Everybody, meet Ryan Bares!

When did you start at LFI? June 1, 2011

Where did you work before? Beta Theta Pi Fraternity Foundation and Administrative Office

What is your title? Account Coordinator

What are your responsibilities? The account coordinator is responsible for helping to maintain the relationship between LFI and its clients. The account coordinator will generally look after client needs through direct contact, liaison and the marshalling of agency resources.

What is something you’d like to achieve? What would I like to achieve? Hmmm... is success too cliché? I want that for my clients. I want them to think of LFI when it comes to their digital marketing needs and for idea generation, because we produce results. In addition, I want to obtain some pretty gnarly industry knowledge and networks. Business is all about relationships and I am all about relationship-building.

What team are you on? Client Services

Why did you want to work at LFI? First, it was Ashli’s passion for LFI. While she interviewed me I could tell she really liked it here and I wanted more. Along with Ashli’s passion, Emily Carroll couldn’t say anything but amazing things about her co-workers and the clients. Also, I wanted to work here because, since the beginning, LFI has been in the interactive game. Interactive is really hot right now and I wanted in and LFI owns digital in this region. In addition, the “family” atmosphere really spoke to me. While working for the Fraternity we were really focused on creating a “family” culture and I really sought that out during my job search.

How many years have you worked for an agency? Big, fat, zero.

How many years have you worked in advertising? 26 years (shoot, now you know how old I am). Let me explain. I believe we are always advertising ourselves. To the clothes we wear, to the friends we keep, to the first impressions. No mater what we are doing it is advertising. But to answer your question, it’s closer to five years (paid for my work).

What is your degree, and where did you get it? Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing (minor in Advertising), University of Wisconsin Oshkosh

What organizations do you have a membership with? Beta Theta Pi, Young Professionals of Louisville (YPAL) and Advertising Federation of Louisville.

Is there anything else you’d like to add? I promise I am not as boring as this reads! LFI is going to be a great place for me to launch my career in digital advertising and I am looking forward to the journey.

Introducing Daniel Carcara!

When did you start at LFI? August 15, 2011.

Developing a successful, total interactive marketing strategy for your product, service or brand involves building a plan that encompasses a variety of digital marketing services. Including multiple digital media within one campaign will help audience connection and reach as well as expand your digital footprint.

If you haven’t considered an integrated digital marketing plan, now is the time and here are five reasons why.

1. Connect with your audience.

Building a full-service, integrated digital media plan helps your brand connect with your target audience across various platforms. You can go where they are - whether that is mobile, social or just online. Building connections across digital mediums improves relationships and brand loyalty.

2. Engage with your customers.

A full-service digital marketing plan allows your brand to engage and communicate with consumers in a variety of ways. Integrating customer service into your social media plan provides instant communication and problem resolution for customers. Engaging with customers via a mobile app or text message campaign offers the opportunity to present exclusive promotions or coupons to mobile users. *two-way conversation.

3. Expand your reach.

Reaching your target audience is important to all marketing campaigns. But developing a full-service digital marketing plan will help increase your reach, not only to your target audience, but also to those who may influence your target consumers.

4. Easily promote products and services.

Digital marketing channels provide multiple outlets to promote company products and services simultaneously with similar messaging and promotions. Promoting products and services through various interactive marketing channels simplifies the marketing process because you are able to reach thousands of consumers quickly and efficiently.

5. Increase your digital footprint.

Social media and marketing, mobile marketing, paid search campaigns, display advertising, search engine optimization (SEO), video ads and all other digital marketing help your company and brand's digital footprint.

Developing a complete digital marketing plan can seem risky in the beginning, but the brand and company benefits will outweigh that risk in the end. Feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of creating and managing a complete digital marketing plan? Connect with your interactive marketing agency. The agency's marketing team will work with you to develop a full-service digital marketing plan that meets your brand's needs and business strategy.

I’ll be honest. When I saw the first Old Spice Guy commercial on YouTube I was in awe. As the campaign developed over that year, I was completely jealous. Not only was the writing brilliant, the concepts and executions were flawless, and it was just plain funny — but my jealousy reached an all-time high when I realized they completely changed the game of advertising as we knew it.

