We recently completed a magazine ad for one of our clients and are excited about how it turned out. The client, GELZEEZ, is targeting the college merchandise market with a brand new product. The ad will appear in The College Store magazine which is read by buyers from college bookstores across the nation. Specifically, it will appear in the January/February issue which comes out just before the major product showcase for college bookstores.

Goals for the ad were very straightforward:

1. Introduce this new product;

2. Encourage people to visit the GELZEEZ booth at the show.

In terms of design and content, we wanted an ad that would standout as well as demonstrate that this isn’t your ordinary college bookstore merchandise. The ad is also the first step in a complete overhaul of the marketing materials and packaging for the product.

Fortunately, the team at GELZEEZ is fully on board with poking a little fun at their competition!

The comments section of a newspaper’s online story posts has become something of a mini letters to the editor. Readers are given the opportunity to immediately respond to a story with their opinion. If your company is mentioned in such a story this can provide both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge comes in the form of online comments that denigrate your company or product. The opportunity comes from comments that support your company or product.

See the challenge?

Here are some tips for dealing with a situation like this:

- Should you respond? Yes. Protecting the reputation and name of your company or product is of utmost importance.

- Like any response strategy, whether to a reporter or online newspaper comment section, develop the key messages you want to convey in a response and stick to them.

- Keep your comments positive. Your goal is not to change the mind of those posting negative comments, rather it is to influence those that read the comments later. Do not get sucked into responding to other people’s wild accusations but do present good, factual information. Online comments can be a bit like the wild wild west and you don’t want to get into a shoot out with some anonymous person who has nothing to lose.

- Write short, concise comments of 3-4 sentences. Shorter comments get read more than longer ones.

- Include a positive comment supporting a particular point or points in the story.

- Be sure you follow any company policies that might apply to this kind of situation. Don’t get your company in further hot water!

As more and more people get their news online an online response strategy is going to become an important part of your company’s communication planning.