Presentations

I was under the weather most of last week (as you may have noticed) and I didn't get a chance to blog, but I wanted to comment tonight as I thought last night's presentations were exceptionally well delivered. Everyone's presentation was interesting, well put together, and informative. I believe that we, as a class, are growing in our presentation skills as well as in our confidence to deliver a quality message to our peers. Great work, everyone!

Now on to the next... and I believe the end is in sight. :)

QR Codes @ Best Buy

Since our social media course, when I discovered what a QR code was, I've been paying more attention to them. The other day, I was in a Best Buy and noticed they had QR codes on the shelf tags for most of their electronics. What a great idea! Not only does this show they are "with the times" but I'm sure it also helps them save on employee costs. By utilizing QR codes, a prospective purchaser does not have to wait to talk to a sales associate, instead, they can simply scan the code. While I believe something like this works well in a store like Best Buy, where many shoppers are rather tech savy, it will be interesting to see how far this technology goes...will it eventually be commonplace in grocery stores?

Know your Audience: Today AND Tomorrow

Although I spent last week's class @ a conference in Miami "wining and dining" prospective clients, I must say I still learned a little :)
I had a great conversation with a real estate developer from the west coast. His company is currently designing neighborhoods for Southern California which will be developed over the next 20 years. He has been stirring up thought that their current target market is wrong. Instead of gaining insight from today's 30 something and designing housing on their wants as they are doing now, they should be looking at today's 10 year old. After all, this will be their target market in 20 years when the neighborhoods will be fully developed. Today's 10 year old, he said, has a whole new way of thinking than what the current 30 somethings cared about at their age. This will effect their buying decisions in the future. He insisted that they need to design from the future "30 somethings" perspective; not today's and they can begin to gain insight from them even at their current age.

I think he brings up a great point. Percy points out that when selecting a target market, you need to understand their lifestyle and psychographic profile. 30 somethings in twenty years certainly will have a different set of norms and social awareness than today's.

Overall: Its important for any company to plan for the future and understand what their target market will look like tomorrow. This is where innovation is born!

merging traditional and new media

I saw this article earlier today and I thought it fit in well with our discussion last weeks about traditional types of advertising and integrating them with new media: Super Bowl Ads

I though that this quote was great: "The public sentiment about sports and entertainment sponsorship has turned back into a positive light," said David Schwab, a VP at Octagon, an Interpublic Group of Cos. sports- and entertainment-marketing company. "The reach you get with the Super Bowl and the additional publicity and social-media play is unparalleled to anything in the market."

Personally, I like that companies are sticking with what they know works and using social media to back up their traditional advertising efforts. It's nice to see that some big names like GM and Pepsi are back to advertising on one of sports biggest platforms-The Super Bowl!

Advertisement that catches attention

Okay, I have to admit, I grew up in Canada, and despite the fact that I may be the first person to make a mocking remark about "my home and native land" there is still something about the land and the people that give me a pang that can be somewhat described as a mix of homesickness and pride that makes me miss and love the place at the same time. (Much like New Jersey natives I often hear myself saying "so-and-so's from Canada") I guess I do have a love of the old neighbourhood J Recently I have been seeing billboards for Molson Canadian with a bottle or can superimposed over an image of a wheat field or mountains with text saying "Made from Canada". I hate these billboards. For the past 12 years living on and off in the states I have heard so many mocking stories of how unintelligent Americans feel Canadians are (primarily because of how pleasant and polite Canadians are compared to Americans, oh, and I guess the accent), to me the first things I thought of when seeing these billboards were those stories, it is not proper English, it does not make much sense, what is a Canada? It is not a tangible entity.

While the billboards make me angry, there is a 1 minute commercial spot that counteracts the feelings from the billboard, Made From Canada, while using the same slogan. Somehow between the outdoor advertisement and a live action commercial there is a disconnect, where one leaves a person feeling disappointed in a "Canadian" brand (ask Canadians, most don't drink Molson) the other give a warm/fuzzy feeling.

Brand Consideration

According to Doug Checkeris, the CEO of MediaCOM North America, today’s consumers are more thoughtful about their purchases than they were prior to the recession—and that’s not going to change anytime soon. Although the economy is looking better, consumers have become more purchase savvy and will no longer settle for a quick decision. They are now trained buyers who want considerable product information before handing over the plastic. In this article, Checkeris goes on to say that consumers are turning to social media for their brand education.

Not only is it interesting that consumers are pursuing social media sites during brand consideration, but it’s worthwhile to note that today’s consumers are taking more time in the brand consideration stage. They are driven to be educated; they want facts; and if a brand doesn’t provide information when the customer wants it and where the customer is looking for it, that brand will likely lose out on the sale.

It's Difficult to Recover From Recalls

With our recent class discussion focusing on PR issues, Johnson and Johnson comes to mind as a company that's been through some large scale recalls, and subsequently PR issues lately. According to an article by the Associated Press, Johnson and Johnson has had eleven recent recalls ranging from medications, to contacts, to hip replacements. Probably their most detrimental recall was on April 30 and it included 136 million children and infants' medications. At this point, the CEO has said the focus is not on implementing a re-building trust media campaign, but rather on getting product back on the shelves. The media plan will follow once product is available again.

Although Johnson and Johnson has long been revered as a trust worthy company, they have a lot of work to do to re-gain the trust of their customers. It will be especially difficult for them because they are trying to capture the trust of an already extremely product sensitive population: parents of infants and children.

PR and Twitter

I enjoyed Greg Kamp's discussion of public relations in the last class. I particularly found it interesting that media reps are using Twitter as a primary means of finding news stories, a trend to which PR professionals are responding. I did a little more research on this subject, and today I found this article that reiterated not only this growing trend, but addressed the potential disaster that can strike a firm that doesn't respond to the social media/Twitter trend in a prompt manner.

