Hawaii 5-0 Gets High Tech

The weather isn't the only that is hot on Hawaii 5-0 this season. They're also showcasing the hot new Microsoft Surface, and to make sure that we see all of the features, they're using it A LOT!
The market for a tablet is pretty big so product placement on a show like Hawaii 5-0 is probably a pretty safe bet, but can the show make it look cool enough to take on the iPad? Only time will tell.

The New Girl's New Gig

I love The New Girl on Fox, Zooey Deschanel stars in the show as a quirky and awkward girl in her 20's who is trying to figure out life. However, last week's episode had a special guest star...the 2013 Ford Fusion!

Zooey's character, Jess, has to substitute as a model when her friend is too hungover to complete the assignment. She shows off the new 2013 Ford Fusion, and while a member of the Ford team talks about all of the car's features, she stumbles around, in and out of the vehicle. The shameless product placement even included the tag line "Ford, Go Further" at least twice that I counted.

The vehicle also served as the backdrop for a good part of the show, both before the gig started, when Jess made the heroic offer to step in an substitute for her friend, and after the failed attempt a modelling when the two friends had a heart to heart while sitting on the stage in front of the car.

I imagine The New Girl's viewers are mostly in their mid-twenties to mid-thirties and there are probably slightly more females than males. That seems to align with Ford's target market for the Fusion as well, targeting young adults who are fairly new to the career world and looking at purchasing a car that reflects their new stage in life - so I think this product placement was a good move for them.

How Facebook Impacts Revenue

A popular question when it comes to social marketing is “how do you measure the ROI from social media?” Well, the short answer is, you cant. But, as with everything in marketing, it is much more complex than that.

While you can’t directly measure the return on investment from social marketing campaigns, you can measure a lot of other factors that contribute to increased profits. Probably the best of these measurements is the amount of traffic that your social media properties are sending to your website.
Businesses and organizations with a strong Facebook presence, see Facebook as one of the top sources of web traffic, and for most it is the number one referrer of web traffic as well. And once you know how much traffic Facebook is sending to your website, and you know what your conversion rates are, then you can begin to estimate the value of your Facebook marketing. But that is just the beginning!

The best thing you can do with your social marketing is to allow and encourage two-way communication between your brand and consumers, which builds solid, positive relationships, in turn promotes brand loyalty.

While it may seem tedious to answer every comment, message and post, building a good relationship with one consumer ultimately expands through their social network as well, and we all know how powerful word of mouth marketing is. According to Search Engine Watch.com, 62% of all online shoppers read product-related comments from friends on Facebook, with 75% of these shoppers clicking through to the retailers site. They also mention that 72% of consumers recommend companies they trust to friends and colleagues.

Written for 3sixtyinteractiveblog.com

Blakley, Tony, and Neil Lane

If you caught The Bachelor Pad season finale, then you saw the big moment where Tony got down on one knee and proposed to Blakely. While some girls don't want a big public proposal, there are certainly perks to consider when proposing on TV. You will get your 15 minutes of fame, you can sell your engagement and wedding pictures to a tabloid, you can usually score some free wedding merchandise, and probably the best perk of all. . .when you propose on one of The Bachelor shows you get a Niel Lane ring. Yup, I guarantee that big, beautiful diamond was compliments of the high-end jewelry brand that supplies rings for all of the big proposals, and I bet you can't find a single girl who isn't at least a little jealous of it!

I'm back!

Well it has definitely been way too long since I've written something on here! So by now I have so much to say, I'll start with a product placement that I noticed in an episode of Rizzoli & Isles (p.s. I LOVE this show!). It went along with a statement by the character Dr. Maura Isles. She advised another woman to "just put these in your shoes, I'm able to wear heels all day with them".

Attention Allergy Victims!

I love the new Zyrtec commercial! They do a great job of speaking right to their target customers, and I should know. I am the target customer, and I am guilty of most of these things. Anyone with bad allergies knows that you just have to laugh at it, you can't help that you sneeze 150 times a day or buy tissue in bulk when the seasons change....or can you? Zyrtec is my allergy medicine of choice, it really is the best on the market.

Does your business need more customers?

Graphic from: http://seo-zoom.blogspot.com/

I've been asked to blog about search engine optimization (SEO). Now, if you're like most people, the mere words send you into a fit of anxiety, or maybe you have never even heard of it. SEO seems confusing and practically impossible to anyone who does not understand the way that search engines work, so I'd like to use this post to clear up a few things.

