Valentine’s Day + Starbucks = Love

Love is in the air this February, and if you frequent a Starbucks, you might have noticed it actually flying around your cup. Let us explain.

This Valentine’s Day, Starbucks is ushering love-birds into a whole new reality – augmented reality. Starbucks made specialty cups for Valentine’s Day which are compatible with their “Cup Magic” mobile app, first introduced during the winter holiday season last year. Starbucks lovers who place the cup in their phone’s field of vision when the app is activated come face-to-face with a Valentine’s treat: heart-shaped flower petals which appear to flutter off the cup itself. App users can share this heart-warming video with a special someone, making it one of the newest and most tech-savvy expressions of adoration around.

Starbucks clearly had a game-plan when they implemented their “Cup Magic” mobile app, specifically for Valentine’s Day. While allowing app users to send the video to their loved-ones, the company also gives them the chance to personalize their message, send gift cards (to Starbucks, of course) or force those on the receiving end of the loving message to come into a Starbucks themselves, buy a drink and use the app on their own cup to see what the personalized message says. Talk about a well-orchestrated marketing effort.

What we admire most, though, is that while Starbucks has ventured into a new reality, they are remaining consistent in their brand promise. Here’s what we mean.

Long have we admired the Starbucks brand. You feel a certain way when you’re holding one of their cups and sipping a warm coffee drink. Some may describe it as empowering. Others find it gives them an air of sophistication. Either way, Starbucks has succeeded in crafting a brand that has a broad set of positive associations or expectations that customers attach to its name. And now, patrons who have come to know Starbucks as a generator of warm, fuzzy (frothy?) feelings are feeling even more loved with these specialty cups which give them a personal experience and the opportunity to share it with someone they care about.

So, kudos to Starbucks, and let the company’s strategic genius be an example to us all of how best to strike a balance between changing with the times and remaining consistent in our promises. Hey…some might say that’s a good balance in love, too! Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!

A Super (Bowl) Challenge

Super Bowl weekend is upon us, and it’s almost expected that as a marketing firm, we discuss the upcoming barrage of commercials. You know, the usual – who’ll take the cake for best 30- or 60- second spot? What crazy stunts will be pulled this year? Will the Ferris Bueller re-take be a hit or a miss? These are the types of things that it seems everyone is talking about.

We’ve been thinking a little deeper though. As much as we love commercials (and don’t get us wrong, that Volkswagen mini Darth Vader stole our hearts last year), we’ve also been thinking more “big picture.”

What are Super Bowl commercials really about, anyway? Don’t think too hard on that one – getting the audience’s attention, of course. Whether that be with models, cars, babies, dogs, movie stars or whatever, the goal of each company that pays $3.5-4 million dollars for less than a minute’s worth of time is to be noticed – to grab people’s attention and keep people talking. Still, the biggest beef people usually have with Super Bowl commercials is that they remember the commercial but not the brand.

Don’t let that happen to you.

Here’s our Super Bowl challenge. Consider your marketing strategy. How are you positioning your brand to be recognized and remembered? Is your biggest marketing effort a monthly ad in a local magazine? Great. How are you going to make your ad stand out from the other 30 in the publication? Are you thinking about redesigning your logo, or are you just starting out and creating a logo for the first time? Awesome. What are you going to do to make prospective customers connect with the image?

Truth be told, most of us cannot afford million dollar TV spots. But, regardless, we can still make the most of our marketing efforts by ensuring careful thought is put into the message and medium.

Since we are marketing professionals and we can’t resist engaging in this conversation, comment here or tweet @CoalesceInc and let us know your favorite Super Bowl commercials. Better yet, give us a call at 920.380.4444 to discuss ways to wow your audience.

The “New” Social Media Landscape

I know. I know. “New” is relative. Technically, all social media is still “new.” But I wanted to post about a few sites that have caught my eye as “newer.”

We all know that you use Facebook to connect with friends and post comments, pictures and status updates. We all know that you use Twitter to express your thoughts in 140 characters or less. Here’s what you should know about Pinterest and Tumblr.

Pinterest is an online pinboard. You can have several boards – one for food, one for exercise, one for good books. The list goes on. Members are able to “pin” photos from websites or upload images from their own computer onto their boards. Real life example: if you were reading this blog and decided you wanted to reference it in the future, you could pin it to your “Worth Reading” board. Wink. Wink. You can also follow other “pinners” and “repin” anything that catches your eye.

Tumblr is a blogging platform that allows users to post articles, pictures and videos. Users can have public profiles with followers or keep their blogs private. Multiple people can easily contribute to one blog. Real life example: if Coalesce had a Tumblr account, we’d probably have snapped a photo of Todd eating his quadruple-decker cheese sandwich (complete with multiple types of cheese spread AND cheese curds) at lunch today and immediately posted it to our site. According to Tumblr, one of its best features is its ease of use.

