Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Pinterest is good for more than just looking...
PR News published a new article about online shopping preferences and how many online sales are coming in through companies using Pinterest. The article said one in four people have clicked on the sharing sites to make purchasing decisions.
"Pinterest is one of the top 10 most visited social networks and is growing at a faster rate than Twitter. That could very well lead to a whole lot of online consumers clicking on images in Pinterest with one hand, while clutching a credit card in the other," said Janet Helm, chief food & nutrition strategist for Weber Shandwick.
The article gives a few tips on how to gain sales from sites like Pinterest. I found this interesting because I am on Pinterest all the time and I have never actually purchased something I have seen on it product wise. I have made random crafts and such, but I have never used it to make purchases. What do you guys think about it?
Do ya'll/your friends buy things off Pinterest?
Siri takes a star turn
Apple's most recent TV ads feature Zoey Deschanel and Samuel L. Jackson hanging out with Siri and communicating with her as if she were one of their buddies.
I think the shift in Apple's marketing strategy hightlights one of the main reasons Apple remains the leader in its market. Apple is consistently finding new and inventive ways to utilize its products. Apple understands how to keep its target audience interested and entertained while still managing to provide its consumers with useful information. I think that is what sets Apple apart from its competitors.
Many times other smartphone commercials are annoying and get old really fast. The article compares Apple's approach to smartphone marketing with Nokia's advertisement for the Lumia 900 in Russia. Lumia 900's marketing approach uses sex to sell, which in my opinion is a cheap move. I think the iPhone's most recent commercial with Zooey Deschanel and Samuel L. Jackson is quirky, original and effective. To read the article and watch the advertisements go to http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/04/17/siri-takes-a-star-turn/?iid=T_Blogs.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Food Network creates "CityEats" which allows for online dining reservations
GE defends its reputation
Gary Sheffer, VP of communications and public affairs, said that GE does pay taxes, but getting the company's side of the story out has been extremely difficult because of the complex tax laws. The media has accused GE of not only not having to pay taxes, but laying off employees as well.
GE has teamed up with Edelman to launch the campaign "GE works," which highlights its involvement in the cities which it facilitates. This campaign uses digital, media outreach and event components. The company is also using new hiring and training initiatives. An interactive program was created to encourage public interaction through sharing stories, images or video description of what's driving American competitiveness. The project will award $10,000 a week to non-profits that support American jobs and skills training.
http://www.prweekus.com/ge-promotes-its-positive-impact-amidst-criticism/article/236780/
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Race for the Cure faces drastic drop in race registration
Several weeks ago Deena blogged about the Susan G. Komen Foundation and its highly controversial decision, which was quickly reversed, to suspend any funding to Planned Parenthood. Retracting the decision was not enough to mend relations with many of the organizations prior supporters.
The Susan G. Komen Foundation is now seeing the aftermath of this controversy. A race on April 21 in Indianapolis, Indiana currently has 30% fewer participants registered than it did at this point last year and has also had an equal drop in event fund raising. This decline is similar to what many other races have seen across the country.
There may be other factors that have influenced this drastic decline in participation but there is no denying that the Planned Parenthood controversy contributed to such a large drop in participation. These are two organizations that shared many supporters and now it is clear that these supporters are taking sides. Komen’s public relations team has a big job in front of them- to earn back the loyalty of upset supporters and mend relations with the Planned Parenthood community of supporters.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
How Mattel botched the call for Beautiful and Bald Barbie
Mattel made no statements in response to the Facebook page campaign and they made it seem as if they did not accept ideas from outside sources. Mattel could have also used the bald barbie to supports its Mattel Children's Hospital, but instead they did nothing.
Mattel announced two weeks ago that they would be producing a Bald Friend of Barbie in 2013 that will be distributed to children's hospitals and charities. Mattel announced that they were not creating this Barbie in response to the Facebook page, but it helped them realize how important it was for them to do.
With social media it is important to listen to the community, to help, to respond and to engage. Mattel failed to do any of these things. When Mattel finally responded to the issue, they did not give the community credit for a great idea.
Mattel should have felt the need to respond to this issue right away, instead of three months later. Even if they denied the idea of creating the Barbie, they could have at least addressed the community and thanked them for their support and idea. Since Mattel decided to create a Bald Friend of Barbie, they could have at least given a little credit to the community, but instead they had to take all the credit for themselves. I personally think that could potentially hurt their image because it makes them seem as if they do not want the ideas and support from the community.
http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/11345.aspx
Lindsey O'Neal
Google+, still hangin' in there!
