When it comes to ad placement, there are two types of marketers.

1. Highly targeted.  These are the folks that talk demographics, geo-graphics, psycho-graphics, contextual based, seasonal, regional and the list goes on.

2. Blitz. These are the folks you see everywhere. Even when its not at all relevant.

While writing a different blog post about Flash technology, I came across a story about Catherine Zeta Jones being flashed (not the technology) with some amusing pictures of her running and looking shocked. Turns out, this is a scene from a movie she is filming and not real.

So while being highly amused by the story, I couldn’t help but notice a political ad by Mitt Romney in a poorly placed position. You can only imagine for yourself what I’ve covered up.

I’m sure the Romney campaign is less than thrilled with this placement. But the bigger question is why are they running ads on a celebrity site called Posh24? A site that runs stories on the Kardashians, the Jonas Brothers and apparently fake flashers.

This is where being a blitz marketer can make you appear disingenuous and inconsistent. Real “Conservative” of you, Mitt.

Someone more noteworthy than myself once said the best defense strategy you can employ in the event of a zombie outbreak is to build a fortress made of failed zombie movie scripts and hope for the best. (Editor’s Note: Did somebody really say this, or are you just making it up?)

Zombies never go out of style. They’re like cat videos – people just can’t get enough of them. As a society, we’re all just too enamored with the idea of being a dead man’s entrée to let the cultural phenomenon, well, die. (Editor’s Note: cute)

So zombies are everywhere. If Hollywood has taught us anything, it’s that the chances are very good that someone you know is or could become a zombie. And that sucks for them (Editor’s Note: Vampire joke in a zombie blog, really?).

Unfortunately it could happen to you, too. In fact, your website or blog could be coming down with a case of zombie and you aren’t even aware of it.

(Editor’s Note: We sincerely apologize for the agonizingly drawn out introduction. We now go to “5 Signs that Your Website is a Zombie” already in progress.)

…and that’s the first sign your website could be a zombie.

2.  Your Site Is Dead

A severe lack of vitality is the primary indicator that your website is a zombie.  As in it doesn’t have a pulse. There is nothing active or – shall we say alive – on your site. This can easily be remedied by adding a Twitter feed or a corporate video. Heck, even some flash production will help. Anything other than aged copy and static images that haven’t been changed since the site was originally built. (Editor’s Note: Finally, something of substance.)

3. Your Site Is Visibly Wounded

There’s no such thing as a good-looking zombie. After all, they’re dead. And they usually become dead by bleeding to death after having massive amounts of flesh chewed off. (Editor’s Note: Imagery’s a little strong here – consider toning down.) When obvious problems to your website go unfixed for extended periods of time, your regular visitors will take note. Broken links. Blatant typos. Undersized or irrelevant images. Bad navigation. All signs that your site is a not-so-good-looking zombie.

4. Your Site Smells like 2009

Zombies smell disgusting because they’re dead and have been dead for some time. (Editor’s Note: But have you ever actually smelled one?) (Author’s Note: Yes) Are there indicators on your site that illustrate just how long it’s been since you’ve made any updates? Does “Copyright 2009” appear in your footer? Was your last news update or blog post from that year as well? Is your contact information accurate?

5. Your Site Isn’t You

Aside from looking and smelling like death, you can also spot a zombie by his or her peculiar behavior. For instance, it isn’t like Debbie Williams, that nice woman from church who bakes the most delicious oatmeal cookies, to go around chewing people’s faces off. (Editor’s Note: Again, the imagery’s a little strong here.) (Author’s Note: Noted) So watching her chew someone’s face off would likely make you pause and think, “You know, Debbie’s just not herself today.” (Editor’s Note: Seriously.)

Is your site really you? Do the color scheme and design reflect your personality as a company? Does the content – from blog posts to the About Us page – capture who you are as a company? If the personality of your website doesn’t mirror the personality of your company, people will take notice. They’ll see your site for what it is: a zombie chewing people’s faces off. (Editor’s Note: Whatever, I give up).

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.

Believe it or not, in the 1980s, Apple’s biggest rival was not Microsoft or Dell or Google. It was IBM. Big Blue. The epitome of a large, progressive world-dominators. The kind of company that made you shudder if they decided to enter your industry – because they would do it in a big, big way.

