Monday, June 09, 2008
Party on the Pier
The Winnetka, IL Park District fundraising foundation, The Winnetka Parks Foundation, celebrates summer with their annual Party on the Pier fundraiser. Similar to previous years, PCG has provided an online event registration with secured eCommerce in the form of an ISAT.
Labels: 2.0, banners, Chicago, email, Internet Secured Application Technology, ISAT, Lifestyle Computing, Marketing, multimedia, online advertising, PCG, Performance Communications Group, Podcasts, video
Monday, June 02, 2008
Case Study: Hope Publishing discovers Multimedia Sells Paper
Situation:
Hope Publishing, founded in 1892, is one of the nation's largest Christian music publisher. Managed by the fourth generation of the Shorney family, Hope Publishing sells choral, hand bell, hymnal and other instrumental sheet music to music distributors and churches. The marketplace, in general, is defined where new sales are not 'found' but rather 'taken' from a competitor.
Hope represents and sells more than 3,000 musical pieces, almost all of which have audio samples. Since the sheet music Hope publishes is not heard on the radio or other popular channels, music sampling is critical to sales. For decades, Hope Publishing has mailed music samples to their clients using vinyl records, cassette tapes, and finally CDs.
In 1997, Hope launched their first website for promotional purposes and began to digitize their music portfolio using Real Networks technology for online sampling. In 2001, using IntelliSuite as their platform, Hope redesigned their web site for eCommerce. By 2006, online revenue growth had stalled and visitor technical support had grown, so Hope began looking for a change in multimedia technology.
Solution:
Performance Communications Group (PCG) suggested converting the Hope music catalog into MP3 files, which could be managed with PCG's Internet Secured Application Technology (ISAT) Communication Center (www.isatcommunications.com). Hope would maintain digital rights management while improving the user experience and reporting, and introduce new ways to promote their music. PCG created the "Hope Player," a personal juke box that loads as many samples as desired. The Hope Player also allows for pre-defined play sets that Hope creates to promote new and compiled musical works.
Results:
PCG and Hope Publishing worked together to convert Hope's 3,000 music files during the summer of 2006 and launched the Hope Player in September of 2006.
Comparing the site traffic of September 2006 and September 2007 reveals:
Sept. 2006 Sept. 2007 Change
Site Visits 58,000 111,000 90%
Page Views 163,000 263,000 60%
Multimedia Minutes 29,000 115,000 300%
In the last twelve months, visitors have listened to more than 1 million minutes of music. This has translated into a 50 percent gain in revenue when compared to the prior twelve month period. A success by all accounts, Hope and PCG continue to work on new features such as podcasts and video.
Hope Publishing, founded in 1892, is one of the nation's largest Christian music publisher. Managed by the fourth generation of the Shorney family, Hope Publishing sells choral, hand bell, hymnal and other instrumental sheet music to music distributors and churches. The marketplace, in general, is defined where new sales are not 'found' but rather 'taken' from a competitor.
Hope represents and sells more than 3,000 musical pieces, almost all of which have audio samples. Since the sheet music Hope publishes is not heard on the radio or other popular channels, music sampling is critical to sales. For decades, Hope Publishing has mailed music samples to their clients using vinyl records, cassette tapes, and finally CDs.
In 1997, Hope launched their first website for promotional purposes and began to digitize their music portfolio using Real Networks technology for online sampling. In 2001, using IntelliSuite as their platform, Hope redesigned their web site for eCommerce. By 2006, online revenue growth had stalled and visitor technical support had grown, so Hope began looking for a change in multimedia technology.
Solution:
Performance Communications Group (PCG) suggested converting the Hope music catalog into MP3 files, which could be managed with PCG's Internet Secured Application Technology (ISAT) Communication Center (www.isatcommunications.com). Hope would maintain digital rights management while improving the user experience and reporting, and introduce new ways to promote their music. PCG created the "Hope Player," a personal juke box that loads as many samples as desired. The Hope Player also allows for pre-defined play sets that Hope creates to promote new and compiled musical works.
Results:
PCG and Hope Publishing worked together to convert Hope's 3,000 music files during the summer of 2006 and launched the Hope Player in September of 2006.
Comparing the site traffic of September 2006 and September 2007 reveals:
Sept. 2006 Sept. 2007 Change
Site Visits 58,000 111,000 90%
Page Views 163,000 263,000 60%
Multimedia Minutes 29,000 115,000 300%
In the last twelve months, visitors have listened to more than 1 million minutes of music. This has translated into a 50 percent gain in revenue when compared to the prior twelve month period. A success by all accounts, Hope and PCG continue to work on new features such as podcasts and video.
Labels: 2.0, banners, Chicago, email, Internet Secured Application Technology, ISAT, Lifestyle Computing, Marketing, multimedia, online advertising, PCG, Performance Communications Group, Podcasts, video
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
American Bar Association uses ISAT Newsletter
The Business Law section of the American Bar Association promoted their 2008 annual Global Business Law Conference with an ISAT Newsletter. ABA's Business Law, a client of PCG since 2002, used the ISAT Newsletter for email marketing and registration.
Labels: 2.0, banners, Chicago, email, Internet Secured Application Technology, ISAT, Lifestyle Computing, Marketing, multimedia, online advertising, PCG, Performance Communications Group, Podcasts, video
Monday, May 19, 2008
Home Team Pest Defense Video and Secured Data Capture Leaderboard
Home Team Pest Defense, working with Builder's Homesite, Inc, a Performance Communications Group publishing partner, requested an Advertising 2.0 banner with both video and secured data capture. PCG created the banner below also known as a 'banner widget.'
This banner empowers the viewer to act on this messaging without having to link away from the site they are on. As part of PCG's Advertising 2.0, LifeStyle Computing Philosophy, this LandAuction.com banner provides a secured data entry form as well as video to present the most ideal messaging and immediate call to action.
This banner empowers the viewer to act on this messaging without having to link away from the site they are on. As part of PCG's Advertising 2.0, LifeStyle Computing Philosophy, this LandAuction.com banner provides a secured data entry form as well as video to present the most ideal messaging and immediate call to action.
