Now there’s a blog headline that can’t be ignored, right?
With just four words it proves the case of the marketing effort I got a chance to learn more about at the annual workshop for the National Association of Bar Executives (NABE) Communication Section – in Las Vegas, appropriately enough.
In a session titled “Marketing Las Vegas in the Pasta Economy,” Terry Jicinsky, the senior vice president of operations for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, talked about the “What happens here, stays here” campaign.
Before I go into some details, I’ll explain the pasta reference. Jicinsky defined it as an indicator of the choices Americans are making in terms of discretionary income. That is, the number of people/families staying home on a Saturday night eating a cheap pasta meal versus going out for dinner.
Makes sense.
Las Vegas clearly is a discretionary destination. And that distinction requires a different approach to marketing and public relations.
Jicinsky outlined his case to the professional communicators in the room by considering the challenges we have in common: Read the rest of this entry »
So I get that it might be interesting for pro and college sports fans to follow their favorite players and coaches on Twitter, assuming those tweets are legit and actually from the athlete in question. The NBA’s Shaquille O’Neal (@THE_REAL_SHAQ) clearly is having fun with Twitter. And though I hate the Yankees, I do think you can’t ignore how Twitter has helped fans connect to players like Nick Swisher (@NickSwisher).
Those guys are pros. In the public eye. Presumbly people care to know what they have to say.
Even the major college athletes and coaches on Twitter have something to offer, and help promote their schools and teams.
But I noticed a trend here in the Twin Cities this week that has me wondering if it’s a big deal or not. A few players on a top-ranked high school football team here in Minnesota are on Twitter, tweeting their thoughts in the days leading up to their next game and after.
Harmless high school drivel, aimed mostly at their friends I suppose. Makes me wonder if they’re doing the same thing on Facebook. Who has time for homework, right?
I guess I’m leaning toward thinking as long as it stays clean it helps promote their school and community and connects them to their fellow students, fans in the stands and alumni… things I try to do by producing weekly podcasts for football teams like Lakeville North (MN), then it’s fine.
Again, this is just one team that I happened to notice. Are there others in Minnesota, or your city? I suppose. Just seems to be a little early for the self-promotion to set in. Complete with misspellings, profanity… things that probably make their parents real proud. But done right, with an emphasis on building and connecting with the fan base in a readable way, I don’t have a problem with it.
Oh well. A sign of the over-sharing Twitter times that we’re in, I guess. Nothing to get too worked up about.
Speaking of Twitter, just for fun enjoy this video that actor Ben Stiller (@RedHourBen) posted in August, featuring his discussion about Twitter with legendary Hollywood icon Mickey Rooney. It’ll give you a good laugh:
Did you catch the latest episode of The King and Us, a Burger King-sponsored cartoon that airs during the Fox NFL Sunday pregame show?
While the first few of these have at least been mildly amusing for the Fox football fan audience (including this from Week 1), the latest clip was just plain lame and an example of a brand letting a network have a little too much leeway:
Apparently, the script for this gem was written months ago, when it was trendy to make jokes about singer/actress Jessica Simpson’s weight gain after breaking up with Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo.
Seriously, even Jay Leno has moved on.
The clip above featured cartoon versions of Cowboys coach Wade Phillips and players Jason Witten, Marion Barber and Romo discussing Simpson.
Fake Witten says, “Unlike Tony, at least Jessica comes up big when it counts.”
Fake Phillips says “Is Jessica around? We could use a defensive tackle.”
A fake Simpson even appears in the cartoon, standing next to a fictional Kyle Orton of the Broncos, saying “Sorry boys, I only lose weight for winners.”
Har, har har.
I doubt that Witten or Phillips signed off on those witty zingers. You’d think the NFL Player’s Union would require some involvement by the players in something like this, the way they do for video games like Madden, etc…
You’d also think BK would have some say in at least reviewing the spots before they air. But apparently not – or they don’t care – according to the AdvertisingAge Adages blog which got little input from Burger King’s Katie Boylan in its wrapup of this waste of network airtime:
…Boylan confirmed that the chain sponsored the skit, but Fox created it. She declined to comment further. A Fox Sports spokesman said that Burger King does not approve the sketches before they air.
