Galvanek & Wahl Advertising Agency

What better way to advertise than by giving back to the community? The most important message sent to an audience is that you care about their cause. The relationship built during that process creates individuals willing and motivated to help develop your business in indirect ways; the impact of a group commenting about your financially supported event on social media creates a foundation of positive personal advertising.  This approach is not only is good for the community, but it will show the public that you care at the same time – business and social goals are aligned.

There are tons of different ways to give back.  One of those ways is through events used raise money/raise company awareness.  Each industry has different event possibilities that make sense.  For example, if you run a music store, a charity concert would work.  Or if you own a clothing store, a fashion show is appropriate.  However, the most important parts is that you do something that involves the community and advertise the event so people know about it.  A great way to do this is by involving the press.  Writing press releases and submitting them to local publications as well as reaching out to local news stations is a great way to get attention from the community.  Other easy forms of advertising events are utilizing social media outlets as well as posters, flyers, newsletters, etc.

Examples of events/activities that work well for fundraisers/charity events:
- Sporting Event, Tournament or Race
- Fashion Shows
- Charity Dance of Ball
- Benefit Concert

Deciding on an organization to benefit is also important.  Try and choose one that is important to you or your company.  Also remember to look to the local community.  Giving back to the people, places and companies are you is very important and appreciated.  A great place to start looking is with local area schools. Budget cuts have been hard for schools and has caused gaps in funds needed to maintain/update their property or equipment.

Take Strafe Gaming Lounge for example, this year they decided they wanted to give back to their community. They decided that they wanted to have a Zombie 5k run, which related to their business (video game lounge) and is something fun and exciting.  After deciding they wanted to do it, they then needed to pick their cause.  Instead of going for a national organization, they decided to donate to a local High School that was in need for funding for new technology.  By doing this, it creates a win-win scenario.  Although it is a lot of work, in the end the High School will have more money to get things they need and Strafe gets their name out all at the same time while also creating a memorable event that locals can participate in.

The Strafe Zombie Run takes place this Saturday, 10/29/11 at 8:30 AM in Fuquay-Varina, NC.  For more information on the Strafe Zombie Run or to register/volunteer/donate, visit www.strafezombierun.com.

Boring old stagnant websites are a thing of the past.  Advanced web technology and creativity has given companies a unique opportunity to interact with clients and potential clients.  With many people searching the internet for companies rather than opening up a phone book, it’s become important to engage your online visitors. With so many competitors contending for same potential customers, competition to stand out among your rivals has reached dramatic levels. Without a unique, memorable online presence, you can easily and quickly lose your visitors.  One of the best ways to stand out to your users is to provide potential customers with something fun and interactive.  Just think of how much time people spend tinkering on their smart phones with apps and games!

We have developed the perfect solution to this problem.  Introducing InterACT, our cutting-edge interactive online video tour application that not only engages and interacts with your online visitors, but also effectively presents your business’s core messaging and values.  It provides the customer with a unique and memorable experience, making it likely that they will return and spread the word.  Would you rather read through lots of text, or click through a presentation  where information is both accessible and visually pleasing?  I think we all know the answer.

Positive Aspects

• Completely scalable
• Engaging and interactive
• Adaptable to many different industries including:
  Schools, Colleges, Hospitals, Hotels, Corporate Headquarters, Shopping Malls, Cruise Ships, Ski Resorts, Country Clubs, Golf Courses, Reception Halls, Historic Sites, Parks, Gyms, Museums and more.
• Exciting and informative
• Global reach
• Entirely personalized
• Innovative marketing solution for generating potential visitor & customer interest
• Unique opportunity to involve employees and current visitors
• Familiarizes potential visitors with the appearance and layout of the campus and/or building(s)
• Showcase smaller, overlooked attractions as well as big name selling points

Services Included

• Planning & Strategy
• Creative Conception & Development
• Location Scouting
• Casting, Talent Selection & Interviewing
• Script Writing
• Pre-Production & Scheduling
• Video Production
• Post-Production- Editing & Music
• Voice Over Recording
• Online Application Development- Flash & HTML

Case Study

The Peddie School of Hightstown, NJ contracted G&W to develop of fully interactive online tour that would educate and engage potential students. G&W developed the creative concept, managed all production, and developed their unique online tour application. The G&W development team worked closely with the Peddie Admissions Department to ensure that all core messaging was incorporated into the film segments and our design team worked closely with the Peddie IT department to ensure the application worked seamlessly on the Peddie School servers. The online tour application contains a map of the school grounds, 9 clickable areas, 37 video clips, and the ability to navigate around the school grounds by clicking on areas of interest.

