Month: January 2022

Three Things to Know About the Metaverse

The “new” world: A metaverse primer: Companies should see the metaverse as the evolution of the internet or smartphones, but instead of interacting with keyboards or touchscreens, users are immersed in interactive environments, making them captive and active participants in cyberspace.

What the metaverse means for retail today, and what’s in store for tomorrow: While the promise of the metaverse for retail holds great appeal (shopping experiences integrated seamlessly throughout immersive digital worlds), the development of the technology to support it is still in the very early stages.

At the National Retail Federation’s Big Show, all eyes were on the metaverse: Retailers are getting excited about the metaverse, seeing it as an opportunity to deepen customer relationships.

#ProQuote

“85% of consumers feel that for brands to be successful in the future, digital presences will be essential.”

Emma Chiu, Global Director, Wunderman Thompson Intelligence

Enterprising Leaders Sharing their Journey to Success

Need to light a fire under your team? Let us inspire them with guest speakers (in-person and virtual) that will help you realign, reset, and refocus.

Topics can include:

• Integration strategies.
• Sales realignment.
• Insights for entrepreneurs who face business uncertainties.
• Media training and refreshes (i.e. Zoom interview tips).
• How to identify opportunities, emerging trends and develop creative solutions.

DM us!

Have an Interesting Perspective on Your Industry That You’d Like to Share?

#BeOurGuest
Showcase your ideas and discuss what’s on your mind by being a guest columnist in our #FGF newsletter! With a reach of 20,000 weekly readers and an average open rate of 20%, you’ll get the attention of industry leaders directly.

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What We’re Reading

• Why Brand Storytelling is Crucial for Your Business
• Dreamvertising could be the next big thing
• 4 ways to build career-advancing connections in a hybrid era
• 9 trends that will steer marketing in 2022
• How you can become more resilient this year

Please share what you’re reading by tweeting #FGFreads or DM us.

#FGFStory: Turning Non-Recyclable Plastic into Building Blocks

An LA-based startup is proving that we don’t need more landfills for non-recyclable plastics, rather they can be turned into building blocks. ByFusion’s patented machines, known as Blockers, shred plastic and then apply mass multiplied by acceleration repeatedly until it fuses. Called “ByBlocks,” they are a simple 16″ x 8″ x 8″ blocks that can be used to build bus stops, fences, retaining walls, curtain walls, public terraces, and more.

Watch a durability comparison between the ByBlocks and classic, hollow cement blocks.

Four Principles to Managing a Crisis

The more you understand the strengths and weaknesses of your business, the more you can maintain control when a crisis hits. Here are four managing principles to consider during a crisis:

• Focus on what you can control.
• Create your own trajectory.
• Be in constant communication.
• Instill pride in your mission.

#ProTip: Clear and constant communication with stakeholders is the hallmark of great leadership.

Need help with a crisis management plan? DM us.

#GraphicDesign

10 Ways Infographics Benefit Your Content Strategy

Are you using infographics as part of your content strategy? You may be missing out on valuable digital marketing opportunities if not. Infographics are an aesthetically pleasing way to summarize data and share information in a more compelling, engaging way with content consumers.

Here are 10 reasons why you should be using infographics:

• Improve decision-making as visuals have been proven to speed up the rate at which information is processed.
• Increase your content’s exposure.
• Enhance content shareability.
• Build brand credibility. Creating interesting and informative graphics can help people learn more about your business and be seen as a voice of authority.
• Complement your branding strategy. When done right, your target audience will be able to discern your brand’s infographics from others.
• Build high-quality backlinks enabling higher organic rankings in search engines.
• Drive more traffic to your site, improving your ROI, and increasing conversion rates.
• Tell a story by using visual aids such as charts, graphs, or diagrams to communicate complex concepts.
• Track results as long as the proper codes are put in place.
• Helps readers easily digest text-heavy content through understand for visual depiction.

Let our creative team help you design an infographic, DM us.

Took a photo that you are proud of?

Send it along and our team will select amongst those submitted to be featured in our next FGF.

Monte Rosa is a mountain massif in the eastern part of the Pennine Alps, between Italy and Switzerland. It is the second highest mountain in the Alps and western Europe, after Mont Blanc.

#CES2022 Ad Buys on Cars?

