Wagman Site Featured in St. Pete Times

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.

Mayoral Website Gets Media Props

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.

As Economy Falters, Where’s the Innovation?

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.”

Recessions often generate innovation but fresh ideas among the biggest marketers seem to be slim. Wouldn’t it be nice to see the bailout conditions include revising marketing plans to include more cost saving innovation?

Shameless Plug: Business Journal

The news of Rearden Killion's Facebook success made it to the print version of the Tampa Bay Business Journal. I'm happy to say we've received a lot of interest since news broke and even signed with a member of the US Congress. Who is it? Stay tuned.

New Work: Facebook Candidate Application

Facebook is the leading social networking site. Rearden Killion Communications’ Candidate Button Application maximizes the opportunity for political candidates to create awareness, start a fan base and, most importantly, build a constituency that will influence voters and fund raising.

How it works: Users add the application and become fans...
In the process, users invite other friends to add application and become fans...
Application appears in user's news feed that is seen by other people in their network...
Button appears prominently on user’s profile and can link to the candidate’s website or Facebook group page with latest news updates, videos and photos of campaign.
If you have a Facebook account, you can test drive the application here.

For inquiries, please contact Ocel Fabian at ocel@rkflatworld.com or 727-896-3435.

Shameless Plug: County commission candidate credits Facebook for primary win

A campaign using the advertising and social media tools on Facebook is getting credit for Kevin Beckner’s win in the District Six democratic primary for Hillsborough County Commission.

The Facebook campaign, kicked off in early August, was more targeted and cost-effective than traditional advertising, according to a release from Rearden Killion Communications, a St. Petersburg firm that handled the campaign with political consultant Larry Biddle.

The campaign, including content, video production, management and media buying, was valued at about $7,000, Rearden Killion said, although the company also said it charged a bit less to prove the effort could work.

Beckner, 37, a certified financial planner, won 45.6 percent of the vote and defeated Joe Redner and Denise Layne in the Tuesday primary.

Facebook advertising tools can target specific user variables such as age, gender, education, profession, employer, interests and hobbies, the release said. The ads themselves also can address specific issues.

In one example, Beckner used a Forbes article about the lack of opportunities for young adults in Tampa to call for more proactive business recruitment efforts on the part of the County Council. The video had nearly 700 views and online discussion, the release said.

Rearden Killion also created a Facebook application, allowing supporters to put a campaign button on their own pages and providing a link to Beckner’s page.

The overall effort increased Beckner’s Facebook group membership by 50 percent, the release said.

In November, Beckner will face incumbent Brian Blair, who won the republican primary with 65 percent of the vote, defeating Don Kruse.

Shameless Plug: "Facebook Helped Me Win," Claims Politician

ReadWriteWeb
Written by Sarah Perez / August 28, 2008 9:00 AM

In Tampa, Florida, one of the cities that comprises the megalopolis known as the Tampa Bay area, home to Busch Gardens, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and only minutes from beautiful beaches on the Gulf Coast of Florida (oh, and this author's stomping grounds, too), a local politician is giving credit to Facebook for his recent win in the primaries for the local County Commission.

On Facebook, the crowd is still very young, with an average age of 22.96 as of this February. Typically, the youth vote, although coveted, could not be counted on thanks to low turnout of young voters at the polls. However, this small time local election may prove to be one of the first examples of the huge impact Gen Y can have on the political process.

Now that many members of Gen Y are of voting age, their sheer numbers can no longer be ignored by politicians. The biggest generation since the baby boomers, Gen Y has been poorly characterized by some as lazy, unfocused, and self-centered - a generation that would just as soon stay home with mom and dad than go out and climb the corporate ladder. While it may be true that Gen Y has the good financial sense to maximize their time in rent-free accommodations, they are certainly proving themselves the opposite of lazy when it comes to involvement, be it social involvement, community involvement, or political involvement. Considering this recent "Facebook-powered" win, it could be that this generation is all talk and all action, too.

According to Rearden Killion Communications, the St. Petersburg advertising firm that handled the campaign of Kevin Beckner in the District Six democratic primary for the Hillsborough County Commission, the Facebook effort comprised of content, video production, and media buying valued at around $7000. There was also a Facebook app which let supporters put a campaign button on their own pages and provided a link to Beckner's page. The overall effort increased Beckner's Facebook group membership by 50 percent.

In this local election of this County Commissioner, you have to wonder if this is a hint of things to come in the upcoming presidential election here in the U.S. The Obama campaign has defined themselves by the way they have embraced technology. From blogs to social networks to even SMS text messages announcing the VP, the campaign is "a revolutionary shift in our country's political media ecology," says Andrew Rasiej over on techPresident. Although it has yet to be seen whether or not the use of technology will propel Obama into the Oval Office, the results of this local election prove that there is merit to targeting the online crowd and asking for their vote.

New Work: Metrobank Video

While relatively new in the States, in-store point-of-purchase video has been in use for quite some time across all of Asia. There are 14 million people living in the 17-city area that makes up Metro-Manila alone. Of course with a population like that, traffic jams on the streets often make their way to the grocery store lines.

With an aggressive approach toward customization, Metrobank is now allowing consumers the opportunity to log online and create personalized credit cards with the photo of their choice.

The program will soon be given a boost via this video Rearden Killion produced that will appear on point-of-purchase screens across the Metro-Manila area and may also become our first television commercial.

Being pleased with the production, the Bank is considering using the video as a prime time commercial spot. Now that would just be grand!

(email viewers can click here to view video online)

Disney Bolts to YouTube

There’s no website, no commercials and no exclusives on Access Hollywood. In fact, you can try Googleing Bolt and you’ll only catch a glimpse of what I’m referring to via an Internet Movie Database listing and Wikipedia page.

But check out YouTube and you’ll see the trailer for the upcoming Disney-Pixar movie, due this Thanksgiving, is spreading like wildfire while not even as much as a single poster has appeared in theaters.

This is of course not the first time this has been done, but it is an example of how important viral activity and venues like YouTube have become to even the biggest marketers in the world.

With no lack of budget to be spent, Disney is making use of the viral potential Bolt cast member Miley Cyrus provides as an often-searched term. Makes you wonder if studios will start casting actors based on their Google status.

What’s also curious is they’ve managed to break the no double dipping rule, but without actually double dipping. Here they are building buzz around Bolt without taking attention away from their just released Wall-E, which currently sits atop the box office.

(see blog for video)

However, this tactic has proven to backfire on some. Janet Jackson tried to launch her last album on YouTube by dropping the video for her single Feedback. While it did get some attention, some say it was done at the expense of offending the mainstream media, which provided much less hoopla around the album’s launch and sales were lackluster.

Perhaps she should have tried some shtick, like vacuuming a couch.

Obama Camp uses Creative and Internet Tools to Innovate

The screen shot says it all.

Obama’s Campaign has really done a great job of mixing the tools of internet marketing with powerful creative and some intelligence to maximize its opportunity.

Their use of CNN’s story layout, key word matching tools and user data turned prime real estate into an easy opportunity for the viewer to click and learn more, perhaps even to clear up anything the story might be reporting, such as "trust."

It's a quick jump from the story highlights—a favorite feature of the CNN website and they’re probably even using some of that data to put a more flattering photo of Obama next to what is likely not to be so for McCain.

While there is some luck involved in creating that perfect match, we can probably assume that Obama has several ad variations running on CNN, matching different keyword and user data points.

I takes a bit of that tenacity I speak about, but their campaign has plenty of it. They have benefited from what has been learned during an impressive and aggressive online campaign thus far.