Brand Strategeek
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- Manager, Research and Insights, The Economist GroupMarketing and Advertising | Greater New York City Area, USSummary
I pride myself in being able to solve problems creatively. I have experience in media planning and buying, new business development, account management, digital marketing, and brand strategy.
I am passionate about measuring people's perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors, and consider myself very lucky to do it for a living.
Experience- May 2011 - PresentManager, Research and Insights / The Economist Group
April 2013 - Present - Manager, Research and Insights
Currently focusing on research and insights to help the ad sales team better understand our audience and the marketplace in general.December 2012 - May 2013 - Marketing Manager, Integrated Marketing
In addition to maintaining a marketing presence for Ideas People Media, I leveraged marketing insights to help tell the story to advertisers for all businesses within The Economist Group (print, digital, events, thought leadership research platforms, Which MBA? and Ideas People Media).May-November 2012 - Marketing Manager, Ideas People Media
Ideas People Channel was launched to enable advertisers to reach Thought leaders at scale.
We accomplished this by asking our readers to list their favorite web sites and recruited these award-winning publications into a vertical network centered on the Ideas People Mindset. We cover all touch points with our audience: on site (display and video pre-roll), on mobile and in-app. This unique blend of award-winning and influential publications attracts like-minded readers. - Apr 2010 - May 2011Freelance Strategist / Brand Strategeek
Brand planning and marketing consulting.
http://www.brandstrategeek.com/
- Mar 2008 - Oct 2009Marketing Manager / Effective Promotions
A national distributor of imprinted promotional products.
- Jan 2006 - Jun 2007Media Coordinator / Vertis Communications
A premier provider of targeted advertising and marketing solutions to leading retail companies.
- 2004 - 2006Intern / Y&R, Planit, Eisner Communications
Completed internships at advertising agencies.
Y&R New Zealand, Creative Dept.:
While I was studying abroad.Planit, New Business Dept.:
An advertising, interactive, public relations, strategy, research, and full-service marketing communications firm located in Baltimore.Eisner Communications: Account Planning Dept:
One of Baltimore's biggest and oldest advertising agencies, that has since shut its doors.
Education-
2010 - 2010Miami Ad SchoolDog Tag in Bootcamp for Account Planners
Activities: January through March -
2007 - 2007Syracuse University - Martin J. Whitman School of ManagementCertificate in Start Up: Entrepreneur's Bootcamp
- Loyola College in MarylandBA in Communication - Specialization: Advertising, Minor: Marketing
Activities: American Advertising Federation (AAF) -
2004 - 2004University of AucklandCertificate in Semester Abroad
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1997 - 2001The Albany AcademyDiploma
Activities: Student Council- President
Additional Information-
Interests:popular culture, the innovation of advertising, human behavior, neuromarketing, food, nature, sports.
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Posts
- Dec 29, 11
You don't typically see advertising for store brands. Actually, I don't recall ever seeing it in my lifetime. Until the latest campaign from Duane Reade. If you don't live or work in New York City, you may be unfamiliar with the company. It's a chain of drugstores, similar to Walgreens (it was acquired by them last year).
I happen to be a fan of the Duane Reade store brand items, which they call Delish. In particular their cereals. This ad caught my eye on the subway, and I decided to snap a pic.
I think the whole campaign is simple and highlights the product very well. I especially thought that this ad for their ice cream was clever. - Apr 20, 11
I just came across this excellent piece of branding for a great rum that I had last week. The brand promise in the end is spot-on true, "named for the sea beast of myth and legend, The Kraken Rum is strong, rich, black, and smooth." Though the animation is somewhat edgy (the squid-like creature eats Jesus) I think it is clearly tongue-in-cheek and very entertaining. The entire campaign, which uses both social and traditional media, is a fine example of how imagination and storytelling can work very well in a brand's favor. I plan on personally getting more engaged with this brand in the future, and I think others will do the same. - Apr 05, 11
I didn't see the new TV Spots for FAGE USA on TV. Rather, the 48 second spot entitled "Total Plain Extraordinary™" appeared in my You Tube suggestions as a promoted video. If you go to the FAGE USA Website there is a link that says "Watch The TV Spots". Besides their smart use of digital media, the yogurt company has chosen to work with Mullen, an ad agency with very talented creatives. I don't have much else to say about the spots other then they are tremendously well art-directed, and the copywriting is spectacular. I'll let you see for yourself. You also might notice that the poem is voiced by actor Willem Dafoe, who recently acted in and narrated a great Jim Beam spot for Strawberry Frog.
