Mar 12
Love0

The Genius of Invisible Children’s Kony 2012 Campaign

By Public Relations, Social Media

Unless you were living under a rock last week you have seen the video or at least heard about the celebrity support of Kony 2012. Invisible Children (IC) is the name of the organization responsible for this film. By all accounts, IC hit a home run its campaign and social media strategy. The film which enjoyed 71 million views within 5 days on YouTube could have sat collecting dust for months without a solid campaign in place.

The co-founder, Jason Russell has been all over TV, radio, web and the social networks explaining their organization’s mission. IC wants to make Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), famous with the goal being that in fame comes awareness and ultimately, arrest.

Much has been said about the questionable expenditures of Invisible Children, their oversimplified explanation of the situation, and the colonial idea of Westerners swooping in to “save” Africa when the Ugandan military is already in pursuit of Kony, and Obama’s deployment of a mere 100 military advisors back in October. Nonetheless, we all know who Joseph Kony is now. He is, in effect, famous.

But how did this happen? How did this campaign explode as it did when thousands of organizations are marketing themselves every day with little fanfare. They’re on Facebook and Twitter. They have blogs and maybe even events as well as news releases and traditional advertising.

IC’s genius is in their strategy. This campaign was designed with laser focus, crystal clear goals and an adaptive plan to make it happen. Their plan was outlined in the video.

The number one goal was to make Kony famous.

They had two target audiences to mobilize: the young and the powerful. This young (25 and under) audience could be reached through “culturemakers” rappers, actors, personalities, etc. The powerful were Congressional members. They chose “policy makers” former presidents, senators, etc who could be influential to this group. The idea was to reach out to the influential groups and ask them to speak to the target audiences on behalf of IC through retweets, sharing of posts on multiple social media sites and publicly displaying support.

The message was simple, compelling and always accompanied by the opportunity to donate and connect and share via Facebook, Twitter or email.

Of course, all of this did not occur in a vacuum. There were interviews, events, articles, unending hype to drive more traffic to the site. And lest we forget that all this has occurred, “Cover the Night” on April 20th should remind us with a worldwide call to paper our cities with Kony 2012 posters and paraphernalia. Is it at least a coincidence that 4/20 was chosen as the date? No, their pot smoking target will be celebrating anyway. Go ahead and piggyback on the holiday. And yes, UVA, I see you’re onboard. Cheers!

Whether or not you buy into this brand of activism, there is a lesson to be learned here. It’s hard to argue with what these tactics have achieved. If you find your organization achieving less than stellar response to your online campaign, ask yourselves a few questions. Is your message clear and compelling? Have you created a solid strategy with tangible goals? How well do you know your primary, secondary and tertiary target audiences? If this raises more questions than answers, I know a great PR firm that can help.

Mar 12
Love0

When Communications are Client Driven

By Communications

I’ve worked in communications for the better part of the last 16 years or so. My experience on the agency side has consistently pointed to the same truth. Communications that are driven wholly by the client are rarely strategic and often misguided. When an agency or other outsourced communication provider becomes the order taker, taking direction from the client without questioning whether what’s being directed is what’s best for the business.

In public relations, marketing and communications, I think it’s our job to always do what’s best for the client. Sometimes that means there’s less work available for the firm. Sometimes that feedback causes friction in a client relationship. But above all, I feel strongly that it is our role to be looking out for the client’s best interests.

We speak up, speak out and will speak on our clients’ behalf because we believe in the message they deliver.

We also won’t hesitate to disagree, redirect or be frank and honest in the face of your communications challenges.

We like to think we’re easy to work with (we get that feedback a lot) but we also have put our stake in the ground to be clear and open, to guard your business as if it were our own, and to be always thinking of you and ways we can help your communications improve.  While it may feel foreign to some organizations engaging with a strong communications partner for the first time, or for those used to directing and managing marketing and PR efforts to an order-taker, the outcome is so much greater for the whole, the adjustment to the collaborative nature of our work ultimately becomes what most think is a refreshing change.

We’re different. We’re a little loud; we’re not shy, and we’re as passionate about our own work as you are about yours.

 

Mar 08
Love0

Social Media and The Great Privacy Debate

By Social Media

There’s been a lot of discussion at Jaggers Communications’ world headquarters, about issues related to social media and privacy.

We don’t always agree about the ethics involved or the complex decisions businesses must make if they’re going to data mine to a level that might make consumers uncomfortable. We’re also on the fence about employers and the rights they have to monitor, hire or fire, request access to and/or otherwise control an employee’s interaction on social networks.

As consumers, we can decide to enjoy the small benefits of marketing targeted specifically to our desires. I’ll admit that it’s nice that special offers I receive are based on prior purchases and my consumer behavior overall, providing me a convenience and benefit of financial savings. My level of discomfort in sharing online is not as high as others’.

We’re curious about what you think: are the benefits you receive from data mining practices outweighing the discomfort in giving up some level of privacy? How do you feel about employers or potential employers monitoring your online behavior?

Mar 07
Love0

On the Blog Wagon — How to Fall Off and Get Back to It

By Communications, Social Media

It was pointed out to me today that I haven’t been blogging much at all. And a lack of blogging for me means a lack of Twitter or Facebook interaction and a general sense of missing-in-action for my followers and for me, personally as well. I miss it, and being busy with client work, while true, is not an acceptable excuse. Writers’ block doesn’t suffice as an excuse and isn’t the case, either. It just happens, once in awhile. My appetite wanes, I guess.

So how to re-energize the process?

I’m mixing up my content by adding a couple of contributors: Jaggers Communications team members Rusty Speidel and Erika Gennari have recently contributed blog posts. I’m also thinking philosophically about what content I want to post, categorically, and thinking about reorganizing categories to reflect the firm’s capabilities. I also know from a look at analytics that the more personal I am in my posts, the more reflective about my business or the more fired up I am about a particular communications issue, the larger the audience.

You guys sure like it when I get pissy.

So I’m considering all of that, and working on getting back to posting much more often.

Suggestions, demands and questions will be entertained by the management. Comment below.