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Hawthorne Direct, a full service brand response advertising agency, has launched a new, monthly Podcast series entitled "Spotlight on Branding," announced COO Jessica Hawthorne-Castro of Hawthorne Direct.

The first entry in the series, which launches Jan. 21, is entitled "Are You Really Measuring Your Social Media Performance?" and will be presented by Hawthorne Direct's agency Chairman and CEO Tim Hawthorne. Future company Podcasts will include such topics as "Is That Second Screen Complementing Your Television Marketing Campaign?" and "The Maturation of Mobile Marketing."

To hear this and all future Hawthorne Direct Podcasts, please visit: https://soundcloud.com/hawthorne-direct

In the premiere "Spotlight on Branding" Podcast, Tim Hawthorne makes these points:

** According to recent research, while there is clearly recognition that employing social media to amplify content is a key strategy in today's connected world, few organizations are able to comprehensively gauge the results of their social media efforts.

** Calling social media measurement "an underutilized approach across companies of all sizes," research states that even among respondents who do measure social media performance, measurements aren't always tied directly to business revenue or overall market share.

** Measurement is the only mechanism marketing professionals have for advocating for their budgets and determining a real return on investment. Attaining "impressive numbers" isn't always easy - even for Direct Response Television users who understand the importance of tying production and media investments to real results.

** For marketers who wish to hone their own social media measurement strategies, the first step is to use call and URL tracking to keep tabs on the direct hits that are coming in via Facebook, Twitter, and other sites. A true idea of a campaign's social media performance can then be assessed.

ABOUT TIM HAWTHORNE:
Tim Hawthorne is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hawthorne Direct. The agency has won more than 450 creative awards for numerous brand campaigns since its founding 27 years ago. Tim's daughter, Jessica Hawthorne-Castro, today serves as Chief Operating Officer for Hawthorne Direct.

Tim Hawthorne is a regular columnist for various industry publications, including Response Magazine and Electronic Retailer Magazine, and is author of the book The Complete Guide to Infomercial Marketing. He has been a member of the Response Magazine Advisory Board since its inception over a decade ago, and was honored with Emeritus member status. Additionally, he is a co-founder and member of the Founders' Circle for the Electronic Retailing Association (ERA), and has served as a board member with that organization for six years. In 2006, he was awarded the ERA's Lifetime Achievement Award.

ABOUT HAWTHORNE DIRECT:
Hawthorne Direct is a full service brand response advertising agency, specializing in strategic planning, creative development, production, media planning, buying and analytics, and campaign management for integrated marketing campaigns. With nearly 30 years of proven excellence in brand response, the agency combines persuasive brand messaging with best-in-class analytic systems to create accountable, high performance advertising campaigns.

Hawthorne Direct has developed successful award-winning campaigns for brands such as 3M, Gerber, Brother International, Armor All, Bose, Black & Decker, Hamilton Beach, Pella, SanDisk, Transamerica, United Healthcare, Remington and more.

For more information, please visit www.hawthornedirect.com and also
http://www.linkedin.com/company/hawthorne-direct?trk=top_nav_home