November 8, 2011 / Jennifer
A New Face
We are excited to welcome a new face at Planet Central. Caroline Tall is an Account Executive. She was previously a Senior Account Executive at Castle Advertising in San Diego.
October 14, 2011 / Mike
AdWeek DC
A few weeks ago I attended a great conference in DC as the advertising community came together for this 8th annual event. I’d like to thank Karen Riordan and Ad Club DC for making it all happen. Over the course of the two-day session, we were educated on both the past and future of advertising, trends, and everyone’s hot button issue – social media.
One of the messages that resonated with me came from Eric Ludwig of Rosetta Stone. In social media, your brand is in the consumer’s hands. The audience builds the content; you are there to stimulate and accent it. Use it as a tool to listen and learn from your customers. Brands being social is not new, it’s just that the multiple of mediums has compounded exponentially with the advent of the digital platform.
Another session I really enjoyed featured Katie Harbath from Facebook. In the 90’s, social media was about building a website and people would come to you. Now, social media is built around you. People want to be involved in the experience and feel engaged. They want to drive the experience and participate. Did you know ads that ask people to participate are four times more effective than ones that don’t require participation?
I learned too many good lessons to re-iterate in this blog but know this, it was a great time. The programs, speakers, and relationships were engaging and it was well worth my time. I can’t wait until next year.
September 23, 2011 / Barry
Muscle Team
For the fourth consecutive year, Planet Central had the pleasure of teaming up with the MDA of South Charlotte to raise funds for those with neuromuscular diseases through their 2011 Muscle Team event. Planet Central and many of its vendor-partners, provided marketing services and materials pro-bono. Muscle Team is an annual fundraising event, which pairs top pro athletes with local children living with a neuromuscular disease. Top business executives and their families who attend this event have access to unique entertainment , interactive activities, and a silent and live auction, as well as popular pro athletes. This year, the Muscle Team effort raised over $225,000 to help fund research, to provide services for those living with these diseases, and just as important --- to send the kids to summer camp. We look forward to being a part of Muscle Team 2012!
September 12, 2011 / Kim
Our Newest Members
We are happy to welcome the newest members to Planet Central.
Mike Rose (pictured left) is the Director of Business Development. He was previously the Director of Marketing for WFofR in Richmond.
Ashley Garner (pictured middle) is a Media Accounting Coordinator. She earned a BS in Accounting from Longwood University
Heather Hiner (pictured right) is an Assistant Account Executive. She earned a MA in Professional Writing and Rhetoric from Virginia Commonwealth University.
June 20, 2011 / Kosal
We revamped our logo
If you have noticed a new look around our site, it is due to our newly revamped logo. We hope you like our new logo as much as we do!
May 4, 2011 / Kim
Tiny additions to our team
We would like to congratulate our new moms and welcome the tiniest additions to our Planet Central team. Jennifer Lawrence, Account Supervisor, is the proud parent of Gage William Lawrence (pictured left). Gage was born on March 16 and weighed in at 8 lbs. and 14 oz. Lauren Chavis, Media Supervisor, is a new mom to Owen Louis Chavis (pictured right). Owen was born on April 12 and weighed in at 8 lbs. and 9 oz.
February 18, 2011 / Dawn
Extreme Advertising
The Hollywood Adventure of One Agency
Be sure to tune in to ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on Sunday, February 20th at 8PM EST to see how it all came together.
When we heard in late October that our client, Tilson Homes, was going to participate in an Extreme Makeover: Home Edition build, we were immediately excited. We discovered pretty quickly that while the build would be a great way for our client to become not only a regional but national name in construction – the preparation for the build would be monumental.
Pre-build
Since the build team was comprised of multiple companies, we needed a brand name and logo that could symbolize the build and unify the three different company logos. After considering the build location and reason for being, we landed on “The Heart of Texas.” The logo incorporated the brand name with a visual of two hammers making the symbol of a heart and each of the three companies’ individual logos on a banner below.
Once the logo and brand name were determined, we began coordinating the apparel for the build team. In addition to being an active construction area, the site was also considered “on-set” for the TV show. Because of this, each member of the 90 person build team needed to have coordinating apparel and identification. Planet Central selected, logoed and purchased t-shirts, fishing shirts, jackets, baseball caps and even Cowboy Hat Hard Hats for the build team members. We also created the artwork and put together the ID badges for the build team, VIPs, Media and more.
As a thank you to the VIPs and sponsors of the build, we imprinted the build logo and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition logos on an aluminum water bottle as a keepsake. To help our client raise money for a fund for the family, we negotiated a deal with a t-shirt vendor and created 5,000 t-shirts that were for sale at the Pep Rally and during the build week.
