The American Advertising Awards of February 2014!
ORLANDO, FLORIDA – February 24, 2014 – BIGEYE, a full-service integrated advertising agency based in Orlando, Florida, was honored with seven American Advertising Awards, formerly the ADDY® Awards, at the recent American Advertising Federation-Orlando American Advertising Awards Gala held at The Ballroom at Church Street in downtown Orlando on Saturday, February 22, 2014. BIGEYE’s public service video for IDignity captured a Best of Public Service award in the coveted Best of Show category as well as a Gold award. Another Gold award was presented to BIGEYE in the Digital Advertising category for The Daily Mom app. Four Silver awards were presented to BIGEYE with two in the Elements of Advertising category for the Cave Inn BBQ Logo and Rollins College Alumni Logo, one in Advertising Industry Self-Promotion for the BIGEYE Wall and another in Collateral Material for the Rollins College Special Events Campaign. In addition to the American Advertising Awards success, Creative Director, Seth Segura, was invited to judge this year’s student competition of the American Advertising Awards in Orlando. [quote]“We’re humbled by this incredible recognition and will be sharing this together with our client partners, without whom this could not have been possible,”[/quote]“The American Advertising Awards recognize the most creative solutions to client challenges in an increasingly competitive marketplace. It’s an honor for BIGEYE and its client partners to be recognized alongside some of the area’s best work,” said BIGEYE CEO, Justin Ramb. BIGEYE will be advancing all seven awards to the Fourth District American Advertising Federation’s American Advertising Awards competition, which will be held on May 3, 2014, in Tampa, Florida with hopes of advancing to the national competition, which will be held on May 31, 2014, in Boca Raton, Florida. ### About BIGEYE BIGEYE is a full service integrated advertising agency known for delivering highly strategic and results-driven work in branding, video, print, digital, web, social media, advertising and media. Founded in 2002, BIGEYE was recently named to Forbes list of the “Top 100 Global Ad Agencies That Know Social Media and Google.” For more information, please visit bigeyeagency.com. About The American Advertising Awards The American Advertising Awards, formerly the ADDY® Awards, is the advertising industry’s largest and most representative competition, attracting over 40,000 entries every year in local AAF Club (Ad Club) competitions. The mission of the American Advertising Awards competition is to recognize and reward the creative spirit of excellence in the art of advertising. For more information, please visit americanadvertisingawards.com. Contact: Wágner dos Santos BIGEYE 407.839.8599 x203 wagner@bigeyeagency.com
BIGEYE Promotes Sandra Marshall To Senior Account Manager
ORLANDO, FLORIDA – January 29, 2014 – BIGEYE announced this afternoon the appointment of Sandra Marshall to the position of senior account manager. Formerly account manager with over seven years in the advertising industry; Marshall has a background in media sales consulting. [quote]“Sandra excels at client relationships, and fosters a sense of teamwork with our clients and our internal team.”[/quote] “Her promotion is well deserved and we’re confident she’ll be a great asset to the senior team here at BIGEYE,” says Justin Ramb, CEO at BIGEYE. As senior account manager, Marshall will lead all account and project management for BIGEYE’s clients while leading the account management team. Marshall will continue to build and maintain client relationships directly with her existing portfolio of clients. A Florida native, Marshall is a Florida State University graduate and proud Seminole fan. She currently resides in downtown Orlando with her husband, James Marshall. ### About BIGEYE BIGEYE is a full-service integrated advertising agency known for delivering highly strategic and results-driven work in branding, video, print, digital, web, social media, advertising and media. Founded in 2002, BIGEYE was recently named to Forbes list of the “Top 100 Global Ad Agencies That Know Social Media and Google.” For more information, please visit bigeyeagency.com. Contact: Wágner dos Santos BIGEYE 407.839.8599 x203 wagner@bigeyeagency.com
BIGEYE’S Technology Predictions for The New Year!
