PR Connection 10 April 27, 2010

McDonalds has always been a popular fast food chain and has always had catchy slogans and ways to reel people into eating at their restraunts. The famous “I’m Lovin’ It” is known around the world. I assume since there has been a drop in our economy lately people are turning to cheaper outlets for their food. This then causes greater competition among chains like McDonalds and Burger King. Because of this competition these chains are trying to out do each other by upping their marketing strategies and trying to make their foods more attractive. Commercials like McDonald’s new “Proud Daddy Bear” is a prime example.

Burger King also tried a different strategy and even included McDonalds in its commercial.

PR Connection 9 April 27, 2010

After reading a lot of my fellow classmates blogs and commenting on them, I learned about this new show that is apparently on Bravo call “Kell on Earth” that deals with a PR Fashion firm. I live in the oh so luxurious Copper Beech, therefore I am not as privillaged as most when it come to our cable provider, meaning… I don’t have the Bravo channel. With this being said, I decided to do some online research on this show that everyone has been talking about. I typed it into the search engine of YouTube, and Chelsey Lately’s take on the show was the first hit that I got. Since I love Chealsea Handler, I had to watch…

I found this to be a hilarious take on the show.. let me know your thought.

PR Connection 8 April 26, 2010

Going into this major was a bit of a stretch for me. There are many things that I want to do in life, but I am just not sure how I am going to get there. For as long as I can remember, my dream job would be to go into event planning and possibly open up my own business when I am well established.

I am a girly girl. I love the idea of planning wedding and birthdays and making everything fun and pretty.

However, I was just going through some PR blogs online and that is when I stumbled upon a site that talked about PR Fashion. I had no idea that such a titled existed. Working in the fashion world, the way Moreland describes it sounds amazing.

“ I spend my days focusing on gaining exposure for our line, whether is communicating with editors and seeing what styles they need for upcoming shoots, talking to celeb stylists and coordinating which looks would be great for their clients, setting up photo shoots and interviews and generally handling all business,” said Moreland.

Let’s just say, I maybe looking into other types of internships now to really decided what I want to do in life, because this seems awesome and right up my ally.

PR Connection 7 April 23, 2010

Lady Gaga and a PR Agency? Huh?

That was my first thought when I found this article… Ronn Torossian is the owner of a PR agency and the author to this blog post about the well known Lady Gaga. When I first read the title of the artice, I was expecting some blog that was going to go on and on about how weird Lady Gaga is, and how she is changing the way the media see performers- just something along those lines.

But, boy was I wrong. Torossian actucally quoted Gaga because he thought what she had to say was that, well for lack of a better word, epic.

I’m just a kid from NYC who decided to do this after all. Rule the world! What’s life worth living if you don’t rule it.” Gaga said in the April edition of New York Magazine. Torossian loved this quote and talked about the different aspects of it in which he agreed with.

I see where he is coming from in agreeing with Lady Gaga, I just think that it is so weird that out of l the performers today in the world, he would choose her to be in such agreeance with. This may be due to the fact, she kinda weirds me out. Yeh, she is an awesome singer and performer.. but Gaga puzzles me. I am glad Torossian can relate her to his PR lifestyle.

PR Connections 6 April 23, 2010

So, I am pretty sure that I am like any other college student out there- I live on Facebook. Sad as it is to say, I really do not know a life without it. I mean, how would I keep up with friends from home, or find out what time the next Zeta meeting is, or even keep up with what everyone is doing.

I was reading an article online about how Facebook is now making it easier to interact with brands. For all of those who use Facebook regurly, you know what it means to ‘like’ something or to ‘become a fan’ of a page or product. I found it interesting in the article that Facebook is trying to phase out the ‘Become a Fan’ option and just have people ‘Like” pages.

I think this is a great idea. The article also says that this will help people to link to each other more effectively. Now how that works, I am not 100% sure, but I know that I will see it happen, considering I am always on. I have already began to notice on my news feed home page that Facebook tells me when my friends find a page that they like. It’s so interesting to see what my friends are doing and what they like.

As I mentioned before.. what would I do without Facebook?

PR Connection 5 April 22, 2010

I am 21 years old, in college, out of the house… but the truth is, even though my mother is 2oo miles away in Atlanta, I still hear her voice in my head when I am trying to make the simplest of decisons. “Don’t eat that.” “Clean up behind yourself.” Blah, blah, blah. And even though she isn’t here, I do it.

I know that I am not the only one who does this. That’s why when I found this blog: Micky D’s and Moms- The Three “R”s of blogger Relations, I was glad to hear that I was not alone.

This article talked about how ifluential are mom’s are in life, and how that influence is now moving to the web- blogs to be exact. With that being said, three main goals for McDonald’s is to use “social media to build the business, manage customer problems, and beef up outreach to target groups such as mommy bloggers.”

In order to reach this mommy blogger euphoria- they must meet the three “R”s of blogger relations:

Research: Any brand or PR firm that wants to get in-front of the momosphere needs to find the right moms first – picking at random won’t cut it with the mamas.

