JCOM 2300: Cause Marketing giving retailers the Holiday edge

Recent polls and studies have shown that people are still more likely to buy a particular brand or product if it is associated with a cause. With the recent downturn in the economy cause marketing has held relatively steady numbers and loyal consumers.
Smart companies are catching on and realizing that a great deal or product isn't enough to give them the competitive edge anymore. In order to gain market advantage companies have begun teaming up with worthy causes. Some examples of this are Macy's connection with the Make a Wish Foundation, and JC Penny teaming up with the Salvation Army.
The major reason that these campaigns are successful deals with the popularity of being involved with a cause movement. People love to be able to donate and participate in something good. By having it set up that your purchases will go go in part to help needy organizations it really gets people involved and interested. It is an easy way to donate which really attracts people to shopping at cause marketing stores during the Holiday season.

JCOM 2300: Tiger time to speak up

Tiger Woods is encountering a PR nightmare. On Friday night around 2:30 AM Woods was involved in an car accident. Woods reportedly backed his SUV into a tree and fire hydrant. The accident led to cuts around Woods mouth and loss of consciousness.
Since the accident occurred Woods has kept very quiet refusing to meet with police officers and discuss the cause of the accident. The only comment that was made was a brief statement posted on his website which stated that he was solely responsible for the accident and any rumors or speculation surrounding what happened or family member involvement was irresponsible.
News flash Tiger crashing your SUV into a tree and fire hydrant is a little irresponsible especially for a Stanford grad. Nothing is more unsettling to people than to make no comment. It leads the public to assume one of two things, you are either lying or covering up what really happened. Everyone makes mistakes. Most people get and except that. So when you are a prominent public figure that makes millions and in Tiger's case actually billions off of your image it is in your best interest to come clean and tell the truth.
I don't care what the cause of the accident was. I don't care if it was an argument with his wife, or if he was intoxicated or whatever I would just like to know what really happened. If a simple honest statement is made I will accept it and move on and so will almost everyone else. If you leave it to speculation that is exactly what you will get.

JCOM 2300: Max Hall What was he thinking?

Those of you who follow BYU or Utah football closely already know this story. After the BYU football game against Utah on Saturday Max Hall, BYU's senior quarterback made his feelings known about the Utah football team, their fans, and the school itself. Here is just a bit of what he said. 

"I think the whole university, their fans, and their organization is classless. They threw beer on my family and stuff last year, and they did a whole bunch of nasty things, and I don't respect them, and they deserve to lose."

Pretty strong words. The next day Hall came out and apologized to the Utah's football team and university itself saying that the comments were directed more at the fans who mistreated his family. This is what I don't get. Why? You don't know who mistreated your family but you do know that it wasn't any of the Utah football players or the entire University of Utah. Why would you say anything like that? You can find the people who wronged you. You can't changed what happened. Obviously you need to consider what the ramifications will be in the future for things like this being said. As a result of Hall's comments, there will be more comments, more fighting, and sadly more and more beer throwing. 

From a PR perspective the best thing BYU can do is strongly discipline Hall or any of their athletes that say similar stupid things. The only way BYU can send the message that comments like Hall's do not represent the University is to suspend players for misplaced comments. In the end people will forget that Max Hall called the U classless but they will remember that a BYU player did and and the negative image will all fall on BYU. 

JCOM 2300: Fighting of Circulation

Several recent study polls have released the circulation numbers for newspapers. One poll has The Wall Street Journal overtaking USA Today as America's most circulated newspaper. The study included online subscriptions as well as print subscriptions. USA countered by showing a poll that shows that they are by far the largest print circulation newspaper in America. It is obvious with the way things have been going in the newspaper industry that it has become a point of pride for the newspaper companies.

A few things that PR pros said about the circulation debate really hit home with me. If you are USA Today don't focus on how many print copies of your paper you put out daily. That number is becoming more and more obsolete. Many people don't even pick up a print paper anymore. It is much easier to access things online at anytime from any computer or smart phone. USA Today would be better served if they focused on free access to the site and great features of their online newspaper. The Wall Street Journal charges online subscription fees which if framed right could be a huge advantage for USA Today and other papers that are free online. The focus for the future of newspapers is electronic. If they want to survive they need to be smarter and offer more features online than their competitors. The newspapers that beat the others to this are the ones that will be able to survive the next ten to twenty years as things become more and more electronic. 