First, what is SEO? Put very simply, it involves using different methods and keywords to boost the rank of a website in results from a search engine. SEO is necessary for businesses to get more views to their website, but also to make sure that the people viewing are actually looking for their product or service and then eventually converting them into customers.

So how is ultimate SEO achieved? That can seem really confusing, but once you have an understanding of how the search engine algorithms work to find websites, you can use that knowledge - with keywords about your web content - to place your website at the top of relevant search results. Unfortunately, those algorithms are constantly changing and it can be a full time job just keeping up with them.

Luckily there are experts out there who do just that. You can hire a digital advertising company like 3Sixty Interactive and they will make sure that your website has great rankings in relevant searches. They are experts on SEO, e-mail marketing, social media and all things web. Let them take care of all of your digital advertising so that you have more time to build your business.

If you're still confused, or if you just have a little extra time on your hands, you should check out this video from 3Sixty Interactive.

JCPenney...new and improved?

You may have seen some strange JCPenney advertisements lately. (I have included one of the confusing videos below) Apparently, JCPenney executives have chosen to re-brand the department store, and will be launching the full campaign later this month.

The teaser videos, hint that JCPenney is changing and state that "enough is enough". But what exactly is JCPenney going to change? Well, to begin with, they have already launched a new logo, and they also plan to launch a full campaign including direct mail and an exclusive Oscars sponsorship that targets younger, more fashionable consumers. They will be particularly highlighting brands like MNG by Mango and People Stylewatch.

Keep an eye out for the new and improved JCPenney brand, and let me know what you think!

Old Logo

New Logo

2012 Superbowl Favorites

Yesterday the Giants beat the Patriots...again. And again, I was left with a long list of Superbowl commercials that I wanted to blog about! My favorites included both of the Doritos commercials, along with E-trade, VW, Best Buy, Chrysler, Fiat, Toyota-reinvented, Honda CR-V and Chase quick-pay. You can watch all of those and the rest of the commercials from yesterdays game here.

However, I did manage to choose my top three favorite commercials, they include M&Ms, Acura NSX, and Chevy. I chose these three because I do not get tired of watching them, and I am laughing every time. Have a look....and let me know which one was your favorite!

Chevy Superbowl Commercial

The Superbowl is tomorrow, and that is one day during the year when I know I will not be the only one watching TV for the commercials! Here is a preview of what we have in store for us this year. It is the new Chevrolet commercial...take a look.

Lola wants a Diet Pepsi

I just love these new Diet Pepsi commercials with Sofia Vergara. She is definiley at the top of her game right now, with her role on Modern Family, and endorsements with makeup and clothing companies. This Diet Pepsi endorsement puts her over the edge though, and makes her a household name.

I think the commercials are great, obviously because they're funny, but also because her acting and facial expressions are priceless. Take a look for yourself...

Before you take the leap.....

I was watching The Bachelor yesterday and noticed  that the Honda CRV was strategically placed in the show during one of the dates. It was a group date, where the girls were all invited to "cross something off of our leap list", and ended up skiing in the streets of San Fransisco.

The cars were easy to spot, but I also noticed that the placement tied right in with the current Honda CRV campaign. The current campaign features couples that are discussing taking the next 'leap' in their lives - for example getting married or having a baby. They mention all of the things that they want to do first, and of course the Honda CRV can get them going.

Check out one of the Honda commercials below, and the group date footage from The Bachelor (you only need to watch about a minute to see the product placement). And go make a leap list of your own! If you need help visit leaplist.honda.com

Even Santa has an iPhone!

Christmas is only two days away, so Santa is appearing in a lot of television commercials. Among others, Target has premiered the finale to their "Santa has elves, you have target campaign" and the Chevy campaign is still airing with their Santa look-a-like salesman.

But I saw a commercial for the iPhone 4S that I think is my favorite Santa commercial this year. Of course, I have a slightly biased opinion because the iPhone 4S is on MY Christmas list this year! Anyways, here is the commercial, have a Merry Christmas!

Stevia Please

If you watch TNT's hit show Rizzoli & Isles, you may have noticed a product placement for Stevia in the latest epsiode. Stevia is the new trend in sweetners, that claims to be healthier than other sweetners, especially sugar.

In the episode, a woman who was later revealed to be a yoga instructor claimed that she only used Stevia in her tea because "it is an all natural herbal sweeter". The placement was short and sweet - no pun intended - and fit within the script of the program.

