When I first saw the new logo for JCPenney I was unmoved. I found it basic and non-offensive. From the prospective of a designer, I had very little to say about it, good or bad.
After learning the context of the design, I gained a new appreciation for it.
That’s a problem. A logo should be able to stand on its on. It should never need context to be understood.
The new logo is chock-full of references to JCPenney’s latest campaign. The overall shape of the logo is familiar to the layout of a date on a calendar. The red square represents their “everyday” great prices, the blue square represents their “best prices” and white refers to their “month-long values.”
This is another problem.
A logo should never be part of a campaign. Campaigns come and go for all companies. In all fairness, they will likely keep this particular campaign running for some time. I compare it to the Walmart campaign of price roll-backs and the smiley-face character they use. The character is not part of Walmart’s logo, though synonymous with the company, and it could go away at any point without affecting the Walmart logo.
What JCPenney has done, is boxed themselves into a corner, where any change in campaign would require a change in logo. This is particularly disconcerting for a 110 year-old brand. To have a logo that’s part of a campaign, answering to the immediate needs of the company, doesn’t speak to their strengths and longevity. But you don’t want to see them rest on their laurels to a point where they fade into obscurity.
It comes down to the difference between being proactive and reactive. In this case it appears JCPenney is being reactive. It isn’t uncommon for brands that have been around for hundreds of years to be proactive and redesign their logo with modern aesthetics. Recent examples include Pepsi and Chevrolet. These redesigns are more of a re-fresh; they aren’t entirely new and pay respect to their pasts.
JCPenney will have a chance to correct their logo after the current campaign runs its course. Hopefully they’ll find a respect for where they’ve been, take a look at where they want to go and ignore the short-term trends surrounding them.
We were thrilled to open this week’s edition of Vegas Inc. and find MassMedia included in the list of female- and minority-owned businesses. We’re coming up on our 15 year anniversary of working with the best clients in Las Vegas and around the country!
MassMedia is number 16 on the list, which is based on the number of employees. If they ranked companies by the amount of caffeine consumed in an average work day, we’d be number 1!
We at MassMedia love to work with clients that give back to the Las Vegas community. Our clients have helped raise money for education, to support disadvantaged children and to fight ovarian cancer. In December, our friends at Yes! Air Conditioning and Plumbing gave the gift of warmth to local seniors through the company’s Yes! Cares senior program.
The outreach effort was called “Heat for the Holidays.” Yes! teamed up with Catholic Charities to provide complimentary HVAC services to homebound seniors who couldn’t afford the work. The exact nature of the work varied from home to home, but the Yes! technicians did not leave until the furnace was working safely.
During the course of Heat for the Holidays we had the pleasure to meet Rosa and Luther Kendrick, a couple who has been married for 63 years. The Kendricks were facing the prospect of spending their second straight Christmas with no heat until Yes! stepped in.
Unfortunately, their furnace was damaged beyond repair. Undeterred, Yes! general manager Lance Fernandez worked with his suppliers to arrange for the donation of a brand new HVAC unit (valued at $8,000) along with a crane truck to complete the job.
MassMedia wants to say “thank you” to everyone involved, including Catholic Charities, Yes! Air Conditioning and Plumbing, Goodman Manufacturing, and Desert Crane.
Click here to watch 8newsnow’s coverage of the work done at the Kendrick home.
Paula Yakubik, managing partner of MassMedia Corporate Communications, a full-service public relations, advertising and marketing firm, recently announced the hiring of Jesse Scott as an assistant account executive.
As an assistant account executive, Scott will provide support to the account service team by implementing communication strategies and tactics for clients. He is responsible for developing and editing written content and assisting with media relations and event planning. He also assists with clients’ social media and marketing initiatives.
Prior to joining MassMedia in 2011, Scott was the grassroots marketing coordinator for Verizon FiOS in Northern Virginia. He has also worked in media as an entertainment correspondent at The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Va. and as a freelance producer at the BBC’s Washington, D.C. bureau.
Scott is a 2007 summa cum laude graduate of George Mason University with a degree in communication.
A friendly office competition over who could raise the most food for charity took on a life of its own in November. The MassMedia crew was divided into four teams and family members, friends and agency clients were all enlisted in the battle.
The office rivalry quickly gained intensity as teams looked for an edge. One team even took to the television airwaves to drum up support.
The goal for the collection effort, which ran from November 2 to November 18, was 1,000 nonperishable food items. The final tally nearly doubled that amount – 1,950 cans and boxes of food!
We at MassMedia would like to take a moment to thank everyone who contributed and made the 2011 Thanksgiving Food Drive a success!
September commemorates Ovarian Cancer Awareness month, aimed at spreading the word about the disease which is so difficult to screen for and claims the lives of so many women. This year, we at MassMedia Healthcare Marketing partnered with the Women’s Cancer Center Foundation to make an impact upon this cause. The event we organized turned out to be a great success.
