Turning Weakness To Strength
It's a point of frustration for many that I wanted to address with the city. After speaking with a representative from the department, it's a point of frustration for them too from a budgetary standpoint. Do not abandon hope though. There are plans in the works to implement more parking meters that read credit/debit cards (there are currently approximately 500 in the downtown area with more planned) as well as something that many of us have probably never thought about, paying via cell phone. High occupancy parking garages are getting the bulk of the attention prior to expansion on Bay Street toward the stadium, but there are plans next year for steady expansion concerning all aspects of parking.
I hope this alleviates some of the concern for the downtown faithful who roll the dice with tow trucks and parking tickets from time to time. I would like to thank Jack Shad for responding to me so quickly when I reached out to him, as well as encouraging me to bring any ideas his way. I'm thankful that we have someone filling the role that is completely open to ideas from the public. I implore all of those who read this blog not to let such an invitation go to waste.
Mad Men Marketing Expanding Presence in Jacksonville
The Committee will bring together DVI Board members, partners and staff with the hope of helping DVI continue to promote Downtown Jacksonville’s many assets. The plan is to address current misconceptions and help advocate further improvements, so the forward momentum DVI has already ignited in this fine city of ours continues to burn!
It is an absolute honor to have a presence on the inaugural committee. There has always been a lot of pride in downtown, and now it's time to capitalize on that and collaborate with some of the city's finest minds to generate the kind of buzz that's worthy of the Bold City.
New Fall Season Changes Media Buying
New fall shows, mean new ratings. New ratings mean new places to spend your money and a new audience to see your product or service. The new fall season will definitely shake up prime time, although I don't foresee CBS relinquishing the cobra clutch they have on Thursday nights. I encourage everyone to get excited, step out of your box, and break with the norm a little. You might be glad you did.
For those of you who advertise, rest assured that Mad Men Marketing will be their every step of the way, monitoring viewing habits with NSA-like precision, down to what people DVR. We are the only agency in the market to implement Rentrak, a service that gives us an extensive breakdown of what viewers watch based on innumerable sub-categories and demographics. While Nielsen utilizes an archaic journal-entry style system with less than a thousand people in the Jacksonville market participating (less than 1/8 of one percent), Rentrak uses 68,000 set top boxes that you're already using to gather data (roughly 8 percent). This is what sets us apart among agencies, being well-informed of where to spend YOUR money on advertising and being ahead of the curve with a research-oriented approach.
All Hop’d Up On Craft Brew
Each Friday, we will choose a new local brewery to patronize and sample their wares. Today, Friday the 13th, the crew joins Aardwolf and the “wolfpack” to sample their 4 new offerings. I'm especially excited to get my hands on the Belgian Pale Ale. It's important to support local businesses for Mad Men Marketing, but aside from that, local brewers offer more robust flavors that cater to beer connoisseurs and casual drinkers alike. Many of these local pubs also offer a fair amount of fun, such as the game room with the over-sized Jenga pieces at Green Room or playing cards at Intuition. Since many of these places also don't serve food, they invite you to order from other local vendors and bring your food with you. We can't wait to get started!
**(Mad Men Marketing encourages you to drink responsibly)
The Highly Controversial Blog That Mentions Syria
Investors are very cautious, more accurately put, they're probably straddling the line between prudent caution and paranoia. The growing concerns about a multi-national force becoming entangled in a region that has demonstrated continued and unrelenting civil turmoil only serves to further perpetuate the financial instability as it pertains to the S&P 500, and the DOW. Moreover, as one country goes, so does the rest of the world.
In the recent past, Greece was in financial jeopardy and although a relatively insignificant player in the global economy when you consider heavy hitters like the U.S., France, India, Brazil, China, etc…, it had immediate ramifications that resounded across the world due to the interconnectivity of economic interests and Greece's proclivity toward nationalistic pride and threats to break with the Euro.
I would expect AT LEAST that kind of impact on the world market as resources are re-allocated to quell the disturbance in Syria. These are uncertain times and uncertainty can lead to panic, especially by those who are expected to lead us economically because they tend to protect their own interests first. So in the best interest of fear-mongering, strap on your kevlar vest, continue to go to work, and just act like nothing is happening because chances are your day-to-day will not change.