Late last week, COHN was recognized with a Hermes Creative Award for its work with the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and the Social Media Pavilion. COHN won gold with ICSC in the “Social Media” category. This is a great accomplishment for the COHN team, as the Hermes Awards is one of the most prestigious and reputable creative competitions in the world.

Hermes Creative Awards is an international competition for creative professionals involved in the concept, writing and design of traditional materials and programs, and emerging technologies. Entries come from corporate marketing and communication departments, advertising agencies, PR firms, graphic design shops, production companies, web and digital creators and freelancers.

Our sincere gratitude goes out to Sarah Malcolm and the rest of the ICSC team for being such a strong partner in the development and execution of the Social Media Pavilion, and we’re looking forward to expanding our programming next week at RECon 2012 for the Social Media & Technology Pavilion!

If you’re attending RECon 2012 in Las Vegas, stop by the Pavilion and meet one of our “Socialites!”

COHN was awarded a Gold Key and two Silver Keys at the event, and we are very proud to accept BMA’s recognition.

COHN won gold for its entry “COHN Trains A Global Industry On Social Media,” a multi-dimensional marketing and educational initiative that occurred at the International Council of Shopping Center’s annual RECon conference in May 2011. COHN also won silver for its work with Mont Blanc Gourmet, titled “Turning what-ifs into must-haves,” and its own re-branding efforts, titled “New Brand. New Site. New COHN.”

In the news release announcing our BMA wins, our President and CEO Jeff Cohn spoke about the prestige of these awards.

“We are proud and very happy to be recognized by the BMA this year. BMA Colorado is one of the most important industry groups for us because it has a large reach and influence in the region, and the award entries are always outstanding and very competitive,” Jeff said.

The Business Marketing Association (BMA) is a national organization that unites professionals who specialize in business-to-business marketing and communications. The Colorado Chapter has more than 550 members and is one of the largest and strongest chapters in the country.

“The BMA Board of Directors would extends our congratulations to the winners of this year’s awards program. It is a fiercely competitive program that truly recognizes the very best in business-to-business marketing for 2012,” says Marilee Yorchak, CAE, Executive Director, Colorado Business Marketing Association. “With our emphasis on results and the quality of entries, the BMA Gold Key Awards one of the most coveted by marketers in Colorado.

• Highlights: The arguments over which media metric matters most continues, but some insightful research on what drives purchase from display ads.
• Why It Matters: It’s good to know of these studies so that we can guide clients through conversations about what matters or should be tracked and why.

New Social Analytics Framework Infographic — http://socialmediatoday.com/mlewis1/492211/new-framework-social-media-analytics-infographic

• Highlights: Finally some freaking KPIs, formulas, and hard metrics for social, rather than just Likes!!!!!
• Why It Matters: So often, brands just want to know how many fans or followers they have to measure the success of their social media initiatives. But it’s so much more than that. You could have a million followers, but if they aren’t engaging, they aren’t seeing your content, and they aren’t the kind of loyalists that social media is made for and that will help grow your business. Here are some interesting measurement tools for various social media channels that will help put some context around the effort you’re expending

Latin America Web Users Highly Engaged — http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1009013&ecid=a6506033675d47f881651943c21c5ed4

• Highlights: Puerto Rico and the larger Latin America opportunity.
• Why It Matters: The internet in general, and Facebook in particular, is expanding in Latin America. Countries like Brazil and Mexico spend more and more time engaging with social networks and other online properties, even more so than the worldwide average. Online efforts will need to be examined to ensure brands are reaching these plugged-in markets effectively.

Online and Mobile Buying Trends Continue to Rise in First-Quarter, Reports IBM — http://www.marketwatch.com/story/online-and-mobile-buying-trends-continue-to-rise-in-first-quarter-reports-ibm-2012-05-02

• Highlights: Yeah, mobile commerce doubled in the last year. Welcome to the world of mcommerce, rather than just ecommerce.
• Why It Matters: Online buying grew 6% in the last quarter while mobile buying grew by more than double that. We’ve seen the major brands to start employ a mobile first strategy. This will only continue that trend.

GGC Exec: 18pc of App Users Engage with it Everyday — http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/2012/05/04/ggp-exec-18pc-of-app-users-engage-every-day 

• Highlights: GGP shares insights across their digital strategy, including app usage trends, correlations between mobile and email subscribers, and their geo-fence pilot.
• Why It Matters: It’s refreshing to see an organization open up its kimono, so to speak, and provide the industry with how their digital programs are maturing. More than that, these insights will prove to retail shopping center owners everywhere that digital and mobile must be integrated into their marketing programs because it’s providing shoppers with a reason to visit and engage with them.

