DC Interactive Group’s SmartMarketing Blog

Ahh, a timely post.  Like many parents, we’ve been in “back to school” mode.   I just watched my 15 year old head off to start her sophomore year, my 13 year old begin his 8th grade, and my youngest join the ranks of middle schoolers.  They’re growing up fast, and I’m beginning to see that it’s even faster than I thought.

New research has just come out to shed some light on what teens are telling their parents about their internet usage and how teens are really using the internet.  Funny, but there’s a big gap here.  I didn’t surprise you, did I?  Well, this might:

For instance, 49% of parents say their child was 13 or older before they began unsupervised surfing, yet only 14% of teens say they waited that long.  4% of parents say their children check social networking sites more than 10 times a day, but 22% of teens say they exceed that amount. 23% of parents say their children log in more than once a day, but the truth is that 51% of kids do. What’s even worse, 12% of teens with Facebook or MySpace pages admit their parents don’t know about the account.

That’s scary.

18% of teenagers say someone has posted a humiliating picture of them on the web or wrote something that humiliated them.  Of the 18%, almost 25% of them sought revenge.  Then there’s the 19% of teens who say they’ve been “cyberbullied”.  Most of our kids are not aware that once they post something online, it’s likely there for life — regardless of how hard they try to remove it.

Here are some interesting numbers:

Online Teen Behavior

I insist to my kids that I be one of their “friends” or “followers”.  If I find out I’m not, they’re done, plain and simple.  To make sure, I monitor their names with google alerts and even track Twitter to make sure I have that covered.  Fortunately, I’m their friend.

Here’s two more charts to scare you.

Online Activity

Sites Teens Visit

The point here is that our teenagers are likely far more skilled at using the internet than we believe — probably even more skilled than we are.  They know what they’re looking for and how to find it.  That knowledge, when blended with immaturity, is a recipe for trouble.

So stay close.  Spot check their habits.  Use alert systems to monitor their postings.  And keep up with them as best you can.

Listen up. Get this clear right off the bat. At DC Interactive Group we love advertising. I don’t mean that we kinda like doing it when we come to work every day. I mean that figuring out ways to creatively sell things runs so deep in some of us that it penetrates every aspect of our lives. Quite simply, it is even more than our raison d’être. We’re constantly designing, critiquing and challenging ideas and concepts from ourselves and others. And we also hate when advertising is done incompetently.

So when I saw the trailer for Doug Pray’s new movie, “Art & Copy” the first thing I did was share it with everyone in the office. I haven’t found it yet to see it, but it looks as though it intends to show the real, true world of advertising — no smoldering cigarettes, dirty martinis or other “Mad Men” swank here. It exposes the fragility of creativity and the power and passion of the people who create it. It features interviews with giants such as the George Lois, Mary Wells, Dan Wieden, Lee Clow and Hal Riney.

Here is the trailer. Enjoy.

Most of us have been told to write copy for 7th graders because that’s the average age at which most people read.  At least that’s what “they” say.  Who “they” are is a mystery to me, but “they” get a lot of credit for some pretty basic stuff.

I never liked this idea simply because advertising isn’t supposed to appeal to everyone.  Are “they” going to call me out?  I’ll take my chances.

If an ad is targeted at Wall Street Journal readers, why should we communicate with 7th grade readers who are almost certainly not reading that publication?  I’d rather talk intelligently to an intelligent audience, and I believe the audience would agree.

So when we get into a discussion with web designers about the size of the screen for a new site, and they insist that it be 800 x 600 because that’s the lowest common denominator, I cringe.  Why should a site talk to everyone — especially those who aren’t familiar enough with websites to have a larger screen?  Sure, if my site and advertising are talking to people who use a modem, I shouldn’t bog it down with graphics that will take hours to load.  But if I can create a powerful site by using more screen, and my market is identified as one that works well with computers, why limit my creatives?

