Years back I was doing research for a competitive overview and typed in the name of a large toy manufacturer into my browser — I spelled it phonetically and it was therefore slightly incorrect (back then I wasn’t a parent and didn’t remember the correct spelling).

Shame on me? The manufacturer thought so - and in a carefully worded, multiple paragraph error page they told me all about how to spell their name correctly, and how I should click on the correctly-spelled URL to go to the site.

What arrogance! Now that I am a parent, I would steer friends away from this company if a good alternative is present, even though the company in question now simply redirects the mispelled domain traffic to their main site.

The takeaway here is that it pays to open your online shopfront to everyone, as you would offline, especially when many pay enormous sums to gain the awareness threshold of “branded recall ” that might bring customers to your door in the first place.

The best marketers will embrace imperfection in recall if it leads prospects to purchase and blocks fraudulent interception - and these companies will invest in domain names and search engine filings that harness that “imperfect” traffic.

Now that the trend for new “Web” companies to have cool, incorrectly-spelled names, these same potential customers might get punished for spelling brand names “correctly .” Shame on them. LatR…

*I’ll give you a preemptive warning: this blog entry ends with a question, rather than an answer.

A recent article from eMarketer.com throws water on the fervor surrounding socially-oriented, or “Web 2.0,” technology by arguing that media dollars are still directed towards traditional online media, namely banners and search words. This article is flawed.

First off, in a tongue-in-cheek sense, I have trouble with any article that uses the phrase “Web 2.0″ more than zero times per 200 words.

Seriously, though, while the online ad spend is still significant, I was disappointed that said article did not include any perspective on the ROI of social media. I don’t know what the numbers would be, but it seems to me that this is the true value of social media as a marketing tool.

Also, I’d chalk up at least a portion to the online ad spend to institutional momentum, rather than consumer behavior. From the linked article:

“Marketers are aware of the impact that social media marketing can have on their overall program but view it as uncharted territory, not worthy of their budget,” said John Squire, senior vice president of product strategy at Coremetrics, in a statement.

…So why isn’t Coremetrics, or eMarketer for that matter, focusing on charting this territory rather than reciting old figures? Participation in a campaign by civilians is a far more robust consumer brand experience and cannot be ignored.

Wunderman Network Agency Taps Karen Fazekas, 20-year Industry Veteran

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 17, 2008 – RTC Relationship Marketing (RTCRM), a Washington, D.C.–based direct marketing agency, continues its impressive growth with the addition of Karen Fazekas to its Broadcast Production department.

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OK, so when we talk about the delivery that is Wireframes, what we are really talking about User Interface Design. The granularity to which these wireframes should be designed is a topic of constant debate. At RTCRM, we design wireframes across a spectrum of fidelities, depending on the type of project we are working on and the proclivities of other design team members. There are some really good information architects out there that will tell you that wire frames should be as sparse and minimalist as possible, and that most of the information needed to create the interactive experience in question can be realized form flows and maps. While this IA-centric approach is fine for some projects (typically content heavy sites without much functionality), I think there are situations where such a dogmatic methodology comes up short. Many times, we need to create high fidelity wireframes in order to properly articulate an a user experience. This is why I i try to push our designers to be both great architects and user interfaces designers. To me, User Interface Design makes up one third of the User Experience Design equation, with the other two thirds being User Research and Information Architecture. Now that Rich Internet Applications lets us do on websites what we used to be able to do only in software design, the role of User Interface Design is more important in web experience design than ever before.

After two months of voting, RTCRM has won the first-ever Lester Wunderman People’s Choice Award. Strong creative leadership and collaboration brought to life this simple, surprising and hip series of commercials that delivered compelling results.

The campaign talked simply about Time Warner’s Road Runner High Speed Online advantage over other ISPs. Its focus on the key product benefit, clear relation between problem and solution and solid execution, contributed to a 45% increase in subscriptions. It’s a perfect example of customer insight brought to life.

Congratulations to all involved!!!

One of the great things about working at RTC Relationship Marketing is the incredible resources at my fingertips. RTCRM is part of the Wunderman, YR, and WPP networks, which is an incredible global network of marketing and communication professionals. I’m only beginning to understand the benefits from an agency perspective, as I’m still new to RTCRM, but there’s at least one extremely tangible benefits worth sharing.

