Retweets: A science?

This seems like a fitting topic since my last entry about KVBPR and paramore|redd was in fact noticed and retweeted by KVBPR.  Aileen Katcher, a consultant at KVBPR, noticed that I did not have the history for the company and she will be providing me with it.  I will add this to the post as soon as I receive it.  I guess this crazy social media stuff does work!

Today’s post focuses on retweeting on Twitter.  While I was looking for some actual public relations news to write about, since I tend to neglect the subject because I do not know very much about it… I came across ‘The Science of Retweets on Twitter,’ on Brian Solis’ blog “PR 2.0.”  Solis gives an overview of a report, from a study conducted by the social media and viral marketing scientist, Dan Zarella, that breaks apart the different elements of a retweet.

Wow, that is a mouthful, I’ll let the words of Solis explain Zarella’s study:

Zarrella studied the science of retweets over a period of nine months to discern the attributes and characteristics of tweets that spawned memes and those that didn’t. His sampling group was not insignificant either. He analyzed roughly five million tweets and 40 million retweets to discover the art and science of getting retweeted.

-Brian Solis

Before I go any further, I should probably explain what a retweet is, for those out there that have no idea what I’m talking about.  Retweeting, in the most basic sense, is the act of reposting a tweet that you like or appreciate.  It could be a link, something that you find amusing or interesting, or anything really.  Retweeting is a way to show the original tweeter that you like what they said and you want your followers to see it as well.  Need an example?  Here is the retweet that I discovered this morning and I was additionally quite excited about:

Twitter does not even have a defined way to retweet, you merely type “RT” before the tweet and post the content.  This may seem like an odd, pointless practice, but it’s one of the hottest elements of Twitter.  It is always great to get recognized for something.  You can read the entire article here or you can check out my summary after the jump.

Feature: Ad+PR agencies in Nash-Vegas

Nash-Vegas, sorry for the cheesiness.  I have a lot of… planned blogs, however I have not written a lot of my planned blogs.  Apologies for that, they keep me rather busy here.  I’m attempting to catch up on them.  The tactics begin with an agency feature on Nashville, Tennessee.

I selected two agencies, one for public relations and one for advertising, of course.  The system I selected them with was not all that complicated… more of a go with what my professors talk about, situation.

Speaking of Nash-Vegas, without further ado, I present: KVBPR (Katcher Vaughn & Bailey) and paramore|redd (Online Marketing).

KVBPR is a full-service public relations agency.  Their areas of practice include corporate social responsibility, crisis management, public affairs, media relations, marketing and corporate communications.  I’ve searched their site over and over again and I cannot find a history of their company, however they do feature a very neat tour of their building and some very in-depth client success stories.  Also, scroll down a bit to see the very cool entrance to their office, very non-conventional, I like it.

Additionally, KVBPR has a section on their site featuring their idea of the practice of public relations.  It is a three-step pyramid involving: aligning interests (identify, execute, determine), building relationships (craft, build, define) and creating success (implement, perform, re-engineer).  Certainly check that one out.

Although KVBPR is a certified small-business, this company has big ideas and they get things done.  They also have a paid internship program that is worth a look if you’re interested in the Nashville area.  You can read more about it here.

KVBPR is located in the landmark L&C tower in downtown Nashville, Tennessee.  You can contact them at jobs@kvbpr.com.  More contact information: 401 Church Street, Suite 2100, Nashville, TN 37219.  Or call them at: 615.248.8202.  If you visit the site, you can get direct numbers to specific employees and go straight to the top at KVBPR.

paramore|redd is not your typical agency… so much not your typical agency that they additionally have absolutely zero historical information about them on their website.  Not to fret though, they do feature extensive case studies on some of their work that you should check out.

The services that paramore|redd specializes in are: strategy/planning, web design, web  development, media, social and viral marketing, email marketing, display advertising, search engine marketing and SEO consultation.  The agency does not have a dedicated internship program, but that never means that you should not try.

