Google Minus

In the recent years Google came out with it's own social media platform: Google Plus. I only saw a few things here and there about it and how easy it is to connect. Well everything that's made today has to be able to connect with others around the world, right?

I am trying to figure out what exactly is Google Plus's purpose for the consumer. I read an article written by Beki Winchel on PR Daily that the Vice President of Google Plus is telling us that they are not giving up just yet at social media.

“No, Google Plus is not dead. In fact, it’s got more signs of life than it’s had in some time.”

Do you think that was a PR move? To tell us that this platform isn't dead so we can give them more faith in creating something social? I would have told the VP to say the exact same thing. If you can tell the world that your platform can still succeed after having over 2.2 billion Google Plus profiles and only have 9 percent of them using it, then I think they have something coming that is going to be great. It gives the company an image that they don't give up on new things like social media. Especially coming from Google.

I am excited to see what this "thing" will do for us to make our lives more enjoyable and ultimately, enjoy Google Plus.

You can read more here:

http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/18746.aspx

Response: Family drama

I am writing in response to one of my COM 475 classmates blog Molly!

She wrote about the recent case of the Duggar family and TLC. Molly made a great point about how these brands are trying to remove themselves from the show entirely. Yet none of them are actually in any way tied to the actual show itself. That says a lot about how brands work and how much they care about an image when it's surrounded by a case like this one.

Some of the brands are Payless shoes, Crayola and Pure Life Iced Tea and these were a couple responses from their twitter pages.

I think it's a great way of seeing how brands have to respond to an issue they aren't really even involved in but still show people where they stand as a corporation. I love it, i think its great seeing an identity behind a brand. Especially in a case like this one.

Read more here:

http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/18738.aspx

https://northernbellmolly.wordpress.com/2015/05/31/19-kids-and-creepy/

Arizona & Nebraska

In todays class we got assigned two different states from our proffesors hand and we did an exercise where we went around the class to ask different classmates what their first initial thought was when we said our state.

I got Arizona & Nebraska and these were my results:

Arizona:
1. Desert
2. Spring Break
3. Raves
4. Lost the Super Bowl
5. Navaho

Nebraska:
1. Corn
2. Awesome friends
3. Football
4. Horses
5. Alcohol

The ones for Nebraska were very strange because I don't know anything about that state and so when I got those answers i just kind of looked at them strangely and wrote it down. Arizona didn't surprise me because a lot of people i know here in Washington actually have either family down there or go for school or go down there for vacation.

I think there is a huge difference in their reputation based off the reactions i got when i asked about both states. For example, when i asked about Nebraska i got a big sigh and when i asked about Arizona most students jumped at it and had something to say.

I looked at Arizona's tourism page first to get an incite of how they strategize to get people to come to their state. I found a tab under Marketing Programs that show a direct correlation on how they spend their money. This is what i found:

" Younger Years (no children) - $75K +

Family Life - $100K +

Gen X Older (no children) - $75K +

Young Boomers - $100K +

Older Boomers (no children) - $100K +

Silent Generation - $100K + "

So you can see how they spend their advertising costs through their tourism offices to the selected markets above. I think that it makes sense that most of their money goes to families and seniors because i feel like Arizona is becoming one of the most prominent places to go and vacation inside the states. 

Nebraska is a little different.

The tourism page for Nebraska is very eye friendly. It gives people the luxury of scoping out different places that Nebraska has to offer. The slogan is pretty basic to me: Visit Nebraska. Visit Nice.  One thing I noticed was that the front page has a slideshow displaying beautiful places around the state. It gives off country feeling at first but then also shows off scenery like waterfalls with luscious forests and city life.

I think Nebraska really tries to reel people in by advertising how big and open the state is. You can browse where to go in Nebraska based off what you are going there for. To be honest though i don't see anything different or unique from any other tourism site. I looked on Youtube to see if there were any videos and the first one had a very warm and settling feel to it.

link below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIkXtfFR1PQ

Social Media Probzzz

It's funny to me that in today's world, most social media professionals and brand managers still run into problems through social media. They get stuck on a plateau of how to effectively use social platforms to market their product.

David Moncur's article on 3 solutions to social media brand problems talks about professionals who sometimes brand their product just to see no results after a month and give up. ultimately blaming social media as not a effective tool to sell their product.

Whenever i go onto Twitter, Facebook or Instagram i tend to run into companies posting things that market their product but they seem dull and as Mocur puts it " make it look like a chore" well if professionals make it seem like that then thats how their going to be treaded.

Problem #1: Brand managers still do not know what social media is and don't understand how to use it.

I thought this was pretty surprising, considering we've been in the digital marketing era for years now and people today still don't understand how to use social media effectively.

