From a media perspective

Logos often appear on a brand’s products, but they also appear on television, billboards, in magazines, and online. The mass media make it easy for consumers to see hundreds of logos in a day as we are bombarded with advertisements nearly everywhere we go.

A logo can be a very important part of a brand’s image, as it is a visual representation of the company. When people become familiar with a logo, they begin to associate it with the brand, and they eventually identify the brand by the visual.

Often logos can hold as much or more power than the brand’s visual name. For example, when most people see bright golden arches, they know right away that it represents the McDonald’s fast food chain. Take a look at the McDonald’s arches logo and the McDonald’s brand name below. Both are parts of the brand’s image, but it is likely that the golden arches resonate with you more quickly than the text does.

Having a strong logo is a very important part of creating and marketing a brand. Below are some of the most widely recognizable logos of today. Notice the simplistic approach that most of the brands chose for their logo, which include basic shapes and a limited number of colors.

One of my favorite logos of all time may be the simplest of them all, which is why I like it the most. Do you recognize it? Hint: April 15th.

Tags: brand, corporate, Logo, visual identity
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Millions of viewers are tuning in to the Discovery Channel’s popular series

The time is finally here: it’s the 23rd annual “Shark Week” on the Discovery Channel.

Shark Week is one of my favorite series, though I’m not sure exactly what draws me to it. It might be that I’m a SCUBA diver and enjoy seeing what lives in our oceans. (I once chased a shark on a dive, a beautiful shark, about 3.5-4 feet long. It was great until it disappeared, and I was left looking high, looking low and wondering where it might turn up next.) Or it might be that I watched JAWS when I was young and it left a major impression on me.

Nielsen will release stats for this week’s viewership next week, and I expect this year’s Shark Week will be another record-breaker for the Discovery Channel. Viewership is measured with household (HH) ratings and millions of viewers. A HH rating is a percentage of the target audience who is watching the show based on the total population.

According to a press release from the Discovery Channel this week, this year’s kickoff show, “Ultimate Air Jaws,” averaged 2.15 HH rating and was the second-highest Shark Week telecast of all time. That means 2.15% of all households with TVs were watching Shark Week on Sunday night.

Social media is helping to increase viewership, as well. One of my colleagues here at MB logged into Facebook on Sunday and noticed several friends’ status updates mentioning excitement about Shark Week.

If you’re among the millions of viewers watching Shark Week (you can catch up on missed episodes here) and now want to meet some personally, here are some tips that can save your life in the event of an attack:

1. Don’t panic. (So simple, right?)
2. Be aware of your surroundings.
3. Have a flotation device. If you don’t have a Buoyancy Compensator or life preserver, look for a makeshift flotation device. This could be an empty cooler, boat cushion, etc.
4. If you’re injured, bind your wounds. Shark love the scent of blood. You need to stop any bleeding you have.
5. Get a weapon. This can be a fishing rod or even some driftwood, etc. You will want to fight for your life until a rescue boat comes. Aim to hit any approaching shark on its nose or gills.

And remember, of the more than 100 types of sharks in the world, only 20 have been known to attack people. Happy swimming!

Tags: current events, Media
Posted in Media | 1 Comment »

Ready for some more information about rich media?

Phrases of the week: Rich Media Interaction Rate and Rich Media Expandable Banner

What do they mean? A rich media interaction rate is the proportion of users who interact with an ad. Interaction rate is calculated by dividing the total rich media impressions by the number of rich media interactions. (An interaction is an ad impression where the user has interacted with the ad. An interaction can be a user-initiated roll-over, panel activity, or click-through on a banner.)

Rich media expandable banners are creative units that have two main states: collapsed and expanded. The collapsed portion – which you’ll see first – expands with user interaction.

Tags: Advertising, Media, online
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Whirlpool launched an expandable rich media banner on GreenBuilderMag.com in June that will run for three months. This high-impact unit is a 920×60 that expands downward to a 920×400 and contains various hot spots that the user can hover over for more information about that specific product.

This kind of rich media banner comes with many reporting metrics, in addition to the standard media metrics such as number of impressions, number of clicks, and click-through rate.

Tags: Advertising, Media, online
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Optimism and inspiration were in the forecast

It’s no surprise that optimism and inspiration at trade shows ebb and flow with industry and economic changes. The forecast is easily read on the faces of exhibitors and attendees. Having spent many years meeting with media at various industry conferences and shows, it is always eye-opening to get a read on the state of an industry from the media. Because they are working up-close and personally within many corners of an industry, they are often on the forefront when the tide starts to shift for the good or bad.

Clearer skies predicted

If the mood of the media attending this year’s NeoCon show is foretelling, there is plenty of optimism in the air. Attended by approximately 40,000 architects, designers, facility managers and large institutions, NeoCon gives a peek into the design world’s newest thinking, products and services. Much of the optimism at this year’s exposition stemmed from commercial projects in healthcare, medical facilities and federal developments. Designers, manufacturers and media all agree this is the place to be. The excitement was a welcome relief for many at the show, and we hope to see it continue in coming months.

