Marketing Tips from R.J. Gibson

Give Your Marketing Plan This Five-Point Acid Test

2011-12-09T10:04:00.000-08:00

Give Your Marketing Plan This Five-Point Acid Test
By Bob Gibson
A successful marketing plan boosts income, while energizing the future value of your brand. The best ones are short, specific and measurable. Here’s what to look for:

1. A unique copy platform
“XYZ Hospital has the largest staff of board certified physicians in this key specialty.” “Our Hospice offers the largest music therapy program in the area.”
These are good examples. Positioning statements such as, “We strive for excellence” or “We really care” are meaningless.

2. A very specific media target for each initiative
Here’s a good one, “Our service is targeted at women who work, are 45 to 54-years old and make medical decisions for their children and their aging parents.” Here’s a bad one, “We want to reach people who need imaging services.” With the first statement, you can create a media goal to reach 80% of this market 3 or more times over 6 weeks. You achieve this by buying TV shows broadcast during the breakfast and dinner hours, buying drive time radio, and by direct mailing the target group that lives within driving range of your locations.

3. Integrate and measure traditional and new media
Traditional media (TV, radio, print, direct mail, outdoor) should be integrated with new media (mobile media, social media, internet). One example would be to run TV, print and radio spots, and have an “Ask the expert” section on each station’s web site as well as your own. The goal of all advertising is to open roads of communication to your business so that customers can travel repeatedly. Today’s technology allows you to invisibly measure the effectiveness of all media by call monitoring, web tracking and at the point of service.

4. Negotiate media rates
Do some simple math to determine the cost per thousand people reached by each media. Then compare TV programs, radio stations, cable TV day parts, local newspapers, web advertising options, even billboards using this as a tool. Ask sales reps to match the competitor’s better cost per thousand. You should be able to realize savings of 25% or more.

5. Invest in your “Brand”
Your brand is the summation of feelings and perceptions the public has about your company and service.
For example: Apple uses friendly language, clean graphics, and effortless function to define itself. Are all of your marketing materials consistent in look and feel. Does your marketing plan, advertising and customer experience define the brand that you desire to become?
Bob Gibson, President of R.J. Gibson Inc., can be reached at (561) 758-8482 or visit www.rjgibson.com.

Bob Gibson’s Copy Writing Magic Formula

2010-06-07T09:56:00.000-07:00

I was recently asked to give a speech to a group of real estate professionals. They wanted to know the magic words to make listing ads produce instant results. “Words by themselves aren’t magic,” I announced. “But, I do have a “magic formula, and here’s how it works.”

Start with a typical listing ad.

“4 Bedrooms, 4 Baths, Intracoastal Access, 1-Acre $899,000. Call 000-0000”

Apply my six point magic formula.

1. “Facts Tell. Stories Sell.”

“The Dolphin are biting, 20 minutes from your dock.”

2. Engage Every Sense: See, Hear, Touch, Taste, Smell.

“Watch a waterfront sunset with a glass of fine red wine while you relax in the poolside whirlpool spa."

“Breathe in the water cooled tropical breezes from the master bedroom terrace.”

3. Big is a relative term. So is prestige.

“Family compound on a sprawling acre site.”

“Celebrity neighbors, historic landmark district.”

“Butler’s pantry, servants quarter’s, guest wing, summer kitchen.”

4. Everyone wants a “bonus”.

“Owner will leave artist’s and ceramics studio.”

“Owner will leave exotic orchid gardens.”

5. Everyone wants a “deal” (before the next guy gets it).

“Nasty Hollywood divorce forces fast sale.”

“Bank just foreclosed and must liquidate.”

“New listing, priced for fast sale.”

6. Price is relative.

“Reduced $250,000!

“$100,000 discount to cash buyer, quick close.”

The new ad: The Dolphin and Wahoo are biting 20 minutes from your new dock! Watch a peaceful Intracoastal sunset in your backyard spa while your fresh catch sizzles on the summer kitchen’s outdoor grill. This family compound on a sprawling acre has exceptional bonuses such as a fragrant exotic orchid collection the owner will leave. Seller must close quickly and has reduced price $250,000. Just listed, call immediately 000-0000!

