I am happy to report that the Creative Concepts blog has been nominated for the 2008 Bloggers Choice Awards for Best Blog Design and Best Marketing Blog.  Cool huh?

Five years ago, I knew that I wanted to run my own company and do PR, Marketing and Events….and so I did it. Four years ago, I had a feeling about blogs, knew nothing, went to a seminar, knew a tad more, and worked until I understood the blog world and how business could fit in. With the fun and the effectiveness of blogs, I knew we needed to expand into social networking (myspace, facebook and others) and online videos…and so we did it and have helped our clients increase sales and win awards.

This is a great story but the question to ask today is, with all that Creative Concepts offers, can we withstand a recession…more importantly can we help our clients through a period of flat or declining sales. The first answer is we are in great shape and the second answer is yes, we can help our clients not only muster through a possible recession but we can help them come out on top by using PR and social media as a way to reach new customers.

Taking the recession element away for the moment, there have been many studies that say advertising is not as effective as it once was. ZenithOptmedia says that ad spend growth is predicted to be up by 2.5% only for 2008 compared to 3.3% in 2007. Traditional PR still works but based on who you are trying to reach, you need to hit many channels before you get a customer’s attention. Channels would include print, radio and TV, events, and the word of mouth (WOM) sectors. WOM spending which includes social networks, blogs, videos and more is expected to increase 30.4% annually through 2011 to $3.70 billion as noted by Keller Fay Group which means that the corporate world has recognized that working the internet is an effective and successful way to reach your present and new customers.

Now putting the possibility of a recession back into the mix, the next question is where do you, a business, put your money so you get the biggest bang for the buck? Well I can give you the answer but you probably have already figured it out. Talking and sharing information within the online social networks or creating a new community for your customer is easier on the budget than paying for a TV spot or a glossy ad in a magazine!

Common sense will guide you (and so will Forrester Research as reported by Mark Walsh here) to wise spending for future PR and Marketing campaigns…a recession may just force the hand sooner rather than later.

We are excited to have won the MarCom Platinum Award for our Bigelow Tea video with Joe Torre and Phil Simms.  Here is the press release (I know people hate a release on a blog but it really does tell the whole story!)

Public Relations Firm Celebrates Prestigious Web-Based Multi-Media Platinum Award for a Video Spotlighting Bigelow Tea

FAIRFIELD, Conn., November 2007 – In the wake of a hugely ambitious and thriving business year and the continuing advancement of its virtual operation, Creative Concepts (www.Creative-Conceptsllc.com), a Public Relations, Marketing and Social Media Consultancy, is delighted to announce that they have been chosen as a recipient of the MarCom 2007 International Platinum Award for Web based Multi-Media. Creative Concepts also received honorable mention for their design and support of the Bigelow Tea blog.

“We are both honored and excited about the Platinum award and honorable mention as is our client, Bigelow Tea” says Valorie Luther, CEO and Founder of Creative Concepts, of the news.  “We had a lot of fun producing the video, so an award is icing on the cake!”

The award-winning video showcased Bigelow Tea, one of the nation’s leading producers of specialty teas, and their enthusiastic spokesmen Joe Torre and Phil Simms.  Throughout the video, posted on the Bigelow TEA-V Channel, the prominent sports figures discussed their devotion to antioxidant-rich Bigelow green tea with Cindi Bigelow, President of Bigelow Tea.  Casual and entertaining amongst the Manhattan backdrop, Torre and Simms acknowledged the exceptional relationships that Bigelow Tea has cultivated with its admirers and the many health benefits that emerge from each cup of Bigelow green tea. 

Synonymous with creative excellence, the MarCom Awards are presented in 200 categories in seven forms of media to outstanding agencies around the world.  This year alone, over 5,000 entries were administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals.
About Creative Concepts
Creative Concepts, the brainchild of Valorie Luther, CEO and Founder, specializes in unique and forward-thinking communications strategies that employ the latest public relations, marketing and social media practices, including the use of blogs, online video, social networks and other internet marketing solutions, along with using time tested practices that deliver every client’s unique message.  Creative Concepts is also the presenter of the Business Smart Tools Conference, www.BusinessSmartTools.com, which educates the business community about emerging technology and how to fold it into a marketing and communications plan.
For more information about Creative Concepts, please visit www.creative-conceptsllc.com or call 203-259-4202.