And that’s exactly what they did to Apple when they decided to enter the personal computer market. What did Apple do? Well, obviously they didn’t close up shop. They dug their feet in and competed. And they did it with confidence. They actually ran an ad welcoming IBM to the market.

That’s swagger.

It’s important for your brand to portray a level of confidence – especially when you’re a startup or you’re competing against the industry giant. Your customers need to have confidence that, if they invest their money in your product or service and invest their energy into your brand, you’ll be around to perform.

So, how do you demonstrate swagger? You do things that are bold and daring. Things that a bigger rival couldn’t touch. Things like what Mini did in their rivalry with Porsche.

A few things to consider:

Swagger doesn’t have to be expensive. The Apple ad above was a black and white ad with no graphic design. The Mini challenge video could have been shot with a flip cam. It’s more about being authentic.

There’s a fine line between swagger and cockiness. People are attracted to confidence – but are turned off by overconfidence and arrogance. To stay on the right side of the line, you need a sense of humor and hint of vulnerability or a willingness to be a bit self-deprecating.

Swagger works best when you’re the underdog. People already know when you’re the top dog. If you’re Microsoft, Google or McDonald’s, swagger can easily be misinterpreted. But if you’re not the dominant brand in your industry already, it’s best to target the top brand in your category – and make the conversation all about you and them, leaving the rest of the competitors out of the conversation.

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!

The majority of local businesses are content with remaining just that – local. With the economic forecast looking slightly better, though not necessarily plush, business owners are reticent to expand too quickly right now – and rightly so.

Indeed, those who proceed with the utmost caution are most likely to at least proceed. That you’re content with remaining a local entity does not, however, encumber you from striving for national recognition.

Such is the case with Jethro’s BBQ, whose sandwich The Adam Emmenecker Challenge currently holds a decisive lead in the national Fanwiches competition – presented by sports superpower ESPN.

For those unfamiliar with The Fanwiches competition, it’s a national social media contest that aims to recognize America’s top sports-related sandwich (i.e. sandwiches named after sports stars, teams, etc.).

Anyone with a Facebook account and 20 seconds to spare can cast a vote for their favorite sandwich, with victory going to the top vote recipient when the voting period ends June 2.

The spoils? A trip to Bristol, Connecticut – home of the ESPN headquarters – to see your sandwich temporarily immortalized in the ESPN cafeteria.

Additionally, a Fanwiches victory helps the winning restaurant become a notable destination for food lovers nationwide who endeavor to enjoy the experience of eating an immortal sandwich. So if Jethro’s cannot serve The Adam Emmenecker Challenge on a national scale, per se, they can at least serve a national audience locally.

An immortal sandwich. That’s something special. And The Adam Emmenecker Challenge is most certainly a special sandwich. Which is why Jethro’s entered it into the competition in the first place. And why we didn’t hesitate to lend a helping hand when Jethro’s came calling.

So we made this silly video that we hope helps The Adam Emmenecker Challenge secure an extra vote or two. Because whenever you can help a local business go national, if only for a little while, you’d be silly not to.

Imagine going to Chuck E. Cheese for a business seminar. How about going to the movies and instead of previews, you get some high-pressure sales guy pimping time shares for three hours? Or, let’s go to that great new place for dinner – a steaks and wine kind of thing – and have an insurance salesman join us for dessert to discuss lowering those pesky premiums. It’ll be awesome.

Facebook is where I go to play. Sure I “like” brands on Facebook, but I don’t “like” lightly. I gotta really like something to like something, you dig? Brands and businesses can thrive on Facebook, but expecting me to use Facebook for business is flawed. Which is why I’m not enjoying my “BranchOut” experience. BranchOut is positioned as a “social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them.” Ultimately, it’s an application on Facebook that allows you to use Facebook friends for business. I’ve signed up but I can’t see myself staying for too long. Most of my Facebook friends that I know through business I’m LinkedIn with anyway.

