WFIM Blog: How to Make a Splash in the Business World

By Blaire Kilbey

Is doggy breath okay? Apparently not, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association.  I just read that February is Pet Dental Health month. Where have I been all these years? Not only have I never heard of Pet Dental Heath month, but also over the decades I have never given my plethora of animals any dental care!

We all joke about doggy breath; however it is not normal and can be one of the first signs that the teeth need cleaning and attention.  Who knew? I also learned that I am supposed to be brushing my animals’ teeth on a daily basis.  I feel guilty that I have never done this, not even once… I surveyed all of my pet loving friends.  Not one of them has brushed their pet’s teeth either.  I’m sorry. My dog might tolerate this. My cats? Forget it!

By age three, 70 to 80% of cats and dogs show signs of dental disease. Disease starts in the gums when they become inflamed because of tartar and plaque build-up. The gums eventually separate from the teeth, which allows for more tartar and plaque build-up. This creates potential for more damage with tooth and bone loss.

Some animals will experience pain. Others will stop eating, become lethargic, or stop grooming. More seriously, dental disease can affect the whole body.  The bacteria from the inflamed gums can enter the bloodstream and affect the heart, kidneys, liver and lungs.

There are special products to brush your pet’s teeth: toothbrushes, toothpaste, tooth cloths and mouth rinses. You can also buy “treats” that help reduce plaque and tartar build-up.

I’m going to start with the treats and move up from there.  Being that my veterinarian has nick-named my cat “Psycho,” I think that will be my safest bet until I build my confidence running my fingers over the fangs of  “Psycho.”   Happy cleaning!

I’d like to start with a definition:

Integrated: combining or coordinating separate elements so as to provide a harmonious interrelated whole. Antonyms: divided, separated, and isolated.

By just looking at the meaning of one word we can see the importance of integration in any effort including your marketing efforts. This goes for traditional and online message delivery.

But wait I just made a fundamental mistake. For integration to be achieved there is no traditional and/or online paradigm. There is only the market and your message needs to use all avenues on its way to your target customer.

Let’s say you want to introduce a new product by putting it on your website (or shelf, or menu). Just adding a picture and text will all but guarantee it remains anonymous. Since I’m guessing that anonymous products are not part of your strategic plan, you will need to do much more.

• A press release posted to PR sites.
• Blog and FaceBook postings touting the new item and its benefits.
• A short video about the product sent to YouTube and others.
• A properly researched advertising campaign (of course, online and traditional media).

All the above steps need to happen harmoniously and in an, dare I say it, integrated manner. In the pool of new ideas and products it is the only way to make a splash.

By Michael Phillips

When Super Bowl XLIV airs worldwide on February 7, it will ostensibly showcase the season’s best football teams and a halftime show featuring, appropriately, one-half of The Who.  But more importantly for a commercial junkie like me, it will also showcase some of the year’s most creative – and certainly most expensive – advertising.

Who can forget Budweiser’s talking frogs?   Michael Jordan and Larry Bird playing “horse” for a Big Mac?  Conan O’Brien dancing to a techno beat in a red fishnet tank top for a commercial he was promised would air “only in Sweden”?  Or the spot that made the Super Bowl advertising’s biggest showoff day: Apples brilliant “1984” Macintosh commercial?

With 150 million viewers and the year’s highest expectations for creativity and spectacle, the Super Bowl can make a good ad immortal.  And by the same token, when an ad fails, it falters on a grand scale.  Remember Burger King’s “Find Herb the Nerd” commercials?   Kermit the Frog singing the praises of Ford?  The late Christopher Reeve “walking” via CGI special effects?  And do I even need to mention Go Daddy?  Ugh, they’re as painful to remember as they were to watch.

So what can we expect this year?  For only the second time in history, the average price for a 30-second Super Bowl commercial has fallen to “only” $2.5 million.  That’s down from $3 million last year.  Maybe Super Bowl advertisers will invest the savings into making their spots $500,000 more “super.”  Or perhaps the nation’s economic slowdown will show itself in commercials with less flash and more creativity.

Either way, I’ll be watching.  And wishing that silly game didn’t interrupt the commercials so often.

Here’s some of what’s being said about Super Bowl XLIV Advertising:

Ad Age

New York Times

And if you can’t wait, here’s the Spoiler Alert