Two weeks ago, MMC hosted an NYC editor event for Arnold and Oroweat Breads to launch a new sliced bread, Health-full, and help reenergize Sandwich Thins. Food Network Chef Claire Robinson, host of “Five Ingredient Fix,” and Registered Dietitian Christine Palumbo hosted the Arnold and Oroweat Sandwich Slim Down, giving 22 editors, producers and social media influencers a taste of our products.
The Glass Houses raw space was transformed into a Nantucket cabana, complete with oversized white couches and chic beach accents, to reflect that this summer, you can still have your bread and eat it too. We added a test kitchen with stainless steel chefs’ tables to give media an area to actually work with the products. Christine spoke to the nutritional benefits of both Health-full and Sandwich Thins, highlighting current food and wellness trends that revealed the relevancy of each. Claire demonstrated the breads’ versatility through preparing two of her signature five ingredient recipes. She then led the editors in a Five Ingredient Fix Challenge, charging them to break into teams and create their own recipes for Sandwich Thins and Health-full, based on themes pulled out of a white sand bucket. Themes like Surf vs. Turf guided the editors and helped inspire their culinary creativity. Editors departed with picnic baskets full of products, sandwiches in branded to-go containers, and a custom bikini memento to remind them that bread and bikinis really can go together!
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Anyone who knows me knows this: I’m a sucker for a deal. Offer me something with a discount, and I’m almost sure to buy it. Heck, I’ve even been known to purchase asparagus (which I hate) when it’s on sale. So when friend and colleague Scott Slattery approached me to make him a bona fide New Yorker and bring him to his first Broadway show, it was only natural that the first thing I did was check for a coupon. Hey, this city’s not cheap! And I wasn’t overly familiar with the show, “Next to Normal,” outside of the fact that it had won a few Tonys last year.
Well, thank you, MMC for enrolling us in Plum Benefits, which provides discounts to various forms of entertainment, like plays and sporting events. With this service, it’s rare I pay full price to a Broadway play anymore… in fact, doing so has become almost become unjustifiable!
And I’m not the only one who thinks so. A report released earlier this week from Valassis, shows coupon usage is continuing to increase, despite the growing belief that this recession is over. So how can consumers get the value they’re seeking? And how should discounts be doled out? While a coupon simply seems like money saved to shoppers, for us PR folks, it’s a great opportunity to reach consumers and provide an appreciated service. As much as I’d like to encourage mass couponing to satisfy my own shopaholic tendencies, I know better. Before couponing, first consider the objective and ensure it’s the right approach.
On many of our Brands’ Facebook pages, coupons are in high demand. Giving away coupons in response seems obvious, but we used the opportunity to tell our fans we are listening to them. We developed various approaches to surprise and delight with unexpected giveaways and drive product interaction through rewards for posts. Now, our communities are active and flourishing, showing how couponing can be a strong opportunity to make an impact and engage people with Brands.
Take me and “Next to Normal.” I wouldn’t have seen it without the discount. (Sorry Scott). But the show was so fantastic, I’m already planning on going back, and even better for its producers… going back with friends. Because I received a small percentage off, I’ve now become an advocate. And in that spirit, here’s my pitch: “Next to Normal” is a must-see. Bold and moving, you’re sure to cry. Probably more than once. This intense tale of a dysfunctional family striving towards somewhere “next to normal,” will leave you wonderfully surprised at what you just experienced on Broadway. The pop rock music and shifting set energize and excite as forcefully as the story itself. So go, blog readers, and let yourself be moved. Just don’t forget to check for a coupon code first!
Sometimes I forget just why I fell in love with New York City in the first place. The edginess morphs into a general meanness, and the urban sprawl transforms to plain dirty. So on 3/17, “when the world got [me] feeling low,” I was looking forward to the little pick-me-up I had planned. Like any other single girl in her 20s, I donned my best green, drank a big bottle of water and marched straight to Madison Square Garden for an Alicia Keys concert. (The water was to help my vocal chords with all the singing, obviously).