YouTube Video Marketing

2010-05-17T08:45:00.001-07:00

Imagine you owned a television station and had the ability to broadcast your message quickly for free. With 2 billion views per day and almost double the prime time audience of all three networks combined, YouTube can be your personal broadcast station.

If you provide worthwhile information, your audience will find you. Those who search for cancer cures can see films of doctors explaining the latest therapies. Therefore, at Jupiter Medical Center, we filmed their physicians and posted them.

Those looking for a place to vacation can watch video tours to get a feel for which attractions they most want to enjoy so for the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse, we posted a film giving a just a hint of the fun it is to climb the lighthouse and experience a bit of Palm Beach County history.

YouTube videos can be indexed with long written captions, and if you carefully write a good caption to your video, you audience will find you.

Hard Exercise Works is a gym franchise which cleverly used videos posted on Facebook and You Tube to show prospects how the fun of each day’s workouts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uILfBjqnuUI

Gibson Roscoe specializes in Internet and social marketing campaigns. For more information, contact Bob Gibson at rjg@gibsonroscoe.com or 561-741-1441 x 108.

2010-04-28T09:50:00.000-07:00

Thirty Palm Beach business leaders and clients of Gibson Roscoe Advertising attended “The Light at Night” introduction to The Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse and Museum.

Companies represented included: The Palm Beach County Convention and Visitors Bureau, The Palm Beach County Business Development Board, The Palm Beach Sports Commission, NextEra Energy, Max Planck Institute for Bioscience, The PGA of America, Waterfront Properties, Catalfumo Companies, K-Rain Industries, and Four Points Construction.

Executive Director, Jamie Stuve, introduced guests to the newly completed Museum and Tyndall House exhibit. Then were led up the 100 steps of the 150-year-old lighthouse, by “Captain James Armour” while a full moon rose over the Jupiter Inlet. The 140 acre area which includes 50 protected plant and animal species and significant archeological sites was recently designated a National Outstanding Park Site.

Google Analytics and Website Grader: Check Your Website and Marketing - for free!

2010-04-26T10:39:00.000-07:00

Adding Google Analytics to your website takes minutes and provides an invaluable check on your advertising spending. 2700 North Ocean is a luxury real estate project that came to Gibson Roscoe with an objective to sell vacation homes during South Florida’s short (January to April) season. The project’s website was built in Flash. In December, before we relaunched the site, it only had 12 visitors per day.

Gibson Roscoe rewrote and designed the site in CSS and launched a newspaper and TV ad campaign to generate phone calls and visits to the property. Many buyers will want to visit a website for details before negotiating on a specific residence. Its important we make the web site easy to find and navigate. Using Google Analytics we see that spikes in web traffic and page views coincide with the Friday newspaper ads we ran and so these ads were continued for four additional insertions.

The television ads keep the web traffic up during other days of the week and we added to the media buy. Buyers are shopping for 2 minutes or more on the site, which begins to pay-off. Each week about $5 million dollars in units were sold, and by April, $34 million in sales have been achieved.

Can the web site be improved?
Yes. By looking at Website Grader, another cost free way to improve your website marketing, we learn the site’s strengths and weaknesses and “tweak” it continually. Our new 2700 North Ocean Website is graded 81 points out of 100.

It gets good grades for having current content - a blog. It gets good grades for having a Facebook Fan Page Link, but can be improved with links to Twitter. Client and agency now know we must go to work, promoting content.

2010-04-22T11:05:00.000-07:00

Bob Gibson, right and Ken Roscoe of Gibson Roscoe Advertising in Jupiter recently presented Jamie Stuve, president and CEO of the Loxahatchee River Historical Society with a new logo for the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary.

JUPITER — Jamie Stuve, President and CEO, was sitting at her computer when she received an unexpected but very welcome phone call.

A local Jupiter advertising firm offered to design a new logo for the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse & Museum to help celebrate and commemorate its 150th Anniversary.

“We deeply appreciate that Bob Gibson called us to offer his services wanting to contribute his company’s time and talent to help our landmark Lighthouse.”

