Jumpin’ on the Sex and the City 2 ‘Brand’ Wagon

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Unless you live under a rock, I am sure that by now you are very, or depending on who’s reading this, painfully, aware that Sex and the City 2 hits theaters nation-wide today.

It’s virtually impossible not to know that this movie is out in theaters as you’ve probably seen the overly-hyped movie trailer, one too many “SJP” interviews or read a barrage of articles on “How to get Carrie’s six-digit look for less.” Marketing and promotional campaigns tied to movies aren’t new they just continue to get bigger and broader with the impact of product placements and social media. With its fashion-forward audience it’s not at all surprising that the SATC2 marketing engine is in overdrive – but what is surprising is how many different types of consumer brands are capitalizing on what one LA Times reporter has described as “not just a movie…(but)… a lifestyle,…”

I can’t think of another franchise that has sparked as many give-aways, makeovers, and vacation sweepstakes. It feels like every time I turn around, another, and, in some instances, unexpected industry is jumping on the SATC2 ‘brand’ wagon.

Of course the obvious players, retail brands like Macys and high-end fashion publications like Vogue, would be missing the boat if they didn’t create buzz around such a fashion-forward experience. It’s also understandable to see the hospitality industry getting in on a piece of the action by offering high-end New York City SATC2 weekend getaway packages . It fits with the movie’s backdrop and isn’t that much of a stretch. But when brands like HP, hype their “2010 Spring Collection” with their SATC2 Sweepstakes and Lipton Ice Tea promotes a “Manhattan Makeover” I think it only further reinforces, what many already know, that women ages 30-45 have some serious buying power, or as my husband says we are “a marketers dream.” After seeing the brand campaigns launched over these last couple of weeks I wouldn’t be surprised if Black & Decker were to launch a SATC2 sweepstakes featuring its 12-Volt Variable Speed Cordless Drill, I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t at least check out the prize package. Are you paying attention Black & Decker??

What do you think about unexpected brands coming up with creative ways to get in front of this powerful demographic? Talk amongst yourselves, while I get back to completing all my SATC2 sweepstake forms!

Constant Contact Acquires NutshellMail; Social Media Marketing Made Easy for SMBs

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By now, you’ve likely heard the big news on our client front today – Constant Contact has added social media marketing to their arsenal of tools for small businesses and organizations, through the acquisition of NutshellMail. Now, while I may be biased, I can honestly say that NutshellMail does exactly what the name implies – captures your social media networking in a nutshell so you can easily keep up and not miss a beat. I’ve been using the tool for a while now and am happy to be able to spread the word –  I find it invaluable for keeping up with all of the great conversations that I don’t want to miss.

In about five minutes time, you can be set up on NutshellMail and choose how often you receive an aggregated e-mail delivery of your most important messages across networks such as Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin. Why is this important? Because one of the biggest frustrations or roadblocks we hear about from businesses who want to include social media into their marketing mix is lack of time. It’s time consuming to log into each network and keep up with not only your replies, but the topics that are of interest to you and your business. NutshellMail makes it easy – you see all your network activity in one snapshot. And I love that I can reply across networks directly from the email. Other options let you see who your new followers are – or who stopped following you – which can be helpful in analyzing what content is compelling and what isn’t.

I’d love to hear what you think. It’s free and easy – so if you try it, please share your thoughts. And stay tuned to Constant Contact – as you know, they also offer Email Marketing, Online Survey and Event Marketing – as they plan to add more social media marketing tools that will help small businesses and organizations easily execute the most effective and successful marketing programs possible.

For more information, check out the video below or details on Slideshare.


Social Media Marketing Made Simple for Small Businesses – VideoTechnorati Tags: , , , , , , ,

Persuasive Picks for the week of 05/17/10

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selling_sm PR Responsibilities | Selling Social Media
Ashley Wirthlin and Frank Strong offer up Part one of a multi-part series on PR responsibilities. This first post dives into the challenges PR firms face when adding social media to their roster of client services.

10 Ways to Improve Your Work-Life Balance
Inc.com shares 10 tips for web-workers that come straight from many CEOs who have mastered the balance of work and play.

Lessons of Hope: How a Blog Can Change Lives
Veronica Jarski from MPDailyFix shares this inspiring story of a blogger who transformed her simple blog into a thriving and active global community that helps enrich the lives of others.