Well, Moncur explains how "Your ultimate goal is to get people plugged into your channels and sharing the content you provide." which explains a lot. For example, if i enjoy someones tweet's and regular smile or understand what they are talking about i usually show them some " Twitter love" by retweeting it or favoriting it. When a company does this and also intertwines selling their product and still grab my attention, then they have successfully got my plugged into their channel. If i like what you post, and it isn't all up in the consumers face then chances are i am more likely to trust your product and maybe, just maybe, buy your product.

Problem #2: Companies have no clue how to communicate with their customers.

This is something I see all the time! I have seen many people complain about certain products on different social media platforms where they get a response by the corporation but it's like a computer responded and not a person. 

"Customers will want to know the person behind your Twitter account, and they will quickly ignore companies who hide behind the curtain."

There was one time i had a problem with my Comcast server not working at my house and i ranted about it on twitter about how crappy the service was when i called to get it fixed. I immediately got a response from "Johnfromcomcast" and helped me through tweeting at each other and in less than a day my connection with my box was working again. People love being serviced by real people and like to get to know them because it build a trust between the customer and company. 

You can find Moncur's last social media problem here:

http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/18701.aspx

Red Nose

In response to one of my classmates blogs, I am going to talk about the way NBC trashed the letterman's show 1 day after his last day. Talk about an image the was not handled the right way, especially with somebody who holds such a powerful presence on NBC for the past 22 years just to find out that his set was trashed. I love how Chris explained the way NBC handled the whole situation, especially with the reference of red nose day.

I wish i would have been able to see the PR team the next day and just see how they could mess up something like that...did they forget about way things worked around todays world and how fast things get around. I love how there was instant video of happy people moving all of his stuff outside and throwing away some of the iconic props that he had on his show like the New York bridge.

For more on this look on Chris's blog here:

https://prdadanderson.wordpress.com

Assassins Creed: PLOT TWIST

Today i went to an event going on inside our student recreational center called " Source" which is a huge fair with a bunch of different classes where scholars, researchers and students present their projects. I attended the Women's Society of today seminar where my first presentation was a young student here at CWU talking about the female presence in video games.

Assassins Creed is one of the best selling video games today and she demonstrated her praise of the story line behind the game. She presents how females don't have a easy way of being accepted in the video game culture because they have never have a dominant role in games. She showed us her love for creating costumes from different games that are for girls and while she was showing off the different products she's done I noticed she was wearing a costume that was a spin off of what the main character in Assassins Creed is wearing.

I loved her enthusiasm and pro activeness of helping change the face of video games and females being in them.

Deflate gate: What should Brady do?

Recently there has been breaking news of Tom Brady and his involvement with the deflated balls that were used in the AFC championships game that ultimately led them to winning that game and onto winning the Superbowl.

When asked about the incident back in January, Brady was very uneasy about the questions being asked about the incident. He made it seem like it was a joke and that reporters should be asking more important questions regarding the championship games instead of the deflated balls. One remark he made was comparing it to ISIS and how " it's not like people are dying...." This quote made me question why someone with a high profile like him would compare it to people dying? Does that mean that someone has to die for America to care about the investigation.

The news that broke out this week points at Brady having some sort of knowledge of the balls being under 12.5 PSI and the text messages that were intercepted by two top employers for the Patriots portrays that Tom knew about the balls being flatter and that he requested it being like that. Like i said there isn't enough evidence to say that Brady is full on guilty of this incident but enough to say that he knew about it.

Now as Tom's PR person, what does he have to do? does he wait it out till it dies down? does he come out with a public conference where he addresses the incident? If i was in charge of keeping Brady's image in tip top form, as Americas quarterback and reigning Super Bowl MVP... then i would tell him to address the people of america about not being involved in the incident and that he would never do anything in his will to cheat in order to win games. The Wells report doesn't have enough inclusive evidence to say that he is full on guilty and that's what makes him have a fighting chance to take a stance on this issue and deny any involvement with the deflated balls.



http://www.odwyerpr.com/story/public/4557/2015-05-07/nfls-deflategate-report-wont-penalize-tom-bradys-pr-brand.html

Social Media explodes this week

The past week has been hectic with social media coverage of the royal baby being born, star wars " May the 4th be with you" and cinco de mayo.

A bunch of companies have taken to twitter to make clever tweets about the eventful day's and a lot of tweeters are finding them clever and humorous.

I think it's awesome that companies that can relate to these day's make the best out of them. One i liked very much was the one from Beats By Dre who posted this on twitter:

It was a cool way of the company congratulating the royal couple of their new born. A lot of companies did similar tweets like this. Another example was Cinco De Mayo. For some its a celebration of Mexican heritage here in the United States.

