ROOFTOP banter

First came Planking, then Owling and now… Blimping?

Posted By: 

Ashley

Date: 

July 27th, 2011 /// Industry Insight, Uncategorized

Unusual trends are creating quite the Internet buzz. Facebook pages, blogs and even news teams are reporting and celebritizing fads such as planking, owling, the lesser known lamping, koalaing, the list goes on. For those of you unfamiliar with the acts, here’s a glimpse:

Planking:

Owling:

We can’t help but wonder, what’s next? Branching, crabbing, bananaing? Here at Keathley, we want to put Akron, OH on the map with its own personal trend. Introducing: Blimping.

Bringing the heart of Akron to life, this act requires some acquired skills. First, take a deep breath and puff out your cheeks as large as possible. A second breath may be required.

Now, mindlessly pretend to float around in public places allowing the occasional soft collision into innocent bystanders. Then float away.

Help us blow out the Blimping phenomenon! Visit our Facebook page and post your own Blimping pics – or show us your own new trend.

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A Trending Topic: How to Advertise on Twitter

Posted By: 

Brandi Hensler

Date: 

May 27th, 2011 /// Industry Insight

Clients often ask about advertising on Twitter. Can you do it? How? Is it like the Facebook? Here’s the deal: Twitter, like Facebook before it, has taken its time releasing an advertising platform (with good reason). Until recently, advertisers have had to be creative to utilize the site with tactics such as promotional accounts, hashtags, celebrity endorsements, etc.

But now – brands rejoice – there are three options that Twitter has rolled out for advertisers:

• Promoted Tweets: A lot more people will see your tweet, so make it good.
• Promoted Trends: Get your brand, message, etc. on the coveted Trending Topics list.
• Promoted Accounts: Fire up your follower count by being featured in the “Who to Follow” section.

But don’t drop the rest of your social strategy yet. Twitter doesn’t take just anyone; you can only request to be included. If you think you’ll make the cut, enter here.

Check out this great infographic from Mashable to see the history of Twitter advertising in detail. And read the accompanying article here.

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Will The Greatest Movie Ever Sold Sell Us Out?

Posted By: 

Brandi Hensler

Date: 

March 31st, 2011 /// Industry Insight, Inspiration, Marketing Trends, Uncategorized

“So what I want to do is make a film about product placement, marketing and advertising where the entire film is funded by product placement, marketing and advertising.”

From Morgan Spurlock, the director of Super Size Me, comes a documentary that plans to reveal all the dirty details of the true world of advertising. I would guess that many in our industry are responding with a deep sigh or an “uh oh.” People are going to see who we really are. What we really do to make them want what we have. All with complete transparency.

This girl? Not worried. Excited, actually.

Advertisers today aren’t necessarily the same malicious manipulators that I grew up hearing ranked right next to lawyers on the Scale of Evilness. Today, if you’re smart, you know better.

The gap between social media and PR is closing everyday. Information sharing is increasing exponentially. Consumers trust word-of-mouth 60% more than traditional advertising. With all this, brands are being forced to be more transparent and honest… or else (cue the Nestle palm oil push back).

There’s no hiding who you really are anymore, and I don’t have a problem with that. It’s only pushing us all to do what the best of the industry have done all along – find the truth about your product and communicate it to those who will take interest. Work harder. Be more creative. This documentary may be perfect inspiration to take it even further.

In any case, the film and related aftermath promise to be wildly entertaining. So stock up on name-brand munchies and update your Fandango app. This is an extravaganza we won’t want to miss.

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Bread Pudding Makes Everything Better (sort of)

Posted By: 

tonya

Date: 

March 1st, 2011 /// Marketing Trends

How do you turn a disgruntled customer into a brand advocate? It’s a question brands deal with every day. Thanks to social media, it’s becoming more important than ever. But the formula is fairly simple. No matter how badly a brand messes up, relationships are mostly salvageable. It’s about taking an extra step to make sure that the customer knows that a company is willing to do whatever it takes to get them back. This is just one example.

Looking for a different dining option in early December, the hubby and I (with three-year-old daughter in-tow) decided on an English pub that we’ve never tried before. The décor was sweet and the menu looked good, so it seemed like a good choice.

The experience was less than desirable. It started with us being ushered out to the patio (yes, the patio – in December), escalated to mediocre food and crappy service, and was capped off with coffee that didn’t arrive until ten minutes after we were done with desert. To be fair, the desert – bread pudding – was delicious.

When I got home that night, I posted on their Facebook page about the service.

The following Monday, I received a FB message from the marketing/PR rep asking for my contact info. The manager called me the next morning. He apologized and offered to comp us a meal. I assured him it wasn’t necessary, but he insisted and promised that he would send out a gift card so we could give them another chance.

Two weeks later, I still hadn’t received the gift card. I sent a FB message to the marketing/PR person who contacted me initially that essentially said, “While I should be surprised at the lack of follow-through…” I really wasn’t.

Within 15 minutes I received a phone call from the PR person. She apologized profusely, said that there was a mix-up, it was her fault, and that she would send out a gift card immediately.

The next evening the manager from the pub appeared on my doorstep with a takeout of bread pudding and $100 gift card. Talk about going the extra mile to make sure the customer is happy!

This could’ve ended differently – I could’ve shared my experience and they could’ve ignored it. It wouldn’t have been any skin off their back, and I just never would’ve returned. But by making a concerted effort to ensure that I knew they wanted me as a customer, they also got me back in the doors with the gift certificate. With that added touch of the bread pudding, they turned me into a brand advocate.

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The Antisocial Media Strategy

Posted By: 

Brandi Hensler

Date: 

September 15th, 2010 /// Inspiration

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