Fox apparently doesn’t realize the clip missed the mark. As you saw above, they include it on their YouTube channel. You’d think BK would have told them by now to take it down if they sensed the criticism of the spot would hurt them.
Last I checked, you could gain a few pounds eating at BK. Man or woman. So I guess they’re the perfect sponsor for what passed for comedy on Sunday.
No such thing as bad publicity, right?
This is the same BK, as the DailyFinance points out, that had an ad this year for the “Super Seven Incher” (as seen on PopWatch on EW.com).
Nice.
For her part, I think the now-slimmed down Simpson is missing a chance to say something, anything, on her Twitter account. Apparently, her reputation and a chance to get the public on her side isn’t as important at the moment as her dog being snatched by a coyote. But I digress.
As a corporate communicator, would your CEO be open to giving you a few minutes of his time to answer questions about your company, via Twitter?
Amazing how well Ford’s Alan Mulally comes across in this clip. Transparent? You bet. I like how “raw” his responses are, shows you how he processed his answer – out loud – to each question that came in.
Ford’s Scott Monty, who also appears in the video, showed this clip at BlogWell Minneapolis at General Mills in August. There’s no reason why CEO’s of companies large and small shouldn’t follow Mulally’s lead.
How many screens do you come in contact with on a daily basis? Think about it. Your clock radio. Your TV. Your phone. Your computer. Your mp3 player.
And so on.
Now think about how many of those screens you touch to make something happen. Amazing isn’t it? We’ve certainly traveled lights years in just the last five years, let alone 10 or 20.
During a talk that I heard Kara Swisher from All Things D give in May at the Software Information Industry Association’s NetGain conference in San Francisco (I was there because the corporate blog I help manage was up for an SIIA CODiE Award), she played a Microsoft video similar to this one that some of you may have seen:
You think we’re dependent on screens now? The possibilities for touch screens – as shown in that video – in the years ahead are mind-boggling and will be fascinating.
Having written on this blog before about “Deltalina“, who stars in Delta’s renowned in-flight safety video, it’s only fitting that I spotlight another airline’s safety video – and PR campaign – which debuted last month. And has been a huge hit on YouTube.
It’s from Air New Zealand, and takes what Sports Illustrated has done with body paint and bikinis for its annual swimsuit edition to a new level. Yes, flight attendants, pilots and other airline staff, wearing body-painted uniforms.
The safety video, and a related commercial, are well-done… and in good taste.
Even with this closing image in the safety video, after one of the flight attendants turns around and walks away from the camera in this strategically blurred shot:
Again, well-done. I also like that Air New Zealand produced a video that shows the behind-the-scenes work that went into that commercial – a brilliant PR move to add to the curiosity of the campaign:
I also like their YouTube channel name… “AirNZnothing2hide” – where you can see the videos in the campaign, And, they also feature everything on a website for the campaign.
Clever.
For more background, The New York Times has some interesting details about the campaign, here.
A puking woman, supposedly because she found porn on her husband’s computer, was supposed to help Microsoft sell Internet Explorer 8?
Clearly the video, designed for the Web – not TV, was supposed to push the edge a bit. But Microsoft misjudged the potential reaction and pulled it from its “ie8video” YouTube channel yesterday after a bit of a backlash. And 255,000 views.
Titled “O.M.G.I.G.P.” I found it on YouTube here, consider yourself warned:
According to this story in the Brisbane Times, the spot was described by one veteran technology commentator as the “worst tech commercial ever”…
And in a statement, Microsoft said the ad was intended to be a “tongue-in-cheek” look at IE8’s InPrivate Browsing feature using “irreverent humour”.
Great, I’ll get IE8 so my wife won’t know when I’m looking at porn, thus preventing her from puking over my lack of respect for her.
That’s the sales hook? Nice.