Facebook’s new functions (and how to leverage them)
This iMediaConnection guest post from Doug Akin provides an nice overview of many of the new functions that are available to help leverage Facebook for your company and brand.

Google TV and the Re-Structuring of the Web
Kristen Nicole gives an overview of Google’s upcoming GoogleTV offering and what it means for both consumers and companies alike in this guest post on the EverythingPR blog.

Social Media is a Fad … Like Websites Don’t Matter

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Today I heard at least three different people comment that social media is a fad. Although they were positioning it in jest, there was also a bit of questioning in their tone. So let me ask you this:

– Do you use email?
– How often do you IM?
– Do you have a website? What about a blog?
– Are online ads still around?
– Do you Google?
– Have you tried Bing?

Social media isn’t any more of a fad than these very technologies that you and I and millions of others use every day. “It’s just a fad” – unless you’re talking about fashion and style – tends to come from resistant-to-change-and-scared-of-being-left-behind people. I remember when instant messaging was first used in the office of my PR agency back in the early 90s. A lot of people complained about it and said they’d never use it, what was the point when you could just pick up the phone, etc. Personally, I think they were just terrified of IM’ing messages to the wrong person (which was always an enlightening event usually resulting in insults), but eventually they came around to understanding that IM offered a different kind of value than the phone. And one that they wanted.

Similarly, we used to represent a provider of ad blocking software. This was hot stuff in the mid- to late 90s, as many people hate online ads and even more predicted the demise of the online ad market altogether. Yeah, I think we know how that worked out (if I had a dime for every start up business plan I’ve read where advertising is the revenue model….).

Social media isn’t going anywhere. It’s not a fad. Sure the hype will die down – but that’s a good thing. Once the novelty wears off and growth steadies, the market will shake out, the less useful technologies will fade away, the user demographics will be easier to plan around, and we’ll all have a clearer picture of what value it all brings to business.

What do you think?

Seven Business Lessons from the Military

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If you are connected with  me on Facebook or Twitter,
you probably know that I recently saw my brother off as he deployed to
Afghanistan. A part of the weekend was spent at a deployment ceremony
for his unit, and the other part consisted of my asking a lot of
questions about what he does, what military life is like, etc.
Somewhere along the way, I was struck by the way things worked – and
how more civilian businesses could learn a lesson or two from these
government-run entities.

Here are seven takeaways of what I think more businesses could emulate from the military:

1) Respect – the military demands it and has little tolerance when it’s not in place. I think businesses could use more of this discipline. Demand it from your employees, provide it to your colleagues and boss, insist on it from your clients. If you don’t get it, ensure consequence to force change. It may be impossible to like everyone you work with, but you can – and should – show them respect.

2) Recognition – you’ve seen the uniforms and badges. It’s about recognizing, rewarding and promoting hard work. What “badges” do you give to your employees for a job well done? Make sure there are opportunities in place for employees to be recognized, rewarded and promoted.

3) Paying Dues/Earning Your Position – recognition doesn’t come without hard work. The military has very definitive goals and milestones laid out from position to position. There’s little question as to what needs to be accomplished in order to earn your pay grade and title. Employers – are you clearly communicating expectations and milestones? Employees – do you understand and respect the process? Ask questions if you don’t, and work hard to earn your dues – understanding that doing so means much  more than simply passing another anniversary with the company.

4) Why Hierarchy Works – The “everybody wins” mentality from grade school just doesn’t work in business. Hierarchies are in place for a reason – someone’s got to steer the ship and make the decisions. Don’t look at it as a negative, but embrace your role and respect others. And let it inspire you to do #3.

5) The Importance of Ceremony – marking not only accomplishments but rituals that honor the unit as a whole. I think we could use more “ceremony” in business – again, celebrating hard work and promoting successes. Ceremonies provide a sense of unity, accomplishment and pride. Whether it’s for a promotion, a new client or a goal accomplished, create something that can allow everyone to participate in the celebration.

6) The Value in Tradition – we’re always talking about the importance of innovation in business, but don’t forget the value in traditions. Do you have any in your business? Traditions can help connect the history of the company, create a strong sense of pride in its culture and even teach us a thing or two. It doesn’t mean you have to do things the “old way,” but rather that you aren’t opposed to learning from the past as well as planning for the future.