Labels: advertising 2.0, banners, Chicago, email 2.0, Internet Secured Application Technology, ISAT, Marketing, multimedia, online advertising, PCG, Performance Communications Group, Podcasts, video
Monday, May 12, 2008
Hershey Park Picture Redemption - ISAT Pictures
PCG, working with Event Marketing partner MarketingWerks, has provided the online development and support for Hershey's Theme Park Picture Program. MarketingWerks event crews take pictures of Hershey Park's attendees, uploads these images into the PCG Upload Engine and the images are immediately available online at the Picture Redemption Site (seen below).
PCG developed an ISAT Application specifically for Picture Programs. In addition to the normal ISAT site and support, PCG created a 'Add Icon' feature that allows viewers to add and size 4 Hershey icons to their images.
PCG developed an ISAT Application specifically for Picture Programs. In addition to the normal ISAT site and support, PCG created a 'Add Icon' feature that allows viewers to add and size 4 Hershey icons to their images.
Labels: advertising 2.0, banners, Chicago, email 2.0, Internet Secured Application Technology, ISAT, Marketing, multimedia, online advertising, PCG, Performance Communications Group, Podcasts, video
Monday, May 05, 2008
Northwestern University Sports ISAT Newsletter, Spring 2008
Northwestern University Sports
Labels: advertising 2.0, banners, Chicago, email 2.0, Internet Secured Application Technology, ISAT, Marketing, multimedia, online advertising, PCG, Performance Communications Group, Podcasts, video
Monday, April 28, 2008
Northwestern University Direction ISAT Newsletter, Spring 2008
Northwestern University Direction
Labels: advertising 2.0, banners, Chicago, email 2.0, Internet Secured Application Technology, ISAT, Marketing, multimedia, online advertising, PCG, Performance Communications Group, Podcasts, video
Monday, April 21, 2008
MonkeyDish.com ISAT Video Library
Ideal Media's MonkeyDish.com TV Library, is a custom ISAT Media Manager and Video Purchasing System.
Labels: advertising 2.0, banners, Chicago, email 2.0, Internet Secured Application Technology, ISAT, Marketing, multimedia, online advertising, PCG, Performance Communications Group, Podcasts, video
Monday, April 14, 2008
MonkeyDish.com TV Widget
Ideal Media's MonkeyDish.com TV Library, is a custom ISAT Media Manager and Video Purchasing System.
Labels: advertising 2.0, banners, Chicago, email 2.0, Internet Secured Application Technology, ISAT, Marketing, multimedia, online advertising, PCG, Performance Communications Group, Podcasts, video
Monday, March 31, 2008
LandAuction.com Video and Secured Data Capture Leaderboard
LandAuction.com, working with Builder's Homesite, Inc, a Performance Communications Group publishing partner, requested an Advertising 2.0 banner with both video and secured data capture. PCG created the banner below also known as a 'banner widget.'
This banner empowers the viewer to act on this messaging without having to link away from the site they are on. As part of PCG's Advertising 2.0, LifeStyle Computing Philosophy, this LandAuction.com banner provides a secured data entry form as well as an ISAT Call Now component using VoIP to prompt the LandAuction.com call center to call the viewer's phone.
This banner empowers the viewer to act on this messaging without having to link away from the site they are on. As part of PCG's Advertising 2.0, LifeStyle Computing Philosophy, this LandAuction.com banner provides a secured data entry form as well as an ISAT Call Now component using VoIP to prompt the LandAuction.com call center to call the viewer's phone.
Labels: advertising 2.0, banners, Chicago, email 2.0, Internet Secured Application Technology, ISAT, Marketing, multimedia, online advertising, PCG, Performance Communications Group, Podcasts, video
Monday, March 24, 2008
Restaurant.com uses ISAT Lead Generation Application
Restaurant.com hired PCG to create an email based lead generation application. PCG also provided video production and email blasting services.
Labels: advertising 2.0, banners, Chicago, email 2.0, Internet Secured Application Technology, ISAT, Marketing, multimedia, online advertising, PCG, Performance Communications Group, Podcasts, video
Monday, March 10, 2008
Case Study: FTD Provides Members with Online Billing Services
Situation:
FTD Inc. is a membership organization of roughly 20,000 florists and floral shops. Everything a florist needs from floral inventory and holiday specials to design consulting, point of sale systems and integration with the international ordering network, the Mercury Network as branded by the iconic Mercury Man, are provided through FTD membership.
Every month FTD needs to present each member with Clearing House Statements that present their network expense summaries of the business conducted for that month. Traditionally, these statements would be manually processed and mailed at great cost and lose of timeliness.
Solution:
Performance Communications Group, back in 1998, presented a dynamic printing solution, which would bundle multiple data files and mass print these individual Clearing House Statements. The statements would then be mailed to members systematically, saving both time and money.
In 2002, PCG presented a secured electronic process that would also deliver these statements electronically through an FTD member portal.
Results:
The move to electronic statements has established a new level of cost savings through the reduction of archiving, integration of an online payments collection engine and other new electronic member benefits.
FTD has saved significant money with increased year over year adoption of the electronic statement system by their members. So much so, that even the FTD customer service representatives use the online payment system when members call-in their credit card payments.
As a bonus, legal issues between members and FTD have been reduced in both frequency and cost. Coincidentally, this was the time when the Sarbane-Oxley laws were passed, which mandated new methods of financial compliance. PCG's solution solved these legal issues as well.
FTD Inc. is a membership organization of roughly 20,000 florists and floral shops. Everything a florist needs from floral inventory and holiday specials to design consulting, point of sale systems and integration with the international ordering network, the Mercury Network as branded by the iconic Mercury Man, are provided through FTD membership.
Every month FTD needs to present each member with Clearing House Statements that present their network expense summaries of the business conducted for that month. Traditionally, these statements would be manually processed and mailed at great cost and lose of timeliness.
Solution:
Performance Communications Group, back in 1998, presented a dynamic printing solution, which would bundle multiple data files and mass print these individual Clearing House Statements. The statements would then be mailed to members systematically, saving both time and money.
In 2002, PCG presented a secured electronic process that would also deliver these statements electronically through an FTD member portal.
Results:
The move to electronic statements has established a new level of cost savings through the reduction of archiving, integration of an online payments collection engine and other new electronic member benefits.
FTD has saved significant money with increased year over year adoption of the electronic statement system by their members. So much so, that even the FTD customer service representatives use the online payment system when members call-in their credit card payments.
As a bonus, legal issues between members and FTD have been reduced in both frequency and cost. Coincidentally, this was the time when the Sarbane-Oxley laws were passed, which mandated new methods of financial compliance. PCG's solution solved these legal issues as well.