So to end the debate quickly, I refer to this site that shows the size of browser displays since 2000.  This chart shows that in January, 2009, 93% of web users set their displays at either 1024 x 768 or higher.  Just 4% have their displays set at 800 x 600.

Case closed, right?  Wrong.  Some web people can’t get past the fact that some people won’t see the full site no matter how small the number, and they will practically insist that we design our sites smaller for everyone to see easily.

This is wrong, so don’t buy into it.  If you notice the trend on the site, you’ll see people are moving faster and faster toward larger screens.  So don’t buy into the one (small) size fits all mentalilty.  Instead, subscribe to the “we create the best site we can” and watch how people will react.

If you’ve seen any of the “Dex Knows” TV spots (and I believe many of you have), then you are one of the main reasons I just love this campaign — you can remember it.

Unfortunately, the agency disabled the embed code in YouTube, so I have to send you there to see it.  Just click on this link to DEX’S YOUTUBE PAGE.

It’s one thing to produce a nice, memorable spot, but it means nothing to the advertiser if their name and service gets lost in the agency’s creative. That doesn’t happen here. But in addition to getting the name out — often — the spots also humanize the benefits of this ultra heavy reference tool that we all likely take for granted. This makes it easy for viewers to see how the product fits into their busy lives, and it reminds them how thorough the information is. Perfect.

There are about a dozen spots here, and they’ve even extended the campaign to radio without really missing a beat. Just listen to him give a “seminar” to nervous retailers looking to increase their business. “You know all those websites with the funny names? I know those guys, and I can get your producst listed!” You really feel that he has an easy answer to retailers who are looking to extend their reach. Plus, with his dynamic message, he cuts out all the competitors who have been cutting into Dex’s business for years.

As for TV, watch how each spot focuses on just one important thing:  One explains how easy the site works with smart phones (and watch Dex giggle from the “vibrate” setting on the phone!).  Another compares this targeted site with a “humongous site” that uses odd terms in its search.  Each one is unique, but fits perfectly into the brand. Plus, the brand not only easily extends to radio, but also print and online ads.

So when you think of all the competition for yellow page advertising, it makes sense that someone would brand themselves differently.  In this case, they turned “Yellow Pages” into “Dex Knows” and added a blue color to the yellow.

What do you think?  Do the spots hit a chord with you?  Have you tried Dex since they ran?  Did you remember the site’s name when you were going to search for a local business?  From what I’ve read about the results of this campaign, many people have responded.  And that’s just great.

As an interactive marketing agency, social media is our middle name. We recently read an article in CRM Magazine that outlined the importance of social media but more importantly, user-generated social media. The article notes that the tables have turned and the public now holds the reigns and is forcing marketers to find value in the noise. That value can be found through the metrics of this user-generated social media, found below.

Volume: The number of comments, blog posts, tweets, links, etc., about your brand, your competition and your field.

Sentiment: The positive, negative or indifferent consumer reaction to your brand or a topic, which can be measured by text analytics and natural language processing.

Emotion: The reasons that a consumer felt good, bad or indifferent that point to how you can resolve her problem or how your business can change and improve.

Topic/Issue: The context (e.g., product, customer service, advertising, competitor, etc.) in which your brand is being discussed. Nielsen’s Brand Association Map helps visually associate the relationship between terms; a Google AdWords keyword expansion tool helps improve the relevancy of your selections.

Source: Where the conversation is occurring (e.g., Twitter, blog, discussion board).

Author (Influencer): The people talking about your brand and their social media impact (e.g., number of followers, readers, commenters).

Virality: The reach of your brand and relevant topics around your brand (e.g., how many people are reading, posting, linking and sharing).

What’s important to note about social media as well as the metrics by which they are measured is that it’s consumer-driven. The conversation that occurs via social media requires the willful and active participation and interaction of your customers. Big Picture is key. Sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are the big players right now but with social media evolving so quickly, it’s hard to say who will be on top in a few years. The main idea is to be prepared. No matter what the medium, you should be thinking of ways to get your name and your brand on people’s tongues…and fingertips.