JCOM 2300: Godiva Jumps into Social Media

Godiva Chocolates has finally started a couple campaigns that will effectively use social media. The reason I say finally is because I really like them, my wife really likes them, and if I can find a way to easily send their chocolates to her then I am in business.

Godiva is providing the way. They announced a new blog which will allow people to post moments through out the day where they wish they had a little chocolate. The best entry of the day each day will receive 100 pieces of chocolate for free. The second aspect of the campaign will allow people to easily give Godiva gifts for the holidays through social media networks like Facebook.

I really think that Godiva is going to hit it big. Using social networks and social media is a very inexpensive way to advertise and it will attract thousands if not millions of new customers. I love the company and I love the store but the nearest one is about 90 miles away. If I can easily send chocolate to my wife or others through Facebook, something I use on a daily basis then that is a big win for me. I think the strategy is brilliant and in the end will make Godiva a lot of money.

JCOM 2300: The BCS and Boise State

The BCS (Bowl Championship Series) has hired a PR firm to help them repair a broken image of post season college football. There has been a lot of controversy over the system, which never seems to select a champion that satisfies even a majority of college football fans and members of the Associated Press.
The BCS hopes that Ari Fliescher Communications can turn coverage around and make any positive aspects to the BCS system a focus.

I found the announcement that the BCS is using a PR firm interesting considering that someone on the opposite side of the argument the WAC and Boise State have hired a PR firm to do basically the same thing. Boise State currently is undefeated but like last year may be passed up by the BCS because a Mountain West team TCU is also undefeated. The PR firm representing Boise and the WAC is focused on keeping Boise in the conversation and not letting people forget about them.

I find it interesting that both groups are using PR professionals to help push their messages. I think the most beneficial thing these professionals can do is provide prominent sports writers or analysts with the stats and info that support their stance, give them all the ammo and let them tell your story. If its just a PR firm saying that Boise should be let into the BCS it doesn't mean anything. Get ESPN analysts backing you up making your argument then you'll have the support of the general public and might have a some power to change things for your cause. Which ever side implements this tactic more efficiently will be one that gains footing in this argument.

JCOM 2300: Oprah it's finally over

Oprah Winfrey announced that the amazingly popular Oprah show will cease production in 2011. There was an interesting article in PRWeek about her and the influence she has on a very broad audience. When it comes to getting some momentum behind your cause or your product nothing is quite like Oprah's seal of approval. If she backs what you got you not only get her support but the support of MILLIONS of viewers who use Oprah's opinion to help them decide where to shop, what to read, watch, or what cause to get involved in.

Losing the Oprah show signals the end of an era in influencing people. In the past someone like Oprah could reach a very large diverse audience. With the diversification of media, people now get their information from a variety of sources. Because of this the audience that can be reached through any one media outlet has greatly decreased. To keep up with the times PR professionals need to become familiar with opinion leaders in many different areas such as blogs, podcasts, YouTube videos, and traditional media sources like TV and the radio. While each individual audience may not be as large you can still hit the all of the people and the targets you are aiming for if you know these different media outlets and who is influential and an opinion leader in each one of them.

JCOM 2300: AOL Time Warner split

After just merging a few years ago AOL and Time Warner have mutually agreed to spilt back into two separate companies. Obviously several PR professionals are involved in the process making sure that both the general public and employees of both companies are well informed and aware of what is happening. AOL has come out and said that their most important public during this separation process are their own employees.

The spilt is going to cost AOL many jobs. About a third of their workforce(2,500) jobs will be lost. That's tough. In this economy nobody wants news of potential job losses especially to that extent. AOL's request is of its employees is what really surprises me. After announcing the job cuts AOL asked all the employees to consider their future at the company and decide if they wanted to stay. They asked people to VOLUNTEER to give up their jobs. WHAT? In this economy? You really expect people to voluntarily give up employment? It seemed like a weak leadership move on the part of the company. When things are tough as leadership you have to make unpopular decisions. AOL asking people to quit is like watching Michael Scott on The Office, when he has to fire someone. It's slow and unnecessarily painful. 

