Category: Newsletter Stories

By: Carly Corfman

Check out these updates from across the agency.

From Jingle Bells to Wedding Bells

Many people around the agency are celebrating the season of love, as many engagements have happened over the past few months:

Account Team

• Kendall Reganall
• Mary-Ashley Eddleman
• Kelsey Plemmons (getting married in April)

Digital

• Ashley Fort
• Anthony Savage (getting married in February)
• Graham Yarboro
• Will Cargile

Media

• Carly Corfman

 

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Digital News

• The PPC team hit record numbers in 2022.
• Search and Vehicle Ads campaigns increased in spend by $85,000 in December compared to November (2022).
• YoY Google Ads spend (including Digital Media) increased by $3.98 million.
• Tiffany Millan and Scott Giles passed Facebook’s Meta Certification.

We also welcomed a few SAM newborns this past year. Courtney Binder’s son, Walker, and Brad Price’s daughter, Kit.

 

DEP News

The DEP team welcomed Nolan Siegler as DEP Senior Sales Director. Nolan has 10 years’ experience at Epsilon’s automotive division where he conducted all direct marketing initiatives for advertising agencies, dealer groups, and individual dealerships. Nolan will be working out of Nashville, Tennessee, and will be in the BHM office. Welcome to the team, Nolan!

Media News

Liz Elder has been promoted to Vice President and Media Director. Additionally, the department has taken over 100% of the media reconciling from the Accounting department. This will ease the workload for Accounting, as well as increase Media’s knowledge of the different processes regarding invoice reconciliation.

Direct Mail/eCampaigns News

• The Mail team has taken over POP jobs. They are really excited to learn a new department and take on new responsibilities!
• eCampaigns grew the largest of all the departments last year, growing 47%! Congratulations to this team and their hard work.

By: Carly Corfman

It’s 4:50 a.m. and his alarm begins to chime – the all-familiar default tone of “Radar.” He swipes it off and begins his ascent into the kitchen, where he grabs a cup of coffee. The earthy smell of Breakfast Blend automatically fills the room, and he’s thankful once again that he prepared the pot the night before. He takes a fresh cup and settles into his chair in the office, flipping through his favorite newspaper comics – now all online – until 5:00 a.m. when he begins to write.

This is Bobby Mathews’ daily routine as an author and full-time digital copywriter at Strong Automotive Merchandising. Before the kids get up at 6:00 a.m., he writes between 1,000 and 1,700 words, repeating the process every day until the project is done.

Bobby’s writing career began over 15 years ago. Originally from Enterprise, Alabama, Bobby has written stories in areas all across the country. After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, Bobby spent a year in New York writing feature stories about people trying to reclaim their lives. He spent the next 2 years in Wyoming managing a local newspaper, “which was the longest decade of my life,” he said. After six years in Georgia as the managing editor of various newspapers, Bobby returned to Alabama, following the tornado on March 1, 2007 that hit Enterprise High School. He worked for The University of Alabama, spent time freelancing, and also dabbled in public relations. All of his experience led Bobby to Birmingham, and then to SAM, where he continues his passion for writing through a different avenue.

“I knew that I wanted to be a writer from a very early age. There was a point where I had to decide if I wanted to be a writer, or if I wanted to write.” Bobby said it’s easy to fall in love with the idea of being a writer, moving to a romantic city, and living the stereotypical life of an author. “But at the end of the day, it’s better to have planted your rear-end in a chair and written a thousand words, rather than concentrate on wearing a fisherman’s sweater and finding six-toed cats,” he said. “It took me a long time to figure out.”

Since “figuring it out,” Bobby has written and sold two novels, published 27 short stories, and been nominated for the Pushcart Prize twice. He was also a finalist in 2021 for the Derringer Award, an international award for short mystery/crime fiction.

Bobby’s first book, Living The Gimmick, was published in May of 2022 by Shotgun Honey, a company that specializes in crime fiction. The book is a murder mystery about professional wrestling between the 1980s and the modern world. “I didn’t know what I had when I wrote the first chapter. It took me about a month to write this 60,000-word novel, but I had written the first chapter about eight years before I finally came back to it.” The book touches on areas of the Me-Too movement and how it’s sometimes impossible to really know the people we’re the closest to.

On February 24, Bobby’s newest book will be released – Magic City Blues. The murder mystery is built around the idea of a land swindle involving the Carraway Hospital property. It was written as an homage to Robert B. Parker, an author who has had a big influence on Bobby’s life – so much that he named his younger son after one of Parker’s main characters, “Spenser.” Bobby discovered Parker’s books in his early 20s after graduating college. Magic City Blues is a mixture of Parker’s influence and the writing of Donald Westlake, who Bobby considers “one of the best writers of the 20^th century.”

