I don't know if you were as enthusiastic or "pumped" as I was last Thursday, but I must say it was with great reasoning. With all concentration pertaining to academics, work and a slew of other things slowly withering away as the day drew on, I couldn't help but just anxiously anticipate catching the "Hunger Games" midnight premiere. Safe to say, it was AMAZING and apparently I wasn't the only one who felt that way. "Hunger Games" had record-breaking munbers flood theaters with box office reporting $155 million over the the weekend. Despite the monumentous support ofr the film there also comes critixcs, knocking the film for leaving pivotal parts of the film out and other miniscule factors some didn't agree as with any other major motion picture.One bit of news I was disappointed to hear was occurances of a racial manner concerning some of the characters and the actor playing them. Various tweets expressing discontent with assigning characters "Rue" as well as "Cinna" were seen throughout the weekend on the social media website.
Here a liks to some of the tweets mentioned:
http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17hneucg9snuqjpg/original.jpg
http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17hng9beyz0hjjpg/original.jpg
http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17hnfgjjvy499jpg/original.jpg
http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17hneuahestnvjpg/original.jpg
For the full story:
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fm.jezebel.com%2F5896408%2Fracist-hunger-games-fans-dont-care-how-much-money-the-movie-made&h=FAQERvzjt
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Duracell Powers Up Olympic Marketing
Procter & Gamble is working with Duracell to promote its first Olympic marketing promotion for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Duracell wants to use their signature colors and "power" the athletes to receive a medal at the Olympics this summer. They will use different marketing strategies to help promote their batteries and encourage athletes and fans to "Rely on Copper to Go for the Gold."
Duracell has hired several professional athletes to help promote the batteries through social media, fan engagement and events. A picture of an Olympic athlete will be on the Duracell packages with a message that tells you how you can support the athletes. The intention of this program is to promote power to the Duracell brand just like Olympics athletes.
I think Duracell is using great marketing skills to promote something as big as the Olympics because it will attract the United States to the brand and having the athletes stand behind the brand gives it even more power. Reading this got me excited for the Olympics this summer and I hope Duracell can have this power on everyone!
Duracell has hired several professional athletes to help promote the batteries through social media, fan engagement and events. A picture of an Olympic athlete will be on the Duracell packages with a message that tells you how you can support the athletes. The intention of this program is to promote power to the Duracell brand just like Olympics athletes.
I think Duracell is using great marketing skills to promote something as big as the Olympics because it will attract the United States to the brand and having the athletes stand behind the brand gives it even more power. Reading this got me excited for the Olympics this summer and I hope Duracell can have this power on everyone!
Friday, March 23, 2012
The media landscape shift from text to visuals
John Owen's article in PR Week discusses how the recent success of the Kony 2012 online campaign demonstrates how PR practitioners need to shift their focus away from text and onto visuals when creating campaigns.
The Kony 2012 online campaign is extremely visually dominate, and has attracted more than 84 million Youtube hits!
Further demonstrating his point, Owen's points out how the new Facebook timeline is very visually dominated as well. (And no one can deny the fact that Facebook seems to be the center of culture today.)
What does this mean to us as students nearing the PR professional world? We need to remember the fact that we live in a visual society and tailor our future work and campaigns around this fact.
I do acknowledge that we live in a very visual society; however, as a strong writer, this makes me a tad bit nervous!
The Kony 2012 online campaign is extremely visually dominate, and has attracted more than 84 million Youtube hits!
Further demonstrating his point, Owen's points out how the new Facebook timeline is very visually dominated as well. (And no one can deny the fact that Facebook seems to be the center of culture today.)
What does this mean to us as students nearing the PR professional world? We need to remember the fact that we live in a visual society and tailor our future work and campaigns around this fact.
I do acknowledge that we live in a very visual society; however, as a strong writer, this makes me a tad bit nervous!
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Chipotle Social Media Strategies
Chipotle seems to have social media down pact.
As a company, Chipotle has been so involved in social media that it pays less for traditional advertising than most fast food restaurants. Chipotle has a team of three people who run social media and respond to about 83 percent of the posts. At the end of the post, the person behind the tweet or Facebook comment is signed.
I think Chipotle has it right. Customers feel special when a big company replies to a comment, status or tweet. They even go as far as asking about their lives because they truly want to get to know their customers. Instead of being used as a tool to interact, I find that social media serves as a mask for some companies.
See story here: http://mashable.com/2012/03/21/chipotle-social-media/
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
The NFL Can Throw 'Saving Face' Out the Window
By Staci De Leon
Since the beginning of 2012, there have been articles about the New Orleans Saints rewarding their players with bonuses by "knocking opposing players out of the game" in the 2009, 2010 and 2011 seasons. In other not so friendly words, the Saints have been participating in a bounty program with their players to intentionally injury opposing players. (i.e. Brett Favre during the 2009 season)
You ask, what does this have to do with PR? The answer is...It has everything to do with PR!
The NFL and the Saints PR teams have to somehow 'fix' the problem to show that football isn't about causing or gaining injuries and that it is about having fun playing the game and reaching the dream of becoming the Superbowl champions.
Although the NFL already has a bad reputation with bodily injuries and also long term brain injuries, the Saints bounty program will most definitely bring fuel to the fire. Players that have been targeted are pursuing lawsuits against the NFL saying they have suffered from the following injuries: concussions, head trauma and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a dementia-like brain disease.
After long-overdue investigation, the NFL has suspended the Saints Head Coach Sean Payton for the entire 2012 season, the team has been fined $500,000, former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, now with the St. Louis Rams, was suspended indefinitely from the NFL, effective immediately and the team will also forfeit its second-round draft picks in 2012 and 2013. Now some may say this may not be enough punishment, but there is no way to analyze the fairness of the punishments until the season starts and the lawsuits head to trial.
