To Blogger, but we must move on. Today, we launched the new ReardenKillion.com which will no longer use Blogger and are asking our new friends and family to please continue to stay in touch by joining our Facebook page. Thank you.
Communications Arts, probably the creative industry's preeminent bible, just released a retrospective for the past 50 years. They highlight some of the most memorable design, advertising and other creative efforts over the past five decades. These were a few that I found to be rather interesting.
1962: NBC publishes an advertisement announcing that more than two-thirds of their programming will now be in color.
1971: Nike commissions student artist Carol Davidson to design its iconic Swoosh logo. Her fee was $35.
1974: 7-Up unveils the "Uncola" campaign.
1979: Print ad for BMW 7 Series touts that a $30,000 car shouldn't require compromises.
1980: Helvetica typeface introduced.
1983: Wendy's "Where's the Beef" campaign hits airways.
1984: Bartles & Jaymes "...thank you for your support.." of their wine coolers.
1988: Joe Isuzu makes the car company a household brand. 21 years later and the company's market share in the US is non-existent.
1991: GM introduces the Saturn brand. It has yet to be profitable.
2001: Before YouTube and viral videos, BMW launching online film series "The Hire," of which I had something to do with in my agency days, by the way.
2002: Campaign launched to introduce MINI Cooper to the US, which I was also involved with.
2005: Geico introduces "So easy, a Caveman can do it."
A perpetual work in progress, today we officially unveiled our new creative reel on our Facebook Page. With the popularity of Facebook and the fact that Pages can now be indexed by Google, it kind of makes you wonder why we need to have a website at all. Think about it and hit us up with your thoughts. To our regular followers, please take a moment to head on over to Facebook and become a fan of Rearden Killion Communications.
Katy Bachman at Mediaweek reported that local advertising markets are expected to shrink rather drastically, bringing even more bad news for traditional media. Adversely, interactive venues are expected to grow by as much as 18% by 2013. This is an upside for integration.
When I meet with clients, I always tell them that I still believe in traditional media as a means to feed online programs. No matter the growing popularity of online media, there are still more eyeballs reading papers and watching TV and lower costs means more opportunity to build an online constituency to interact with and nurture online. Not to mention bringing attention and participation to online campaigns in general, where there is already a lot of noise.
We have access to steeply discounted rates for print, radio and TV through our relationship with Google, which is now selling inventory for traditional media. This allows budgets to stretch further and accomplish more. If you can fit it into your budget, a strategic buy of traditional media is a good part of any program, online or off.
Last Saturday, I met with Tampa city councilwoman Linda Saul-Sena at her home on Davis Island. A lifelong resident of Tampa, she lives in the house her grandparents built back in the 1930s. She showed me black and white photos of the red-brick home before there were any neighboring properties that was quite humbling.
Having been born and raised in there, her love for the Tampa Bay area was evident. She is passionate about preserving our environment and focusing on issues that are most pressing to Tampa Bay and Florida including green jobs, reclaimed water, education and others.
Inspired by those she sees around town that pull her to the side to ask about what's going on in the city council and to share issues that are important to them, Linda has engaged us to develop an informational site for her constituency. Key elements will be outward bound communications as well as inward bound. People will be able to directly submit their own thoughts on important issues and have them viewed by other users.
This is a politician that gets it. Transparency is not only expected and appreciated by constituents, but can also help accomplish goals and get the power of the people to help push through those incredibly important issues our area faces.
Even in a down economy, a study shows that perceived value and loyalty prevail over price. In fact, consumer expectations regarding brand value went up 20% this year. A total of 441 brands in 62 categories were included and measured by loyalty only, not awareness or satisfaction.
Sixty-nine (69) brands won highest levels of loyalty. The biggest winners were Avis, JetBlue, Bank of America, Zyrtec, Sam Adams, Cheerios, Allstate, Dunkin' Donuts, Mary Kay, Kodak, W Hotels, Scottrade, Iams, McDonald's, Grey Goose, ABC TV, Nike, Apple, Wal-Mart, the NFL and Tom's of Maine.
In the age of social media hype, it emphasizes the need for positive brand discussion and satisfaction among chatter as well as product elements that people perceive as the best value for the money in a competitive landscape. In other words, this is more relevant that ever.
Source: My good buddy Karl Greenberg @ Mediapost
On the heels of such a massive election cycle, it's hard to believe that the local races are already in full swing.
We were happy to see a The Times wrap up of the St. Petersburg mayoral candidate websites give kudos to the strategic use of video and social media for Scott Wagman while touting his "Mission to Listen."
"Mayoral contender Scott Wagman has a Web site that also links to his Facebook and Twitter features. On Facebook, he wrote that he digs Anita Baker and Caddyshack. His Web site has YouTube videos of residents talking about why they love the 'burg. In fact, his site seems to be more about what residents think than self-promotion, which supports his campaign's stance that he's still in the listening-to-voters stage."Visit Scott Wagman online or on Facebook and check out his Mission to Listen below.
Rearden Killion recently launched this new site for St. Petersburg Mayoral Candidate, Scott Wagman. The site got some props from a local political writer at Creative Loafing.
And as far as Scott Wagman goes, I know he’s out there working. I really like his enthusiasm and the people with whom he surrounds himself. I think his new website is top-notch.Read the full entry here.
Perhaps he was best known for his role as Mr. Roarke on Fantasy Island and to us, dedicated fans, as the cow on Family Guy. But there’s one more success that Ricardo Montalban deserves some serious credit for—saving Chrysler the first time.
Amid the gas crisis of the 1970s and many failed models, Chrysler was facing certain death until the launch of its low-cost answer to popular competitor models including the two-door Lincoln Continental, the Chevy Monte Carlo and Pontiac Grand Prix.
With Montalban as its pitchman, the Chrysler Cordoba eventually went on to count for more than 60% of Chrysler’s sales in one year and even managed to beat out Pontiac’s highly popular Grand Prix.
Credit his eloquent pronunciation of “Corrr-do-ba” or “Corinthian” (see commercial below), but the model essentially helped the company stay afloat until it found subsequent successes under Lee Iacocca with models like the K.
For the second month in a row, China reported a decline in exports--This time, by nearly three percent and hundreds of workers are losing their jobs. This is a major decline for the cheap producer of global products and just the beginning of the ripple that the country is beginning to feel since the financial crisis began.
Adding insult to injury, Sony is reporting its first loss since 1995 and it will be a major $1.1 billion. Due in part to heavy spending during the holiday season that didn’t produce the results the electronics giant was looking for.
Even in this crisis, companies dabbled in social media and search marketing but continued to spend the majority of their budgets on traditional efforts while ignoring opportunities to slash costs and speak to their best buyer profiles, directly.
Some of the blame lies with the agencies that keep pushing high cost tactics and are reluctant to understand and fully embrace more strategic methods--Working their way towards a pink slip at the very same time.
I was interviewed by a reporter recently that asked me why these tactics are so important and it kind of just rolled off my tongue.
“It’s no longer about casting the widest net and hoping the 10% you need will respond, but rather speaking to that 10% directly and trimming the waste.”
