An Insider's View of Media Negotiation

by Michele Safar, Media Supervisor

Often I get the question “how does the media team negotiates rates?” Is there a rate card rate and that’s the rate we pay? Or is it something else? I find the car analogy works well. The dealers put a sticker price on the car (their rate card) knowing you'll likely feel good about making the purchase if you get them below that MSRP. Media companies operate much the same way. The rate card is there but 99% of the time they never get that price.

I love negotiating. The first round is a no brainer – no rate card. But then it really gets fun. The second round "special" rate can be presented by one rep as "because you've been a long-time advertiser" and yet the next might say “because you are a new advertiser.” In the end, it's all code for “ok, here is the more realistic price that will still allow us a nice commission”. That still doesn't work for me. I want my media partners to make a reasonable profit but not at the expense of my client. And so I will push them as far as I can. Not by bullying, but rather by providing more information than other buyers/agencies. It seems to have worked for me. I'm proud of the deep discounts and added value I get for clients. I won't give away all of my secrets in this blog- but just know the AMP media team does not take a rate they are quoted and turn it around as part of their plan – first round or even second round.

And sure, I will come with you next time you are in the market for a new car...for a small negotiable fee. Read more!

World’s Largest Elf Party

by Kristin Schweizer, Group Director

What do you get when you mix a scenic NYC holiday environment, stars for an upcoming holiday movie and 607 elf-outfitted people? A Guinness World Record of course!

AMP in partnership with ABC Family staged the “World’s Largest Elf Party” at The Pond in Bryant Park on Monday, December 7th. In support of ABC Family’s release of Santa Baby 2: Christmas Maybe, AMP pulled off this world-record setting gathering of Santa’s Elves. The movie's stars, Jenny McCarthy, Dean McDermott, Candace Cameron Bure and Peri Gilpin were all on hand to take part in the day’s stunt.

General consumer “Party” participants were invited through “Elf” street teams to take part in the event. All participants received a full elf costume, boxed lunches and earned giveaways from our stage activities including caroling with Emcee “Honkey” Lange and DJ Mike Roc under the lit Christmas Tree at Bryant Park. At 1:00PM EST all “elves” were moved onto the ice rink, and a ten-minute countdown began in order to establish a new Guinness World Record. After only a 15-minute adjudication period to confirm and qualify the total number of participants, Danny Girton from Guinness World Records presented the movie’s stars, Jenny McCarthy and Dean McDermott with an Official Guinness plaque commemorating the accomplishment.

The stunt proved to be a press hit with ABC Family receiving press coverage from multiple media sources including, “The View”, “Access Hollywood”, “The Insider”, AP, People.com, In Touch Magazine, Media Life and even global sources such as the BBC and NTDTV in China!

Santa Baby 2: Christmas Maybe was broadcast on Sunday, December 13th on ABC Family and became the #1 rated cable movie for the season and was the evening's #1 scripted cable program in total viewers and core demographic 18-49 year olds* (*Nielson Media Research) Read more!

Holy Cow, Facebook Bans Milk! Sorta...

by Matt Rainone, Manager, Strategic Marketing

According to Facebook’s new regulations, you are no longer allowed to conduct a promotion whose purpose is to “promote any of the following product categories: gambling, tobacco, dairy, firearms, prescription drugs, or gasoline”. Wait, dairy? As in milk and cheese? Dairy is treated in the same context as gambling, firearms and tobacco? This REALLY brings a new meaning to lactose intolerance.

As it turns out, this really isn’t that far off from rules that many states already employ with regards to sweepstakes. Many state laws prohibit companies from offering dairy as prize according to this Chicago Tribune article, on the same topic. This is also included in Facebook’s regulations.

So what are our friends in the dairy industry to do? It seems for now, that they should just wait. It appears that Facebook will soon be updating the regulations to remove dairy from the naughty list. Which is great because it will give AMP just enough time to launch our new Cheese Wheel Promotional Capabilities in early 2010. Read more!

Am I a Greedy Consumer?

By Whitney Hardy, VP, Account Management

Retailers have very effectively trained me when and how to shop and I sometimes wonder whether I will I ever pay full-price again.

I live very close to the Natick Collection and go there often. I shop like I’m a woman on a mission – when I’m at the mall, I know when to go and where to go to get the best deals and savings . You’ve seen it and probably have been trained, too – every store has their discount on display in their window and their e-marketing teams are working overtime. When I logged into my Yahoo account yesterday, I counted 20+ emails from retailers begging for my business that day. Subject lines included: “30% off all Outerwear ,” “Take 20% off a single item – 1 Day Only!,” and “Whitney, Only two Days Left! 20% OFF Ends Tomorrow!”