Additionally, Magic City Blues features some of his favorite spots around Birmingham like Eagle’s Restaurant, the now-closed Pale Eddie’s Pour House, Saw’s in Avondale, and The Collins Bar. He talks about the Vulcan statue on one side of the city and the statue of Electra on the other. “In some ways those statues are like a great lost love. Or, you can look at it like there’s one side of the city that’s ready to build something, and the other side’s ready to throw-down.” Bobby was able to incorporate historical pieces of Birmingham as well as current facets of the city’s personality. “It may not be your version of Birmingham; however, it is a version you will recognize.”

Bobby says one of the best opening lines in crime fiction comes from a 2001 novel called Firebreak. “When the phone rang, Parker was in the garage, killing a man.” Bobby said it’s such a great opening line because “you have to find out what happens next.”

“I think that’s one of the interesting things about writing crime. It’s not necessarily the crime… because crime is in many ways mundane. It’s always unfortunate. You hear it on the news every night. What makes a story to me is the reason why. Because that’s where it’s different – the reason why it happens. What drives a person to that desperate point,” Bobby said.

On February 25 at 6:00 p.m., Bobby will do a live reading of his new book among other authors at Noir At The Bar. The event will be hosted at the Red Cat at Pepper Place, where copies of the book will be available for purchase. Several New York Times best-selling authors will also be participating.

Bobby is grateful for the time he’s already spent at SAM, and he appreciates the chance to work with such talented and unique people. “I feel incredibly fortunate to do something that I love in writing crime fiction, having my books published, and widely praised. I also feel incredibly fortunate to work for an organization that recognizes my talent, my drive, and offers me the opportunity to use that talent in a way that Strong does,” he said.

The days are quickly counting down to the next STRONG Virtual Marketing Summit (SVMS). Learn a little about why we host this event, and hear from Media on being involved in their first SVMS.

Why the SVMS?

In 2018, SAM began partnering with Google to host a series of educational summits for decision-makers in the automotive industry. Originally, these summits were held in person at Google’s offices in New York City and Austin, Texas. But as we all know, 2020 changed just about everything.

After pivoting to a virtual summit out of necessity, the SVMS team realized the scalability that virtual marketing events offered. Since hosting the first SVMS in the fall of 2021, SAM has grown an annual summit into a thrice-yearly event. It will be exciting to see how the event evolves in the future, but in the meantime, keep reading to see what’s in store for this month.

About the Summer 2022 SVMS

This summer’s SVMS will focus on the evolution of TV viewing. Speakers from SAM will discuss the best strategies for advertising on streaming services like Hulu, ESPN, and YouTube. They’ll also cover the benefits of Google’s Performance Max campaigns, Spanish advertising, and Linear Media.

The summit will take place on Thursday, July 28 at 10:30 a.m. SAM team members will have a chance to watch live, but please refrain from registering for the event. The internal link will be sent out on the 28th.

John Paul Strong, Stan Long, Jason Waters, and Casey Quattlebaum will speak at the event, covering all of the media-related topics listed above.

Up until this point, the SVMS has been primarily digital-focused. This marks the first time that Media has spearheaded the content, and they’ve done a phenomenal job helping craft scripts and angles.

“I am excited for Media to make its debut in this episode of SVMS!” Casey said. “I also enjoyed collaborating with my team. It forced us to think outside of the box and use our creative juices!”

Michele Alfano shared similar sentiments: “It was refreshing to collaborate on something a bit different for our team. The process from the first brainstorming session to the final scripts was great to be a part of. I can’t wait to see Casey shine in the final product!”

Liz Elder said of the project: “I was so proud of my team – Casey, Katie, and Michele – who pulled together, did a lot of research, and came up with strong content to make this episode of SVMS the best one yet! We collaborated to get the scripts written and worked so well together – each of us adding bits and pieces of information, graphics, research stats, and so on. We definitely stepped out of our comfort zones with this project. We were the embodiment of all 10 of SAM’s core values in this collaboration. It was challenging but rewarding all at the same time. We can’t wait to see the finished product!”

The SVMS project is led by Beth Nichols, with support from nearly every department in the agency. A lot goes into the planning, marketing, and implementing of each marketing summit. But the results have led to new clients, increased exposure, and higher engagement from our current dealers.

Stay tuned for the launch of the next SVMS!

They say that birds of a feather flock together. That’s exactly why SAM encourages employee referrals whenever there are open positions to fill. Better yet, employees can cash in on these referrals – with a $3,000 reward for a successful hire.

Like any referral program, there are some limitations. This article discusses why the employee referral program exists, stipulations necessary to claim the reward, and why it’s set up this way.

Let’s dig in!

 

Why Offer A Referral Bonus?

To make the best product, you have to have the best talent. And recruiting a quality workforce takes a considerable amount of resources. Referrals have the advantage of being pre-vetted by an existing employee who can serve as both a reference and an ambassador of the company. Referrals save the agency time and money sourcing talent, so in return, employees are rewarded for helping provide quality staffing.

 

How Do You Qualify for the Referral Bonus?

Before encouraging a friend to apply, it’s a good idea to check out the official Employee Referral Policy. And please note, SAM no longer allows the hiring of relatives.

