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Welcome to spring! And while most of us think of now as a time to shed some clothing and get outdoors, it's so much more than that. April is also National Anxiety Month, National Humor Month, National Welding Month, and Uh-Huh Month. At SicolaMartin, we know how important it is to follow up anxiety with humor, but we don't really see the welding tie-in. Alas.
But speaking of getting outdoors, local gatherings play a large part in this month's EP. It's an extended play we hope you'll like. See something that floats your boat? Let us know!
Cheers,
Steve
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It's the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT), and on May 1st it rolls into Austin, Texas.
The world's premier IT forum, WCIT is a four-day catalyst for social and economic development through the exchange of policies, ideas and technology. This year, the conference theme is "The Innovation Exchange — Driving 21st Century Economic Growth." Expected to draw 2,000 business, government and academic leaders from 80 countries, this 15th World Congress will explore three issues: privacy and security, health care and global digital access.
In conjunction with the event, on May 3rd from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. at the downtown Hilton, the Austin Technology Council Center of Innovation will host an exclusive gathering of leaders from some of the most successful technology companies in Austin and around the world. It's an opportunity to accomplish a year's worth of business networking in a single day.
WCIT 2006. Inspire. Connect. Lead. Need they say more?
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What happens to brands when companies merge? Well, you never know. Here's one scenario... PeopleSoft is taken over by Oracle. The PeopleSoft name quickly becomes a product brand. Oracle did the same thing with JD Edwards. Or another... Cingular acquires AT&T wireless and loses the AT&T name completely. SBC buys Cingular. Then SBC acquires the rest of AT&T. And gives up its own name and becomes AT&T. Of course, when IBM acquired Tivoli and Lotus, they kept the brands as divisions — almost intact companies. Then, over time, the names became product brands.
What are the "branding rules" when companies merge? They're actually fairly simple — just hard to implement. Use the brand that has the most power and relevance to your target audience. Streamline every way possible and as soon as possible. Because the power in compounding brands is in their ability to inherit new attributes to gain relevance and importance to the market. This often requires the discipline to give up using a brand's prior usage in order to gain clarity. And with clarity comes power.
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There's something kinda cool about turning on the TV and seeing a co-worker. At least that's how we all felt when we sat in our conference room drinking beer and watching our SicolaMartin Senior Agency Accountant, Brian Fuller, on Bravo's reality show Situation: Comedy. And while his sitcom pilot, "Baked Alaska," didn't win, our man Brian was a top five finalist who pitched his idea to NBC bigwigs, including Sean Hayes of Will & Grace fame. But that's just dipping your toe into the shallow end of Brian's comedy pool.
From screenwriter to stand-up comedian to artist to author-in-residence of "Life Can't Be Explained with a Spreadsheet and Other Misconceptions of the Business World," Brian finds inspiration in books, the newspaper, even his Martian co-workers. And we find inspiration in Brian, too. When he's not up to his eyeballs in accounting, he dives right in and helps out the other Martian writers with agency projects.
Talk about multi-talented!
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If you live in Austin, you never know what to expect from springtime. It might be 105 degrees. It might be raining three inches an hour. But there's one thing you can count on every year — Eeyore's Birthday Party. And this year, on Saturday, April 29th, the old softy turns 43.
While his yellow-bellied friend Winnie the Pooh may be more well known, here in Austin we honor everyone's favorite sad-eyed donkey with an afternoon of live music, Maypole dancing, costume contests, a hippie queen pageant and, of course, a giant birthday cake.
A fundraiser to benefit non-profit groups in Austin, Eeyore's Birthday Party is held downtown at Pease Park from 11 a.m. until dark, and admission is free. Whether you're a kid, or a kid at heart, Eeyore's Birthday Party is the place to be.
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So, imagine, one day, you're hanging out at home, going through emails, and sitting right there in your inbox is an email from Company X* offering you a great deal on a computer that would actually be exactly what you need, but you didn't even know you were really looking for until right at that moment. Talk about good timing!
Well, that's exactly how our latest e-marketing campaign with Trilogy works. Applying database analytics to better understand and segment the active email accounts of one of their largest clients (Company X), Trilogy turned to us to help them promote relevant, compelling offers for each target segment, leverage current product and pricing offers available, and continuously use updated customer findings to optimize future email programs.
The result? Incredibly customized emails that hit the inbox of people who happened to be looking for exactly what Company X was offering. To the recipient, it was a heck of a coincidence. To SicolaMartin and Trilogy, it was simply smart marketing.
* This e-newsletter comes
out monthly. Jumping-through-
lawyer-hoops-to-get-permission-
to-use-their-company's-name
wasn't built into the schedule.
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Lowe Farm Records is proud to be releasing Valley So Steep, the debut LP from The Texas Sapphires, on April 18, 2006. Later in the year they will also be releasing the sophomore LP from The Only Children, a followup to 2004's Change of Living. Why exactly are we promoting this in our e-newsletter? Well, one of our very own Martians, Lee Wilson, is the mastermind behind Lowe Farm Records, and another musicial Martian, Jeff Joiner, plays bass in The Texas Sapphires. We'll visit the farm anytime!
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Here are a few of our favorites:
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