TCC Insights

Old Navy Sways, Spike Follows

By Drew Shields, Creative Intern

Whether or not the Vacay Sway is your dancefloor move of choice, Old Navy has been making moves in the world of television advertising by teaming up with mobile app company Shazam earlier this year.

Since its inception, Shazam's music identifying and tagging app has solely been focused on saving individuals from the mind-wrangling torture of trying to figure out the name of the song that's playing overhead while you wait for your oil change. The Old Navy team-up, which allows you to shop the items from the commercials right from your smartphone, is just the first play in Shazam's full-court press to expand its tech beyond simple redirects to iTunes and Spotify and into the realm of non-music marketing.

Helping Joplin, Mo., Without Leaving Your Computer Desk

By Lisa Cialfi, Account Coordinator

Admittedly, I’m a social media addict. A lot of my friends who don’t work in the communications field often tease me by saying “What, are you going to tweet about that??” anytime someone so much as sneezes. While I’m not quite at the point of tweeting about sneezes, I humor them with a laugh. This week my love of social media was reinforced.

A Disappointing Finish

 Carolyn Human, Account Manager

This past weekend, three of us at Travers Collins made the trek down the I-90 to run the Cleveland half marathon. Despite the blog title, we did not have a disappointing finish – in fact all three of us earned a PR (personal record) at the race.

However, one company trying to sell a product at the race expo set a PR for the most misleading and disappointing packaging in my book. For those out there trying to get into social media, this is a perfect example of what NOT to do.

Ads on Amazon Kindle: Genius or Gimmick?

By Kelsey Bradbury, Account Service Intern

The idea of ads mixing with e-books is enough to elicit groans, and is probably fodder for hundreds of gloomy blog posts about the unbridled proliferation of advertising into every aspect of American life. But this particular blogger thinks that Amazon may have achieved the improbable—the creation of a desirable ad-supported e-reader.

First and foremost, Amazon promises skeptical readers an uninterrupted reading experience with the ad-supported Kindle—ads appear only on the bottom of the home screen and as screensavers.

Farewell, Flip (May 1, 2006 - April 12, 2011)

By Joe Russell, Account Coordinator

“A moment lasts all of a second, but the memory lives on forever.”

These words are the essence that embodied all that Flip stood for. He was truly a lover of life; wanting nothing more than to put a smile on everyone’s face. While his life was short, he influenced many. Today we reflect on the life of our dear friend, Flip.

Born in 2006, it was clear from the beginning that Flip would change the world in his own way. In 2009, he left his humble beginnings at Pure Digital Technologies and joined Cisco. It was here where Flip would shine; becoming the #1 selling point-and-shoot camcorder in the US. It is also here where he, while seemingly at the pinnacle of his stardom, would experience a tragic and startling death.

Websites That Are Actually Quite Useful

 By Jeff Bucki, Senior Copywriter

I started thinking about the websites that I frequent while at work. Some are useful to what I do, and all of them are valuable in some form.

Dictionary.com  
A dictionary and a thesaurus all in one. If I’m working on a naming project, tagline or theme, it’s a very helpful resource. I still pick up the real books from time to time, but this website is so easy to use. I probably use it on a daily basis.

Apple Blew It

By Bob Travers, Principal

For the fourth year in a row Apple has been number one on FORTUNE Magazine’s list of the World’s Most Admired Companies.  Not surprised here.  Personally, I love Apple products and as a matter of fact, I own six Apple products including two iPhones (my wife’s and my own). And at the marketing communications company my partner and I own we have multiple Apple computers, products and accessories.

So I am what you would call a loyal purchaser of the Apple brand.  And why am I so loyal?  Because I know they will always deliver to or exceed my expectations, in what we in the marketing world call key moments of truth.  Whenever I interact with Apple, whether it’s through the features or benefits of the product I’ve purchased, or when I call their customer support or technical support services, I’m continuously satisfied, for the most part beyond my expectations.  As I counsel my clients, a great brand not only delivers what a customer is looking for, the overall experience is always a positive one.

However, in my opinion and I’m sure it’s shared by thousands of Apple customers across the country, Apple has blown it big time with the launch of the iPad 2. 

Oh Apple How You Disappoint Me

By Alyssa Mayer, Account Manager, Interactive Strategist

My love affair with Apple has been going for seven years now, dating back to my first iPod mini. My most recent purchase was the iPhone 4 through Verizon. Apple has always gone above and beyond with their service. When iPods broke, Apple provided new ones. When my MacBook Pro battery died, Apple had a new replacement battery waiting.  These are the characteristics that keep me coming back (oh, and the products are sweet!).

However I was extremely disappointed in Apple yesterday morning.  I arrived at the Galleria Mall in Buffalo, NY at 7am, to wait in line for the iPad 2. I had been told Sunday that they would be available at 9am Tuesday when the store opened.  I sat in line, chatted with a few customers about our love of Apple and our excitement to own an iPad 2.

Lessons Learned While Teaching Grandpa About Facebook

By Carolyn Human, Account Manager

When my 86 year old grandfather asked for “Facebook” for Christmas, I couldn’t say no for two reasons. #1: he’s hard to buy for and #2: all it would cost me was some of my time. So, with little effort on my part, on Christmas Eve he opened up a box with a coupon for Facebook lessons. He asked to redeem his coupon on January 1, 2011.  So we sat down together to set up his account.

A Wikipedia Strategy

By Alyssa Mayer, Account Manager/Interactive Strategist

Wikipedia has become a valuable resource online, whether you are looking for the meaning of a word or searching for more information on a topic. While its accuracy and reliability are still being debated (my vote goes to accurate!), you cannot dispute the dominance of Wikipedia results in search engines.

To prove my point, I just asked for a little help from my co-workers to shout out any word. The responses I received were “Cracker Jacks,” “candy” and “banana” – clearly we have food on the brain. I typed these into Google and voila! The rankings for the Wikipedia page for each were:
Cracker Jacks = 5th result
Candy = 10th result
Banana = 2nd result