Whether they’re texting, calling, surfing the web or tweeting, young teenage girls are “attached” to their mobile phones. From Blackberry and Verizon to the Apple iPhone 3Gs, the amount of time and money this target spends is almost unheard of. Come to think of it, it seems as if most everyone is spending time on his or her phones; from the youth market to even seeing an increase in cell phone use of the mature generation.

Mobile marketing has been coined as “the next big thing” for quite some time. Year after year, we have seen a steady rise in SMS and MMS messaging to consumers. According to a recent survey, 40% of brands are using these types of ad campaigns.It has been projected that companies will be spending over $16 billion by 2011. That’s right around the corner folks!

Retailers are getting smarter. This proximity marketing works. Think of this group of girls on their mobile phone walking around the mall and they get a text message reading, “get 10% off at the Gap today!” right as they were walking in the mall wing where the Gap was located. Don’t you think this would encourage the group to walk into Gap and maybe even purchase something from the store? I think so.

So, next time you’re walking down the street, in the mall, down Rodeo Drive, remember that your next text message may not be from your best friend; it just might be from that retail store down the street saying hello. Don’t worry about finding the store, cause they’ll find you.

The new office is strategically located in Jersey City, New Jersey, and will be headquarters for 20 Marketing Werks employees who serve the agency’s east coast clients. Additionally the centralized office will serve as an operations center for other Marketing Werks teams when their respective campaigns are active in the region.

“We are thrilled to establish this office because the east coast is a very important region for Marketing Werks. Focusing our primary client service staff into one central office will provide us the vantage point to continue to deliver unparalleled service to our clients based in the area,” said Marketing Werks’ Co-Managing Partner, Julie Guida.

“The office also will provide an operational advantage since Marketing Werks is physically executing experiential campaigns somewhere in the region nearly every day. These consumer markets are important targets for the majority of brands we represent. In fact, we currently have ten teams on the ground in New York every day,” added Scott Moller, Marketing Werks’ Co-Managing Partner.

The Marketing Werks executive management team based at the new office includes Client Service Directors Julie Schweigert and Brian Neville, and Senior Account Manager Matt Cicero. The office is located at 30 Montgomery Street, Suite 1210, Jersey City, NJ, 07302. Its main phone number is 201-604-6060. For additional information about Marketing Werks, visit www.marketingwerks.com.
Headquartered in Chicago, Marketing Werks develops and executes integrated, strategy-driven campaigns for leading consumer brands, including Verizon Wireless, Verizon Telecom, The Hershey Company, Sony PlayStation, Walgreens, Gore-Tex, The National Pork Board and LaCosteña. Founded in 1987, Marketing Werks has been distinguished as one of Chicago’s fastest growing independent companies for three consecutive years - a designation awarded by Crain’s Chicago Business. Also Marketing Werks has been named one of Chicago’s Top 10 Generation Y employers because of its best practices for aspiring professionals 28 years old and younger.

Remember that Popsicle commercial from the 90’s, that kid with the goofy, colorful hair and his dog Duke? He was simply amazed at the limitless amount of possibilities that went into this amazing newly designed popsicle. I guess the reason I always liked this commercial was because I always wanted a high top fade haircut to be layered in multiple colors and flavors too. But when you stop and realize, consumers are really just looking for and craving that sort of brand experience and interaction.

Simply stop and take a second to think about all the things a person does throughout their day. Wake up, shower, walk to work, maybe drive, or take the train, grab a cup of coffee, go out for lunch, the list goes on and on and differs from person to person. Sometimes it’s the same routine day in and day out. Experiential marketing campaigns have been creating lasting experiences with top, household name brands where your next walk to work can turn into a whole new lasting experience in just a second. We know you may hate your every day lifestyle, but we’re here to make your day just a little better with a big colorful kick.

So just as the kid from the commercial gets his own brand experience with a popsicle by growing crazy colorful hair upon his first lick, we too can turn your brand into the experience of a lifetime. Don’t be colorblind; the possibilities are endless.

