Jason Rivera is responsible for managing strategic planning and consumer insights for a diverse client roster that includes Coors, Levi's, LifeStyles Condoms, Warner Brothers and Converse. He specializes in developing strategies that foster brand loyalty by aligning corporate goals with consumer ideals. Before AMP, Rivera worked in the action sports business and was a youth consultant in the advertising industry.

He spoke with eMarketer's Tobi Elkin about kids and online and offline shopping, as well as the influences that shape their preferences and how they like to shop.

Click here to read the whole interview.

Promo, the most comprehensive Web site for promotion marketing professionals, has released the 2010 Promo 100, its annual ranking of the Top 100 U.S. promotion agencies by U.S. net revenue. For more than 16 years, Promo has presented this forum to recognize the best and brightest promotion and integrated marketing agencies. The Promo 100 also highlights the top agencies in four marketing specialties: event and experiential, interactive, retail and sports, as well as one agency that ranked among the Top 20 for two-year growth.

AMP Agency is excited to announce that we ranked #24 in the Top 100 Promotion Agency List and #5 within the Event/Experiential category.

Event Marketer Magazine, which serves the information needs of brand-side event marketers and agency executives across the spectrum of face-to-face media, listed AMP Agency as one of the top 100 Event Agencies in the country. This list does not have assigned numbers for each agency - the agencies are listed alphabetically.

Here's what Event Marketer said about AMP:
AMP is amplifying the offerings once again with two acquisitions–interactive agency Rock Coast Media in July, and earlier this year, digital agency Pixel Bridge, which should give the agency an edge with social media and digital strategies. Programs for Garnier and U.S. Cellular delivered millions of impressions, while a holiday gathering of 607 elves in New York City for ABC Family set a Guinness World Record.

Brand Name: LaundryView
Client: Mac-Gray
Agency/Site Creator: AMP Agency
URL: http://www.laundryview.com/

What is unusual and effective about this website?

This MITX award-winning website is the perfect example of how to leverage advanced technology to create a solution that addresses the unique pain points of a business (equipment down time costs money) and its consumers (wasted time waiting for machines) at the same time. The application is the only one of its kind, uses the internet as a backbone, and relies on custom-engineered components to operate incorporating Flash and LAMP development.

LaundryView allows consumers to monitor the status of washers and dryers in connected laundry rooms from any computer with internet access. Students may also receive notification via email, PDA, or cellphone when their laundry is done or a machine becomes available. For Mac-Gray, LaundryView helps the company save and make money through improved machine uptime and increased laundry room usage. Each LaundryView machine tracks its own status and automatically sends out notification when it has failed. A text message is dispatched electronically to a service technician, and within minutes, the service request is added to the technician's to-do list. LaundryView also graphically displays the past two weeks' usage of a laundry room so students can avoid peak usage times, making them (and the laundry rooms) more efficient.

How would you improve this website?

Discussions are underway about two ways to improve the website. First, the team would like to extend this to other platforms such as the iPhone and/or Android, allowing for full functionality on a mobile platform. Second, we would like to incorporate an online user account, allowing parents of college students to "load" funds into a student's account, which is then available on their laundry card, eliminating the need for buckets of quarters. This will also help Mac-Gray reduce the staff required to collect from the machines and associated risk.

See the rest of the list here: http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/26923.asp.

By Diego Vasquez

If you've ever walked into a campus dorm room littered with branded Frisbees, pens and T-shirts, you know that there's very little college kids love more than free stuff.

Delivering that free stuff via a campus tour is a great way for advertisers to connect with this very desirable audience, which has a large amount of discretionary income.

College campus promotional tours have been around for some time, but the number of tours dipped during the recession as advertisers cut their budgets.

This year tours have been ramping up again, though they're more modest than in the past. Instead of hitting 40 or 50 campuses, an advertiser might target 10 or 20.

Tours can take several months to organize, so advertisers interested in a fall tour should start planning now.

To find out how to get your client on a college campus tour, read on.

Amp Agency of Boston said it has added media chores for the U.S. Legal Markets unit of LexisNexis and the Netter Anatomy brand of Elsevier (both owned by Reed Elsevier.)

The shop was selected following a review. The assignment covers traditional and digital strategy, planning and buying. Mediaedge:cia had worked on the assignments before parting with the client late last year.

Work cuts across both digital and traditional media outlets focused on the business/legal market and science/health professionals for more than 25 products under the two divisions (specific media planning/buy for each product).

For Netter, AMP will also handle creative duties. 

