Rebranding Abercrombie & Fitch

There has been a lot of buzz lately about Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries statements on the type of people he would like to attract to his stores. Jeffries has made statements such as, "In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids,” he says. “Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely."

In efforts to redefine the brand, Greg Karber is working to rebrand Abercrombie & Fitch. His goal is to make Abercrombie & Fitch "The World's Number One Brand of Homeless People." Karber has asked everyone to donate their Abercrombie & Fitch clothing to a local homeless shelter. He wants everyone to share their stories on Facebook and Twitter using #FitchTheHomeless. 

Greg Karber is trying to turn the negative publicity toward Abercrombie & Fitch and turn it into a positive social good, well at the same time creating a new target audience for the Abercrombie & Fitch clothing line. Karber is making a statement that it is wrong to discriminate and be exclusive toward the "cool kids." 

What do you think about Karber's action to rebrand the clothing line?

Good News for Twitter Advertisers

Within the past couple years, Twitter opened their advertising API to third parties, which has allowed companies to create more sophisticated advertising. When they launched this new program they were partnered with Adobe, Hootsuite, Salesforce, SHIFT and TBG Digital.

On Tuesday Kevin Weil, Twitter's senior director of product for revenue at Twitter, made the announcement that advertising on Twitter will now be open to all U.S. users. The change from invite-only advertising to all U.S. users is due to all the feedback the company has received from businesses. Business owners gave suggestions and areas for improvements, which Twitter took in to consideration and have enhanced their advertising and expanded their targeting and reporting in the U.S.

This change will allow companies to expand their target audience and draw more users to their product or service. Social media has been growing since the big digital push and this will continue to help companies reach consumers. Another big step in the advertising world!

Facebook Revamps Brand Pages

Facebook has changed once again, no surprise there! But this time they made huge improvements to the mobile app. Facebook has been changing the design of its mobile brand pages. This new design has been focused around interaction instead of content, which is easily accessible at the top of the page. New changes to the Facebook web page are coming soon!

Facebook took a different approach by changing their site to be more mobile friendly. More than half of Facebook users access their profiles through their mobile devices, so the change has already proven to be more user friendly.

Powerhouse USA Congratulates the 2013 Orlando ADDY Award Winners

The ADDY Awards have announced their 2013 winners, among them Disney’s Yellow Shoes Creative group and Hard Rock Café took home multiple awards. 

The ADDY Awards are organized yearly by the local chapter of the American Advertising Federation. This group selects and recognizes the talent and hard work that go into Orlando ads and celebrates the creative excellence and achievements in our advertising community!

The ADDY Awards are unique among advertising and creative competitions since they include three levels of judging: local, regional, and national. The local ADDYs are given based on the competition in Orlando, which makes it easy to see how well local competitors do. This also allows to local competitors to compete regionally and nationally based on their success!

To see some of Orlando’s best ad works head to http://www.theorlandoaddys.com/winners-2013/

Orlando Ad Market Finishes Strong First Quarter: Good Second Quarter Forcasted

Orlando ad spending has increased throughout the first quarter but despite previous quarters experiencing sluggish markets. Both TV and radio have seen spending gains in numerous categories this quarter.

TV spending was up 10 to 15 percent in January, and it’s expected to be up at least 10 percent year-to-year for the remainder of the quarter. Large categories including auto, financial, telecom and furniture have all increased spending by double-digit percentages versus a year ago, putting a squeeze on inventory.

Prime-time and news day-parts have the highest demand this year, but other day-parts will also pick up in coming months. With predictions for a strong second quarter the market should remain healthy.

Radio spending has also been ahead year over year throughout the first and second quarters, despite pricing being down as compared to a year ago. Financial, retail and auto advertisers have all increased radio spending this year.

From Dec. 6 to Jan. 2, WMGF averaged a 13.6 portable people meter rating in its holiday season, according to Arbitron, more than five points ahead of the No. 2 station WPOZ-FM, which averaged an 8.5. Stations owned by Clear Channel and Cox perform the best; In December those companies accounted for seven of nine top Orlando stations.

