Today is the official launch of Seaport Village’s new and improved website. Working with 1011, the new site design takes a cue from the look and feel recently developed by Bailey Gardiner for Seaport’s new advertising campaign.

Among other features, the site boasts a time lapse video of a day at Seaport. When you visit the site during the day, the time lapse goes from night to day, and when you visit the site in the evening the video plays from day to night. The video was shot by photographer Paul M. Bowers and the photography he created for the new ad campaign is also featured throughout the site as well as in SV’s outdoor and print advertising—sample pieces below.

Other website features include a slide show of images of Seaport as well as an updated nav bar and homepage that showcases the latest posts from Seaport’s favorite blogger, “Boardwalk Betty.”

Since the beginning of this blog, we have written 26 posts that reference and/or generally extol the virtues of social media.  As a company claiming social media as a core competency, and with many-a-successful case studies, it’s no surprise that we talk about it positively.

The primary reason to incorporate social media in your marketing is because people are talking about you.  Whether you choose to participate is your choice, but you can be certain that the chatter will continue.

And, if social media is all about communicating and listening, then it makes sense to communicate and listen when there is backlash to something.  Also, it’s always smart to listen to dissenting views of your product, company or service.  See Wall Street for examples.  So…..

The posts below are people talking.  Whether you agree or disagree is your choice.  What matters is that people are talking and other people are apparently listening as evidenced by the page view counters of almost 1 million combined.  Time will determine what the validity of sweetafton23 (top) and Seth McFarlane’s (bottom) views are.

And by the way, right now I love using social media to talk about other people using social media to bash social media.

Who are the fisk-a-teers?

They are women just like me who love to scrapbook.

They were recruited by the company Fiskars- you know, the scissor company- to help women like me with questions regarding their products. Fiskars needed a way to reach their customers through the web and found a perfect marketing plan to make it happen.

Some people may think it is frivolous, a website dedicated to scrap booking, knitting and sewing, etc. but there are plenty of women looking for that connection.  The Fiskars website gave us just that: we can chat, gossip, ask questions and feel at ease.

I was a stay-at-home mom for 3 years and the Internet was a very important part of my life to stay connected. It gets very isolating, routine and kind of lonely as a homemaker. Don’t get me wrong, I love my kids and enjoyed every minute I spent with them but I craved that outside connection with women like me.

When Indra learned about this case study at Blog World 08 and shared it with the creative team, I thought it was a fantastic idea. What a perfect way to reach out to the people who are using their brand and offer help and support in a fun environment. It got women talking. It started a movement. And it reinvigorated the company’s brand within a strong customer base. (Remember how much purchasing power we have.)

The lesson is simple: find out what your customer wants and needs and build your interactive advertising and marketing around that.

It works……..proof is in the fisk-a-teers.

One of my favorite PR websites is The Bad Pitch Blog.  For us PR geeks, it’s a great place to get a laugh at the expense of some other publicist.

It is also a great reminder of the embarrassment you can suffer if you don’t pitch responsibly.  I have vowed that I never, ever wanted to see one of my pitches on the site, and I have accumulated a few tips over the years that any publicist can follow to keep themselves off the Bad Pitch Blog. These may seem like common sense, but the folks at the Bad Pitch Blog have proof that there are plenty of publicists who don’t know how to pitch responsibly, and seriously, those few are just making us all look bad.

To keep yourself off the Bad Pitch Blog always remember:

Do your research: Before you pitch a journalist, take a moment to research their publication and their past work.  Then, instead of blanketing everyone with one generic pitch, customize your pitch to each journalist. Just show journalists you did some homework, I promise they will appreciate it.  I once met a freelance journalist for lunch, and she told me she responded to my cold pitch and wrote about my client because I was the only publicist to actually google her, go to her website, read which publications she wrote for and what subjects she covered, and reference her past work in my pitch.  She has since become a great contact and has written about a number of my clients.

Tell a good story:  Send an INTERESTING pitch.  You are trying to sell your client and make someone want to write about them, so make sure you don’t bore them.  This also means spell check your work and make sure there are no typos.  It only takes a couple of seconds and it really does make a difference.

Be Patient: Relationships take time to build and it takes awhile to earn a journalist’s trust and respect.  And don’t expect instant results from your pitches. I have often sent a pitch and six months later gotten a response, when the journalist was finally working on a story that my client was a fit for.  This also means you do not need to follow up with editors every day and leave 30 messages.  Trust me, they got the first message.

Be available and ready:  Journalists are often working on tight deadlines, so if you pitch them a story, be proactive and anticipate what an editor will ask for and have it ready, whether it’s quotes, photos, information, or a representative to interview.  This is especially crucial if you are pitching breaking news.

Don’t take shortcuts:  Finally, and most importantly, even though there are a lot of tools and technology to help publicists do their jobs these days, there are still no shortcuts.  You still have to do the work if you want to be noticed in the sea of publicists, so don’t be lazy!

What other tips would you recommend for pitching responsibly?