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) took place earlier this month and the most attention-grabbing news was the ‘color-changing car’. BMW unveiled its E Ink-powered iX Flow tech that allows the exterior of the car to shift through shades of black and white. BMW said: “The innovative E Ink technology opens completely new ways of changing the vehicle’s appearance in line with the driver’s aesthetic preferences, the environmental conditions or even functional requirements. The technology thus offers unprecedented potential for personalisation in the area of exterior design.”

Check out a video of the car.

#ProInsight: While it’s early days for this sort of tech on vehicles it’s a sure bet that it will eventually be used to sell advertising space on the sides of vans, cars, and trucks.

#FunFact: The Metaverse Movement

Consumers are embracing immersive, 3D digital services, and 37% took part in online video gaming at least once per week last year, vs. 29% in 2015. #ProInsight: Innovative brands must invest in their AR/VR capabilities. For example, brands can host virtual events to meet consumers in-platform.

Source: Euromonitor International, Top 10 Global Consumer Trends.

Zenergy Communications together with Radio Connects

Radio Facts in a Digital World: How to Deliver SCALE

eMarketer recently released a report which portrayed an inaccurate picture of Radio with the headline “Canadians spent more time listening to digital audio than radio for the first time in 2021.” It’s statements like this, supported by data claims without context, that perpetuate misinformation and influences where clients are spending their audio dollars.

Here are the facts: Digital audio is largely non-commercial private music libraries, regardless of how they are curated – either by outright ownership or subscription. This is not new. Personal music has been around since Eldridge Johnson introduced the Victrola in 1906 and by 1921 Americans were buying over 106 million records every year. Today, time spent with personal music is now being measured by streams and included in the audio universe because Canadians are choosing to ‘rent’ vs. own their music libraries. Listening to personal music is not new, technology has changed how we do it.

The problem with the conclusion being drawn by eMarketer’s report is that it serves as confirmation bias for those in media who, as Collin Kinsella of Havas US so succinctly indicated: “The biggest risk for AM/FM radio is the 26-year-old [media] planner who lives in New York or Chicago and does not commute by car and does not listen to AM/FM radio and thus does not think anyone does either.”

Unfortunately, many working in media may not have enough background in audio to understand the facts behind the headline and will think digital audio is where they should spend their client’s dollars. The facts are, according to Numeris and other third party research, Over-The-Air (OTA) Radio (including broadcast signals delivered via a digital device) has the largest share of audio consumption in an expanding audio landscape that includes satellite radio, podcasts, ad-supported digital pureplays (i.e. Spotify and YouTube for Music), and audio books1. Across all key advertising demos, AM/FM Radio reaches more consumers than YouTube for Music or ad supported Spotify, and has the largest share of buyable audio impressions. In fact, AM/FM Radio reached over six times more adults aged 25-54 in the past seven days than ad supported Spotify. AM/FM Radio delivered more individual exposures captured “in front of the screen” vs. reports of device usage captured “behind the screen” detailing data collection based on devices connected to servers, and doesn’t always represent exposure to real listeners.

And while the audio landscape continues to expand, it’s important to understand that only AM/FM Radio can deliver the scale advertisers need to reach and influence their consumers, whether they are listening in the car, on a smart speaker, or a mobile phone app. It shouldn’t be an ‘either, or’ audio strategy between AM/FM Radio and digital audio players, but an additive one, built on a solid foundation of AM/FM Radio with digital audio like podcasts, layered for added benefit.

Read the Adnation study conducted by Ipsos.

This week’s #BeOurGuest is: Caroline Gianias, President of Radio Connects

Have an interesting perspective on your industry that you’d like to share?

DM us.

#Results: Crypto Acceptance

Following data stating that 24% of US adults said that they were planning to invest in cryptocurrencies we asked our #FGF readers if they have or planned to add cryptos to their portfolio this year. The results are in and our readers are on the fence with 53% saying No and 47% responding Yes.

What We’re Reading

• Influencer marketing sees steady adoption and room for growth
• Pandemic Hankering: How Consumers Have Changed their Desires and Behaviors
• M&M’s Unveils Changes to Candy Mascots
• Anheuser-Busch updates logo to match forward-looking brand purpose
• High School Athletes Shovel Snow For Their Neighbors as Special Weightlifting Assignment for Football Team
• Facebook Meta patents would fill the metaverse with ads
• Looking ahead: 9 trends that will steer marketing in 2022

Please share what you’re reading by tweeting #FGFreads or DM us.

