On Super Bowl Sunday just as much action happens during the commercial breaks as it does on the field. Both Dean and Nick will have Super Bowl ad commentary available in their respective media. During the game, Nick will provide color commentary on the ads in real time on Twitter like last year. If you want to join or follow the larger Twitter conversation around the Super Bowl, use the hashtag #SB44. On Monday, Dean will offer a post-game ad wrap-up on 1700 The Champ’s “Out of Bounds” with Larry Cotlar, The Round Guy, & Andy Garman for those of you in the listening area. Also be sure to check out YouTube’s Super Bowl Ad Blitz where you can view all of the ads and vote on a fan favorite. Ready? BREAK! (more…)

Traditions are an important part of every brand. One of Westergaard Advertising’s newest traditions is Hawktoberfest — a celebration of our favorite things — our clients and friends, Hawkeye football, and of course, Oktoberfest beer. The second annual Hawktoberfest was held on October 31st before and after the Iowa vs. Indiana game. The Hawks tricked us a bit for the first three quarters but we were ultimately treated to a great Halloween win by the 9-0 Hawkeyes. We were also treated to have some exceptional clients and friends from all over Iowa make this a memorable day. (more…)

Friday, May 8th the winners of the Iowa Bankers Association’s Best of Iowa Marketing Awards were announced at the West Des Moines Sheraton. We are pleased to report that our work for Peoples Trust & Savings Bank was awarded the gold prize in the Multimedia category. Additionally, the campaign was honored with the Peoples Choice Award — voted upon by the bank marketers in attendance.

From all of us at Westergaard Advertsing, congratulations to Peoples President/CEO Barry Smith and VP Marketing Director Thelma Hedges (pictured above with Dean and I). We couldn’t ask for better clients. Awards are nice. Awards presented to our clients from their industry peers are the best. You can view samples of our work for Peoples in our portfolio.

This Thursday, we’ll be at the Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce’s Buy Here Business Fair.  Lorin Ditzler, Director of Special Events at the Chamber, has offered a guest post on planning your exhibiting experience.

It’s spring.  Love and commerce are in the air and you’ve signed up for the local business fair. Now what? Here are 5 key points to keep in mind for a successful experience:

1. Plan ahead – Don’t waste your time and money by failing to plan your exhibit. Be sure to …

• Craft a marketing plan – This is the perfect time to connect with prospects and grow relationships with current customers. Invite prospects to visit your booth to claim a prize or receive a special service.
• Update your company materials/freebies – Make sure your brand is up to date and consistent.
• Schedule at least two employees/volunteers to work your booth at all times.
• Get there early to set up.  It always takes about 30 minutes longer than you think it should.

2. Be creative – Most people aren’t going to get excited about yet another text heavy, trifold brochure (more often than not, you may as well be saying “here, you can throw this away.”)  If you want everyone to visit and remember your booth, offer something unique, like …

• Plane tickets to Europe
• A Cash Cube (think swirling twenty dollar bills…)
• A Sword Swallower
• Your CEO tap dancing
• A mini-bowling tournament
• A make-your-own sundae station
• Mr. T

If all that silliness isn’t your thing, figure out a way to showcase your services in a unique way. I once saw a hotel set up a mini hotel room in their booth — bed and all. Or perhaps the most popular I’ve seen: the local bank that simply gave away money.

3. Connect with your prospects … but not too much — You want your booth to be inviting, encouraging guests to enter your space.  This means …

• No hiding behind a table
• No sitting – if you can avoid it
• No talking on your cell phone (obvious, but often ignored)

By standing in a ready, open position you are showing your energy and enthusiasm, while communicating to guests that they are important enough to keep you alert and on your feet!

But now that you’re connecting with everyone the room, be sure to avoid a couple of common mistakes. First, don’t spend more than five minutes with any one prospect. If you need a longer conversation, set up a meeting for a later date.
Second, don’t do all the talking. In fact, don’t do most of the talking. You should be listening about 80% of the time. You can’t solve a prospect’s printing/banking/sword-swallowing needs unless you take the time to learn about them.

4. Think outside the booth — Don’t forget to introduce yourself to your fellow exhibitors, they are potential clients and partners.

5. Have patience — Don’t be frustrated if a business fair doesn’t result in immediate sales. Building relationships takes time, and you never know where your new connections may lead in the future.

I’ll be taking my own advice this Thursday at the Buy Here Business Fair.  I’ll be there early – standing, smiling, listening, and, of course, baking homemade chocolate chip cookies on site … while tap dancing … with Mr. T.

Due to advances in technology and perhaps accelerated by the economic downturn, online/social media is quickly overtaking other traditional forms of staying in touch with those who want to hear from you — namely your customers.

One can’t simply have a website and respond to email any longer and call that good enough for online communications. You need to harness all high-traffic online social outposts such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter and feed them relevant updates about your business. Not only will your audience listen more but they will also share your messaging more with others.

But wait? Isn’t “The Spacebook Tube” known as social media just for techies and teens? Consider just a few of the numbers …

• Facebook — Over 175 million users and the fastest growing segment is the 30+ set
• MySpace — There are 300,000 new users per day and more than half are 35+
• Twitter — Already the third largest social network, over 50% of self-identified users are between the ages of 30 and 49
• LinkedIn — Over 35 million business spanning 170 industries
• Blogging — 74% of US web-user read blogs; 25% write blogs
• YouTube — 13 hours of video are uploaded every minute

According to the Pew Research Center, the share of adult internet users who have a profile on a social networking site has more than quadrupled in the past four years — from 8% in 2005 to 35% now.

And all of this is just a glimpse of the numbers. I say glimpse because that’s the beauty of most online media — it’s infinitely measurable.

Whether you are a small business, politician, church, or community organization, this is where the conversation is moving. A majority of your audience is probably there and is already listening. How are you staying in touch?

To learn more, I invite you to attend my workshop “Growing Your Business with Social Media” at noon on Friday, April 17 at the Holiday Inn and Conference Center, part of the Iowa City Area Chamber of Commerce’s SEED series. Register now >