New Media Prof Blog » New Media

Invitation to Boston Marketing Event

admin — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 18:31:54 +0000

I’m fortunate to be in the presence of some fantastic high-powered marketers in an upcoming panel discussion called Women Making a Difference in Marketing. And who better to talk about that than this list of panelists? Bernadette King, Global Marketing Director at Gillette Venus/P&G, Barbara Moulton, Director of Marketing Communications at the MBTA, Christine Quern, Senior VP at Feinstein Kean Healthcare and Linda Swain, Senior VP Marketing at Jones Lang LaSalle. The date is March 30th, 11:45am – 2:00pm at Suffolk University’s Institute for Executive Education.

Click here to register. (Students are offered a discount) Promises to be an exciting event!

Chile Quake: Which media?

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 04:33:43 +0000

Twitter and Facebook played a huge role in delivering information and pictures with immediacy during the historic 8.8 quake in Chile. As the article in PC World points out, Twitterers are helping to connect families in Chile with loved ones globally and helping to connect resources needed with people who can help. Besides individuals on Facebook, the New York Times even has a FB page devoted to information about the earthquake. But I do know that from personal experience, the traditional news media tends to show the worst and sometimes doesn’t balance the most tragic images with reality. My son, Garrett was in Santiago during the quake so it was important to get an accurate picture of the damage – where the worst was occurring and where it was not. I’m not sure traditional media did that job this time. Could it be that social media did?

Fish Sandwich Commercial: Cult-like?

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 03:55:28 +0000

The series of singing fish commercials for McDonald’s has created almost a cult-like audience. Can anyone really explain why? I must admit that I’m one of many who are compelled to watch it. And the creative marketing of it is a successful campaign. I guess talking hamburgers wasn’t an option. This is a great case study for marketing students.

Where are the doctors at the white house?

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 03:05:24 +0000

This has nothing to do with Public Relations or Marketing…or does it? After a major debacle regarding healthcare reform (politically), the President’s own version of a healthcare proposal has been posted online. You can download a PDF explaining the highlights. You’ll notice some marketing and PR when you visit this part the White House website. We all know the administration has been criticized for too much PR after the election, too much exposure for the President himself and preaching transparency but not practicing it. Take a look for yourself and especially my students should study it as an evolution in modern PR. I just have one question: why aren’t any of the 19 doctors in Congress invited to the healthcare summit at the White House this week?

Toyota PR

admin — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 01:48:51 +0000

We’ve all been watching the missteps in PR that Toyota has made. Is it a cultural divide between East and West? Is it a lack of mea culpa at the top? Every student of PR knows from the famous Tylenol case in 1982 that action must be swift and it must come from the top without wavering and the most important action is safety first, revenue second. Hard to do, no doubt. But the moment the Chairman of Johnson & Johnson learned of the cyanide poisonings involving extra strength tylenol, he pulled all tylenol products off the shelves and halted production. The company’s market value dropped by at least a billion dollars. And they went one step further, after the episode was over, they led the charge to create the tamper-proof caps that we all wrestle with today. We know that Toyota President, Akio Toyoda has said he was ‘deeply sorry’ but now says he isn’t coming to testify before Congress in the U.S. And we know that dealers have worked feverishly to meet recall demands with a fix for the sticky gas pedals. But one issue befell another with faulty brakes on the Prius, a possible recall of steering in Corollas and the snowball gets bigger as it goes downhill. What is interesting is how Japan views the debacle. Interesting article on that in the Christian Science Monitor. How many times do we see that lagging in reaction to a crisis just doesn’t work. Now Toyota has a long-term perception problem – how long – we’ll see.

Grass Roots Senate Race

admin — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 04:10:14 +0000

An interesting thing happened on the way to filling Senator Ted Kennedy’s seat here in Massachusetts – the Republican candidate, Scott Brown pushed ahead of Democrat Martha Coakley with only a few days to do before the votes are cast. We are witnessing a grass roots initiative in Scott Brown’s camp that’s taken hold. New media and social media are playing a big role, keeping in mind that Scott Brown didn’t have nearly the name recognition that Martha Coakley had when this all started. Presidents Clinton and Obama visited Boston this weekend to try to bolster support for Coakley. Senator McCain has endorsed Brown, as did Ted Kennedy’s hometown newpaper, the Cape Cod Times. The Tea Party Express has endorsed Brown in a YouTube video (also a TV spot), even though the candidate was unfamiliar with the organization. Pollsters and pundits are scratching their heads. But haven’t we seen this grass roots effort demand change before?

