what you can learn from a whale attack
Scott Monty has an outstanding review of the good things that Seaworld did, after the when good killer whales go bad incident.
This is great reference for any brand using social media tools, and how to use them wisely in a challenging, difficult situation.
Labels: blogging, pr, social media
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:49 AM
0 comments
Monday, May 11, 2009
just tell your story
Storyteller Gary Vaynerchuk has some really great advice for businesses planning a major PR launch, or a reaction to something in the marketplace.
Just tell your story.
Sounds simple, sounds like common sense, yet it's so easy for companies to get buried in the muck of PowerPoint decks and intensive "plans." Gary lays it out in true Gary V style.
Labels: marketing, pr, social media
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:10 AM
0 comments
Thursday, March 26, 2009
the colonel is coming to fix your roads
KFC just launched a promotion where they'll send the Colonel to five major cities across the nation. To fill potholes.
KFC wants to promote their ability to fill bellies with fresh meat by filling holes with fresh tar. It's a part of their "Fresh Tastes Best" campaign.
Freshening city roads is a cool idea that's sure to make everyone happy. Picking up the cost will make five cities very happy. And the Colonel in road-working safety gear will make the press photographers really happy. Everyone wins. Let's get chicken.
Download the Colonel's open letter to Mayors here: http://senduit.com/bdbc8b. (That link will be live for one week, thanks to the folks at Senduit.)
Colonel: call us. You need a campaign site that tells the story. A big promotion without a url is a missed opportunity. We know people.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:36 AM
2 comments
Thursday, February 12, 2009
think before you tweet
A reporter for the National Post who either doesn't understand Twitter, or doesn't understand basic human interaction (or both) posted a series of completely embarrassing and unprofessional tweets to Marketing consultant April Dunford (pictured above).
April didn't call him back as quickly as he would have liked. So he chastised her on the phone. She tweeted about the exchange (without naming him), and then things went south. Real south. See the entire exchange on MediaStyle. Yikes.
From Social Media 411
Labels: pr, social media, twitter
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:27 AM
1 comments
Thursday, January 29, 2009
what to do when they show up with pitchforks and torches
Muhammad Saleem writes a post on Mashable about how to survive a social media revolt. Great advice for any marketing/brand/social media person living today. If you're too lazy to click through, here's the five major points:
1. Communicate Even If You Have Nothing to Say
2. Be Forthright
3. Make It Clear That You’re Listening
4. Acknowledge Your Mistakes
5. Promise to Learn and Improve - Then Deliver
When you take a look at these suggestions, they may make you realize that this is a cool PR philosophy to live by in any situation - not just a social media disaster.
From Cory Obrien, via Twitter.
Labels: pr, social media
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:39 AM
0 comments
Monday, November 17, 2008
motrin's mommy mess
On Friday, Motrin launched a new campaign geared toward mommies, that referred to "baby wearing" as a trend that could could cause them personal pain. Lots of mommies disagree. And they started talking about it. And tweeting about it. And blogging about it. You could say that this weekend was Motrin-mommy-fest in the social media world.
There's a video devoted to the distaste for the campaign. A collection of tweets and links related to the distaste for the campaign. And countless blog posts. And as of the writing of this post - THEIR SITE IS DOWN, likely because it wasn't prepared to handle the onslaught of traffic.
So what did Motrin do wrong? They launched a creative execution that pissed some moms off. And they weren't listening to the internet over the weekend.
Realistically, no person's life is at stake here. This is not a 'stop the organization' emergency. But it's going to be very important to listen. And to respond.
Parents tell their teens that "the internet is permanent. Be careful of what you post there." Here's just one list of negative blog posts about Motrin. That's a permanently recorded negative response from a very large crowd of moms. Yikes. It will be quite interesting to see how Motrin deals with this, during the week.
In the end, what people will likely remember is how they handled it. Not the campaign itself, or the fact that they didn't have their Twitter ears on over a weekend.
What can you learn from this?
+ Be active in social media. Or have an agency that is monitoring it for you.
+ Social media doesn't stop at 5pm on Friday.
+ Have an emergency plan, or the ability to respond quickly to an audience. A blog is nice for this.
+ Mommies really enjoy 'wearing' babies.
Labels: blogging, branding, marketing, pr, social media, twitter
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:53 AM
3 comments
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
pr students: everything you need to know
Twitter buddy Brad Ward is speaking to a bunch of college PR students. So naturally, he sent a tweet asking:
"HEY!!!! If you had 133 characters to tell a class of PR college students something, what would it be? Tag it #jr342. Thanks!! And retweet."
The results are pretty amazing. Tweets from across the globe came in within a matter of hours, with wise advice that couldn't possibly be duplicated in any textbook, professor's lecture or general internet search. Students: bookmark this, and refer back to it, often.
Labels: education, inspiration, pr, social media, twitter
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:47 AM
4 comments
Monday, October 13, 2008
twitter for journalists
Herd points to Reporting On, a Twitter like tool for reporters. You tweet about what you're working on, and anyone with a lead can chime in and help. Across the globe. Even bloggers.
Labels: pr, social media, twitter
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:16 AM
0 comments
Friday, July 18, 2008
reporters are looking for you
XtinaR tells us about Help a Reporter. Sign up as a potential source. Reporters email you with stuff they're looking for. If you fit the bill, you help them out. Everyone wins. Cool.
Labels: pr, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:05 AM
1 comments
Thursday, January 17, 2008
keep the lawyers out of the room
Wow. Must be "how not to handle social media" day. First Target, now Mattel and Hasbro.
If you're on Facebook (and if you're not, what are you doing??) you've probably heard of the application Scrabulous. Maybe it's reinvigorated your love for the game.
Well Hasbro and Mattel apparently just woke up and discovered the game. Were they delighted that this social media device was invigorating their brand? Did they embrace it and find a way to make it theirs?
Nope. They sent attorneys. Matt Dickman has a wonderful post on what their approach and thinking could have been. Or should have been.
Labels: facebook, pr, social media
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:45 AM
0 comments
how not to run a PR department
Believe what you want about the controversial Target ad featuring a girl on the Target logo, with her special place as the bull's eye.
Whether you like the concept or think it's sexist, this is NOT the way to handle it when things start to blow up.
When blogger Amy contacted them to see if they realized their ad might be controversial, they hit her back with this reply:
"Good Morning Amy,
Thank you for contacting Target; unfortunately we are unable to respond to your inquiry because Target does not participate with non-traditional media outlets. This practice is in place to allow us to focus on publications that reach our core guest.
Once again thank you for your interest, and have a nice day."
Yikes. Target??? Doesn't acknowledge non-traditional media outlets like blogs? There are sooo many ways this could have been handled. And this one's not even on the list.
Does your PR team understand social media? Would they know how to react? Better to ask yourself the question now, and be prepared. (Your agency is at the studio, putting a naked girl on a banana seat bike for your next campaign. Hurry.)
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:37 AM
1 comments
