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Starbucks Turns 40 & Gets A Facelift

Mari Woods Holt — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 19:38:07 +0000

One of the biggest brands out there has to be Starbucks. Well they must think so themselves because they are now going to be giving their Starbucks logo a pretty big facelift by removing their name off the logo. The company is about to celebrate it’s 40 year anniversary, and it seems that they find the best way to do that is to make a logo change.
According to the Associated Press, “Starbucks leaders say the changes to the logo are in some ways a metaphor for the company dropping the boundaries of its own business and growing into new areas. Marketing experts agree.” Starbucks is looking at other big name companies who have successfully dropped their name from their logos. Hopefully this new facelift will be as successful for Starbucks as it was for companies like Nike and Apple. You can truly say you have made it as a company if you do not even need to show your name on your company logo or any other advertising. We hope it works Starbucks!

Online Media Buys Defeats Offline Print Spend in 2010

Christina — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 17:37:05 +0000

Exciting news for online advertisers! Online advertising spend comes in at #1 in 2010, totaling $25.8 billion, closely followed by print publications at $25.7 billion. Many advertisers have shifted offline spend to new online campaigns, some even dabbling in social networking media buys. Advertisers are shifting offline dollars to campaigns that have more measureable results such as banner ads or email campaigns. Even more stunning forecasts are that online display spend will overtake search ads by 2014.

Facebook Controls Quarter of Display Market Share

Christina — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 23:07:57 +0000

Facebook has become number 1 in serving display ad impressions. Not only are they number 1 but they served more then double of Yahoo who came in second place. What is even more remarkable is the growth Facebook saw. Facebook’s market share has grown from 9.2% in Q3 to 23.1% this year. ComScore also reports the Top 10 online Brand Advertisers and their display market share.

Scottrade: 1.9%
AT&T: 1.7%
Experian: 1.2%
Verizon: 1.1%
Progressive: 1.0%
Netflix: 1.0%
GM: .8%
Disney: .8%
Toyota .7%
Procter & Gamble .6%

Do You Understand Your Customer?

Mari Woods Holt — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 08:06:06 +0000

Working in lead generation it is really important to know who your client is and who you are are trying to target. Unfortunately, what happens with many networks/agencies is that they are wrapped up in generating as many leads as they can, they are not focusing on who they are targeting. Knowing the consumer that you are targeting, does it really matter that you don’t know the ins and outs of what the consumer is you are marketing to? Many would say it is not totally important, but I feel knowing as much as you can about your target market/consumer can make or break the effectiveness of your marketing campaign.
APNews seems to agree. “The independent Marketing Tracking & Maximisation Specialist also found that Marketers around the world classify ad agencies into three groups: (1) the Result-Drivers who truly believe that the primary purpose of a campaign is to deliver the bottom line results of their clients, and do whatever they can for that (35%); (2) the Result-Pretenders who claim they believe in making campaigns that deliver results, but are internally not prepared to put in place the relevant systems and processes to do so (43%); and (3) the Dreamers who still live in old “Adland” (22%).” There were also 3 weaknesses identified in those that are not truly focusing on the actual result of their consumers:
1. The customer insight is not deep enough
2. Too award driven and not enough customer focused
3. Not effectively tracking to know what is working with each media campaign

Bottom line: know your customer and what advertising is working effectively. This applies to lead generation or any other marketing techniques where you are trying to target consumers.

What Was Your Favorite Super Bowl Ad?

Natasha Aronov — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 08:01:01 +0000

Those five words seem to be to most said that day after the Super Bowl. It seems as if people are more interested in watching the new television ads rather than the actual Superbowl (unless your team is playing or you have money riding on it, of course!). This year does not seem as if it is going to be any different. According to a Nielsen survey, 51 percent of viewers are more interested in watching the Super Bowl for its ads, rather than the actual game. The survey also shows that viewers are more likely to remember the ads that are shown in the first quarter rather then the second, third, and fourth (the fourth having the least recall, only at 25 percent). Most of the ads that show in the fourth quarter tend to have similar ratings to a regular television commercial.
So how much cash is being shelled out this year? For a thirty second spot, it will cost an advertiser three million dollars. When spending that type of money for such a short period of time, advertisers are trying harder than ever to make sure that their commercials are remembered. Companies such has Papa Johns got creative by taking this years Super Bowls roman numeral and turning it in to a new pizza offer. Super Bowl XLIV will now be a Papa Johns Xtra Large four(IV) topping pizza. Boost Mobile is giving consumers a sneak peak of their ad on YouTube, for hopes that it will create excitement and buzz before it is aired during the game. Brands are also trying to use social media more for their Super Bowl advertising. Marketers are realizing that social networks is a great way to have people buzz about a product and get the word around.
It is interesting how on a daily basis so many of us will skip through the commercials, but for the Super Bowl we sit down to watch them. Some of the big players that you will see this year will be Frito-Lay, Boost Mobile, Diamond Foods, and many more. It is very important that brands are taking the time to make sure that they are remembered and are coming up with new and creative way to advertise. LeadPile has also been working hard to create new successful offers, however unfortunately we will be sitting this one out with advertising during the Super Bowl. Wishful thinking uh?
Now the only real question is, are you going to be watching it for the game, or the commercials?