Please feel free to take the online Peddie tour: http://www.peddie.org/InteractiveTour/index.html

Our newest InterACT project

Kinetic Physical Therapy with locations in Ramsey, NJ and Park Ridge, NJ contracted us for a variety of projects.  The project they were undoubtedly most excited about was the InterACT online tour of their facilities.  The online tour gives them a unique edge over their competition, engages clients and visitors to their site and ensures customers that they are keeping up with the newest and greatest technology and equipment available in the physical therapy field.  G&W developed the creative concept, managed all production, and developed their unique online tour application.  The G&W development team worked closely with KineticPT to ensure that all of KineticPT’s unique techniques and equipment were featured and highlighted in the film segments to showcase the unique benefits and experience clients will receive when utilizing its exciting facilities for their physical therapy needs.

Please stop by KineticPT and take the online tour!: http://www.kineticpt.com/interact/

Please contact G&W to discuss how a uniquely interactive online tour can add to your business’s professionalism and entice a new generation of visitors and customers. After an initial discussion and review, your company will receive a free evaluation and project proposal.  Here at G&W, we offer our clients a Guaranteed Wow!

For those of you that are wondering what on earth ‘Swag’ is…it is all the free goodies/giveaways/products that companies give out usually with their logo or branding incorporated somehow.  Giving out promotional swag is pretty much like free advertising.  Consider this: say Company X gives out pens with their logo and phone number to Customer Y.  Customer Y puts the pen into her purse and forgets about it.  Months later, when digging around in her purse, Customer Y finds the pen and thinks to herself, “oh yeah!  I should call Company X because I am in need of their services!”  It may not happen exactly like this but you can see the opportunities that a promo product such as a pen can have.  Depending on the product, some customers will hold on to them for a long time!  I still have t-shirts and pens from other companies that I got years ago.  Spending as little as 5 cents on that promotional pen put Company X’s name and number right at Customer Y’s fingertips.  With all of the advertising these days, it is important to give customers a “leave-behind” to cut through all of the noise in the marketing world.

Here are a few reasons why we think promo products are useful:

1) Provides a Tangible Reminder To Clients and/or Potential Clients

Having something that you can touch and hold makes it easier for people to remember company name and phone number.  A light bulb may go off in his/her head at some point when they see or use the promo product that will remind him/her of your company.  Although business cards are often a tangible leave behind, they really only have one use and a lot of times get lost under something or end up in the trash can.

2) Promo Products Make Great “Thank you” for Employees and Clients

Thanking your frequent customers or hard-working employees is always a good idea.  Both customers and employees both like to feel appreciated and giving them promotional products will not only make them happy but can also help grow your business!

3) Draw People to Your Trade Show Booth

For those of you that attend trade shows and have booths, there will be lots of potential customers milling around and having free promotional products can draw them in to your booth.  The more catchy slogans and/or unique products will make people more inclined to not only visit your booth but remember your company.  Think outside the box!

4) Can Add to Your Brand Recognition by Providing a Lasting Impression

You put a lot of time, thought and money into your brand.  The more exposure it gets and the more things you put it on, the better.  Nike did not become associated with their Nike swoop overnight.  It took a lot of marketing and a lot of work to get people to associate the name with just the icon.  Of course not all of us can become Nike, however, by getting your brand out there is a step in the right direction to getting people to recognize the icon/colors/logo.

5) Cross Promoting Charitable Events

It is great to provide community support and/or raise money for a good cause.  If you are participating in a charity event, promo products are perfect!  What better way to let people know that your company supports the cause.

6) Business to Business Marketing Plus

If you have seen tissues boxes or pens at doctor’s offices with pharmaceutical logos and branding, you have seen this at its best.  When working for a company that markets business to business, what better way to stand out than to leave behind a promo product instead of the typical (but still important) business card!  We actually went to a client pitch meeting one time and the client told us that she loved our pens and that she would always look for them when grabbing for a pen which means that G&W is fresh in her mind every time she uses our pen.

There are MANY options when it comes to promo products.  The more you buy, the higher discount you get.  As you increase the quantity, the per unit price drops dramatically which means more products can go out to more people for less.   As a registered ASI member, G&W is able to get large discounts which we can then pass on to our customers.  If you are interested in getting a free price quote on promotional products or any other marketing services, contact G&W today.  Remember…we offer our clients a ‘Guaranteed Wow‘!