And if you are interested, contact them, thepinkboa@paramoreredd.com. Their offices are in that rather cool building to the right at: 124 12th Avenue South, Suite 510, Nashville, TN 37203.  Or drop them a line at: 615.386.9012

Well, that’s our show.  Just kidding, I’m in a bit of a goofy mood today.  On Wednesday I will attempt to finish the updates about the AAF Student Conference or whatever else crosses my mind that morning.  I however make no guarantees.

One very important tip that I recall, that is also pertinent to this entry… before you go on an interview, know the ups and downs and ins and outs of the company you are interviewing for.  Your potential future employer will love it if they don’t have to explain everything to you and maybe you can tell them something you gleamed from your research.

Make sure to attend the “Personal Branding” seminar tonight in MMTH at 8pm.  Your future is worth your attendance and do not forget to tell your friends!  Follow us on Twitter for more updates!

Insights from the 2009 AAF Student Conference

The 2009 AAF Student Conference was held on October 15-16th and I attended!  So let me share some knowledge I learned during my two days there.

Business etiquette: It seems like this should be knowledge that everyone knows, unfortunately, even outside of college, this is not the case.  So here are some tips that the speaker from Saatchi & Saatchi NY shared with us.

“Good” Behavior: Be a sponge; Appreciate the experience; Show passion and interest; Be realistic; Take feedback well; Have a sense of urgency; Respect office hours; Notice and do things the “agency way”; Call if you are going to be late (that one should really be a no-brainer); Look at timelines and plan out of office time; “MAKE IT WORK”

“Bad” Behavior: Appearing bored; Coming to work late/leaving work early; Falling asleep in meetings; Not understanding your role; Being defensive when receiving feedback; Having a sense of entitlement; Telling the manager “I’m taking time off” versus asking for permission; Terrible dress; Terrible e-mail etiquette

One huge thing gleamed from this session, IF YOU TYPE IN CAPS NO MATTER IF YOU ARE ANGRY OR CALM, IT WILL STILL LOOK LIKE SHOUTING TO WHOMEVER THE E-MAIL IS BEING SENT TO–so, watch what you e-mail, you never know where it will be sent.  An additional e-mail comment, DO NOT WRITE E-MAIL WHEN YOU ARE ANGRY.  It’s just a bad idea and you will usually regret it quite a bit.  THINK before you write.

A final important comment from this speaker, personalization goes a long way.  Instead of sending a boring e-mail after an interview, send the interviewer a nice hand-written thank you note.  It is sure to get more attention than that e-mail.

Introducing the Sleevie!

Has someone come out with a new ridiculous rip-off of the Snuggie?  Nope, thankfully.  The Sleevie is a fictitious ad for the Blood Center of Central Texas that aims to get more people to donate blood.

The tagline for the ad is, “You want to donate blood, but rolling up sleeves can be a real pain,” similar to the Snuggie’s blanket without sleeves aggravation.  A creative concept that was a bit cheesy, however, that was the point.  As usual, I can thank AdFreak for this creative find.

This week:

Tuesday: AAF Student Conference Wrap-Up

Wednesday: Nashville agency spotlight

Friday: Public Relations news

See you then!  Follow us on Twitter

It’s about that time for December graduates…

It is actually almost past that time… what am I talking about?  It is time for seniors to begin looking at agencies that they could intern at or work for after graduation.  It really isn’t too soon for next Spring’s graduates to start looking for potential agencies, considering, as I discovered yesterday, Spring graduation is a mere 7 months from Thursday.

Since we live in between two large cities, Louisville and Nashville, I’ve decided to feature a top advertising and a top public relations agency from each city, respectively.

Just north of us in the thriving city of Louisville are Creative Alliance and New West.

Creative Alliance is a full-service advertising agency focusing on consumer advertising.  In 1987 they began as a small agency of like-minded professionals that wanted to bring new energy and bold thinking to the marketing world.  The agency is much larger now, but they have mostly stayed the same.  Creative Alliance is one of the top 100 largest US agencies and have billings in excess of $150 million.  Far back in 1987, KFC was their first client and they maintain them today, along with an impressive list of successful international, national, and regional clients.

Creative Alliance was founded on a philosophy of unrestricted creativity, and the belief that an entrepreneurial approach keeps us ahead of the curve and ahead of the competition.

