Media Relations

The Power of Mommy - General Mills Creates The Mother Of All Blog Networks

The latest from Adweek...General Mills has been very busy.  The company has recruited more than 900 bloggers, 80 percent of them are moms.  General Mills calls this new network MyBlogSpark.  Members "can register to be eligible for everything from sampling campaigns to product coupons to news of a new ad campaign. General Mills plans to use the network to promote its wide portfolio of products in the food and beverage, beauty, home, electronics, health and automotive categories."

This type of wide open outreach might scare some companies.  But if MyBlogSpark participants read the fine print, the conditions for participating read: "If you feel you cannot write a positive post regarding the product or service, please contact the MyBlogSpark team before posting any content."

Read on...

 

So, Just What Has Obama Done For You Lately? One Roll Of The Mouse Will Tell You.

Remember as you read this...that I work very hard to be independent in any politically related posts. Just minutes ago, I received the following email map from Obama's David Plouffe.  Basically, you roll your mouse over the state you live in and you will receive specific details, numbers, dollars, etc. that your particular state has received thanks to stimulus efforts.  You can even see the number of children who didn't have health care who have it now.

I'm not quite sure how they came up with the numbers...but right now, numbers speak loudly in a  "moving through molasses"  economy and high emotion.  If this email builds confidence and helps stifle fear, that's strong strategy.  Check out your state.

Begging Management To Embrace Social Media? Some Good Arguments Here.

It burns in the eyes of many managers.  Absolute fear.  Mention using social media - they see  pictures of teens doing unmentionable things.  Mention YouTube - they flashback to the Domino's nightmare.  Claim that social media can no longer be ignored and they give you the look.  The one that says: "I'm in charge here, and I want to be in charge of my message."

...That's when you refer them to the advertising department.

How can you convince them not to fall behind and miss a major world shift?  How can we break this prevalent attitude of so-me-phobia (social media phobia)?

Tell the boss you'll buy lunch and bring it to her/his office.  Pull up the following podcast: Social Media.  Friend or Foe?  PLAY IT!

The mock scenario...four people try to convince their boss to embrace social media.  The arguments are good.

Podcast: Social Media, Friend or Foe?...with thanks to Ragan Communications

 

Domino's Delivers Scathing Response To Disgusting Employee Video

Several days ago, we saw two Domino's employees grab their 15 minutes of fame on YouTube.  Now, in this video response, company president Patrick Doyle says they've been dismissed, and there are warrants out for their arrest.  This might set interesting precedence for businesses who feel they've been wronged online.

From a PR perspective, watch the video.  What did Domino's do well?  What might they have done differently?  Interested in the reaction from my peers. 

The employee video...if you really want to stomach it, is in the post just prior to this.

Icky Video & Mean-spirited Employees - A Nightmare That Could Ruin Your Company

Domino's Pizza, and your marketing/PR department...you have my deepest sympathies.

Unbelievable, icky, awful...whatever you want to call it, how on earth do you respond to this? The idiotic actions of two employees with a video camera, incredibly bad judgment and hideous taste.

First, set your meal aside, gird up your loins and watch the video.

If the video is gone by now....no worries, you can watch it in the Ragan Communications newsletter that discusses the companies PR and marketing response.

As for the two "budding video entertainment" Domino's employees...was your 15 minutes of fame really worth it?

 

What If Your Surgeon Tweets During Your Brain Surgery?

Another amazing Twitter use from the New York Times:

"Already doctors use Twitter to ask for help and share information about procedures. At Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, surgeons and residents twittered throughout a recent operation to remove a brain tumor from a 47-year-old man who has seizures.

'A portion of the skull is being removed to allow access to the dura, the lining of the brain,' an early tweet said. Medical residents and curious laymen following online asked the doctors what music they were listening to (Loreena McKennitt, a Celtic singer), whether the patient felt pain in the brain (no, just pressure) and how big the tumor was (the size of a golf ball). As is convention on Twitter, they tagged all their tweets with a keyword so anyone could search for the keyword and read the stream of posts."

When The Baby Kicks, Twitter It! Your Baby Could Be Famous Before Birth.

From the New York Times:

"Corey Menscher, a graduate student at New York University, developed the Kickbee, an elastic band with vibration sensors that his pregnant wife wore to alert Twitter each time the baby kicked: “I kicked Mommy at 08:52 PM on Fri, Jan 2!” Mr. Menscher is now considering selling the product."

Cheaper Than A Therapist, Safer Than A Meltdown - The NY Times Measuring National Emotions

The latest form of forecasting the weather.  No satellite needed, just plenty of moody Americans.

The New York Times wants to know your gut emotions.  You can post your feelings about the economy once each day by going here. 

First, let editors know whether you are "employed" or "unemployed,"  then you can enter your own word to describe your mood, OR pick from their list of 30 words, 20 of which are negative and only 10 are positive or neutral.  I suggest they balance the list.

At any given moment, you can see how the nation is emoting by the largest words on the site.

Ponderings:

1. I can't wait to see how the emotional trends line up with Wall Street spikes and dives.

2. Even better, could the Times predict future populist uprisings? 

3. Might drug makers kick up their anti-depressant advertising during week-long trends of negative confessions? 

4. Will Macys offer more coupons on "confident" days?

5. Will the entertainment industry see national depressive mood trends as a money-making chance to ratchet up comedy programming? 

6. Might we all wonder why we don't feel like the majority of the country, and choose to jump into the emotional herd?

7. Will Washington pay attention?  Will lawmakers take note? 

8. Will the daily hits on the Times' Web site shoot so high they skew the number of actual readers of news?  And will the Times' ad salespeople use that to their advantage?

I went to the site today and declared my mood.  I picked "employed."  Then I clicked on "nervous."  The top emotions on April 1, 2009 at 10:14 a.m. MDT were: Optimistic, anxious, disgusted, hopeful, worried, stressed and resigned.