#FGFStory: Watch the Path of a Raindrop From Anywhere in the World

A new study suggests dog’s brains can tell languages apart

Have you ever wondered how far raindrops travel after they fall upon the heights of Kilimanjaro? Now you can follow a raindrop thanks to some curious cartographers who have created a mapping tool (in beta version) that visualizes their path to the sea from anywhere on Earth.

River Runner Global is a free, open-source tool for visualizing how interconnected we are, and can be used for rough-draft water management planning, or for educational purposes.

#FunFact: All the water that feeds Washington D.C. comes from rainfall and upwelling springs on the western-side of the Appalachians.

Working With B2B Influencers

The recent study entitled ‘The Trust Barometer’ recently found that 63% of people trust influencer insights more than what an organization says about itself. Given this, B2B marketers are quickly catching on to the value of influencers. If you are considering engaging influencers, here are five key strategic factors to assess whether an influencer is a good fit.

• Influencer prowess is more than a number. B2B influencers are not simply about how many followers they have but rather you should focus on the quality of their content.
• Consider the long-term relationship. You get more bang for your buck when you develop long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with your influencers.
• Monitor and engage on a human level. Monitor influencers who serve your industry and topic clusters to find content that’s a match. Then engage them via your brand’s or an executive’s social media account to reference their work and pursue the relationship over time.
• Think micro, not macro. Pursue micro influencers who specialize in a particular topic area or who model your target audience but have smaller followings.
• Measure results. There are a number of different ways to measure the success of a B2B influencer, depending on your particular marketing goals so make sure to define your metrics for success.

Twelve Design Trends to Watch in 2022

Adobe Stock has revealed its latest trends forecast and there are a few surprises. This past year has been quite the rollercoaster, but graphic design has kept on moving with original and innovative designs being created every day. See all the trends in this video.

Took a photo that you are proud of?

Send it along and our team will select amongst those submitted to be featured in our next FGF.

Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America at about 1,644 feet deep. To put that into perspective, you could submerge the Empire State Building in it.

Zenergy Communications together with Radio Connects

eMarketer recently released a report which portrayed an inaccurate picture of Radio with the headline “Canadians spent more time listening to digital audio than radio for the first time in 2021.” It’s statements like this, supported by data claims without context, that perpetuate misinformation and influences where clients are spending their audio dollars.

Here are the facts: Digital audio is largely non-commercial private music libraries, regardless of how they are curated – either by outright ownership or subscription. This is not new. Personal music has been around since Eldridge Johnson introduced the Victrola in 1906 and by 1921 Americans were buying over 106 million records every year. Today, time spent with personal music is now being measured by streams and included in the audio universe because Canadians are choosing to ‘rent’ vs. own their music libraries. Listening to personal music is not new, technology has changed how we do it.

The problem with the conclusion being drawn by eMarketer’s report is that it serves as confirmation bias for those in media who, as Collin Kinsella of Havas US so succinctly indicated: “The biggest risk for AM/FM radio is the 26-year-old [media] planner who lives in New York or Chicago and does not commute by car and does not listen to AM/FM radio and thus does not think anyone does either.”

Unfortunately, many working in media may not have enough background in audio to understand the facts behind the headline and will think digital audio is where they should spend their client’s dollars. The facts are, according to Numeris and other third party research, Over-The-Air (OTA) Radio (including broadcast signals delivered via a digital device) has the largest share of audio consumption in an expanding audio landscape that includes satellite radio, podcasts, ad-supported digital pureplays (i.e. Spotify and YouTube for Music), and audio books¹. Across all key advertising demos, AM/FM Radio reaches more consumers than YouTube for Music or ad supported Spotify, and has the largest share of buyable audio impressions. In fact, AM/FM Radio reached over six times more adults aged 25-54 in the past seven days than ad supported Spotify. AM/FM Radio delivered more individual exposures captured “in front of the screen” vs. reports of device usage captured “behind the screen” detailing data collection based on devices connected to servers, and doesn’t always represent exposure to real listeners.

And while the audio landscape continues to expand, it’s important to understand that only AM/FM Radio can deliver the scale advertisers need to reach and influence their consumers, whether they are listening in the car, on a smart speaker, or a mobile phone app. It shouldn’t be an ‘either, or’ audio strategy between AM/FM Radio and digital audio players, but an additive one, built on a solid foundation of AM/FM Radio with digital audio like podcasts, layered for added benefit.

