Month: September 2020

Written by Caroline Legrand
Edited by Allison Herrera

Every now and then, we come across a company with little to no social media activity. While some people are just not familiar with using social media for business promotion, others simply do not allocate resources for digital advertising. Whether that’s you, or if you’re just looking to improve your digital content, we are here to tell you why social media is ruling the advertising world.

From 2014 to 2018, non-digital advertisements faced a $10 billion decrease in revenues. On the contrary, from the same years, digital advertisements saw a $60 billion increase in revenues. Even from 2018 to 2019, digital advertising revenues led non-digital revenues by $6 billion. Now, they lead by $15-20 billion.

When it comes to digital advertising, video is king. Video content on social media generates more sales than any other content format, locking in right below $30 billion in 2018. Luckily, that’s our specialty at Uptown Girl Media.

But in case the numbers haven’t sold you on solidifying your social media plan, just remember that social media is B-I-G right now. Almost everyone is on social media and they spend a large amount of their time scrolling through it. People do not read magazines as often anymore, but they do read the individual articles that are commonly shared through social media platforms. We do not know what the future of social media holds, but we do know that it is the best bet your company has for a successful campaign.

Companies like Shapermint allocate 80% of its marketing budget on Facebook and Instagram alone. Why put all your eggs in one basket? Well, they are still reaching their marks and bringing significant sales to the company through their digital advertising on the sites, so they say, “Why Not?”

Written by Allison Herrera & Caroline Legrand

The most grandeur marketing campaigns of the year also happen to be a part of America’s largest sporting event. People anticipate all year, or at least from pre-season on, whether or not their team will be in the Super Bowl. As Americans, we know where next year’s Super Bowl will be held before we know who even won this year’s game. But, as much as America loves football (Who Dat!), not everyone watches the Super Bowl as a sports spectator – we watch for the commercials. In my honest opinion, unless the players are sporting black and gold uniforms with a Lombardi trophy in hand, the commercials are arguably the best part about the Super Bowl.

Starting with the 2020 Super Bowl, though, brands were starting to change the game. With the 30-second spot for a commercial costing up to $5.6 MILLION, brands are searching for other ways to utilize the Super Bowl hype. In 2019, instead of purchasing a commercial spot, Skittles produced a musical in New York on the day of the Super Bowl. Actors such as Michael C. Hall performed a song titled “Advertising Ruins Everything” in remembrance of old advertising musicals for companies like G.E. and J.C. Penney. The show sold out in less than a week.

Stella Artois opted out of a Super Bowl media spot, too. Instead of creating a commercial, Stella Artois hosted a weekend-long party in Miami set with musical performances, celebrity appearances, pop-up restaurants and ferry-yachts that let visitors skip out on the traffic from the causeway. The yachts were adorned with the Stella Artois logo, of course, for all riders and those stuck on the causeway to see. Other companies that opted out of commercials include Burger King, Sketchers and Wix.

Overall, less people are watching the Super Bowl than in recent years, and advertisers want their audience more engaged (hence, the Miami parties and New York musicals). From 2017 to 2019, the number of viewers fell from 111.3 million to 98.2 million. But, one thing everyone is watching during the Super Bowl besides the television, is social media.

Using social media to advertise during the Super Bowl is a great way to catch the attention of consumers glued to a 2nd and 3rd screen, while also boosting customer engagement – which is what all brands want right now. Whether you’re tweeting about a bogus call or posting an Instagram Story about the Super Bowl snack spread, people are on social media platforms. Not only are people living on social media platforms, but they are engaging with other users, brands, etc. by liking posts, replying to stories, answering polls, sharing posts, watching videos, commenting beneath posts…

Not only does social media campaigns help boost engagement (which sparks conversation) – they are also affordable, especially for smaller budget companies who would otherwise never advertise during Super Bowl weekend. Social media campaigns don’t cost anywhere near the price of a Super Bowl commercial spot, yet they have all eyes on it at the same time as that $5.6 million dollar spot is airing. For a fraction of the price of a Super Bowl commercial spot, you can run an effective social media campaign.