JCOM 2300: Expedia trying to stand out

When I book hotels and other vacation plans online I don't really consider the travel sites very different. They all have the same prices and my feel is that they have about the same relationship with the hotels and airlines. The said industries don't really care what travel site books their rooms and flights just as long as they get booked.

Expedia.com has figured this out and has just entered into a PR contract with HL Group. The approach is I think is simple and very cleaver. They want to get articles published in papers like the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times that highlight the differences that  characterize Expedia.com from any one of the other dozen online travel sites. 

The one thing I am weary of at least from trying to promote Expedia through PR methods are making the differences really matter. Off the top of my head I can't think of a clear difference between Expedia and Orbitz or any of the other travel sites. If you want to have the publicity and the articles written the differences that you cite better be clear, and convincing. 

JCOM 2160: Photoshop Assignment Two

This is the original a picture of my big brother.

And this is the perfected version. I made few simple changes. I cropped the image, then transformed the image so he would appear on the left. I used image layers to darken the background then used the burn tool to darken parts of the background then used the dodge tool to brighten him up a bit.

Here is the second original picture of my wife, Haley and my nephew Carter.

Here is the finished product. I transformed the picture to size it correctly then I cropped it to get a close up of the two faces. I then adjusted the levels to darken the picture, used the dodge tool to brighten little Carter's face and Haley's face a bit too. I then adjusted the hue/saturation and used the burn tool to darken the chair and the white door frame in the background to make the photo extra spooky.

JCOM 2160: Second Life

Wow. After reading about Second Life, the online virtual world, I don't really know what to say. I personally don't think I will ever get involved with something like that, but at the same time I see some positives that could come from having a avatar on Second Life.
There is potential to make actual money in the virtual world. You have licensing rights to anything you create in Second Life so if its a hit with other "residents" you could make a nice chunk of change, it was interesting to find out that there is a good number of participants that make an average of 20 thousand dollars a year. So it does make some sense for businesses to get involved in that area, lots of money can be earned in a new way. The other thing that seems attractive about Second Life is the ability to connect with people from all over the world and learn about their cultures. Many people don't have the time or money to travel the globe and experience new people and things, Second Life gives them this opportunity.
Of course using Second Life should come with some caution. If Second Life is used in place of ALL contact with real, physical human beings I think it is very dangerous. In the virtual world we live in people are connecting less and less face to face which I think is necessary and healthy. I worry that many people that use Second Life don't do much more interaction than what they get from Second Life. If that's the case they are missing out on a lot of REAL interaction.

JCOM 2300: Obama's Asian opportunity

President Obama is currently on a diplomacy trip to Asia. Things back home aren't exactly what he hoped for. If there is anywhere in the world outside the United States that he could positively impact the U.S. it would be Asia. It is the fastest growing economic market in the world and there are obvious diplomacy issues that needed to be handled (North and South Korea). 

If President Obama wants to right the American ship and secure another term as president he needs to excel in two areas. Foreign policy and the economy. If the Asia trip goes well he can take a good whack at both. Making a few pivotal economic deals in the Asia area especially with China can potentially open the way to billions of revenue dollars and can create new jobs. The trick for Obama at least from a PR standpoint is to use his public speaking/ communicating skills to win over the people that matter in Asia. If he pays his cards right in Asia and takes advantage of the opportunities he may be in office for four more years. 

JCOM 2300: What is With the Drama?

Like father like son. Last week the AP reported that Adidas had ended its contract with the University of Central Florida. Marcus Jordan, son of Michael Jordan and a member of the Central Florida basketball team, has refused to wear anything but Nike Air Jordan shoes saying the shoes hold, "special meaning to his family." The shoe incident cost UCF its contract with Adidas which required all players and coaches to wear only Adidas shoes and apparel.

