We spend a lot of time talking on this blog about other people’s marketing, and probably not enough time talking about the things that happen around Lessing-Flynn. So upon the news that our own Emily Beckmann (that’s two N’s) is now engaged to Mr. Levi Nichols. Here’s a gem that sprouted up on Twitter, courtesy of Chris English.

As always, we remind you to tweet responsibly, but using the #Nicholbeck hashtag is highly encouraged.

Congratulations Emily and Levi!

BTC Capital Management – a wealth management firm owned by Bankers Trust Company – aims to reach a unique audience: high net-worth individuals, corporations and institutions.

We knew communicating with these audiences would require a unique strategy. Websites, blogs and social media alone wouldn’t suffice. Nor would conventional tactics like direct mailers, brochures, press releases or media buys be effective for persuading high net-worth individuals, corporations or institutions to entrust millions of dollars to BTC Capital Management.

No, there needed to be something personal and tangible. A marketing piece that didn’t come out and scream “Look at our marketing collateral!” So we pitched the idea of publishing a magazine. It would be sharply designed and eloquently penned. A classy and sophisticated magazine that a multi-millionaire or the head of a financial institution might realistically pick up and read.

This was the idea behind LEAD Magazine – a biannual publication we helped BTC Capital Management launch in the spring of 2011. In each of the first two editions we featured four members of the BTC Cap team, the long-form copy style of magazine profiles proving to be the perfect form for capturing the personality and expertise of the investment professionals.

LEAD magazine – which goes out to approximately 3,000 clients, prospects and members of the investment community – was an immediate success. While our friends at BTC Cap wouldn’t disclose how much new business it helped generate, we’re told that it was instrumental in landing some new clients. And when new clients mean millions of dollars for the BTC Cap team to manage, it’s no wonder they decided to give LEAD a permanent spot on its roster of marketing publications.

Going Viral

Every marketer dreams of having a video that goes viral. In fact, we’ve been asked on more than a hundred occasions if we can do viral videos. The answer is typically the same…

“Maybe.”

And the reason why is that there are too many factors that go into trying to make a viral video to guarantee success.

Most videos that go viral aren’t the efforts of an actual brand. Sure, there are the Old Spice videos, and some of the stuff that K-Swiss has been putting out as of late has been pretty strong (Google at your own risk). But those are rare exceptions. And, when it comes down to it, most brands aren’t funny. As hard as they (and their ad agencies) may try to be.

Here’s why you’re better off going for effective and highly targeted videos instead of going viral.

Owned Platform First

What you are reading is on our “Owned” platform. And so is our Website I just tried to link you to. And with the exception of hosting, the platform that you are engaged with now (You are reading it, right?) costs us nothing but sweat equity. Who better to serve content, like videos we created, to the people who have already come here looking for information? Videos that appear on your blog, your YouTube Channel, your Website or your own Facebook page have a better chance of being effective (in selling something) than going viral to an un-targeted mass audience. And while going viral is great for the ego – last time I checked, moving the sales meter is what actually matters.

The beauty of owned media is you actually have some control of the conversation instead of being locked out through paid media where you rent eye balls for a limited time, or through earned media where the conversation is good, but you aren’t always heard.

The Taco Bell Phenomenom

Many of you may recall the Taco Bell dog. That dog was so viral that people were literally heard saying “Yo quiero Taco Bell.” It was part of pop culture before places like YouTube existed. Bet that sold a bunch of tacos? Nope. In fact, sales numbers dropped while that campaign was going on. Turns out people associating a dog that looked like a rat with fast food mexican fare was a recipe for disaster. The masses did not equal “late night there’s nothing else open” kind of consumers. And while they indeed thought “outside the bun” with their marketing, they ended up just using it as a tagline.

Who is your target audience?

Think about this very blog. For the most part, we want to reach our current clients and potential clients within the state of Iowa. Sure, we’ll travel, but we butter our bread in the 515, the 319 and the 641. (Those are popular area codes for those of you playing at home). There are approximately 300,000 companies in Iowa. Of those companies, I’m guessing only 10% of them at the most would even consider hiring an ad agency. So that’s a population of 30,000 eyeballs we are targeting. So if we get 3,000 views of a video – like we did with this one – we’re probably pretty pleased. (Granted, they probably weren’t all from Iowa, but they are most likely people interested in social media services.)

