Archive for the ‘Advertising’ Category
Could someone please provide examples of television and radio advertising that the Home Depot uses?
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Sweepstakes, including online instant win games are probably the best known promotions and have shown consistently to be effective in drawing consumer attention. Online promotions, including sweepstakes, online instant win games, and contests have all become proven sources of new business and are instrumental in building customer databases for companies. Although sweepstakes and contests have proven to be the most popular of the online promotions, several others are worth an investment of time and money. Product sampling, promotional rebates and promotional coupons are among the promotions that are increasing customer response and brand loyalty.
In our world of instant gratification, instant win games- both online and off- are the darlings of the promotions industry. Because consumers don’t have to wait weeks or months to find out if they won, they are much more likely to enter. This call to take immediate action makes online instant win games the clear choice for successful online promotion. Although the word contest is often used interchangeably with the word sweepstakes, they are two very different things. A contest is a game that has a skill component. A sweepstakes is simply a game of chance. There are pros and cons to running a contest. Because chance is removed from the contest, it is legal for companies to require participants to pay for their entries. Some or all of the cost of the promotion can be offset with the entry fees. In order to circumvent the legal guidelines that make purchase requirements or entry fees illegal in every state, skill contests must comply with a number of well-defined legal requirements.
Run a valid skill contest, you must satisfy the following tests:
- Judging criteria must be clear, objective and carefully defined. Judges must know what objective standards to apply to the contest entries and those standards must be clearly communicated to the entrants.
- Qualified judges The judges must be qualified to apply the criteria and determine the winning entries.
- A real skill is at issue The contest must test a real skill. Guessing the number of nuts and bolts in an oil drum or predicting the outcome of a sporting event are not considered to be true tests of skill.
- No portion of the promotional contest is controlled by chance. You cannot resolve ties or choose any winners by a random drawing or the contest turns back into a game of chance.
- Entrants cannot be required to engage in a test of skill to pre-qualify for a drawing. The skill displayed must be the dominant element in determining the winners.
While promotional contests may seem attractive, the cons can outweigh the benefits. Contest promotions are more time consuming (as entries must be judged,) elicit a lower response than sweepstakes, are more expensive than sweepstakes and are not as likely to elicit the “act now” response from consumers. However, contests require participants to really think about an associated product. They also provide valuable information to companies about how consumers think and their perception of the product. When used correctly, contests can be an extremely effective online promotion tool.
Product sampling can be included in online promotion, which is beneficial if the associated product is unique in the market place or superior to the competition. This promotional offer can produce superior results to online games when the experience of using the product is necessary to show its value. By reducing the amount of waste, the internet has made this once costly marketing promotion more accessible to clients with a limited budget. In years past, a company would mail out samples or even hand them out on the corner. Today, customers can request the samples from websites. Not only does this help the marketer weed out consumers who are not interested, but it also allows the company to gain the consumer’s demographic and contact information. Sampling is a win/win as the consumer gets something for nothing; the company gets valuable information and hopefully a customer who loves their product.
Promotional rebates and coupons work in the short term, as they are effective in differentiating a brand or product at the point of sale. However, they are of limited value as a successful long term marketing strategy, because they do little to build loyalty, and generally appeal more to price conscious consumers than value conscious ones. By tying a sales database to an online database, companies can identify who is buying and what they are buying. Once companies have this information, they can start marketing differently to these customers to build brand loyalty. This is the “perfect world” scenario, but marketers know that it isn’t always possible to get all of the data needed. This is where rebates are the most helpful to the company. In order to receive a rebate, customers must fill out a form with their contact information and send it back to the company. This is a gold mine of information for the company. Both rebates and coupons can be underwritten by promotional risk companies so that the promotion cost is fixed.
These online promotions have proven to be successful. The key is to find the best promotion for your brand, your business and your current situation. The internet has opened new doors and has made it easier for marketers to obtain and maintain customer databases. By clearly identifying your promotional marketing strategy and objective, you will be well on your way to a successful online promotion.
A good multimedia web design can make a drab, one-dimensional web site happening. Multimedia development is the integration of multiple forms of media such mean text, graphics, audio, photo images, animation, full motion video, data, etc.
When all these components play together like a symphony, the outcome is very interesting and attractive. When such elements are incorporated in a website design, the site becomes interactive and appealing . But interactive multimedia development is quite complex, so the job needs a proper planning and a highly qualified team of experienced people each with a special skill set.
Depending on the objective and the message that you would want to convey to your targeted audiences, you need to select the media elements to be used in the Multimedia web Design. While finalizing the things for the multimedia web design keep in mind that you don’t want to distract the visitors from the key message. Here is how you can go about the task of making your web site multimedia enabled.
Make an elaborate plan
Sufficient time should be given to understand the requirements of the multimedia development project. During this stage the aims and objectives of the project must be clear enough to avoid problems at the later stage of development. Also identify the materials and human resource that would be required to accomplish the project on time. And don’t forget to anticipate the difficulties and problems that might arise and prepare remedies for such difficulties. Good planning is essential to the successful outcome of any multimedia development project.