In the weeks prior to the build, we also developed and maintained a website dedicated to the build that allowed the public as well as skilled volunteers to sign up to help during the build as well as provided useful information regarding dates and times for important events during the build week. We also created social media profiles for the build on Facebook and Twitter to help generate excitement in the community as well as provide important information to volunteers, supporters and the media.
Planet Central also created banners that would be used during the build week to promote sponsors, identify locations (VIP tent, Media Corral, Chuckwagon, etc), serve as polite notices to the community (Pardon our Mess) as well as a banner that each of the 4,000 volunteers signed during the build week and was given to the family as a keepsake after the build.
In order to help get our client’s other retail locations excited about the event, we created buttons for sales counselors at each location to encourage customers to ask about the build. We also created signage for inside the retail locations explaining what was happening.
In mid-November, Planet Central began sending out the first of many Press Releases regarding the build in North Central Texas in order to promote important build events and recruit volunteers.
During the Build
While the majority of the marketing campaign for the build was in place, there were still many details that would need to be taken care of on-site during the build week. To ensure that everything ran smoothly, Planet Central sent three members of the Account Team to Texas for the build. In addition to living in an RV on-site for 24 hour availability, the Account Team handled all media requests for interviews with build team leaders, celebrities, volunteers, soldiers and more – some even at 2AM! While on-site the team continued to update the build website and social media profiles while ensuring that the day to day marketing for clients continued as planned.
A videographer for Planet Central also filmed over 40 hours of footage during the build week – including portions of a Christmas Carol that was written for the build week. The Account Team coerced soldiers, volunteers and skilled workers to participate in the music video which was then uploaded to YouTube and used for Tilson’s Christmas e-Card. The remaining video footage will be used to create a DVD of the event for the build sponsors and partners.
The day after the home was revealed to the family, Planet Central hosted a press conference in front of the newly built home. The event was the first opportunity for the press to meet and ask questions to the family as well as an opportunity for sponsors to give any additional gifts and greet the family.
Post Build
Once the build was complete, the work was not over. In order to keep up the momentum of the build for our client, Planet Central planned viewing parties for the episode at each retail location as well as in the town of Salado, TX – where the home was built.
For the retail locations, Planet Central created a mailed and emailed invitation as well as a radio spot inviting guests to come to watch the episode as well as for behind the scenes information from the company that built the home. One guest at each location would also have a chance to win a t-shirt signed by show host, Ty Pennington.
The viewing party in Salado, TX is primarily for the volunteers that put so much time and effort into the build. Since Planet Central had continued to interact with volunteers and fans on social media sites after the build completed, the event sold out before an official notice was even sent out!
Planet Central also helped organize a series of events for our client that would happen outside of their normal marketing areas. Each retail location would host a seminar giving details on the build as well as information on our client in general. We promoted these events by sending a “Save the Date” postcard to prospects in the seminar areas and then following up with an invitation for the event. Also supporting these events were newspaper ads in each location.
Even 10 weeks after the build was completed, Planet Central continues to receive and coordinate inquiries from media throughout the state of Texas.
December 7, 2010 / Kim
Tilson Home Corporation Joins Extreme Makeover Home Edition for the Heart of Texas Build
The call to build a home for a deserving family in just one week has been answered by three Texas-based organizations including Tilson Home Corporation, Temple-Inland Inc. and Texas Association of Builders. The team is calling the project “The Heart of Texas Build.”
Planet Central has partnered with "The Heart of Texas Build" by offering a full marketing and public relations campaign to recruit volunteers, raise funds and collect building materials. In the past few weeks, our agency has been busy with activities which include:
- promoting a Pep Rally event to raise awareness of the build
- updating the media through press releases and media tours/interviews to recruit volunteers and collect building materials
- designing banners and posters to organize the build site and other build related events
- creating "The Heart of Texas Build" brand jackets, t-shirts, baseball hats, construction hats and badges to organize volunteers and raise funds for the build
- creating and maintaining all website and social media profiles
We are even volunteering at the build this week! For more information on the build, please visit www.HeartOfTexasBuild.com.
November 11, 2010 / Jennifer
Celebrating 200 Studios and Countless Smiles
Portrait Innovations has become the fastest growing retail portrait picture studio company in the U.S and will open the 200th studio on November 11, in Cedar Hill, TX. The CEO engaged Planet Central Advertising as his marketing/advertising partner in 2002 to assist in brand development and launch of the first studio. We’ve worked with Portrait Innovations since then to open every studio across the country, and a new studio opens approximately every 12 days somewhere in the U.S. And along the way, Portrait Innovations has realized same-store sales increases every quarter, even throughout the sluggish economic times. Congratulations to Portrait Innovations opening 200 studios and capturing countless smiles!