Immediately after stepping out, I planted the heel of my black pump directly into a fresh pile of vomit. Happy St. Patty’s Day to me! “Concrete jungle” is right. After looking around quickly to see what cute boys had noticed (none, thankfully), I shook it off (literally) and strutted bravely on. Then, in a classic case of New Yorkers in a hurry, I dropped my bills into a mailbox on the way, realizing afterwards it was already so stuffed that my envelopes only made it a third of the way in. I reached my arm down to retrieve them and my fingers just clasped the edges, when I noticed a crowd of people had actually stopped to see what I was doing. What does it look like? “Just ‘wait to you see my smile,’” I thought. “Clearly, I’m harmless!”
Arriving at the venue, I knew Alicia and her positive messaging was just what I needed to bring me up. But I was disappointed by the heavy-hitting political settings of her first few songs. Before she appeared on-stage, sounds of war played and violent, though artistic, images were shown. She entered amidst swirling smoke and in a cage encased in chains, singing a medley of “Caged Bird” and “Love is Blind.” One of her openers, “Fallin’” was accompanied by communist paraphernalia on screens and the words “Rise Up.” Where’s the love?
This lasted only a short time before Alicia stepped away from the political theme and focused on messages of “freedom,” (the name of her tour), which she said comes from believing in self. She rocked it out in the way she does best, singing her soul out while playing along on her piano. And what a beautiful, distinctive voice she has. When she sang out, “Superwoman,” I felt like myself again. Amazing how music can move you. And that’s when I remembered one of the first times New York City set my heart on fire – listening to a lone saxophonist jam away in Washington Square Park . It’s one of the best places in the world for live music. Period.
Just when I thought it couldn’t get better, Alicia launched into “Put It In a Love Song,” and Beyonce descended down the staircase! Of course, Jay-Z performed “Empire State of Mind” for the finale (though only after they tricked us with an imposter starting off the song first). Two surprise guest appearances in one night? Only in New York.
As Alicia said, have confidence in yourself and what you love, and the rest will fall into place. And New York, I love ya, baby! “These streets will make you feel brand new, there’s nothing you can’t do…”
The importance of work-life balance, especially in this worrying economy, cannot be underestimated it’s become the new workplace benefit. At Marina Maher Communications we’re encouraged to achieve this. Perhaps that’s why we just won PR News’ Top Places to Work in PR. We have a work hard and play hard culture. So when it comes to taking vacation time, I take a big trip every year to clear my mind and excite my spirit. My colleague and good friend Marissa Festante, and I, along with two others, decided to visit Iceland for 10 days. I took it one step further and finished my trip with European friends in Munich, celebrating Oktoberfest.
Good PR professionals are never fully disconnected from their careers. To build stronger brand relationships, we must always be aware of the current culture and mindset. Following are some of my observations and inspirations while traveling this beautiful country.
*Celebrating heritage The Icelanders, descended from Vikings, are a proud people. Who wouldn’t hold themselves in esteem for a connection to such a strong, adventurous ancient race? (Actually, the country was shocked recently when a DNA study revealed the country was comprised with more people of Gaelic than Viking blood). Still, it brings to light the importance of heritage. We must find the right balance between celebrating heritage, which has the potential to negatively convey arrogance or stodginess, and contemporary achievements.
*Green is the new black Virtually all of Iceland’s electricity and heating comes from the abundant geothermal hot springs. These proven sustainable efforts have been a strong PR angle Iceland’s technology and assistance to China, India and even General Motors with clean energy development, consistently make headlines. Yet consumers these days have a sharp eye for Greenwashing does your brand have an authentic story to tell?
*Tasting is believing Until the 1950s, Icelandic fisherman threw lobsters back. They believed that people did not want to eat ugly things, instead opting to dine on better-looking animals, like puffin. Now, lobster is loved as a delicious meal, while puffin is more frequently shunned. Driving trial is imperative to changing consumer mindset. How can our programs go beyond buzz to spark actual product testing?
Experiencing life with open eyes, on the watch-out for the latest cool trends to inspire Brand strategy, is personally one of my favorite things about PR. Iceland stole a little piece of my heart; I’m already planning my return trip. What has moved you lately?
Almost everyone’s done it. Admit it, you have too. You’ve Googled yourself. And if you haven’t, you probably should.
