I’ve acquired the official KatieBRoberts.com domain, so my little spot here will be moving onward to the new domain. You’ll need to update your subscriptions and bookmarks with the new website. Eventually this space will be left for the dust bunnies to take over.

I will be hosting a House Warming Party soon, too. Prizes, games, and more will be in store for all of my loyal fans! Aren’t you excited?

For now, stay tuned for details. In the interim, please bear with me as I make this transition as quickly as possible.

Read my summary of NASCAR Sponsorships and why marketers invest so much money for even the smallest of real estate.

Congrats to Trevor Bayne, the first rookie to win the prestigious race, just one day after his 20th birthday! Amazing!!

Want to play along with this weeks’ trivia? C’mon over to the AMA Baltimore Facebook page to play!

Did you notice Christina Aguilera’s flub during the National Anthem?

Here’s how the commercials break down:

Most people agree that Doritos and Chrysler stole the show. Between “Pug Attack” and “The Best Part,” Doritos showed off the outskirts of humor in the first half. Trivia: Doritos was the most tweeted about brand during the Super Bowl, according to Tweet Beat. Chrysler’s “Imported from Detroit” featuring Eminem tugged at the heartstrings of anyone that’s been down on their luck or has gone through a hard time. I imagine that Detroit dwellers felt it the most.

Volkswagen and Chevrolet topped the charts for automakers through creativity and humor. The “Black Beetle” was a creative blend of “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” using beetles at ground level overlaid with Ram Jam’s “Black Betty” tune, introducing the new VW Beetle. “The Force” was a popular pre-Super Bowl Day ad released about a week ago and made a Twitter top tweeted brands before the big day. Chevy showed who’s boss with the Silverado “Tommy” commercial and “Misunderstanding” which debuted a Chevy Cruze at a retirement home.

Both E-Trade and Career Builder know that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is the way to go, leveraging the baby and monkeys in its commercials. The E-Trade commercial featuring the cat left the room laughing when the baby said, “I told you to get a flu shot.” Career Builder’s “Parking Lot” may have been the most satirical of the night. We’ve all been stuck between a job and a hard spot.

Bud Light hit home runs with several commercials, notably “Hack Job” and “Dog Sitter.” On the other hand, Budweiser didn’t live up to usual standards and had relatively flat ads that I don’t think I even remember. Let’s not even mention Stella Artois’ dismal “Crying Jean.”

The Coca-Cola vs. PepsiMax showdown was evident. Each took totally different directions in messaging this year. Coca-Cola’s “Border Crossing” was my favorite of those to choose from. I thought it was funny, but others thought it was stupid. Go figure. PepsiMax won the battle this year, in my opinion. “First Date” and “Love Hurts” were a hoot! Come on ladies, how many times do you wish you could shove a bar of soap in your mans’ mouth, or attempt to throw a can of soda at him for wandering eyes? Yep, thought so. “Torpedo Cooler” was great, too!

A few more commercials worth mentioning are Bridgestone’s “Carma” featuring a beaver who chops down a tree to stop a driver from continuing on a road into raging waters, Teleflora’s “Help me Faith” demonstrating how hard it is for men to come up with something heartfelt on Valentine’s Day, and NFL.com’s “Super Bowl Celebration” which included television highlight reels of shows featuring football snacks, jersey’s and games. Another commercial liked by many was Motorola Xoom’s “Empower the People.” And I can’t leave out HomeAway.com’s “Smush” (which I didn’t care for). I totally didn’t get Best Buy’s “Ozzy vs. Bieber” commercial, either.

Top 5 Best Commercials

Pepsi Max “Love Hurts”

Career Builder “Parking Lot”

eTrade “Cat”

Volkswagon “Black Beetle”

Bud Light “Hack Job”

Top 5 Worst Commercials
Stella Artois “Crying Jean”
Audi “Release the Hounds”
Snickers “Logging”
Groupon “Tibet”
Sketchers “Hello Shape up”

AMA Baltimore wants your opinion!

Vote for your Favorite Super Bowl Ads with our Survey! See if others agree with your or not!

After taking the survey, comment below with why you love your Top 5 commercials!

In case you didn’t know, there’s a big show tonight, and I’m not talking about men in tights, either! ha!

I am so excited about the commercials this year. Social media is going to play a big role in the ads, and they are expected to be better than ever. They better be with a cost of around $3.9 million a pop!
Yes, I know.. that number is usually inflated and it never reflects the rate card pricing.. which goes out the window for events like this. But it sounds good, right?

I am going to be your Super Bowl Commercial 411. I’ve got the inside scoop on when commercials are airing, pre-releases and more.

You want even more?

Okay..
Tomorrow check back here over at AMA Baltimore to get my take of the best and worst of commercials, and why I think they were a hit or flopped.

Brainzooming.com has created a #bzbowl game that allows players to collect points based on spotting traditional advertising cliche’s. This is going to be FUN.
As various Super Bowl ad cliches show up in commercials, check the items off your list and total up the points at the end of the quarter and/or game.
Prizes are optional.