Work under both divisions begins breaking this month.

The budget is estimated in the low-seven-figure range.

Karen Macumber, the agency's SVP, Media, said: "Both are prestigious companies with impressive service offerings. We look forward to raising the brand profiles and extending the scope of these companies with a fresh media strategy."

AMP's other clients include Maybelline, U.S. Cellular and Genzyme.

I'm not your typical agency exec. In fact, I never stepped foot into an agency until I started my own. I earned my BA/MA in anthropology and sociology, worked for the original social networks (associations) in the late 80s, and then jumped into the interactive publishing business in 1993. So, perhaps my view on what will make or break today's digital agency is a bit skewed. Or perhaps it is simply unclouded.

In a nutshell, there is far too much focus today on the technology (the "digital") and not enough focus on providing a communications service (the "agency"). And that's a dangerous land for any agency to live in, whether it is pure-play search, social, or a true full-service digital shop.

Let's face it: We are not the technologists -- we have Microsoft, Apple, and MIT Media Lab for that. But we are the communicators and should be focused on what we do best -- the creation and delivery of communication that connects with an audience on a rational and emotional level, ultimately driving revenue for a client.

With that in mind, here are the top five reasons certain digital agencies will fail within the next five years. Click here to download the whole article and read more.

Karen Macumber is SVP, media services, at AMP Agency, an Alloy Media + Marketing company.

Event Marketer magazine today announced the finalists for the 2010 Ex Awards, the only recognition program for experiential marketing. More than 600 entries were once again judged by an all-brand-side faculty. AMP Agency is honored to be named a finalist in the Best Activation of an Entertainment Sponsorship category for our work with Garnier.

The winning entry was for:
Client: Garnier
Project: Sing in the Shower

Winners will be announced live on May 3 in Chicago.

Promo’s Interactive Marketing Awards honors the best and brightest in effective interactive marketing—and recognizes the valuable role that interactive campaigns play in motivating consumer response and creating strong, exciting brands.

AMP Agency received the award for Best Use of Search Engine Marketing, a category that recognizes the top programs that leverage search marketing or search optimization to drive traffic to a brand promotion Web site.

The winning entry was for:
Client: Squaw Valley USA
Project: Squaw Valley 50/60 Pass Paid Search Campaign  

As a winner, the Squaw Valley entry will appear in the June/July issue of Chief Marketer magazine and, in May, be featured in the 2010 Promo Interactive Marketing Awards Online Gala at www.promomagazine.com.

AMP Agency, a full-service experiential and digital marketing agency, has tapped Jamie Graham as VP-creative director. Prior to joining AMP, Mr. Graham spent more than a decade with Arnold Worldwide, Boston, where he served as senior VP-creative director and worked with clients such as Fleet Bank, Purina and Ocean Spray. Previous to that post, he was VP-group creative director at Grey Advertising

In 2009, Vibram (best known as the makers of the "five-finger" running shoe) worked with AMP Agency's integrated media unit, AMP Media, to initiate a campaign that aimed to engage core consumers across relevant online spaces and create a direct dialog with avid trail runners. For Vibram, this campaign represented a marked shift from its previous media strategy and a move into somewhat uncharted territory for the brand -- but a move it was finally ready to make.

Historically, Vibram relied on 100 percent print advertising. After three years of working with AMP Agency, Vibram took the full plunge into the digital pool by investing all 2009 funds online -- and the company currently has no plans to turn back. Through its digital efforts, Vibram was able to effectively leverage the power of the web and, ultimately, make the connection with consumers it was seeking. Click here to download the whole article and read more.

Event Marketer's mission in 2010 is to expose brands to as many industry perspectives as possible, in an effort to help you reboot your event marketing portfolio. As such, in mid-December they executed the absolutely enormous task of assembling more than 30 top event agencies for a roundtable discussion on trends, market shifts and best practices.

Below are a few excerpts from Gary Colen's participation, with the full roundtable conversation accessible here

EM: LET'S TALK SOCIAL MEDIA. WE CAN ALL AGREE THAT IT'S PERVASIVE IN EVENT MARKETING, BUT DO BRANDS ACTUALLY GET IT, OR DO THEY JUST HAVE THE SENSE THEY SHOULD BE DOING SOMETHING IN THE SPACE BECAUSE IT'S THE BRIGHT, SHINY OBJECT?

GARY COLEN, AMP Agency: In experiential marketing, we look at how you create an experience that consumers take with them. And as technology changes, we have to adapt. Social media is much broader than a tactic. But it's a struggle right now, because there is no consistency in it. Most companies we work with don't have a clear-cut proposition for digital, so it's difficult to figure out what they value or how much investment they want to put into it.

