Monday, April 19th -- Person L @ MSU

Kenny Vasoli of The Startling Line's new band. If you are around, you should definitely come out to this show -- plus, it's only $5 for MSU students!

MSU Non-Profit PR Project

For the last few weeks, I've been assigned the responsibility, along with 3 other group members, to help a non-profit organization in the form of some kind of benefit/fundraiser scenario. My group has the opportunity to work with Little Kids Rock, a non-profit organization with locations spanning the country that is dedicated to donating instruments and installing music ed programs to schools that have been stripped of their music curriculum.

Being in local bands since my High School years, I totally understand the importance and influence music can have on someone's childhood. Furthermore, I myself would have much preferred a rock-band format music curriculum. LKR has told us that within a few sessions, they have full classrooms jamming out songs by teaching common chords, rhythms, and simple theory. Imagine how much more effort you would have put into your K-12 music classes if you were jamming out "Hotel California" instead of "Hot Cross Buns".

Anyway, without divulging too much information that is in the woodwork, our project is going well beyond what we had originally planned in nearly every aspect; we are going to raise more money, organization awareness, and help run an overall smoother event than we had initially aimed for.

I've enjoyed working with my group members and Keith from LKR. I'm looking forward to an awesome event, and I'll be posting confirmed updates here as the information rolls in.

Lastly, it's important to note that Erika from MSU's Class One Concerts has helped us out more than she probably realizes. She runs an awesome organization and deserves a lot of credit. Be sure to check out C1C's facebook page here.

-RB

Monster Match-Up: The Cagefight Between ABC and Cablevision

If you have Cablevision and/or Optimum Cable like I do, you saw the whiny, hissy fit ads on both sides of the spectrum. We saw Optimum pleading to its "valued customers" to take action and push ABC's hand. We also saw ABC's side, explaining how Optimum has unfairly charged customers a fee for the programming that is supposed to be "free cable".

In any case, while both multi-billion dollar companies were crying over some form of greed, I couldn't help but to side with ABC. Here's my thing: I pay a fee to Optimum every month in exchange for a certain service. Cable TV. I don't care what the feud is; what I do care about is watching my programs, namely Lost, and if Optimum can't provide me with the means to view it, then it is Optimums foul. Regardless of ABC's demands, I didn't feel like it was my obligation to fight for my right to view TV. It's Optimums.

Regardless, ABC understood the possible repercussions of withholding the Oscars and succumbed to the pressure while they worked out a deal with Cablevision. While I still believe Optimum handled the situation poorly, ABC definitely realized the negative publicity surrounding the situation was extremely detrimental to both sides.


In my estimation, this was the right move. ABC took the high road, and whatever the outcome is with the contract situation, they ensured that I would get my product. For that, I believe ABC ultimately made the right move.

-RB

Scary, Scary Media?

As of late, many of my MSU assignments have had me, in one way or another, open communications with various media outlets. While it is sometimes frightening (because hey, let’s face it: a bad conversation can get you blacklisted from an organization), I’ve pretty much come to the realization that with adequate preparation and a friendly attitude, communicating/working with the media isn’t really that scary at all.

However, I’d have to say the scariest part of working with the media has to be opening the lines of communication… aka, the first e-mail, phone call, etc. Really, the “fear” comes from the unknown; we don’t know who to expect, what kind of personality the voice on the other line holds, or exactly what these people want to hear. So yeah, while that can be quite scary and all, its definitely important to recognize the purpose of the call in the first place: to successfully “sell” whatever it is you have in an effective, efficient and concise manner.

Basically, what I’m trying to say is that, regardless of our irrelevant fears, life is going to force us to become effective communicators. Most of our futures will rely on similar types of skills. So while working with the media isn’t as easy as brushing your teeth, it shouldn’t be as scary as those “I’m naked and talking to a room full of people” dreams…

…or whatever.

-RB

The Best Way To Learn Is By Other's Mistakes...

... a.k.a. The Bad Pitch Blog. And honestly, I enjoy the crude honesty of Kevin, Richard and TBPB. You can learn things in a variety of ways, but what better than to see these guys mock and shoot down all kinds of PR practitioners? Their over-analyzation of varied true life stories relating to both the PR and technical world is not only humorous and refreshing, but also a great way to learn the little things one must not do.  We learn that we should not mass cc a large conglomerate of people when you can just bcc them. We learn how not to use Twitter in terms of PR. We learn about the worst boilerplate in history. By seeing other people suck at their attempt to produce good PR tactics, we can make damn sure to avoid these missteps.