Top Ten Marketing Secrets Revisited

admin — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 19:10:50 +0000

I like new ideas. But ask anyone who knows me and they’ll tell you that I like old things: old typewriters, radios from the 1930’s, antique airplanes – actually biplanes (even the one I wrecked), vintage cars, movies based on true stories from the past and visiting historical places. To some that may sound boring, but I think the reason I like those things is because we can still learn from them in new applications of life’s experience. It is either that, or maybe I actually lived in one of those eras and I find those things familiar. Anyway, the same is true to a certain degree in the principles of marketing, PR and communications. Tried and true being re-tooled works. For example, social media is an extension of the neighborhood idea, the church group idea or the professional club idea only global. Social media allows us to stay in touch with friends, colleagues, clients and meet new ones more easily than we ever could before. New media (online video and podcasts) allows us to visit places and see things we can’t physically take the time to go to see. And all of those things are an opportunity. And when used in marketing, PR or communications, an opportunity to attract attention to a certain goal or objective. The other day I ran across something I had saved from more than a few years ago. Seth Godin (one of my favorite gurus) wrote The Top 10 Secrets of Marketing in a blog post back in 2006. If you haven’t read it – you should – because it still makes sense today in 2010! My favorites are #5 :If it makes you nervous, it’s probably a good idea and #7: At some point, you’re either going to have to stick to your convictions or do what the market tells you. Then of course #1 is #1 for a reason: Don’t run out of money. If you read and really think about them, the Top 10…are still the Top 10.

White House Party Crashers

admin — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:18:59 +0000

There are a lot of things that amaze me about this story. First of all, that a media-crazed egocentric couple could actually pull this off, gaining access to the President so easily, points out a significant security breach that needs to be addressed seriously. And secondly, I’m amazed that the media (both traditional and new media) seem to be consumed by the story. It leaves me wondering why there isn’t this much attention to the debate over President Obama’s decision to send 35-thousand or more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. I think THAT would be worth all the talk-show and journalists time and debate among experts. Whether the party crashing couple lied to federal officials and now may face felony charges will be decided in short order. But the long term consequences of sending tens of thousands of young men and women on the ground into harm’s way in a country where we can’t win on enemy territory is far more important to the future.

Social Media Snake Oil

admin — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:15:48 +0000

I wish someone would explain to me why there seems to be a new so-called profession of social media experts. First of all, we haven’t had social networking long enough for any of us to be true ’experts.’ Yet, I see loads of people charging huge amounts of money to teach others the fundamentals of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc…when in fact, if you sit down and focus on each one of those for a few hours each day, you’ll learn it by doing just like most of us have. So, I ask you – are they selling snake oil? Now, let me be clear, I DO use social networking tools and I DO see good value in them for business and I DO understand people charging for their transfer of knowledge (expertise) about how best to use these new tools in Public Relations and Marketing for different industry sectors. On size does not fit all especially when you make the leap from personal social networking to your business. But that’s about sharing professional expertise in Marketing, for example, not ‘how to upload a photo.’ And if I could send a message across all my social media networks, it would be for everyone in various groups to which I belong, to STOP selling themselves in every post. And beware of the snake oil and the price of it.

admin — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:57:24 +0000

Here’s an idea. If you’re disgusted by the antics of the parents in Colorado whose sole purpose was to get mindless publicity – turn it off. Turn off the rancid news coverage analyzing every twist and turn on TV. Stop watching the YouTube videos, reading the blog posts, newspaper articles and ridiculous Tweets about it. If you do that, guess what? It will go away! If you keep watching, listening and reading, they (Falcon’s parents) win…the mindless publicity from a mindless society. Surely, there are more important issues of our day to discuss, watch, listen to and read. 6-year old Falcon got it right. He vomited.