Marketing Promotions Manager Elaine Pasekoff, a Summit attendee, describes the factors that demand out-of-the-box strategies.

Elaine Pasekoff is marketing promotions manager for the Miami Herald. She has total responsibility for major promotions crafted to promote editorial content, boost reader awareness and circulation numbers, while bringing in incremental advertising revenue. She manages strategic relationships with: major sports teams, including the Miami HEAT; local media, including TV and radio: key promoters, including Clear Channel, Feld Entertainment, Cirque du Soleil; and major local and national retailers. 

iMedia: What's your current greatest challenge when it comes to marketing in general, and interactive marketing, specifically? How are you tackling it/them?

Elaine Pasekoff: The Miami Herald: As marketing manager for a major metropolitan daily, my greatest challenge is dealing with the nationwide drop in circulation-- and at this critical juncture, the drop in our marketing budget. We are turning more to non-traditional, guerilla type marketing efforts. Herald.com: Our product is better than people know. For example, our online Classifieds are extremely effective on a local level. But, we don't have the marketing budget to get the word out.

iMedia: With which online marketing tools (email, behavioral targeting, display advertising, et cetera) has your company experienced marketing success in recent months? 

Pasekoff: Key word purchases for our Shop Local and Online Classifieds

iMedia: Think about your company's favorite online marketing tool or mix of tools. What advice would you give to marketers interested in trying these out for the first time?

Pasekoff: Permission-based emails are incredibly effective for us. We do extremely well with third-party partner offers. Pop-ups are great as well-- they jump out and catch attention, even when quickly closed.

iMedia: What's the most out-of-the-box thing you've done in your marketing efforts to reach a hard-to-reach demographic or meet a specific goal?

Pasekoff: The Miami Herald: To promote a major newsroom series on Sexual Predators, we created an extremely provocative postcard with the headline, "Want this toy, sweetie?" enclosed it with a small toy in a clear plastic home delivery bag, then tied these bags onto cars parked at malls. Herald.com: For the South Florida boat show, we printed this message on a sail: "Sell your boat for free at Herald.com," and then the boat sailed back and forth by the main show area.

iMedia: Online video is coming of age. Has it impacted your marketing yet? Do you plan to do more of it soon?

Pasekoff: We are using this for our editorial content at this point. It is very popular with our readers, and we will do more of it.

iMedia: Consumer-generated content is scary for many brands because of their inability to control it. How do you view the topic? Have you had much experience dealing with it yet? Any advice for other marketers?

Pasekoff: Knight Ridder is testing this, but it is not on our site yet.

iMedia: Is there another brand you admire for how its agencies are using interactive media to either increase branding or sell it? If so, why and what have you learned from that brand? 

Pasekoff: Hardees' Paris Hilton ad, Disney

Dawn Anfuso is senior editor of iMedia Connection.