Author Archives: amaatlanta
According to research conducted by the IBM Institute for Business Value, many of the myths plaguing Millennials are, in fact, not true. We’ve pulled three of the five busted myths, some uncomfortable truths and some recommendations directly from the report for you to see.
Read more– recap and full video
Moderator
Scot Safon, Former Chief Marketing Officer, The Weather Channel
Panelists
Carolyn Baird, Global Research Leader, IBM
Bob Van Rossum, President, MarketPro
Emily Binder, Director of Marketing, Budget
Liz Nixon, Director of Emerging and Social Media Marketing, AT&T (unable to attend)
Full Video – Millennials in the Workplace – AMA Atlanta February 2015 Signature Luncheon
See more clips: subscribe to AMA Atlanta on YouTube
February 24, 2015
Atlanta, Georgia
Know a Nonprofit Marketing Rockstar? Nominate them.
Do you know a nonprofit marketer who is a strategic dynamo, who is respected as a thought leader, or whose achievements have transformed their organization?
Now’s the time to shine a spotlight on all nonprofit marketing rockstars and help them achieve recognition for their incredible accomplishments. How? By nominating them for the AMA’s 2015 Nonprofit Marketer of the Year.
The 2014 winner, Kate Grant, is the Chief Executive Officer of the Fistula Foundation in San Jose, California. The organization transforms the lives of women with the childbirth injury obstetric fistula by funding curative surgeries.
Nominations are due by March 31, 2015. The winner will be invited to the AMA Nonprofit Marketing Conference in Washington, DC, in July. Learn more about this prestigious annual award and get the nomination form at www.ama.org/nonprofit.
Registration for the AMA’s signature annual conference for nonprofit marketers is open! The conference zeros in on essentials to help nonprofits engage their audiences and meet mission-critical objectives. It attracts marketers from around the country in organizations, foundations, and associations both big and small.
This year’s conference will be held July 13-15 at the Fairmont Washington, DC in Georgetown. Register at www.ama.org/nonprofit today.
The Atlanta marketing community’s most sought after awards will be presented to the winners at the 58” Annual AMY Awards gala, March 12, 2015 at the fabulous Fox Theatre
Congratulations to the list of finalists for this year’s AMY Awards! The winners will be announced at The AMY Awards ceremony which will be held March 12, 2015 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta.
For 58 years, the AMY Awards program has put a spotlight on the most creative, innovative and successful work done by Atlanta’s marketing community. “The quality and creativity of this year’s entries clearly showcase the incredible talent within our community,” said Liz Ward, our AMA Atlanta President and Director of the Georgia State University Marketing Roundtable. “Congratulations to all of the finalists.”
The 2015 AMY Awards Program will recognize and honor the work of local companies and agencies in over 20 categories ranging from advertising, branding and digital marketing to analytics, market research and data visualization. The entries were reviewed by a panel of 16 judges and evaluated based on the strategic approach, quality of work and ultimate success of each program or campaign.
Please join us, along with over 400 of Atlanta’s top marketers, at the 58Th Annual AMY Awards.
To purchase tickets, or for more information visit http://www.amyawardsatl.com.
Check out the Award Finalists below.
