Media Spotlight: VP Interactive, Cheryl Rogers Ill

Editor’s note: “Media Spotlight” is an ongoing series where we interview the wide range of professionals that make up our growing office. From the traditional media planners to our digital buyers, you’ll gain insight into the many levels that make up Media Works Ltd. This week we interview VP Interactive, Cheryl Rogers Ill.

How long have you been working in media/ advertising?

 I have been in the media industry since 1994 where I started as a media assistant for a political media buying firm.   At the time, I had no media experience, but the owner hired me because I had been a server at a restaurant.  To him, that meant I had the ability to manage my time, work as a team and interface with clients.  And that was my start.  From there, I went to work for a few full service agencies.  Then, in 2008 I came to Media Works.

Can you describe a day in your life at Media Works?

Since coming to Media Works, I have had the opportunity to work on many different categories from Healthcare, Automotive, Education and CPG.  While the majority of my responsibilities are research, planning and buying digital media, I have a strong background in traditional media.  I feel like this gives me the ability to see how both traditional and digital media work and how they can work together.  I’m so fortunate that I have been able to break into the digital space.  Digital media continues to grow.  Six years ago, we had to prove why clients should be in this space.  Now, some kind of digital media is always included.  The digital landscape is constantly changing and it is very exciting.

What are some of the challenges of your position?

One of the biggest changes is keeping up with the new media opportunities – a lot which stem from technology and data.  The next challenge is then trying to explain how this technology and data work together to reach their target audience.  In the digital space, it is more than just demographics.  With data and technology, an advertiser can reach a thirty year old woman with a 2 year old in the house and has an intent to purchase diapers.  Another challenge is mobile.  This space continues to provide our clients with an opportunity to reach their consumers, but we need to help them on how to do that and make is successful.  What works on the desktop does not necessarily work on a smartphone.

What’s your all-time favorite ad campaign? What made it special?

I wouldn’t say that I have an all-time favorite ad campaign.  And while many campaigns have a lot of legs to them that go across platforms, there are a few TV commercials that still make me laugh when I think of them.  One is the “Fishy-Fishy” TV spot that McDonald’s ran last year during Lent and the other one is the Geico “Hump-Day” commercial with the camel.  These commercials were silly and made me laugh.

What advice would you offer to someone looking to get into the advertising industry?

I would recommend internships to figure out what you want to do.  There are some many different departments.  Then within the departments there could be many specializations.  Ask questions.  Volunteer if asked.  Work on new business if given the opportunity.

What’s something that no one knows about you?

I took piano lessons for many years.   I wish I had not given it up when I was a junior in high school.  My parents still have my piano.  Maybe one day I will pick it up again.

March Madness Goes Live!

Life today is all about instant gratification.  We want what we want when we want it.  This translates into TV program viewing.  There are a many ways you can watch TV programming “on demand”: DVR, On Demand, Hulu, Amazon, Netflix & Network Apps. Some of these are free and some are paid, yet all of them allow you to watch TV programming when you want it.

Yet, when it comes to sports, viewers mainly watch events live. If you’re not around to watch the game, you’d better stay away from your Twitter or Facebook feeds, avoid listening to the radio, watching TV or going online…otherwise, you’ll find out pretty quickly who won the game.

As we come to the end of March and are already deep into the March Madness tournament, viewers have another way of watching every game of the tournament live with the NCAA’s March Madness Live site. This site allows fans to view live streaming March Madness Basketball games on multiple devices.

Many College Basketball fans are paying close attention to their brackets, assuming they haven’t been busted already! What is so amazing and interesting is how the joint venture between CBS and Turner continues to move the needle in the way people can watch games.  Since 2011, fans have been able to watch all 64 games on TV through TNT, TBS, CBS and Tru-TV as well as on Apple devices – all for free.

In 2012, MML developed a paid/authenticated model and added Android devices to the mix.  This year, they went to four hours of free viewing per device before being prompted to authenticate, and added Android Tablet.  On TV, I’ve seen a CBS promo for MML, and CNN and the Today Show have talked about the MML app.  I have also read blogs and advertising industry publications/newsletters about MML.

March Madness Live is generating record-setting video streams and engagements across all digital platforms.  In just the first week of the tournament, there were 36.6 million live video streams across online and mobile (tablets and smartphones), double the 18.3 million for the entire event in 2012.  This is equivalent to more than 10 million hours of live video consumed across all media platforms!

The current MML model and distribution is taking live sports viewing to a new level.  From a college sports fanatic to a causal fan just watching to keep track of his/her bracket, you can watch sports anywhere on anything.  Now, I’m looking forward to football season!

Baltimore Ad Week

This week marked the 3^rd year for Baltimore’s Advertising Week coordinated by the AAF Baltimore.  It was the biggest year ever for the event with over 300 people attending through the week.  Throughout the week, there were a dozen sessions on various topics to pick and choose from.  Below are some of the forums that Media Works sent employees to attend:

• How to Succeed in Mobile
• How To Keep Your Brand Connected to Your Target
• Building a Strong Digital Media Foundation

Those that attended had positive feedback and thought they benefited from participating.  Additionally, it was a great way to connect to others in the ad community and maybe learn a thing or two.

On Tuesday night, there was a cocktail hour and awards ceremony honoring a few local advertising executives.  The ceremony closed with Nancy Hill, the President/CEO of the 4A’s.  She talked about Collaboration, Cooporation and Community.  I thought that was a perfect topic for the audience.  Since Media Works is a member of the 4A’s, I have had the opportunity to hear Nancy Hill speak a couple of times.  She is really inspirational.  And after listening to her, I have always felt reenergized and more passionate about my industry.  I would highly recommend that if you have the chance to hear her speak, you should.