Now, for the inside scoop…

Superbowl-Ads.com has released the commercial schedule. Seriously!
Take a look at what products air when, and be ready to take notes! Notice anything key about the products in slots before/after each ad spot?
Hmm..

I’ve already mentioned that social media is expected to be a big part of tonight’s ads. Here’s the skinny:
Social Media Gets Legs

Oh, and don’t forget to check in on Four Square to don your Super Bowl XLV badge!

Lots of brands have been getting pre-show buzz. Volkswagon is one of them.
Mashable has a Top 10 list of brands getting the most pre-show Twitter buzz.

Here’s a sneak peek at the VW commercial to air later today:

What brand are you most looking forward to seeing in the Super Bowl commercial dual?

With that said, I’ve had a few friends on Facebook that are a little overwhelmed with all of the marketing gab that I share. I don’t blame them – I wouldn’t want to read about what’s new in the SEC world. So, I have a new Katie B. Roberts Facebook Fan page.

Don’t worry, I’ll still share the important stuff with my personal Facebook page. BUT, I’ll have even MORE content over at Katie B. Roberts, the official fan page.

I also plan to do some specials, contests, and all the other cool and fun things I preach about… so you want to make sure you are in on the fun. Plus, it’s cool to be an early adopter of Katie B. Roberts, the official fan page. ha!

So here you have it…. “Like” Katie B. Roberts, the official fan page on Facebook .. and you’ll be in the know of cutting edge marketing information on a regular basis. That’s a guarantee!

Hope to see you in the fan club!

I’m a fence-sitter when it comes to video and using it in the marketing mix. I am not a fan of it on websites, yet I love it on Facebook and, well, YouTube of course.

Check out the rest of my opinion on this quickly-becoming-popular marking tool over on Linkedin:

AMA Baltimore Linkedin Group: Marketing Monday

Here’s the blooper reel of my last quasi successful video attempt: Watch Katie Screw up a 19 Second Commercial

Look at that awesome group!

Here are a few of the bullet points from the seminar:

If you’d like a copy of the presentation, download it here.
If you share this with others, please credit the author (ME!) appropriately. Lots of time went into that..

Stay tuned right here, on this blog channel. I’ll be exploring more of each of the topics in the presentation over the next few weeks.

Feel free to post your questions from the seminar or the presentation. I love to chat about social media, in case you haven’t noticed!

Or, if you’d like to chat about your current strategy and where you’d like to be, I offer a complimentary 30-minute consultation – just because I like you. Simply drop me a note and I’ll be in touch.

And one last thing….

I’m planning on conducting a 5-part webinar series that dives into the actual how-to of each of the platforms to grow your social media community. Each session will be 1 hour in length including time for Q&A, The cost will be $25 per session, or all 5 for $100.
If you are interested, please let me know. If I can get enough people interested, I’ll find a way to make this happen!

Most companies could only dream of such buzz, but leave it to Starbucks to reign supreme.

Let’s look at the Starbucks-Kraft partnership. Bloomberg reports that this partnership could cost Starbucks in grocery retail as home-brewing is becoming popular among coffee elite. If you didn’t receive or purchase a Keurig in 2010, chances are someone you know did, or it has been installed at an office near you. The argument made by Bloomberg is that Kraft’s home-brew system ails in sales, which could have a detrimental effect on sales as Newman’s Own, The Donut Shop, and other home-brew ready coffee cups are penetrating the market.

My opinion? Meh.
It’s Starbucks, already. They are way ahead of home-brew cups. Anyways, if you are a home-brew user, you can purchase a reusable cup compatible with your machine and use any coffee that you like – you don’t have to purchase the ready made plastic cups of coffee. Plus, you’ll help the environment through eliminating the use of prepackaged cups and the shipping footprint while saving a few bucks on the overpriced prepackaged cups.

Oh, I can’t forget about instant coffee. Coffee snobs around the United States gasped as Starbucks entered the instant coffee market early last year. Starbucks trotted forward, determined to make a splash in this space dominated by Maxwell coffee, another supermarket staple. Many saw this as a huge gamble for the mega-brand, but it has actually fared well for Starbucks. They now offer 3 different types of instant coffee and are available both in Starbucks stores and grocery stores. Smart. The decision to do so, supposedly, was upon realizing a drop in retail stores sales as more folks opted to brew at home, Starbucks introduced what they consider a price-conscious package. I still think it’s overpriced, given Maxwell is just as good and is about $2 less for a pack of 8.
Oh yeah, Maxwell is part of the Kraft brand network…. Hmmm.

In this undated product image provided by Starbucks, the company's new 40-year anniversary logo is seen on a cup at right. Other cups bearing the company's logo from over the years, from left, 1971, 1987, and 1992, are also shown. (AP Photo/Starbucks) NO SALES

Since the original Starbucks opened in the 70s (Which I highly recommend visiting if you are ever in Seattle), the Starbucks logo has always had a round-shaped siren. It started as brown and white, then later evolved to include green. (I’d love to see the market research on choosing the color green…) Now, facing new market entries and attempting to get away from the snobby Starbucks stigma, the beverage giant has decided to drop the circle around the siren touting “Starbucks.”

