This Week’s Hot Couple: Facebook and Instagram. Will it Last?
by Sarah Hamilton on April 12, 2012 | no comments
in Facebook, Networking
You’ve probably heard the old saying, “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”
Last Monday, Facebook did just that when it purchased Instagram, a free photo sharing application for iPhone and Android. While there are a few theories as to why Facebook made this one billion dollar purchase, most of them stem from the same belief: Facebook feared competition.
Perhaps Facebook wanted to buy Instagram (which has been downloaded more than 30 million times since its 2010 release) before competitors like Google did. This would not only keep Instagram out of rival’s hands, but give Facebook a competitive edge on its applications for mobile and tabloid users.
Some theorists, such as analyst Rob Enderle, suggest Facebook purchased Instagram in order to strengthen itself against rapidly growing Pinterest.
“Instagram is a reasonable competitive hedge against Pinterest. At the heart of both startups is picture indexing, they are just handled differently,” Enderle said.
Facebook co-founder, Mark Zuckerburg, provided a very different reason for the purchase.
“For years, we’ve focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family,” he said. “Now, we’ll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.”
Regardless of the reason for Facebook’s one billion dollar purchase, it will be interesting to see what becomes of the new pair… if they last.
According to Yahoo News, numerous Instagram users are outraged at the recent purchase, fearing a privacy breach because Facebook could have access to their uploaded Instagram photos. This led hundreds of Instagram users to delete their accounts.
What do you think about the acquisition? Was it worth it?
Photo Credit: Ambro
Do It Like Disney
by Rosemary Plorin on April 10, 2012 | no comments
in Branding, Organizational Behavior
I recently had the good fortune to experience a magical few days in Disney World. Though I spent most of my time enjoying the parks as my six-year old did, I could not help but notice how thoughtfully and thoroughly the Disney Company does its job. If ever there was an enduring – perhaps, indestructible – brand, it’s Disney.
That kind of success and endurance does not occur by accident. The culture of Disney was clearly set in stone (or castle rock) by its founders and has been protected and carefully enhanced ever since. I’m certainly not the first to be struck by Disney’s operating style and culture – countless business books have been written about the company over the years. But below are one small business person’s takeaways from a five-day immersion in the Disney experience.
Exceed expectations. Disney prides itself on over delivering and delighting customers. If an employee (who the Disney company refers to as a “cast member”) learns you are visiting the parks for the first time, you will be given a “First Time” button. And if you wear that button, you are likely to receive not only kind words and warm greetings, but extra scoops of ice cream on your cone or free stickers as you wait in line for a ride. When my husband commented on how much he enjoyed the raspberry sorbet in Cinderella’s castle, our server appeared with an extra serving in a to-go cup (which served as a great distraction from the bill he was signing at that moment). Are your employees encouraged to look for ways to exceed customer expectations? Is your leadership setting the example to do so?
Make it personal. Cast members say “Welcome home,” every time a guest walks into a hotel. While it may feel a bit saccharine or presumptuous to the curmudgeonly visitor, by the third or fourth reference, you really start to believe it – and you do feel at home. Who wouldn’t want to live in the most magical place on earth?
Own every mistake. If something goes wrong with a food order or during a ride, cast members are quick to acknowledge the problem, apologize for the inconvenience and offer some small reparation, such as a fast pass (to skip lines on a ride) or a Mickey trinket. The folks at Disney know that large crowds + hot weather + bad service = recipe for disaster. Cast members cannot control the weather and they welcome the crowds, so they do everything in their power to ensure that your experience is pleasant and your irritations are minimized. Is your company quick to acknowledge customer concerns and address them? Are your employees empowered to do so?
Protect the brand (and propagate it wildly). Disney is famous for fighting to preserve and protect its greatest asset – the Disney brand and everything it encompasses. You don’t find the Disney mark stretched out or misrepresented in weird colors and crazy fonts. And by and large, toys, apparel and even cultural experiences (think “Lion King” or “Beauty and the Beast”) are high quality products that are well marketed across all types of consumer goods. I happen to be a Perry the Platypus fan – you wouldn’t believe how much Perry paraphernalia is available! Are you cross selling your services and leveraging your business investments creatively?
