject lines as relevant as possible and avoid common spam keywords like “Free.” Shorter subject lines test better than long ones.
7. Timing is everything
Deploy emails at various times to see what works best for your database. Generally speaking, mid-morning and mid-afternoon are preferred. Emails sent mid-week (Tuesday-Thursday) tend to perform better than those sent on Monday or Friday.
8. Clean your database
Any email effort is only as good as its list. Keeping your database clean will help you deliver the right message to the right people.
9. Know the CAN-SPAM regulations
Make sure you’re familiar with CAN-SPAM before you start emailing your database. A tarnished email reputation can be difficult to combat. Click here for a CAN-SPAM compliance guide to learn more.
10. Test and optimize
Last but certainly not least, be sure to test your email before you deploy. Yahoo and Hotmail recently made subtle changes to their back-end email coding. The revisions were not announced because they were so minor – unless you’re an email marketer. The only way to be certain your email will appear correctly is to test before deploying. Open a few free accounts and take a moment to review them all. It could save you from embarrassment later.
Once that email has finally deployed, track your results. Over time, you’ll spot performance trends in day, time, subject line, offer, etc. and be able to optimize for greater success.
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Continuing our success at award shows, Launch loaded up on more goodies this summer.
The 2010 Dallas Society of Visual Communications Show had several Launch pieces in contention for awards, including TV and interactive work for smart center DFW and posters for the Voice Foundation. Members of the Launch team were on hand for the festivities, and walked away with a Bronze award for the Voice Foundation’s “Warning Signs” campaign. Credits include Dean Oram, AD; Kevin Byrd, CW; David Wilgus and Diane Seimetz, CDs; Alison Hamilton, AE; Laura Carroll, print production; Randal Ford, photographer, and retouching by Portus Imaging. This campaign previously was honored at the local and regional Addy Shows. We are equally proud that the Voice Foundation has gotten good traction and awareness from this work.
At the 16th Annual Communicator Awards, an international competition honoring creative excellence by communications professionals, Launch took home an “Award of Excellence” in the automotive category for the Park Place Dealerships website. Launch partnered with developer eCarList to bring it to live. The site mixes an upscale design that reflects the luxurious elements of the vehicles Park Place carries with easy to use inventory search functionality. The Launch team included Richard Wezensky, AD; Kevin Byrd, CW; David Wilgus and Diane Seimetz, CDs; Alison Hamilton, AE.
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smart USA named Launch agency of record for their business-to-business advertising. This was the result of hard — and creative — work and entrepreneurial thinking for our longtime client, Park Place Dealerships.
It all started with our award-winning out-of-home and TV campaign for smart center Dallas & smart center Fort Worth. After those initiatives, Launch created a corporate fleet program for the two smart centers to further generate traffic and spur new car sales. This program drew the interest of the smart USA headquarters, which requested Launch develop a national program for the brand.
Alex Slotkin and Diane Seimetz crafted the witty, err “smart,” headlines; Richard Wezensky and Brent Richison developed the clean, tasteful designs.
Here’s a peek at some of the smart work thus far:
If you’d like to see more of our work, or to take a test drive, just stop by a smart center near you.
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The rain didn’t stop Porsche enthusiasts from coming out on Saturday, May 16 for Park Place Porsche PorscheFest 09. Complete with raffles, vintage Porsche models, and even the rare Porsche Carrera GT, this event was an homage to the legendary Porsche brand and all who love it. Park Place Porsche also helped raise money towards the Cattle Baron’s Ball benefiting the American Cancer Society. Launch, the longtime advertising agency for Park Place Dealerships, created the official PorscheFest logo, email invitation and landing page. In addition, several staffers attended the event and supported the cause. View all event pictures posted on our Flickr site.