7) A Sense of Humor – while the military is serious and deals with serious issues, humor does abound. Punches upon promotion, the “responsibility” to buy a round of drinks, a running joke – all of which help form a stronger bond among comrades, a bit of stress relief and a sense of belonging (sensing some themes here?). Don’t you want your employees to feel loyal to your business? Do you want them to be happy and enjoy working for you? Do you want them to stay inspired and motivated? Then insist they have a little fun, too – both at the office and “on leave.”

 

 

Persuasive Picks for the week of 05/10/10

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Making Time For Evolution
There are plenty of excuses for not integrating social media into your marketing strategy, but more often than not it comes down to resources or time. Amber Naslund from Radian6 urges readers to “harness their potential” and “embrace the unknown” in this motivational post.

The Metrics of Social Media
This post by Danny Brown expands on social media metrics and the importance of clearly identifying what you want to achieve, how long you want to spend achieving it and actually doing the measuring. He also suggests a variety of metrics to consider when getting started.

Social Media for Business (to Business)
Dave Evans from 2020Social provides several examples of how B2B organizations have adopted social media strategies into their organizations.

Taking the First Steps in Social Marketing
Gary Halliwell explains why tying social media profiles to your CRM records is a great first step in the right direction for getting started with Social Marketing.

5 Easy Ways to Drive Social Media Fans to Action
Building a large online community is great, but driving them to action is essential for the bottom line. Peter Wylie from SocialMediaExaminer shares these practical examples to help increase your community engagement.

Ladies’ Home Journal Features PerkettPR’s Own Heather Fraelick

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If you’re a regular reader, you know that PerkettPR provides its employees with 40 paid community service hours per year, to spend on a cause of their choice.  We are proud of our employees’ efforts to help others and we want to support their desire to do so. Hiring people who care about others and have passions outside of work is a fundamental part of our culture.

Along those lines, you might have read this post from our own Account Supervisor, Heather Fraelick, about how she spends her hours – spreading the word about sun safety and skin cancer. Today, Ladies’ Home Journal featured Heather’s story in The Skin Cancer Guide – a three-part series – providing a “dermatologist-approved detection guide that just might save your life.”

Heather’s bravery and willingness to share her story to help others are just a few of the may reasons we’re proud to have her on our team.

Persuasive Picks for the week of 05/03/10

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Social-media games: Badges or badgering?
CNET staff writer Caroline McCarthy expands on the growing popularity of “badge-based” achievements popping up on websites like The Huffington Post and applications like Foursquare as forms of incentive to interact.

Are your social media metrics diagnostic or objective?
Christopher S. Penn provides an entertaining and informative explanation of the difference between diagnostic and objective social media metrics. His post clearly shows the importance of knowing the difference.

How social media has changed executive roles
SFGate staff writer Benny Evangelista shares this brief interview with Charlene Li about the new wave of Open Leadership that is changing the way executives manage their leadership roles.

Sorry Guys: When It Comes to Your Audience, Size DOES Matter
Justin Kownacki hits the nail on the head with this fantastic post about the long winded debate between quantity versus quality when it comes to follower numbers on social networks. Read on for the secret to success.

Social media used to market Mother’s Day
USA Today’s Bruce Horovitz provides numerous examples of how brands are leveraging social media with targeted campaigns to attract your dollars when it comes to paying homage to Mom this Mother’s Day.

Photo Credit: Nerd Merit Badges

PerkettPR’s April MVP: Johanna Cappello

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At the end of each month we give each PerkettPR employee the opportunity to call out and recognize their fellow colleagues by voting for them as our “Most Valuable Player.” Traditionally, we’ve only shared the honors and accolades amongst ourselves during our first internal meeting of the new month – but why not share it publically?

Each MVP is clear an example of the many top-notch, talented individuals we have at PerkettPR, and sharing the announcement here is a way for you to get to know them a little better. So without further ado, here is PerkettPR’s MVP for April 2010:

Johanna Cappello

JohannaCappelloWhat is your role at PerkettPR?
I am an Operation Assistant—I assistant the Account and Executive teams with research, coverage reports, or managing speaking/awards databases. Also I help with the PR for PerkettPR and more recently have spearheaded a few client driven design projects.

How long have you been with the company?
Over 2 years.

What do you like best about your job?
The variety—each day is different. The work is always fresh, and I love being part of such a motivating, inspiring team—who are continuously pushing me to work harder.

Who inspires you?
Boma (my grandmother) and my Mom—independent, passionate, resilient women.

