It’s been a crazy summer here at Side Door Media. New clients, new projects, and quite a few new faces. Good thing we hired such a talented bunch, because we’ve been keeping EXTREMELY busy. To boost our account service team, we hired Bryan Escobedo as our Senior Account Executive. Bryan was previously at Oliver Russell and I had the pleasure of working with him for a brief time when I was the GM over at that fine agency. Bryan strives for a higher plain he terms “Mexcellence” which can’t be found on Wikipedia, but translates to a passion for client service, striving hard to meet goals and finding time to train for events like Ironman triathlons.

We also bolstered our interactive and video skills by hiring Djame Goldston. Djame (pronounced DEE-yah-mee) is a grandmaster of FLASH and has some mad video editing skills which he also likes to engage in his off hours competing in wacky events like the local i48 film festival. Djame was previously at Primedia Digital and is a graduate of Boise State University.

Side Door Media is doing some really cool and innovative work that combines creative with technology based on the Adobe Indesign server platform. Fortunately we hired Roy Kimball as our Production Services Manager. Roy is the king hell expert at pre-press and has immediately taken a leadership position in developing this project from the creative side of things. The guy has a left brain/right brain melange of expertise that has been instrumental in making this project a success. Roy was described to me as “An Alaskan” with regard to his work ethic. I know Alaska is wild, big and cold so I guess the description has some meaning behind it.

We’ve also been graced by the presence of Nicole Eldredge as an account service intern. I told Nicole when she first signed on that the ad biz is not quite as glamorous as the creators of “Mad Men” would have you believe and I think she’s learned that from her real world experience. She literally saved the day by assisting with a film shoot we were conducting in Boston and has also jumped in as catcher on our softball team.

I think that gets us up to speed. We’re continuing to grow and are looking for additional team members at this very moment. We’ll keep you posted as new things develop.

We’re excited over here at Side Door Media to have a new Interactive Designer, Nicolet Lauren in our midst. Nicolet, who is not a fan of Nicollette Larson, has a degree in Graphic Design from Boise State University. We’re in love with her diverse and powerful skillset in web, print, illustration, photography, and packaging. Before joining us here in BoDo, Nicolet worked for Taco Bell Arena (I know, it’s hard to keep a straight face when you read that name) where she worked on a wide range of project from print posters to ecards and Flash animations for a diverse range of musicians including Elton John, Beyonce, and George Strait.

She’s already proven her mettle on the Xylem Elements website.

Welcome aboard, Ms. Laursen!

Everyone likes presents… maybe even more so as we get older as we expect less to be showered with them on a regular basis. As my friends start to consider or actually have children – I’ve begun to understand why this is. Everything is just more interesting in a miniature version (pink baby Uggs being a fabulous example – I hope my not-yet-pregnant sister has a girl) or if it just reminds you of being little.

The gifts or freebies we do receive as adults become all the more memorable in the right context. I ran the Memorial Day Bolder Boulder for years and years – aside from it being an all together fantastic race – that event has the best treats. Or maybe they just seem to be because of the environment? Things like little cartons of Haagen Daaz and a Diet Coke taste so much better when you’ve just killed yourself for 10k – and you want to try everything… Mountain High Yogurt, the miniature chocolate Silk Soymilk containers… it all tastes amazing at the time. I’ve become a consumer of many a product through expos. I’ve raced for well over a decade– yet still remember the Blue Sky soda they had in giant vats of ice after the Red Zinger Mini Series races in New Mexico. I couldn’t have been more than thirteen at the time.

My fiancé got back last week from over four months in Afghanistan – and I can tell you the brands of food that he and his buddies received box upon box of. Gifts are a little more memorable when they’re coming from so far – and when mail seems a little more exciting.

 Making an impact is more than just reaching your target demographic by the numbers – in the right environment, you can implant your brand benefits forever into the memory of your consumer. In one fell swoop, by reaching your target when they really need or want something, or when you can seize the opportunity to create a need, you’ve created loyalty….and a customer for life. It takes more than grass-roots efforts to build a brand, but the seeds you plant in these small, niche venues may ultimately be the greenest garden you grow.

What do you do to ensure that you’re not just reaching the right target – but that you’re reaching them in the middle of an experience they’ll remember?

After a recent trip to San Diego, I was exposed to yet another form of advertising I hadn’t seen or heard of before. 

Working within the advertising industry and attending to my daily planning and media buying duties, I am constantly exposed to many forms of traditional and non-traditional advertising.   Nothing really surprises me anymore however; this form caught my eye for several reasons which I will discuss later. 

 I don’t even really know how to categorize it because it could technically be considered a street team, but we all know there is no I in T –E – A- M.  Yes, a lone street team member, a one man show standing on the street corner tossing a 2’ by 6’ billboard in the air as if he had perhaps been a part of the local high school majorettes.  He was talented and more than likely, he had taken BILLBOARD FLIPPING/TOSSING: 101 in college.  I must have skipped class that day.

