From posting commercials on YouTube to redesigning corporate Web sites with graphics, music and games, the Internet has proved to be a powerful tool for advertising firms.

Central Minnesota advertising and marketing firms have embraced the technology trend, adding blogs, banner ads and interactive items to their clients' advertising media mix.

As evidenced by the billions of dollars companies are spending on advertising during this year's Super Bowl alone, the business of selling your business is a major industry in the U.S.
Companies will spend almost $154 billion on advertising this year, a 2.6 percent increase, according to TNS Media Intelligence, a New York-based information group. Internet advertising accounts for about $11.1 billion of that, an increase of 13.4 percent from last year.

That doesn't mean traditional advertising media have taken a backseat. New technology just provides more ways to get clients' messages out there, area advertising leaders say.

Internet savvy
Central Minnesota businesses still advertise strongly in the traditional media mix that includes print, television and radio advertising.
But instead of directing potential clients to just a phone number or a store's location, there is an aggressive push to get customers to a company's Web site.

"The Internet is changing how we think and how we do business," said Ross Handahl, president of Agency 128 in St. Cloud.

Those Web sites are no longer simple, with a name and photo. They must engage an audience.
Johnson Group Marketing Inc. in St. Cloud developed a cartoon character for a local biomedical company that has a cartoon strip on its Web site.

"Web sites have gone from brochure sites to interactive pieces," said Scott Hondl, senior account executive at the Johnson Group. "There is shopping cart purchasing, blogs, forums, podcasts."

Thelen Advertising in St. Cloud revamped a local furniture store's Web site, adding a design-tips blog written by employees and an interactive element that allows visitors to pick out furniture for a room.

"The end-user client has more ability to scope out vendors that they want to work with in complete anonymity," said Ronn Paulson, account manager at Thelen.

Old dog, new tricks
Traditional media also are creating unique ways to advertise.

Cable companies such as Charter Communications offer an OnDemand option where customers can click on a business site to watch a two-minute spot promotion.

"Electronic media gives the consumer choices on where they are going to spend their time," said Pam Raden, co-owner of The Johnson Group.
Commercials are being filmed in high definition, and newspapers are offering advertisements in unusual shapes.

The St. Cloud Times started offering "adscapes," which allow ads to be designed in triangles and irregular shapes, in the last quarter of 2006.
"It's a unique way to position their ads in a unique shape," said Dennis Host, market development director for the Times.

Messages on outdoor media, such as electronic billboards and bus wraps, can be changed more often, said Mark Thelen, owner of Thelen Advertising.

"A revolution has occurred in how we produce media, but the media hits the customers the same way," he said. "Advertising and marketing is letting people know that what you have to offer them is of some interest to them in their lives."

Direct-mail packages have become more personal, with the ability to change graphics on a brochure layout to match a customer's interest and add a personal greeting.

"Clients are more interested in demographic information — gender, age, income," Handahl said. "Research plays a big part in what clients are asking us to do now."

The goods
The promotional marketing industry also has been on an upswing as more companies add costs for it to their budgets, said Kristen Semerad, co-owner of Hot Promos by ADPRO in St. Cloud, a promotional marketing company that sells products with company logos.

"This marketing is a complement to the other advertising that a company does," Semerad said.
Companies are investing in high-quality products to put their logo on instead of one-time-use trinkets, Semerad said. And those items are connected in some way to their business or service.
An example: An insurance company offers an umbrella with the message, "We've got you covered."

"People want items to be practical and useful," Semerad said. "They want something that is going to make their point, but be cost-effective."
While the popularity of corporate apparel continues to rise, more companies are adding their logos to portable USB flash drives or laptop skins.
One traditional promotional item hasn't lost its appeal.

"Pens are phenomenal marketing material," Semerad said. "They are easy to leave behind, inexpensive and most cost effective."
While the method of delivery may be different, the mission is the same, say advertising firms.

"The basic principle of advertising hasn't changed — which is how you differentiate yourself from your competitor," Hondl said.

Super bowl commercials
This year, companies such as Diamond Foods' Emerald Nuts, Hewlett-Packard and Pepsi are among those dishing out $2.6 million for a 30-second commercial spot during Super Bowl XLI.