I love Super Bowl commercials. The funnier and smarter they are the better. Some of my favorites include Fed-Ex’s Caveman; Monster.com’s When I Grow Up; Apple’s, 1984; and my all-time favorite, Reebok’s Terry Tate, Office Linebacker. What makes all of these commercials standout in my memory is that they did their job — they literally broke through the commercial clutter, caught my attention, held it, entertained me and successfully delivered a brand message.

In age of fragmented television viewership and social media, marketers will need to find new ways to engage consumers with their respective brands. This is one of the primary reasons why Frito-Lay has elected to move beyond traditional Super Bowl marketing, i.e., purchase airtime and have an advertising agency produce a funny TV spot. Instead the Doritos brand team has literally said to consumers, “You create an ad. We won’t edit it. And we’ll let you pick the winner, which we’ll put on the largest advertising stage possible.”

This is a brilliant approach to building a brand. Frito-Lay has learned that marketing is a not support function, rather, marketing is a tool for sustaining growth for a business. By leveraging two marketing strategies, advertising (traditional) and social media/user-generated content (emerging) the Doritos brand team has created an equity building campaign that allows them to remain in “conversation” with their target audience throughout the year.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked to describe exactly what it is that I do when I tell people that I work for a marketing agency.  Likely, it’s because when I am asked to elaborate, I say I am part of a highly successful experiential marketing agency.  This simple statement often evokes the timely face of bewilderment.  It’s true it’s not something that everyone thinks about, but it’s a very competitive and rapidly growing industry that most of us see every day in our natural environments.

It’s like this: you’ve got a product, and it’s pretty safe to say that you want people to buy that product.  You could spend your money on a highly paid celebrity to endorse it or you could think outside the box and do something different.  You could do something many Fortune 100 and 500 companies are doing every day; put your product directly in consumers’ hands and let them formulate their own opinions.  By creating a unique experience where the consumer is King (or Queen) you’re giving your brand much more than a commercial or print ad.  You’re giving your product the ability to live outside the store and reach consumers where they are open to listening to your message.  Odds are when they try it and truly experience it, they are going to walk away liking it.

So you see, it’s never as simple as a one-word answer.  We do much more than “market” things.  We bring your brand to life, and we have fun doing it.  So the next time you see me, and you ask: what do you do?  Be prepared.  This week I may be saving lives and next week I may be on the red carpet.

The sad truth is we rely more on the status updates than we do calling, emailing or even texting. I have gotten more information on my friends and co-workers from Facebook than I do in person. We have almost become lazy in relying on Facebook. Now instead of introducing yourself to your best friend’s roommate’s boyfriend, you can just check out his page and find out everything anyway. Who likes those awkward small talks about the weather anyway?

Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, posted a blog stating that the booming social networking service is now ‘200 Million Strong’. The constant battle against Myspace seems to be coming to an end, however there are new viral addictions looming around the corner, twitter and flutter are creeping up. Facebook is still the strongest and seems to have the market on lock right now.

That being said Facebook is the quickest and cheapest way to market! Let’s start with status updates. Something as simple as writing a sentence on what you are doing or where you are going can cause a viral frenzy. If you started to think ‘oh Facebook isn’t my generation and I can’t possibly use that to hit my demographic’, well you would be wrong. Simply because my mom is on Facebook, in fact, my grandmother is on Facebook. My mother actually just told me that my brother’s best friend broke off his engagement because she found out from his mother on Facebook. If there are 200 million people on the social networking site my guess is you can find at least one of them in your target demographic, and if not, you will at least be able to find my mom.

“Many employees who come to the firm out of school stay for 8-10 years.”

“Ninety percent of the time, people come in as a Brand Ambassador,” says Katie Nichol, Associate Director of HR. This means the newbies are on the road, meeting with clients and doing “trench work” marketing events. “Then you might move up to account coordinator, senior account coordinator–it depends on how well you do. The superstars dig right in to help launch a tour. [We want] people that are really good with follow up and communication and get stuff done.”

For most at Marketing Werks, “getting stuff done” isn’t a problem, largely since those in the office have worked hard to get where they are and appreciate their position. “You basically go on a 9-10 month interview process to determine if you’re an all star in front of a client,” says Nichol, who paid her own dues on the road, donning a Hershey’s Kiss costume early in her tenure at the company.

