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The 4th of July is right around the corner. Do you have any plans in Bergen County for the 4th?

Even if your town isn't hosting a parade, BBQ or fireworks, why not travel a town or two over with your family for a day filled with food and fun?

Our marketing agency compiled a list of towns in Bergen County that are hosting 4th of July events ranging from free concerts and outdoor activities for kids to 5Ks and much more. 

Whether you need to brush up on your short game or putting, you can register at the helpful clinic or just play 18 with our very own Jason Diller, a director on the board of the MRCC.

So save your spot now for the Mahwah Regional Chamber of Commerce's 23rd Annual Golf Outing & Humanitarian Dinner!

Outdoor advertising has been around since ancient Egypt. You may think I'm kidding but it's true I swear.

Back then it was in the form of stone obelisks (whatever those are) to remind people of the laws and treaties.

Clearly it's been tweaked a little since we use paper and ink nowadays. But nonetheless it's old.

 In the final bout for the heavyweight championship of the world, we have SurveyMonkey vs Goooooogle Forms (crowd cheers). Let's get ready to rumbleeeeee...wait, what? Okay, so it may not be the heavyweight championship of the world, but if you're deciding which online survey to use, these two are unanimously the top contenders out there.

It's really a heartwarming thing when we get some reassurance that human intelligence is still important. Even if it's technology that is reminding us that we're still needed. For what, you ask? For surveying.

At the rate we're pulling in and analyzing data these days, it's just no longer practical to go door-to-door, randomly dial or send out snail mail surveys and questionnaires to collect it. So what do we do to fill this void? We technology-worshippers turn to our only hope: technology.

Like so many philosophical questions, this one doesn't have the perfect answer. CEO's, CMO's and boards of directors have been asking themselves this for the past 80 years, and still haven't figured it out.

However while there isn't a perfect method, methods do exist and we'll give you the bonafide way the top 1% of agencies use to measure advertising effectiveness for their clients.

I don't care how digital this age is, the next time you're at a networking event, I doubt you're going to tell the recruiter you're talking with to "@ ME!" While this may be appropriate at a college party (and for my sake, I really hope that it is), it just isn't in a professional setting.

Cue the oldest networking tool in the book: business cards.

Often forgotten, business cards are still a major feature of the professional world. Running around handing out an 8x11 resume isn't going to get you anywhere, but a standard-sized card has a much better chance of making it out of the pocket or wallet and onto the desk of someone important.

The digital era is completely revolutionizing the traditional advertising agency model. Methods such as direct mail, billboards, posters, radio and television commercials can be considered to some, as prehistoric practices or even ineffective.

Today, social media, hash-tagging and mentioning have become mainstream ways to connect and share endless amounts of information with peers.

With the ease and cost minimization of sharing via social media, it's no surprise that ad agencies are quickly adapting to these changing times.

After an anticlimactic end to the 2013-2014 NFL season (shout out to my man Peyton - no need for subtlety on that one), fans can only pray that both teams will actually show up to play in Super Bowl XLIX.

With the big game a distant seven months away, it may be a little early for you to start loading up on wings and five-layer dip (although both are arguably essential components of the food pyramid year round). 

Anyone who is trying to break into the advertising industry right now (hey, that's me!) is probably wishing they had a 'back to the future' button.

It's starting to seem like no matter how quickly you process information about advertising, it becomes irrelevant before you're able to put it to use.

So are you getting yourself into something that is like quicksand, something that will backfire on you before you can say inbound marketing?

Do you remember learning about mutualism in science class? If the term isn’t clicking, clearly your 4th grade science teacher didn’t do her job (just kidding to all the science teachers out there).

Mutualism is any relationship where both individuals (in this case concepts) benefit in some way. If you’re wondering why I’m giving you a science lesson (don’t worry I have a point) it describes the relationship between native advertising and content marketing.

World Cup fever is upon us. The 3.2 billion people on this earth will be going nuts over the next month and half cheering on their national teams in the championship bracket of the world's most popular sport.

While the U.S. loves football, soccer (aka futbol) is basically the national sport of all other continents.Think about how much hype the Super Bowl gets, then magnify it for the entire world. The World Cup is the game of games, the king of kings, the gem of gems, the...you get it.

