Impressive doesn't even begin...

To describe the kind of work that Joey Duke does for our clients here at BKV. Don't believe us? This post is a must read...and you're required to click on all available links. Like we said, impressive doesn't even begin to describe it. 

Position: Senior Web Developer

How long have you been at BKV? Hmm, that's too hard to think about. I let code handle tough things like "thinking" for me. I've been here for 1.1 years or 33275900 seconds exactly. Justin Bieber has more "Likes" on Facebook than the number of seconds I've been at BKV -> 40,334,577

If you could choose anyone in the world to have lunch with, who would it be? Myself at 20, when I’m 80, to tell myself all the lottery numbers for the next 60 years. (Notice how it did NOT require a computer for me to do that complex math equation.)

Most frequent Tuesday after work activity? Hmm, since I have complete freedom and I’m not pressured into this answer at all, I’ll have to say wrapping myself in bacon and playing mayonnaise slip and slide on the café floor after everyone has gone home. I’m kidding. Of course it would be getting two trailer park tacos and a few Blue Moons with the BKV Taco Tuesday crew, sponsored and fully paid for by Randy Stephens.

What brought you to Atlanta? Normalcy.

Favorite thing about living in Atlanta? I just love sitting in the traffic mainly. Seriously, I've lived in a handful of big cities, but Atlanta is the best place of all because you can literally have anything here. It has a good mix of serenity (if you want peace), city life (if you want chaos), affordability (if you like buying houses), creativity (if you’re creative), and the people are cordial* (click here to see a few exceptions).

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When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? A kid. My dad is still a kid at heart and I admire that about him. I’m an imagineer.

iPhone or Android? Favorite App? iPhone for stability. Android for manly, raw, unadulterated power. Yeah, sometimes it blows up, but what dragster doesn’t? Favorite App? That would be the bread sticks from Olive Garden. Oh, you meant the other kind of app. Talking Tom, 100%. He’s a friend, a companion, a furry cute little pet, he doesn’t eat real food, and you can smack him around just for fun and he’ll never run away.

Last Injury: Had a nervous breakdown when reading through an algorithm that calculated the moon phase based on the curvature of the earth, the tidal affect, the suns position, and the time of day. I’ve been pretty lucky with the physical war wounds. I’m thankful everyday that I have all 4 fingers and 6 toes. No broken bones after 30 years knock on wood. Please don’t jinx me.

Current top five playlist:

1. "Daylight" - Matt & Kim
2. "Don’t Cry Out" - Shiny Toy Guns
3. "Never Always Good" (Free Magic Remix) - today the moon, tomorrow the sun
4. "On the Wing" - Owl City
5. "Raise Your Weapon" - Deadmau5

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Published in: BKV News by BKV PR Team on 19:52:26

We have turned 30...

And as part of the celebration, we decided to spark word-of-mouse to raise a total of $10,000 for four non-profit organizations: American Red Cross, Court Appointed Special Advocate Association (Jackson County CASA), Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Prison Fellowship.
                                                             

Leveraging our Facebook page as a voting portal, we, with the help of our Facebook fans spent the month of January raising $10,000 for four deserving charities.

We vowed to donate $1 per vote received to each charity (up to $10,000 total), with the final amount given to each charity determined by the public vote.
And the final amounts donated to charity were...

$5,215 to American Red Cross

$3,938 to Court Appointed Special Advocate Association (Jackson County CASA)

$503 to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

$344 to Prison Fellowship

We are happy to be able to give back to these organizations that do so much for others. We hope our donation will make an impactful difference for each of them!

 
Martha Gershon (center) and Michelle Morse (right), both with Jackson County CASA, accept a $3,938 donation from BKV Chairman Kelley Haas.  

Published in: BKV News by BKV PR Team on 13:12:33

Walking by resident media guru Todd Alvested’s cube is an ongoing guessing-game of which off-beat magazine he’ll have out on his table. This week: Mother Earth News’ Organic Gardening. Oh, and Reader’s Digest. In the short time he’s been with BKV, Todd has convinced us that laughter truly is the best medicine.

Your position at BKV:  Senior Media Planner

What was your first impression of BKV:  Well, Marva was the first person I encountered, so I could tell right off the bat BKV would be a fun place to work.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up: Basketball player, baseball player, writer for Sports Illustrated. Pretty much anything that involved sports.

Favorite restaurant for a business meeting: If I’m not paying, then Morton’s Steakhouse. If I am paying, then Oklahoma Joe’s.

Favorite restaurant for happy hour:  Bar Louie in the Power & Light District: awesome happy hour specials and a huge beer selection.

