Hi, I'm Bruce Johnson
I help business people with marketing and advertising from my home office in Prince Edward County, Ontario.
I was founder and managing partner of August Jansson Advertising Inc. (1994-2006).
Currently, I run Jansson Media and Jansson Marketing Group Inc. (2006 - present).
I assist people with these types of tasks:
• Defining goals;
• Developing customer personas;
• Target audience research;
• Setting (realistic) objectives;
• Forming campaign strategies;
• Choosing tactics to support those strategies;
• Creating and launching ad or email campaigns;
• Digital or print graphic design (all types);
• Website wireframe or build (WordPress, Shopify, etc.);
I take on small, one-off projects (a few hours total), freelance and part-time roles.
UNBREAKABLE Rules
During my career, I've seen many changes in how messages (ads) are prepared, produced and distributed.
But the absolute most important and UNBREAKABLE RULES have never changed:
1. Send the RIGHT MESSAGE
2. to the RIGHT AUDIENCE
3. at the RIGHT TIME!
The RIGHT MESSAGE = Clarity
The RIGHT MESSAGE means your message is quickly and perfectly clear for anyone who pauses to consider it.
Quick and clear. When advertising on social platforms like Facebook, you MUST captivate your audience quickly before they scroll past your ads!
(I've launched nearly 100 successful Facebook Paid Ad campaigns. If you need help, contact me).
But remember, if your ad's proposition (offer or message) is weak it won't convince anyone!
In fact, a weak proposition could even un-sell your products or services.
The RIGHT AUDIENCE
The RIGHT AUDIENCE for your offers and message(s) is crucial.
Fortunately, it's never been easier to find your ideal audience when advertising on major platforms like Google, Facebook/Instagram, Twitter and even LinkedIn.
Allowing us such a close look at the people using their platform has changed everything.
They provide us with insights into the demographics, interests and behaviours of their audiences.
We can then use the information to create our own ideal audiences!
In this day and age, there is no excuse for wasting ad dollars with such detailed targeting information at our disposal.
The RIGHT TIME
The right time could mean the right "SEASON" (Christmas, for instance) OR a day of the week OR a time of day OR all of the above!
The RIGHT TIME is also when your audience "Googles" to find offers like yours.
The ideal time to advertise your product, service or idea is when someone is actively searching for it!
TIMING can also be thought of this way:
Right now, a hand-picked audience (based on demographics, interests and behaviours) is ready to hear from you (in every time zone around the world) as soon as you've finished crafting the right message to send them!
* * *
HUMAN ATTENTION SPANS are at an all-time low
Time Magazine: Microsoft Corp. did a study and concluded that people generally lose concentration after eight seconds due to the effects of an increasingly digitalized lifestyle on the brain.
A Goldfish has an attention span of nine seconds…
… So, regardless of the advertising medium,
you must communicate your offer quickly and clearly
OR
you might as well be talking to a goldfish!
* * *
Globe and Mail: Google reports Canada had the highest rate of adoption for 6-second "bumper" ads on YouTube of any market worldwide.
MIT News: Neuroscientists tell us the brain can identify images seen for as little as 13 milliseconds.
Do the math using a 6-second Youtube bumper ad example:
6 seconds = 6,000 milliseconds ÷ 13 = 462
(one heck of a lot of identifiable image possibilities in 6 seconds).
FYI: That is why we see so many 6-second bumper ads on YouTube – 'cause they work!
* * *
I've seen TV ads that catch my attention, but by the end of the ad, I can't even recall the brand.
Ever wonder why so many ads on TV, social media – or even billboards – seem like they were created by total pumpkin heads?
OBVIOUSLY!
These advertisers are NOT FOLLOWING the UNBREAKABLE RULES!
* * *
Marketing is the preparation of a product or service for the marketplace.
Marketing is all about communication among team members.
When crafting your marketing plan, our team will start with a background review.
Sharing knowledge and perceptions about a brand with everyone involved gets everyone on the same page. A thorough review is mandatory, no matter what the category of product, service or idea that is being marketed.
We Will REVIEW everything from consumer research and competitive analysis to product pricing, promotion and distribution channels.
A Comprehensive MEDIA PLAN is necessary for choosing the right advertising vehicle(s) prior to spending any ad dollars.
NOTE: Advertising vehicles are rarely cars and even more rarely, an outhouse!
Smaller companies might spend on vehicles like community newspapers, social media, search engine marketing, maybe even a billboard. (Or, yes, sometimes even a car with a sign on its roof. Once I even saw a sign bolted to the side of an outhouse!).
Need help with media buying?
I can buy all types of media – from TV and radio to billboards and bus shelters – in major cities or nationally.
Location targeting allows you to set a radius around your business location.
Send messages to your ideal audience – only to those in your targeted area.
On Facebook, the radius can be as low a one mile (1.6 km) to many miles.
Larger companies with larger budgets have more media choices but the same applies: Plan media carefully before you buy any!
Use location targeting to pinpoint a country, region, city – or even neighbourhood – before sending your offer to your target audience.
During my stint as Art Director of Advertising at the Toronto Sun, retail ADVERTISING was my focus.
SALE SALE SALE!
I worked with so many advertisers, consulting with and designing campaigns for them.
