This week, I’ll be reporting from the Cannes Lions 57th International Advertising Festival. It is one of the most exciting industry events of the year, where corporate and agency leaders come together to learn, debate, celebrate success and consider “what’s next?”
In thinking about how the industry is evolving, nothing makes us happier than CMOs who fully embrace PR as an integral part of holistic brand building – a norm rather than an exception these days. To read more, click here.
Technorati Tags: Cannes Lions, PRWeek, Brand Marketing, PR, public relations, marketing to women, Marina Maher Communications, MMC
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It’s not every day that you get the chance to meet the woman behind one of your favorite online resources. This week, I had the chance to meet with Lisa Lillien, founder of Hungry Girl, to talk about our food clients including Arnold/Oroweat (she’s a huge fan of Sandwich Thins) and Post Cereals.
If you’re not familiar with Hungry Girl, it’s a website and daily newsletter full of tips and tricks for eating well, and making smart caloric choices. It’s your first destination for low-calorie alternatives to your favorite indulgences – where taste is their number 1 priority. Some of my favorite recipes have come from the Hungry Girl team.
My visit to HG headquarters was full of conversation on food, favorite products, leveraging Social Media for your brand and the fabulous design of their office.
Lisa created Hungry Girl back in 2004 and while it’s always been an online entity, we had the chance to talk shop a bit about the role Facebook and Twitter play in content promotion and growing your brand. (If you’re a Hungry Girl fan, be sure to check out her Facebook page and follow her on Twitter.)
For anyone who loves food, the HG headquarters is full of design ideas. The diner style dining area coupled with the cupcake table and candy bar pillows (see photo) make for delicious décor. Everyone needs to indulge every now and then! It’s only a matter of time until they add my coveted ice cream sandwich bench.
If you haven’t grabbed Lisa’s latest book, Hungry Girl 1-2-3: The Easiest, Most Delicious, Guilt-Free Recipes on the Planet, click your way to Amazon now!
Thanks, Lisa, for being a great host.
A few days ago I arrived on the west coast for a 2-month remote work assignment in Los Angeles. I knew earthquakes were common here, but assumed my chances of experiencing one were slim since I had visited so often and never felt any ground rumbles.
Little did I know I would be sitting on the couch thinking about my family having Easter dinner in New York when I’d feel the ground shake so fiercely. I equate the feeling to the rumble when you’re standing above a subway train pulling through a station. It took my mind a few seconds to realize what was going on, but I happened to be on Twitter where many of my fellow Californians were tweeting about the earthquake. One of my favorite things about Twitter is it allows you to never be alone. A scary situation becomes less scary when you’re experiencing it with over 1,000 followers.
As the shaking stopped and I left the doorway to return to my computer, I watched the news unfold online before traditional news sources could report on it. Someone even tweeted that there were 35,000 tweets about the earthquake in 3 minutes on Twitter – a stat some feel could be a new record.
After I let all my friends and family know I was okay through mass text and Facebook status update, I continued to watch the news updates online. One of my favorite features was the Web site of Extra that featured what the celebrities were saying about the earthquake.
Social Media changes the way breaking news is reported on. Numerous tweets in my timeline spoke to this as friends said that this was another major news event they had heard about first on Twitter.
Once traditional media began reporting on the earthquake, many of the television stations were leveraging consumer tweets to tell the story of the Easter earthquake. And hours later, “mexicali,” the site of the earthquake, continued to trend on Twitter.
Much to the surprise of marketers, Facebook has announced a plan to replace its “become a fan” button on the brand pages it hosts with “like” buttons.
According to Peter Kafka at All Things Digital, the move is “both minor and telling” as Facebook seeks to make fan pages (and the ads that support them) a bigger part of its business model.
It’s also telling in another way for brands: Facebook pages change. Many brands have set up pages and virtually walked away, assuming that the community will run itself. Well, it doesn’t and the folks at Facebook are continually re-jiggering for optimal performance and opportunities.
A brand’s Facebook page demands constant monitoring and nurturing. Not only are listening to “fans” (or soon-to-be “people who like you on Facebook”) and interacting with them necessary. Remaining on top of the functional changes at Facebook is an absolute must.