In a subsequent meeting, Bob Gibson, president and Ken Roscoe, creative director of Gibson Roscoe Advertising expressed how much the Lighthouse means to them and how proud they are to live in this community.

Many folks might be satisfied to simply have a very successful business and go about their lives, but Gibson and Roscoe recognize the quality of life here and feel compelled to give back. “When we cross over the U.S. Highway One bridge and see our lighthouse we realize how fortunate we are to live here,” states Roscoe. “There is something very special about this place.”

The new logo captures the majestic red lighthouse and inlet hues in a tastefully tropical style with the phrase “Celebrating 150 Light Years” across the middle. The logo is being placed on all Society materials and a special oval decal is being produced, as well as a new car license plate.

Additional designs have been produced for the Loxahatchee River Historical Society and will be used for posters, t-shirts and merchandise for the lighthouse gift shop.

The full service marketing and advertising firm has over 30 years experience, has won 500 awards for creative excellence, and has serviced clientele from the Americas to Europe and Asia. For more information about Gibson Roscoe Advertising visit their link on the lighthouse 150th Anniversary page at www.jupiterlighthouse.org.

This story is contributed by a member of the Treasure Coast community and is neither endorsed nor affiliated with TCPalm.com

Condominium Comeback: $26 Million in Luxury Oceanfront sold this season

2010-03-16T08:23:00.000-07:00

The Palm Beach real estate market may be showing signs of a rebound. Catalfumo Companies’ 2700 North Ocean property reports $26 million in sales since initiating a promotional ad campaign mid-January.

The newspaper and television ads, created by Gibson Roscoe Advertising featuring company President and CEO Dan Catalfumo offering buyers price discounts until he reaches his goal of $50 million in seasonal sales. The halfway point toward this goal was reached March 15th.

Buyers have been the “seasonal visitors” from the Northeast U.S. and Canada. These second home purchasers traditionally visit the area through mid-April, and sign sales agreements in May and June planning to enjoy the following winter in a Florida home.

For the area’s daily newspaper, The Palm Beach Post, Gibson Roscoe created a “Spadea Wrap” put Catalfumo’s sales message in an impossible to miss position on both front and back of the paper.

For the area’s television market, Gibson Roscoe Created a media schedule which “Roadblocked” the early morning news and weather—watched by vacationers.

The message, “I’d rather give you a great discount, than pay interest to my bank” delivered by the developer/owner resonated with potential buyers and real estate brokers, generating significant traffic and sales in a period where other area projects offering $1 to $3 million priced units have seen little prospects and sales.

Images from film shoot two, filming a new message to show the progress of sales.

Gibson Roscoe Lets Creativity Flow for Harmonic Environments

2010-03-11T09:57:00.000-08:00

Gibson Roscoe lets creativity flow for Harmonic Environments, a premier source of indoor waterfalls.

Architects and Interior Designers are the target market of a new ad and Internet marketing campaign by Gibson Roscoe Advertising. Ads demonstrate how indoor waterfalls instantly transform a space by cleansing the air with helpful ions and lifting spirits with relaxing waves of sound.

Harmonic Environments imaginative contemporary water features are specified in medical centers, spas, corporate headquarters, and major retail centers for their translucent beauty and healing effects.

Media Strategy: “Go Big or Go Home”

2010-02-24T07:23:00.000-08:00

I love Olympic snowboarder, Shawn White’s “Go Big or Go Home” attitude. When Florida’s 7th largest general contractor, Dan Catalfumo asked us to promote his 2700 North Ocean luxury condominiums, during South Florida broadcasts of the Winter Olympics, a bold approach came to mind.

To supplement the TV spots, Gibson Roscoe created a front page wrap around the daily newspaper The Palm Beach Post to give authority to Dan’s newsworthy pledge to sell $40 million in luxury condominiums by end of season. “I’d rather give my buyers great discounts than pay interest to the bank” reads our ad message right over the day’s headlines.

The result, after the first week, Catalfumo’s sales team is $10 million dollars in sales closer to the goal. Keep Posted!