I’m currently working on requirements for RTC’s new intranet and I wanted to be sure that we were basing our work on best practices. I remembered the Nielsen/Norman does an annual best intranets report, so I went to the site to check it out. Instead of my next step being to just purchase it and hope it clears my expense report – I headed over to website of Young & Rubicam’s Global Intelligence Group. This is the amazing research team that serves all of WPP. The website has an incredible number of research and reports available and the best part are the research librarians.

If I don’t find what I need on the website, I just fill out a form and tell them what I need. If they don’t have the exact report, they don’t just say, “Sorry – don’t have it.” They send me whatever they DO have on the same subject matter. I shouldn’t be shocked at that kind of customer service, but it’s just really rare these days. After the first request I sent them was so promptly and fabulously handled – I ended up telling my librarian friends (yes, I have several) about our amazing corporate librarians.

So if you’ve ever wondered why you might want to consider an marketing agency that’s part of a larger network like WPP – the research and resources alone can make it worthwhile.

Listed as one of the top five branded health information websites by
a Manhattan Research study , Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals’ Mirena
website , built and designed by RTCRM, provides pertinent product
content, easy-to-understand information and serves women’s needs.

Patient Information

Safety Information

I think it’s safe to say we all have a soft spot for Baked and Wired . It’s our cozy little coffee shop across the street, a sweet bastion of Starbucks relief. I think it’s also safe to say that my team is utterly and completely obsessed with their cupcakes. Oh, they’re not just for birthdays anymore. Had a tough week? Have a cupcake! Made it in on time today? Have a cupcake! Getting ready to sit through 4 hours of legal review? Cupcakes for breakfast!

We hold these B&W cupcakes near and dear to our hearts. So when we learned that our little bake shop had some fancy competition from Georgetown Cupcake’s “designer” treats, we decided that it was our duty to perform an official taste test.

After two days of frenzied of cupcake sampling, results were inconclusive at best. How can you compare a perfectly baked strawberry-vanilla masterpiece with a dense and fudgey choco-mint newcomer? It’s apples to oranges people. Our methodology could use some work. We needed an official guide for evaluating things like icing consistency, cake density, and overall taste. And we needed an even comparison of price, location and bakery atmosphere. We needed to take this to the next level.

So, I’m here to announce RTCRM’s Great Cupcake Taste-Off. Our team is working out the details, but we do know this: official cupcake tasters from the 1025 building will evaluate several different flavors from both Baked and Wired and Georgetown Cupcake . Check back in a couple weeks to see what happens when the cake starts flying and we all eat ourselves silly. Stay tuned - results will be posted once I wake up from the sugar coma.

-DC Company Expands Its Advertising and Marketing Talent in Chicago-

WASHINGTON , DC – January 23, 2008 – RTC Relationship Marketing (RTCRM), a Washington, DC based direct marketing agency, is starting off the new year with continued growth with the addition of David Vukits, vice president of strategy and insights; and Courtney Thompson, vice president, creative director to its Chicago operations.

In his role as vice president of strategy and insights, Vukits will utilize qualitative and quantitative research in generating strategic business tactics for RTCRM clients. Previously Vukits was vice president of the insight and innovation practice for GreenHouse Communications in Chicago, where he developed new marketing models leveraging brain physiology, human psychology and principles of marketing. His expertise includes account planning, customer relationship management (CRM), customer insight, facilitation, loyalty, research and strategic planning.

“David brings a combination of skills and experience that will greatly enhance our ability to drive results for our clients – in particular his ability to apply consumer insights into mathematic models to predict behavior,” says RTCRM CEO Barry Kessel.

A 20-year veteran of strategic marketing solutions, Vukits has created and implemented tactical advertising campaigns for clients including Citigroup, United Airlines, Bank One, Bristol-Myers Squibb, UPS, Amoco and Hilton Hotels. His accounts at RTCRM will include leading companies within the technology, financial services and pharmaceuticals industries. Vukits holds an M.B.A. from the University of Illinois and a B.A. from Marquette University.

