Irish Eyes Smile at CMA!

Every once in a while, CMA takes a break from event planning, association management and marketing to celebrate and have fun! Last week was no exception with our festive St. Patrick's Day party, complete with Bingo games and a contest to see who could dress the greenest. The unanimous contest winner was Meghan Higgins, Public Relations Account Executive (pictured with green wig above), who overwhelmingly proved her Irish pride. Elizabeth Roe, Association Coordinator, is also pictured with the prize for the winner of Bingo—CMA Party Pounds, our studio's unique creation that allows staff members free snacks from the vending machine. We just can't help but be creative!

What Were Your Favorite Super Bowl Commercials?

Even though the Super Bowl is now behind us, this major event aired some alarming, creative and even sometimes disturbing commercials that left us talking long after the game was over. Anyone who works with CMA knows we’re always paying attention to creativity and it’s not just our design team. We asked all of our employees to weigh in on some of their favorite Super Bowl commercials. Let us know which one you thought made the biggest impact!

“My two favorite Super Bowl ads were the Bridgestone one with the man and the beaver and the Doritos one when the guy licks another guy’s fingers and pants to get all the cheese from the Doritos.”

Erin Higgins, Director of Marketing Services

“My picks for the best Super Bowl commercials were the Audi-escape the old luxury, the animated fire breathing dragon, now a confetti dragon after having a Coke, the VW one with the little boy dressed up as Darth Vader, the Bridgestone one where the beaver saves the driver from the washed away bridge and the KIA one where everyone is stealing the car.”

Melanie Kotsonis, Executive Assistant

“My favorite was the Chrysler “Imported from Detroit” ad. It was a powerful way to solidify the brand after all of the issues the car industry has had recently. Though I’d have to admit having two commercials (Brisk Ice Tea) with Eminem with such different messages felt a little off overall.

In general, I felt the ads were a little disappointing. With all the advance promotions online, I felt like I’d already seen the commercials well before the game.”

Kelly McKelvey, Marketing Account Executive

“I also liked the Audi-escape the old luxury and the VW Darth Vader kid - what a great tie in to their PR campaign.

The one that surprisingly got the biggest laughs in my house was the Go Daddy one with Joan Rivers and pretty much all of the Doritos ads (the one where the Doritos brings the dead fish back to life was the best).

I also liked Hyundai’s campaign overall—they had some really interesting graphics and special effects…one even had a cool car kaleidoscope effect.”

Kaitlin Friedmann, Public Relations Manager

“Overall, I felt like the commercials weren’t that impressive this year. The only one that sticks in my mind is the creepy Doritos guy…but more for the creep factor than the funny factor.”

Jennifer Thayer, Association Manager

“My favorite commercials were the VW commercial where the little Darth Vadar makes the car start and the Doritos commercial, where the man is house sitting and sprinkles Doritos on everything to make them better and brings his friend’s Grandfather back to life.”

Corie Eisenberg, Marketing Coordinator

Like a Well-Oiled Machine

There are so many teamwork clichés. “Two heads are better than one.” “There’s no ‘I’ in team.” The list goes on. But we take teamwork very seriously at CMA, especially since developing and executing a marketing plan, for instance, often entails a lot of moving parts. It’s extremely hard to be creative without different sounding boards to bounce ideas off of. For us, it’s three basic ideas that define our teamwork philosophy:

Brainstorming
Last week alone, CMA held multiple brainstorming sessions for different client projects. These sessions are often interdisciplinary, where it’s common for someone from the PR department to contribute to the development of an ad, or an event planner to sit in on a marketing strategy session. We look for fresh perspectives and draw on the experiences of one another regularly.

Quality Control
Every piece, whether it’s a press release, a capabilities brochure or website home page, is circulated to different members of the account team to ensure quality. Each team member takes time to review the material and add suggestions. With this process in place, a consensus is formed, quality is assured and the final product presented to a client is a collective team effort.

Responsiveness
People go on vacations, get sick and take business trips—it’s a part of life. But we never want a client to feel their needs have to wait until their main contacts are back in the office. Prior to any anticipated travel, CMA team members work out who will provide back-up coverage to assist with certain projects. These support people are brought into meetings and cross-trained on time-sensitive projects early on to ensure they can take the reins when needed.

Client service is a huge priority at CMA and the foundation for it is an organized game plan. After all, clichéd or not, TEAM really does spell out “Together Everyone Achieves More!”

Jeffrey Barnhart
President and CEO
jbarnhart@cmasolutions.com

How Heavily Should You Rely on Social Media?

We’ve discussed social media strategies quite a bit since the inception of CMA Central, but it’s an ongoing conversation that needs to be had, as many organizations have come to rely on various social media to stay connected to key audiences.

But how much is too much reliance on social media?

