All posts by Civilian

The San Diego Comic-Con, which ended about a week ago, has transformed from a comic book enthusiast’s party to a major Hollywood advertising vehicle in the past ten years. Hollywood seemed to catch on to the possibility of the mainstream popularity of comic book characters when films such as the X-Men and Spider-Man trilogies became…

Branding. We are repeatedly smacked across the face with this word, this concept. Is there any true definition, we wonder? This one little word can have so much meaning behind it, enough in fact, to make or break an entire company. Branding, if approached and executed correctly, can take a business to a place unimaginable…

As if mobile advertising wasn’t enough to promptly reach the smartphone user on the go, now enter location-based advertising; the next innovation in mobile advertising. In an attempt to inform, remind, or inspire consumers, advertisers can now reach their audience by offering them on the spot, real-time coupons and deals. Imagine driving along as your…

You've seen the buzz word tossed around by new media bloggers and old media journalists alike. Social media: it's what you're participating in every time you tweet, share a link on Facebook, or write a review on Yelp. It's the most democratic form of media to date. Many have tried to pass off social media…

Unless you’ve been living in the woods, cut off from all forms of media for the past three years, you’ve probably heard about Apple’s newest range of iDevices: iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. The software that runs these devices, iOS (recently shortened from ‘iPhone OS’), has proven to be one of the most user-friendly operating…

Have you ever seen a mobile ad? If you've ever browsed the Internet on your phone (or iPad), chances are you've seen them. You know, the tiny static graphic that hides near the top of the newspaper site, or the obtrusive interstitial in the middle of your Words With Friends game that leaves you searching…

Times are tough. And when times are tough, we take a closer look at accountability. We want to know that we are getting what we are subscribing to, that we are receiving a good value, and that we are seeing a return on our investments. Marketing is one of those investments, and if done right,…

In a wildly spontaneous twist of fate, local rising star advertising agency AdEase has announced that it will leave the advertising business for good and set up shop as AdTimes. In its new role, AdTimes has committed itself to investigative reporting of the San Diego advertising industry. A special weekly column, Paw Prints, will keep…

In case you hadn’t heard, Facebook is now the most visited website in the United States, according to analysts at Hitwise. In the 2nd weekend of March, Facebook snuck ahead with 7.07% of U.S. web traffic, barely beating Google’s 7.03%. So what does this mean to advertisers? Simply stated, it’s time to stop putting all…

No, I'm not going to talk about how to market the reform of healthcare. I'm not even going to talk politics. I'm going to talk timeliness. Just as this is the perfect time to use healthcare reform in a blog title, this may also be the perfect time for your business to invest in marketing.…