News/crises about logos (such as Nestlé’s – among others – recent handling of intellectual property issues with its community) is just one of the examples of how important active listening and authentic interaction is. But don’t forget about the platform’s impact itself.
Past Facebook changes have already affected brands in terms of message control and promotional guidelines for contests. Even tab width changes have impacted brands’ page design. And if Facebook has its way, the “like” button will eventually permeate the Web.
TechNewsWorld also reports that Facebook is proposing more changes to its privacy policy, including data sharing with third-parties (e.g., pre-approved partner Web sites).
We’d all be wise marketers to stay on top of Facebook’s enhancements going forward, and the implications these might have on our target audiences and Brands.
This weekend, hundreds of online influencers flocked to Nashville, Tennessee for the opportunity to network, learn and kick-back with their “Web friends” at Blissdom 2010. We attended the conference on behalf of our client, Arnold Bread, the Blissdom Lunch Sponsor. While we were there, we had the chance to meet many of the women we speak to daily via the Internet in person, a real treat! We also made new friends and can’t wait to stay in touch with them in the future.
All of the women at Blissdom were there to further share their personal stories, and in our opinion, they did so in a big way! I now have at least 100 new sites to add to our RSS feeds and dozens of new Twitter followers. The attendees left Blissdom feeling inspired and refreshed, saying they had learned valuable information. We left feeling motivated and full of key learnings!
- Engage in advance: Don’t be afraid to say hello before meeting someone in person, whether it be via tweet, blog comment or private message, the main reason influencers attend these conferences is to network. We listened to online chatter about Blissdom prior to the show, waited for key opportunities to connect with attendees, and when appropriate, introduced ourselves and shared information about Arnold. Many of the influencers we engaged in advance were excited to stop by our booth and say “hi” in-person. This helped forge new relationships, while simultaneously driving booth traffic.
- Add value: Everyone loves free swag. In the end, it can help keep your Brand top-of-mind with key influencers, but to develop deeper relationships, enhancements relevant to both the Brand and the influencer should be offered in the booth. Arnold Breads offered free nutrition consultations with our registered dietitian, helping attendees understand the importance of a balanced diet that includes whole grains, like the ones found in our breads. Influencers engaged with us in a highly personalized, intimate manner (even sharing their weight and waist size!) resulting in a positive, lasting Brand experience.
- Provide inspiration: Our sponsorship consisted of a variety of different touch-points, from pre-conference couponing to consultations in our booth. Perhaps the most valuable interaction was our sponsored lunch, which offered influencers the opportunity to taste a variety of unique sandwiches made with Arnold sliced breads and Sandwich Thins. This drove immediate trial, which we believe our influencers will seek beyond the conference. Attendees experienced key Brand qualities and learned that nutritious can also be delicious.
As a “social media person” it’s easy to say that my life revolves around my computer for news, entertainment and connecting with friends. My blackberry is never far from my hands and my Twitter followers know more about me on a day-to-day basis than my family does.
Every now and then, though, I have to kick it old school. The feel of reading a newspaper while riding the bus or the laughter of the audience at a late night television show are the reasons I entered a career in public relations in the first place. Like most consumers, my media consumption habits are hybrid.
The best is when the real world and the virtual world combine. Monday I had the opportunity to sit in the studio audience of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Host Jimmy Fallon (@JimmyFallon) was one of the first celebrities to truly embrace social media platforms like Twitter. He often interacts with followers and even hosts contests providing fans with a direct connection to the show, a brand in and of itself.
It was through Twitter that I was given the opportunity to attend the taping. Jimmy hosted a trivia contest on Twitter over the weekend to win tickets. While I unsuccessfully tried to win myself, a virtual friend of mine was one of the winners and invited me to meet in real life and attend with her. The contest attracted 100s of people vying for a chance to sit in the studio audience.
The line between media as we knew it in the past and social media is disappearing. Social media allows you to connect with other forms of media in new and unique ways. It’s like a front row seat without ever leaving your home. While this time I was lucky enough to be in that audience, there are many times I am home and following the experiences of others participating live via online platforms enabled for sharing. If you can’t be there, join them (virtually)!