The movies would’ve had us believe that 2014 would be a year of flying cars, hover boards and even USB implants in human beings! While society still hasn’t yet evolved to that level (and, in some cases, thank goodness!), there are a number of things we can look forward to in 2014. As big companies like Google, Apple and Samsung continue to develop interactive technology, we expect to see interesting developments in app development, wearable tech and transportation services. And now, we present to you, our Orlando marketing agency’s list of tech predictions for 2014. Wearable Tech: Google Glass, Smart Watches and Fitness Tech Your iPhone 5 is great, but 2014 holds even more promise in terms of creating technological ease of use, utility and efficiency. [quote]As more companies see promise in wearable tech, these companies are beginning to offer numerous options in terms of devices and applications.[/quote] For instance, in 2013, Google introduced the Glass Explorer program, in which it offered Google Glass to a number of select participants. Glass has proven to offer tremendous opportunities as a way for people to capture their lives and to communicate with others, using head motions and a series of finger taps. Now, it’s up to leading development teams to begin creating apps for Google Glass, as well as other new technologies such as the Samsung SmartWatch, which interact with users’ cell phones to offer alerts and important information. Additionally, we will see more companies investing in fitness tech. When Nike introduced the Fuel Band several years ago, it began offering fitness-savvy individuals a new way to interact within the fitness community. As fitness technology gets better, so too will the ways in which people use it to help set up – and achieve – fitness goals. New Retail Strategies: An iBeacon of Hope It’s no surprise that brick and mortar stores are struggling to maintain presence in a time where people can have products delivered to their doorsteps in just days. Still, new innovations in retail have shown some success with the iBeacon, which provides targeted advertising to smart phone users geolocation services. Education Innovation As grad school costs continue to soar, more people are opting to pursue alternatives to an expensive and sometimes impractical training program. That’s why online education programs have proven so successful, and why their popularity only continues to rise. For a fraction of the cost of a full MBA program, people can learn specific skills like coding, web design and business strategies. Ride Into the Future: Transportation Services With car services like Uber taking the nation by storm, it’s likely that we’re going to see more companies capitalizing on transportation trends. Last year, Virgin introduced the first glass-bottom plane, while the past few years have seen self-driving cars at Google’s campus, technology that will likely spread into the mainstream in the near future – possibly as soon as 2014. May 2014 be full of excitement, joy and innovation! Contact our team of experts today to determine how we may assist you in jumpstarting your marketing strategy in the new year!
BIGEYE Hires Former Agency President as Senior Director
ORLANDO, FLORIDA – December 3, 2013 – BIGEYE announced this afternoon the appointment of 20-year marketing veteran Wágner dos Santos, formerly with Evok Advertising and Beloved, to the position of Senior Director of Marketing & Strategic Planning.[quote]Wágner dos Santos is the seventh new hire for the agency in 2013 as BIGEYE looks to strengthen its team in support of recent growth. “BIGEYE is in the perfect position for growth,” says Justin Ramb, CEO at BIGEYE . “In his new role, Wágner will use his industry experience and strategic talents to further advance our agency’s desire to become a regional leader.” Prior to BigEye Creative, Mr. dos Santos was the Vice President of Client Services for Evok Advertising and former President/CEO of Beloved, a national award-winning marketing agency based in Orlando. He built his marketing and advertising career from such agency powerhouses as Momentum Worldwide (Interpublic Group), GMR Marketing (Omnicom) and Havas Impact. Mr. dos Santos has worked on some impressive national brands which include Coca-Cola Zero, Google, Sprint, Target, Ford, Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse and State Farm, to name a few. A community leader who gives back, dos Santos serves as a trustee and past president of the American Advertising Federation-Orlando, former chair of the American Advertising Federation-Fourth District Marketing & Communications Committee and a brand strategist for the Greater Orlando Human Trafficking Task Force. Dos Santos is also a frequent guest speaker on experiential and influencer marketing. In his new role at BIGEYE, dos Santos will be instrumental in expanding the agency’s client roster while also providing strategic planning for its existing clients. “I am looking forward to working closely with the BIGEYE team and its clients to help them both realize success and exponential growth,” said dos Santos. About BIGEYE BIGEYE is a full-service marketing and advertising agency located in downtown Orlando, Florida that creates effective and award-winning work, which produces measurable results for its clients. Celebrating over 11 years, BIGEYE was recently named to Forbes list of the “Top 100 Global Ad Agencies That Know Social Media and Google”. For more information, please visit www.bigeyecreative.com. Contact: Shelby Hughes BigEye Creative 407.839.8599 Shelby@BigEyeCreative.com
