Category: Marketing

More Monday: Team Spirit Aboard the USS Carl Vinson

Josephine ButlerBlog, Marketing, , , , , , 5 Comments on More Monday: Team Spirit Aboard the USS Carl Vinson
Photo by Andrew Dye, photographer/videographer for reesenews.org

In an exciting season opener and a fitting tribute to veterans across the country, the University of North Carolina Tar Heels took on the Michigan State Spartans aboard the USS Carl Vinson, an active aircraft carrier that seven months before was the final resting place of Osama bin Laden before his body was buried at sea.

And who was the brains behind this carefully executed and wildly successful event? Let’s start with Michigan State’s athletic director, Mark Hollis, who dreamed up the event. After roping in Mike Whalen and his team at Morale Entertainment, an event production agency established as a “labor of love and respect to our fighting men and women,” it became a reality. And a wonderful reality, at that.

You wouldn’t believe the logistical undertaking this event truly was. From coordinating dates with the United States Navy (remember, the Vinson is an active aircraft carrier — it’s needed at sea) to figuring out how to pay for the event (advertising, grants and a sponsorship from Quicken Loans did the trick), it took a lot of negotiating between Whalen’s team and the United States Navy to pull off this whole thing.

So why do we, at Clairemont, get so excited when we talk about this event? Aside from it being a logistical challenge and my love for all things Tar Heels and Roy Williams and college basketball, this event never lost sight of the most important team there: our military.

Hosted on Veteran’s Day — 11/11/11 — this event was destined to be extra special for all of the active servicemen and servicewomen aboard. For starters, it was a chance to kick back and relax and enjoy a college basketball game (not to mention it was between two great teams — never forget that fateful night on April 6, 2009). It was also a chance to interact with some of college basketball’s former greats like Magic Johnson, James Worthy and one of my personal favorites, Tyler Hansbrough. Even President Barack Obama was on board for this — he couldn’t miss an epic rematch between the Tar Heels and the Spartans, but he also couldn’t miss being there to support our military.

My favorite quote of the evening came from Camp Pendleton Staff Sgt. Darian Washington in his interview with Julie Watson of the Associated Press. He said: “It’s a bittersweet moment for me. It shows they appreciate us. We haven’t been forgotten. It means a lot.”

How proud we are to have witnessed such a moving event — the celebration of one of America’s favorite sports with America’s favorite team — the men and women who serve and protect this country each and every day.

Now we want to hear from you. What were some of your favorite highlights from the event? What do you think about the PR/marketing efforts and messaging behind all of this? Drop us a line in the comment section below.

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More Monday: Feeling Chapped by ChapStick?

Josephine ButlerBlog, Marketing, , , 2 Comments on More Monday: Feeling Chapped by ChapStick?

It’s a More Monday! Maybe you’ve already heard the story, and now here’s a little bit more!

You may have heard about ChapStick’s recent Facebook gaffe surrounding its latest ad campaign, but in case you missed it, here’s a quick recap. ChapStick posts an ad with a rear-shot of a girl leaned over the back of her sofa  searching for her missing ChapStick. The ad reads, “Where do lost ChapSticks go? Be heard at Facebook.com/ChapStick.”

The photo strikes a nerve with some people. Someone blogs about it and then posts a comment on ChapStick’s wall. More people chime in, and suddenly, their comments are deleted, too. ChapStick later responds with an apology, attributing its action to complying with Facebook’s guidelines “to remove posts that use foul language, have repetitive messaging, and those that are spam-like and are menacing to fans and employees.”

ChapStick’s PR faux pas has made headlines (and not the good kind), with stories from MSN Money, PRWeek, Adweek, and social media bloggers. Yikes. So, what can we learn from this unfortunate situation? Well, for starters, deleting fan activity is risky business. This whole mess could have been put to bed had the social media team simply addressed the issue (and its offended fans), and immediately deleted its “offensive” post, instead of its fans’ responses to it.

We advise our clients all the time to think before you delete. Facebook fans can (and will) post negative comments or complaints about your product or service. And while it might really chap your you-know-what, deleting them could make matters worse, case in point.

Sure, no one likes to be on the receiving end of negativity, especially on Facebook for the whole world to see, but unfortunately, it happens. But instead of sidestepping the situation, look at it as an opportunity to demonstrate your company or organization’s commitment to its fans, which are your biggest brand advocates.

