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Twitter Spikes Facebook in Big Game Ads

Every year at this time, people begin talking about the Super Bowl. Not the actual game, mind you. The ads. Super Bowl advertising has become a phenomenon of its own, complete with parties themed around the ads instead of the game. And as advertisers try to get more ROI from the millions they spend for each 30-second ad, they’ve turned to the Internet. Today, the Super Bowl ad season starts weeks in advance, and lasts well past the final whistle. It involves multiple screens – from your computer to your TV to your phone. And it involves multiple channels including YouTube and Twitter.

Twitter Spikes Facebook Super Bowl Hashtag

Twitter was huge during the 2013 Super Bowl, generating 24 million tweets, over 5 million on the half-time show alone. At one point, Twitter was seeing 20,000 game-related tweets-per-minute. 50% of the commercials during the game mentioned Twitter, while 33% of the brands used a hashtag to focus discussion after the spot aired. Facebook was only mentioned in 8% of the commercials.

Why would Facebook be so far behind? Well, it’s easy to draw comparisons between target-demographics and such, but really it’s about immediacy. Ad folks know how Facebook tinkers with news feeds and how people view their feeds a few times a day to catch up, but Twitter is pure and immediate. It’s the first step towards the eventual chain of events that ends with that email from your grandma sharing the ad six months after it went viral.

Superbowl Social Media

Get in the Game

Brands are taking advantage of massive viewership and TV spots during the game to instantly communicate with people digitally and push brand awareness further. A great opportunity presented itself last year when the stadium mysteriously and suddenly went black. Within minutes, Oreo, Tide and M&Ms all tweeted or shared ads specifically mentioning the blackout. The timeliness became notable enough that these ads had a miniature viral moment. Again, it was about immediacy.

Some companies may not feel they have a use for social media, or particularly for real-time social media such as Twitter. They might want to rethink that. Being able to add your brand’s voice at a moment’s notice through the go-to, instant-information source is what brings key value to social media. Just because you may not have the staff to support a full-blown social media effort doesn’t mean you should ignore it entirely.

The trends show that Twitter especially has become where people go for immediate news, timely updates and conversation. It’s crucial you take advantage of that and take part in conversation about your brand, especially for damage control if needed. It’s not all about Twitter, though.

Augment Those Ads

It’s likely you haven’t let your smartphone or tablet out of your sight for years now. That means brands are starting to find ways to take advantage of those extra screens. Emerging tactics include ads with additional content beyond the commercial itself. Whether the ads encourage a hashtag for tweets, visiting a website for more information or hitting YouTube for the extended commercial, they’re becoming more and more pervasive.

Super Bowl Tweet It’s no longer enough to just have a creative ad. The value comes from spurring conversations on Twitter, comments on YouTube and shares on Facebook. It’s engineered virality at its finest. The CDC should issue a warning.

It’s important to remember, however, that any successful effort to extend your advertising from one medium to another relies on a compelling message. It does no good to end a TV commercial with “Continued at…” if your creative is so boring that no one cares enough to follow the message to its next destination.

Benefits for Everyone

If you’re interested in bulking up your marketing, watch what some the best agencies in the world do come game day – and after. It’s an exhibition of forward-thinking digital ideas. And these ideas trickle down, not just to those with the money to spend on Super Bowl spots. The takeaway is that the most successful campaigns use multiple channels to drive traffic online where conversations can lead to conversions. And that’s good business no matter what size company you have.

Follow Along

For some pre-game sneak peeks of the 2014 Super Bowl ad showcase, check out this online compilation from AdAge. And don’t forget to follow along on Twitter with hashtag #SuperBowl for all the latest game and advertiser updates.


Create an Aviation Event to Remember

If you notice me smiling more broadly than usual, it’s because I’m relieved. Our annual Wichita Aero Club Gala, held this past Saturday, was a huge success. Record crowd. Awesome speakers. Terrific vibe.

This was my fifth time co-chairing the event. I’ve been there from the get-go in 2009. Even though I managed and supported events early in my career when working for Flexjet and Bombardier Learjet, the gala has been an education for me. Here are some things I’ve learned that could benefit you, too.

