Throwback Thursday: 4 Marketing Techniques That Still Work

It is the digital age. Content marketing, social media, and videos are everywhere. However, despite all the technological advances that marketing has made over the years, some effective marketing techniques have not changed all that much in decades.

While some of the old-school advertising and marketing methods do not have all the sexiness and allure that some of the new methods have, they still get the job done.

1. Promotional gifts. Giving promo gifts is a terrific example of an old-school marand free, something everybody loves! It is a tiny investment that can gain some serious ROI with years of loyal consumerism.
keting technique that has existed for decades yet still works. This method is a fairly cost-effective way for brands to build visibility and trust with consumers; there is little effort on the brand's side, while the consumer gets something practical

2. Mailing lists & lead buying. While we see mailing lists make the complete jump over to email marketing, traditional mailing efforts are still used by brands and still can generate ROI. Buying lists of qualified leads can be a reliable revenue channel because this is mostly employed by businesses trying to garner some local customers. For some businesses that our LA marketing team has worked with, this is one marketing method that worked, even over options like PPC ads.

3. Coupons and mailers. While this method has been showing less and less ROI potential, it still has the great potential to allow businesses to target a very specific geographical area. As long as the business understands the demographic they are targeting, this method can allow them to craft a very personal and effective message for their audience. This can increase consumer sales and trust with the personal coupon that opens the door for purchases.

4. Jingles & slogans. Jingles and slogans are used in advertisements to this day. How many times do we hear a commercial come on TV or the radio and sing the jingle? Or how many companies can we identify just by hearing the slogan? They get into our minds and create a sense of trust between the consumer and brand. Songs and other sounds are easily memorable, which brands capitalize on every day.

So while the world of marketing is changing, there are some methods that still work. Digital marketing is a great thing but there is still something captivating about old school marketing techniques. 

Move Over Millennials, It's Time to Obsess over Gen Zers. 6 Tips How to Market to Them

For the last few years, especially the last few months, it seems that every marketer is thinking of ways to reach through  to Millennials. Every marketing blog and article out there talks about Millennials. They're a great generation but you can't fault a creative for having "Millennial burnout."

It's now time to focus our efforts on the next group of consumers coming through the funnel, Generation Z. Approximately 26 percent of the United States population is made up of Zers and they total around 2 billion around the globe. They have tremendous purchasing power, which is growing, as they have $44 billion to spend every year.

So how can we tailor our marketing to this new generation of consumers? It won't be easy. They are an interesting mix of pragmatic (courtesy of their Gen X parents) and tech-saturated (like their Gen Y/Millennial siblings).

1. Show your brand's personality. We have talked about this regarding Millennials, so it should come as nothing new that brands need to be personal and real. Have a human touch and be willing to leave the stiff, straight-laced mentalities at the door. When brands show their fun side, their vulnerable side, or their lovable side, they will be successful at winning Gen. Z.

2. Don't use a filter. Sure, you don't want to create a PR disaster for yourself but don't be afraid to craft content, in whatever format, that is real. The brands that are utilizing YouTube stars see this in action and are getting ROI from it. Why? Well, the teens love the authenticity of the YouTube stars and feel they can connect with them. Look how many people have risen to fame from a site like YouTube, it's because those people were being real and laying out invitations for viewers to connect with them. These people were not being forced into the spotlight be corporate executives.

3. Champion a cause. Generation Zers are like their Millennial counterparts in that they want the brands they support to have a purpose beyond making money. However, Gen. Z are a little more serious and cautious consumers. If a brand is able to connect with a cause that helps make the world a better place, that brand will have a better chance winning Gen. Z consumers. For example, look at the brands establishing connections with anti-bullying campaigns or campaigns that deal with hunger, etc.

4. Go to where they live. The phrase, "Build it and they will come." doesn't work with this generation. In fact, it hasn't worked for a while. Brands have to go where the consumers are. In 2015, it's the social realm. People in Gen. Z are collectors, sharers, and spinners of influence and information for their peers. Each platform of social media cultivates a different side of this generation. Again, this is where brands can benefit from tapping the YouTube stars and other social media stars to do some promotion.

5. Be the vessel for interactions and friendships. A brand that can establish a channel for Gen. Z to find people like them, then you will majorly win the respect and love of these consumers. They want to connect with like-minded peers and build relationships, not be slapped
across the face with advertisements and traditional promotional tools. Be the vessel that helps them do this. Be the catalyst.