Marcus' incident comes on the heals of his father's not so tactful Basketball Hall of Fame induction speech. During the speech Michael spent more time taking shots at former foes Jeff Van Gundy and Byron Russell than he did thanking those that contributed to what is commonly known as the greatest career in basketball history. Jordan even went as far as to call out the high school coach who cut him saying, "I wanted to make sure you understood: You made a mistake, Dude."

What horrible PR . Michael Jordan and his family would never have to do ANYTHING charitable or noteworthy and he would they would still be considered the first family of basketball. When it comes to having a positive image and getting people to like you a little humility goes a long way. This is not tennis you play as a team you win as a team. Michael you and your son may be very important members of that team but not even you can win a game by yourself. Even if you really believe it was and continues to be all you don't say something like that out loud. It may end up costing the Jordan brand millions of dollars. 

JCOM 2300: What Will Help you Land and Keep a job

I read an opinion article on PRweek that confirmed something that I believe strongly correlates with obtaining and keeping great jobs but is often overlooked by the masses. The article, written by Bruce Berger, cited several characteristics he deemed as "intangibles" that current employers are looking for in a tight job hiring market.

Some of the intangibles that were mentioned in the article were energy, putting in extra efforts, and communicating and getting along well with your co-workers. I strongly believe that in the end things like this along with being flexible and adaptable are what employers are really looking for. You can teach someone certain skills in areas like accounting, or computer literacy those are things that people can pick up fairly easily. It is much more difficult to teach someone how to work well with and respect other workers or how to give all the little extra efforts that are going to give the company a needed boost. Those are things that people pick up on and deeply internalize all themselves. Showing those qualities in interviews and the hiring process will definitely give you an edge over other candidates but more importantly it will give you longevity when you are hired. Employers are not looking to let go of employees that are more energetic, passionate, loyal and likable than your run of the mill everyday worker. 

JCOM 2300: ESPN steps in to Defend Their Reputation

Over the last five years or so ESPN has had several scandals when it comes to their sports news reporting staff. Recently the network fired Baseball analyst Steve Phillips after Phillips had an extramarital affair with a 22 year old production assistant.

Phillips termination has led to some controversy especially when it comes to ESPN's company reputation. Deadspin a popular sports blog has spread several rumors depicting ESPN as a sexually wild company.

Obviously the accusations and publicity is not what ESPN wants but I feel that their PR department has done an excellent job in handling the crisis. They immediately responded to Deadspin's accusations in a strong way calling their actions "despicable."

They have been shooting out statements to all of the media outlets in prompt fashion, including the use of Twitter and have even agreed to do a piece with TIME magazine. By being so open and aggressive in the handling of the crisis ESPN has definitely struck a positive cored with me. When companies pull the whole "no comment" card when they encounter a crisis it really bothers me. It is like sticking your nose in the air giving people the impression that they aren't worthy of your time or an explanation. Being open is the BEST option when something like this happens. If you approach it with that outlook people will be willing to overlook whatever happened and will still think of your company positively.
It really worked with ESPN. I still like them, and now I'm not particularly found of Deadspin.

JCOM 2160: Photoshop Assignments

JCOM 2160: On the Internet No One Knows if You're a dog

The first thing that the pictures of the dogs using the computer made me think of was miscommunication. When we are communicating online we have several disadvantages compared to when we communicate face to face. Online we don't have facial expressions or other body language, or tone the tone/volume of people's voices. These things are just as important to understanding exactly what people are portraying as the actual words that are used.

When we publish something online we need to make sure that it is easy to understand and is free from confusing errors. It is also important to be cautious of what is being communicated to you. Many people share false and erroneous information on the Internet. In order to protect yourself you need to be critical of everything you read and verify that it is legit before you trust and use it.

JCOM 2300: Up for some Bathroom Talk?

