(San Bernardino, CA) “We are all products. Remember that. As an advertising and public relations creative director, my product is problem solving, knowledge and creativity,” said Carl M. Dameron creative director and founder of Dameron Communications.
“I am going to tell you how to develop an advertising and public relations program to effectively reach your target market, create a positive image of a business in the community and entice the market to buy more of your products, goods and/or services,” said Dameron.
This series has been going for several weeks. Go to the website for the entire backlog at
at DameronCommunications.com/blog
This January 2012 ad uses the campaign theme for the Magnolia at Highland – “Affordable Luxury”. We also target seniors by saying, “For ages 62 and better”. The campaign was very successful. The senior apartments have 100+ person waiting list.
Ad development
This is where your research bears fruit. Take the information obtained through your research that tells you who your customer is, what they like, and what they like about your products and services to develop a campaign theme to reach your target market.
This theme must translate well into print, radio, television, your website, billboards, Email, social networks, and direct mail to grab the target’s attention and leave the right impression. If you need help to develop your ads use: and ad agency, freelance artists, university students or talk to your newspaper or radio representative.
You can also call Dameron Communications to help you develop your plan.
Campaign goal
We know the goal is to increase sales and profit:
But of what product ? You want to include all of them but really pick one.
Of what service? Again I know, you want to include all of them, but again pick one.
Where is it? Where are your locations or do you come to me?
When do customers want to buy your stuff? — Winter, spring, summer or fall?
Start by reviewing your sales and promote your most popular product or the thing you are known for.
80 percent of your business comes from 20 percent of your customers. Define who the 20 percent are, what they want and create your campaign to go after more people like them!
For Argosy University they are highly recognized for their Postgraduate degrees in Psychology, Education and Business, that’s their 20 percent. So our goal was to increase enrollment in those programs. They also have bachelors degree completion programs and other offerings.
Slogans – “Campaigns that work!” That’s the Dameron Communications slogan
How do you start? Try creating a quick five-second description of what you do that makes your customer feel better good about buying your product. Then massage it into a slogan.
Here are some examples.
For SpeakerCraft we created the slogan “The Art of Sound”. They sell speakers and high-end stereo equipment. Not just things to make music, but things to make music sound exceptionally great.
For the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health AIDS program the slogan was “Know your Status”. We show multiethnic real people and ask the question: “Are you HIV Positive of Negative?”
Are you HIV Positive of Negative? Do you know? You should know. Take control. Get checked for free at the San Bernardino County Health Department.
For The Magnolia at Highland the slogan is “Affordable Luxury”. This project is a low income senior citizen complex, however it is designed and built like a luxury resort. So we sold it that way. We used the images reserved for luxury spas and luxury resorts, people in the pool, the cabañas and the beautiful entry. Instead of 62 and older we came up with 62 and Better.
The Magnolia at Highland Senior Citizen Apartments’ Grand Opening invitation created for Western Seniors Housing. It clearly shows the luxury features available in the Senior Apartments.
For Argosy University it’s “Education that Works.” This slogan has multiple meanings. Not only does the education help you be a better person, but the reason many people get a post-graduate degree is to get a better job and make more money, so having a degree from Argosy helps to get you more work. The other issue with Universities new to the area is the question of trust. We included the line “quality Education for over 30 years in Psychology, Education and Business” to demonstrate that Argosy was not a new University, just new to the area. This line is to solidify the brand and increase trust. The campaign increase enrollment 450 percent and made the campus the fastest growing start up the history of 22 campus system.
Yes, it does sound like our slogan. Argosy abandoned it and so we picked it up. Waste not, want not.
“Education That Works” was the slogan we created for Argosy University. This is the billboard we created, we also created newspaper ads, plus magazine and radio commercials.
Good luck, and remember the target for your slogan is your customers, not you!
To Be Effective In Advertising, Plan And Be Consistent.
Display your slogan everywhere. This is the email signature for Dameron Communications
Read more
For a free one-hour consultation call Carl M. Dameron at (909) 534-9500.
For a free copy of “Effective Advertising & Public Relations” click here to download: DC-701 Effective advertising-legal 51211.
Effective Advertising & Public Relation prints on legal paper
Dameron Communications won a Bronze Award in the Public Service Poster Division in the 2011 competition.
(Riverside, CA) The deadline for entries in the 2012 ADDY Award competition is Friday, Feb. 1. The ADDY’s are sponsored annually by the American Advertising Federation-Inland Empire Chapter and award excellence in advertising. ADDY contestants should register their entries online and then drop them off locally in Redlands or at a special event on Jan. 31 in Fontana.
