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June 10th, 2009

2 days, 12 hours and counting…

On June 12th analog televisions will, by law, have to make the switch to Digital Television. Here are three things you need to know:

Who’s affected?

If rabbit ears own a place on your television set and you do not subscribe to a satellite, cable, or other paid television service, you will have to make the switch.

How do I switch?

Consumers have three options to continue getting television reception:

1. Purchase a DTV converter box for your existing TV set set ($40-$70). If you haven’t applied for a government coupon to help cover the cost it may be too late. You can get more information at www.dtv2009.gov

2. Purchase a TV set with a built-in digital tuner.

3. Subscribe to cable, satellite or other pay TV service, if that carrier offers the local broadcast stations you want.

Why, by law, do I have to switch?

Analog television service uses standard broadcast technology that utilizes a large spectrum of airwaves. Going digital will free up the airwaves for more innovative services such as “multicasting” –offering several channels of digital programming at the same time, using the same amount of spectrum required for one analog program. In other words, television audiences will have more viewing options.

Posted by Trudy on June 10th, 2009
Filed under Media, Miscellaneous | Comments Off

May 27th, 2009

What was once so great…now this?

Photo of the Boston Globe

Its been several weeks since the Globe submitted its offer to the NY Times, and in that time it seems the media storm has subsided…for now.

Once able to out-bill all of the TV stations in the Boston DMA – The Globe is now jeered as a dying medium, a dinosaur, and an old rag. The fact is the Globe owes $20 million in concessions and is losing about $1 million dollars a week.

Thanks to the local media, industry press and newswires, everyone seems to have an opinion about its fate. It seems each person has a different point of view but only two things are certain:

1. The Globe will be here tomorrow, it will find new and innovative ways to keep its place in this uncertain media landscape. TV stations have not been without their own drama – the ratings competition is pretty fierce. And radio stations are feeling the impact of the transition to monthly people meter ratings.

2. Readership of the print edition will continue to decline. Shutting the Globe down tomorrow would be a tragedy but the alternative doesn’t look any better. If the NY Times decides to keep the print edition it will be a matter of time before they are faced with the same economic challenges.

So what should the Globe do if they want to keep their place in today’s media?

Here’s an idea: Get more people to read your content online and discover innovative ways to generate advertising dollars.

Sure, the print edition will be missed. But like anything else in life we learn to embrace something new and move on.

Posted by Trudy on May 27th, 2009
Filed under Advertising, Marketing, Media, Miscellaneous | No Comments »

May 20th, 2009

Starbucks on Twitter

starbucks on twitter

According to Wikipedia online: Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read other users’ updates known as tweets.

Starbucks is looking to utilize the power of social media by hosting an online photography scavenger hunt. The goal of the contest is to have Twitterers photograph posters from the most recent US outdoor campaign and post them online. The prize? Starbucks Gold Cards.

Click here to see Starbucks’ page on twitter: twitter.com/starbucks

The idea for the Starbucks photo contest came from watching what people already do on Facebook and Twitter, said Chris Bruzzo, vice president for brand, content and online at Starbucks. Each year, people race to post the first photos of Starbucks shops decorated in red for the holidays.There will also be a related YouTube channel, where Starbucks coffee experts will talk up the importance of quality in their beans and coffee.

The Twitter photo contest is a part of a fresh marketing campaign launched this month in United States newspapers and magazines. The campaign is described by Starbucks as the biggest marketing effort it has undertaken.

starbucks ad

Quality is key. Print ads will be text-heavy, impressing upon viewers the importance of quality rather than cheap alternatives, such as their direct competitors McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts. Phrases on the posters take a dig at the competition, including “We think making coffee is an art form. They think it’s a new revenue stream.”

Posted by Marissa on May 20th, 2009
Filed under Advertising, Branding, Design, Marketing, Media, Photography | No Comments »

April 15th, 2009

“The advert for the burger has caused outrage.”

The Texican Whopper, according to Burger King, is “inspired by the land where a man ‘ain’t afraid to sink his teeth into something hot and spicy.”

The burger consists of a flame-grilled Whopper topped with taco-coated chili con carne, spicy jalapenos, onion, lettuce and Canjun mayonnaise.

The television commercial described the new Texican Whopper as “the taste of Texas with a little spicy Mexican.” Literally depicted by a tall Texan cowboy living with a vertically challenged Mexican wrestler, named “Just a Little Bit.”

To view the commercial on youtube click here.

Mexico’s ambassador to Spain wrote a letter to Burger King regarding the inappropriate way the Mexican flag is displayed in the advertising campaign, as well as the improperly used stereotypical image of Mexicans.

Burger King has apologized for the advertisement and stated they have “made the decision to revise the Texican Whopper advertising creative out of respect for the Mexican culture and its people.”

There are strict rules about the use of the Mexican flag.

Posted by Marissa on April 15th, 2009
Filed under Advertising, Branding, Design, Legal, Marketing, Miscellaneous | No Comments »

March 31st, 2009

Social Media Monitoring – How to Protect Your Brand

Do you know who is talking about your brand? Monitoring social media is becoming increasingly important for public relations. You can respond to both negative and positive feedback about your brand instantly and manage your online buzz.

In the online world today, with new social media popping up constantly – how do you keep track of all of those mentions of your products, company or brand?

Of course you can purchase a service like Radian6, Trackur, or others that monitor your brand through keywords across the social media world and feed the information to you. The main benefit to using these services of course is that your time to manage all the social media activity is greatly reduced.

But, if you want to try managing the major social media sites on your own and want to get a sense of the content being posted out there on your brand? Here is a quick list of free tools to help you keep track of some of the top social media sources.

For the popular search engines provide tools to keep track of news items posted about your brand, although these can be somewhat limited:

Google gives you Google Alerts (http://www.google.com/alerts?hl=en)

Or, select the Google blog search or news RSS feed for more info.

Yahoo provides alerts for news and a whole host of other information, but you can select the “keyword news” to keep track of information related to your brand: http://alerts.yahoo.com/

Of course MSN provides a similar service as well: http://alerts.live.com/Alerts/UserHome.aspx

Of course other social media sites also provide monitoring tools:

http://search.twitter.com/ (Twitter’s own search engine)

http://tweetbeep.com/ (Send’s you Twitter Alerts in your email)

Facebook has a service called Facebook Lexicon, but you have to be logged on to use it – enter a keyword and find out what is being said about your company!

And More! You can subscribe to RSS feeds from other top social media sites, such as:

Other free tools:

Of course you can use free tools the pull from multiple social mediums, here are a few for you to check out, but keep in mind that these are typically not comprehensive and provide only a quick or limited view on the social media out there!

Socialmention - allows you to select a specific form of social media, whether on blogs, bookmarking sites, etc.

Backtype -monitors blog comments.

Moreover – this is an RSS feed that you can set up to send you information on a specific search term or category from 30,000 new sources.

There are plenty more, but hopefully some of these resources will help you keep on top of what your customers, competitors and even employees or vendors may be saying about your brand!

If you want to share your favorite social media monitoring tools or just want to discuss the impact of social media on branding, send me a comment or ping me!

Posted by Christina on March 31st, 2009
Filed under Branding, Media, Web | No Comments »

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2 days, 12 hours and counting…

What was once so great…now this?

Starbucks on Twitter

“The advert for the burger has caused outrage.”

Social Media Monitoring – How to Protect Your Brand