6. Bust through the noise like Kool-Aid Man does walls. There are distractions everywhere, it can be difficult to know what to say or do so the kids notice you. All the access to the internet makes it both hard and easy to grab their attention. The content that brands produce needs to be entertaining, helpful, informative, relevant, and fun. Yes, you can pick which of those to embrace but the entertaining, relevant, and fun are essential, so you sort of get to pick & choose.

Hire a marketing firm that can help your business do this. Call or email Integraphix, a Los Angeles marketing agency. 

Contact us and get a free marketing analysis! 

5 Reasons Your Company Should Be Blogging Right Now

The purpose of blogging has expanded from updating your friends about your recent travels and opinions to the business world. Just about any business can benefit from the wonderful tool of blogging and here are five great reasons your business should be doing it.

1. It is made for sharing ideas and opinions. Your business can use its blog to share is ideas, what it represents, its perspective on industry trends, and whatever you want it to talk about (note: keep it professional and relevant). Yes, you can do these things on other platforms like social media but it's not really welcome there, at least not in long text. You can then use this opportunity to engage with other people, such as industry experts, and build connections and web traffic. If you do it right, your blogging can become a major search engine optimization tool and sales lead tool.
2. You can reach a mass audience in a shorter timeframe. The internet is a beautiful place; you can spread news and information to thousands, even millions, of people in just a few minutes. One way to do this is to mention your blog posts on your social media; from your social media, it can be shared, commented on, liked, retweeted, favorites, etc. Now you have great material for your social media marketing efforts.
3. You can position yourself as an expert. When you talk about your industry subject matter, you can sound like an expert and become a resource for other people. The more people see you as an expert, and hopefully Google, the more web traffic you have and better brand visibility. Your business will be building and exposing its credibility, trustworthiness, and expertise. 
4. It will be a sales tool. When you engage with other people and show that you are an expert, other businesses and customers will be more likely to do business with you because they can already have that trust. You can also be more direct with (some) posts and promote a new service or product. 
5. It puts (more) content on your site. Whether or not your business wants to do serious external search engine optimization, having content on your site is important; content is all the verbiage and images on your site. Search engines like to see that on your site, better yet, they like to see fresh content on your site regularly. Any great SEO company will tell you that fresh, relevant content on your site is a great idea. 

Does your business now see why blogging is so important? We sure hope so. Do you want to begin blogging but don't know how or don't have the time? Then email or call Integraphix, a Los Angeles marketing agency with over 25 years experience. 

Make Outdoor Marketing Stand Out & Save Money Doing It

How You Can Promote Your Business and Get Noticed

Why The Pacquiao-Mayweather Fight is a Blessing for Brands

This weekend, the world will be treated to one of the most anticipated sporting events in recent history. For years, boxing fans have been praying for a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight. Some say that this is the "Super Bowl of Boxing". Beast vs. beast.

With all the hype surrounding the fight, one could agree that this is a terrific opportunity for brands to advertise, even if the fight is on exclusive PPV and not cable TV. Here is why the fight is going to be an incredible opportunity for brands, according to our Los Angeles marketing agency:

1. It's beast vs. beast in the greatest of clashes. An underdog whose story is of rags to riches in the streets of Manila to the US. On the opposing side, the flashy American fighter. It is the classic underdog vs. boasting champ story that we have become enamored with.

This is a story that can be the best story told in a long time. People love seeing this story get told and it is even better when the underdog comes out on top.

The personality clash is also what draws people in and enhances the narrative. Pacquiao has a more humble, quieter, honest behavior, according to people in the business; Mayweather is reportedly much flashier, money-driven, and boastful. Those are all things our LA marketing company has heard and read others talk about, not our own opinions.

2. It is a battle of marketing. Pacquiao has several sponsors; from the fight alone, he stands to make $5 million from his sponsorships; Manny is sponsored by Nike, Footlocker, Wonderful Pistachios, and Butterfinger. Mayweather does not have any sponsorships, however, since has made $105 million from his past two fights, he is not exactly desperate for cash.

This creates a ripe place for advertisers, specifically the ones that sponsor Manny, to create great material for advertising on TV and within the arena. So it'll be interesting to see which brands get their jabs in the ad game first… for the fight.

3. Media is jumping in on the excitement. Along with the advertisers getting ready to jump on the excitement of the fight, especially Pacquiao's sponsor brands, many other advertisers want in on the action. One brand that has made a huge bid to be in on the fight was Tecate, they paid a cool $5 million to sponsor the fight.

