Donna's Promo Talk

Wildfire's Online Promotions App Helps Promote AT&T's Favorite Foursome Sweeps on Facebook

I first wrote this post called Interactive Promotions Together with Blogs Create a Winning Combination back in February of 2008. Well now that social media has really gone mainstream, it's not just integrating promotions with blogs, but also with social networks like Facebook, which is now the largest social network, and Twitter, which has become the fastest growing web brand. Back when I wrote this post I coined the term "Social Sweeps" and I've seen quite a lot of these types of promotions make their appearance since then.

Interactive promotions are highly measurable and most of the time can be very effective when integrated with the right incentive, however they certainly can't achieve defined objectives if proper awareness of the promotion is not created. Well now this new company called Wildfire Interactive has created a web tool and Facebook application that can help do just that. With the Wildfire App you can create an integrated promotional campaign for your brand on Facebook, Ning, MySpace and your website that includes a sweepstakes or a user generated contest.

Wildfire is currently in beta and it's been by invite only. I requested an invite, so I'm on board and just dying to try out a first promotion utilizing it on Facebook. I've got a couple of small programs I'm working on that may be a good fit for this.

A current promotion that I entered and have promoted on my Facebook Page is for an adventure travel agency called Access Trips that's based in New Zealand. They are utilizing the Wildfire App to promote their Brazil Surfing Trip Sweepstakes. So I entered the sweeps and invited two of my friends on Facebook to join me if I win. Then I invited some of my other Facebook friends to enter the sweepstakes.

AT&T has integrated the Wildfire App into one of their big summer promotions. Up until just yesterday, June 22, golf fans could enter the AT&T “Favorite Foursome” sweepstakes to win a VIP trip for themselves and three friends to the final two days of the 2009 AT&T National Tournament, to be played July 4 and 5 at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, MD.

AT&T offered three different ways to get into the game. One was through mobile using any wireless carrier in which fans could text TRIP to 21234 to be automatically entered for a chance to win. They could also visit AT&T’s Facebook page in which they could enter using the Wildfire App and they could also choose to invite three of their Facebook friends to join their own “Favorite Foursome” and in exchange could get a special AT&T national sweepstakes graphic posted to their Facebook Wall.

The third method of entry into the Favorite Foursome Sweepstakes was by clicking through a banner ad at the AT&T Fan Zone web site and filling out an entry form there. The winner will be selected by a random drawing from all the entry methods and win four round-trip flights to Washington DC, two nights of lodging, transportation passes and access to the Grey Goose lounge at the event, and a $400 gift certificate redeemable at the competition’s Front 9 merchandise area, among other perks. I entered, so wish me luck!

The new twist that the Wildfire App brings to the promotion is the viral marketing component on Facebook. Those that have hundreds of friends on Facebook can promote it on their wall and very easily invite their friends. So I believe it is this type of brand awareness that is a perfect fit for social networks. If anyone would like more information you can contact me or Wildfire. I would be happy to toss around some ideas on how it may be a good fit with your marketing objectives and get one of these started!

Taking Another Look at Mobile Marketing

Yesterday we had the formal announcement of the new G-phone by T-Mobile who unveiled their new G1 mobile phone which is powered by Google's Android operating system and is bundled with Google software including search, Gmail, Maps and YouTube. This announcement gave me the incentive today to get back to writing about PMA's Digital Marketing Summit that I attended about two weeks ago in downtown NYC. We spent much time discussing mobile marketing during this day, so here are some of the highlights.

One of the sessions at the summit was a panel discussion titled "The World is Changing in the Palm of Your Hand: Make Mobile Marketing and Digital Out of Home work for you". Out of the three people on the panel I was most impressed with what Anthony Iacovone, Chief Strategy Officer at Augme Mobile, had to say. His presentation was focused on how to integrate mobile into our traditional media plans.

This was the first time that I had heard the term 'Traditional Media" referred to as online display ads vs. non-online (TV, Print, Radio, Outdoor, etc). It made me realize that now, 2009, is the time to really start looking at mobile seriously. That coupled with the fact that I have two teenage daughters that show me everyday that their phone is the center of their universe, makes me even more clear that we need to start the integration.