Inspired by the next generation

On a fun note, one of the most inspirational moments of the show for me came from a very unexpected source: an aspiring 13-year-old journalist.

The Kimball Office showroom couldn’t have been a more fitting meeting place to discuss Alternative Workplace Strategies for multigenerational work forces with 13-year-old Liam Kirkbride and his father, Rob. Both were sporting press badges for the office industry’s Monday Morning Quarterback. Between Liam, his father, my younger co-worker, and me, we certainly had “generational work forces” covered. Liam’s reactions and genuine curiosity brought optimism of a different kind: a look into the mind of our future journalists.

In a strange juxtaposition, as the father and son journalists departed, I couldn’t help but notice the 13-year-old was wearing highly shined dress shoes and dress clothes while the more seasoned reporter sported Onisuka Tiger tennis shoes and a more comfortable set of digs. It will be interesting to see how the two generations of journalists influence each other’s wardrobes and work styles.

Cheers to the new, fresh, young journalists.

Tags: Commentary, current events, Events, Public Relations
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In my post on June 8, I outlined the differences between standard and rich media. Today, let’s take that topic a little further and delve into more details about rich media.

Phrases of the week: Rich Media Impressions and Rich Media Interactions

What do they mean? Rich media impressions are impressions delivered by a rich media ad unit. Often, when a rich media unit runs on a website, both rich media impressions and standard impressions are counted. The reason for this is when a user’s computer does not comply with the rich media unit, a standard banner will run in its place, thus counting a standard media impression. It is very common for standard impressions to be counted when running rich media units, especially for users who are running older computers and outdated browsers.

Rich media interactions are the ad impressions in which there has been an interaction by a user. An interaction can be a user-initiated roll-over, panel activity, or click-through on a banner.

Tags: Advertising, Media, online
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Three phrases for the price of one today!

Phrases of the week: Run of Site (ROS), Run of Channel (ROC), and Run of Network (RON)

What do they mean? All of these phrases refer to the distribution of an online ad within a website or network. Each offers you a way to get a lower rate in exchange for your flexibility.

A Run of Site ad can appear on any page within a website at random. You could see it on the home page, the news page, the about page, etc.

A Run of Channel ad runs within a specific channel on a website. Channels are sections of a website that contain like information and are typically located at the top of a page as tabs. For example, CNN.com has numerous news channels, including U.S., World, Politics, Health, and more. You choose the channel that is most appropriate for your ad.

A Run of Network ad can run throughout a network of websites. The network can be a large advertising network or a smaller network made up of a few similar websites. For example, the Wall Street Journal Digital Network includes WSJ.com, Barrons.com, and MarketWatch.com.

Each of these will be stated up front in your advertising agreement.

Tags: Advertising, Media, online
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Kimball Office Silver Campaign

Kimball Office is featuring its Silver product in a media campaign that includes both print and online.

The online portion of the campaign will run from March through June and will target the architect and design communities, as well as high-net-worth individuals.

Kimball Office will reach the architect and design audience through trade websites, but the high-net-worth individuals will be targeted through the Wall Street Journal Digital Network. Banner ads — 300×250 and 728×90 versions — will run throughout the entire network as run-of-network placements from March 15 through May 30.

Tags: Advertising, Media, online
Posted in Advertising, Media | 1 Comment »

We’re taking it old-school for the digital vocab lesson this week. Well, old-school names, new-school meanings.

Phrases of the week: Above the Fold (ATF) and Below the Fold (BTF)

What do they mean? Both refer to the location in which an online banner ad is placed on a web page. The terms originated in reference to newspaper advertising placement and have now carried over to the web.

Above the Fold on the web means the advertisement can be viewed without scrolling either horizontally or vertically on the page. Most online ad networks define suitable ATF placement as within 500 or 600 pixels of the top of the page.

Below the Fold, understandably, means the opposite. To see a BTF advertisement, the user must scroll either horizontally or vertically on the web page. Banner ads located BTF are considered to have a lower value because the user may not always scroll and see the advertisement, yet an impression will still be tracked.

Tags: Advertising, Media, online
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PERC Launches Online

The Propane Education and Research Council (PERC) launched its 2010 online campaign on March 1. The campaign targets the residential construction marketplace, which includes builders, remodelers, and architects/specifiers, and aims to help them better understand the advantages of building with propane.

At this time, the campaign consists of all Hanley Wood site partners, including BuilderOnline, BigBuilderOnline, Remodeling, and Custom Home Online. More sites will be added as the campaign progresses.

All online banners click through to the PERC website.

Tags: Advertising, Media, online
Posted in Advertising, Media | 1 Comment »