–Debbie Scoppechio, Founder and CEO, 1987 (from site)

One of the first things I noticed about Creative Alliance was their huge open office space and also the fact that they have canine companions roaming during work hours.  Their work is also quite impressive with a vast client list, visit their site for examples.  Contact them at newhires@cre8.com if you have an interest in working for them.

Creative Alliance is located at 437 West Jefferson Street in downtown Louisville, Kentucky (40202).  Or you can call them at 800.525.0294.

Creative Alliance is an overwhelming large agency at 130 employees strong, but I would definitely still contact them if you have interest.  I say that you can never be too ambitious in the fast-paced world of today.

An agency of interest for the public relations students out there is New West, also located in Louisville, but very surprisingly, not downtown.  The initial interest in this agency stems from the fact that my roommate has talked about them often and even visited them over the break.  Have I mentioned enough that I am not very keen to the public relations world?  But, I am trying.

New West was founded in 1971 under the name ‘Wenz-Neely Public Relations firm,’ since then they have grown into a full-service marketing communications company offering public relations, advertising, and marketing.  The agency practices an idea that they call “WorldView 360,” which they say, in the most simple terms, is viewing each organization from 360 degrees.  They are convinced that to succeed, communications must also be 360 degrees.

WorldView 360 is the all-encompassing pursuit of consistent communications driven by a common strategy. It recognizes that no single form of communication be it advertising, public relations or promotions, can answer the most fundamental question asked by all various audiences, “Why should I care?” Our philosophy is never to favor one form of communication over another, but instead, to design each element to complement all other elements, so that the whole is greater than the sum of all parts. (From site)

New West’s public relations group is one of the most recognized in the region and their special events group coordinates events for large community groups into the thousands and also intimate gatherings as small as 50 people. Additionally, their advertising and creative team designs everything from award-winning advertising campaigns to web sites.

New West’s strengths lies in their “ability to develop and execute innovative programs that use any or all forms of communication to help our clients succeed.”

One thing you need to know about New West is that they created something that you see on a daily basis in the state of Kentucky.  No idea what I’m talking about?  You might recognize this symbol….

Yes, New West is behind the complete re-branding of our great state.  You can read more about the extensive case study here.  New West has many additional case studies that are quite interesting and I highly reccommend that you investigate, if you are interested in them.

New West is not currently hiring, but “are always looking for new talent.”  You can contact them at hr@newwestagency.com and send them your resume if you wish.  You never know, you could get lucky, it never hurts to try.  Or, you can call them at 502.891.2500 to speak with someone.  New West is located in just off of Taylorsville Road at 950 Breckenridge Lane, Suite 140, Louisville, Kentucky (40207).

I strongly recommend that you investigate these agencies to learn more about them.  Next time I will feature an advertising and a public relations agency in the great city of Nashville, Tennessee.  Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!

The FTC is after the blogosphere.

First, sorry about the lack of updates this week, I’ve been working on stuff for a video for the department, which will be very interesting.  More info on that later…

Onto….. blogging.  And, hey… you really, really might want to read this, it’s very important information about the changing times.

The new world of online advertising being outside of the control of the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) might be hitting a few stops…

On Monday, the FTC announced that it has approved the final revisions of the guidance it gives to advertisers on how to keep their endorsement and testimonial ads within the FTC Act.  These guidelines governing endorsements and testimonials were last revised in 1980.

The notice incorporates several changes to the FTC’s Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, which address endorsements by consumers, experts, organizations, and celebrities, as well as the disclosure of important connections between advertisers and endorsers.  (FTC.gov)

What does this mean to you and the industry? You know those late night ads with “Results not typical,” in teeny tiny little print at the bottom of the screen?  Those days are out the door!  Under the new guidelines advertisers MUST disclose the typical results along with the extreme cases.  AdFreak gives an example of the new situation:

While this could represent a much-deserved kick to the crotch of late-night snake-oil salesmen, it also seems to be bad news for mainstream brands like Bowflex and Subway, whose success stories (hot granny and Jared, respectively) center on rare cases of extreme willpower. Sounds like they might have to try out some new copy, like, “Bowflex. You’ll burn dozens of calories hauling it from your closet to your yard sale!”  (AdFreak)

Since 1980 advertisers have been able to hide under the guise of, “Results not typical.”  I’m interested in seeing when testimonial ads stop being nice and start getting real.

