Marketing agency MGH tweaks competitors in a print ad
Mind you, I have nothing to do with advertising at the Baltimore Sun, but this is too juicy to not comment on:
MGH, a marketing firm, took out a full-page ad in the Monday paper to highlight its expertise in social media marketing. (See above) In an eloquent bar graph, MGH depicted its Facebook fans (aka "likes") at 2,174 -- far more than 10 other competing agencies.
MGH basically called them out, by name. Yowza! Of course, I first learned of this on MGH's Facebook page, which had attracted some great discussion on the ad, so they must be doing something right -- and hey, one could argue the ad worked to a certain extent. It got people talking. Some even wondered why a modern marketing agency bothered advertising in the "declining" Baltimore Sun. Ouch. Hey - don't shoot the messenger, folks.
But it gets better: Matthew Pugh, who works at R2integrated, the firm with the second most fans, laid down a challenge on MGH's Facebook page, which MGH apparently accepted. And Baltimore Social Media Club jumped in on the action! All we need is a steel cage, Randy "Macho Man" Savage and Ms. Elizabeth to crash the event!
Here's part of the exchange on the MGH Facebook page clipped below:
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Comments
Awesome article, Gus. Just to be clear, MGH has NOT accepted the challenge.
They said they would be in touch with us, but it’s been pretty quiet.
Posted by: Matthew Pugh | January 5, 2011 4:16 PM
Andy Malis here (president of MGH). We'd love to be involved in any discussion, Q&A, forum, panel etc. about social media. I can't see any reason to limit it to just two agencies. Why not include some client-side marketing folks as well? Maybe Gus could get involved. Call me anytime. My direct line is 410-902-5012.
Posted by: Andy Malis | January 5, 2011 5:14 PM
Greg Rittler, Principal and Strategic Director of Blue Ocean Ideas here. We have 455 Facebook fans putting us as a distant number 2 on the chart! We'd love to join the conversation on Social Media and it's future. Let us know when and where! My number is 410.967.7906.
Posted by: Greg Rittler | January 5, 2011 8:31 PM
I'd be happy to be included on any panel that you are putting together.
As MGH (and r2i) know, all of the search engines have intentionally excluded likes/fans/followers from their algorithms since they realize that is as easy to game as the old 'keyword' stuffing was.
Hopefully whatever dialogue comes from this is instructive for the community and not a chest pounding contest.
Posted by: Andrew Rose | January 5, 2011 9:51 PM
I'd be happy to be included on any panel that you are putting together.
As MGH (and r2i) know, all of the search engines have intentionally excluded likes/fans/followers from their algorithms since they realize that is as easy to game as the old 'keyword' stuffing was.
Hopefully whatever dialogue comes from this is instructive for the community and not a chest pounding contest.
Posted by: Andrew Rose | January 5, 2011 10:39 PM
Thank you for the input everyone. Please understand, we are not trying to continue our “Anti-Social” ways, and we certainly value other agency expertise. For the event R2integrated proposed, we think it should be Andy and I only because:
•Panel content tends to get watered down;
•We want to ensure that MGH, the obvious leader in social media, gets a significant amount of mic time;
•We want to make this discussion the kick-off to a series of events that will include others;
•Let’s be honest, we all know the audience would love it this way.
Posted by: Matt Goddard | January 6, 2011 12:30 PM
Hi Matt – As I mentioned, please feel free to call me anytime at 410-902-5012 to discuss. Andy.
Posted by: Andy Malis | January 6, 2011 1:45 PM
I think this ad makes a great point. The other agencies mentioned in the ad should feel slightly ashamed.
Posted by: Edagener X. | January 6, 2011 1:46 PM
You gotta love it when an agency says, "my social media is bigger than yours." And, who doesn't love a good throwdown?!
Haha! -gs
Posted by: Ian Robbins | January 6, 2011 3:58 PM
We're not part of this battle - heck we're not even an “agency” - but we did write a blog post this week that addresses what companies SHOULD be measuring as it relates to social media - check it out: When 2,000 Facebook Fans Means Nothing
Posted by: Will Davis | January 6, 2011 5:45 PM
I'm very curious to see where this discussion goes and would love to witness this Q&A.MGH does a great job at social media in town, and while my little one man show wasn't listed here, it pleases me to know that I would have come in 3rd, high above some very well known agencies. Thanks Gus for writing this article, I hadn't seen the ad and wouldn't have otherwise known about this little showdown.
Posted by: Molly White | January 7, 2011 9:55 AM