1. Television

According the IAB 89% of American’s watch some form of prime time television. This number is probably affected by the amount of content and shows now available online and extends the reach of such ad buys. Although a fragmented medium that is changing rapidly, television represents a strong medium to get your message across a large demographic that can help support a campaign. Setting a foundation of messaging on television can help reinforce brand recognition throughout other mediums, and continue the conversation through online video ads, interactive banners, or simply static banners.

2. Social Networking

Websites such as MySpace, Facebook, Bebo, and many more have become premiere destinations for today’s teenagers as a personalized home on the web where they can share their interests and update their friends. Although no longer limited to the younger generations the social networking sites remain a great place to reach the coveted 18-24 range.

Social networking advertising now offers users and advertising more innovative ways of getting people interacting with their brands. Aside from the traditional banner advertisements that simply surround content you can have people using and interacting with your content. A great example of this can be seen by entertainment companies that have used this technology to make artwork, wallpaper, video clips, music clips, and more all a part of a user’s profile, or give the option of integrating them into their pages. This is the type of brand interaction that defies typical banner blindness and can truly lift awareness. It becomes less about forcing the message onto a prospective customer, and giving them access to the content they want to interact with.

3. In Game Advertising

A recent IAB study found that over 58% of American’s play some sort of computer or video game. With the wide range of features available on both consoles and computers video games remains an untapped resources of reaching today’s youth. The options are vast in how you can integrate advertising into a video game but today include; advergaming, in game ads, dynamic in game ads, inter-level advertising, pre-roll messaging, product placement, and traditional sponsorships.

This is such a large topic unto itself that I will be covering it elsewhere on Marketing.fm.

4. Out of Home – Billboards

Out of Home advertising is a great way to reach people outside the traditional locations and be creative in the process. The technologies of tracking such advertising continue to improve, and although true reach numbers are not known, the traffic estimates for major highways and locations such as Time Square in New York City are well documented. This is the type of advertising that can synchronize your messaging with your demographic in an innovative way if you think outside of the traditional “giant billboard” along a roadway.

One such example of this is the billboard in SoHo placed by Vans that showcased the work of a graffiti artist. This type of message speaks directly to their target audience in a authentic way that cannot be replicated by a large ad agency trying to mimic “what’s cool”.

5. Mobile Advertising

SMS advertising can offer an effective way to reach people when they want to communicate with your brand. Placing “short codes” or simple 6 digit codes on a billboard or advertisement that entices a user to text the number for more information can be a great way to track the efficacy of a campaign. This offers a great way to provide further information for someone that is interested but also a way to spread your message beyond its original broadcast location. An even more innovative approach is to utilize MMS technologies to pass along pictures or video content that can then be shared to others.

6. BONUS: Search Marketing

Having a search campaign is essential to any advertising or marketing campaign that takes place today. One of the first places any consumer turns to find more information about your brand is through the search engines. Although you may be ranking highly in the organic listings on your favorite search engine it is always more effective to have your own paid advertisements that allow you to control your message as well as your landing page.

Search Engine Marketing offers a true foundation to any campaign that can allow you to track the efficacy of your message that is delivered in any of the above mediums or others. When a person remembers only a small part of your message or product name – search is the first place they will turn for more information.

Disclaimer: As of this article writing currently work for a full service search engine marketing agency in NYC so clearly I am bullish on SEM

Conclusion:

Each of the above mediums can be used together or individually but should not be looked at as a one size fits all approach. The need to mix and scale each campaign across different mediums can be determined by your market size, your goals, how you want to track and analyze the campaign, and of course your budget. There are many variable that go into an effective youth oriented marketing effort and this only scratches the surface of options that are available.

If you are interested in learning more about connecting with today’s youth you can contact the Marketing.fm team.