Olympic Effort

2010-02-12T07:34:00.001-08:00

The shoot happened this morning, the commercials will begin running in the Vancouver Winter Olympics several days from today! Gibson Roscoe advertising helps client, Catalfumo Construction take advantage of a last minute “opportunity buy” to promote a sale of luxury beachfront condominiums.

Palm Beach developer, Dan Catalfumo and marketing strategist Bob Gibson prepare to announce that $40 million dollars worth of oceanfront condominiums will be discounted to sell out. A TV spot is being prepared to run during the Vancouver Winter Olympics on South Florida’s NBC affiliate, WPTV Channel 5, The Friday edition of the Palm Beach Post will be wrapped with the extraordinary offer.

The Gibson Roscoe team at work for Catalfumo Construction. Kristen Glass rallies a production team and schedules a TV shoot timed to fit a one-day window of sunny weather. Ken Roscoe, Creative Director and Lowell Thayer, Producer choose lenses, camera angles and direct the shoot.

Bob Gibson polishes the script with client, Dan Catalfumo. (Not Shown) Jaclyn Burdette negotiates prime time TV schedule during the Vancouver Winter Olympics with NBC affiliate WPTV Channel 5.

2010-01-04T07:20:00.000-08:00

It’s the New Year, “Press Reset”.

Every recession is followed by recovery. The recovery begins when individuals and companies conquer their fear, “Press the reset” button, and begin investing in future plans.

Those first to restart their marketing programs, have a unique “window of opportunity” while competitors remain paralyzed with fear.

· Prices for creative services and media are lower than ever. Your advertising budget will go a lot further.

· There is less ad clutter, and a greater opportunity to “stand out” and make a greater impression, and reach more customers and forge a position of “Best in Class”.

· A pent up demand for many products and services exists. Companies that address pricing issues and financing assistance will be first to succeed.

Now is the time to make a fresh start with your marketing strategy and creative communications and design.

I invite you contact Gibson/Roscoe Advertising for some fresh ideas.

Bob Gibson

561-741-1441 x 108

Integrity is their brand.

2009-12-30T07:01:00.000-08:00

Treasure Coast Attorney, Joseph C. Kempe has built a large and successful legal firm by offering a better Estate Planning and Wealth Building service. By combining legal and accounting in one coordinated service, he creates synergistic plans for clients desiring to reduce present and future tax burdens for themselves and their children. His firm is also unique in that it does not sell investments— just unbiased and honest financial/legal advice.

“Integrity” is their brand. Gibson/Roscoe Advertising conveys this message through “Best In Class” media such as glossy city magazines, and a website www.jckempe.com where potential clients can view a film clip of Joseph C. Kempe outlining his philosophy.

New ad for 2700 North Ocean

2009-12-29T07:20:00.000-08:00

Consistency and Perseverance

2009-11-19T10:44:00.000-08:00

Well-executed marketing campaigns have one thing in common: Consistency.

In hard times such as today, clients are tempted to completely change approaches with every new ad. In the end, the product loses its identity, the consumer is confused and the value of the brand is diminished.

This successful e-mail campaign for Maiden Creek shows how many promotional messages can be delivered while maintaining a consistent copy personality, graphic identity, and “branding”.

561-741-1441 x 108. Gibson/Roscoe/Owens Advertising

Hospital Marketing—building business on a smaller budget (web)

2009-10-09T07:15:00.000-07:00

Jupiter Medical Center’s web site is transitioning from an informational site to an interactive site. Visitors to the site can view filmed clips of physicians welcoming them and describing new treatments and services available at the hospital.

To save the medical center money, the agency Gibson/Roscoe purchased a high-definition video camera and teleprompter—to film and edit the segments in-house. The agency can be called on a moment’s notice to film segments as quickly as needed.

http://www.youtube.com/JupiterMedicalCenter

For more information about medical center marketing, Contact: Bob Gibson, President Gibson/Roscoe rjg@groadvertising.com

Hospital Marketing—building business on a smaller budget

2009-10-09T07:10:00.000-07:00

Today, medical center Marketing Directors are being given smaller budgets while being expected to drive more business.

