Month: June 2012

So this week we found two videos we loved and couldn’t decide which one to feature…….so we’re doing both.

Spark’s Spot of the Week

New advertising venues seem to be appearing faster than ever these days. The newest one is digital radio networks such as Pandora which stream music and other programming directly to computers, smartphones and other devices. Pandora is a free app which is trying to pay for itself by selling advertising.

Pandora allows users to create their own radio stations that offer customized play lists of songs is growing fast. It now has 150 million listeners and some analysts think it is the most popular radio station in Los Angeles. Pandora has also launched an effort to attract local advertisers.

Smaller businesses should pay attention to new platforms such as digital radio because it could be much more cost effective than traditional media. The reason it could more cost effective is obvious businesses can use it to target marketing efforts to particular groups of potential customers.

The owner of a country music night club in Orange Park could create an ad that would only be seen by people in North Florida that stream country songs through an online radio service. This could be cheaper and more potent because the ads would reach the persons most likely to be interested in the club. Fans of rock or hip hop would not see his content.

Pandora isn’t the only company in this market the European company Spotify just launched its own radio service. Spotify’s service offers playlists and it has already attracted some giant advertisers including General Motors, Heineken and Taco Bell. Smaller companies and local businesses could take advantage of the service as well.

The emergence of new outlets such as digital radio shows how complex the advertising market has become. These new venues demonstrate that more than ever businesses need help with their marketing efforts. Entrepreneurs need to know which mediums will be most likely to reach their customers.

This is why hiring an experienced Jacksonville advertising agency is more important now than ever. The professionals at such an agency can sort through the media jungle and locate which venues are most appropriate for your business. Even though Spotify and Pandora reach huge audiences they only offer music. Other digital providers such as Sirius XM and iHeartRadio.com offer a wider variety of content including news and sports.

Other services such as video production in Jacksonville and web design in Jacksonville are more important than ever because of the new digital media. Adding a slick video to your online commercials can attract more viewers. A well designed web site linked to a popular app can drive customers to your site.

Instead of fumbling around in the dark trying to understand new mediums and trying to figure out which one is appropriate for you, business owners should turn to experienced experts. The experts can show you where to invest your marketing dollars in today’s complex and constantly growing digital marketplace.

Hey guys! This week’s spot of the week gave me goosebumps. I think you’ll truly enjoy it.

Three out of four online advertising campaigns fail to reach their target audiences. At least that’s the conclusion of a web advertising company called Webrageous. The reason for this high level of failure for online marketing efforts is that most firms do not use an experienced professional organization such as a Jacksonville advertising agency when they market online, Webrageous’s director of marketing David Chapman said.

Many businesses still rely upon a staff member or somebody who is good with computers but knows little or nothing about marketing to create and place their online promotions, Chapman noted. Such efforts fail because the ads are poorly placed and poorly designed.

He noted that some companies even create ads that are actually illegal or unethical because the person designing them simply doesn’t understand what the rules are. This could actually get a company into legal trouble or set it up for a lawsuit.

Others fail to take advantage of effective marketing techniques such as search engine optimization (SEO) and key words. They also fail to research the market and the available tools. So their advertisements may not be seen by anybody or worse could be reaching the wrong audience.

Some firms that master these techniques fail to create a good looking web page or banner. Their copy is poorly written and their page is poorly designed so it drives away customers and makes the company and its products look bad. In such a case a professional Jacksonville web design studio could create business.

Another problem is that many businesses fail to grasp how the web has changed in recent years. It is now a multimedia experience which means that surfers expect a wide variety of media including videos and audios. Such simple steps as placing a video of your product or service or your latest television commercial on a website or in your banners could actually drive more customers to your site.

That means it is a good idea to hire an experienced video production company in Jacksonville to create entertaining and professional video copy for a website or online campaign. A really good video could do more to attract thousands of clicks to your site than a large amount of fancy design.

Businesses do not need to reinvent the wheel when they start promoting their products online. Instead of fumbling around in the dark, an entrepreneur’s best chance of creating professional looking material that will attract customer’s attention is to hire experts, like Spark Inc. to do the job. That way the entrepreneur can concentrate on his/her business and leave web design and promotion to your Jacksonville advertising agency.

Happy Friday Viewers! Thanks for checking out this week’s Spot of the Week. We think you’ll really get a kick out of it. And remember, for any of your Jacksonville video production needs call your Jacksonville advertising agency, Spark Inc.

Advertising is changing dramatically because of new technology and every advertiser should be aware of it. All advertisers should be aware of these changes and how they affect their business.

The most important way these changes affect business is they reduce advertising costs. Many companies can reduce their advertising budget by several hundred or several thousand dollars by turning to digital solutions. Coupon websites such as Groupon are often cheaper and more effective than newspaper advertising.

One of the best ways to take advantage of these solutions is to find a Jacksonville advertising agency that is up on the latest trends. Another trend you should be aware of is that newspaper readership and circulations have plunged dramatically. Many people are canceling newspaper subscriptions because of the economic downturn and availability of internet resources. Many newspapers are reducing circulation and cutting back on the areas that they distribute in.

Some kinds of online advertising appear to be more effective than others. A recent Reuters article noted that USA Today stories that feature a video get 25 percent more viewers. That means you should consider contacting Spark Inc, your Jacksonville advertising agency for any video production service. Many print outlets are now putting video content on their sites to drive viewers.

There is also some evidence that people are more likely to respond to advertising through non-news websites such as coupon services than newspaper or TV station websites. That means you might consider putting your banner ad on a wide variety of sites or adopting tactics such as SEO.