National Geographic and Tostitos did some similar tweets like this one above. Now with these days already past us, what are companies going to have up their sleeve with Mother's Day coming up? Are they going to tender with heart filled ads that grab your heart? or are they going to make a clever spin to the special day. It's crazy social media weeks like these that I wish i could be apart of....








http://www.prdaily.com/socialmedia/Articles/18602.aspx

The most interesting man in the world

A lot of people today come across thousands and thousands of ad's everyday. Frith's Level of Analysis describes how to read ads and how we can break them down for their deeper meaning.

The first part of the analysis is " The Surface Meaning" which consists " of the overall impression a reader might get from quickly studying the advertisement"

Pretty much it's describing whats in the ad and what you think of it at first glance.

The second part is called " The Advertisers Intended Meaning" which is pretty much what message the advertiser is trying to get across to the consumer or the strategy behind the ad.

The final part is called " The Cultural or Ideological Meaning" which relies o the cultural background of the consumer. This part is important because we relate the ad to our culture and shared beliefs.

So for my analysis i am breaking down the ad of a Dos Equis ad which includes what the company calls " The Most Interesting Man in the World"

Surface Meaning: the ad consists of a man with two beautiful women on each side of him both looking pleased and satisfied to be by his side. Theres the signature beer in the middle with the man looking like he owns the place and is " living the life"

Advertisers Intended Meaning: The ad I think is taking an angle of living life on the edge and that if you didn't use your plan b then you have been playing life to safely. He seems to have lived life at it's fullest and in the end is surrounded by beautiful women and that if you drink Dos Equis than you can have the life he has too.

The Cultural Meaning: The ad relates to men, men who aren't afraid to take the extra step to being risky and not afraid. Most of the ads Dos Equis come out with using this man ends up telling some sort of absurd and cool story which ends with him explaining why he drinks dos equis. Usually it goes something like " i don't normally take down a bull, but when i do, i drink dos equis." Being dominant as a male in today's world is a huge confidence booster and these type of ads try to target those who want to feel like this man.... strong, risky, suave and cool.

Ads after ads after ads

Everything about this experiment was not a surprise to me. I've done something like this already in the past and the results are always amazing to me. So much is seen without even noticing it. I see brans every second and it drives my imagination as to how these brands/ads/promotions are seen by the ordinary human....

I love that every logo has a more powerful meaning of who they are. I saw ads everywhere, on my phone, not he computer, in my kitchen, on tv and even driving. It's almost a headache sometimes when i think about it.

It's very surreal.

Nepal Crisis

It's devastating. The horror that mother nature sometimes brings to peoples homes is unimaginable and just part of life. The recent magnitude in Nepal, which has taken more than 4,000 lives from us, has been one of the most fatal ones yet in history.

Seeing videos like the baby being rescued after being in a pile of debris and historic monuments being crushed to pieces is surreal. In no way can I sit here and type that i feel the same way they do because that would be ignorant. But since my life the past 4 years has revolved about making a story and telling it, well I can't help but put my two cents in of PR and tell you what could be done from organizations big enough to give aide to Nepal.

American Red Cross could have been one of those organization to come in and provide assistance to the hurting country. Regardless of their own priorities it helps to have a small unit of their company be apart of this catastrophe. It sets an example for others around the world to go and help rather than sending money to them.

US Military as well, if permitted, should be there to help. Yes, some may say that it doesn't seem in the countries priority list to go and help with the war against terrorism and the stop of nuclear weapons happening now but we have to remember that we are all people of this world and a helping hands goes far. It shouldn't be about the $$ but about the warmth in our hearts to go and help.

I agree with Chelsea in her blog.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-the-nepal-earthquake-happened-like-clockwork-1430044358

https://adventuresofchels.wordpress.com

Wrong message to send on a great day

We all love to send memes, gifs and funny catch phrases to our friends via text. It's what makes the people of todays world smile and laugh. You can't help but feel a little bit of hope when your roommate sends you a photo with a picture of a suite in the city with caption saying "All this work will pay off one day, don't stop."

Pictures like those can serve all different types of purposes! I myself like to have pictures like that to have on hand to send to a buddy whenever I feel like.

Well, lets get to my point here. Recently there was a firing of a top executive at one of the biggest telecom giants in the world, AT&T. The case is revolved around President Aaron Slator who sent a picture of a little african boy dancing with the caption " It's Friday n****".

The suit was filed by another top executive who's spent 30 years of her life at AT&T, Knoyme King. AT&T fired Slator and had a brief statement on how they don't tolerate that type of behavior at their company and sorry for not taking any action earlier.

