1. LinkedIn Beats Facebook in B2B Conversions.

In a study of 3,100 HubSpot B2B customers, LinkedIn’s visitor-to-lead ratio was 2.6%, which is four times higher than Twitter (.67%) and seven times higher than Facebook (.39%).

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2. LinkedIn is Growing Faster than Facebook.

LinkedIn had 28 million views in March, up 60% from a year earlier. Facebook’s unique visitors were up 20% from a year earlier. With 150 million users LinkedIn is now the #2 social network in America.

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3. Next Play.

LinkedIn’s CEO has managed to reduce their business philosophy to two words: “Next Play.” As articulated in NYSE magazine:

The concept is inspired by Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, who shouts the phrase every time the ball changes hands and his team heads down the court. The intent is to make sure players don’t spend too much time celebrating a successful outcome or lamenting a poor one. Instead, they turn their attention to the next challenge.

We like it.

By John Drake

Posted in Campaign Planning, Social

Tagged: LinkedIn, Social media, Social Network

Together with our clients, we created some fantastic work, and we are damn proud of this year’s haul: 5 Golds, 8 Silvers, and 5 Citations.

Speaking of clients, we tip our hats to ours who won. We thank you for collaborating with us and putting your trust in us. Big props to: 44 North Vodka, Big Bear Lake, Idaho Department of Commerce, Idaho Department of Labor, Idaho Preferred, Idaho Travel Council, Jensen Jewelers, and Primary Health! Congrats on the awards!

By Heidabelle

Client: 44 North Vodka, Big Bear Lake, Idaho Department of Commerce, Idaho Department of Labor, Idaho Preferred, Idaho Travel Council, Jensen Jewelers, Primary Health

Posted in Advertising

Tagged: Rockie Awards

Adrian + Sabine is a communications and brand marketing agency focused on the events, entertainment, food and beverages industries. You might know them from their work with the East End Market, Gem State Jam, and multiple wineries and grape growers. The latter means they always have delicious flowing beverages on hand, and who doesn’t love that? They are a vibrant team with venerable style and sharp business panache.

The Walton Works, specializing in PR, tells the brand stories and epic tales of outdoor, ski, adventure and lifestyle markets. Progressive, yet rooted fantastically in customer experience and engagement, The Walton Works is a welcome addition to our building.

Don’t return the moving truck quite yet, though. A bright and airy suite is available in the Drake Cooper Building. Perfect for a small company looking to put down roots in BoDo, Suite 103 is easy to find, easy to access, and easy to see how making it your office will increase your annual revenue, make your teeth whiter, and reveal you as the most interesting person at dinner parties.*

*Drake Cooper cannot guarantee any of these things.

Those interested should contact Dan Ronfeld with any questions and/or to see the space. dronfeld@drakecooper.com or 342.0925

By Heidabelle

Posted in DC Culture

Tagged: Building Space, Drake Cooper Building

There’s a good report recently released by Netpop Research that provides some current perspective on social media usage that’s immediately useful.

The first is a reminder that Facebook is far different from other social channels. According to their study roughly 90% of all socially networked adults use the site every week. This is not true for other channels… No one else comes close to those numbers.

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Also, as expected, when it comes to social age matters—the 18-34 audience uses social media about 40 – 50% more than anyone 35+ in most channels. Yet, look again at Facebook versus the others… When it comes to usage age is irrelevant. Everyone was there last week.

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Netpop also reported that younger audiences spend almost double the total time that older audiences do:

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But regardless of age, everyone allocates their time in roughly the same way:  “Staying in Touch” and “Entertainment” make up around 60 percent of social media motivations.

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Finally, it’s now estimated that 146 million Americans (80% of online adults) use social networks and that social media now accounts for 18% of all time spent online. Which is great. But it would be very useful if Facebook was more open with their click through rates to agencies.

By John Drake

Posted in Social

Tagged: Facebook, Netpop Research, Social media

And with that, we’ll leave it to the visual:

By John Drake

Posted in Social

Tagged: Social media, Social Network

When an organization is in the #1 position it’s always smart to help sell the category as part of the marketing efforts. If the category does well, the organization does well. Sometimes they even pull others along with them…

But what if the leader is not pulling large audiences?

Here’s an interesting theory about TV media.

This spring has seen a notable shift in network TV viewing among the 18-49 audience. The New York Times recently reported that during the four television weeks starting March 19^th that all four major networks were notably down versus the same period last year: NBC (-3%), CBS (-8%), ABC (-21%) and Fox (-20%).

While we all know that viewers also use online mediums and DVRs for their entertainment these days that doesn’t explain the all-of-the-sudden decreases. Networks have been puzzled as to why.

One leading theory: American Idol. This season the show is down 30%. (Too bad. It’s a great season.) Historically, Idol has done so well that it’s pushed many viewers into other programming throughout the week across various networks. The NFL does this during the fall and winter.

Another leading theory for the decline: Unpredictable Newness. Networks now parcel out their episodes differently during the spring. In March and April, for example, they insert strings of repeat shows so viewers can go weeks without seeing new episodes of their favorite shows.

Combine these two things together and quite a dip in viewing can happen.

Or, perhaps March was just off in general…

By John Drake

Posted in Advertising, Media, Pop Culture

Tagged: advertising, Campaign Planning, Media, Pop Culture, Television

In planning for 2012, we turned our collective focus to promoting and driving sales of their new coffee brand, Jacksons Java, launched late this March. Additionally, fountain drinks, with the warming weather, are getting some promotional love and attention too across all markets, especially Boise and Portland.