Read the Adnation study conducted by Ipsos.

This week’s #BeOurGuest is

Caroline Gianias

President of Radio Connects

#Predictions

Martech 2022

Forbes and Singular polled marketing technologists asking: ‘What are the most important technologies or topics for 2022’ and the responses fell into the following top seven categories:

• Privacy (first-party data)
• Story (video/audio)
• AI
• Metaverse
• Web3
• ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance)
• Marketing fortress

Read the full article.

#ProQuote

“Consumers now spend 1/3 of their media time with audio … audio is now the most accessible medium. And marketers are waking up to the massive potential of audio to deliver highly engaged, targetable audiences at scale.” Gayle Troberman, CMO at iHeartMedia

#AgencyInsights

Team Work that Makes the Dream Work

Gaining new business is critical for any agency to not just survive but THRIVE. And we all know that leveraging successes to attract clients makes the process more efficient…more profitable. But what happens when your deep expertise leads to more business in certain verticals? How do you manage this especially if you’ve signed a non-compete clause? Well, you have two choices:

• Build a firewall team.
  This entails creating a new entity, hiring an entire siloed team that does not interact with your current ones working on competitor projects, along with all of the other checks and balances required to adhere to client commitments. Confidentiality guaranteed but with exorbitant costs.
• Outsource.
  Zenergy Communications has over 18 years of experience in martech, PR and brand building, we can be your firewall team at a fraction of the cost, helping you develop that profit center without compromising your integrity. Confidentiality guaranteed at an affordable price.

Now that’s Team Work that makes the Dream Work! Contact us!

#FunFact

Cryptocurrencies are looking like a better bet to more and more investors. Last month, 24% of US adults said they would invest in cryptos, up from just 10% in June of 2021. Likewise, 76% said in December of last year that they would buy stocks, down from 90% six months prior, as the crypto craze stokes its tempting blaze.

What We’re Reading

• 22 Books We Can’t Wait to Read in 2022
• Campbell’s teams with experiential toy company Camp on candles, activity guides
• Corona introduces world’s first non-alcoholic beer infused with vitamin D
• How to Succeed in 2022? Embrace These Five Mega-Trends
• Insider Intelligence’s Tech Trends to Watch in 2022
• The Tenacious Quest to Find the World’s Best Rice

Please share what you’re reading by tweeting #FGFreads or DM us.

#FGFStory: Is Your Pet Bilingual?

A new study suggests dog’s brains can tell languages apart

Laura Cuaya, a brain researcher at the Neuroethology of Communication Lab at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, set out to determine if pets notice the difference in language. She and her colleagues designed an experiment with 18 volunteer dogs — including her two border collies — to see if they could differentiate between two languages.

The dogs sat still in an MRI machine, while listening to an excerpt from the story The Little Prince. They heard one version in Spanish, and another in Hungarian. Then the scientists analyzed the dogs’ brain activity.

Read more about the findings here.

#ProQuote

“The big significant growth area [in influencer relations this year] will be in B2B. People assume B2B influence can be dry and boring and sits on LinkedIn but in reality, there is more money, big brands and niche audiences.” Rahul Titus, Head of Influence, UK & EMEA at Ogilvy

Titus predicts B2B could grow to account for 40-50% of the influencer sector this year.

Took a photo that you are proud of?
Send it along and our team will select amongst those submitted to be featured in our next FGF.

#FunFact: In 2011, the Atacama Desert in Chile received nearly 32 inches of snow thanks to a rare cold front from Antarctica.

#Report

Social Selling Poised for Rapid Worldwide Growth

Accenture predicts social selling via Facebook, TikTok and other platforms will outpace traditional sales channels by three times to reach $1.2 trillion by 2025. It will primarily be driven by Generation Z and Millennials with influencers also playing a role. The most popular categories are expected to be clothing, consumer electronics, and home décor.

Top Five Social Media Influencers in Nine Industries

Part 3: Health + Fitness, Home + Parenting, Travel

Using a combination of influencer lists and social media platform research, the US Chamber of Commerce has identified the top five individual social media influencers across nine major industries. Here is a selection along with links to their top two channels as of December 2021.