"When there is targeting of players for injury and cash rewards over a three-year period, the involvement of the coaching staff, and three years of denials and willful disrespect of the rules, a strong and lasting message must be sent that such conduct is totally unacceptable and has no place in the game," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said.
For more details read this CNN article written by Michael Martinez.
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| Courtesy of http://www.speculativesports.com/ |
You ask, what does this have to do with PR? The answer is...It has everything to do with PR!
The NFL and the Saints PR teams have to somehow 'fix' the problem to show that football isn't about causing or gaining injuries and that it is about having fun playing the game and reaching the dream of becoming the Superbowl champions.
Although the NFL already has a bad reputation with bodily injuries and also long term brain injuries, the Saints bounty program will most definitely bring fuel to the fire. Players that have been targeted are pursuing lawsuits against the NFL saying they have suffered from the following injuries: concussions, head trauma and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a dementia-like brain disease.
After long-overdue investigation, the NFL has suspended the Saints Head Coach Sean Payton for the entire 2012 season, the team has been fined $500,000, former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, now with the St. Louis Rams, was suspended indefinitely from the NFL, effective immediately and the team will also forfeit its second-round draft picks in 2012 and 2013. Now some may say this may not be enough punishment, but there is no way to analyze the fairness of the punishments until the season starts and the lawsuits head to trial.
"When there is targeting of players for injury and cash rewards over a three-year period, the involvement of the coaching staff, and three years of denials and willful disrespect of the rules, a strong and lasting message must be sent that such conduct is totally unacceptable and has no place in the game," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said.
For more details read this CNN article written by Michael Martinez.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
How NOT to handle the media
This article discusses Sara MacIntyre's rude response to reporters at a conference. Sara MacIntyre is the director of communications for British Columbia's Premier, Christy Clark. She attempted to exercise media management at the conference, but failed miserably. Footage was taken from the encounter between MacIntyre and the reporters, who were seeking an interview from Premier Clark.
MacIntyre rejected their request for an interview, however did so very unprofessionally. She was argumentative, arrogant and had attitude from the moment the reporters approached her. She could have handled the media in a respectful manner and still achieved her purpose of preventing the media from asking questions. Instead she not only made herself look bad, but also Premier Clark. Her approach backfired and she gained negative press for both herself and Premier Clark.
The article gives four reasons for why MacIntyre's attempt at media management was unsuccessful. The four reasons include: she forgot who her audience was, she had an attitude, she picked the wrong enemy and her response garnered worse press.
MacIntyre forgot the public was her audience, not the reporters. Her rude behavior would ultimately communicate a negative portrayal of herself and Premier Clark to the audience.
I agree that she also picked the wrong enemy by starting the argument with the reporters. The reporters acted in an appropriate manner and politely exercised their right to ask questions. Therefore, MacIntyre had no reason to act defensive and treat the press with such hostility.
Considering she is the director of communications for British Columbia's Premier, I feel that she communicated very poorly. Given her title and experience, she should have known better. If I was Premier Clark, I would be embarrassed that MacIntyre is representing me.
To read the article and watch the raw video visit http://www.prdaily.com/crisiscommunications/Articles/11149.aspx
MacIntyre rejected their request for an interview, however did so very unprofessionally. She was argumentative, arrogant and had attitude from the moment the reporters approached her. She could have handled the media in a respectful manner and still achieved her purpose of preventing the media from asking questions. Instead she not only made herself look bad, but also Premier Clark. Her approach backfired and she gained negative press for both herself and Premier Clark.
The article gives four reasons for why MacIntyre's attempt at media management was unsuccessful. The four reasons include: she forgot who her audience was, she had an attitude, she picked the wrong enemy and her response garnered worse press.
MacIntyre forgot the public was her audience, not the reporters. Her rude behavior would ultimately communicate a negative portrayal of herself and Premier Clark to the audience.
I agree that she also picked the wrong enemy by starting the argument with the reporters. The reporters acted in an appropriate manner and politely exercised their right to ask questions. Therefore, MacIntyre had no reason to act defensive and treat the press with such hostility.
Considering she is the director of communications for British Columbia's Premier, I feel that she communicated very poorly. Given her title and experience, she should have known better. If I was Premier Clark, I would be embarrassed that MacIntyre is representing me.
To read the article and watch the raw video visit http://www.prdaily.com/crisiscommunications/Articles/11149.aspx
Can you please provide your facebook username and password?
As most of us will begin our job search post graduation, we may not know that our Facebook pages will be invaded like never before. It is normal for most applicant to expect the company that they are interviewing with to browse their social cite's profile page, but just as another user. What we have on our pages would not necessarily cost us the job opportunity because we could just set our pages on private and if the company is not friends with us, they could not see most of the content that is on our pages. Now they have surpassed your privacy and are asking for usernames and passwords so that they may log into your account and browse your page that way.
Is this act legal at all? My argument is that this may be going too far to try to find out in depth information about a candidate. I do not feel as though this process is at all necessary. An individual's personal life and what he or she chooses to do in their personal time has nothing to do with how well they may perform at the job that they are applying for nor how qualified they are to a certain extent. Many candidates should prepare to be offended in the near future when asked to provide this information to the company representative that is interviewing them.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/job-seekers-getting-asked-facebook-passwords-071251682.html
Is this act legal at all? My argument is that this may be going too far to try to find out in depth information about a candidate. I do not feel as though this process is at all necessary. An individual's personal life and what he or she chooses to do in their personal time has nothing to do with how well they may perform at the job that they are applying for nor how qualified they are to a certain extent. Many candidates should prepare to be offended in the near future when asked to provide this information to the company representative that is interviewing them.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/job-seekers-getting-asked-facebook-passwords-071251682.html
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