March Madness

In the past, CBS or CBSSports.com was the only place you could go to watch the March Madness Tournament.  If the game you wanted to watch was not being broadcasted in your region, you were either stuck watching a one-seed blow out a 16-seed or you had to go online.

This year it is different.  For the first time ever, all games were broadcasted on either TNT, TBS, Tru or CBS.  Most people did not even know what network they were watching, but in whole, broadcasting all the games increased overall viewership for the tournament so far. 

It was the best Thursday the tournament had seen in 20 years.  Combined, the four networks averaged 7.828 million viewers, up 12% over last year’s 7.007 million.  The average rating for the four networks is 5.9 which is 9% better than last year’s 5.4 for CBS.   

And while viewing is up, it has not impacted the online streaming program, March Madness on Demand, which had been put in place for people to watch all games up until this year.   Additionally, visits to the site and mobile apps were up 22% over last year. 

All in all, it was a smart move for the NCAA to broadcast all games for the beginning of the tournament.

braVo!

Today, Mandy, Jennifer and I had the pleasure of attending the Jay Strongwater breakfast at Regalo to support braVo!. It was such a nice event. Creations from Jay Strongwater were beautifully displayed at tables based on the Jay’s collections. For instance, the table where we sat was called “Charming” as the center piece incorporated the charm jewelry collection. Another table was called “Meadow” and displayed that collection.

A portion of all the proceeds from the items purchased at the event benefit the braVo! Financial Assistance Fund at Lifebridge Health. Established four years ago, this fund helps patients in need obtain services that are not covered by insurance such as breast prosthesis, wigs, transportations to and from treatments and utility bills. Media Works is happy we could help support such a great organization.

Baltimore Washington Medical Center – Calypso: GPS for the Body

On April 20th, Media Works helped Baltimore Washington Medical Center launch their Calypso – GPS for the Body media campaign. Calypso – GPS for the Body is a new technology that is used to treat prostate cancer. With an outpatient procedure, a GPS is implanted into the prostate, enabling the radiologist to pinpoint exactly where to provide the radiation.

The media campaign consists of radio, newspaper, magazine, outdoor, online display and search engine marketing. All media is focused on the Baltimore market with some exposure in the Washington DC market, as well as the entire state. Research showed that while prostate cancer affects men, it is the women that make the health care decisions for the family. As a result, we concluded that the target demographic is Adults 35-64.

To reach this target on radio, we utilized WCBM-AM, WBAL-AM, WPOC-FM, WLIF-FM, WWIN-FM and WZBA-FM. As for newspaper, we purchased ¼ page full color ads in the Baltimore Sun and ¼ page B/W ads in the Sunday Capital, Maryland Gazette and West County News. To compliment the print component, ½ page, full color ads in Baltimore Magazine, Chesapeake Life, Urbanite and What’s Up Annapolis were used.

Outdoor will begin in May with bulletins rotating around I-95, I-83 and 295. Lastly, we employed online display and search engine marketing. Search will focus more on the treatments offered for prostate cancer. For online display, we used BaltimoreSun.com and WashingtonPost.com in addition to the ad network, Undertone. Display is targeted to Adults 35-64 in Maryland, as well as contextually targeted to the health channels and sections.

We are really excited about the launch of this campaign.

Digital TV Delay

The switch from analog to digital signal is scheduled on February 17th. However, President-Elect Obama has called for a delay which would postpone the switch until June. The reasoning behind this recommendation is that too many Americans are still relying on the analog signal. The Nielsen Co. estimates that 7.8 million TV homes are totally unprepared for the switch.

Additionally, the federal program that subsidized the converter box has hit its funding limit. Therefore, there are no more $40 coupons left. This leaves the burden of the full cost of the converter box on the viewer. Many argue that this is unfair, given the state of the economy.

While this delay may help viewers, it could be costly to television stations. Many stations have been educating their viewers of the switch for months now, running countless Public Service Announcements. This switch is no longer news. If there are viewers that procrastinate now, they will most likely procrastinate even at the later date.

Maryland Governor’s Tourism Industry Conference

Last week, a number of us from the Media Works team attended the Maryland Governor’s Tourism Industry Conference at the beautiful Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Prince George’s County. The conference brought together marketers from all over the state to share what they have done and to learn from each other.

Margot Amelia, Executive Director of the Maryland Office of Tourism Development, gave a very interesting and insightful talk about the current state of tourism marketing. Maryland’s tourism website is becoming an increasingly important place for travelers to learn about vacation opportunities and request more information. According to Margot, 2/3 of all requests for information now come from their web marketing efforts. Their site traffic is also up 3.5% over 2007.

Media Works has been working with the Maryland Office of Tourism Development since July of this year and just finished a very strong fall campaign. Maryland has so much to offer and is a great vacation destination for travelers. We have really enjoyed working with Maryland Tourism so far and are excited to keep this partnership going well into the future.

Comcast Spotlight Ice Cream Social

At the end of September, Comcast Spotlight treated Media Works to ice cream from Coldstone Creamery. They brought four different kinds complete with toppings. Because it was before noon, most of us took our treat and saved it for later. It was delicious. Thanks to Comcast Spotlight for bringing us the ice cream.

Media Works has been working with Comcast Spotlight for a long time and  have utilized them for many of our clients.

Cable has become a strong competitor to spot television. It is flexible in being able to cover the entire DMA or a zoned portion depending on the needs of the client. Additionally, cable offers the ability to buy broad dayparts such as M-Su 7p-12a or specific programs that perform well against the target demographic.

Over the years, many cable networks have developed  original programming such as the Closer, Saving Grace, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Madmen to name a few.