I know. I sound like a crazed mom who had a little too much Disney cool aid on spring break. That may be true – my family had a wondrous vacation and I’m grateful. But as we rode the monorail one night after a parade in the Magic Kingdom, I pulled out my iPhone to look at the historical performance of Disney stock (NYSE:DIS) against the Dow and decided these folks know a thing or two about how to run a business over time.
Have you adopted any Disney principles in your small or large business?
For Marketers Who Want Their Commercials to Go Viral: Be coy with your logo and “out there” with joy and surprise.
by Paula Lovell on April 5, 2012 | 5 comments
in Marketing
Using infrared eye-trackers and technologies that analyze facial expressions, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School has predicted what’s needed in commercials to make them more apt to go viral.
The bottom line:
1. Don’t flaunt your brand logo. Show it repeatedly, but subtly.
2. Use joy and surprise, and use it early. People stay more engaged and stick with an ad when it starts with joy or surprise. Special note: surprise is good; shock is not. Funny is good; nudity keeps a lot of people from “sending it on.”
3. When creating a video ad, think roller coaster. People easily get bored, so you have to turn it on and off, creating an emotional roller coaster that pushes emotions from joyful to surprise; tension to relief. And all this in 30 or 60 seconds.
4. Only a subset of viewers will pass along an ad, no matter how joyful, surprising, mercurial or logo-subtle: primarily, people who are extroverts and/or egotistic. The extroverts are just out there sharing and having fun. As for the egotists, the author speculates that egotism is a trait of someone who shares an ad link because that kind of personality wants to be considered, “in the know,” media savvy and connected. Who knew?
The observations in the article in the Harvard Business Review aren’t that much of a surprise, but it has to be a monumental challenge to convince most company CEO’s to downplay their logo. And I can’t even imagine making a presentation of a new ad built around these pointers to “the suits” in most corporate boardrooms.
Seriously, how in the world do these agencies get this kind of risky promotion past the corporate gatekeepers?
How to prepare for your first PR job
by Allison Russo on April 3, 2012 | no comments
in Media Relations, Social Media
Last week Lovell Communications was fortunate to spend a few hours with a group of students from Lindsey Wilson College’s chapter of Lambda Eta Pi (the national communications honor society) and introduce them to the ins and outs of “agency life.” Many of the students are graduating in May and will be searching for their first PR jobs shortly thereafter. Before they came to our offices, some members of the Lovell team got together to discuss things we wished we had known about or considered as we prepared for our first jobs in the industry. Below are a few things we shared with them:
#1 Build a portfolio
You may be thinking…I’ve never had a job…what could I possibly put into a portfolio? Well, if you are a recent college grad, chances are you have plenty of materials that are worthy. Have you written an article for your college newspaper? How about a well-researched paper you wrote for a class? Good writing skills are something that will set you apart from the pack when applying for a job, and a portfolio is a great way to market what you have to offer.
In addition to writing, potential employers will be interested in any experience that relates to public relations. Perhaps you could showcase a campaign you prepared for your PR Campaigns class. If you don’t already have a campaign to share, volunteer your services to write press releases or help plan an event for a local business, not-for-profit organization or church.
Don’t worry if you don’t have a ton of work to include in your portfolio, as employers know you are applying as an entry-level candidate. The key to remember is quality vs quantity. Showing up to an interview with an organized portfolio will speak volumes about your preparedness and enthusiasm to potential employers.
#2 Familiarize yourself with the tools of the trade
Media relations, media monitoring and social media are three of the main tasks an entry-level PR person can expect to work on. Below are a few tools that PR students and recent grads can familiarize themselves with while preparing to land a first job. Not only will you be able to market these skills to future employers, but you will be one step ahead of the game once you start your job.
