Archive for January, 2010

29
Jan
10

It’s an iPad. Of course it will.

By Jay Weise 1 Comment
Categories: Uncategorized

One of our countries most respected innovators, Steve Jobs introduced the iPad on Tuesday and, as usual, the rumors started immediately about the potential for success. Here at Weise Communications, we (and a lot of other people) had a good laugh about the name and wondered if that would impact sales.

For nearly a year, speculation and rumors about the product were rampant.  All sorts of ideas were out there and included what the name should be (the iTablet was the most accepted name, and we still think it might have been a better choice)…and photos were speculative too….from the badly photoshopped, enlarged iphone to the relatively believable photo of what turned out to be pretty close to the actual iPad.

The biggest questions I heard right after the announcement were of the usual vain from Apple doubters:

  1. Will it sell?
  2. Why this version of a computer?
  3. Does it have a future?
  4. Why this instead of the iPhone or laptop?
  5. Do I need to buy another backpack with a space for the iPad?

My first thoughts are these.

  1. Of course it will sell.
  2. Of course this version is viable.
  3. Of course it has a future.
  4. Of course this work in harmony with my iPhone and laptop.
  5. Of course my backpack will already accomodate the iPad.

Lisa, our Operations Manager, has never used a Apple before. She wants one.

It’s an Apple. Of course she wants one.

Its an Apple. Of course it will be successful. Of course people will love it. People will even love the name (eventually).

28
Jan
10

File This Under “What Were They Thinking?”

By Beth Hardy 3 Comments
Categories: Branding
Tags: , , , ,

I’m jumping on the “Are there any women in Apple marketing?” bandwagon that Brooke Hammerling (@bhammerling) started yesterday in regard to the iPad. (Yes. I realize I’m a little late, but this was the earliest I could sit down and write this!)

I have no idea what Apple was thinking when they named their latest product, but they clearly didn’t run it by any focus groups that included women. If they had, I imagine the feedback would have been negative.

But now that the iPad is out, we can enjoy humorous comments like the following on PR Newser:

“All I know is that if I can buy it from a vending machine in the washroom, it’ll be damn convenient.”- nankevans

Funny stuff!

But in all seriousness, I’m a big fan of Apple products and I have no doubt that the iPad will be a big hit. We’ll all probably get used to the name and it won’t be such a hoot in the near future.

However, the lesson to be learned here is that Apple, being the huge corporation that it is with a good reputation for putting out quality products, can get over a silly naming gaffe. But other businesses may not be so lucky. A situation such as this could cause smaller, lesser know companies to fall flat on their faces, no matter how awesome their product. Take note when the big guys stumble to ensure you don’t make the same mistake.

27
Jan
10

Copywriting and marketing strategy made me eat cake for breakfast

By Tracy Weise Leave a Comment
Categories: Advertising, Copy writing, In-store, Neuromarketing, Radio, business to business and business to consumer
Tags: , , , ,

How does your advertising drive decisions?

I had an early morning yesterday. Looming over my head was a deadline to get some new ad copy written and a marketing strategy I needed to finish. I put coffee on and began working before my family started to wake. An hour into research and writing I got up for some fresh coffee and I stopped to eat birthday cake for breakfast. (Oh, don’t criticize – you have done it too!)

For me, this is a bit out of character – I don’t really like cake. I don’t like sugar for breakfast. I am currently in training mode, so I am watching what I eat. Birthday cake for breakfast just doesn’t fit into my world right now.

Chalk it up to stress? Not so fast….

On the way to my first meeting of the day, I heard a compelling story on NPR, “Will Power and The Slacker Brain.” (listen to the story here!)

The story is about a research project that is also reviewed in the Wall Street Journal and in the book “How We Decide.” It is the story of how people make good and bad decisions. This is an excerpt from the Wall Street Journal:

In one experiment, led by Baba Shiv at Stanford University, several dozen undergraduates were divided into two groups. One group was given a two-digit number to remember, while the second group was given a seven-digit number. Then they were told to walk down the hall, where they were presented with two different snack options: a slice of chocolate cake or a bowl of fruit salad.

Here’s where the results get weird. The students with seven digits to remember were nearly twice as likely to choose the cake as students given two digits. The reason, according to Prof. Shiv, is that those extra numbers took up valuable space in the brain—they were a “cognitive load”—making it that much harder to resist a decadent dessert. In other words, willpower is so weak, and the prefrontal cortex is so overtaxed, that all it takes is five extra bits of information before the brain starts to give in to temptation.