As a way to generate some promotions on the fight, Tecate has been creating media to post on YouTube, social media, and other channels. Tecate was able to land the talents of Sylvester Stallone and Larry Merchant, legendary boxing analyst.

4. It's all about the Benjamins. This fight is supposed to generate hundreds of millions of dollars. Which means that every seat should be sold out plus all the people that will be ordering the game on PPV. Exactly how much is supposed to be made from the fight? Well, Mayweather will likely be taking home $160 million, while Pacquiao will likely be taking home $100 million.

The record for purchases of a PPV event is expected to be broken with this fight. That is a lot of eyes for advertisers to get in front of.

5. It is boxing's comeback. When boxing moved form cable TV to PPV, many considered it to be boxing's end; and it nearly was. However, with the popularity of this fight, boxing might (just maybe) live to see another day.

One thing that is helping the potential revival of boxing is the amount of celebrities that are publicly cheering for Mayweather or Pacquiao in this fight. Some celebs are throwing down heavy wagers.

As a Los Angeles creative marketing agency, we believe that brands need to get in on this action. Will the sport be saved? We'll see. That doesn't mean it would be a bad investment for brands to run an ad for the fight. 

If your brand is looking for its "Super Bowl" to advertise in, then email or call Integaphix, a Los Angeles marketing company that can help your business increase exposure. 

Snapchat is One Step Closer to Mobile Domination With This Latest Move with Univision

The US men's national soccer team played against the Mexico men's national soccer team this week. It was a good game. You could watch the game on TV, online, listen on the radio, or watch it on Snapchat.

That's right, Snapchat.

The growing social media platform has formed a deal with Univision to bring highlights of the game, and future games, to mobile devices in this unique way. Univision is especially looking forward to the success of this deal since 71 percent of their 7.6 million unique visitors in February were on mobile.

Snapchat is one of the most popular social media platforms with Millennials, which is one of the reasons Univision chose them to partner with to bring the sport to more Millennial screens. Normally, this would be a huge feat but after seeing the popularity of soccer with Millennials after the World Cup in 2014, it could be very feasible.

With all the moves that Snapchat has been making, such as the money exchange feature, the platform is certainly becoming a great mobile marketing giant. Do you think they can become a true social media giant like Facebook or Twitter? Let us know! Make a comment or email Integraphix and see what our Los Angeles marketing company team has to say about it.

Top 8 Myths About Advertising

Advertising has been around for centuries. The way it has been done has changed over and over but even in ancient times, the fundamentals of advertising existed. Due to the longevity of the promotional tactic, myths have formed and some have stuck around. Our Los Angeles advertising agency has decided to take a crack at some of them.

1. Advertising is too expensive. You've heard the age old adage, "You've got to spend money to make money." And that is still very, very true. This applies to advertising and the realization that many businesses can't afford to not advertise. At least if they want to make money.

2. Advertising and PR are the same. They are not, my friend. Is there some overlap? Sure. Are they twins? Nope; their focuses are completely different. PR is earned and advertising is bought.

3. Advertising is unethical and manipulative. While some companies are selling things to people that they do not need, many companies do good for the world and need advertising to promote themselves. As far as advertising itself being unethical or manipulative, ad agencies abide by strict standards set by the FCC and SEC that forbid false advertising or misleading advertising.

4. We have enough business. "Enough business" is a relative term. Who's to say you have enough business? Having enough business is only a momentary thing; maybe you are too swamped for a couple months to take on more business but your business's goal should never be to have "enough business".

5. People don't pay attention to ads. While consumers do have a higher filter for paid ads versus "free" promotion, ads are still very effective. Google generates over $30 billion per year from their ads. Also, brands wouldn't spend money on ads if they didn't work.

6. Online advertising is too difficult. There is lots of software and internet marketing companies that know how to do advertising online. With social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc. all you have to do is sign up to advertise on their platforms, which is a few clicks.

7. Effectively targeting a local target market is too hard. Effectively targeting any market can be difficult if you don't have the right data and creative behind it. With advances in geo-targeting techniques and software, going after a specific local market is not as hard as many are led to believe.

8. Humor reduces the effectiveness of our message. If you use humor inappropriately, such as too much of it, then yes, it can detract from your message's impact. However, using humor can actually help your message get through to consumers and be remembered better!

Does your business need to advertise? Email Integraphix or call us and see how our creative marketing agency can help your business increase its exposure and more business!