Be Willing to Change Your Plan

Our first gala came on the heels of the worst recession since the Great Depression. The inaugural event actually took place during widespread layoffs. Rather than hosting a black-tie event as originally planned, we encouraged guests to put funds they might have applied to their wardrobe toward a gala auction. As a result, the club was able to present almost $32,000 to the United Way of the Plains Laid-Off Workers Fund.

Russ Meyer at Aero Club Gala
Wichita Aero Club Trophy Recipient and Cessna Chairman Emeritus Russ Meyer spoke about both industry and career highs. There was a time, he said, “If you were anyplace in the world, if you looked up and saw two airplanes flying, chances were 50 percent that one of them was a Cessna.”
Photo credit: Jeff Hetler, VMG LLC

Serve a Greater Good

While business aviation has certainly not fully recovered from the downturn, the last four galas have focused on advancing the industry through education initiatives. At the gala, we announced a second Wichita Aero Club scholarship. The newly formed scholarship honors the late Dean Humphrey, a beloved, longtime Cessna team member.

Change Things Up

Try something new. The challenge with an annual event hosted at the same venue is to find ways to make it fresh. Each year, we try to add a new element to get people talking and make them glad they came. We talk to people during and after the event to get a true feel for what we want to retain – and what we might want to change next go round. Whether it’s the placement of the registration table to ease congestion or ditching the after-party dance floor for live music only, adjust if something’s not working.

Aero Club Shrimp Buffet
A beautiful ice sculpture of the Wichita Aero Club logo not only served as a striking centerpiece, but it kept the cocktail shrimp fresh and cold.

Build on Your Wins

When people are still talking about elements of the evening months later, listen closely. Make sure you address any negatives and that you build the favored elements into next year’s plan. You don’t want to disappoint new attendees if they expect the event to be a certain way and it isn’t.

Add Worker Bees

Seek out volunteers who will be there in more than name only. Our gala committee started out as a group of three five years ago and has nearly tripled. Committee members donate countless hours of personal time. Even after full days at their offices, they still find the energy and enthusiasm for evening and weekend planning meetings. They’re totally vested in the event’s success.

Take Time to Celebrate

This year we honored Cessna Aircraft Company Chairman Emeritus Russ Meyer. Industry VIPs Ed Bolen, President of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), and Pete Bunce, President and CEO, General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), were among those who traveled great distances to be there. Bolen, who presented the trophy, spoke from the heart, sharing personal anecdotes illustrating the impact Meyer has had on the industry.

I’ll close with one of Russ Meyer’s best quotes of the night. He said, “I promise you this: If I were 25 years old today, I’d pursue a career in this industry in a heartbeat.” That alone, for me, made a good night great.

Aero Club trophy
NBAA President Ed Bolen; Wichita Aero Club President Dave Franson; Greteman Group VP and Gala Trophy Chair Ashley Bowen Cook; and ADR President and Wichita Aero Club Board Chairman Patrick Tuttle share a moment.
Photo credit: Jeff Hetler, VMG LLC

Wichita Aero Club Trophy Recipients

2013: Russ Meyer, Chairman Emeritus, Cessna Aircraft Company 2012: John O’Leary and Airbus Americas Engineering 2011: Jeff Turner and Spirit AeroSystems 2010: Velma Wallace, wife of the late Dwane Wallace, Cessna Aircraft Company

* This article was originally published in the January 30 issue of BlueSky Business Aviation News.


Clean-Sheet Design Your Aviation Marketing with a Game

A blank page can be your springboard to inspiration. Recently, when faced with the challenge of creating a campaign for our own agency, we didn’t know exactly where we wanted to take it, only that it should be someplace new. And great. I’m happy to report, this creative challenge resulted in our best results ever. We created a buzz, drove our social likes, exponentially multiplied our web visits, more than doubled our typical email opens – and even generated some new business inquiries. We learned a few things along the way that could benefit you, too.

Develop Something of Value

Our creative team of gamers wanted to develop an aviation trivia game that would appeal to a sophisticated, in-the-know audience without being so technical as to turn away non-pilots. The result: Plane on the Brain.

Come at It From Every Direction

It takes multiple channels to maximize your outreach. No single source will do. We chose direct mail, HTML email, media relations, social media and word of mouth. Each built off the other and let our target audience see the game in a variety of places.

Digital Analytics
More than half of PlaneOnTheBrain.com’s visitors arrived through social media, but a targeted email campaign, trivia cards with the URL, search-engine optimization, public relations and word of mouth all played a role.