As for FAGE, I am a huge fan of the product. The yogurt is the thick, Greek kind. It's great-tasting, healthy, and extremely versatile. I also support the company because in 2008 they opened a U.S production facility in Johnstown, NY, which is near my hometown. It is definitely an area that has seen its better days when it comes to manufacturing, but the baby food company Beech-Nut also recently moved its manufacturing and corporate operations to the small town of Florida, NY, the town I grew up in. Perhaps the Mohawk Valley can become a hot bed for food and CPG companies, but that is probably wishful thinking. - Feb 15, 11
This is a really interesting project that came across my Twitter feed. A group of interns from the ad agency BBH are helping homeless NYers gain a voice through Twitter. They started out by giving four men pre-paid cell phones and instructed them how to "Tweet" with them.
I think this is a very admirable thing to do for the homeless. Sometimes we take for granted how lucky we are to be empowered with digital tools. Technology like Facebook and Twitter allows us to get our points across, express ourselves, and socialize with others. We can turn to our social networks for advice on life's decisions, whether they be small or large, for garnering support when we need it most, and for receiving congratulations when things are going well. People don't have the time to stop and interact with homeless people on the street or in Penn Station, but for those who do have an interest in doing so Twitter allows homeless people to have a less intrusive voice and lets people socialize with them when it is most convnient.
Check out their first You Tube video, and follow the four men @jessie550 @putodanny @awitness2011 and @albert814 or the main Twitter account @underheardinNY. - Feb 09, 11
There’s a reason why advertisers shell out so much money for Super Bowl spots. This year’s game was the most watched TV show of all time, and if you are selling a product that appeals to almost everyone (ie: a car, a food or beverage) it makes sense to invest the money. A specialized product like Salesforce Chatter however...not so much. But besides the massive viewership, it’s the one time of the year where Americans not only watch the commercials, but get excited about them. Any other time people get together to watch sports they are usually changing the channel during the commercials or talking over them, which leads to wasted advertising dollars.
This is why I am happy to see the age old tactic of live commercials making a comeback during late night television's Jimmy Kimmel Live. In the early days of broadcasting, it was quite common for the host of a show to appear during the hour or half-hour to do a live commercial endorsing the sponsor of the program. Jimmy Kimmel has brought this technique back by performing a live commercial before each show.
I remember a couple of years ago Jimmy Fallon did an okay job of incorporating Bing into his program to create more awareness for the new search engine, but it wasn't incredibly funny. Last night I was very impressed with what Jimmy Kimmel Live did to promote the sponsor Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut Cereal. They were able to use the product to create a funny skit involving the show’s Hispanic character Guillermo. In case you missed it here is the transcript:
00:01:25
>> Jimmy: Hi, I'm jimmy kimmel with kellogg's crunchy nut cereal -- the most delicious development in breakfast since bacon.
00:01:33
It's the perfect blend of sweet and nutty in every crunchy bite.
00:01:36
Our parking lot security guard guillermo loves it so much he -- where is guillermo?
00:01:44
>> Oh, delicious crunchy nut , cereal.
00:01:49
Two kinds topped with real peanuts and honey.
00:01:53
It is time to eat you right now because it's always morning somewhere.
00:01:59
>> Jimmy: ,What?
00:02:03
>> Aye-yay-yay, what a beautiful morning!
00:02:06
And, look, the biggest bowl of kellogg crunchy nut cereal in the world!
00:02:13
Wow!
00:02:13
And a giant spoon.
00:02:14
, [ mooing ] >> wow.
00:02:21
Muchas gracias!
00:02:22
>> Guillermo!
00:02:22
Guillermo!
00:02:25
>> Oh, my god.
00:02:26
Look.
00:02:27
He talks!
00:02:28
A talking cow.
00:02:29
Wow.
00:02:29
>> Guillermo!
00:02:30
, >> Jimmy: Guillermo, wake up.
00:02:35
Wake up.
00:02:35
>> Jimmy, I was having the most wonderful dream about crunchy nut cereal.
00:02:40
>> Jimmy: Well, I'm sorry to wake you.
00:02:44
>> Not as sorry as you are going to be!
00:02:46
Come on, cow.
00:02:47
Let's go.
00:02:48
>> Jimmy: ,What?
00:02:50
>> Yeah, you're right.
