1/12/2013

Add Shot - BigBike Group revs up San Diego's Mobile Scene

It's no secret to anyone who knows me that I love my Starbucks and especially adding a shot of espresso when I want to get something done right then. Using that metaphor, San Diego based businesses have much to accomplish in 2013 and require an "add shot" to their marketing and advertising plans. As Creative Director, I want to run all of the best campaigns in San Diego County. As a visionary, I see where the solutions are and because I have the gift of research, I can execute like nobody's business.

My Partner's Work
Let's face it. Mobile is where it's at. Not tomorrow. Right now! I purposely coined "Add Shot" to not only serve as my agency's term to pitch the Mobile trifecta, which takes aim at the Mobile website, the Mobile app, and Mobile advertising, but also a brief manifesto of what's to come and the effects on my Client's bottom line.  I'm an agent of disruption, so at the risk of appearing wonkish I promise to drop data to support my claims.

By the way, how does your site look on an iphone or android? Does in conform to appear clean, clear, and legible like this (pic left)? While every other agency spends all year pushing for responsive web design that automatically adjusts to the users adjusts to fit the users screen resolution (which is really for blogs), BigBike Groups runs against the gain on this debate. One of our top focuses in 2013 is to release the best mobile specific websites with separate content to dramatically improve load time and feature API keys to improve brand connectivity and sharing. Why does this debate matter? A 2011 Compuware article titled "What Users Want From Mobile" states if your site does not load with 3 seconds 60% of them will leave and never come back. Mobile is an art. Companies selling products, food, and services deserve better.

Windows Phone
As Creative Director, getting the right mobile website matters for me to focus on #goodvertising and for my mobile ads to matter and produce the results that show my clients the money! Seriously, creating rich media ads including video ad units, gifs, and interstitials are challenging enough and they commanded a greater click through rate of 1.1% in 2010. So wasting a better CTR and that potential customer's trust on a slow loading site makes no sense to me and serves as the first opportunity to save the client money.

It's also apparent that device makers are fully aware of the culture influence on society their toys have and so do the users. Yet, did you know 2/3 of our time on mobile phones are used for non-communicative activities with the average American spending 94 minutes per day utilizing mobile apps vs. web-based consumption? Mashable called 2012 The Year of Mobile Advertising and the Atlantic covered the national acceleration of mobile advertising accurately.

BigBike Group Mobile Ad Campaign
As for popular apps go in San Diego, there is a rush for publishers to develop and launch to appease their subscribers and not lose ground on readership, however San Diego is so diverse. From the craft beer scene having an app to the local tourism app to the County Parks app, and everything in between, there's a niche for advertisers to fill and not worry of competing with 5 other ads of the same page. It just takes a good eye and a skilled firm to lead the way. Thus developing an app should also be no light conversation either. I believe a brand selling a product or aiming to increase employees engagement or creating a loyalty program or wanting to increase demand with a game, they  should have a Mobile app.

Also, did you know San Diego was dubbed the "Wireless Capital of the World" over Silicon Valley by Forbes Magazine just last year? It's true. Forbes tech contributor Mark Fidelman's June 27th piece pointed out the concentration of wireless employees in San Diego is 484 per 100,000 residents, compared to Silicon Valley's 375 per 100,000. Plus Novatel CEO Pete Leparulo's quote lends our mobile industry some credibility when he said, "San Diego for wireless technology is an amazing place. It's what I image Detroit was like during the heyday of inventiveness." Not bad, but what about San Diego's mobile market?

Well, besides the thousands of high wage employees of telecom companies that either carry a smartphone and or tablet device (just ask any Qualcomm employee), San Diego County has 3.1 million residents, 4000 square milesand an ultra conservative estimate of 500,000 mobile devices in adult households according to Scarborough Research's *outdated stats from 2007, or closer to 1.5 million compared to National estimates of 52% released at CES. Yes, the range is wide, however the evidence is self evident.

I also believe its "The Year of The eWallet" for San Diego and advertising to the ewallet user will pay off in huge divided ends. I think there's clout here since Scarborough ranked San Diego as one of the top tech savvy cities in the country and the swipe of the mobile to pay for food, drinks, products, and more just completes the rave review.

Now, I'm not going to discuss my firm's strategies of how I present all of this and pitch, so that some young ad executive at a competing firm looking to prove something can turn around and copy me, but I will say to those who could be potential clients reading this... let's meet for coffee soon.    

Email me at yevesperez [at] gmail [dot] com or tweet me @frshprnzcleantc.



1/09/2013

I Was Wrong! New Poll Says 61% of Latinos Voted Yes On Prop 37

I can admit I was wrong in my previous post "Why Prop 37 Fell Short". My conclusion was that our movement had a latino problem and we would not win without winning their vote. My evidence was based on looking at counties we lost (%) where latinos make up the majority of the population or close to it. However, the real numbers say otherwise months later.


Based on a new poll commissioned by the Center for Food Safety Action Fund and conducted by the independent polling firm Lake Research, the strongest support for Prop. 37 came from Latinos (61% yes), Asians (61% yes), African Americans (56% yes) and Democratic women (60% yes).  As a group, Caucasian voters turned down the measure 58% to 42%.  Voters under 30 approved of the initiative (55% yes), as opposed to voters 65 years or older (61% no). Reflecting election results from the Secretary of State’s office, the initiative won in Los Angeles County (52% to 48%) and the San Francisco Bay Area (56% to 44%).
The survey found that every major demographic group, with the exception of Republican men, supports the concept of required labeling of genetically engineered foods.  Of special note, Prop. 37 won the Election Day vote 51% to 49%, but lost with early absentee voters 46% to 54% — an indication that early, high-volume attack advertising by Prop. 37 opponents was countered effectively by the “Yes” campaign’s late surge in GE food labeling information and outreach.
Looks like the data shows we lost with the elderly vote when it comes to labeling genetically modified food. Read more here: http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/2013/01/09/post-prop-37-poll-shows-strong-public-support-for-future-ge-food-labeling/

1/01/2013

Never Give Up On A Dream

Years ago I was blessed with a dream... a feeling... a vision for change and I risked everything (and I mean everything) for that dream. I still have the single sheet of lined paper that I wrote this dream of a club down because I knew at that moment, it would come true and I wanted to remember that feeling of 'awe inspired'. I called it the Eco Investment Club. This was my role to play in a struggling Green Movement. And yet, over time and trying to figure out and finagle to make money the dream begin to slip out of my hands. Then, one day, the Eco Investment Club was no more. I was sad, angry, resentful, and all around crushed after losing control of the domain http://ecoinvestmentclub.com to an ex partner, but I had to let it go.

Over the years, I read articles in Inc. Magazine about entrepreneurs losing control of their companies and getting kicked out and then wanted it all back under the old name, but couldn't... so they had to give up. It pained me to no end to contemplate giving up. But then the story Steve Jobs always gave me hope because I had passion coming out of my ears!

  

So, I waited. The company closed. The domain came back up for sale in auction. I prevailed. And now the Eco Investment Club is mine again. I had a hard road. The Green Movement still struggles. I struggled. My name was mud, because I gave up on my values, and my name of the web was out my control, too. I risked too much, but now http://yevesperez.com is mine and is pointed to the club, because we are now one and the same. Fredrick Douglass said, "Without struggle, there can be no progress." I believe it. I am the real Yeves Perez. I'm sorry for my mistakes and wrongs, but I'm not giving up. I am the green Sean Parker, an agent of disruption. And I will never give up again as long as I'm alive.

Cheers to 2013!

http://ecoinvestmentclub.com