Visual Branding/Identity – Business to Business
Agency – Client Corporation – Entry name
Internal – Big Drum – Big Drum Rebrand
Brand Fever – Mblox – Mblox Branding
Modo Modo Agency – Zmags – Zmags Visual Branding & Identity
Visual Branding/Identity – Business to Consumer
Agency – Client Corporation – Entry name
Internal – Arby’s Restaurant Group, Inc. – Arby’s™ Brand Re-Launch
Brand Fever – 180 Kitchen – 180 Kitchen
iris Worldwide – Johnny’s Pizza House – Johnny’s Pizza House Rebranding
Integrated Marketing Campaign – Business to Business
Agency – Client Corporation – Entry name
Sparks Grove – Delta Air Lines – Delta SkyBonus Sweepstakes Campaign
Marketing Inspirations – Spend Management Experts – Spend Management Experts Campaign
Modo Modo Agency – Zmags – Zmags Integrated Marketing Campaign
Integrated Marketing Campaign – Business to Consumer
Agency – Client Corporation – Entry name
Internal – Piedmont Healthcare – Piedmont Healthcare Urgent Care Campaign
redpepper – Sprouts Farmer’s Market – Sprouts Love at First Shop
Internal – Primrose Schools – Science and Seesaws Integrated Campaign
Integrated Marketing Campaign – Business to Consumer
Agency – Client Corporation – Entry name
Internal – Carter’s – OshKosh B’gosh – B’gosh Jeanius Cause Campaign
Internal – SunTrust – Meaningful Within Your Means
Internal – The Weather Channel – The Weather Channel for iPhone
Direct Mail Marketing
Agency – Client Corporation – Entry name
BKV – Aflac – This Duck Wears Pink
DigitasLBi – Delta Air Lines – Delta Credentials
iris Worldwide – Porsche Financial Services, Inc. – Delta Credentials
Email Marketing
Agency – Client Corporation – Entry name
Internal – Mellow Mushroom – Gluten Free Segment Track
BrightWave – Chick-fil-A – Greatest Grilled Love for Chick-fil-A
The Aspire Group – Tulane Athletics – Tulane Athletics Email Campaign
Web & Interactive Marketing – Web Campaign/Microsite – Company Revenue < $1 billion
Agency – Client Corporation – Entry name
Chemistry Atlanta – Marriott – Choose Your View
Internal – Primrose Schools – Primrose Microsite
Web & Interactive Marketing – Web Campaign/Microsite – Company Revenue > $1 billion
Agency – Client Corporation – Entry name
Internal – Carter’s – OshKosh B’gosh – The Busy Mom’s™ Guide to Summer Fun
Web & Interactive Marketing – Brand Awareness
Agency – Client Corporation – Entry name
Nebo – Build the Beltline – Fundraising Campaign
Modo Modo Agency – Zmags – Zmags Website & Brand Relaunch
Web & Interactive Marketing – Lead Generation/Ecommerce
Agency – Client Corporation – Entry name
Internal – Piedmont Healthcare – “Go Red” Campaign
Internal – Mercer University – Undergraduate Admissions Webpage
iris Worldwide – Shell Oil Company – Driving Loyalty Membership
Web & Interactive Marketing – Social Media Campaign – Company Revenue < $1 billion
Agency – Client Corporation – Entry name
Internal – Primrose Schools – Primrose Social Media Campaign
Marketing Inspirations – THORLO – THORLO #SmileyFeet
Marketing Inspirations – The Fox Theatre – Fox Theatre’s Biggest Fan
Web & Interactive Marketing – Social Media Campaign – Company Revenue > $1 billion
Agency – Client Corporation – Entry name
Internal – Arby’s Restaurant Group, Inc. – Integrating a Brand into a Pop Culture Moment
redpepper – Claire’s – Claire’s Project BFF
iris Worldwide – Shell Oil Company – Driving Loyalty Membership
Web & Interactive Marketing – Consumer Engagement
Agency – Client Corporation – Entry name
Internal – Carter’s – OshKosh B’gosh – Baby B’Gosh Surprise & Delight
Internal – Mellow Mushroom – 2015 Annual Calendar
Internal – Shaw Floors – Floorvana by Shaw Floors
Search Marketing – SEO
Agency – Client Corporation – Entry name
Nebo – Pure TalkUSA – Strategy Vaults Pure TalkUSA to the Top
Internal – Piedmont Healthcare – Online Patient Ratings
Internal – Lucas Group – Online Patient Ratings
Search Marketing – Paid Search/PPC
Agency – Client Corporation – Entry name
Big Drum – Fullscope – LinkedIn Campaign
Nebo – GMSA – Reaching GSMA Target Audience
Internal – Primrose Schools – Primrose Paid Search Campaign
Advertising – Print Advertising
Agency – Client Corporation – Entry name
Marketing Inspirations – BB&T Atlanta Open – Atlanta Magazine Special Section
Chemistry Atlanta – Troy University – Warrior Spirit Viewbook
Advertising – Broadcast Advertising
Agency – Client Corporation – Entry name
Ideas United – The Weather Channel – Define Amazing
Internal – Piedmont Healthcare – Cancer “Fighter” TV Campaign
Ideas United – PGA – Sifford Presidential Medal of Freedom
Event Marketing – Event Under $100K Investment
Agency – Client Corporation – Entry name
FleishmanHillard – Health Connect South
Modo Modo Agency – LexisNexis
AR l PR – Cellcontrol – Roadway to CES
Event Marketing – Event Over $100K Investment