Labels: advertising 2.0, banners, Chicago, email 2.0, Internet Secured Application Technology, ISAT, Marketing, multimedia, online advertising, PCG, Performance Communications Group, Podcasts, video
Monday, February 18, 2008
eChat
As originally printed in eM+C Magazine
By Melissa Campanelli, Editor-in-Chief, eM+C Magazine
February 07, 2008
Editor’s note: What are the latest viral marketing trends? What are some best practices, tips and tricks to do your viral marketing campaigns just right? To find out, eM+C hosted an eChat with three leading viral marketers. Below, you’ll find highlights from the discussion. If you have an idea for an eChat or would like to participate in one, contact mcampanelli@napco.com.
Melissa: Welcome to eM+C’s second eChat. Today, we’re going to be discussing viral marketing programs. Could each participant briefly describe a recent viral campaign you’ve done?
Scott Madlener: Performance Communications Group helps organizations sell their products in ways they have not been able to before, and with proven effectiveness. We were called in when Chicken of the Sea wanted to create a viral impact at the School Nutrition Association’s Annual Conference. The goal was to create a viral marketing campaign around a new single-serving Chicken of the Sea product that meets the new demand for healthy choices in school lunchrooms.
Scott Madlener: We used our video postcard product, which allows for real-time video authoring for a video postcard that is then e-mailed to a recipient of their choice. Once produced, the videos are sent to others and nominated for a prize. The nominated videos are shown on the Chicken of the Sea Web site, where viewers vote on each entry and forward their preferred videos to other potential voters.
Scott Madlener: The really fun part of this campaign was the audio/visual component. The video was recorded with trade-show attendees inside a digital mermaid cutout where they were asked to sing the Chicken of the Sea jingle.
Bob Kodner: We recently posted a “Sopranos” spoof involving Mr. Happy Crack on YouTube. One of our franchise partners put it together, and I think it’s gotten over 2,000 views since it’s been up. It was fun and informative, and we’ve gotten a nice response from potential franchisees as well as end users of our services, which is great.
Lance Callaghan: To support a TV campaign (see maplestory.com/free) for our MapleStory game, we created www.maplestorymob.com. We wanted to recruit, build and manage a pervasive, aggressive, motivated (and incentivized) MapleStory Mob to promote MapleStory and drive traffic to maplestory.com/free and generate new users.
Lance Callaghan: Results have been staggering, with over 40,000 signups, including a User Generated Content Video contest on YouTube with 50-plus submissions so far! The winning spot [aired] on TV in January.
Paul Kim: We recently launched a community marketing program called “Operation Firefox” at www.operationfirefox.com. In a nutshell, we asked Firefox fans to submit ideas for the most creative real world place they could think of to post a giant 3.5-foot-tall Firefox logo sticker (this is removeable).
Paul Kim: We received over 3,000 entries. The top 50 submissions each received a sticker and [had] two weeks to put the logo up and document their project on social media sites like Flickr and YouTube.
Paul Kim: We’ll be highlighting the winners over the next few months as we gear up for the launch of Firefox 3 [in early 2008]. And we expect to see significant results and impressions of contestants’ work on the social media sites themselves.
Paul Kim: We are sort of duty bound to use grassroots marketing strategies, for brand alignment and because we believe firmly in engaging our community to participate in our marketing.
Melissa: Cool … sounds like you all have very impressive and interesting campaigns. As a result, I wanted to ask you all, what are the key benefits to using viral marketing?
Scott Madlener: The benefits of using a campaign like this are the brand interactions. Ideally tied to trackable sales results.
Bob Kodner: I think for us it’s cost-effective and the results are quantifiable, plus it allows us to be entertaining.
Lance Callaghan: Empowering your users to create their own branded content and proliferate that content around their relevant on and offline touchpoints.
Paul Kim: It’s been said that the best advertising is indistinguishable from content — I think effective viral marketing campaigns demonstrate this.
Melissa: That’s a good point, Paul. Scott, I wanted to ask you about the campaigns being trackable. Are they, in most cases? Or are they just branding opportunities?
Scott Madlener: Depends on the set-up. For the video postcards, we track recordings, playbacks and then tie to the product launch — to sales. The results were 150 postcards were recorded at the conference representing over 2,200 minutes of video. A truly personalized viral campaign that is predicted to generate $200,000 of product sales.
Melissa: Is trackability something you all think about?
Lance Callaghan: Absolutely. Online we give each gamer a unique code to track their efforts and reward them with in-game currency.
Melissa: I wanted to talk a bit about video. Is video a must for viral marketing today? Are they indistinguishable?
Scott Madlener: I like to include personal video to promote brand advocacy.
Lance Callaghan: See www.youtube.com/group/maplestorymob. The viral video sites are indespensible for our demographic.
Paul Kim: Video’s a natural format for sharing, but not the only one — look at “The Simpsons Movie” campaign for personalized avatars as a counterfactual. I must have seen at least a dozen friends post their personalized Simpsons avatar to their blogs and so on. Really, I think at the end of the day it’s about the stickiness of the idea.
Bob Kodner: I think for us we have something that’s pretty visual, so we like to get it out there in a fun way … we know we’re not saving lives for a living, but I think people appreciate a service company that has a sense of humor and backs it up with proper execution.
Paul Kim: With that said, one of our first viral campaigns, FirefoxFlicks.com, was absolutely rooted in the ease of engagement people have with video. That was a terrifically successful campaign for us, generating multiple million views of community-generated commercials on YouTube, Revver and so on.
Melissa: Can anyone comment on the challenges of putting together a good viral campaign?
Scott Madlener: The biggest challenge is to get people to act. With the video postcards, the “hard” work of video authoring and content selection is done (the brand advocacy). Therefore, the “act” is getting people to record, forward or vote (the distribution).
Bob Kodner: I think making it genuine. Many people are cynical and tune out when they can tell something is too “commercial-y.” I think the key is to have fun with it and let people react without trying to outsmart the viewer.
Lance Callaghan: With us, our gamers are already a pretty passionate community — so it’s easier to get them to act … but harder to get them to act within the confines of what’s appropriate as marketing material. We have to
monitor/moderate all content.
Melissa: Can each of you offer a tip or best practice to our readers regarding viral marketing campaigns?