By keeping an eagle-eye on my email box, scouring sale racks, and faithfully perusing off-price department stores, I walk away with clothes and labels that I’ve spotted on celebrities in some of my favorite magazines. I honestly don’t remember the last time that I bought something full-price. I know that my expectation for buying quality goods at discounted prices has been a gradual development – the economy (of course), greater financial responsibility with a growing family, and maturity were probably all nails in the full-price retail coffin in my life.

I wonder if this will ever change. Will there be a day that I comfortably and confidently walk out of the mall with a big, glossy, luxury department store shopping bag full of full-price stuff? Is that ten years down the road? Twenty years? Ever?

For a believer in the power of building a strong, aspirational brand, I struggle with what retailers and brands will need to do to stop the cycle and train us to be full-price shoppers again? How will they deliver value that is as meaningful to consumers as “dollars off”? Convenience? Service? Quality? But what if we’ve been trained to expect it all? Read more!

5 Reminders, Tips, and Lessons about Social Media Strategy from the Ad Club Panel

by Ally Moehring, Integrated PR Strategist

This morning, a couple of us had coffee and some OJ with the Ad Club and their three panelists talking about social media strategy: “Dunkin’” Dave Puner of Dunkin’ Brands, Inc. (@dunkindonuts), Tom Matlack, co-editor of The Good Men Project (@TMatlack) and Janet Swaysland of Monster Worldwide. Listening to these social media rock stars, I was reminded of a few fundamentals that all too often we forget:

1. Even the pros were once newbies.
   Up until a little over a year ago, even Dunkin’ Dave was new to Twitter and Facebook and claims, of the entry into the social media space, “we knew there were conversations happening about our brand, we just didn’t know if we would be welcomed by our consumers to join the conversation.” The lesson? They were welcome and indeed it is still better to try to guide and be a part of those discussions that are happening about your brand. To date, @DunkinDonuts has gained nearly 40,000 followers on Twitter and over 950,000 Facebook fans. The other lesson? It’s natural to be hesitant, but you have to trust (Janet’s advice) that it will work if done right and know your brand (Dave’s advice) and your intentions.
   
   
2. Don’t forget to find your evangelists and show them some love.
   Much like the problem child getting all the attention, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the negative comments – and you will hear them – from consumers instead of paying attention to the people who <3 you. Remember – your loyalists need love too, maybe even more attention than the problem child. Never forget to thank the people who share their love for your brand and remember, when things get rowdy with a negative comment or two, it’s usually your loyalists that will come to your defense.
   
   
3. Treat each community differently.
   Streamlining is great, but remember that consumers use each of the spaces differently. Think about what you personally (not professionally) do on Facebook v. how you use Twitter v. what and how you’re really (don’t lie) watching and sharing on YouTube. Now think about your brand’s professional strategy and how you approach each of them. Are you thinking about the content you are creating (oh, and, you ARE creating content by the way) and the purpose of your brand’s use of each space? Do it.
   
   
4. Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize.
   It’s easy to get excited about the ways you can use social media. OOH OOH! Customer service! Oh wait!! Recruiting! OOH we should try a direct drive to sales and share exclusive deals! Especially when getting started, be sure to prioritize and know your purpose for being there. What conversations are happening already? Are you leveraging them? Or do you want to start entirely new conversations?
   
   
5. ROI is tricky.
   There are an abundance of ways to measure influence in social media…at AMP we call a combination of those measurements a return on engagement (ROE) or return on relationship (ROR), but a traditional ROI can be tricky – often do-able, sure, but always tricky. Plunging into social media may require a shift in economics for your marketing plan. It’s not all dollar signs, there really is a direct benefit of engaging directly with your consumers, but it may be difficult to directly measure its monetary value. Based on your goals, identify how you want to measure the effects of your brand’s presence – if your goal is customer service, then how quickly was the customer issue resolved on Twitter? How efficiently? How happy was the customer in the end? If your goal is sales, what technology are you leveraging to track this? Measurement will always be an enormous part of any social media strategy, but it’s important to understand that the way you have traditionally measured success in your other marketing plans may need a tweak or two. Trust us…if you can get your business into this new mindset, it will be worth it.

Read more!

The FDA Opens the Floor for Change

by Josh Pike, SVP Search
This past week I had the pleasure of attending the 2 day FDA hearing on the use of the Internet and social media for the marketing of pharmaceuticals. The purpose of the hearing was to open discussions about updating the current guidelines set forth by the FDA.The hearing format was interesting. Speakers, which included agencies, drug companies, public advocacy groups, site publishers and private citizens, addressed the FDA panel to provide feedback to 5 specified topics:

1. What parameters or criteria should be applied to determine when third-party communications occurring on the Internet and through social media technologies are subject to substantive influence by companies that market products related to the communication or discussion?
2. In particular, when should third-party discussions be treated as being performed by, or on behalf of, the companies that market the product, as opposed to being performed independent of the influence of the companies marketing the products?
3. How should companies disclose their involvement or influence over discussions or material, particularly discussions or material on third-party sites?
4. Are there different considerations that should be weighed depending on the specific social media platform that is used or based on the intended audience? If so, what are these considerations?
5. With regard to the potential for company communications to be altered by third parties, what is the experience to date with respect to the unauthorized dissemination of modified product information (originally created by a company) by noncompany users of the Internet?Many of the agencies and drug companies shared their findings from private and funded research.

