Great Scot pharmacy operations initiated a continuity program offered to customers in September, October and November of 2011. The program has been recognized by the National Grocers Association for advertising excellence in the area of Best Non-Price or Consumer Value Print Ad.

The three month continuity direct mail program communicated the commitment of Great Scot Pharmacies safe fulfillment of children’s prescription medication, its
accurate and expedited fulfillment rate and finally, the commitment to outstanding customer service. The program was designed and executed by Anderson
Robertson Marketing, Findlay, Ohio.

Anderson Robertson Marketing was also awarded on behalf of Fresh Encounter as honorable mention in the Connections through Technology category. With
the cross media use of social media, print media and in-store signage, Anderson Robertson implemented an “Ice Cream Dreams” giveaway. Contestants posted
a special sundae recipe with creative name through Facebook and two lucky recipients were rewarded with free ice cream for one year!

The National Grocers Association (N.G.A.) is the national trade association representing the retail and wholesale grocers that comprise the independent
sector of the food distribution industry. The Anderson Robertson Marketing team will be attending The N.G.A. Show in Las Vegas, February 12-14.

The Community Markets Pharmacies have a knowledgeable and personalized staff that remains unmatched by larger drugstore chains, and we want our customers to be aware of the valuable services we offer. While three of our stores have always had a pharmacy, we have never made it a priority to advertise exclusively for that department. With the help of the pharmacy, we developed 3 target areas that would benefit the pharmacy and develop new customers: new & refill prescriptions, children’s prescriptions & reduced wait time.

With the help of the pharmacy, we first developed 3 target areas that would benefit the pharmacy and develop new customers:

View our Slipsheets from this promotion

Fill & Win: Our goal was to drive prescription fills & gain new customers. By offering a shopping spree as a perk, we were able to attract new customers.

Kids Come First: Highlighing the fact that we let kids cut in line at the pharmacy, we were able to drive parents to our pharmacy, knowing they would experience a fast turnaround time. Everyone understands that a sick child should come first, and the sooner prescription medication can be administered the quicker the road to recovery. The idea for this policy actually came from a customer at the Fostoria, Ohio location who saw a mother with a dreary child and insisted that our pharmacist fill the child’s prescription first.

Less Than 15 Minutes: We guarantee a 15 minute wait time on any single prescription so we focused on that promise, offering a $5 gift card to anyone who waited longer.

Each ad ran for one week in our weekly circular in three different months.

Bottom line (sales increases, margins, % gains, etc): The promotion as a whole was a success, with one particular pharmacy experiencing increased script count and sales increase of 1.3%. For the “Less Than 15 Minutes”, no $5 gift cards were given out, which reflects our 15 minute promise.

Our Pharmacy promotion at 3 stores ends next week! See how you can be entered to win a 90 second shopping spree! facebook.com/photo.php?fbid…

— Community Markets (@CommunityMarket) October 20, 2011

When it comes to inexpensive ways to reach a broad range of customers, digital is the way to go. With our strong foothold in mobile and social media marketing we chose to utilize our digital tools to reach all the customers in our 30 store range. Aside from our own growth, we also wanted to assist Prairie Farms in increasing their social media network as well.

The process started with a research and strategy session to determine the optimal way to both deliver the message and track it’s effectiveness. Once determined, the next step was to identify all the tools we would use. We chose to create unique QR codes for every form media in order to track both how someone was entering the contests and what marketing material they saw. The QR codes directed the user to a mobile website to increase its effectiveness as compared to the traditional website. Every entry was either recorded on our Facebook page or website and required the user to like both Community Markets and Prairie Farms Dairy. Users submitted their favorite ice cream flavor, three of their favorite toppings and a fun name for their Ice Cream Dream. Following the submission period of 2 weeks, we had a 2 week voting period that went viral on Facebook. Every time someone voted for an Ice Cream Dream it posted to their Facebook wall increasing our reach and our Facebook following. This turned out to be a highly successful campaign that accomplished all our goals and created a surge in awareness for Prairie Farms Ice Cream, Community Markets and our Digital Marketing initiatives.

Newspaper Slipsheet | Facebook Statistics | Facebook Screenshots

Let’s face it, sometimes as marketers we need to “hold the hand” of our audience. Otherwise our message gets lost or is even misinterpreted.

