Technology  May 25, 2016

CEO Roundtable: Advertising industry adjusting to impacts of social media

BOULDER — In the era of social media’s clicks, likes, retweets and viral videos, the advertising industry’s biggest challenge is helping companies convert them to product sales.

But not all likes turn into sales, and the digital platform is blurring the lines between conventional advertising, marketing and public relations efforts.

A group of 14 industry leaders discussed this and several other topics during BizWest’s Advertising, Marketing and PR CEO Roundtable held Wednesday at the offices of Berg Hill Greenleaf Ruscitti LLLP in Boulder.

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Once well-defined tactics for driving sales and developing company brands are getting muddled by the interaction of social media.

“Managing the conversation amid chatter on social media is a difficult challenge,” said Pam Stewart, founder and president of Boulder-based Essenza Communications. “Things get very murky on social media.”

Walt Freese, president and CEO of Boulder-based Sterling Rice Group, said clients more than ever are looking for integrated services and that is forcing agencies to evolve their business model. It’s also causing agencies to complete with the tech industry for workers who can crunch analytics to measure the success of online campaigns.

“I fear strategies and meaningful messaging are being lost in the effort to achieve tweets, clicks, likes and friends,” said Stacy Cornay, owner of Communication Concepts Public Relations & Advertising in Longmont.

Terri Douglas, co-founder and principal at Catapult PR-IR in Boulder, said there is still value in investing in telling a company’s story well to promote its brand. But that is becoming more difficult to achieve.

Matt Bennett, founder and principal of Meld Strategic Communications LLC, said clients are looking for more than strategies.

“They want you to get to know their company and products, come up with a strategy and then do the work behind the strategy,” Bennett said. “That’s when client referrals come through.”

The power of a video going viral was proven last week, when a video of a woman wearing a mask of Star Wars character Chewbacca gathered more than 136 million hits as of two days ago. Now it’s hard to find the $25 electronic-talking Chewbacca masks in stores anywhere. They’re selling for $100 to $170 on sites like eBay and Amazon, according to a Fox news outlet in Texas.

“That is proof of the power and value of a viral video,” said Eric Fowles, founder and CEO of Voltage LLC, a digital agency in Louisville.

But not every video will have the same result, said Doyle Albee, president of Metzger Albee Public Relations in Boulder. “This result was a long time coming. Chewbacca has been around for several decades building to this opportunity.”

The Boulder brand

The number of advertising agencies in the Boulder region has been growing over the decades and many of its agencies have achieved international status.
“It is easier now to land large clients,” Doyle said. “Boulder is on a level, if not superior playing field. Companies in the United States and globally are willing to look to Boulder agencies.”

Jason Cormier, co-founder of Boulder-based Room 214 said, “It’s now Boulder, Portland and Austin.”

Leif Steiner, principal and creative director of Moxie Sozo said prospective clients and potential employees in other countries “are reaching out to us.”

But Boulder’s high cost of living and expensive housing options are pressing local companies.

Steiner is working on buying housing to rent to employees, and many agencies allow employees to telecommute.

Doyle opened a co-working space in Denver that allows him to recruit creative talent from the Denver area, and Douglas created a flexible work environment allowing workers to telecommute.

Chris Hess, founder and president of Mondo Robot in Boulder, isn’t a fan of the virtual office. “There’s something about coming into the office to collaborate. A lot of good things happen when sitting next to each other,” he said.

Bob Morehouse, CEO of Vermilion Design, said that company culture goes a long way toward retaining good talent, something that has become harder to do as generations shift. “As we move from Gen X, Millennials do not have similar loyalties,” Morehouse said. “We are constantly asking what is the culture that will retain talent.”

Cormier said Room 214 has become very transparent with its employees. “We share the financials. We let them see where we are at and if we are close to bonuses or not.” He also said providing training helps retain younger employees.

Participants in Wednesday’s CEO Roundtable included: Doyle Albee, president, Metzger Albee Public Relations; Matt Bennett, founder/principal, Meld Strategic Communications LLC; Jason Cormier, co-founder, Room 214; Stacy Cornay, owner, Communication Concepts Public Relations & Advertising; Juli Dimos, managing partner, Voco Creative; Terri Douglas, co-founder/principal, Catapult PR-IR; Eric Fowles, founder/CEO, Voltage LLC; Walt Freese, president/CEO, Sterling Rice Group; Chris Hess, founder/president, Mondo Robot; Kimberly Mallek, co-founder, Mighty Fudge Studios; Bob Morehouse, CEO, Vermilion Design; Don Poe, co-owner/vice president, People Productions; Leif Steiner, principal/creative director, Moxie Sozo; Pamela Stewart, founder/president, Essenza Communications. Moderator: Christopher Wood, BizWest Media LLC. Sponsors: Jon Banashek, Heidi Potter, Jack Storti, Berg Hill Greenleaf Ruscitti; Jim Cowgill, EKS&H.

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