What’s Growth Hacking All About? And What You Should Know
The Internet is cluttered. Here at our Florida advertising agency, we’re inundated each day with reasons to try new products and services, and as we all know, what’s hot one day might not be so popular a week from now. In marketing, the difficulty of creating enough personal touch points to gain a conversion is compounded by shortened attention spans, and an influx of outlets to reach people – some of which may not be so helpful in the long run. Fortunately, digital marketing thought leaders have particular expertise in being able to reach people in new ways. One of the tried and true methods of reaching individuals is through a concept called growth hacking. While ideas for what might be considered a “growth hack” are as disparate as the innovators who concoct these ideas, there are some fundamental foundations that owners of startup companies can use to help leverage growth for their businesses. One of the most commonly cited examples of growth hacking in action comes from Hotmail.com. Several years ago, Hotmail was a leader in the email industry. But as it was rising, it faced a high barrier to entry in the marketing arena, taking on tough competition from the already-established America Online email programs. Hotmail’s marketing team found no success with traditional channels. This was also in an era before social media, making easy sharing impossible. Instead, Hotmail investor Tim Draper came up with a simple hack. At the bottom of his email, he would put an automatic email signature, one that said, quite simply, “P.S. I love you. Get your free email at Hotmail.” This way, the message would get out to every person emailed from a Hotmail account. If any people switched to Hotmail email, the same signature would automatically be placed on their emails as well. In an era before the term “viral” existed in digital marketing, this email marketing strategy went viral, leading to success for Hotmail for a number of years. (Read the whole story over at TechCrunch.) These days, there are a number of other methods people use to encourage growth for their businesses. AirBNB, a favorite company of tech enthusiasts, relies on good design as part of the overall strategy in order to keep consumers returning for more. However, as Business Insider reports, in its initial phases, it relied on growth by posting to none other than Craigslist, an internet classified ad system that itself began as a barebones startup that spread to many cities throughout the country. People interested in learning more about growth hacking can join the community to learn more about trends in the industry by signing up at GrowHack. In addition, Skillshare and General Assembly offer courses on growth hacking. Growth hacking can require significant experimentation, but luckily this type of trial-and-error methodology often has few costs and can lead to significant benefits.[quote]Companies that haven’t tried growth hacking should look for ways to shortcut growth in their businesses.[/quote] Outside-the-box thinking fosters innovation, and this innovation can help marketers figure out new ways to help grow their businesses, often on a shoestring budget. The team at our Orlando marketing agency thinks growth hacking is a great ingredient in the small business recipe for success. Contact us today to allow us to help you with your strategy!
Serve Thanks with TWURKEY This Year, A BIGEYE Infographic
We all have our Thanksgiving holiday traditions that form lasting memories for years to come. Some of us run a Turkey Trot, some watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, some volunteer at local food banks, and some start decorating for Christmas… But others venture beyond tradition, and do things a bit differently for extra attention. With a little inspiration from Miley Cyrus’s twerking fiasco, BIGEYE has come up with a new tradition to serve thanks this Thanksgiving: TWURKEY! Our goal is to get some attention with our new concept and discover how members of our audience are serving thanks in nontraditional ways this Thanksgiving. We hope to inspire others to ditch the turkey and serve up some #TWURKEY! Be sure to use our social media buttons to share some #TWURKEY with your followers! Download your own #TWURKEY graphics: Facebook Icon iPhone 5 Background Poster to Sharethanksthanks P.S. Do you know how to #TWURKEY? Follow our step-by-step instructions and #TWURK it!