Now, why should bloggers care?  Well, the FTC is already trying to figure out how to control the internet, and this is their first step… under the new guidelines, in summary, if you are paid for the blog post you are writing, you must disclose that someone PAID you and you must disclose WHO paid you.  You can read the full guidelines here.

There are a few more stipulations about celebrity endorsements in the guidelines, but they are not my concern right now.

The fact that the FTC is attempting to control bloggers brings up a lot of questions…

Can you even control a blogger?  How would the FTC know if the blogger was lying about being paid?  What would even tip off the FTC that the blog was in-fact, an endorsement, and not an entry?

Big questions.  With unknown answers.  I think it would be a good idea to make bloggers disclose if they are paid, considering people believe anything that they read online.  Well, maybe that’s a hasty generalization, but people believe someone’s review of a product online, far far before they believe an advertisement from an advertiser.  That fact scares me, because you really should not believe everything you read online… there is so much false information out there.

What do you think?

• Can the FTC ever truly police the internet?
  
• Would it be a good idea?
• How can you control millions of people distributing their own content?
• Does this interfere with First Amendment rights?
  

I want to hear your thoughts on the subject!  Please comment!  And please follow us on Twitter for the latest updates.  It’s Fall Break this week, so you won’t hear from me before Monday.  Enjoy the rest of your week!  I look forward to your comments on Monday!

Has the attack on fat become a little too viscous?

I’ve been so wrapped up in my other tasks that I do not have much to blog about today.  I also realize that I will not exactly be able to follow a blogging schedule… I’m not really a scheduled sort of person.

With that out of the way, let’s move on… today I came across a very odd campaign poster created by the Center for Consumer Freedom, which was a response to a current campaign by New York City’s health department.  NYC’s health department has been on a campaign against… well, fat people.

Their response (above) to the health department’s ad featuring human fat globs being poured out of a soda bottle that warns, “Don’t drink yourself fat,” (See the ad WARNING: it is rather disturbing) was one with a message.  They created this ad in a 1984-esque manner.  Read more about it here at AdFreak.

The NYC health department’s campaign is designed to discourage consumers from drinking sugary sodas.  In an article from the New York Times, Cathy Nonas, a dietician from NYC’s Department of Health and Human Hygeine says that they were, “hoping that the biggest effect is, first of all, shock, and that the understanding is that when you drink extra calories, they will be stored as fat.”  Shock is definitely a reaction… along with disgust… and a tinge of nausea.  The ads will run in 1500 subway cars for three months.  That is certainly not something I want to see on my morning commute to work.

The attack on fat is getting a little tired… fat people are going to be fat… you can’t hope they will change by assaulting them with vivid, disgusting imagery.  While I think this was a decent idea, I think it oversteps the boundaries, though… I would admittedly throw out my soda bottle right now if I drank soda.  So, maybe it is effective?  Afterall, obesity is an epidemic in this country.  But I think they missed the point.  Being mean to fat people is, well, mean.  Sure, yes, they are fat.  For the most part though, fat is a choice.  Another ouch moment occured at NYC laundromats in January.  Tiny shirts in dryers commanded people to “Shrink a few sizes.”

What do you think?  Is an assault to the emotions an effective strategy for trying to get people to lose weight?  Personally, these ads would be very effective on me… they are already making me re-consider my rushed breakfast of an oatmeal creme pie.  But, where do we draw the line on the attack on fat?  Should these campaigns even exist?  There is inspiring people to be active… but insulting them is possibly going too far.

I would love some feedback, sorry if I got a little rambly, I’m in a hurry… I look forward to hearing from you!

Tomorrow: Ad of the Week!

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!

Top PR Blogs

I will be the first to admit it… I know absolutely nothing about Public Relations. My roommate of three plus years is a PR major and the President of our PRSSA chapter on campus and I still know next to nothing about the subject. However, since this blog is about both advertising AND public relations, I need to stretch myself out of that comfort zone and blog about both topics.