Next big thing:  Shazam-able TV ads!

If you were stuck on an island, what are the two things you would want to have with you: A flint striker and sunblock. That is, of course, if I can’t say my wife. J

What have you been craving lately: I always crave pizza and BBQ (of course). This is why I joined a gym.

The last thing that really made you laugh: I laugh every day. 

If you could be a star in a TV show, which one would it be: The Amazing Race. I would totally win that show.

Favorite iPhone app: Shazam

What BKV has taught you: That it really is possible to have a good work/life balance. 

Ultimate vacation destination: Backpacking all over Europe.

Who’s your celebrity look-alike? Before I started shaving my head, some people said I looked like Conan O’Brien because of my red hair.

How did you choose (or end up) in the career you’re in? I started out college as an accounting major. But after having an internship with a small accounting firm, I realized that was definitely not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.  That same semester I was taking a required marketing class and loved it, so I switched my major to marketing and went the advertising route. Because I was good with numbers and was always analytical, media seemed like the perfect fit.

Your unique-but-silly talent: I can bend my thumbs around backwards on both hands.

Favorite cube/office decoration, and why: My mouse pad that my 6-year-old niece gave me. It has a few pictures of us together and says, “I love you, Uncle Todd!”

Published in: BKV News by BKV PR Team on 14:35:16

Data-driven decisions...

Are one of the reasons that BKV is at the forefront of digital marketing. Ever since online media became a mainstay of advertising, marketers have been striving to make their media buys as efficient as possible. Until recently, the paradigm for performance measurement in the online space has been the “last-click” method, which assigns all the credit for a sale or conversion to the last ad a customer clicked on prior to making the purchase. What’s wrong with this picture? We intuitively know that most customers are being exposed to multiple types of media before they settle on a purchase. Current measurement techniques only look at the bottom of the sales funnel, even though there is clearly a lot of valuable activity taking place at the top of funnel.

Here at BKV, we’re always looking for ways to allocate our client’s budgets as efficiently as possible, which is why BKV’s Analytics team has spent time developing the next generation of media performance measurement - referred to as Full Funnel Attribution Modeling. The wide availability of user-level data combining all media exposures represents a goldmine of information. By combining proven statistical techniques with the savvy of media and account service teams, we have been able to create new and innovative media optimization tools which account for all touch points – the entire funnel of media exposures.

Attribution modeling is typically used in one of two ways:  In-Channel Attribution, which looks at performance within a media channel (for example, Paid Search keywords), and Cross-Channel Attribution, which focuses on understanding how entire media channels perform and how to allocate budget across those channels as efficiently as possible (the mix of search and display). Understanding the real value of acquisition media has long eluded marketers, but with Full Funnel Attribution Modeling, we are finally beginning to understand the true impact of media channels and tactics, enabling our media teams to take a holistic view of media performance and allocate media dollars accordingly. A comprehensive test of Full Funnel Attribution with a major BKV client has already shown great promise: orders are up, cost per order is down, and the campaign is consistently more efficient. Moreover, the flexibility of the Full Funnel approach and the experience of BKV’s Analytics team at dealing with large datasets means that client’s campaigns can be optimized on a regular basis and always reflect the latest market conditions.

As digital media continues to grab an even bigger share of marketing dollars, Full Funnel Attribution Modeling will become an essential part of online media optimization, a process well under way at BKV. If you have any questions about Full Funnel Attribution Modeling and how it can make online media more efficient, feel free to reach out!

Published in: Analytics & Information Technology by BKV PR Team on 14:25:51

That’s a question CNN anchor Don Lemon asked Jamie Turner on Saturday night. This year, the cost of a 30-second TV spot on the Super Bowl is running $3.5 million. There are three dozen brands participating in the commercial-fest, including Bud Light, Budweiser, Cadillac, CareerBuilder.com (go chimps!), Cars.com, Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, Priceline and Volkswagen.

What are the big stories this year? Here goes:

1.     Priceline Kills Off William Shatner: It’s true, the man who has re-incarnated his career more often than any other actor in history may have met his match. Rumor is that Priceline will introduce the new spokesperson during the Super Bowl. Will it be Spock? Chekov? Lieutenant Uhura? (My bet is that they’ll reincarnate Shatner — after all, how can you kill Captain Kirk?)

2.     Coca-Cola Integrates Social Media Into the Super Bowl: The Coca-Cola Company has decided to reintroduce the Polar Bears in an innovative way. They’ll be running regular 30-second spots, but the Polar Bears will also be reacting to the game and the commercials from a dedicated, live-streaming Facebook page.