Super Bowl Ads that Confused Us All

BlackBerry and Best Buy are two struggling companies with a whole lot in common when it comes to their failing business models and slump in stock sales. Now they are also two companies who have recently given the world two terrible Super Bowl 2013 ads which don’t seem to have much hold on consumers.

BlackBerry’s recent introduction of its new Z10 smartphone, which was unveiled last week was intended to keep its current customers engaged with the brand while enticing its former customers to return. The product itself could be what BlackBerry desperately needs to get back on track, and with the right ad campaign, they could have done so. But instead of showing consumers what their product does, BlackBerry did a full 180 and gave us this monster of an ad.

Meanwhile, Best Buy featured an ad which portrays Amy Poehler as a shopper, harassing a sales associate with personal questions. The ad has hints of humor but confuses consumers with non-direct messages and endless questions on what seems to be hundreds of products. With the tagline, “Thousands of Experts Ready to Help,” One would think the commercial would showcase the expert actually answering questions, instead our expert stands dumbfounded and speechless in the wake of the inquisitive tornado that is Amy Poehler.

With Super Bowl 2013 ads being said to average $4 million dollars for each 30-second spot, big box stores like Best Buy battling online competition, and BlackBerry fending off the ever growing iPhone following, it is clear that neither company should invest in risky, unclear and confusing ads. Super Bowl ads have always stressed creativity but with BlackBerry’s flat out weird ad and Best Buy’s borderline obnoxious and aimless ad, it seems as if sense and logic are being removed from the process creating new ads.

Marketing Predictions for 2013

In 2012, there were increased developments for marketers. Social media sites, such as Facebook, created a massive mobile advertising business. Now the question is, what does 2013 have to offer? Advertising experts got together to show marketing predictions for the year to come.

The first strategy experts explored was “Mobile-First Strategy.” Facebook and Google are two sites responsible for the mobile ad spending tripling to $4 billion in 2012. According to eMarketer, “we expect mobile ads to increasingly become the top priority for advertisers on digital, rather than desktop.” This is the result of consumers spending more time and money on mobile devices.

Next experts explored the revision of “Banner Ads.” Banner ads do not work well on mobile devices, which has lead companies to reconsider using them. However, the ads will not be going away for good, instead businesses are working on a more creative way to post them and become user friendly.

Powerhouse USA Announces a Promotion and Two Team Additions

The Powerhouse Family is happy to announce the promotion of Miss Megan Neuner!
Megan has earned the new title of Internet Marketing Manager and has been given new responsibilities including management of client relations and budgets. Miss Neuner also oversees the work of two new hires, Amanda Carr and Sydnie Cobb.

In November Amanda and Sydnie were brought on to work as Internet Marketing Coordinators. While Sydnie works primarily on maintaining web presence and social media she also aids in internet marketing and advertising campaigns. Amanda works on composing client materials for the media outlets and assists with web presence and media as well.

We're happy to welcome Amanda and Sydnie to the team and look forward to working with them!

Florida's Job Market Continues to Grow

According to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Florida ranks number 2 in the nation for job creation.

The Sunshine State created 23,200 nonagricultural jobs in the month of August and totaled more than 28,000 new private sector jobs created. This is the 11th month-to-month positive job growth Florida has had in the past 14 months, and also the 25th consecutive month of positive annual job growth.

In another interesting report recently shared by the State of Women-Owned Business Report, Florida ranks No. 4 for the most women-owned businesses. Florida has an estimated 587,600 women-owned firms, employing 473,100 people and taking in roughly $77.6 billion in revenue. The number of women-owned firms in the Sunshine State has grown 73.9 percent from 1997-2012.

Facebook Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

With more than 900 million people utilizing Facebook, it’s crucial to implement marketing ideas to the best of your benefit. Most companies have no problem figuring out best practices and trends, but along with this comes things you absolutely shouldn’t do. Here are a few tips on how to not make these mistakes:

1. Not completely filling out the page
Although this may seem obvious, many companies still forget to fill out the page completely. Be sure to include hours, address, phone number, and pictures to get the most out of your page.

2. Not following Facebooks rules for cover photos
Cover photos are not allowed to include information such as pricing, a call to action, or contact information. This is a simple mistake a company can make when trying to promote their business. Instead, post a picture that represents your brand.