Scott Madlener: Viral campaigns are really part of word-of-mouth advertising. There are two major hurdles to overcome, broad distribution and, if I have not said it enough, brand advocacy. Most of the viral campaigns focus on the distribution with little or no advocacy. Distribution without advocacy is simply “buzz.” It’s not going to do much for the business. In order to generate business benefits, the advocacy component needs to be present and clear. My biggest tip is to remember to include an advocacy component.
Paul Kim: Scott makes a great point. Always understand what success looks like before embarking on a viral marketing campaign — what is your metric for success?
Lance Callaghan: Update challenges regularly — just like any content — to keep your “mob” coming back … and be sure to incentivize them adequately.
Paul Kim: Whether that is building brand awareness or driving, in our case, trial of Firefox, you absolutely have to have the end point in mind before rolling out the creative.
Bob Kodner: My advice would be to keep the message simple. We like to mercilessly beat people over the head with our “a dry crack is a happy crack” message. We don’t change it, it’s not subtle but it works for us so we stick with it.
Melissa: Thank you, everyone! We'll be running excerpts from this chat in our Jan./Feb. issue!
The Players:
Scott Madlener, executive vice president of interactive strategy, Performance Communications Group, www.performcom.com
Bob Kodner, president, The Crack Team, www.thecrackteam.com
Lance Callaghan, marketing manager, Nexon America, www.nexon.net
Paul Kim, vice president of marketing, Mozilla Inc., www.mozilla.com
Melissa Campanelli, editor-in-chief, eM+C
By Melissa Campanelli, Editor-in-Chief, eM+C Magazine
February 07, 2008
Editor’s note: What are the latest viral marketing trends? What are some best practices, tips and tricks to do your viral marketing campaigns just right? To find out, eM+C hosted an eChat with three leading viral marketers. Below, you’ll find highlights from the discussion. If you have an idea for an eChat or would like to participate in one, contact mcampanelli@napco.com.
Melissa: Welcome to eM+C’s second eChat. Today, we’re going to be discussing viral marketing programs. Could each participant briefly describe a recent viral campaign you’ve done?
Scott Madlener: Performance Communications Group helps organizations sell their products in ways they have not been able to before, and with proven effectiveness. We were called in when Chicken of the Sea wanted to create a viral impact at the School Nutrition Association’s Annual Conference. The goal was to create a viral marketing campaign around a new single-serving Chicken of the Sea product that meets the new demand for healthy choices in school lunchrooms.
Scott Madlener: We used our video postcard product, which allows for real-time video authoring for a video postcard that is then e-mailed to a recipient of their choice. Once produced, the videos are sent to others and nominated for a prize. The nominated videos are shown on the Chicken of the Sea Web site, where viewers vote on each entry and forward their preferred videos to other potential voters.
Scott Madlener: The really fun part of this campaign was the audio/visual component. The video was recorded with trade-show attendees inside a digital mermaid cutout where they were asked to sing the Chicken of the Sea jingle.
Bob Kodner: We recently posted a “Sopranos” spoof involving Mr. Happy Crack on YouTube. One of our franchise partners put it together, and I think it’s gotten over 2,000 views since it’s been up. It was fun and informative, and we’ve gotten a nice response from potential franchisees as well as end users of our services, which is great.
Lance Callaghan: To support a TV campaign (see maplestory.com/free) for our MapleStory game, we created www.maplestorymob.com. We wanted to recruit, build and manage a pervasive, aggressive, motivated (and incentivized) MapleStory Mob to promote MapleStory and drive traffic to maplestory.com/free and generate new users.
Lance Callaghan: Results have been staggering, with over 40,000 signups, including a User Generated Content Video contest on YouTube with 50-plus submissions so far! The winning spot [aired] on TV in January.
Paul Kim: We recently launched a community marketing program called “Operation Firefox” at www.operationfirefox.com. In a nutshell, we asked Firefox fans to submit ideas for the most creative real world place they could think of to post a giant 3.5-foot-tall Firefox logo sticker (this is removeable).
Paul Kim: We received over 3,000 entries. The top 50 submissions each received a sticker and [had] two weeks to put the logo up and document their project on social media sites like Flickr and YouTube.
Paul Kim: We’ll be highlighting the winners over the next few months as we gear up for the launch of Firefox 3 [in early 2008]. And we expect to see significant results and impressions of contestants’ work on the social media sites themselves.
Paul Kim: We are sort of duty bound to use grassroots marketing strategies, for brand alignment and because we believe firmly in engaging our community to participate in our marketing.
Melissa: Cool … sounds like you all have very impressive and interesting campaigns. As a result, I wanted to ask you all, what are the key benefits to using viral marketing?
Scott Madlener: The benefits of using a campaign like this are the brand interactions. Ideally tied to trackable sales results.
Bob Kodner: I think for us it’s cost-effective and the results are quantifiable, plus it allows us to be entertaining.
Lance Callaghan: Empowering your users to create their own branded content and proliferate that content around their relevant on and offline touchpoints.
Paul Kim: It’s been said that the best advertising is indistinguishable from content — I think effective viral marketing campaigns demonstrate this.
Melissa: That’s a good point, Paul. Scott, I wanted to ask you about the campaigns being trackable. Are they, in most cases? Or are they just branding opportunities?
Scott Madlener: Depends on the set-up. For the video postcards, we track recordings, playbacks and then tie to the product launch — to sales. The results were 150 postcards were recorded at the conference representing over 2,200 minutes of video. A truly personalized viral campaign that is predicted to generate $200,000 of product sales.
Melissa: Is trackability something you all think about?
Lance Callaghan: Absolutely. Online we give each gamer a unique code to track their efforts and reward them with in-game currency.
Melissa: I wanted to talk a bit about video. Is video a must for viral marketing today? Are they indistinguishable?
Scott Madlener: I like to include personal video to promote brand advocacy.
Lance Callaghan: See www.youtube.com/group/maplestorymob. The viral video sites are indespensible for our demographic.
Paul Kim: Video’s a natural format for sharing, but not the only one — look at “The Simpsons Movie” campaign for personalized avatars as a counterfactual. I must have seen at least a dozen friends post their personalized Simpsons avatar to their blogs and so on. Really, I think at the end of the day it’s about the stickiness of the idea.
Bob Kodner: I think for us we have something that’s pretty visual, so we like to get it out there in a fun way … we know we’re not saving lives for a living, but I think people appreciate a service company that has a sense of humor and backs it up with proper execution.
