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Was this ecard in your Facebook feed yesterday?
Today, John Lennon’s 1970s song “Power to The People” has meaning again. The People created an avalanche of social media protest when The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation (SGK) cut funds for breast cancer screenings at Planned Parenthood earlier this week. No matter where you stood on the issue, it was The People who painted a picture of SGK as a polarizing charity and made many supporters re-assess their continued sponsorship. It was The People who contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Planned Parenthood – funds it wouldn’t otherwise have received. And it was The People (more women than men, but you gotta love Michael Bloomberg), powered by social media, who incentivized SGK earlier today to reverse its funding decision.
And the best part? Because of the speed and reach of social media this all happened in two days.
Have people used social media to effect change before? They sure have. There was that little thing called the Arab Spring. And last summer, women in Saudi Arabia mobilized on social networking sites to demand their right to drive. This sparked worldwide media coverage and support from female politicians and diplomats in the U.S. and Europe.
The enormous power of social media still thrills me. Maybe because I remember the laboriously slow pace and even threat of danger of the old fashioned protests. How would social media have affected other well-known protests such as the Vietnam War in the 1960s or the HIV/AIDS protests in the 1980s?
Looking forward, there’s one thing of which I’m certain: we are past the time when social issues that large groups of people are passionate about can be swept under the rug or put on hold until next month’s board meeting. Everything happens in real time. And as public relations people, we need to be prepared to react in real time.
Image Courtesy of Carlos Latuff
The Huffington Post published a photo essay today on what they deemed The 50 Best Moments for Women in 2011. Turns out there were a lot of reasons to celebrate women’s progress in many areas, including politics, media, the arts, athletics and more.
I encourage you to click through all of it. But if you don’t have time, here are a few highlights about women’s progress in media that I thought were particularly noteworthy.
- Social networking scores a victory in Saudi Arabia. No, this wasn’t another Arab Spring – it was a campaign for women’s rights in the ultra-conservative kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Women2Drive was created to demand women’s right to drive after a 32-year-old female engineer was arrested for driving. The campaign demonstrated the dramatic impact of social networking sites, as it sparked worldwide media coverage and support from female politicians and diplomats in the U.S. and Europe. While women have not won the right to drive, Saudi’s King Abdullah did grant them the right to vote in elections for the first time, moving women’s progress one small step forward.
- Despite widely available information online, generations of women still turn to the same women’s health reference book. In 2011, “Our Bodies, Ourselves” (OBOS), the iconic and widely-circulated women’s health reference book, celebrated its 40th birthday. Published by the Boston Women’s Health Collective in 1971, when health information was hard to come by, this book helped launch the women’s health movement. Forty years later, despite the surfeit of online information, OBOS remains a go-to resource for women of all ages – from Boomers to Millennials and Generation Z.
- The first ad featuring lesbians airs on national TV. Kudos to KY, the personal lubricant brand, which aired a commercial featuring a lesbian couple sitting on their bed talking about using KY Intense, a new product designed for women because “they say it makes sex more satisfying.” Add this breakthrough to 2011’s passage of New York’s Same Sex Marriage Act and the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act signed in December of 2010 and I’d say the LGBT community had a pretty good year!
- Social Media may thwart another “Oprah Effect.” HuffPo notes that while Oprah single-handedly influenced how millions of women thought and talked about their lives, social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter have so democratized media that “it’s nearly impossible for any one person to have that much control over any conversation again.”
There’s a lot more great stuff in this article, including not one, but two mentions of Ryan Gosling, who was the subject of more buzz than he probably wanted in 2011. You’ll have to go to the site to find out why. Or just check out this blog to find out more about his, um, feminist side.
Happy New Year!
MMC client Head & Shoulders, which has been working with Pittsburgh Steelers spokesman Troy Polamalu for several years, expanded its hair roster to include two more Pittsburgh Steelers – Brett Keisel and Hines Ward. In media interviews today, the two new spokesmen discussed what it’s like to be legendary on and off the field and their new Head & Shoulders commercial, which also features Polamalu. Keisel and Ward urged fans to check out the Head & Shoulders for Men Facebook page to enter the Legendary 7 Contest.
Photo credit: Head & Shoulders’ YouTube Channel
Kimberly-Clark’s product for light bladder leakage, Poise® pads were first featured on Saturday Night Live in March 2010 when Kenan Thompson spoofed a Poise commercial featuring Whoopi Goldberg. Now, it appears Poise is becoming a pop culture regular on the show. During the Weekend Update segment, SNL host Alec Baldwin, playing Tony Bennett, does a live commercial for Poise pads, holding up a packaging and thanking his sponsors. Although this was not a paid integration, it certainly looked like one!
