May 7th, 2008
Looking to expand your company’s presence and cash in on the country’s most affluent and fastest-growing segment? Well look no further, as Martino Flynn recently introduced its Sixty Plus Marketing Practice, a specialized team devoted to reaching the highly desired 60+ market.
Our Sixty Plus marketing team is overflowing with talented, creative, attentive, and energetic folks that are ready to offer the insights, strategies, and tactics that drive results and build brands. Read more about us in the Rochester Business Journal where two of Martino Flynn’s ageless wonders talk about the creation of this unique practice!
Posted by Kellie Fronk in Brand Strategy, News, Senior Marketing | No Comments »
May 2nd, 2008
We love, repeat, love to see more and more video on websites. Brochure-ware is boring. Savvy online users are expecting an increasingly more engaging experience. So why not give it to them. It’s not hard.
Taking advantage of video online is a trend that is exploding. We’re constantly recommending online video to our clients. So here are three Martino Flynn client examples, among many, that we think are pretty compelling.
The first is for the Buffalo Bills. If you go to http://www.buffalobills.com/stories.jsp you’ll see the premise for our 2008 campaign. It’s called, “What’s your story?” We found real Bills fans and asked them to share their most compelling experience at Ralph Wilson Stadium and ended up producing 4 videos that now reside on the Bills Website. (My favorite is “Lucky Baby”—seriously, it’s an awesome story told very well.) In addition to the Web, we’ve also used the theme on TV, radio and print. Plus, we’re inviting Bills fans to share their stories with us. We will produce the best story on video and the contributor wins a cool “fan experience” prize.
Our second is for Mirror Show Management (MSM). We collaborated with them to produce 10 videos for their site. Check them out at http://www.mirrorshowmanagement.com/index.php?sec=Other?=videos. The strategic intent of these videos was to capture MSM’s brand personality. They have this great combination of amazing work, a can-do attitude delivered by people with loads of personality. Check out the videos. You’ll see what I mean.
The third is for Micropen Technologies. Basically, Micropen applies viscous liquids to various, often odd-shaped substrates. Not the easiest concept to grasp. But go to http://www.micropen.com/Resources/videos.php and watch a video or two and you’ll understand immediately. It’s a story well told by video.
Another example we like, although not produced by us, is for Wegmans. We think they do a pretty darn good job of delivering a virtual store for new store openings in new markets. (Of course they’re Wegmans, so you expect them to do things well.) Anyway check this address out for their tour: http://newstores.wegmans.com/
So let’s get more video online! Take advantage of using sight, sound and motion. That’s what we mean by smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.
Disclaimer: Martino Flynn does not, and never will condone the use of tobacco products. We’ve heard it’s bad for your health.
Posted by Kevin Flynn in Clients, Creative, Sites We Like, Trend Spotting, User Experience, Video | 1 Comment »
April 23rd, 2008
Is anyone else sick and tired of the trend in TV journalism to substitute “analysts” and “news consultants” for real reporters? Turn on CNN almost anytime and you’ll see a gaggle of “experts” talking over each other and offering opinions on just about everything trivial. Was Hillary’s reference to the Saturday Night Live sketch on her “misstatement” about sniper fire in Bosnia harmful to her chances in Pennsylvania? I listened the other night to a gaggle of talking heads debate this heady topic until I couldn’t take it any more.
Print journalism, while still my preferred source for news and information, is following the trend as well. Opinions traditionally were confined to the editorial and op ed pages. Nowadays news analyses pepper every section.
Last night’s Democratic primary coverage was almost unbearable. Here’s some of the drivel:
“If Clinton wins by more than 10 points,” decreed CNN’s Bill Schneider, “her campaign will have new momentum and she will soldier on.”
“At least 10 percentage points,” the Los Angeles Times concurred, citing unnamed superdelegates.
Even foreigners wanted in on the game. Britain’s Guardian newspaper said Clinton “needs to win by a margin of 10 percent or more.”
Dan Balz, The Post’s magnanimous chief political writer, suggested alternatives. “Some say Clinton needs to win by 10 points,” he wrote. “Others say eight points. “Some say … anything over five points would be a respectable victory.”
When I watch a baseball game on TV, I don’t mind David Cone analyzing Mariano Rivera’s cutter. But that’s sports, which is entertainment. News is a different matter.
I prefer to read, hear, and see the facts presented in a relatively objective manner. Then, I’d like to form my own opinions.
Posted by Ray Martino in News, Political Marketing, Rants and Raves, TV | 2 Comments »
April 18th, 2008
Call us what you like—Generation Y, Millenials or iGen. Born sometime between 1977 and 1994, we’ve grown up hooked on technology and are over 70 million strong, making up over 20 percent of the population. On average we have about $100 of disposable income each week–not to mention those of us with credit cards. Plus:
- 97 percent of us own a computer
- 94 percent of us own a cell phone
- 76 percent of us use Instant Messaging
- 75 percent of us have a Facebook account
And, let’s face it. We care about what others think. In fact, we’re a generation that is highly motivated by our peers and well-known brands.
As a college student majoring in Communications, I’ve taken part in many discussions on how to market to “people like me.” Television and word of mouth are always a good start, but it truly is the Internet that makes the most impact.
From communicating to social networking, getting the latest news to researching for schoolwork, or shopping to entertainment, Gen Y uses the Internet in nearly every aspect of their day. This is why advertisers are everywhere on the web.