Paul Kim: With that said, one of our first viral campaigns, FirefoxFlicks.com, was absolutely rooted in the ease of engagement people have with video. That was a terrifically successful campaign for us, generating multiple million views of community-generated commercials on YouTube, Revver and so on.
Melissa: Can anyone comment on the challenges of putting together a good viral campaign?
Scott Madlener: The biggest challenge is to get people to act. With the video postcards, the “hard” work of video authoring and content selection is done (the brand advocacy). Therefore, the “act” is getting people to record, forward or vote (the distribution).
Bob Kodner: I think making it genuine. Many people are cynical and tune out when they can tell something is too “commercial-y.” I think the key is to have fun with it and let people react without trying to outsmart the viewer.
Lance Callaghan: With us, our gamers are already a pretty passionate community — so it’s easier to get them to act … but harder to get them to act within the confines of what’s appropriate as marketing material. We have to
monitor/moderate all content.
Melissa: Can each of you offer a tip or best practice to our readers regarding viral marketing campaigns?
Scott Madlener: Viral campaigns are really part of word-of-mouth advertising. There are two major hurdles to overcome, broad distribution and, if I have not said it enough, brand advocacy. Most of the viral campaigns focus on the distribution with little or no advocacy. Distribution without advocacy is simply “buzz.” It’s not going to do much for the business. In order to generate business benefits, the advocacy component needs to be present and clear. My biggest tip is to remember to include an advocacy component.
Paul Kim: Scott makes a great point. Always understand what success looks like before embarking on a viral marketing campaign — what is your metric for success?
Lance Callaghan: Update challenges regularly — just like any content — to keep your “mob” coming back … and be sure to incentivize them adequately.
Paul Kim: Whether that is building brand awareness or driving, in our case, trial of Firefox, you absolutely have to have the end point in mind before rolling out the creative.
Bob Kodner: My advice would be to keep the message simple. We like to mercilessly beat people over the head with our “a dry crack is a happy crack” message. We don’t change it, it’s not subtle but it works for us so we stick with it.
Melissa: Thank you, everyone! We'll be running excerpts from this chat in our Jan./Feb. issue!
The Players:
Scott Madlener, executive vice president of interactive strategy, Performance Communications Group, www.performcom.com
Bob Kodner, president, The Crack Team, www.thecrackteam.com
Lance Callaghan, marketing manager, Nexon America, www.nexon.net
Paul Kim, vice president of marketing, Mozilla Inc., www.mozilla.com
Melissa Campanelli, editor-in-chief, eM+C
Labels: advertising 2.0, banners, Chicago, email 2.0, Internet Secured Application Technology, ISAT, Marketing, multimedia, online advertising, PCG, Performance Communications Group, Podcasts, video
Monday, February 04, 2008
Malvern Instruments promotes trade show booth with ISAT
Malvern Instruments asked PCG to develop and email an ISAT Video Postcard for their 2008 attendance at the Pittcon, the most comprehensive annual meeting on laboratory science in the world. The purpose was to use video to promote and explain the extremely complex equipment Malvern will display at the conference. This is one of PCG's Medical Supply Channel Communication Solutions.
Labels: advertising 2.0, banners, Chicago, email 2.0, Internet Secured Application Technology, ISAT, Marketing, multimedia, online advertising, PCG, Performance Communications Group, Podcasts, video
Monday, January 21, 2008
Case Study: Chicken of the Sea sells Tuna with Video
Situation:
Chicken of the Sea's Food Service division regularly exhibits at the School Nutrition Association Annual National Conference. This is where the lunchroom ladies search out what is new and interesting for school cafeterias. The conference draws about 4,000 attendees, who shop for goods and services among an estimated 400 exhibitors.
Chicken of the Sea is focused on providing a variety of nutritious products. In today's increasingly health conscious world, seafood remains one of the healthiest menu options. Chicken of the Sea needed to break through the conference clutter in order to launch a new line of single serving lunch-time products.
Performance Communications Group (PCG) suggested Chicken of the Sea use their patent-pending, turnkey Internet Secured Application Technology (ISAT) application created specifically for lead generation at live events.
Solution:
PCG provides sales and marketing solutions using their ISAT platform. ISAT sites are designed to support multimedia and direct response in a secured environment. ISAT sites also are used for remote content distribution with centralized control and viral tools to increase website traffic and awareness.
PCG proposed using the ISAT Video Postcard program at the conference as a means to draw booth traffic, increase visitor brand interaction and provide post-conference marketing. The ISAT Video Postcard program allows exhibit visitors to record a video and email that video to friends and colleagues. To increase brand awareness, PCG suggested Chicken of the Sea booth visitors sing the famous company jingle: "Ask any mermaid you happen to see: What's the best tuna? Chicken of the Sea!" The karaoke style performances were recorded by the ISAT Video Postcard in a style that actually placed the singer's head inside an image of the Chicken of the Sea mermaid. PCG then created a post-conference contest in which website visitors voted for the best jingle singers.
In an effort to raise pre-conference awareness, PCG produced a video email that was sent to 7,500 industry contacts, including the 4,000 conference attendees. This pre-conference email also was used after the conference to promote the contest.
Results:
The results of the Chicken of the Sea video postcard were well above expectations. Traffic at the tradeshow booth was up 15 percent compared to the previous year and 150 video postcards were created. In all, 2,700 video minutes were viewed, generating about 15 minutes of brand interaction per postcard.
Additionally, Chicken of the Sea projected about $200,000 of initial new orders due to the promotion. Chicken of the Sea was so satisfied with the results of the campaign, they have increased their 2008 exhibit space by 35 percent.
Chicken of the Sea's Food Service division regularly exhibits at the School Nutrition Association Annual National Conference. This is where the lunchroom ladies search out what is new and interesting for school cafeterias. The conference draws about 4,000 attendees, who shop for goods and services among an estimated 400 exhibitors.
Chicken of the Sea is focused on providing a variety of nutritious products. In today's increasingly health conscious world, seafood remains one of the healthiest menu options. Chicken of the Sea needed to break through the conference clutter in order to launch a new line of single serving lunch-time products.
Performance Communications Group (PCG) suggested Chicken of the Sea use their patent-pending, turnkey Internet Secured Application Technology (ISAT) application created specifically for lead generation at live events.