However, there are plenty of posts that seem a little contrived, almost like they are poking fun just to write about something. There was a post about a fellow employee e-mailing and calling another employee who had since left the company. Yeah, I can see this being funny, but honestly, when you work in an office it's quite possible for somebody to get fired/quit without word spreading immediately. This just seemed like an unnecessary post for a site called Bad Pitch...

Regardless, Bad Pitch definitely is an interesting place to visit, but be aware; don't be surprised if you don't agree with everything they post. 

-RB

Did Southwest Treat Kevin Smith Like a Dogma?

Kevin Smith, the man behind classics such as Clerks and Jay and Silent Bob, was recently kicked off a Southwest Airline flight.

Kevin Smith is a well noted Hollywood funny man; in a sense, even though he's probably actually pissed, he's still adding a certain comedic value to the situation. Come on, if you are Southwest Airlines, how do you professionally respond to, "I can buckle that seat belt and that is a hallmark for any fat person"? Well, you stick to your story and reference company policy, which is exactly what they've done.

And, well, while it's never good when a popular Hollywood face is out to get you, Southwest is handling the blows gracefully. They have already said that they "express concern for the situation" and that they have had this "customer of size" policy for over 25 years now.

From a PR standpoint, they are handling this situation as well as they can; the American public understand the source of the outburst. Don't get me wrong, Smith is the man, but he's made a career as a Hollywood comedian and writer. Even if Southwest really did kick him off a flight because he was too large, Southwest realizes that this news will pass if they handle it correctly. By continuing to apologize for the situation while giving a valid explanation, they shouldn't be too concerned with any lasting damage to the company name.

-RB



-RB

Outlandish Publicity Stunts; Kidnapped Band Members, etc.

Sure, the world has seen its fair share of crazy, whacky, successful and unsuccessful publicity stunts over the last decade or so; but I'm here to shed light on my personal favorites (both the good and the ugly) and evaluate why they worked or didn't.

1) Fall Out Boy's Citizen's For Our Betterment Campaign - Fall Out Boy fanboys&girls now know this as the precursor to the band's 2008 album, Folie à Deux. Fall Out Boy's record label, Decaydance, was apparently "hacked" by a mysterious group called Citizens For Our Betterment on August 18th, 2008. The website featured clues, sign-up newsletter lists and clues/links all over. Additionally, Pete Wentz's now wife Ashlee Simpson was seen carrying around pamphlets for CFOB. Fans of the band went crazy over this viral marketing, especially when the newsletter e-mailed the signees a mixtape featuring remixed and new songs that would later appear on Folie.

Grade and Why: A-. Fall Out Boy is where they are because Pete Wentz knows how to market his pop punk band. He knows how to reel in fans and mix things up. Fans got a reward and nobody was hurt or offended in the process. Great work.

2) Donald Trump "buying" WWE - I don't watch wrestling anymore, though I must admit I loved the days of WCW's NWO and WWF's DX. However, my roommate and I tuned in last year for Monday Night Raw to find out that Donald Trump had "bought" the world's most popular wrestling organization and planned to make it commercial free. This went on for about a week before Trump decided to "sell back" the company to original owner and popular wrestling foe, Vince McMahon.

Grade and Why: B. Okay, any time Donald Trump's name is involved, you can bet that it's going to make headlines. However, wrestling is the most fake industry in the history of the world when it comes to story and plot lines, so viewers were able to smell this one coming from a mile away. Either way, the WWE became slightly more relevant to non-wrestling viewers for about a weeks worth of time.

3) Then Up & Coming Band, Endicott, and their 2004 Kidnapping Scandal - Readers of this blog, and hell, 99.9% of the world, have never heard of the band Endicott. However, I remember them solely for their ridiculous publicity stunt back in 2004. The band had their record label release a press release claiming that they had all been kidnapped and were MIA.

Grade and Why: F. Ok, if U2 had tried this, it would have been national news; whether the public would have responded positively or negatively to the "reveal" is to be determined. While the whole thing was obviously a joke, it was formatted in official manner and was the equivalent of a comedian failing to deliver the punchline. The point is, nobody knew who Endicott were and nobody really cared. Furthermore, it was very obviously completely fake. It wasn't breaking news (as it would have been if a band of five 20-year olds had actually been kidnapped) so nobody believed the source to be credible. In the fledgling years of a bands life, they should refrain from ridiculous stunts that can be perceived as offensive or fake, simply because that was the label they ended up having after only about a month or two on their popular indie-rock label, Equal Vision Records. They ended up fading into obscurity and will likely stay there for the rest of eternity. Quite sad, but you can't feel too bad; if their music was actually worthwhile, they might have survived, but the combination of terrible music and terrible promotion sunk them deeper than sea-life bottom feeders. A copy of the band's unsuccessful release can be found here.