Responding means not only utilizing the media, but also restructuring the entire organization to understand and compensate for major changes in day-to-day operations. This is an interesting and brief read that really drives home the realities of PR and social media.

Budget Season

Is anyone else in the throws of forecasting and budget season?? One thing that I really wish I had more training on was how to set-up a successful budget and budget tracking tools.

When I think back to undergrad I don't remember learning any-- and now in graduate school I think it would be really helpful to learn more ROI techniques along with budget training.

I know a lot of us are hoping to use our graduate degrees toward management positions in the future. I know that is one area that I could use more practice in.

Does anyone else use any great templates or understand seismic calculations, etc?

Hayley

Female Reports in Male locker rooms

Recently, the New York Jets owner issued an apology on behalf of his organization to report Ines Sainz for the harassing behavior of his players. When Sainz was conducting an interview with Jets QB Mark Sanchez, other players were hooting and making comments in the background. Sainz ignored the comments though they made her feel uncomfortable. Other female reports witnessed this behavior and reported it to the Jets' leadership.

I applaud the efforts of the owner in apologizing, however, isn't it a hazard of the job when it comes to males dominated sports. I mean if a woman is in the locker room for interviewing, there will be comments that will be made because you are in what is considered a "male domain." Unfortunately, it is common for events such as this to take place in locker rooms. However, it is the first time that a public comment has been made.

I can imagine the chaos that was taking place within the PR office and how they would handle the situation. Especially, when attitudes towards professional athletes have begun to take a turn into the negative. Organizations need to begin to take player conduct on and off the field more seriously before it causes them to spend unnecessary money in settling harassment lawsuits.

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/13/new-york-jets-kicks-off-season-facing-harassment-claim/?hpt=C2

HARO

Thank you to Greg Kamp for the tip about HARO. HARO, or Help a Reporter Out, is a great source for public relations professionals. As Greg mentioned, once you sign up, HARO will email you three times a day with a listing of upcoming news articles, along with questions the writers are seeking. Businesses and individuals can then contact the reporters, explain why they should be considered sources, and they might receive some free publicity because of it.

I was really excited about the idea of this website, but also somewhat skeptical. Would the reporters only be interested in national companies? Or maybe the queries would be so specific, St. Ann’s would never be able to participate. “Looking for one eyed males, ages 23-44, who enjoy jet skiing.” But lo and behold, this service is one that practically any company can use. This evening’s email had 59 queries, with articles that ranged from travel to business to high tech industries. And I even felt like some people I know personally could be sources for a few of the pieces. Like the one education post that made me think of a certain college I attend . . . .

But word to the wise, there are rules. One being that you can’t repost the queries on blogs. Sorry Susan! But you can forward the emails . . . .

Sign up today at www.helpareporter.com.

Public Safety Announcements

I was checking email the other day and I noticed a banner ad for CSXT railways, which services most of the Eastern United States and Canada. The ad itself made me curious as to what why CSXT would be posting an ad for railroad safety. I started looking into the number of crashes as of late. It does appear that worldwide 2010 has been a year fraught with accidents, many of them deadly. While in Rochester we may not notice trains too much other than, maybe, taking a tour of the old subway or watching the clock when we are stuck watching one slowly pass us by. Despite what may be considered our local ignorance, (if it’s not around me, it’s not important) trains do still crisscross the United States, and are mainstays of transportation across the globe. With 4+ billion people utilizing this method of transportation daily, accidents are bound to happen, and those accidents are likely to be fatal. CSXT has not had crash in the US in 5 years, and when they have had accidents they have not been deadly. Despite this fact they still need to keep awareness up, that the reason CSXT is having such a high level of safety, is due to the cooperation of the people who both use trains and are around them at any time. The ad itself was affective in that it grabbed attention, and made customers and non customers aware of some general safety. In doing some searches for this article I came across the CSXT site CSXT Advertisements showcasing many of their ads that are running right now about the benefits of trains. AND CSXT Safety which has all of their public safety announcements listed for workers, community, and riders.

"Crisis" Management Resource

PR guru Johnathen Bernstein defines a Crisis as "Any situation that is threatening or could threaten to harm people or property,seriously interrupt business, damage reputation and/or negatively impact share value."

Although I agree with Greg Kamp on his thoughts on what really should be considered a crisis (I.E. Shooting at a University), it is still important that a business should learn how to plan and manage situations that may potentially damage its brand in any way (I'm sure Greg feels the same way).

Check out Bernstein's website and blog where you'll fine tips and information on both types of "crisis". You can also subscribe to free monthly newsletters from his site!

B-A in the D&C!

In case any of you missed your classmate in Sunday's Business Section: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20100905/GROUP01/9050317/-1/group01/A-leader-in-the-family-business

IMC Points by Paul Bush

Hi everyone- please read this brief informative article below by looking at this website:

http://www.adhub.com/columns/paul_bush_01.html

Interesting points by Paul Bush on the aspects of branding for the IMC scenario and
this happens to be one of my clients. He owns a very efficient ad agency that any
small businesses can afford in print or media- check it out and see what they have to offer.
The company name is Persuasive Communications and the website resources is the Ad Hub-
check those out when you have the chance and what was interesting last week, I was referred
to someone in Linked-In and that happens to be my fellow classmate from my junior college days!
Enjoy!

Campaign Backlash

I saw this article on a recent Nike ad campaign and thought I would share it: At West Virginians' request, Nike alters campaign exploiting deaths of West Virginians

This isn't a crisis but deals with a negative perception of one of their ad campaigns and how quickly they are willing to change the ad campaign because people spoke out against it. I though this was a good article to read following our recent PR class.
Enjoy,
Mike