That kind of work is what helps keep the employees sense of humor intact, and according to Partner Julia Guida, Generation Y has the best attitude of anyone. “Gen Y works so well here because they want to try things, they want to make a difference in the world, they want to understand why they’re doing what they’re doing. They’re everything we’re looking for.” The company seems to be what Generation Y is looking for too. Guida says many employees who come to the firm out of school stay for 8-10 years.

The sense of fun has something to do with it. “It’s work hard, play hard in terms of culture,” says Account Manager Ellie Meyer. “Half of the office has their heads down doing work, but towards the end of the day we play around. What’s special about our culture is that everyone cares. There’s friendly competition, but we’re all friends at the end of the day.”

Thursday nights are reserved for softball, and Fridays are relaxed and flexible. It all adds up to a comfy, productive environment.

From BrillStreet reports.

Yet, as mobile marketing tours carry teams across regions to fairgrounds and festivals, striving to stay top of mind, sometimes it may be days, weeks or in some cases, years before the consumers they encounter along the way may actually be in the market for a particular product being promoted. And as more time passes, there is an increased chance that another brand or product all together may capture consumers’ attention. The simple solution is to shorten the gap of time between consumer impression and purchase.  Marketing Werks recognizes this and understands there is one key event type that mobile marketers should not overlook in their routing to accomplish this goal - retail events.

Whether at a grocery store, mall or a client’s store, retail visits are an essential part of any mobile marketing program, allowing brand ambassadors to come into play in the most critical stage of consumer behavior, the purchase decision stage. Marketing teams have the great opportunity to directly influence consumers while they are actively in the decision-making process at the store.  Knowledgeable, brand-focused staff educates prospective buyers as well as provide the reassurance consumers sometimes need in their final decision-making.

Just like any fair or festival footprint, retail stops have countless attention-grabbing opportunities for branded signage, experiential activities, product sampling, lead capturing, couponing, etc., but what retail events offer above any other for keeping brands top of mind is being in the right place at the right time.

PlayStation also hosted a special live contest at which Edwin Jackson, Detroit Tigers All-Star pitcher, played the game against U.S. Troops stationed in Kuwait. Check out the link below:

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/07/14/pros-vs-gi-joes-us-army-1-detroit-tigers-0/

The 2009 All-Star celebrity sports action also included Marketing Werk’s PlayStation ambassadors staffing the All-Star Gala — a high-profile event attended by former players, rookies, celebrities and sponsors.  During the pre-game gala, these VIPs played The Show on numerous PS3s.

Let’s play ball!

Since this is still a relatively new form of marketing people still do not come out of college thinking about mobile marketing.  People interested in pursuing a job in experiential marketing are in some sort of social network where someone else has done or is doing experiential marketing.  More often than not people are hired into this type of marketing through some kind of social networking.  Brothers and sisters, to best friends, to their best friends people are learning about mobile marketing.

Besides looking to get a job in mobile marketing, social networking is a very powerful tool for the product being promoted as well.  You may have a friend that goes to a concert of large festival and talk about their experience.  They may have mentioned how much fun they had, but it’s the specific fun they had.  If they did something cool like jump into a pool of sharks they are going to want to talk about it.  You then associate that experience with the brand that allowed you to do it.  The people in your social network you tell about your experience may go to the same event later and will look for that same exciting experience.  “My friend told me you get to jump into a pool of sharks at this event.”  “Really, lets go and look for that.”  As simple as this conversation sounds, it opens the door to more people exposed to the same experience and the brand that gives them that experience.

You rely on people in your social networks to tell you about products they have tried or things they have experienced.  When people hear about how good a product is, others are more inclined to give it a try.  You can see an advertisement and go buy something.  But if you hear anything bad about a product no matter how good their advertisement is, you may not try it out for yourself.  People rely on their social networks and this has been a huge reason the mobile marketing is really picking up.

Without social networking I would have not had the opportunity to get into mobile marketing.  Maybe one-day people will learn about it in college.