October 29, 2010 / Kim
Planet Central Knows Moms
Planet Central client management executive Jennifer Lawrence participated in the national Marketing to Moms conference this week. Planet Central is continuously engaged with the "mom-powered community" as many of our executives are moms themselves. We know moms and we keep many of our clients engaged with moms.
October 20, 2010 / Kim
Congratulations and Welcome
(Photo L-R: Lauren Chavis, Julie Maurer, Allison Watts, Jennifer Garriques)
Congratulations to Lauren Chavis on her latest achievement!
- Lauren Chavis has been promoted to Media Supervisor. She has been with Planet Central for four years as a Media Buyer/Planner.
And, welcome our latest additions to Planet Central!
- Julie Maurer is a Media Coordinator. She will assist the media department with reconciliation and various projects.
- Allison Watts is a Media Accounting Coordinator. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Virginia Commonwealth University.
- Jennifer Garriques is an Assistant Media Buyer. She was formerly with eMommie.com.
September 28, 2010 / Dawn
Commercial for Tilson Homes Wins TAB Star Award
Planet Central’s “Couple” spot was awarded the 2010 Star Award for “Best Television Commercial”. The Star Awards are the Southwest’s premier building industry awards program hosted by the Texas Association of Builders. Check out the award winning spot for Tilson Home Corporation below.
September 17, 2010 / Jennifer
E S Foods Educates Parents and Teachers about Hunger in America
In today’s USA Today special edition “Hunger in America,” E S Foods helps to promote hunger awareness. Planet Central Advertising created the ad campaign to help educate and inspire teachers and parents to make sure their kids have the most important meal of the day. E S Foods’ flagship product, Breakfast BREAKS and their School Breakfast Program play a vital role in our school system. When students eat a nutritious breakfast, test scores and behavior improve and there is an increased eagerness to learn. We need to fill their stomachs before we can feed their minds.
August 25, 2010 / Dawn
Legion of Excellence Award presented to Barry Wilson
Barry Wilson, partner and managing director of Planet Central Advertising, was awarded the prestigious Legion of Excellence Award by the American Advertising Federation District 3. This award recognizes contributions to and involvement in the American Advertising District 3 activities over a long period of time by dedicated individuals. Barry has been very active in the American Advertising Federation (AAF) serving on the national board as Governor of the AAF District Three, president of AAF Charlotte and chairman of the Charlotte ADDY Awards. He received the prestigious 2008 Silver Medal Award presented by AAF Charlotte for outstanding achievements in the industry and community service. His affiliation with the AAF began as a student at the University of South Carolina where he was a member of the school's National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC) team, winner of the AAF District Three NSAC and he served as president of the college AAF chapter.
August 10, 2010 / Jennifer
Planet Central Sends E S Foods Back-to-School
We recently assisted E S Foods in launching their new Breakfast BREAKS green-pouch packaging for the upcoming 2010-2011 school year. A direct mail piece and sales brochure were created targeting Food Service Directors. The big idea was "Feed More. Save More." E S Foods can help feed more kids and save schools more money. Through innovation and research, E S Foods has come up with a new Breakfast BREAKS product offering at a significant price reduction. And the kids love it!
In addition to the direct mail, we created a full page print ad and banner ad supporting the product launch. Both were placed in the August/September issue of the School Nutrition Association publication.
June 28, 2010 / Barry
Social media before social media was cool
I was involved in one of the original social media. And we never got tickets from the police for doing this one while driving.
Years ago, before most of today's bloggers, tweeters, or texters were born, 1 out of every 10 cars had a CB radio in them. "CB" was short for Citizen's Band, meaning it was the part of the airwaves turned over for the average Joe to use. BTW, I don't mind aging myself by talking about such ancient history because the use of CB proved useful for my success in today's networked world. My handle was Crewshaft. (I can't for the life of me remember why I chose that.)
CB Etiquette that helps in the social world
When communicating on a CB radio, we had to use brief sentences so as to allow others a chance to voice their opinions. When I was a kid, my dad's CB had 23 channels, so the real estate was in high demand. Someone hogging the air was quickly branded and folks would avoid engaging them in conversation for fear they'd never get a word in edgewise. To keep things short, code was invented that has sense worked its way into the lexicon:
Bear - A policeman or highway patrol
Bear in the Air - Police in a helicopter
Breaker - The person requesting to break in on the channel
CQ - A general call for contact on an open frequency
10-4 - Yes
Negatory - No or negative.