So, in the spirit of me broadening my PR horizons, I have discovered a top ten PR blogs site that provided links to some very interesting blogs. I will look at what the top five blogs are about and then go over the final five next Wednesday. There are always benefits to keeping up with news about your industry.

While looking around this morning for anything PR news-related, I came across Dave Fleet’s blog entry “Are you reading the top PR blogs?” Dave Fleet seemed legitimate choice, he is a communications professional based out of Toronto, Canada with a great deal of experience under his belt. It seemed like a logical choice to look into the top PR blogs, since this whole PR business is quite new to me.

Although I quickly realized that this entry was a year old, I still found merit in it. Dave had, more or less, re-blogged a list that was compiled by Matthew Watson, which was produced from AdAge’s Power 150, which is a daily ranking of marketing blogs. Matthew created his “Top 75 PR Blogs: September 2008” by looking for blogs (on the list) with the words, “PR, Public Relations, or publicity” in the title.

With all of that confusion aside, I still found these sites to be updated regularly and even though this list is a year old, these people know what they are talking about… It is at least a good starting place for me to venture into the world of public relations. It is by no means a completely fair or balanced list, considering a lot of people use their name for their blog title, but it’s a start.

#5. Pro PR
Exploring Social Media and Public Relations

‘Pro PR’ is updated somewhere between a bi-monthly and daily basis. Joseph Thornley, CEO of Thornley Fallis, is the author. Thornley Fallis is a communications and public relations agency that “helps companies and organizations build relationships with their customers, clients and stakeholders by integrating social media with public relations, creative design and word of mouth communications. ‘Pro PR’ is dedicated to the best PR practices, practitioners and building the ideal PR firm.” [From site]

#4. Pop!
PR Jots

Looks like I’ve encountered an out-of-date blog. ‘Pop! PR Jots’ was last updated on 8.27.09, it seems that before that, he updated at least weekly, maybe something happened? ‘Pop! PR Jots,’ is authored by Jeremy Pepper, who currently resides in Los Angeles, CA and works in “PR/Comm/Marcomm.” It seems like Jeremy blogs about his opinions, for the most part… a lot of opinions dealing with the public relations side of things. He states that this is his personal blog and these are his opinions on the particular subject matter.

#3. A Shel of my Former Self
Blogging at the Intersection of Communication and Technology

This blog looks like it is updated a somewhat daily basis, during the week. ‘A Shel of my Former Self’ is authored by Shel Holtz, ABC (Accredited Business Communicator), principal of Holtz Communication + Technology. Shel seems to be interested in “all aspects of organizational communication and focuses on the online dimensions of these communication disciplines. He is particularly passionate about strategic employee communications and crisis communications.”

#2. PR Squared
The next big thing is already here: Conversations about social media + marketing

‘PR Squared’ is updated on at least a weekly basis and occasionally a daily basis. The blog is authored by Todd Defren, principal at SHIFT Communications. Todd is a self-proclaimed “Social Media & Public Relations Geek Extraordinaire.” Todd is behind the “Social Media Press Release” and “Social Media Newsroom” templates that you may of not have heard of. This blog is all about the landscape social media/Web 2.0 and PR.

We’ve finally reached it! The #1 PR Blog (according to the list)…

#1. PR 2.0
The future of communication starts here

‘PR 2.0’ is updated on a, mostly, daily basis. The blog is authored by Brian Solis, principal of FutureWorks. According to the site, “Solis blogs at PR2.0, bub.blicio.us, and regularly contributes marketing & tech insight to industry publications. Solis is among the original thought leaders who paved the way for Social Media. He’s a co-founder of the Social Media Club and a founding member of the Media 2.0 Workgroup.” Like most of the blogs I’ve seen today, Solis certainly blogs about the web 2.0 world.

I really wish I knew more about public relations… I would love to have some feedback on these blog posts, considering I hardly have any idea what I’m talking about when it comes to PR. Maybe I should ask my roomie for some tips and pointers or even a crash course in public relations…

Since I am not a PR expert or even a novice… I can only see what is on the page before me and pass judgment from my chair. These blogs all look interesting, maybe a bit wordy for me… I’m accommodated to the flashy advertising blogs/sites that are driven by… interesting ads. Which, works for the advertising. It will take me a few weeks to adjust to this PR business… please bear with me during this transition.

