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I can’t help but stare out the window at the landscape, whitened by the heavy snowfall and be awed by its beauty. A day after the storm, our birdfeeder is being visited by cardinals, chickadees, blue jays, goldfinches and the ever present sparrows.  If you are a fan of the bird world or just enjoy seeing one while going for  a walk, you’ve probably noticed that each species has very specific characteristics.

Each bird has a story to tell and it begins with a signature sound. The blue jay squawks, the cardinal sings and the chickadee repeats its name over and over.

To further distinguish themselves, each bird has a pattern of color that tells the rest of the birds who they are and where they lay in the pecking order.

By now, you’re probably wondering what a discussion of birds, their songs and colors is doing on a marketing communications blog?  Well, I got to thinking the other day about branding and why having your own distinct brand is so important.  Like so many other things, nature teaches many lessons and it seems to me that the bird world provides the perfect analogy for businesses that are wondering how to express their uniqueness through their brand.

Your brand begins with understanding who you are and what sets you apart from the flock. Are you a male cardinal, brilliant red, announcing to all that you are proud of your position or are you a blue jay, with hues of blue, daring another to try and land on the feeder? Either way, the colors you choose, the words that describe your company and the way you present your business to the world defines your brand. What food do you prefer—sunflowers, thistle or cracked corn? What helps you to thrive—trees, bushes, berries or pine trees? Understanding who you are as a company and what your products or services provide for consumers, defines the brand and makes it clear how to present yourself to the world and create your brand promise.

A brand promise is so much more than a logo—it’s how you take your products or services to market, interact with customers, and respond to the needs of your clients. Once you decide on your brand promise, integrating that into every aspect of your business is job one. Taking that message to the public, so that they relate your business with a positive emotion comes next. Archer Communications understands how to deliver the message through marketing, logo design, web design, Internet marketing and the all important SEO, search engine optimization. Our brand promise is to “Create Demand for Your Brand”.

We ask the right questions, which helps your marketing company understand who you are. Do you want your brand to create excitement? Are you all about comfort or does your product or service provide a convenience for people? Understanding what you are, leads to a brand that truly reflects your promise to the customer. Marketing strategies can then be defined and implemented effectively based on your branding.

So whether your product or service is a regal cardinal or a gentle chickadee, it has a place at the feeder. Enjoy winter’s beauty and the wonders and lessons of the natural world!

Write and tell us what type of bird you most identify with.  Hmmm.  I think I’m a Great Blue Heron!

How quickly are you getting information about new and innovative ideas, products and services to your potential customer base? Are your rankings on search engines lagging? Are you still waiting for your web updates to go live? If this sounds familiar, it may be because you haven’t experienced the distinct advantage of working with an integrated marketing communications firm. Working with this type of firm—one that combines both traditional and Internet marketing methods—will help you determine the appropriate marketing solutions for your business.

The fundamental principles that drive sales remain the same—determine the needs of your customers through market research, strategically develop and effectively target your audience(s), which will then form the core of your business plan. The challenge of communicating your company’s message has become increasingly complex, because of the constantly evolving world of advertising. web design, email marketing and search engine optimization, to name a few. Social media marketing alone, presents a smorgasbord of choices.

Branding is yet, another important area of your business that needs consideration. Developing a distinct brand in the current ultra-competitive marketplace is no longer a luxury, but a necessity.  It involves creating a strong brand identity, integrating the brand’s message to employees and consumers, and then carrying that message consistently across all forms of advertising and marketing initiatives.

When you make decisions about how to spend precious advertising dollars, it’s more important than ever to look at one’s return on investment (ROI).  Planning your marketing strategies makes sense financially and getting expert advice on how to do so, eliminates waste—ultimately producing an effective outcome.

Hiring an integrated marketing communications firm will give your company a team of skilled experts who can help you realize your goals, overcome challenges and strategically craft a marketing plan that’s customized for your particular business objectives. They can help you reduce the clutter and streamline the process of delivering your message to your target audience.

Are you struggling to make the right marketing decisions for your company? Tell us your challenges—we’d be glad to help!

Sparks Flying!

Archer Communications’ commitment to professional excellence as a premier marketing agency in Rochester, NY, is extending to all facets of our company, including our offices. Our renovated facilities include freshly painted walls, newly installed carpeting, and even the repositioning of the grand chandelier in our conference area. New window treatments and improved interconnectivity are scheduled for completion this month.

After

These upgrades inside our facilities are only a cosmetic reflection of the great advances we are making in creative branding and identity services, web design / web development, advertising and Internet marketing, and our commitment to excellence on behalf of our clients.

