Benedict Advertising - Business Building Solutions

According to the Southeastern Conference in NCAA sports, not at sporting events. The SEC’s new policy not only applies to Twitter, but all forms of social media, and is directed to ticketed fans.  For more info on the background, check out the following blog http://bit.ly/z0PBs. Quickly, fans reacted, and the SEC had to retract their statement and allow social media from the fans http://bit.ly/36s6O. Maybe they realized, “Wait, how can we control this and are we going to be citing violations among our die-hard fans and donors?”  So, Twitter belongs.

Next up, the NFL and Chad Ocho Cinco, the in-your-face, more-concerned-about-off-field-than-on-antics receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals. He publicly stated that he will be tweeting from the sidelines.  The NFL was quick to react that he would not, nor would any other player.  It’s safe to say that he will tweet and the NFL will fine him.  Fans have been going back and forth on what should and shouldn’t be allowed since, lighting a fire to forums and blogs everywhere and here’s a great example of one http://bit.ly/igZAa. Twitter not allowed, doesn’t belong, but is still going to be there. UPDATE: Ochocinco says he’ll soon launch a contest, in which he’ll select one of his followers each week, fly them to the Bengals game, and work out hand signals so he can have them update his Twitter account while he’s on the field. http://bit.ly/188dEC

So if companies, leagues, entities can’t stop Twitter, they will want to control it.  Take ESPN for example, the supposed leader in sports information, now wants to have control over the info sent out via Twitter by their on-air talent, reporters and writers.  Why?  Because they want to make sure it serves the interest of ESPN first, which begs the question of who comes next – the fans.  In a move to only allow certain info out, ESPN will lose more of it’s edge as it prepares to act more like traditional media and leaves the door open for more fan-based reporting that will definitely resonate better with the core audience – the fans.  Twitter belongs, companies lose out by not adapting, but trying to control.

Twitter, or whatever the hype of day/week/year is, clearly the power is back in the individual’s hands.  Companies can reject this notion and fight with trying to control the content, or adapt and learn to listen to what the customers are saying and want.  Are you ready for some football (and tweets)?

There is so much you can do and see with Facebook & Social Media, the possibilities are endless.

I like to interact with it daily and see what is going on.  You can stay in touch with all your friends anywhere and know what they are doing.  I love when Benedict Advertising is doing something exciting like shooting a commercial for one of our clients, and I am able to see the progress.  Or when pics are posted of fun events we have at the agency.

On Facebook there are interesting news feeds, funny photos, and links to important websites or just good information to read and share.  People are going to Facebook and Social Media sites to consume media, learn about products or services and share their opinions.

You can make plans for the weekend also by surfing Facebook with posts of upcoming events around the area which you live.  Nice!

Social Media is catching on really fast. Social media to me is: Powerful, instant defined messages delivered anywhere about products, brands, services, etc.

Lots of businesses like ours can benefit from it.  I feel Benedict Advertising started using social media at the right time because our clients are loving it and jumping on board with it now.  That is wonderful.

It is 10 of the top 20 destinations on the web.

Social media is where 82% of internet users watch video clips, 72% read blogs, 63% visit photo sharing sites, and 57% have profiles on social networks. It is fun to go there and see who is posting today or what is going on and to participate also.

So go tweet on Twitter, link to us through Linkedin, or become a fan of Benedict Advertising…we would love to hear from you.

I love new technology!  ENJOY YOUR SURFING & VISIT SOON!

- R. Gail Moore

McDonalds, Burger King and Wendy’s used to rule the fast food nation, but there’s a new contender making its way to the top. Not only did Subway kick-off the pricing wars between fast food chains (i.e. the $5 Footlong), but they also initiated the health craze that other chains are trying to duplicate. With over 22,000 restaurants nationwide, which is more than McDonalds, Subway is proving its strength and the nation is taking notice.

“America’s Sandwich Shop”, as it is now being called, sold over 2 billion sandwiches last year. Despite the economic situation, customers are still willing to spend their money on items they view as healthy and affordable.  Subway’s marketing and advertising practices have helped push their health and value platforms to new heights, as is evident by the double-digit growth the chain attained last year. Nightline news program even did a story on Subway recently and the success of the franchise.