4 Things Companies Need to Understand to Market to Millennials

It might seem like marketing agencies are constantly talking about how to market to Millennials. And we are. Every demographic poses its own unique challenges of being marketed to but it seems Millennials have a special spot in history with this, in a good way. They are young enough to grow up with technology but old enough to remember a world before cell phones, easily accessed internet, buying CDs instead of simply downloading an MP3, etc.

They are the like a "Pivot Generation" in which they have shifted how consumers think and are setting things on a new course. Every few generations, there is a pivot generation that changes things up. It's refreshing. It's wonderful.

There are four things that brands must understand to help market to Millennials. 

1. Brands must have utility. Brands can't just pay to be shown on a billboard or poster, they have to create legitimate connections with consumers. Show how you connect with Millennial consumers. This generation wants to know what brands bring to the table, why, and not with cliché marketing techniques.

2. Not all Millennials are the same age. Remember, Millennials are anyone between the ages of 19-35. There are several stages of life within that range. You have kids going off to college, young professionals, all the way to established professionals with kids. They are not in the same mindset and consequently, they do not behave that way.

Younger Millennials will have more disposable income and be up for things like music festivals, while older Millennials have more restrictions on their income due to things like rent, mortgages, other bills, and maybe even taking care of children. One way to reach older Millennials, in regards to events, is to have it be a one day event with a reasonable price. 

3. Don't use pitchmen, especially on social media. Millennials can spot a pitchman from a mile away. And they don't like it. Having something tangible for the group to hold on to will do more for a brand than any pitch will. A physical memento is one thing this generation loves. At concerts, one of the best sellers for bands are posters. T-Shirts do well, too.

Before we mentioned how Millennials (most of them) are old enough to remember a world before you could download MP3s and had to actually buy a CD. Well, that is trending again. Millennials are appreciating actual records and CDs again. The sales of vinyl records has shot up 52 percent in the last 12 months.

4. Brands have to be willing to give stuff away. It sounds crazy to some businesses. Why would you want to give stuff away for free; won't that encourage people to get freebies and never purchase? No, surpassingly not. When people get free stuff, it enables them to experience the product or service with no commitment. This allows them to enjoy it, stress free.

It also allows Millennials to have a tangible connection with the brand. Back to the music and concerts examples, it's a great way for brands to physically connect with their fans.

It can be confusing but it really does pay off when brands comply with the various tips for marketing to Millennials. If your business needs help, then email Integraphix, a Los Angeles marketing company. With so many Millennials on staff, our creative marketing team knows how to connect with this great demographic.

Why Get Reputation Management? These Stats Will Help You Understand

Social media marketing has become a must for companies in the 21st century, whether businesses like it or not. Along with the great consumer engagement and strengthening relationships that is a goal of social media for business, corporate blogging, and other digital marketing activities, it means that eventually, there will be some negative response.

Whether the negative response is from a customer complaining on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, or on a review site like Yelp, negative press can affect business and the health of your reputation.

How can your business protect itself from a negative review? Reputation management.

Did you know that negative reviews are the number one concern for CEOs? It is.

Did you know that 65 percent of consumers consider online search as a trusted source of info about brands and their products? This means that negative reviews can scare potential customers away from your business. That is a higher level of sincere trust than any other source, online or offline.

Lastly, did you know that 79 percent of consumers have equal weight for online reviews and personal recommendations; 85 percent of all consumers use the web to research reviews? That is an awful lot of pressure for your online reputation to be pure and defended. It is absolutely critical to keep a very close and analytical eye on what people are saying about your business. The frequency of online search for reviews and analytics of products and services has grown exponentially over the last 10 years; as mobile devices have become mainstream, that number will continue to grow more and more.

As a Los Angeles internet marketing agency, we know how important it is to protect a reputation; it is easier and more cost efficient than to have an issue and be forced to clean it up, maybe even rebrand.

10 Characteristics of Great Blogs: Dos and Don'ts

Blogging can be a somewhat arduous endeavor; for one thing, you have to find good content to write about and pair it with good images. Also, you have to have a blog that has pleasing design, a good purpose, and connections.

To make things a little easier, here are 10 tips for making your blog even better. Or, if you are just getting started, here are 10 tips for getting off on the right foot. These tips are courtesy of our Los Angeles marketing company copywriting team.