Rebranding can be a gamble.  It can refresh your company and bring it current or it can confuse and irritate customers.  Recently Gap took that gamble an unveiled a  new logo.  The new logo attempted to keep an element of the iconic logo that has defined the brand for 20 years, a white background with black letters and a little blue shaded box in the upper right hand corner.  Customers were not happy to say the least.  The new logo received negative public outcry from customers on the social media circuit and it is no surprise why.  The logo looked like something my six year old daughter could have made on the paint program.  Customers on Gap’s Facebook page even went as far as to say that if they kept the new look that they would no longer be buying clothes at the store.  Gap has since decided to stick with the old logo and has pulled all plans to unveil it at their stores.

The new logo even inspired a website where you can “Crap Logo Yourself.”  You enter your own text and you will get a logo inspired by Gap’s lame attempt at a new logo.  To crap your own logo go to:  http://craplogo.me/

The attempt at changing the logo was partly fueled by Gap’s sales figures which were down 4% this year following a 10% decline the year before.  But before panicking and grasping at straws to increase sales, companies need to consider all of the reasons that sales might be down including recessions, lack of discounts or coupons, off-trend products or the amount of advertising they are utilizing.

So what lessons can we learn from this marketing disaster?

1.  Social Media is a Powerful Force

With the age of instant communication with cell phones and social media sites the era of rebranding in a board room without customer feedback is over.  Companies should view this as a blessing instead of a curse because they can save tons of money by finding out that their design is going to tank before they change all of their signs, products and such.  Back in the “old days” companies wouldn’t find out that their attempt at rebranding failed until their quarterly sales numbers came back.  With Facebook and Twitter customers are more engaged than ever with their favorite companies and products and they aren’t afraid to share their opinions.  Utilize these outlets to gain customer feedback, take polls and test your new ideas before making a final decision.  After all if your customers aren’t happy, nobody is happy.

2.  Don’t Take Your Customers for Fools

Although most of your customers probably aren’t graphic designers by trade, the technology on the internet and home computers is so advanced these days that a novice can design a pretty decent logo at home with a few hours practice.  Bottom line – they can recognize “lame work”.

3.  For Rebranding to Work it Takes More Than Just a New Logo

This is something we emphasize with all of our clients who are branding or rebranding.  A brand is NOT just a logo.  A brand is your products, color scheme and the general feel of your company.  If you think you can just change your logo and something magical will happen with your sales you are sadly mistaken.  Rebranding does work but it takes a major overhaul of your website, print materials and consideration of whether or not your products or services are current and what customers want.

4.  As the Old Saying Goes “If it Ain’t Broke Don’t Fix It

Gap’s logo is about as iconic as they come.  It’s classic styling and simplicity will probably never go out of style.  I’m not saying that the company should never consider rebranding, but maybe they should listen to their customers and rebrand when they suggest that it is getting stale.

With customers not purchasing during the recession, many companies are decreasing or eliminating their marketing and advertising budgets all together.  This is a bad idea.  You could be blowing away your competition right now and increasing your sales by 10% or more by spending some money on advertising and marketing.  Huh you say?  It seems to go against logic doesn’t it?  Here are some convincing facts, figures and case studies that will make you reconsider.

1.  Your competition isn’t advertising.  Just imagine if you do, you will be the one getting the only people who actually are buying.

2.  People aren’t buying on impulse as much as in the past.  They are doing their research first, especially online.  Having an eye-pleasing, current website which comes up high in the search engines (Good SEO), offers something different from your competition is a must.  If you don’t have a website yet, or your website hasn’t been updated in years, now is the time to act.

3.  You can possibly get stellar deals and discounts.  Not only that if the advertising agency isn’t very busy you will get their undivided attention.

4.  If you skimp on advertising you could actually be left further behind than you were in the first place.  You need to keep pushing forward even if it feels financially painful at the moment.  Believe me, it will pay off in the end.

5.  If you are investing in SEO as part of your marketing plan, you will be the first noticed online when customers do their research about where to buy.

Examples of recession advertising success:

• In 1933, Post Cereals cut its advertising while Kellogg doubled it.  Kellogg’s profits rose 30% and dominated the industry.  It still does today.
• Jif Peanut Butter and Kraft Salad Dressing increased their advertising and experienced sales growth of 57% and 70% respectively.
• During that time, most of the beer industry cut budgets, but Coors Light and Bud Light increased theirs and saw sales jump 15% and 16% respectively.
• Among fast food chains, Pizza Hut sales rose 61% and Taco Bell’s 40% thanks to strong advertising support, reducing McDonald’s sales by some 28%

Your gut and your wallet is telling you not to advertise.  This is one of those occasions that you need to resist your gut feelings.  If you don’t increase your advertising the simple fact is that you WILL suffer in the long run.