The Best Way to Embrace the End of Daylight Saving Time
Many regions of the world recognize Daylight Saving Time, or DST, which is designed to allow more time for us to perform tasks while the sun is out. In the years when electricity wasn’t so widespread and many jobs required day labor, an extra hour of sunlight meant more time to finish tough jobs. But did you know that customers are more likely to spend money when the sun is out? An extra hour of sunlight can have a major impact on sales. “Springing forward” affords us an extra hour of daylight in the evening during the summer months. This means an extra hour to enjoy the sunset, to lay on the beach and for kids to play outside. It also means we’re more alert and on-the-go for an extra hour, leaving plenty of time to shop and take care of errands and tasks. [quote]Whether real or psychological, it’s true that we start to wind down as the sun comes down, save for the night owls and late night partiers.[/quote] However, the time change reminds us that winter is right around the corner. In some areas of the country, it means residents are bracing for snowstorms and ice, whereas here at our Florida advertising agency, we’re just happy if we get to see the leaves change color. Given our appreciation for all, we’ve learned to embrace the end of Daylight Saving Time. Here are a few tips that we hope will make it easier for you, too. Get some sunshine: Sunshine breaks are great ways to keep your energy up even though the days are shorter and the nights are colder. Stepping outside 10-15 minutes a day can do wonders for your immune system, health and mood. Exercise: Sunshine has a positive effect on mood, so shorter days means that these feeling may be depleted more quickly throughout the day. Since you can’t make the days longer, exercising in the morning can help get your energy levels up even when the stars are still in the sky above you. Eat Healthy: Fall is the perfect time of year for apples, pumpkins, squashes and other delicious fruits and vegetables. Cooking with seasonal ingredients can help embrace the upcoming fall weather. Light, veggie-filled meals mean more energy, even when the sun is gone and the stars are out. Invest in Natural Lights: For both yourself and your business, investing in natural lights can help keep your mood and energy up through the day. Light therapy lamps are an excellent tool for people who tend to get the blues as the year comes to an end. Thinking about your health and wellness in the fall can help you embrace the end of good ol’ DST, allowing you to make the most of it for you and your work. While Daylight Saving Time may have come to an end, but that doesn’t mean it has to be a downer. Our team at BIGEYE hopes that you will use our tips to you advantage – and contact us to help you maximize your daytime efficiency in the workplace!
Spooky Ways to Reach Your Customers, Hallow-tastic ideas
Halloween is doubtlessly the spookiest holiday of all. For some people it means candy corns and tasty treats, but for others it means creepy surprises and discoveries around every corner. The BIGEYE team has been following some of the best ways to reach customers in unexpected ways, ways that seem mysterious and spooky for Internet users that are unfamiliar with the tricks of the digital marketing trade. In honor of the upcoming holiday, we encourage you to make the most of Halloween by exploring our Florida advertising agency’s list of spooky ways to reach your customer. Site Retargeting: Have you ever been on a website, only to find an ad for that same site while surfing a different website days later? That’s a direct result of site retargeting, which uses cookies to capture user data in order to direct advertisements to them at a later date. The benefit of retargeting is that it helps advertise your products or services directly to people who’ve already expressed interest in your site, presumably leading to a higher rate of conversion for every ad dollar spent. Facebook Ads: For years, companies have been hesitant to experiment with Facebook ads. However, many people do not know that such advertising can be relatively affordable, especially for companies that offer niche products or services. Facebook’s ad platform allows users to create different iterations of their ads, and allows them to compare Facebook advertising metrics for each ad run. These ads can also be geo-targeted, so that they only reach people who are logging on from specific locales. It’s frighteningly easy to increase awareness and conversions with just a few dollars toward a Facebook ad. Google AdWords: Like Facebook ads, Google AdWords are great ways to market directly to your target customer. AdWords searches allow advertisers to align their ads with popular search terms. It’s important for people who are budgeting their ad searches to purchase keywords that are not necessarily too popular, but words that still reap hits. Google has a variety of tools and analytics to allow users to effectively use its AdWords services. Promoted Tweets: Promoted tweets are tweets that brands can purchase that directly target users’ interests based on who they follow and how they use Twitter. For companies that invest in promoted tweets, this can be a great way to get the word out about a new product or service. However, if the promoted tweet does not ultimately encourage interaction and engagement, Twitter will discontinue the use of the promoted tweet, which ends up saving money for the person who purchased the promoted tweet slot. [quote]The amount of money companies spend on paid media continues to grow as businesses see value in reaching out to potential customers in new ways.[/quote]Through a mix of paid, owned and earned media, companies can develop strategies to create awareness within niche audiences, and ultimately reap the benefits through increased conversions. The team at our Florida marketing agency hopes that when it comes to investing in spooky methods of creative advertising, businesses won’t be afraid, and will ditch the tricks for the treats. Contact us today and we’d be happy to share our perspective on the best unexpected ways to reach your target audience!
An Analysis of Popular TV and Movie Vampires Infographic!