3. Refrain from Facebook contests
Although it’s somewhat of a grey area, any type of contest run on Facebook is illegal. All contests and giveaways  must be administered through Apps within Facebook.

4. Over posting
When it comes to Facebook, less is more. Consumers don’t want to be bombarded with posts and information. Start out with two posts a week, and customize a schedule to see what works best for you.

5. Too much text
Keep it short and sweet! Research shows that consumers are most responsive to posts between 100 and 250 characters, or one to two lines of text. 

Powerhouse USA Adds 3 New Team Members

We’re very excited to announce three new hires to our growing team here at Powerhouse USA!

Jenn Allen is now the company’s Creative Services Manager. “Art has always been my passion and I love working in the fast paced environment at Powerhouse USA and being able to bring agency and client ideas to life,” said Ms. Allen about her new position. She will be overseeing all graphic content elements of online and print campaigns.

Andrea Rodrigues has been added as the company’s Marketing Coordinator. “I’m thrilled to be at Powerhouse USA and working with their diverse roster of clients.” Her responsibilities include client relations, budgets, presentations, and research.

Megan Neuner is the company’s newest Internet Marketing Coordinator. “Internet marketing is such an exciting area and working at Powerhouse USA provides me with the opportunity to help with their existing client base as well as grow future business.” Ms. Neuner is responsible for client web presents and develops online marketing and advertising campaigns as well as social media.

5 Ways to Monitor Your Brand’s Effectiveness

In today’s world, branding isn’t entirely about numbers anymore. Now we have to take generating a fan base into account. Here are 5 ways to measure how well your brand is doing online:

            1.   Are you engaging your fans?

Effective marketing is about building relationships with fans and customers, not about yelling out information in a busy marketplace. Social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter allow us to see how responsive and active we are with our customers.

A French telecommunications company named Orange asked their followers to tweet summer plans with hashtag #thissummer. The company was able to record the responses and generate traffic which allowed the followers to identify with the company’s branding.

2. Are you adding value to the conversation?

It’s a great idea to post content that other people will want to see and share with others. Healthy Choice posted a 75 cent coupon on Facebook which would increase in value as the site grew more followers. The company gained 10,000 fans in just a few weeks. This is a good example of how a company can bring value to its customers by increasing engagement.

3. Are you practicing the 20-to-1 rule?

The 20-to-1 rule means that you have to make 20 relational posts for every 1 marketing posts. In order to be successful, you need to be a giver instead of a taker. Companies need to be generous with their fans, so when you do need something, your fans respond.

4. Are you monitoring feedback?

If you want to be effective, you have to know what works and what doesn’t. A blogger with a large amount of followers tweeted about a negative experience he had with U-Haul. In no time, U-Haul lost thousands of dollars and long-term damage to their brand, solely because the company didn’t understand how much power the consumer has in today’s world. Creating an outpost where you can monitor what people are saying will allow you to address the consumer’s concerns, receive immediate market feedback, and show your customer’s you’re listening.

5. Are you engaging through your blog or website?

Most people believe you need a website with flashy graphics and a fancy design in order to generate higher traffic. However, this is not the case. Customers mainly want to feel like someone cares and is listening, not so much about how appealing the site looks. Try ending your blog with a question so readers feel like they can engage.

5 Hot Facebook Marketing Trends

Facebook has drastically changed in the past year, and marketing on it has changed as well. The image-heavy Facebook timeline has made many changes for how businesses market their products and services through the social media site.  There is an impressive amount of pressure on Facebook to be advertising friendly, and a lot of this comes from the fact that with its 133 million users, it can potentially have a bigger audience than the Super Bowl.

The first marketing trend the new Facebook has is the ability to post more and larger photos. Consumers are getting used to a more image filled web, so the new Facebook design features much bigger pictures than before. An analytics firm that measures brand performance, Simply Measured, confirmed a 65% jump for photos and videos combined that companies posted on their Facebook timelines. Sprinkles Cupcakes is a strong believer in the effectiveness of posting photos and videos to their Facebook page, especially with a call to action, seeing the number of likes and comments triple when one exists.