-RB

Funny, Viral, Chickens and Popsicles: A Response to The Best/Worst Marketing Stunts

In 2006, Entrepreneur Magazine released an article highlighting 10 of the best and 5 of the worst company publicity stunts. Quite an interesting and enjoyable read. Publicity stunts are hard to pull off; to successfully market a product or company with this strategy, a lot has got to go right and a little luck can never hurt. When done successfully, however, a company can find itself propelled into national spotlight and enjoy an upward spike in revenue.


My thoughts on some stunts from the article are as follows:

• Burger King's Subservient Chicken Viral Marketing Campaign and the Left Handed Whopper-- Burger King advertised a Left-Handed whopper as an April Fool's joke. Funny, harmless, and generated buzz. Additionally, the site Subservient Chicken, was originally designed for members within the corporation, word of mouth spread the quirky and hilarious webpage. I suggest you go and spend at least 10 minutes commanding this chicken. It's quite empowering.
• Online poker giant GoldenPalace.com buys Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese Sandwich for $28,000 dollars -- Sure, the company made headlines, but I can't help but wonder if there was some better stunt they could have pulled off for that kind of money. I suppose, however, that since GoldenPalace can't advertise by traditional means, the Holy sandwich wasn't the worst move in the world.
• Snapple erecting the world's largest popsicle in Times Square NY -- Sounds like a fun idea, but not in 80 degree weather. Seriously, Snapple? The popsicle started to make sticky splash waves throughout the streets causing the stunt to fail miserably. Note to Snapple: We don't care if you're made from the best stuff on earth, we don't want to shower in it.
• DC Comics Killing Superman -- As a huge comic fan, I can say that this stunt worked with outstanding results. I love me my superheroes but I know none of them are safe. Comics are great because every series can be placed in a separate reality. Even though Superman was dead, it was always safe to assume he'd be back; however, because DC took the risk and killed him off, the comic became a classic and a collectors item.

There's some other interesting marketing schemes on the link above. When it comes down to it, nobody ever really knows what's going to work. It's hit or miss. But what is important (and highlighted in the article) is to be active and to be prepared to shake things up in your organization. By trying to have a fun and active image, a company enlarges its chances at success.

The Peak of the Tweet?

The thing with Twitter, along with other massively popular trend sites, is that it will continue to grow until it: A) is no longer the "new site on the block" B) it reached it's capacity audience (people who are interested in this type of technology) and C) it is bumped out of it's spot by another website using similar, upgraded technology.

According to an article on CNN.com, Twitter has flat-lined in new subscribers over the last couple of months (approximately from July to December '09). While this may seem to be the beginning of the end for the site that popularized the ever-so-popular "Tweet", it is not necessarily so. Twitter.com is the type of website that attracts a certain type of internet user; young, technologically savvy people interested in the endless boundaries of communication. While the numbers show that Twitter hasn't gained an eye-catching amount of new subscribers, people already subscribed have upped their average amounts of tweets as well as "following" others and gaining more "followers". This strikes me as the most important statistic of the article.

Here's my theory: Twitter appeals to the myspace and facebook crowd (and mostly the youth). It is no longer a "newly discovered" website. The reason Twitter had originally garnered so much attention is because of the way it hit the scene; the millions of people already familiar with social networking sites jumped on the new opportunity to join this trendy new site. At this current point in time, most of the people that want to be involved with Twitter are, in fact, tweeters. That doesn't mean Twitter won't continue to thrive. There are plenty of websites that are not as popular as they were in their launching months (see: myspace, facebook, etc.) but continue to thrive because people continue to use them with frequency.

Basically, as long as celebrities, athletes, politicians and even universities/colleges continue to use this application, Twitter will stay afloat. Sure, it might have "peaked" in the sense that they aren't continuing their growth with users (there are only so many people in the world, anyway!) but I don't believe its cultural influence has. Like it or not, Twitter will be around for a while. At about 23 million users strong, it may not be growing at the astronomically numbers it once was, but those 23 mil. will continue to show loyalty and use the site.