Agency – Client Corporation – Entry name
Sparks Grove – Comcast – Xfinity Innovation Think Tank
Internal – Cobb EMC – Member Annual Meeting
Innovation in Market Research
Agency – Client Corporation – Entry name
Sparks Grove – Sony Mobile North America – Sony Mobile Innovation in Research
Internal – Mellow Mushroom – Comparative Market Research Dashboards
Marketing Analytics – Analytics Application
Agency – Client Corporation – Entry name
FleishmanHillard – Phillips Customer Service Solutions – Philips Healthcare Gate System
Internal – Lucas Group – Building DEMAND Digital Engagement
Internal – Mellow Mushroom – Promotion Incentive Program
Marketing Analytics – Data Visualization
Agency – Client Corporation – Entry name
DigitasLBi – Delta Air Lines – Delta Credentials
By Ashley Reed
Josh Martin, Director of Digital and Social Media at Arby’s, shared the success story behind the infamous Pharrell tweet at last year’s Grammys and how the company is using social listening to drive business results at the recent AMA BKV Social Series. Here are our top takeaways.
Martin shared the evolution of the company’s social media program; when he joined Arby’s in 2010, the company didn’t have a social presence. He was tasked with laying the groundwork and gaining buy-in internally (which, as you can imagine, was no small feat.) The first step was to establish a social media policy and internal process. While he faced several obstacles, Martin was successful in elevating social within the company by hosting training sessions, collaborating between departments and sharing success stories throughout the organization. These efforts made it possible for him to earn the trust of key internal stakeholders, including Legal, Marketing and the executive team. He stressed that the Pharrell “moment” wouldn’t have been possible without this strong foundation in place.
Another important lesson we can learn from the Pharrell tweet is to know when to “put down the mic.” After Martin sent the Arby’s tweet to Pharrell, he watched as it received thousands of retweets, replies and favorites, but he chose to wait until engaging further. This proved to be the right decision, and Arby’s was rewarded with a response from Pharrell the next day. Again, Arby’s chose not to respond, recognizing that Pharrell’s comical tweet would be hard to top.
While Arby’s uses social listening to identify opportunistic moments to engage on social, they also use these consumer insights to inform marketing campaigns and product development. For example, Martin’s team noticed a trend that social users really love Arby’s sauces, tweeting that they hated when they forgot sauce, requesting whole sauce bottles for sale and asking that the restaurant offer large sauce dispensers rather than small packets. Martin recognized the opportunity, and worked with the product team to introduce Arby’s sauce by the bottle. They supported this with an integrated marketing campaign – #Saucepocalypse. The creative was based on actual users’ tweets, and they even placed outdoor media in consumers’ hometowns. The results? 50,000 bottles sold and ½ million media impressions.
Are you putting social listening to work for your brand? While effective real-time listening and response can have a huge impact on your bottom line, it does require a sound strategy and the right team in place. Our Social Media Marketing team can help you with both developing and executing a successful social listening strategy to drive your business forward.
Interested in learning more? Check out our recent study on social media monitoring and how real-time listening can drive Twitter ROI.
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By Amanda Batista, Content Marketing Manager, Oracle Marketing Cloud
Content marketing inspiration is everywhere you look. For teams managing limited headcount and/or budget, it’s especially important to leverage various marketing activities across your organization and turn them into content opportunities.
You want to mine the gold in your own backyard, if you will.
This approach is what the content team at Oracle Marketing Cloud aimed to achieve with our ‘Journey to Modern Marketing’ campaign, a program that included a variety of content tactics, including high-value gated eBooks, videos, and blog posts.
The program started with a research study conducted in tandem with BtoB Magazine to learn about the modern marketer—from our audience’s perspective.
The study uncovered five attributes or competencies that comprise the modern marketer: Targeting, Engagement, Conversion, Analysis, and Technology. We used these points, what we refer to as The 5 Tenets of Modern Marketing, as a springboard for the integrated content campaign that ultimately spanned all our digital channels.