Also, RTCRM announced the hiring of Courtney Thompson as vice president, creative director in the Chicago office. A seasoned business-to-business (B2B) and relationship marketing professional, Thompson was a creative director at MDB Communications in Washington, DC, where she managed award-winning and results-producing creative for the DC Lottery, National Geographic, Fannie Mae and the National School Boards Association. Thompson now returns to RTCRM, where she previously managed agency clients GlaxoSmithKline, AARP and Road Runner High Speed Online. In addition, she has headed pro bono campaigns for both the Red Cross and The Women’s Center.

“ It’s nice to welcome Courtney back to the RTCRM family,” says Barry Kessel, RTCRM’s CEO. “She’s a gifted creative professional and will add to our ability to create powerful, insight-driven creative that builds our clients’ business.”

As vice president, creative director, Thompson is responsible for the overall development and execution of creative campaigns that deliver fresh, incisive and results-oriented communications for RTCRM clients. Thompson has extensive strategic and creative-development experience for integrated, multi-channel acquisition, retention and relationship-building campaigns for both B2B and consumer targets. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Rollins College in Winter Park, FL.

About RTCRM

RTC Relationship Marketing (RTCRM) is a full-service direct marketing and relationship marketing agency based in Washington, DC in the heart of Georgetown, with offices in New York City and Chicago. RTCRM boasts more than 40 years’ worth of innovative, targeted solutions that grow its clients’ brands and help them forge lasting, valuable relationships with their customers. What distinguishes RTCRM is its unique ability to analyze data and research on both a rational and emotional level. RTCRM’s clients include major brands in the telecom and technology, pharmaceuticals and other business sectors, such as AARP, GlaxoSmithKline, Road Runner High Speed Online and Time Warner Cable. RTCRM’s innovative campaigns have won multiple advertising and direct marketing awards. RTCRM is part of the Wunderman agency network, one of the world’s largest communications companies, which includes Y&R, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, JWT and Landor.

To learn more about RTCRM or to inquire about an exciting new position, visit www.rtcrm.com .

Contact:

Rebecca Johnson, 202-315-4554, rjohnson@rtcrm.com

Since January 1, I have been on a really strict diet and believe it or not have lost 12 pounds in three weeks! I feel great! I have always been kind of a health nut, I am a marathon runner and a cyclist and even though I still work out and do yoga on the weekends, the pounds were starting to creep up and I didn’t like it one bit. Sad to say, in this joint, you gain a pound and everyone notices. I hate to admit that I’m an “aging mediocre athlete,” but I am. Excess weight undermines my fitness and deteriorates my joints and mobility. I feel it. I’m convinced that the weight throws my body alignment off balance, causing back and neck pain. So I came up with this diet and it’s not from any books nor does it involve any pills or anything like that, I just came up with it on my own.

Basically all I did was fast for two days with just vegetable juice to give myself a kick start, and cut out all alcohol and animal by-products of any kind. I went from being a lifelong vegetarian to being a vegan! While I used to say I don’t eat anything with eyeballs, now my only exception is honey. No processed foods, no sugar, no “white” food. I also do not eat anything at all after 7:00 PM every night. That was the really hard part. My weakness is late-night snacks. I also used to go to the gym and then come home and gorge, so kicking that habit has helped a lot. As for wine, that was tough… I love it. I truly believe wine is good for you, so as soon as I calibrate my weight and fitness, I will reintroduce it back into my life. That will be glorious!

I have to admit, being a vegan is a little bit boring. I mean, I used to love cheeses, and even though they have vegan cheese, it’s not the same thing, and I miss it a lot. This diet is a lot of hard work. I bring my food into the office and feel people are snickering at me behind my back. I have always been a very disciplined and regimented person, so it’s probably a little bit easier for me than it would be for most people. I think it’s also easier to go from being a vegetarian to a vegan than it is to go from being a meat eater to a vegan. Essentially what that means is that I won’t be cashing in on the multi-million-dollar bestselling-diet-book fad – no early retirement for me.

So, if anyone knows of any good vegan restaurants in DC or has some great recipes, I am all ears. February 1 will be my first full month of being a vegan. Will I ever go back to being a vegetarian? Never say never, but doubtful. It just seems so odd to me that while our culture is so obsessed with fat… it’s unattractive and bad for your health. So, why would you eat it?