My team members at BCG are also fans. So, when McDonald’s started advertising their Peppermint Mocha it seemed only natural that we had to compare the two – give the new comer the benefit of the doubt. You could say I went into this battle biased, but I honestly went into it open-minded. You never know, right?

I won’t lie – I am a huge fan of the Starbucks Peppermint Mocha and probably average 2 to 3 per week during the month of December. It’s my Friday treat and a staple of my holiday shopping when I need a warm up or a burst of energy. I know I’m not alone. How could you not love that combination of chocolate, peppermint and whip cream – all in a fancy wintery red cup.

The challenge was to determine which brand had the better Peppermint Mocha – Starbucks or McDonald’s. We had some team members try the Peppermint Mocha and others test the Peppermint Hot Chocolate. I can tell you that it was absolutely no contest… Starbucks Peppermint Mocha just simply ROCKS!

First, let’s discuss the packaging. In the words of Clark W. Griswald, “It’s all part of the experience Russ!” There really is no contest when comparing that winter-themed Starbucks cup to the standard McDonald’s coffee cup. I have to equate it to buying an Apple product and the fact that I have just as much fun examining and opening the packaging it comes in as the product itself (Apple never ceases to amaze me by the way – but that’s a whole other battle!)

Now, the drink itself… McDonald’s – can I please get some peppermint flavor and chocolate with that Peppermint Mocha? It was like drinking coffee (or milk) without the rest of the elements that make the Peppermint Mocha so glorious. It just didn’t measure up. There wasn’t one BCG team member who preferred McDonald’s to Starbucks. I will give McDonald’s credit for one thing – their advertising makes their version of these Peppermint drinks look fabulous and yummy, but as we all know, looks can be deceiving. And in this case, also disappointing. At the end of the day, your ads are not enough and the Starbucks experience dominated this BCG Battle of the Brands challenge!

The winner of the first ever Barcelona Creative Group #bcgbrandbattle was unanimous… Congratulations to the Starbucks Peppermint Mocha! Sorry McDonald’s, but I’d have to say that if you’re going to give your holiday treat the same name, it had better measure up. Ironically, as I write this I am enjoying my very own Starbucks Peppermint Mocha.

But, in the spirit of fair competition, I ask all of you to vote for who makes your favorite Peppermint Mocha?

Join us for next month’s BCG Battle of the Brands (#bcgbrandbattle). It’s our new thing for 2012 – we’re big on starting new year’s resolutions a little early around this office. In the meantime I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Merry New Year!

The evolution of digital marketing is forcing marketers to think differently about building and managing brands. Marketers are now responsible for both traditional and digital marketing channels. To be effective they must exhibit skills in writing, strategy, design, web development, relationship building and countless others. Several are struggling to find the most efficient and effective ways to connect traditional marketing tactics with newer digital strategies.

Many brands have a strong traditional advertising campaign and a strong online presence but do not know how to combine the two. Social media is just one aspect of digital marking – but with 88% of companies projected to use social media tools for marketing by 2012, knowing how to integrate your social media presence with your traditional marketing efforts is crucial. The goal is to make advertising more effective by giving consumers a complete brand experience through the use of multiple channels that encourage interaction and engagement.

Traditional advertising is still is a great way to reach the masses, while digital marketing offers a more personalized, one-on-one style of communication. TraDigital advertising tactics help businesses create engaging campaigns that connect with consumers through various channels – leading to more impactful and successful brand awareness.

When it comes down to it, today’s great marketing campaigns are integrated and interactive. They employ TraDigital methods, refusing to believe that ‘old’ tactics no longer work, while recognizing that new and innovative tools of engagement can be priceless. Brands are challenged to build relationships and awareness in new ways. Learning to navigate this new world of hybrid marketing can be intimidating, but it is inevitable.

My advice is that you better get a handle on your brand and what your customer’s need are. Identifying that and translating it into powerful creative and memorable campaigns will need a good dose of TraDigital. Lucky for you I might just know a hybrid agency that can help!

Interactive efforts are now playing a huge role in how businesses attract and retain customers. Every advertising strategy aims to reach a target consumer, and traditional advertising may seem to have lost its luster. Traditional advertising, while still effective and extremely important, seems to be playing a supporting role. It should not however, by any means, be ignored. Traditional media consists of established advertising methods, including newspaper, magazine and other print ads, radio, television, billboards, and more.

The key is to integrate traditional advertising and digital advertising to develop powerful, integrated marketing campaigns. Traditional advertising is not dead. It is merely facing a great deal of competition from other forms of advertising in modern times. Like many other facets of life, advertising has been irreversibly changed by technology – consequently, advertisers have been forced to adapt. Balancing the free form messaging of social media with the control, consistency and reach of traditional media can offer the best of both worlds.