I found this form of advertising pure genius for several reasons:  Cost and Mobility/Visibility.  The cost associated with posting a billboard can be quite expensive and is usually quite stationary over a period of time.  Paying someone at least, minimum wage to hold a sign for 8-12hrs a day cuts the cost dramatically.  The nice thing about these billboards is their mobility and the ease at which they catch your eye. 

I found myself sitting at a red light several times just staring at the skill and professionalism it takes to flip the boards in various patterns all while being completely saturated with the message.  I also wanted to cheer the twirler on when the pattern of twirls, flips and twists were executed correctly without a drop.  

The nice thing is that these billboards can be moved to a different location on a whim and the reach achieved is virtually the same as any static billboard.  I could see several of our clients using this form of advertising as it is extremely cost effective and perfect for any clientele on a tight budget.  I have yet to see this form executed in the local Boise market but I guess it will happen soon.

  So, my next question is, seriously, what’s next?

Here’s a nifty new device.  

Sony just released a little, bitty flexible screen - the display is 2.5″ and it’s unbelievably thin at .01″.   A product this thin can be easily bent in the hand or wrapped around other objects.    And because it’s like dropping a piece of paper, it doesn’t break.  Sony doesn’t say specifically how this übercool technology will be employed or when, but industry analysts say this just may be the catalyst to put Sony back in the game, after falling behind flat-panel leaders Samsung and Sharp.   

Think of the portability applications - screens wrapped around dog leashes, used as book marks, slid into wallets, hugging steering wheels.   According to Sony, the screens might even be worn as clothing, offering options that today’s mobile devices can’t touch.  

Whether the world will “stand up and take notice” as predicted by Sony President Chubachi, remains to be seen, but it’s certainly a technology worth noting.  It’s just more proof positive that the media/tech world is progressively mobile and increasingly compact.  And now, wearable.  As media planners, it means more ways to connect with our audience in a contextual and niche manner.�

Last week I attended a client’s world conference in Las Vegas.  Being the always prepared, but not always prepared-on- time individual I am, I booked my trip too late to get a room where the conference was held in the MGM Grand.    Cheap being Sin City’s mantra, I’m floored when rooms at all the usual suspects are $700+ a night.   

Hotels.com unearths two options in a more palatable price range:  Hooters and Tahiti Village, a time share outfit.    I practice saying out loud (to my client), “Oh, I’m staying at Hooters - it’s lovely” and click on the guest reviews link for Tahiti Village.   Overall the reviews are excellent - the place is brand new and service/cleanliness/amenities get strong scores. Even though the property itself doesn’t go a great job of talking up the place on their website, I’m sold via the community remarks.  �

I go and the Village lives up to its reviews - very nice, quiet, comfortable.  However, while tooling around the common areas, I hear a total of three different couples complaining bitterly about the property - one gent used a very bad word as a noun to describe a hotel manager.

 Curious, I get online and hunt down reviews on sites I hadn’t referenced and find a mountain of nasty ones on Tripadvisor.com.   Over 120 reviews dating from Tahiti’s opening to the present, most detailing the horrors of dealing with Tahiti personnel. 

Turns out most are submitted by people who visited the Village as time-share purchaser prospects.   Evidently, the notion of pampering guests who are thinking about plopping down $45,000 for a one week a year is not part of the sales process.   Nor is actually inviting them to stay at the Village (ever hear of “tryvertising?”).  Instead, all were shuttled off to some Bates-like flea bag joint called The Frontier.  

What’s so unfortunate is that Tahiti Village hasn’t heard the consumers’ voice and certainly hasn’t taken any action if they have to adjust their service.  The core of their business model - sell big shares - depends on the full experience the prospects have with the brand. �

Increasingly, consumers rely on and make decisions based on community feedback and insight.  Advertisers who take full advantage of what consumers are saying - both good and bad - can mold, grow, and re-create their brands as customer needs and wants evolve.  Community gives brands the opportunity to make a bad situation right for disgruntled customers and set the stage for positive impressions and experiences for future consumers.  

As marketers we must take full advantage of the priviledge to speak with, versus at, our consumer - on a personal level, addressing their specific needs.  User-generated data arms us with the insight to begin conversations with our customers, whether it’s direct through email, mail, or blogs.  

 What is your community saying to you and how are you answering?

Greetings and welcome to Side Door Media’s blog!

Our mission is to provide insight and opinion from our team members, who hail from a diversity of disciplines. You’ll hear from media folks who, although they may have calculators permanently attached to their appendages, are really more interested in talking about what’s new, what’s cool and what’s going to be cool in media than crunching numbers. Our creative types will chime in and opine about ways cool, new and even not-so-cool are translated into compelling concepts.

We hope to inform, enlighten, and most importantly, offer conversation-starters on ad industry topics that include:

• The wildly changing, fragmenting, consumer-in-control media world.
• The integration of, and blurring of lines between, media and creative.
• What’s happening to creative development in this streamlined arena.
• Trends, trends, trends.
• The ever-morphing world of marketing 2.0 and beyond.

Check in for more and we hope you’ll join us in our on-going conversation.