YouTube Testing Skippable Ads

Mari Woods Holt — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:08:51 +0000

In years past YouTube tried to roll out in-stream ads (in 1997), however the acceptance of it did not go to well with viewers. Time has past and there are other sites that have incorporates such ads, so YouTube is now looking at taking another stab at it. It makes sense because YouTube is utilized by so many people in so many ways, that incorporating some sort of ads had to become part the of “YouTube Revolution”. The good thing about what YouTube is doing, is that they are creating these ads that are actually able to be skipped. However, what they are finding is that if you have a short 15 second ad, more people are not “skipping” over the ad. This is great news for the advertiser trying to get their ads played. Maybe the future of high priced Super Bowl ads will continue on from our televisions to our computers?
Leadpile has incorporated YouTube into our marketing efforts to help get our name out there, and we can certainly see a potential with bringing in ads to these videos. YouTube has to learn to make money, so what other options do they have but to look at cashing in on all the eyes they have on their videos? I think it is a good marketing idea…..

Consumers Are Particular On Who They Trust

Mari Woods Holt — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 03:26:43 +0000

Almost anything or anyone you want to know more about can be found on the internet. However, when you go to a website is there something that stands out as something that makes you “trust” that website as a reputable source versus another website? There are in fact certain reasons consumers seem to trust one site over another. Nielson Global did a survey on consumers to see what makes them trust a particular website and it’s advertising versus another.

What this information really tells all of us in the lead generation industry is, that maybe we need to continue to focus on how we can really become a more trusted source by consumers. TV, newspaper and other sources came out ahead of methods such as banner ads, mobile and other online lead generation methods. The question then is how do we increase the trust level our consumers have for websites we are working with to generate leads? Brand recognition is pretty high on the list of trusted sources, however not everyone has a brand that is known, or the financial ability to generate that awareness.
Leadpile, and I am sure all other lead generation companies, are all looking at this sort of information as informative, but how can we take this information and apply it to what we do?

Microsoft’s Live Search Out, Bing Search IN!

Mari Woods Holt — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:21:06 +0000

Effective June 3rd, Microsoft’s Live Search will be replaced by Bing.

Microsoft describes Bing as the new “decision engine”. Being that Google dominates about 3/4 of the search engine world, Microsoft is hoping to get a bigger piece of the pie with Bing. Bing will emphasize categorization and depth in search results in an attempt to compete with Google for market share in addition to ad dollars. Looking at Bing it looks a lot like Google, but when searching it tends to bring up a little more in depth information. Will the Leadpile publishers and affiliate marketers utilize this new search engine to generate traffic/leads?

Effective Performance Advertising: Lead Generation

Mari Woods Holt — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:13:31 +0000

In years past, online media was not an option. Years ago you did radio, television, mail or things like billboard advertising. However, in recent years performance advertising has been something most companies are venturing into to promote their product(s). Lead generation is a performance type of advertising, however not all are embracing it because of various objections they have to it.

1. No money to do lead generation
2. Lead generation does not work
3. They do not know how to set up CPL campaigns
4. They do not have any creatives to do a lead generation campaign
5. They don’t have any incentives to offer the consumer on a CPL campaign
6. They don’t really care about leads
7. They don’t have the time to work on a lead generation campaign

These are all commons excuses companies will make instead of moving forward with a lead generation campaign. Mediapost.com points out all these excuses companies have on why they are not getting into lead generation.
These are all legitimate objections to lead generation, however companies like Leadpile are open arms to speak with anyone that has any questions or concerns about doing lead generation. Where else can you get a targeted consumer that is opting in for a specific product or service? Lead generation allows companies to focus less on generating clients and more on handling the targeted ones that they are working with in their lead generation campaigns. As a company trying to generate business, would I want to send out a 1000 mailings or purchase leads of 50 people who opted in for my service? Hands down lead generation produces a higher ROI if you are utilizing your lead generation campaign effectively. Ask a lot of questions of the lead generation company you are potentially working with, so you know the process from A to Z. Know how the leads are being generated, where they are being generated and what the cost to you is. You will see, lead generation will be an effective way for you to spend your advertising dollars.

Television Going Interactive?

Mari Woods Holt — Tue, 26 May 2009 04:38:05 +0000

Are you ever watching your favorite television show and some sort of advertisement comes on that really you have no interest in? I know I know a lot of us don’t really care for advertisements at all, but what if the ads that are on your t.v. are things you are potentially interested in? How about if you’re watching a show like Home Shopping Network, and you can then use your remote control, push a few buttons, and charge a purchase from your television? How about voting for your favorite reality show contestant without using your phone?
All these are things that our televisions are going to be soon allowing us to do in addition to relevant commercials. NPRNews points out, “Consumer advocates worry about marketers compromising our privacy by rummaging through our viewing habits and getting us to trade personal information for coupons.” Potentially these marketing companies will know everything you have purchased, however they will not know detail information such as your name. Is this sort of thing crossing the line on your personal t.v time? This sort of thing is already happening with the internet (behavioral targeting) and websites you are visiting (cookies), so why not with your television too? Leadpile Lead Exchange does not use cookies with our lead generation, however many affiliate marketing networks do.