Traditional media actually forms much of how consumers interact with brands through digital media. Because of its reach, many brands are using traditional media to direct viewers, listeners, and readers to their digital marketing efforts. We are seeing this happen with print advertisements and television commercials directing traffic to the brand’s Facebook page or Twitter handle. Once there, visitors can communicate and connect with the brand to begin developing a lasting relationship.

Social media can be great for building customer relationships and spreading your brand’s message, but it does have a significant downfall. People don’t always spread the same message you would like them to. While honest opinions are user-generated, they may not fit your strategy and on occasion may even be detrimental. Traditional marketing can help create a foundation and guide the brand message through the social media community. By promoting the contents of one marketing effort, for example a television commercial, with another like social media, you strengthen the frequency, volume, and effectiveness of both marketing efforts. What a great way to maximize your marketing investment and gain more mileage out of your campaigns.

• 78% of U.S. Baby Boomers are online, and this percentage is expected to stay the same through 2015.
• Boomers spend more than $2 trillion annually, and a significant amount of their time online is spent shopping and buying.
• Younger Boomers (ages 47 to 55) spent an average of 39.3 hours online per month in 2010.
• Older Boomers (ages 56 to 65) averaged 36.5 hours per month.
• Boomers spent an average of about $650 online over a 3-month period in 2010 – much higher than the $581 spent online by Generation X (ages 35 to 46) internet users and the $429 spent by Millennials (ages 18 to 34).
• 86.9% of Baby Boomers will have a mobile phone in 2011, and one-quarter of Boomers using mobile phones will access the internet from a mobile browser or installed app.
• In 2015, nearly 40% of Boomer mobile users will use the internet via mobile.
• First generation to grow up with TV:
  Adults 35 to 64 average 248 minutes/day
  Adults 18 to 34 average 226 minutes/day

You may be thinking, “Why do I need another social media platform?” With MySpace, Facebook, Friendster, LinkedIn, and countless others, users are familiar with how a social media platform works. Google Plus is not that different, but it does offer some new, very beneficial features.

Google Plus Features:

+Circles
Imagine having the ability to segment Facebook friends and keep them separate from each other as opposed to combined into one giant news feed – that’s what Google has done by adding circles. There is one main stream where all your contact updates show up, but you have the option to see updates from only certain circles, like ‘work,’ ‘friends,’ or ‘family.’

Since you can label your circle, and personalize the group, you can easily share with industry-specific people. You can create a circle of ‘Business Contacts’ and control the information you share. This allows you to keep personal and professional posts separate, while using only one account. For those individuals that fit into more than one category, you can add them to as many circles as you would like.

+Hangouts
Hangouts is a video calling feature where you can chat with up to 10 people in a single ‘hangout’ group chat session. Business groups can chat, and video chat, through Google Plus. This is very beneficial for members who are in different physical locations. Google Plus Hangouts is also connected with YouTube so you can share video within video chats quickly and easily.

+1 Button
The +1 button is a way for people to share items from the internet that they like, agree with or want to recommend. These items are shared with the +1 button, similar to the various other social media buttons you see online. Individuals are more likely to share industry-specific information on Google Plus because they can choose which circles see it and not share it with friends or family members who have no interest in work-related posts.

+Sparks
The Sparks menu acts as a one-stop center for topics of interest. You can browse sparks (topics) or add them to your menu for quicker browsing. To select the content that shows up in the sparks feeds, Google Plus uses a combination of +1 sharing and Google’s search engine algorithms. The aim of the sparks feed is to share fresh, new information. For companies incorporating SEO into their web content, Google Plus sparks could eventually help increase your website’s visibility.

Adding Contacts
Once you create a profile on Google Plus, you can immediately start building your circles, starting with current Google contacts. Google Plus also provides a tool enabling you to import contacts from Yahoo! or Hotmail. For information on how to transfer your contacts from Outlook or LinkedIn, view the links below. Once you have imported your contacts, you can use the ‘find and invite’ option to add individual contacts into your desired circles.

Click to learn how to add contacts from LinkedIn

Click to learn how to add contacts from Outlook

The advertising world has spent over two decades focusing money and attention on young adults ages 18 to 49. Many advertisers are confused on how to target today’s aging Baby Boomer consumer – those born between 1946 and 1964 who are not yet all seniors but are no longer young adults.

Traditionally, marketers lose interest in consumers at age 50. They believe their choice about which brand of soap or car they buy has long been determined and their biggest years of earning and spending are behind them.