1. Do make sure your blog platform is mobile responsive. Or, if your blog is hosted on your website, then make sure that your site is mobile responsive. With more and more smartphones and tablets being used these days, especially out of the home, more web searches and navigating is being done away from desktops & laptops. If you are not sure, then contact our Los Angeles web design team, they can help you figure out if your site is responsive, if not, what can be done about it. 
2. Do have a purpose for the blog. This purpose is not just so you have a place to write your thoughts but the content always needs to circle around a specific theme. A visitor to your blog should know what the subject matter/purpose of the blog should be apparent within a few seconds. 
3. Do watch spacing. Have some whitespace, don't pack everything in so tightly, like a can of sardines. Let the text, the images, and the reader breathe! 
4. Don't clutter. Sure, there is the sidebar for things like widgets and other links but avoid filling it so much that it becomes crowded and aesthetically displeasing. 
5. Do watch the header heights. Avoid making your headers so tall that it takes a couple scrolls for viewers to see your content. 
6. Do make sure your site has great navigation. If your blog is on your website, then your website needs to have good navigation. If it does not, then visitors to your site will find the site frustrating and that will lead to visitors leaving. You want your web visitors to stick around! This is important for good blogging, web design, and search engine optimization.
7. Don't have auto-play music or videos on the blog. As soon as the sound starts to play, the visitor will either get scared or annoyed; whichever is the result of the auto-play sound, the person will hit the mute button on their keyboard and your song or video will be rendered useless. 
8. Do have contact buttons or links on your blog. Make it easy to move over to your site and specifically, the contact page. It makes your blog much friendlier and engaging. 
9. Do be focused on your reader. Is your blog welcoming and helpful? Make it look and feel trusting. 
10. Don't use bad background or font colors. One poor choice of blogs is to have a light text on a dark background. Another mistake is to have too many colors with the fonts. 

Enjoy your blogging. Make it great! If your business needs helping getting a blog started or want someone to manage your blog, then email Integraphix about blogging services, SEO, or social media! 

13 of the Biggest Product Fails in History

Sometimes, even with the most creative marketing and business minds around a product, it just doesn't deliver. It's how business is. Not every product that is introduced to the market will be a winner.

Here are 13 of those examples. Researched by our Los Angeles marketing company development team.

1. Ford Edsel in 1957. This car is pretty much synonymous with "product failure" in the marketing world. Ford invested a whopping $400 million into the car, which is a lot of money now but consider that much in 1957! Americans didn't buy the car. It was removed from the market in 1960

2. Coca-Cola New Coke- 1985. In the early 1980s, Coca-Cola was losing its market share to its main competitor, Pepsi. So, to win back consumers, they wanted to release a game-changer, New Coke. It was supposed to be a similar taste to Pepsi, which is sweeter than Coke. What is morAfter a few short weeks, Coke went back to their original formula. This was when they introduced a new name for their flagship product: Coca-Cola Classic.
e surprising here is that taste tests showed the product would do well; however, once it hit store shelves for real, it flopped.

3. Pepsi AM- 1989. In the late 80s, Pepsi believed they could reach a new market, morning coffee drinkers. They released Pepsi A.M. to appeal to breakfast cola drinkers with this breakfast variety of cola. The product was pulled from shelves after only one year.
          3b. Crystal Pepsi. In 1992, Pepsi tried to intrigue the clear soda consumers with their Crystal Pepsi option. It lasted a year and was pulled in 1993. We could get into Pepsi Blue but we'll hold off on that for now.

4. Coors Rocky Mountain Spring Water- 1990. Sometimes brands can have product extensions that work, while other brand extensions just don't work out. For example, this one. In 1990, consumers were not ready for a popular beer maker to make water.

5. Apple Newton- 1993. This is a great example of when Apple was in its "forgettable" days and not the world's most valuable brand. This device flopped because it was too expensive ($700), was tall and thick (the world wasn't ready for tablets) at 8x4.5 inches, and its handwriting recognition was horrendous. See this joke from The Simpsons.

6. Orbitz Soda -- 1997. The cool thing about Orbitz Soda was that it looked like little lava lamps, which appealed to kids. However, it tasted like cough syrup and the "lava" bits were awkward to have in your mouth with a liquid. It was pulled from shelves a year after debuting.

7. Cosmopolitan Yogurt -- 1999. The famous women's magazine, Cosmo, decided to make a yogurt back in 1999. The problem was that consumers were already satisfied with their yogurt selection in stores and the product connection wasn't logical, consumers couldn't figure out why they should buy the yogurt simply because they liked the magazine.

8. Mobile ESPN - 2006. Back in 2006, ESPN thought they had a great idea, offer a phone that would feature exclusive ESPN content via Verizon. The fail was so bad that it is considered one of the largest fails in mobile history. The only device equipped at product and service launch was a Sanyo flip phone that cost $400. ESPN shut down the service and moved on.

