DAY Communications LLC Design & Function for Web & Print

How will you invest in your business in the coming year? Which options will you pursue in your quest for growth and a profit? As you lay plans for 200?, we encourage you to budget a tax deductible 5%-7% of your gross sales or billings to advertise. This amount is usually considered a minimum. In a competitive marketplace, it's a necessary operating expense-- NOT an option, even in times of economic recession.

Generally, a greater market share, faster growing markets, new products or services, or higher quality products necessitate spending more than the minimum budget amount to get results. Companies may spend as much as 20% of gross sales or more to launch a new product or service.

A frequently asked question is: "Should I figure my percentage based on last year's gross sales or on what I think this year's will be?" The answer to that question matters a great deal less than HOW you spend it.

Don't invest in short-lived programs or schemes which equate to junk bonds. To maximize your investment, let us help you set a definite figure itemized in an annual plan.

Once we understand your goals and objectives, we can recommend a realistic outlay for advertising in support of their attainment. And we'll develop concepts and programs that will add excitement to your day-in-day-out road to achievement.

Also, by involving us in your annual business plan, you can trust us to evaluate the proposals of all media salespeople over the course of the year. By referring them to us, you will save time and aggravation.

By the way, don't think of advertising only as newspaper, radio or www banners. E-letters, annual reports, capabilities or product brochures, and even instruction booklets can be used as promotional literature to sell your firm to prospects and build its image with customers to encourage repeat business. We can assist you with the range of collateral pieces-- (our jargon for) items which extend your advertising message or explain your firm or products to the public. We can produce such literature in print, for broadcast or on the Internet. Let's make plans.

Most of us who make a living tethered to a computer understand the concept of verbal-visual composing. We call it "adding eye-candy" to the text. But on a higher level where advertising and marketing campaigns are devised for Fortune 100 or Inc. 5000 clients, the process takes on a high-stakes urgency to employ methods that produce Results.

So, it's good to know that the ivory-tower set is at work to explore and teach verbal-visual composing. In Envisioning Collaboration, Dr. Geoffrey A. Cross places a gigantic magnifying glass over an unnamed ad agency in the throes of developing a media campaign for an important prospect. He joins the team as an observer and researcher in an "ethnographic" approach. This type of "real-world" exploration will be helpful in teaching students how to benefit employers in search of better marketing mousetraps.

As well, the book is helpful for ad agencies and the academic community. Each group will gain a finer appreciation for the other by learning more about how its polar opposite approaches the topic, and will learn insights to apply to work projects. Perhaps it will open some doors for a fraternal order where ad people provide war stories for professors to debrief, and bring about some needed camaraderie.

Cross, a specialist in Collaborative Business Communication at the University of Louisville (Louisville, Ky.), sets forth to evaluate and build on theories that have been developed by fellow academics on how writers and commercial artists can best interface for successful creative work.

As software and website resources make it easier and faster to combine verbal and visual content, and as visual content takes the lead in guiding viewers and readers, those involved in procuring "share of mind" for companies whose public-enemy-number-one is the information glut, need the best training and insights possible.

Artists and writers understand the trends, so in collaborating, their private spheres are not as guarded as in the past.

Creative people deserve respect!

Too many variables influence the process of developing an ad message. Good grief, we ad people must thoroughly study and understand the effects of current challenges on our customer's industry, how to differentiate the customer's offerings, what the mix of media AND messages ought to be to reach and capture the right audiences, and how to pitch to all those people with a view to their psychographics and demographics, as we take advantage of the latest tools and techniques for creative work, with the goal of achieving the edge. It's a lot to do.

The staff at the agency under Dr. Cross's scrutiny was in the process of doing all those things. With the "creative brief" in mind, the creative people went to work to come up with concepts that would develop into comprehensive layouts to show the prospect.

Although the creative process is ephemeral in nature, Dr. Cross does expose its chimeric underbelly. At the end of the book, one feels his good, long, hard look at creativity-in-motion provides a reality check for us creative types before we start on the next big project.

Verbal-visual composing relies on inspiration and brainstorming, yet there are tips and tricks and boundaries that can be set so that inventive minds do not spin without weaving, and so that results can be successfully applied to the key media.

This study revealed the importance of personal selling within a planned environment, and had a happy ending: the special reward of customer loyalty and appreciation for hard work.

I recommend this book to agencies and creative people seeking to hone the skills and processes that shape their ad campaigns. Although the creative process normally moves at warp speed, some reflection on how it works or is derailed can only help to guide it.

Envisioning Collaboration: Group Verbal-Visual Composing in a System of Creativity, by Geoffrey A. Cross. Published by Baywood Publishing Co., Amityville, NY, 2011.

Have you ever studied your own buying habits? You would find that quite a number of your purchases are made on impulse, probably many because of a persuasive radio commercial. Relative to TV, newspapers and magazines, the elapsed time between exposure and the day's largest purchase is shortest with radio.

Moreover, according to an industry study, radio reaches PRIMARY CONSUMER TARGET GROUPS such as:

• Full-time working women
• Professional managerial men, and
• Households with above-average income.

Radio goes with us anywhere, and generally costs less per thousand than other media. It is very effective in targeting distinct groups of consumers, and offers immense potential for creative, emotional and persuasive messages. No wonder many businesses with limited advertising budgets DO RADIO!

Here are some ideas to help you get the most from your radio buy:

1. The first few seconds of the ad must get the listener to pay attention; the next 5-10 seconds are the most important part of the commercial.
2. Humor and drama can be very effective in retaining the listener's attention.
3. The most creative and successful radio marketing strategies often involve barter. For example, a station may offer a grocery free advertising in exchange for donating a shopping spree for listeners who call in at the right time, or correctly answer a question. It is estimated that such promotions can yield two to three times the exposure of simple radio spots.
4. Reaching specific niches such as women 18-34 or African Americans or teens is facilitated by station formats.
5. Advertising spots during and adjacent to weather forecasts can be effective for some products because of the impact of weather patterns on consumer behavior.

Before you buy radio, contact us for an unbiased opinion of the station's reach, and assistance with effective scheduling and production.