After the initial shock wore off within a matter of seconds, I thought to myself, “Genius!” Only if they change the color from green to something else. The green circle, regardless of what’s in the center, is identified worldwide as a Starbucks beverage. Be honest – how many of you knew there was a siren in the middle of the green circle? You probably knew there was something there, but the green circle is what has been ingrained in your brain. Forever.

Is it a huge leap for Starbucks and diminishing the coffee-snob reputation? No.
I think the price point of their products would have a bigger impact of reducing a premium brand reputation, because let’s be honest – Starbucks isn’t the cheapest cup in town and it’s not the only one with free WiFi and cushy leather seats, and baristas that speak a language I will never understand – hence why I continue to order a Medium Latte with Skim Milk and Sugar Free Vanilla.

I’m not sure how much of an impact the new logo is going to have on the non-Starbucks products and services. I still think the logo is too recognizable to fully separate Starbucks retail coffee shops from Starbucks-owned Tazo tea .. and whatever else Starbucks has cooking. I suppose time will tell.

And just think, in about 4 weeks, we will all have forgotten about this silly little Starbucks news.. we’ll be talking about the funniest Superbowl commercial, surly to stir the pot yet again!

For the record, I prefer tea. Twinnings Lady Gray Tea, specifically.

And I love Dunkin Donuts. I don’t need a degree in coffee ordering to order, either.

I’m speaking!
Those of you that have known me for a while know how much I love speaking, even to small audiences. I found my speaking niche a few jobs ago when I was the face of the company, sent to share tips and tricks, marketing trends, and advice to user groups and customers all over the country.

Guess what else?
You get a discount to attend the seminar! A $25 discount!
(Sorry for those of you looking for, “You get a CAR!” ala Oprah Winfrey..)

At the next Baltimore Washington Corridor Chamber meeting, I will be discussing how social media fits into the inbound marketing strategy to drive bottom line results.

Event Details:

Integrating Social Media in the Sales & Marketing Mix

Chances are you have a Facebook, Linkedin, and maybe even a Twitter account… but now what?

Social media can be a great tool to help grow your B2B or B2C business. In this seminar, you’ll understand the role of social media as part of the overall inbound marketing strategy while leveraging the big 3 social media platforms for prospecting, lead generation, customer service, and increase sales closing ratios.

Key Takeaways:

Date: January 14, 2011

Time: 8:30-10:00am

Location: Doubletree Columbia Hotel (formerly the Hilton)

5485 Twin Knolls Road
Columbia, Maryland 21045-3247
410-997-1060

Cost: $20 (Includes $25 discount)
Breakfast included

To register, please call Nancy LaJoice, Membership Director of BWCC, and mention that you are an AMA member or friend of Katie Roberts in order to receive the member rate.

Baltimore Washington Corridor Chamber
Nancy LaJoice
301-725-4000
410-792-9714

With that said, what’s the best way to drive traffic to your blog?

1. Provide valuable content – content that people want, not what you think they want.
The best way to know what this is, is to poll your expected reader base to find out what they really want to know from you.

2. Make sure the blog is decked out with appropriate meta data to ensure the search engines are picking up all of your hard work. This also includes categories and relevant tags relating to the post itself. If this blog is on your website, the meta data and tags should fall in line with the keywords/meta data of your website.

3. Market your blog.
This means including a link to your blog on all print media, on your business cards, on the social media sites, and in your email signature.
This also means pushing the content out to information aggregators… Technoratti, Digg, Delicious (for now), and a few others. It also includes posting your blog posts to Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, etc.
when doing this, turn off the sales speak, and turn on the engagement speak.
“Did you know 4 out 5 marketers only rely on #sm 20% for their 2011 plans? Read more: [blog link]” … not …. “Hey, read my latest blog post about marketing…”

4. Grow your communities external to your blog.
This means commenting on peers with similar content or complimentary content blogs, engage in dialog with people on twitter and Facebook, Linkedin too (groups, Linkedin answers, profile posts, etc.).
Establish yourself as a thought leader with valid content. and they will come.

5. Use email marketing to continue the cycle. Have a section of your email newsletter that features a popular blog post(s) each month. Leave a little to the imagination and use a “read more” link to drive people to the blog to continue reading the entire blog post. Also include links to your social media profiles in your email. And be sure to include an engaging call to action that perhaps drives them to a landing page about your blog with a few snippets from key blog posts. On the landing page, include a form for them to fill out to subscribe to the blog.

6. Make it easy for people to follow your blogs. Make the call to action to subscribe clear, and obvious. Include both RSS and email subscriptions.

7. Add outbound links within your blog posts. Include links to blogs of your peers, thought leaders, and marketing tools’ website/blog to boost your SEO rank while notifying those blogs that you are listening to their content. It all counts!

What else do you do to drive traffic to your blog?