Watch the segment here:
Poise on Saturday Night Live Weekend Update
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Vagina as a new trend? According to an article in today’s New York Times, it is. Many of the new sitcoms, CBS’s “Two Broke Girls,” NBC’s “Whitney,” and ABC’s “Suburgatory” used the word vagina, not va-jay-jay, not hoo-ha, and no bleeping, in their premieres this week. In the article Emily Kapnek, the creator of “Suburgatory” says, “How could anyone take issue? It’s not like vagina should be perceived as a dirty word.”
Props for her enlightened viewpoint! We hope this trend continues to evolve. In a survey our client U by Kotex* conducted just two years ago with Harris Interactive, 43% of women felt more comfortable saying “penis” than “vagina.” We can’t help but think that our ongoing U by Kotex campaign has been helping to pave the way for this trend –whether by smashing walls of euphemisms with Khloe Kardashian or working with Tyra Banks to encourage women to sign the Declaration of Real Talk.
What’s your point of view on all this enlightened talk about vaginas? Are we all becoming a “little desensitized” as noted in today’s Times? Or is it that we’re just craving real talk? I’m happy to see that the networks are updating their language in the sitcoms. But I’m curious, is it only ok to use the word for comedy’s sake and not for education? Let’s see what the networks do next.
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The New York Times Business Section recently reported on a national trend that we media specialists have been dealing with: In stations across the country the hole left in the syndication schedule by Oprah’s exit has largely been filled by local news. This is particularly apparent for us here in NYC, as our local ABC affiliate, WABC-TV, expanded the local newscast to start at 4PM after our beloved “O” said her final farewell. Our media team is sent into a Pavlovian panic each day because we associate the local news opener (yes, we watch the news while we work!) with a sort-of a five o’clock alarm – usually meaning the day is almost done and our to-do lists are not. It’s taken some time to get used to, but the 4PM newscast is the new norm and we like it!
It’s not just the time slot vacated by Lady O that’s changing the news. News stations from NYC to St. Louis are expanding their local newscasts from early in the morning to late at night with some broadcasting up to six and a half hours of local news per day. This represents a huge opportunity for our clients. Local news may be increasing, but a majority of stations still have to produce shows on a shoestring budget with a skeleton staff. (the Times article cites a study by the FCC completed earlier this year that found local outlets were still depending largely on smaller than needed staff). TV producers will have a greater need for PR people to help do the legwork traditionally done by media gatekeepers because the gatekeepers simply don’t have the time to do it. Delivering a readymade segment with thoughtful assets that make sense for a local audience has never been more welcome by local news producers.
Here’s the formula we think works for local producers, for us and for our clients:
- A big idea with a comprehensive media strategy that resonates with audiences on a local level
- A news angle that helps the producer tell a story without their piece sounding overly commercial
- The right spokesperson
- An engaging call-to-action
- Baked-in organic messaging
- Interactive online components and assets
Of particular note, pay special attention to your social media strategy when thinking about your local news approach. Really? YES! “What’s #Trending” and “Hot on the Web” segments have become the norm, so don’t forget that your social media program has television legs beyond online. And increasingly, having a blog is more than enough credibility to be an “expert” so partnering with an Online Influencer as your spokesperson, or simply supplying influencers who routinely appear on TV with product and message are both great approaches.
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The New York Times reported today newsstand sales for weekly magazines are largely down over the first six months of 2011. These figures are often seen as a good indication of the overall health of a magazine because circulation numbers can be more easily manipulated. Despite provocative covers, noteworthy news (royal wedding, killing Osama bin Laden) and leadership changes most magazines haven’t been able to move the needle at shelf.
This trend is only going to continue. People buy magazines at the newsstand because they expect a magazine to fill a specific period of time to keep them occupied. With the continued adaptation of smart phones and tablets, there’s really no need to purchase a magazine to fill a void. If you like the style/content of a particular magazine, most offer content on mobile-friendly sites and apps. If your interest is piqued by a provocative headline on a magazine cover, odds are you can find the story online. You might not be able to read the prized feature article, but you can still access much of the content, along with real-time blog posts and web-only articles on of-the-moment topics. Many magazines are offering a richer experience online than they are offering in-book. And currently, much of it is for free. It will be interesting to see how the magazine business model continues to evolve as the Internet and related devices continue to adapt. I don’t think it will be much longer before we see app sales and online subscriptions as an indicator of a magazine’s success and newsstand sales fall by the wayside.
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