If we go to a restaurant that has nachos, I am confident the nachos will be good, even those bottom chips that have gotten soggy under the excess cheese. I can’t say the same about anything else on the menu. Just don’t know. Sure, the tenderloin, garlic potatoes and asparagus tips sound interesting. And who knows, they might be earth shattering. But they also might make me break out in hives. You know what won’t do that? Nachos.

And so it goes, this boring culinary existence.  It is a lifelong practice that has served my taste buds well. And if there is one thing I’ve learned from this cheesy way of life that can be incorporated into marketing and public relations, it’s this: DO NOT ORDER THE NACHOS!

You know why nachos are so good? Because everyone can make them. You won’t hate them, but you won’t be talking about them the next day either.  Nachos make for boring PR and a yawn-inducing marketing campaign.

Clients don’t hire us to give them nachos. They know what nachos taste like. If they wanted nachos, they’d make them in house and hire a cheaper agency to just dump chips on a plate and hand them a jar of queso. Clients expect us to try everything on the menu, to analyze every entree, mix platters, even try to order something not on the menu. They want us to think of things nobody else has thought of, and then make it award-winning.

With each new announcement, promotion or thought-leadership initiative, don’t settle on the same old boring nachos for your strategy. Think bigger. Think different. Don’t worry about being told that’s not possible or that there isn’t enough money this time around. The possibility of a bad meal shouldn’t prevent you from potentially discovering the greatest thing you’ve ever eaten. And if a Silver Anvil is on the dessert menu, even better.

This isn’t to say we can’t order nachos from time to time. Nachos are still good, and they can fill the gaps between these new, more inspired meal selections. But when we do order the nachos, try to change them up a bit, like by adding bacon. Or extra bacon.  You might just uncover a new favorite meal, and a very happy client.

Photo Courtesy: HairyAlien.com

Retailers Need to Think Mobile First - http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/strategy/12572.html

• Highlights: At the Results 2012 Mobile discussion, several mobile execs talked about the need for retailers to think about their mobile experience first, and then back those learnings into their desktop experience.
• Why we think it matters: At COHN, we have usually thought desktop first and then iterated into mobile. It presents some interesting arguments to think in the reverse, and develop mobile sites first and then the desktop experience.

Tips for Cheap Social Contests - http://mashable.com/2012/04/13/tips-effective-social-media-contests/

• Highlights: Have a goal, pick the right target, pick the right (not always the best) prize
• Why we think it matters: How many times have the clients come to us and said, “We need a social campaign that is inexpensive.” Well, here are some thoughts from our friends at Mashable.

2012 Tech Trends You Can Ignore - http://www.imediaconnection.com/article_full.aspx?id=31439

• Highlights: Pinterest, Kinect for Markters, Having a branded app for that
• Why we think it matters: Too often, we all get enamored with the latest and greatest. Here are a few counterarguments for some popular marketing trends and tools we’ve seen pick up steam this year.

Four Ways to Create A Worthless B2B Website – http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/2544/four-ways-to-create-a-worthless-b2b-website

• Highlights: Think about your audience, how you convert them, then leave it alone (not sure we agree with the last one, but what do you think?).
• Why we think it matters: In the next few weeks, our teams will be working on number of B2B-focused websites. Let’s be mindful of this article.

Emails like it’s 2012, not 1999 - http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2012/7563/email-like-its-2012-not-1999

• Highlights: Suffice to say email has come a long way since the late 90s.
• Why we think it matters: We are doing more and more email here at COHN. It’s always good to know the latest and greatest we could be doing with it.

Have a great weekend!

The COHN Digital Team

Name: Debbie Berschling

Title: Senior Account Director

Years at COHN: 3 years

1. What was your favorite toy as a child?

A Light Bright, Easy Bake Oven or Fashion Plates—I always envisioned myself as artistic and creative until it came to showing any real talent for it, and I realized that others were naturally better or worked harder at honing those skills. Instead, I decided to do something related so I would still be close to the creative process, working in account services.

2. You recently bashed Pat Benatar’s “We Belong” at the office. Tell us a guilty pleasure music selection that you love but are slightly embarrassed about. 

Touche. Have your pick at any one of these gems…”If I Were a Carpenter” by Johnny Cash, “Laid” by James, or “Drift Away” by Dobie Gray.

3. Tell us about something you do every single day, without fail.  

Wake up. Some days are better than others.