Very side note: If you’ve noticed, I am an advocate of ending a lot of my thoughts with an ellipsis. I guess you could call these my “thinking process,” I never really end a thought, I just jump to the next topic. I apologize if the extreme use of ellipsis has confused anyone. …though, it probably has not.

I’m going to attempt to have some form of cohesion in my weekly blog posts:
Mondays: Social Media/Digital
Wednesdays: Public Relations
Thursdays: Advertising
Fridays: Ad of the Week

So check back tomorrow for a look at the latest news in advertising!
Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter!

What is it with all this tweeting?

…and now a little information about Twitter!

Twitter is such a huge part of interaction between people lately that I decided Ad+PR needed to get behind the Twitter movement. Introducing WKU Advertising and Public Relations Twitter page!

For the ones out there that are completely clueless about what this “Twitter” is, here is a very brief explanation: Twitter is a micro-blog, updated either by text message, through the web, or cell phone application. This program is used to share updates with other Twitter users about anything you want. The incorporation of “trends” and “search” on Twitter allows you to see what everyone is talking about/search for topics of your choosing.

The social media landscape is not complete without a Twitter account these days. While140 little characters about what you ate for breakfast are not that interesting, for a business or perhaps, a program, Twitter can do wonders.

Let’s say you need to quickly inform a large group of people about an event that is coming up. All you need to do is write a quick little blip on Twitter with date and time details and you can link users to the information from there.

A little real world application: By now, I am sure you have heard about “Disgusting Dominos People.” This is a link to Patrick Doyle (President, Domino’s USA) about the video, the actual video can no longer be found on YouTube. Because Domino’s did not have a Twitter or any real involvement in social media, the actual video spread across YouTube in a matter of minutes and Domino’s did not react for about two or three days.

According to AdWeek this event spurred Domino’s and a lot of other companies to get behind tracking social media because if Domino’s had been tracking it, maybe they would have been able to stop the video before it even spread.

“Disgusting Domino’s People,” motivated companies, who are now using “text mining” software. This software allows the user to search for their company, brand, etc., on the Internet. The user can then see who is talking about them, how many people are talking about them, etc.

Some support the use of text mining software, while others like Steve Rappaport, knowledge solutions director at the Advertising Research Foundation, are not entirely for it. He warned, “Text mining needs to be used with care. It requires understanding what measures and indicators are truly measuring and indicating.”

A different opinion comes from Sarah Hofstetter, SVP, emerging media and client strategy at 360i (Digital marketing agency) she says that, “Fear has been the core of the motivation for daily active listening. The challenge is information overload. You can set up alerts to the point of crashing your inbox. …It depends on the frequency of conversations about your brand and your threshold for pain.”

Like Hofstetter says, the conversations that people are having about your brand could be both good and bad. I honestly think that any news is good news, because at least you are informed about what is going on and you will not have a “Disgusting Domino’s” fiasco in your future. You can read more about text mining and the industry opinion of it here.

Feel free to include your thoughts on this subject in a comment! And don’t forget to follow WKUAdPR on Twitter!

Hello there!

Hello all! I’m Hanna Goetz and I will be updating you with current industry news this year. The attempt will be to update at least three times a week. A Friday feature will be an “Ad of the week.”

I suppose I should tell me a little bit about myself, I’m the one of the Ad+PR student assistants for the year. This means that in addition to updating this blog three or more times a week, I will also be gathering video content to share with you about what is going on in the department.

About myself, I am a creative-interactive advertising major and this is my senior year at Western. The interactive landscape of web 2.0 with advertising ventures incorporated, excites me, as geeky as that sounds…

With that out of the way, this blog will feature goings-on within the industry that I think students should take note of. I’ll do my best to run the full spectrum of advertising, public relations, and digital.

Please! Comment! Feedback is always appreciated! Whether you have a comment about an article, just some feedback about the site, or even a thought about the program, I would love to hear from you.