And integration as Anthony said is the key. Just don't set out to "do a mobile marketing program" because the client wants to. The same as we just can't do a viral marketing program because that's the cool thing to do now. But instead look at our current plan and see how we can integrate a viral component, or in this case, a mobile component. We don't necessarily have to recreate the wheel and start from scratch to do this.

Anthony went on to say that mobile can be overlaid to help invigorate your "traditional" media plan. But you shouldn't look at it as just another place to display your banner ad. He called it a "Physical World Bookmark".

Today now with the announcement of the first G-phone we have a new member of the "touch screen" iPhone family. The phones are advancing and the networks are now ready to embrace the growth. However, there are still many barriers and complications, just as there are with serving up video and rich media online today. Anthony referred to this as the "mobile maze"....hundreds of devices with different systems, screen sizes, etc. and with four different major operators.

Here are some of the stats that he shared with us:

• 195 active SMS users in the U.S.
• 65 Million U.S. Mobile Internet users in 2008
• 97% of consumers carry their phone at retail
• It's not just kids who are using the advanced functions
• 100+ brands have used mobile in 2008 advertising plans
• $1.6 billion spent on mobile advertising in 2008 so far
• 34% of brand will use mobile in 2009

I sat in on a presentation earlier this year from Forrester on their Five Year Interactive Marketing Forecast. They predicted at that time that mobile was 18 months out. Now that presentation was back in early March, so second half of 2009 is where we should see mobile really start to trend upward quickly.  I think we better start putting mobile into the 2009 plans now.

The Dark Knight Breaks the Box Office Record But Who Are the Marketing Parnters?

Dark Knight has been the topic of conversation since it's theatrical release last Friday and I've been meaning to write about it all weekend but just haven't had the chance. So at least now I'm able to report that yes, it did indeed break the box office record as expected by selling $155 million worth of tickets. It was reported that moviegoers were surfing eBay and Craigslist for tickets, sometimes paying five times face value for them.

Now that The Dark Knight has become this summer's biggest  blockbuster, the question is should your children see it? The film is definitely "dark" and is more true to Frank Miller's view of The Batman than the TV series or the DC comics that we remember from our childhood. Both of my teenage daughters and their friends went to see it over the weekend and loved it. But they're not children nor are they the ones that grew up with the TV series or the comic books either.

So, why did Kmart decide to become the entertainment marketing partner with Warner Bros on this theatrical release and turn their stores into the “Official Batman Headquarters”?

Dads, Grads, Brides and...The Hulk!

It was a weekend of "Dads, Grads and Brides" for me which mirrored the way most retail marketers define the month of June. With all that I had going on this weekend I never even got a chance to get to my computer except to briefly check my email before I went to bed last night.

Saturday we started the morning at an 11am wedding ceremony for our nice, Elizabeth, which was held at a beautiful outdoor setting with Lake Ontario as the backdrop. The rain held off for the most part... just a few sprinkles came down on us which no one seemed to mind too much. After the lunch reception we headed back home to change clothes and out the door again we went to a high school graduation party. Then Sunday was Father's Day which I got to spend at home catching up on the usual weekend chores and watching Tiger Woods march on to force a playoff round today in the U.S. Open Championship against Rocco Mediate.

The Incredible Hulk was also released in movie theaters and grabbed the top spot at the box office with $54.5 million in sales for the weekend. However, it didn't come anywhere close to Marvel Entertainment's other movie release this season, Iron Man, which brought in $104.2 over the Memorial Day weekend, the second-best premiere ever for a non-sequel. Universal Pictures is Marvel's distributor partner on this movie which stars Edward Norton as the scientist who turns into the Hulk when maddened.

Kmart used up some of their entertainment marketing dollars to partner with The Incredible Hulk. Their "Incredible Dads" Father's Day Promotion takes advantage of the "Dads" day timing. Consumers are invited to purchase "Incredible Dad" Hulk-themed gift cards, and those who purchase at least $50 worth can receive "movie money" for two general admissions to see the film.

Additionally, Kmart is running a mobile marketing segment of the promotion that includes a text-to-win sweepstakes that gives consumers a chance to win a trip for four people to the Universal Studios Orlando theme park. Other prizes include Kmart gift cards and THE INCREDIBLE HULK merchandise which is also available for sale at Kmart.

