The Insider Q2 2012

How did you get in to your profession?
I came from the Ad Specialty (branded promotional products) world . A couple years ago, I started to see my clients yearly budget money get shifted into digital media. Once I saw that it wasn’t just one or two clients making this move, I was curious to learn more about the industry. After some initial research, I quickly realized this the space I wanted to be in. It really is the future of advertising.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
“Great things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle”. I believe it is an Abe Lincoln quote. My first boss would constantly say it around the office …….it certainly rings true years later.

What news outlets and/or reporters do you follow for news surrounding your industry?
Adexchanger, Tech Crunch, Venture Beat, Yahoo! Finance, Mashable, Advertising Age

Give us a quick description of your job?
Online media consultant- At the core, I work with emerging brands and agencies to deliver premium digital content experiences, across screen (PC, mobile, tablet) at scale. With our industry-leading targeting tools, we can help reach an engaged online audience, at scale…all within a brand-safe environment.

What do you like most about your job?
I know this may sound Cliché- but the people. It really is an amazingly unique culture here at Yahoo! and makes it fun to get up and come to work every day.

I might qualify as the worst dancer in the world, but I dance better than I did two weeks ago. For my wife's birthday, I bought ballroom dance lessons for the two of us. It's a blast. We have a great time, and every week I get a little better, I expand my confidence, and I add few new steps to my small, but growing, repertoire of dances.

I point all this out not so you'll take pity on my wife having to plod around the dance floor with me, but because becoming proficient and eventually polished with presentation skills has a lot in common with dance lessons. You only get better if you keep trying. Sure, you'll make mistakes. You'll step on a few toes. You'll have some awkward moments. Get out there any way.

The more often you walk to the front of the room, face an audience, and share your message, the better you will become. It doesn't happen overnight. Coaching helps, a lot. Practice makes a huge difference in your performance. Gradually, you'll notice a positive cycle taking place: Coaching improves your practice. Practice improves your performance. Your performance improves your confidence. Improved confidence improves your practice. The cycle continues.

The real payoff comes over time. As you improve, you distance yourself from the people who stay on the sidelines, afraid to venture in front of the room. You become a master communicator—a key skill that most effective leaders have—while others who may have even more talent than you stay out of the spotlight because they didn't have the courage to stumble in the early stages of improvement.

If you want to become a better presenter, a better public speaker, then follow my lead in dancing:

1. Get coaching.
2. Be willing to make mistakes.
3. Apologize when you step on someone's toes, but don't let that stop you.
4. Practice.
5. Keep getting out there.
6. Celebrate small successes and improvements.
7. Have fun.
8. Return to step 1 or 2 and keep going because it's a journey, not a destination.

Now, back to the waltz. And one, two, three...

In 2010, Maroon PR launched the "Maroon PR Blog" in an effort to voice our opinions about public relations, marketing, sports, social media and more. Each quarter we track the number of impressions each post generates and present the most viewed blog in our e-Newsletter.

Our "Spotlight Blog" for this quarter is "Puppies, Babies, and Old People…How they can make you a Millionaire", written by Manager of Social and Digital Media,Sarah Gubara.

You can view all of our blog posts from last quarter at maroonpr.blogspot.com.

*****
January 24, 2012

Got a mediocre product? Got a small budget for your commercial? No worries! For everyone who can’t afford to hire Kim Kardashian to endorse your products, you too can sell!

In light of the biggest showdown of commercials this year (the Super Bowl), it’s important to realize you don’t have to spend bazillions of dollars to have a great commercial that people will talk about for days. While jam-packing celebrities in a commercial (cue Kobe) can be entertaining, below you will find three categories that will help give your commercial “The X Factor” at a reasonable cost:

Babies:
Many commercials have seen success with cute babies and kids like Dairy Queen, Ally Financial, Wendy’s, Nike, Pepsi, and more. But the award for the best baby commercial campaign goes to the E*Trade baby! Do you know what the E*Trade app does? Do you even need to use E*Trade? Probably not. But I did not change the channel—I wanted to see what this baby had to say!

It’s a very simple model: cute baby, deep voice-over, and boom! I’m sold. Today’s media and popular culture are saturated by images of women’s bodies selling unrelated products, so when a little person in a diaper starts talking to me—I listen.

Puppies:
Like babies, the advantages of using puppies (and other cute fuzzy creatures) are a no-brainer. While some furry spokesmen have disappeared (we haven’t seen the Taco Bell Dog or Target’s Bullseye in a while), Target and others have continued to employ a number of dogs for use in their commercials.

Others have followed suit and made a splash in the cutesy scene such as the Travelers’ Insurance dog. We’ve seen him lose his bone, find love, and have pups of his own. But no one has come to match the Geico Gecko, normally an unwelcomed creature, his animated persona has won over many—because who wouldn’t trust their car to a British lizard, right?

Old People:
This is by far my favorite category. While many criticize these commercials for portraying the older generation in a negative, stereotypical light, old people generally make for great, entertaining commercials. They’ve cracked us up and shocked us numerous times, from the “Where’s the beef?” lady to the Chevy Cruze commercial (which uses the stereotype of loss of hearing to make its messages stick).

But my favorite commercial character of all time, the same person who inspired me to write this blog, is Ethel. An incredible cook, whose secret ingredient is Franks RedHot Sauce…”she puts it on everything.”

So before you go out and book Tim Tebow for your commercial, do a cost-benefit analysis….you might find out that Ethel is a way better option.

On March 3, 2012 Virginia Hospital Center teamed up with TriColumbia to host the 2012 EnduraHealth Summit. The EnduraHealth Summit provided local endurance athletes with guidance and information on training, preparation, nutrition and recovery to help them prepare for and remain healthy during the upcoming race season. The Summit included Q&A sessions with professional triathletes Kristin Andrews and Kyle Pawlaczyk and Virginia Hospital Center experts Dr. Jeff Hales (pulmonologist) and Dr. Ben Kittredge (orthopedic surgeon). After the Q&A, guests were able to meet and greet with the experts while enjoying refreshments as well as demonstrations from local sponsor, Potomac River Running.

EyeBlack, a leading producer of sports products and the innovator of branded eye black, kicked off 2012 by signing NFL Pro Bowl-linebacker Brian Urlacher of the Chicago Bears to be the face of the company’s ‘Original’ product line.

In conjunction with the partnership, Maroon PR secured an exclusive story on the signing with sports business industry leader the Sports Business Daily.

Coverage from the story was picked up by The Washington Post, NBC Chicago and more. It generated additional social media coverage from CNBC sports business expert Darren Rovell and Chicago Bears’ beat writer Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune.

Urlacher has been a fan of the product for years and teamed up with the company to create a special edition packaging which features 18 pairs of the Original product—the same product Urlacher wears on the field—in a reusable carrying case.

The announcement also helped generate interest from the Associated Press—which did a feature on the company and Founder and CEO Peter Beveridge shortly thereafter. That story was picked up by the Washington Post, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo! Sports, and more.

After two decades with various sports teams and leagues John Maroon opened Maroon PR in April of 2006. We opened our doors with two clients, Ripken Baseball and the Babe Ruth Museum, and we are proud to say that they are still with us. We now manage over two dozen active clients that include sports properties, non-profit organizations and small businesses. Our Vision Statement is "We Drive Growth Through Relationships" and it is so much more than a statement, it is the way we do business each and every day to help our clients. Visit the Capabilities section of our site to learn more.

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