To learn more about BIGEYE’s creative services or to find out how to get your very own infograpic designed by our super-creative team, call us today at 1-800-994-3844 or email us at info@bigeyecreative.com. An Analysis of Popular TV and Movie Vampires By Rhett Withey Posted on October 14, 2013 Nosferatu, Count Orlok – 1922 Has a reflection. Has shape shifting abilities. Dracula, Count Dracula – 1931 Has shape shifting abilities. Requires an invitation to enter. Dracula, Count Dracula – 1979 Has shape shifting abilities. Requires an invitation to enter. Interview with a Vampire: Louis de Pointe de Luc – 1994 Has a reflection. Despises his vampire urges. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel – 1997 Requires an invitation to enter Can day walk. Twilight, Edward Cullen – 2005 Has a reflection Can day walk. True Blood, Eric Northman – 2008 Has a reflection. Requires an invitation to enter. Affected by silver. Retractable fangs. Drinks synthetic blood. Vampire Diaries, Damon Salvatore – 2009 Has a reflection Requires an invitation to enter Can day walk. Retractable fangs. Kid-Friendly Vamps: Count Chocula was created as one of the original General Mills monster-themed breakfast cereals. “The Count”, a famous Muppet character on Sesame Street was modeled after Bela Lugosi’s interpretation of Count Dracula.
What You Need to Know for Marketing the 180th Oktoberfest
This year, masses of people will head to Munich, Germany, to participate in Oktoberfest, a weeks-long party celebrating the best in beer, bratwurst and family entertainment. Throughout its course, the event attracts about 7 million people, all of whom want to be a piece of one of the largest celebrations in Europe. The event, which is now in its 180th year, attracts both locals and tourists from around the world. With its massive beer tents, people gather in the streets to celebrate the festivities alongside one another. While events inspired by Oktoberfest may fizzle out after even just a few years, the thrill of Oktoberfest hasn’t slowed down in the slightest in the last eighteen decades. Marketers continue to promote it as a piece of German tradition, tied with fun and festivities for all. Our Florida ad agency thinks marketers have plenty to learn from Oktoberfest’s promotions masters – after all, marketing the 180th Oktoberfest should be simple, right? Not without sufficient preparation, of course. Oktoberfest starts with planning. Down to the last detail, planners coordinate the events months in advance to prepare people for the celebration. It’s with a deep understanding of the target consumer that Oktoberfest’s producers begin to plan the festivities. Through decades of practical knowledge, they’ve grown to understand their target demographic inside and out, are therefore able to effectively market to them. How do their marketers and promoters do this? Oktoberfest producers are masters at selling the experience. Nowhere else in the world can you find Oktoberfest’s festivities in one place. With a history of toasting, drinking and tradition, the Oktoberfest producers have a unique product that they can sell to the masses. Additionally, because the festivities only come around for a few weeks during the year, there’s also the aura of exclusivity, eliciting the impression that it’s a limited time event worth making the expedition to Germany to witness. Additionally, Oktoberfest shows us that people are willing to pay a premium for perceived value.[quote]A liter of beer at Oktoberfest may taste exactly the same as a liter of beer at a local pub, but people are willing to pay extra to drink the liter alongside friends while partaking in the revelry.[/quote] The average price of an Oktoberfest pint has risen from $8.49 USD to $12.12 USD over the past decade, but Oktoberfest producers and attendees would argue that it’s well worth the higher price. The takeaway? When assessing your business’s own marketing efforts, carefully consider whether you’ve been optimizing your price per consumer. You might find that it is more expensive to retain a higher value customer, but that higher value customer spends significantly more money with your business. Additionally, even though the event occurs only annually, its curators keep an active Facebook profile to keep potential attendees engaged throughout the year. The active profile also helps build up anticipation in the weeks prior to the event, and offers a recap of the events as they transpire. They may not have had Facebook at the first Oktoberfest, but the event’s curators are definitely making good use of it 180 years later. The team at our Florida marketing agency thinks Oktoberfest is about more than just a frosty mug of beer. It’s about the experience of being part of an annual event, one that people flock to from around the world. With nearly two centuries of experience, the team behind Oktoberfest are masters of the art of marketing. Let our team help you plan an event that your target audience will flock to! Contact us today.