Google Alerts: Monitoring the media for client news, as well as their competitor’s news, is a very important part of public relations. Google has a great tool for having any relevant news you are interested in sent to your email as it appears online. Simply go to http://www.google.com/alerts and type in the keywords you would like to monitor for.
Factiva: Most university libraries have a Factiva account for students to use for research papers. Factiva is a database of all of the print and online news articles around the world. PR practitioners utilize this database on a regular basis to find articles written about their clients that may not have appeared online.
HARO: HARO, which stands for Help a Reporter Out, is an email subscription that PR practitioners can subscribe to for free to learn about what stories reporters are writing. Three times a day, HARO sends out an email with a list of queries from reporters looking for sources for their articles. This is a great way to find opportunities to get your client some press. You can sign up to receive these emails at a www.helpareporter.com and give pitching a try if there is an article that you think you have a source for(I see queries looking for college student sources all the time). If you land a story, it should go straight into your portfolio!
HootSuite: Social Media has become such big piece of the PR puzzle. And, while you may already be an expert on Facebook and Twitter, HootSuite is neat tool to become familiar with when you are trying to update social media for a number of clients. Essentially it will allow you to schedule and monitor posts across a number of social networks. You load in the tweet/updates, and it will do the work for you.
#3 Consider temporary work or post-graduate internships
Don’t overlook opportunities that are temporary or unpaid right off the bat. The job market is extremely competitive right now and having that little extra experience from a temp job or internship may be just what you need to push yourself through the door of your first full-time job. Additionally, the place where you temp or intern may be looking to fill a position down the road.
Thanks again, to the Lindsey Wilson students for visiting us last week and providing the inspiration for this post.
What do you wish you had known when you were preparing for your first PR job?
***On a side note, Paula Lovell adds that you should learn Excel and know how to create a flashy PowerPoint!
Refresher Course in Event Reporting
by Erin Lawley on March 29, 2012 | no comments
in Media Relations, Writing
Earlier this month, I attended Leadership Health Care’s 10-Year Anniversary Delegation to Washington, D.C. In case you’re unfamiliar with it, Leadership Health Care is an initiative of the Nashville Health Care Council aimed at fostering the next generation of Nashville’s healthcare leaders. Every year LHC organizes a trip to our nation’s capital to hear from lawmakers, Congressional staff, and leaders of key trade associations, among others.
During the two-day event, I served as a scribe for LHC – creating blog posts and tweets, coordinating with the photographer and shooting short videos with a Flip camera. The experience was a flashback to working as a reporter. (In fact, one nervous-looking Congressional staffer asked me, “You aren’t with the press, are you?” before participating in a panel discussion on healthcare policy.) And it gave me a two-day refresher course in some of the reporting and writing skills that are important to my job today.
- Knowing your audience: Especially in a conference environment, when there are many topics and quotes that could form the basis of a story, it’s critical to know who you’re writing to and what those readers care about. Writing to Nashville’s healthcare professionals meant – despite personal interest in certain storylines or colorful quotes – I stuck to the information that seemed most important to inform readers about the content and themes of the delegation.
- Taking good notes: There’s nothing worse than sitting down to write and being unable to remember the facts or quotes you need to tell the story. I tend to scrawl or type as much I can, verbatim. It helps me focus on what I’m hearing and increases my chances of having full quotes and thoughts to choose from when I start writing.
- Writing with a plan: Or an outline. When facing tight deadlines, I try to visualize the structure of the entire story before I dig in. Often, that means writing the opening paragraph then jotting one or two words that indicate the plan for each subsequent paragraph. After that, it’s just filling in the blanks.
- Managing your time: Writing with a plan is just one aspect of time management. It also means using every spare minute – the breaks between conference sessions, the time it takes a panel moderator to introduce speakers whose biographies you have in print form – to choose the quotes you want to use, upload videos, email photos and start writing.