Keep a Print Component

Digital continues to encroach upon print, but nothing replaces holding a nice print piece in your hand. Clients received a custom deck of aviation trivia cards that teased them to go online and play the game. Still, the game functions independently of the cards so anyone can play.

Aviation trivia cards

Remove Barriers

We knocked down barriers of cost and time by making the game free and fast to play. Of course, it also had to be fun, easy to share with friends – and allow boasting rights by being able to post your score.

Make ’em Laugh

We sprinkled in a bit of snark to keep things interesting. Here are a few examples (with the correct answer bolded).

As Beechcraft CEO, Olive Ann Beech hung small flags outside her office to signify:

A. Her current mood.

B. That she wanted a cup of tea.

C. Whether to speed up or slow down production.

D. Areas of greatest sales.

What was one of the nicknames for the Learjet 23?

A. The Lear Special.

B. The Pocket Rocket.

C. Moya’s Miracle.

D. The Little Plane That Could.

Why did Clyde Cessna start his own company?

A. His domineering father said he’d never amount to anything.

B. He and Walter Beech disagreed about the best type of wing.

C. He wanted to take the “can’t” out of “cantilever.”

D. The City of Wichita offered him a financial incentive.

What are pants?

A. Removable storm covers used to protect an aircraft’s landing gear on the ground.

B. Another name for engine nacelles.

C. Fairings that cover the airplane’s landing wheels.

D. Those things that even legendary pilots put on one leg at a time.

Encourage Conversation

People tend to favor quizzes, especially shareable or competitive quizzes. They prompt questions like, “How well did you do?” and “Can you beat my score?” Good-natured boasting and one-upmanship generate laughs – and drive up your numbers.

Know Your Audience

As a niche product, Plane on the Brain speaks to a distinct subset of the population. It didn’t try to be all things to all people. More than 15 media outlets and aviation organizations shared the game, which was then re-shared by their readership and members. Our largest traffic spike came as readers’ posts aggregated and compounded on Facebook.

Social Media Traffic
LinkedIn serves as a strong social-media platform for connecting with colleagues and business associates, but it proved to be a dud for game sharing. Facebook came in the undisputed winner. Striking visuals made the posts pop on a newsfeed while competition drove up the numbers.

Troubleshoot and Test

Creating a website-based game requires tenacity. Challenges abound. Usability testing becomes critical. Players will drop out of a game entirely if it’s not clear to them how to play, or if it doesn’t function as they might expect on desktop, tablet and smartphone. We had to test over and over. And over. Making adjustments. Smoothing the process. Ensuring it worked for game-minded folks and those who aren’t.

Our target market represents a wide range of ages, gaming knowledge and technology. Using unnecessarily bleeding-edge modern code can have a negative impact on people using older technology to play the game. We built the site with modern code and languages, but also kept older browsers in mind. The Internet can be accessed by devices and software grossly underpowered and incapable of handling in-browser motion and layouts. But we can’t write off that subset of people without at least considering what we can do to improve the playability of the game on suboptimal hardware and software.

Plane on the Brain Responsive Site

Ensure a Good Experience for Your Customers

We went round and round about this one, frankly. But we ultimately decided that the game had to work okay in Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) just as, in the words of one developer, in “real browsers.” We had to think through all the cool functionality we hoped to use – interesting transitions, movement, fading, opacity and more. We didn’t want to eliminate those elements, so we duplicated the site for IE7 users. Even though these users only make up a 1.34% worldwide market share, they include some friends we didn’t want to leave out.

Serve a Greater Good

Give when you can. As part of the campaign, we made a donation to the nonprofit Kansas Aviation Museum, which serves us such an ongoing resource to us – and all who want to learn more about flight’s living legacy. If we’re to inspire the next generation to love aviation as we do, to support it, to consider it as a career – we have to give to get. KAM Executive Director Lon Smith agrees, saying, “It is critical that we continue to encourage the preservation of our unique and rich aviation heritage.” The museum helped in our outreach, too, essentially partnering with us in its promotion. Issuing a release to media connections. Sharing with members and stakeholders. Talking up the game with volunteers and visitors.


Wichita Eagle; People You Should Know: Rachel Groene and Landon Barton

Greteman Group has promoted Rachel Groene to brand director, from brand manager. The company has promoted Landon Barton to art director, from graphic designer.

