Hey, It’s Shop Small Saturday. Our new products through Cinderella Factory will incite love and joy in your kids. They will want our new rag dolls, Hey Man and Anna Maria. They are currently being manufactured and will be delivered mid-December. Check out the Kickstarter that tells you all about them. You can also order them directly from our sales page.
You’ll find the Anna Maria paper doll book and even purchase the materials to sew your own rag doll there. Thank you for supporting our small business efforts.
For a couple of Christmases we’ve hand-sewn dolls for outreaches to help children during the International Christmas Celebrations. This year we have decided to manufacture the dolls. Please feel free to let people know. Here is the press release that is going out this month.
You will find the release in our press section of this site here.
Sometimes you need a group of people to come up with ideas to promote your product or service. Throughout the years, not only have we planned and placed large and small media campaigns, but we have also helped clients come up with creative solutions for their ads. We brainstormed, coordinated production, wrote copy, got sponsors for, and trafficked ads from the creation process to scheduling.
Here is a small reel that was put together for a promotion we did with Rock Studios and includes ads for the San Diego Culinary Institute, the La Mesa Christmas in the Village, the La Mesa Antique Faire and the Haute Plate TV show.
Advertising Sample
Note: Please forgive some of the production values as the master reels weren’t available when the piece was put together.
There are a number of websites where businesses can post their press releases for potential exposure to writers and the media. I’ve found, and what you’ll see on our site, a good free site that lets you post your press releases. Other sites have fees. You’ll need to do some research to find which one might be a fit for you.
The best part of writing and submitting press releases is they have the potential to get your business free media exposure. You’ll need to find a good angle and not be too sales”y” at first to grab the media’s attention.
The site we use is PR Log. See the listing of our PRLog here. And, if you need help writing and distributing press releases let us know. Thanks.
Are you considering advertising on radio or TV in the near future? It’s good to see how the market area you’re targeting stands in population rankings to get an understanding of the reach your ads will go into. See the Nielsen population rankings from Spring 2022 for radio and TV here.
Do you need to speak to a broad spectrum or a small target? Are you testing a product launch? Try focusing on a smaller market, which will most likely cost less than a larger market.
Would you rather reach a mass audience? You could target a large population like New York or Los Angeles but expect to pay more.
This is a picture of the Salton Sea in California. The sand near it contains many dead fish bones. Everything around it looks dead. The buildings are dilapidated, the fish bones poke bare feet. But the amazing thing about this sea, is that the deep dwelling fish are alive and many still fish in it.
So, what aspect of your business needs to resurrect or dive deeper into the sea? It’s time to plan for the 4th quarter and the holiday season. Share with us what part of your business will be like the deep sea fish that are thriving. Go ahead and make it a success.
For more information about the Salton Sea go to their website. Go here.
Even though the calendar shows there’s still more Summer, it’s around this time that agencies, and clients, tend to start planning their advertising budgets for the new year. I created a form that I share with prospective clients. I thought I’d give it to you too. It might help train your thoughts toward how best to use the funds you are allocating for advertising.
When I was climbing the advertising media ladder, I was excited to join a company that was part of McCann Erickson, a global advertising agency–So excited that when I took a pleasure trip to London for the first time, I made a point of viewing their offices.
A highlight of my job was flying to McCann Erickson San Francisco for training. Our guide taught us media buying software, and on a break took us to a Peets cafe which was the first time I tried their coffee.
Now their name is shortened to McCann (McCann.com). Established in 1930, the group has offices in 120 countries and is based in New York. It’s been a while since I worked there, so I thought I’d see what they are up to.
Here’s a little about them. You’ll find most of the fact part of this information on Wikipedia.
Employees: 23,000
Main Competitors: Vermilion, Ogilvy, MRM and Genius X
Some of Their Clients: [Click hyper-links to view ads or more about them]
L’Oréal [They recently created a non-issue campaign to end age discrimination featuring movie actresses]
Recent Accolades: Adweek’s 2019 Global Agency of the Year, 2021 Agency Network of the Year from Epica Awards, 2021 Immortal Awards from the Little Black Book, Named the #1 2021 Most Effective Advertising Network in the WARC Effective 100 Rankings.
Famous Alma Mater: Thomas Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss), Neil Reagan (Ronald Reagan’s brother), and many other notable people who created books, films, TV shows, action figures and more. See list at Wikipedia.
If you are sometimes surprised by all the acronyms and words that pop out of media people, you’re probably not alone. You might wonder if it’s a foreign language. Here are a few helpful links to use when the next media person comes knocking so can can speak their language. We won’t say anything if you have them tucked in your drawer for reference. This is like an open book test.
From Entrepreneur Magazine: A brief overview of media planning and buying terms here.
From Brand Watch: Brand Watch has an article about 65 social media terms.