While it’s clear why brands invest big bucks into Super Bowl airtime, brands such as General Mills, GNC, Gatorade, T-Mobile and Petsmart (just to name a few) choose to spend efforts with an engaged audience on social media. Contact us at Uptown Girl Media today, and we can show you how this can be done for your company during football season, or we can prepare ahead of time for Super Bowl advertising. And for those of you who love the commercials though, fear not. TiVo, who usually allows people to skip ads, plans to revive an option to skip the football and only see the commercials.

Written by Caroline Legrand
Edited by Allison Herrera

Digital advertisements and marketing are becoming more and more popular every day. With fast paced media and less in-person connection, it is more important than ever to make sure you are developing a relationship with your customers. At Uptown Girl Media, we do this by storytelling.

It really is as simple as telling a bedtime story, except it’s all about your brand. Add strategic messaging, and voila – you’ve given your customers a base to connect with you! Here is a little information about how a company does just that.

Away, an Inst-Famous travel brand selling luggage, became an icon for storytelling by literally writing a book with the launch of the company in 2016. Founders Steph Korey and Jen Rubio interviewed 40 creatives including travel bloggers and photographers to compose a book with all of their insights titled The Places We Return To. With the purchase of a book, customers received a gift card for a suitcase.

The Places We Return To also set the tone for their marketing practices to this day as Away maintains a blog and a quarterly print magazine titled Here. The production is separate from the commerce website and even has its own Instagram, @here.mag where writers share their city guides, travel tips and experiences.

One aspect of being a storytelling brand is telling the stories of your consumers. Away does this by sharing photos of followers who travel using their luggage. Most of the Instagram content is curated from user generated posts showing exquisite travel destinations and photos of iconic places and spaces. They also incorporate the hashtag #travelaway to keep all of their user content in one place.

Away derailed itself from a traditional retail model by not having a permanent storefront. Their Instagram shares pop-up locations when they happen, but the premise of the company and its interactions is that they are brand driven, not sales driven. Ultimately, that is what storytelling can do for your company.

Another brand we love that markets through storytelling is airbnb. They paint their marketing strategy as a wanderlust page that silently whispers, “you could be here”. It does exactly what their caption guarantees – “opens the door to interesting homes and experiences.” EXPERIENCES is the key word.

My father has always told me to follow my passions and that a career, life and money would follow. By telling your brand’s story and following the passion that started your company, it is possible to be a brand-driven organization and not worry (or at least over worry) about sales. Sales will follow passion. Share yours.

• « Top Typography

• Written by Allison Herrera & Caroline Legrand

  Typography is great for when you’re watching videos in a public restroom or on a boring Zoom call where you’re piping in every now in then. But, successful typography keeps an audience captivated during a video. By using engaging fonts and effects, you can take your video game to the next level. Here are our favorites:

  Large Lettering

  As seen on Netflix’s “Mindhunter,” bold statements are in…and nothing says bold like taking up the whole screen with block letters! Large letter is great because it easily grabs your viewers’ attention without much thought. Pro Tip: differing from regular to Italics for emphasis is a genius tactic and separates the information for viewers to consume it easily.

  Layered Text

  Let’s be honest, watching a cell phone receive a notification just isn’t as satisfying as watching your favorite characters on screen and seeing their notifications pop up for you to decipher. More and more movies have invested in layering text on a screen to create an effect, which is more entertaining and offers a cleaner transition, rather than phone screens taking up the whole screen. Plus, you get to experience your favorite characters’ emotions as they read some juicy gossip!

  

  Visuals in Text

  In my opinion, Marvel Comics has a great example of this style. Creating visuals within your text can bring the words to life, especially when used in a logo or movie title. I like the example of Marvel because it briefly and effectively tells the brand’s story (at least fans will pick up on it).

  

  Interactive Typography

  Interactive Typography is without a doubt the coolest typography trend that’s EVERYWHERE right now, and we cannot get enough of it! Another way to describe Interactive Typography is by calling it Kinetic Typography. Kinetic (meaning movement) segues into what Interactive Typography is – an animation technique that uses moving text to capture attention, set a tone, and entertain, by making words more impactful and adding an artistic element.

  INTERACTIVE TYPOGRAPHY

  Do you have a favorite typography option? DM us on either Facebook or Instagram – we would love to hear your opinion. Please let us know if you have questions, comments or concerns!