Do You Believe in a Little Holiday Magic? Airline West Jet Does

It’s hard to face that, not too long ago, most of us believed in a cold place where a jolly man with a long white beard worked hard all year long to make toys for all the nice girls and boys (and deliver coal for the naughty). And while most of us realize that we now probably deserve stockings stuffed with enough coal to heat a furnace, it’s still nice to reflect on simpler times when you’d ask Santa for a gift and have it “appear.”

 

That’s exactly what happened to the families on board a West Jet plane last week. If you haven’t seen the video, I don’t want to spoil the surprise for you, but I will say that this is one of the best forms of advertising.

 

When a brand takes the opportunity this time of the year to evoke emotion, excitement, and spread holiday cheer (and brand awareness), true magic can happen.

 

This video, which garnered more than 20 million views in less than a week, does something that advertising (if properly researched) does better than any other medium of marketing. It tells a story.  A powerful story that creates new lifelong passengers and plays on the heart strings of those watching. It makes you think about what your airline has done for you lately.

 

Watch the video and let us know what you think about the campaign and if you believe in magic.

 

I do.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIEIvi2MuEk&feature=youtu.be

 

Happy Friday!

 

Darius Lana

Ad2 Communication Co-Chair

Digital Media from All Angles

Our Digital Media From All Angles program was a success! With more than 100 attendees, four Orlando-based digital experts as our speakers and huge support from our sponsors, this was one of our biggest events of the year and in Ad 2 Orlando history.

The event took place on Thursday, February 21st at the new office of Purple, Rock, Scissors in the heart of downtown Orlando.

Our panel of experts included:

Michael Parler, Chief Strategy Officer, Purple, Rock, Scissors
John Payne, President, Monster Media
Mark Unger, Partner/Director of Interactive, Push.
Ted Murphy, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Izea

Our Programs chairs, Jeff Malczyk and Chris Merritt, asked a variety of questions which garnered interesting responses. Notably, digital advertising is only going to continue to grow, content is key, and it’s OK to advertise national campaigns in smaller markets.

We’re proud to host programs and feature guest speakers for the enjoyment of young professionals in the advertising industry. Ad 2 Orlando is composed of forward thinking and forward moving people looking to make a difference professionally, personally and throughout the community. It’s always great meeting people who have been members of Ad 2 Orlando for multiple years as well as non-members who are attending an event for the first time.

We would like to once again thank our sponsors: Macbeth Photography, Black Leaf Signs and PRPL. Check out the event photos from Macbeth Photography here.

*images featured in this post provided by Macbeth Photography.

Happy Community Manager Appreciation Day!

This past Monday was Community Manager Appreciation Day, which is celebrated on the fourth Monday of every January. Founded in 2010 by Jeremiah Owyang (@jowyang, Partner at the Altimeter Group), #CMAD is a time to appreciate and celebrate the hard work of community managers not only nation-wide but also around the world.

Let’s take a step back. This job didn’t exist ten years ago, and barely existed 5 years ago. In case you don’t know what a Community Manager is or what they do, I’ll tell you.

Community Managers are the people who spend their day managing online communities. They’re the bridge between the brand and everyone else in social media. They create and schedule content, monitor social networks and generally serve as the voice of the brand. Community Manager’s often wear many hats, at times being the PR, sales, customer service, marketing and voice – sometimes all at the same time.

Have you ever tweeted or wrote on a brand’s Facebook wall? The Community Manager was the Oz-like being who saw your post and replied to it. They see it all.

Working in social media isn’t like a normal 9-5 job. People will send tweets and Facebook messages at all hours of the day. A Community Manager would never say, “Oh, it’s 8:30pm on a Saturday? That can wait until Monday.” They will start working on a solution as soon as they see a problem.

So hopefully you gave thanks to someone who’s a Community Manager. Maybe it’s a favorite brand you follow. Or maybe it’s a colleague or friend who works in the industry. Send them a tweet or Facebook post.

It doesn’t matter what time you send it. They’ll still see it.

A New Website for Ad 2 Orlando

The first time I went to the Ad 2 website, I learned they were in the process of re-doing it., and in the back of my head thought, “yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” 😉

Trying to be proactive in my networking, I contacted the communications committee and asked if I could help. After working with a team full of exceptional programming abilities, awesome design work and thoughtful planning, plus a writer (or three) and months of procrastination, we have done it.

I can say “we,” because, although my application to become a new member hasn’t gone through yet (the check is in the mail!), I feel a sense of triumph with my new-found friends and soon to be fellow club members. And really, this was perhaps the best way to enter into the organization; living out the club’s very purpose, truly getting a sense of what Ad 2 is all about. Working together to create something really great with other professionals in my field — who could ask for a better introduction than that?

It has been three years since the site has been updated so I hope you like what we’ve done. On behalf of Aimee Booth, Zach Firestone, Lindsey Levy, Shaun Whalen and the greatly missed Steve McCain, we’d love to know what you think. Please leave a comment!

Check out the Ad 2 Orlando Website archive to see what it used to look like.

Tristan Tolliver, SEO Copywriter