Both Pinterest and Tumblr offer some unique and exciting features and are gaining popularity. What does this mean for you and your business? Well, in my opinion, it’s important to remember not to bite off more than you can chew – and I’m not just talking about Todd’s cheese sandwich.

Before you jump on the bandwagon of every social media platform out there, take time to figure out what you stand to gain. Remember the importance of engaging with your target market. Is your audience likely to be on Tumblr or is Facebook still a better fit? That being said, could you find a niche for yourself on Pinterest and attract new business with the help of loyal customers pinning your products? Do your products even lend themselves to being pinned?

Social media platforms are not one size fits all, and new sites require time and resources to learn and understand. As a rule of thumb, regardless of which social media platforms you use, remember the importance of fresh content. Tell or show your audience what it wants to hear when and where it wants to hear it. Be original. That way, no matter how the tides of social media change, you and your business will never go out of style.

What is Good Writing?

Writing is everywhere. In the business world, we often think of writing in the form of press releases and company brochures, but it spans far beyond those mediums. They are certainly important, but it’s likely that your audience will turn to other sources that demonstrate your writing prowess. Your company website, your blog and your social media posts are often where customers will learn the most about your organization. The quality of your writing will certainly make an impression.

I recently read an article about the importance of writing good first sentences. It got me thinking about what aspects of writing I believe to be important. I asked my coworkers to add their two cents, based on their own writing – and reading – experiences. Here’s what we’ve come up with.

Five Keys to Good Writing

1. Write with a purpose. If you’ve got a point, make it. Don’t dance around an issue. Be clear and concise. State your opinion, and be sure it is truly your opinion you are stating. Anyone can simply pass along someone else’s thoughts.
2. Write in a voice that’s true to your brand. Don’t try to imitate another writer’s style. Be yourself. If you’re trying to be someone else, you’ll lose the respect of your readers
3. Write for your target audience. Find your niche and speak to those readers. Write about what they want to know.
4. Understand that you can’t please everyone. If you try, you’ll end up writing watered-down jargon that won’t please anyone.
5. Proofread. Proofread. Proofread.

Now, admittedly, good writing also includes other components such as a good title, a good opening sentence and a good conclusion. Likewise, the type of writing you’re doing will probably determine what makes it good. What works for a press release will not work for a tweet. Nevertheless, don’t underestimate the power of writing. If your audience thinks your writing is good, there’s a good chance they’ll associate it with good work, good products and good people.

What do you think is the most important component of good writing? Tweet @CoalesceInc and let us know!

What Coupons Can Do For You

I’ve been in a hair rut as of late. Bear with me. I have a point. Here’s the thing, I’m in between styles and everything having to do with my long locks has gone flat. I’ve been in the midst of trying to figure out a new do, lamenting my current hair products and at the same time cursing the shampoo gods for making their creamy lather so expensive.

Cue a coupon miracle.

The other day, I happened to be flipping through the weekend circular, the Target ad to be exact, and I came across a promotion for a 2 for $5 deal for a specific company’s hair products. “Wow,” I thought, doing the math in my head, “that means I can get BOTH my shampoo and conditioner for only 5 bucks.” My spirits began to rise. I then decided to check out a few couponing sites as well as the Target.com on the off chance I could maximize the potential of this deal with a manufacturer’s coupon. After all, we’re in a digital age, and I figured just maybe this company had thought ahead and considered Jenny Customer (aka me) who was looking for a deal through her most used media platform. Lo and behold, I found an online $1 off coupon put out by the company of the product I was thinking of buying.

My decision was made.

Even when I got to the store and was bombarded with a number of other offers as I perused the shampoo aisle, I stuck with my first choice. Why? Because I had a coupon; it was a great deal; and I felt like the company was trying to help me out – a simple consumer with hair issues.

What’s the moral of this story? Coupons work. At a time when money is tight and everyone is looking for ways to pinch pennies, coupons are a great way to build rapport with customers. Shoot, I’m so pleased with my recent coupon experience (and, for the record, I’m loving my new shampoo), I may just become a brand loyalist.

What’s more, as my experience shows, coupon placement is everything. If you’re thinking of offering a coupon promotion or a discount for your services, think about where your target audience is most likely going to see it, and put it there. Need help brainstorming? We’d love to chat with you! Give our office a call at 920-380-4444.

Ringing in the New Year

Is it really the end of 2011? How did that happen? Here at the office we’ve been busy finalizing projects and gearing up for 2012. And, when we stop to think about it, we’re excited to usher in our 8^th year of business at Coalesce! That being said, we thought it may be helpful to jot down a sort of New Year “to-do” list, one that isn’t so much filled with new resolutions but rather underscores the commitments we’ve made to our clients from the beginning. I guess you could say our core resolutions haven’t changed since 2004.

