the thought

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Thayer Media!

Enjoy your holiday and we will write more on this blog once we recover from our turkey coma!

In the meantime, here is Martha Stewart's advice on how to make the perfect gravy:

Gravy

12:17 PM | Permalink

CENTENNIAL,CO November 16, 2006—Thayer Media, one of the largest media planning, buying and placement agencies in the Rocky Mountain West, recently acquired six new clients.

Client partners include:

Marie Callender’s – A casual dining restaurant chain that operates 139 restaurants and 1 East Side Mario's restaurant in the United States and Mexico. Marie Callender's serves up a wide variety of classic American foods.

MODA by Infinity Home Collection – Luxury condominiums located in the Stapleton Town Center

Chadron State College – A four year college located in northwest Nebraska

Orange Broadband – Formed in 2006, Orange Broadband is a fast-growing cable television and broadband Internet company currently serving over 60,000 residential and business customers in the Intermountain West (Utah, New Mexico, Colorado and northeast Nevada)

Office Evolution – Offers solutions to small businesses looking for live telephone answering, meeting space, receptionists, and networking opportunities

Northfield Stapleton – This open-air, 1.2 million-square foot town center combines major anchors, specialty shops, restaurants and entertainment in a sustainable, pedestrian-friendly outdoor setting

In addition, Thayer Media has partnered with Ripcord, a Denver creative agency. They will be working together on various projects and accounts.

A thirteen year-old agency with annualized billings in excess of $25 million, Thayer Media has grown to become one of the largest woman-owned firms in Colorado. Thayer Media represents a broad spectrum of clients in a variety of industries ranging from restaurants to financial services to real estate investment trusts.

12:15 PM | Permalink

April Thayer

Our Regional Transportation District clients had a big day on Friday, November 17, 2006. That was the day that the SouthEast Light Rail opened for business – well, for free rides through the weekend. On Monday, November 20, business starts. And based on the Grand Opening, it’s going to be a busy line.

There were hundreds of people there, a color guard, tents, balloons, human puppets (is that what you would call the guy in this photo?) and Santa.

One poor 3-year old was visibly disturbed by the sight of the man in red…I think even he understands there’s a time and a place for everything/one. Starbucks was there with samples (still widely reported as their most productive marketing tactic), there was ice cream and hotels and restaurants and city folk and country folk and train enthusiasts galore.

Lots of kids were in tow, attached to a parent who had no doubt promised a “ride on the choo-choo.” I don’t remember what the sound is that the Light Rail cars make, but it’s not a “choo” and it’s not a train whistle. Might be a bell?

Anyway, it was a great day, and it will be a very successful line, no doubt. Congratulations to RTD and all the people there who have worked so hard on this second leg of our rail system.

12:25 PM | Permalink

Kathleen Steinmetz

When I started this blog, it was about the event that took place at Thayer Media on October 31st – all hallow’s eve. But it turned in to something much much more…

How it began
I know, I know, it is almost Thanksgiving and here I am writing about what happened at Thayer Media on Halloween. What can I say – time flies? Thanksgiving and Halloween are just so close together!

On Halloween, our good friends at Martini on the Rockies radio station visited Thayer Media to deliver Halloween treats. They were dressed as musicians you hear on their station: Elton John, Stevie Nicks, Bette Midler, the Martini mascot herself, and the classy Frank Sinatra. (They pulled up in their limo painted with the Martini logo – we were a bit jealous they were driving around Denver in a limo all day).

They did not just deliver candy. The sales manager, Blake Mendenhall, also delivered a beautiful rendition of Frank Sinatra’s “Summer Wind." We always knew he was a great guy, but who knew he could sing too!

What happened next
Here’s where my blog took a turn… I shot some video footage of the Frank Sinatra performance to share with readers of “The Thought,” so I head to the ever-popular video sharing site YouTube. I have never used the “all buzz all the time” site, so I am prompted to join to upload my video.

All is well until I am asked to create a user name for myself. I quote the phrase at the top of the page:

“Join YouTube. It's free and easy. Just fill out the account info below. (All fields required)”

Please take careful note of the two key words “free” & “easy”

Following this phrase is a form I need to fill out that includes various information such as email, user name, password, confirm password, date of birth, and a verification code that ensures I am not a spammer.

I choose a user name, I fill in a password, I confirm a password and then I verify the code. Oops! That user name was taken. Does the site suggest trying UserNamexyz123 because that is available? No.

I try a new user name. It takes me a few minutes to think of one, I am trying to be a bit more obscure now. Again, I put in a user name, password, confirm the password and I verify the code. And again, “Sorry, that name has been taken” pops up in red letters.

Now I am frustrated. I try one more name, one more time. No dice.

I tell ya, for a company that was recently bought for $1.65 BILLION dollars, that has the video sharing market cornered, is constantly in the press AND boasts some of the largest traffic numbers on the Web, one would think that YouTube would offer these millions of users a little help in the registration process.

