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If you thought the #hashtag was just for the twitter universe, think again. Facebook officially announced that hashtags will be a functioning part of their website. They thought since so many of their users were already using them why not make them practical. It can now help users to look up certain conversations and stay up to date with trending topics all over the world. The mobile facebook app, however, will not support the hashtag feed quite yet. Users however can still place the hashtagged phrase in their posts from the app; they just will not be able to see the feed on their phones yet.
With this update, facebook users can now search for specific hashtag topics in the search bar and compose posts directly from that hashtag feed. But one-concern users are having is if their privacy settings still be respected. The answer, yes! If you only post to your friends with a specific hashtag, then only your friends will see that hashtag feed.
But is it all too much? It seems like all of these social media applications are just copying off of one another and hoping to stay on top. Twitter started this with introducing the option of filters to uploading images, just like the ones a person could find on Instagram. And now, starting today, Instagram just introduced the app’s newest feature; 15 second videos. This update comes with all new filters and gives the users the opportunity to stop and start the shooting of the video as many times as they want. This is exactly like the Vine app, except the videos can be longer and users can change the filter of the image. Hashtags, filters, videos – social media is taking over in a big way and you either love it or hate it. Either way, there is no denying its influence and it looks like its here to stay.
Company President, David Neff has been married to his smart, successful, and beautiful wife 8 years today. We were pleased to learn that this savvy marketer not only proposed on Valentine’s Day, but did so via a moving outdoor billboard. You can take the man out of the office, but you can’t take the marketer out of the man…..
Effective, efficient teamwork is the cornerstone of any good business. And the cornerstone of any successful team is good leadership—men and women who understand how to push their teammates and bring out the best in those around them. Whether dealing in-house or with outside partners, companies depend on good leaders, not just to get the job done but, to get the job done well.
Here are 4 steps you can take today to become a better leader in the workplace:
Say Good Morning
The last thing you want as a leader is someone who feels they can slack off or disengage. So don’t let them! Say hello in the morning. Make sure every team member feels involved and appreciated. When each member feels like an integral part of the unit, team morale improves. Improved morale translates into improved performance.
Keep an Eye Out
Good leaders learn as much as possible about their teammates—their strengths and weaknesses, hopes and worries, even their interests. Keep an eye out for anything one of your teammates might find useful or interesting. If you find something, send it their way! Attach a short personal note like, “hey, thought you might like this.” Show them they’re on your mind, and that you’re willing to help them however, whenever.
Say Thank You
When a teammate or partner does a good job, let them know! Try sending a handwritten thank you or congratulations to show you’re appreciation. They will want to do their very best for you again in the future.
Stay in Touch
It’s critically important to keep your teammates plugged in. Steady communication helps keep the unit organized and focused. Teammates need to know who is doing what, and how they can help each other. Nobody is in this alone! Regular email correspondence to discuss questions, concerns, offer feedback and brainstorm is an effective way to build constructive working relationships. Oh, and be sure to hit “reply all” for messages relevant to the group. You don’t want to make anyone feel left out!
Follow these steps to make sure you and your teammates are performing at your peak!
This information originally appeared in a Business News Daily post by Deborah Sweeney.
Authentic marketing has become incredibly challenging, especially recently and especially to women. It is obvious that some things should be marketed to women (makeup, diet food items, household cleaning products). However, most women are household decision-makers and generally choosing everything from HVAC experts to the razors their men are using. So how do you appeal to them without making the usual pitfalls towards female stereotypes?
A recent video dubbed “Adland Girl” has been going viral and is essentially a social commentary on everything women hate about advertising. From the “muffin girl” who can’t escape cupcakes to the “ditzy girl” whose life basically consists of pure moments of elation resulting from yogurt, the “superficial girls from Adland” are a go-to guide of what NOT to do:
The answer is simple; your desired customer is savvy. She knows more than you think and she is less shallow than you think. A company that has hit the sweet spot of understanding women and their desires, while maintaining authenticity, is Dove and their “Real Beauty” campaign.
Dove could easily take the superficial route, praying on women’s fear of getting cellulite and wrinkles. However, some genius in their marketing department had a crazy notion. To not tell the people they want buying their products that they are ugly. Instead of scaring them into purchasing they have established a reputation as a brand that cares about their customer.
Their most recent video is a perfect example of this and women are loving it. In the three minute piece we are introduced to a forensic artist who begins sketching women based on their own descriptions (without seeing them). We hear snippets of their accounts such as, “I have a pretty big forehead.” Next he draws them based on descriptions of people they just met.
The most heartfelt moments are when the women are shown both sketches. The drawings based on the others’ descriptions are beautiful and resemble their true appearance almost eerily while the versions they described themselves are distorted and cartoonish. It’s a revelation for the women in the video as well the ones watching it. It ends simply with “You are more beautiful than you think” then, finally, a Dove logo. There is not one product placement and it’s the first and last appearance of their logo.
This is how you establish credibility. This is how you continually develop a brand that is respected and revered. This is how you get customers for life.