Overall, I was glad to have been asked to participate in the LHC delegation as a scribe – not only did I get the benefit of the educational and networking opportunities of the event, but I was able to give myself a deadline reporting refresher course.
Photo credit: © 2012 Bill Burke/Page One
To Apply or Not to Apply? That is the Question.
by Dana Coleman on March 27, 2012 | 1 comment
in Branding, Search Engine Optimization, Website
There are several “opportunities” on the domain name front that are important for brand managers and trademark owners to consider, particularly for global consumer brands. To understand these opportunities, it’s necessary to unleash an entire new litany of acronyms, so brace yourself and here we go…
First, you have to know that a TLD is a top-level domain, or the suffix to the right of the dot in your URL. So for http://lovell.com, .com is the TLD.
A brand TLD is a new creation, and the application window for a brand TLD or “dot brand” closes on March 29. As the name suggests, this will give brand owners the opportunity to purchase a TLD specific to their brand, such as .coke or .pepsi; and it will probably be only the major players like those examples that apply due to the hefty $185,000 application fee. For those brands that can afford the investment, proponents say brand TLDs will improve SEO (search engine optimization) results, and PC World magazine calls the availability of Brand TLDs one of the top five changes facing the Internet in 2012.
Applications are also currently being accepted for gTLDs, or generic TLDs, such as .bank or .pizza. Along with the equally steep $185,000 application fee plus ongoing registry operation costs, gTLDs come with substantial responsibility. Applying for a gTLD is applying to run the registry business for that name, just as Verisign is currently responsible for .com TLDs.
Also currently up for grabs are names in a new category of sponsored TLDs, known as sTLDs. Familiar examples of sTLDs are .edu, reserved exclusively for U.S. post-secondary education establishments, and .gov, reserved for U.S. government sites at the federal, state and local levels. The new sTLD is .xxx, known as dot triple-X. As you might expect, a dot triple-X will indicate a pornographic site. Sponsored by the IFFOR (International Foundation for Online Responsibility), registering as a dot triple-X is voluntary for providers of explicit content. Proponents say the dot triple-X sTLD will make it easier for parents and employers to block this entire category of websites. While it’s unclear how many providers of pornography are applying for their new sTLD, many colleges and businesses are busy snatching them up at the cost of $100 per year to proactively prevent others from doing so.
Some registry periods include a sunrise period in which the owner of a trademark can block their trademark from being used by others. The sunrise period for dot triple-X domains has already closed, but trademark owners as well as anyone else can still register. This serves as a good reminder, however, that you must own the trademark registration for a trademark you may seek to protect in future sunrise periods. If you don’t already own your trademark registration, this may certainly be an investment in your brand worth considering.
I’m sure I’ve barely scratched the surface of the TLD morass, but my head hurts from the new acronyms I’ve already absorbed. What’s your take on all this? Share your thoughts or teach me a new acronym!
Photo credit: http://bit.ly/GU1gtX
Study Shows We Want More News!
by Robin Embry on March 22, 2012 | no comments
in Media Relations, The Media, Writing
Is there a glimmer of hope for the rapidly declining news media industry? The ninth edition of the State of the News Media was released this week by Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, and the trends and key findings are definitely worthy of note. For the past several years the report has focused on the downward spiral of the news industry and the rise of technology. This year is a little more of the same except, according to the study, news is becoming more important to people. This could be a small silver lining for journalists and newspapers.
Our appetite for news is indeed growing, but there is a continuous shift in how we want to receive it…not necessarily a strike against the industry. More than a quarter of the population now gets news from mobile devices, and this trend is responsible for a nine percent increase in traffic to major newspaper sites last year. Thanks to apps and direct newspaper home page visits on our phones, access to news is easier than ever and it’s having a positive impact on news sites.
Another interesting trend is that, for the first time in almost a decade, the three main broadcast television networks saw an increase (4.5%) in news viewership, and CNN experienced a 16 percent increase. At the local level, the morning and evening news ratings grew for the first time in five years. Again, positive news.