“The purpose of the Owareness walk was pretty simple: to bring attention to the problem of ovarian cancer,” said Dr. Nick Spirtos, medical director of the Women’s Cancer Center of Nevada (WCC). “The disease is found in late stages; there is no effective screening program, and treatment is difficult as it includes both surgery and chemotherapy.”
Dr. Spirtos and the staff of the WCC took it upon themselves to bolster awareness in the local community by hosting the Owareness Walk of 2011, sequel to the Owareness Rally of 2010. Women battling the disease, as well as those who support their fight and those who have lost loved ones to cancer, were invited to gather on the campus of University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
Our job at MassMedia was to coordinate the event by arranging the intricate details, such as booking speakers and sponsors, securing media coverage, building partnerships with similar organizations, and cultivating community-wide awareness of the event.
Speakers included NFL Hall-of-Famer Jerry Rice; Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman; Dr. Spirtos, and a few of the center’s patients. Each shared inspirational words with the group of over 200 people who turned out to show their support. Several community partners were in attendance as well, groups such as the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance.
In total, over $21,000 was raised by the event. That money will benefit cancer research and help uninsured or underinsured ovarian cancer patients afford their chemotherapy treatments.
We look forward to continuing this event next September and hope to build on the successes already achieved for the cause. Stay tuned for updates on the Owareness website, and check out the pictures and conversation from this year’s event on the Owareness Facebook page.
Modern changes in technology have turned the world of marketing on its ear, but television commercials are one form of advertising that has withstood the test of time. TV spots continue to be one of the most effective methods of delivering messages, especially when the topic involves information that viewers might not actively seek out on their own. Additionally, now that cable networks have expanded upon the handful of local channels available, ads can be much more targeted for specific demographics.
Recently our team was approached by HealthCare Partners of Nevada to develop, direct, and strategically place a commercial for the current awareness campaign which is aimed at educating patients enrolled in Medicare that they must switch insurance companies to continue seeing their current HealthCare Partners physicians. MassMedia utilized industry partnerships and coordinated the entire process in 10 basic steps, making it simple for the client to get exactly what was needed for a great commercial.
Step 1: Initial client meeting
The first step to any good campaign is to figure out who the messages are going to be geared toward. Otherwise, you could produce a great-looking commercial that completely misses the target audience. The result is a waste of time, money and effort.
The target demographic of this project mainly involved seniors, who make up the majority of television viewership. Therefore a TV commercial fit perfectly into the overall campaign, which also includes print advertising, media relations, grassroots efforts and online tactics.
Step 2: Market research
Following the client meeting, we conducted research on the target demographic to get an idea of which TV stations and time slots would be most effective for their purposes. We found out which stations and programs are most watched by local seniors, and designed a media buy around that information. We also looked into the current opinions of our target audience and utilized the findings to develop appropriate messages.
Step 3: Message development
Our team then collaborated on the development of key messages to be expressed in the commercial and the best ways to communicate them to viewers. We used these ideas to develop a script and moved forward in the process to work out other filming details.
Step 4: Location scouting
The next step for us was to secure a location that was an appropriate setting and would be cost-effective for the client. We wanted the commercial to have a comfortable, “homey” feel, so it made sense to film it inside a house.
Step 5: Talent casting
Because our message is intended for seniors, we selected talent in that demographic, utilizing a senior-to-senior communication strategy.
We selected five seniors and one of the client’s physicians that could best relay our message. They are people that our research indicated that our key audiences would connect with.
Step 6: TV company quotes
When choosing a film crew for a commercial, it is important to keep a few key aspects in mind. These include the company’s reputation and portfolio, flexibility, creativity, and equipment. Keep in mind that some crews specialize in certain types of video, and this must be accounted for as well.
We requested quotes from various television companies to film and edit the commercial, and chose the one with the most capability with the best value for the client. We communicated the client’s needs to the selected firm, and collaborated with their team for specific elements such as lighting and microphone placement.
Step 7: Production schedule
With the filming company secured, we moved forward in the development of a precise production schedule to ensure the commercial would be ready in time for the reserved airtime. We facilitated this agenda with all parties involved, including the client, television company, talent agency, and media contacts.
Step 8: Commercial direction
A commercial director is important, as this person is in charge of keeping everyone focused on the goals of the project and representing the client’s needs during filming. This helps combat the problem of “too many chefs in the kitchen” and keeps everyone on the same page.
The day of the shooting, everything came together like a well-orchestrated melody. Members of our team directed the talent who did a great job performing their parts. All the needed shots were collected in one day, saving the client money on setup fees and hourly rates.
Step 9: Video editing management
Editing can make all the difference in the production of a commercial. The runtime of a commercial is limited, and a strong point must be made without the video becoming too lengthy.