3.     Cars.com Will Have the Most Talked-About Commercial: The biggest risk in doing a Super Bowl commercial is to spend $3.5 million to bore people to death. There’s no risk of that happening with the new Cars.com commercial that has two talking heads coming from one body. My prediction? It’ll be the most talked-about commercial around the water cooler on Monday — 60% will love it and 40% will hate it.

4.     CareerBuilder.com Reintroduces the Chimps: The challenge CareerBuilder.com has always had with their chimps campaign is that people remembered the chimps but couldn’t remember CareerBuilder.com. Will they fix that problem this year? We’ll see next week.

If you’d like to see more information about some of the commercials mentioned above, check out the interview on CNN with Don Lemon below.

To view the segment in it’s entirety, please click here.

Published in: BKV News by BKV PR Team on 15:30:59

The biggest game of the year is almost upon us...

And while the Giants and Patriots will hopefully match the excitement of their previous Super Bowl meeting (Super Bowl XLII in 2008), for many Americans the real excitement occurs during the timeouts.  

Last year, an estimated 111 million Americans watched the Super Bowl, making it the most-watched TV program ever in the United States, according to Nielsen.  In fact, the last four Super Bowls rank among the 5 most-watched TV programs in U.S. television history.  The series finale of M.A.S.H in 1983 is the only non-Super Bowl program among the Top 5.

It’s no wonder advertisers such as Anheuser-Busch, Bridgestone, CareerBuilder.com and others are willing to pay an average of $3.5 million dollars for a 30-second spot in this year’s Super Bowl, up from $3.0 million last year.  The big question that gets asked every year, however, is “Is it worth it?” Or would advertisers make better use of this money by spreading it out more over the year and getting more frequency?  There is no “one size fits all” answer to these questions.  Depending on what the advertiser’s goals are, it may be very well worth it… or not.

We’ll save that argument for another day. One thing is for sure: a lot of excitement builds among consumers about who will have the best spots.  In 2011, Bud Light’s “Dog Sitting” and Doritos’ “Pug Attack” tied for first in the annual USA Today Ad Meter survey.  My personal favorite was the Volkswagen spot, “The Force,” with the little kid running around the house trying to use the force (a la Star Wars) on various objects and is stunned when his dad’s Volkswagen Passat starts after he used the force on it. View this and all of last year’s commercials. 

Did the Volkswagen spot persuade me to go out and purchase a Passat?  No. But it did generate a lot of talk around the water cooler, and it is still a memorable spot a year later. The folks at Volkswagen must have been happy with buzz generated from this spot created by their ad agency, Deutsch, as they will air another Star Wars-themed Passat commercial in this year’s Super Bowl.

In an exciting recent development to help increase engagement with TV commercials, the popular iPhone app Shazam can identify “Shazam-able” commercials by sound, and then direct users to branded content or promotions. Dockers was the first and only advertiser to utilize this feature in the 2010 Super Bowl, resulting in roughly 20,000 people “Shazam-ing” the ad, according to Adweek.  Two years later, about one-third of the 2012 Super Bowl ads will be Shazam-able.

What Super Bowl ads are your favorite, and which advertisers are you most excited to see this year? 

Published in: Media Strategy by BKV PR Team on 13:31:52

He's funny...

he's entertaining and he has always got good spirits when walking through the halls of BKV. Without further adieu, let us introduce you to Kevin Kuhn. 

1. Position:  Interactive Media Planner

2. How long have you been at BKV? 3 ½ years

3. Are you making any new year’s resolutions? What are the chances you’ll stick to them? Stay more active at the gym, running every night, continue playing ice hockey, & start golfing on a regular basis again. It’s going good, need to start running a bit more and the golf game is still slackin!

4. You always come up with the best lunch locations. Where’s your favorite place to eat that’s walkable from the office? I’d have to say f20, it’s a nice little walk and you can eat outside when it’s nice out. Also the menu seems to offer healthy / a more enjoyable alternative to the mall.

5. If you could be a star in a TV show, which one would it be? Easy answer, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Been watching the show since season 1 and I absolutely love the cast, IMO they have the best chemistry since Seinfeld.

6. What do you do EVERY SINGLE Wednesday during lunch?? (admit to your addiction.) I’d have to say.. watch Family Feud with the gang in the lunchroom, and get in a quick game of pool w/ Nicole Anderson. Helps to balance out the day.

7. If we were to run in to you at a concert…which one would it be?  If they still toured it’d probably be a Nine Inch Nail concert, but I’m a rock advocate so if there is concert locally I’m probably there.