9. HD DVDs -- 2006. The race was on in the 2000s between the HD DVD, led by Toshiba, and the Blu-ray, led by Sony. Blu-ray won the race and it was mostly due to Warner Bros. it would no long support the HD DVD, in favor of Blu-ray.

10. JooJoo- 2009. During the emerging days of the iPad, which cost $499, another tablet computer was coming onto the scene, the JooJoo (also known as CrunchPad), which also cost $499. It emerged in 1009 and was gone by 2010.

11. Qwikster- 2011. When Netflix decided to split streaming and DVD services into two services, it spun off Qwikster as a DVD rental business. Consumers hated this decision. Netflix quickly retracted this decision.

12. Facebook Homescreen - 2013. Facebook tried to do one of the biggest mobile moves of all time with their "Facebook Home" service, which resulted in turning your phone's home screen into a Facebook feed. It flopped. For one thing, it was "too much" Facebook for users and it cost $99 for 2-year plans. It used up a lot of data and battery, too. It was quickly pulled.

13. The Nook- 2009. Barnes & Noble wanted to enter the e-reader market, which made sense since they were known for books! But they soon saw badly suffering sales, spun Nook off into its own company, and looked the other way.

Did you have a fun trip down memory lane? We sure did. Is your business looking to launch a new service or product? Then email Integraphix, a Los Angeles marketing agency, to help you make sure it is not a flop like these products. 

Integraphix Work: Weldbend Advertisement Design

One of the great things about being an integrated marketing agency is that we do multiple styles of work for any client: web design, SEO, branding, all the way to graphic design and advertising.

Weldbend is a client that uses our Los Angeles marketing agency for multiple services. Due to this, we have a wealth of knowledge about Weldbend such as their products and their target market. Integraphix was able to design and develop Weldbend's monthly ad campaigns that are designed for business growth. Our Los Angeles creative marketing team was also able to improve the effectiveness of Weldbend's ads with our proven graphic design and marketing strategies.

Weldbend and Integraphix built the advertisements around Weldbend's branding of reliability, strength, and terrific customer service. When a company is as successful as Weldbend, the company has to constantly improve and advance their view of the market and their business strategy.

Integraphix has been in business 25 years and consequently, has an extensive knowledge of advertising. If your business is interested advertising, email Integraphix and see how our LA creative marketing team can help you! In another city? We have offices in Chicago, NYC, Charlotte, and Phoenix. 

3 Marketing Lessons from NCAA March Madness

Marketing teams around the country should take a look at the NCAA March Madness tournament and study some marketing lessons. A mere college basketball tournament is one of the most successful marketing stories in history.

The tournament, which caps off the men's college basketball season for NCAA teams, has grown massively over the years; it is now shown on multiple networks such as: CBS, TNT, Turner Sports, and TruTV), it is broadcast over numerous radio stations, and even has its own channel (March Madness on Demand) and apps for mobile devices.

We won't even get into all the games that get streamed online.

In terms of popularity, it ranks 2nd in viewership, behind the NFL Super Bowl but ahead of the NBA & MLB playoffs.

Our LA creative marketing team was curious, how did the NCAA turn this tournament into a powerhouse?

One way they accomplished this was to give the tournament a memorable name. Not as many people would think of a tournament called, "NCAA Men's Basketball Championship Tournament" as exciting as something called, "March Madness". In addition to the tournament's name, there are clever names for the different rounds: Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, Final Four, and Final Championship.

These names are fun to say in word-of-mouth marketing, social media, and advertising. The successful advertising and WOM marketing has led to people chattering about the tournament every year, creating bracket pools with friends and at the office and even host parties.

Another way they increased the popularity of the tournament has been from utilizing internet marketing and social media marketing. To compliment their efforts with TV and radio ads, NCAA posted content on sites like Yahoo!, CBS, ESPN, and other sites. To engage with the fans, which is important in any marketing campaign, NCAA turned to social media sites like:

• Facebook: The tournament has around 200k likes. 
• Twitter: Every year, the tournament trends on Twitter and garners around 3 million tweets during the month of March. 
• YouTube: People love turning to YouTube to view highlights and other aspects of the games. Each year, the site has about 26k searches (since 2011). 

In each of these, brands capitalize on the popularity of the tournament with their own March Madness tailored content. 

So what quick lessons can we learn? 

