DSA Online | New Media Updates

There is a good chance that the Facebook contest you’ve recently entered, started or were thinking about running may be in violation of Facebook’s terms. You know the ones. “Like” this photo and be entered in our contest to win a free weekend stay with Charlie Sheen.

They are a great way to engage an audience as the trickledown effect of each “Like” weaves through the social network and your brand appears in new streams. And they were a particularly strong solution for small businesses operating on small budgets, as the only cost was time and whatever the prize was, most often a service or small product.

But unless the business is using a third party application, such as Wildfire or Strutta, they risk the potential of their page being taken down by the Zuckerberg army. Simply put, Facebook is separating themselves from any liability of having their service associated with the contest. That means entering through Facebook and even contacting winners through the messaging system. This policy change actually goes back to 2009, with some tweaks in 2010, but it’s been widely ignored or missed altogether.

Of course, with third party applications come additional costs. Depending on the goal, another solution for many budgets may be a Facebook ad campaign. Facebook’s click through rates are typically outperformed by other media, but there can be good branding value in the high number of impressions that are served on a cost per click campaign. They also bring some great targeting capabilities.

For more details on Facebook promotions, have a look at Mari Smith’s excellent post on the topic.

We are looking for a motivated and energetic individual to join our Calgary office in the role of Media Coordinator. This position will provide the opportunity to work on a number of accounts, both regional and national, in a supportive environment.

We require someone with excellent computer skills and the ability to perform work with a high level of accuracy. Strong attention to detail is a key. The ideal candidate will be able to perform well under pressure and manage tight deadlines. An education or background in media and advertising is a strong asset.

This work will involve:

• Support in the development of media plans
• Data entry and report generation
• Media buy file maintenance
• Contact with media suppliers to make time and space reservations
• Attending client meetings (as appropriate)
• Attending supplier presentations (as appropriate)
• Working in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint
• Various administrative functions

To apply, please send a cover letter and resume to general@dsamedia.ca. We thank all applicants for their submissions, but only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Earlier this week, comScore’s annual review of the mobile market in 2010 arrived and contained some unique insight into this growing medium. The report primarily contrasted the markets in the US, Japan and Europe, which was represented by the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

A decade ago, text messaging was already culturally embedded in much of Europe while many North Americans still thought T9 was a strain of Tylenol. Fast forward to December 2010, and it’s interesting to see the US has leapfrogged Europe in some areas of mobile technology and leads them in mobile media consumption.

In the US, the number of mobile media users rose 7.6% to nearly half of all subscribers. Europe saw growth here, too, but still trailed the US with only 34% of subscribers using mobile media. A big reason for that is the US’s implementation of 3G (and 4g) technology and that they have nearly four times as many people on unlimited plans as Europe, which only has 8%. Japan still led the way with 75% of their subscribers connected to mobile media.

Stateside, there were more than 1000 products advertised by mobile content by Q3 of 2010, an increase of nearly 150% over the previous two years. With the mobile industry in constant evolution, and new devices, such as tablets, and mobile-specific publications being released, 2011 promises another big leap in mobile advertising.

So what does it all mean for Canada? Well, it’s reasonable to suggest we’ve seen similar growth in the mobile arena, but with important carrier and data package differences from the US, a better exploration is needed. We’ll dive deeper in a follow-up post.

This year Syd from Joy TV showed up to the DSA office with a pretty little potted Christmas tree and a challenge. Decorate “Joy” the tree then send in a picture; the winner gets to go to Don Francesco’s.

Well you never come into DSA Media with a fun challenge like that and expect nothing less than total over-delivery! Everyone participated with theme ideas and decorating help. From the team grew a Winter Wonderland full of penguins, reindeer, and polar bear. Yes just one bear but he was the only one who could make it to the South Pole to party with the penguins (he hitched a ride with the flying reindeer but they could only carry one, Polar Bears are big you know).

And here is the grand reveal:

We are happy to announce that all the hard work paid off and DSA was named the winner out of all 6 media departments that participated. As special thanks to Kristina who built the mountains and Mary who made our little friends on the tree. If you want to see our competition you can visit the Joy TV website.