We introduced the first content asset in the series during our Modern Marketing Experience event in Europe last year, creating a focal point for the content’s main character, Modern Mark, as well as a social media presence to support engagement and program awareness.
Video as the Star
The guides, social components, and promotion for the blog lived on a landing page where an ungated video was used to engage visitors and support the educational assets.
The story of “Modern Mark’s Journey to Modern Marketing” was packaged into six videos in total: Five covering a tenet each and one trailer video, which was shared via social media and our blog to tease the upcoming content. Each of the videos supported the messaging of the guides created around the Modern Marketing theme in an engaging, entertaining way.
As a feature component in our multi-channel campaign, video helped to drive interest and awareness to our 5 Tenets collateral. This resulted in a 120% increase in engagement and an 85% increase in attribution to the creation of MQLs.
In addition to supporting a prospecting campaign, the content also garnered significant and repeated engagement with current customers. The use of “reciprocal” content featuring an ungated video with gated follow-up content provided lead scoring and interest qualification opportunities for prioritized outreach.
Lessons learned from the Oracle Marketing Cloud team:
In addition to video, here are other content components of the program:
High-Value eBooks
We created an eBook for each of the five tenets (the final will be released this month), which were the centerpiece offerings on each landing page and in demand gen emails. Each eBook was written in a how-to fashion to provide a prescriptive approach to managing each tenet of modern marketing. We also included case study examples and customer quotes, to focus on use cases and successes.
Blog Posts
Excerpts from each of the eBooks were used as blog posts to support the launch of all the guides. We offered bulleted lists, core steps, and takeaways with calls to action to visit the landing page. We also included the embedded journey videos into the posts for added engagement.
Social Media Posts
Images of Modern Mark steered our communities to engage with the content across Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Google+. We used unique URLs to track the activity across social networks to understand where to allocate our ad spend most meaningfully.
Crafty content marketers know how to use what they have to maximize resources and budget, and to ensure your content messaging is consistent across the organization.
How do you mind the content gold in your own backyard?
What is innovation? Is it sheer creativity, or is it research and analytics? André Macklin, Sr. Director of Partnerships & Innovation at Cartoon Network says it’s a combination of both.
André was nice enough to speak at our YP event a few weeks ago and share his definition of innovation. He gave us some great examples of how Cartoon Network (CN) has been able to analyze the behaviors of their target audiences and create campaigns that keep them coming back for more. (Not to mention we all walked away with some really cool swag!)
So what did we learn? When starting his presentation, André spoke about two campaigns CN had recently launched for both their main audience (kids 6-14 yrs. old) and then for their older, Adult Swim college audience (adults 18-22 yrs. old). Here’s a brief recap of each:
After explaining each of the campaigns, it was evident to us all that the creative part was the obvious next step after looking at the research and insights that were right in front of them.
Where does someone begin when trying to create a magical experience like CN’s? André walked us through this innovative process that included the following steps:
When closing the presentation, André pointed out something that was very valid, “It’s important to realize some of the most innovative companies had really, really crappy ideas at some point!”
Once again, a big thanks to André for sharing his experiences with us and don’t forget, the YP’s have one more event — our AMA End of the Year Party! Stay tuned for more details…
Guest post by Jennifer Groese (@JGroese), YP SIG member.
From Lyn Turknett, President, Turknett Leadership Group
What’s the biggest problem you’ve ever had managing volunteers? If you’ve ever been a volunteer, and have let a volunteer commitment slip to meet a “real work” deadline, you likely know what most people answer: holding people accountable when you have no authority over them.
Interestingly, though, that problem is one of the reasons that management guru Peter Drucker insisted that volunteering for a nonprofit or association was the best management training available. And if that was true decades ago for Drucker, it’s even more true today, as our work becomes less about managing tasks and more about leading knowledge workers who have a lot of choice about where they work. We can rarely use our position of power to make things happen, even in our day jobs.
To manage volunteers, you have to do the same three things any leader must do – you have to create a shared vision, build strong relationships, and then execute, finding ways to manage accountability and assure follow through. Creating a shared vision is the first step. Dan Pink, in his book Drive, argues that people are motivated by autonomy, mastery, and purpose. In a volunteer situation it’s important to build on the sense of mission and purpose that people often feel when committing volunteer time. Tell your team why you are committed to the cause, and, if possible, ask each person to share their commitment so that others can hear. Work to build a vision for each project you work on as well. Why are we doing this? What will it look like when we finish? What will make us proud?