EM: WHAT'S YOUR BEST PIECE OF ADVICE FOR CLIENTS IN 2010?

GARY COLEN, AMP Agency: If I was in the client's shoes I'd be making sure I was squeezing every ounce of potential from the people I choose to work with. If I like what they bring to the table for a certain capability, then perhaps they have other skills I may be unaware of that I can leverage.

AMP Agency, a full-service experiential and digital marketing agency, today announced its acquisition of Pixel Bridge, a digital agency focused on strategy, creative services and web development. Effective immediately, Pixel Bridge joins AMP Agency's Boston-based office.

AMP Agency has significantly expanded its breadth of digital services during the past year, with focus on providing innovative and creative solutions leveraging multiple emerging media platforms and strategic services, including paid media, social media and integrated PR. AMP Agency's acquisition of Rock Coast Media in July 2009 grew AMP Agency's search engine marketing, search engine optimization and social media capabilities, rounding out a full suite of digital focused media planning and execution services. Now, the addition of Pixel Bridge business further enhances AMP Agency's comprehensive expertise in creative development and implementation of innovative digital strategies and custom web applications.

"With a media environment innovating at record pace and consumer habits adapting at equal speed, clients should expect the same of its agency partners," commented Gary Colen, CEO, AMP Agency. "The incorporation of Pixel Bridge's varied offerings to the AMP Agency portfolio of services underscores AMP Agency's commitment to the continued innovation of its digital media and marketing capabilities. AMP Agency's multiplatform offerings allow our clients to simultaneously leverage fully unified and tactical expertise within the expansive digital space and further optimize the impact of their online marketing investments."

"We welcome the Pixel Bridge team with great enthusiasm," added Mr. Colen, "and look forward to adding their unique contributions to the opportunities ahead of us."

The acquisition of Pixel Bridge brings to AMP Agency a seasoned team of focused digital marketing executives. Founded in 1999, Pixel Bridge has guided strategic web services for a distinguished list of clients, including the Boston Globe, Mac-Gray Corporation, Thomson Reuters, Comcast, Constant Contact, Harvard, and Krups-Rowenta.

Pixel Bridge's co-founders Scott Stephens, President, and Brian Picolo, CTO, have joined AMP Agency and will continue to lead digital development and design services, working with a wide range of AMP Agency clients, including prominent companies and organizations such as Maybelline New York, U.S. Cellular, Genzyme, and LifeStyles Condoms, a consumer products division of Ansell Healthcare Products, LLC.

"We are thrilled to join AMP Agency, a firm that shares our vision and passion for creating memorable online experiences that positively impact our clients' goals," stated Mr. Stephens. "AMP Agency has built an exemplary group of services that seamlessly combine the critical interactive practices necessary for brands to compete and succeed in this digital age. We are honored to be recognized for our work and look forward both to the synergies this move presents and to the clear benefits our clients will gain."

AMP Agency, a full-service experiential and digital marketing agency, announced today that it has been honored with the "Best Use of Search" Award for the 14th Annual Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX) Awards. The MITX Awards are the largest and most prestigious awards competition in the country for interactive and web innovations, and celebrates the best creative and technological accomplishments emerging from New England.

AMP Agency received the award for:
Best Use of Search 2009
Client: Squaw Valley USA
Project: Squaw Valley 50/60 Pass Paid Search Campaign

"We are incredibly honored to have received the award in the "Best Use of Search" category", commented Karen Macumber, SVP, Media Services for AMP Agency. "We are very proud of this campaign, and to be recognized for this achievement among an impressive list of nominees is truly testament to the stellar work of our team and our dedication for delivering the most impactful digital focused programs for our clients."

AMP Agency also received nominations for "Best Cross Media Campaign" for client John Hancock for its John Hancock Financial Services Cross Channel Campaign and "Best Use of Search" for client Marriott and Renaissance Caribbean & Mexico Resorts for its Marriott and Renaissance Caribbean & Mexico Resorts Integrated Search Campaign.

The Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX) hosted more than 1,000 attendees at its 14th annual awards competition held on November 17 at the Boston Marriott Copley Place. Over 100 industry professionals representing various disciplines including creative directors, designers, technologists, online media representatives, investors and business professionals judged entries.

AMP Agency, a full-service experiential marketing agency, today announced its acquisition of the operating assets of Rock Coast Media, Inc., an interactive marketing agency focusing on search engine marketing, search engine optimization and social media strategy. Effective immediately, Rock Coast Media's staff joins AMP Agency's Boston-based office.