The company will pay a $3,000 cash bonus to the employee who refers a candidate that is subsequently hired if one of the two requirements below is met exactly:

1. Employee sends the candidate’s résumé directly to the COO and hiring managers prior to the candidate applying online.
2. Candidate applies online and lists the employee’s name who referred them.

You are eligible to refer candidates after you have worked at SAM for at least 90 days.

 

Examples

Let’s look at a few examples of how this could play out.

Situation 1: Somebody applies for an open position via LinkedIn. They have edited their résumé to include a line saying, “referred by [SAM employee name].” In that case, the employee is eligible for the referral bonus.

Situation 2: A person applies via Indeed using their Indeed profile. It’s the candidate’s standard résumé, not customized and no message included. An employee emails their manager later that day recommending the applicant. Here, the employee is not eligible because the application was submitted before the referral was given.

Situation 3: An employee emails the COO and hiring managers the résumé of a candidate to refer. The candidate later applies via LinkedIn. Now, the employee is eligible because they submitted the referral before the candidate applied.

If you want to be eligible for the referral bonus, the most important thing to keep in mind is that you must communicate the referral before the candidate applies in any way. This ensures that SAM received the application due to an employee referral, not other job marketing channels.

When an employee referral works out, it’s great news for everyone. You’ve saved the agency time and money, earned yourself a bonus, and gotten your friend a job! By sticking to the referral policy, you can make sure you’re rewarded for the referrals you send SAM’s way.

There’s always something exciting going on at SAM. Check out a few updates from our various departments below.

Production

• The Production department celebrated the completion of Midtown Studio, located on the first floor of SAM’s headquarters. Due to flooding a few months back, some of the studio was damaged, giving us the opportunity to upgrade both the space and its equipment. You can read more about the studio redo in this article.

Media

• Elizabeth Rodriguez, Casey Quattlebaum, and Liz Elder have been working on their Google Analytics Certifications. They have been training via Skill Path with Google. The training has consisted of 15+ hours per person. After completing their training, they will test. Testing is online and will take about an hour and a half each. This will be a huge accomplishment for both the department and the agency!
• In personal news, Liz has an upcoming mission trip planned with her daughter. And Katie Reeves is heading out West this June. Sheila Grandy-Morrison has started baking again, and is in talks to begin supporting a non-profit organization via her culinary craft.

Accounting

•  Bethany Alexander has been working with crochet and has an online shop where she sells various handcrafted crochet products. She also owns several chickens and is known to bring fresh eggs to share with the department.
• Laura Dobbs is expanding her multilingual skills by studying French on her own.
• Shelby Fields is learning exceptional time management skills by juggling completing her degree with full-time work at SAM.

Account Team

• The team has been excited to celebrate Kelsey’s Plemmons’ recent engagement!

Digital

• Rachel Blackerby is due to give birth any day now!
• Erica Brock is getting married at the end of this month.

When you’re in the advertising business, you’re always looking for ways to make ads more effective. We spend countless hours adjusting strategy, A/B testing, and researching to find the best targeting. But one of the simplest things you can do to increase an ad’s response rate is to serve it in your audience’s mother tongue.

SAM Reaches Multilingual Audiences

While English is the predominant language in the U.S., you may be surprised to learn that it is only spoken at home by approximately 78% of the American population. This leaves a double-digit number of Americans who could be better reached in another language.

SAM recognized this opportunity to reach car buyers in the language that is most familiar to them. One of the more interesting languages the agency handles is Navajo. It is spoken primarily in the Southwestern U.S., especially in the Navajo Nation. Currently, only one client – Amigo Automotive – uses Navajo translations in its advertising. SAM works with each of the market’s three Navajo stations to provide 30-second English scripts that are then translated.

In the past, the agency has also handled pieces that were translated into Asian Indian languages for specific New Jersey markets.

Working With Hispanic Advertising

Of the multilingual advertising SAM has been involved with, Spanish-language ads are the most prevalent. The Production department works with a Hispanic talent agency to facilitate the ads. Typically, the talent agency sends SAM audio to edit together with our graphics. Recently, the team has begun working with two Hispanic spokeswomen to market to Texas and Florida accounts.

After assembling a spot, SAM outsources proofing to a trusted ally named Mohana Shull. She has been a partner of the agency for several years, and she provides valuable insight into the nuance of the language. Mohana checks the regional influences, specific dialects, and unspoken communication tendencies for a certain market region. She also provides suggestions for spelling and punctuation on the graphics, as well.

Since the agency does not currently employ an in-house Spanish proofer, partners like Mohana and the Hispanic talent agency allow us to keep a tight grip on quality control.

Hear Examples of Navajo Ads

Are you wondering what SAM’s Navajo-language ads sound like? You can listen for yourself here.

“The Navajo with Amigo has been a new experience,” said Traffic Manager Andrea Kring. “They market to different parts of the Navajo Nation with different styles of presentation. One is county, another rock-n-roll, and one just straightforward talk. No matter the style of their radio spots, they all feel amazing to hear in such a beautiful, ancient language.”