00:02:51
>> Two varieties of crunchy nut available in stores now.
00:02:54
Learn more at kelloggscrunchynut.com or facebook.com/kelloggscrunchynut.
00:03:01
>> Jimmy:, another home run.
00:03:06
"Jimmy kimmel live" is back in two minutes with amy sedaris, music from nelly and dr. phil mcgraw.
00:03:10
'T want to wait till morning to eat it.
00:03:12
♪ ♪
00:03:16
[ beep ] ♪ ♪
00:03:21
, ♪ ♪
00:03:26
the perfect blend of sweet andnutty in every crunchy bite.
00:03:32
♪ ♪
00:03:33
..
00:03:35
It's Morning Somewhere. - Jan 25, 11
This is a project I am working on in collaboration with several other planners. I am currently creating a questionnaire to interview people that work in education. We are exploring the topic of how U.S. schools are or are not nurturing creativity. Then after we brief them during Social Media Week 2011, teams from creative industries will have 5 days to speed innovate ideas that will help schools to do a better job.
No Right Brain Left BehindView more presentations from Viktor Venson. - Jan 17, 11
As a fan of Jeopardy, I was happy to learn that on February 14th, a supercomputer named Watson that was designed by IBM, will be competing against Jeopardy Champions – Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings. What is being considered IBM’s most ambitious foray into deep analytics and natural language processing, began back in 2007.
In this video, Dr. John E. Kelly III, Senior Vice President and Director of IBM Research says, “We decided that we needed to build a system that could extract knowledge at a must faster rate from enormous amounts of data than human beings or any other computer system could do.”
Could we as Account Planners be competing with computers in the future? - Jan 12, 11
1.) It’s funny. “I lift things up and put them down.” I can’t tell you how many times I have said that since seeing the commercial.
2.) They are taking a clear position. They are a gym for the casual exerciser, not the die-hard body builder. While this may be a risk, they believe in something. It is impossible to love something that has no identity and does not stand for anything. By giving people something they can latch on to, Planet Fitness is sure to create more enthusiastic evangelists for their brand.
3.) There is a strong call to action. $20 down, $10 a month if you enroll by January 12th. Ok, so I know what you want me to do and I know I need to do it immediately. Too often I see great advertising, but I don’t take action. As in sales, it is impossible to close a deal if you don’t ask for the sale, and give people a sense of urgency.
4.) The campaign has legs. All of the characters featured so far have been hilarious. They are an exaggeration of the muscle heads we have all seen at the gym before. But there is no limit to where they can go with these characters. I firmly believe that this is only the beginning.
Good job Mullen! - Jan 10, 11
Harley-Davidson is a culturally iconic, famous lifestyle brand, but it wasn’t always that way. In the 1970’s, Harley Inc. faced bankruptcy, as they could no longer compete with cheaper priced Japanese made bikes. In 1983 Harley decided to create a group called H.O.G, or Harley Owners Group, for owners to participate in rallies and remain closely in touch with the corporation. One member at a time, the company built a community using newsletters and a magazines. Harley Davidson’s President began making regular appearances at events to constantly gain input into what customers love. Here it is almost 30 years later and the company is still employing the same principles of tapping into the power of their customers to drive their marketing.
In November, Harley announced it would be parting ways with its advertising agency-of-record, Carmichael Lynch of Minneapolis, to start working with the ad agency Victor & Spoils of Boulder, which bills itself as the world’s first creative (ad) agency built on crowdsourcing principles. In October, John Winsor, the CEO of Victors & Spoils presented at the Jay Chiat strategy festival in Miami. Here is the video: - Dec 19, 10
Vaughn Davis, former Creative Group Head at Y&R New Zealand has written a great little eBook about social media, called Tweet This Book I used to work for Vaughn as an intern when I studied abroad in NZ, and he is a brilliant man! I highly recommend the book, and the best part is it's free. Vaughn is actually using a social payment system called Pay With A Tweet.
One thing that Vaughn talks about in the book, is that social media is not any type of silver bullet when it comes to marketing. As he says, advertising is a wall, and social is a window. Social media is a great way to build communities of supporters, but if the heart of your business is not attractive, people will see that and walk away. - Nov 25, 10
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade just happened for the 86th time! The American spectacle that is seen by over 3 Million people on the streets of New York City, and 50 Million more on NBC (that’s almost half as many viewers as the Super Bowl), has been said to be one of the earliest forms of “Branded Entertainment”.