Any creative who’s ever flipped through the annuals, browsed the Cannes Lion winners, or opened a magazine to find a great ad, has said, “I wish I did that!” I’ve said it hundreds of times throughout my career, but this one was different somehow. It felt bigger than a really great line, a great execution or a cool guerilla marketing idea. It felt like everything I did from that point on was going to have to be a little bigger and a little better than I thought it should be. The way it used and abused the new forms of media were amazing. It created a benchmark for how new media is used, and used well.

Now, even though they’ve taken this campaign to the next level with the introduction of Fabio as the New Old Spice Guy and new executions that are thoroughly entertaining, this campaign has quickly been replaced on my list of “Are you kidding me!?” creative. K-Swiss has officially changed the game. It’s been taken to a level I never thought possible.

When K-Swiss started using the highly controversial and fictional Kenny Powers from HBO’s Eastbound & Down, I thought it was a pretty funny idea. When I saw this video after recently announcing that he had “purchased” K-Swiss and is now the CEO, I was in total shock: Warning - NSFW. Between the language, content and humor in this video, there’s also a highly entertaining Twitter account that is nowhere near anything that I’d imagine a sane client approving for representation of their company. But it’s there. It’s loud. And it’s making everything I do feel pretty tame in comparison. Even the TV spots, which aren’t quite as brash, are pushing the limits as you wait for an F-bomb to be dropped on network TV.

Every writer or art director has a list of things they’d like to somehow sneak into a TV spot or radio script. From monkeys to thinly veiled sexual innuendoes, we all secretly wish to pull one over on the client so that at some point there’s that image spliced into the middle of the spot that could potentially get you pulled into the boss’ office. With the right client, some people are able to check a few of them off the list, but most of us never get that chance. Maybe it’s because we’re too scared to take it or recommend it to our more reserved clients. This campaign pretty much hits everything on that list.

The guys at 72andSunny had either given up on their careers and gave it one last shot, or they are the bravest group of people I’ve ever heard of. This campaign completely changes how brands can position themselves, talk about themselves, how people view them, and, more importantly, how creatives will forever covet working for them. I will always have a ton of respect for the guys who did the Old Spice campaign, because they were truly game changers. But right now, I have to say the new K-Swiss campaign will completely inspire me to find a foul-mouthed, fictional character to represent a formerly quiet, nice brand. Once I pick my jaw up off the floor, I’ll be busy trying to think of something that takes this to the next plateau. Or I’ll just watch the video again.

Design and animation are underway as LeapFrog Interactive continues to prepare for the launch of their digital out of home (DOOH) project in Cincinnati. There have been several great creative meetings, in which the concept and design has been developed. It’s all about finding the proper balance between direct interaction and passive interaction, while still being able to deliver a strong brand message and not only “cool technology.” By combining powers with Zone CG for the animation, LFI envisions the final DOOH marketing element to create a simple user experience that not only wows the average passersby, but also engages them enough to come back and try it again.

Earlier this month, the development team at LeapFrog Interactive created a small test version of the DOOH element. Drew and Will tested the screen material in various lighting conditions, and the material worked better than expected. Knowing this, the main focus continues to be on creating great visuals rather than specific colors that will do better with certain light conditions.

Moving forward, the development and creative teams continue to work with Zone CG for animation; concrete development will begin over the next few weeks. LFI is looking forward to the completion of the DOOH project and creating a unique experience in Cincinnati, OH.

Contributed by Brittany Burdoine-Lewis, Nathan Dye and Drew Greenwell

A while ago, we started offering the L.E.A.P. process as a service to our clients. This strategy and planning process takes clients through four stages – Listen, Engage, Act and Perform – to deliver an aligned brand message, effective and measurable digital marketing tactics, outstanding website creative and user-friendly technology architecture.

This service is ideal for a company who is going through restructuring, wants a new image, or just isn’t sure what they want to portray to the public. Our teams work directly with many people within your company to dig deep and make sure your brand direction, and messaging are what everyone wants before we start the Engage, Act and Perform sections.

If you’re interested in learning more about the L.E.A.P. process, please contact Maury Hill, Vice President of Client Development at mhill@leapfroginteractive.com or 502-212-1369.

Most of us shutter at the thought of having to write under pressure. Even in a time when content is King and blogging is a daily occurrence, creative writing that is both impactful and succinct can be a heck of a challenge.

Writing a 200-300 word blog about a topic of your choice, or even in a specific category, can be a chore; but have you ever imagined what kind of brilliance it takes to encapsulate a 90-minute feature film into less than 20 (sometimes less than 10) words? My hat is off every day to copywriters around the world whose work must be original, suitable, and memorable.

