Next Results for articles with tag 'pr' (7 total)
05/06/2024 06:16:12 PM 
The brand had reached a point where its very power threatened it. While others suffered, Goldman prospered and its bankers became the target of everyone who hadn't been so fortunate. Goldman had multiple chances to show humility and to transform itself into something more transparent and balanced, but it took government action and public humiliation for the bank to take a long hard look at itself.
While business leaders and brand experts love powerful brands, their very power can threaten their core. It would be smart if every strong brand was big enough to realize that humility goes a long way these days and every bound forward needs to be balanced with a measure of humbleness.
UK grocery chain Tesco has been in superpower position for many years, as it's expanded geographically and into other business areas, it has been the subject of serious scrutiny. The brand has simply got too powerful and is at a point where it has to be careful with every action it takes. While it's shareholders and business leaders want the brand to become even more powerful, this power seems to have its limits.
As Tesco continues to expand into all four corners of the UK, it's meeting pockets of resistance from local governments who are making serious demands in return for the brand's continued expansion. These financially constrained local governments want some of Tesco cash reserves to fund housing, a move which is forcing Tesco into a business that it never intended to be in, homes.
While this news is fodder for any brand wizard wanting to show the amazing elasticity of power brands, it's something of a problem for Tesco, as it confirms their status of all conquering power.
However, perhaps there's a way that Tesco could turn this unintended consequence into a positive?
What if it was to create a foundation to facilitate the house building process and do it any way that pushed the boundaries on sustainability and provided homes at a low cost to those in need?
What if it could find a way to contribute something meaningful to society, like a new concept of community and do this through its foundation?
Tesco executives might be wise to read Fordlandia, the story of Henry Ford's attempt to create a perfect mid-western style company town in the middle of the Amazon.
While on paper, it looks like another example of corporate imperialism, dig deeper and you find Henry Ford wanted world class medical care and the best living standards for his workers, but more than that, he wanted community.
There's nothing wrong with powerful brands, but at some point, they all have to realize that humility and giving back are the only ways to stop them toppling over thanks to their own arrogance.
Posted by Ed Cotton
02/15/2010 11:46:57 AM
Obviously, whatever processes Southwest had in place clearly failed, but given their positioning, it's possible they did not have such a thing. It's also likely that if another VIP had the same experience, the impact might not have been as strong.
Kevin Smith's social media savvy and 1.6 million Twitter followers made him a dangerous person to mess with.
While much has been stated about social media strategy and policy and how to deal with crisis, I haven't seen a single example and suggestion for how do to deal with a situation like Kevin Smith's.
Apparently, it's not in the social media expert's playbook.
Could this signal a new era in customer relationship management as the S.I.P. (Socially Influential Person) becomes just as important as the V.I.P.?
This leads to whole load of challenges.
How would companies identify S.I.P.s?
How would you know if S.I.P.s are your customers?
How would measure the influence of S.I.P.s?
How would you try to keep S.I.P.s happy?
Would you worry about the balance of power?
Expect to see lots of presentations on Slideshare about this topic in coming months.
Posted by Ed Cotton
02/10/2024 08:34:00 AM (1)
(1) As agencies work on these ideas they are increasingly looking for ever more promising hooks that are able to get the news media's attention, advertising as PR, as an example, Crispin looks at much of its work through the lens of a press release.
While this is great and a valuable awareness builder, do these efforts suffer because they are so focused on the news media as the target vs. the real audience?
SF Eater recently posted a graphic which they took apart Denny's recent Grand Slam breakfast promotion from the perspective of the end user and came up with a nice piece of math to quantify the opportunity cost of free.
While this is extreme and I am sure the Denny's promotion was a huge success on all fronts, it pays for planners and the media folk to work out whether these big ideas can really do all that's promised.
Of course this should all be in the brief, but if it is not, perhaps we need to employ some kind of bullshit filter to see if the proposed "big PR idea" has legs with consumers.
Posted by Ed Cotton
01/21/2010 10:54:33 AM (5)
(5) This will add another partner to the company's already expansive communications roster, add incremental fees and mean there's more to manage and co-ordinate. In a an environment where budgets and resources are being challenged, it seems counter-intuitive.
However, the media has done a good job, Influx Insights included, in hyping the social media space to such a point that client's probably believe the need a specialist to help them in this complex and challenging environment.
On the surface, at a moment in time when the CMO and his or her bosses seem fixated on the thrills of Facebook and Twitter, holding a review and hiring a specialist seems like a problem solved.
In reality, it might be more trouble that it's worth. If you take a step back and look at how social media breaks down and what's needed, it's pretty basic.
1. Someone has to listen and respond- probably best for the in-house customer service team to work on this.
2. Posting relevant content to get conversation-likely to be split between PR and advertising who both play a role in getting content out to the crowd. Good companies in these fields are already up-to-speed and know the world of social media.
Social media is another channel that must be a part of the communication mix, but fragmenting responsibility, while it seems like a sound plan, might make a marketers life a lot more complicated.
It would be great to get people's thoughts on this topic.
Posted by Ed Cotton
10/06/2024 06:33:55 PM
1. Polish Strawberries
2. Damsons
3. Blackberries
While these might not be the biggest YouTube hits of the Autumn season, they are a fun, affordable way of communicating the company's passion for fruit.
I expect more companies will embrace the idea of creating their own video content in documentary form to tell real stories.
Obviously, these films must be creative and compelling, but at the same time they need to come across as genuine and authentic.
Posted by Ed Cotton
06/14/2007 06:50:43 AM
He showed stats (shown below) highlighting how Cisco's web traffic has swtiched from page views to RSS feeds and blog posts.
Although Cisco and its users represent the cutting edge of technology, there's a broad desire from consumers for richer informaton from companies, material that goes beyond the press release.
Whether all companies can create their own TV networks, like Audi and others have done in the UK, remains to be seen. However, there's certainly the opportunity to move well beyond the static web site and press release.
Ad agencies can either sit on the sidelines and watch in-house teams and PR agencies help make this a reality or bring their creativity to the party and help create compelling media content for their clients.
Via PopPR
Posted by Ed Cotton
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Articles for tag pr (7 total).