How do you inspire others?
I am an eternal optimist— and in moments of adversity have used my ambition, my motivation, of course, my optimism to rise above.

What do you enjoy doing when you are not working?
Writing. Cooking. And beach-ing.

What did you want to be when you were little?
Singer on Broadway

How do you stay motivated?
I surround myself with positive, honest, and inspirational people. Also, I love reading and considerate myself a lifelong student. Learning more (and more) is continuously fueling my motivation.

What’s your favorite quote?
“There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth: not going all the way and not starting.” (Budda)

How did you go above and beyond to win this month’s MVP?
I worked diligently on a client project involving designing numerous materials, coordinating estimates, and delivery for a client product launch at a conference.

Editor’s note: Johanna is being modest here. In every company, there are people who stick to their To Do list and then there are employees who proactively go above and beyond. Johanna has some talents that she isn’t required to apply in her every day job. However, when she saw a need for these talents, she proactively stepped up and stepped in – surprising us all by unveiling additional strengths that we weren’t aware of, and working above and beyond what she’s required to do in her current position. Not only did she provide some new ideas and content, but she showed managers her ability to grow in a way we hadn’t thought of before in regards to her future here at PPR. Today, she’s MVP, but she also carved out a new path for her career here – one that will benefit our clients from both the PR and content creation and design perspective – and benefit her by allowing her to do what she loves. Johanna is a great example of how stepping up and stepping in can benefit both your employer and you!

Connect with Johanna on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

What is Value? It Depends on Who You Ask

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The word value might seem like a straight forward term but in
reality, it’s very subjective. Those of us in the PR agency business
can appreciate this as we balance multiple clients and work hard every
day to provide value to them – which can be, and often is, very
different from client to client. You  may experience this in your own
job if you’re a part of a larger division or company where multiple
decision makers need to see what you do every day as valuable. As you
look up the hierarchy, what constitutes as value can differ from layer
to layer, person to person. So how do you ensure that you are providing
the best value you can – and to the right people (the ones that
ultimately make the decision on your job, your future, your daily work
life)?

Even
when you do figure out what each person in the decision tree sees as
valuable, it can change. For example, often times PR agencies are
replaced when a new addition  – usually a VP or Director of Marketing –
is hired by a client. Alternately, you may get a new boss who has been
assigned to come in and “shake things up.” Although you may have met
all of the objectives of value for your previous contact, the new one
will hold you to their own standards of value and ROI. If someone’s
been assigned to come in and do more than fill some shoes – but rather,
make change and find problems – they will be looking very carefully at
everything you do. And while a more experienced person wouldn’t make
sweeping changes without first truly understanding what needed to be
fixed – and wouldn’t make changes just for the sake of making changes –
often times no matter how hard you’ve worked or how many goals you
previously met, they just won’t meet the new boss’s expectations of
value and your job will change (or, worst case scenario, be eliminated).

So what can you do to ensure you are always adding value to the
myriad of decision makers in your work life? First – and most obvious –
is to communicate. Sit down with each person who is responsible for
providing input or making decisions about your job (or firm) and ask
them, “How do you define value?” and “What can I do to be more valuable
to you on a daily basis.?” More importantly, be ready to express some
of your own ideas on how you have provided value in the past – tie it
to specific ROI such as sales, customer retention or effective company
policies. Secondly, don’t stop asking. Do this often and repeat. Change
happens in the corporate world at a rapid pace (or sometimes, a snail’s
pace… which can mean you’re thinking and acting before your company
or client is ready) and you need to have your pulse on the pace. Tie
your performance to previous discussions and outlines of value provided
to you by your former client contact or boss – and ensure that they
clearly correlate “This is what I was told was valuable and needed;
here’s how I achieved it.” Next, ask questions – “If this value is no
longer important, what is? What changes are you making and why – I want
to understand so I can also make the appropriate changes and continue
to deliver the right value to this organization.”

The bottom line – don’t assume you know what’s valuable in the minds
of all decision makers. It takes constant communication, consistent
measurement of your own performance (don’t just rely on others to do
this for you) and a certain tact for tooting your own horn to ensure
that your value is clear to all decision makers. Don’t leave it up to
others to communicate how valuable you are – and don’t ever look at it
as a job that’s complete.

How do you ensure that  you understand the value expected of your
agency or your position, and how do you juggle the expectations of
multiple audiences?