Macy’s certainly is not the only corporation to get in on the marketing action. Kiernan Maletsky, of the Denver Westword Blog, recently claimed that the Parade is “little more than a really long advertisement for kids movies and food companies.” I can’t say that I disagree with her, but I do disagree with her assessment of the Jimmy Dean float. She said, “The marketing message here is that, if you eat the protein-rich Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage, you will be able to Shine On! throughout the day. That works if you're a protein bar company or a health food pusher or something, but whenever we eat Jimmy Dean for breakfast, we just want to take a nap.”
To give you a little background, the Jimmy Dean Shine On! Float was introduced in 2008, the same year that Sara Lee introduced the Jimmy Dean brand to the U.S. market. The brand has now become the company’s best-selling frozen processed food offering.
CMO Philippe Schaillee was quoted in Adweek this past March, saying that through research and focus groups they were able to narrow down their target to what Schaillee described as the “chaotic compromiser." She is a hardworking mom, and breakfast for her consists mainly of frozen meals because “her family likes them." According to Schaillee, “moms subconsciously know there are better breakfast options out there than the ones they [serve up] in the morning.”
In 2009, in light of this insight, Sara Lee added Jimmy Dean D-lights Turkey Sausage Whole Grain Bagel Sandwich and Jimmy Dean D- lights Turkey Bacon Breakfast Bowl. Both were billed as calorie-controlled other frozen processed food options, offering a filling meal option for “under 300 calories.” The development of Jimmy Dean's breakfast offer has been a shift in emphasis from a traditional breakfast brand to one focused on the provision of protein and convenience in line with prevailing consumer interests. Also in line with this strategy, the company launched Jimmy Dean Breakfast Entrées - croissants or scrambled eggs combined with sides of potatoes and fruit.
The brand promise has subsequently shifted from a “happy breakfast” to a “lasting breakfast.” Instead of focusing on cheering people up, the most recent ads still feature a man dressed up as the sun, but they emphasize the energy component of what is considered the most important meal of the day.
This year’s Shine On! Float featured the country music band Gloriana singing the very energetic song, “Wild At Heart”, which is about “a couple kids running loose and wild.” The obvious implication being that their energy came from a Jimmy Dean breakfast! - Nov 24, 10
Jesse Thomas of JESS3 created this infographic, which displays what people are most thankful for based on their posts on thankfulfor.com. I think it's no surprise what came up as number one. The people in my life are personally what I am most thankful for. The fact is, we may have a lot going on in our lives, but at the end of the day what most of us care most about are the people in it. This also explains the success of Facebook, which in essence is a product built around people. - Nov 10, 10"Foodies" are a very marketable, growing consumer segment. Foodies are not professional food people, food is more of a hobby for them. Unlike "gourmets", they don't just eat good food, they want to learn everything about it that they possibly can!
Who are Foodies?- Passionate about good food made from high quality ingredients.
- Possess a lot of food knowledge.
- Women
- Married
- No children
- Live in suburban areas
- Enjoy watching cooking shows
- Read the Food Section of the newspaper
Foodies are Online!
More likely than the average American to:- “Friend” a brand on Facebook.
- Subscribe to a brand’s eNewsletter or RSS Feed.
- Get “exclusive deals”
- Order food from a restaurant. (36% more likely than Average)
- Fine Arts & Antiques
- Home Decorating
- Entertaining/Hosting Parties
- Send Press Releases to Food Newspaper writers, Food Network Producers, and Foodie Bloggers.
- Offer fresh content on Website such as recipes, party ideas, and information on the science and history of your food or drink.
- Become involved with fine arts, and interior decorating. Sponsor events, advertise in publications etc.
- Create offers and contests available only to Facebook group members.
- Nov 05, 10
In my last post I mentioned that toy trains are making a comeback for young boys this year. I would like to point out a commercial that is currently running for Amtrak, which I feel is right on. The spot begins by showing two boys, one playing with toy cars and the other toy airplanes. As they reenact less than desirable travel scenarios that we have all faced before, we are reminded of things like the costs to travel by plane or car, our inherent distaste for flight delays and the agony of getting stuck in traffic. Then we are shown a smiling boy playing with his train set who says, "the train is now arriving." I am definitely transported back to my childhood when I myself would make up funny stories like this as I played. Not only does Amtrak echo the current American sentiment, but they are featuring toy trains which are currently very hot in the marketplace! A fortunate coincidence I'm sure, but I found it interesting nonetheless.