The feedback will help the company come up with a name for their non-profit charitable organization which tries to help the less fortunate in America.

Help out here if you can and pass it along:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/MyCollector_Detail.aspx?sm=ghjKjBKejRPViS8Y2YzgVsoXDkCov3esljC0rxQJqsfDViUlHLrdUFhfWkQd9F%2bT

Every brand needs refreshing every once in a while to stay current and relevant as trends change in the market.  Smaller companies and non-profit organizations need to rebrand as well.  Here are some of the most common rebranding mistakes to avoid:

1.  Believing that you are too small too rebrand

No company is too small to re-brand.  If you don’t update your brand with current colors, fonts etc. you will look outdated to customers and you will lose them to your competition.  I know I wouldn’t buy from a company using the teal and peach colors popular in the 80′s or a company that had photos of outdated computers on their website.  Would you?

2.  Not using professionals

A big mistake many companies make is thinking that they can use in-house employees to rebrand.  These people may get the job done, but you will risk an outcome that looks less than professional.  Leave it to the advertising agency to rebrand your company.  It will take them less than half the time and the results will be better than you have envisioned.  Let’s face it, what is the point of rebranding if your end result looks like you took some clip art out of a word program and pasted it on your marketing materials.

3.  Don’t go all out.  A simple face-lift will suffice.

You don’t need to put your entire marketing budget into a rebranding with an entire new look.  You will be amazed at what a little tweak to your slogan and logo will do.  You will need new business cards, letterhead and marketing materials, but these don’t cost much at all to replenish.

4.  Not doing any research

Don’t rebrand on your own.  Do research online, see what the trends are, what appeals to the masses.  Devoting a few hours of your time for a permanent change to your business will be well worth it.  You should also include the opinions of others in the company.  Believe it or not, you might not be the expert on what people like to see visually in a brand.

5.  Just updating your logo and nothing else

A brand is more than just a logo.  This is an extremely common misconception.

It may seem like a no-brainer but the key to having a successful trade show is great marketing.  But the marketing strategy is certainly not the same across the board for every company.  That is why you should have a strategic event plan.  Every booth should have at least two people.  One person would be overwhelmed.

Have an Exhibit Marketing Plan

You need to decide what you wish to accomplish at the show.  Are you introducing a new product or service?  Are you seeking out new customers or trying to sell more to existing customers?  Try to focus on one specific strategy so that you don’t get overwhelmed.  This isn’t to say that you turn away new customers if you plan to focus on current customers.

You also want to come up with a trade show budget.  Your goal is to maximize profits while still getting a booth that will attract customers.  You will also want to factor in any kind of giveaways, brochures, business cards and budget on employees that will be manning the booth during the trade show.

Have a Great Exhibit

Your booth can be flashy and colorful but if it doesn’t explain what you do and include your brand, you’ve wasted your money.  There are many booths out there that look like they’ve spent a lot of money on them but you want people to remember you for your unique product or service not just that bright purple booth with the flashing lights.  People are going to be passing by quickly so you need to make sure  you highlight your product or service so that it gets noticed. Your panels should incorporate your brand and logo but you might also consider photos of your products or services.  People are very visual and remember photographs.

You also want to consider a budget when considering a booth.  What size can you afford?  Do you have someone in-house to design it or do you need to hire an outside agency to do the graphic design for you? Make sure that you give yourself enough time before the show to design and order the booth so that it will be ready on the date of your trade show.  A designer will need at least two weeks to design the booth and you will need a few more weeks to have made and shipped to you.  This also applies to any panels that you plan on having if your budget allows.

G&W has designed some great booths, panels and giveaways.  Here are some examples of what we can do for you for your trade show:

Implement Powerful Marketing Tools

These marketing tools have to be implemented before during and after the show.  Don’t just limit yourself to these strategies during the show.  You will want to advertise your show for a proper time before the show to attract current customers to the show.  In addition to advertising you will want to prepare the brochures that you will be handing out to customers and plan on the giveaways and contests that you will be using during the show.  You need to decide if you will be designing new brochures or using ones that you may already have at the show to advertise your brand and company.  Many times the existing ones will suffice.  Using existing materials will also help you stay within budget.

