People ask us all the time if traditional advertising, particularly TV, is dead or dying. The answer is unequivocally no. We are still enamored with sight and sound. Engaged. eMarketer’s article yesterday provides research to this point: 45% of Americans still find TV the most trusted source of information, followed by newspapers and radio. Yes, we use digital tools to find deals, do research, get recommendations and ideas from friends (and strangers). But we trust what we learn on TV more than any other channel of communication. I guess at the end of a long day, we all still lounge in front of the TV and pick up ideas. I know I do.
Apparently it won’t be long before our doctors begin prescribing mobile apps to us. This will compete with (and complement) the pharma industry. The first apps are being tested with heart conditions and diabetes now. There’s a great article in Forbes in which a mobile IT executive and a research executive from the drug business debate the issue. They already have anecdotal evidence that the use of the apps improves health outcomes. As a culture, we are all about downloading the next app and sharing the best apps with our friends. As with all changes, the pharma industry is not exactly embracing this innovation, but if they don’t, they may be left in the dust.
Do you know people that still use one of those old email addresses with domains like “hotmail.com” or “aol.com”? If you do, you might need to visit the website for one of Google’s newest marketing ploys.
At emailintervention.com, existing Gmail users are urged to start an intervention with their friends so they too can experience the world of Gmail.
The brilliance behind the idea is that Google gets regular people like us to do their bidding. Plus, the site does a great job of reeling in prospective users with humor, then grabbing them with Gmail’s cool features.
When devastation strikes like it did in Joplin, what happens when people need their medication? In a society dependent on paper health records, the difficult days that lie ahead in such a travesty would be even more troublesome. Fortunately for those who have now switched to electronic health records, like St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Joplin, those difficult days have become at least a little easier. NPR tells us another reason why electronic health records are becoming a necessity.
It’s always nice to be recognized for fine work, and we shared in a nice bit of recognition with our client, CEFCU, one of the nation’s largest credit unions. Over the weekend CEFCU won a Diamond Award for a radio spot entitled “Checks Go Marching,” and a Merit Award for their new logo, both created by Dovetail. The awards are given by the Marketing and Business Development Council of the Credit Union National Association (CUNA), the premier trade association serving credit unions. The Diamond Awards provide industry recognition for outstanding work by credit union marketers. Kudos to both the CEFCU and Dovetail teams.