AHA! Now we know why I ate cake for breakfast!

Is this good news for marketers of sweet treats and alcoholic beverages? If your audience is already in-store, can you over stimulate the brain to breakdown willpower and encourage excess purchases? What about moving people to action whom you are targeting to purchase a gym membership or make an appointment for a cardiac score? At the point of purchase “de-clutter” the messages they hear and see. Keep things simple so they can make the right, healthy decisions.

What do you think? What experience do you have making decisions or purchases when your willpower was broken down? How can you parlay this information about the working mind into your marketing plan?

21
Jan
10

Is Royal Caribbean sailing into a great PR story, or sinking their own ships?

By Tracy Weise Leave a Comment
Categories: Bad PR, PR, PR Mistakes, PR Tactics, Poll, Public Relations, Publicity and Uncategorized
Tags:

This week’s news from the LA Times about Royal Caribbean cruise lines is twofold. First, they are pledging at least a million dollars to help earthquake-ravaged Haiti. Second, they are continuing a port of call for their cruise ship passengers 65 miles north of Port-au-Prince, where rescue workers are still searching through wreckage for victims.

It’s a mixed PR story that seems to waiver between good and bad. While Royal Caribbean is pushing their (albeit good) messages that include the delivery of pallets of food, handing off extra mattresses and lounge chairs for makeshift hospitals, and donating all proceeds from excursions on the island to the relief efforts, these messages are mixed in with stays at the private island being protected by armed guards and passengers feeling uncomfortable drinking frozen island drinks just up the road from starving and homeless quake survivors.

I think we should give Royal Caribbean credit for almost doing the right thing. Unfortunately their message is getting muddled. Buried at the end a story in the Guardian, this reference was made:

“The company said yesterday that U.S. coastguards have assessed the jetty and decided it could not be used for cargo ships.”

This is probably an important message that should have been more apparent. Cargo ships can’t access this private port, which is a great reason for the cruise ships to be docking and bringing supplies.

And the message about what is being delivered is good, too. I even think the message about “helping the local economy” is right. The problem is the repeated message of zip line tours and jet skiing. Royal Caribbean should have scaled back excursions for a few weeks. I realize that the local economy needs the infusion of American tourist dollars, but the grim reality of holiday merrymakers frolicking in the sun amidst so much anguish is just incomprehensible.

Clearly the executives at Royal Caribbean are working this story for as much PR exposure as they can get. And that’s fine. As a PR professional, I don’t begrudge them this opportunity. But wouldn’t it have made more sense to send a boat full of supplies instead of passengers? The fact that delivering the supplies is just “part of the schedule” reduces what could have been a bigger and better story. Send the staff down to re-build houses. Carry medical personnel to Haiti. Provide free transportation to the American families that are adopting orphans… now that would build a bigger PR story.

What do you think? Should Royal Caribbean be docking in Haiti? Fill out the survey below or respond with your comments.

20
Jan
10

Twitter influences Massachusetts Senate Election

By Jay Weise Leave a Comment
Categories: Branding, Facebook, Followers, Twitter, YouTube and election
Tags: , , ,

The latest on how social media can make a big difference.

A story in the Wall Street Journal, by Susan Davis, gives great support for Scott Brown’s social media strategy, specifically his use of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, being more effective and making a big difference in the outcome of the Senate Race in Massachusetts yesterday (1/19/10).

Atwitter in Mass.: Brown’s Social Media Strategy Tops Coakley’s

Below is an excerpt from the WSJ story:

A study conducted by the Emerging Media Research Council out today found that Brown had a more effective strategy of using social networking tools including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to promote his campaign and connect with supporters.

Here’s a look at the numbers:

Facebook Posts since Jan. 1: Brown (128), Coakley (58)

Facebook Fans: Brown (70,800), Coakley (13,529)

Tweets since Jan. 1: Brown (142), Coakley (144)

Twitter Followers: Brown (9,679), Coakley (3,385)

YouTube Videos: Brown (57), Coakley (52)

YouTube Video Views: Brown (578,271), Coakley (51,173)

What are your thoughts? Do you think that social media really had an effect on the outcome? What have you seen? What are your experiences? We all know social media can make a difference in an election, but do you think social media changing the election process?

