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Aug 17
Love0

People I Wish We Had the Opportunity to Partner with More Often, Part 1

By Marketing, Media, Social Media

This industry (marketing/public relations/social media) is filled with really outgoing and fun personalities. It’s not a huge surprise. I mean, we’re the communicators after all. But I have found that there are some people I’ve met who I am continually staying connected with in the hopes that we’ll have the opportunity to work together.

Billy Hunt is one of those people. He’s known for his commercial photography and documentary work with CLAW, but he’s more recently gained some national attention for the SCREAMatron. He was featured on the Today Show and in the New York Times, and basically, he’s sort of a big deal around here.

The second we start talking with a client about adding video to their web presence, I think of him. Check out this cool video he did for Boylan Heights (with original music!): Boylan Heights video

I love that are artists like Billy are here and able to make a living doing what they love.

Aug 16
Love0

How the Boy Scouts Blew It On Facebook

By Uncategorized

Are we really still discussing this? It’s hard to believe, but yes we are. Another example of lame-brained Facebook behavior from a large organization that can’t seem to get out of its own way. This week’s contestant? The Boy Scouts of America.

I ran across the exchange below in my Facebook stream. It seems Wells Fargo was celebrating their continued support of scouting with an event, photo opp, etc. and posted this on their Facebook page. All great. Predictably, the posting got a comment, highlighted in yellow below, decrying their exclusionary practices, which are well -known.

See below:

I have no problem with an organization making decisions about how they want to operate, even if I don’t agree with their point of view. What I have a problem with in this case is that once again, a large organization with a lot to lose when things go wrong got it VERY wrong on the social networks.

If you’re going to to engage on these platforms, your point of view is going to be front and center at some point. If you stifle discussion of that point of view, you appear to be hiding something or afraid of the interaction. You also raise the profile of the very thing you’re trying to avoid and open yourself up to bigger headaches. In this case, they have reminded a new group of Facebook readers of their exclusionary policies, lost a long-time supporter and fund-raiser, and appeared opaque and untrustworthy.

What do you think? Is Facebook an appropriate venue to discuss your brand’s philosophies? If not, why are you there?

Aug 01
Love0

A little more here and less over there

By Jaggers Communications News, Marketing

In case you haven’t noticed, we’re under construction. After many rumblings and long ponderings, Marijean and the team have decided to spruce up the place a bit. We’re also releasing a monthly newsletter. (If you did not receive July’s, you can sign up here.)

Please pardon the mess, and I promise it will be nice and clean (and easier to navigate!) soon.

Jul 30
Love0

Facebook Likes Are Back On My )@(#*$ List

By Social Media

After a blissful, serene quiet period, I have somehow started getting more and more “opportunities” to “like” one or another business on Facebook, usually in exchange for a CHANCE at some future benefit. Sometimes these opportunities are delivered in bulk, like a case of Pepsi (I’m a Coke man, myself) or doses of bad tasting cough syrup. What gives? Haven’t we already decided this is a bad idea over the long term? It feels a little smarmy, selling out the goodwill of your brand for a short little burst of happy. For we all know that these likes are fleeting, don’t we?

There are many articles on this. Here is one from ZDNet. Here is another from Fresh Networks, and yet a third from Social Media Today. They all say basically the same thing: once someone comes to your page and hits “like,” they rarely, IF EVER, come back. There is typically no reason to in their minds. 47% of potential  customers in a recent survey said that liking a page has no influence on a purchasing decision from that brand, and that 67% only liked the page to get better deals.

Facebook is a great platform for sharing the human side of a business and giving customers a glimpse of the people behind the operation. Sharing content, thoughts, and ideas with your customers in turn builds trust, which can enhance sales over the long term because we all feel better buying from trusted sources. But in order to earn and KEEP that trust, you have to be prepared to make the page a source of value EVERY DAY. If you promise one thing and deliver less, you will undo all your efforts.

So why would you undermine that trust by baiting “likes” with false or weak “deals” that will never be repeated? Moreover why would you PAY to do that?

Jul 23
Love0

Communications Done Right

By Communications, Marketing

With all the negative news in the press lately–from the travesty that is U.S. politics to the tragedy that is Aurora, CO and the subsequent NRA dustup, sometimes it’s nice to see communications used in a classy, nice but effective way.

Such is the case of Patrick Wensink, who commissioned a cover for his book, Broken Piano For President, that ended up looking a lot like a Jack Daniels label. As you might expect (although apparently Patrick didn’t), the brand police over at Jack Daniels got involved. And as you might also expect, typically these things can become, well, contentious and directive.

Not so this time. They sent him and extremely polite, understanding, and pleasant letter for once, which you can read about here. It’s the kind of cooperative tone that makes us proud to be in the communications business, rather than being embarrassed by the likes of Ryan Holiday, the lying jerk and “media manipulator.” The letter is non-threatening, helpful, understanding, and amazingly effective. Someone was channeling Dale Carnegie, a practice well worth resurrecting, don’t you think?