2010 N.W. Ag Show A Hit!

In what has proved to be a difficult market for trade shows, the N.W. Ag Show continues to perservere and buck national and regional trends. This year’s show, just ended January 28th, posted gains in attendance and strong exhibitor sales.

BDC Advertising, Inc. has been the agency of record for the show for the past 5 years and in cooperation with the N.W. Ag Show management team has worked to log steady increases over those years.

To the full credit of the N.W. Ag Show management team has been their continued support and response to exhibitor and market needs. Last year, the N.W. Ag Show brought all their seminars and association meetings on-site with the show which has proved to be enormously beneficial to attendance and sales at the show.

For 2010, BDC Advertising was asked to expand the show’s advertising footprint which includes multiple insertions in some 29 publications, 4 radio stations and an online Adwords campaign. BDC was responsible for all media buys, creative, placement, website development, SEO, Adwords, radio scripts, remote broadcasts, PR, coordination and follow-up.

Even though the show closed just a few days ago, BDC and the N.W. Ag Show management team are already making plans for next year’s show with website updates underway, post-show PR and a top-to-bottom evaluation of show efforts and strategy.

BDC Wins Wilco!

BDC Advertising, Inc. is pleased to announce the addition of Wilco Farm Stores to our client list. Wilco is an Oregon-based retailer with stores and business interests in Oregon and Washington. Wilco has three distinct divisions starting with 11 retail stores that offer a variety of hardware, farm supplies, gardening, clothing, pet supplies, pet services, fencing, feed and other items. Wilco also has an Agronomy Division and Fuel Division that is punctuated by an enviable emphasis on customer service and customer delivery to the N.W.’s broad and valued agricultural community.

BDC Advertising, Inc. was selected to develop, produce and launch a new website for Wilco that embraces all three divisions and shares the rich and important story of this proud Oregon company. The effort is intended to leverage new web technologies to better connect Wilco’s customers with the company and keep the market apprised of the companies deep product offering and services.

BDC was selected from a field of several and a final group of three after several interviews, submissions and a final presentation that detailed BDC’s tailored vision and thinking.

BDC is expecting to launch the site early this summer.

BDC Lands the Big One!!!

I’ve been chasing this one for over twenty years. Had my first encounter back in college while trolling the local area for whatever would bite. Back in the days, my buddies and I would see him frequently… more times than we’d like to admit. But we just never seemed to be able to get our hands on him. He always seems to taunt us and stay just out of range.

Last week we got our first real opportunity and went after him. Hooking him was fairly easy…I cast out a small plastic lure and he went for it with vengeance.

Once we were certain he was hooked up, the fight began. We had to break out the heavy gear for this one… bolt cutters, a 24ft aluminum ladder and several hundred feet of rope.

There was no way I could handle this guy all by myself. It took five of my closest friends over two hours to finally get him up to the boat.

Getting over the rail was the toughest part. He put up one heck of fight. Darn near broke the windows out and tore up the sides pretty good.

Thankfully, everyone understood what was at stake and never gave him an inch of slack to play with. With three lines firmly attached we finally got him into the boat and lashed down.

That’s when the fun started. Nothing like driving through downtown Lake Oswego at 10 AM on a Saturday morning with a 17′6” Great White shark in tow. The reactions we got were priceless. Actually had one woman convinced we caught it in the lake and recovered several small children and a Chris Craft from its belly.

This shark is destined to become the centerpiece of the offices of BDC Advertising, the company that manages many of the fishing and marine brands you all use on the water. Although, we have not yet confirmed whether Mr. Jaws will even fit in the lobby. It’s possible he could find a new home at Fisherman’s Marine.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a big fish.

BDC Readies Boating Clients For 2010

With boat shows just around the corner, BDC Advertising has completed a long list of “to-do’s” for its boat business clients. Manufacturers, dealers, accessory manufacturers and trade associations have all turned to BDC for advice, websites, brochures, catalogs and social media. The result is the new American Angler website for Smokercraft Boats (www.americananglerboats.com); Stevens Marine’s new Boats Motors and More catalog and website (www.stevensmarine.com); Weldcraft Boats new brochure and website updates (www.weldcraftmarine.com); Duckworth Boats 2010 brochure and website (www.duckworthboats.com); Barewest Wakeboard Towers redesigned brochure and updated website and a number other dealer websites and trade association projects that will be completed early in 2010.