I’ve been chewing on this for a while.  For as long as I can remember people have been using social media logos in attempt to increase users to sites like Facebook and Twitter. The concept behind this is that if the consumer sees the social media icons, they will remember to go home and like them on Facebook and start following them on Twitter. If only it were simple. I’m sure Big Tom Callahan could come up with some great lines on how this is a waste of visual property.

Have you every done this?  Have you? Raise your hand right now if you have?

GUILTY!

Have you told your marketing department or designer “slap a Facebook and Twitter icon on our ad” like it gives your company some Klout or will magically increase your social media numbers?  I’ve done this for clients, only because they insisted on using this method.  Like telling your children to clean their room while they are watching a movie, the message doesn’t fit the response you are looking for.

If you have and still use the logo icons on your marketing materials I want to ask you some questions.

1. Have you been able to measure how many new followers you have based upon these methods?  It’s already very difficult to gauge ROI (Return On Investment) on social media, especially in traditional media.
2. If you are comfortable using the Facebook and Twitter icon on your marketing materials, would you useto signify you have a website instead of giving your domain name?  I mean why  not, a globe is the symbol for the internet.  Easy pickens, eh?
3. Would you use instead of giving your phone number to people?  Do you trust your clientele to go to their phone book or the internet to find your phone number?
4. Would you use  instead of your address on your marketing materials?  Google maps is pretty accurate you know so why not trust them to find where you are.

Proof flavored pudding.

Hold the hand of your audience

Jay

I imagine a lot of you can say that social media has improved your relationships among your friends, family and colleagues. Who knew 5 years ago that it was a viable threat to people to say “I’ll unfriend you” or that it would be ethical to “poke” co-workers after hours. Social media is overhauling how we communicate with one another. I know many people stay away from it for fears of identity issues, but these fears also existed when people began getting on the internet and when society started shopping online. “giving my credit card over the internet is dangerous.”

Where will we be in the next 5 years

Let’s start with the hot topic in technology right now

The Cloud

Cloud computing will be one of the most significant changes in our society. Cloud computing is when applications are provided and managed by the cloud server and data is also stored remotely in the cloud configuration. An easy example of this is Facebook. Your “profile”, your pictures, your information, your videos are all stored remotely on a server somewhere and you can access it whether you are on your laptop, your ipad or your mobile phone. Another example that I can personally relate to is putting your family photos in the cloud. I did this because I was concerned of what I would do if my hard drive crashed. Lets face it, we don’t have negatives any more to fall back on. So I backed up all our photos on an external HD to put in a firesafe but also put all our images on Flickr.com and made them only accessible to me. 60gb of family photos, backed up in the cloud and accessible from any computer, and tablet and any phone. Pretty cool huh? Now, a month ago Apple announced iCloud. This is helping people image what the cloud is. With iCloud you can have all of your documents, images and music all in the cloud and accessible from any Apple device. Sick days aren’t sick days anymore!

How will the Cloud impact your business?

Zaarly

How many of you have ever thought or said “I’d pay $50 for somebody to come mulch my house today”. Zaarly makes that happen. Zaarly allows you to request a service or some offer to anyone in your area. While being less than a month old and being founded overnight during a 54 hour cram session at LA Startup weekend, Zaarly is making fast tracks in our digital world. Here is some background on it.

• Post what you’re looking for, how much you’re willing to pay for it and how soon you need it on Zaarly. Zaarly immediately shares your request in the local community through the Zaarly platform, and also allows you to get help from your friends and contacts to find what you’re looking for via social channels like Facebook and Twitter
• People or businesses nearby see what you want and connect to fulfill your request
• Zaarly allows buyers and sellers to anonymously message and talk on the phone to facilitate the logistics of a
• transaction, enabling an in-person or virtual meeting to complete the transaction
• You can use cash or Zaarly’s integrated credit card payment system to pay for the transaction, all within a
• safe and secure platform
• Zaarly is available on the iPhone, Android, and all Web-enabled mobile phones via your mobile Web browser, as well as through the Web and Facebook on your desktop computer. The integrated Zaarly platform allows buyers and sellers to connect while they are on-the-go or from the convenience of home or office

Square

Ultra High Speed Internet

Earlier this year Verizon announced the launch of its 4G LTE Wireless Data system. This amazing communications vessel boasts download speeds of 28 mbps and uploads speeds of 10 mbps. You say big deal, and I say it is. This is much faster than the average home cable internet speeds, even at work where we have TWC Business Class I only get download speeds of 7mbps and uploads of 1.5 mbps. Why does this matter? Imagine a workforce that has no centralized location. Imagine a workforce where people can work wherever, whenever as or even more efficient that they would in the office. As a graphic and web designer, I can design a lot better with headphones on a coffee shop than I can behind a desk being interuptted by phone calls, email and people stopping in for autographs. How this effects us in the next 5 years is mobile devices are now the primary information source for consumers. People have begun to stream video live from wherever they are to the masses. The website ustream.tv has excisted for a while as an internet streaming source, but did you know that you can stream from your phone? Imagine video from a presidential inauguration being crowdsourced from everyones cell phone.