So many of the friend requests we get on Facebook are accepted out of pure curiosity. Yes, I remember that name. Accept. Let’s see what they look like. Yep, she’s still hot or dang, girl, you let yourself go. You know what I mean? And really, I shouldn’t be networking with my ex-girlfriend in San Francisco anyway. We are connected by a past period of life and a few really bad dates. I have no desire to see if she might need marketing support for whatever she does for a living.

Want to network with me? Find me on LinkedIn. Better yet, find Lessing-Flynn on LinkedIn.

Want to escape and make obnoxious comments on my statuses and photos? I’ll see you on el Book.

Does your company have a Facebook fan page? Join the club.

Ever wonder why you don’t get more engagement out of your Facebook efforts? Welcome to that club as well.

Magic Through Social Media

Pushing out content on Twitter is where the magic happens. You get retweets, comments, direct messages and new followers. You get engagement.

I want our clients’ brands to reach influencers and engage with new people. Thank you Twitter! As a brand on Twitter you can follow me, and I can follow you. It doesn’t work that way for brands on the Book.

Magic on Facebook? Please. Pushing out content on Facebook is like me sending you a fax. Did anyone see it? Does anyone really care? Sure Facebook offers their version of “analytics” but I’m looking for action. Comments. Likes. Sharing. I’m looking for engagement. Facebook has handcuffed brands from using their platform the same ways an individual person can use their platform…

…and I get it. We can’t have brands friending people because the missuse would be significant.

But… we could have people friending brands

If people decided they wanted to engage with a brand on a friend-to-friend level then Facebook would offer brands a real opportunity to truly engage people. Instead, brands have to hope you “like” them. But Facebook decided that this choice is not up to the individual person. And that’s a real miss. Because if people wanted to be friends with a brand, that should be their choice – not Facebook’s.

The truth has become a myth

As a brand on Facebook, you pretty much have to tell people to find you on Facebook on means other than Facebook. The truth has become a myth. If you spend any real time on Facebook you know that if you blink you probably miss it. Wasn’t like that in the past. We’ve conneected with everyone and their dog on Facebook so the idea that if you like a brand, your friend might like the brand, and their friends and their friends and Kevin Bacon Game. Counting on word-of-mouth on Facebook is no longer something you can count on.

Brands have to count on the handful of people that actually do engage with them to turn around and share that content with their friends. Then brands have to hope that those they engaged have friends who might see it in their news feed.

And yet, here we are, still using Facebook

I’m starting to think Facebook has designed this brand-to-person relationship to suck because they want to sell more advertising. Can you seriously remember the last time you ever clicked on an ad that said “Like our brand?” It just seems too desperate.

And what’s worse is people are trying bribery. They are offering prizes to win your “like” on Facebook. “Like us and you’ll have a chance to win a hot air balloon ride with Abe Lincoln.” You aren’t attracting fans, you’re attracting people who want a chance to win a hot air balloon ride with Abe Lincoln. And so when they do see your content in the future, they won’t really care. They’ll be pissed they never never took that wild ride with Abraham Lincoln. Brand advocacy is not built through bribery.

So what’s the verdict here?

You have to be on Facebook. Your customers expect it. You must give them the ability to engage with you, to pound their chest saying “I heart Abraham Lincoln Hot Air Balloon Rides, Inc.” If there’s truly anything to be learned here, it’s that Facebook’s treatment of brand-to-person interaction means it’s even more important for brands to have a reason to be on Facebook. You can’t just sling content and hope. You have to stand out. You have to have a strategy. You have to stick to the strategy and tweak accordingly. Then pray that your true brand advocates seek you out.

Just don’t expect magic to happen.

You’ve got a great business idea.  An idea that will change the way people think about a whole industry (if you’re in Des Moines, think Dwolla or SmartyPig).  How do you make sure people see it and understand it?  Well, in France, a company was trying to convince people to rent cars on a long term basis rather than buying them.  How did they get their point across in a market that is built around owning your car?  Check this out:

We preach a lot around here about the importance of integrating your marketing efforts around a big idea and extending it with both traditional and social media.  Not only is this a great, attention-demanding approach, it also lends itself to leveraging both traditional and social media – extending the messaging and exposing the concept to more people without a lot of additional expense.

Measuring Display Ads Like Its 1999?