With the ever-growing social mediascape, some aspect of your life is most likely online somewhere, whether it’s updates to your own profile on LinkedIn or pictures tagged of you in someone else’s MySpace album. If it’s not, well
what’s wrong with you? Though it probably sounds like I’m joking with that question, the truth is, if you’re not online in some capacity, you either have an insanely strong team of reputation specialists monitoring the Web 24/7, or you’re living under a rock.
The power of self-promotion and importance of managing your Internet identity became abundantly clear to me this weekend when I scored not one, but two, invites to swank friend-of-friend birthday parties based on my Facebook activity. Seriously. One admitted to enjoying the wall comments I posted, while the other said I just looked like fun from a recently-uploaded photo album.
Both birthday people were called out for not actually knowing me when posed with the question, “Wait, when did you meet Jessica? Have I introduced you?” No, we had not actually met in person. In my opinion, nothing’s more awkward than being caught in the act of online profile observation. I’ve been guilty of this behaving as if I know someone, making them feel uncomfortable by a friendly familiarity, only to realize we hadn’t even met yet I just recognized them from being on the Internet somewhere. Thanks to the World Wide Web, it’s now possible to form an opinion on someone before you even meet them face to face.
The fact remains that there’s a whole new public “you” to be managed. Even with privacy settings, it’s very likely the average person is just a few clicks away from seeing your past online. So is that reputation the one you want to convey? Decide how you want people to see you, and to the best of your ability, manage your Internet identity. Because these days, you need to be your own PR expert. And all I can say is thank goodness for detagging.
In these times, beliefs in financial invincibility have been eradicated. It’s become nearly impossible not to think about money, and consider the ways we could be saving it. So what should you be spending money on these days? Viewing this from the PR perspective, why should consumers buy the products we represent? As we can see from the declining sales of luxury goods, making purchases outside of everyday necessities now require more compelling motivation.
This need to control spending and monitor finances is perhaps one of the reasons we seem to be shifting away from the glitzy consumerism that has become so popular with the rise of celebrity culture. Today, there is a search for meaning beyond the bling. As our recession-minded country bonds together in the spirit of “yes we can,” we seem to be seeking moments. My roommate Jason, an ad agency creative director, said it well: “Experiences are the new luxury.”
In fact, MMC embraces this marketing mindset; our motto is Building Brand Relationships We know it’s not enough to simply tout product benefits. How do we move consumers? We show value by sharing meaningful moments that encourages bonding with brands.
Even popular social media networks seem to embrace the focus on experience, perhaps helping to foster it. Twitter asks, “What are you doing?” Even Facebook followed suit and did too, (until its recent status update change to “What’s on your mind?”) Well, the answer to what you’re doing better be a good one! To the Twitter haters, like the recent Metro article that says, Twitter’s close to completely useless I say harrumph! (Though the Harvard study it’s based on provides compelling data that 10 percent of Twitter users generated more than 90 percent of the content). Sure, it’s full of self-promoters, and a lot of people sharing mundane tidbits. But I believe anything that can help drive moments, over things, is a good thing.
I live in NYC for these experiences. The city that never sleeps bursts with an endless amount of activities. Some are free. Last nite, I sat on a bench outside Central Park and listened to a trombone player as the M1 rolled by. Some you pay for and hope it’s worth it. Last week, I saw Fuerzabruta, an Argentine show that translates to “Brute Force,” and aims to bring the name to life through sensory overload of sorts and intensely physical spectacles, demonstrating people battling obstacles in an attempt to break through with sheer human will. But what makes this show so unique, and so relevant today, is that it encourages, and in fact, demands the audience’s participation. The crowd, which stands throughout the entire performance, will be directed to move throughout the Daryl Roth Theater. Performers expect you to engage with them, grabbing viewers and making them dance. If you’re lucky, you may even get a white box broken over your head (seriously).
I digress. But Fuerzabruta demonstrates an opportunity to drive the consumer experience impactfully through participation. Such collaboration is actively sought out and thanks to social media, even expected. Being about dialogue, as opposed to one-way communication, PR seems ripe to address the desires of today’s consumers. Building brand relationships, allowing consumers to participate in and share experiences with brands, will be key to finding success in these times.