I’m Gloria Kreitzberg, Marketing Director at Archer Communications. Welcome to my first series of blogs about Social Media Marketing and the role it can play in your overall marketing mix. Recently, I was asked to present to a group of VisitRochester members and guests at one of their monthly meetings. My job was to shed some light on social media marketing and how it fits within a traditional and Internet marketing plan.

The basic message of my presentation was that social media marketing alone is not the be-all and end-all marketing solution for every business. Over my next few posts, I’ll be talking about the various marketing methods that are out there, and giving you a framework to build on for your own marketing campaign.

Now, let’s start to bust this myth!

The Myth:
Social Media Marketing is MAGIC. All you have to do is create a blog, do a few “tweets” on Twitter, and you’re on your way. It’s the answer to all of those high-cost marketing methods. And it’s all FREE!

Reality Check:
Although blogging, twitter marketing and other forms of social media are gaining momentum every day, other types of traditional and Internet marketing methods should be considered – branding and making sure that you have a unique identity that truly reflects your company’s values and offerings, search engine optimization (SEO), having a web design that is visually appealing and is up to speed with the latest technology, advertising, and much more. Have you tied in your social media with email marketing and public relations efforts? There’s a whole lot more to marketing your business than blogging and tweeting. Yes, social media is an important marketing “tool,” but should be viewed as a part of a marketing plan, which might include a mix of both traditional and Internet advertising and marketing solutions.

This is the first in a series of posts that will discuss how important an integrated marketing approach is for gaining new customers and helping your business grow. I’d love to hear about any successes you’ve had using social media and how you’ve integrated it into your marketing plan.

Last night Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Facebook, wrote an open letter to the Facebook community addressing the growing demand for privacy control. Facebook privacy has been centered around “groups” of schools or companies, as well as regional networks like “Rochester.” Many regional networks have grown to millions of members, which has a created a demand for a more robust way of controlling privacy.

In order to meet this need, Facebook has built some new tools. Now users will be able to control who sees each piece of content you publish or upload. I am sure there will be thousands of teens rejoicing now that they can easily screen the growing number of parents joining Facebook every day!

Zuckerberg’s letter also mentioned that Facebook has grown to 350 million users. It has added 100 million users in just the past six months. This number is absolutely amazing! Facebook has grown far beyond any of its competitors including the dying MySpace.

If you want to take anything away from this announcement, it should be that Facebook is King and will be for quite some time. Their success is a direct result of their ability to addresses the needs of the community it serves. If your agency or client has yet to consider joining Facebook, the reasons to keep saying no are becoming less valid.

Twitter Logo

It seems lately all the world’s ‘tweeting‘. That is why more and more individuals and companies are making use of the social media platform of Twitter to stay connected with the world around them. Before you can begin to use social media to your benefit, you must first gain a solid understanding of what exactly the phrase “social media” truly means. Social media is the taking place of conversations and communication online between multiple users. Social media offers an unprecedented level of user interaction. Simply, social media is a platform that gives its users an opportunity to publicly (on the internet) announce information, news happenings, updates, and much more. Social media takes place in many forms, however some of the best known social media tools are services such as Twitter, instant messaging, blogs, forums, Wikis, podcasts, video sharing (YouTube), social networks (Facebook and MySpace), among several others.
While initially, social media may appear threatening, there is little need to worry. Instead, consider embracing this new technology and reach your targeted customers through avenues of communication you never before thought possible. To further clarify how to best maximize communication with your clients through the internet, here are a few reasons why you should start using social media today:

1. Most social media platforms are relatively inexpensive and can be guided into even the smallest of budgets.
2. Tool for branding, marketing, and sales – Social media tools, such as blogs give you a chance to reinforce your message in a positive way that is welcomed by your readers.
3. Minute by minute live updates allow your social media followers to get real-time updates on what you or your company is currently working on, in the world of social media, these updates are referred to as “live feeds”.
4. Many social media platforms offer users the ability to go back and flexibly edit copy and other web-published materials.
5. The world of social media is a quickly growing area, and the sooner you can establish and build your online presence, the better!

Follow Archer on Twitter!

Archer Communications is excited to announce that it will serve as agency of record for Empire Attractions, LLC, New York’s newest themed event and entertainment provider.

Empire Attractions, recently established by Doug Waterbury, owns and operates a variety of venues throughout the State, including the Sterling Renaissance Festival, Screamers’ Hollow and the newly created Celtic Rock Festival, located at the Sterling Festival Grounds in Sterling, NY. Other Empire Attraction venues included Sylvan Beach Amusement Park, the Sylvan Beach Screamer Speedboat Thrill Ride and Yesterday’s Royal, located along Oneida Lake in Sylvan Beach, NY; and Santa’s Workshop at North Pole, NY, located on Whiteface Mountain in Wilmington, NY.