It’s been quite a while since I’ve stepped into a cell phone store, but if I recall correctly, the last time I upgraded my phone I received a rebate check made payable to Kelsey Bollinger.  This time, however, Verizon sent me a Visa debit card.  This card can work the same way as the personal check and I can deposit it into my checking or savings account.

But, I won’t.  I’m going to use it just as I would cash.  Besides, I said goodbye to that money a month ago when I paid for the phone, so my bank account won’t know the difference. This makes me wonder if Verizon is trying to help stimulate the economy.

It isn’t cheaper to print and mail cards instead of a perforated piece of paper.  I know because I do a lot of printing.  And I really can’t imagine that folks march into the Verizon store with their rebate for further upgrades and accessories.

Could Verizon be looking out for our economic health?  Maybe.  Hopefully.

IBM took a different approach at trying to stave off the economic bear.  They made an early announcement of their 3rd quarter earnings hoping to encourage investors.

What have other large and influential companies done to help?

Last week Paul Boutin declared that blogs are dead. On Wired’s blog. Hmmmm.

Yes, there are lots of continually “new and improved” ways to communicate. Twitter, Facebook, etc. offer different ways to connect, but just because there are options doesn’t mean you must kill one that works quite well and move on. This desire to declare things dead and “oh so tired”, makes me tired. Boutin’s thesis is that since blogs have become a tool for marketers they are no longer genuine. I don’t buy it. There are still millions of people using blogs to express their personal opinions, share their art, and just plain get out there.

Read Technorati’s recent State of the Blogosphere 2008 if you believe blogs are a dying art. There are 184 million blogs world wide, with 26.4 million started in the US. What in the world is Boutin talking about? Today, Brian Solis posted some interesting stats on bub.blicio.us about readers using blogs over search and the influence of blogs on purchase decisions.

I read blogs everyday. They keep me connected, informed and I would feel the poorer if they went away. And while Twitter is fun and great for quick sharing, you can’t get the info or thoughts out in 140 characters the way you can with a blog.

So, I’ve started a new blog. It’s called adifferentkindofsushi and it’s about my exploration into the world of extreme performance and visual art. As a new board member of San Diego’s historic Sushi, I have a lot to learn and hope to share that learning with others who may be new to this inventive, radical and sometimes in-your-face art. It’ll have interviews with the artists, guest posts and lots of photos. I’m sure at least 5 people will read it.

Maybe it’s old school now to start a blog. Isn’t that hilarious?

On Friday, I set my expectations for the 25th Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita.  There are three things I was looking for during horse racing’s top event: big crowds, plenty of betting and a youthful trend.  The results were mixed.

Crowds

Attendance on Friday was 31,257.  Attendance on Saturday was 51,331.  The Saturday attendance was down a nominal 300 patrons from 2003 at Santa Anita.

Fifty-one thousand people is a lot of people.  And Santa Anita more or less felt packed (though the infield seemed more or less empty). And surely, the economy keeps people away.   It still makes me wonder, what will it take to draw 60,000 people for the best horse racing event of the year in a beautiful setting?

I was encouraged to talk to several people who had flown in from as far away as Vermont for the races. And the sight of looking at a sold out grandstand  is beautiful.

Handle

The spin will be that wagering is up–2.6 percent higher than the total all-sources wagering figure on the 11 Breeders’ Cup races held last year at Monmouth Park in New Jersey! That total was $129.2 million.  This year’s total was $132.6 million…on 14 races….and it wasn’t pouring rain, so there was less excuse to gamble.  Chalk this one up to the economy.

At the very least, I made a nice sizable donation to the Santa Anita coffers.

Youth

While it was no Del Mar, there were some under-30-year-olds.  But not many.  I didn’t get too good of a look at the General Admission sections, but I would say the Club Admission area ($50 and up entry) was 10% <30.  That 10% was enthusiastic though.  I would put the average age at 45.

2009 represents an opportunity for the Breeders’ Cup to reinvent horse racing and draw in a new, young crowd.  Make purple cool, leverage some of the hipper sponsorships, add some spice to the event, give away tickets on popular radio stations in Southern California.  Do something.  If not, the average age in 2009 will be 46.

Other Highlights:

• The palm tree framed views of the San Gabriel Mountains.  Absolutely stunning.  Though around 2PM they become slightly less stunning as the smog filled in
• Familiar faces from Del Mar
• Lanfranco Dettori throwing his whip in the air after breaking the track record and winning The Classic
• The novelty of downhill starts on the turf course never looks right
• The light applause for each winning horse making his way to the winner’s circle
• The respectful salute the crowd gave Curlin after a tough loss
• No breakdowns
• Good management of the traffic by the Arcadia police
• Lastly, the face on the guy three seats to the left and one row back when he realized he hit the Pick 6.  Priceless.  Looks like he was one of about 50 people that will be explaining $56K to the IRS.  If he was smart, he picked up all the tickets at my feet.  Plenty of write-down losers there.