Still I wonder, is it possible to go anywhere online without being ambushed with advertisements?
Not when it comes to IM, that’s for sure. It’s no longer “I’ll call you later” but most frequently “I’ll IM you later”. Whether it’s the mere convenience of being able to multi task or talk with dozens of people at the same time, IM is the number one way my friends and I communicate. Advertisers have capitalized on this concept and place ads on buddy lists and buddy profiles, as well as initiate a pop-up homepage for AIM covered with ads and links to outside websites.
But it’s not Instant Messaging that is facing the most intrusion from ads, it’s Social Networking Sites like Facebook and Myspace. Beyond the appearance of advertisements placed strategically along the website, there are now entire groups and pages dedicated to products, causes, entertainment and pretty much anything you can think of. The problem with these is anyone can make a page about anything, leaving us guessing how legit it actually is.
With such an overload of online advertisements, we’re increasingly becoming desensitized to these efforts, not to mention annoyed by them. We’re not interested in looking at advertisements every time we log onto our computers to check out our favorite websites, chat with friends or read our email. Don’t get me wrong, I do agree that online marketing is the best way to reach Gen Y but the approach needs to be refined.
If you want to reach me, here are a few tips to think about next time you go to place an ad online:
- Match the advertisement to the content.
- Placing a contradictory or illogical ad on a website will be noticed and scrutinized by users. Gen Y is highly observant and critical. We’re on to you when you do this!
- Try to avoid using “too much of a good thing.”
- A website with strategically placed ads can cause a slight distraction. A website plastered with ads can cause a distraction great enough to turn off the user from ever returning to the site. (Or, at least causing them to bolt immediately during that user session.)
- Align yourself with a social cause.
- As mentioned earlier, Gen Y is incredibly concerned with social circumstances and are passionate about causes. Determining which causes are of highest interest, and which group is interested, will get your ad more recognition and a higher rate of acceptation among Gen Y. If you seem to care about what we care about, in turn, we are more likely to care about you.
So the next time you’re looking to target Gen Y, consider these ideas … we’ll be waiting.
Posted by Jennifer Jones in Advertising, Mobile Web, Online Advertising, Social Networking, Technology | No Comments »
April 17th, 2008
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.
This little phrase may have surfaced on one of your emails in the past or this may be your first time seeing it. In either event, most of you reading this blog could probably decipher the context of it. If not, here’s what it intended to read:
According to a researcher at Cambridge University, it doesn’t matter in what order the letters in a word are, the only important thing is that the first and last letter be at the right place. The rest can be a total mess and you can still read it without problem. This is because the human mind does not read every letter by itself but the word as a whole.
This way of thinking would probably explain the spelling error on this road sign in Colorado:
This type of sign typically costs approximately $1,000 to construct. Needless to say, a second one with the correct spelling of “Mountain” was built–not a cheap re-do.
The “Cmabrigde” or Cambridge statement and theory, however, isn’t entirely true. For example, can you decipher this:
Do not bviele eniheyrtvg you raed, as it cloud be dsllacirty irrccenot or just pilan slliy.
Some words here may seem to be recognizable, but a few of them might make you scratch your head a little bit in an attempt to comprehend them. In case you couldn’t entirely decipher this sentence, here is what those jumbled letters tried to convey:
Do not believe everything you read, as it could be drastically incorrect or just plain silly.
As you read this next blurb, please make a mental note of how many times the letter “f” is used.
Finished files are the result of years of scientific study combined with the experience of years.
How many did you count? Three? Actually, there are six. The reason that some of you may have come up with a number less than six is that the brain also interprets words phonetically. In this example, the word “of” isn’t generally thought of as the letters “o” and “f” but instead, it is probably more likely to be interpreted as “o” and “v”.
Since the brain comprehends words phonetically, the following poem by James Knisley (despite many of the words being misused in relation to the context of the poem) should be fairly easily read and understood by almost any literate individual.
Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques for my revue
Miss steaks eye knot sea…
Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew
This poem may help to prove the point that we often do read things phonetically, but it also helps to expose the major flaw of spell check (but that’s an entirely different blog and I won’t get into that right now).
The third and lastly known (to my knowledge) way that the human brain processes words is cognitively or by remembering.
Please briefly read the text in the following image to your right.
What did you read, “A BIRD IN THE BUSH”? Or, did you see, “A BIRD IN THE THE BUSH”? If you said the latter, then you’re right. The second “THE” would often be missed by a casual reader not expecting to be tricked (some of you have probably caught on to my brain teasers in this blog and may have been more focused on reading this example, thus allowing you to catch the error in it). This is because certain words and phrases become ingrained in one’s mind and, therefore, aren’t altered when one begins to read a commonly used word or pattern of words. Your mind isn’t taught to think that any sentence should be constructed with two back-to-back uses of the word “THE”. Therefore, it may be easily overlooked. It’s possible that the triangle design may also distract the brain from focusing solely on the words as well.
To sum things up, the brain uses three methods for reading and comprehending words. Sometimes it can interpret words or sentences by using only one or two of the methods (usually this is when mistakes could occur) but by using all three methods together, the brain is more apt to correctly identify and properly understand a word’s or sentence’s intended meaning. By no means do I consider myself an expert on the brain’s functioning, but the next time that you see something spelled wrong; please don’t blame me, blame my brain.
Posted by Matt Benjamin in Advertising, Business, Copywriting, Creative, Rants and Raves | 2 Comments »
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