[tags] television, social networking, in game advertising, search engine marketing, SEM, marketing.fm, marketing, advertising, youth marketing conference, youth marketing, mobile, out of home, OOH, mobile advertising [/tags]

It all started with a first blog post called Joining the conversation on March 3rd 2006 and we havnt looked back since. (first post here)

Our initial message is still true today and hopefully we have fulfilled our promise to cover the latest and greatest in marketing and advertising.

As the curtain in front of Marketing.fm is pulled away you will see a different approach that allows novices and experts alike to participate in the conversation and learn together. One of the biggest problems I have seen to date for a “late adopters” (i.e. most large agencies) is that there is no starting point for vocabluary, knowledge, or comprehending new and innovative ideas. This blog will cover learning about new media, learning about emerging media, and explain all aspects of interactive marketing for beginners.

Many of you (our readers) joined us along the way and most likely missed the posts from the beginning and may have missed some others too. Below is a brief collection of posts that stood out above the rest and a few of my favorites. You can checkout more in our interactive archive.

How to make a brand evangelist for life
Apple gives 1 billionth song downloader a ton of cool apple products.

The end of the big advertising agency
The big advertising agency days are numbered…

Which agency size is best?
Our first interactive reader poll.

The future of advertising My interpretation of where advertising is heading.

Advertise Different
(First AD post: Johny Walker ad)
After seeing campaigns, ads, and other interesting marketing around the web and in real life we wanted a way to share with others and give some thoughts and opinions around them. This category features some interesting commercials, advertisements, and marketing memes that were around in 2006 or before. Some of them were very popular – others were simply campaigns that caught my eye.
Advertising Different: ING Direct
Advertise Different: ABC Network
Advertise Different: RFID Advertising
Advertise Different: Audi – Streets of Tomorrow
Advertise Different: US Open 2006

Although we criticize often – we also give praise where it is due. These great articles outline some initiatives and strides that were worth noting.
Wake up call to traditional Ad Agencies
Ad Agencies thinking differently
Saatchi & Saatchi Reacts to New Media

Oh and we do have a sense of humor too!
iPod parody video from Microsoft
Lego & Eggo Team Up! (what could be better?)
Web 3.0
Marketing Cliche’s
EggVertising (possibly coined here first?)
The Apple halo affect

Dont forget about SEMSEO:
Enterprise Search
Search articles on marketing.fm

One meme we continue to cover and probably contribute to speculation on: Internet TV & Google TV
The Future of TV Sponsored by Google AdSense and Search
Coming Soon: Google Television
Google gets into video advertising

Upfront Coverage:
Some advertisers opt out of the Upfront (Coke + Johnson & Johnson)

iPhone Coverage back in May 2006
The iPhone and Apple Marketing

We also try to introduce new technologies and insight into how to use them to our readers. Understanding that everyone is at a different level articles like What is RSS went over well with the newbie and expert crowds.
What is RSS? What is Really Simple Syndication?

Sometime back in June 2006 we began running our Marketing Links section which featured a roundup of links from blogs and the internet. These articles have small digestible links with only the info you need.
Marketing links 1
Marketing Links 2
Marketing Links 3

One of our biggest accomplishments has been the successful introduction of our Marketing and Advertising Blog Network which was highlighted first here in the marketing network launch post. We have been lucky to have such amazing members and have even grown into a major force combining our efforts into the Marketing and Advertising Network on Feedburner.

We even have a new contributor Adam Perlis who wrote a great article called State of the TV Industry: Part I look out for part II coming soon. Welcome Adam!

Marketing Podcast

On September 3rd 2006 we began our Marketing Podcast, had our first episode and never looked back! We have had an amazing 5 shows and interviewed some amazing people.
Marketing Podcast 2
Marketing Podcast 3
Marketing Podcast 4
Marketing Podcast 5

We have many interviews, topics, and shows schedule and invite anyone interested in coming on the program to contact us or send in some feedback.

Some recent amazing milestones:
We were invited to cover the Youth Marketing Conference and THE Conference on Marketing.