Proctor& Gamble has announced that the Charmin Restroom, a fully staffed public restroom, will return to Times Square in New York this holiday shopping season but there will be a small twist. Charmin is currently looking for five "brand ambassadors" who will interact with the restroom guests.
A open casting call is being held on Nov. 5th and the five winners will be announced on the restroom's opening day. Charmin's brand manager said that adding "brand ambassadors"is a way to refresh the program and help five people earn a nice seasonal salary of $10,000.
Maybe it will be a hit, or maybe it won't. Either way it just seems a little to weird to me. Usually using the restroom is something I don't put a lot of emphasis on. It's one of those necessary evils that needs to be taken care of. I personally wouldn't want to be greeted and have a conversation with a Charmin "brand ambassador" upon entering or leaving the Charmin restroom. What potential questions might they ask, "How did everything go in there? " or "Did our toilet paper do the job?" I have a feeling that this is going to lead to a wealth of awkward interactions regardless of how sociable each of the "brand ambassadors" are.
Then again stranger things have found success in the world of business. Maybe this will become the next big thing, and businesses everywhere will have bathroom specialists there to greet you and assist you with your bathroom needs. If so, a lot of us will need to become more comfortable with a little bathroom talk.

JCOM 2300: H&R Block

H&R Block has organized and created a program to help High school students across the U.S. learn finance. The cause marketing campaign will focus on teaching skills of personal finance which is not in most high school curriculum. One beneficial element of the curriculum is a game that the students participate in which requires them to get a job and pay bills.
If the U.S. general education system needed some new curriculum this is it. The recession the U.S. and world at large are currently in is in many ways tied to poor personal financial decisions. Schools or most parents for that matter don't take the time to teach kids the vital financial principles of saving and spending in moderation. Most people don't have a budget system to follow and incur too much debt on luxury items.
H&R's effort to get this curriculum is brilliant in many ways. First, people love to support cause movements. Efforts to be conscientious and to give back to society are constantly gaining more momentum. This is a good cause, its needed and the public and other companies will get it and be more than willing to jump on board and support it.
The second reason this campaign is so intelligent is the new customer base that H&R will create for itself by running it. Once, high school kids are taught personal finance principles they will be much more likely to use financial services. H&R Block will be the first place that comes to mind for these students because their brand was all over the material that they were studying for their personal finance classes.
In the end this campaign will greatly build both H&R Block's reputation and revenue.
Source: PRweekus.com

JCOM 2300: Really a Soda Tax?

With as much publicity as health care reform is getting right now it's easy for other issues of similar concerns to be lost. One which has been a fringe issue and is slowly making its way into mainstream media is the idea of a soda tax. Supporters for the tax propose a small tax being added to the purchase price of soft drinks. The revenue that is created from the tax could be used to offset the cost of universal health care if legislation moves in that direction.
Personally I don't like it a bit. In the end the tax would punish people for drinking soda, something that many Americans do and it could really be debated how on damaging it really is to a person's health. Anything you eat or drink could be argued to be unhealthy if used in excessive amounts. Taxing soda labels it as something with severe implications to a persons health, and sorry in my view soda is not as damaging as cigarettes. So in the end I really hope this tax doesn't go through.
Luckily for me and any like minded people the soda companies are doing a lot of work early to make sure this tax doesn't go through. This week Coca-Cola has announced a campaign that is in the works which will, 1) Inform the public of the companies efforts to counter obesity and 2) Show how a soda tax will not effect obesity or help health care reform. Coca-Cola's early work and preparation will pay off according to Gene Grabowski, SVP of Levick Strategic Communications,
“One of the advantages that industry has is if they do get out in front of the issue and paint the picture first, it will be difficult for Congress or someone in the government to be able to create an effective picture that can counter it.”
I agree with Grabowski, timing is everything. First impressions are everything. If you are the first or the last to say something your chances of being remembered by your targeted public are greatly increased. With the revenue that companies like Coke and Pepsi have, combined with the fact that they will beat supporters of a soda tax to the public this battle is one that is over before it ever began.
Source: prweekus.com

JCOM 2300: GM- Finally Learning a Lesson From 30 Years ago

GM, I don't know about those guys. I guess deep down inside I want them to succeed, but they make it really hard to like them. Their new PR campaign is to promote themselves as "the new GM" which is supposed to be a totally different company. I'm sure if we looked into it they have the same managers, the same factories, and the same workers. The only new thing is a new PR firm representing them. 

