Launch Agency News » Social Media

Launch Agency Recognized With Two Interactive Marketing Awards For Promised Land Dairy Client By DFWIMA

Alexandra — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 21:26:57 +0000

Launch Agency was awarded for its digital marketing work on behalf of Promised Land Dairy, by the Dallas-Fort Worth Interactive Marketing Association’s (DFWIMA) 2012 Excellence in Interactive Marketing Awards (EIMA). The award ceremony was held in downtown Dallas at Union Station.

Launch made two category submissions for work completed in 2011 for their client Promised Land Dairy, and won second place for both entries. Their work was recognized in the categories of Most Effective Online Brand Awareness, and Most Effective Use of Social Media.

Online Brand Awareness was judged by the look and feel of website creative as a reflection of the Promised Land Dairy brand. It included the site experience, overall design, usability, use of technology, etc. The Social Media category was judged by the execution of a successful online strategy directing users to a specific action. In this category, Launch designed and utilized a Promised Land Dairy Facebook Page to build awareness and track the specific site actions of Store Locator searches and Moo-mail email club signups.

“We’re proud of the exceptional results we achieved for Promised Land Dairy, and honored to be recognized by such a prestigious organization,” said Alexandra Watson, Launch’s New Media Specialist. “We are already looking forward to next year’s competiton.”

Promised Land Dairy is a Texas-based premium milk distributor that provides all-natural fluid milk made only from Jersey cows. Promised Land milk is available in a variety of sizes and flavors at major retail grocery stores.

Launch is a full-service advertising agency based in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. They are nationally recognized for award-winning creative work, and for competitively positioning and marketing both fast-growth and mature companies.

This award-winning work was also noted in the latest issue of Dairy Foods industry magazine.

SXSWi 2012 Conference 3 More Trends Impacting Advertising Agencies

Alexandra — Tue, 08 May 2012 19:41:28 +0000

We received an overwhelming amount of information (and associated swag) at this year’s SXSW Interactive conference in Austin. While the seminar topics seemed quite diverse, Launch Agency Senior Copywriter Alex Slotkin pointed out three key memes that surfaced and seemed of particular relevance to the advertising industry as a whole in the first part of this blog series, SXSWi 2012 Conference Top 3 Memes for Advertising Agencies.

In that first blog post, the three key memes from the 2012 SXSWi Conference were identified as : 1) The changing role & function of ad agencies, 2) the increased importance of content creation and curation, and 3) social as the new norm. From a social media perspective, there were three additional memes that were trending within the SXSWi seminars that closely correlate with the above:

1. Agile, real-time marketing is driven by technological innovations: Just as the rise of social networks has caused shifts in public relations and customer service, new breakout technologies are now driving change in agency and campaign structure. “Multi-channel” campaigns are now a must, and agencies have to staff for this and consider campaigns that parse content into “snackable” portions across a variety of platforms while maintaining a core brand idea.

2. “Big Data” has personal privacy implications: As more content is created and shared on the internet daily, businesses and marketers are gleaning increasingly more and deeper data on people. These massive data sets are being referred to as “Big Data” and marketers are using this information in a more intentional way to analyze trends, predict consumer behavior, and personalize marketing experiences. The downside of this data glut is the myriad personal privacy and data ownership issues. We’ll certainly hear more about this meme as technology pervades more and more of our time and resources.

3. With social as the new norm, the “Fear of Missing Out” is amplified: Consumers now have to keep up with the Joneses online as well as off-line. There is increasing pressure to have the latest technology, join the newest platforms, download the hottest apps, and create the most interesting posts. JWT led an excellent seminar on this topic of “FOMO”, and developed a very interesting short video on the subject which can be viewed here. Brands and marketers can ultimately respond to this social media “FOMO” by easing it, escalating it, making light of it, or teaching consumers to cope with it.

All of these memes/trends from SXSWi point to a drastic shift in how we live, communicate, and market/sell in this high-paced, technology-saturated modern age. Launch Agency has created an infographic as a final installment in this blog series, as a quick-hit summary of these memes and more from the 2012 SXSWi conference.

SXSWi 2012 Conference Top 3 Memes for Advertising Agencies

Alexandra — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 19:14:51 +0000

This year’s SXSW Interactive conference (held annually each March in Austin, Texas) was especially overwhelming, both in terms of sheer numbers (an estimated 24,000 uber-geeks were in attendance this year) and in terms of the topics covered. In fact, this year Launch Agency got extra coverage on the social media end of the spectrum, courtesy of New Media Specialist Alexandra Watson, who will be providing her take in a second installment of this blog series titled “SXSWi 2012 Conference 3 More Trends Impacting Advertising Agencies”.

Despite the large and varied nature of the conference, a few key memes seemed to surface that were of especial relevance to Launch and the advertising industry as a whole:

1. The changing role & function of ad agencies: There was much talk of the need to “think more like a startup” or tech company, where ideas are developed and brought to market more rapidly, then improved in an iterative way. Also, there was some buzz about the need to “make things,” going beyond the usual agency core disciplines to actually create new products that demonstrate our range of thinking and ability to actually bring these ideas to market. The thought is that it harnesses the varied skill sets within the agency and can lead to actual products that can either be sold to clients, or create separate businesses unto themselves.