1. Have a memorable name, slogan, & logo (branding)
2. Study your target market's needs & wants
3. Have interactive content, contests, and displays
4. Make it easy for the media to talk about you via press releases, guides, and newsletters

Does your business want to gain success like the NCAA tournament or does it want to create content that coincides with the tournament? Then email Integraphix and see what our Los Angeles marketing agency can do for you! 

6 Marketing Lessons About Getting Through to Female Millennials

Is it possible to create curate content for millennial women when everyone has smartphones and tablets that give them constant news?

Well, it all starts with analysis and good research. A good company will look at A/B Tests, reports (seasonal, annual, quarterly, etc.), and professional copywriters and editors who know what to produce that will generate buzz and traffic.

Trends for what is liked and not liked with content marketing and native advertising change all the time, however, there are certain guidelines that behoove brands to adhere to.

Here are six guidelines for brands to adhere to: 

1. Don't just focus on center content. Be willing to look at the content topics that might be on the fringes of your brand's scope-- maybe they are not directly correlated to topics from your products or services. For example, if you sell haircare products to women, then creating content that discusses hair accessories would be wise; this opens up a related avenue and overall idea that women can have the perfect hairstyle (between your haircare products and the accessories). 
2. Make it appealing but not click-bait. Click-bait is everywhere, any time we check our social media accounts, especially Facebook, we see titles like, "This man sat on a bench, what happened next blew me away…" Topics that are humorous, relatable, and cute tend to be topics that people like to read and share-- you can create stories that talk about these but are not click-bait. 
3. Don't be afraid to appeal to your fringe audience. Appealing to your target consumers is something every good Los Angeles marketing company will tell you to do; a great one will tell you to go a step further now and then. Consider the group that lies beyond the immediate audience. Making your content mass-appealing can mean getting more shares and more followers in your target audience. 
4. Make people feel happy! Content that makes people feel good is content that is going to be read, and more importantly, shared. Our LA marketing agency copywriters will tell you that the best content (according to shares) is content that is upbeat, positive, and uplifting. One way to do this is to encourage your readers to make a change, for the better. 
5. Evergreen is lovely. Evergreen content, often educational and informational, may not be content that is screaming to be shared like trendy topics but it has its own perk(s). This is content that has a much longer shelf life; so while it may take more time for the readership and shares to build, it has more time to do so. It never goes out of style. 
6. Analyze the success, such as the shares. The important things to look at include your visitors (especially unique), page views (again, especially unique), but especially the number of shares a post gets. The number of shares is the true number of success. Think about the keywords and images, along with the copy, to put in a post so it will succeed on social. 

Great content is a major contributor to having successful marketing, especially digital marketing. Does your business need better writing for blogs, social media, or advertising? Then email Integraphix and see how we can help you! 

Integraphix Work: A Logo Design

Great logo design is a passion of our Los Angeles graphic design team. A logo is a company's visual to the world, it is their first impression, it is what people remember them by. Due to those things, a good logo has to be created for every company that exists.

Chef Christina Sampson created her company out of desire of cooking and helping others; the result was The Traveling Pot. Christina came to Integraphix in need of a good logo and that could carry her business into the culinary world with prestige.

When designing a logo for Christina, we looked at how colors affected people; red and gold tend to instill a feeling of hunger and excitement in people. We decided to make red the main color in the logo for TTP's branding.

Christina's business has seen great growth and success since we created this logo for her; client's have mentioned the loveliness of the logo to Christina.

Does you business need a logo design or a logo redesign? Then email Integraphix and see how we can help you!

LG Updates Logo… Quietly

With the start of a new year, it is the start of new branding from some companies; while many companies make a big deal of a logo change or tagline update, LG went with the quiet route when they updated their logo.

Our Los angeles logo design team noticed the change recently; it is a subtle change but it is very elegant and classy.

Recently, LG has been intent on pushing their brand into more electronic categories and it seems like the more intense direction requires a new look to go along with it. What's different? Well, the "G" in LG has been rid of its familiar sarifs; the "L" in LG has also been made taller. Don't worry, the iconic red circle with LG making a face has been left untouched.

The updated logo can be seen at www.lg.com as well as when the company presented at the CES- Consumer Electronics Show.

LG has stated that the new logo will help improve brand recognition, identity, and usability. A nice perk for LG employees will be the new business cards they'll be receiving.

Does your business need a restart with a logo redesign? Perhaps your business needs a logo to begin with? Then contact Integraphix, a Los Angeles graphic design agency.