AMP Agency's 2008 acquisition of award-winning Fulgent Media Group broadened AMP Agency's breadth of award-winning creative, interactive, integrated PR and experiential marketing services to include digital focused media strategy and planning across emerging media platforms. Now, the addition of Rock Coast Media significantly enhances AMP Agency's comprehensive media offerings with the addition of full search engine and social media marketing capabilities, disciplines that continue to show considerable industry growth and influence as part of effective media strategies.

"The web 2.0 environment is pushing marketers to rethink their digital strategy and they should have the ability to partner with an agency which can provide comprehensive strategic and deployment services under one budget, and optimize against it," commented Gary Colen, CEO, AMP Agency. "With the addition of Rock Coast Media's search offerings, AMP Agency rounds out its integrated social and display advertising solutions, allowing brands to leverage full-scope marketing services alongside innovative technologies to maximize their online investment and extend the impact of campaigns."

The acquisition of Rock Coast Media brings to AMP Agency a full team of seasoned and digitally focused marketing executives, as well as adding a client portfolio which includes strategic guidance and search engine optimization services for such notable companies as Coldwell Banker Real Estate, Princess Cruises, Cunard Line. Rock Coast Media co-founders Stephen Anderson, President, and Joshua Pike, Vice-President, will join AMP Agency and remain in their current roles, directing Search Engine Optimization ("SEO") technology and marketing strategy for a wide range of clients. AMP Agency clients include such notable companies and organizations as Maybelline New York, U.S. Cellular and MASSPORT.

Karen Macumber, SVP of Media Services, AMP Agency offered, "We are excited to have Rock Coast Media, a firm we have worked with and long admired for its innovative thinking and results-driven approach, join AMP Agency. AMP Agency is now uniquely positioned to benefit our clients, with the ability to create and execute a unified and synergistic digital media and PR strategy utilizing the most effective media and peer-driven platforms. Our clients will see measurable returns from our expanded and cohesive offerings."

Stephen Anderson, President of Rock Coast Media, stated, "As the digital space continues to evolve with new ways to reach and engage consumers, search in tandem with social media is proving increasingly important to the overall effectiveness of a marketing campaign. Rock Coast Media's integration into AMP Agency marks an exciting move for our agency as we aim to enhance the process by which clients can achieve maximum performance and value from their media effort."

About AMP Agency
AMP Agency is a full-service marketing agency that combines strategic planning, compelling creative, innovative execution, and measurable results to help our clients' success and marketing dollars exceed the traditional. Whether it's inside the home, out on the road or across the digital space, AMP connects clients with their target audience by designing brand experiences that are built where consumers live, work, shop and play.

PROMO Magazine, an online and print publication serving the marketing professionals at consumer product and service companies, retail chains, internet businesses, marketing agencies and supplier companies, recently listed AMP as #24 of the top 100 promotion agencies in the USA.

The ranking highlights each of the 100 agency's 2008 net revenue, two-year growth, total number of years in the business, and net revenue per employee. The list also includes the top five services the agency offers.

Event Marketer Magazine, which serves the information needs of brand-side event marketers and agency executives across the spectrum of face-to-face media, listed AMP Agency as one of the top 100 Event Agencies in the country. This list does not have assigned numbers for each agency - the agencies are listed alphabetically.

Here's what Event Marketer said about AMP:
Three hundred sixty-five days a year just aren't enough for AMP, which last year activated more than 80 campaigns and 10,000 event days spanning in-market and in-store experiences for clients such as U.S. Cellular, Burt's Bees and Heineken. As if that weren't enough, AMP also moved its interactive group from New York to Boston, acquired Frontline Marketing to reach checkout locations at 8,000 supermarkets and mass merchandisers and then opened a Virginia office dedicated to field marketing.

AMP Agency, a full-service experiential marketing agency, today announced the acquisition of Fulgent Media Group, a full-service media agency providing strategy and placement services with focus across emerging digital media platforms. Named a Hot 100 company and Top 50 Women-Owned Businesses by Entrepreneur Magazine in 2007, Fulgent Media Group's staff joins AMP effective immediately, under the newly named AMP Media Services.

AMP Media enhances AMP Agency's existing media efforts focused on providing clients with effective and progressive advertising solutions and marks an important addition to the agency's breadth of award-winning services offering complete planning and program execution, inclusive of creative message development, interactive/digital production, experiential consumer and retail promotions, and integrated media and PR.

