Happy Earth Day everyone! I’m not really a big recycler or enviromental expert, but I do love the earth, as we all should. My example of good PR actually took place today on the Clemson University web site. It went green! Over the past 3 years and 3 Earth Days, Clemson has never changed their site to promote energy awareness. Today, however, is different. Clemson changed their homepage to the color green and added all kinds of beneficial information about energy awareness. Personally, I think this is good PR for Clemson and the earth!
Last week in class I gave an example of bad PR for Coca Cola. Pepsi Co. is in the process of suing Coke over misleading advertisments in their current ad campaign. Although the lawsuit is bad PR for Coke in itself, the response a spokesperson for Coca Cola gave to the press is even worse.
In the article feature on AOL’s homepage, Scott Williamson says “the company needs to review the case before it can comment.”
Really?
I think if you’re making allegations about a competitor on national television, you should probably KNOW the facts before you run the ad.
Oprah, one of the most famous women in the world, is apparently causing some problems on Twitter. Numerous celebrities have recently jumped on the Twitter bandwagon (i.e. Ellen DeGeneres, Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore), but within the first day of her arrival, Oprah already had 350,000 followers.
Wow. I’ve been on Twitter for an entire semester and don’t even have 200!
The uproar, though, came when the site was overloaded. Tweeters began to blame Oprah’s excessive following for the problems. Twitter creator, Evan Williams, made a statement saying that Oprah was not the cause of any problem with the site, but in so many words said they had to prepare for her arrival to the web site.
Basically, Twitter is still pretty new to the cyber world…give it some time, they’ll work out the glitches.
Sunday night a new Miss USA took the stage. This year, North Carolina won the diamond and emerald encrusted crown. Unfortunately, though, you’re not hearing much about her on the news. You probably are, however, hearing all the hooplah about Miss California’s controversial answer. If you didn’t catch it live, here is the YouTube clip to get you up to speed.
Now, personal views aside, this answer shouldn’t be a big deal. Whether or not you think it was diplomatic, right, or wrong, it shouldn’t be headline news, right? Well, it is. All this talk about Miss California’s answer and the lack of attention shown to the newly crowned Miss USA is bad press coverage for the Miss USA Pageant, not to mention Miss California’s personal image.
A lot of times the coverage a person or company recieves is unwanted and sometimes undue, but we have to be ready to deal with it in all circumstances; just like the pagaent and the contestant do here.
Lauren’s blog post “A Little PR Never Hurt Anybody” seems to be pretty accurate during our nation’s current economic situation. Companies are looking to get their name and product out there without having to fork out a lot of money.
In my comment, I added that I thought PR pros are in higher demand now, too, because there’s a lot of damage control happening. Companies are having to reassure their customers that even though we’re in a recession, they’re still safe. PR pros jobs might be harder now than ever before.
There is a lot of buzz going around lately about Twitter, obviously. Professionals, celebrities and students, along with others, are buying into the Twitter phenomenon, but what are the benefits? @ValerieStevens posted a blog link today about how, as a professional or business owner, Twitter can help your company and ultimately increase your profits.
It’s every Youtuber’s goal to become viral, isn’t it? Get your video out there, have it seen by the masses, and hopefully make your point known or product recognizable. What about on Twitter?In his post, 5 Steps to going viral on Twitter, Dan Zarrella lists some helpful tips on how to do just that–become viral on Twitter.
1. Call to action: If you want to be re-tweeted–ask. According to Zarrella’s research, the word “please” is over 5 times more likely to appear in a re-tweet than in an original tweet. For example, “please RT.” Sounds easy, right?
2. Timing: There are certain times of the day and week that are proven to have a higher rate of RTs. If you want something retweeted post it during the early morning and at the beginning of the week.
3. Links: Studies show that almost 70% of all RTs contain a link.
4. Social Proof: People want some sort of reassurance that what they’re seeing is worth their time. The more people you get to RT your words, the more social proof there is that it is worthwhile.
5. Value: Make sure what you’re RTing and asking people to RT is valuable to them in some way. Zarrella makes note of a few different RT’s he considers valuable to the follower.
If people are following you and retweeting your tweets, you’re getting your brand and ideas out there. And it can’t hurt to have people interested in what you have to say, right?
I don’t know if many people are familiar with Old Navy’s current ad campaign, but in my opinion the less familiar, the better. Old Navy has created a lot of negative buzz over their most recent choices for commercial ads.
I came across one of these new commercials, like most viewers, while watching T.V. My first thought was: what?! I didn’t understand how anyone thought it was a good idea.
The commercials involve what Old Navy refers to as “supermodelquins” or super model-like mannequins. Each ad presents some sort of dilemma for at least one of the mannequins while trying to promote the store’s merchandise.
In one, a male supermodelquin proposes to a female mannequin, accidentally breaking her finger off in the process, while in another, a female supermodelquin stands nude after losing her dress.
They’re not funny and slightly weird.
The bad PR, though, comes from an article I read on AOL’s homepage about terrible commercials–Old Navy’s supermodelquin’s being one of them.
Running an ad campaign that few find funny and many consider weird does not elicit good press for your company.
Check out my comment on Meg’s most recent blog post, Social Media Experiencing the Same Crushing Spirit of the Game as in Youth Leagues, about people “crushing the spirit of social media.” My comment talks about my own reservations about blogging and tweeting when I don’t know all the “rules.”
Unfortunately, the topic of Seth Godin’s most recent blog post “Personal branding in the age of Google” isn’t something that college students think about on a daily basis–but we should. Facebook and Myspace are constantly being updated with pictures from last night’s frat party or mixer without thought or concern, but what effect is this having on our futures?
As Seth points out, “Google never forgets.”
My mom doesn’t have a Facebook, but working in college administration has made her very aware of the problems it can present for students while in school and after graduation. She’s always asking me, “are there any pictures on your Facebook you would be embarrassed for me and your dad to see?” If the answer to that question was “yes” then I’d probably be equally as embarrassed for a future employer to look through my tagged photos and numerous albums.
Although it’s nothing we haven’t all heard before, it’s definitely something to think about as we look forward to graduation…
Shelley's PR Journal 