The second trend Facebook timeline has is tapping real-time data. Businesses now have the ability to immediately see the success of their campaign, while typically you have to measure the results at some point in order to see if the ads are working or not. This past April 17^th on Tax Day, TurboTax saw their Facebook post on “Most Common Tax Questions” doing well on Facebook’s “People Talking About This” page, so in turn they advertised on Facebook to increase the reach of the post.

The third trend is to use your Timeline cover photo for marketing. With the cover photo being a giant picture at the top of the company’s Facebook page, brans are realizing this photo can be a banner ad. The huge image provides instant exposure to all of the brands Facebook fans. Other brands are using the cover photo as an interactive photo for their fans. With different call to actions, such as posting a question on the image, fans can now interact with the cover photo.

The fourth trend the Facebook timeline creates for marketing is the gamification of posts. Coca-cola is a very well-known brand on Facebook.  Coca-cola has been posting URL riddles to its millions of fans. Along with them, JetBlue has also been posting more interesting and interactive posts such as “Fill in the Blank” status updates. JetBlue received 182% more comments per most than other typical brands with their post gamification method.

The fifth and final trend on the new Facebook timeline is creatively saying ‘Thank You’. By coming up with creative ways to thank your fans, you can single out and give your fans praise while entertaining the rest of the fans, who normally would have been uninterested in the post. Kraft Mac & Cheese did this by posting a 7-minute video thanking 4,800 fans who had “liked” a post of theirs. The video consisted of a song which included each of their individual names. The 4,800 fans were individually thanked, and the rest of the fans were still entertained in the process.

General Motors Quits Facebook Advertising

General Motors is pulling ads from Facebook, calling them “ineffective”, according to a Wall Street Journal report. It was determined that their ads on the platform “had little impact on consumers,” according to the report. However, GM will continue to market via Facebook’s free brand pages.

The article quotes GM marketing chief Joel Ewanick as saying GM “is definitely reassessing our advertising on Facebook, although the content is effective and important.” Ewanick’s use of “content” in this case refers to Facebook brand Pages.

GM spends about $40 million marketing on Facebook, but only about a quarter goes to advertising- the rest going to creating content for the site, according to the report. GM spends an estimated $1.8 billion worldwide on advertising per year.

A Forrester Research Analyst, Nate Elliott, wrote a blog post on Monday questioning the social network’s advertising. “Somehow Facebook still hasn’t stumbled upon a model that’s proven consistently successful for marketers, or that brings in the massive revenues to match the site’s massive user base,” wrote Elliott. “One global consumer goods company told us recently that Facebook was getting worse, rather than better, at helping marketers succeed. And companies in industries from consumer electronics to financial services tell us they’re no longer sure Facebook is the best place to dedicate their social marketing budget – a shocking fact given the site’s dominance among users.”

Facebook posted revenues of $3.7 billion in 2011, the vast majority of which came from advertising. However, Facebook’s first-quarter revenues fell from the previous quarter and Facebook’s amended S-1 form, filed on May 10, cited the transition to mobile as a worrisome sign for ad revenues.

Will 2012 see growth in online ads?

From Online Media Daily: Just as gadget-crazed as consumers, advertisers are expected to accelerate their nontraditional media spends through 2012. MagnaGlobal now expects spending on Internet media (including national and local) to grow by 12.2%, this year. That’s up from the Interpublic unit’s previous forecasts of 10.9%, and, if correct, will represent $35.6 billion and a 20.2% market share.

“Encouraged by the rise of smartphone and tablet usage and the availability of scalable platforms, mainstream advertisers are now fully embracing all mobile formats (display, search, video, in-app),” said Vincent Letang, EVP and head of global forecasting at MagnaGlobal.

Letang expects mobile-related online ad revenues to grow by 53% in 2012, to reach $2.4 bil. “iAd and Facebook in particular will create more opportunities for marketers in various mobile environments in 2012,” he said. With $1.6 billion in 2011, mobile advertising already represents 5% of online advertising, and 1% of total domestic advertising.

That said, Internet media is still driven by paid search, as well as online video, which Letang expects to grow by 24% in 2012 to reach $2.2 billion.