We were invited to join the 9Rules blog network on 12/18/06. We are a part of the round 5 9rules members and could not be happier with being included! I have met some amazing people and even connected with some great service providers helping us improve the site.

Blogging has taught me some amazing things in 2006 and 2007 and I have met some amazing people through marketing.fm. Sometimes it is hard to keep blogging with a full time job and everything else that comes with life, but looking back I am glad I did. We have kept up a momentum that has truly paid off.

I would like to give a special thanks to my blogging partner and co-editor Lee Jones. Lee has written some amazing articles over the past year and is directly responsible for keeping me motivated and working on this blog. It is always great to have a good partner in business as you can push one another to achieve greatness. I think we have both accomplished quite a lot over the past 365 days of blogging and we have even more planned for year 2.

If you have made it this far….thanks! We have some exciting news for 2007, and although I cant give everything away now – stay tuned for some MAJOR site improvements, contributors, amazing interviews.

I cannot complete this post without thanking the most important part of our blog – the audience. I want to personally thank each and every person who takes the time to put marketing.fm into your feed reader, browse here daily, or subscribed via email. Without our readers we would not have a blog. As of today – 03/03/07 we have an amazing 414 loyal readers. To me this is quite an accomplishment.

Looking forward I hope to meet the following goals over the next year:

1. Reach 1000 feed subscribers!
2. Post our 50th Podcast episode!
3. Grow our consulting practice
4. Grow the Marketing and Advertising network to 150,000 readers (currently at 100,000)
5. Cross over to a traditional marketing and advertising medium with our work

Last but not least is a special thanks to some of the people who have influenced this blog and kept me motivated:
Seth Godin
Guy Kawasaki
Fred Wilson
Lee Odden
SearchViews
and many more…

Like I said in the first post ever made on this domain – “Welcome to the Future:)”

[tags] anniversary, apple, upfront, itunes, iphone, johnson & johnson, coke, coca-cola, marketing.fm, marketing, advertising, polls, blog birthday, joining the conversation, 9rules, RSS, what is rss, marketing links, advertise different, eggvertising, feedburner, marketing network, advertising network, marketing podcast, marketing.fm podcast, podcast, marketing bloggers, seth godin, guy kawasaki, fred wilson, lee odden, searchviews [/tags]

Click Here for the link.

[tags] usa today, search rankings, google, seo, sem search engine marketing, optimization, marketing.fm, marketing 2.0, marketing blogs [/tags]

This is also part of a larger series of articles called Marketing 2.0 101 in which we are introducing the latest and greatest technology all marketers should know about but do not. (Or possibly have heard about them but are too embarrassed to ask for help)

This article will help answer the following questions:

What is RSS?
What is really simply syndication?
Where can I find a simple explanation of RSS?
Where can I find an RSS tutorial?

RSS is an acronym that stands for Really Simple Syndication. It usually looks something like this:

Or you may have seen some things around the web that look like one of these:

,,,

They all basically do the same thing – allow you to read a websites content through of the company’s own “reader” format. (More explained below – but lets back up for a second)

So what can I use RSS for?

RSS can be used to save time and read all your favorite sites in one place. Stay notified when your favorite sites are updated. Keep informed about changes that occur in weather, stocks, email, friends, and anything else that changes dynamically. There are literally thousands of uses for RSS in everyday tasks.

The most important word in this acronym is the last word: “Syndication”

RSS can be defined as: A way to notify different websites and people without them having to actively check for it.

Ok, I have heard that before from my son, daughter, IT guy, geek friend – but I still don’t get it!

Well, lets break apart R – S – S and look at each piece.

The first two letters “R” and “S” are descriptors or a verb then an adjective that hope to prove how easy this topic really is: “Really” and “Simple”

(So far, in my experience, this 3 letter combo sounds like more techno-computer babble than anything that is “Really Simple“)

Next up the all important final “S” which stands for Syndication.

What is syndication?