As I pay homage to my marketing colleagues that write for a living, I am reminded that sometimes the shorter it has to be, the longer it will probably take to come up with it! These are my top 20 favorite film taglines of all time:

20. Revenge of the Nerds (1984): “It’s time for the odd to get even.”

19. The Big Lebowski (1998): “Her life was in their hands. Now her toe is in the mail.”

18. Deliverance (1972): “This is the weekend they didn’t play golf.”

17. X-Men (2000): “Trust a few. Fear the rest.”

16. Thelma & Louise (1991): “Somebody said get a life…so they did.”

15. Quiz Show (1994): “50 million people watched but no one saw a thing.”

14. Platoon (1986): “The first casualty of war is innocence.”

13. Pulp Fiction (1994): “You won’t know the facts until you’ve seen the fiction.”

12. Casper (1995): “Get an Afterlife.”

11. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000): “They have a plan…but not a clue.”

10. Saturday Night Fever (1977): “Catch It.”

9. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991): “Same make. Same model. New mission.”

8. Alien (1979): “In space no one can hear you scream.”

7. Erin Brockovich (2000): “She brought a small town to its feet and a huge corporation to its knees.”

6. The Simpsons Movie (2007): “See our family. And feel better about yours.”

5. Volcano (1997): “The coast is toast.”

4. Chicken Run (2000): “Escape or die frying.”

3. Dirty Harry (1971): “You don’t assign him to murder cases. You just turn him loose.”

2. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986): “One man’s struggle to take it easy.”

1. This is Spinal Tap (1984): “This does for rock ‘n roll what ‘The Sound of Music’ did for hills.”

Want to share a few of your own? Feel free to leave comments or tweet to us: @LFI and @ecarroll01

[Post contributed by Emily Carroll]

As of June 2011, 37% of U.S. marketers had integrated mobile into cross-platform campaigns in that past year, and 58% plan to integrate in 2011, according to eMarketer and research from Chief Marketer. The top channels for mobile marketing were text messaging (SMS) at 59.3%, followed by using barcodes (such as QR codes) at 53.3%. Surprisingly, only 33.8% of marketers use mobile display ads. Mobile display ads report higher click-through rates than standard digital banner ads, providing support for digital marketers to help convince clients.

One important point to keep in mind if you are considering integrating mobile marketing into your overall marketing campaign is determining if your target audience is indeed mobile. Before integrating, conduct a customer survey — find out if your customers are using mobile devices for web surfing and social media, using apps, and interacting on the go. This will help provide some insight into your customers’ mobile habits. If all else fails, turn to your digital marketing agency to see if it has access to market research related to your target audience’s mobile behavior. Understanding your target audience’s mobile behavior will help you better target your mobile ad messaging as SMS, mobile display ads or an app.

While mobile usage and marketing may be the wave of the future, it should be considered only one part of your total cross-platform campaign. Integration of all areas of your marketing is essential for a successful campaign. Cross-platform campaigns allow your brand to reach customers on multiple levels, in multiple places, and at various times throughout the day. As you consider your next cross-platform interactive marketing campaign, think mobile.

Landing page design is a consistent point of discussion at our agency. As I read the article “Landing Page Battles Of The Flat Forehead,” I was glad to learn we are not the only agency or business that continues to have these discussions.

I understand the creative desire to make a page interactive, engaging, colorful and impactful. Many of the websites I view as the most compelling are websites that meet all of those criteria. Those elements, however, do not translate for a PPC landing page. A properly designed landing page should convert your leads into customers. Landing pages are usually associated with media campaigns containing specific ROI goals. If the landing page does not convert, goals will not be met.

Below I have culled together a list of variables, all of which help a landing page perform well:

• Logo should be placed on the top left of the page.
• Call-to-action should be on the right-hand side of the page.
• Forms should be on the right-hand side of the page.
• Headlines should contain keywords.
• Copy should be text and contain keywords matching those in the ads.
• Messaging on the landing page should match the messaging of the ads pointing to the landing pages.
• Call-to-action should be prominent on the page and the text should be relevant to the action taken (Download Whitepaper; Submit Form).
• Remove items that could take users off this page, including top-level navigation, social media icons and other content unrelated to conversion. Educational resources and FAQs could remain on the landing page depending upon the nature of the business.
• Use imagery that is compelling and engaging.
• Avoid Flash and animation.
• Load time is crucial, so remove items that increase load time.
• Use persuasive messaging to compel users to convert.
• Provide an offer relevant for your audience.
• Test your landing page elements for optimal performance.