"Fulgent Media brings an impressive group of dynamic and forward-thinking team players with a record of outstanding achievements in the use of new media strategies, and we're proud to have them join our team," commented Gary Colen, CEO of AMP Agency. "AMP Media addresses the growing needs of our clients and with this solid team in place, we're able to best guide our partners amid the evolving media environment through fully integrated tactics that provide measurable campaign benefits."

Fulgent Media brings a team of seasoned marketing executives to AMP and a notable client portfolio that includes strategic guidance and media services for such recognized Boston-based companies and institutions as Genzyme, BostonCoach and Harvard Business School.

"We are honored to be recognized so enthusiastically by AMP Agency and we're equally excited to grow our business and to collaborate with clients through all aspects of the creative process," stated Karen Macumber, President and Founder of Fulgent Media Group. "There's incredible opportunity in the marketplace to leverage new technologies and emerging platforms and we look forward to guiding clients across these growing spaces to build comprehensive programs that will raise their brand and meet their goals."

About AMP Agency
AMP Agency is a full-service marketing agency that combines strategic planning, compelling creative, innovative execution, and measurable results to help our clients' success and marketing dollars exceed the traditional. With a concentration on targeted lifestyle, life-stage and mind-set marketing, AMP Agency makes Brand Experience an integral part of any marketing plan, as well as a lasting memory in the consumer mind.

Close to all American consumers (90%) believe that acting in an environmentally responsible way is important, but feel corporations hold most of the responsibility to implement change over their own personal efforts and are increasingly implementing eco-friendly evaluation into their product purchasing decisions, according to Green AMPlified, a national survey released by AMP Agency, an Alloy Media + Marketing company.

The survey went on to state that over half (53%) of consumers factor a company's social and environmental activities into their purchasing decisions and while overall, consumer's personal actions to protect the environment show minimal sacrifice in terms of changing one's lifestyle, consumers are ready to reward those companies that prove their commitment to the cause. In fact, after learning a company is environmentally friendly, the study found that 57% are likely to trust the company, 60% are likely to purchase its products, and 58% are likely to recommend the company or its products to others.

Passing a consumer's eco-test can garner a brand entry into a shopper's mindset, but the study also found that just being green doesn't mean green at the cash register.

When it comes to purchasing green products over traditional ones, consumers put high demand on marketers with cost acting as the primary factor. When asked how much more (if any) consumers were willing to spend on green products, the results are significant, with over 75% of consumers stating that they were not willing to spend more than 10% to purchase a green product over a traditional choice in almost all of the categories offered.

Product performance also factors into purchase decisions and most consumers are not giving green products a break. In fact, for consumers who consider performance important, it makes all the difference. In all product categories discussed, almost all consumers (90%) stated that a green product must work just as well as or better than a traditional product in order to make the switch.

And while consumers do want to make a difference, they also want it to be convenient. Whether it's the need to conserve as prices at the pump inflate or just ease, 63% are not willing to go more than 10 minutes to act green.

Overall, consumers are expressing they don't expect companies to be perfect, but they need to know that they care as much as they do and are making efforts to improve the state of the world - and can show it.

So, where are consumers getting their cues? At the top, 40% of consumers stated that they learned that a company is environmentally friendly because of its packaging. However, 44% stated that they sometimes, but not often, believe the environmentally friendly claims on product packages. Based on follow up interviews, consumers shared their reasons for feeling skeptical of a company's environmental claims, stating they think they are often unverifiable, overly generalized, or contradictory to other behaviors of the company.

The study found that 40% of consumers are likely to speak out against a company when they learn they are not environmentally friendly. Conversely, earn their trust and they are more likely to spread that positive message to a wide network of family and peers. Close to half (49%) report that family and friends are the #1 trusted source when it comes to purchasing decisions, falling significantly higher than other methods reported such as advertising (31%) and twice as influential as product packaging (26%).

About the Green AMPlified Study
Green AMPlified presents the findings of an online survey conducted among a national probability sample of 3,200 respondents of men and women between the ages of 18 and 49. The survey was designed to capture the opinions, beliefs, and perceptions of individuals in terms of their relationship with the Green Movement. This survey was completed during the period of April 17, 2008, and April 25, 2008, and was followed up with in-depth qualitative research, including shopping logs and respondent videos. The margin of error for a sample size of 3,200 is +/-1.73 percentage points, based on the principles of probability sampling theory. This survey follows industry best practices but, like all online surveys, does not strictly adhere to pure probability sampling methods.