BDC Advertising Vice President Trey Carskadon commented, “2009 was, by any standard, an exceedingly difficult time in the marine industry. Thankfully, all of our accounts survived, and in some cases, posted numbers that were well-beyond the average. We’re certainly not pleased by the results of 2009 but under the circumstances we’re bucking the trend. Looking ahead, there’s considerably less supply; fewer market choices; there’s some demand and encouraging late-season upticks in sales; financing should be more accessible; and in several markets there’s encouraging fishing and water forecasts that should help boating in a number of national markets.”

“We’re encouraging our clients to become resources for their area, create anticipation of upcoming fisheries and boating opportunities, be more visible and present in the markets they serve but to spend judiciously and leverage every bit of value-added performance in their marketing efforts. We’ll all have to continue to work harder and smarter but the rewards are there especially for those that can generate some growth and create some momentum going into 2011.”

Look for social networking platforms to blossom as dealers and manufacturers create broader and more productive online communities. Internet advertising will not replace print and other conventional advertising opportunities but will continue to expand and provide greater returns as the boating community improves its messaging, understands the opportunities and expends more energy in optimizing their presence in online forums and communities.

As dealers and manufacturers recover from 2009 they need to be mindful of differentiating them from their competition while working cooperatively and individually to elevate boating as a top-of-mind recreational pursuit. This can be achieved through cross-promotions, co-promotions, targeted PR and community involvement in customer-based fishing and water-sport organizations.

A number of marine-based businesses are shell-shocked and fail to recognize that this is an opportune time to capture market share. Boat customers want reliability, certainty, affordability and resources to guide them in their boat ownership experience. Those messages will resonate going into the show season. Promote affordability (for example) through cost-of-ownership analysis that ably demonstrates fuel savings, ease-of-maintenance and the benefits associated with dependable performance. As one manufacturer put it, “it only has value if you tell the market what you’re doing.” Don’t assume the market knows what you’re doing or trying to do. Tell them. Again, the biggest opportunity for growth in 2010 exists in taking market share. There are a number of marine-businesses that failed and those customers are looking for a home…give them a great reason to business with you.

BDC Advertising’s analysis of 2009 was spot-on as we worked with our client’s to reduce marketing expenditures by as much as 80% and initiate a number of in-season sales events and promotions that were creatively promoted through online programs and a variety of partner businesses and organizations. As indicated, the results were comparatively good as boating and retail customers moved to adjust inventories, balance their workforce with the workload and cut other expenses.

Our look to 2010 is brighter and demands some ratcheting up of marketing efforts and marketing mix. Still, staying conservative through 2010 and laying important groundwork for 2011 will be our push with our customers. 2009 is a stark reminder to always take full advantage of every dollar spent through proper planning, value-added opportunities, fluid and effective communication and purposeful/thoughtful approaches.

Okuma Selects BDC Advertising, Inc.

Ontario, CA – Okuma Fishing Tackle Corporation has selected BDC Advertising, Inc. of Oregon City, Oregon to represent their advertising and promotional interests in North America. “We’ve been talking for several years”, started Sam Brenner, Vice President of Okuma, “BDC Advertising clearly understands our products and the market and brings uncommon passion for the sport and our business to the table. In many ways, they are the customer but they also wield exceptional marketing and advertising acumen which we’re excited to leverage.”

Okuma Fishing Tackle Corporation burst onto the scene in 1987 as a rod and reel manufacturer and has grown its market share and presence in the U.S. over the past 22 years. In 2010, Okuma will release its most advanced product selection to date, including the much-anticipated Makaira and Cedros series of saltwater reels, Serrano and Cayenne low profile bait casters and Trio series spinning reels. BDC Advertising, Inc. will be tasked with brand development, creative direction, media, promotions, ongoing website development and social networking efforts.

BDC Vice-President, Carmen Macdonald states, “We’ve been blessed to work with some of the most thoughtful people in this industry, and the management at Okuma is no different. They bring incredible energy and a commitment to innovation and leadership.”

BDC Advertising, Inc. is heavily invested in the sport fishing category with clients that include: Luhr Jensen, Lamiglas Rods, Maxima Line, Weldcraft Boats, Duckworth Boats, Caddis Waders and several other boat manufacturers, sporting goods retailers and boat dealers. BDC Advertising, Inc. also represents the Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association as their lobbyist in Salem, Oregon on a range of sportfishing and boating-related issues.

Alex Brauer, President of BDC Advertising, Inc. commented, “The timing could not be better. Okuma’s 2010 new product introductions are the most heavily researched in their history and will be fiercely competitive in the market. It’s an outstanding place to begin. We couldn’t be more pleased or thrilled with the opportunity and the prospects ahead.”

For more information please contact BDC Advertising, Inc. at 503-723-5723 or visit www.bdcadvertising.com

Photos around the office today…just for fun.