Use this list with your creative team and hopefully this will avoid conflict over future landing page designs.

If you have not heard of the iPad, iPod or iPhone you are either one of my grandparents or you have been living under a rock. These Apple products have been changing the way we do business since their inception. The majority of my friends have iPhones or iPods, and I am seeing more and more iPads at business meetings and seminars.

What I have noticed — and what I point out to my interactive marketing clients building new websites — is that these devices can’t read Adobe Flash. It isn’t just Steve Jobs and his gaggle of iProducts who are against Flash, either. Many PC users find Flash to be cumbersome.

Flash uses quite a lot of CPU and reduces battery life. Forget the iPad; loss of battery life isn’t ideal for any tablet. If that isn’t enough, the security is questionable and considered not patchable by Adobe. Site navigations in Flash also tend to be difficult to edit and take longer to create.

Of course, it doesn’t matter how clunky something is if there isn’t a better solution out there. HTML5 is poised to replace Flash with audio and video that can be embedded into a webpage without a plug-in. It also allows for image transitions such as fades and sliders that are common on many website homepages today. HTML5 also allows for more search engine optimization and loads much faster.

With the recent release of the preview version of Adobe Edge, an HTML5 development tool, Adobe is subtly acknowledging that HTML5 might be the future. Even though the final release is still on the horizon in 2012, this focus on the mobile web market is a leap forward for Adobe. If Adobe, the creator of Flash, thinks HTML5 is the future, shouldn’t we?

It seems like a no-brainer, but there are many agencies and clients that want to stick with what they know: Flash. In this digital age, however, we need to look at what is in the best interests of our clients and what is compatible across browsers, computers and tablets.

I encourage you to run an experiment. “Google” yourself. What type of content appears for your brand? Do you have articles or news items attributed to you? Are your social networks appearing in search results?

Using basic SEO tactics, you can improve your chances of shaping the content that appears for your name. Optimizing your profiles on social media sites, distributing press releases with your name in the title, and even completing the profiles on sites you are active on are ways you can promote your content to appear first.

If you have content that is unfavorable or you do not want to appear on the search results page, you can move it off the page. Creating quality content around your accomplishments, articles you have written, and blogs can push down the unwanted results, thereby producing the best footprint for your brand.

Thus, take the time to monitor and update your properties to improve your online brand management. And, if you haven’t already, sign up for Google+. My profile is already appearing in search results after three weeks.

You’ve heard of LinkedIn, you might even have a profile, and I’m willing to bet you have probably asked yourself or someone else, “Now what?” There are a lot of questions around how LinkedIn is different from other social networks and how to maximize profiles and results.

When writing your summary and listing your specialties, it is key to optimize for the keywords, services or skills for which you want to be found. Optimizing your summary and specialties, much like you optimize your website copy, will help your personal search results. For example, let’s say you have been a social media marketing manager for a number of years and you are looking to be found as an expert in social media marketing — either for expertise discussion, new connections or potential employment opportunities. Using “social media marketer,” “social media manager” and other like terms in your summary and specialties increases your chances of being found when someone searches within LinkedIn for “social media manager” or a like term. Being found on LinkedIn is the first important step to maximizing your profile.

LinkedIn allows former managers, colleagues and professors to recommend your work on your LinkedIn profile. Having at least one recommendation per position is a great asset for those accessing your profile for job search or expertise referrals.

The addition of “skill tags” to your profile is a new feature offered by LinkedIn. This feature allows you to select up to 50 keyword skills. These keywords are then tags on your profile, which increases your profile optimization and your digital footprint.

Adding applications that link to other accounts you might have — including your Twitter account, a WordPress blog or presentations on your SlideShare account — help create greater value for your LinkedIn profile. Sharing presentations you have given increases your experience as an expert in your field. Your blog, industry-related or otherwise, showcases your writing ability and interests.

Connecting with colleagues and managers you already work with or have worked with in the past is a great way to build your network. LinkedIn offers additional ways to connect to other users in similar industries with groups. When you join a group, you are able to connect with other group members, expanding your connection base. Since LinkedIn sets up “three degrees of separation,” the more connections you have, the more users will see you as a connection to them. For example, if you are connected to Joe and Joe is connected to Amy, Amy can see you as a second level connection from Joe.