Soon after several of those big advertisers convinced me to start my own business, I established a downtown Toronto boutique ad agency, August Jansson Advertising, in 1994.
My ad agency experience was amazing giving me a strong marketing and advertising foundation that I continue to build upon and knowledge that I am happy to share!
These are the types of things I help with…
Marketing:
• I help define goals;
• Develop customer personas;
• Target audience research;
• Set objectives;
• Form campaign strategy;
• Choose tactics to support the strategy.
Advertising
• Facebook, Google and LinkedIn ad campaign creation and management;
• A/B testing, tracking metrics, monitoring and optimizing campaigns;
• Email marketing template setup (Klaviyo, Mailchimp, etc.);
• Amazon store set up (Canada, US, Mexico);
• Amazon product page setup;
• Amazon PPC campaigns.
Graphic Design
• Photoshop/InDesign assets – concept to creation – for ALL THINGS digital or print;
• Retail packaging design, die line creation;
• Retail banners, in-store signage and other collaterals;
• B2B sales presentations, email campaigns, brochures,
Copywriting
• Message-matched ad copy;
• Email campaigns (engagement and transactional);
• Landing pages and other web pages;
• Any type of advertising copy – from Google Ads to outdoor billboard campaigns;
Project Managing
• I can oversee campaigns, concept to creation;
• Website builds – one pagers to large E-commerce sites;
• Practically any size marketing/advertising project, traditional or digital.
August Jansson Advertising operated in downtown Toronto for over ten years.
During that time I had the privilege of working directly with the owners, CEO's and Marketing Directors of some of Canada's largest and most successful independent retailers.
Working alongside those amazing men and women, helping them develop their big ideas – and decide how to spend millions annually on advertising – was a valuable education in marketing, media planning and advertising.
Education I apply to my business to this day!
Since 1994, I've also been involved in B2B marketing and advertising.
From initial sales presentations prepared for buyers – to package design – to in-store signage –
I was involved (I'm proud to say) every step along the way!
We helped a few of our clients take products from the drawing board all the way to the shelves of giant U.S. retailers like Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, Costco – Canadian Tire, Home Hardware and many more.
If you want to know a bit more about my business history and who my clients were…
Desktop publishing was the key to "Auggie" Jansson's success. We turned out thousands of pages of ads every year that appeared on a daily basis in Canada's largest newspapers + created websites, brochures and catalogues that were seen only by large scale buyers all around the globe.
But anyone from the Toronto area will probably remember the names of some of our retail clients: International Clothiers, Stiches, Benix & Company, 2001 Audio Video, Party Packagers, KidsWorld, InLeather, Barnes & Castle and several others.
We were pioneers in desktop publishing using software like Photoshop (v1.0), Illustrator and Quark Xpress on Mac IIfx computers that crashed frequently and took about 5 minutes to reboot Lol!
We were busy (often seven days a week) creating brochures, magazine layouts, restaurant menus, catalogues – every type of print collateral you can imagine – even billboards!
As soon as the internet's potential became obvious, we added HTML programming, Dreamweaver and Flash to our tool box and before long we were overseeing huge retail website builds.
Of course, we were happy when WordPress and other new platforms became available 😉
If you're interested in discussing a one-off project or part-time freelance role (6-10 hrs/wk), let's set up a Zoom (or Skype) meeting!
Please contact me via email (without the spaces) :
ads . bruce robert johnson @ gmail . com
READ MORE
Social
• Facebook/Instagram, Google and LinkedIn ad campaign setups;
• Campaign objectives and budget strategies;
• Customer personas, audience targeting;
• Campaign copywriting and graphic design
• Campaign execution, A/B testing, monitoring metrics and optimization.
• Email strategy (including calendars for scheduling and managing content);
• MailChimp, Klaviyo, Constant Contact template building;
• List optimization strategy;
• Manual (B2B) list building;
• Email acquisition campaign creation;
• Signup forms;
• Autoresponders (engagement and transactional series);
• Newsletter designer and copywriter;
• Email blast creation;
• Email A/B testing, monitoring metrics and optimization;
Websites
• WordPress editor; website wireframing and web page mockups;
• Landing page design, copywriting;
• Email capture form optimization;
• SEO: Developed optimization and link building strategies;
• Squarespace, Shopify, Wix and GoDaddy website builds
• I have used Slack, Google Hangouts and other chat services.
• 2005 - 2009 (remote): Inbound/outbound marketing consultant carried out various responsibilities for retail and B2B clients.
SEO
• On-page optimizing title tags and meta descriptions.
Marketing Blogs
• In 2019, I wrote marketing doctrine for a marketing agency that covered many subjects: Social Contests and Lead Generation; Framework for Digital Marketing Processes; Metrics, Benchmarks, Tests and Strategy for Email Campaigns, Hashtag Strategy and other topics (over 100 pages total).
Education
• I've kept up-to-date on Facebook Ads, Email Marketing, Google Ads and Google Responsive Display Ads, Amazon PPC campaigns via online courses.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ANYONE WHO READ THEIR WAY TO HERE!
As soon as the internet's potential became obvious, we added HTML programming, Dreamweaver and Flash to our tool box and before long we were overseeing huge retail website builds.
Of course, we were happy when WordPress and other new platforms became available 😉