Last year we helped the outstanding team at Trig’s launch their Facebook page and plan their social media promotions. One of their most successful social media promos was offering online-only coupons (Facebook and Trig’s.com) on “Cyber Monday“. Here’s what the social media manager at Trig’s had to say about the promotion last year (shared with permission): “Hey, I just wanted to send a quick note to say thanks for the ideas about Cyber Monday. It was SUPER fun and got everyone really engaged in our social media activities. We received phone calls, emails, Facebook inquiries, and more about it. We ran into a few challenges along the way, but overall it was pretty great! The download numbers for most of the coupons managed to do in two hours what many of our coupons do all week.” At the time they ran the promotion last year, the Trig’s Facebook page was still very new. As the Trig’s current Facebook status says, this year they will be offering “Twenty-one ridiculously hot coupons,” available Monday only, and the Trig’s team has been building for a successful promotion all year. “It’s amazing what having a year of experience in social media has done for [...]

In 1997, before Steve Jobs returned as Apple’s CEO, he summarized what it would take to turn Apple around: “You think, well, focusing is saying ‘yes’. No. Focusing is about saying ‘No.’ You’ve got to say ‘No, no, no.’ And when you say ‘no’ you piss people off… But the result of that focus is going to be some really great products, where the total is much greater than the sum of the parts.” A recent example of this focus is Apple’s refusal to support Flash on iPhones and iPads, in spite of significant market pressure. Earlier this week Adobe ended development for mobile Flash. I don’t know if this is a victory for Apple, but it illustrates how focusing resources and saying “no” to non-essentials has allowed Apple to consistently stay ahead of competitors. Lack of focus is, in my opinion, the problem with most marketing strategies. It’s common for companies we meet to want to do everything. Our job then, is to help develop a holistic plan to accomplish their goals, and to help maintain that focus as we execute the plan together. New initiatives appear suddenly and spread like weeds around your core activities. Someone suggests an [...]

Bill Donahoe, President and COO of one of our clients, Allegiance Retail Services LLC, will spend the night on the street in solidarity with homeless young people, raising awareness and funding for the work of Covenant House. Way to go, Bill! Try to stay warm—we’re proud of you!

“If you don’t know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else.” -Yogi Berra Is your 2012 promotional plan completed? We co-create annual promotional plans with many of our clients. The purpose of the planning is to incorporate all elements of your marketing media into a single, easy-to-follow, 52 week document. This holistic approach ensures that all marketing components are addressed and form a strong, cohesive and interconnected plan. Here’s a recent content example of a promotional plan document: • Ad date • Page count • Front Page theme • Promotional page theme • Special event • Blog topic • E-Mail Blast theme • Social Media Plan (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube) • Texting • What’s new? • Brand Stories • Recipes • Website; Home page feature, content features and sub features • Digital signage • Radio/TV/Direct Mail/Magazines/Outdoor (Out of home) We spend about 16 hours preparing a working document, including holiday dates, researching event ideas and promotional themes, assembling wholesaler promotional plan and note the four slowest weeks of the prior year.  The client meeting itself takes six to eight hours. The better the preparation the better the meeting. We then compile the information and finalize the 52 week [...]