COHN has brought in Jason Michael as a senior public relations strategist and Tina Edwards as a digital account manager.

Jason comes from Fleishman-Hillard in St. Louis, where he managed public relations for such high-profile clients as Chevrolet, Emerson, LivingSocial, Panera Bread, Papa John’s and Visa, Inc.

Tina comes to COHN from Avocet Communications and before that Sitewire in Tempe, Ariz., where she managed projects for Sage Software and Darden Restaurants. Tina brings to COHN significant experience in digital project strategy and management, social media strategy and public relations.

“Anytime you’re able to bring in team members that have accumulated truly exceptional expertise like Jason and Tina have, you feel very lucky as a business owner. Our public relations and digital teams have already felt the positive impact of these new additions, and I see a very bright future for Jason and Tina at COHN,” said Jeff Cohn, president and CEO of COHN.

Senior Public Relations Strategist Jason Michael

As the former sports editor for the Christian County Headliner in Springfield, Mo., Jason is an avid sports fan and must still maintain sources from his hometown of St. Louis, as he somehow knows all major St. Louis sports news before it’s officially announced. He is a graduate of St. Louis University, and he currently lives in Boulder, Colo.

Tina, also a resident of Boulder, enjoys hiking, skiing, visiting farmers markets and hitting triples in her not-so-serious kickball league. Originally from Tucson, Ariz., Tina is a graduate of University of Arizona, and she has been enjoying the newlywed life since being married in November 2011.

Too much? Posters at MBK Mall in Bangkok. (Click to enlarge.)

Having been fortunate to travel to different parts of the world, I now always try to stop in a mall or four to see who is doing what and what’s new and different. The big winners in my mind always end up being those that can afford to make a large integrated splash (see Coach store photo above). I unfortunately know all too well that most malls have more limited marketing budgets than product brands. So for those of us working with more limited budgets, the winning path I see time and time again is a simple, yet strong integrated branding campaign based on your mall’s points of distinctions.

Take a look at the two examples below, both barricades from malls in Hong Kong. They are both simple and to the point. They communicate very different concepts, but both are extremely unique and speak directly to the malls’ personalities.

The beach campaign was spotted at a mall in a beach resort town and was integrated on signage throughout the mall, such as posters and ceiling banners, in addition to the barricades. The bright colors and beach landscape catch your eye immediately. Featuring a variety of products constructed of sand, like sunglasses, shoes and purses, is not only eye-catching, but also affordable to implement and doesn’t give favoritism to any one store’s merchandise over another’s. This campaign says that Stanley Plaza is a laid back mall with stylish, yet accessible offerings.

The next campaign was spotted in a high-end fashion mall and is more complex than it first appears. The headline has multiple meanings – first, it speaks to how the mall is filling the vacant space with a new store with new offerings. Yet it also plays off the fact that most items purchased at a mall, i.e. clothes, are woven. The treatment of the copy is modern, yet approachable, and appeals to the tactile behaviors of shopping, making you want to reach up and touch it, similar to how you run your hands over a soft cashmere scarf. It offers a bit of a tease, not telling you what is coming and sparking the thought that the mall is strategizing to redefine themselves and improve upon their already impressive list of store offerings. Without showing a single product or dropping a store name, the mall has effectively sparked excitement about its strategy and the new-coming merchandise. And that’s the power of a good brand strategy.

Name: Teri Springer

Title: Senior Art Director

Years at COHN: 4 years

What is the last movie you went to see? Give us your Roger Ebert review!

Harry Potter, grown up

The last movie we went to see was The Woman in Black. Since my boys dig Harry Potter, they wanted to check out Daniel Radcliffe in a horror movie. I thought it was a great old fashion ghost story (without all the blood and gore you see in most horror movies these days).

I give it “two thumbs up” for making a scary movie that doesn’t lean heavily on excessive blood and gore.

Coming from a design person, I’m expecting a glorious answer from you. What is your favorite color – and WHY?

I thought it was Dusty Blue until I painted my family room “Pumpkin Pie.” It was the scariest color to paint the most occupied room in the house, but it is THE BEST COLOR!

It’s warm, friendly, and makes me smile when I walk in. Bang!

Teri's family room walls are painted "Pumpkin Pie"

What is the first thing you do when you get up in the morning?

Most mornings, I hit the peepers with some eye drops and walk down my stairs backwards (not Linda Blair/Exorcist style—it’s just that 20+ years of dance, many 80s aerobic classes and eight years of karate have taken a toll on my body).

Then, I head straight for my caffeine fix.