Here’s the PR spin from the Microsoft statement: “While much of the feedback to this particular piece of creative was positive, some of our customers found it offensive, so we have removed it.”
“Much…” of the feedback. “Some…” of our customers.
Better to have “some” buzz, then “much” respect, right?
Puke? Porn?
To me, the trouble starts with the fact the clip was directed by “comedian” Bob Goldthwait, who starred in the Police Academy movies. Not necessarily a barrel of laughs. Goldthwait also directed the three other spots in the campaign featuring actor Dean Cain. Those other clips are mildly amusing, but still odd to say the least.
Poor Dean Cain.
Take the time to watch them and decide for yourself. I will say that the most amusing of the rest is titled “F.O.M.S.,” the Fear of Missing Something on the Web:
If you work in corporate communications, you’re probably at the point where your company is at least talking about using the various tools of social media, if they haven’t implemented something already, right?
Wrong?
Oh… no. Not good.
I pity you if you can identify with one of these five scenarios.
1. A manager in your corp comm department asks you… “What’s RSS?”
2. A mid-level executive says… “Why should we be on YouTube, there’s nothing but Diet Coke and Mentos clips on there.”
3. An any-level manager/executive says… “I really don’t think we need to worry what bloggers say about us.”
4. A marketer for one of your company’s products asks you… “Have you heard of Twitter?”
5. Your CEO says… “I’d like to start my own blog, can you write it for me?”
Catching up on podcasts again. Mitch Joel had a great conversation last month about digital marketing and social media with Avinash Kaushik, “Analytics Evangelist” at Google (Six Pixels of Separation #152).
If the mere mention of analytics makes you run for the door, this podcast will blow away any thought you have that analytics are boring. Kaushik is enthusiastic about his craft.
First off, we all need to understand this stuff better. And by stuff, I mean how to measure the impact your social media efforts are having on behalf of your company, brand, etc… What do you measure? How do you do it? What’s significant and what isn’t?
Are you measuring and caring about the wrong things?
And, how you can capitalize on the conversations on the Web that are happening about your company, for good or bad?
The title of this post came right from Kaushik in the conversation with Joel, after Joel asked him if businesses and brands really want two-way conversations in this day and age on the Web, since it doesn’t lead to big sales overnight. It’s more of a long-term effort.
“You don’t have a choice,” Kaushik replied.
In 2007 and 2008, he says, businesses still had a choice in how to interact with customers – and do what they had always done if they wanted to - but we’ve reached a point where it is mandatory that you have two-way conversations.
“The influence channels that have worked thus far – TV and coupons – don’t work anymore and they will not work anymore at a rapidly escalating pace. With every passing day the slope of the curve is becoming more and more hard to reach.
Another great takeaway comes toward the end of this podcast, when Kaushik says he spends four hours a week learning about something new he didn’t know about before. If you aren’t, you will be irrelevent. If you are, you will be at “the top of the mountain,” Kaushik says.
Good advice, indeed.
Anyone doing marketing, PR or corporate communications must listen to this podcast. Whether you think you know what social media is about, or not.
Kaushik’s smarts are scary. His enthusiasm is contagious. Listen to this podcast and learn.
The director of the White House Military Office, Louis Caldera, thought this was a good idea? A photo op for a plane that passes for Air Force One, along with an F-16… over Manhattan?
Seriously?
So if you and I agree that if we had been in the room when this photo op was dreamed up the idea would have been killed instantly, how come Caldera – and everyone around him? – lacked our brilliant foresight?
You can read more about this debacle here. Perhaps Caldera will be canned after all.
But allow me a key takeaway from a PR perspective:
-Don’t do anything that will be seen by thousands of people, if not millions, without your boss knowing about it
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Wheel on the Web
This blog covers developments and discussions in news, business, social media, digital media and PR. It is written by Kevin Hunt, a digital media/PR professional and former TV news executive producer in Farmington, Minnesota.
The opinions and content expressed here are in no way connected to my employer or clients. They're mine. Period.
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