It seems print media is quickly trying to respond to our thirst for easily accessible online information. In fact, the Pew Report projects that in the next several months we will see more than 100 more publications join the existing 150 publications that have moved to a digital subscription.
Our hunger for news is growing, and it seems like the industry is making small steps forward. The questions is: has the industry already fallen so far behind in technology and lack of engagement with its audience that an unpromising future is already decided? An excerpt from the Pew Report overview says, {A year ago we wrote here: “The news industry, late to adapt and culturally more tied to content creation than engineering, finds itself more a follower than leader shaping its business.” In 2012, that phenomenon has grown.”}
Reporters across the country have been writing about this all week in publications like Forbes, The Chicago Tribune and The Washington Times. There are different opinions about the findings, but most agree that the future of the news industry is most certainly uncertain. To learn more about the 2012 State of the News Media results, click here.
How to Rank Higher in the Search Engine of Life
by Scott McIntosh on March 20, 2012 | no comments
in Marketing, Networking
Recently, I’ve just returned from a vacation where I noticed a fun similarity in the way Google ranks website value and how people rank each other’s social value. And as you may already know, our social value can be extremely important in the successful marketing of our business as well as in our overall happiness.
If you didn’t already know, Google ranks websites for its search engine results by backlinks. A backlink is a link from another website back to your website – thus the name backlink. The more popular the other site is that links to you, the more valuable the backlink. It’s a web-based voting system.
But what about in the real world? You come across many different people in your daily routines, some that you know and many that you don’t. This is especially true when you are traveling. Humans are naturally a very social species and derive pleasure from connecting with others. Each person that you engage with throughout your day is an opportunity for a social backlink.
Each person that “likes” you is another vote for you in the greater social network that is our lives. The more votes you get, the higher you move up in the ranks of business and in life. Now I’m not talking about “spamming” everyone you meet with your business card and sales pitch. Please don’t do that. I’m talking about just being a nice person. I’m talking about engaging everyone you meet as you would a friend or loved one. Listen to them. Remember their names. Ask them how their families are and HEAR what they have to say. Empathize with them and respect their differences. Each new person you connect with on a social level throughout your life will not only help you in your business endeavors, they will also provide a greater richness that can only come from increased social connections.
So get out there and build your social backlinks! And if you need help with online backlinks, call us.
Pinterest Craze Could Result in Legal Troubles
by Sarah Mansouri on March 15, 2012 | 1 comment
in Copywriting, Social Media
Not long ago, I wrote a blog post about one of my favorite social media sites, Pinterest. While I continue to enjoy using Pinterest to discover, organize and “pin” new ideas, I have stumbled upon some recent news that has caused concern. Last month, Kristen Kowalski, an attorney and photographer in Georgia, decided to delete her Pinterest account after conducting research on Pinterest’s terms of use. As a photographer, she had read various complaints from other photographers who took issue with the fact that anyone and everyone is able to pin a photographer’s work without his or her permission. In her blog post on the situation, Kowalski states, “Well, this got me thinking. What is the difference between posting another person’s photographs on your Pinterest page and posting another person’s photographs on your Facebook page? If the latter is so clearly a violation of copyright why isn’t the former?” Her lawyer instincts kicked in and she conducted a bit of research on the topic only to find some unsettling answers.
Upon a visit to Pinterest’s terms of use page, Kowalski and many others (including me) were surprised to discover that as “Member,” or someone who has completed the registration process, “You acknowledge and agree that you are solely responsible for all Member Content that you make available through the Site, Application and Services. Accordingly, you represent and warrant that: (i) you either are the sole and exclusive owner of all Member Content that you make available through the Site, Application and Services or you have all rights, licenses, consents and releases that are necessary to grant…” Member content is defined in the terms of use as content that members post and upload, and which is made available through the site.