I lured you here under false pretenses - there is no all encompassing “most effective way to advertise.” If there was, I could easily bail on the whole 9-5 gig and spend my days cruising down the Jersey Turnpike in a baller Audi.

There are a lot of advertising blogs out there. A LOT. All offer something unique, and not only is it hard to find the ad blog right for you, but nobody has the time to spend searching among the thousands out there.

As technology advances, traditional ways of advertising are becoming more and more outdated. Like those worn out jeans in the back of your closet that you just can't bring yourself to get rid of, traditional methods have seen better days.

I know what you're thinking. You still hear plenty of radio ads, pass by countless billboards on the highway and might even pick up the newspaper (and actually read it) on Sundays when you have nothing better to do. Although I advocate more of an inbound approach, traditional methods, such as billboards, are still being used to reach target markets.

Last night the New Jersey Advertising Club hosted its 46th Annual Jersey Awards at The Grove in Cedar Grove, NJ.

250 guests, including the whole DSM Group gang were there to celebrate their hard work in 2013 and take home some awards.

We're delighted to be a member of the NJ Ad Club, and we're so proud of our CEO/President Darren Magarro, this year's Treasurer. Event sponsors included our agency, Comcast Spotlight, FORT Group, NJ Advance Media and TD Bank. The awards were presented by NJ celebrities Terrie Carr of Greater Media and Herb Barry of Interstate Outdoor, who did a great job showcasing talents in our area by presenting 241 trophies to outstanding agencies.

So what did we here at The DSM Group win? Well, as the agency who took home the second-highest number of awards, fasten your seat-belts folks because here's the list..

Ever wonder how that one competitor does so well advertising? Have you considered where your competition is placing ads on the web? Admit it, these are questions that have popped into your head at least once or twice while blogging or brainstorming marketing strategies.

Believe it or not, you do not need to be a member of the Secret Service to discover the search optimization keywords and marketing tactics your competition is using. In fact, it is quite simple to unmask the secret behind utilizing SEO and monitoring mentions, social media and website traffic. Here it is folks, the cat's out of the bag.

Apple does it again. CEO Tim Cook recently announced the latest and greatest coming from Apple, set to hit the public this fall.

The company is developing iOS 8, the newest software update that will be made available for iPads and iPhones.

The system will improve hugely on past capabilities, while adding some new, user-friendly features that will improve both your experience and ease with Apple products.

So for those of you with shared routers (like us here at The DSM Group) trying to download iOS 8 this fall, may the odds be ever in your favor. Let's find out what you'll be getting.

I’m sure you came to this post to find out if advertising really works. Well the answer isn’t that simple, it depends.

Advertising is a slippery slope, what works for one business might not work for another. Advertising is trial and error. Learn from your mistakes (or others)!

Every business owner wonders if the money they are funneling into advertising costs are really making the return they desire. Although it is much easier to measure results now than it was say, 10 years ago, the abstractness of it all is still present.

With 20 years under my belt as a doting daughter, I have had my fair share of Father’s Day gifts gone extremely wrong. I received the well-deserved silent treatment for three days after I gave the legendary Tom Claire a gutter cleaner a few years ago.

With June 15th right around the corner, you need to bring your A-game when it comes to celebrating the big guy in your life. To help you avoid a Father’s Day horror story, we have designed the ultimate gift guide for the quintessential marketer.

The reality of Mad Men is long gone...well, kind of. Madison Avenue was the headquarters of all things advertising for decades. With the new wave of marketing and advertising platforms, its many offices have since dispersed. Restaurants and high-end fashion houses haven taken their place, and less and less were found on the classic Mad Ave.

However, the sun hasn't completely set on Madison Avenue advertising; for those of you looking for your high-end agency in the concrete jungle (where dreams ads are made oooh), they're still there and waiting to wow you with their high-caliber portfolios and capabilities. Here's a list of the top 15. It's numbered in the direction of midtown to uptown; for you non-New Yorkers, that is the little numbers to the big numbers. For those of you who still don't get it, then GoogleMaps is your new BFF for this one.

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last few years, you know business needs a website. Your website is like the Holy Grail. It’s a vital component of your business.