Media Magic Weblog

Amazing…I just learned about widgets last week, but I’ve been using them for quite sometime.

 

An exciting entry into the world of emerging media, Widgets are an element of a graphical user interface that displays information or provides a specific way for a user to interact with the operating system and application. Widgets include icons, pull-down menus, buttons, selection boxes, progress indicators, on-off checkmarks, scroll bars, windows, window edges (that let you resize the window), toggle buttons, forms, and many other devices for displaying information and for inviting, accepting, and responding to user actions.

 

Apple recently released a list of the top 50 downloaded widgets. Here’s a few to note:

 

#1 Earthview 2.0 allows you to view the world from your chosen viewpoint.

 

#5 Radar in Motion – Displays animated weather maps from weather.com and NOAA

 

#6 Sing that ITune! 3.1.10 – A lyric fetcher widget for iTunes

 

#17 NFL Scheduler 1.0 – Display football team schedules

 

#27 Cocktail 1.0 – Convert your desktop into a bar top with this handy bartender’s reference

 

Companies utilize widgets as well. My favorite…Southwest Airlines

 

For Southwest Airlines, Ding translates to ka-ching. Ding is a widget that alerts its users to discounted airline fares. Only two and one-half years old, Ding is one of the oldest widgets out there. But in its short life, it has helped Southwest rack up 150 million dollars of ticket sales. Equally impressive, 45 percent of the flyers who have booked a flight featured on Ding come back for more. Not everyone’s adding widgets just to keep up with the Joneses — they’re popular because they work.

 

http://www.videoactivereport.com/southwest_airlines_ding_widget_racks_up_150_million_in_ticket_sales

 

 

I don’t know about you, but I don’t know too many young children that know the difference between fact and fiction, or advertising and the real world.

 

Let’s take McDonald’s and Burger King for example. Their goal is to market to children through fun and exciting movies, games, websites and toys while proving to offer healthy menu items at an affordable price to parents.

 

 

 

McDonald’s used to do this through Ronald McDonald. Grimmace, Hamburglar, Mayor McCheese and the gang while promoting their high fat and calorie menu items like French Fries, Quarter Pounders and Chicken McNuggets YUM…. But thanks to government reports showing how these companies were contributing to America’s Obesity Epidemic, and documentaries like Super Size Me, these companies quickly had to change their ways. Check out the original movie trailer for Super Size Me.

 

 

 

Now we see McDs has made a major change to their menu and marketing. They offer health menu alternatives like salads and fruit slices and promote physical activity on their kids website. Overall, I applaud McDs for their efforts.

 

It’s easy to make an impression on kids and as marketers I believe we need to be responsible. Irresponsible marketing can lead to issues such as low self esteem, obesity, confusion about credit cards and financial responsibility, etc.

 

Dear Loyal Readers…(a.k.a. my Mom & Dad),

 

I’d like to thank you for sticking with me these past couple of posts. After re-reading my posts, I’ve realized my entries are a snooze-fest. Sorry if I’ve put any of you to sleep, feel free to recommend my blog to any of your friends and family who suffer from insomnia! Even better, if the makers of Lunesta are reading…let’s make a deal! I bet I could write some great ad copy for you!

 

 

So, now that I’ve come to the realization that I suffer from blogger’s block, I ask you…what would YOU like to discuss in terms of emerging media and the effect it has on your life? After all, this is a two-way relationship.

While the goal of this blog is to discuss new and emerging types of media and how they relate to the overall Integrated Marketing Concept, this week I challenge readers to explore ways to tap into the magic of traditional concepts such as TV advertising, radio, newspaper and direct mail.

Is it wise for companies to utilize new media only? Can a new company survive and get the word out without the help of radio, TV or print? It certainly seems that with today’s limited marketing budgets a company can get more “bang for their buck” with online advertising vs. television advertising.

Let’s compare a: 30 TV spot to a banner ad.  According to Forrester Research:

:30 TV Spot

Actual Cost: $4,000 to $5,000    

Cost Per Thousand: $12 to $15

Web Banner Advertisement:

Actual Cost: $1,000 to $5,000      

Cost Per Thousand:  $5 to $50

This research would lead one to believe that it is much more cost effective to utilize the web than traditional cable television. However, let’s look at a company that was already established online through banner ads and e-mail campaigns, and chose to get the word out to the masses through radio and television: http://eharmony.com/

 

eHarmony established a new category within an online market that many considered to be dominated by two well-established Internet brands in Match.com and Yahoo.

eHarmony took 18 months to gain its first 100,000 users which came mainly through Internet marketing. However, eHarmony got its first major growth spurt by being featured on a Christian radio program, Focus on the Family hosted by James Dobson, resulting in over 100,000 registrations in just a few weeks.

eHarmony gained scale by making use of TV and radio advertising, growing from a $10M per year business to a $100M+ per year business. They received immediate returns on TV commercial campaigns and re-invested those profits into more TV commercials. They spent 2000, 2001, and 2002 proving the success of the product and the user operating metrics to justify increased spend on marketing.

 Greg Waldorf, early investor and current CEO of eHarmony believes that the main key to eHarmony’s success was that quite simply, the service works. eHarmony produced a large number of success stories (marriages) for its users, which fueled the positive word of mouth amongst consumers.

eHarmony generated a good amount of PR once it began producing real success stories for consumers. This was not PR manufactured by putting out a press release and targeting media outlets. These were real people that wanted to tell their stories on TV, radio, and print. eHarmony made for a great human interest story.

 

 

 

I guess the right combination of traditional techniques and emerging media will be…An Everlasting Love.