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Bayless called out for trumped up high school history
Link: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/jalen-rose-calls-skip-bayless-air-trumped-high-214530179.html
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
YouTube Fame Could End Your Life
The cinnamon challenge in tells one to take a spoon full of sugar and eat it all without being able to wash it down with any water or any other beverage. Challengers usually do not complete the challenge entirely and when they do, the end up choking and coughing vigorously. Sometimes they even throw up. These challengers do not know that those small side effects are just the start of bigger complications that they are causing to their bodies such as lung collapse and pneumonia.
Other dangerous challenges that have been broadcast all over YouTube and have been trending on Twitter are the Gallon Challenge (drink an entire gallon of milk without stopping), Chubby Bunny (how many full sized marshmallows you can fit in your mouth until you can no longer say "chubby bunny"), and the Choking Game (people cut off their oxygen supply in order to get the sensation of feeling high).
I feel that these games are all ridiculous and they need to be stopped. I know that there is no way to stop people from doing things entirely, but I would hate for something tragic to happen before people stop doing things of this nature.
http://news.yahoo.com/dangerous-games-kids-avoid-160523743.html
"GCB"
The series follows Amanda Vaughn (Leslie Bibb), former high-school "Queen Bitch," a recently widowed mother of two, who returns to her hometown of Highland Park, Texas, an enclave of Dallas. Formerly rich, Amanda lost everything when her husband was exposed as stealing billions of dollars from investors and died in a car crash with his mistress. She meets the former schoolmates she used to mock: Carlene Cockburn the new "Queen Bitch"; Sharon Peacham, who was beautiful in high school and is now heavy and insecure and does the bulk of Carlene's bidding; glamorous gossip queen Cricket Caruth-Reilly, whose husband, Blake, is gay; and Heather Cruz, a powerful Dallas real-estate agent.
Amanda and her teenage children move in with her 50-something mother Gigi Stopper, who tries to influence Amanda's parenting and style choices, and gives her advice about strategic maneuvering among these women. While Amanda has grown considerably since high school and wants to move on with her life, Carlene and the others still resent Amanda. They don't believe she's changed and are out to drive her away.
The storyline follows her pursuit to make right all of her worngs she's accumulated in the past and meanwhile attepting to rebuild her life in the balance. This show is definitely my guiltiest pleasure. As much as I hate it, some Texans act the way they are protrayed in the show, and its HILARIOUS. The show has even become the topic of many controversies surrounding the show's stances on religion and to some extents religious activist have petitioned to get the show removed from the air because, of what they feel, its negative portrayal of people and religion.
Games for Education
Say Goodbye to print version of Yellow Pages
Monday, April 9, 2012
RIP Press Release?
In this article Rick discusses how the traditional press release has been accurately labeled as a dying bread for the last ten years. This is because digital alternatives are now eclipsing the traditional press release.
He describes how big company names, such as Goggle and Dell have made big announcements via blog posts, or other online mediums in recent years.
He goes on to explain how smaller successful companies have also had success in "blog-centric" communications. The companies listed are Zillow, Patagonia, Innocent and Servint.
The four lessons that can be taken from these 4 companies success with virtual/digital style of breaking news (rather than a press release) are:
1. Keep it human
2. Passion and edginess benefit the message; they do NOT get in the way of it (this ones my favorite)
3. Entertaining customers is as important as informing them
4. Make it personal
I think all of these pointers are great things to note and keep in mind as we enter the field!
Instagram, Instant Fame
By: Staci De Leon
Facebook seems to be taking over the world, well maybe just the Instagram world. Monday morning Facebook and Instagram status updates revealed that Facebook will be taking over the 13 employee company. Facebook bought the two-year-old company for $1 billion, this comes just after Instagram gained more users by announcing an Android application.
Some users are ready to delete their Instagram accounts calling the company a sell-out. Was it a good move? It will depend on the new "photo sharing" features Facebook decided to make available to its users.
The heat users are giving Instagram can be understandable since Facebook seems to be doing a lot of network sharing; updating Facebook and Twitter at the same time with the same information, adding your Pinterest pins to your Facebook wall, etc.
Personally, the move seems illogical. I got Instagram to upload photos in a picture blog type of way, not to add them to my Facebook photos for all of those friends to see. Although technology and the internet are growing, I feel like having different social network accounts are a personal decision and should be kept separate from each other.
To read the full Huffington Post article click here.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Facebook Timeline receives positive publicity after all
Today, a CNN article covered the wide range of reactions Facebook's new "Timeline" has brought on. The new Timeline has evoked anger in many Facebook users who don't want the change, fear in those who foresee Facebook forcing the change and then there are those who have embraced the change.