Bottom Line

Who does your business target? Where are they? What are they interested in? Engage that audience, and be happy when 100 of them see it, instead of 10,000 who think its funny but may not be the right audience at all.

On the heels of the second DSM: SUSHIBOMB, we’re happy to announce that we raised over $4,000 for the restoration of the Des Moines Salisbury House’s historic kitchen. Unlike year one, when all we wanted to do was have a successful event (we did) and break even (we lost about $100), the DSM: SUSHIBOMB having a charity component raised the bar for our event.

We are all about charity at Lessing-Flynn. Fundraising is often about volunteering your time and smart thinking. When we set out to put together DSM: SUSHIBOMB II, our challenge was to market the event with a budget of only $200. Yep, $200 to sell over 275 tickets and raise money for charity. Here’s how we pulled it off.

-Facebook Ads – $100
While we can’t prove actual numbers, we believe that about 30% of ticket sales came via Facebook advertising.

-Google Ad Sense – $0
Searches related to sushi, Des Moines sushi and the names of sushi restaurants in town were used to generate ads on Google. We had a coupon for  $100 and used it. Thank you Google!

-Goldfish, Fishtank, Hypnotic Blue Rocks – $40
We made videos staring Gil and Gary Goldfish talking about the DSM: SUSHIBOMB and how they wanted to go to the event. They still don’t know that people eat fish. We placed these videos on YouTube, Facebook and the Blog/Website. And while they didn’t go viral, we found them amusing.

-Printing – $60
We printed flyers and passed them out at the Des Moines Farmer’s Market and the East Village Bazaar. Even dressed up one of our employee’s kids as Darth Vader to get some attention!

-Social Media – $0
This is where the real magic happened. News, sponsors and participating sponsors were pushed out through Twitter and Facebook.

In Kind Partners Saved The Day

Actual tickets weren’t printed, instead we did everything “Will Call” at the event. And the folks at Tikly did a great job of managing all of the sales for the event through their Website. Not to mention, Tikly promoted the event almost as much as we did through social platforms. We’re guessing they’d do the same for your event. We encourage you to check them out!

Boesen the Florist provided awsome in-kind table centerpieces with a Japanese theme.

Iowa Asian Alliance and Japan American Society of Iowa brought a ton of culture!

La Tran from Hoshi Sushi agreed to teach an Introduction to Sushi class with the proceeds going to Salisbury House.

Andy Brudtkuhl, the WordPress Ninja from 48 Web donated his time to give the DSM: Sushibomb Website some attention.

Kirin/Doll Distributing – Kirnin beer tasting and a free keg. Other kegs were provided at cost.

Jasper Winery supported us again in year two with wine sales and expertise.

Sometimes, all you gotta do is ask!

From all of us at Lessing-Flynn, thank you for a wonderful DSM: SUSHIBOMB II. We’re looking forward to next year!

Many of you may be surprised to know that Lessing-Flynn was the first company to start using desk top publishing in Des Moines. In fact, we were the first company to ever purchase Macintosh computers back in 1984. The process was managed by our current Vice Chairman, Joe Rosenberg. With the loss of Steve Jobs yesterday, we figured it was only fitting that Joe write this post, his first blog post ever. Here’s Joe, in his own words… (JF)

Ever heard of the TakeAway program? Neither had we before we met with our friends at the Iowa Pharmacy Association. The TakeAway program is a state-funded drug disposal initiative that allows Iowans to bring their unused prescription medication back to 400 participating pharmacies across the state – including Hy-Vee and Medicap. It is the only state in the U.S. operating the program. And to date, it has collected nearly 12 tons of medication.

The benefits of the program? Medication doesn’t end up in our drinking water by being flushed down the toilet. It helps reduce the potential for abuse of prescription medication by youths. And it helps reduce the potential for accidental overmedication – especially in elderly. All good things.

But the program had a very limited budget to promote itself. Not enough to make an impact with a statewide newspaper campaign. Or a radio campaign. Definitely not a tv campaign. So, what do you do?

Enter “Pill Dude”. Imagine an oversized pill bottle-shaped figure walking on the street outside your local pharmacy. Or the local local 4th of July parade. Or at the county fair. Or the local farmer’s market. Passing out handouts educating people about where they can safely take their unused medications for disposal – free. You can’t tell me that wouldn’t at least catch your attention.