Solution:
PCG provides sales and marketing solutions using their ISAT platform. ISAT sites are designed to support multimedia and direct response in a secured environment. ISAT sites also are used for remote content distribution with centralized control and viral tools to increase website traffic and awareness.
PCG proposed using the ISAT Video Postcard program at the conference as a means to draw booth traffic, increase visitor brand interaction and provide post-conference marketing. The ISAT Video Postcard program allows exhibit visitors to record a video and email that video to friends and colleagues. To increase brand awareness, PCG suggested Chicken of the Sea booth visitors sing the famous company jingle: "Ask any mermaid you happen to see: What's the best tuna? Chicken of the Sea!" The karaoke style performances were recorded by the ISAT Video Postcard in a style that actually placed the singer's head inside an image of the Chicken of the Sea mermaid. PCG then created a post-conference contest in which website visitors voted for the best jingle singers.
In an effort to raise pre-conference awareness, PCG produced a video email that was sent to 7,500 industry contacts, including the 4,000 conference attendees. This pre-conference email also was used after the conference to promote the contest.
Results:
The results of the Chicken of the Sea video postcard were well above expectations. Traffic at the tradeshow booth was up 15 percent compared to the previous year and 150 video postcards were created. In all, 2,700 video minutes were viewed, generating about 15 minutes of brand interaction per postcard.
Additionally, Chicken of the Sea projected about $200,000 of initial new orders due to the promotion. Chicken of the Sea was so satisfied with the results of the campaign, they have increased their 2008 exhibit space by 35 percent.
Labels: advertising 2.0, banners, Chicago, email 2.0, Internet Secured Application Technology, ISAT, Marketing, multimedia, online advertising, PCG, Performance Communications Group, Podcasts, video
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Web 2.0 e-commerce technology will become mainstream in 2008, study says
As printed by Internet Retailer
Single-purpose marketing applications, such as widgets and rich media, and other Web 2.0 technology will become increasingly popular e-commerce tools in 2008, according to Performance Communications Group.
“The advertising 2.0 experimentation of the last few years has evolved into solid long-term solutions for e-marketers,” says Scott Madlener, PCG’s executive vice president of interactive marketing.
Among PCG’s predictions for 2008:
1. Banner ads that incorporate more intelligence, better multimedia, and secure data capture will help advertisers better manage campaigns.
2. Online advertising will evolve into social advertising in which social network members promote products.
3. Single-purpose marketing applications, such as widgets, will offer marketers branding opportunities and create customer interactivity and loyalty.
4. Podcasts and other “new media” content will become mainstream, ushered in by the new era of mobile devices, such as the iPhone.
5. Indirect distribution will dominate video consumption as more companies utilize RSS and video web services.
PCG is a Chicago-based interactive marketing agency and online media expert.
Single-purpose marketing applications, such as widgets and rich media, and other Web 2.0 technology will become increasingly popular e-commerce tools in 2008, according to Performance Communications Group.
“The advertising 2.0 experimentation of the last few years has evolved into solid long-term solutions for e-marketers,” says Scott Madlener, PCG’s executive vice president of interactive marketing.
Among PCG’s predictions for 2008:
1. Banner ads that incorporate more intelligence, better multimedia, and secure data capture will help advertisers better manage campaigns.
2. Online advertising will evolve into social advertising in which social network members promote products.
3. Single-purpose marketing applications, such as widgets, will offer marketers branding opportunities and create customer interactivity and loyalty.
4. Podcasts and other “new media” content will become mainstream, ushered in by the new era of mobile devices, such as the iPhone.
5. Indirect distribution will dominate video consumption as more companies utilize RSS and video web services.
PCG is a Chicago-based interactive marketing agency and online media expert.
Labels: advertising 2.0, banners, Chicago, email 2.0, Internet Secured Application Technology, ISAT, Marketing, multimedia, online advertising, PCG, Performance Communications Group, Podcasts, video
Friday, January 04, 2008
Five predictions for the e-marketing space in 2008
As printed by The Wise Marketer
Online advertisers are being told that their market is set to expand significantly in 2008 as new tools and methods are developed to help make the technique more measurable and effective, according to interactive marketing agency Performance Communications Group (PCG).
The company reports that the so-called 'Advertising 2.0' experimentation of the past year or two has evolved into solid long-term solutions for e-marketers. smadlener This article is copyright 2008 TheWiseMarketer.com).
Five e-marketing predictions
The company's executive vice president of interactive marketing, Scott Madlener, has predicted five e-marketing trends for 2008:
Intelligent banner ads will address the problems of poor campaign management. Media buyers who demand more control and disclosure about where, when and why their budgets are being spent will look to a new generation of banner ads that incorporate more intelligence, better multimedia, and more secure data capture. Media companies and ad networks will therefore be forced to mature their offerings to provide more value to both the advertiser and user alike.
Online advertising will evolve into "social advertising". Facebook is leading the charge in what could be the next evolution of online advertising. By uniting advertisers with social network members, Facebook has created a system in which the members themselves promote the products, not the suppliers. Word-of-mouth advertising - traditionally the best form of advertising because it involves personal recommendations - is difficult to predict, but with access to thousands of network members, scaling up may no longer be a problem and may instead prove to be difficult to contain.
Single purpose marketing applications will become increasingly possible. 2008 may well be the year of the "widget" for advertisers. Core operating systems and hardware have matured in 2007, enabling developers to create single purpose mini-applications (such as toolbars, widgets and rich media applications) that offer marketers new branding opportunities and that build customer engagement, interaction, and loyalty.
Podcasts and other content will become mainstream. The iPhone and other mobile platforms have ushered in a new era of mobile devices. While iPods and other mobile media players have been around for many years, 2008 may finally provide the necessary economic scale for content providers. In addition to ring tones, Podcasts, and other new media, content solutions should become mainstream in 2008.
Indirect distribution will dominate video consumption. Video has been a hot topic during 2007 with iTunes and YouTube dominating the direct video distribution market. However, as more companies start to use RSS and video web services, these forms of indirect video distribution (e.g. podcasts, YouTube's web service for iPhone and AppleTV, as well as private supply channel video feeds for B2B communications) may now become the dominant means of online video distribution and consumption.
More Info:
http://www.epcg.net
Online advertisers are being told that their market is set to expand significantly in 2008 as new tools and methods are developed to help make the technique more measurable and effective, according to interactive marketing agency Performance Communications Group (PCG).
