I had the opportunity this past week to introduce my four year old daughter to the magic of Disneyland. After a week long trip, we came home exhausted but very happy. Disneyland truly is one of the happiest places on earth, but what is it that really makes it so amazing?

Of course the creative and fun rides, cute decorations, costumed characters, and buckets of cotton candy are part of the equation, but the entire trip I couldn’t help but notice that it’s so much more than that.

My daughter summed up exactly what I was thinking when she said, “Everyone here is calling me princess. They’re all so nice to me mommy, I want to live here forever!”.

From the time I first called the reservation lines through our entire trip encounters with park customer service, ride operators, food sales and everyone in between, the way we were treated and the happy, helpful attitudes made me want to stay forever.

It was such a good reminder in the basics of great customer service and how important it really is in creating happy customers who feel valued and come back again and again.

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The talented people in our agency have been hard at work planning and preparing for an event this coming Friday – KGO Radio 810 Girls’ Night Out.  We had the privilege of working with KGO again this year to develop the event website, print and banner ads and printed program.  What a great time we are all having!

The event consists of a night of mingling with the KGO Radio personalities, informative classes, food and wine tasting, health and beauty demo’s, music and dancing.

As one of the sponsors we supplied the businesses exhibiting with these fun marketing ideas and tips to help them get the most from the event and make it a success.

I’d like to share these tips with you as well for use at your next event, tradeshow or exhibit:

1.  Leave a lasting impression with giveaways—business cards, brochures, pens, magnets, and other items that has your name, website, phone number and logo on it.  Everyone there expects to take home some goodies.

2.  Have literature on your product or service?  Use display racks or plastic holders to show your flyers, handouts, coupons, brochures, etc.

3.  How about Gift Certificates? If you can offer them, there’s nothing better than getting a deal when they “cash in” their certificate.  And it brings them in your store or in contact with you.  Hopefully they’ll come back again.

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As iPad sales have soared and people have come to rely on them daily, new research is emerging as to how they are really being used. There has been much talk about the advertising opportunities the iPad will create.  As marketers, this research is important in capturing those new opportunities and making sure our marketing messages are reaching the hands of the iPad users.

A recent study,“A Play Date with the iPad, by Ball State University examined how attitudes toward iPads changed after owning one for 24 hours.  Participants reported that content creation was difficult, but the iPad was ideal for content consumption, more of an entertainment device.

In the UK, a survey by copywriting firm Cooper Murphy Webb found that iPad owners also felt the same, the iPad was great for entertainment purposes.  Two in five said they used the tablet at least 10 hours weekly, and almost a quarter said it had become their primary entertainment device, ahead of TV and trailing PCs by just 9 percent.

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