I can not finish this post if I did not mention the loss of Tim Russert this past weekend which has deeply saddened so many people, especially those of us in Western New York. Tom Brokaw said on NBC Friday evening that if we were to morn and celebrate the life of Tim there wouldn't be a more approriate weekend than Father's Day. Thank you Tim for all you have shared with us. You will be greatly missed. It's hard to imagine going forward with this year's presidential election without you.

So, as for my closing remarks, Happy Father's Day to all and as Tim would say....."GO BILLS!" 

Dr. Pepper Explores with Indiana Promotion

Well today is Memorial Day, the day we pause to honor those who have lost their lives in pursuit of freedom and love of our country. It is the designated day to pay tribute to these Americans and celebrate with ceremonies, parades and family gatherings since most of us have been given the day off from work.

It is also the unofficial start of summer. Women can now feel comfortable wearing white pants and shoes. Those of us living in the northern part of the country can rest at ease taking our houseplants outside and planting annuals. Being a three-day weekend, it is the biggest movie weekend of the year with box office records to break. This year the release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull drew in a huge audience that put the film on its way to become the second-biggest Memorial Day movie opening ever.

The fourth installment of this saga grossed an estimated $101 million from Friday to Sunday, plus $25 million from its opening Thursday according to Paramount Pictures. They expected to earn another $25 million today. This puts them just behind Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End which had a Friday-Monday total of $139.8 million during last year's Memorial Day weekend.

I already wrote two posts on this theatrical release: this first post regarding the promotional partnership with Major League Baseball and the second post about a major promotional and advertising campaign from Burger King. Another brand that put their entertainment marketing dollars to work with an innovative partnership with Indy and Paramount is Dr. Pepper.  The Dr. Pepper Passport to Explore with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull promotion centers around the adventure theme and will send 23 lucky winners on an adventure of their own-Indy-style!

Everyone who enters an instant win game code online is eligible for the grand prize sweepstakes and an opportunity to channel their “inner Indy” on an adventure to one of four exotic destinations: Egypt, India, Jordan or Peru. All places that Indiana Jones himself has visited during his adventures! Each trip package is provided through Expedia and consists of a 10-12 day adventure with a local tour guide who takes winners horseback riding, boating, hiking and other Indy-style excursions.

Game codes can be found under the caps or inside the wraps of specially marked Dr Pepper and Diet Dr Pepper. This interactive promotion is being supported by a TV spot with ads that began running on May 1. Additionally, scratch off game codes are featured in print ads which started appearing on May 9. Online banner ads have also give out game codes which have been running on the Yahoo! Movies section on Yahoo.com.

One-in-six codes will win a prize! Fans enter these codes online after they register or by texting them in to learn if their codes are instant winners and redeem their prizes. In addition to the adventure trips, prizes include T-shirts, hats, movie tickets and free Dr Pepper product.

“Dr Pepper is Indiana Jones’ biggest fan, so we are thrilled to add even more excitement around an event that is 19 years in the making,” said Andrew Springate, vice president of marketing for Dr Pepper. “With the 23 flavors of Dr Pepper, there is always more to explore, and we’re bringing fans more ways to explore and experience Indiana Jones this summer.”

23 iPod Nanos are also hidden inside specially marked cans randomly placed in 12-packs. The Nanos are pre-loaded with “Raiders March” — the Indiana Jones theme song by composer John Williams, as well as an exclusive behind-the-scenes photo from the movie set. Fans will also have the opportunity to collect six limited edition Dr Pepper collector’s cans featuring scenes and characters from the new film.

“By working with Dr Pepper, we wanted to create a rich experience for Indiana Jones fans, both old and new,” said Kayleen Walters, director of marketing for Lucasfilm Ltd. “Dr Pepper is an American institution, making it a perfect partner for the new Indiana Jones film.”

Well I did not go see the movie this weekend, but my 18 year-old daughter did with some of her friends and they were not impressed at all. Maybe this generation just doesn't get it. I guess I'll have to see it for myself. Let me know what you thought of the film if you were one of the many who helped make it a box office hit this weekend.

Iron Man's a Hit - Promotions include Audi and LG Mobile

Well it looks like the summer blockbuster movie season is upon us quicker than I thought. The news today says that "Iron Man was pure gold at the box office" during its opening this past weekend. It brought in $104.2 million since debuting Thursday night, the second-best premiere ever for a non-sequel. The film also scored overseas with $96.7 million in 57 countries where it began opening Wednesday, putting its worldwide total at $201 million.