In the professional category, submissions must include advertising that appeared from January 1 to December 31, 2012, according to the AAF’s John McCarthy, chair of this year’s competition. Students are welcome to participate and submissions are encouraged. There are over 100 categories covering all aspects of advertising, including some new and expanded areas this year.
To register online, visit http://aaf-inlandempire.com, click on ADDYS, download a copy of the competition rules and follow the instruction links. Then, submissions may be dropped off at Red Fusion Media, 104 E. State Street, Suite P, Redlands, CA 92373.
Another way to drop off entries is at a special ADDY Drop & Drink event at Logan’s Roadhouse in Fontana at 6pm on Thursday, Jan. 31. ADDY contestants should bring their entries and enjoy a Cover Brand Advertising Jingle game with live music and over $100 in prizes.
“What a great way to have fun and drop off your ADDY entries at the same time,” said McCarthy. AAF members pay $10 and non-members $15. Registration deadline is Jan. 30 on the website.
McCarthy reminds contestants to use the code ADDY when registering online to avoid the registration fee for any entries dropped off in person.
The Inland Empire ADDY Awards is the first in a three-tier process, including local, district and national competition. The annual ADDY Gala Awards Dinner to recognize local winners is Friday, March 15 at the Mission Inn in Riverside.
For the Drop & Drink event, Logan’s Roadhouse is located at 13480 Baseline Avenue in Fontana. For more information on ADDY submissions, visit HelloJohnMcCarthy@gmail.com or call John McCarthy, (909)921-1062.
(San Bernardino, CA) – Carl Dameron, president of Dameron Communications, has been nominated for recognition in the Fourth Annual Spirit of the Entrepreneur awards sponsored by California State University, San Bernardino.
The award honors local business people who have overcome challenges and given back to their community.
“I am honored to be considered for this award,” Dameron said. Dameron said he also appreciates how this awards program promotes an awareness of entrepreneurship among the Inland Empire’s youth.
“They need to realize there are successful professionals who live right down the street from them,” he said.
Dameron, 47, established Dameron Communications in 1989 after a marketing campaign for his former employer, AutoSound, increased that company’s profits by 250 percent. Despite his marketing success, Auto Sound was not able to keep Dameron on the payroll, so he parlayed that success into a business that has helped many other companies and non-profit organizations reach new customers.
Dameron has also worked as a journalist before, both on radio and newspaper. That experience still helps him in dealing with media.
“I see things with a journalist’s eye,” he said.
Some of Dameron’s earliest customers were in the automotive business, and while he has had large corporations as clients, today’s clients include non-profit organizations that pay a reduced rate. Dameron doesn’t charge them full price because he believes they are performing important services for the community.
For instance, the African-American Health Initiative promotes that African Americans in San Bernardino County will die, on average, 13 years before those of other races. The average African-American man in this county will not live to see his 56th birthday.
As the father of two young girls, Dameron does not want to be part of that statistic.
“I want to see my daughters graduate from high school,” he said. “I want to walk them to the altar on their wedding days.” Dameron also is an event producer.
The largest event he is involved with is the Inland Empire Diversity Job Fairs, and he assists the Inland Empire African-American Chambers of Commerce in bringing these to various San Bernardino and Riverside County locations. In the 14 years, they have helped thousands of residents find jobs close to home.
“People should be able to work where they live,” Dameron said. “The job fairs help local employers meet face to face with local people.”
Even though Dameron has recently started another business, 909Models.com, his workforce is still small, with just four full-time employees. The employees keep busy all day, and are talented at what they do, freeing them to concentrate on increasing business.
“I hire good people and stay out of their way,” he said. Frank Doughton, an account executive with the Riverside Press-Enterprise, nominated Dameron for this award.
“Carl has done so much, with his agency, the job fairs, starting 909Models.com and his agency,” Doughton said. “He has been out there, taking the risks, and I just think it’s time he got some recognition.”
Michael Stull, director of the Inland Center for Entrepreneurship, started this recognition program soon after coming to CSUSB in 2002. His university began the program with assistance from the Press-Enterprise, which continues to be a co-sponsor. Other sponsors this year include Arrowhead Credit Union, Citizens Business Bank, Citibank, Inland Empire National Bank, Loma Linda University Medical Center, Varner Saleson and Brandt LLP, Soren McAdam Christenson LLP, Family Business Partnership, Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce, Glencrest Investment Advisors, the Riverside Convention Center, Wilkin Guge Marketing, KVCR, KTIE, and Milestone Media.
Stull said this program not only promotes awareness of the Center for Entrepreneurship but also provides role models to CSUSB students interested in starting their businesses.
“Students need to know about the great things people are doing right here,” he said.
The deadline to nominate an entrepreneur is Aug. 15. To do so, go to www.inlandspiritawards.com
For more information, call Stull at (909)) 537-3708
