Matt Wilson on Marathon Holiday Shopping Trend

SBC Advertising's Senior Executive and General Manager, Matt Wilson was quoted in Sunday’s issue of The Columbus Dispatch regarding the trend of increased holiday shopping hours. Click here to read the article: http://bit.ly/JzKirR

Why Twitter's IPO Wins Over Facebook's

Krista Hazen, SBC's PR Account Director, comments on the Forbes article "Ten Ways Twitter's IPO Didn't Turn Out To Be Like Facebook's IPO."

"In Good to Great, author Jim Collins introduces business professionals to the hedgehog concept which in its simplest terms states that successful companies rely on doing one thing and doing it really well. Twitter has done just that from its launch to its IPO," says Hazen.

"Sure, the 140-character communication has evolved from asking the question, 'what’s happening' to letting users communicate anything from pithy insights to personal locations, but the company hasn’t abandoned what it’s good at: allowing for social interaction with others. What the successful IPO will do is allow Twitter to continue to evolve it platform by adding embedded visuals and videos-all within 140 characters. #Twitterwins"

Click here to read the Forbes article.

“You are not going to believe that the new Value City furniture… is Value City Furniture.”

That’s VCF’s new campaign tagline. Visit one of their locations and you’ll discover new and unexpected finds all across the store including new brand names. The rebirth of the furniture retailer is spearheaded by Jonathan Schottenstein, President of VCF, who challenged his merchants to up the style factor while maintaining the same great prices that VCF is known for. “Big changes are happening at VCF, but our commitment to you is and will always be our first priority,” said Jonathan.

Click here to watch the commercials that showcase VCF’s new direction:

Furniture should be fun: http://youtu.be/pLt_F1p4VVE

Furniture should unite:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_IW7rvv2E8 

SBC's Matt Wilson shares his thoughts on The Limited and their new CEO

After six months without a CEO, The Limited announced that Diane Ellis, the former Brooks Bros. President and Chief Operating Officer will take over as CEO on August 26. SBC’s Matt Wilson stated that Ellis has “a bulletproof resume and experience in consumer products and specialty retail.” Wilson stated “She knows both sides of the house from operations and finance to merchandise assortment and marketing.  She’ll work with a similar footprint with The Limited at 259 stores; Brooks Brothers has about 300 stores in the U.S. and internationally, plus a vibrant online and catalogue business.” Ellis is joining the Limited after they recently announced their plans for expansion in both traditional and outlet stores.

Click here to read the entire article: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/business/2013/08/07/the-limited-names-new-ceo.html

OMNI-CHANNEL PART 2: A Frictionless Customer Experience

By Kaylyn Bredon, Sr Mgr, Interactive Creative/UX

In Part 1 of this series, we focused on how the marketing realm has evolved and the importance of creating a seamless customer experience. Continuing this discussion, we’ll now focus on how consumers expect retailers to provide more contextually relevant, personalized information that is carefully tuned to a frequency that suits each individual's liking.

Amazing opportunities present themselves when retailers thoroughly align consumer data with an approach that has context, personalization and a manageable frequency. In doing so, they can provide customers with solutions that make everyday tasks easier while making the shopping experience more enjoyable.

Multiple tactics and some example technologies are listed below serving as areas of opportunity. In no way is it a one-size-fits-all prescription — retailers should identify consumer needs and implement accordingly.

Shawn Brown on the Benefits of Production Houses Clustering in Columbus

SBC’s VP of Creative Services, Shawn Brown, was featured in last week’s edition of Columbus Business First commenting on the Short North studio opening of one of our partners, KSC Kreate. Pick up a copy to read about Shawn’s valuable insights on the benefits of production houses clustering in Columbus.

OMNI-CHANNEL PART 1: Considering the Customer Experience

  

By Kaylyn Bredon, Sr Mgr, Interactive Creative/UX

One consistent theme throughout every session I attended at SXSW 2013 was the need to create and maintain an “omni-channel” experience. This is a new challenge being introduced to many retailers- often times leaving them with unclear direction on just where to start due to the siloed structure that many businesses and marketing teams have grown to be.

As an interactive designer/ux specialist at a full-service advertising agency, the idea of overcoming the obstacles of working with siloed teams is not foreign to me. After all, that’s why many companies hire agencies like SBC Advertising to help them. We have the advantage of being separated from their business, often avoiding the internal and political bureaucracies, while at the same time having direct access to the decision makers that have the ability to make decisions and get the job done.