14
Jan
10

If you are about to make a lot of people mad, consider your message and how you deliver it

By Tracy Weise 1 Comment
Categories: Bad PR, Crisis Communications, Facebook, Media Relations, PR, PR Disasters, PR Mistakes, Public Relations and Uncategorized
Tags: , , ,

When you really, truly need to hire a PR person….

I have a hard time believing the advice of Tiger Woods’ publicists has been “make a statement on your Web site and say nothing else to anyone, anywhere.” But that has been Woods’ mantra the last two months. And this has resulted in Woods receiving a lot of negative press, not just for his self-titled “indiscretions,” but also for his complete lack of communication with any media outlet.

Vanity Fair seized the opportunity (very quickly) to write a cover story about the situation in the current issue that exploited some Woods’ early, and quite frankly crude and rude, sexual remarks. If Tiger had come out and made a public address, would things be different? I don’t know. Maybe. But this is now a crisis-communications-gone-bad case study.

Woods has hurt the golf industry. His sponsors and the PGA TOUR will lose money over this scandal. A lot of people will lose money over this scandal. Woods would have done himself well to have been more publicly cognizant of the ripples of his actions.

But just “speaking to the media” will not get the job done. Take this weeks’ example of the ex-Tennessee football coach, Lane Kiffin. He abruptly resigned after 14-months on the job. If you know SEC football, you know the passion that exists with alumni and fans for their teams. Kiffin ignited a furry of passion on Tuesday night when he resigned as head coach for the Tennessee Vols and took his top staff members with him.

The PR problem he made only got worse when, in his hastily-called press conference, he made no apologies for leaving, he was arrogant in his statement and he refused to take questions. See the press conference for yourself:

His comments to the press sparked riots in Knoxville and ignited a flurry of online hostility. An article in American Chronicle illustrates that the online reaction to his departure included videos, tweets and Facebook pages.

Among the Facebook pages created in Kiffin’s departure is one called, “Dear Lane Kiffin, We hate you. Love, the Vols.” It has 36,402 members.

Another is, “I was betrayed by Lane Kiffin.” It has 12,904 members.

The lesson we need to learn from Kiffin and Woods is when you are about to make a lot of people mad, try to be humble in doing it. Try to show compassion. Try to act human. If we have learned nothing from politicians, it is that you can make mistakes and people will forgive you – if you admit the mistake, if you are regretful and if you promise to try to do right by your constituents. Many people don’t know how to craft these types of messages. And it is OK to admit you need help, because sometimes you really should just hire a good PR pro to do this type of work for you.

11
Jan
10

It’s oh so good to get some on the side.

By Tracy Weise 2 Comments
Categories: Uncategorized

Happy Birthday to The Side Note!

And big thanks to the team that makes it happen.

Many of you have enjoyed getting a little on the side this past year and we are pleased to continue to bring you this well-read blog. With daily hits reaching nearly 250, it’s been a great first year for the blog.

The official launch of The Side Note was one year ago this week. With copywriter extraordinaire Travis Parker, and PR queen Beth Hardy taking the lead, The Side Note has pushed everyone at Weise Communications to research, think and publish, and I appreciate Travis’ and Beth’s insight and drive to make this blog happen.

Jay and I are thankful for all of the staff who have contributed this year, and we look forward to more great posts.

The contributors have evolved over the year, but our original purpose still holds true:

We will not be a blog-machine, pumping out endless amounts of posts to simply give you something to read. Without relevance, there is no chance for authenticity, and we will post relevant marketing, advertising and PR information within Weise Communications’ three verticals – healthcare, business to business and franchise. Whether you offer the services or use them, we will act as your information supplement. Oh yeah, and we’ll have some fun too.

When you need industry news, get some on the side.

If you have missed any of our posts this past year, below is a list of the TOP 15 MOST READ POSTS.  Check them out!

2009 TOP 15 MOST READ POSTS

Gap commercial… What is the problem here?

time to move your franchise to canada?

How Sarasota Memorial Hospital is leveraging social media to build better relationships. Q&A with Shawn Halls.

the end of YouTube?

Starbucks Uses Facebook for Product Promotion

The IKEA experience, and why it matters

real women in advertising

Media on Twitter

New Tropicana Packaging Turns Away Customers

Franchise Brand Management: The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders’ Way

best British television commercial

tropicana: the results are in!