There were several consistent themes that emerged from these studies:

• The Internet is a growing and significant source of information for people researching health information.
• The current lack of clear direction from the FDA is keeping legitimate pharma companies on the sidelines of getting involved with social media and many forms of online advertising. This leaves a void that is frequently being filled by less desirable and often illegal advertisers.
• Consumers and medical professionals want drug companies to participate in an open, non-promotional way to share their knowledge and research in the discussions that are happening across social media channels.

While not as prevalent, some of the most interesting discussions where those that questioned the efficacy of the FDA guidelines in general. It would seem that in many cases, the issues of including fair balance between risk/benefit and access to prescribing information in marketing materials, as mandated by the FDA, is not what is putting consumers at risk. The problem is that this ‘required’ information often exceeds the level of comprehension for most consumers. So including a link to important safety information from a Tweet or search ad may satisfy the requirements of the FDA, but it is completely failing the objective of the FDA, which is to protect the public health.

Likely the result of years of lawyering and policy making, the FDA approved language that makes up the small print in magazine and online ads and quick speak at the end of TV commercials has warped into something that exceeds the health literacy of the general public. The language needs to be simplified in order to be effective and the FDA needs to create a standard for displaying important safety information across health sites to aid in consumer recognition and accessibility.

These changes would not require the FDA to introduce new policy to address the challenges posed by the Internet and social media. The current policies are sufficiently obtuse and can be morphed to apply to new media. Instead, the FDA needs to work with drug companies to provide the guidance necessary for acceptable participation across social media. Without this, we will continue to see an onslaught of unregulated online pharmacies and snake oil salesman, a situation that is both confusing and hazardous for the general public. Without clear guidance from the FDA, legitimate drug companies will be forced to sit on their hands for fear of overstepping the murky lines of compliance and the wealth of information that they possess will remain unavailable to consumers.
Read more!

Mobile Marketing – Test and Learn

by Sonny Kim - VP, Interactive

We’ve been talking about mobile marketing for over a decade now, yet we still don’t see the mass adoption for marketers to include mobile in their marketing mix. The share of marketing dollars toward mobile is only 1.8% (MMA market survey 2009), yet it has established itself as a dominant communications channel. Over 200 million Americans own a mobile device and the adoption of smartphones has increased the opportunities for marketers to go beyond text messaging and ring tones to engage with consumers. Given these evolutions, coupled with a recent report showing rapid mobile internet adoption (Morgan Stanley 2009), the opportunity to jump in and learn now seems stronger than ever. So where do you start? Dipping your toes into mobile marketing can be very simple. Here are three easy ways you can get started.

SMS is still king - Text messaging by adults is outstripping the growth rate among younger generations. Adoption of text messaging between ages 45 to 54 has increased 130%. Favorite venues for texting are: The movies (58%); loud sports games or concerts (41%); lectures or classes (39%). Marketers can build a communication strategy around their target’s lifestyle interests.

Test and learn: Try a text to vote to get user input on your product or service.

How about a WAP, do you have one yet? Contrary to popular opinion, Americans use the mobile web in large numbers. Actually 15.5% of ALL MOBILE consumers use the internet –that equates to 40 million people (according to Nielsen). The growth rates are most notable among two segments, young adults 18 to 25 (as expected) and new smart phone buyers. Smartphone penetration in the US is 13.5% of all handsets.

Test and learn. Build a WAP page (1). Think about some key information bits you can provide the mobile consumer. Keep it simple.

Mobile App: News, weather and entertainment are top categories for frequency and loyalty of usage. This application doesn’t have to be an iPhone app. Your application can be created to be utilized by the majority of phones. It can be the coolest apps that enable consumers to search your inventory, create recipes, or your application du jour can be as simple as a game. It might be helpful to ask your consumers how they would engage with your brand and what kind of information your consumer is seeking. Mobile apps development costs can start as low as $5,000.

Test and learn. Build a Ping pong game.

Good luck, if you’re already ahead of the game, let’s discuss how we can collaborate to build a robust mobile marketing strategy.

Additional resource:

http://blog.flurry.com/bid/26376/Mobile-Apps-Models-Money-and-Loyalty

sources: Market-research firm, M:Metrics, 2009, CTIA, consumer survey 2008, Research report, Nielsen, 2009
Read more!