Innova, Sigler Printing and parent company Sigler Companies were all honored in a recent “Best Of Des Moines” readers’ poll!

The Des Moines Business Record asked readers to vote for their favorite businesses in several different categories. In all, we tallied 5 awards.

We rated as Best of Des Moines in the following categories:

• Best Commercial Printer (Sigler Printing)
• Best Small Company with Most Promising Future (Sigler Companies)

We received additional honors as a runner-up finalist for:

• Best Advertising Agency (Innova)
• Best PR Firm (Innova)
• Best Website Developer (Innova)

You can read more about it in our press release here. And thanks to everyone who voted!

Congrats to Tyler C., winner of Innova’s first-ever Exotic Talents Contest!  

All summer long, we’ve been looking for hidden talents throughout Des Moines. Fire-eaters, body benders, pig callers, we saw them all. One by one, people shared their gifts with the world for nothing more than a shot at a Nintendo® Wii™. And week by week, we saw some people eliminated from the contest, while others achieved Internet fame.

What talent could be so moving that it won over the popular vote and a panel of judges? Our winner Tyler sang out the names of all the countries in just under 2 minutes. No maps. No props. No greasy residue.

You can check out Tyler’s winning talent by clicking here.

The moral of the story - there’s talent inside us all. Even a mild-mannered ad agency like ours may have a few tricks up its sleeve. Just you watch…

Last time we discussed how to begin a media selection process. Here are a few more tips to help you get the most advertising bang for your buck.

• Advertise in bursts.
Frequency is important to make your message stick. In fact, many marketing research studies state that an ad must be seen 3 times in order to be remembered. So if you’re on a limited budget (and who isn’t these days), your best bet is to use “pulse” media buys. Instead of running a commercial twice a week for 3 months, run it 6 times a week for a month. Multiple exposures help to solidify your message and push your brand to the top of the consumer’s mind.

• Go non-traditional.
There are tons of opportunities that don’t immediately come to mind when you think about “media.” For business professionals, invest in lighted ad panels in the airport or the downtown skywalk system, where your audience frequents. Use movie theater advertising to hit a demographic with disposable income. And if your target is a teenage girl, why not partner with her favorite mall for a promotion?

• Tie together several different media.
The most effective campaigns have several media working in synergy, reinforcing the same message from different angles. Campaigns can even reference each other, like a radio ad that urges consumers to look for a $10-off coupon in the local newspaper. Non-traditional ads (see above) are great in this supporting role—they can reach a large audience and serve as a reminder of the ideas communicated through traditional media.

A successful media plan can make or break an ad campaign, so before you dive in, think strategically. After all, advertising is an investment. And the bottom line is that perfect media picks will really help your advertising make sense, which helps your company make cents (and dollars too)!