Iron Man is the first release by Marvel Studios and is distributed by Paramount Pictures. It stars Robert Downey Jr. as the guy in the metal suit, billionaire arms designer Tony Stark. He's described as a boozy womanizer who builds a high-tech suit and becomes a superhero, mending his ways after he's taken captive and sees firsthand the devastation his weapons cause.

Audi is one of the brands that has teamed up with Paramount and Marvel for the theatrical release. In the film Tony Stark drives the new Audi R8 sports car. In the weeks prior to the film’s release Audi launched a new global campaign featuring this special promotional microsite. On it visitors got peaks at eleven exclusive video clips including behind-the-scenes content, interviews with the cast and crew, Audi Iron Man commercials, background on use of Audi vehicles on the movie set, etc. Now I'm a huge BMW fan, but this Audi does look totally awesome.

LG Mobile Phones is another partner who has created an integrated campaign for the film that reaches across multiple media platforms. A mobile marketing component that ties into a sweepstakes is running now through May 15. LG Mobile Phones is working closely with Slifter on the text messaging aspect of the campaign who has built a wireless sign-up site that links to local LG Mobile products. Slifter's mobile shopping tool, GPShopper, enables millions of mobile users to search and share nearly 250 million products and promotions at over 150,000 U.S. locations, straight from their cell phones.

Consumers can text “LG” to 42229 or go online to http://m.lg2win.com for a chance to win a $7,000 LG Electronic Makeover and daily prizes ranging from LG Mobile Phones to movie tickets. They can also enter this Tony Stark Ultimate Giveaway Sweepstakes on LG Mobile Phones website and can print out a form to mail-in. I'm assuming they're offering this mail-in entry option as a way to make sure that they are complying with no purchase necessary since text-messaging as a means of entry is still being questioned in the courts.

Anyhow, it's the beginning of the summer movie season for sure. I wrote this post last week about my much anticipated return of the ladies from Sex and the City. I'll be writing here about more of the entertainment marketing partnerships as the season moves along. If you've seen Iron Man yet, let us know what you thought.

St. Pat's and other March Interactive Marketing Stuff

I'm getting ready to head down to New York City very early tomorrow morning to attend the SES Conference for two days. So, today I'm a bit rushed trying to get my act together, so here's a little potpourri of thoughts for the day.

First off I want to wish everyone a Happy St. Patrick's Day. It was a beautiful sunny day here in New York with the temperatures above freezing... a sure sign of Spring. Everybody has a touch of Irish in them on St. Patty's day, and I'm proud to say I had an Irish grandmother who gave me the one-quarter Irish that I can celebrate today.

I read on PROMO Xtra today about a month-long St. Patrick’s Day themed interactive mobile marketing promotion that Jameson Irish Whiskey was wrapping up by midnight tonight. Those that signed up got an Irish toast on their mobile phones—at the rate of one an hour all day, for a total of 22 toasts. Wayne Hartunian, brand director for Jameson's parent company Pernod Ricard USA, said “Everyone wants the perfect toast on St. Patrick’s Day, and mobile is the ideal medium to quickly distribute these words of wisdom to our customers who have opted in.” So, here's a toast to the Irish in us all!

The NCAA March Madness officially gott underway with the team selection for the men's championship games announced yesterday. Unfortunately my regional favorite, the Syracuse University Orangemen, didn't make it this year. But be sure fill out your brackets which you can find located on Facebook here. The two NCAA themed consumer-generated contest promotions that I previously wrote about here and here did announce some winners.

Coca-Cola announced who the four lucky individuals are who have been selected for the Coke Zero “Ultimate Dream Job.” Steven Book, from Rochester Hills, Mich.; Ryan Hohanshelt, from Boone, Iowa; Stacey Rice, from Oswego, N.Y; and Dustin Tinney, from Ft. Worth, Tex. have accepted the job and will be relocating to San Antonio, the site of the 2008 NCAA Men’s Final Four, where they will be “challenged” to watch every minute of the 2008 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship and live blog about the games.