If everything goes as planned, Comcast, or the newly branded xFinity, will launch interactive television applications on over 50 networks by the end of this year. They are currently running a moderately successful shop-by-remote application on the Home Shopping Network that has managed to garner 1,200 new subscribers to the company’s cable. What could interactive television mean for advertisers though? Could your remote become the new way to order Papa John’s? Perhaps a sample button is in order?
Creating a blog is easy. Building steady traffic to a blog is a bit harder. Here are some simple, cost-effective tips for increasing your readership and ensuring your online content doesn’t go to waste.
Building a successful blog takes consistent effort over time but mastering these basics will help get you the results you’re looking for… and you won’t have to pay a dime.
Yesterday, we hosted a group of 12 college students traveling from the University of Missouri. They were sponsored by & members of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). Every spring semester they visit a major media market city to tour multiple media platforms and news operations to enrich the members’ understanding of what media opportunities are out there, how to get internships, how to get jobs, how to work in a professional environment and networking with the media professionals/experts who know how to do all of the above.
We were fortunate enough to host this group in our Old City office to answer concerning questions all college students in the pr/media field have and give them insight on our average workday. What an impressive group of committed young, articulate PR Professionals! Why is it that we are challenged with finding new young talent in Philly and these kids are leaving today to go back to school? The next generation of marketing Super Stars need to be here!
Politics has the presidential election, sports has the Super Bowl and advertising has…well, the Super Bowl. And more appropriately, the day after the Super Bowl: The 24 hours after the last whistle where every commercial, casting and hashtag is scrutinized by advertising agencies coast to coast. The confetti has fallen and the good, the bad and the ugly have started to reveal themselves. As an ad agency, it is Neff Associates’ duty to throw in our two cents and shed some light on the show at the Superdome! (See what we did there?)
As far as our professional opinion as a branding agency:
And how can we forget the blackout! Oreo was the biggest winner here, tweeting this very timely photo (see below) just minutes after half the lights went out at the Superdome. The piece got 12,000 retweets, and all that without having to pay for another expensive commercial. Victory!
As an advertising agency, a large part of our job is establishing and evaluating brand identity, as well as rebranding company images that are already in place. Yet, individually, we probably spend a lot less time evaluating our own identity as one of our most important roles; proud citizens of Philadelphia!
Well thankfully The Greater Philadelphia Tourism and Marketing Corp hired a firm to conduct research to figure out exactly what the perception of Philadelphians is. Chill, you can check out the findings here (http://philly.curbed.com/archives/2013/01/15/if-philadelphia-were-a-guy-what-would-he-look-like.php) thanks to our friends over at Curbed Philly.
So basically, in the span of six years Philadelphians went from being blue-collar, beer guzzling, nondescript dudes (the prompting question was in regards to imagining Philadelphia as a male, sorry ladies), to a college educated, sports fan who throws back everything from brews to bourbon.
Anyone who lives or at least spends a lot of time in Philadelphia has no doubt felt a cultural shift upwards in the recent years. Whether it be the foodie craze that has put this city on the map for much more than cheesesteaks, or the fact that Philadelphia is a mainstay contender for top craft brewing city in the US annually (no jokes, http://www.esquire.com/the-side/feature/best-beer-cities-philadelphia#slide-4), there was a tangible feeling that America’s original capital was stepping up its game. It’s good to know that the perception, or Philadelphia’s brand identity, if you will, is following suit.
Philly is on the rise and the proof is in the pudding…or more appropriately, that DogFish Head 60-Minute IPA you’re sipping on.
In today’s economy it’s hard not to see the benefit of a good sale. Even if you’re someone who is generally oblivious to the fiscal cliff, it certainly registered when your first paycheck from 2013 came through. Holding off until those boots go down to 30% off suddenly seems like a great idea.
From both the perspective of the consumer and the retailer – sales seem to be mutually beneficial.However, holiday retail sales were a huge disappointment for 2012. Not only did they come nowhere near where they were projected to be but they showed the slowest growth since their initial decline on the heels of the 2008 financial crisis. It should have retailers scratching their heads about the benefit of huge sales like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Active-wear heavyweight Lululemon takes a different approach. Not only have they developed a line that is beautiful and functional but also a brand that is synonymous with a lifestyle their customers want. Their products are also, in a word, expensive. Cute, stylish yoga pants are pretty seasonless, right? So why not get something from last year in their sale section? The answer is because you can’t. Lululemon sells 95% of their inventory at full-price. Even when their numbers aren’t where they want them to be, it’s a strategy they’ll never stray from.
In addition to a lack of discounts and sales, they don’t open many new stores or use software to gather shopper data. But how do they get customers without these types of marketing promotions? Lululemon focuses on their patron’s shopping habits by having their workers listen to their likes and complaints in-store, rather than using “big data” which gives a “false sense of security, according to CEO Christine Day. Day personally spends six hours a week herself doing drop-ins at a variety of locations to observe shoppers and use their feedback.
However, the biggest and simplest sales tactic used by Lululemon is to sell to their niche through scarcity.
“Our guest knows that there’s a limited supply, and it creates these fanatical shoppers,” said Day to The Wall Street Journal.
In general, it works. In the last nine quarters, over the course of three years, the company’s sales have rose 30% or more from the year before; in the last year their stock has doubled. Lululemon uses the basic economic principle of supply and demand and it’s so simple, that it just might work.