Imagine getting to witness your child’s sporting events while you are stuck in a lecture or my favorite, imagine getting to talk to other people, face to face while you are not in the same room. No longer will you have to talk to your 4 year old on the phone and say “Stop picking on your sister” instead you can easily video chat with him and tell him “stop picking on your sister” while giving him the evil eye.

Video conferencing has a new meaning, so does the importance of looking your best EVERY morning. High speed internet will change the way all of us do business in one way or another. In 2016 the number one source for music, books, tv, movies, live events and business, will be the Internet. Get excited about this, if your going to go out and buy a smart phone, be sure its 4G or it will be very old and slow within the year. I’ve been holding out for the iPhone 5, if it doesn’t have 4G in it, I’m sticking with Android.

Digital Banking

Earlier I talked about the Square card reader and what we can consumers can use it for. Square is only the tip of the iceberg. Since 2010 we have slowly seen the emergency of e-banking through your mobile phone. With certain banks right now you can pay all your bills from your mobile device and even deposit checks. Last Saturday I had my first experience in depositing a check from my phone. I used the Paypal app and snapped a photo of both the front and the back as instructed and it imported into their system. Right now the deposit turn around is 6 days but many banks are doing it much better, Chase and PNC Bank for example. Another way banking is changing is with the embedding of NFC technology in devices. Now, when I say NFC what do you think of? Thats right, the football conference that always seems to cheat the Detroit Lions. Trust me, in 2016 the Lions still stink.

In the fall of 2011, Google is releasing some smartphones with NFC chips in them, Apple will get on board later after this comes out, as usual. This allows the users to wave their phone over a specific area and have their phone react accordingly. So for example you can wave phone on a poster at a trade convention and instantly get the company’s contact information or coupon savings. Now, lets take this another step further. NFC also allows for you to use your phone as a wallet. A couple months ago Google announced “Google Wallet” which is a venture between them, Citi, Mastercard and some other partners. This allows users to have their credit card information stored in their mobile phone and they can pay for items wherever they say a paypass or NFC terminal. Mastercard already has these in many stores, you may have seen them. This allows users to take their credit card on the machine to process their transaction. Now everyone fears the “what if my phone is lost or stolen”. I understand that, but I ask you this, would you rather lose your wallet or your cell phone? Your cell phone you can have a password to access, your cell phone can be deactivated remotely and with a cell phone you can call it so it rings in order to locate it. Wallets don’t do that, even in 2016. Another quick little example, Coke is going to start distrubuting coke machines that you text to pay. So you text a specific code and the coke machine spits out a Coca Cola and your Verizon account is docked $1.00 for your soda. Crazy huh.

Alright, lets wrap this up. We have come a long way in the last 5 years and in the next 5 years, things will grow even faster. Technology, Media and Communications will be the three headed monster will solve a lot of problems and bring a lot of our fantasies to real life. I ask though that you have an open mind to new technologies and do not fear change. 2016 is a great year and I can’t wait for you to see it, Columbus is crazy since Ohio State won back to back national titles.

Stay Nerdy My Friends

Jay

So many times I find myself explaining why I feel Twitter is a better social network than Facebook.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Facebook and am able to connect with friends and family in ways I never would have dreamed.  Twitter just offers something different.  It offers the ability to learn from others, to experience events with strangers and most importantly, to influence strangers.  NBA big man Shaquille O’Neal used to use Twitter religiously when he played for the Phoenix Suns to the point where he would tweet his location and give 2 tickets to the first person to give him a high five.

Have you high fived Shaq on Facebook yet? Didn’t think so.