Advertising through Google can cost as little as 90 cents an ad and yet it can reach the customers you need and want. For example, if you have a swimming pool business and you purchase and ad, if a potential customer types in Swimming Pool Jacksonville, they could see an ad for your business and link to your website. That’s why you need to make sure you have a professional and interesting website to keep the customers there. For any custom website design needs, contact Spark Inc.

Therefore, you need to find a Jacksonville website design expert that is familiar with the new and upcoming advertising trends. More importantly, you need to work with a company who is familiar with both advertising and online marketing.

That means you need to start reading up on advertising and observing the latest trends. Many advertising and promotional methods that used to work no longer apply. Yet, some older methods are still highly effective. Television advertisements still reach a large audience.

Better yet, TV ads can be used online so they can reach many people that normally don’t watch traditional television. That way, one kind of advertising can reach several different audiences. This tactic can stretch your advertising dollars and maximize your budget.

Presenting this week’s Spot of the Week, chosen by Jacksonville’s advertising agency, Spark Inc. This week’s spot was created by Wieden + Kennedy and broke out during this year’s NFL draft.

The special effects in this ad are amazing! So high-tech and state-of-the-art; but that’s something you would expect from Nike. Here at Spark, we are huge sports fans! That’s why we especially loved producing a video for Florida State College at Jacksonville. The Blue Wave video was created to announce the change of name from the Stars to the Blue Wave. At Spark, you don’t have to have a multimillion dollar advertising budget. If you’re interested in creating a TV or web video with special effects like the Nike commercial at an affordable price, contact Spark Inc. for Jacksonville video production. Not only do we focus on custom and innovative video production, you can also contact us for website production Jacksonville, graphic design, radio production, custom photography, media buying and more!

Enjoy our Spot of the Week from Spark Inc., your favorite Jacksonville advertising agency. And remember to keep Spark Inc. in mind for any video production in Jacksonville or website design in Jacksonville, or California, Kentucky, or even Alaska for that matter. (although we’d prefer Hawaii).  Have a wonderful weekend!

A couple of weeks ago General Motors stunned the advertising and technology worlds by announcing it was no longer going to advertise on Facebook. The automaker had concluded that advertising on Facebook simply didn’t sell cars.

This story should send a message to every Jacksonville advertising agency and all advertisers. Not every medium is appropriate for every advertiser. GM had also made the decision not to buy ads on next year’s Super Bowl for the exact same reason. Its marketing department realized that it wasn’t necessarily selling any vehicles by buying space on that extravaganza.

It is obvious that General Motors got burned badly by buying advertising space on all those mediums. If a giant company like GM can’t afford to advertise everywhere neither can small businesses. Yet many businesses make the mistake of trying to advertise everywhere.

The lesson for the average business from the GM/Facebook affair is clear. You should ask yourself some important questions before you spend money on advertising or video production in Jacksonville. These questions include:

• Will anybody actually see this advertisement?
• Who will see this advertisement?
• Will the people who see this advertisement pay any attention to it?
• Will the people who buy my product or service see this advertisement?
• Will this advertisement induce anybody to spend money with me?

These are difficult questions to ask and they can even be harder to answer. Many advertisers never ask them they just mindlessly spend money and hope that the commercials draw in customers.

To make matters worse many businesses buy advertising because the competition is doing it. These entrepreneurs forget that everyday businesses spend millions of dollars upon advertising that doesn’t work.

Small businesses can avoid the kind of mistakes that GM made by asking questions when they buy advertising services such as Jacksonville web design. One good question to ask is: “do you have an example of a business similar to mine that increased its sales with a campaign like the one you’re proposing for me”?

This goes double for new mediums like Facebook because contrary to popular belief many of them are not proven. A recent poll indicated that half of Americans consider Facebook to be nothing but a fad.

This brings us to another lesson from the GM and Facebook story. Just because something is new, cool or fashionable does not mean that it is effective. Facebook maybe a popular means of staying in touch but its advertising value is dubious. More traditional mediums such as print, terrestrial radio and television actually reach more people and could be more effective.

Always carefully evaluate your advertising choices because advertising costs money. Money spent on ineffective or questionable advertising is money wasted.

Jacksonville advertising agency Spark Inc. is proud to present the Spark Inc. Spot of the Week. This week’s spot is for Staples and was produced by David, the Ogilvy & Mather-owned ad agency. For video production Jacksonville and cities across the U.S. rely on Spark Inc. We’re also who you can turn to for Jacksonville web design.

Spark Inc. is a Jacksonville advertising agency that specializes in giving businesses Fortune 500 level marketing without the Fortune 500 budget. For video production Jacksonville, Jacksonville web design and more, we’d love to work with you.

We were really excited to see this spot. It’s creative, persuasive and very memorable. Time will tell what kind of results it gets but we’re expecting big things. Our kudos go out to the agency that created it. We know there are a lot of ad agencies in Jacksonville. We’re confident that if you view our portfolio and get to meet us, you’ll want to try us out. We’d love to produce great work for you next. Our clients experience includes everyone from publicly traded companies to start-ups. If the project intrigues us and we feel we can hit it out of the park, we want in. We’re always more concerned about your potential than your current budget.

So think of Jacksonville advertising agency Spark Inc. We offer video production Jacksonville loves but most of our shoots occur outside our hometown. We’re also your home for Jacksonville web design and a host of others services. From graphic design, logo design, media buying marketing consultation and more, we look forward to working with you and if you have any questions feel free to contact us. Most of all, enjoy this week’s Spark Spot of The Week! And be sure to look out for another spot from us next Friday.

Thanks from the smallest BIG agency on Earth!