So, how should Jacksons promote both products during these spring months? What gets people from the gas pump and into the store? How do we get people to stop in for coffee on their morning commute or for an afternoon fountain drink on the way home from work, both of which are two of the busiest times of day for C-stores?

During Jacksons’s “DRINK$1″ campaign, every fountain beverage, every coffee and cappuccino, any size, is just one dollar. The creative for “DRINK$1″ is product focused and features the Jacksons fountain cup and new coffee packaging for easy recognition. Placement for the creative executions relies heavily on store signage and outdoor boards, with support in radio, live read, and social media.

Three weeks into the campaign, Jacksons customers have been going crazy over the drink value. DRINK$1 runs through Memorial Day weekend; be sure to get your fix at your favorite Jacksons.

A huge cheers to Dennis Budell, Scott Steele, Niki Mathews, Heidy Agalsoff, Mona Teffeteller, Brad Weigle, Meghan Rae, Lindsay Normandin, and Karma Jones.

By Heidabelle

Client: Jacksons Food Stores

Posted in Campaign Planning, Packaging, Social

Tagged: Coffee, Convenience store marketing, DR1NKS

Another major event the PSAMA puts together is MarketMix and there were some terrific learnings at this year’s presentations. (This post is about some of advertising takeaways but other topics will follow.)

IPSOS ASI talked about ways to estimate the potential of an ad’s re-transmission via viral or social media channels. This was interesting. According to IPSOS, ad re-transmission typically needs four things:

1. Buzzworthiness

2. Personal Relevance

3. Emotive Power

4. Uniqueness That Links

Those are good benchmarks to file away.

The first two are fairly self-explanatory. The last two are worth some quick commentary…

Emotive Power

Using 2012 Super Bowl ad re-transmissions online as metrics, IPSOS concluded that the higher the emotive power of the ad the more it was shared and liked. Chrysler and VW, in particular, succeeded here. It’s not the emotion of the brand itself, but rather the emotion that is stirred within and relatable to the audience. This is very important because consumer attention on YouTube is 1.5x higher than on TV.

Uniqueness That Links

The other key point IPSOS discussed on advertising was the importance of producing creativity that uniquely links. The firm revealed that after years of testing effective advertising they’ve come to the conclusion that fifty percent of the time an ad is ineffective it’s because the audience fails to link the advertiser to the advertising. We’ve seen this time and time again in the industry… People recalling an ad to precision except for who it was for.

Going back to the Super Bowl portfolio, M&M’s navigated this beautifully. Which is also part of the reason they won YouTube’s 2012 Ad Blitz.

Lastly, IPSOS reminded the audience that the intro of an ad continues to be of increased importance: As we know on TV the first 5 – 7 seconds of an ad often makes or breaks the execution in terms of attention. On the web, this shrinks to the first 3 seconds.

By John Drake

Posted in Advertising, Campaign Planning, Media, Social

Tagged: advertising, Campaign Planning, Media, social

However, ForeSee’s recent Mobile Satisfaction Study points out something important; when accessing our mobile phones inside of a retail store for comparison shopping, 60-70% of the time it’s to access the store’s own website.

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This points to two things for retail marketing and sales:

1. The obvious importance of consistency. The price online should be the price in the store. Systems need to connect.

2. But when it doesn’t… There’s an opportunity for conversion (and maybe even upsell) through immediate sales floor empowerment. If, for example, the price is lower on the online site, perhaps honor that price but then kick in an incentive that’s only available if the consumer purchases at the store, such as a 30 day guaranteed no-questions-asked return policy. (Whereas online the return isn’t nearly that easy.)

Such moves embrace showrooming and help seal the deal right there. Despite the ever-increasing showrooming trend it’s still possible to have the consumer get the win and the retailer keep the sale.

By John Drake

Posted in Campaign Planning, Interactive, Mobile App, Strategy

Tagged: Campaign Planning, Mobile, retail, Trends in Sales

In the six years that Jennie’s been with Drake Cooper, she has been integral in partnering with our clients to create some of the most successful and original campaigns that have come out of these walls. She has led creative efforts for The Idaho Travel Council (more and more), CBH Homes, 44 North Vodka, Bodybuilding.com, Microsoft Office, Simplot, and The Idaho Department of Labor, to name a few.

Jennie is not just a wickedly talented designer with delectable taste in shoes, she is also strategically business minded. In addition to her design background, she will graduate with her Executive MBA this May (we’ve already got the air horn and streamers ready, champagne chilling) from Boise State University. This paired with serving on the boards of AIGA Idaho, the Boise Advertising Federation, and as an adjunct professor at BSU, means that Jennie’s got that left-brain/right-brain thing down pat.

“More than ever, creativity and innovation is about viewing business obstacles as opportunities,” she said. “Our creative process is embracing a design-thinking approach, one that puts human-centered solutions first, balances analytical data with intuitive originality, and is highly collaborative. The closer we can get to understanding our clients’ businesses, the more successful we will be.”

We think with Ms. Myers at the Creative department’s helm, we can expect great things! We are thrilled with her vision for our creative department and agency.

Congrats, Jennie!

By Heidabelle

Posted in DC Culture

Tagged: Creative Director