MultiAd gives back to the local community by donating over 33 tons of food, household items and pet food thus far in 2009.

Since January, MultiAd has donated over 24 tons of food, almost eight tons of household goods (including nine lift chairs) and about two tons of pet food to the local community. This well exceeds the amount donated in 2008, which was approximately 18 tons total.

MultiAd acquires large amounts of food and products through their business relationships with consumer goods companies such as Kraft, Coca-Cola and Unilever. These companies, as well as hundreds of others, send products to MultiAd for high quality photography, data collection and asset management services. Upon completion of the contracted services, MultiAd donates all items to the local community.

Partnering with organizations such as the Heart of Illinois Harvest and the Dream Center Peoria, MultiAd is able to distribute these massive amounts of donations to not-for-profit organizations that rely on such donations to help those in need locally.

“We selected these organizations to work with because of their history with us, and because of their ability to get this food to the people who need it,” says Sandi Baietto, Studio Lead of MultiAd. “It’s a great thing, and I’m so happy we have been able to do this for so many years.”

MultiAd also works with other non-profit organizations to receive and distribute these donations, including, Dress for Success, The Esther House, Peoria Rescue Ministries, Center for Prevention of Abuse, Central Illinois Riding Therapy, Neighborhood House, P.A.W.S. (Peoria Animal Welfare Shelter), and T.A.P.S. (Tazewell Animal Protective Society).

Budget Cut Impacts on Your Marketing Strategy

“Successful companies do not abandon their marketing strategies in a recession; they adapt them.”— John Quelch, Senior Associate Dean and Lincoln Filene Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School

In an environment where budgets are shrinking and the workforce is spread thin, we are all faced with a challenge on how to increase sales on a dime. Reduced budgets often equate to reduced marketing efforts, and reduced marketing efforts typically result in lost market share.

Losing market share is not an option if a business is to survive a recession. So to combat these concerns, MultiAd has developed new solutions that help organizations in many industries get their marketing message out more frequently, even with minimized spending limitations in place. By integrating MultiAd’s solutions into existing marketing processes, organizations realize a more streamlined and economical way of doing business.

One of MultiAd’s newest product offerings, Creator Select, provides the opportunity to customize marketing collateral instantly. This allows for more fluid marketing without the high costs of recreating materials. This also provides the opportunity to localize documents—clients can change their imagery, pricing or contact information based on the market they are communicating with. Because Creator Select was developed leveraging our 10 years experience in developing custom solutions, it is an affordable tool that can be launched within a few weeks.

Just as important as the collateral created, is printing and distributing that content. With localized materials, mass quantities are not an option and printing small quantities is typically expensive. So often, organizations must print over what’s necessary in order to get that price break.

MultiAd’s expanded digital print solutions make printing reduced quantities affordable. They not only save money, but also help companies working to become more eco-friendly reduce their waste.

Within the publishing industry, many are faced with decreased advertising dollars and fewer subscriptions. Maintaining readership is necessary for acquiring advertising dollars, but again, shrinking expenditures make it difficult to accomplish.

With MultiAd’s new ePublish product, publishers can extend their readership online. ePublish creates an interactive reading experience for subscribers, allowing them to click on ads embedded in the publication, directing them to an advertiser’s website or even to a shopping cart. Furthermore, ePublish provides detailed statistics on reader behavior, which are beneficial not only to the advertisers within the publication, but also to the publisher to tailor future publications based on reader behavior.

Another MultiAd solution, SpeedyAd, provides the opportunity to reach new advertisers within the newspaper industry. It allows for self-service advertising so individuals can quickly create, place and pay for their ad all in one interface. It guarantees payment to the publication and streamlines the process of placing ads.

Between Creator Select, Digital Print, ePublish, SpeedyAd and our other valuable solutions, MultiAd is helping organizations save money while increasing exposure in a challenging economical environment.

Branding Goes Real Time

Instant access has always been one of the most powerful and alluring aspects of the Internet. Some companies have begun to deliver updated information so effectively that it can be deemed “real-time.” An article by Brian Morrissey of Adweek entitled Branding Goes Real Time offers some interesting insights into modern information exchange.

The capacity for constant communication flow has created challenges for advertisers—the key challenge being the need to create messages on the fly and in anticipation of change. Successful advertisers must consider all angles they want to test for their various campaigns during the planning phase. Variations can then be made in “real time” as needed.

Having a variety of easy-to-access templates and ideas can ensure quick responses to market changes or individual consumer preferences. Today, more than ever, a strong brand isn’t just consistent but responsive.

Conversely, customers also expect “real time” outlets to respond to issues. Having the means aids both companies and customers, creating a higher service standard.  Companies are reducing bureaucratic “red tape” and establishing open communication lines such as Twitter and live chats to keep “real time” information flowing from both ends.

Lisa Bradner, a senior analyst at Forrester Research, summarizes: “There’s the opportunity to enhance your brand relevance in real time and respond to problems before they’re intractable.” The power of the brand can be protected and renewed on a constant basis through the use of real time advertising and information flow.

Read the full article here.

Mobile Shopping Poised for Growth

 

-By Mike Shields, Mediaweek

Americans are gradually warming up to the idea of buying things via their mobile phones, particularly young adults and men, found a new study conducted by Harris Interactive for the mobile credit card security firm Billing Revolution.

Harris surveyed 2,029 adults from April 29 to May 1; 1,883 of those surveyed were cell phone owners (93 percent). Close to half (45 percent) said they think that shopping via cell phones is “somewhat safe,” though just over a quarter (26 percent) feel that mobile shopping is completely safe.

Regardless, fewer than half of those surveyed (46 percent) said they would be willing to shop using their cell phones even if safety was not an issue. But attitudes vary based on age and sex, according to Harris. As with many emerging technology-driven habits, younger adults appear more willing to embrace change; 59 percent of the 18-34 crowd feels that mobile shopping is somewhat safe, versus just 34 percent of adults over 55. Also, half of men find the concept of cell phone shopping somewhat safe versus 39 percent of women.

The relative youth, as well as the male-skewing nature of the potential mobile shopping audience seems to influence the sort of purchases respondents indicated they would be willing to make. Harris found that entertainment is likely to emerge as a key mobile commerce category, as willing mobile shoppers said they would be most interested in purchases such as movie tickets, music, mobile video and games.

Officials at Billing Revolution said the survey results indicated that mobile shopping is poised for growth in the near term, as more and more Americans purchase sophisticated smart phones like Apple’s iPhone and spend more time accessing the Internet via these devices. “There’s clearly a large U.S. population of consumers open to the idea of making purchases via their cell phones,” said Andy Kleitsch, CEO Billing Revolution. “With consumers getting more comfortable navigating the Web from mobile phones, mobile commerce is poised for explosive growth, and consumers are very much leading the charge in this direction.”