   For years GM has been so stubborn and unwilling to adapt to the automobile environment and most importantly to what customers want. When the Japanese car companies really hit their stride in the 80s GM, and the other big American car companies for that matter, didn't look at why people liked the Japanese cars. Their strategy centered around this us vs. them mentality they pushed the idea of being "UnAmerican" if you purchased a foreign car. It even went to the extent of creating different car lots at the factories in Michigan. Workers with American cars could park in the close convenient lot while those with a foreign car were banished to the non-American lot far away.

First, that is so lame, pretty childish really. People can buy foreign cars if they want and  there is probably a motive behind the whole thing. Take a few million of your billions do a little research and analysis and then compete with what they are doing. A little environmental analysis never hurt anyone. 

Back to the new campaign. The focus will be on the four remaining GM brands, Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick, GM. Instead of the overall GM label each line will highlighted for its features. They want customer input as much as possible too. Before releasing a new model GM plans on testing it will customers to get some feedback on how it will be received, there also will be a website set up for people to post comments and suggestions. 

This strategy is obviously much better than whatever they were doing before but I can't get over how bugged I am that they are just deciding to listen to customers NOW. I know they can't go back and change what has happened but they have 30 or 40 years worth of mistakes. Asking your customers opinion isn't a bad idea but shouldn't you already have an idea what they want anyway? There should have been research, and questionnaires, some market analysis would have been nice too. As a consumer it is always nice when you don't have to tell companies what you want because they have been paying attention and already know. 

GM's strategy is better than what they were doing before no doubt, I just feel the lesson was learned a little too late. 

JCOM 2300: A Crash Course in Painfully bad PR

I won't lie, my first few posts have been painful to complete. I didn't end up typing and publishing much, most of my time was spent staring at the computer screen with not much going on upstairs.

Good News, I found something to write about, Carlos Boozer. The Utah Jazz forward defines bad PR, every week without fail I can get onto the Internet do a search and find something he has said that has ticked somebody off. If excelling on the court is something that comes easily to Boozer than inserting foot in mouth comments is a trait that he was inherently born with. People are fairly understanding when you let something slip because you're having a bad day, week, or even month. You get into the years and years of saying self-centered things and you begin to run out of fans. 

In July 2004 Boozer signed a 68 million dollar contract with the Jazz. The life changing contract didn't come without controversy. Before signing with the Jazz Boozer played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who had terminated the last year of his contract on the impression that Boozer would sign a long term deal with the Cavs in a price range they could afford. Upon release from his contract Boozer signed a big deal with the Jazz that the Cavs couldn't match. Boozer instantly became a villain in Cleveland earning the reputation of "money chaser". Obviously there was a miscommunication of some sort with Booze and the Cavs, a mistake. He  could of been having a bad day, so I forgave him. 

The "mistakes" continued when arriving in Utah. During the next five seasons Boozer missed about a third of Utah's games due to injury. When it comes to injuries obviously you don't have a lot of control over it. My problem was never with Boozer being hurt it was the way that he handled being injured. When one of your stars gets injured you want him back as soon as possible. Boozer seemed to take his time rehabbing, opted not to travel with the team on road trips, and spent most of his time at his homes in L.A. or Miami to recover. The Jazz play in Utah! Shouldn't he be with his team supporting them in whatever way he can? He oozed this horrible vibe of its all about me. 

In Dec 2008 while injured and traveling with the Jazz (a miracle) Boozer told an ESPN reporter that he would opt out of the final year of his contract with the Jazz his reasoning, "No matter what I'm going to get a raise regardless," Boozer said this after missing the previous 15 games with a knee injury. Most of us don't have the luxury of seeking a raise after missing a third of our work days, after that kind of performance we would be lucky to even have a job. This guy was demanding a raise from the 12.7 million . All I have to say about that is WOW, but it could have been a bad week or month I'll cut him some slack. 