The finalists were also announced in the Alltel Wireless “MyCircle Pick & Roll Challenge.” They are: Larry Mastrogianakis from Jacksonville, Fla. - Florida Gators Fan; Jeff Feller from Gainesville, Fla. - Florida Gators Fan; and Bradley Daniels from Hazelhurst, Miss. - Mississippi Rebels Fan. The grand prize winner is still to be announced who will spend a weekend jet-setting to his/her choice of college basketball conference tournaments along with a $100,000 “salary” as the first-ever Chief Basketball Officer.

Lastly I wanted to give some link love back and mention Debbie Hemley's blog, Impressions Through Media, in which she referenced today my post on Forrester's Five Year Interactive Marketing Forecast. Debbie's post called Marketing’s Brave New Lexicon addresses the discussion of today's terminology for what we call online marketing, internet marketing, web marketing, or sometimes interactive marketing. You'll see my two cents on her blog about what my favorite term is and I'm interested to hear what yours is.

So, I really have to go back a bag for my trip now. I'll be reporting back here soon about SES. For now, Erin go Braugh!

Forrester's Five Year Interactive Marketing Forecast

Being a member of the American Marketing Association I get invited to all of the many webinars that they put on with various sponsors. Webinars don't normally hold my interest and instead I find myself reading or sending email or looking online at something else. However last week I signed up for one that actually kept my interest so I thought I'd share it with you here.

The title of the webinar was "The US Five Year Interactive Marketing Forecast" which was presented by Shar VanBoskirk, Principal Analyst for Forrester Research and sponsored by IMPAQT, a search-engine marketing firm.

The forecast predicts that interactive marketing will reach $61 billion by 2012. What's really significant about that number is that it will become 18% of all marketing spend which right now it is only at 8%. So by that time we should see interactive as a part of an everyday marketing campaign budget and integrated much more with traditional media. For example this year we saw many more Super Bowl advertisers using URL addresses in their ads (64% I wrote about in this post) and integrating the ads with websites. So by 2012 that percentage should reach 100%.

The biggest trend is that consumer behavior is changing and technology is adjusting consumer media time. Emerging media is commonplace for the younger consumers. These 18-27 years are spending more time online then they are watching television and almost as much time on their cell phones. This is all not surprising, however, the thing to note is that they, Generation Y, are the mainstream consumers of tomorrow. Interactive will become more effective than some traditional channels. The lesser media channels of today will most likely have double penetration a year from now and we'll see new media activities that aren't even here today. So the real question is, what will consumers be doing tomorrow and will marketers be willing to invest in these new media activities.

Interactive Marketing was broken down into the following categories:

• Search Marketing is expected to triple in 5 years to over $25 billion.
• Online Display ads will reach almost $14 billion. The ability to create reach media ads will help this growth.
• Email marketing spend will shift to integration which means that email will start to be more integrated with other mediums.
• Online video has the steepest growth curve of any of these channels because it has a very low adaption of around $450 million today. It's an easy medium for marketers to understand and something that they're familiar with. Interactive videos will also help see this medium grow.
• Emerging Media which Forrester defined as social media, mobile marketing and in-game advertising and states that social media is poised to have the most significant growth of these three elements. Social media is providing many marketers with a way to help get them interactive.

Next Shar gave her most controversial statement in saying that she doesn't think mobile marketing is an immediate priority. All the other tools outlined in this presentation should have priority over mobile. She believes, and I have to agree with her, that we still have a couple of years for mobile players to work out the mechanics of how to make it work in a cost effective way. By 2009 it should then be a viable marketing priority.

So, what should marketers prioritize?

Top of the list are the mainstays that most marketers are using today...email, search marketing and online ads and absolutely search marketing which is the #1 way consumers find websites: 72% of adults are coming to websites via search results and 57% of youths - they use social media more than adults.

Social Media tools are the up-and-comers...social networks, blogs, consumer-generated content, online video, RSS, podcasts, are all tools that marketers should start to integrate into their marketing mix.

Interesting media that nobody is really investing in yet is mobile, in-game ads and virtual worlds.