Easy Branding Lessons from Super Bowl Advertisers

It is officially Super Bowl time now that we have our teams from the AFC & NFC meeting in a little over a week. However, Super Bowl season means more than a game of football, it means advertising. Companies that are hoping to build, alter, or reinforce their branding, the Super Bowl is a wonderful time of year.

It seems like Super Bowl time stirs up the creative minds into another gear because of the competition to stand out and be memorable. The efforts that brands go into to shaping their own and gain market share is pretty impressive.

Three brands that plan to air ads during the game are a little different than what we'd be expecting; they serve small businesses and their online needs. With their Super Bowl ads, they hWix.com, Squarespace, and GoDaddy. 
ope to define, refine, or perhaps redefine their branding with these ads. Who are these three brands? We have

Wix.com-- Wix.com has about 58 million users around the globe, yet many people have still not heard of the brand name; they fit into a unique category of companies that have big consumer bases but remain relatively unknown. Wix shifted their branding to concentrate on being user-friendly with their products.

Wix comes into the Super Bowl for the first year with an ad that they hope will bring their name into a big name arena and be known for their user-friendly tools.

Squarespace-- Squarespace will be entering the Super Bowl advertising game for the second year in a row. For their ad in 2014, they created it in-house, which showed their product saving the world from anguish. They are still a somewhat small company but are more known than Wix.com and perhaps equally as known as GoDaddy.  

For their 2015 ad, Squarespace has connected with Wieden & Kennedy to work on their creative marketing. 

GoDaddy-- GoDaddy has become a major player in Super Bowl advertising, having done it 11 years in a row (including this year). Their controversial ads landed them a spot as a top advertiser and took their brand from a small, low-key brand to a powerhouse.

What will this year's game bring for advertising and other marketing efforts? Our Los Angeles marketing agency is excited to see. Many ads have been teasing their ads for the game but many have been keeping theirs a secret. Does your business need a Los Angeles creative marketing company to help them move to the next level? Then contact Integraphix -- a marketing agency in LA. 

Jazzercise, Beloved Brand from 1980s, Updates Logo, Rebrands

The famous brand of dancing and exercise from the 80s decided it was finally time to update its logo and branding with some fancy logo redesign and rebranding; the hope is that people will no longer think of headbands, leg warmers, and tights when they think of Jazzercize.

Jazzercize taught us that exercising can be fun when you do it to some tunes, throw on a leotard, short shorts, and neon colors. For many consumers, that's what still comes to the mind when they hear the brand name. In an attempt to update the apparently vintage brand, Jazzercize did some "jazzing" up. 

To update their look, the shed the weight of the serifs from their font, italicized it (slightly), changed the color from black to gray, and adopted a unique "J" symbol. The new look is certainly clean and a lot more modern. However, it is not exactly a unique look, it does sort of resemble the font used by almost every other gym/gym equipment brand out there, at least that's the thought of many marketers, including some staffers at our Los Angeles marketing company.

Jazzercise CEO and Founder Judi Sheppard Missett understands the branding that still hovers over the company and was a reason for rebranding. The rebranding is supposed to resemble the company's edge, energy, and intensity of their classes.

Does your company need rebranding to keep up with the times? Then contact Integraphix -- a Los Angeles graphic design company and creative marketing agency that can help your brand move into 2015!

Content Marketing Tip: Appeal to the Reader's [Blank]

When it comes to getting through to readers and making your content memorable for content marketing, you have to appeal to the reader's [blank].

Why is it important to appeal to their [blank]? Well, if you do it right, you get that connection to the story that is only generated when [blank] is brought into it. The stories you can publish to stir the [blanks] can be simple funny lists that kids say, insights into a tragic event that will stir the [blank] of sadness, a story about an injustice that will stir the reader's [blank] of anger, frustration, or pity.

Not every story your professional copywriters write has to be a long, essay-like piece of writing; you can utilize list formats, a brief story with paragraphs, or it can be in fun formats like tweets or photos.

The bottom line is that you just have to appeal to the reader's emotions. 

(In case you didn't figure it out yet) 

The things we get caught up in, the things we want to have connections with, the things we get passionate about are things that appeal to our emotions. 

Have you heard of someone who enjoyed something because it made them sit there and think, "Meh."? Chances are the answer is no. Our Los Angeles creative marketing team responsible for ad copy and other forms of copy always look to appeal to some emotion because those are the words that people will remember.

You do have to be careful about what you post and what emotions you appeal to, however.

Get copy for blogs, advertisements, or other marketing materials that is worth reading. Hire Integraphix, a LA marketing company.