Budgeting
Before implementing an interactive multimedia web design development project it is very important to have a rough estimation about the costs. Keeping in mind the attributes and features to be incorporated in the project, the overall costing could be estimated. More the features, higher would be the price.
Design
In this phase, the designing part begins where the web designers actually give shape to all the ideas and visualizations. Depending on the size of the project, its complexity, and the amount of cutting-edge technology involved, the designing team may need months to accomplish the task. The multimedia web site design differs according to the capabilities of the playback platform. Moreover the overall design is also affected by the software available in the market and its compatibility with various media forms. With the help of multimedia software, the multimedia developer design slide shows, product demonstrations, tutorials, brochures, movies, cartoons, walk-through demonstrations, advertisements, interactive photo albums and more.
Testing
For ensuring the quality of the multimedia web design project, testing is must. Here the performance of various elements used in the multimedia development process is tested under different hardware and operating system configurations. During this stage the designer can analyze the loop holes and rectify them.
Publishing
In multimedia web design, the content of the site is published in two different versions. One version is published strictly with HTML codes without including the rich multimedia features where the users can view the content part. To view the other version, additional download time or a plug-in is required while the viewer can see, hear, and interact with the content exactly as it was intended.
However the success of a multimedia web design depends a lot upon the company you choose to hand over your multimedia development project. So choose well after proper research and due diligence.
Graphic Design Intensive Study at the high school
Telluride High School students from Jennifer Morgan’s Intensive Study Period (ISP) graphic design class gather around a mural designed by Shannon Lynch (front, left). Murals are one medium being utilized by high school students as part of the current graphic design ISP theme: “To promote student life in the school.” Completed works will be hung throughout the high school and will also include …
Read more on Telluride Daily Planet
Briar Cliff College features graphic design exhibit; works by Bethany Guntren part of show
SIOUX CITY — Briar Cliff University is proud to announce the Senior Graphic Design Exhibit, beginning March 1 through March 12 in the Clausen Art Gallery in the Stark Student Center on campus. An…
Read more on Storm Lake Pilot-Tribune
I’m with the band
Melinda’s* engagement ring is a 2-carat diamond in a square mounting. When the petite 37-year-old first got it two years ago, her office mates at a graphic design firm remarked that it looked like a “huge rock.” “Some said it looked just as blingy as the other recently engaged…
Read more on New York Post
Wisler wins design contest
Twenty-year-old Shanea Wisler, a 2007 graduate of the Boyertown Area Senior High, won a label design contest sponsored by the makers of Mountain Dew, and she is anxious to see her artwork on the soda’s bottles and cans in April.
Read more on Boyertown Area Times
Roller-Opocensky engagement
The Roller and Opocensky families announce the engagement of Cassie Roller and Fred Opocensky. Roller is the daughter of Glen and Dee Roller of Milliken and Opocensky is the son of Don and Kathy Opocensky of Evans. A May 1 wedding is planned. Roller, of Milliken, has a bachelor’s degree in graphic design from the University of Northern Colorado and is currently an administrative assistant/Web …
Read more on Greeley Tribune
I have a small business and am looking to obtain a direct mail list, which also includes email addresses. There are quite a few out there on the internet, but I don’t have the time to research all of them to determine if they have what I need and are reputable.
Can anyone suggest a good and reputable direct mail provider/broker that will provide references?
What motivates people to inflict pain on themselves by branding their body? Taboo: Signs of Identity: WED AUGUST 15 10P et/pt: channel.nationalgeographic.com
Taxpayers footed bill for Ramsey direct mail piece
Tennessee Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, who is running for governor, emphasizes in a direct mail piece sent to Kingsport homes that he is “Listening. Working. Fighting for Us.”
Read more on Johnson City Press
Research and Markets: 2010 Trendology: U.S. Direct Mail
DUBLIN—-Research and Markets has announced the addition of the “2010 Trendology: U.S. Direct Mail” report to their offering.
Read more on Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance
Insurance-related direct mail steady in 2009: Mintel
Despite budget cuts and the growing use of social media, insurance companies maintained their use of direct mail throughout last year, according to research from Mintel Comperemedia, a direct marketing intelligence firm.
Read more on DMNews
Insurance Companies Maintain Steady Direct Mail Through End of 2009
CHICAGO—-Direct mail is still a formidable force in the insurance industry. Mintel Comperemedia, a service that provides direct marketing competitive intelligence, reports that insurance companies upheld direct mail volumes throughout 2009, despite budget cuts and the growing strength of social media.
Read more on Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance
30 direct marketers under 30
DMNews gathered the best and the brightest young superstars in the direct, database and interactive marketing industry for its second annual 30 Under 30 feature. These successful up-and-comers were judged on their ability to initiate change, drive growth and achieve measurable results for their companies and clients. While these honored executive are not ranked per se, the top 10 we feel are …
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Barack Obama ran an unprecedented Presidential campaign – utilizing the power of design to help secure the seat of the President of the United States of America. However, his iconic emblem, the ever present “O”, holds more power than even Obama knows. Bill Whittle points out the dangers of branding an ideology with an icon and how, perhaps, the powerful symbol will be used against the very man it built up. – www.pjtv.com