In explaining to people the benefits of joining Twitter, I often stumble over myself because it’s a odd notion to grasp.  ”You tweet a status update but you don’t really know who is reading it or seeing it”.  In other words, your going outside in the middle of the night and hitting golf balls on the high way.  You don’t know if anyone is seeing it, if your impacting anyone or not, but your doing it.  Now, Twitter isn’t dangerous or illegal, and will not kill anyone (I do not advise hitting golf balls onto the highway) but you get my point about an action happening without knowing the reaction.

I’ve collected a list of analogies that I thought might help some other people discuss Facebook and Twitter to explain it to those who are not socially savvy like us.

• I guess Facebook is like yelling it out to a crowd, and then Twitter is just like talking in a room.
• Twitter Is to Facebook as Google Was to Yahoo
• Twitter is a Party
• Twitter is an Appetizer
• Twitter is a Text Webcam
• Twitter is a Tavern
• Twitter is a Hammer
• Twitter is a Coral Reef
• Twitter is a Cocktail Party
• Twitter is like Post-it Notes
• Twitter is a Virtual Coffee Shop
• Twitter is Telegram 3.0
• Twitter is a Conference Reception
• Twitter is Email Marketing 2.0
• Twitter is like Fishing
• Twitter is like Holiday Cards
• Twitter is a Line-A-Day Diary
• On Twitter you should follow lots of people and brands that you care about, while on Facebook you should follow only people you REALLY care about.
• Facebook is a family reunion, Twitter is a world’s fair. (personal favorite)

If you haven’t already, dabble on Twitter.  The easiest way to get going is to create an account and follow 50+ people that might impact you.  Celebrities, politicians, role models, authors, athelets and of course, me! @jayyeater

Stay Nerdy My Friends

Facebook offers many features that allow people to incorporate the Facebook system into their website.  Here are some of my favorite suggestions I give clients in the Findlay, Ohio area on how to do this.

Facebook Commenting

If you have a website that runs on a system such as WordPress, you know you have full capabilties of allowing commenting on all your pages, news updates and media.  What you may not realize though is that their is a plugin for WordPress called Facebook Commenting for WordPress that allows you to replace the outdating WordPress default commenting field with a highly customizable Facebook commenting field that (1) allows users to comment using their Facebook profile, (2) post their comments directly to their Facebook wall and (3) like you or your business from the same area.

Facebook Like Box

You see this box on many websites as a one click way to gain Facebook likes and share a social stream from your Facebook page.  This has become so common though that I personally am straying away from it.  I find it too distracting (the profile pictures) as well as I am one to want to bend the rules and break away from the common trends in social media and marketing.  The like box though is a powerful way to show your social media strength.  Some company websites have pages devoted to showing 1,000s of Facebook like photos.  Below I discuss where to find this on Facebook.

Facebook Like Button

Now this feature, I really like.  I like it a lot!  Its minimal, effective and features the new Facebook “Send” button.  The Send button is Facebook’s replacement for the forward to a friend feature we used to always seen on a website.  Instead, they assume that you are friends on Facebook with everybody in your network and allow you to quickly type their name in, from anywhere, and drop them a link.   Lets face it, Facebook is trying to take over for your email system, their….I said it.  The Like button though is so small (90px wide depending on how “popular” you are) that it can be put anywhere on a website.  I prefer to put it in the call to action areas and up in the menu bar as I have with my site.  As with the Like Box, its a quick one click method for increasing your Facebook numbers but on a much smaller scale.

Make it happen’

To incorporate these into your website you need to

1. Navigate to the Facebook plugins section.
2. From there you will choose the plugin you wish to choose (Button, Box, Stream etc.).
3. Next you need to identify what link you paste in the window to the right.  This could be your application link, your Facebook page link (facebook.com/armarketing).
4. Adjust the sizes of your plugin (as needed), such as your width, height, what selections you want to choose or whether to allow profile pictures or not.
5. Specify any other settings before click Get Code
6. Once a window pops up with your code, choose either the iFrame or XFBML code and copy it to your clipboard.  I prefer the XFBML because it tends to have less issues across the multiple browsers that exist today, but iFrame is a very easy to use script.
7. Next, navigate to your website and paste the code in your header.php, sidebar.php, widgets section or other areas to paste your code.
8. As soon as you upload the file/refresh the page, you should see your plugin and it should function correctly.

For more help on this topic consider going through the Facebook tutorial on the plugin page.

I hope you found this post helpful.  I’d appreciate a comment below and a follow on twitter as well @jayyeater.  Thanks and as always, Stay Nerdy My Friends.

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