The company reports that the so-called 'Advertising 2.0' experimentation of the past year or two has evolved into solid long-term solutions for e-marketers. smadlener This article is copyright 2008 TheWiseMarketer.com).
Five e-marketing predictions
The company's executive vice president of interactive marketing, Scott Madlener, has predicted five e-marketing trends for 2008:
Intelligent banner ads will address the problems of poor campaign management. Media buyers who demand more control and disclosure about where, when and why their budgets are being spent will look to a new generation of banner ads that incorporate more intelligence, better multimedia, and more secure data capture. Media companies and ad networks will therefore be forced to mature their offerings to provide more value to both the advertiser and user alike.
Online advertising will evolve into "social advertising". Facebook is leading the charge in what could be the next evolution of online advertising. By uniting advertisers with social network members, Facebook has created a system in which the members themselves promote the products, not the suppliers. Word-of-mouth advertising - traditionally the best form of advertising because it involves personal recommendations - is difficult to predict, but with access to thousands of network members, scaling up may no longer be a problem and may instead prove to be difficult to contain.
Single purpose marketing applications will become increasingly possible. 2008 may well be the year of the "widget" for advertisers. Core operating systems and hardware have matured in 2007, enabling developers to create single purpose mini-applications (such as toolbars, widgets and rich media applications) that offer marketers new branding opportunities and that build customer engagement, interaction, and loyalty.
Podcasts and other content will become mainstream. The iPhone and other mobile platforms have ushered in a new era of mobile devices. While iPods and other mobile media players have been around for many years, 2008 may finally provide the necessary economic scale for content providers. In addition to ring tones, Podcasts, and other new media, content solutions should become mainstream in 2008.
Indirect distribution will dominate video consumption. Video has been a hot topic during 2007 with iTunes and YouTube dominating the direct video distribution market. However, as more companies start to use RSS and video web services, these forms of indirect video distribution (e.g. podcasts, YouTube's web service for iPhone and AppleTV, as well as private supply channel video feeds for B2B communications) may now become the dominant means of online video distribution and consumption.
More Info:
http://www.epcg.net
Labels: advertising 2.0, banners, Chicago, email 2.0, Internet Secured Application Technology, ISAT, Marketing, multimedia, online advertising, PCG, Performance Communications Group, Podcasts, video
Friday, December 14, 2007
DMNews spends a few minutes with Scott Madlener, EVP of interactive marketing, Performance Communications Group
As printed in PR Week US
Q: Can you talk about PCG's fundraising efforts for Northwestern University's athletic department?
A: We publish two ISAT, or Internet Secure Application Technology, e-newsletters a year, sent to Northwestern's alumni in the fall and spring. These incorporate articles, a video message from the associate athletic director, imagery and a call to action for donation. These applications bring together an integrated online user experience that incorporates integrated multimedia, security, direct response vehicles, and portability.
Q: How did you drive alumni to the site?
A: In addition to the e-mail, alumni also receive a direct mail piece. It includes an envelope for immediate donation and also directs them back online, should they choose to donate that way. Then, we follow that up with a second e-mail with the same newsletter, saying, “here's a way to donate, in case you missed the direct mail piece.” Really, the e-mail newsletter is the vehicle, and the direct mail piece is just for those people who aren't used to doing things online.
Q: How many people interacted with the newsletter?
A: On average we have 14,000 to 15,000 recipients of the direct mail piece. We have e-mail addresses from about a third of them. Of the 5,000 recipients, we typically have about 10% that actually view and interact with the microsite. Of that 10%, about 20% give a gift. Last year we did almost $50,000 in online donations. So that makes about 100 gifts of an average of about $500, which is pretty darn good. After the first year, the number of donations had increased 80% and the donation amount increased 185%.
Q: What is the biggest takeaway from this campaign?
A: No. 1, everything is integrated together so someone can multitask through the e-mail, read the articles, and not interrupt the video. The video itself really keeps the school in the forefront of what's going on online. This isn't just some old back-of-the-house type of activity, this is the school doing what it teaches. And obviously, its alumni are business leaders, so they're expecting that. Additionally, the entire transaction is secure, which people expect.
Q: Can you talk about PCG's fundraising efforts for Northwestern University's athletic department?
A: We publish two ISAT, or Internet Secure Application Technology, e-newsletters a year, sent to Northwestern's alumni in the fall and spring. These incorporate articles, a video message from the associate athletic director, imagery and a call to action for donation. These applications bring together an integrated online user experience that incorporates integrated multimedia, security, direct response vehicles, and portability.
Q: How did you drive alumni to the site?
A: In addition to the e-mail, alumni also receive a direct mail piece. It includes an envelope for immediate donation and also directs them back online, should they choose to donate that way. Then, we follow that up with a second e-mail with the same newsletter, saying, “here's a way to donate, in case you missed the direct mail piece.” Really, the e-mail newsletter is the vehicle, and the direct mail piece is just for those people who aren't used to doing things online.
Q: How many people interacted with the newsletter?
A: On average we have 14,000 to 15,000 recipients of the direct mail piece. We have e-mail addresses from about a third of them. Of the 5,000 recipients, we typically have about 10% that actually view and interact with the microsite. Of that 10%, about 20% give a gift. Last year we did almost $50,000 in online donations. So that makes about 100 gifts of an average of about $500, which is pretty darn good. After the first year, the number of donations had increased 80% and the donation amount increased 185%.
Q: What is the biggest takeaway from this campaign?
A: No. 1, everything is integrated together so someone can multitask through the e-mail, read the articles, and not interrupt the video. The video itself really keeps the school in the forefront of what's going on online. This isn't just some old back-of-the-house type of activity, this is the school doing what it teaches. And obviously, its alumni are business leaders, so they're expecting that. Additionally, the entire transaction is secure, which people expect.
Labels: advertising 2.0, banners, Chicago, email 2.0, Internet Secured Application Technology, ISAT, Marketing, multimedia, online advertising, PCG, Performance Communications Group, Podcasts, video
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Scott Madlener of PCG on ISAT and the Future of Marketing
As heard on the Jenerous Podcast, hosted by Eric Mattson.
http://www.jenerous.com/2007/06/14/scott-madlener-of-performance-communications-group-on-the-future-of-marketing
I love new technologies as much as the next marketer but only if they improve the customer experience.
Recently, I chatted with Scott Madlener of the Performance Communications Group about their new ISAT technology. (It stands for Internet Secured Application Technology).
