Ever see the advertisements on steps at a DC Metro Station? What about advertisements on the fronts of elevator doors? Non-traditional, out-of-home media such as the ones on steps and elevators doors are called “ambient media.” The above examples are only two examples of ambient media. If you look at the slide show below, you’ll see some of the most attention-grabbing, highly creative examples of ambient media.

When you have a product or service that really needs some attention, and newspaper, TV and online ads just aren’t going to cut it–ambient media may be the answer.  Sometimes all it takes is a few imaginative displays in a high-traffic areas to get some buzz. Seriously, could anyone actually ignore this giant BBC microphone?

A few days ago, Julie (our Word of Mouth Manager) came into work eager to share a story and a picture she had taken over the weekend. Not surprisingly, it was about advertising (because we really do live and breathe it here). She was out in Annapolis over the weekend and saw an ad for a pre-natal massage… in a BAR bathroom. Its placement was so compelling that she just had to take a picture.

Talk about horrible ad placement! This could be advertising the best pre-natal massage in the entire world, but its placement is a total non-sequitur. Its impact was enough to make Julie come in and tell us all about it, even sharing the picture. And here we are, writing about it on our blog. Now that is word of mouth (and not the good kind)! Because most people have camera phones, this sort of negative word of mouth can spread quickly, and can harm a brand that much faster.

Advertising goes above and beyond the message and the creative. Placement is key, too. If not in the right place at the right time, your audience can simply bypass the intended message and walk away with something else entirely: a negative image of your product or service.

In a year of joblessness and disheartening economic conditions, Julianna Wittig was among many individuals who were laid-off and forced to begin the job search.

In her search for a new job, Julianna, who is now The Cyphers Agency’s newest Account Executive,  headed straight to her computer. In her online search, however, Julianna didn’t rely on typical job search sites such as Monster and Indeed.  Using social media sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook, Julianna took a proactive approach to finding a job. She kept her profile updated and her eyes open for any opportunities she found on those sites.

While Julianna was searching, Darren Easton, Vice President and Creative Director for The Cyphers Agency  was using social networks to find a candidate to fill an Account Executive position. For the position, Darren wanted to find a social-media-savvy individual, who could handle several accounts in the agency’s Push-n-Pull division.

Julianna saw the posting on LinkedIn and began researching The Cyphers Agency–checking into the culture, environment, clients and other employees. Darren was researching too. He asked others online if they knew of Julianna and if they thought she would be a good fit for the Account Executive position.

Thanks to word of mouth and social networks, Darren told Julianna in the interview that he “already knew everything he needed to know about her.” It was clear that Julianna knew how to effectively market herself online, therefore, Darren knew she would certainly be capable of marketing clients online.

Social media has impacted so much of our daily lives. It changes the way we do businesses, network, communicate and even find jobs. The days of faxing resumes and mailing resumes on crisp resume paper are done.

Job seekers can use social networks to search for jobs, interact with potential employers and create online profiles that display their skills. Employers can social media to post jobs, find qualified candidates and ask others about these candidates.

We’re glad social media enabled us to connect to Julianna. Welcome, Julianna, we’re happy to have you here at The Cyphers Agency!

In our last post, we highlighted a study that revealed a correlation between social media and financial success. Some of these companies deemed as social media “mavens” in the report included huge companies such as Starbucks and Nike. With a global presence, enormous budget and millions of brand ambassadors, it’s not too shocking that these companies are successful at social media.

That doesn’t mean that small businesses don’t have the potential or resources to be social media wonders themselves. Small businesses typically earn their customers through traditional word of mouth. Twitter, which allows users to exchange quick 140 character messages, is a perfect model of  digital word of mouth. And small business owners across the U.S. are beginning to recognize  its WOM power.

Curtis Kimball, who opened a crème brûlée cart in San Francisco, knows how powerful Twitter can be for word-of-mouth marketing. With more than 6,000 followers, Kimball can Tweet where his cart is,  and customers can easily locate him and purchase crème brûlée. According to this New York Times article, the crème brûlée became so popular that Kimball had to quit his day job to manage the demand.

Restaurants are among small businesses that are taking advantage of the digital word-of-mouth opportunities that Twitter provides. There are tons of ways that a restaurant can use Twitter, from Tweeting specials, posting pictures and even getting feedback from customers. Myers and Chang, a restaurant in Boston, talks to its customers on Twitter, as you’ll see below.

Feedback is valuable, and it is among the many ways that businesses can use social media to work for them.Think of it this way, if one person with 200 followers posts to Twitter that they had a good experience dealing with your company or brand, it’s likely that 100 people were exposed to that message. So, one Tweet is equivalent to 100 (or way more) word-of-mouth recommendations.

The worst thing to do is to sit back and let the global companies get all the attention. Jump in now, even if you are a small business. Remember, we’ve done this a time or two, so we’re here to help!

In a year full of not-so-spectacular economic news, a new study about social media gives hope to brands who may be struggling due to the recession. The study, conducted by WetPaint and the Altimeter Group, revealed that companies that were active social media users were experiencing more financial success than companies that were not.

The study focused on 100 brands from the BusinessWeek/Interbrand Best Global Brand Report from 2008. When the social media efforts of the brands were examined,  each brand was assigned a number ranging from 1 to 127. Brands that were very active in social media saw a revenue increase of 18 %, while the least engaged saw a decrease of 6 %.

So, no David Letterman. Twitter is not a waste of time!

Among the top companies that the report mentions include Starbucks, Dell (whom we’ve given accolades to before), SAP and Thompson Reuters. The report to refers to those companies (and others) as “mavens,” meaning they are heavily engaged in seven or more social media channels.

As you may notice, these social media “mavens” don’t come from one industry. It doesn’t matter whether you’re selling lattes or business software, social media works!

But it’s not a matter of diving in immediately and setting up accounts on every social media site imaginable. By examining the report’s social media mavens, it’s clear that their success comes from strategic execution of their social media campaigns.  Some things that will put companies in a position for social media success, and therefore financial success, include:

• Picking channels appropriately
• Knowing where your audience is
• Being conversational
• Encouraging conversation and feedback
• Focusing on quality not quantity

There’s a lot of opportunity in social media. The key is to do what’s appropriate for your company and brand. A major killer is doing nothing at all. Becoming a social media maven may be kind of overwhelming. Don’t worry, though. We’re here to help.