There are several brands of Stevia sweeteners but overall this is an excellent way of gaining product awareness!

Christmas of Cars

Holiday ads are starting to air now, and two campaigns have already caught my eye. Ironically, the campaigns are for competing car brands - one is for Chevrolet, and the other is for Honda.

The Chevrolet campaigns feature a car salesman named Nick who acutely resembles Santa Claus. The shopper reactions are hilarious, of course,  and these commercials provide information about the models available this year as well.

The Honda commercials feature Patrick Warburton, giving information about the new Honda models with humor. His attitude and script are very funny, however he still manages to mention some of Honda's key selling points.

I really like both of these campaigns, and - so far - I can't get enough of them. They definitely have me wishing for a new car this Christmas!

Keeping An Eye On The Target

It's almost Thanksgiving, and you know what that means....time to start the holiday commercials. And as usual, the holiday shopping season starts this Friday!

There are TONS of black Friday commercials on television this week, but my favorite is the Target commercial. I have always loved the commercials showing the woman training for black Friday. You can see one of this years commercials below, and if your going shopping this Friday make sure your ready! Happy Thanksgiving!

Angels Love The iPad

I am so happy to see that Charlie's Angels is back on abc! I was afraid that it had been canceled, and I definitely missed those girls...and their cool gadgets.

They use only the very latest technology, even some that I'm not sure exists to the general public. So of course, each of the Angel's has to have her very own iPad to carry around, in case she needs to do some investigating while shes away. You'll also notice that they use iPhones as well, and even the iPhone that they confiscated from a suspect in this week's episode was prominently featured.

I think this is a great placement! Charlie's Angels has always been a program that shows the most modern and unconventional technology, Apple is a great, and obvious, matchup because they have a very modern and cutting edge brand personality. Overall I think it is great to see that this re-make is not stuck in the 70's.

What is a Chevy Volt doing at a gas station?

The new commercial for the Chevy Volt is great! It shows a man at a gas station with his Volt and a kid is questioning him as to why he is at a gas station if his car is electric.

Along with being funny, the script is also able to provide information about the Chevy Volt, like the fact that it can run on gas as well as electricity. This is a great selling point for consumers because the thought of being stuck somewhere when you need to charge your car is a little unnerving.

Also, some of the Volt's competitors do not have this ability, for example the Nissan Leaf is all electric, no-gas. Meaning that if you run out of power, you may be stuck on the side of the road with an extension cord plugged into a stranger's house!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=hp#!/VicCaneverChevy

This picture was posted on the Vic Canever Chevrolet Facebook today, and shows just that. A Nissan Leaf, plugged into someone's home.

You can watch the commercial below, and learn more about the Chevy Volt at Chevrolet.com. And don't forget that the 100th Anniversary of Chevrolet is coming up on November 3rd!

Cereal or Chocolate Lava Cupcake?

I really like the new Kellog's Fiber Plus commercial. In the commercial they take the cereal to a cupcakery and challenge the customers to compare the cereal to their best selling cupcake. Obviously, given the choice between a cupcake or a fiber cereal, most customers will choose the cupcake!

However, the point of this commercial is that the cereal is not the best tasting cupcake, or dessert treat, but it IS the best tasting fiber cereal on the market. It is obvious that all of the current high fiber foods on the market are trying to change the reputation that fiber has as an ingredient in cereal, granola bars, etc. They are trying to show consumers that contrary to popular belief, fiber can taste good! This commercial is a good way to say that, with humor and a clear point.

Kutcher Sneaks Placements on Two and a half Men

By now you have probably seen (or at least heard about) Charlie Sheen's replacement on the new season of Two and a Half Men. (If you haven't then you obviously live under a rock) So did you notice the sneaky placement in this weeks episode?

It appears in the episode while Ashton Kutcher's character 'Walden' is sitting on the couch with his lap top. The computer is plastered with stickers for various companies that Kutcher is invested in. The companies include Foursquare, Chegg and Hipmunk, among others.

Of course, by now we all know that seeing this type of product placement is not unusual....however the sneaky part is that the placements were not paid for! That's right, Kutcher managed to sneak them past the directors, gaining tons of free and very valuable publicity for the companies.

If you are interested in seeing the placements, you will have to look online, though. CBS is unhappy with the placements, because they were not paid for - and placements on that program are sold for a pretty penny. So the brands will be blurred in any future episodes where they are present. I think its great that he got those brands in there, even it it was just once, he obviously knows the value of product placement, way to go Ashton!