These are things that we feel are exceptionally important when it comes to carrying out business at Coalesce:

1. Doing our homework – Putting in the time to do quality market research pays off. We know the value of having background information about the industry we’re serving, and we make it a point to become experts.
2. Listening closely – Understanding exactly what it is that makes our clients and their companies tick is of utmost importance to us. By listening closely, we’re able to work with clients to hone in on solutions to challenges and in turn help them build strong customer relationships and succeed financially.
3. Communicating openly – We want our clients to succeed. Period. So, not only will we listen to them and their ideas, but we’ll also bring our strategic and creative expertise to the table. We’ll always be honest, and we’ll always keep our clients in-the-loop when it comes to progress updates.
4. Having fun – We love our job. We have fun doing what we do, and we like nothing more than when clients feel so comfortable with us that they begin to consider us their friends. We know that it never pays to take yourself too seriously, and accordingly, we’re all about laughing and learning new things each day.

So, there you have it. Our standards. And as we step back and reflect on an eventful 2011 and look forward to good things to come, we wanted to take a moment to thank our wonderful clients, colleagues and community partners. You make our job fulfilling and fun, and we so appreciate you!

Happy New Year, everyone!

Holiday Hits List

Whether you refuse to let yourself listen to Christmas music until after Thanksgiving or if you’ve been jamming to holiday tunes since early October, we’re betting that by this point you’ve noticed an influx in newly released Christmas albums this season.

Musicians have wowed us with remakes of traditional classics. Michael Bublé’s “Silent Night,” anyone? They’ve also come up with their fair share of original hits. You know you have Bieber fever as much as the next guy when you find yourself quietly (or not so quietly) humming along to “Mistletoe.” Be honest.

What’s more, we’ve been enjoying the holiday-themed videos created to match artists’ hits. Not to overdo it with the Biebs or anything, but he sure knows how to maximize his presence on YouTube. His videos for “Mistletoe” and “All I want for Christmas is you” have viewings of 75,528,956 and 14,355,154 respectively, showing the vast reach of video as a marketing tool.

Here at the office, we took a quick survey to see what’s trending on our iPods this holiday season – both new hits and classics. With no further ado and in no particular order, we present to you…the Coalesce Holiday Hits List:

1. “12 Days of Christmas” – Straight No Chaser*
2. “We Wish You the Merriest” – Les Brown and His Band Of Renown
3. “Cold December Night” – Michael Bublé
4. “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” – John Lennon
5. “The Christmas Song” – Dave Matthews Band
6. “Carol of the Bells” – August Burns Red
7. “Oh Come All Ye Faithful” – Twisted Sister
8. “Shake Up Christmas” – Train
9. “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo” – Trans Siberian Orchestra
10. “Marshmallow World” – Dean Martin & Frank Sinatra
11. “We Need a Little Christmas” – The Muppet Show
12. “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” – Andy Williams
13. “Do They Know It’s Christmas” – Slade
14. “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas” – Gayla Peevey
15. “Blue Christmas” – Porky Pig

*Another YouTube phenom, Straight No Chaser went from being a little-heard of a cappella group out of Indiana University to a nationally known sensation all because their 12 Days of Christmas video went viral. Check it out for some holiday entertainment (with an ‘80s twist!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fe11OlMiz8&ob=av2e

Coalesce Holiday Spirit Non-Profit Nominees

We wanted to recognize all of the non-profit organizations that were nominated by community members through our Holiday Spirit giveaway. We were amazed by the feedback, and we join all those who responded in giving kudos to these organizations for the work that they do for and in our community.

• American Cancer Society – Relay for Life – New London
• Appleton Boy Choir
• Appleton Downtown, Inc
• Appleton Education Foundation, Inc.
• Appleton YMCA
• Best Friends of Neenah-Menasha
• Big Brothers, Big Sisters
• Boston Terrier Network of WI-Menasha
• Boys & Girls Club of the Fox Valley
• Celebrating Brad Foundation
• CHAPS
• Chilton Humane Society
• Coats for Kids Program
• Community Benefit Tree
• Community Clothes Closet
• Community Foundation – LFC Endowment
• Emergency Shelter of the Fox Valley
• Family & Childcare Resources of N.E.W
• Fox Valley Food Pantry
• Fox Valley Warming Shelter
• Freedom House
• Future Neenah Inc.
• Goodwill Industries
• Greater Green Bay Women’s Fund
• Habitat for Humanity
• Harbor House
• KaBOOM!
• Lawrence University
• Miracle League
• NAMI Fox Valley
• Neenah Middle School Drama Club
• Rebuilding Together Fox Valley
• St. John School, Little Chute
• St. Joseph Food Program
• Syble Hopp School
• The Building for Kids
• The Child Advocacy Center
• The Gardens of the Fox Cities
• The Salvation Army
• The Trout Museum of Art
• Valley Academy for the Arts
• Volunteer Center of East Central WI
• YMCA
• YMCA – Strong Kids
• Youth Go, Inc.