Syndication is remembered by most marketers as; A method of selling a television program to local stations for re-broadcasting. Some examples of this include the reruns of Friends or Seinfeld that have been running for years on television, outside their original broadcast channel NBC.

Within RSS the word syndication can be defined as; the supply of information or content for simultaneous publication in several periodicals or web sites.

Much in the same way that Seinfeld originally aired on NBC then was rebroadcast on FOX – websites today are published at their respective web home, then are re-published elsewhere across the web.

RSS is literally syndicating website content for use outside its original publishing location or homepage.

I like to think of the new definition of Syndication to be a part of what is becoming Marketing 2.0 (one of the main reasons I started this blog)

Ok, thanks for the technical explanation but I am a much more visual person – how about some pictures please?

Sure! Below is a graphical example of what is happening. Imagine what happens after a movie gets “syndicated” over the airwaves to a cable channel. The movie starts out from the movie studio and gets broadcast to different stations – in this case Stars, HBO, and Direct TV. The movie can be watched on any channel – but it will always look the same. (or else people would be very upset as they would not be getting the same story or experience)

Step 1. Movie is created and enjoyed in its normal “movie theater” format

Step 2. Movie is distributed across different cable channels (“Syndication“)

Step 3. Results are always the same across different TV’s and stations!

Now imagine the same thing happening to your favorite website…

Step 1. Your favorite website as seen in any browser

Step 2. Content is “Fed” into different formats as described above

Step 3. That same content is displayed in your “feed reader”, mobile phone, PDA, laptop, offline display, etc…

The power of where the content could end up is endless! (this is a good and a bad thing…but we will cover that later)

So what does all this really mean for me and my businessinterests?

Well, imagine your normal web surfing day at your home or office in which you have your routine. (after you check email and get your work done of course!)

Most people have a lineup like the following:

1. www.msnbc.com
2. www.espn.com
3. www.weather.com

4.www.marketing.fm (you read us everyday right?)

This means going to 4 different websites and collecting the information you want from each one. (Not hard your right) But imagine only going to 1 page that had all 3 pieces of information?

huh? how is that possible?

Well, each site allows its content to be re-distributed or syndicated to other areas via RSS (Really Simple Syndication)

To see this in action simply click here:
http://www.speedyfeed.com/marketing/

This is a free public example of the 4 sites described above showing the latest information and headlines for you to view at the same time. Now if you see something you like you can simply click the headline (or put your mouse over each headline) for more information. Each link will take you directly to the sites original content.

This is not the prettiest option, but I wanted to show the capabilities of RSS in a public workspace.

There are specific websites setup to handle your “subscriptions” to RSS “feeds” designed to be much more visually appealing and customized to your liking. This will be covered in an upcoming article – so lets get back to the basics.

As you can see RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is actually not that complicated one your break it down into smaller digestible pieces. The important thing is to realize that you are simply looking at content that was created elsewhere, and being kept up to date when new items or stories arrive.

I hope you enjoyed this brief introduction to RSS. Below I have provided some links for what to do next. Please feel free to leave a comment or ask questions – and I will do my best to answer them. I will be following up this article based on the feedback you provide as well as an introduction on how to start using a “feed reader” and track news and topics of interest to you.

Beginner RSS Resources:
How to get started with RSS
Intro to RSS
RSS Starter Kit

Intermediate RSS Resources:
Why Should Marketers be using RSS for themselves and Clients
What Marketers Need to Know about RSS
RSS Blog
The Power of RSS

Where to find RSS feeds?
Aol Feeds
MSNBC.com Feeds
CNN Feeds
TMZ.com Feeds
Weather.com Feeds

Thanks for making it this far!

[tags] what is rss, RSS, really simple syndication, RSS tutorial, tutorial, marketing 101, marketing.fm, advertising, marketing 2.0, advertising 2.0, explain RSS, really simple syndication for beginners [/tags]

All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.