It seems unusual that Pinterest would set its terms so that users pinning a photo must own or have permission to pin that image, since the purpose of the site is to quickly share images. Not only that, but Pinterest also clearly states in its “Pin Etiquette” guidelines that posters should avoid self promotion.
Kowalski brings up other concerns about the Pinterest terms of use dilemma, and the site’s founder, Ben Silberman even responded to Kowalski, saying he’s just “a guy with a computer who had a vision to create this site where everyone can share stuff.” Seems like rather a nonchalant answer for a situation that may result in legal trouble for users in the future.
Until there are some legal changes made, Kowalski will not be taking the risk of pinning other people’s work, and, with that being said, I believe some changes or clarifications should be made or the popular site may end up shutting down as quickly as it became a social media craze.
The Path to Greatness is Along with Others – Now Go MeetUp!
by Sam Sudano on March 13, 2012 | 3 comments
in Networking, Public Relations, Social Media
A friend of mine and I met up for dinner after work the other night. It was the first warm evening of spring and we were soaking up the last hour of sunlight on the patio at a nearby restaurant. My friend, Jami, commented on how we hadn’t caught up in weeks and wondered what had been keeping me so busy.
As I began chatting about book club meetings and indoor rock climbing, early morning yoga and weekend brunch gatherings, she stared back bewildered.
“Who are you doing all of these things with?” Jami asked. “When did you meet all of these people and where?”
“With my MeetUp groups,” I replied. “Meetup.com is a website that lets you create, find and join social groups.”
Through the website, local communities of people who share the same interest or involvement in a cause coordinate “meet ups” and attend events together. The groups have monthly, often weekly, activities that you can join to make friends, have fun, network, and learn. Last month, my co-workers and I went to happy hour with the MeetUp group PR Flacks for public relations professionals.
“That’s great for you, but I don’t really need to go to MeetUp groups,” Jami interjected. “I have enough friends!”
“Oh, so I guess you don’t really need to network, either?”
Networking – a key factor in almost any industry. She bit her tongue; I had her there.
It’s a common misconception and something I’ve heard frequently while trying to explain the value of MeetUps to friends. MeetUps aren’t just a way to meet people who share your interests or find new hobbies – although these were my main reasons for joining MeetUps when I first moved to Nashville. MeetUps can help you build connections, make new friends, and expand your professional contacts within and beyond your industry.
If you’re a business marketing professional in Nashville, there are all sorts of groups you may be interested in: Business Strategy & Networks; Content Strategies; Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing; and Nashville Area Business Networking, to name a few.
Or, as I mentioned earlier, PR Flacks is a great MeetUp for industry professionals. With more than 250 members, the group describes its MeetUps as a place “to talk shop, share beverages, laugh, learn and meet your fellow public relations and communications peers.”
It’s so easy to sign up for MeetUp and start joining groups and events. In fact, once you start filling up your calendar it can become a little addicting. Have a look around the site and check out the MeetUps in your area. You can sign up for email alerts each time a new event is announced for one of your groups, so you’re always the first to know about events. If you have a great idea for a MeetUp group, you can even start your own. Lovell’s social media strategist, Scott McIntosh, created his group two years ago using the site.
Scott founded NashvilleTech in August 2009 as a way for people interested in internet and technology to come together to share ideas about the technology driving today’s world. Members of the group discuss topics like social media, marketing, graphic design, promotion and business, and other fun web stuff. More than 500 members have joined the group and there have been 24 MeetUps to date.
How else can MeetUp benefit you? The groups are a great way to mix up your normal routine. It’s easy to run with the same crowd week after week, but with MeetUp groups, you meet people from all walks of life, including those who share your passions!
A while back, my co-worker Sarah wrote a post titled “Start Blogging and Share Your Passions” and I think MeetUps are kind of the same thing. Not only are they a great way to share (and even discover) your passions, they are a wonderful way to meet others who share those passions. As the Spanish prose writer Baltasar Gracion once said, “The path to greatness is along with others.”
Now go MeetUp!