ChapStick is owning its mistakes and planning a new ad. A recent post on it’s Facebook page reads, “As we continue to share the new ads that are part of our bigger campaign, we want to mention that the campaign is intended to include fun images that reflect the way many of our fans have told us they feel about ChapStick®. We realize we haven’t done the best job of keeping the communications channels open, and we promise we’ll do better! We’re aware of the discussion going on across social media, and we’re listening. We love our fans and adore your passionate voice around ChapStick®. We want to share with you that we chose to pull one additional ad in the campaign based on the feedback we received this week, but it may still show up in very few magazines. Now……please take a look at this new ad and let us know what you think.”

What else could be done to help save face? Perhaps free ChapSticks for all who like the Facebook page?

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Whaddaya Think, Miss Piggy?

Dana PhelpsBlog, Marketing, ,

Whaddaya Think Wednesday is a Q&A feature. We ask people (and sometimes pigs, apparently) “whaddaya think?” on a variety of topics.

Just one post on Miss Piggy doesn’t seem to be enough. As a follow-up to yesterday’s Is Miss Piggy Trending? entry, here’s a fun excerpt from a Q&A with the Divine Swine Dive herself.

Q: You are a fashion icon. What is your secret?

A: I have a few fashion secrets:

  • Never wear anything that requires a hoist to get into.
  • There is no such thing as too much accessorizing.
  • If it’s expensive, it fits.
  • Style comes in all shapes and sizes. Therefore, the bigger you are, the more style you have.

Q: What do you do in your free time?

A: Shop. Eat Chocolate. Pose for photographers. Rinse. Repeat. I’m a diva. I have people to schedule my free time. You have no idea how time consuming that is.

Q: Are you and Kermit together? 

A: Of course we’re together.  In the movie, we seem to be apart, but that’s just for dramatic tension. In real life, we’re fabulously happy and the longest-running interspecies couple in all of Hollywood.

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Netflix: Why are people still so mad?

Josephine ButlerBlog, Marketing, , , 5 Comments on Netflix: Why are people still so mad?

It’s a More Monday! Maybe you’ve already heard the story, and now here’s a little bit more!

It was a dark and stormy night when I opened up this email from Netflix.

Doh!

And unfortunately, the story doesn’t get much better from here. In case you’ve missed it, Netflix recently announced a price increase, lost a million subscribers, announced a split between its DVDs-by-mail and online streaming (via Qwikster) services, lost even more subscribers as stocks tumbled and now, is taking it all back (except for the price increase – drat).

Even more unfortunate, most people aren’t taking things as lightly as I am. With thousands of recent additions to the instant streaming movies and TV shows library, including the company’s most recent acquisition of the rights to stream the CW shows, I am left wondering, what’s with all the hate mail, ill-fated comments and general malcontent? Why are people still so mad?

In a recent chat with Mike Allen, advertising aficionado and creative director, I received some insight. “They had the golden goose, and they killed it themselves,” he said. According to Mike, the company, which almost single-handedly put Blockbuster out of business, had one very big, very simple appeal: low cost. Now, people are leaving by the millions because they don’t want to pay the higher fees. “And not to mention they pulled this in the worst economy possible,” he added.

Kris Schindler, PR expert and social media star, agrees. “This is a great example of a company with a lot of brand loyalty that has created its own crisis,” she said. “Netflix should have been communicating all along what makes Netflix so great in the first place, focusing on the new improvements.” In that case, the price change wouldn’t have been so unexpected (and disrupting).

I couldn’t agree more.

But honestly, it’s not the price change that hurts me the most (I was halfway expecting it). What hurts the most is that it was too much, too soon, and now, I’ve got nowhere to go. Aw shucks, Netflix. Why’d you have to go and ruin something so good? I really want to break up with you, but I can’t because where else can I go to watch an entire season of Twin Peaks in just one sitting? I guess this means we’ll stick things out…for now.

Now it’s your turn. Why are you still so mad about the Netflix changes? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. We’d love to hear more on this More Monday!

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Clairemont on MSNBC

Dana PhelpsBlog, Marketing, Public Relations, 3 Comments on Clairemont on MSNBC

I love surprises. Today, I am one.

With Saturday’s issue of The News & Observer, the secret is out that I will be part of an episode of the MSNBC show Your Business. I will be joining my favorite business author, Mike Michalowicz who wrote The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, and other experts to give a North Carolina-based company a business makeover.

I’m looking forward to learning more about the company and its business goals in order to help the owners build supporting communications objectives and a communications strategy for traditional media relations and social media.  I’m off to meet them now. Wish me luck! –Dana

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