Located in the heart of the Inland Empire business district in Rancho Cucamonga.

Insight Enewsletter Fall 2008

Welcome to issue one of our quarterly enewsletter, featuring marketing and advertising tips and notes from the ad industry. Perry Design & Advertising has been serving clients in the I.E. and surrounding communities for over ten years. We have compiled bits of interesting stories throughout our experience and those of our associates highlighted here. We hope you enjoy reading Insight as much as we enjoyed putting it together.

In This Issue

Creating an Effective Marketing Plan
What is Facebook?
Win Win Solutions
Our Favorite Top 5 PR Blunders List for 2007
Reading Corner

Creating an Effective Marketing Plan (part 1 in a series)

How well your advertisements and promotions draw customers will determine how effective your marketing strategy is. You first need to identify your target market; who are your potential consumers? The aim of an advertising and promotional strategy is to; create awareness of your product, to awaken customers' needs and expectations to the point of consumption, and then create a loyal stream of satisfied customers who continue to purchase your product and spread the word of their positive experience.

Effective Advertising and Promotions Techniques

A first stepin developing an effective advertising and promotional strategy is to understand the difference between two concepts; Advertising and Promotions. Most people think that advertising and promotions are one in the same; there is, however, a distinction between the two.

While advertising is a way of keeping your business in the public's eye, promotions are a way of signaling that you are concerned and committed to the welfare of the community and its residents. This commitment may be one of the most effective techniques for building customer loyalty. People tend to be more supportive of businesses and organizations that give something to the community rather than those that just take, never giving anything in return. This should come from the heart, and not just for promotion sake. Find a cause that you have a bond with in some way and start giving through your business. You know the saying - You will find that in giving, you will get plenty in return.

While both advertising and promotions use different media formats - print, web, radio, and television - as a way of conveying a message, promotion encompasses much more. For example, this could mean sponsoring a youth organization, inviting non-profit organizations to use your facility, such as allowing the high school drama club use your parking lot for a car wash fundraiser, sending an underprivileged child to day camp, or involvement in any type of positive community activity that will bring attention to your business. Back to top

What is Facebook?

Facebook is a social networking website, very popular among college students. It was originally developed for university students, faculty and staff, but has since expanded to include everyone, even corporate communities. According to 23 year old founder Mark Zuckerberg, there are 30 million subscribers on Facebook. The name of the site is based on the paper facebooks that colleges give to incoming students, faculty, and staff depicting members of the campus community.

The site was founded as thefacebook in February 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg at Harvard University. With help from some of his friends, within a few weeks of launching the site over half the Harvard undergraduate population had registered. Within two months, Facebook expanded to the rest of the Ivy League and a few other schools. By December 2005, the number of registered users exceeded one million.

Charlene Li, Vice President and Principal Analyst at Forrester Research says "don't write off social networking sites as merely social playgrounds for the young. Your customers, prospects, and employees are exploring and extending their relationships there. Some of you will be bolder in creating business value in these networks while others will wait for the pioneers to carve out the paths. But ignore these new communities only if you believe your customers are not there - and there are few instances where this will be the case." Back to top

Win Win Solutions

Locally, PDA client Terra Vista Town Center in Rancho Cucamonga decided to invest in new LED lighting for their holiday décor. The initial investment seemed expensive at first, but when the cost was compared with replacing 1,000 incandescent bulbs annually, coupled with the energy use of the old bulbs each year, it was a no-brainer! The new lights are "green friendly" and use 2% of the energy of the old lights. The timing of this decision was great as the global warming movement reached the tipping point in 2007. A press release was published in the local media about the green friendly decision and the center lit up with a good message - holiday wishes for a greener tomorrow.