As agency of record, Archer is responsible for the development, management and implementation of all marketing efforts for Empire Attractions and each of its entertainment venues.

“Although challenging at times, this account has everyone at Archer buzzing with excitement,” said Carol Davison, Sr. VP Client Services at Archer Communications. “These events demand a marketing approach and media mix as unique as the entertainment venues themselves. Branding, media placement, web development and PR are a few of the many responsibilities Archer will take on in 2009.”

Archer worked with the Sterling Renaissance Festival throughout the 2008 season. Prior to that, Carol Davison oversaw the Renaissance Festival account at Davison Advertising for 20-plus years.

Archer Communications is a branding and Integrated Marketing Communications firm, specializing in advertising, public relations, sales promotion, web development, exhibits, events, media planning and buying, Internet marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), packaging and direct marketing. Archer serves a wide range of business-to-business, retail and consumer clients in a diverse range of industries and markets.

For more information, visit us at www.Archercom.com

The Internet has quickly become a place where consumers can come together and share information about their experiences, where they shop, how much they paid and the level of or lack of service they received.

A decade ago, not-so-happy patrons would have gone and voiced their dissatisfaction to ten-or-so of their closest friends. Today, thanks to the Internet, those unsatisfied individuals now have an eager audience of hundreds, even thousands. The upside? The Internet has granted us (marketers) the ability to identify topics of discussion for disgruntled customers and pinpoint areas of our business that are in need of improvement.

Tips to Effectively Manage Your Online Reputation
Pay close attention to online chatter. Websites such as, Epinions.com, Viewpoints.com, ConsumerReview.com and Rocwiki.org were developed to provide mindful shoppers with unbiased first-hand reviews and recommendations. What are consumers saying about you and your products and services? Pay attention and respond accordingly.

If you are getting unfavorable feedback: Act quickly. If your customers are unhappy, how are you going to fix it? Recall? Refund? Tutorial? Upgrade? Remedy the situation fast or, thanks to the limitless nature of the Internet, the backlash will more than likely snowball.

If you are praised by the masses: Determine what you are doing right and keep doing it (unfortunately A+ ratings are hard to come by – the critics are tough and most of us have room for improvement).

For more information, visit us at www.Archercom.com

E-newsletters are an effective and relatively inexpensive way to stay in touch with clients, vendors and influential members of the community, and to keep them informed on both organizational news and industry trends.

Give Them Something They Want!
People will rarely engage in a newsletter that solely explains the benefits of doing business with your organization. To increase the likelihood of people actively reading what you have to say, make sure there is something in it for them. Be sure your content is newsworthy, relevant to the recipient, and includes something interesting, fun and non-promotional.

Update Your List
You can take the time to create a highly engaging and effective newsletter, but it won’t do you much good if it doesn’t get in front of the right people. Update your list with new contacts every month or as necessary and remove those that are no longer relevant.

Archer works web-based companies that help build and maintain targeted contact lists for our clients and enables us to provide fast and easy distribution of our clients’ e-newsletters and e-marketing campaigns.

Do Not Abuse/Overuse
As interesting as you think the day-to-day happenings of your business may be, outsiders most likely do not care. Send a newsletter only when there is news, and pick a distribution schedule that will not get you blacklisted from recipient in-boxes…try once a month or every quarter.

For information on creating an effective-newsletter, please contact Carrie Tschetter, ctschetter@Archercom.com, 585.461.1570 x 216 or visit us at www.Archercom.com

If you are looking to create or update your website, it is important that you understand the technology you are investing in. In addition to standard platforms, Archer is proud to offer a relatively new, cost-effective and highly efficient web development platform called Ruby on Rails (RoR).
RoR was introduced almost five years ago, and since then it has attracted countless developers that appreciate the sheer simplicity of the framework and its ability to create large, complex web-based applications in far less time. Read more on the advantages of RoR.

The Ruby on Rails Advantage:

• RoR allows Archer to provide clients with more robust web applications at a lower cost.
• Relative to mainstream languages such as Java and PHP, RoR is an extremely dynamic language that allows for limitless possibilities and the potential to solve difficult problems in a clean and efficient manner.
• After the initial implementation, it is faster, easier and less expensive to make application updates and modifications relative to other programming platforms.
• Ruby on Rails is an open source framework—there are no fees or ongoing licensing agreements, and no cost for configuration code, version upgrades, etc.

For more information about Ruby on Rails, contact Ryan Fortin, rfortin@archercom.com, 585.461.1570 x 215, or visit us at www.Archercom.com