In terms of advertising sectors, technology, finance and telecoms are expected to increase their respective expenditure at higher than average rates, according to the company.

Automotive remains a concern, but more for traditional media buyers, MagnaGlobal notes. In 2010, and again in 2011, a double-digit recovery in car sales was matched by a double-digit growth in automotive ad spend. Going into 2012, however, while new car sales were up in the first quarter, protracted unemployment and steep gasoline inflation could hamper further growth.

Read more: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/173666/new-online-ad-forecast-12-growth-for-2012.html#ixzz1tjoq8epQ

Gone Viral!

Happy Birthday, Twitter!

Six years ago today, Jack Dorsey tweeted the first ever tweet on Twitter and a communications revolution was born.

Now, 6 years later it has grown exponentially to over 500 million users, making it the largest one-to-many open communication platform on the web today.  After hearing those numbers you would never believe what humble beginnings this social network came from.

Twitter stemmed from an earlier company ran by ex-googler friends called Odeo, which was going to be a podcasting platform. But when Apple launched iTunes podcasting, it made their little startup company irrelevant. After enlisting the help of another buddy and much brainstorming, the team came up with “Twttr”, which would eventually become Twitter.

This social networking phenomenon allows its users to interact with their favorite celebs and follow the latest news s
tories. Many businesses use Twitter as a marketing tool to reach consumers. It has changed media, business and politics – even our President Barack Obama has an account!

With 11 Twitter accounts created every second, the company is projected to earn $259 million in Advertising Revenue this year. Not a bad birthday gift!

2012 : Retailers all about Customer Interaction

In an effort to build customer engagement, capture wallet share and accelerate sales growth, retailers in 2012 will focus on a number of customer-centric functions, including IT and ecommerce investments, enhancing customer service initiatives and, building on their mobile platforms. Those findings are from a new report from the National Retail Federation (NRF) Foundation by KPMG.

Retail Horizons: Benchmarks for 2011, Forecasts for 2012,” surveyed 247 retail executives from various sectors, outlines retailers’ top strategic initiatives for 2012 including merchandising, ecommerce, store and field operations, supply chain and human capital, among others.

“Retailers are poised to enter 2012 with a renewed focus on building up and building out many of their most important operations, hoping to establish a new sense of brand loyalty with all of their customers,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. “Though customers are always a company’s top priority, customer satisfaction will get a huge facelift this year. From increasing their brand visibility through cross-channel initiatives to providing unique, personalized shopping experiences through every channel, retailers have indicated 2012 is all about the customer.”

According to the survey, nearly 67% of companies rank customer satisfaction as the top strategic initiative for 2012 and, similarly, 82% say customer service strategies will be their top priority in the coming year, up from 75% last year.

For the first time in the survey’s ten-year history, retailers’ websites or online channels eclipsed physical stores as the top channel for marketers (81% for brick-and-mortar vs. 86% online). As such, retail executives say they will invest in programs that directly resonate with today’s shopper. According to the survey, 85 will emphasize  increasing online sales, up from 83% in 2011, and 38% will have a greater focus on increasing mCommerce sales over the next year, up from 29% in 2011. Additionally, more than half (53%) of those surveyed say they will specifically focus on web personalization engines in the coming months, which includes such enhancements as location-based services and tracking methods unique to shopping habits.
To better serve mobile-savvy shoppers in their stores, retailers also stated enhancing handheld technologies, such as mobile point-of-sale, will be a core focus over the next 18 months. While 17% already use mobile POS technologies in their store, an additional 33% indicate they plan further POS investments during that timeframe.

“Compared to the past few years, retailers have turned their attention to growth acceleration, with an emphasis on improved customer engagement strategies and tactics,” said Mark Larson, KPMG’s global head of retail. “Harnessing the vast amounts of customer data they have at their disposal to create unique consumer interactions will be critical, especially as digital sales grow. Clearly the retailers who master the one-to-one customer approach, and who also leverage the full potential of e-and-mobile commerce platforms, will be in a much stronger position to gain wallet share.”

Aiming to grow that customer interaction, 45% of companies are actively developing widgets, gadgets or advanced links that can be incorporated with their social media pages, and another 41% are planning to develop these items over the next 18 months.