My exercise on YouTube ended even before it really began. I can’t say I am not a little disappointed. And you should be, too. That video was worth sharing!

You never know, I just may find a user name that works one of these days and then everyone on the Web can view the video. Until then, enjoy this second picture.

06:41 PM | Permalink

Elizabeth Rector

On my recent concert calendar, The Detroit Cobras were by far my most anticipated show. All sweat and swagger, The Detroit Cobras slid into Denver’s Bluebird Theatre on October 25th. A Cobras review in the Tampa Weekly Planet aptly remarked, “There are a lot of bands who can rock, but the Cobras can roll too." However, I was surprised that the Marquette Tribune, in an article encouraging people to attend the upcoming Milwaukee show, called the Cobras a ‘cover band’. Technically the Cobras are a cover band, but I have never thought about them in this way. Below is Wikipedia’s definition of cover band:

A cover band is a band that plays only cover songs. Most wedding bands can be considered cover bands. Another term is party band. Cover bands typically play a mix of songs from different decades and different styles. Some cover bands play material from particular decades, for example a 1980s cover band. Others focus exclusively on a single group and are called tribute bands. It is not uncommon to find Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd or U2 cover bands. Cover bands are very popular for weddings and corporate events, as well as in bars and clubs. Because they play songs people know and love, cover bands can be a real crowd pleaser.

The Cobras do only play covers and they do focus on material from a particular decade (they turn non-hits from the 50’s and 60’s into larger-than-life hits of today). However, there is no mention of originality in the definition above, and make no bones about it, the Detroit Cobras is an original. There is a perception that if an idea is not brand new, if it is not pushing the envelope, it is not an original idea.

I recently watched a Heavy Metal documentary in which Rob Zombie claimed that after Black Sabbath there is nothing the Heavy Metal genre can do that has not already been done. Does this mean that originality has gone missing from the genre and Heavy Metal is simply a cover genre recreating sounds from the 80’s. Of course not, it simply means that Black Sabbath got it right, and their music continues to inspire.

It is easy to do poorly something somebody has already done well. It is also quite achievable to do something well that was already done well, by following in their footsteps. The Detroit Cobras on the other hand take songs that did not fit the bill back in the hay day of Motown, identify the problem and do it right. In fact, other than lead singer Rachel Nagy’s less than reputable language and past time activities (see Tampa Weekly Planet article) she would probably make a great marketer. Contrary to the cover band perception, the Detroit Cobras represent original thinking through successful execution and this is what marketers should attempt to do more often. Hundreds of great ideas have been executed poorly, what would happen if they were executed right?

01:00 PM | Permalink

April Thayer

Every now and then, we get a chance to see a new client’s prior media buys – which for us, in a geek-y kind of way, is a lot of fun. And every now and then, we’re speechless.

Not so long ago, I got to tear apart an executed plan to try and unearth the strategy. (Of course, there was no strategy document, no verbiage to help orient the observer – you always wonder what they tell the new planner or buyer on the account? “Let ‘er rip! Buy low and book now!”)

So here I am, poring over flowcharts and spreadsheets looking for the secret sauce. And what do I find? Household ratings. Huh?

Another case in point: trying to unearth the strategy for an account last year, looking at old buysheets and what do I see? Daytime television for 18-34 year olds. Huh?

Media Matters, Media Dynamic’s bi-weekly e-bulletin about all things media, had an interesting article last week about the myth of demographic targeting. Their point was that, if you watch daytime television, you will consistently see advertising for products that have a target audience of middle demographics. So why do they run during programs that would be considered “out of demo?”

MDI appropriately suggested that this is a classic case of irrelevance for the large majority of viewers to those programs except the ones who are “in demo” and yet, here we are, approaching the media ratings collision with ENGAGEMENT. That would mean that older-skewing television fare couldn’t be as engaging to younger viewers as something more target to them. Can’t wait for the engagement clarification. Will it make any difference at all?

It will make media costs higher. It will make historical data irrelevant. It will make research harder to understand and more obtuse than ever. It will make advertisers angry with their media planners and buyers. And it will make media planners and buyers crazy.

And guess what? We’ll still have irrelevant advertising running in “out of demo” programming.

Guess why? Talk to those advertisers and they will all tell you the same thing: “It works.” “Sales have never been better.” “I know it doesn’t make any sense, but we’re way up year over year.”

So unravel that for me, would you? I have my suspicions but they’re too goofy to share.

08:50 AM | Permalink

For anyone out there paying attention to this advertising-centric blog, you may have noticed that we have been MIA for the last few weeks.

Blame it on the "blogmaster." She felt the need to get married and take a honeymoon to the French Polynesia. And absolutely no blogging was going on in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

She may have been gone, but the blogging did not cease!

Over the next week or so we'll have plenty of new entries. Elizabeth writes about her latest favorite band, we have an update on some Halloween festivities that took place in our office and we've got some football commentary from a new blogger at Thayer Media.

So please stay tuned, we invite you to return once again to "The Thought" after this blogging vacation of sorts.

01:24 PM | Permalink