In leadership, it’s important to be aware of two things at all times – one’s own personality and propensities, and the exact situation at hand. That awareness is especially important as you build a team and manage execution. Most of us find one of those areas of leadership more difficult than the other – either it’s easier for us to build relationships and a strong team, or it’s easier to hold ourselves and others accountable and manage follow through. I have found two models especially useful as leaders build the skills they need – the Leadership Character Model ™ and situational leadership.
Leadership is grounded in character – people willingly follow only leaders they trust and respect. In a business setting, people may stay on the team of a scoundrel for a paycheck only, but you can rest assured that in a volunteer situation they will quickly jump ship. The Leadership Character Model™ is a representation of the kind of character anyone needs to lead, whether they are running a Fortune 50 company or a volunteer fundraiser. Leadership Character is visually represented as a scale, with Integrity as the strong, solid base and Respect and Responsibility balanced on either side. On the Respect side leaders must develop Empathy, Humility, Emotional Mastery, and Lack of Blame. On the Responsibility side of the scale they must develop and demonstrate Accountability, Self-confidence, Courage, and Focus on the Whole. Most of us find one of those areas of leadership more difficult than the others. Balancing the two sides is key – if someone on your team isn’t pulling her weight you need a pitch-perfect balance of empathy and accountability to address the issue.
The Leadership Character Model ™
Situational leadership theory was first developed by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard when collaborating on the first edition of Management of Organizational Behavior in 1969 – and it is just as useful today as it was then. The idea is that leadership style needs to vary according to the situation and according to the maturity/developmental level of the person they are managing. Leadership styles are basically combinations of Direction and Support. If you are strong and balanced on the two sides of the Leadership Character scale, you will find both Direction and Support relatively easy. If you are high on Responsibility and low on Respect, though, you may find Support difficult. If you low on Responsibility and high on Respect, Support may come easily but you may struggle getting people to follow through, especially when you are leading only by influence.
Developmental level varies not simply by person but by task. For example, if you have a seasoned accountant on your volunteer team, that person may be at a top development level for most tasks within his or her company, but will may be new to the volunteer organization and in need of information and close management.
Ken Blanchard’s describes Development Level is a combination of competence and commitment. He says that when people start a job – or join a committee – they are highly motivated and committed, but their competence is low. At Developmental Level 1 volunteers need lots of Direction. They are eager at that time for tons of information, but too often no one takes advantage of that motivation and hunger for information. Remember that when you are leading volunteers. When a new person joins as a volunteer, you will strengthen motivation if you provide great orientation. Include things like:
At Developmental Level 2 people still need a good bit of Direction, but now they’ve likely lost some of that beginning enthusiasm – and perhaps they’ve encountered some roadblocks. Now they need both Direction and Support – information, project plans, and deadlines along with appreciation and supportive conversation.
A few ideas for support might be:
Many of us, no matter what our natural propensity, struggle with holding others accountable when we are not in charge. There are some great ideas in Stanley Portny’s Project Management for Dummies. A few that may be helpful when managing volunteers are:
At Developmental Level 3, according to Blanchard, people are knowledgeable about the task, and don’t need much direction, but may still lack confidence, and often need support, encouragement, and a willing ear. At the volunteer may be more confident and competent about that project than you are. I remember a year when I served as the leader of all the major events for an Association. One person on my team had managed the major fundraiser for several years, and had the project down cold. She did a phenomenal job, and any meddling from me would have added nothing. That’s the kind of volunteer we are all hoping to grow – and become!
SUMMARY: It’s been said that if you can manage volunteers you can manage anyone. Why? Because in a volunteer setting you are leading by influence only – you have no real authority over those you lead. The same leadership principles apply – just more so. Begin by establishing a shared vision that all feel excited about, and build strong relationships with everyone on your team. As you lead, think constantly about balancing empathy and respect with accountability and follow through. Provide lots of information and direction in the beginning, especially for new volunteers, set up systems for monitoring, and be ready with support and appreciation as the volunteer gains experience in his or her role.