Opting out didn't quite work out for the big guy in the end. After nobody wanted to pay him more than 12.7 mil for his services Boozer opted to stay with the Jazz for his final season. After opting in Boozer immediately began shopping himself around the league as a great trade option. Boozer held radio interviews with Miami and Chicago sports stations in which he announced that the Jazz had expressed a desire to trade him and both of those towns would be his top destinations. Boozer mentioned a conversation with Jazz owner, Greg Miller in which Miller indicated that Boozer was not in the team's long term plans. Miller denies ever having this conversation with Boozer. Among other things, Boozer cited Miami as a top destination because there is no state income tax in Florida, he wouldn't have to pay taxes on his wimpy salary 12.7 million! To pour a little salt into the wound Boozer mentioned that it was tough economic times for everyone and not paying income tax would greatly benefit him. 

Like I said earlier this guy doesn't have to try to say selfish slimy things they just flow out of him naturally. His fairy tale story with Utah isn't over yet. Boozer didn't get traded this summer and is back with the Jazz. On media day when asked about all the dumb things he said Boozer said simply, "Sometimes you put your foot in your mouth." 

And sometimes things are understated a little bit.

Sources: sltrib.com/jazz, ESPN.com 

JCOM 2300 Siemens gets into position

Siemens has recently launched its largest US marketing campaign in history. The German company hopes to position itself where they will be asked to answer some of the nation's biggest problems (health care reform, infrastructure, energy). 

The campaign is simply titled "answers" and is in many ways a continuation of a global campaign launched in 2007. Siemens PR rep Bill Stabile noted that competition has heated up as the recession has hit with competitors aggressively positioning themselves for some BIG TIME contracts that will come from the US hot topic problems. 

Whoever gets the primary responsibility to transfer medical records to an electronic database is going to make billions and billions of dollars. Watching GE, IBM and Siemens as well as others go after these contracts should be fun. Siemens has made a good decision putting emphasis on the US. The economy is down, but that has caused business leaders and politicians to focus on what needs to be fixed, If Siemens can effectively build a spread solid reputation they might be the lucky souls that get asked to fix the problems. 

Source: PR Week prweekus.com

JCOM 2300 Yahoo's new strategy

This week Yahoo! unveiled their new ad campaign. The campaign is essentially a brand campaign which hopes to build Yahoo's reputation with its customers as being user friendly. Taglines like "the Internet is under new management, YOURS," and "It's Y!ou," highlight Yahoo's aim to build credibility with new and future customers. 

The total cost of the brand campaign will be 100 million dollars and it will last approximately 15 months. There are critics of the campaign, which I agree with. Why would you spend so much money trying to get your brand name recognized when you are already the third most frequented website in the world? People know about Yahoo, the reason that people don't use it deals with how user friendly the features are. If Yahoo spent 100 million developing new features and improving their current content then I would be interested in checking their website out. If you have the best product you will naturally attract and keep customers. If you produce a good product, especially when you are one of the biggest names on the Internet word will get around. 

There is one other thing that makes me skeptical of Yahoo's new campaign, timing. Yahoo just hired a new CEO and reported its first loses in a quarterly report since 2002. In a competitive online marketplace Yahoo has struggled to stay ahead of the pack. This campaign looks like a re engineering effort to me. In order to stay in the mix they are looking to change their image, often times plans like this are too late. Companies that have surged ahead like Google will continue to innovate and grow, and the gap between them and Yahoo might follow suit. Yahoo's focus shouldn't be on brand recognition it should be on innovation. 

Source: PR week,  www.prweekus.com 

JCOM 2160 Reading Assignment Two

Google not Protected

Whenever a person logs onto a search engine and performs a search that information is recorded into a giant data base. Search engine companies like Google opt to keep this data rather than delete because its inexpensive to store, and it helps them refine and improve searches.
Because the Telecommunications Act that was created to protect individual citizens privacy is extremely dated(1986), things like search engines are not protected as private material giving attorneys and the government the right to request this information when litigating a  law case.
I don't like it. Not one bit. You could argue that when search history data is used to solve criminal or civil cases that it is useful and promotes the discovery of the truth, but we have a right to privacy, which is essential and needs to be protected. Almost everything we, say or do is and tracked. We should have a right to our own lives free from constant monitoring. When someone commits a crime they leave a trail in many different ways. If you could use search engine history as a way to incriminate you would probably be able to find other evidence that can serve the same purpose. If you need search history as your cornerstone of evidence you don't have a very good case.