I think the firing of Slator was both a guilt decision and right choice for the company. Guilt, because a company that big with that big of an impact to a huge market can't be seen having people at their own company behave like Slator did. The right choice because no place of professionalism and high value like AT&T should have people at the top be behaving themselves like that during the work week. Sure it was a harmless text to him, but to others it can rub the wrong way and in the case, cost you a  $100 million suit.

http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/18572.aspx

Alex Rodriguez, does he deserve the bonus?

Alex Rodriguez, if you haven't heard, was made a fool last year for using PED's during his career and once again making the MLB look like a place of cheaters for using drugs to enhance their ability on the field.

Rodriguez, has been looked up by many young baseball players and current MLB players for his outstanding career with the Mariners, Rangers and now the Yankees. With the news of him being in the light of using drugs to be a more powerful hitter, a lot of the idolization by many has faded. This year, Rodriguez was implemented back into the MLB after a year long suspension by the league.

Alex was due 12 million dollars through the season he didn't play, and the Yankees have said nothing about the amount of money he is getting even after the use of banned substances. As a PR professional, what should the Yankees PR team done to make this issue a little softer on the public?


Well, what about offering the whole 12 million he was due in 2014 to charity or to the recent earthquake in Nepal. Its hard to believe that nothing has been done by the Yankee PR team to set the image of one of their star players straight.

http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/18570.aspx

200 out of 200

Last year I did a quarter working at the Observer covering baseball stories and interviewing athletes from around campus. At first I was excited, i got to go to baseball games for free, hangout with college athletes and just write sports. Well, that got old really fast.

After 3 weeks, i was getting annoyed at how difficult it was to get stories from interviews. Writing sports as fun but not enough to keep me entertained for a quarter. Toward the end of the quarter i was dreading it. Today, i looked at a story on PR Daily that talks about the best jobs in the US. and guess what profession came in dead last place?

Newspaper reporters.

Readership is moving to online outlets and not that many people read the newspaper anymore. This stat makes it hard on reporters to keep doing what they are doing.

PR professions did pretty well, falling into the top ranked jobs. "Social and community manager came in at No. 83, market research analyst was No. 95, social media manager was No. 101 and PR executive was No. 121." 

I think i'll stick to PR.

http://www.prdaily.com/mediarelations/Articles/18484.aspx

Into the abyss

Recently, last month a horrible tragedy happened in the french alps that left more than 150 families without their loved ones. When i first heard about the crash i was just in shock. At first i didn't know what to think of it. Why would it just fall into the french alps out of now where. And in the proceeding weeks with the investigation i started to find out that the co-pilot was under mental illness and was not certified to fly the aircraft.

After the incident happened, coming from a PR point of view i saw that the Germanwings company responded with deep condolences to those who lost their lives and to the families and will be looking into the investigation as to why this tragedy happened.

http://www.nytimes.com/live/updates-on-the-germanwings-crash-investigation/

Why did I choose PR as a career?

Well, coming into college after high school i knew i wanted to do something along the lines of business/marketing. So after a year and a half of running start at Green River Community College i transferred to Bellevue College where i started my path into the business world.

Funny thing, i didn't do so hot in my first pair of classes. I was raised in a family where the things we lived by was family and work. My father was an immigrant from Mexico and came to the USA when he was only 16. He now owns a chain of restaurants, his own catering business and a fleet of 4 taco trucks. So growing up i knew the ins and outs of what it's like to run the a business. I got a little accounting here, a little HR there and sometimes the occasional marketing tactics he used to grab customers attention to bring them in the doors of our restaurant.

I was really interested in the different ways of how to grab someones emotion/interest in a particular product or service. I liked trying different ways to market to certain audiences and the logistics of how it can be measured. So after my failed stint in the business world, My advisor at the college of business at Central Washington University (where I am at now) told me i would be more suited in a field called Public Relations.

After a couple of the introduction classes i started to wrap my head around what this major was and i was fascinated with how professionals in this major focus on getting a story out of a certain event or thing that happened rather than getting numbers of how the event went etc..

Now, I am involved with our on campus communications agency that is nationally affiliated and have my own client in town where i focus on maintaining their image as the best one cream shop on the greater Kittitas Valley.

JUICY J

So i was browsing my twitter feed to see whom i could write this blog about and when i opened up my twitter app the first person to come on top was JUICY J. He tweeted:

I like following him because he usually tweets inspirational stuff like the example i gave above. When you reach out to Juicy he usually RT's you and sometimes responds to fans that are either eager to see him in concert, tweeting about his music or saying something about an experience they had already at one of his concerts. Moreover, I like how he is still a real person when he tweets and isn't all about business and his music like some accounts are. Here's an example of him RT'ing people that mention him in their tweets:

He shows love to his fan's and that is what makes a great artist, great. The only wrong I can see in his profile is that he doesn't respond to many of his fans but at least he will RT them. From a PR stand point he does a great job at keeping his image clean and fun like the person he is.