Respect: Well, who wouldn’t respect a mom to begin with? But as a rule, treat bloggers with as much respect as journalists.

Relationships: Possibly the biggest theme of the session – building relationships with bloggers is key. Without any sort of relationship, the blogger has no reason to listen to your pitch or even your brand.

These three R’s should be kept in mind whenever trying to build a relationship with mommy bloggers.

PR Connection 4 April 22, 2010

We all love reality TV. Whether you want to admit it or not, there is a reality show out there that you either are obsessed with or you just secretly love.

I for one, love reality TV, and already have which shows I want to be on planned out. (Amazing Race being at the top of my list)

With reality TV being the hype now, it’s no surprise that PR practitioners have jumped on the van wagon.

In the article, PR and Reality TV: High Anxiety, Higher Brand recognition talked about how different firms react to this reality. The article talks primarily about how the CEO of 1-800-Flowers went on the new and popular show Undercover Boss. The idea of the show is to place high-profile members of firms at the lower level of their company for a few days, and see what happens. Yanique Woodall, VP of enterprise PR for the company was the one to take on the task.

Woodall had no idea what was going to happen but he took a chance. He weighed out the pros and cons and decided to take on the show. Luckily it went well and he believes his goal in performing the show: to gain customer service relations and trust, was achieved.

Click here to watch the 1-800-Flowers episode of Undercover Boss.

PR Connection 3 April 22, 2010

For those who like to stay up to date on my blog, which I know is most everyone, you will know that there was on Super Bowl commercial that defiitely stood out from the rest to me and I claim as my uttermost favorite: the Doritos commercial with the little boy watching out for his mama.

Tonight, I was just Twittering around and reading some blogs when I stumbled upon the Ketchum website and started to read some about some of the winners and some of the articles that have been posted.

Anyways my point about the Doritos ad is, after reading a little on the site, I was excited to learn the Frito-Lay’s campaign “Doritos Crashes the Super Bowl: How a Leading Snack Brand Put the Power to Its People and Changed Madison Avenue Forever” had been selected as winner of the Public Relations Campaign of the Decade award by The Holmes Report, a weekly newsletter on the public relations industry, back in January.

This is great to hear because I am not a huge Doritos eating fan, but the commercials and PR strategy behind their campaigns are definitely one to take notice to. So with that, I am so glad to see that the Frito-Lays campaign was named PR campaign of the decade by industry thought leader- Paul Holmes.

To see the article yourself, click here.

Blog Tips! (tow 16) April 21, 2010

What advice would you offer PR students who are new to blogging? Come up with your own Top 10 list-

1. First and most importantly, stay up to date with your blog. Do no wait to start blogging until the day before something is due. Writing blogs involve time and thought, so you don’t want to put it all off until the end.
2. Hyperlinks are a good thing, but do not abuse them. I try to include inks in my posts, this way it allows linkability in your blogs. If your reader is truly interested in what you are writing, this will allow them to read more in dept about what you have to say through other sites.
3. Include images, videos, and audio in blogs. This grabs peoples attention more and makes your blog more interesting. This will in return make people want to come back to your blog.
4. Have an opinion, do not be scared to write your true feelings. Obviously, if your hate something do not only talk about how horrible it is, just simply state the reasons why- be mature.
5. Comment on other people’s blogs. This will allow you to network with other people and build relationships. It will also allow you to receive feedback on what you have blogged about.
6. Have an about me page- this way people know who you are and why you are blogging. Make sure to include a picture of yourself on this page too.
7. Categorize your posts. This will help you stay organized and see areas where you should be blogging more.
8. Always proof read your posts. Watch for mistakes in grammar, punctuation, and style. People do not trust a blog that is full of mistakes.
9. Make your blog unique. Add a theme or layout that represents you and makes your site interesting. White and bland is so boring.
10. Have fun! This is about you and who you are so make sure to be original with your blog and be creative.

SMNR- tow 15 April 21, 2010

What is a Social Media News Release?
Social media news releases have had a major impact on the way that typical press releases have started to be sent. This evolution and development in media press releases has led to changes in the old news press releases that so many journalists and practioners are accustomed to. Social media news releases, as defined by the textbook Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques, are releases with high-resolution photos and graphics, video, and audio components. These graphic and audio components allow for releases to be much more visual. These new releases are also more interactive which then answers more questions that journalists may have regarding the release. Portions of the SMNR have areas for commenting and blogging while also providing hyperlinks to other places and sources in order to gain more information on the subject. There is no reason that ever question a journalist may have should not be answered in these social media releases.

When should a PR practitioner consider using a SMNR?

The use of SMNR should be used by public relation practioners in many situations. Two of the most important times to use these multimedia releases are for major events and for product launches. For a product launch, the SMNR allows for more than just a written discription about the product. The SMNR includes multimedia where the client can see pictures of the product, video that may demonstate the use of the product, and audio, which may describe how to use to product or the benefits of the product.

Link to a SMNR that an organization has created:
SMNR are all over the web, whether one knows that he or she is reading it or not. One that I found on the web was on PR Web‘s site where Chevy Creates a Great Opportunity for College Students.