Groene

 

Barton

January 23, 2014 Wichita Eagle


Greteman Group welcomes three new clients

Three highly divergent firms recently turned to Greteman Group for marketing support. The uniting factor: all were looking for the highest levels of creativity and strategic thinking. New clients include IdeaTek, Vibe-It and Riordan Clinic.

IdeaTek

This pioneering company seamlessly unites both urban and rural communities with high-speed telecommunications solutions. Based in Buhler, Kans., IdeaTek offers small-town responsiveness with big-time thinking. It delivers imaginative, customized solutions for the Internet, phone or TV. Its statewide fiber networks are built for the future. Greteman Group’s scope of work includes a new brand (messaging, logo, look and feel) and website.

Vibe-It

By leveraging the power of mobile, social and cloud technology, Vibe-It enables smart, real-time feedback and promotion. Consumers share overall customer experience with businesses by downloading the app. Companies measure guest sentiment, analyze reports, respond personally and confidently to consumer remarks, and promote to their customers via mobile on a location-by-location basis. Greteman Group’s rebranding includes a new tagline, messaging and look. The re-imagined brand will be applied to a video, collateral and website.

Riordan Clinic

This Wichita-based, internationally recognized center provides a full range of diagnostic and treatment services for patients from all over the world. Its doctors and staff approach health from the ground up, working closely with people to restore, maintain or improve their health. It focuses on nutrition, vitamin-therapy and proven medical-research to help patients feel their best. Greteman Group is creating a foundational brand for Riordan Clinic, evoking the institution’s refreshing approach to wellness. This branding will be used on the clinic’s vitamin-supplement line, banners, digital marketing and print materials.

“Our team’s deep in our discovery process now, exploring directions and creative opportunities,” says Sonia Greteman, agency president and creative director. “We’re loving every minute. I think our clients are, too, as they’re right in there with us. Our expertise and their knowledge make a powerful combination. Stay tuned for the campaign roll outs.”


Promotions reward talent and tenacity

Greteman Group recognizes and rewards talent and hard work. The Wichita-based marketing communications agency announced promotions today for team members Rachel Groene and Landon Barton. Groene transitions from brand manager to brand director and Barton moves from graphic designer to art director.

Rachel Groene

“We decided long ago that Rachel must have wings on her designer heels,” says Sonia Greteman, agency president and creative director. “Whatever challenges she may encounter, she sails above them. Clients love working with Rachel because they know she’s on top of things.”

Whether coordinating a video shoot for FlightSafety, handling myriad details for Colt International’s NBAA press conference or managing media placement for the Lindbergh Foundation’s Aviation Green initiative, Groene handles all with finesse and passion. She serves as account lead for the Kansas State Fair, plans aviation clients’ annual media buys and is an integral part of the agency’s business development team.

Groene is active in a number of professional and community organizations. Most recently, she was appointed to the Kansas Council for Economic Education board of directors. Groene studied marketing at Wichita State University, which she attended as a Clay Barton Business Scholar.

Landon Barton

As art director, Barton assumes a greater leadership role in creative concepting and development and in mentoring up-and-coming talent. He supports Greteman Group’s primary client base – aviation manufacturing, aftermarket services and flight support – as well as clients in high-tech, healthcare and travel/tourism. He works on everything from company logos and branding campaigns to motion graphics and video.

In addition to being highly visible in the professional community as a member and officer of the American Institute of Graphic Artists, Barton closely follows developments in the creative industry. He studied design at Wichita State University where he quickly distinguished himself as a conceptual thinker able to visually translate ideas.

“Landon brings fresh thinking and clarity to every design challenge,” says Greteman. “He works ideas to make them better and better. His unrelenting desire to break down complexity leads to simple, clean design. The hardest thing there is to achieve.”


Wichita Eagle; Have You Heard, You don’t say

“We were glad our little creation had a great time … but it’s now time for him to settle down and get back to work.”

– The Greteman Group’s Rachel Groene on the Kansas State Fair’s poster mascot, “Bob Barker,” who took some trips across the country Flat Stanley-style and now is a finalist for HOW Design’s 5th Annual Poster Design Awards (vote here)

The Wichita Eagle
Carrie Rengers

You don’t say

© The Wichita Eagle, 2014