What’s the answer? Smarter design, more physician involvement and an emphasis on less expensive digital media.

Jupiter Medical Center’s quarterly newsletter was redesigned by Gibson/Roscoe as a far more upscale “Magazine Style” communication piece. The new look enhances the brand, yet printing costs are slashed with a smarter size and choice of paper stock. Also, the number of pages are kept to a minimum: stories begin in the magazine, then continue on the medical center’s web site. Marketing’s new goal is to increase use of the medical center’s web site, where patients can easily find the information they want, and the hospital marketing team can follow up with offers best suited to the visitor’s areas of interest.

Social Marketing—The Executive Summary

2009-09-18T06:40:00.000-07:00

Once word of mouth was the best advertising. Once only Reuters and the Associated Press controlled and distributed breaking news, photos and video. Welcome to today’s world of web 2.0—which means every can one publish information easily on the Internet. And, every advertiser needs to add these “social marketing” methods to the traditional marketing and media mix. What is the cost to use these services? Only your time!

Here’s the executive summary:

Facebook—355 million worldwide users. It takes minutes to open a fan page for your business and a personal page for yourself with photo galleries and information. You’ll post upcoming event and product news. Customers will comment, share information about your service. These reviews are more believable than any ad you can create and are essential to the growth of your service. To promote your Facebook site, link to your e-mail signature line and website home page, include in all traditional advertising, e-blast customer database, download customer and prospect data base—ask customers to become fans. When an individual becomes “accepted friend”, you gain access to invite their entire list of friends—hence, the remarkable power of this media.

Twitter—22 million users, 80% from mobile phones. Used initially by celebrities and athletes reporting on daily activities. But holds potential for all kinds of business promotion. Will grow to 40 million by end of this year. Establish an account at twitter.com for your company. Post status updates of 160 characters or less. To be successful, you must publish news/activities of interest, and choose to follow groups with similar interests. By following a group, you expose yourself to its members who, if interested, then choose to follow you.

Blogger.com -- Publish a weekly informational or editorial piece. Embed this in your website. Search engines favor current information, so by simply attaching this to your website, it appears higher in rankings.

Ezinearticles.com- Publish information of any kind as a readable story. It can and will be picked up by bloggers, newsletter publishers.

You Tube—You Tube is second only to Google in popular usage. Users search for “How To” information. Don’t post your commercial. If you want to be successful, create a “how to” demonstration related to your product. Include your website to the title to give viewers a link they can click on to your web site.

One of the best aspects of “Social Media” is that the media is completely democratic. Small budget advertisers can make the same impact as multi-million dollar budget advertisers. The creativity of the message determines who is viewed! If you’d like to discuss a creative marketing campaign, we can help. Call Bob Gibson at 561-741-1441 x108.

Gibson/Roscoe/Owens Advertising

The Basics of “Pay Per Click”

2009-08-18T12:21:00.000-07:00

Everyone now knows that “google word searches” are a primary way customers find products and services.

So how do you have your web site appear in the top listings? Buy a “Pay Per Click” plan. Where? on Google where 80% of all searches are initiated.

In this example, Jupiter Medical Center wants patients seeking information on bariatric surgery to visit their site.

A monthly budget is set, you provide Google a list of “Key Words” and a target price per word. In this case the words/phrases chosen were Bariatric Surgery, Bariatric Surgeons, Gastric Bypass Surgery, Lap Band Surgery, Weight Loss Surgery and the “auction rate” for the words fluctuated around $5.00.

Other advertisers paying to be the top search words in the chosen market area are competing with you for the top positions. The plan can be focused to as narrow as a county. Jupiter was only interested in searches are initiated within Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties (Florida).

Each time an individual “clicked through” the listing to get to the web site, Google charged the “auction price” until the daily budget was exhausted. (The monthly budget was divided by 30 to provide a daily budget).

At the end of each month, a report is generated a report that shows which keywords create the most click-throughs, and shows how the budget was spent. The budget can then be adjusted upward or downward.

Logos that tell a story

2009-08-18T10:53:00.000-07:00

Successful logos tell a story and capture a product’s “personality”.