Select cost-efficient giveaways.  If you plan on giving away a more expensive item like a bag rather than a cheaper pen, you may want to keep them behind your booth and only give them to the really interested customers who spend a lot of time talking to you about your products and services.  Your giveaways  should also reflect your company’s image.  Here is where you can get creative.  Remember the idea of giveaways is to have your brand be noticed well after the show is over.  Choose something that will get a lot of use from your customers.  We recently ordered tissue boxes  as a giveaway.  The client gave the tissue boxes to doctor’s offices and the office placed the tissues at the front desk.  This provided a ton of exposure for the client because every customer that came up to the desk and got tissues saw the name of the client.  Think your giveaway through thoroughly for maximum exposure.

A great idea to get names and numbers of potential clients is to giveaway something expensive such as an Ipod and have customers fill out an entry form and drop it in the box.  This will only cost you a couple of hundred dollars but generate a ton of leads that you can follow up with later.  Don’t forget to get phone numbers, addresses and email addresses.

Choose Trade Shows That You Attend Wisely

Don’t be hasty and just choose any trade show haphazardly.  You want to make sure that the trade shows that you choose to attend have a history of high attendance and that the customers that attend will utilize your services.  You don’t want to attend a gardening show if you sell pet items.  This is a very obvious example, but you get the hint.  You can contact the show beforehand and ask how many attendees they had in a previous year and how many they expect to attend at the show you will be attending.

Make Sure Your Employees Know Your Plan

You want to make sure that you bring your employees up to speed well ahead of time about your plan at the show so that they have time to familiarize themselves with the strategy, giveaways etc.  You don’t want to send them in blind and have them just “wing-it.”  You will want to have at least two employees manning your booths.  One to talk to customers and the other to help with brochure and promotional giveaways.  One person manning the booths will not be enough at all and will likely get very overwhelmed.

If you keep organized and plan well in advance you will have an extremely successful trade show and should get plenty of leads to follow up with.  Don’t forget to try to land the sale at the show too!  You will be much more successful if you get the customer to buy on the spot.  Once they leave without a purchase you will have less of a chance of getting the sale.  Contact G&W today to get started on a brand spanking new trade show booth sure to attract tons of customers at your upcoming show.

Do you have a call to action on your website and in your marketing materials?

Go ahead take a look. In your marketing materials do you tell them what to do next? Do you have a call to action on your printed materials and website? It may sound a no-brainer but you’d be surprised how many companies don’t have a strong call to action on their marketing materials (online, and in print). By using a “call to action” you are directly drawing your potential customers in to utilize your product or service. I know those shiny, brightly colored buttons on a website draw my attention!

Let’s consider that your potential customer has picked up a piece of your marketing collateral, perhaps it’s that fantastic brochure you just had designed. They begin to read it and as they flip through the brochure they realize hey might be able to use your services, but they get to the end and they don’t know what to do, because you presented them with no call to action.

You didn’t tell them to call you. You didn’t tell them to visit your website. They contemplate, they ponder and then they toss away your brochure without even contacting you.

Does this sound absurd? It does at first glance, but take a close look at your marketing materials; your website and your print collateral. Do you have any calls to action? Many companies do not and it isn’t even something they have even thought about consciensly.

The best way that I’ve found to create an effective call to action is imagine the questions the consumer has when viewing your marketing information.

Let’s just take a look at a few that come to mind immediately.

How do I contact them? Are they available via telephone, internet, fax, or email?  Why should I buy from them? What do they offer me? Will they save me money? Will they make my life easier? Are they better than their competition?  Is there any immediacy? Are they running any promotions if I contact them before a deadline date? Will I receive a discount if I act now?  Does your marketing material answer all of those questions?

Your call to action must include every way possible that they can contact you and buy from you. Include your telephone number, your address, your website address and of course your email. Share with them how your product will solve a problem they may be encountering.  Solution-position your product so it touches the spot of pain your consumer is feeling and flesh out those benefits, now tell them how to get those benefits.

You should also use active current language.  Words such as:

• Call
• Buy
• Register
• Subscribe
• Donate

All of these encourage users to take action.

To create a sense of urgency you can use words like this alongside phrases such as:

• Offer expires September 30th
• For a short time only
• Order now and receive a free gift

Our call to action button says “Contact us today for your FREE marketing consultation”

Here are some other examples:

If you do these simple things you can create a strong call to action that will in fact increase the potential customers that contact you just from reading your marketing material.  This will give you an edge over your competition and will most likely immediately increase your sales.