Other KPMG/NRF survey findings:
• Thirty-three% reported increases of greater than 5% in same store sales in 2011, up from 21% in 2010. Additionally, 63% reported gross margins greater than 40% in 2011, up from 40% in 2010
• After years of practicing cost containment, this year more than half (52%) of respondents plan to increase their IT budgets
• Nine in 10 (91%) respondents said they will focus on leadership assessment, development and succession, up from 83% in 2011. Additionally, 52% will increase associate training, up from 39% last year
• As the number of multichannel shoppers continues to grow, so will retailers’ focus on price optimization – more than one-third (35%) of respondents will focus on solidifying their price optimization technologies over the next 18 months
• Nearly six in 10 (59%) say new customer acquisition is their top strategic priority for 2012, up from 55% in 2011

Surviving U.S. Auto Dealers may see record sales in 2012

Auto Dealers may see record sales in 2012; surviving dealers are stronger and more profitable
2/15/12Auto dealers may be racing toward a record number of sales. A consulting firm is predicting that the dealers that survived the economic crisis may deliver more vehicles in 2012 than ever before.Urban Science is estimating that each dealer will sell an average 785 vehicles this year. That compares to only averaging 719 cars and trucks last year. They attribute the nearly ten per cent increase to pent up demand and the improving economy.

The previous record was 784 per dealership back in 2005.

The number of dealerships also grew last year, after shrinking for several years in a row. Urban Science says the dealers that survived the economic downturn are stronger and more profitable. There are now 17,767 dealerships in America.

GM's Super Bowl commercial helped Ford

Super Bowl Ad Aftermath: Ford Boosted By GM's Fallout?

Playing dirty might be de rigeur in politics, but it seldom helps in selling products—even dusty pickups ravaged by the apocalypse.

That might end up being GM's tough lesson from its Super Bowl XLVI ad which, to some, spoke less about the strengths of GM products than it did attack Ford's reputation for durability and longevity.

GM's Super Bowl commercial helped Ford

Based on traffic and visitor data collected by the shopping and pricing site Kelley Blue Book, more visitors browsed Fordafter the GM commercial—a lot more—even though Ford didn't have a big Super Bowl ad. Whether looking at the controversy in the days surrounding, or specifically at the window of time during and after the ad aired, Fordappeared to benefit most, if an immediate browsing or shopping of new vehicles was the goal.

Full-size pickup truck visitors on Super Bowl Sunday, 2012 - Kelley Blue Book

KBB.com data shows consumer interest in the Silverado lifting during the commercial airing, leveling off after the commercial and declining after the game, as interest in the F-150 surged, curiously. Despite the Silverado's lift during the game, Ford’s F-150 still drew a greater share of week-over-week attention from KBB.com consumers.

In comparing consumer interest on kbb.com among the Full-size truck segment, KBB analyst Akshay Anand noted that the share of visits to the F150 surged over 26-percent week-over-week, while the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 saw a 25-percent drop in traffic during the same period.

“Looking at the data for that whole day, Ford did see some lift, and I don't think that's a coincidence,” said Anand.

That leads to how some might have heard the commercial...something along the lines of this: What kind of truck do you drive to the impending apocalypse? If it's a Ford, oh you sorry sap, you're just not going to make it.

Advertising 101: Don't make the competing product your punchline

And that hits hard at one very important factor: brand loyalty. To many, the commercial was less a declaration of the strengths of GM products than it was the buildup to an attack on Ford's trucks. And it may have sent Ford loyalists to their laptops and tablets to search for reassurance about Ford's reputation, as their GM counterparts gloated and stayed on the sofa.

“Truck owners tend to be more loyal than those in any other segment,” said Anand, and when a product with that level of loyalty is mentioned negatively in an ad, argued Anand, the response is likely to be one that's on the defensive.

Other potential explanations: Ford was mentioned bluntly and clearly right near the end of the ad, so is that somehow the name that stuck with viewers? Or does the lesson to be learned really have more to do with etiquette?

It is, after all, one of the first commercials in some time to blatantly call out a competing product without mention of a number or metric as basis.