Just when you think Facebook has done it all, the company opens a new avenue for advertisers – TRP buying. On the eve of this years Ad Week event in NYC, Facebook announced its plans to integrate the new ad-buying product which will allow agencies to boost their TV campaigns through Facebook video ads.

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While television ad campaigns have been the go-to source for many brands, millennials are more often looking at life through the screens of their cellphones. So why not combine forces?

Through a partnership with Nieslen, Facebook is working to amplify TV ad spending by allowing brands to purchase TRP shares directly from Facebook. So what does this mean in layman terms? A target-rating point, by definition, is a specific consumer audience within a gross-rating point (GRP), which has been a key metric for TV ad measurement since the 1950’s. Marketers will be able to plan a campaign that will extend across Facebook and TV while keeping a specific TRP in mind. Nielsen will then verify Facebook’s in-target TRP delivery as well as its delivery for Facebook and TV combined. This gives brands the opportunity to get in front of their audience in more than one place, and make their campaigns more memorable.

For those brands looking to take the next step, Facebook’s TRP buying holds the potential to increase their reach by 19% according to a recent study conducted by Facebook.

But wait…there’s more

Facebook has been hiding a lot up their sleeves, but the secrets are out. They have also released 3 other new and exciting opportunities for brands to connect more through the platform.

Brand Awareness Optimization Tool

Facebook’s new tool will allow brands to find the best audience for their campaigns. The tool factors in how many people the ad will reach, as well as how long it will hold their attention.

Video Carousel

It seems like only yesterday Facebook released their carousel format to showcase products on users’ newsfeed. Now new and improved, the layout allows brands to include videos in their content to create even more interaction with their audience.Screen-Shot-2015-09-29-at-12.47.04-PM-300x292

Mobile Polling

Along with being able to run campaigns through Facebook advertising, they can now be measured in the same place. Mobile polling is available for Facebook and Instagram to keep advertisers up-to-date on how well their campaigns are running.

Follow the rest of Ad Week here to stay up to date on other exciting news!

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Summer is winding down, and parents everywhere are preparing their kids and their homes to accommodate the new school year. From stocking up on school supplies to transitioning closets to accommodate the crisp fall months, it can be overwhelming for a parent to sort through all the new products at hand. Luckily, CerconeBrown has the answer to these parenting dilemmas! Since its introduction in 2013, the CBC Parenting Experience works to connect top parenting and children’s brands and products directly to top lifestyle press.

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The Parenting Experience is a one-day event showcasing a collection of the best products that top brands have to offer. Guests are invited to sample and taste test these new items, allowing them to get face-to-face and hands-on experience with the experts behind the brands. This year’s event took place this past Wednesday at the London NYC Hotel Penthouse suite, and participants from parenting and lifestyle magazines, top mommy bloggers, and high-influencing mom personalities joined in on the fun. In total, 33 top-tier media were able to get to know brands who ran the gamut from snack solutions to educational tools for children.

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Sabra, Plum Organics, and Pom Wonderful were on-site sampling and sharing their brand flavors, while LEGO and ABC Mouse showcased new toys and tools that are both interactive and educational.

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The Parenting Experience is not only about the children, but also the parents! Nothing ruins a family outing more than cold and wet feet, and BOGS presented cold-weather solutions for parents and children alike.

The Parenting Experience is just one of CBC’s House Programs, facilitating press and brand interactions between editors, authors, and bloggers and the newest, best products in their beats, all in a casual yet high-energy setting. This experience was another success: authentic, intimate, and the preface for long-lasting brand/press relationships.

Can you teach an old dog a new trick? Well sometimes, you just have to.

As marketers, we constantly have to be one step ahead of rapid-paced consumer trends. Here are some helpful hints from Mashable on how to transform old marketing habits into effective, contemporary, and attention-holding approaches.

Use (your phone) or lose (your customer)

With today’s on-the-go society, brands need to utilize their resources to capture people’s attention as effectively and efficiently as possible. Doing so requires modification to email marketing approaches. While people still use a desktop to do most of their work, we use our phones more times than not to access our email. Thinking of ways to use that 5” display could give your company the upper hand. Keeping your emails straight, to the point, easy to read, and optimizing information for the small screen will make it all the more interesting to read, driving your audience toward engagement with your message.

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Make them interested

Along with on-the-go mindsets comes the human attention span dwindling down to that of a goldfish, but brevity doesn’t mean we can’t hook our audience. When using social media and emails, always provide a call to action that drives the audience to learn more about your company and more about what you want them to know. In addition, engaging and rewarding your audience can be a way to get a sure quick response rate. Give a little, get a little.

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Know the numbers

A little quantitative TLC can go a long way. When marketers and their clients are attentive to their audiences – demographics, ethnographics, and the like – their campaigns and initiatives are likely much more effective. We live in a world where personalization is no longer a luxury; it’s simply an expectation. So knowing your customer and exploring their mindset can work wonders when it comes to establishing credibility as a brand, or for your client.

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In advertising there’s an age-old philosophical acronym often guiding many of the industries’ most important and most influential decisions: KISS. Keep It Simple, Stupid.

Google’s recent logo redesign and Alphabet separation suggests the ideology of keeping a re-brand simple, while Apple’s recent product announcements show that some brands still like to have their hands in every cookie jar.

Google’s graphic transition was simply one from serif – which is typeface with the little nicks at the ends of the individual letters – to sans serif. With a brand so ubiquitous, there’s no doubt going to be widespread industry and public response to its new look, be it positive or negative:

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(To note, Google’s new upcoming parent company, Alphabet, will also be adopting the san serif typeface.) [Source]

On the other end of the spectrum, Apple discussed a variety of new hardware during their fall event in San Francisco, including new iPhones, upgraded Apple TV, the iPad Pro, and added features to just about everything. With market reach in music, telecom, television and more, Apple is definitely not keeping it simple.

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While Apple is pulling out all the stops, their stock price remains flat and they’re receiving some criticism regarding the innovations, such as the iPad keyboard (aka surface clone). However, the consumers will have the final say—the option of Siri in your TV may sound appealing, but is a $99 stylus beyond your technical desires?

What do you think? Can brands catch more customers with simplicity or variety?