Some users are expressing their creativity through the Facebook Timeline, which allows for a more detailed information, larger photos and more room for design. The CNN article features a gallery of creative timelines Facebook users have made, allowing those hesitant in switching see the benefits Timeline offers.
Timeline is a very interesting way to map out the life of users or even businesses. Take a look at the New York Time's Facebook Timeline; it goes back before the internet even existed.
The Facebook Timeline is very eye catching and creative, but it is a little confusing to navigate and displays very detailed information about the user. Some fear they will be made to switch to the new look, but so far, Facebook has made it optional since December of 2011.
I am one of the fearful Facebook users, who does not want to be forced to switch to a format I am uncomfortable with, so I am hoping this positive publicity does not give Facebook any drastic ideas.
Read the full article by clicking the link below:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/05/tech/social-media/facebook-timeline-ireport/index.html?iphoneemail
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Gamers Start Creative Grassroots Campaign
A month ago, Bioware released the final installment to their space opera trilogy Mass Effect. Much to their surprise, the game's ending caused a massive uproar among fans. Within 48 hours of the game's release, RetakeME3 was created on Facebook and Twitter. The group not only provided a place for thousands of gamers to discuss their disappointment (understatement), but also began the protest for a new ending.
In an effort to break the "whiny, entitled, basement-dweller" persona, the group began a charity drive for Child's Play, an organization focused on raising money to provide entertainment for children hospitals. The group quickly raised $80,000, but the drive was cut short when the organization pulled out. Their movement doesn't stop there. They quickly raised $1,000 to send 400 cupcakes to Bioware to illustrate their disappointment in the endings. If this isn't pleasantly persistent, I'm not sure what is. Cleverly, Bioware used the cupcakes to create good will when they donated them to a children's home. The movement continues to come up with creative ways to spread the word and let Bioware know they aren't going anywhere.
Ryan Seacrest going to London Olympics for NBC
The 37-year-old "American Idol" host sat down with Matt Lauer on Wednesday's show to announce that he'll be taking part in NBC's coverage of the Summer Olympics.
It will be the first of "a lot of fun things" he expects to be doing at the network, Seacrest said.
I know there are mixed feelings about Seacrest, but I don't have a problem with him. I also happen to love watching the Olympics. So I'm ready to see how this all pans out. I'm sure Seacrest won't be leaving his sense of humor behind just because he's covering the Olympics.
Click here for story
Whitney Houston final autopsy
The Los Angeles County coroner ruled that Houston's February 11 death was an accidental drowning with the "effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use" as contributing factors. An empty bottle of the Xanax was found in her room, but the level of the sedative found in her blood was low, he said. Empty beer bottles were also found, but alcohol was not detected in her body. The coroner's report note that Houston suffered several small scald burns on her face at the time of her death. Toxicology testing measured .58 micrograms of cocaine per milliliter of blood drawn from a vein in her leg during the autopsy, which Pinsky called a moderate level.
Investigators found "a small spoon with a white crystal like substance in it and a rolled up piece of white paper" in the bathroom where Houston drowned, coroner's investigator Kristy McCracken wrote. Along with cocaine, the toxicology tests found other drugs in her body, including marijuana, the anti-anxiety drug Xanax, the muscle relaxant Flexeril and the allergy medicine Benadryl, the report said.
Wow I had no idea Whitney was such an addict. It's so sad to see such major talent go to waste. I knew she died from overdosing, but had no idea about everything else in her system.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/04/showbiz/whitney-houston-toxicology/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Pink Slime
Not so in the case of Beef Products Inc., the maker of “pink slime,” as it has become widely known by the public, or “lean, finely textured beef” as it is called by the company itself. On Monday, March 26, the company was in a fighting mood during a news conference that announced the temporary closing of several of its plants due to the public outcry about the product.
The Wendy's ad -- which appeared in USA Today, the Chicago Tribune and other newspapers -- plays on the chain's popular catch phrase from the 1980s, reading: "Where's The Pure Beef? At Wendy's, that's where!"
