The Resource
March 2011
March. Surely one of the most eagerly-anticipated months here at AOR. To start, it marks the leading edge of Spring, where temperatures begin to warm, ice begins to melt and the thoughts of turning on our sprinklers once again dance through our heads. It includes St. Patrick’s Day, that wonderful day where unnatural shades of green food coloring are added to just about everything. And, of course, it closes with the national descent into March Madness, where we collectively watch small schools like Northeastern Windblown State and Blumpkin Tech take on college basketball’s heavyweights in a seemingly endless string of David vs. Goliath matchups. For these reasons and more, we’re excited to mark this new month with another newsletter loaded with all the news, trends and marketing tips you need to move your business forward. So before the calendar marches on to April, let’s get started!
Mr. Rodgers Might Just Buy Your Neighborhood Now
via AdAge
The best thing about winning MVP honors at the Super Bowl? In truth, there are many best things about winning football's biggest game. There's the fame, of course. And the trip down to meet a certain mouse in his Magic Kingdom. But for Aaron Rodgers, the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, he will probably say that the bucket loads of endorsement offers that have come his way make beating the Pittsburgh Steelers that much sweeter. Unlike professional athletes in baseball or basketball, the earning window for NFL players is remarkably small, due almost exclusively to the fact that football players so often experience catastrophic injuries. With any luck, he'll save his new fortune instead of blowing it all in tigers, diamond-crusted hot tubs and the other ridiculous trappings that befall most every football player these days.
140 Characters Or Less For The Fortune 500
via Mashable
It used to be that social media was the dominion of the smaller companies and start-ups. Emphasis on used to be. According to PR firm Burson-Marsteller, 79% of a cross-section of the Fortune 500 use Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or corporate blogs to communicate with their customer base, employees and stakeholders. Twitter was the most popular social media platform among those companies polled. In fact, two-thirds of these companies average 4.2 corporate Twitter accounts. 54% have at least one Facebook fan page; 50% have at least one YouTube channel; and 33% have at least one corporate blog. Judging by this statistical analysis, the social media revolution isn't happening. It's happened.
The Black Arts of SEO
Search Engine Optimization, better known as SEO, is the effort to improve the visibility (read: rank) of a website in search engine results. Most commonly, this is accomplished through editing content and using specific keywords within the body of the website. But that's not the only way to help your website climb to the very top of the search engine results. JC Penney went full on Voldemort this past Holiday Season, employing the "black arts" of SEO to dramatically boost online sales. In fact, their Q4 sales did so well it raised more than a few eyebrows. The New York Times produced a feature article detailing their work in the shadows—and illuminating the pitfalls that still exist in the practice.
My Goodness! It's Guinness!
via gnews
In celebration of the unofficial adult beverage of March, we thought we’d take a minute to recognize that staple of St. Patrick’s Day. Did you know…
- A "perfect pour" of Guinness takes exactly 199.50 seconds?
- That 40% of all Guinness is sold in Africa?
- That over 10 million pints of Guinness are served every day?
- Or that a full pint of Guinness contains a "diet-friendly" 198 calories?
Quite simply, it's a remarkable beer. And just as impressive are the decades of genius marketing that helped establish their brand around the world. Here's a quick look at ten of the most memorable ads to promote Ireland's most famous export:
Matt Keeney
Account Director/Legend
You've thought through what you want to say about your brand. But can you be sure that your customers will receive your message? While the advent of social media has changed the way businesses communicate with their clientele, the many options and outlets have made the effort that much more difficult. At AOR, we've created proven marketing strategies that integrate key social media elements to help you reach your targeted audience more efficiently – and more effectively. By employing this holistic approach to marketing, we're able to produce the solutions that can positively impact your ROI. We'd love to help your company focus its communications. To schedule a time to talk, call me at 303-871-9700, or send me an email at matt@thinkaor.com