In the past, working in silos has allowed us to react quickly and create standalone efforts that were supported by isolated databases and provided separate analytics (i.e. microsites). However, these standalone workarounds no longer serve as viable options.

Today, it is imperative that all channels work together, and in return they provide valuable insight into the numbers, showing what’s working and what’s not. With that being said, data is, and will continue to be, at the very base of creating a successful omni-channel experience, making the relationship between Marketing and IT more important than ever.

Matt Wilson Comments on Controversial Quotes by A&F CEO

SBC’s Matt Wilson was quoted in the Columbus Dispatch discussing the controversial quotes from Abercrombie & Fitch’s CEO, Mike Jeffries. Click Here to read the article.

Matt Wilson on Downfall of JCPenney CEO

On Sunday, SBC's Matt Wilson was quoted in the Columbus Dispatch concerning the downfall of Ron Johnson, former JCPenney CEO.

Read the full article with more great quotes from Matt.

Mobile as the Status Quo and Responsive Web Design

By Jerrold Smith, Senior Front End Developer

Imagine you’re waiting for a bus and you remember a website that interested you from a recent radio ad. Taking advantage of your temporary free time, you pull out your trusty smartphone and diligently enter the web address into your favorite mobile browser and...disappointment. The website isn’t optimized for mobile and is difficult to navigate via the constant zooming and panning necessary to find the content you’re looking for.

The situation above can be repeated by changing a few elements but always arriving at an all too familiar outcome. Maybe you are watching TV while casually using your smartphone, as 86% of us do, say stats. A commercial directs you to a mobile website that helpfully states “This content is not available on our mobile site. Please visit the desktop website on your computer.” Or maybe the website was built solely in Adobe Flash, which isn’t available on mobile devices, or inexplicably the website simply does not load at all, leaving the mobile consumer with a seemingly empty page. Is this what you want your brand experience to be on mobile?

Content Breeds Content

By Kelley Finan, Director of Content Integration, PR

"Think like a publisher." Gurus of content marketing consistently give this advice to companies wondering how to effectively use content as a marketing tool. While content marketing does indeed require the need to think like a publisher, it also requires that companies change their entire approaches to – and attitudes toward – delivering information to customers.

Today, the customer dictates content. Not just the message, but how, when and where it is delivered. Content is publishing with a purpose. It’s a strategic approach to delivering the information your audiences want, when and how they want it. Companies need to have a content strategy that engages customers and potential customers wherever they are – online, digitally and offline -- and during the various stages of the buying process.

Playing to Where the Puck is Going to Be – Staying Ahead of Changing Consumers

By Adam Deardurff, Senior Interactive Strategist

When I signed up to go to SXSW, I knew I was walking into something bigger, more forward thinking than I ever had participated in before. My expectations were high – to have my mind blown with new ways of thinking, new devices, meeting people that thought like me, eating great food and even catching a little live music.

After wading through the thousands of people, thinking past the Korean BBQ, blues and beer, I knew that one question would be asked when I return home.

“What is the one thing that you would take away from the experience?”

A mind-numbing question but inevitable.

To me, it is simply this: Brands are moving too slow and consumers aren’t slowing down.

SBC Advertising on Instagram!

Click the button to follow us on Instagram!
sbcadvertising

Supporting Local Business has Never Been Trendier

Are you embracing the buying-local craze? If so, you’re not alone. Central Ohioans are fawning over hand-crafted products and supporting their small businesses like never before. Simply Vague is one of the latest shops to open that exclusively carries locally-made products from over 140 different vendors.

 Click here for the article in the Columbus Dispatch and see what SBC’s Matt Wilson has to say on why business is booming.

SBC's Pete Fantine Talks Retail Trend

Ohio's first Cabela’s is coming to town! The new Polaris location opens next week and is drawing attention as being one of the retail giant’s “next generation” of stores. Our very own Pete Fantine is in the Columbus Dispatch today discussing the growing trend of big box retailers downsizing new locations. Read the article here.

Super Bowl XLVII Pregame Ad Review

Super Bowl XLVII is finally upon us, and with this year’s game comes a new line-up of the year’s most anticipated commercials.  At SBC, successfully connecting brands with consumers is what we do, so we take very special interest as advertisers put their best foot forward to engage the viewers on one of the biggest stages of the year.

To prepare for the big game, we asked some our ad experts at SBC to provide insight on which commercials they’re most looking forward to, as well as the industry trends that shape the way we engage with brands today.

Be sure to check back for more pregame and postgame insights.  Don’t forget to post comments and follow the Super Bowl conversation on our Facebook and on Twitter with the hashtag #SBCsbads.