ISAT seems to have innovated on basic website technology and improved the customer experience at the same time by using an integrated approach. Perhaps it’s not applicable in every instance but still worth exploring.
Subscribe via RSS
Subscribe via iTunes
Subscribe via podcatcher
http://www.jenerous.com/2007/06/14/scott-madlener-of-performance-communications-group-on-the-future-of-marketing
I love new technologies as much as the next marketer but only if they improve the customer experience.
Recently, I chatted with Scott Madlener of the Performance Communications Group about their new ISAT technology. (It stands for Internet Secured Application Technology).
ISAT seems to have innovated on basic website technology and improved the customer experience at the same time by using an integrated approach. Perhaps it’s not applicable in every instance but still worth exploring.
Subscribe via RSS Subscribe via iTunes Subscribe via podcatcherLabels: Entrepreneurship, ISAT, Online Marketing, PCG, Podcasts, Scott Madlener, User Experience, video
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
E-mail Overload: A Solution › › › B2B E-Mail Marketing
E-mail Overload: A Solution
› › › B2B E-Mail Marketing
As seen in Click-Z www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3625718
By Karen Gedney | May 2, 2007
Are the e-mail messages you send to internal staff still marked as "unread"? Are new product announcements, policy memos, and other critical corporate information ignored by your employees?
If so, your company may be at the tipping point where even the most diligent employees can no longer keep up with their e-mail inboxes.
What then? Sysco, the giant food-service corporation, found a solution for communicating with its 10,000 marketing associates in a more targeted way.
The company has over 80 business units. As a result, marketing associates' inboxes were jammed with innumerable messages from corporate, unit managers, and vendors -- sometimes with contradictory information. No one had time to plow through all these messages, so many were unopened.
To solve the problem, Sysco used Performance Communications Group's (PCG's) Internet Secured Application Technology (ISAT) to create a secure, multimedia microsite.
The site, called Sysco Blue Cube to reflect the company's branding, has 10 tabs that correlate to Sysco's main business lines, such as frozen food, beverage, and dairy. The content is password protected, but you can look at the first page.
Marketing associates need only check the tab for their product lines -- and, in fact, are required to as part of their regular job responsibilities -- to find new information relevant to their work.
The site's more than 100 screens are updated weekly with reports, spreadsheets, sales collateral, and multimedia material. Because ISAT technology uses up to 80 percent less bandwidth than regular HTML, Sysco can offer employees higher-value content, such as vendor demos, said Scott Madlener, PCG's EVP of interactive strategy. Vendors are happy to supply this video content because they know Sysco Blue Cube's high employee compliance rates guarantee viewership, he said.
The Blue Cube site has a high internal viewership and is secure from outside eyes. Employees must use a password to access the site and are prevented from forwarding information outside the organization. And because ISAT technology is portable, it can be used not only on Sysco's corporate site but also on each operating unit's site.
What does it take to publish 100 pages for 10 tabs on a weekly basis plus administrative duties such as new-user authentication? While four Sysco employees share responsibility for the site, the total workload only amounts to one full-time person.
Since the information is controlled internally, there are no worries about contradictory e-mail coming from different internal sources. All the information is catalogued for reference and updated regularly.
Though Sysco Blue Cube is still in its pilot stage, 3,300 marketing associates have signed up, the site has just published its 27th issue, and over 1,000 marketing associates log in weekly. That's pretty good compliance compared to the company's previous e-mail performance.
But how do you remind the marketing associates to log on to the site? By e-mail, of course! There just doesn't seem to be any way to totally get around it yet. However, ISAT e-mail messages have the Blue Cube site embedded in it, so at least one step is eliminated.
› › › B2B E-Mail Marketing
As seen in Click-Z www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3625718
By Karen Gedney | May 2, 2007
Are the e-mail messages you send to internal staff still marked as "unread"? Are new product announcements, policy memos, and other critical corporate information ignored by your employees?
If so, your company may be at the tipping point where even the most diligent employees can no longer keep up with their e-mail inboxes.
What then? Sysco, the giant food-service corporation, found a solution for communicating with its 10,000 marketing associates in a more targeted way.
The company has over 80 business units. As a result, marketing associates' inboxes were jammed with innumerable messages from corporate, unit managers, and vendors -- sometimes with contradictory information. No one had time to plow through all these messages, so many were unopened.
To solve the problem, Sysco used Performance Communications Group's (PCG's) Internet Secured Application Technology (ISAT) to create a secure, multimedia microsite.
The site, called Sysco Blue Cube to reflect the company's branding, has 10 tabs that correlate to Sysco's main business lines, such as frozen food, beverage, and dairy. The content is password protected, but you can look at the first page.
Marketing associates need only check the tab for their product lines -- and, in fact, are required to as part of their regular job responsibilities -- to find new information relevant to their work.
The site's more than 100 screens are updated weekly with reports, spreadsheets, sales collateral, and multimedia material. Because ISAT technology uses up to 80 percent less bandwidth than regular HTML, Sysco can offer employees higher-value content, such as vendor demos, said Scott Madlener, PCG's EVP of interactive strategy. Vendors are happy to supply this video content because they know Sysco Blue Cube's high employee compliance rates guarantee viewership, he said.
The Blue Cube site has a high internal viewership and is secure from outside eyes. Employees must use a password to access the site and are prevented from forwarding information outside the organization. And because ISAT technology is portable, it can be used not only on Sysco's corporate site but also on each operating unit's site.
What does it take to publish 100 pages for 10 tabs on a weekly basis plus administrative duties such as new-user authentication? While four Sysco employees share responsibility for the site, the total workload only amounts to one full-time person.
Since the information is controlled internally, there are no worries about contradictory e-mail coming from different internal sources. All the information is catalogued for reference and updated regularly.
Though Sysco Blue Cube is still in its pilot stage, 3,300 marketing associates have signed up, the site has just published its 27th issue, and over 1,000 marketing associates log in weekly. That's pretty good compliance compared to the company's previous e-mail performance.
But how do you remind the marketing associates to log on to the site? By e-mail, of course! There just doesn't seem to be any way to totally get around it yet. However, ISAT e-mail messages have the Blue Cube site embedded in it, so at least one step is eliminated.
Labels: Chicago, email, Internet Secured Application Technology, ISAT, multimedia, PCG, Performance Communications Group, video
