Feeding the Flames at the IABC!

The Realm team is thrilled to be more than just an entrant in the IABC Flames this year, but committee members, sorting coordinators and marketing force behind this year's theme.

In addition to concepting how to package the Flame awards to the membership during this down economy, our group will be carrying the torch (two fire cliches so far!) for the awards themselves by promoting and communicating to the membership all throught he summer.

The effort includes a hot new look (three cliches!) as well as a social media aspect using Facebook to keep the awards top-of-mind.

The big idea for this year has been the reduction of the early bird fee to only $50, a ridiculously low price for an award as hard to win as a Golden Flame.

Join the Facebook group, enter the awards and we'll see you there!

Monetizing Social Media

I have lost count on the number of presentations I have seen regarding using social media to market yourself, your company, your product, your pet... But one topic keeps cropping up that doesn't get answered very well. How will money be made with social media?

The latest round of panelists I saw at the Atlanta Press Club were content answering that they didn't know, but someone would figure something out. It left me a bit empty, and frankly dissapointed. It reminded me of the DotCom days. The reality is that someone is going to have to pay the bill for all the interwebs we are using. Someone... anyone.

My current theory swirls around FaceBook. Of all the media, they seem the one closest to actually translating eyeballs to revenue. My reasons are simple:

1. They have the largest, fastest growing population of all the social media
2. They have created a "platform" a place where I can go to do many different things. And it keeps expanding.
3. FaceBook allows consumers and business to rub up against each other.
4. The architecture is open enough that you can smell the commerce starting.
5. Finally, the share feature.

Of all the things that FaceBook has done, the share feature seems to me the strongest, most interesting. In the short-term, a user can share content they like and think someone else will like. But what if it got past like, and turned into want? What if want turned into buy?

Here is a scenario I can absolutely see: FaceBook Market. Here's

how it works.

• My wife is a Fan of Ulta3 (cosmetics and personal care products) - I am not.
• Ulta3 runs a promo for some thing my wife likes and wants. Rather than leaving the catelog in the bathroom with the page open to the thing, she simply shares it with me on FaceBook.
• I see it on my wall, know she wants it, and one click later - I order it.
• FaceBook has my mailing info, her mailing info and one click purchasing (which they just added). Ideally, it just shows up on my phone bill.

Sounds easy, but why wouldn't I just go to the website and order it? Because if I buy it through Facebook, I get FaceBook credits which I can use on purchases from other retailers through Facebook Market.

And what if shopping alone isn't your thing? Shop with a friend!

FaceBook already knows which of your friends are online. Instead of inviting them to yet another game of Scrabulous, you invite them to go shopping. Together, you two can offer opinions in real time to one another and recapture a little of the shopping experience we have given up by going online. Make it a shopping party, and earn even more FaceBook credits.

For those of us around long enough, this sounds a lot like America Online's model from the 90's, and it is! The difference is the time may be right to bring this model back. Consumers are looking for social connections, retailers are looking for more engagement and sales, and the platform needs a way to generate revenue. Adding commerce just closes this loop for everyone.

Keeping busy through volunteerism. A story about tomatoes

Tomatoes.
Tomatoes were the topic of our quarterly steering meeting last month. Why? Because unsold tomatoes rot on the vine. They are not worth anything unless they are sold. Which is exactly like our billable hours. Sell 'em, or they rot. If you can't sell them - eat them.

What we have done, and I propose all people with an hourly service look at, is to get involved with non-profits and stack up the workload so that when a hour looks to be rotting, we can slip in a non-profit job and keep busy and energized. Nothing is wasted.

Why is this good? (stand on soapbox)
Right now, not-for-profits are suffering. They being taxed to do more and more with less and less. But they also make our communities richer and better through their existence. As citizens, we must feel compelled to lend a hand. It is part of living in a community.

Why is this good for business?

First
It's GREAT PR. If you can, don't just help an NFP, but donate something of value - your time. Your clients and prospects will really respect you for it.

Second
It keeps your staff excited and energized. It keeps hands from getting idle. What's more, NFPs will let you have more control. You can take some risks and do something more exciting - because you are typically footing the bill.

Finally
Maybe, just maybe, you will pick up a piece of business through the relationship. But this is a long shot, and I wouldn't count on it. Volunteer for every other reason first.

Long and short of it. Don't let the tomatoes rot. If you aren't going to eat them yourselves (a topic for another day), feed them to someone who needs it more.

Earth Day is Quickly Approaching!

Earth Day 2009 is almost here, and Realm is once again happy to show our support by being the agency of record for EarthShare Georgia. We have been working since last summer to help EarthShare to promote their employee campaigns as well as their three big Earth Day events: Georgia Leadership Breakfast, Party in the Sky and their Corporate Green Day Challenge.



The campaign started last year with the "Fanning" of Land, Air and Water. The campaign included a viral/social push online and with donated promotional items like clings and stickers. Currently, the EarthShare Georgia Facebook group has over 300 interested members.

The campaign will be coming full circle this April with the launch of their new promotional video starring, you guessed it, Land, Air and Water.

Event Details:
Party in the Sky
Wednesday, April 22, Party in the Sky, Nelson Mullins

Leadership Breakfast
Friday, April 24, Leadership Breakfast, Ga Aquarium

We encourage everyone to become familiar with EarthShare Georgia and the member organizations they support. For move information, please visit their site.

Another Win for InsideUPS

InsideUPS: Special Centennial Edition
recognized at the 2008 IABC/Southern Region Competition

InsideUPS is an internal magazine published quarterly by UPS. Over the years, Realm has won numerous awards for the publication including recognition at the Davey Awards, Communicator Awards, and IABC Flames.



IABC/Southern Region is comprised of 27 International Association of Business Communicators chapters with members in 15 countries and territories, including the Caribbean and Trinidad and Tobago chapters and chapters in 14 U.S. states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

Realm Featured in Atlanta Day Book

“During a downturn, the knee-jerk reaction is to go after smaller accounts. Instead, we started to go upstream, targeting the larger companies that would have been out of our reach before. We’re one of the few agencies of our size that can offer the quality breadth and experience of a larger firm. We have great employees, strong capitalization and our mission-wide goal is for every person in the agency to understand that we’re not hiding in a foxhole. Instead of going after rabbits, we’re hunting deer.”

Read the story.

Number 24 in Atlanta

Realm listed as 24  in Atlanta Business Chronicle Book of Lists: Atlanta’s Largest Advertising Agencies.

Realm officially opens the doors to our new offices on December 24  (still working on the phone system, sorry).

Carmen Garcia and Jeff Mason join Realm as senior art directors, increasing to 24  the number of Realm staffers.

Realm takes home a total of 24  awards including the SIAA’s Best in Show.

From the agency that is playing 24 in Lotto for the rest of the year.

Our Top 09 Reasons Why 09 Won't Suck.
With nothing but impending doom seeming to loom on our horizon, the staff at Realm takes an optimistic look ahead to see why 2009 won’t totally suck.

(An unscientific survey taken on the heels of severe holiday fatigue.)

	Spring in Atlanta... sandals "without socks" weather!
	The second season of Damages is finally going to air.
	Watchmen, Wolverine and 9 in theaters.
	There will be no "Race for the White House" this year!
	There’ll always be budget left for beer.
	More island info on Lost
	The Atlanta Falcons in the playoffs! (Eat it 2008!)
	Season 3 of Mad Men.
	The sequel to Josh Whedon’s Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.

From the agency that, apparently, watches way too much TV.