"We have never used lean finely textured beef (pink slime) because it doesn't meet our high quality standards," Wendy's spokesman Bob Bertini told Reuters.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
How To Be Popular At Work
Geoffrey James of Inc.com says that if you want to be appreciated at work, make sure everyone else feels welcome.Whenever people gather in any social setting, there is always one person who becomes the primary center of attention. People want to be around that person, and unconsciously seek his or her approval. Building rapport with people immediately after meeting them is a good way to become the popular person among your colleagues. While rapport building comes naturally to some, however, it is a mistake to believe that its something that can’t be consciously developed. Rapport building, like all human relationship skills, can be learned and taught. Sharing common experiences is not always so clear cut. For instance, having a conversation with somebody about sports is simple yet not always effective, because first of all they may not even like sports, and even if they do it's a conversation they can have with mostly anybody. According to Taylor, it's far more effective, when you meet somebody for the first time, to visualize that person as an honored guest in your home. If you’re like most people, when you welcome guests into your home, you are glad to see them and want them feel welcome and at ease. the best thing to do when meeting somebody or engaging in conversation is to appear genuinely interested in whatever they are talking about, this makes them feel welcome and comfortable, as well as ensures they have a positive view of you.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Duke University's "Cameron Campout" Campaign
Lululemon uses eavesdropping strategy
With a market value of $10.4 billion and sales of $712 million last year, Lulu is doing something right. The company doesn't rely on collecting costumer data, driving sales through discounts or building new stores around the country to increase sales. Instead, it stays in close contact with its customers and uses a sense of scarcity.
That's right... whether you think it's creepy or not, the staff of Lululemon are told to stand outside of dressing rooms and fold clothes in the store, rather than in the back, to eavesdrop and hear complaints first hand. They then create customer-employee relationships and use complaints to tweak the store.
Lululemon also focuses on the scarcity of its items. New colors and seasonal items usually get three, six or 12-week life cycles to encourage customers not to wait. For example, "Paris Pink" clothing items were supposed to have a two month cycle, but sold out after the first week.
Lulu's branding tactics of creating in-store relationships with the customers, along with short life cycles of clothing items are what has driven the success of the company. I think that society is relying too much on social media and not enough on personal relationships. Although I think social media is beneficial to branding, businesses should not forget the importance of in-person interactions.
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052702303812904577295882632723066-lMyQjAxMTAyMDIwMjEyNDIyWj.html?mod=wsj_share_email
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Mega Millions
The huge jackpot gained national attention and coverage without Mega Millions having to lift a finger. The prospect of winning $656 million generated plenty of buzz on its own.
However, this may also have a negative impact on Mega Millions. Economists suggest that a “negative hangover effect” sometimes exists when people come hyped about a lottery but then do not come out on top. This probably will not occur in this case because the people who always buy tickets will likely continue their regular play patterns.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-04-01/mega-millions-lottery/53932490/1?csp=34news
Thursday, March 29, 2012
More Kardashian News
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Lessons from a tattered pink ribbon
UPS Backfire
A few weeks ago UPS ran a TV advertisement dealing with the NCAA basketball tournament that tried to connect a pass that won "the greatest game" to its theme of logistical excellence. This blog post received 482 shares and 181 comments. Why?
In a 1992 game, "The Unforgettables" from the University of Kentucky had pulled ahead by one point in the closing seconds of overtime against Duke who were the defending national champions. Little did they know, the game wasn't over yet. Duke player Grant Hill threw the ball almost the length of the court to Christian Laettner, who turned and made the winning shot leaving Kentucky no time to answer.
“Everybody remembers the shot. But what about the pass? No pass, no shot,” the narrator says. “You need a special player to get the ball exactly where it needs to be, exactly when it needs to be there.”
Kentucky fans exploded. Not only was this the most heart-breaking loss in the history of their sports program which UPS was now playing over and over again, but UPS has major facilities in Kentucky.
UPS decides to address the controversy in a blog trying to sooth irate Kentucky fans by creating a post by an actual Kentucky graduate that explained the thinking behind the ad.
“I know our new ads will anger some UK fans, but if you truly look at that game with an objective eye, it’s hard to think of a better example of what determined people working together toward a common goal can accomplish—and that’s what UPS is all about.
“No one should think that UPS has some kind of anti-UK bias. On the contrary, UPS loves Kentucky. We love it so much we established our primary air hub in the commonwealth, which has driven the creation of 33,000 jobs with $300 million in annual payroll.”
This also didn't work. Kentucky fans responded with:
“Here’s an idea for your next UPS ad. How about you detail the ‘logistics’ of a major company receiving huge tax breaks from a state as an incentive to move there. Then you could show the ‘teamwork’ required to make an ad highlighting the most heartbreaking moment in that state’s sports history. Sounds like another winner.
“It’s bad you wrote this post trying to justify the ad, but to do so in such a condescending manner explaining to everyone how great the play was makes it even worse.”
Many Kentucky fans vowed never to use UPS again. UPS could suffer greatly from this ad.
Skittles: “Taste the…Backlash?”
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
"Operation Hackerazzi"
HUNGER GAMES!!!!!...........Racist?
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
Duracell Powers Up Olympic Marketing
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
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
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
The NFL Can Throw 'Saving Face' Out the Window
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
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?
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