2. The increased importance of content creation and curation: Our media landscape has been utterly transformed by the huge glut of data and content available via the Internet. In order to stand out, we need to make sure the work we’re putting out there is relevant, specifically targeted to a receptive audience and built for easy sharing. A broadcast mentality no longer works (but the good news is the barrier to entry and the risks associated are now far lower). Further, we can help manage the info-clutter and can build brands that become de facto authorities on relevant topics by taking on the role of curator. Going beyond mere aggregation, this entails having a definitive point of view, both in what we link to and how we wrap those links in our own authorial voice.

3. Social is the new norm: Brands ignore the power of social media at their own peril, as it has become the way by which the majority of people now communicate and discover. With so many new social services coming out, it can be confusing to know how to best capitalize on this phenomenon. But the key strategies of identifying and reaching key advocates, engaging them in authentic conversations and making social content easy to share are key. If we do our jobs right, and pinpoint our audience precisely, social media can become the ultimate word-of-mouth marketing tool for our clients.

This only scratches the surface of what we learned and experienced at the conference, but we’ll follow up with a second post plus a Launch summary infographic.

Launch Lands With Key Insights From 2011 SXSW Interactive Conference

Alex — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 21:29:04 +0000

For the third year in a row, Launch sent senior creative team members Richard Wezensky and Alex Slotkin down to Austin to attend one of the world’s premier interactive conferences: South by Southwest Interactive. It was five days of inspiration, information and borderline-overwhelming intensity (especially with conference attendance having swelled by more than 30% over last year).

Naturally, high-tech gadgetry was everywhere, from the brand-new iPad 2 to hot new group messaging apps, QR codes, tweets and location-based “check-ins.” At the same time, the conference covered an even broader swath of subjects, everything from Web coding and design to marketing, social media, gaming and the societal implications of technology.

Despite the plethora of seminars, panels, interviews, workshops, networking sessions and parties, a few recurring ideas seemed to come to the fore. First was the idea that brands are moving from the role of being traditional marketers to publishers. Some are creating original content, others aggregating content from third parties (and in some cases, a bit of both). By building a reputation as a go-to source for information on a specific topic of interest to consumers, brands can better establish themselves as trusted authorities and reach an increasingly marketing-averse audience.

The second big takeaway was the notion that advertising and marketing agencies need to start thinking more like software companies. They need to be less precious with their work, take less time to go from idea to market, and then make constant, iterative adjustments to their work in response to customer feedback. While selling this approach in to clients can be challenging, it helps if agencies start with smaller and less costly initiatives, and then try to grow them over time.

Finally, there was a lot of emphasis on the unique qualities and challenges of social media—specifically, how social engagement has to be an honest, one-to-one conversation with customers. Companies need to give their audience more of a say in the direction their brand will take, and work to create long-term relationships. Whether it’s through Twitter, Facebook or a company blog, brands need to provide more humanity and transparency. These days, being obviously promotional is the fastest path to becoming irrelevant.

There were plenty more nuggets of wisdom, chance celebrity encounters and other fascinating discoveries at SXSW, but those are best experienced in person. Of course, the next best thing is to peruse the sizable catalog of SXSWi 2011 podcasts, videos, notes and other materials, which you’ll find at sxsw.com/interactive. Also, don’t miss the full Launch SXSW photo set at www.flickr.com/photos/launchagency/sets/72157626249293558/, and the Launch Twitter feed, including live tweets from the event.

Fueling New Biz Through Social Media

David — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 23:13:35 +0000

While social media continues to grow as a consumer marketing tool, most agencies have yet to appreciate the impact it can have on their own self-promotion and new business efforts. That was the focus of a recent 4A’s seminar entitled “Fueling Ad Agency New Business Through Social Media” from new business guru Michael Gass.

His key insight?

80% of decision makers say they found their vendor, not the other way around. As Michael explained, creating a blog with a distinctive point of view is critical today for new business success. Agency websites can continue to serve as online brochures, but a well-positioned blog can be a powerful outbound attractor.

Michael outlined several best practices for creating a successful blog, including these 10 essential first steps:

Have a clear objective. Are you trying to attract new customers to your e-commerce site? Building a following for a new product? Building a database of customer email addresses? Spell it out.

Identify your target audience. The better you can define and narrow your audience, the more successful your blog will be. For example: My target is U.S. leisure marketing pros.

Compose a descriptor statement: A subtitle that states emphatically what your blog is about (i.e. Your expert guide to finding local deals on designer fashions). The more specific the better.

Create a unique title for your blog. It’s helpful if you can tie in the title with a URL that you own. Copyblogger.com says make it: readable, pronounceable, memorable, unique and concise.

Buy the URL associated with your blog title, instead of having a WordPress.com, Typepad.com or Blogspot.com URL. That way if you move your site, you get to keep your audience.

Identify the key words that you want to dominate in Google Search. Consistently include your key words in your post titles, and in the copy of your post.

Start with a simple blogging platform that you can easily switch from in the future. Michael Gass suggests WordPress.com.

Make your blog easy to navigate. Use top posts, categories, tags, and such. Install a search widget that is included in your blog’s sidebar and located above the fold.

Use the inverted pyramid style of writing like a newspaper reporter. Lead with the conclusion and use bullet points, short paragraphs, and an average of 350 to 450 words.

Set a goal for writing 50 posts within 30 days. This will help you to develop your research, resourcing, writing and publishing skills. The discipline of writing the first 50 will help you later.

For lots of other useful ways to leverage social media for agency self-promotion, visit Michael Gass’ blog, Fuel Lines.

Shifting Social Media Efforts Into Overdrive

Alison — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 23:22:12 +0000

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.