After the film was gathered, MassMedia oversaw the video editing and audio selection to guarantee the views of the client were being represented in the final product. After much deliberation, the video was complete and exactly what HealthCare Partners had asked for.
Step 10: Media placement facilitation
There’s no point in putting so much effort into your video if no one is going to see it. With our commercial ready for the public eye, we sent it to the chosen television networks, tactically airing the video on 15 stations during times that our research showed our key demographic was likely to be tuning in. By the time the campaign is complete, the commercial will have run over 2,400 times. Thus, it is likely that if you are living in the Las Vegas area that you have already seen it, but if not, you can check it out below.
MassMedia is pleased to announce that Georgeann Pizzi has been appointed to account supervisor of the corporate communications division of the agency.
Georgeann joined MassMedia in 2009 as an assistant account executive and was named an account executive in 2010. As account supervisor, she will continue to manage a portfolio of the agency’s public relations and advertising clients, and her responsibilities will expand to include employee supervision, team member professional development and training, and other management duties.
“Georgeann has been an instrumental member of our team for the past two years and we’re excited to welcome her to the MassMedia management team” said Paula Yakubik, managing partner of MassMedia. “She is a dedicated leader whose diligence, responsible nature and experience will allow her to succeed in her new position.”
Lately you may have noticed that Facebook has opened up its rigid page structure to allow companies to build upon the basic sections of a Wall, Info, and Photos. Now businesses are able to add custom tabs to the mix. But what’s the big benefit for the companies using them?
Superstores are crawling with people because they offer the convenience of the “one-stop shop.” You can now give your fans the same benefit by offering them the information they need without sending them outside their comfortable Facebook world and into the sea of interwebs. Users have come to distrust webpages after the onslaught of SPAM and mislinks, etc., and would sometimes rather stick to a site they are familiar with.
But Facebook has its fair share of shadiness as well, and tabs help a person recognize an official page from a faker, as there’s often a lot less time spent in throwing together a page meant for SPAM. In a meeting a couple weeks ago, my colleague, Jessica (@JessicaPetPR) told me, “I never really realized it before, but when I see a Facebook tab, I know the page is legitimate.” Whether or not the users of Facebook realize it, there is a level of trust associated with custom tabs.
These sections of the Facebook page run the gamut where layout and content are concerned. They can resemble the pages of your company’s website, with a place for locations, products, current promotions or whatever you think you have enough information on to warrant a separate tab. Many companies choose to designate a landing tab, which serves the same welcoming purpose as a website’s homepage and generally requests that users like the page.
How you build your tab will depend on what you intend to use it for. There are three basic levels:
1. Welcome Graphic
You can design a graphic that greets new users and requests they subscribe to the page by using a basic app from Pagemodo. They have several layouts to simplify adding text and arranging the information nicely. If you just wish to use one simple graphic, like this welcome tab from HealthCare Partners, the upload process is very brief.
2. Webpage Functionality
To enable more operation with the tab and make it work more like a web page, you can build it using HTML, CSS or Java Script coding by installing the Static iFrame app on your page. Though more in-depth than the previous option, the structure is generally more basic than an actual website. Still, it allows for as many clickable links, pictures and tables with a layout that is limited only by the expanses of your imagination and 500 pixels width.
If you aren’t a web designer, don’t fret – there are experts at MassMedia to help you, like we did for Euphoria Salons and Day Spas with their custom tabs.
3. Custom Apps
The final tier of functionality is a custom app developed for your company, which allows users to actually input information. An example of this would be the program on Pepsi’s page, which checks product codes. This kind of tab is useful for newsletter sign ups, contest entries, etc. and are offered by companies such as WildFire with varying price tags.
A quick look through the types of Facebook apps available can be useful, and you can start by looking through the Facebook developer page here.
Custom tabs are highly recommended, as they are subliminal messages to users that the company knows what it is doing on Facebook, which sends its own message that the company knows what it’s doing in general.
MassMedia recognized a need to highlight and feature two of their leading services, crisis communications and media buying, and decided to develop microsites dedicated to providing comprehensive information for just these services.
Both sites explain the importance of the services and outlines the numerous initiatives that MassMedia does and the extensive work that the agency performs to ensure optimal results for the services. The microsites also feature the relevant experience and background of all the team members. Through the microsites, viewers can also access MassMedia’s Facebook and Twitter pages.
The media buying microsite provides a form to fill out for a free consultation while the crisis communications site offers a form to fill out to receive information about upcoming webinars or to schedule a one-on-one training session. The crisis communications site also offers many useful and relevant blog posts such as recent case studies on political scandals and contingency plans.
When I first saw the new logo for JCPenney I was unmoved. I found it basic and non-offensive. From the prospective of a designer, I had very little to say about it, good or bad.
By: Celina Tuason