See you in 2009.

It’s no secret that the economy is affecting the way we all think and behave about saving and spending, and our clients are themselves consumers first and marketing professionals second.  They are freaking just like the rest of us — should I spend, should I save, should I move to Costa Rica and open a coffee stand?

Part of our jobs right now are to play marketing counselors, and help our clients remember to stay the course.  More than ever, their marketing programs can help them rise above market confusion, bolster their brand awareness, and drive home important and stabilizing statements about who they are and what they are selling.

At a recent meeting of the Association of National Advertisers, the theme was really just that. Here is a valuable article about what some of those marketers are doing and saying right now about the economy.  Some things to learn from some of the biggest and brightest.

In another recent blog post by Chris Brogan entitled “The Beauty of Pirate Ships” in which relates the life of pirates on their ships to the current marketing scene, he states:

“In the coming months, there are strategies one can follow to try and survive. Some companies are hunkering down, cutting their spending, tightening their expenditures. Some are laying off, getting lean. Others are slashing their projects and sticking with what they’d been doing for the next year, shifting their efforts into preserving what they have instead of pushing forward.

“I think that’s the worst plan in the world. Forget the ship. Don’t preserve the ship. Go after the prize. Take on the far more dangerous-but-rewarding stance of seeking the treasure. If you’re a company, set the targets and launch your ships. If you’re one of the pirates, look for the reward, not the larger story.

“Should there be loyalty? Hell, yes. This isn’t about abandoning ship or throwing a mutiny. This is about breaking your perspective open and pointing it towards the REAL goals. “

This is a very insightful point of view, and one with which I happen to agree.  It’s like the old story about the ostrich sticking its head in the sand — you cannot ignore the tempest that storms around you.  But, you can control the direction you plan to take.

Our recommendations to clients is to stay the course. Your brand means everything, and as you invest in your brand with care and guidance, it will pay off for you in the not-so-long term.   If you don’t feel your brand is clearly defined, do it.  Quick.

And remember — we are all in the same boat, pirate or not.

It was nice to see the Wall Street Journal publish an insightful piece today about the Breeders’ Cup and horse racing in general.

After a rain-soaked affair last year at Monmouth that saw a big decline in handle, the Breeders’ Cup returns to sunny California for 2008 and again in 2009.

I’ll be at Santa Anita on Saturday, and here is what I will be looking for:

Big Crowds

Weather won’t be a problem.  Hype isn’t a problem with articles all week in USA Today and the LA Times.   Competition is not a problem as the Dodgers and Angels are out of the playoffs.

Churchill Downs in 2006 saw 75,132 people walk through the turnstiles, the third-highest attendance in Breeders’ Cup history.  Churchill had 80,452 in 1998.

The third running of the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita in 1986 attracted a crowd of 69,155 and the tenth running at Santa Anita drew an on-track attendance of 55,130.  In 2003, attendance at the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita was 51,648.

In 2004 Breeders’ Cup  53,717 were in attendance at Lone Star. Attendance on track for the Breeders’ Cup was 56,289 at Belmont Park in 2005.

Considering that Del Mar pulls 42,000 for opening day, I’m hoping for a raucous crowd of over 60,000 for Saturday alone for the “Super Bowl of Horseracing” in Southern California.

Sustained Handle

A total of $111,903,685 was wagered from all sources on the 11-race Breeders’ Cup World Championships card at Monmouth Park Oct. 27, according to preliminary data, a decline of 20.3% from the all-time record set at Churchill Downs in 2006 of over $140 million.

2007 had the excuse of poor racing conditions.  2008 has the excuse of a poor economy.  I hope we can break $110 million.

Youth

This is Los Angeles.  Where even 45 year old women look 21.  Joking aside, I’m hoping to see a young crowd.  The old rich people will definitely be there.  The horseracing diehards who grind it out at Hollywood every weekend will be there.  With major sponsors TVG, Grey Goose, Emeritas Airline, Sentient and Bessemer Trust on board, I’m hoping they are on board every year…along with Apple, Coors Light and other brands that seek to reach a younger demographic.

At some point horse racing will need to appeal to younger people.  And there is no better time than back-t0-back races in the entertainment capital of the world.

Here is hoping for a successful Championships, an upset by Colonel John to pay for my drinks, and a big victory by Penn State over Ohio State to cap off a wonderful day for sports!

Have you ever wondered what exactly an advertising agency does? If you are like me, and have never stepped foot into one before, it has probably crossed your mind. I am BG Creative’s new Administrative Assistant and being here has opened my eyes to the advertising world.

It goes beyond the end product you see on billboards, in magazines and on T.V. We have many creative, hardworking, dedicated people– all of us working together to meet and exceed the needs of our clients.  The teams are constantly researching, planning, thinking, and most importantly creating. They do all of this to make sure the end product is a success.

I look forward to sharing with you my insights into this fast-paced agency world. And until my next post, please enjoy a selection of my favorite BG Creative pieces: