Integrated Marketing

The typical definition of integrated marketing focuses on the integration of all marketing tools, approaches, and resources to coordinate messaging.

Our approach is focused on the consumer, not merely the media. We don’t just endeavor to integrate our message across media, we want to integrate our message into consumers’ lives.

These days, the consumer has more control, more access to information, more ways to evaluate a purchase decision. We need to establish ways to have dialogue and make relevant connections. Build relationships.

Focus Zones℠

Everything is media. If we want our brands to connect with consumers, what we need to do is look at how people live their lives and find those opportunities for consumers to connect with our brands. At Real Integrated^® we believe if we are going to make this happen we need to identify the areas of consumer focus.

We call these areas: FOCUS ZONES℠, and in each of these zones we find opportunities.

How do people live their lives? What do people focus on every day?

1.  We Scan

We look for information. Seek out answers. Ask questions. We absorb.

News • RSS • Email Alerts • Mobile • Blogs • Search

2.  We Do Stuff

We make it happen. We complete tasks.

Online Ordering • Coupons • POP

3.  We Play

We goof off. Play games. Compete.

Mobile Apps • PSP/DS • Online Gaming

4.  We Enjoy Ourselves

We want to be amused, excited, and even turned-on.

Video • Music • Kindle™• I-Pad

5.  We Participate

We want to be involved in stuff. We have conversations. We give our opinions.

Facebook • MySpace • Linkedin • Friendster • Twitter • Del.icio.us • Stumbleupon • And on and on…

Creativity

The creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator brings the work in contact with the external world by deciphering and interpreting its inner qualifications and thus adds his contribution to the creative act. –Duchamp
 
We don’t know if Duchamp envisioned viral video and social media when the Dada movement began, but we think he would really dig what’s going on. Now don’t get me wrong here, we have put together some of the best talent around. Big thinkers. Amazing artists, writers and technical masterminds. We couldn’t bring together big ideas without them. But we want people to engage with us; to be part of the creative process. As a rule creative people don’t like rules… which is good, since breakthrough ideas often break rules. So we really only have one rule. Our work must be relevant, relatable and real.

Mirror Branding℠

What if consumers recognized our brand as a reflection of themselves? What if they saw us as so much a part of their identity that they took ownership in ours? If we help better our customers’ lives, doesn’t it make sense that the face of our brand to a great extent is the one in the mirror?

If we help them to like what they see when they look in the mirror, and they like who we are together, they will stick with us. If not they will find ways to change their reflection. Through Mirror Branding℠ we make relevant connections with the consumer to build a real relationship with the brand.

The 4 R’s of Mirror Branding

• Be Real.

Real is the new ideal. People are seeking out more ways to connect. Capitalize.

• Be Relevant.

Talk to the right people at the right time about the stuff they care about.

• Be Relentless.

Don’t lose your place in line. Once you make a connection feed it constantly.

• Release Control.

You are dancing with the consumer now. You can lead. But give them the opportunity to express themselves.

Everything is Media

Everything is media and media is everywhere today. The days of traditional media and promotional media have gone the way of the land line phone. Your consumers now communicate and receive communications in ways that are too numerous to count.

At Real Integrated, we believe the media and message can’t be separated. That’s why our media people have a seat at the table during every creative strategy meeting. The media and message have to be synced up … they have to be integrated. We are constantly looking at new media and determining which ones are relevant and right for our clients. The days of boilerplate media plans don’t exist at Real Integrated. If we don’t integrate the message into the media, the message will be ignored. And, we are not in the business of being ignored.

The mission for us is having your brand connect with your consumer. We can make that connection better when we match the message with how your consumer uses each media. This is what we call Focus Zones.

Research

At Real Integrated we are a curious lot. We want to know everything about a brand. Not just what the brand does, but how that brand makes people feel. What are the brand’s emotional benefits?  Those ownable benefits that can really set a brand apart. It is the emotional deliverables of the brand that we are constantly seeking to understand.

For us, research is about searching for insights; the uncovered nuggets that will provide the clues that will separate the brand from a mass of sameness. At Real Integrated, we of course conduct quantitative studies when it is necessary to obtain solid numbers on a marketing program or user base. For that purpose, quantitative studies are valuable, but they look at what was, what happened, not what is or what can be. At Real Integrated, we are always in search of “What’s Next”, which is why we have a preference for qualitative research. We want to talk to consumers, ask them questions, and observe them as they are using the brand. Watching consumers interact with a brand and talking to them at the precise moment they are using the brand provides us the best insight. Learning what is happening, why it is happening, and how we can leverage that learning to strengthen your brand’s value equation and brand equity is the most effective way to use consumer research.

Metrics

Measurement is a key aspect of everything we do. We believe that every program has a purpose and goal. It follows that every program should be measured so that adjustments can be made to improve its effectiveness.

We always ask and ask and ask our client partners for traffic and sales information on a regular basis. That’s because we also want to know what is working, or in those rare cases what is not working. Both are important – to adjust in mid-stream to maximize a program’s effectiveness or to learn for future endeavors. Metrics may not be the most exciting thing in this business, but they are one of the most important. We are in the business of growing our clients’ businesses, so it is imperative that we live and react to metrics every day.

From a media standpoint, we are constantly monitoring the effectiveness of the media and the message within that medium. Is it reaching the right people as intended? Does it have the right response rate? If it doesn’t look like our program is on track to meet our goals, we will recommend adjustments to the media, message or sometimes both. A key component to success is being able to make the right game time adjustments. At Real Integrated, we are always watching the progress and flow of a program to determine if and when those adjustments need to be made.

Our History

While Real Integrated (RI) is a new name to the Detroit area, it is by no means a new powerhouse in the advertising industry.

Real Integrated’s storied past began in 1954 in Detroit’s Book Building as a movie promotion agency under the name of Robert Solomon and Associates. In 1992 current owner and CEO Dean Friedman came to the agency as a full partner with a background filled with award winning and industry changing advertising experience. The agency eventually became Solomon Friedman Advertising and expanded their industry reach as a full service agency by offering dynamic creative work. The belief was that local area businesses should have the same world-renowned service that national companies could demand.

The agency has not just changed its name over the years but its position in the industry as well. Due to a need to create movie theater co-ops and advertise in group opportunities, Robert Solomon and Associates became one of the leading field agencies in the US. The business was expanded to represent KFC owners and evolved into a franchisee and co-op opportunity: one that continues to exist within the agency. As Solomon Friedman Advertising, the agency grew to become one of the leading KFC field agencies – the third largest in the country today – and now represents over 400 restaurants and 16 major Midwest markets.

The agency over the years has evolved its capabilities to include account services, media, promotion and publicity in addition to cutting-edge creative. To focus solely on advertising, the agency sold the movie promotions leg of the company in 2006 to Allied Entertainment. Shortly afterward, Solomon Friedman Advertising shortened its name to SFA.

Today Real Integrated continues to serve the belief that the Detroit market is our home, this is where we want to do business, this is where we want to hire and this is where growth will flourish. Many years ago SFA made a commitment to growing Detroit talent while helping local area businesses prosper and be successful here, a promise that still holds true today with Real Integrated. From its launch, RI has been positioned to help our clients take advantage of the new emerging marketing channels of digital media while creating unique experiences in traditional advertising. Understanding and strength in the rapidly changing marketplace has made Real Integrated a major player in helping push our clients’ business forward into this new phase of the industry.