As the saying goes, “image is everything.” In a world where the type of cell phone you carry is almost as important as the designer label on your purse, technology is seeping into all aspects of our lives – including fashion.
Reading over 300 blogs a day, I feel pretty up-to-date on the latest hot products. It’s hard to believe that my aunt was able to surprise me with a totally cool Christmas present that I had never seen or heard of before.
The Echo Design iPod/iPhone compatible gloves I received combine my aunt’s love of fashion, with my love of technology. They also solve a major dilemma I have – how do I keep the music pumping on my walk to work while keeping my hands warm in the bitter cold? These gloves, which come in a great variety of colors including “MMC pink,” have special fingertips that allow you to use your Apple products (and other touch sensitive accessories).
I’m a true believer in talking, both online and offline, about innovative products I love. Word-of–mouth marketing isn’t just something I do professionally, but personally, too. My colleague Greg and I had an in-depth conversation about my new gloves and what he coined “techno-fashion.”
We couldn’t help but wonder, what’s next for 2010 –
Whatever it is, Greg and I will be ready to be trendsetters. Perhaps we’ll even make the purchase from our mobile devices.
Every morning on my way to work at MMC I join other straphangers who have learned to finesse reading the New York Times on the subway. Afterwards, I throw the paper away. Before you judge me, I do recycle. But it’s still a waste of paper and energy no matter which way you slice it.
That’s starting to really bother me. Like many others, I am increasingly concerned about the environment. And, as much as I love reading all the other daily, weekly and monthly periodicals I get, I am increasingly concerned about how much paper I waste every month.
So I am anxiously awaiting new technology like wi-fi in the subway and better quality downloadable e-readers.
That time may come sooner rather than later.
In a tumultuous week for the publishing industry, Condé Nast has pulled the plug on four magazines: Gourmet, Cookie, Modern Bride and Elegant Bride. Already there is talk of enhancements to the digital versions of these magazines. And in several weeks, a partnership that includes Time Inc., Hearst, Condé Nast and several other major publishers, will launch a joint initiative to create a new digital reader that is more newspaper and magazine friendly than Amazon’s Kindle. They also plan to create content compatible with Hewlett-Packard and Sony devices, and the new Apple reader when it is available.
I say, “bring it on.”
It’s inevitable that magazine, newspaper and book publishing will go digital. And when it does, I will feel so much better about my voracious reading habit because I won’t be constantly wondering about its environmental impact. I will be willing to pay for the content, as I do now. And I will be far more loyal to the publications I read.
So
let’s get going publishers. I’m ready. And I know a whole lot of other folks who are ready too!
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.
Last month, a member of my favorite online community the social bookmarking site reddit.com posted a last-ditch plea for help. User stilesjp’s mother couldn’t make her mortgage payments and his sister was working two jobs because the family’s soap-making business Soapier had become a victim of the current recession. Stilesjp shared his story and asked us to simply buy some soap at a discounted reddit rate and the response is yet another example of what I love about the Internet.
Most “redditors” have never met one another, and after three years on the site I could only name for you a handful of users. But what makes this and other online communities so special and important is that we share a bond as strong as any felt in the “real world.” People came out in droves to support stilesjp and his family: purchasing “soap by the slice,” registering for the e-newsletter, forwarding the link, and providing marketing and Web site design advice. A quick look at compete.com shows the Soapier site’s traffic went from 456 unique visitors in April to 16,738 in June.
The resulting attention spread far beyond reddit alone. Bay News 9 in Tampa interviewed the family, and WomanEntreprenuer.com featured Soapier in a blog post on the merits of social media. Soap orders continue to pour in as more and more people hear about the company. All this because a site full of programming nerds and Digg defectors not your likeliest target audience for handmade soap decided to upvote a stranger’s post.
In a true testament to just how far we will go for a fellow redditor, the community requested and received our own personalized soap with the reddit logo. It comes in reddit’s favorite scent, bacon, as well as a more socially acceptable orange-scented version.