In one of the most poignant speeches on creativity I’ve heard in a long time, Brian Crooks, a seasoned creative director and regional speaker, cautioned a crowd of New Jersey Communications Advertising and Marketing Association members to be careful about two particular things: 1) don’t proclaim anything “dead,” and 2) don’t put all of your eggs into the social media basket.

I tend to agree with Brian’s perspective, where social media should exist as just another medium to be considered. As creative professionals, it’s our challenge to create a plan where a website, traditional printed pieces, public relations and perhaps social media campaign interlock and complement each other in a way that resonates with the target audience. The tactics are a means to an end—a way to achieve the goal—and not necessarily the goal themselves.

CMA creates social media campaigns where it makes sense. Is your target audience on LinkedIn, for example? We won’t direct resources and energy in any area of social media until we are sure it’s the best medium to reach them. It helps to start to dip your toes into the waters of social media yourself, if you haven’t already. For the best information on new social media developments and guides, check out Mashable.com to learn more about social media’s capabilities for business applications. Or give us a call to learn more about the ways we can help you determine the path that’s right for you and your brand.

Jeff Barnhart
President and CEO
jbarnhart@cmasolutions.com

Are You Recycling Your Marketing Ideas?

With Earth Day upon us this week, you’ll be reminded once again of all the ways you can better serve our environment through reducing your consumption, reusing various items and, of course, recycling. But take a moment to consider recycling in another light—one that could be damaging your reputation among key target audiences.

Sometimes clients will tell us “that’s what we’ve always done” when referring to their marketing strategies. Sometimes this is a good thing. Often times, it’s not. Marketing is about innovation and keeping in touch with your audience’s needs and desires, so ask yourself how you can keep it fresh before you fall into the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” way of complacent thinking.

Here are some ways CMA can help keep your marketing messages and graphics fresh and enticing:

Just ask. When was the last time you conducted research on your target market? Have you ever sent a survey to them? Sometimes a simple e-mail survey can work wonders to help you pinpoint the right words and graphics that will resonate with key decision-makers.

Update your brand and/or campaign. One of the most successful advertising campaigns in history is Geico’s series of “caveman” spots. Sensing that their target audience had been oversaturated with these characters (remember when there was a sit-com based on them?), Geico changed the way the cavemen were portrayed in their commercials, often showing very little of their faces and limiting their dialogue. CMA’s veteran designers are in touch with cutting edge imagery as well as what still traditionally communicates to key audiences—maintain your identity, but be sure to review it periodically.

Keep an eye on your competitors. Through CMA’s Marketecture™ strategic process, we are able to help clients set aside time to analyze the competitive landscape, ultimately helping you think like your customer. Be sure to monitor what types of messages, images, and concepts are they being hit with by your competitors. When you know it’s time for a change, make sure you’re not duplicating an idea that’s been done well by your competitors—you don’t want to be pinned as a company that recycles others’ marketing ideas, but you need to be aware of what they are doing.

Avoid non industry-specific clichés. Flip through the pages of any magazine in virtually any industry and I guarantee you’ll spot an advertisement with a goldfish in a bowl. Unless you are a pet store, chances are your audience will miss the point because it doesn’t speak to what you do. Don’t get me wrong—even images that seem overused might be perfect for your industry. Just make sure you consult with professionals who can help you make the right match and communicate effectively.

Keep in mind—Earth Day is supposed to be a time to step back and look at the bigger environmental picture. Give us a call if you think the time is right to refresh your brand for a profitable, sustainable future.

Erin Higgins
Director of Marketing Services
ehiggins@cmasolutions.com

Furry Friends Give Local Marketing Firm a Creative Boost

For 23 years, the marketing professionals at CMA have abided by founder Jeff Barnhart’s motto emphasizing good client service—“our people are our product.” Now, Barnhart and the rest of the CMA team are welcoming more than just people through the doors of 191 Clarksville Road.

“I’m a dog lover and have been all my life. Allowing employees to bring pets in just felt like a natural extension of our ‘casual Fridays’ policy—employees should feel free to wear jeans and bring along their dog, hamster or turtle if they want,” said Barnhart, who is the President and CEO of CMA. “It provides stress relief and just makes for a fun atmosphere.”

According to a survey by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association, millions of Americans believe pets on the job lower absenteeism and encourage workers to get along. The same survey stated that one in five companies currently allow pets at work.

Since the winter of 2008, CMA employees with pets have been able to bring their furry (and scaly) friends to work with them, as long as no client meetings are scheduled for that day. For somewhat of a test run of this concept, CMA staffers brought in all pets at once in November 2008 for a holiday card photo shoot, which many clients commented was one of the firm’s best. Since then, “baby” gates, chew toys and water dishes are common sights among the offices and cubicles at CMA.

“It’s been a challenging business environment for the past two years and while CMA has weathered the storm well, our employees have appreciated the extra thought we put into creating a relaxed, family-oriented work environment,” said Burt Lambert, CMA’s CFO.