Adventures in Advertising: I'm Going Back to Agency Side!

If you've ever had a conversation with me over coffee or at a conference or networking event, you know that my next big adventure is exactly what I've been seeking: working on integrated marketing campaigns with a national consumer brand. The needle in the haystack part has been finding that opportunity while staying in Nashville.

I've worked for ad agencies for the bulk of the beginning of my career and have been client side marketing for the past four years.

While I was not sure whether my next adventure would take me to client side (in-house marketing department) or consultant side (advertising agency), my goal is to make an impact with a national consumer brand in contributing my knowledge and expertise in traditional, digital and social media marketing.

I'm joining the Nashville office of Catapult Marketing- ranked Hub Magazine's #1 shopper marketing agency, where I'll be working on integrated marketing campaigns for the Mars Petcare account, which is known for its many consumer pet food brands, including Pedigree (woof!), Cesar, and Whiskas (meow!).

So, in a nod to one of the advertising greats, David Ogilvy, I'm celebrating the vast opportunities ad agencies have as consumer behavior changes along with technology. This is an exciting time to be working in advertising, especially with a firm like Catapult, which is rich in consumer and shopper data and analytics.

Networking when Networking wasn’t Cool

I was networking when social networking wasn’t cool. (To the tune of “I was Country When Wasn’t Cool”) - hey, I live in Nashville- what do you expect?!

I came to Nashville in 2002 with one goal -to work in advertising- and no clue how to make it happen. I read a few career books about networking and working in the advertising field. They all said to set up informational interviews to get to know the companies and the people who run them.

There were no social networks like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter (if they existed, I didn’t know about them). At the time, I didn’t even have a computer or the internet. All I had was a phone, a phone book, and a determined attitude.

Spotlight on Social Fresh’s, Jason Keath

Who is Jason Keath, what is Social Fresh, and why should you care?

I first heard about Social Fresh a few months ago. As part of Social Media Club Nashville, I wanted to get involved in this social media conference that was announced to be coming to Nashville, TN January 11, 2010. I volunteered to help out with the event and promoted it through Facebook and Twitter. 

It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I really did a double-take on the magnitude of national connections to the social media and advertising industries Social Fresh’s founder, Jason Keath, has. I was reading ADRANTS, a popular ad industry pop-culture bog, created by Steve Hall- that I’ve been following for at least five years. There was Jason Keath, Chris Brogan (who I met when he came to Nashville to talk about his social media book, Trust Agents), and Steve Hall in a feature article about a Social Fresh Cruise for the who’s who of social media. That put Jason Keath on my radar, so I called him up to get more info about Social Fresh and what he hopes to bring to Nashville's advertising and marketing community.

NASHVILLE’S Ones to Watch (and learn from): Companies who “get” Social Marketing

> Paramore|Redd
Masters of online marketing and social media, this company practices what it preaches. Lead by a preacher’s daughter, no less! Paramore|Redd is a one stop shop for online marketing- from websites to web banners, online media buying, social media, e-mail newsletters, SEO, and more. They don’t just get it, they share it. Hannah Paramore’s team of marketers provide frequent and relevant company and client updates, and marketing tips.  The company’s smart and spunky personality shines through in their e-newsletter and frequent blog, Twitter, and Facebook fan page posts. Hannah is a frequent speaker on the topic of online and social marketing. In the past year, Paramore|Redd consulted with both American Advertising Federation Nashville and Nashville American Marketing Association in developing online communication plans to connect and grow Nashville's advertising and marketing communities.

Check out Paramore|Redd’s Website | Blog  | Twitter | Facebook

> Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce
Yes, the city of Nashville can tout that we have the best chamber of commerce in the US. The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce was named 2009 Chamber of the Year by the American Chamber of Commerce Executives. The Nashville Chamber is a strong supporter of the technology and marketing communities in Nashville, supporting events like BarCamp Nashville 2009. Through the Chamber’s  Informed and Inspired Speaker Series, Nashville’s business community got to learn firsthand about social media from Paula Berg [@paulaberg], Manager of Emerging Media for Southwest Airlines. The Nashville Chamber regularly Tweets, updates its Facebook fan page, YouTube Channel, and has huge support from its members in promoting the value of membership in their own e-mail newsletters. The Chamber also hosts a member-only Social Media Marketing Special Interest Group (SIG).

Check out Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce’s Website | Twitter | YouTube | Facebook

 Watch Paula Berg's Presentation at The Nashville Chamber

Know when to kill the Beast

Social networking can become overwhelming with all the different social sites available. I personally have profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Blip.fm, Flickr, AAF Nashville’s ning, Digital Nashville’s ning, and a few more that I have signed up for in the past. That’s a lot of socializing to keep up with! I try to remain active on all of them. The frequency varies- some multiple times a day, some once a day, some weekly or monthly.

Have you ever played The Sims video game? The Sims are characters that you control through the game, but in order to keep them “alive” you have to feed them, make them talk to friends and neighbors, you even have to make them go to the bathroom- or they will “die”. There is usually a prompt in the game that tells you what they are lacking and allows you to manage their “health”. Unfortunately, our social networking profiles do not have prompts to let us know when our social networking skills are dying.

Interaction and frequent activity are essential to building your successful online networking community, no matter what social networking platform you choose. You must feed the monster that you created, or it will die.

Is your brand like Pinocchio?

Brands should strive to be “real” in social media, just like Pinocchio wanted to be a real boy. Social media enthusiasts call this being transparent. Webster’s dictionary defines transparency as free from pretense or deceit, easily detected or seen through, readily understood, and characterized by visibility or accessibility of information.

Some companies are totally transparent with who is managing their social media sites, For example, Scott Monty [@scottmonty] tweets for Ford Motor Company and Frank Eliason is the voice behind Comcast Cares [@comcastcares]. On the other hand, some companies are not transparent. This leaves an even larger responsibility on them: managing consumer expectations of the brand.

When I follow Doritos on Twitter [@DoritosUSA], I know there is not an actual chip tweeting from a bag in the back of the factory. I connect because I am familiar with the brand through other forms of advertising and my own product experiences. A couple of commercials, featuring model, Ali Landry, come to mind. I remember that Doritos had a contest for consumers to create their own commercial- that was aired during Super Bowl XLI. I expect edginess, creativity, and a youthful tone with this brand in how they communicate with me socially. I expect the brand to be consistent whether on TV, a print ad, their website, or Facebook fan page. I was pleasantly surprised to find that their Twitter bio describes their brand to a tee: “Not only are our chips packed with serious crunch and crave-able flavors, the DORITOS brand is all about intense experiences in snacking and beyond.”

How do companies manage consumer expectations through social marketing? Take a look at the brand’s marketing materials, website, and advertising in other media. If the brand were a person, what kind of person would it be? How would it speak with a consumer on a peer to peer level? Would the brand and its consumer be friends in a real-life situation? If you are not true to your brand, then your nose will grow and consumers will be turned off.

Want to learn more?
Read BusinessWeek’s article about Frank Eliason.

Read BrandWeek’s article, mentioning Scott Monty.

Welcome!

This blog has been established to provide simple, sometimes humorous explanations and information about marketing on social platforms. I will share experiences from my background in traditional, digital, and social marketing as well as case studies from my personal contacts in the marketing, advertising, and digital technology industries.

Social Media is not a big, bad, wolf.