Our very own “Rock” and “Orange” — agency principals and managing partners Miguel Piedra and David Naranjo — spoke to Billboard about some of the work we do best: connecting celebrities to brands (and brands to celebrities) through multi-channel marketing campaigns, tailor-made digital strategies, and by taking traditional and non-traditional public relations initiatives to a new level.
Miguel and David shared some of the wisdom they’ve acquired over their careers with Billboard’s Angie Romero, chatting about everything from their journey to launch the agency, to some of the mistakes major brands make when talking to consumers. The article highlights some of our major and most successful projects, including the launch of Macy’s Thalia Sodi collection,Cotton’s 24 Hour Runway Show and the launch of Gloria Estefan’s 27th album, The Standards.
Miami is more than just sunshine, beaches, and nightlife, and we’re working with our longtime client, the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau (GMCVB), to let the world know.
The GMCVB wants to build up tourism beyond Miami’s iconic Ocean Drive, driving visitors to explore heritage neighborhoods in the area—including Historic Overtown, Little Havana, Wynwood, and most recently, Little Haiti. This week, we joined the Bureau in that iconic neighborhood on Haitian Flag Day, to unveil a new visitor’s center inside of the Little Haiti Cultural Center. The Cultural Center is a landmark within the local Haitian community, a space that brings people and ideas together to promote, showcase, and support Afro-Caribbean culture in South Florida. This makes it the perfect home for the Little Haiti Visitor Center.
This new resource for tourists will offer a wide variety of brochures on attractions and points of interest — both in Little Haiti and beyond — in addition to maps, calendars of events, tours, and special offerings throughout the year. Ahead of the unveiling, RockOrange helped the GMCVB spread the word, securing coverage in local publications including The Miami Herald, CBS 4, and NBC 6, and reaching a national audience with placements in the Associated Press and the National Public Radio (NPR).
Miami has always been a top travel destination for the Caribbean, but with the recent earthquake that shocked the world, more Haitians have retreated to the area. As more Haitians join the community, it is important for the GMCVB to highlight Little Haiti and raise awareness of the neighborhood for the increasing number of tourists that visit South Florida each year.
There’s no place like Greater Miami and the Beaches, and we’re proud to work towards expanding the reach of our culture to attract more visitors to the area. To learn more about Little Haiti and Greater Miami and the Beaches, please visit www.miamiandbeaches.com.
In the land of mobile Millennials, vertical is the way of our one-handed, swipe-happy friends. We know audiences respond to relevant content and this means content formatted for optimal viewing on specific platforms.
Snapchat recently encouraged marketers and media companies to shoot ad vertically. Snapchat touts itself as the go-to platform for millenials and the most effective way to engage them is through a vertical video. Snapchat is on to something and its latest move is putting the customer first. And why not? When you create with the consumers’ preferences and habits in mind, your efforts have a much better chance of connecting with them and delivering greater impact.
This should sound familiar to the introduction of square photos. Not too long ago, Instagram completely changed the way people shoot and edit photos, and inspired the use of square-ready apps to make sure users fit everyone for a selfie into that infamous square frame. Even the most prominent devices and platforms now have square cropping options built-in to make the process easier for users. This became a no-brainier for brands as they quickly began crafting square content for viewers around the world.
In the age of “native” advertising, people want to engage with contextual (and formatted) content that fits into their current experience. Having to click away, squint, or tilt your phone (or head—people do it) creates a barrier between users and your message. Just as print and display ads have to adapt for publishers, it is now video’s turn to do the same and adapt for the mobile screen. 1080 x 1920 is right around the corner.
In terms of distribution for this new vertical content, the framework already exists. Facebook currently expands vertical videos to fullscreen from the mobile newsfeed. Responsive sites are the new standard, and could benefit from having a vertical video option available when scaled down for mobile. Plenty of rich media formats could also use a refreshed use of video, as advertisers have squeezed horizontal videos into vertical 300 x 600 ads and mobile interstitials for years. Snapchat might even want to explore network partnerships with vertical display ad placements to help sweeten their distribution offering (that one is free, Snapchat ;)) .
The concept is not as far-fetched as brands may think. Whether it comes in the form of new cropping options, shooting techniques, or a “responsive video” concept, there is no question that video is being consumed on the slim screen. This may now mean more production work upfront, but in the end, your content works harder and delivers where it matters most: in the results.
“Remember in the word ‘can’t’ is can, in ‘don’t’ is do, in ‘impossible’ is possible,” said Armando Christian Perez, better known as Pitbull, during his one-on-one conversation with eMerge conference founder Manny Medina, when asked to give advice to students attending the event.
Take a look at our recap of eMerge Americas, produced by RockOrange.
eMerge Americas 2015 was bigger and better in its second year. Happening right in our hometown of Miami, the conference is a hub for showcasing revolutionary startups, cutting-edge ideas, and global industry leaders and investors from around the globe. eMerge puts a strong emphasis on the latest technology innovations and up-and-coming startups, and the participation of more than 100,000 attendees and 500 companies from 50 countries makes it the hottest tech event of the year.
From Deepak Chopra covering “The Soul of Leadership,” to Martine Rothblatt, the Trans-everything CEO, to Miami’s very own Mr. 305, Pitbull, ringing the NASDAQ bell and a show floor full of startups and tech companies from around the globe, it was a thrilling two days of jam-packed action.
We attended eMerge Americas to absorb all the incredible content from the interactive sessions and presentations from world-renowned keynote speakers, but we went beyond, too — we brought RockOrange to eMerge. That’s right: we even brought a piece of our office to the Miami Beach Convention Center so that visitors could get a taste of our freshness.
Lights. Camera. Action.
At the RO booth, visitors got a real experience of what it’s like to be in the spotlight. With a live camera setup, we set our visitors up for a one-on-one interview with one of our RockStars. Entrepreneurs told us the story of their brand and why they were here in Miami attending eMerge.
Our RockStars gave them the VIP treatment, giving them tips on how to better market their brands with a variety of our services, ranging from media training, to editorial content, to video production and their presence in the digital space.
We also had the opportunity to interview Miami Dade Public School Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, who talked about the importance of technology and innovation in the classroom and how its changing education.
Twelve Start-ups. Two minutes. Pitch Perfect.
Some incredible companies stepped up to the plate and took on our F.R.E.S.H. Tank Challenge. Equipped with innovative concepts and a real passion for what they are doing, 12 startups were given two minutes to tell their brand’s story to RockOrange agency founder and principal Miguel Piedra and chief creative strategist Johanne Wilson, with another two minutes for a brief Q&A. The winning pitch received $10,000 worth of creative and marketing support for their brand.
It was a tough choice, but we finally chose a winner, Moocho, a mobile payments app for college students. With Moocho, students pay using any phone for healthy groceries, great restaurant meals and other essentials around campus, racking up rewards every time — no wallet required.
Needless to say, we’re pumped to start working with Moocho and we’re counting down the days for next year’s eMerge Americas 2016!
RockOrange will be at eMerge Americas in Miami on May 4th & 5th! Visit our Booth B13 for one-on-one consultations, listen in at our “Fresh Clinic” to talk about Storytelling 101, and take our ‘Teleprompter Challenge’ to see if you’ve got what it takes for some intense media interviewing!
Are you a start-up at eMerge? How about $10,000 worth of creative and marketing support for your brand? Our creative agency is looking to act as amplifiers for the best startup at eMerge. Just take our F.R.E.S.H. TANK Challenge–a 2 minute pitch to our founder and principal, Miguel Piedra, telling him what makes your idea special. Space is limited, sign up here: http://bit.ly/FRESHtank.
