Empower Fortifies Social Media Practice with Key Hires
Three New Hires Bring Industry Experience, Informed Opinion to Established Word of Mouth Marketing Team
CINCINNATI, OH, Feb. 2, 2010– Empower MediaMarketing has increased its focus on social media with the addition of three new hires. Kevin Dugan, Michael E. Rubin and Taylor Wiegert have joined Empower within the last six months. They join Empower’s well-established and rapidly growing word of mouth marketing practice to enhance its social media services.
“Social media is a key competency within word of mouth marketing, said Empower’s Director of Word of Mouth Marketing Jessica George. “Social media allows us to deliver programs that fuel on- and offline brand discussions. The addition of Kevin, Michael and Taylor fortifies our full-service, integrated approach to social media and, as part of our word of mouth services, helps build our clients’ business and increase customer loyalty.”
Industry Veteran: Kevin Dugan is a nationally-recognized marketing expert that has been blogging since 2002. Both of his blogs, Strategic Public Relations and the Bad Pitch blog, are ranked by Advertising Age’s Power 150 Ranking of the world’s top marketing blogs. He also founded Cincinnati Social Media, a local networking group with more than 900 members and has been singled out in a variety of lists, including Alltop, as one to follow online. Dugan speaks nationally and has been a source on social media for national media, including CNN’s “Blogger Bunch” and The Associated Press. Dugan is on Twitter as @prblog.
Word of Mouth Expert: As one of the first employees of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) and the Social Media Business Council, Michael Rubin helped Fortune 500 brands navigate the emerging field of social media. With more than ten years experience in marketing and public relations, Rubin has partnered with the world’s leading marketers and industry experts to develop social media and word of mouth into fully-realized, mainstream marketing disciplines. He also writes a column for MarketingProfs and is editor in chief of Social Study, Empower’s social media blog. Leadership Northern Kentucky recently asked Rubin to speak on social media to its 2009 class. He is on Twitter as @merubin.
Social Strategist: Taylor Wiegert is inspired to generate results for clients by developing and executing social media and marketing strategies and tactics. Wiegert immerses himself in the latest news across the fields of social media, interactive technology, online video and gaming to better educate clients and Empower colleagues. He was also recently chosen to present on the future of news by The Cincinnati Enquirer. Wiegert is on Twitter as @twiegert.
“Social media is fundamentally changing how brands connect with consumers,” says Empower MediaMarketing’s President, Jim Price. “Empower offers increasingly sophisticated, integrated strategies to our clients. A full spectrum of services, including a well-established social media practice, allows us to help clients better engage with customers through any and all media channels.”
The social media team has already conducted successful social marketing efforts for Long John Silver’s, Bush Brothers & Company, Meijer and the United Way of Greater Cincinnati. The new hires reside in the word of mouth marketing practice which uses a multi-disciplined approach that includes Digital Creative, Strategy, Search Marketing and Media as well as Consumer Insights and Out of Home.
Responding to Consumer Change and Client Needs
The increased investment in social media reflects an understanding that it’s increasingly important to engage with customers instead of simply communicating to them. The Empower social media team is uniquely positioned to help clients based on three key elements.
Proven Expertise and Social Media Project Experience: Empower has helped clients start using social media, augment existing programs, listen to key consumer segments and conduct outreach to key influencer groups to support specific business initiatives. They build on this experience using the latest tools everyday to do their jobs, backed by a deep bench of social media platform experts who focus on specific social sites to stay on top of changes, trends and the implications for clients.
Full-Service, Integrated Offering: From initial research, strategic planning and internal training to plan execution, measurement, ongoing monitoring and evaluation, Empower can handle any or all elements of a social marketing engagement or as part of a larger, integrated plan.
Paid and Earned Media: Social media is just one segment of Empower’s paid and earned media offering. Empower plans and buys media for National and Local TV, Radio, Magazines, Newspapers, Out of Home, Mobile, Online advertising and Search Marketing. Additionally, Empower’s Word of Mouth offering includes earned media services like social media and more experiential marketing efforts.
About Empower MediaMarketing
Empower specializes in helping its clients communicate to and with consumers through an integrated combination of media. Empower’s services include Media Planning and Buying, a full-service Digital practice, Word of Mouth Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Media Marketing Strategy and consulting, and a Consumer Insights group that offers consumer research, ROI analysis and several proprietary tools. For more information, visit us online, read our latest thinking on our blog and follow us on Twitter.
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Company Veteran to Continue Client Focus
CINCINNATI–July 15, 2009–Discovery.com, dedicated to creating the highest quality non-fiction content that informs and entertains, and Long John Silver’s, the world’s most popular seafood restaurant chain, today announced a collaborative online partnership of Discovery Channel’s popular “Shark Week,” kicking off today through August 31.