Shar summarized the presentation by saying "The world of interactive marketing is just beginning to unfold in terms of the kinds opportunities it can provide to marketers and their customers. This opportunity is still not completely unfamiliar though...the consumer is still the same type of consumer, but the tools are different." Here are a few of her recommendations:

• Focus on the mainstays: email, search and online ads
• Experiment with social media and online video
• Think about mobile in the next 18 months
• Grow your keyword list
• Beef up your search analytics
• Refocus on SEO

Sounds all like good, sound advice to follow.

Top Artists Join Voicemail Campaign to Send Holiday Messages to Troops

It's Christmas Eve and I have had the pleasure of waking up in my home this morning to freshly fallen snow. And it's still snowing! It sure gets you in the Christmas spirit. As the famous 1984 Band Aid recording of  "Do They Know it's Christmas?" says "there won't be any snow in Africa this Christmas" and there won't be snow in Iraq either. So on this Christmas Eve I thought I'd write about this unique voicemail campaign launched earlier this month just in time for the holiday season.

The Voices from America campaign allows anyone to leave a voicemail in support of American troops overseas. The campaign is being supported by a number of popular music artists such as The Back Street Boys , Five for Fighting , Hinder, Jordin Sparks, Mario, Switchfoot’s Jon Foreman and Teddy Geiger (our Rochester hometown boy). These artists have partnered with Mozes, along with Armed Forces Entertainment, to leave voice messages for the troops. You can learn more about Mozes and this campaign on their Blog as well as other mobile marketing  programs they're working on.

“Our brave service men and women sacrifice so much. It's important that we all remember what they do for us especially around the holidays. We wanted to be a part of 'Voices from America' to show our appreciation for our troops," said Hinder’s Mike Rodden.

Anyone can call the “Voices from America” number (1-888-312-2612) to hear artists’ messages and leave a holiday message of their own. All messages will be displayed on the “Voices from America” widget, accessible on the website as well as on the artists’ MySpace pages. Troops serving overseas will have access to all messages through the support of Armed Forces Entertainment.

“When servicemen and women are away from their families, they need as much support as we can give -- especially during the holidays,” said U.S. Air Force Colonel and Armed Forces Entertainment Chief Edward Shock. “The support of the entertainment community, along with companies like Mozes, is crucial. Sending your voice and good thoughts is a powerful way to say thank you for all of the sacrifices our troops are making.”

So please visit the Voices from America website; listen to all of the messages from the artists and leave your message of support.  Messages for the troops can be left up until January 1st, so please pass the information on this campaign on. You can place the widget on your blog or website as well. Let's show our troops our support and let them know we're thinking of them this holiday season.

I wish you a a very, merry Christmas and hope you enjoy your time with your loved ones this season.

Register for PROMOLive's Interactive Marketing Online Conference Tommorrow

I'm going to take a short break today from writing about interactive holiday promotions to tell you about a free Interactive Marketing Online Conference that's taking place tomorrow, December 13th. PROMO Live, in association with Penton Marketing Media Group, publishers of PROMO Magazine, are sponsoring for the first time ever this virtual conference.

This full schedule provides best practices and thought leadership in 5 cutting-edge areas of interactive marketing --- consumer generated, mobile, games and contests, web, and email. Here's the agenda:

10:30 - A keynote presentation kicks off the conference with Karla Lacey, Director of Integrated Marketing Communications, Strategy & Planning, Cisco Systems. Karla's talk is entitled: The Customer Grows Up - Marketing in the Interactive World

11:00 - The Do's and Dont's in Developing, Launching & Marketing Online Games, Contests and Sweeps -  Sponsored by Bossdev

12:00 - CtoC Marketing (consumer generated marketing)

1:00 - Email for Brand Marketers - Sponsored by Campaigner

2:00 - Interactive Bonding ---- are you 365?

3:00 - Mobile-izing Your Brand

Each session is 45 minutes and you can click on each link above to read more details on each and to register. One registration allows you to attend all or just one session for free and also lets you come back any time through March of 2008 to view them.

So don't miss out. If you can't spare the day tomorrow, at least register and sit in on one session and come back later, maybe over the holidays when things slow down, and listen to some of the other sessions. Also, if you do attend, please feel free to comment here at let me know what you think. The organizers of the event are looking for feedback and would like to do more of these in the future, so let us know how you liked it, or didn't like it.

And don't forget...if want or need advice on developing and launching online games, contests and sweeps, please remember to contact me. That is by the way what I specialize in as well.