It’s always interesting pitching a crazy idea like “Pill Dude” to a client. It’s a risk. But if the strategy is right and the client has an open mind, sometimes it just works. In this case, Iowa Pharmacy went for it. In fact, after about 6 weeks of commissioning the first Pill Dude and pushing unsuspecting pharmacy interns out into the public wearing it, they came back and ordered 4 more. It seems that the demand for Pill Dude was growing across the state – and one wasn’t enough to go around.

So, what do we hope you take away from this?

1) Take your prescription meds back to your pharmacy for disposal.
2) Watch for Pill Dude at local events – and help spread the word.
3) Sometimes a limited marketing budget makes you think more creatively.
4) Non-traditional ideas that align with a strategy can make you stand out in an over-hyped marketing world.

You can learn more about the takeaway program by visiting here … or see Pill Dude on Facebook here.

When you’re trying to organize and market an event that raises money for non-profit, every dollar you spend on marketing is one less dollar you can give to the non-profit. So, how do we sell 275 tickets to the DSM: SUSHIBOMB II to raise money for the Salisbury House? On the cheap! Here’s what we are doing.

We got a coupon from Google Ad Words for $100 so that was a natural. We built an ad campaign through Google Ad Words built on a cost per click model. Here are some favorites:

Facebook advertising is highly targeted and pretty affordable. So we dropped $50 on ads that targeted people by relationship status type, lived in Iowa, and had sushi in their profile.

We’ve been doing both for the last five days. The results?

An increase in ticket sales, greater awareness of the event and ultimately more money for the Salisbury House & Gardens!

We’ve also been blogging, tweeting, updating our Facebook page, making home made videos with goldfish and having sponsors display posters in their businesses.

Lastly, you’ll probably see us this weekend handing out flyers at the Des Moines Farmer’s Market. If you do, take a flyer and say Wasabi. Sorry.

Effective marketing doesn’t have to cost a lot if it’s targeted, memorable and for a good cause.

Sushi on my good people…and if you’re so inclined, buy some tickets to the DSM: SUSHIBOMB from our friends at Tikly.

On the heels of the Lessing-Flynn‘s Battle of the Brands, we were expecting a little R&R. But really, there’s no fun in that!

We’re happy to announce that Lessing-Flynn is presenting DSM: SUSHIBOMB II, a local sushi event that celebrates the amazing sushi talent and passion for sushi in Des Moines. This event includes sushi chefs from six local restaurant and sponsors from around the area working together to create an experience that will have locals craving for more.

Last year the DSM: SUSHIBOMB sold out and drew in hundreds of sushi lovers, and in 2011 we’re bringing on the sushi again. And this year, all of the proceeds will support the host – Salisbury House & Gardens. The event will take place on Sunday, September 25 from 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. and you can expect great sushi, beer and wine, breakout sessions, live tunes and a celebration of Japanese culture.

For all the details, please check out www.dsmsushibomb.com.

Oh, and check out Gil & Gary Goldfish, starring in the video below and rocking their own Twitter accounts. @garygoldfish & @gilgoldfish. Truth be told, they need the followers.

Hope to see you there!

-Lessing-Flynn

Congratulations to Lessing-Flynn’s Battle of the Brands Champ, The Principal Financial Group. Principal won over Jethro’s with 84.1% of the vote. Based on the traffic stats we see on our end, it looks like The Principal pulled off an integrated marketing campaign on their way to victory. Using social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter and harnessing the power of their employees through their intranet, Eddie and Principal truly had an edge.

Please give a virtual round of applause to Jethro’s who played the role of Cinderella throughout the tournament but just came up short. We think if you are feeling “blue” over their loss to Principal, pretty much anything on the Jethro’s menu is bound to cheer you up.

Thoughout the LFBOTB, we received a record number of votes and set new traffic records on this blog. We’d like to thank everyone who participated in this contest, because without your passion for Iowa brands, we wouldn’t have this story to tell.

The second edition of Battle of the Brands has been a great experience for all of us at Lessing-Flynn and we look forward to doing it again next year. Plans will include another tech startup division (with a Silicon Prairie News selection show) as well as a locally owned/mom&pop region. And, let us know who you think is worthy of Battle of the Brands consideration? What brands should we include next year? Please let us know.

Thanks from all of us at Lessing-Flynn.

And in case you missed the kick-off, we think this merits one more watch…