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PRESS CONTACT INFO:

Michelle Walker
Creative Concepts
203.259.4202
mwalker@creative-conceptsllc.com

Hey is anyone out there listening to AM Radio anymore? Hope so because we were just featured on Greg Skidmore’s radio show and blog Business Catalyst on WGCH in Greenwich, CT. Here the podcast here.

Enjoy!

Well the time has come to say goodbye to an old friend…one that had experience and connections…a friend I was excited to see every month, yes the magazine Business 2.0 will publish its last issue in October as reported by The NY Times, TechCrunch and Sillicon Alley Insider. Sillicon Alley Insider predicts that many staffers will move to Fortune but regardless of that, I am not sure I will ever find a replacement for the magazine that brought new ideas and amazing innovators to my door.

Goodbye to a good friend (OK, I know that is a bit over the top but I have been up most of the night working)!

I just saw a great article in Wired about how Second Life isn’t adding up for the corporate sector. Coke and the NBA have been in there trying and while Second Life may have the cool factor, the cash register isn’t ringing for the marketers and their bosses!

Interesting because I have been saying this from day one. As one who advises clients on new/social media options, I checked out the blogging when it first got hot (loved it and saw great value), I checked out the podcasts (good for commuters but not everyone will have an IPod so it isn’t the perfect solution), I checked out video on Youtube and other sites (so cool and viral), I checked out Linkedin (great value but high maintenance) and MySpace (interesting but have to weed through a lot of riff raff) and Facebook (wild frontier with endless possibilities) and of course Second Life which, when asked, I said from day one it was cool but had no long term value (translates to sales) for the corporate sector.

Now at the Business Smart Tools conference in May, I invited Greg Verdino, then of Digitas, to give a demo of Second Life. With every conference, I want to present something that is way out there for those who aren’t messing around with the latest latest. He was great and it was interesting but many in the audience just didn’t see how they could use it to get their message out to their present and future customers. I agreed with them.

As Wired has mentioned, the concept of Avatars in an online community may evolve into something truly worthwhile for business, but until then, stick to the hundreds of other marketing options that exist online!

Well, Sabine and I are getting excited about attending and speaking at Podcamp NYC.  They are now up to 1100 people attending which is amazing…quite a gathering in NYC for the Saturday before a major holiday (Easter)!!  Michelle, our sales maven, is heading to the networking party tonight, Friday, at Slate…Sabine, our emerging technology maven, and I are heading in tomorrow to hear what we can hear and to speak.

Now what is interesting about our workshop is that in a sea of passionate podcasters (and I hope to learn a lot from them), we are talking about “Blogging for Business!”  We were convinced to do so by John Havens one of the organziers (and great guy by the way!)  We will either have a near empty room or a room overflowing…this is the joy of doing an unconference…no one knows these things and there is no overplanning and everyone attending and planning the event contribute together…it is very cool!

If you are a second life fan, this link will lead you to some workshops that are taking place in real life at The New Yorker Hotel.

I haven’t checked the latest list of workshops but I do know that Greg Verdino will be working a panel on Saturday morning and Reena Jana from BusinessWeek will be speaking as well!  I do believe that Mike Dunn, podcaster extraordinaire, is thrown into the mix too (as long as there is no snow on a mountain somewhere :))

Ok then, see you all there…this is going to be a good time!

Our local Connecticut Post reported today on how to use a blog for marketing purposes featuring the Bigelow Tea blog and the Cruise Resort & World Travel Inc. blog with a couple of words from Creative Concepts.

Check it out here.

Liz Strauss, blogger extraordinaire of Successful Blog, has put together a conference, SOBCon ‘07, in Chicago.  Topic: taking your blog to the next level through strategy, art, technology and the science of relationship blogging.  250-300 bloggers expected.  Blog talk radio will cover it.

May 11 and May 12 at the Chicago Ohare Business Hotel

Steve Rubel over at Micropersuasion writes about Disney’s new website.  I can’t believe that I have been ranting and raving about Disney’s choices here and here cause, well, you know, I have kids and they have loved Disney everything but here I go again…I can’t help myself.

Disney’s site has no Web 2.0, states Steve, no way of reaching out to their loyal fans or hearing back from them and no way for site supporters to grab a widget to put on their site (a disney element that can spiffy up a site both on the front and back end).

Well, all I can say is that this seems very much in line with Disney.  They don’t get a lot of things and in my mind have become not only dated but dangerous because they are big and powerful and yet ignorant at the same time…not a good combination!