Health + Fitness

• Kayla Itsines: Fitness vlogger and entrepreneur. Facebook Instagram
• Michelle Lewin: Personal trainer and fitness entrepreneur. Instagram Facebook
• Anllela Sagra: Personal trainer and fitness entrepreneur. Instagram Facebook
• Simeon Panda: Fitness vlogger and entrepreneur. Instagram YouTube
• Cassey Ho (blogilates): Fitness vlogger and entrepreneur. YouTube Instagram

Home + Parenting

• Louise Pentland: Parenting and lifestyle blogger and vlogger. Instagram YouTube
• Meg Resnikoff and Elle Walker (WhatsUpMoms): Parenting vloggers. YouTube Instagram
• Jennifer Anderson (Kids Eat in Color): Public health registered dietician and entrepreneur. Instagram Facebook
• Ildiko Ferenczi: Entrepreneur and family and parenting podcaster. Instagram Facebook
• Amber Fillerup Clark: Lifestyle vlogger and entrepreneur. Instagram YouTube

Travel

• Chris Burkard: Photographer and director. Instagram Facebook
• The Bucket List Family: Travel bloggers/vloggers. Instagram YouTube
• Wil Dasovich: Travel and lifestyle vlogger. YouTube Instagram
• Louis Cole (FunForLouis): Travel vlogger. YouTube Instagram
• Jennifer Tuffen (izkiz): Travel and lifestyle blogger. Instagram Facebook

#FunFacts: It’s all About Conversion Rates for Data-Driven Marketers

Conversion rate is by far the top metric among marketers worldwide, with 37.7% tracking this key performance indicator for data-driven marketing. Meanwhile, 17.9% have their eyes on return on investment, and 11.6% keep close watch on customer lifetime value.

Source: eMarketer

Video Marketing Plan

Questions to Ask

Return on investment on video campaigns is also going up. Improved measurement, greater ad formats and automation that makes it possible to personalize ads at scale are making video advertising more effective than ever. There are so many avenues and approaches available in digital video today.

Here are six questions marketers should ask as they work to form an effective strategy:

• What is the message?
• Who is the audience?
• What is the goal?
• Where will the content be shared?
• Will it feature influencers or thought leaders?
• How will it complement other marketing efforts?

#ProQuote: “[YouTube’s] video medium is ideal for building the messages that go beyond awareness to steer a consumer toward ultimate selection of a product and the brand it embodies,” Adit Abhyankar, CEO Ad-Lib.

Need help producing video content? Contact us!

What We’re Reading: Best of 2021 Round Up

• Best of Tweets of 2021
• The Best Podcasts of 2021, According to People Who Make Podcasts
• 9 Campaigns that Struck a Chord in 2021
• The 10 Best Comedy Books of 2021
• 7 Predictions for Marketing Technology in 2022
• The 20 Best Films of 2021
• 2021’s Best Albums were all by Women

Please share what you’re reading by tweeting #FGFreads or DM us.

#FGFStory: The Most Stunning Moments for Animals in 2021

While media outlets frequently report on species and the ‘Age of Extinction’ they never seem to include any good news – and there was a lot of it in 2021! As countries take on conservation as a matter of national pride, wildlife has been recovering. Here are some of our picks for top animal moments from the past year:

• 100-Year-Old Galápagos Giant Tortoise Found on Island is Indeed Member of ‘Extinct’ Species
• A Kitten Lost in the Snow Turns out to be One of The Most Endangered Mammals in Europe
• World’s Tiniest Pig at 10-Inches Tall, Once Thought Extinct, Is Returning to the Wild
• Once Biologically Dead, London’s River Thames Rebounds – With Seahorses and Seals
• Zero Humpbacks Off Seattle Coast 25 Years Ago – Now 500 Return With Record Number of Calves
• Rare Rhino Species Sees Dramatic Population Growth – From Just 100 to 3,700 Today, as Poaching Falls
• Monarch Population Soars 4,900 Percent Since Last Year in Thrilling 2021 Western Migration

#FunFacts

Including a video on your landing page can boost your conversion rate by up to 80%.

Source: Unbounce

The Top Five Activities Conducted via Smart Speaker

Smart speakers are most commonly used for general knowledge inquiries (31.4%). Followed by 26.7% asking for updates on the weather, traffic, travel, or sports. Third place goes to streaming music (24.5%).

Source: Insider Intelligence, eMarketer

Took a photo that you are proud of?

Send italong and our team will select amongst those submitted to be featured in our next FGF.

#FunFact: The Inupiaq of Alaska have 100 names for ice.