8. What clients do you work on?  FEIN, Delta Tech Ops, & DS Water’s.

9. Where do you call home?  Tucker, Georgia. Was born and raised there, nice little town.

10. Current top five playlist: 

       1. NIN – Anything/Everything

     2. Kanye West – Glory (I can’t stand Kanye as a person but I have to admit I love his older music; he’s got talent)

     3. Smashing Pumpkins – Disarm

     4. Bush – Machinehead

     5. John Butler Trio – Ocean 

Published in: BKV News by BKV PR Team on 20:56:08

In this age of technology…

Of email marketing, websites, blogs, banners, prospecting, customer retention via online clubs, and more … how is it that direct mail still seems to work? As complex as it may sound, this question is relatively easy to answer.

   · It’s “directed” to the market or buyer most likely to respond.

   · It’s less intrusive. You can look at it when you have time, and respond at your convenience.

   · And finally, believe it or not — not everyone is on the computer all day. Not everyone purchases on the computer. Not everyone emails.

Direct mail remains an effective channel to market your product or service because:

   1. You can create offers that will be beneficial to the customer or prospect.

   2. You can limit the length of time the offer’s available, allowing you to track response.

   3. You can build an ongoing relationship with the customer simply by being in front of them.

   4. The customer will feel like you know them, and thus will be more likely to buy what you’re selling.

   5. It’s measurable, demonstrating exact ROI per dollar spent.

Many in the advanced technology world will say that direct mail is a dinosaur when in fact, it remains one of the most effective marketing tactics used by marketers today.

A few rules 

Direct mail can be a great tool if it is done right. That means your mailings are carefully targeted; your list is clean, concise and correct; you build a continuity of contact by mailing more than once; and the message/offer are so personalized and relevant to recipients that they feel you understand their needs.

Direct mail is most effective when used in tandem with other channels for a cumulative effect. For example, after a direct mail piece is out, follow it up with an email, a second package, or other type of contact that supports and builds upon the first mailing. Research shows that this approach works. In fact, one study demonstrated that consumers were not only more likely to buy after receiving a direct mail package, but spending increased by almost 70% — especially when the mailing was offer-driven. In addition, website traffic was boosted by 22% after receiving a direct mail piece.

Make a plan

Consumers — in other words, your buyers — are still looking at direct mail. It continues to grab their attention and they respond. When developing a direct mail campaign – think about it from all angles. What does it need to do?  What is the budget, and can you do what you want with what you have to spend?  Should you test initially and then roll it out? When it does not bring in the numbers you were hoping, what do you do next?

Direct mail: Dynamo or Dinosaur?

You decide! 

Published in: Direct Marketing by BKV PR Team on 13:23:41

Look no further than Amanda Papini! She’s got so much energy and a personality of pure happiness that can cheer anybody up. Read more to learn about Amanda and the Associate Program here at BKV. 

1. Position: Recruiting Director

2. How long have you been at BKV? I have been at BKV since May of 2007.

3. Have you always lived in Atlanta? If not, where was home before this? I have not.  I lived in Naperville, Illinois a suburb of Chicago prior to Atlanta.  But I must mention that I am a Hawkeye through and through.  Born and raised in Iowa, baby!

4. BKV has a herd of TV fanatics. What’s your favorite TV show?  Definitely Revenge

5. Current top five playlist: 

       Rihanna: We Found Love

       Ray LaMontagne:  Shelter

       Fun: We Are Young

       Amos Lee: Keep It Loose, Keep It Tight

      Chris Brown: She Ain’t You 

      I know…Crazy mix, but I love music.  Ask me tomorrow and it would be a completely different list.

You’re the recruiting director here at BKV, so let’s get down to business…for all of those young employees wanting to break in to the world of advertising, would you mind giving us a run down on the associate program offered here at BKV?

1. What exactly is the associate program?  The Associate Program is structured similarly to an internship.  It is a great opportunity for new graduates or individuals seeking a career change to get their foot in the door at an advertising agency.   

2. Can recent graduates apply to the associate program? DEFINITELY!  There are often graduates that have not gotten internship experience in agencies.  It will be extremely difficult to obtain a position within an ad agency without an internship; thus, associate programs are a great opportunity for recent graduates to get the experience needed to obtain a full-time, permanent position.

3. Are there opportunities to learn from other departments in the agency?  That is one of the great   things about ad agencies; they are very collaborative.  People are always learning from each other.  Occasionally, associates will obtain a position within a different department in the agency; thus, someone may start in SEO and move to paid search.  This, of course, depends upon availability of associate roles and a person still must interview for the new position.

