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Is Halloween the Christmas for Brand Marketers?

October 31, 2011 Leave a Comment

What is the second most common question asked on Halloween?

“Oh, that’s a great costume. WHO / WHAT ARE YOU?”

In truth, it is typically a loaded question because unless the costume is poorly put together or the character is esoteric, we generally know what the costume is supposed to because of one word: Branding. Whether it is superheroes, athletes, entertainers or pop culture icons, a Halloween costume accentuates the identifiable characteristics that the general public immediately notices. From a marketing perspective, simply put, this is brand recognition.

Our colleagues at Make Me Social recently published a blog discussing the correlation between brand and the most candy-coated holidays:

“If you can get people excited about your brand, using your brand as a resource for a costume, and tagging your brand online, you win. Your brand will forever be tied to a story in their life and will always be a part of their memories – especially the digital, easily shareable ones.”

So tonight, when you are answering the door to trick-or-treaters of all shapes and sizes, think about the costumes the kids are wearing and what makes them recognizable. Then, while enjoying the leftover candy think, about what your brand could be doing to be on par with these juggernauts that are Halloween costumes.

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Direct Choice Inc. is a full-service direct marketing agency that has worked with national and regional brands in a wide variety of vertical markets. In addition to this blog, you can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.

Filed under Other Tagged with costume branding, costumes, halloween, halloween branding, halloween marketing

A Local Pitch for Philadelphia

August 9, 2011 Leave a Comment

As many followers of our blog and our company know, our hometown is Philadelphia, and so every now and then we pause to savor a bit of what makes us unique. To wit, the mighty Philadelphia soft pretzel.

A staple in the stands at Phillies games, it never, ever tastes as good elsewhere. When friends and clients visit us, they always want two things: a real Philly cheese steak and an authentic soft pretzel. (Never did anything so soft constitute hard news.)

Purchased at the ballgame from a vendor who addresses you as “Yooze,” it is a testament to dough. Lots of dough. Originally more round, lately it has taken on more of a sleek, almost aerodynamic shape. We prefer the original. You look at it and figure you’ll never be able to consume the entire thing (oh, but you do).

Its origins are almost as old as the Quaker City itself. German settlers in the 1700′s, apparently looking for something to do with leftover gluten, formed a glazed biscuit baked in the form of a loose knot or a stick. The “brezel” or “prezel” as it was first called, caught on big.

When you live here, you get used to good pretzels and not-so-good. Some tips for the pretzel-obsessed:

Buy yours from a street vendor or at a game, for a fresh, soft, and chewy pretzel with just the right amount of coarse salt.
Never buy pretzels that are wrapped in plastic. The best packaging is a brown paper bag.
If the pretzels look in the least bit moist, pass them up.
Avoid pretzels that have been reheated by the vendor. They are usually hard.
Look for a golden brown color and a “fresh” appearance.

Add a liberal dollop of yellow mustard from a squeeze bottle (this is not a Dijon moment), and enjoy. You will realize just one of the reasons that despite having clients across the country, we choose to call this little part of the world home.

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Filed under Guest Blog Series, Other Tagged with philadelphia, Philadelphia advertising agencies, Philadelphia direct marketing, Philadelphia soft pretzels, social media marketing, soft pretzels

Improve Website Conversion with Remarketing

July 26, 2011 Leave a Comment

Industry experts have estimated that as much as 96% of a business’s website visitors will NOT convert on their first visit. 96%!! That represents significant revenue lost.

So what do you do? Remarketing Technology, is what!

Remarketing is a cookie and PURL-based process that identifies and tags your website’s lost visitors, and then displays your banner ads to them as these individuals continue to surf the web. When done properly, remarketing is among the best marketing strategies you can employ to guarantee a return visit, which of course increases the likely-hood of conversions. Best of all, it boosts your ad engagement by an estimated 300%-400%.

What are some of the greatest advantages?

You only pay for performance – Only pay for your ads when they perform. Ditch the risk of overspending by only delivering ads to previous visitors still looking for your product or services.
Increase conversions – Reach out and recapture lost conversions by remarketing to potential customers while they surf the web.
Keep your brand on the tip of people’s tongues - One of the most powerful ways to create awareness is simply by being visible at the right time.
Build your customer relationships – Remarketing can help you build brand trust by delivering targeted impressions on a daily basis to visitors who have come and gone.
Target with super-engaged messaging – Target your previous visitors with customized messaging within your banner ads for a significantly more engaging experience.
Recapture visitors – Recapture the attention of your previous visitors and remind them of your high-quality products or services even after leaving your website.

The process of remarketing is an incredibly powerful tool, but it shouldn’t be a stand alone strategy. In conjunction with other lead generation and measurement techniques, higher conversion rates for your business can be generated in a number of different ways.

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