Did you know that April 6-12 is National Volunteer Week? President Richard Nixon established National Volunteer Week with an executive order in 1974 as a way to recognize and celebrate the efforts of volunteers. AMA Atlanta would like to acknowledge and thank all of our fantastic volunteers! We couldn’t do what we do without you!
A special shout out to our AMAzing AMY Awards volunteer team. The event was a huge success and would not have been the same without all of your hard work!
Jessica Byrd: Jessica is a visual communications specialist who advises businesses and organizations on how to effectively leverage print and digital communications in their daily marketing efforts. A graduate of Clemson University’s Graphic Communications Program, Jessica moved to Atlanta in June of 2013 and is actively involved in both the AMY’s and DECA AMA committees.
“I love AMA for all the wonderful resources, engaging events and great people!”
Dawn Hill: Dawn is a Media Director, Planning & Buying at Media Brokers International. She has experience planning and executing both national and local campaigns in all media verticals.
“I love AMA because of the people I meets at events and through volunteering.”
Hayley Johns: Hayley is a public relations professional at Jackson Spalding, one of the largest independent communications firms in the Southeast with offices in Atlanta, Dallas and Athens, Ga. Since joining Jackson Spalding in 2008, Hayley has worked on a broad cross-section of accounts including media outreach and events for large real estate clients, marketing collateral for a regional transportation initiative, social media for a not-for-profit campaign and communications support for one of the world’s most recognizable brands.
“I love being a part of the AMA Atlanta chapter because of the unique opportunity to collaborate with marketing professionals from agencies and companies across Atlanta.”
Keri Lyons: Keri is a graduate from the University of Georgia (Go Dawgs!) and works for Brandmovers Inc., a global leader in digital engagement, as an Account Manager. She is an avid dog lover, has a huge passion for her Georgia Bulldogs, and most recently developed an obsession with watching Angel and Buffy on Netflix.
“I began volunteering for the AMYs Awards in 2011 during my internship at Engauge. I love planning events, so being a volunteer for one of Atlanta’s biggest events was very exciting for me. It was also a great way for me to meet professionals in the Atlanta community who have definitely helped shape my career to what it is today. Since then, I have joined AMA and have continued to assist with the AMY Awards and enjoy every minute. Can’t wait to start helping with next year’s awards!”
Jim Reynolds: Originally from Boston, Jim has over 15 years of digital marketing, communications and brand management experience. With a background in analytics, Jim helps companies to develop brand building communications programs across a wide range of social, digital and traditional marketing platforms.
“Joining the AMA was one of the best career decisions I’ve ever made. I’ve had the opportunity to meet, work with and learn from some of the best in the industry. It’s been a great experience far exceeding my expectations.”
Andrea Sadtler: Andrea is part of the Corporate Partnerships team for the Atlanta & Gwinnett Braves and can be your go-to girl for sponsorship opportunities with the teams. She moved to Atlanta from Chicago after getting married on May 26th and resides in Buckhead with her husband, Andrew.
“The AMY’s was my first experience with AMA and I have loved the opportunities it has provided me with getting to know some of the most influential people who live and work in my new home!”
To view a slideshow of AMA’s volunteers in action, click here. For more information on how you can get involved email our Volunteers Chair – Lisa Maclellon.
Congratulations to the 2014 DECA Scholarship winners – Sarah Green and Sage Fuller. Thank you to AMA board member Brandon Pelissero, Roshonda Coleman and AMA President Renee Spurlin for judging.
It’s December and the influx of holiday parties have begun! Perhaps you have a large number of invitations sitting in your inbox, but the AMA Holiday Mixer this week is one you don’t want to pass up. We will be hosting this annual event favorite on December 12th from 6:00 – 8:00pm at Tongue & Groove.
Similar to last year, we’ve partnered with our friends at the Atlanta Ronald McDonald House Charity to give back to those in need this holiday season. Help us help others by bringing an unwrapped gift to the event. (Suggested items can be found at the end of this post.) The Ronald McDonald House Charities provides a home away from home for families of ill and injured children who must travel to receive treatment at Atlanta area hospitals. With your help we can make their holiday a little brighter.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Ronald McDonald House Charities Gift Suggestions:
Bibs, pacifiers, soft books, bottles, art kits, iTunes gift cards, video games, stuffed animals, Legos
Guest post by Jennifer Groese (@JGroese), YP SIG member.