However, in some cases, older consumers are even more willing to brand-hop than younger ones. They are more interested in new products and new technologies and have more disposable income. Boomers are likely to be vigorous consumers as they empty the nest, relocate, go back to school, or start another career or hobby. With rising life expectancy and increasingly active Boomers, consumer attitudes are changing.

Targeting consumers who are beyond the traditional cutoff point of 50 years old could bridge the gap between the Boomer Generation and Generation Y (the 74 million in their teens and early 20’s). Generation Y is almost as large as the Boomer Generation but has not yet reached its biggest earning and spending years. Brands

Changing their Strategy to Target the Aging Boomer

Procter & Gamble Co’s Cover Girl brand recently launched its first makeup line that targets older women – Advanced Radiance Age-Defying Makeup. With over 20% of their sales accredited to women over 55, they are conveying the message that aging can be beautiful. Their ads feature former supermodels in hopes to recapture the boomer women who were customers in the ‘70s and ‘80s.

General Mills has also been re-evaluating their marketing strategy. A company that was once criticized for enticing children with sugary, fatty foods is now refocusing their advertising on Baby Boomers and their changing tastes. They have taken note of an aging population with more active, longer lives, and a stronger focus on nutrition. They are marketing their “healthier” cereals. Kellogg has also switched its marketing focus. They recently came out with new cereals for the health-conscious boomer featuring antioxidant, soy protein, and healthy heart lines, each pinpointing specific health benefits.

At Barcelona Creative Group, our creative team is no stranger to the Boomer Consumer. For many years, we have helped various organizations target business owners, Boomers and high net worth individuals through traditional and digital marketing tactics. Whether you’re marketing wealth management, healthcare or plumbing services, you need to know your customer and speak to them in a way that motivates them to act, offering services and solutions based on their needs.

The important thing to remember is that there are many different types of consumers in today’s world – and Boomer Consumers should not be ignored. It takes smart strategies and powerful messaging to reach people, establish connections and build brand loyalty. And it takes an integrated marketing approach to produce measurable results. BCG uses a client acceleration process including BrandIntelligence™, to keep your marketing moving and prepare you to compete in a new world of integrated marketing. To learn more, contact BCG today.

Aging baby boomers and a Health Care Reform bill that will result in millions more insured patients are driving hospitals to position themselves for growth. Health care services are expected to become more competitive in the next few years. As a result, hospitals are willing to apply new marketing strategies to their previous initiatives.

By combining co-branded partnerships, reputation advertising, and a social media presence, hospitals are aiming to establish themselves as the go-to place for specific treatments. More people are starting to comparison shop and may be willing to drive farther for what they believe to be better treatment.

Many of the national and world-class medical centers have added to their brand value by developing their own specialties. However, in order to do so they need to expand their patient base to attract top talent and obtain required funding.

At the end of the day, hospitals are realizing that one of the best ways to lure new patients who may not be aware of their uniqueness or talented physicians and surgeons is to advertise. Not only are they advertising in their own back yards, but they are also invading their competitor’s space as well. Just drive down 159th Street from Orland Park to Lockport and you’ll see billboards for Palos Community Hospital touting their new ‘Palos Is’ campaign and two blocks later you’ll see boards announcing the future opening of Silver Cross Hospital, which is moving out of Joliet. If you’re watching TV in the evenings you may notice the same thing happening on your local Comcast networks.

Local hospitals and medical centers have sought awards or rankings and turned them into reputation ads that also highlight their specialties. They rely heavily on word-of mouth advertising, but social media has presented an excellent platform to communicate with patients and members of the community. Emphasizing a human touch can help promote the hospital’s brand experience and social media can give patients and loved ones an opportunity to reach out to others, ask questions, and get answers.

Rebranding A Tower
I think Joe Plumeri’s story struck a chord with me for a couple of reasons. First, renaming the Sears Tower is not unlike rebranding a business. As Plumeri observes, a new name or tagline can help make a new start. A new start reminds people that no matter how entrenched the old ways may be – anything is possible. Second, my Dad always told me it never hurts to ask. Plumeri came into the City of Chicago believing that despite a bad economy following the tragedy of September 11th and a need to make a powerful statement following their huge merger, Willis could find a new home for all their people in that tower and rename it for their new operation. Not unlike what we do when we help a client rebrand their business, Joe believed anything was possible. He developed a vision, asked stakeholders to share in it and he took action.

Playing in Traffic
This spring, Joe Plumeri gave the commencement address at his alma mater, the College of William and Mary. My college days may be well behind me, but when I read his remarks, I wanted to stand up and cheer. Plumeri is an insurance guy “on fire.”

