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January 20, 2010 | Robin Lybarger

“Tweet Me” = A Sign of Affection?

In my normal day of perusing the oodles of e-newsletters I subscribe to, I ran across an article in USA Today about how Sweethearts is debuting a “Tweet Me” Sweetheart candy for this Valentine’s Day. The article quotes the VP of Marketing for New England Confectionery, maker of Sweethearts, explaining that the inclusion of the Tweet Me Sweetheart is “in recognition that society is changing the way to say ‘I love you.’ ” Really, could it be?

As a PR professional, I am an advocate of social media, but as a human being I surely don’t agree that this is the evolution of how we show affection. I would love to know who came up with this statement. I think the idea to include the Tweet Me Sweetheart is clever, and the brand received a huge story in USA Today (also linked on the Huffington Post), as well as coverage in the Boston Herald. Also, I am blogging about it (as are others), Twitter is a partner, and there are tweets rolling in about it. But I would have recommended focusing on the fact that the brand responds to what is happening in the culture. The article also talks about its iPhone app, which sounds interesting and further demonstrates NECCO’s ability to evolve with the current happenings. For what is a smart partnership and a great campaign for building conversation about the brands, I would have expected a smarter statement as to the “why.”

In the end, the brands fit really well together … short and sweet. But I have to admit that personally, when it comes to showing affection, I prefer a call, a note, flowers or a hug.

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December 18, 2009 | Lisa Wieting

The Pepsi Effect

“Pepsi to Skip Super Bowl After 23-Year Run” – New York Times
“Pepsi Not Advertising in next Super Bowl” – Toronto Star
“Pepsi Takes A Pass on Super Bowl Ads” – CNN Money

CNBC, CBS Sports, NPR, Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal the list goes on and on.

If you haven’t heard (you must be living under a rock), Pepsi will not be advertising in this year’s Super Bowl for the first time in 23 years. Instead the soft drink conglomerate will focus on a new marketing effort that will appear mostly online. I can’t help but think…NOT advertising may be one of the most genius PR stunts in recent history.

Lets guesstimate that Pepsi spent $20 to $30 million in Super Bowl ads last year. I’m sure they were clever, well produced and probably featured super stars like Justin Timberlake. So, let’s tack on another couple million dollars just for celebrity endorsement, creative concepts and production. This year, Pepsi pulls their ads sending shockwaves through the advertising world. Not only are they focusing on an “online” marketing strategy vs. traditional advertising but also saving millions of dollars. On top of that, by simply announcing this decision, they have generated millions of dollars in free publicity for this yet-to-be-created online campaign. Everyone’s interest is peaked…what could be so big that Pepsi isn’t advertising in the Super Bowl. You can bet that I will be on alert for this new marketing campaign.

Looking at the bigger picture, what does this mean for traditional advertising? If Pepsi pulls out of the Super Bowl, will Budweiser soon follow suit? Is Pepsi realizing the power of online is more powerful than the Super Bowl? Is this truly a publicity stunt? Time will tell if this move will pay off for Pepsi but this football fan is much more intrigued by Pepsi’s “Non-Advertising” campaign than any 30-second commercial with Justin Timberlake.

Follow the continual stream of news about Pepsi’s big Super Bowl decision on Bing News: http://ow.ly/No97

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October 9, 2009 | Robin Lybarger

Honesty Can Be The Best Virtue

With the onslaught of communication channels people expect “transparency”. While I am not a big fan of this buzzword, I think the idea it conveys is here to stay. Put simply, today’s consumers demand companies and individuals to be open and honest. If a company or celebrity tries to hide from an issue, it will certainly spiral out of control. Please note, that if a situation is legal in nature other rules apply.

Now, take the recent situation with David Letterman. Okay, I definitely do not condone his actions of infidelity, but the way he handled the situation publicly was a good example of how to deal with a crisis situation. It was obviously painful to address his infidelity on air honestly and openly, but it squashed rumors and allowed him to own up to what he had done and whom he hurt. A very humbling experience indeed. In my opinion, the fact his fans heard the confession firsthand will certainly bode well for him.

With nearly two decades in the public relations business, I have always counseled my clients to get in front of a crisis. It is important to communicate YOUR message as the conversation will go on with or without you. This is an approach even more important in a world that includes instant communication tools – such as Twitter and Facebook.

At the end of the day, it is only human to respect and appreciate when people are open and honest. I remain amazed at how many companies are still afraid they will lose control if they say too much. Let’s be honest, in most situations if don’t speak up you will lose even more control!

As the Harvard Business blog says, Letterman’s ability to manage the crisis on his own terms helped him contain the damage.

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October 9, 2009 | Lisa Wieting

Can Twitter Kill the Sidekick?

I am not a T-Mobile client and really have never paid attention to the differences between carriers…until today. I ran across a post from a prominent entertainment blogger who reports that:

“T-Mobile’s service for their Sidekicks went down worldwide a week ago and many many many users STILL have not been able to access their contacts. Since then, T-Mobile’s customer service and communication with their customers has SUCKED. It’s pathetic, disgusting and insulting! To add insult to injury, the ONLY thing T-Mobile is offering their customers, whom they obviously don’t value or respect, is one month of free data service.”

From there, the blogger introduced the Twitter topic: #TmobileStillSucks

For the past 20 minutes I have been following the above hash-tag (which could be on its way to becoming a trending topic). Here is a sample of what is currently being said on Twitter:

“SOO glad I canceled t-mobile before this drama!! worst service ever #TmobileStillSucks”

“(Expletive) T-Mobile. I’m so sick of their awful customer service. #TmobileStillSucks”

“I hope #TmobileStillSucks will be a trending topic. LOL”

The last post from @TMobile_USA was on October 6:

“Due to Sidekick data outage, Sidekick cust. will receive a 1 mo credit for data service. See www.t-mobile.com/sidekick”

The e-tailing group inc. conducted a recent survey about social commerce and found that 74% of online shoppers buying decisions are influenced by others’ opinions and product recommendations from friends are twice as influential as product recommendations from merchants. This does not bode well for T-Mobile.

The company clearly did not have an online crisis communications plan prepared prior to the outage situation. While a huge inconvenience for its customers, the situation could have been addressed more strategically by doing the following things:

Immediately own up to the situation so that the information is coming from you first versus the “Twitterverse” and online world. It shows personal accountability and is the only way to take some sort of control.

Provide continual updates about what is being done to alleviate the situation. T-Mobile has not posted anything on Twitter since October 6 (three days ago) and the post merely offered users a one month data service credit.

Is anyone at T-Mobile monitoring what is happening online? Twitter is a great customer service tool if you actually use it. Someone at T-Mobile should be devoting his or her time towards monitoring what is being said online and responding.

People online are talking about the compensation offered – one month credit for data service – and they feel it does not address the inconvenience and frustration of the problem. This is a great opportunity for T-Mobile to listen to their customers and use that information to re-evaluate their strategy, reach out to bloggers and “Tweeters” and turn the conversations into something more positive.

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