Along with your descriptions, interests and other information, these five steps will not only maximize your LinkedIn profile to 100% complete, but it will also help you control your personal digital footprint.

HubSpot published a blog in June looking at the combination of email marketing and social media marketing. An interesting mix you might think — and I would agree, as did HubSpot. HubSpot suggests integrating the two marketing channels — publishing your e-newsletter to a blog (thereby making it public) and including social media properties in your e-newsletter to encourage your customers or clients to engage.

I’m sure many of the emails I receive every day employ a strategy leveraging both email marketing and social media marketing. I just never took the time to notice until now. I would guess I receive around 10 branded emails each day. I decided to do a little experiment to discover if those emails I receive from a variety of companies did or did not follow this strategy. After a week of reviewing my email and looking for social media links, here are my email and social media marriage results:

 + I received 15 unique branded emails. (I receive daily emails from most companies, but the layout remained generally the same.) Four were digital marketing industry-related and 11 were retail.

+ Out of those 15:

+      7 contained direct call-outs to join on Facebook or Twitter

+      3 contained direct call-outs to connect to an RSS feed or share the email with friends

+      2 published the articles from the daily email on their website — in a public space

+      2 contained a social media icon, but no direct call-out to connect; if I hadn’t been looking for it, I don’t think I would have noticed

+      4 did not mention social media properties

It was interesting to see that those emails with social media call-outs were about the same percentage in both categories: two industry news sources (out of four) and five retail emails (out of 11) had a direct message to connect on FB, Twitter or in some other capacity. One other thing I did find interesting was the number of retail/entertainment emails that had links to their mobile sites. I think it’s a move toward the future for marketers and companies to realize the rise of the smartphone and take advantage of it.

Integrating your social media marketing and email marketing strategies can produce good results. Making the time to publish your e-newsletter or email information via Facebook, Twitter or a blog will help spread your company news, name and links, all of which help produce a successful interactive marketing campaign.

At LeapFrog Interactive, we do things a little bit differently around here. For instance, most agencies started off doing traditional and have expanded into digital marketing. With us, we did this the opposite way. In 1999, we started as a digital advertising agency, and have eventually worked our way into traditional.

Some may say this is backwards, but we say it’s just an alternative approach.

We see the power in digital. We see the power in traditional. And we see the power of them working together.

One thing that is safe to say is that we are constantly thinking of ways we can create the most powerful campaign for our clients, and if it takes us stepping into the unknown and trying something completely new, that doesn’t stop us.

Part of the culture here at LeapFrog Interactive is to push boundaries. There are the tried and true tactics that we know produce results, but we don’t want to rely on them time and time again. Brainstorming sessions are not uncommon, and while we may end up talking about rapping squirrels (true story) these deliciously outrageous meetings are where the projects start.

Every person who works here is passionate about what they do, and the work we create for our clients. And while we may have entered traditional marketing in an untraditional way, it’s working (if I do say so myself).

Ever since Google announced their Google+ social media-networking product, brands have been salivating over the chance to use it to get active with their consumers and other industry professionals. Google intended a Q3 release of business profiles on their Plus network and it looks like they’re rolling out now.

Ford Motor Company is one of the first. Publicly labeled as a “Test Account,” it seems that their business page serves as another way for the brand to get visibility and continually increase their widely spread online footprint.

Using their profile, it seems, with the sole intent of eliciting consumer response on their Google+ page—posting more questions than on their Facebook page and bringing awareness to events that other Plus members are attending. The community also, surprisingly, spends more time focused on the more interesting parts of Ford’s history. Had you asked me what Henry Ford looked like or what other organizations he was involved in, I’d be at a loss, but on their Plus page they take the time to share those tidbits with their Circles.

Check it out and let us know what you think. Found another interesting brand page? Please share it here or connect with us on Twitter!  @LFI  @ecarroll01

"The competitor to be feared is one who never bothers about you at all, but goes on making his own business better all the time." - Henry Ford

[Post contributed by Emily Carroll]

Our friends at Microsoft Tag created this nice infographic on mobile ecommerce. One of the more amazing stats on the page is by 2015, global mobile purchases will reach $119 billion.