Each of us seek out brands we believe are compatible with our beliefs and lifestyle.

The best logos not only are memorable, but also convey the product’s personality. Is the product fun, educational, formal, informal, modern, traditional, upscale, inexpensive, sophisticated, rustic?

A good logo captures intangible “feelings” and “associations”. It helps steer us toward the services we want, and away from those that do not match our needs.

Icon for MyMynd an Apple i-Phone application that allows users to download “peak performance” and “relaxation” audio sessions.

Golf Club logo for a Southwest Florida course in the style of the ancient Calusa Indian glyphs discovered in the region.

Signage for rustic fishing lodge located in a jungle outpost of Southern Costa Rica.

Mark for community of large and expensive beachfront Residences.

Does your company need a fresh identity?

Call Bob Gibson at 561-741-1441 x 108

Gibson/Roscoe/Owens Advertising

Going beyond the end of the road

2009-08-12T05:53:00.000-07:00

Hire An Expert and “Get Out of the Way”

One of the greatest joys of being in the advertising business is working with wildly creative people…especially those who you might say are “crazy about their craft.”

Take, Greg Basco, he’s a wildlife photographer and technical expert who tells manufacturers like Canon how to improve their cameras then he’ll hike deep into the Costa Rican jungle and camp out for days waiting for the exact beam of sunlight to strike the phosphorescent skin of a poisonous frog just right until he knows his shot will surpass all other poisonous frog photos taken before it.

Here’s to those individuals and clients who have the passion to “go beyond the end of the road”.

Client shoot for Bahia Escondida on Costa Rica’s South Pacific coast, photographed from a helicopter.

Cabo Matapalo Aerial View

Gibson/Roscoe/Owens Advertising

42 Condos sold in 60 days!

2009-07-29T11:37:00.000-07:00

This ad ran this spring, when every other project in Palm Beach County had an empty sales center and bored sales force.

The key ingredient: significant incentives for “The Next Ten Buyers”.

Readers reasoned correctly: “If I don’t act now, someone else is going to be getting a great deal”, convincing real estate buyers that the market has “bottomed out” and that prices will again increase as does confidence. This is the challenge developers face at all price points.

We track the ads we run for more than a dozen developer and builder projects. The one’s that are currently working best turn heads with limited incentives. Once the ad has done its job and delivered a prospect to the sales center, sales films and collateral build the story of ultimate lifestyle value to help close the sale. Gibson/Roscoe/Owens Advertising

Working with celebrities (Jimmy Johnson and Raymond Floyd)

2009-07-29T11:33:00.000-07:00

Celebrities have one thing in common:their time is very limited.

PGA Champion Raymond Floyd being filmed

Filming a video with Jimmy Johnson in Key Largo

For photo and film sessions, we scout the location in advance, pre-light the scenes using stand ins (its usually one of us or our crew) and we get all the audio, video and art direction out of the way, long before the subject arrives.

When the subject arrives, he or she has already seen and commented upon a script that uses words and phrases natural and authentic with his or her character.

A stylist touches up hair and skin, while we review the script together one last time.

We’ve done our job, when we’re complimented on our professionalism.

And, come to think of it, we go through the exact same process with every person we film… I guess the lesson is to treat everyone like a celebrity!

If you need a sales film and want to be treated like a celebrity… give us a call at 561-741-1441 x 108. Gibson/Roscoe/Owens Advertising

E-Blasts..CHEAP AND FAST RESULTS!

2009-07-28T07:08:00.000-07:00

Eblasts are your next secret weapon!

This agency sample was sent to 76 clients and prospects.

45 opened the eblast.

12 clicked through to our website.

1 was a prospect we were pitching at the time.

Now, here is how it works to promote a special event:

We blasted this example and a series like it to 13,000 prospects.

2,000 opened it.

600 toured the clients website.

120 people called the sales team.

20 buyers attended the event that day and either purchased or are planning to buy!

The total cost to the client was only $1,500.

Want to see what we can do for you? Call Bob Gibson at 561-741-1441 x 108. Gibson/Roscoe/Owens Advertising