Internationally, IKEA recently advertised on their direct mail pieces and email advertisements that every toy purchased in their store is strictly tested for safety. This is a big issue in 2007 with Chinese made toys found to have lead in them, among other safety hazards. IKEA doesn't stop at stating they are committed to the safety of their toys, they list all the safety standards they follow, listed by country and law number. Then they follow that up with a paragraph describing characteristics of a safe toy. Smart business, smart marketing. Back to top

Our Favorite Top 5 PR Blunders List for 2007

Released in December 2007 was the 13th Annual Top PR Blunders List, compiled by San Francisco's Fineman PR

1. Turner Broadcasting: Buzz Marketing Gone Bust (reported everywhere, first as a real scare!)
When Boston residents suddenly noted blinking, cryptic devices attached to bridges, bus depots and subway stations, they alerted city authorities, who shut down sections of the city to remove the devices and ensure that they were not related to a bomb threat or other terrorist activity. Turns out that Turner Broadcasting-affiliated Cartoon Network arranged for the covert placement of the battery-powered magnetic signs in 10 U.S. cities to promote offbeat program "Aqua Teen Hunger Force." Cartoon Network head Jim Samples eventually stepped down and criminal charges were filed against employees of consulting ad agency Interference Inc., in what an ad expert described to The Wall Street Journal as "the most significant blunder in the world of guerrilla advertising."

2. Ellen: Iggy Come Home! (reported everywhere!)
Ellen DeGeneres might have overdone it when she tearfully pled, during a taping of her popular talk show, for the return of Iggy, a dog she had previously adopted and given to her hairdresser's family after it took issue with her cats. On the other hand, Mutts & Moms, the agency she adopted it from, probably wasn't making the right decision when it repossessed the dog from its new family -- aggressively, on video, prompting criticism and threats from Ellen's fans after she gave them the tearful play-by-play. San Francisco Chronicle television critic Tim Goodman noted that " ... if you're Mutts & Moms, you've got to be thinking, 'Well, I guess we should have hired a real public relations person instead of Betty's daughter from payroll.'"

3. LA County Sheriff: "Not So Simple Life" (People.com)
Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca was widely criticized this year for reassigning socialite Paris Hilton to privileged home confinement -- complete with Mrs. Beasley's Gourmet Cupcakes -- after completing only three days of her 45-day sentence for violation of her probation for alcohol-related reckless driving. Baca told reporters that he had reassigned Hilton due to her "severe medical problems." Steve Lopez of the Los Angeles Times noted that "[releasing Paris] was big of [Baca], but [Los Angeles County Jail] is filled with people who have serious physical and mental problems. How many of them get sent home for cupcakes?" The problem, according to RadarOnline.com, may be the sheriff's "close ties to the Hollywood community."

4. If You Can't Stand the Heat ... (Slate.com)
Nobody loves a whiner, and that's exactly the part famed restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow played when he bought a full-page advertisement (http://gawker.com/assets/resources/2007/02/pete-wells-ad1.php) in the New York Times to decry Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni's no-star review of his Kobe Club steakhouse. Not only did Chodorow needlessly and heedlessly blast Bruni in the tiny-type, error-ridden rant, he actually chronicled the demise of two of his previous restaurants, Rocco's and Caviar & Banana, and paid handsomely for the privilege. Former Times food critic Mimi Sheraton wrote on Slate.com, Chodorow "was an idiot to have run such an ad ... [because] of the added exposure of the negative review to so many who may never have read the original." Not to mention the negative media coverage that ran in newspapers from Stamford to Seattle.

5. "No Reporters? No Problem." (ABC News)
Already troubled by continued claims of inadequate disaster response and wasteful use of funds, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) truly fumbled when it held what the Washington Post described as a "phony press conference" in response to Southern California wildfires. "Questions were asked by FEMA staffers playing reporters," "lob[bing] one softball after another so [Vice Administrator Harvey E. Johnson, Jr., could] praise FEMA's work," said the Post. Homeland Security Department head Michael Chertoff was reported by CNN, CBS and others to have said that "it was one of the dumbest and most inappropriate things [he has] seen since [he has] been in government." FEMA became defensive and insisted that reporters were expected -- albeit with only 15 minutes notice of the conference -- but did not show up, and that the questions posed by staffers were originated by reporters. Back to top

Reading Corner

Inside Facebook
Life, Work and Visions of Greatness
By Karel M. Baloun

Made to Stick
Why some ideas gain traction while others fade from view.
By Chip & Dan Heath

The 4-Hour Workweek
Defining your dreams and cutting loose from work.
by Timothy Ferriss

Share With Us

If you've read a great book, email the book title and author to us at: info@perryadvertising.com

For more information, please call 909-945-9500 or visit www.perryadvertising.com

< Back to News & Events main page