- Nov 05, 10Above: Photo of Nerfuls by Guillermo Lucero.
Toys ‘R’ Us has recently announced their 2010 Holiday Hot Toy List. Many of the trends going on right now are reflective of what was happening 20 or 30 years ago. Dolls with their own stories are big for girls, and for boys trains are making a surging comeback. A current trend cited in their report is that the hottest toys are, “Cute, Cool, and Collectible”. This made me think of some of my favorite toys as a kid that also possessed those characteristics. Do any of you remember Nerfuls? According to Wikipedia they were a line of toy figures produced by Parker Brothers in the 1980s. They were typically constructed of three or four pieces including a plastic ball for a head and a bowl-shaped body in which the head would sit. Nerfuls definitely fell into the very profitable category of collectible, and at the end of their commercials they made sure to let you know that “you can collect them all”. As far as being cute, and cool, well I sure thought they were.
One toy that made the list this year for the 2-4 year old category is Pillow Pets. Despite the category Toys ‘R’ Us put them in, I actually have witnessed the popularity of this item firsthand among children who are older than 4. Pillow Pets are one of the most basic items you could design for a child, but like a lot of toys they also make you ask the question, “why didn’t I think of that?” All they are is a soft pillow that when folded and velcroed becomes a stuffed animal. They actually remind me of something we had growing up, called Pillow People, which were square pillows with arms and legs and faces on them done in decals. In a sense they were also like stuffed animals but the characters were people. However, I am reading online that there were cats and dogs in the product lineup, and other things such as bed sheets, which came out with the Pillow People characters on them. The pillows were so popular that one was actually featured on full house as D.J Tanner’s most prized possessionI think one of the reasons that the marketing of toy/pillow hybrids has been so successful is because they comfort children in one of their most vulnerable places, when they are all alone in their room trying to fall asleep and are scared of what lies beneath their bed or in their closet. Stuffed animals were a great invention, but if that soft furry animal can double as something kids can lay their heads on and become that much closer with, you truly have a win-win.
James Colistra is a freelance Brand Strategist based in New York City.
[Source: “Toys “R”Us Announces 2010 Holiday Toy Trends.” Toys”R”Us company release. 7 Oct. 2010. Web. 15 Oct. 2010.]
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- RT @Chritter726: @brandstrategeek “@MontclairTimes: Montclair is about to get Super Bowl crazed. http://t.co/uFwwEYbLiw”
- @nathanfielder another amazing episode. Do you laugh when you watch your shows, or are you actually deadpan in real life? #clawofshame
- The ability to mine data is crucial to innovation http://t.co/Q9x01LWhwS
- Watch Grey Poupon: “The Lost Footage,” the world’s most memorable advert as you’ve never seen it. - http://t.co/T9mP45BH20
- RT @lipglossgirl: OMG! This is the biggest #brandfail I've ever seen. Like ever! Almost thought it was a joke or not real. Jissus! http: ...Feb 11, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Was Maker's Mark legally obligated to tell everyone they'd be lowering the alcohol? Personally I water mine down with ice anyway. #brandfailFeb 11, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- @Chritter726 I see lots of results for "love being surrounded by family".
- @Chritter726 I'm so proud of you for your new Twitter skills. #ilovemywife
- RT @Chritter726: Literally thought I was dying in a plane crash and @united thinks they can give me a $75 voucher & call it even. As ...
- What is media planning more of? http://t.co/YoE35YHp
- Baseball team offers Manti Te'o Girlfriend Bobblehead Night, and an imaginary kiss cam http://t.co/vj1N7hGo via @freep
- Did you watch the interview last night? Lance Armstrong has been lying this whole time, he was not the first to walk on the moon. #OprahJan 18, 13 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- I love Jimmy Kimmel but that hug your tv thing seems to be a #latenightfail
- @jlp428 happy new year to you too!!
- @MarketplaceAPM your analysis of lyrics seems a little misconstrued. Rappers have been all about the struggle to the top since circa 1994.
- The world is not ending, it's just the beginning of a new cycle for the #Mayans, but apparently Debbie Downer got a hold of their records.Dec 20, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- Just learned that the Maya Calendar doesn't end on the 21st, it just starts up a new cycle. The ancient Maya would have celebrated that!Dec 19, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- @jimmykimmel you should ask husbands across America to give their wives a crappy Christmas gift, but put it inside a Tiffany's box.