Santa’s Elves Are Wearing Orange This Year!

Here at Coalesce, we’ve been spreading holiday cheer in more ways than one.

Last week, we kicked off the holiday season with a bang. Our company Christmas party provided many laughs and a great chance to celebrate a happy 2011.

We’ve been using our lunch hour to catch up on Christmas classics like Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

And, taking a cue from Rudolph (well, I guess from Hermie – though he wanted to be a dentist, so maybe not), we’ve also been channeling our inner elves. Recently, we encouraged friends, clients and community partners to grow their holiday spirit with us. Our contest to win $500 to donate to an area non-profit organization was a huge success. We had over 85 applicants, all giving extremely worthy explanations for why they were nominating the non-profit they had chosen.

The winner of our holiday spirit giveaway random drawing is Jim Bott from Fulfillnet. And, the non-profit of his choice is Goodwill Industries. For more information: http://www.coalescemarketing.com/news.php?id=2011HolidaySpirit . Thank you to everyone who entered and for your heartfelt support of area non-profits. Holiday spirit is definitely in the air!

What Butterball Has Done Well – A Turkey Brand Analysis

Butterball produces 20% of the nation’s turkeys – they are the largest producer in theUnited States. What do they have that’s earned them a monopoly on the Thanksgiving turkey market? We wanted to know, too.

Here’s what we’ve determined:

A recognizable and well-sustained logo – You see the blue and yellow, and you know it’s Butterball. Furthermore, people have been shopping for Butterball turkeys for over 50 years. From what we can tell, not much has changed in the design of their logo. Granted, that’s not always a good thing, but in this case, Butterball understands that if it isn’t broke, you don’t need to fix it. They haven’t messed with the name and image that are nearly universally recognizable, especially around Thanksgiving. Why would you?

Customer Service – Patrons can call the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line 1-800-BUTTERBALL
Weekdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. to speak with an actual person who will answer their turkey questions. Talk about making yourself available! Similarly, the Butterball Facebook page has been bombarded with inquiries and compliments. None have gone unanswered. Butterball engages with consumers, making them feel appreciated. These positive habits not only boost their brand image for first time customers, but will also keep their diehard fans coming back for more.

Resources aplenty! – Butterball’s website is full of helpful links and directions, not only for cooking turkeys, but also for engaging the kids in cooking and for decorating the dinner table. They clearly have researched their target market and figured out the best ways to reach their intended audience. And, not only do they have resources, but their resources are easy to use, mostly because their website is easy to navigate. It makes drooling over turkey, that much more fun.

That being said, we tip our hat to the Butterball brand. Thanks for the great positive practice reminders. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Office Fun – The Logo Game

The abrupt change from fall to winter weather and the inches of snow accumulating outside left the Coalesce Crew feeling less like leaving the office for lunch today and more like hunkering down for some good quality time together. After all, there’s nothing like a little co-worker bonding. For us, that meant ordering pizza and playing The Logo Game during our lunch break.

If you’re not familiar with The Logo Game, it consists of a series of questions pertaining to brand logos, slogans, products, spokes-people and many other obscure references. The game itself was a great way to stretch our minds after a busy morning and to gear up for more work this afternoon. It also led to some hilarious moments.

Who knew “Duncan Hines” is, in fact, the name of a cake-mix maker and not, as was otherwise thought by one of our colleagues, a way to say “good bye” in another language? And, if you had no idea that the SunMaid Raisin girl’s bonnet is now in a major national museum, you’re in good company. We didn’t know either!

Despite some of our logo-knowledge short comings, we all enjoyed the game and were able to get quite a few questions correct. Maybe the adverse driving conditions this winter season will encourage some more office lunch hour fun. We’ll keep you posted!

For now, “Duncan Hines!”

Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is this month. It really is a time to reflect upon everything you are grateful for. It’s also a time to eat some tasty food! There are definitely some staples for a Thanksgiving Day feast: turkey, cranberries, stuffing, potatoes, gravy and PIE!

A couple of things most people do not wavier on when it comes to the Thanksgiving Day meal. In fact, they will fight to the nail to have them their way. Yes, the things I’m speaking of are cranberries and stuffing. You either want your cranberries from a can or you want homemade cranberry sauce. The same with the stuffing – either you want it homemade or you want yourself some Stovetop!

Out of curiosity, a poll was taken here at Coalesce to see where everyone stands on these ever important issues.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, even if you like your cranberries from a can and Stovetop stuffing!