In the Twitterverse, limiting folks to 140 characters has taken care of some of this problem, but there are still some folks who can't seem to control themselves. For a while, some people were putting up a wall of duplicate tweets. Again, Twitter stepped in and made this impossible. Once again, of course, a way around this has been invented called Tweetspinner. This allows you to schedule your spam so as to blast it out on Twitter automatically and at random intervals, avoiding the blocks. Necessity is the mother of invention, even invention to perpetuate Twitter spam.
Brand authority in CB land and in the online world
On a CB radio, developing a brand personality was very important to your media authority. Ditto in the online world. It really came down to authenticity. CBs made you very public. Some folks who were early into the "technology" acted as though no one would find out if they acted poorly on air; of course they were found out and avoided.
Those CB users who treated others with respect, helped out fellow drivers ("Breaker, Breaker 1-9, there's a bear at exit 12), made us laugh, brought us news, and helped in natural disasters, they were the ones who built their brand authority.
Sound familiar? It also works in modern social media. The media has changed, but the game is the same.
June 16, 2010 / Kosal
Funny
At Planet Central, we love all the new portable video cameras. Keep one with you everywhere because you never know what you'll find that's worth showing the rest of the world. Some of us love Flip video cameras, but I like my iPhone. I edited it on iMovie. (as you can guess, I'm a die-hard Mac fan.)
March 4, 2010 / Kosal
One For the Wall
Quotes are great. But how many do you print out and put up on the wall. In the main room where I spent countless all-nighters in college, my Graphic Arts professor, Edward LeShock, had painted a giant one-word quote on the wall:
TIGHTER
It meant simply that you always had to consider whether or not you had made every element of what you’re doing as absolutely perfect as it could be; made sure you’d pushed it enough. It also made you realize you were never quite done. You’d always be looking for ways to improve things.
This kind of obsessive behavior isn’t limited to our creative department. As we’re working on a big assignment for a client, we’ll be just as worried about the strategy. We’re always pushing for more inventive, lower cost media ideas. We’re constantly exploring new online opportunities. Obsessing, it seems, is a game everyone can play.
The key is focus
My wife constantly chides me about being obsessive about new marketing ideas, but not nearly as focused on that big pile of clothes on the bedroom floor I keep forgetting to put away. While I know better than to try and defend the pile of clothes, I’ve read that this is a common trait among extremely focused individuals. (That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.)
The ability to aim your attention at a problem and dig in is a trait we look for in the people we hire. We’ve been very successful in planting this trait in every department of our agency.
February 28, 2010 /
Agency Accountability
Early on in my career I noticed that there was a distinct difference between those who succeeded as agency professionals and those who didn’t. Then, as I got out amongst clients and other business executives, the distinction held true. The difference was very apparent and it all hinged on one key attribute – accountability. Those who took ownership of everything they did, took responsibility, they were the ones who succeeded in their careers.
Coming up on the creative side of the business, I had the advantage of seeing lots of agency cultures (translation – I jumped around a lot to get my salary up). I quickly realized that this distinction that separated one individual from another also separated one agency from another. In fact, it made some agency’s work far more creative than others. Those who took full and complete ownership of everything they did usually did more effective, arresting, creative work. They thought of things the client needed to do without waiting to be told what to do. The invented, they pushed…they simply cared more.
How and where this shows up in the agency business may surprise you. If it’s really in a company, then it has to be in it from top to bottom. It has to be cultural.
Want to find out if this kind of accountability is in your agency? Send them an email and see how long it takes to get a response. Call them after hours and leave a message. See what time in the morning they call back. Chances are, their response time will be very rapid. After all, they’re your agency for a reason (and there’s a lingering recession). But if it’s not, then you might want to examine a few other things, like the results of your marketing compared to your competitors. Are you being pushed by your agency? Are they showing you things that would truly move the needle? Are they showing you ideas you didn’t ask for?
I see this kind of accountability in Planet Central and I see it in unexpected places.
We have 3 offices which work as one on projects. I recently sent some revisions to one of our art directors in Richmond to make changes on a print job. Within minutes, my IM lit up with a PDF. The changes were already dropped in. The piece had already been spell checked and proofed. All literally within 15 minutes. Back when I was running a big New York ad firm, such changes would have taken over half a day, minimum. Here, the ownership taken by both the art director and the account executive were instant. This gives us a competitive advantage over our competitors and that is the ultimate goal of any corporate culture as far as I’m concerned.