Tug of War& Your Personal Brand

Certain companies that dominate the use of bandwidth on Internet networks(Google, Apple, Yahoo, etc) want network neutrality to be enforced. This would mean that all Internet sites would have equal access to bandwidth without having to pay additional cost for more use.

I see both sides of the argument on this one. I understand that the providers like Comcast, AT&T and Verizon need to make money. If a handful of sites are using the majority of available bandwidth it makes sense that they would have to pay more. On the other side of that argument if you have to pay additional costs based on use only the big time players would be able to afford to be innovative and create new technology. We would also lose competition which drives down prices for consumers and keeps companies honest. 

When it comes to making your personal mark there is one point in the article agree that I really liked. Create a blog and follow and write about something you are particularly interested in. By following a certain field closely then adding your opinion you can come to be known as an expert in that field. That reputation could open many doors including jobs, and other valuable opportunities. 

JCOM 2300: Airborne Mobile and NFL extend contract

When it comes to PR news I definitely have my interests and favorites. Eventually I would like to be involved in sports management in some capacity so most of my posts will be on PR events and moves in the sports world. 

Airborne Mobile announced today that the contract they signed with the NFL(National Football League) has been extended for one more year. Airborne Mobile provides all the personal touches for cell phones ex: ringtones, wallpaper, messaging features. Airborne's features allows NFL fans to express big team spirit on the small screen. 

I noticed a few PR techniques in this release that I wanted to point out. Airborne really stressed that all of their products and also their philosophy  are extremely innovative. That is a big trend in business today. Companies are stressing innovation and creativity and the leaders in this field companies like Apple, GE, and Google are admired for their performance. Airborne showed that they would like that same reputation by using words like fresh, innovative, and pioneer to describe itself. A second technique I noticed was the use of positive quotes from both sides of the party. Airborne used a quote from their President and CMO as well as a quote from the NFL's vice president of media strategy and development. Both quotes expressed enthusiasm for the new contract and the opportunity to work together. This gives you that win-win feel. The contract extension is a one year deal. Airborne's other clients include Food Network(TM), Mark Ecko Enterprises(TM), and Family Guy(TM).

Source: prnewswire.com, Airborne Mobile: airbornemobile.com 

JCOM 2160 Reading One: Netiquette and E-mail

The two articles that I was assigned to read dealt with what is acceptable behavior when using email or communicating in general online. There of course were some common sense rules like use proper spelling and grammar, but there were a few rules that I thought were very useful.

When looking at the etiquette for email I found a something I could personally work on. When you have sent several messages back and forth to a person it is important to not delete the message thread. I usually click the reply button then delete the previous text and type my response. I figure that it is easier for a person to read when there isn't a bunch of additional text in the way. Wrong, some people get so busy with other things that they often forget many of the details of an email conversation. Message threads act as a refresher reminding people what has been said and in what context it was said in. Removing the thread can be confusing a lot of time can be wasted sending messages back and forth asking for clarifcation. That is something I can incorporate into my emails, you learn something new everyday.

There are also general rules for conducting yourself in cyberspace. One of which is especially frustrating to me. The first and most basic rule of cyberspace etiquette is: Remember the Human. I read the newspaper everyday online and I have to tell you by the time I sign off I'm pretty ticked. Online newspapers allow anyone to post a comment on an article they have read. Practically everyone that posts a comment is angry and uses the comment section as a way to either attack the journalist, or attack someone else that has made a comment that they don't agree with. Before you publish anything use this rule to guide what you write, would I say this to this person's face? Because we only see a computer screen when we communicate in cyberspace it is very easy to forget that we are speaking to real people. They have feelings, like we all do, and they can be hurt by saying something shallow and cheap. It is not impressive to insult people while hiding behind a screen name. Basically all other netiquette rules stem from the Golden Rule: Treat others as you would want to be treated. A little respect goes a long way.

It's a professional thing

This blog has been created as a place to keep my academic thoughts, papers, assignments, and other scholarly and professional documents. If you were looking for something that would make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside I'm sorry to disappoint. 

Cam Cutler