All of this publicity can only lead me to think one thing – healthy fast food is on the rise. Hopefully America will follow suit and become healthier as well!

- Annika Lorentzson

The $5 Foot long is an every day value at Subway and that too, healthy. The $5 phenomenon has spread like wildfire and everyone has been trying to out due each other. Remember the $5 Pizza Mia at Pizza Hut? The $5 pizza at Little Caesars? And the chaos that KFC experienced with their $5 fill up box that became known even more due to Oprah? Through my work at BA on the Subway team, I learned that the $5 price point is now considered the ideal number that customers respond to. That is why Quiznos introduced their “Torpedoes” for $4, Pizza Hut came out with items starting at $5 and Boston Market created a $5 value menu.  Ever wonder how these restaurants can afford to keep on lowering their prices?

Since so many chains have started this trend, it will be extremely hard to get away from it, unless they keep lowering their prices. It’s quite sad to see a pricing battle occurring, but it’s only benefiting people’s palettes and in the long run, hurting businesses who are trying to make money.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good deal, but the problem is when you get a good deal, aren’t you looking for a better one next time you go out? People respond to pricing, how low can you really go?

This article was interesting describing how the $5 phenomenon has spread throughout the country: http://www.qsrmagazine.com/articles/exclusives/0908/five_dollars-1.phtml

- Karishma Amin

Here at Benedict Advertising we try to keep everyone on the edges of their seats with current, captivating and informative weekly blogs. We actually have a blog schedule that rotates around the office so you don’t hear too much of what any one of us has to say. Of course, if you’re dying to hear more from any of us you are certainly welcome to voice that.

Well, the needle points to me this week and I’ve been racking my brain for something to inspire blog greatness.  I’ve got nothing. Attention: my muse has left the building. But, the more I think about this, the more it seems absolutely absurd. In this day and age, what on earth do you need a muse for? Pretty women in flowing robes just don’t have the same caché they once did.  If you’ve been keeping up with our blog, or not been living in a bubble for the past ten years (my apologies if you have, but at least you’ve found us to help you figure some things out) - you know this.  Inspiration and information are available with the click of a button, although I think the button’s days are numbered.  You want the Sistine Chapel? http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/CSN/CSN_Main.html Need to see pictures of the Daytona 500 or the word Argh, you can google it. So what gives? I don’t know.  But, while looking for blog writing, tips, tricks and treats I stumbled upon a fabulous list (i think) assortment of creative writing blogs:

http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog/2009/02/05/top-100-creative-writing-blogs/

It sort of inspired my blog (I had to make my cop-out of pasting a website seem planned and relevant), but I really do hope it inspires even greater things - after all, we ditched the pretty ladies in flowing robes for websites like this.

-Tim Blair

TiVO recently launched new advertising opportunities that allow companies to place their advertisements while shows are being accessed and right before they are played during playback. They also have implemented a “banner ad style” campaign on the commercial skip so advertisers can still get their messages out to the masses. These advertising messages can even be targeted to the market segment that is most likely to watch programming, for example Sub Zero has a banner ad message when programs from the Food Network are being accessed. One problem, customers of TiVO paid for this service to be able to skip commercials, not receive them differently.

So TV took a different angle, they changed the programming, and not as one would think. TV is doing this long after the initial production of the sitcoms have wrapped, in fact years after. The one sitcom that is receiving the buzz is My Name is Earl,http://www.nbc.com/My_Name_Is_Earl/, a program that is going into syndication. In 14 of the top TV markets in the US, cable stations will be testing the post-post production method of introducing advertisers into the actual TV show, what would appear to be product placement. Let me give you example – Earl is driving down the road and comes to a traffic corner with billboards. In the original shooting, there may have been a billboard promoting a dish detergent, but now in syndication, the billboard reads an ad for SUBWAY’s $5 footlong. And this “billboard” can be different in all 14 markets, it’s up to the cable station that has licensed the syndication and sold this “new” advertising space. Incorporating product placement in programming is nothing new, but placing product years after production wraps is and we will likely see more programming go this route as DVR and TiVO increase in popularity. It looks like advertisers on not ready to give in just yet.