I had the camera out today taking picts of (what else) fishing lures, so I thought I would snap a few of the office just for fun.

Become a fan of BDC Advertising on Facebook.

BDC Advertising

Dave’s Killer Bread & Pooch In The Pub

The Social Snowball

We hadn’t talked in 20 years but we picked up where we left off thanks to Facebook.

Baby-boomers like me grew up with technology — heck, we invented a lot of it. We started with punch cards that we stuck into massive main frame computers that buzzed and whirred like something out of an old Buck Rodgers movie using programs named Fortran, Cobal and Pascal. We gravitated to MS DOS as the technology changed learning lengthy codes that tested our recall and then we ran to the simplicity of Windows that required neither cards or much personal memory. So why-not Facebook?

“What have you been up to these last 20 years?” Well that answer was best left to a crisp micro-brew and a couple hours of catching up. I’ve now enjoyed a short case and several contacts from long lost friends thanks to the power of social networking.

Today, I posted a shot of a wonderful fish I’d caught on the Deschutes River. It was a fabulous fish and a great shot so I thought it worthy to share. Within minutes “oohs” and “aahs” flooded in from Alaska, New Jersey and California from people I wouldn’t have connected with otherwise. My network isn’t just the 70 or so people I’ve cultivated…it’s all those people and the people they’ve attracted — in several cases hundreds and in some even thousands. All of whom are privy to my message.

I can easily see the value of these networks.

We landed an important new account today. I don’t have the official go-ahead to share the news yet — but we will soon and when we do thousands will know about it in seconds. Hundreds will probably notice it and a couple months later the traditional media will print it and it will be old news — but still news just the same — just not as timely as these social networks we’re building.

If I was a retailer I’d be after this stuff like a fat man to a pie-eating contest. I’d grow my network fast and furious. I’d want thousands, tens of thousands, then hundreds of thousands to see my tweets, twitters and blogs. This is powerful stuff that happens immediately.

UPRIGHT FREEZERS $300 — ONLY THREE LEFT

OR

For the next 2 hours…Super Burgers for $1 each!

Social networking creates buzz. It’s exciting, immediate, engaging, fun and effective.

Social networking has become mainstream marketing. A celebrity sends out a tweet that he’ll be yodeling on some street corner and the next thing you know is 5,000 people are gathered on a street corner tying up traffic listening to the celebrity yodeler. Better yet, media floods to the fracas trying to be as just-in-time as the tweet which stimulates another 2,000 people to join the now mobbed celebrity yodeler.

This stuff is incredible!

I’m finding people and they’re finding me. I’m connecting and re-connecting more easily and seamlessly than I could imagine. Daily my network is growing and by this time next year it should be into the hundreds as more and more of us climb aboard this wonderful runaway train of technology.

Us boomers don’t fear it…we embrace. At times slowly. We’ve been sold a bill of goods before and understand time is precious so we squander it just like we do our precious identities. We get it though — it’s easy to understand, easy to do, easy to accept and easy to use. That’s why we’re building our LinkedIn and Plaxo accounts as well. Some of these may fall by the wayside…no worries the investment was minimal and it’s to be expected.

We finish the first beer and order a second. We’ve re-hashed a failed marriage, several perfect kids we’ve sired, dreams we had, ambitions we followed and now it’s time to talk about our fishing exploits. Nothing like sharing tales of big salmon and the prospect of future trips over a cold one…or two…or…

Agency Life…And The Beat Goes On!

At times it’s like working in a washing machine, agency business can pull you ten different directions at once.  We love the jumble, it’s what gets us up every day — no two days are the same.  The combination of cold calling, networking, online advertising and answering help wanted ads is working.  We’re getting a good push of opportunities headed our way and continue to land new projects.  As deep as we are in this economic downturn some of our clients are seeing our efforts pay dividends…it’s been pretty gratifying.  One company is seeing a strong upturn in activity as we’ve preached the benefits of customer retention programs and they’ve jumped aboard.  Another company is seeing a substantial increase in leads from their website as a result of an adwords program we’ve put in place.  Still, another one of our clients is outselling the competition “15 to 1” because of the long-term positioning we’ve developed that has made the difference between first and second in the category pretty vast.  We learned this week that BDC Advertising had been selected as the “agency of record” for the Oregon City Main Street project.  We’ll take that.  We also enjoyed a meeting with a prospective client that was pretty exciting.  Great dialogue, sharp client, dominate product…we’d spent several hours preparing for the meeting and we were glad we did.  It made for a good discussion where we brought some new ideas to the table and learned volumes about their efforts.  The discussion resulted in an opportunity — a very good opportunity that we’re excited to chase.

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