4. Who do associates report to? Associates report to a variety of people depending on the specific role that they fill. 

5. What’s the work environment like? Is it team oriented?  The work environment can be best described as “work hard, play hard.”  We have an extremely fun environment-yes, the rumors are true: we have pool tables, Wii, big screen TV’s, darts etc.  The environment is definitely team oriented.  Our agency is like a big family.  We can’t get enough of each other at work, so we often hang out outside of work as well: happy hours, dinners,etc.

6. Do associates work together or on separate accounts?  Associates sometimes work together and sometimes work on separate accounts.  There are also associates across different departments that can work together.  Associates will always have a full-time permanent employee available to guide them.

7. After I apply, how long does it take to hear back?  You will get a personalized response immediately upon receipt of your application.  It can take up to two weeks for your application to be reviewed.  You often receive a request to interview within the first week of submitting. We know what it is like to be on the other side of the hiring process.  We will always answer emails from candidates and are happy to keep them up-to-date with the process.

8. How many people will I meet with for an interview? How long do the interviews normally last? In terms of interviews,  you can expect to meet with 1-3 people.  Interviews typically last 30 to 45 minutes.  Sometimes the interviews are completed in one day; whereas, other times you will be asked to come back in to interview with other supervisors at a later date.

9. How often are associates hired?  In the last 2 years, 11 out of 23 associates have received offers for full-time employment.  Again, this is not something we can guarantee.  Full-time offers are dependent upon work quality and available full-time, permanent positions.   

10. How long does the associate program normally last?  A person signs on for an initial 3 months as an associate and given the quality of work produced and availability of work, the associate can sign on for another 3 months for a total of 6 months.  Many associates move on to become full-time employees after 3 or 6 months; however, this is not something we can guarantee.

11. Is the associate program a paid position? Full-time or part-time? Unlike most internship programs that are unpaid, the associate program is paid at $7.25 an hour and parking is paid for by the company.  The associate positions are typically flexible in terms of hours worked per week.  A minimum of 20 hours is required, and associates can work a maximum of 40 hours per week.  Some of the associate roles require 40 hours per week.

12. Do all departments at BKV have associate positions available?   Associate positions are typically found in Creative, Account Service, and Media (traditional and digital).

If you have any more questions about the associate program here at BKV please contact Amanda Papini (Amanda.Papini@bkv.com) or Amanda Sparks (Amanda.Sparks@bkv.com) for more information.

Published in: BKV News by BKV PR Team on 13:31:30

On-target ideas, fabulous team-building skills, and the awesome iron deer head that hangs on his office wall and often sports the latest holiday decorations (walk by sometime — you can’t miss it). He’s also a two-time BKV pool tournament champion (actually, I lost in the finals to MIKE this year when I scratched on the 8 ball), and just an all-around great guy who’s loved by clients and co-workers alike.

Your position: VP, Account Group Leader

Your first impression of BKV? Smarter than most agencies.

When you were a child, what did you dream you’d be when you grew up? Oceanographer and photographer.

Next big thing for you: An updated bucket list will reveal that. It’s on my to-do list.

If you were stuck on an island, what two things would you want to have with you? Things? A nice house and a helicopter I could fix so I could go get my family. Okay, I’m cheating on that one. How about a knife and a flint? Then I could build a house, boil water and eventually build a raft to go get my family!

Recent cravings? Cookie dough.

If you could star in a TV show, which one would it be? A vampire king in True Blood.

Favorite iPhone app: Chess (I forgot how addictive that game is.)

What has BKV taught you? More about marketing, versus marketing communication. I feel like I can walk into most businesses and start to understand them even faster.

Ultimate vacation destination: Italy (I think. We haven’t been there yet!)

Last injury: Achilles rupture. That’s if you don’t count the bees that attacked me while mowing this summer and general aches and pains of getting older.

Last thing that made you really laugh: My kids crack me up. I don’t know exactly how, it happens frequently. They are just silly.

Favorite amusement park ride? Tower of Terror. My son went on it with me when he was 6. He was so brave. He is now 10 and still recovering.

Who’s your celebrity look-alike? When I was younger and skinnier, I did hear I look a little like Matt Damon or Leo Dicaprio. I don’t hear that so much these days. Hmmm.

How’d you end up in marketing? I love being creative and like to create things that work. That’s why I like being in account service and creating plans that help my clients be successful with creative ideas.

Your unique-but-silly talent: My wife calls me the king of meaningless sports. That means I can beat amateurs at darts, ping pong, pool, foosball and the like. Anyone who plays those games for real can own me, though.

Favorite office decoration: My iron deer mount. It is just cool! 

Published in: BKV News by BKV PR Team on 14:28:42