Joe challenged the class of 2011 to always keep 4 big ideas in mind – vision, passion, integrity and courage – the courage to always remember that anything is possible. He told the graduates to get out there and mix it up, make things happen, which he described as “playing in traffic.” When our team created our new “Ready. Set. Go!” branding, we thought it described much of what we do for our clients. We conduct the brand research and fact-finding needed to get them ready. We develop a vision and creative strategies to set them on a new, fresh path and we help them go, moving them forward by integrating digital and traditional communications.

Little did I know that Plumeri would close his commencement address by telling the graduates to have a vision, to have passion, to have integrity and to believe that anything is possible. He said, “in life, there are Ready-Set people and there are Ready-Set-Go people. While Ready-Set people spend their lives preparing, analyzing and talking, but never jump, the Ready-Set-Go people make things happen.” I knew I loved that guy!

B STRATEGIC.

Knowledge is power and successful brands do their homework. They know their customers, their competitors and their unique qualities. They establish marketing objectives and create a plan. BCG does the homework for you. We perform extensive research on your competition and your customers. We also take a look at your current marketing efforts and explore numerous tactics. The research process gives us plenty of data to help you establish a marketing plan. We then BrainStorm ideas and begin developing, or improving, your branding.

B CREATIVE.

This step may include developing or refining your message, corporate identity, content, design, and website. We know that powerful design needs to be creative, so does your message. In today’s world, message really does matter. From your online content to your print marketing materials, your message should be consistent with your brand essence. BCG uses techniques to incorporate color schemes and tactics that appeal to different market segments, and we shape your message to relate to the various customers you may serve.

B TACTICAL.

This step is all about getting your message in front of current and potential customers. You need to be where your customers are, and BCG can assist you in developing a plan that does so. Over the years, we have become particularly good at applying this process for clients whose taret markets include business owners and high net worth individuals. Great marketing campaigns are integrated and interactive. They use traditional methods combined with new and innovative tools of engagement. BCG will provide you with print materials and online solutions along with digital and social media plans.

B YOUR BRAND.

Don’t just create a brand, live it. BCG believes that your brand message should resonate as loudly inside your organization and it does in the marketing you direct outside. BCG will provide you with internal branding strategies and employee engagement ideas to help your organization live your brand.

At the end of this process you will walk away with a complete marketing plan – tangible information that includes research findings, data, marketing tactics, creative messages, marketing materials, and an approach that fits your budget.

Let’s get started! Contact BCG online or call (708) 488-8077.

Most entrepreneurs think about the color of their site in terms of how colors look together and whether they’re generally appealing, but color actually has a lot more to do with what your visitors think about your site – and the actions they take – than you might realize.

There have been entire books written about the psychology of color in buying habits. It’s a topic that has been well studied, and most marketing degrees include at least some study of this topic. We don’t want to bore you with psychology talk though. So here are the basics of what various colors mean, who they appeal to, and who should use them.

First, a Few Stats

Some of these statistics have to do with the color of individual products, but they demonstrate very clearly the power color has in the minds of consumers. According to a recent KISSMetrics report:

• 93% of consumers place color and appearance above other factors when making a buying decision.
• 85% of shoppers state color as the primary factor in their decision to buy a product.
• Brand recognition, which links directly to consumer confidence, is increase by 80% when the right colors are used.

What Does It Mean?

It’s important to know what specific colors mean to people. It’s been shown that certain colors invoke specific feelings in most people, so let’s see what colors really mean.

Yellow: Youthful and optimistic. Use it to grab attention. Usually not good as a background or primary site color.

Red: Energetic. Creates urgency and increases heart rate. Good for appealing to impulse shoppers.

Blue: Creates feelings of trust and security. This is why many banks use it in their logos or marketing. Navy or dark blue is used to market to the budget-conscious.

Green: Gives the impression of wealth. Relaxing and easy-going. Teal can be used to appeal to people on a budget.

Orange: Aggressive and excitement. Good for calls to action and impulse buying.

Pink: Feminine and romantic. Used to market to women and girls and traditional buyers.

Black: Powerful and sleek. Use it to market luxury products and appeal to impulse buyers.

Purple: Soothing and calming. Often used to market anti-aging products.

Part of the study mentioned above found that what your site visitors see when they come to your site, from overall design to the colors used, really does make an impact on whether they buy from you. In fact, 52% of people surveyed who said they would not return to a site stated the reason as ‘aesthetics.’ If there was ever an question, that should confirm that the look of your site is one of the most important parts of your business.