PR Stunts – Funny and Thrilling

Top 50 Publicity Stunts

Yes, But Does Neuromarketing Work?

07
Jan
10

Tracy’s 2010 PR Predictions – From the Denver PR Blog

By Tracy Weise Leave a Comment
Categories: PR, Public Relations and Uncategorized
Tags: , , ,

Just posted on Jeremy Story’s Denver PR Blog are my PR predictions of 2010. I am re-posting the original article below.

Jeremy – thanks for including me in the predictions round-up! Its easy to follow whats going on in the world of Denver PR by following Jeremy on twitter at: www.twitter.com/denverprblog

2010 Denver PR Predictions – Tracy Weise

January 7, 2010, 10:30 am
Filed under: 2010 Denver PR Predictions, Weise

By Tracy Weise
President, Weise Communications Inc.

There are two kinds of PR pros: Those who move at the speed of a nanosecond (I predict they will do well) and those who still have the Rocky Mountain News on their media lists (I predict they will soon be applying to MBA programs).

The news, and the not so newsworthy news, is reaching us all at the speed of 140 characters per posting. This means that product and service providers, corporations, politicians, athletes, and all those other entertainers/public figures who have private lives we don’t really need to know about but still do, need to be on top of their images every day, every minute. As PR professionals, it is our job to manage those images in nanoseconds.

Public relations professionals have incredible opportunities to promote our clients in new and innovative, and quite frankly, fun ways. We have not had to rely on old school practices of op-eds, newsletters, published profiles or speaking opportunities to develop the image of our clients or promote services and products. Now we have blogs, casts of the pod and video varieties, twits and flicks and so many more opportunities to publish content, react to breaking news, manage messages and craft identities. PR professionals who are taking advantage of the chance to own their messages without journalists as gatekeepers, will propel their clients to new heights. But those individuals (or agencies) not up to speed in this 140-character world, will be stuck reacting to community perception instead of owning media messages.

Not only do we need to embrace the ever expanding world of social communications, but we must continue to pull our clients to it as well. Posting apologies on personal Web sites, ala Tiger Woods, is clearly not engaging or effective communications. CEO’s blogging about the good, the bad and the ugly on a regular basis, ala Paul Levy of Beth Isreal, are in the game to control and own messages.  What type of communication program will you advocate? It is amazing how many times I heard during the past year, “We don’t need to Twitter.” Or, “I am the CEO, I don’t have the time to blog.” I promise you, during their next crisis communication moment (and they will have it), these same people are going to wish they had been participating in online communications for months.

I also predict that the traditionally academic motto “publish or perish” is no longer just for those seeking tenure. Getting good, optimized content online will be a new PR 101 lesson.

In addition, I predict that Oprah will continue to find some way to haunt our PR nightmares.

Finally, and most importantly, I predict that The University of Alabama will be the 2010 National Champions in College Football. Roll Tide Roll.

05
Jan
10

Bad British humor – health related advertising “alienates” its target market

By Tracy Weise Leave a Comment
Categories: Advertising, Healthcare reform, Marketing, healthcare and healthcare marketing
Tags: , ,

Those darn Brits. These days THEY don’t even get their own humor. In an article posted by the Evening Post, a health club in the UK designed and posted a campaign using aliens to drive people into their gym. The message on the billboard that is the center of attention has a big green alien on the side and reads:

Advanced Health Warning: When the aliens come they will eat the fatties first.

Unfortunately the copywriters involved in the campaign don’t know much about healthcare marketing. The sign was offensive to many, regardless of the tongue and cheek tone that was intended by the client. Individuals interviewed for the article responded with shock and repulse to the advertisement describing it as “offensive,” “tacky,” “patronizing” and “unfortunate.”

People participate in health programs because they are motivated to make healthy decisions, not because they are scared. We have seen that scare tactics rarely work in a world where “it won’t happen to me.” And if your audience, like the health club’s, is people who have just put on a few extra pounds during the holiday season, calling them “fatties” will only (excuse the pun) alienate them.

So the advertising sucked. But I want to give credit to the reporter who included one of the most, um, interesting quotes I have recently seen:

“The people who came up with this idea and sanctioned the advert need a good stiff kick up the backside, and if that backside is a rather bony one, then they will feel this all the more.”

Will this eloquent journalism save the newspaper industry? One can only hope.

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